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A77477
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Sound considerations for tender consciencies wherein is shewed their obligation to hold close union and communion with the Church of England and their fellow members in it, and not to forsake the publick assemblies thereof. In several sermons preached, upon I Cor.1.10 and Heb.10.25. By Joseph Briggs M.A. vic. of Kirkburton, in Yorkshire
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Briggs, Jos. (Joseph)
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1675
(1675)
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Wing B4663; ESTC R229475
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120,197
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291
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their office to watch over their souls unwearyedly to spend and to be spent to win them to Christ And so in spiritual regeneration as in natural regeneration it is love that begets Children unto Christ And on the other hand the people should be as careful of love to their Ministers Saint Paul records of the Galatians k Gal. 4.15 That they would have pluckt out their very eyes to have given them unto him far short of the Galatians are those that muzzle the mouths of the oxen that should tread out the corne That abridge the hire of the labourer and withhold the Churches right The Galatians was willing to forsake the dearest things they had in the world their very eyes if not their life for the Gospels sake and its ministry l Gal. 6.6 Let him that is taught in the word communicate to him that teacheth in all good things So I say consider what love is commanded by God from Ministers to their people and people to their Ministers But on the other hand see from whence all variance betwiâ—â— them comes even from the Devils craft and malice for no way hath he more effectual to hinder the efficacy of the word then this His five thousand years experience hath taught him that it is to little purpose to mutter a syllable directly against Gods word he sees no likelyhood to beget in Christians especially in Protestants adirect hatred of the word as such His policy then directs him to work obliquely to distil into mens hearts a hatred of their Ministers so to make them set at naught the word they preach This is the devils craft Now consider lastly how unreasonable this is what is the matter Is there some petty quarrel betwixt you wipe it of are there some occasions of disaffections look it be not causless as for the most part they are Do they reprove your sins drunkenness or sacriledge or perjury or rebellions or prophanations of Gods day or the like Alass they would not do it but in love to your souls they would have your good will and gladly be beloved of you if they durst forbear to please you but necessity lies upon them to cry a loud and not to spare to tell Judah of her sins and Israel of her abominations should you not then rather love then hate them for this and say let the righteous smite me and it shall be a kindness for faithful are the wounds of a friend but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful m Prov. 27.6 All these considerations do bid you shake off anger envy and despight by all means not to entertain the least seed thereof No evil reports no Idle accusations against your Pastor n 1 Tim. 5 19 But rather to pray for them to God to deliver them from unreasonable men o 2 Thes 3.1 And as St. Paul speakes of Epaphroditus to receive them in the Lord with all gladness and hold such in reputation p Phil. 2.29 Laying a side all malice and guile and evil speaking as new born babes desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow thereby and then I dare say you will find no cause of forsaking the publick assemblies of the Church for your Pastors sake which was the second grand motive we propounded to consider why men are willful to forsake our Church assemblies as the manner of some is Besides these two grand occasions of forsaking the assemblies there be others we need not speak so largely of because being but named they cannot but be abhorred and being seen they discover their own nakedness such are these following 1. Some forsake the assemblies and separate themselves from us out of mear Ignorance takeing offence at many things in our assemblies causelesly or without any weighty reason they do not and are not able to distinguish between the essentials and circumstantials in Religion and so look upon any supposed mistake in the latter with detestation proper only to the perversion of the former and thence violate charity and break communion with those that hold the same faith with them These eager Spirits having a zeal without knowledg blow up minute differences with lasting contentions They raise disputes about a pin or a nail of the Temple that even endangers the whole fabrick they set the same value upon the leaves and bark of the tree as upon the fruit it self they make ado a bout a nail or tile of the house as if it were of the same concernment with a pillar or a beam they look upon that as simply evil which is onely so in some respects as it is wrong circumstantiated or which is onely not perfect in all degrees whereas did but men deliberately prize that which they oppose and proportion their displeasure to the just weight thereof their contentions would soon be calmed and never become quarrells with the Church of God Nay indeed in many it is meer sottish Ignorance that is the cause of their forsakeing the assemblies of the Church of God they was never grounded in the first principles of the Oracles of God and especially they would never learn their obligation to the Church they was baptized in to hold communion with it Perhaps these men will say they would fain do right and go the right way but they would never hearken to their right guides but gave their ears first to seducers being a little too much affected with that shew of piety they saw in them they put themselves wholy upon their directions and examples and so are carried hoodwinckt or blindfold into Schisms and damnable errors Thousands there be that have separated themselves that are meer Ignorants silly women especially that was alwaies learning but never came to the knowledg of the truth having better affections than principles whom because they would not receive the truth in the love thereof God hath given up to strong delusions to believe lies and so in some that 's one cause of their forsakeing the assemblies meer Ignorance 2. This Ignorance is oftentimes proud or conceited So that 's another cause damnable pride The wisest of men arraignes this vice as the ring-leader of divisions q Prov. 13.10 Onely by pride cometh contention Indeed there are few sins unto which pride is not either a parent or nurse but above all Schism and Heresie hath its immediate discent from it having so many lineaments and features of this deformed mother See some of these heads very largely and learnedly discoursed of by the author of the whole duty of Man in the causes of the Decayes of Christianity to whom I here acknowledg my self much indebted as sufficiently attests its extraction It is pride that makes some men dislike whatsoever is not of their own invention or whatever is imposed by their superiours or whatever others have a hand in whom they contemn or hate be it never so good or true or what is contrary to that they have formerly maintained and they are
leave not thy place E sede itio may with a little heat turn into sed itio saith Doctor Reynolds Quidam in corpore Christi oculi quidem manus saith S. Basil All are not eyes and hands in the Body of Christ to take upon them the burden of great affairs Are all Apostles saith S. Paul are all Prophets are all Teachers hath not God dealt to every man a several measure hath he not placed every man in a several order have we not all work to do in our own places must we needs rush into the labours and intrude our selves into the business of other men Haec magistro relinquat Aristoteli canere ipse docet It was a sharp rebuke of Tully against Aristoxenus the Musitian who would needs turn Philosopher whereunto agreeth the Answer of Basil the Great to the Clerk of the Emperours Kitchin when he jeered him for his soundness against the Arrian Faction 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Your business it is to look to the seasoning of your Broth and not to revile the Doctrine or Doctrines of the Church All these do commend the Apostles Exhortation unto you let every one study to be quiet to do his own business * 1 Thes 4.11 The Connexion more than intimates the next way to be quiet abroad is to be busie at home We shall never learn well to be quiet unless we learn also to keep our own business The excellent Bishop Lany hath fully discovered See Doct. Lany Bishop of Ely upon this Text. how guilty of the contrary hereof are both the Pope the Covenanter and Sectary in his Sermon on this Text Quietness is the natural and genuine effect of orderly keeping in our Callings and Stations and our own business For all discord must be between two either persons or parties and that which commonly kindles the Fire is envy or some supposed injury Now he that minds his own business only can give no occasion to others of either envy or complaint and so in recompence of keeping to his own business he shall sit quietly under his own Vine and under his own Fig-tree Let none of us then out of ambition discontent emulation or any other Polipragmatical distemper grow weary of our own imployments and interpose our selves in things that are without and above our order But according to the Apostles rule n 1 Cor. 7.24 Let every one abide in his calling and keep the station wherein God hath set him and this will be an excellent help to our speaking the same things our unity unanimity and uniformity and that there be no divisions amongst us 8. To this add also Remember that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 injoyned by the Apostle o Rom 12. be wise unto sobriety When you are 〈◊〉 deal with things divine set bounds 〈◊〉 your selves that you break not through to gaze p Exod. ◠12 21. think not to draw every thing in Religion to the rule of your own crooked presumptuous Reason to give a quo modo of every thing in Faith Upon this account it is that S. Paul charges the Colossians q Col. 2.8 to take heed of Philosophy and vain deceits not but that there is admirable use of sound Philosophy and of Reason raised and rectified so long as it is subordinate to Faith but when Reason shall be so proud as to judge of Faith it self and admit or reject it as it shall be consonant or disagreeing to her prejudice this is a Tyranny which will quickly overthrow all Other cause than this there hath been none of the desperate Heresies wherewith the Socinians have pestered the World but that they will have all truths to stand or fall at the Tribunal of their presumptuous Reason Happy we and the Church of God if all curious Novelties in sacred things be esteemed prophane Modesty becomes Christians especially cum de Deo agitur as Seneca said be we wise to sobriety This would confer much to our speaking the same things and to take away divisions from amongst us and of this advice the two next will be a sull explication and improvement So let that be the 9. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 keep your selves close to the form of sound words r Rom. 10. ◠2 Tim ◠13 Those words and Doctrines which accord best with the grounds of Faith and love in Christ those which ascribe most glory to God and the Grace of God and which most conduce to the humbling and abasing of the pride of man which most tends to the practice of godliness to the purifying of Conscience and edifying of the Body of Christ It is a weighty saying of S. Austin ſ De Civ Dei lib. 10. c. 23. Non parum inter est ad Christianam pietatem quibus vocibus utamur It is of no little moment to Christian Piety what words we use they must be according to godliness t 1 Tim. 6.3 and our knowledge the knowledge of the truth according to godliness To which add 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Be sure to retain and bear reverence to the customs of the Church of God Contra fundatissimum morem nemo sentiat u Aust ep 28. Let no man be in love with his private sentiments contrary to the Churches well-grounded Customs Nemo nobis molestias exhibeat sic enim sentit ac docèt Sancta Dei Ecclesia ab origine Epiphan in Anchorat Let no man trouble us in these things for thus the Holy Church thought and taught from the beginning In quibus nihil certi statuit Scriptura mos populi Dei instituta majorum pro lege tenenda sunt saith S. Austin * A known place Where the Word of God determines no certainty and where there is no express and evident variation from Divine Authority there must be the Customs and received practices of the Ancient and pure Ages of the Church and Constitutions of her Pastors be retained as a Law and to contemn and oppugn them he somewhere calls it insolentissima insania a most proud or insolent madness only this Rule must be qualified with this necessary limitation that no Authority hath any Authority in matters of Faith Worship or Doctrine of Religion to prescribe or deliver any thing as in it self and immediately obligatory to Conscience which is either contradicted or omitted in the Word of God for that we believe to be fully sufficient to make the man of God perfect and thoroughly furnished to every good work x 2 Tim. 3.16 17. but as for matters accessary of indifferency order decency and inferiour nature and in matters of testimony to the truths of Scripture and for manifesting the succession flourishing and harmony of Doctrine through all Ages of the Church the godly Learned hath ascribed much to the Authority and usage of the Ancient Churches the study of the Doctrine whereof Vide Littler's Reformed Presbyte rian Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity Mr. Baxter's Disputation with several other Authors the