SERMON XI.

THE FALSE APOSTLE TRIED AND DISCOVERED.

PREACHED A. D. 1656.

"And hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars.”—REV. ii. 2.

It is not only the opinion of Mr. Brightman, but of very ancient writers,* that these seven epistles, written to the seven churches of Asia, do contain the state and condition of the whole church of God, unto the coming of Christ. This first epistle is written to languishing Ephesus, holding forth the state of the church presently after Christ and his apostles, and is a good looking-glass for all those which begin now to languish, and to lose their first love. Something our Saviour doth commend in this church, and something he reproves them for. He commends them for what was good, and rebukes them for what was evil. Some will commend what is good in their friends, but will not take notice of what is evil. Some will take notice of what is evil in others, but will not commend what is good. This is not according unto Christ's proceeding; the commendation of good, is a good introduction to the reprehension of what is evil.

Now our Saviour Christ doth commend this church, both officers and people, for many things. For their labour; for their patience; for their zeal. "I know thy works, (saith he,) and thy labour, and thy patience." Labour and patience go together. Those that will labour in the work of God, must be patient; they shall surely meet with opposition, and therefore patience must accompany our labours. Yet this patience does not exclude zeal; but saith Christ here, " I know thy labour, and thy patience, and thy zeal: thou canst not bear them that are evil." Possibly then, a man may be

* In Joannis Apocal. septem ecclesias scribitur per quas una catholica designatur. Greg. Hom. 15, in Ezek.

Joannes scribit ad septem ecclesias, in quibus etiam universas ecclesias septenario numero intelligimus commendari. Austin Epist. 106, Extra septem ecclesias quicquid foris est alienum est optat.-Milevitan, lib. 2.

patient, and yet cannot bear or endure those that are evil. Now this zeal and severe dealing with those that were evil, is described two ways: first, by the persons which they did deal withal, those were false teachers, ver. 2, 6; secondly, by the exercise of their zeal and severity, which did consist in two things, the discovery of those false teachers, and the hatred of their deeds. The hatred of their deeds ver. 6, "This thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the have at ye Nicolaitans;" the discovery of these false teachers ye have in these words, " And thou hast tried them," &c.

It is strange that there should be false apostles in those days, whilst some of the true apostles were alive to confute and discover them. But it seems that the discovery of these false apostles, was not a work only belonging to the true apostles, for this church of Ephesus found them out, and are commended for it by our Saviour Christ. And so the doctrine from this part of the verse is :

That it is a matter of great commendation in the eyes of Jesus Christ, to try and discover false teachers, or false apostles.

Christ doth not only commend this church for their zeal herein, but hath left their commendation upon scriptural record, as a good example for all the churches of Christ. And therefore, I say, the discovery of false teachers and false apostles, is still a matter of great commendation in the eyes of Christ.

It is that which we are all commanded to do, 1 John iv. 1, "Believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone into the world."

But for the clearing of this truth, it will appear, if you consider,

What a dangerous and mischievous people, false teachers and false apostles are. They do deceive men in the matter of their souls; they are called deceivers and seducers, John ii. 7," Many deceivers are entered into the world," &c. 2 Tim. iii. 13; "But evil men, and seducers, shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived." And deceitful workers, 2 Cor. xi. 13, 6, "For such are false apostles, deceitful workers." Now a man loves not to be deceived in any thing, no, not in a small matter. If I had spent or given

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away much more, it would never have grieved me, you say; but I cannot endure to be cheated and deceived. And if a man cannot endure to be deceived in lesser things, what an evil thing is it then to be deceived in the matters of his soul? Such are the things that these false teachers do deceive men in; yea, they will and do subvert men's faith, and spoil them of the very fundamentals of their religion. Therefore saith the apostle, Col. ii. 8, " Beware lest any man spoil, or make a prey of you." Is it not a sad thing for a man to lose his faith for a fable? They will first take away your faith, and then they will lay a fable in the room of the faith; for their highest speculations and notions are but fables. Ye may observe, therefore, that when the apostle Paul doth dehort from their doctrine, he saith still, "Take heed and beware of fables." Those are many, and of divers sorts. There are old wives' stories and fables; such are the doctrines and speculations of false teachers. Therefore, 1 Tim. iv. 1, the apostle having said, that in the latter times some should depart from the faith, "giving heed to seducing spirits ;" and speaking of the doctrines of those seducers, in the following verses, he saith, ver. 7, " But refuse thou profane and old wives' fables :" for such in the eyes of God are the doctrines of these seducers. There are Jewish fables also, whereof the Talmud is now full; and such are all those doctrines and commandments of men, which are beside the Scripture, the doctrines of false teachers: and therefore saith the apostle, Tit. i. 14, having spoken of seducers in the former verse, whose mouths must be stopped," Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men." There are also the fables of heathen poets, the figments and devices of men's own brains and such are the doctrines and speculations of all false teachers. And therefore says the apostle, 2 Pet. i. 16, "We have not followed cunning and devised fables; but we have a more sure word of prophecy," at ver. 19. So that look whatever doctrine is not according to the Scripture, is but a fable in the eyes of God. Now is it not an evil thing to lose my faith for a fable? Such fables do these false teachers bring; they steal away your faith, and lay a fable in the room thereof; yea, they will and do beguile men of their reward; they beguile them of their faith; they beguile them of their souls, and they beguile them of their reward; there

fore saith the apostle Paul, "Let no man beguile you of your reward," Col. ii. 18. Yea, they will not only beguile you of your reward, but they will bring you into pernicious ways, which if you follow, the way of truth shall be evil spoken of, 2 Pet. ii. 1, 2: in which scripture the apostle Peter tells us, that as false prophets did arise in the times of the old testament, so false teachers should arise in the times of the new testament. He tells us, that the ways of these false teachers are pernicious ways. That they shall infect many, for he saith," Many shall follow them." That by reason of them, the ways of truth shall be evil spoken of. Surely then, this sort of people are a very dangerous and mischievous people, and therefore a commendable thing in the eyes of Christ to make discovery of them. But,

Though they be a dangerous and mischievous people, yet it is an hard thing to discover them, for they walk in the dark, and transform themselves into ministers of light; they creep, and they privily creep into houses, saith the apostle; and they will come to you, saith our Saviour, in sheep's clothing, Matt. vii.* That is, look whatever garb the true prophet was or is found in, that will they be found in also. Did the true prophets of the old testament go in a plain or rough garment, or a garment of hair, 2 Kings i. 8, Matt. iii. 4? so did the false prophets also, Zech. xiii. 4, wear a rough garment, or a garment of hair, as the Hebrew, to deceive. Did the true prophets sometimes quake, shake and tremble? so did the wicked diviners also. And so now in the times of the new testament. Do the true teachers of the gospel press or make use of Scripture? so do false teachers also. Did the true apostles preach Christ? so did the false apostles also: "Some preach Christ out of envy," Phil. i. 15, 16. Did the true apostles and prophets declare the deep things of God? 1 Cor.

* Induti speciem ovium, id est mentientes ovinam fraudisque nesciam simplicitatem, vestimenta igitur ovium sunt ea omnia, quæ sunt proprie ovium, hujusmodi vestimenta sunt perpetua verbi Dei et evangelii inclamatio, densissima, scripturarum citatio, mansuetudo, blandiloquium sanctimonia species, &c.-Luc. Brugens. in Matt. vii. 15.

Vestes ovium sunt: 1. Sophisticus verbi pretextus, Matt. iv. 2. Nomen ecclesiæ, Jer. vii. 3. Hypocrisis in vita, Col. ii. 4. Ficti enthusiasmi, Col ii. 5. Miracula, 2 Thess. ii. 6. Excellentia dona, Matt. vii. 7. Fortitudo in slippliciis. 8 Xpnotoλoyiai kai evλoya, blanditiæ et promissiones -Strigel. in Matt. vii. p. 64.

same.

ii. 10; so did the false prophets also, Rev. ii. 24, "the depths of Satan as they speak." Look what that is which the true preachers do, that will false teachers in appearance do. On a time, says Austin in his Confessions,* the house where I lived was broken up in the night by thieves; and the men of the house perceiving that the house was beset with thieves, and making a noise, the thieves run away, and left their crows of iron and instruments whereby they did break up the house. Then my friend Alipius coming to the house, and finding those instruments and tools lying on the ground, he took the crow of iron into his hand; and when the men of the house came out, and saw the crow of iron in his hand, they took hold of him, and thought that he was the thief. So, says another, the heretics of the times will take the same instruments to destroy the house of God as we do to build the The same crow of iron, the same scripture that is in the hand of Alipius, a friend, is made use of by a heretic, one that is a thief, who comes to make a prey of your faith. He that comes not in by the door, is fur et latro, a thief and a robber: not apertus hostis, an open or professed enemy, but a secret thief and a robber, whose coming is unknown, and of whom you can less be aware: and you know the more crafty and subtle they are in their practices, the more hardly they will be discerned. Now false teachers, who come in sheep's clothing, are a subtle and crafty generation; for as Satan at the first beguiled Adam by beginning with Eve, the weaker vessel; so do these people also creep into houses, leading silly women captive, laden with divers lusts; there they begin, even with the weaker vessel, as Satan at the first did; and as Satan beguiled Eve, by telling her that she should be like unto God himself, and so drew her from the appointment of God; so do false teachers now tell poor souls, that if they will follow their doctrines, they shall be like to God, yea, be God and Christ, and so draw them from the appointments of Christ; and therefore saith the apostle, "I fear lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ," 2 Cor. xi. 3. Now if it be so hard a thing to discover these false teachers, and they be so dangerous and

* Augustini Confess. lib. vi. cap. 9.