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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A30579	Gospel-conversation: wherein is shewed, I. How the conversation of believers must be above what could be by the light of nature. II. Beyond those that lived under the law. III. And suitable to what truths the Gospel holds forth. By Jeremiah Burroughs, preacher of the Gospel to Stepney and Criplegate, London. Being the third book published by Thomas Goodwyn, William Greenhil, Sydrach Simpson, Philip Nye, William Bridge, John Yates, William Adderly.	Burroughs, Jeremiah, 1599-1646.; Goodwin, Thomas, 1600-1680.	1650 (1650)	Wing B6076A; ESTC R213106	221,498	277

better Portion that God hath not put you off with the Portion of this world 1. Oh bless the Lord for His goodness to you the Lord He hath shewed you better things than these are your line is fallen into a good ground you have a goodly inheritance When David looked at the prosperity of wicked men his conclusion is in Psal 73. 13. I have clensed my heart in vain and washed my hands in innocency but guide me with Thy Counsel and afterward bring me to Thy glory 2. Be content with thy portion here do not murmur and repine for though thou hast not so much as others have yet thou hast that that will make thee happy for ever I remember that Hierom in one of his Epistles tells of one Dydimus that was a learned godly Preacher but blind Alexander comes to him meeting of him and asks him What are you not troubled for want of sight And he indeed confessed it was a very sore affliction to him then Alexander begins and chides him What hath God given you that that is the excellency of an Apostle of a Minister of Christ and are you troubled for want of your sight that a pismire may have that a brute beast yea the very Pismires the want of thy sight of that that Mice and Rats may have are you troubled at that and rather not taught for to bless God that hath given you so great a mercy as to make you such an instrument in his service So may I say to you that are godly Hath God given you Jesus Christ hath God given you His Son hath He given you His Spirit hath He given you Himself to be your portion And are you troubled that you have no more of that that beasts may have as well as your selves Oh be ashamed of any mournful discontentments for want of the comforts of this world And then 3. Do not envy at any wicked men for their portion I remember a story that I have heard of a poor Souldier that was condemned to die meerly for taking a bunch of Grapes from a Vine for there was a strict Law that whosoever should take anything from that place they went thorough should die for it and he had taken a bunch of Grapes and he was condemned to die and as he went to Execution he went eating of the bunch of Grapes and some came to him and said Thou should ' st think of somewhat else he answered I beseech you Sirs do not envie me my Grapes they will cost me dear So may I say of all the men of the world we have no need to envie them for any thing they have it will cost them very dear And lastly 4. Do you live like such as God hath not put off with the Portion of this world Manifest it in your conversations that you look for higher and better things than the things of this world shew they are but slight in your eyes Zebulun and Naphtali did jeobard their lives they did look upon their lives as little worth for that cause So look upon your estates as dispicable be willing to improve them all for the publick good in a publick cause yea to jeobard not Estates only but your Names your Liberties and your Lives and those that shall do so those whom God hath given hearts to do so amongst you perhaps some of you may look upon them as men in a sad condition Oh such a man in such a place is look'd upon and he is like to be undone if not his life in danger but such a one that shall out of a good principle be willing to venture his life and estate and appear in a good Cause that man shall be most honored and look'd upon as the most happy man of all and indeed herein he shews himself to be a man that looks for an higher portion than these things here as those in Heb. 11. 14. By that they said and did they shewed plainly they looked for another Country So see you men that might live as comfortably for outward things as you and did their consciences give way they could be as quiet as you but conscience puts them upon it that seeing God cals them to a publick place they should be content to put all at Gods feet now though you may think it hard and they are in most danger they shew plainly they are men of another country and should be most honored and take but this principle with you The more any one gives up his estate the more comfort he hath in his estate whether in the enjoyment of it or in the loss of it I express it thus When one resigns up all he hath his Estate Liberty Name Life to God the oftner it comes into Gods hands the better it comes when God gives him them again A carnal heart when once he hath these things he will not trust God with them but he will have them at his own keeping but now a gracious heart though he hath all these from God yet every day he is willing to give up all to God and to trust God with them again though he be a rich man he is willing every day to come and beg his bread at his fathers gate and give up all now he gives up all in the truth of his heart to God and God gives him it all again so long as in a lawful way he enjoyes it he hath it afresh from God now this I say The oftner any thing comes out of Gods hand the sweeter and better it is wicked mens estates come but once out of Gods hands and therefore there is not so much comfort in them but a godly mans estate comes an hundred and an hundred times from God for every resignation gives it to God and God gives it him again and therein is comfort and Oh! blessed are they that live so as that they declare they look for another Country and that their Portion is not here let the men of the world think them foolish that they will venture themselves so God and His Saints have declared that their Portion is not here Secondly To you all the word of Exhortation from God is That every one in this place would put on to make more sure of another Portion besides the Portion here in this world Put on Why First You are all made capable of higher and better things than the things of the world are never a one here but hath an immortal soul and therefore is capable of communion with Father Son and holy Ghost and that is another manner of business than to eat and drink and have pleasure with the flesh here a while Hath God made your Natures capable of such glory Do not debase your selves and that Humanity God hath put into you to satisfie your selves with husks when there is meat enough in your fathers house and He may be your father for ought I know and therefore put on And Secondly Let the poorest sort put on to have but

they do differ in their judgments yet if they can keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace I say it 's a great honor to the Gospel than if they were all of the same mind You know the Turks they are al of one mind but I cannot say so of the Papists yet they have a chain to keep them together We read of the Egyptians that when it was darkness among them they sat still and kept close together but when it came to be light every man went about his own business so when light doth begin to break forth and there 's liberty given to search into truths we cannot imagin that at the very first men should be of the same judgment except they will give up their consciences and sacrifice their reason one to another but though they be not of one judgement yet there may be kept a blessed unity of affection there may be a golden girdle clapsed about their loins yea and of practice so far as men can with peace of conscience and joy in the holy Ghost so as not to sin against conscience and light Unity of affection and practice should be endeavored to the utmost and it is a most Christian thing so to do and certainly this should be studied and endeavored by us as much as lieth in us Me thinks when I reade over the Epistles of Paul or any part of the new Testament I see nothing more pressed than this next to beleeving in Jesus Christ and therefore it should be the care of Christians And as it ought to be the care of Christians to study unity and peace so I beseech you that small differences may not be abused and heightned so far as because some do differ from others that therefore presently if they be the least part especially all the odium should be cast upon them though they can appeal to God that they do endeavour to know the mind of God and to keep unity so far as they can without sin And we shall see that the Scripture doth never lay the sin of devision upon any except those that do lay it upon them are able to say that those make division from some corrupt end or other of their own and then it charges them deeply as that place is most famous that you have in Rom. 16. 17 18. and I verily perswade my self that there is many of your that hear this text very much abused Now I beseech you brethren mark those which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned and avoid them This is the great place against that sin which we call schism for schism is nothing but a rending asunder That cause division schism contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned and avoid them Now you know the sin of schism was cast by the Popish Bishops heretofore upon all that would not be of their minds in any ceremonies and will-worship and because many would not come up to the Rails and submit to receive the Lords Supper by kneeling in that way that it was then admistred by our Prelatical Priests therefore they were termed schismaticks And so at this day many cry out of others if so be they cannot swallow Camels with them if so be they differ in some things wherein they cannot joyn with them because it would be sin and a snare to them they presently say they are guilty of schism and faction There is a great deal of taking Gods Name in vain in this thing yet they do not tell you what the true nature of schism is but if any persons joyn not with the greater part which is usually least conscientious that 's schism in an high degree this is not that that becomes the Gospel presently to judg all that differ from us But mark the next words and there the Apostle tells what schism is First it must be contrary to sound doctrine for saith he They that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ but their own belly and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple The Apostle could take it upon his conscience by seeing the behaviour of these men that the cause why they differed from others it was not out of tenderness of conscience and desire to know the mind of God but by their behavior he saw enough to satisfie his conscience their Conversation gave their profession the lye and therefore saith he avoid such So I confess if men can take it upon their consciences as they would answer to Jesus Christ I see such and such men to differ thus but I can appeal to Christ in it that upon these and these grounds I am perswaded it is not out of tenderness of conscience and I am verily perswaded that there is no willingness in them to know the mind of Christ but it is to serve their own carnal ends and purposes I confess if we can take this upon our consciences as we will answer it to Jesus Christ that there are such and such grounds upon which we beleeve Christ wil so account that such men do not differ through their tenderness but from their own carnal ends these men may be accounted schismaticks This is the sin of schism when through want of love and to serve their own by-ends men shall rend one from another But now is it possible to think that the holy Ghost should lay so great a load as to command the Saints to avoid such persons upon men whose consciences are upright with God sure when a man shall be able to appeal to God and say Lord thou that knowest all things knowest that it is the desire of my soul to know thy will and I search for it and pray for it and it is the affliction of my soul that I differ in any thing from my brethren that I see to be godly and if I knew thy mind thou knowest I would quickly close with them and account it the greatest happiness that can befall me in this life to shake hands with them in such and such particulars But thou hast laid this charge upon me that I must do what I do out of faith and I should sin against that rule of thine if I should yeeld to that that I see no footing for out of thy Word Now if a soul should make this moan to Jesus Christ do you think that Christ would account this man a schismatick and that he must be avoided and persecuted 〈◊〉 a schismatick no certainly there 's a great mistake in this and this is meerly for want of charity and that which the holy Ghost is so bitter against is when men for want of love to their brethren and for to serve their own base ends make breaches and rents in the Church judge such now to be guilty of the sin of schism and no other for that is to break unity to judge others guilty of schism meerly because they differ from you and cannot reade by your spectacles these

dishonor upon him yet this Saul had mighty power over his Spirit he was very meek and a quiet man in the first of Samuel 10. 27. the text saith He held his peace when the Children of Belial said What have we to do with him 4. Though he were quiet in his own cause yet he shewed himself to have an excellent spirit of Government in him in a publick cause he was full of anger when it was for the good of the people that he was a Governor over though quiet in his own in the first of Samuel 11. 6. When he heard of a dishonor done to the people of Israel the Text saith that his anger did rise within him an excellent pattern for all Governors for all in publique places to be very silent and quiet self denying putting up wrongs in their own cause but to be full of zeal for the publick cause to reserve their spirits for a publick good Many there are in publick places that when they are anger'd in their private cause how full of Spirit they are and they spend their Spirit there so much that they have no spirit at all when it comes to a publick cause Saul went beyond them in this 5. Saul was one who was much troubled at the sin of the people against God not only had a spirit to vindicate a publick wrong but when he saw the people sin against God his heart was much troubled at their very sin and seemed to be grieved for it and mighty solicitous and careful about it to prevent sin in the people this you shall have in 1 Sam. 14. 33. they told Saul there That the people had sinned in eating with blood upon that Saul shews himself displeased Come saith he and do not sin against the Lord roul a stone to me hither and so he would see with his own eyes that they did slay the Cattel and they did powr forth the blood that they might not sin against God in eating blood this was his care 6. Saul he was very careful to enquire of God what he should do in businesses of great consequence in the 37. ver of that 14. chap. of the 1 of Samuel there he would not go out till he had first enquired of God Yea more than all this 7. He was a man that had a very reverend esteem of the Prophets of God when Samuel came to him in the 1 of Samuel 15. 13. O thou blessed of the Lord saith Saul to Samuel Yea yet further than this 8. When Samuel shewed unto him what his sin was in the 30. ver of that 15. chap. he comes and confesses it before the people and saith I have sinned I have sinned against the Lord meerly at the conviction of one Prophet Yea yet more than this 9. God seemed to be with Saul very much and to shew great respect unto him to make him an Instrument of much good to Israel He granted unto him as glorious a victory as ever man had in this world for so we may cal it and if there be any outward thing in the world might be gathered as an argument of Gods love then such a remarkable victory as he had over his enemies the victory you shall find in the 1 of Samuel 13. 5. and so reade on afterwards in that Chapter and the next you shall find there that the Philistims were risen up against him and Israel and there were thirty thousand Chariots of his Adversaries of the Philistims and six thousand horsmen and people as the sand of the Sea for multitude besides all this Wel here was a mighty Enemy What had Saul to oppose these You shall find in the 2. verse of that 14. chapter that there were but six hundred men with Saul here was of one side thirty thousand Chariots here was six thousand horsmen here was people as the sand of the Sea without number and Saul had but six hundred with him at this time yea and of those six hundred there was not any one of them that had a sword but only Saul and Jonathan for the Philistims were wise enough to disarm all the Malignants that they accounted so and would not let so much as a Smith be amongst them they would not only take away their Arms but they would look to them to see that they had no arms supplied unto them that was the wisdom of the Philistims yet we find if you reade afterwards in the Scripture that God was so far with Saul that he blessed him and gave him victory over all these Besides all this 10. God blessed Saul with a very gracious Child a godly son of a sweet nature Jonathan which indeed if any outward argument in the world might be an argument of Gods love that might be But now put all these things together and yet here is the man that hath his Portion in this world I now challenge the man especially one I challenge him that hath certain evidence of a mighty work of God upon him in Christ let him shew me greater arguments of Gods love to him than Saul might have done and yet it proved to be Sauls Portion that he should have only his portion in this world God herein shews that His mercy is His own and that He will let out His mercy as He pleaseth It is your Fathers pleasure to give you a Kingdom The Father doles out the Portion as He pleaseth unto His Children God will let the Line of His mercy to go thus far to one and there stop and so far to another and there stop and then come in a cross line again unto them God so disposes of his mercy that there are some that shall have Heaven and Earth to be their portion and their portion is blessed indeed There are some that shall have Earth but not Heaven and their portion is poor and mean and sad there are others that shall have Heaven but not earth and their portion is good And there are others that shall neither have Heaven nor Earth and their portion you 'l say is miserable indeed Gods mercy is His own to dispose of as He will We reade that Abraham in Gen. 21. 14. He cals for Ishmael and Hagar and he gives them a piece of bread a bottle of water and sends them away there 's an end of them So Jehoshaphat in the 2 of Chron. 21. 3. He gave his other son saith the text gifts but the Kingdom he gave to Jehoram So God hath people to whom he gives pieces of bread bottles of water yea some to whom he gives great gifts in this world but he keeps his inheritance for his Isaac He keeps the Kingdom for Jehoram Esau he had his portion in this world and such a portion as he thought to be a very good portion in Gen. 33. 9. Brother saith he I have enough Most rich men are complaining they go not so far as Esau they have their portion and yet complain of it Esau hath his portion and

them First They begin to envie others that live better than themselves and after having envied them then they will begin to have their hearts rise against them and to hate them and after hating to speak against them and after speaking against them to persecute them and thus by degrees men that have been forward professors now they grow as bitter persecutors as others Oh therefore look to your Conversations And that should have been the exhortation Christians be careful of your Conversations in your families be careful there Psal 101. 1. you have an excellent Scripture of Davids professing his care of his Conversation in his familie how he would walk I will behave my self wisely in a perfect way when wilt thou come unto me I will walke within my house with a perfect heart Oh I beseech you look to this Scripture I will behave my self wiselie in a perfect way mark I 'le look that my way may be perfect everie way right and square to the world and when it is so I will labor to behave my self wiselie I will not carrie my self foolishlie in those waies that are good and then Oh when wilt thou come unto me Mark it was a time that God was absent from him and yet then he professes that he will behave himself wiselie in a perfect way and I wil walk in my house with a perfect heart There are some that make profession of Religion indeed and if you come to them before other companie then their conversations seem to be very fair and square but if you do but follow them to their families and see what they do there Oh those that live with them in their families after they have been abroad in companie shall see in what guiz they come home Shal they see their conversations to be holy as becomes the Gospel of Jesus Christ But thus it was with David saith David Let those that live with me in my house mark me as narrowlie as they can I will walk in my house with a perfect heart what I am in the Congregation or among those that are godly or any company I will be in my family that those in my family shall see my Conversation to be thus and thus Oh that professors of Religion would look to this not only to live before others in the parish or the town where they live but to walk in their familie with a perfect heart so as all in their family may even bless them and say Oh how doth my Master or Mistriss walk how graciously in their whol course from morning to night observe them in all their waies and you shall not be able almost to see anie miscarriage in them Oh that 's excellent when a man shall have a better testimony even from those in his familie than from those that are strangers it may be they think though thou makest profession of Religion yet all things are not answerable but those that see it everie day can testifie all things are answerable thus it should be w th every Christian that professes the Gospel to walk with a perfect heart in the midst of his family so to converse in the world Divers Arguments I shall give you to stir you up to look to your Conversations 1. Arg. First It is the mercy of God that you have your Conversations among men to this day that you have not your Conversations among Devils and Reprobates it might have been your portion that your Conversation might have been among Devils and Reprobates God might have sent you down to your own place to have conversed with them Let this be an Argument for you to look to your Conversations 2. Arg. Secondly consider this Wicked and carnal men among whom you live have no skill in the principles that you walk by but they have skill in your lives and Conversations they are able to pass judgment upon your lives and Conversations but not of your principles Godlie people are acted by such and such principles that are mysteries to carnal men but when it comes to their lives they can understand them they cannot search into their principles whether such a Doctrine be true or no or such a thing be according to such a Scripture whether there be a right interpretation of such a Scripture that carries them on in such a way they take no pains to look after this but they look to your lives there they have skill to discern how you walk and whether you walk to the rule or not in your lives and Conversations and therefore let it be your great care to look to your Conversations 3. Arg. A third motive is this There are some things that you cannot but do that will displease wicked men if you will act according to your Principles Well but this should make thee so much the more careful of thy Conversation in all other things that so wicked men may be convinc'd that if such men do some things that I do not understand yet surelie it is for some thing that God hath made known to them more than to me for I find this that in all things that I do understand there they walk exactly therfore though there be some things that they do that I cannot understand why should I be enraged against them As now in point of institution of Worship which doth not depend upon the light of Nature at all but meerly upon Scripture and such and such interpretations of Scripture and such principles wicked men have no skill in Now the professors of Religion they are tyed up by institution and by the words of Scripture thus interpreted which they think in their consciences is the truth they having compared all things together think this is the mind of Christ rather than the other and so long as they think thus they must follow it Now there 's many of these things that carnal men understand not for they take no pains to search into them and therefore they will be angry with you for them and indeed they will have cause to be angry with you for those things they understand not if they see you make no conscience of those things that they understand but if in other things that they do understand you walk circumspectly and that it appear to them that in those things they understand they walk conscionably then they will beleeve that it was meer conscience that made you differ from them in those things which they understood not or had no skill in this will make them ready to stand for you yea to speak and plead for you no such way to get true libertie of conscience as this is if you be careful to walk blameleslie in all those things that they understand with whom you converse they will be convinced in their consciences that if these men differ from us it 's conscience that makes them differ for say they we find that in all those things we understand these men walk conscionablie Certainlie a holie Conversation will

God for Christs sake hath forgiven you Set the example of God before you what God hath done for you for Christs sake and let that be the great motive Do not only argue thus well I would be forgiven if I had offended and I would not have another to bear anger and malice against mee and therefore I will not be angrie with them nor malign them this is a low principle but if I find that this is revealed in the Gospel that the Lord for Christs sake hath forgiven me and it 's this that quiets my passion when I feel my corruption rising and stirring against any that hath offended me when I do but think of Gods mercie in forgiving me for Christs sake this quiets me I this is somewhat like as becomes the Gospel of Christ when we walk upon such principles as these are And so you have it in Col. 3. 13. Forbearing one another and forgiving one another If any man have a quarrel against any even as Christ forgive you so also do ye It is very unbeseeming such as profess the Gospel of Christ to be quarrelsome with their neighbours Now you shall have some that are of very meek and quiet dispositions naturally I love to live quiet say some men thus far thou maiest come by the light of Nature not to love to quarrel But now when any doth cause any quarrel doest thou labor to quiet the quarrel upon this ground Evn as Christ forgave me O I have found the Lord Jesus Christ notwithstanding my wretchedness against Him and all the wrong I have done Him He hath forgiven me and therefore seeing Christ will not take advantage against me as He might I will not take advantage against another Is it upon this ground And dost thou raise thy Conversation with thy Neighbor in keeping from quarrelsomness and contentiousness dost thou naise it to this height upon this ground so to forgive as Christ hath forgiven you I will not forgive only in this particular or in this lesse offence But as Christ hath forgiven me We shall still have further occasion to mention these things in opening the sutableness of our Conversations to the Gospel that is for the point of Justice it must rise higher than that of doing as we would be done by And then for grosse sins thou keepest from them thou thankest God thou art no Swearer no Drunkard no Whoremonger such kind of notorious sins thou art not guilty of but what art thou in respect of inward sins what art thou in respect of secret sins Mark that Scripture in Matth. 5. 10. saith Christ there I say unto you That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees you shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven We shall likewise speak further of this when we open that of the Law that our Conversations must rise higher than the Conversations of those did that lived under the Law or else it doth not become the Gospel of Christ You shall find further in the Chapter how Christ would raise them higher than meerly not to commit adulterie or to be openly prophane Verse 17. Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time Thou shalt not commit adultery But I say unto you That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart And if thy right eye offend thee pluck it out and cast it from thee for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish and not that thy whol body should be cast into Hell And then If thy right hand offend thee cut it off And so in the point of Anger in the 21 22. verses Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time Thou shalt not kill and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the Judgment But I say unto you That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment and whosoever shall say unto his brother Racha shall be in danger of the councel but wosoever shall say Thou fool shal be in danger of hell fire That is liable to the same judgment that you think murder is Now is your conversations as becometh the Gospel Here Christ is a great Preacher of the Gospel and shews that there is more strictness in the Gospel than ther is by the light of Nature or by the Law or by that that they understand by the Law This the light of Nature doth dictate that men should not Kill nor commit Adultrie but now If thy Conversation be such as becomes the Gospel then thou must make conscience of Anger and tremble at that as a natural man would tremble at Murder for that becomes the Gospel I say one that is a professor of the Gospel he should tremble at sinful anger as a natural man would tremble at murder for observe it here look what they said murder did make a man liable to the same thing Christ saith Anger would make a man liable to therefore one that would walk as becomes the Gospel must tremble at the inward sin of Anger as a natural man would tremble at the outward sin of Murder And so for Adultry Thou art no Whoremonger But one that professes the Gospel must look at the lusting of the eye and of the heart as a natural man that hath but the light of Nature would look upon the cōmission of Adultrie for Christlaies that upon the lust of the heart that they lay upon the commission of Adultrie This is as becometh the Gospel Further By the light of Nature a man may be consciencious That is make conscience of several sins Q. But now you will say Wherein should a man go beyond this as becomes the Gospel What can any man that professes the Gospel go beyond this of making conscience of a secret sin that though he knew that no bodie in the world did know his sin nay suppose he knew certainlie that it should never be known yet he dares not do it how can a man go beyond that Ans Yes You must labor for the mortification of the body of sin that is within you not onlie to make conscience to keep from the act of secret sins but thy work must be to labor for the mortification of the bodie of sin and death that is in thee that 's that that is reveal'd by the Gospel that no man by the light of Nature ever knew you shall never reade among all the Phylosophers of the point of Original sin nor of mortification of the body of sin and death this the light of Nature never tels So that now when a man come to his height that is first my conscience being enlightned by the Word so that I dare not commit any secret sin for the world though there be none but God and my conscience together but besides that Oh I carry about with me a body of sin and death a root of

seditious this separation from the world it cannot be born there is nothing more provokes the world than separation from the world and therefore no mervail though the people of God be hated in the world and looked upon as the ringleadees of sedition they are separated from the world and translated into another kingdom into a kingdom that is not of this world 7. Vse From hence may appear the wickedness of the world that they should reject Christ and His Kingdom That they should not 〈…〉 it that 's not so much wonder but that they shou●● 〈◊〉 it and persecute it and reject it there appears their wickedness You will say How doth it appear From my Doctrine it appears thus If Christs kingdom be not a kingdom of this world it would do men no hurt at al it no way would hinder any lawful comforts or honors here in this world it is not opposite unto the kingdoms of the world that is so as to hinder any thing that is good in the world the kingdom of Christ may be set up and the world need be never the worse for it Indeed it doth oppose the wickedness of the world but it doth not oppose any thing that they dare say themselves to be good Herod persecuted Christ because he heard a King of the Jews was born But it was without cause Jesus Christ He did not come to take the Kingdom of Herod away from him The Kings of the Earth the text saith they conspire together and are engaged against Christ it is their wickedness Christ He doth not envy them or their Kingdoms they may live and be the Kings of the earth still and yet the kingdom of Jesus Christ may go on the truth is that the kingdom of Jesus Christ doth not intrench upon any Civil Liberty of men and it 's their hatred to it that makes them think it cannot stand with Civil Peace the kingdom of Christ may be set up and Civil Liberty maintained You may have your estates still and yet have the kingdom of Christ and you may be in place of Rule and Government and have outward honors still and yet be of the kingdom of Christ It 's true if you be brought into the kingdom of Christ perhaps God may call you sometimes to suffering but then it is so as you will be willing to it you shall never be call'd to suffering but you shall see cause to be willing to it you shall have as much good by what you suffer as you hav● 〈◊〉 of outward comforts but this I speak that the kingdom of Christ intrenches not upon any Civil Liberties of men they may enjoy all their lawful comforts their Estates their Rule their Government and yet the Kingdom of Christ may flouri●●● Now what a wickedness is this When as Chri●●● would come and set up His Kingdome without any prejudice at all unto the worldly Kingdoms and yet they cannot endure it You would account that an ill neighbour if you should come and live by him and no way prejudice him and yet for all that he would malign you because you do but live by him thus it is with the world they do malign Jesus Christ for living but by them indeed if a neighbor comes and will intrench upon your ground and liberties you cannot bear it Jesus Christ doth not do it One would wonder sometimes why wicked men should be so opposite against men when they come under the Kingdom of Christ more than before I appeal to you when God converts a wife to be under the Kingdom of Christ Doth that take her off from subjection to her husband let me assure you it makes her to acknowledge her husband to be Lord more than before indeed if when the wife were converted it did take the wife from subjection to the husband then there were some reason why the husband should storm at it but when the more the wife is under the Kingdom of Christ the more doth she acknowledg the authority of of her husband over her and so for servants I confess if the bringing of them by the Word under the kingdom of Christ did take them off from their obedience to their Masters and Mistrisses then there were some ground to oppose them from going to hear the Word but when your conscinece tell you that the more they go to hear the Word and are wrought upon by the Word they are the more obedient to you why should you hate them then why should you so malign Christs Kingdom when as Christs Kingdom would help you I appeal to the consciences of divers Masters You have one servant that is prophane another cannot lie in his bed in the morning but he must come to ●●ar the Word now if you had Trust to commit to one of them so that your whol Estate lay upon it Which of these two would you trust your consciences would tell you that that servant that is come under the Kingdom of Christ were rather to be trusted so that you would trust him in a case of great trust and 〈◊〉 your conscieaces tell you that you hate that servant more than the other Now here 's the wickedness of men that they do hate the Kingdom of Christ though the Kingdom of Christ doth not intrench upon them Oh let Christ alone with his Kingdom and do not oppose Him He will not oppose you in any thing that you can desire as a rational man And for the outward Government Christ would have no man to be compel'd to it but those that are convinced that it is the best way He gives no such rules to force any man if you think the Government is to strickt for you that you cannot live under it indeed there may be something used as a natural help some outward means used to take men off from their wantonness and wilfulnes but now if it appear that you desiring to know which is the best way and endeavoring to know and after your desires and endeavors you cannot be convinced that this is the way that you should walk in Christ gives no rules to compel you but if you belong to God He is content to stay till the Word and Spirit ●●all convince you to come under His Government Oh! why should you be against it then when it forces you not to come into it Oh! be not such an enemy to the Kingdom of Jesus Christ but let those that beleeve another way is the way wherein they come most under the Kingdom of Christ and enjoy 〈◊〉 ●ommunion with Christ let them alone in that way especially when they live peacable with you and are every way useful as much as your hearts can desire in all civil things living neighborly lovingly and faithfully with you in all things why should you malign them because you know there is some other way wherein they may enjoy more sweet communion with Jesus Christ than your selves do That 's the seventh Use which shews the wickedness of the world