or for Christ in opposition to his Ministers they pretended to the immediate teachings of Christ and had no need of the Ministry of such as Paul Apollo or Cephas This is the manner of some in our days and it might be the way and manner of some in those days to despise the Ministry and Ordinances of Christ under a pretext of the immediate enjoyment of Christ and inspirations of his Spirit I meet with some Expositors that give this farther account of those who said they were of Christ and so came under the Apostle's reprehension they were such as did appropriate Christ to themselves and those of their own perswasion so the Donatists of old are said to do But whither have I been carried with tracing the footsteps of these factious Corinthians Let me return to what I was upon that is to shew you the commonness of Contentions and Divisions in Churches and among particular Christians It was much after the same manner at Rome as it was at Corinth the believing Romans had their Quarrels and Contentions about observing of Days and eating of Meats See the whole Fourteenth Chapter of the Epistle to the Romans the differences amongst them did grow to a very great heighth the stronger sort did despise the weaker and the weaker sort did judge and censure the stronger The like Divisions and Differences there were amongst the Galathians The Mosaical Ceremonies were a Bone of Contention among them about these and other things they snarled so long till they were ready to bite and devour one another and were in danger to be consumed one of another V. Gal. 5.15 The Ephesians also were not free from these Contentions and Factions Of their own selves did Men arise speaking perverse things and drawing away Disciples after them Acts 20.30 In other Churches matters were much at the same pass as I might shew you and this happened as one observes whil'st the Blood of Christ was yet warm and several of the Apostles were yet alive And as there were these Janglings and Contentions in Churches so also they were not wanting amongst particular Christians What a falling out was there betwixt Paul and and Barnabas There was such a Paroxism so sharp a Contention betwixt them that they could not keep company together but they departed asunder one from another In the primitive times the Christians were no sooner deliver'd from the bloody Persecution of their Enemies but they fell a persecuting one another Socrates tells us in his Ecclesiastical History how when Constantine came to the Nicene Council the Members of that Council were quarelling together and libelling one another to the great grief of that good Emperor Chrysostom and Epiphanius were so angry one with another that Epiphanius wish'd that Chrysostom might never die a Bishop and Chrysostom wish'd that Epiphanius might never go home alive And it fell out to both accordingly Jerom and Ruffinus who were once very intimate and great Friends by and by they fell out and were at Daggers draw they rail'd and wrote one against another Austin writing to Jerom about this matter he bewails it with very pathetical Expressions Wo is me saith he that I can't meet you two together I would fall down at your feet and beg of you for your own sakes for Christ and his Churches sake that you would be reconcil'd one to another In later times Christians were no sooner crept out of Popish Darkness and Superstition but they fell together by the ears amongst themselves What bitter Strife and Contentions were there betwixt Luther and Zwinglius and many others of the eminent Reformers So that Unity is no infallible Mark of a true Church There may as one says well be Unity out of the Church of Christ and on the other hand Contention and Division may be in it Give me leave a little to enquire into the Causes of Contentions and Divisions that are in Churches and among particular Christians 1. The first great cause hereof is the Devil you may plainly see his cloven foot in them he is that envious one that sows the Seeds of Discord in the Field of the Church he labours to keep his own Kingdom in Peace and to cause Commotions and Divisions in the Kingdom of Christ like a Salamander he likes to live in the Fire of Contention Though we use to speak of the Devil in the Singular Number yet there is a Plurality of Devils an innumerable company of those wicked Spirits whose main province it is to promote Contentions amongst God's People I doubt not but there be Legions of them in London who attend at this day upon this very Service They put Enmity betwixt Christians and Christians they fill them with Envying Strife and Divisions Some say the Devils cause Storms and Tempests in the Air Sure I am these blustering Storms of Contention that are in the Christian World at this day and particularly in England and London are rais'd by these Evil Spirits As the Devil hath his Angels so he hath his Agents also among the Children of Men who push forward these Contentions and Divisions All Places are full of such Boute-feus The Scripture calls them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Devils who by their Lies and Slanders and such like means do sow Discord among Brethren 2. Christians themselves are the causes of their Contentions as the Lord said of the Israelites that their destruction was of themselves So I may say of Christians their Divisions are of and from themselves I might here shew you how their different Education their different Interests their different Tempers and Constitutions do occasion Divisions amongst themselves and one another but let me rather shew you how their unmortify'd Corruptions are the main causes hereof These divide Men from God and from one another also James 4.1 There the Apostle asks a Question and resolves it himself From whence come Wars and Fightings among you come they not hence even of your Lusts that war in your Members The Interrogation hath the force of an Affirmation it is as if he had said they do certainly come from thence This is true not only of those Wars and Fightings that are in Kingdoms and amongst Princes but of those Janglings and Contentions that are in Churches and amongst particular Christians Let me instance in some particular Lusts and Corruptions that are the great Make-bates in the World and in the Church 1. The first is Envying or Envy This as I hinted before is the Parent of Strife and Division Hence 't is that Envy and Strife are so often coupled together in Scripture it is because the one is the companion and cause of the other The first strife and contention we read of in the World was betwixt Cain and Abel and what occasion'd it but Envy 'T is said of Joseph's Brethren that they envy'd him and therefore they could not speak peaceably unto him Most of those Debates and Contentions that are in Men and Christians do spring from this bitter Root
The Churches of Christ are cut in pieces like the Levite's Wife by the envy of those that are the Members thereof There is a Spirit in good Men themselves that lusteth unto Envy and where this is predominant there is nothing that can stand before it 2. A second Lust is Pride These two Envy and Pride are Worms that breed in the sweetest Roses The later of these is as productive of Divisions as the former Solomon says Prov. 13.10 That only by Pride comes Contention By only is meant chiefly If there be no cause of contention yet Pride will occasion it Proud persons are always quarrelsom like gouty and swollen Legs they keep at a distance one from another 3. A third is Passion Anger and Strife are near a kin Prov. 29.22 Solomon there says An angry Man stirreth up strife You had the same before in Prov. 15.18 Passionate persons disturb the Peace of the places where they live and the Societies to which they do belong 4. A fourth is Covetousness This is the root of all Evil and more particularly of Strife and Division One says that Meum Tuum make all the stir that is in the World The sweetness of Lucre amongst Men and Christians too is likened by another to Hony that is set before Bears they will fight and tear one anothers Throats out to come at it 5. A fifth is Self-seeking This is the great Incendiary in Church and State it sets Men and Christians together by the ears they that seek and love themselves are ready upon all occasions to fall out with others 6. A sixth is Tale-bearing This is grown an Epidemical Evil and it is the cause of much contention it separates very Friends Solomon says Prov. 26.20 Where no Wood is there Fire goeth out so where there is no Tale-bearer the Strife ceaseth 7. The seventh is Evil Surmising You read of this in 1 Tim. 6.4 and there 't is coupled with Strife and Railing and 't is one great occasion of it By Evil Surmising is meant groundless Jealousie and Suspicion This is contrary to Christian Charity which thinks no evil which believes and hopes all things and takes every thing by the best handle 3. What if I should add in the third place That God hath a hand in those Divisions that are amongst his People 'T is very plain that his hand was in that Division which was between the two and the ten Tribes of Israel Read 1 Kings 12.24 There the Lord tells Rehoboam and the House of Judah and Benjamin Ye shall not go up nor sight against your Brethren the Children of Israel for this thing is from me Compare this with the 15th Verse of the same Chapter Our Saviour tells his Hearers there must be Scandals or Offences and the Apostle Paul tells the Corinthians there must be Heresies and it may as well be said there must be Divisions God doth not only permit but for wise Reasons he doth appoint and ordain them he doth it that the approv'd may be made manifest that the Graces of his People may be try'd and exercis'd He orders it thus in judgment to wicked Men. Divisions amongst the godly are a stone of stumbling unto the ungodly God said in the Old Testament and 't is cited in the New Behold I lay in Zion a Stumbling-stone Wicked sinners rejoyce at the division of God's People 't is Nuts to them to see these quarelling and contending with one another But this it may be will cost them dear it may occasion their stumbling and falling and the breaking of their Necks Thus you have seen the Cause but what is the Cure of these Contentions and Divisions in the Churches of Christ and among particular Christians Let me speak a little to this and I think it may be a word in season The Christians in Corinth were not more divided and shatter'd than the Christians in London are at this day What Jeremy saith of the Israelites that may be said of us Our Wounds are grievous our Bruises are incurable and we have no healing Medicines there is no Balm in our Giliad nor Physician in our Climate I have heard of a Disease that is call'd Opprobrium Medicorum The Disgrace of Physicians because they do not know what to say or do to it I may say of this evil Disease call'd Contention and Division it is Opprobrium Theologorum The Disgrace of Divines they know not what to say or do in order to the healing of it Once a Year there is commonly a Disease in London which is epidemical and raging but Division is a Distemper that rageth and is rampant among us all the Year long and there is no stopping of it Nevertheless I shall prescribe something that may have a tendency to the Cure hereof Prosper me O Lord I pray thee at this time and let my Words be acceptable to these thy Servants may they profit by them themselves and may they as there is occasion communicate them unto others All that I shall say at least for the present upon this Subject shall be reduc'd to two general Heads 1. Be you throughly perswaded and convinced of the great Evil that is in Strife and Division This one Perswasion and Conviction is enough to keep a Child of God a godly Man or Woman from being concern'd therein I observe the generality of Professors are ready to think that there is no evil in Contention and Division but as Jonah said he did well to be angry so they are apt to say they do well to contend and divide they behave themselves so as if they thought it to be their Duty and not their Sin When they are exhorted to mortifie and put away Strife and Division they are ready to say as Pilate in another case Why what evil hath it done or what evil can it do Lying and Swearing Drunkenness and Uncleanness these and such like are Evils and gross Evils but what evil is there in Contention and Division Now for the conviction of such I shall endeavour to shew you the great evil that is therein And the Lord set it home upon our Hearts 1. Contentions and Divisions they are from the Flesh that dwelleth in us that is the bitter root from whence they spring Hence 't is that the Corinthians so far as these prevail'd in them are said to be carnal or fleshly to have more Flesh than Spirit in them Hence 't is also that they are call'd Works of the Flesh Gal. 5.20 There the Apostle reckons up many manifest Works of the Flesh and among them he rangeth Variance Strife Emulations and Seditions which is the very word that is rendred Divisions here in my Text. This one thing were enough to shew the great evil that is in Strife and Division that they are Works of the Flesh and reckon'd among the most notorious Sins such as Fornication Adultery Witchcraft Idolatry Drunkenness Revellings and the like 2. Contentions and Divisions especially such as are in Churches and
the Curtains of the Tabernacles were you should be all of a piece Vid. Mal. 2.10 3. Consider where you are and among whom you live They are not all your Friends that stand by and look upon you whil'st you discover your shame and nakedness no they are many of them your Enemies and though they carry it fair outwardly yet they inwardly hate you And whil'st you contend and quarrel one with another they laugh in their sleeves and are ready to say Aha! so would we have it It was an aggravation of the folly of Abraham and Lot's Herdsmen and Servants that they should strive together and one with another when the Canaanite and the Perizite dwelt in the Land You know how to apply it 4. Consider what the end of these things is like to be Our Contentions are sad Prognosticks of some impending Judgment One says well That a lowring Sky shews foul Weather to be at hand So the lowring Countenances and contentious Carriages of Christians towards one another do indicate a Storm to be near us When the Vail of the Temple was rent in twain it was a fore-runner of the destruction of the Temple Cambden observes that the Divisions of the English was the Scaling-ladder by which the Romans came into England If the Romanists come among us again they 'll part the fray and end the strife among us If we should see again the Marian Days or have a Popish Prince I am confident the Episcopal and Erastian would agree together and the Presbyterian and Independent would embrace one another If Christians bite and devour one another God will be provok'd to give them up to be devour'd of others Vid. Mal. 4.6 If God turn not the Heart of the Fathers to the Children and the Heart of the Children to the Fathers and the Heart of Christians one to another he will come and smite the Earth with a Curse 5. Consider what Rebukes you have been lately under for your former Contentions and Divisions How great were your felt and feared Troubles You are as Brands just now pluck'd out of the burning the smell of the Fire is yet upon you And will you as soon as the Rod is off your Backs return to your old work again Remember the Resolutions you had and the Promises you made if ever God again should turn back your captivity Read when you have leasure Ezra 9. from Verse 5. to the end 6. Consider what Harmony and Agreement there is among others Gebal and Ammon and Amalek can confederate and joyn together with one consent Thieves and Murderers can cast in their Lot together and have all one Purse The very Devils have concord among themselves Satan is not divided against Satan Yea Lions and Tygers the fiercest and wildest Beasts will live peaceably one with another Saevis inter se convenit ursis This Consideration may help to lay our Animosities and Contentions But 7. Consider what Harmony and sweet Accord all the Saints have and shall have in Heaven There are no Storms and Tempests in that upper Region There Luther and Zwinglius are perfectly reconcil'd 8. Consider what a lame Account we shall be able to give to Christ at his coming of these our Contentions and Divisions We can't give any rational account of them now but how speechless shall we be then Read Matth. 24.48 49 50 51. 9. Consider the good and benefit of Peace and Union It is pleasing to God it is a credit to the Gospel it is a powerful Load-stone to draw the World to Christ like Cummin-seed it makes the Doves to flock the Windows it promotes Edification among Christians the Church edifies it self in love 10. Consider the evil and harm of Strife and Division Much hath been said of this already See the first general Direction Let me only add That it greatly gratifies the Devil he is pleas'd to see them who are reconcil'd to God to be at variance among themselves How glad is he when he can perswade Christ's Followers to do more than his Crucifiers did that is to rend his seamless Coat This Contention and Division amongst Christians hinders their growth in Grace The Body and the Members thereof do never thrive and grow in a Feaver it cuts off all their entercourse with Heaven hereby Prayers are hindred they will be little in Prayer to God who are much in squabling one with another yea it hinders all mutual Edification it spoils all Christian Entercourse and Converse One says well It is as baneful to Christian Communion as a great Plague or Pestilence is to a Market-town Let me then resume my Exhortation Christians I do in Christ's Name and Words beseech you To have Peace one with another Oh beware of Strife and Division Mark and avoid them whoever they be that are the causes thereof Let me end with that pathetical Obtestation of the Apostle Paul Phil. 2.1 2. If there be any consolation in Christ if any comfort of love if any fellowship of the spirit if any bowels and mercies fulfil ye my joy that ye be like-minded having the same love being of one accord and of one mind To which let me add that Prayer of the same Apostle Rom. 15.5 6. Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be like-minded one towards another according to Christ Jesus that ye may with one mind and one mouth glorifie God even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. POSTSCRIPT The Reader may take notice 1. THat more is printed than was preach'd especially towards the latter end 2. Tho' I have spoken much of the Causes and Divisions in general yet I have spoken little of the Causes of our Strife and Divisions in particular that is a Noli me tangere No near says the Sailer 3. I expect to be censur'd by some for what I have said 't is a thankless Office to attempt the reconciling of persons at variance 't is to take a Dog by the Ears 't is to interpose between angry Duellers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nazianz. 'T is to put ones Hand into a Nest of Hornets 4. I almost despair of seeing the hurt of the Daughter of my People heal'd and their Divisions cur'd while I live And when I medled with this Argument I thought of the Saying of one to Luther when he first set about the Work of Reformation What dost thou mean thou wilt but beat the Air. Abi in cellam tuam dic miserere Deus nostri 5. There are several useful Discourses extant upon this Subject in our own Language from some of which I have borrowed some Notions if not Expressions viz. Mr. Burrows's Irenicum Mr. Baxter's Cure of Church-Divisions Mr. Steele against Uncharitable Contentions in the Church of God Mr. How 's Carnality of Religious Contention and his Attempt to allay Animosities among Protestants Mr. Flavel's Gospel-Unity Mr. Culverwel's Schism Mr. Gurnal's Compleat Armour from Page 149 to 159. Mr. Vincent's design to revive Love c. 6. Let none be offended at what is said Page 12. about God's having a hand in the Divisions of his People This is consistent with his Holiness and hatred of Sin it doth not make him the Author of it Vid. Acts 2.23 and 4.27 28. and Mr. Strong 's Treatise shewing the Subordination of the Will of Man to the Will of God from Page 202 to 214. 7. There are some Literal Errors of the Press which may easily be corrected or overlook'd e. g. In p. 3. for discanted r. descanted p. 6. for Antinomean r. Antinomian p. 8. for heighth r. heigth p. 19. for them r. these p. 21. for others r. other FINIS