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A23668 A perswasive to peace & unity among Christians, notwithstanding their different apprehensions in lesser things Allen, William, d. 1686. 1672 (1672) Wing A1068; ESTC R38421 62,276 166

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considerable hath betrayed many a one into that which St. Paul calls vain jangling 1 Tim. 1.5 6. The end of the Commandment saith he is Charity from which some having swerved or not aiming at as it is in the Margin have turned aside to vain jangling VIII Direction To the keeping of the Unity of the Spirit in the bond of Peace it s greatly necessary to take heed of dividing Principles Because these especially are the spring of irregular motion of breaking asunder instead of Uniting There are indeed other causes of unlawful divisions and separations but they scarce ever proceed to any height in producing such effects without this Pride Self-conceitedness Uncharitableness and affection of singularity are also causes of this evil but these usually Act under the colour of some one or more mistaken Principles I shall instance in some of them and insist the longer upon them because they are the Weapons in which Church-Dividers do usually put their trust Some of them relate to the qualification of Church-Members and the constitution of Churches some to the Worship performed in Churches and some to the Magistrates Authority enjoyning that Worship I shall begin with what concerns the qualification of Persons of which Churches are constituted I. Dividing Principle to be avoided That Churches Founded in Infant-Baptism are not to be held Communion with This tenet is built upon a supposition that Baptism administred to Infants is a Nullity is invalid and no Baptism and that therefore Churches made up of Pedobaptists are no true Churches To this I have two things to say 1. That they of this way will never be able to prove Infant-Baptism a Nullity 2. That if they could prove it an errour yet they cannot prove it to be an errour of that Nature as will be a sufficient ground of separation First they will never be able to prove it a Nullity and till they do prove it to be so they will never be able to justifie separation upon account of it For if they pronounce them no true Churches and renounce Communion with them upon that account they must prove their charge or lye under the blame of a false accusation and an unjust separation It lyes on their part to prove their refusing Church-communion with such to have a sufficient ground to justifie their practice If ever they prove Baptism administred to the Infants of Believers to be a Nullity it must be 1. By disproving their Church-Relation And 2. By proving their exclusion out of Christ's Commission to Baptize and thirdly by proving that the ends of Baptism are not attained when administred to them And that they are never like to do this consider what I have to offer to make you think so 1. That they cannot disprove such to be of the Church if they should atempt it I have two things to lay in their way First that the same Jewish Children which were visibly of the Church immediately before their Parents became Christians at the first ☞ continued to be so after The reason of which affection is this Because they were not under the dischurching cause of as many of the Jews as were dischurched and that was unbelief and wilful disobedience in rejecting the Gospel of which they could not be guilty by any Act of their own or of their Parents as imputed to them Because of unbelief saith St. Paul they were broken off Rom. 11.20 See also John 8.35 If it be said they were dischurched in the dissolution of the Jewish Church-state in general it is but an evasion which will not help them for the fore-cited Text is flatly against them For all that were not broken off by unbelief did continue unbroken off that is they still kept their place and standing in the Church of God And therefore to assign any other cause of dischurching any than the Scripture hath assigned or at least any other without this here assigned and determined by the Apostle is too great presumption and such as will not satisfie an impartial mind Secondly our Saviour hath declared little Children to be of the Church when he said of such is the Kingdom of Heaven Mat. 19.14 If any by Kingdome of Heaven have a mind to understand it of the Kingdom of Glory yet they may remember that none are of the Kingdome of Glory who were not first of the Church first of the Kingdome of Grace here So that it comes all to one understand it of which you will If they shall say that by Such here is not meant such in age but such in quality such as are like Children in Humility and Innocency The scope of the place and the purpose to which the words are applyed will not suffer them so to understand them For the words of such is the Kingdome of Heaven are our Saviour's reason by which he would take off his Disciples from hindering little Children properly taken from being brought unto him and of justifying their practice that brought them Suffer little Children to come unto me and forbid them not saith he for of such is the Kingdome of Heaven And if we should understand by such not such Children properly but Men like such in quality we destroy the force and sence of our Saviour's reason and render it wholly inconsequent For it doth not follow at all that because the Kingdome of Heaven is of other Persons like little Children in some other things but altogether unlike them in what was the matter of exception against their being brought to Christ which was their minority or infancy that therefore little Children properly understood ought to be suffered and not forbidden to be brought to Christ Such a rendring the sence would fasten a fallacy of four terms on our Saviour's words of putting one thing in the premises and another in the conclusion as you will see if you cast them into a syllogism Besides our Saviour plainly declared the Relation of little Children to himself when at another time he taking a little Child said Whosoever receiveth this little Child in my Name receiveth me Luk. 9.48 For how could a little Child be received in his Name if it were not visibly related to him To receive one in Christ's Name and to receive one because he belongs to Christ is one and the same thing Mark 9.41 1. If such Children then are of the Church and Related to Christ to Baptize them cannot be proved unlawful And the reason is because the same thing which qualifies any Persons for Church-Member-ship qualifies them for Baptism And Baptism is a sacred Rite of Christianity instituted by Christ solemnly to publish and declare such to be of the Church as are Baptized it is a Christian badge to declare to whom they do belong There is one Body and one Baptism for all of that one Body Ephes 4.4 5. 1 Cor. 12.13 2. If the Infants of believing Parents be of the Church it cannot be proved that they are excluded out of Christ's Commission to be Baptized Mat.
their contrary wayes And if the Lord in such a case will not despise or judge such an one so as to condemn him though under a mistake but of that Nature as certainly he will not but pity and pardon him for he hath compassion on them that are ignorant and out of the way much less should we who are fallible our felves and compassed about with infirmities Who art thou that judgest another mans Servant saith our Apostle to his own Master he standeth or falleth every one of us shall give an account of himself to God Let us not therefore judge one another any more ver 4.12 13. for that is a judgment belongs not unto us There is one Law-giver and one Judge who art thou that judgest another Jam. 4.12 That is what dost thou make thy self to be that darest to undertake such a thing And as we should be afraid to judge one another so we should of despising one another in any case like that before mentioned for our Saviours serious caveat against it argues it to be both much against his mind and of dangerous consequence to our selves and others Take heed that ye despise not one of these little Ones Mat. 18.10 He knew that his little Ones because but little Ones in knowledge and grace that have little of these to render their fellowship much desirable are apt to be neglected and slighted and to be thereby discouraged and turned aside he therefore cautions those that are stronger to take heed lest they should be betrayed into any carriage towards them as signifies their slighting of them Our Saviour had shewed before how sad a thing it would be for any Man to be instrumental in turning any weak Christian aside by any undue carriage towards him when he said in ver 6. Wo be to the World because of offences c. and wo be to him by whom the offence cometh And it would be far more Christ-like of whom it is said He shall not break the bruised Reed nor quench the smoaking Flax to use more care pains and tenderness towards the weak and feeble to preserve and increase that little spark of Christianity in them though it be no more and though there be no more appearance of it than there is of fire when only smoak can be discerned then towards those that are strong and do not stand in so very much need of tenderness in our carriage and applications to them Which also agrees excellently well with St. Paul's Metaphorical Discourse in 1 Cor. 12.23 24 25. Those Members of the Body which we think to be less honourable upon these we bestow more abundant honour and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness For our comely parts have no need but God hath tempered the Body together having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked that there should be no Schism in the Body implying that certainly there will be where such care tenderness of proceeding is not used towards such as are least accounted of in the Church Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down and the feeble knees and make straight paths for your feet by removing all discouraging impediments out of the way lest that which is lame be turned out of the way but rather let it be healed looking diligently lest any fail of the grace of God Heb. 12.12 13 15. How far all parties of Men among us have made themselves guilty of breaking the Peace and Unity of the Church by this unchristian despising and judging one another concerns them to consider and the guilty to repent of what is past and to reform for time to come that they may not be judged and condemned by God for what they have done That 's the second Direction III. Direction Those that would keep the Unity of the Spirit in the bond of Peace must be careful to forbear all hard speeches and ill reflexions on them that differ from them especially tale-bearing backbiting and whispering They must make no ill representation of one another behind their backs by raking up and then scattering abroad all the evil they can or whatever may tend to the disparagement or reproach of such as differ from them Because if they should be guilty herein though they may think thereby to weaken the Reputation of the Cause they oppose yet in truth they will be so far from reconciling their Opponent to their Cause as that they will thereby dishonour it and render it the more suspected and Communion with themselves so much the less desirable and all their own arguings the less available and by-standers the readier to fall in with those of a better behaviour as judging thereby their Cause to be better though in it self it should be worse for a good Cause may be spoiled in the handling All such unchristian carriage tends to exasperate imbitter and provoke the Spirits of their Opponents both against them and their Cause and to widen the breach more and more and to set them at the greater distance and to make them the more irreconcilable A froward Man soweth strife saith the Wise man Prov. 26.28 Grievous words stir up anger and the forcing of wrath bringeth forth strife and the words of a tale-bearer are as wounds Prov. 15.1 and 26.22 and 30.33 So true it is that the wrath of man doth not work the Righteousness of God Jam. 1.20 It is not for the interest of the Truth nor doth it any wayes advantage the cause of God No if any Man would see any good effect of his endeavours towards the Uniting of Men if he would see the Seed he sows come up let him be sure to avoid all harsh and unpeaceable proceedings therein The Fruit of Righteousness is sown in Peace of them that make Peace Jam. 3.18 The Servant of God must not strive but be gentle to all 2 Tim. 2.24 As we must follow Peace with all Men Heb. 12.14 So in order thereto we must speak evil of no Man Tit. 3.2 IV. Direction In Order to our keeping the Unity of the Spirit in the bond of Peace we must study rather to agree with than to differ from one another and be more sollicitous to find out what will bring us nearer together than what will set us at a greater distance And this is one way of following after the things which make for peace and of studying to be quiet to both which we are exhorted Rom. 14.20 1 Thes 4.11 And to this end I shall recommend these three things 1. To make Conscience of endeavouring as truly and sincerely to find out what may make us of their mind that differ from us if it be to be found out as what may tend to make them of our mind We should be as much afraid of offending against the publick Peace and Charity of the Church as against Truth of being guilty of Schism in practice as of error in judgment and take as much pains to keep our selves from a causless differing from others