LARGE AND SURE FOUNDATIONS Matth. 16.18 Upon this Rock will I Build my Church LONDON Printed in the Year 1693. THE PREFACE THESE Papers were drawn up some time ago and are the result of Setled Thoughts for many years They are made short and plain and cast in amongst others if possibly they may help to unite us in Interest and Affection and to make the Publick Settlement of Religion at any time more Large and Strong to our great Advantage every way Some hopes of this are raised by the Inclinations of many and the several Pieces lately Publissh'd to this end as besides many that I may not have seen or heard of The Heads of Agreement assented to by the Vnited Ministers Free Thoughts occasioned by those Heads Mr. Barker's Sermon on John 21.17 at the Consecration of the Arch-Bishop of Cant. The Grand Question Writ as 't is said by Dr. Woodroff Dr. Sherlock's Sermon before the Lord Mayor Nov. 4. 1688. To which I may add the Spirit of the Church Faction for it is that only and not the Church that violently opposes all Reformation The Design of laying down this great Principle and the Inferences from it is That Persons who have Power may not impose Vnnecessary Things but give all the Liberty that may be this being most pleasing to Jesus Christ and most for strengthning the Publick Settlement That People may joyn with others in the Worship of God as much as may be and not give way to Scruples and Opinions that make them separate needlesly Imposing and Opposing needlesly ruin us much That if People cannot joyn with others constantly yet that they will do it sometimes both those that cannot approve what is publickly injoin'd and they that injoyn those things or in their places practise them That if any cannot do that yet that they will own those they cannot joyn with if they build on the true Foundation for true tho' distemper'd Churches of Christ and unfeignedly seek their good That if they cannot do that through some strict Notions of a Church they are possessed with yet they will own that many amongst them may be sincere Christians and love them as such And that all kindness may be shewed to all Men even to all sorts that Err and are deceived according to the Will and Command of our Lord Jesus Christ whose Kingdom shall stand for evermore But if God for Holy ends shall yet suffer Narrow Foundations and their Wicked Consequences as he doth Plagues and Wars to continue amongst us and in the World why should we complain We are Wanton Humorous Foolish and should be undone without often and sharp Corrections and our God hath used to carry on his Kingdom by the Testimony and Sufferings of his People tho' he sometimes gives them rest that they may multiply Rev. 12.11 Acts 9.31 thereby to set forth his Power and Glory To him we chearfully submit yet endeavouring according to our duty in our places that Princes and People may be found in his ways Isa 61.11 and that Righteousness and Praise may spring up among us and before all Nations Some Passages out of BOOKS that came out since these Papers were drawn up THE Pious and Famous Mr. Robert Boyle who lov'd no Practice that seem'd to lessen the Christian Religion The Bishop of Sarum's Serm. at his Funeral Decem. 1691. p. 25. p. 27. thought pure and disinteressed Christianity a Bright and Glorious thing Hated those Opinions that seem'd to him to destroy Morality and Charity had a most peculiar Zeal against all Severities and Persecutions upon the account of Religion and was observed seldom to speak with more heat and indignation than when That came in his way Union Pursued Printed 1691. in a Letter to Mr. Baxter concerning his late Book about National Churches that Presbyterians and Independants may both be Vnited with the Church of England to which is added a small Tract lately put out called A Draught for Accommodation Dr. Patrick Bishop of Ely Complains Serm. before the Lords Nov. 26. 1691. on Deut. 4.9 p. 12. that many were kinder to the Papists than to the Protestant Dissenters that the Papists their sworn Enemies made them their Tools to destroy each other We to repent truly of this and take heed lest our Affections that seem'd to be disposed to Reconciliation be again alienated one from another We ought to have a greater kindness for Infidels p. 15. than many of us had lately one for another Did we not begin to reflect with grief upon our Zealous folly p. 17. Did we not resolve to be Friends upon some terms or other and to joyn together for our mutual Preservation And do we now break out again into the said Outrages Do our Spirits boil up with anger at the very mention of Reconciliation c. His Prayers for Charity Peace and Vnity The Prayers Appointed for the Publick Fast in the Year 1692. The Church of God is Built on Large and Sure Foundations THE Blessed God whose tender Mercies are over all his Works hath a Company of People in the World call'd his Church which he purchased by the Blood of his only Begotten Son Acts 20.28 and calls by his Word and Spirit to know and serve him so as to set forth his Glory here and obtatin Everlasting Salvation This Church or Congregation of God for so the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Signifies is call'd by several Names as the Kingdom of Christ the Flock of Christ the Body of Christ and is oft call'd a House and said to be built upon a Foundation Isa 28.6 1 Pet. 2.4 5 6. And this House of God being very great must needs have a great and large Foundation Solomon said the House he was to build for God was great and the Foundation of it was Great and Costly how much Greater must the Spiritual House of God be which reaches over all the World Not only through Pontus Galatia Asia Cappadocia and Bythinia which sounds great but through all Nations and Ages It s Foundation must by no means be narrow vile or weak Now the Foundation of this House is JESUS CHRIST and the great Truths Concerning him reveal'd to us by God in his Word not Humane Reason 1 Cor. 3.11 Eph. 1.20 21 22. nor the Traditions of any Men whatsoever but the Foundation of the Apostles and Prophets Jesus Christ himself being the Chief Corner-stone in whom it grows up into a Holy Temple for a Habitation of God through the Spirit Yet all things reveal'd in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament are not the Foundation upon which Christ's House or Congregation is built for many of those things are for the Superstructure and Perfecting of it but only the Great and Main Things concerning Jesus Christ our Saviour which are necessary to be believed and practised by all and therefore the Churches Foundation is Large and sure This is manifest every way First From the Holy
Scriptures of the Old Testament how few things were necessary to be explicitely believed then Of the New Testament when all things were clearly reveal'd and setled only the Great things were required then St. Peter said Thou art Christ the Son of the Living God and Christ said upon this Rock will I build my Church c. And again thou hast the words of Eternal Life and we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ Mat. 16.16.18 Joh. 6.68 69. the Son of the Living God Christ our Lord when risen from the Dead and had opened his Disciples Minds to understand the Scriptures ordered them to Teach all Nations Mat. 28.19 20. and to Baptize them in the Name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost and then to Teach them to observe all things whatsoever he had commanded them but not whatsoever they should devise Philip tells the Eunuch if he believed with all his heart he might be Baptized Acts 8.37 and was satisfied with this Confession of his I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God St. Paul many years after writing to the Romans saith if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus Ro. 10.9 10. and shalt believe in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved for with the heart Man believeth c. And tells us what he had Preached to the Corinthians that they might be Saved How that Christ died for our Sins according to the Scriptures and that he was Buried 1 Cor. 15.1.4 and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures c. St. John saith 1 Joh. 3.23 This is his Commandment that we should believe on the Name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another as he gave us Commandment And thus Obedience to the great Commands of Christ whether only revealed by him or also written in our Hearts is a necessary part of our Religion as well as the Belief of his Great Truths To love the Lord our God with all our heart and our Neighbour as our selves For Christ is the Author of Eternal Salvation to those only that obey him Mat. 22.37.39 Hebr. 5.9 2 Tim. 1.13 and we are to hold fast the form of sound words in Faith and Love which is in Christ Jesus And thus we find the Apostles practised They bore with many that held the true Foundation but taught and did amiss they bore with those at Jerusalem that were Zealous of the Law Acts 21. Rom. 14. They reprov'd those at Rome who despised them that durst not eat all things and those who judged them that durst eat all things but bore with both and Exhorted them to do so to one another And so in other places of the Acts and the Epistles they oft reprov'd and taught Believers better but never denied them to be of God's Church and no wonder since it pleases God not presently to Cure all whom he truly Converts of their Errours but usually doth it by degrees See Vossius and Usher de Symbolis Secondly The Ancient Practice and Creeds of the Church teach this for they are generally very short and contain only the main things of our Religion and agree in sense tho' not in the very words We may see this in Justin Martyr's Apollogie in Irenaeus Grotius on Mat. 28.19 l. 1. c. 2. l. 3. c. 4. in Tertullian de velandis Virgin c. 1. de Praescriptionibus c. 13. contra Praxeam c. 2. And so for a great while after tho' by degrees they grew larger yet not much as we see in most of them we now use And the Creed at first was only in those words at Baptism In the Name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost Thirdly Reason also speaks this fully that all things which are for the perfection and well-being of a thing are not necessary to the Being of it This holds true in all Persons and Things both Natural and Civil and must do so as to the Church of God All Rooms in the same House are not equally furnished or perfect yet are parts of the House And why not so with God's House Else a great many of his true Churches will be denied to be parts of his Universal Church and several Parties will in their Judgment cut off one another from it which is a heinous Sin how light soever some may make of it Fourthly The Judgment of Great Men tho' differing in many other things fully agrees in this with Scripture Reason and Antiquity I by no means build on this yet mention it to remove the strong prejudices that possess many and shut out the Truth Many Years ago reading Arch-Bishop Laud's Book against Fisher §. 9 I observ'd divers good Passages against narrow Foundations that * De noâ—â—s Eccl. c. 8. Bellarmin makes the Greeks no Church and so denies them Salvation that a chief means whereby Rome grew to her Greatness was to blast every Opposer by the Name of Heretick or Schismatick that in things necessary we have an absolute certainty in the Scriptures Creeds and the Four first General Councils §. 10. and in other things not absolutely necessary if Christians differ it is no more than hath been in all Ages more or less and yet may and do preserve one necessary Faith and Charity entire §. 38. And again that there 's a Latitude in Fundamentals for to whom much is given of him much shall be required as well in Belief as in Obedience the Sum of Obedience being in Mat. 22.37 39. and of Faith in Hebr. 11 6. or Act. 4.12 L. 3. de Trinit ad finem Instit l. 4. c. 1. and Cites Hilary In facili nobis est Aeternitas Jesum suscitatum a mortuis per Deum credere Ipsum esse Dominum confiteri In this he agrees with Calvin Sunt quaedam ita cognitu necessaria ut fixa esse omnibus oporteat §. 12. qualia sunt Unum esse Deum Christum esse Deum Dei Filium in Dei misericordia salutem nobis consistere Alia controversa quae Fidei Unitatem non dirimunt c. Multitudes of Foreign Writers might be alledged but I chuse rather to keep to our own Country Printed before His History of Scotland Arch-Bishop Spotswood in his Will briefly summed up the things in the Apostles Creed That God is one in 3 Persons the Father Creator of all things the Son made man in the fulness of time who by his bitter Death and Passion having redeem'd Mankind from death ascended into Heaven from whence he will come to judge all flesh and the Holy Ghost proceeding from the Father and the Son the Sanctifier of all that believe That this God hath chosen to himself a Church the Members whereof living in Communion tho' never so dispers'd shall by his infinite mercy receive remission of all their sins and being rais'd in their Bodies at the last day
do always for in many cases we do things sometimes for several Reasons which we will not may not do always Hundreds of Instances might be given and strong Reasons too By this Rule we should be bound constantly to Communicate with the worst Churches that we think we may Communicate with sometimes but if we could sometimes Communicate with the Greek Churches in their way would we always do it if we could do otherwise Or with the Lutherans would we always do it Or if the Lutherans could joyn with us as the Synod at Charenton in France permitted them to do would they do it always Or if the Nonconformists can joyn sometimes with Churches where there are corrupt and unprofitable Ministers scandalous and malicious People divers bad impositions and an exclusion of some things that Christ hath given for the Churches benefit must they do so always Besides this would tempt the Nonconformists wholly to leave the Conformists Churches for the Conformists argue thus All Churches that may be sometimes Communicated with ought always to be Communicated with But the Conformists Churches say the Dissenters may sometimes be Communicated with therefore they ought always be Communicated with But the N. C. hereupon will argue thus Those Churches we may not always Communicate with we may never Communicate with so say the Conformists But the Conformists Churches may not always be Communicated with say the N. C. Therefore they ought never be Communicated with And this Arguing will be stronger with the N. C. than the other because they are more strongly perswaded they ought not always to joyn with the Conformists than that they ought to joyn with them sometimes But this Principle is deeply laid in the hearts of many N. C. Reformation but not Separation and they say tho' they cannot Conform they must Preach and strive to save Souls and in their places to reform what 's amiss tho' they say the Conformists Churches are not unlawful to be Communicated with They own them as true Churches and would help on the work of God that is done in them and believe the Conformists also should own them and be glad of their assistance 7. Seventhly That Wickedness in Heart and Life against Christ's Commands destroys the Church as well as Errours against his Truths For a profession of Obedience to Christ is as necessary as a profession of his Truth and a sincere Obedience is as necessary to make one a true living Christian as an unfeigned belief of the Truth It 's wickedness that tears the Church of God amongst us and abroad more than any thing and Love which includes Holiness Unites it most and builds it up 1 Cor. 13. It 's not so much difference in Judgement that causes our Divisions as the wickedness and hatred of the Power of Godliness and those that own it tho' of the same way with them and it 's wickedness that chiefly leads People into bad Opinions They therefore go against the Foundation of the Church that neglect it and countenance the debauch'd World Mr. Baxter's Book of Cain and Abel or the formal dead World and those that hate God The great Enmity lies here between the Godly and the Wicked the Seed of the Woman and the Seed of the Serpent and they do not build up but pull down the Church that take part with these Luke 12. Our Lord came to send Fire on the Earth not Peace but a Sword And whence is this but from the wickedness of Men that Fights against him 8. Eighthly That Persons may be true Christians tho' they Err and go much against this main Truth * Yet he that hateth his Brother is a Murtherer and no Murtherer hath everlasting life abiding in him 1 Joh. 3.15 Tho' they be Ignorant or Err in divers useful Truths and be Zealous for their Errours Tho' they Practice divers things in their Lives and in the Worship of God which they ought not Tho' they impose their Errours and Practices on others as necessary to Communion with them Tho' they Vex Fine Imprison Banish and use Cruelties against those that differ from them Tho' they say those that joyn not with them are no true Churches nor can be Saved And much more those that own others for true Christians and Churches and Persecute them not tho' they dare not hold Communion with them when they might and ought For many of these tho' they sin and many of them very greatly may not be in a state of Damnation for they may do such things ignorantly through Custom Weakness or Temptation and may have in their Hearts true Faith in Jesus Christ and Love to him and his Saints and be saved by a General Repentance The Lutherans generally will not joyn with the Calvinists nor our Conformists with the sober Dissenters nor the Anabaptists with either and who dare say that all of those are in a state of Damnation Thus we see what need all sorts of Christians have of this Charitable but true Principle and they especially that are so forward to impose upon others and exclaim against them and Fine Trouble and Punish them too But though some of these may be Saved it highly concerns such to look well to themselves that they be of that number and not like those Jews of old that strove to make the Scriptures serve their Gain and Ambition Grotius on Mat. 21.38 thereby killing the Heir that they might be Great and Rule the People 9. Ninthly Hence it plainly follows that this is the only true way to build up the Church of God Not for People to Conform to all things in the places where they shall live nor to require all to agree to all things taught by Christ or invented by Men and root out all that comply not nor to make forms of Agreement in such words as several Parties keeping their Opinions may agree in as Melancthon Bucer and others in the beginning of the Reformation did but plainly to lay down the great Things of the Gospel wherein we agree omitting other things wherein we differ and bearing with each other and mutually loving and assisting each other These Large and Sure Foundations will certainly lead us to this and all that can be said against it is but the effect of Prejudice or Interest The Lutherans and Calvinists by this means might have United and a miserable Breach have been prevented 'T is not so small a thing we aim at as an Union between the Presbyterians and Congregational for wherein almost do they differ Nor only with the Godly Episcopal Men at home but with all every where that build on the true Foundation and hold nothing that overthrows it as gross Idolatry and damnable Heresies do To approve what is good in all and to cleave to what we judge best To Communicate with others at least sometimes and if we cannot do that yet to love them as the Servants of Christ and seek their good What mischiefs have been in the