against Matters of Faith Essential to Salvation For 1. 2 Tim. 2 22. We are commanded to follow Righteonsness Faith Charity Peace with them that call on the Name of the Lord out of a pure Heart but such as Err in fundamentals of Salvation thereby declare their Hearts to be unwashed with Regeneration and the Renewings of the Holy Ghost and therefore we should not hold our Communion with such at the Lords Table 2. It farther appears to be the Duty of Christians to separate themselves from the Communion of all those that hold such Erroneous Doctrine Col. 2.20 Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the Rudiments of the World why as tho' living in the World are ye subject to Ordinances Touch not taste not handle not which all are to perish with the using after the Commandments and Doctrines of Men which things have indeed a shew of Wisdom in Will-worship and Humility and neglecting of the Body not in any Honour to the satisfying of the Flesh Here I shall observe that the Apostle having in the foregoing part of this Chapter warned the Colossians against the Traditions of Men and the Rudiments of the World viz. to beware of Phylosophy and vain Deceit of the Jewish Ceremonies and other voluntary Worship and Humility he delivers them a general command that they should not Touch Taste nor Handle viz. no ways to meddle with that which others perish with the using after the Commandments and Doctrines of Men tho' others use them yet we are strictly prohibited in the least to Touch or Taste of their practical Ordinances or of their Doctrines for these also are there forbidden because the command hath a reference to the Rudiments of the World Ver. 20. which signifieth the first Teaching or Instruction a beginning a Principle and hath respect to Matters of Faith Ver. 3. to 10. Seeing therefore we are forbidden to Touch Taste or Handle the Commandments and Doctrines of Men then surely we ought not to be in full Communion at the Lords Table with Persons that hold such Erroneous Principles for our Assenting to their right of Communion with us is an owning their Principles as truly fundamental to Salvation and so we either virtually deny our own to be such or confound the true Profession of our Faith to the hazard of Mens Souls or else admit of Persons to partake of the Holy Supper that apparently have no right to it for want of those Gospel Principles that are essential to their visible Interest in the Obedience Sufferings and Resurrection of Jesus Christ either of which is a Sin 3. It appears from Gal. 1.6 7 8. that we should not hold Communion at the Lords Table with Persons that hold such erroneous Principles for the Apostle saith I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the Grace of Christ unto another Gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the Gospel of Christ But tho' we or an Angel from Heaven preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you let him be accursed And in the following Verse he repeats it over again and in Chap. 5.12 he saith I would they were even cut off which trouble you Now if we duly search after the Cause of this censure we may plainly see that it was not for bringing in of another Gospel but as the Apostle saith because there were some that troubled the Church of Galatia with perverting the. Gal. 6.12 Chap. 5.3 Gospel of Christ by constraining them to be circumcised and so to become Debtors to do the whole Law And we find by the Apostles Discourse that they sought to be justified by the Works of the Law Chap. 2 c. as Chap. 2.16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the Works of the Law but by the Faith of Jesus Christ even we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by the Faith of Christ and not by the Works of the Law for by the Works of the Law shall no Flesh be justified And Chap. 4.21 Tell me ye that desire to be under the Law do ye not hear the Law So that the perverting of the Gospel before mentioned was by bringing in of the Works of the Law for Justification and this we find was made a Matter of Separation the Apostle wishing the Persons even cut off or accursed that so troubled the Church of Christ which to apply to some in our present day I shall here note that altho' those Jewish Christians that held it needful to be circumcised and so endeavoured to bring the Gentiles under the Law for Justification to Eternal Life did it in a Mcsaical formal way which Christians now repugn by denying that formal Obligation to keep the old Law yet as their Principles oblige them to seek for Justification by works of Obedience to a new Law under the Gospel which they have no Power in themselves to perform their Principle with the case of the Church of Galatia respecting the effect is in substance the same and therefore there is Reason founded on Scripture for us to withdraw or remove our Communion from all Persons that are leavened with the works of the Law for Justification whether it be under the form of the Law or of the Gospel Administration Gal. 5.9 1 Cor. 5.8 For that being called Leaven seeing Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us we are commanded tho' on a different occasion to keep the Feast not with old leaven neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness but with the unleavened Bread of of Sincerity and Truth Observe it well we are here forbidden to eat the Christian Passover or Lords Supper with the old leaven c. and are commanded to keep it with Truth And therefore we should not have Communion in that Ordinance with fundamental Errors in the Christian Faith 4. The Apostle saith Rom. 16.17 Now I beseech you Brethren Mark them which cause Divisions and Offences contrary to the Doctrine which ye have Learned and avoid them 1 Tim. 6.3 4 5. And Paul commanded Timothy to withdraw from such as taught otherwise and consented not to wholsome Words even the Words of our Lord Jesus Christ and to the Doctrine which is according to Godliness c. And we are exhorted earnestly to contend for the Faith which was once delivered unto the Saints Jude 3. Phil. 1.27 And to stand fast in one Spirit with one Mind striving together for the Faith of the Gospel and therefore we are not to unite our selves into one Body with Persons that erre from the true Faith for as two cannot walk together except they be agreed Amos 3.3 so if we are not united in one Faith we shall quickly be contending and striving with each other and not together for the Faith of the Gospel 5. It is said by way of Politive Command A Man that is an Heretick
Math. 18 15 c. tho' they more particularly respect corrupt Manners or immoral Wrongs and offences of Brethren against Brethren comprehending a Prohibition of lesser as well as grosser Evils as appears from the Authority of other Scriptures Exod. 23.1 Thou shalt not raise a false report put not thine hand with the Wicked to be an unrighteous Witness Psal 15.2 3. And David shews us who shall abide in the Lords Tabernacle and who shall dwell in his Holy Hill He that walketh uprightly he that backbiteth not with his Tongue nor doeth evil to his Neighbour nor taketh up a reproach against his Neighbour c. And Psalm 101.5 Whoso privily slandereth his Neighbour him will I cut off And the Apostle saith Rom. 3.8 And not rather as we be slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say let us do evil that good may come whose Damnation is Just And in 2 Thes 3.11 to 15. we are commanded to have no company with such as through Idleness eat not their own Bread but are busie Bodies And 1 Cor. 5.7 8. Purge out therefore the old leaven that ye may be a new Lump as ye are unleavened For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us Therefore let us keep the Feast not with old leaven neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness And ver 11. He saith I have written unto you not to keep Company if any man that is called a Brother be a fornicator or covetous or an Idolater or a railer or a drunkard or an extortioner with such an one not to eat And in Gal. 5.19 20 21. See also 1 Cor. 6.9 10. 1 Tim. 1.9 10. Col. 3.9 Now the works of the flesh are manifest which are these Adultery fornication uneleanness laseiviousness idolatry witchcraft hatred variance emulation wrath strife seditions heresies envyings murders drunkenness revellings and such like as all lyars Rev. 21.8 of the which I tell you before as I have also told you in time past that they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God And then surely none of those evils tho' of the lesser sort of them when known to us should be suffered in the Communion of a Gospel Church And in Math. 7.12 Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you do ye even so to them for this is the Law and the Prophets So that whatsoever wrong is done to any contrary to this general precept it is a breach of the Moral Law Math. 19.19 Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self And therefore such Offenders should not without Repentance for their Sin be suffered in our Holy Communion at the Lords Table But some may think that all those particular evils in Gal. 5.19 20 21. come not under the Cognizance and Judgment of the Church for excluding of those who are guilty of them from Communion To which I shall briefly say That tho' there may be some kind of immoral Variance Emulation Wrath and Strife that may not arise to so high an offence if they be only suddain passions that are soon over yet where there is a sixed Variance between Brethren that shews it self to proceed from immorality Or Emulation from a striving to exceed in Envy or Disdain or in Wrong to another or malicious anger without a cause there we have ground for Exclusion from Communion as our Saviour saith Mat. 5.22 to 25. Whosoever is angry with his Brother without a cause shall be in danger of the Judgment Therefore if thou bring thy Gift to the altar and there remembrest that thy Brother hath ought against thee leave there thy Gift before the altar and go thy way first be reconciled to thy Brother and then come and offer thy Gift These Words notwithstanding there are some old Testament Terms used were spoken for Direction to us under the Gospel for Christ in this Sermon was Gospelizing the Law And therefore I gather from them that in Case a Person trespasseth against his Brother he should not offer his spiritual Gift in publick Church Worship till he hath reconciled himself to him and then it consequently follows that the same trespass which debars him from offering his Gift upon the Altar whatever is meant by it does also debar him from his full Communion at the Lords Table And seeing from this Scripture he ought of himself to forbear his Communion till he be reconciled there is likewise Reason for the offended Brother or the Church if the Case be known to it to forbear his Communion with him or withdraw it from him till he giveth satisfaction by Repentance for the same immoral Trespass which forfeits his present Priviledge to Minister in publick Church Worship does also forfeit his Priviledge of Commuion with it at the Lords Table Moreover it is worth our Observation that the Word Therefore if thou bring thy Gift to the Altar refers the Reason of this Exclusion from Communion to the Evils in the foregoing Verse as the cause thereof which is for being Angry with a Brother without a cause for saying to his Brother Raca that is dull blockish See Dutch Annot. or vain or thou fool in disdain reproach and envy So that as on the one hand we are forbidden on forfeiture of our Church Communion to cast contempt reproach and scorn upon any Brother for his weakness in the Faith or for his natural Infirmities and to bear a sixed anger without a cause So on the other side nothing is here intended by our Saviour to forbid an intelligible expressing of our Detestation and Abhorrence of that which is Evil as we are commanded Rom. 12.9 2 Cor. 7.11 Ch. 10.6 and as also we are allowed to use a holy Indignation and Revenge against all disobedience yet so as to consist with Love and Pity to Mens Persons 3. Under this Head of Diseourse concerning corrupt Manners or evil Actions we may bring many other particular Cases for which Offenders ought to be withdrawn from and without Repentance for their Sin they should not be suffered in the Communion of the Visible Church of Christ As 1. For breaking the Christian Sabbath in disobedience to the Fourth Commandment and the Example of Christs Apostles and the Primitive Churches 2. Eph. 6.1 2 5. For being disobedient to Parents and Masters in Lawful and Reasonable things 3. For a Rebellious breaking Covenant with a Church of Christ when it is not in Case of Conscience of Moral Necessity nor of real Expediency 4. For taking the Holy Name of the Lord our God in vain Gal. 5.19 21. 2 Tim. 3.2 to 6. 5. For Lasciviousness mentioned before which is Lecherousness or Wantonness in Behaviour and for many other Sins some of which are particularly expressed and others are included under the general Head of Trespasses against the Moral Law Secondly It is the Duty of Christians to withdraw their Communion in Church Fellowship from all those that hold erroneous Doctrine in or
into one Spirit Here is say some a Baptism mentioned by which they are brought or initiated into this Body viz. the Church Ver. 28. but say they it is the Baptism of the Spirit and not of Water Answer That which is called the Baptism of the Holy Ghost Acts 1.5 Ch. 2.12 were those extraordinary Gifts of the Holy Spirit which Christ had promised his Disciples they should receive not many days hence and was fulsilled on the day of Pentecost Acts 10.44 45 46 and given to others afterwards And we no where find the common Gifts and Graces of the Holy Spirit called Baptism And therefore this Baptism in the Text having some Relation to these excellent Gifts as appears in the preceeding Verses it must be understood either only of those extraordinary Gifts of the Spirit in the Ministry whereby the Primitive Gospel Ministers were qualified to break down the middle Wall of Partition and unite all both Jews and Gentiles Bond and Free that were Effectually called into one Body or visible Church-state or rather thus that the Apostle speaks of the Gentiles with himself and other Jews that through the extraordinary Ministration of the Spirit were baptized with Water-Baptism into one Body For seeing it cannot rationally be supposed that those of the Church of Corinth to whom the Apostle could not speak as unto Spiritual 1 Cor. 3.1 2. but as unto Carnal even as unto Babes in Christ Or that every individual Believer included in the Text was Baptized with the Spirit but as it s said by the Spirit as the efficient cause It then follows that the Baptism in the Text must be taken for Water-Baptism considering also 1 Cor. 12.1 that those Brethren the Apostle wrote unto with himself and other Jews are said in the Text in Distinction to Baptism to have been all made to drink into one Spirit which Expression is far short of being all personally baptized with the Baptism of the Spirit and therefore to me it clearly appears that the Baptism spoken of in the Objection must be taken for Water Baptism as it s said Act. 18.8 that when the Corinthians had the Gospel preached to them many of them hearing believed and were Baptized viz. not many of the Church then already formed into an orderly Church-state Ver. 10. 1 Cor. 3 6 10. Ch. 1.12 but many of the People of that City Believed and were Baptized and so the Apostle laid the Foundation of the Church of Corinth and planted the same which Apollo watered III. Object The Apostle Paul saith That Christ sent him not to Baptize but to preach the Gospel 1 Cor. 1.17 Answer The Apostle Paul was Baptized himself Eph. 4.4 5. and he tells us that there is one Body one Spirit one Lord one Faith one Baptism viz. one Water-Baptism because it is here distinguished from the Spirit as pertaining to the Body or dwelling in its Gifts and Graces in the Church And he also instructed the twelve Disciples at Ephesus to be Baptized Acts 19.3 4. tho' they were Baptized before with Johns Baptism And he Baptized Crispus and Gaius and the Houshold of Stephanus so that if he were not sent to Baptize 1 Cor. 1.14 16. he acted beyond his particular Commission and had not so much Authority as other Gospel Ministers received from the general Commission given to them and therefore the Apostles meaning is That tho' his Commission to Preach and Baptize was as large as others yet his work was not so much actually to Baptize and spend his time in that Service as to preach the Gospel he being extraordinarily Gifted thereunto for he was counted the chief Speaker Acts 14.12 and those Ministers that were his Companions being qualified to Baptize were doubtless helpful to him in that Service for when he preached to the Corinthians it is said not only Crispus and all his House believed but many of the Corinthians believed and were baptized So that Pauls Expression that he was not sent to Baptize is to be expounded as it s said of Christ Joh. 4.1 2. that tho' he made and haptized more Disciples than John yet Jesus himself baptized not but his Disciples and as when Peter had preached there were other Gospel Ministers with him who did Baptize otherwise Peter himself could not have baptized in one day about three thousand Souls And so we find Acts 2.41 that Paul had Silas and Timotheus with him at Corinth when so many of them were Baptized and that as a Son with the Father so had Timothy served with him in the Gospel And therefore the Text being fairly and most properly thus expounded the aforesaid Objection is invalid and cannot prove an Admission to Church Communion without the Ordinance of Water-Baptism IV. Object Gal. 3.27 As many of you as have been Baptized into Christ have put on Christ From whence it hath been said that some of the Members of those Churches were not Baptized Answer To explain the Mind of the Holy Ghost I shall here recite the preceeding Words Ver. 26. For ye are all the Children of God by Faith in Christ Jesus and then it follows Ver. 27. For as many of you as have been Baptized into Christ have put on Christ From whence I observe that the Word all ver 26. is in ver 28. put for the same Persons to shew there is no Distinctions of Acceptance of Persons in Christ Jesus whether Jews or Greeks Bond or Free Male or Female all are one and by Faith in Christ are alike the adopted Children of God and so the Word all must be understood in ver 26. as having Relation to ver 28. and not of every individual Member of those Churches of Galatia for who can think they were all viz. every individual Person of them really the Children of God seeing they were so far Apostatized as that the Apostle said he was afraid of them least he had bestowed on them labour in vain And then Ch. 4.11 if the Word all must be restrained to all those only or to so many as were the Children of God by true Faith in Christ it is put for no more than the Word many viz. for so many or all of them as had received both the inward Grace as well as the outward putting on the visible Profession of it by Water-Baptism And the like instance we have that the Word all is restrained to many Rom. 5.18 compared with ver 19. And therefore the aforesaid Scripture can be no Proof that any Persons were admitted into Church-Communion without Water-Baptism And farther to clear this Objection from Rom. 6.3 There is this to say that that Epistle was written to all that were in Rome beloved of God called to be Saints which comprehendeth a Direction of that Epistle Rom. 16.5 14 15. not only to one or more particular Churches in the Order of the Gospel but to all the Saints in Rome beloved and called of God