b been done since continually. Christ never appointed two ways to heaven; nor did he build a Church to save some, and make another institution for other men's salvation. “There is no other name under heaven given unto men whereby we must be saved, but the name of "Jesus";" and that name is no otherwise given under heaven than in the Church. As none were saved from the Deluge but such as were within the ark of Noah, framed for their reception by the command of God; as none of the first-born of Egypt lived, but such as were within those habitations whose doorposts were sprinkled with blood by the appointment of God for their preservation; as none of the inhabitants of Jericho could escape the fire or sword, but such as were within the house of Rahab, for whose protection a covenant was made; so none shall ever escape the eternal wrath of God, which belong not to the Church of God. This is the congregation of those persons here on earth which shall hereafter meet in heaven. These are the vessels of the tabernacle carried up and down, at last to be translated into and fixed in the temple. Secondly, It is necessary to believe the Church of Christ, which is but one, that being in it we may take care never to cast ourselves, or be ejected out of it. There is a power within the Church to cast those out a Acts, iv. 12. • Καθάπερ εν θαλάσσῃ νῆσοι εἰσὶν αἱ μὲν οἰκηταὶ καὶ εὔνδροι καὶ καρποφόροι, ἔχουσαι ὅρμους καὶ λιμένας, πρὸς τὸ τοὺς χειμαζομένους ἔχειν ἐν ἑαυτοῖς καταφυγάς· οὕτω δέδωκεν ὁ Θεὸς τῷ κόσμῳ κυμαινομένῳ καὶ χειμαζομένῳ ὑπὸ τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων τὰς συναγωγὰς, λεγομένας Ἐκκλησίας, ἐν αἷς καθάπερ λιμέσιν εὐόρμοις ἐν νήσοις αἳ διδασκαλίαι τῆς ἀληθείας εἰσὶ, πρὸς ἃς καταφεύγουσιν οἱ θέλοντες σώζεσθαι. S. Theophil. Antioch. Autol. 1. 2. Μιᾷ δὲ προσήκειν ἐκκλησίᾳ τὴν σωτηρίαν ταύτην ἐπιστάμεθα καὶ μηδένα τῆς Καθολικῆς ἔξωθεν ἐκκλησίας καὶ πίστεως μετέχειν Χριστοῦ δυνάμevov undè owŠeobal. S. Chrys. in Pascha Hom. 1. which do belong to it; for if any "neglect to hear the Church," saith our Saviour, "let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican." By great and scandalous offences, by incorrigible misdemeanours, we may incur the censure of the Church of God; and while we are shut out by them we stand excluded out of heaven: for our Saviour said to his Apostles, upon whom he built his Church, "Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained." Again: a man may not only passively and involuntarily be rejected, but also may, by an act of his own, cast out or reject himself, not only by plain and complete apostasy, but by a defection from the unity of truth, falling into some damnable heresy ; or by an active separation, deserting all which are in communion with the Catholic Church, and falling into an irrecoverable schism. Thirdly, It is necessary to believe the Church of Christ to be holy, lest we should presume to obtain any happiness by being of it, without that holiness which is required in it. It is enough that the end, institution, and administration of the Church are holy: but, that there may be some real and permanent advantage received by it, it is necessary that the persons abiding in the communion of it should be really and effectually sanctified. Without which holiness the privileges of the Church prove the greatest disadvantages; and the means of salvation neglected, tend to a punishment with aggravation. It is not only vain, but pernicious, to attend at the marriage-feast without a wedding-garment; and it is our Saviour's description of folly to cry "Lord Lord, open to us," while we are without oil in our lamps. We must acknowledge a necessity of holiness, when we confess that Church alone which is holy can make us happy.a Fourthly, There is a necessity of believing the Catholic Church, because except a man be of that he can be of none. For, being the Church, which is truly Catholic, containeth within it all which are truly Churches, whosoever is not of the Catholic Church cannot be of the true Church. That Church alone which first began at Jerusalem on earth, will bring us to the Jerusalem in heaven; and that alone began there which always embraceth "the faith once delivered to the saints." Whatsoever Church pretendeth to a new beginning, pretendeth at the same time to a new churchdom, and whatsoever is so new, is none. So necessary it is to believe the Holy Catholic Church. Having thus far explicated the first part of this Article, I conceive every person sufficiently furnished with means of instruction what they ought to intend when they profess to believe the Holy Catholic Church. For thereby every one is understood to declare thus much: I am fully persuaded, and make a free confession of this, as of a necessary and infallible truth, that Christ, by the preaching of the Apostles, did gather unto himself a Church, consisting of thousands of believing persons and numerous congregations, to which he daily added such as should be saved, and will successively and a "Sola Catholica Ecclesia est quæ verum cultum retinet. Hic est fons veritatis, hoc est domicilium fidei, hoc templum Dei: quo si quis non intraverit; vel à quo si quis exierit; à spe vitæ ac salutis æternæ alienus est." Lactant. 4. c. 30. daily add to the same unto the end of the world: so that by the virtue of his all-sufficient promise, I am assured that there was, hath been hitherto, and now is, and hereafter shall be so long as the sun and moon endure, a Church of Christ, one and the same. This Church I believe in general holy, in respect of the author, end, institution, and administration of it: particularly in the members here I acknowledge it really, and in the same hereafter perfectly, holy. I look upon this Church not like that of the Jews, limited to one people, confined to one nation, but by the appointment and command of Christ, and by the efficacy of his assisting power, to be disseminated through all nations; to be extended to all places; to be propagated to all ages; to contain in it all truths necessary to be known; to exact absolute obedience from all men to the commands of Christ; and to furnish us with all graces necessary to make our persons acceptable, and our actions wellpleasing in the sight of God. And thus I believe the Holy Catholic Church. 90 A LOVE TO PUBLIC WORSHIP, AND PLACES DEDICATED TO IT, RECOMMENDED. [JOHN ROGERS, D.D.] PSALM lxxxiv. 1. How amiable are thy Tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts! THE composure of this Psalm is, with some uncertainty, ascribed either to David when he fled from Saul into the land of the Philistines, or when he was driven from Jerusalem by the rebellion of his son; or to some later prophet, speaking in the names of the captives at Babylon. The latter conjecture appears the less probable, because many expressions here used can hardly be reconciled to the state of the Jewish worship in the days of the captivity, when (as Jeremiah laments) the tabernacle was taken away, the places of assembly destroyed, and the solemn Feasts and Sabbaths forgotten. But, whoever was the author of this Psalm, there appears in it the character of a truly devout soul, breathing forth his affections to the service of God, and all that related to it. In application of this Scripture, I shall endeavour to recommend his example to your imitation, as it expresses,-I. A devout affection to the public worship of God; and for the sake of that, II. To the places dedicated to it; for the tabernacles of the |