cannot be but that Divisions and Schisms will ensue thereon so it will not be difficult for an indifferent by-stander to judge on whether side the occasion and guilt of them doth remain Secondly We have the Practise of the Apostles in the pursuance of the Direction and Command of their Lord and ours for our Guide in this Case And it may be well and safely thought that this should give a certain Rule unto the proceedings and actings of all Church-Guides in future Ages Now they did never make any thing unscriptural or what they had not received by divine Revelation to be a condition of Communion in Religious Worship Church Order among Christians For as they testified of themselves that they would coâ—tinually give themselves unto prayer and the Ministry of the word so it was of old observed concerning them that their constant labour was for the good of the souls of men in their conversion unto God and edification in faith and holiness but as for the Institution of Festivals or Fasts of Rites or Ceremonies to be observed in the Worship of the Churches they intermedled with no such things And thence it came to pass that in the first entrance and admission of Observances about such things there was a great and endless variety in them both as to the things themselves observed and as to the manner of their observation And this was gradually increased unto such an height and excess as that the burden of them became intolerable unto Christendome Nor indeed could any better success be expected in a relinquishment and departure from the Pattern of Church Order given us in their example and practise Neither is the Plea from hence built meerly on this consideration that no man alive either from their Writings or the approved Records of those Times can manifest that they ever prescribed unto the Churches or imposed on them the observance of any uninstituted Ritâ— to be observed as a measure and Rule of their Communion but also it so fell out in the good providence of God that the Case under debate was proposed unto them and joyntly determined by them For being called unto advice and counsel in the case of the difference that was between the Jewish and Gentile Converts and Professors wherein the former laboured to impose on the latter the observation of Moses Institutions as the condition of their joynt Communion as was mentioned even now they not only determine against any such Imposition but also expresly declare that nothing but necessary things that is such as are so from other Reasons antecedently unto their Prescriptions and Appointments ought to be required of any Christians in the Communion or Worship of the Church And as they neither did nor would on that great occasion in that Solemn Assembly appoynt any one thing to be observed by the Disciples and Churches which the Lord Christ had not commanded so in their Direction given unto the Gentile Believers for a temporary abstinence from the use of their Liberty in one or two Instances whereunto it did extend they plainly intimate that it was the avoydance of a present Scandal which might have greatly retarded the progress of the Gospel that was the reason of that Direction And in such Cases it is granted that we may in many things for a season forgo the use of our Liberty This was their way and Practise this the Example which they left unto all that should follow them in the Rule and Guidance of the Church Whence it is come to pass in After-Ages that men should think themselves wiser than they or more careful to provide for the peace and unity of the Church we know not But let the bounds and measures of Church Communion fixed in and by their Example stand unmoved and many causes of our present Divisions will be taken away But it may be it will be offered that the Present state of things in the World requires some alteration in or variation from the precise Example of the Apostles in this matter The due observation of the Institutions of Christ in such manner as the nature of of them required was then sufficient unto the Peace and Unity of the Churches But Primitive Simplicity is now decayed amongst the most so that a multiplication of Rules and Observances is needful for the same ends But we have shewed before that the Accommodation of Church Rule and Communion to the Degeneracy of Christians or Churches or their Secular Engagements is no way advantagious unto Religion Let them whose Duty it is endeavour to reduce Professors and Profession to the Primitive Standard of Light Humility and Holiness and they may be ordered in all Church concerns according to the Apostolical Pattern Wherefore when Christians unto the former Plea of their readiness to observe and do whatsoever Christ hath commanded them do also adde their willingness to comply with whatever the Apostles of Christ have either by Precept or Example in their own practise commended unto them or did do or require in the first Churches and cannot be convinced of failing to make good their Profession we do not know whence any can derive a Warranty enabling them to impose any other conditions of communion on them The Institution therefore of the Lord Christ and the Practise of the Apostles lye directly against the imposing of the conditions enquired about And first to invent them then to impose them making them necessary to be observed and then to judg and censure them as Schismaticks as enemies to Love and Peace who do not submit unto them looks not unlike the exercise of an unwarrantable Dominion over the Faith and Consciences of the Disciples of Christ. Thirdly not only by their Example and Practice but they have also Doctrinally declared what is the Duty of Churches and what is the Liberty of Christians in this matter The Apostle Paul discourseth at large hereon Rom. 14. 15. Chap. The attentive Reading of those two Chapters is sufficient to determine this Cause among all uninterested and unprejudiced Persons He supposeth in them and it is the Case which he exemplifies in sundry Instances that there were among Christians and Churches at that time different Apprehensions and Observances about some things appertaining unto the worship of God And these things were such as had some seeming Countenance of a Sacred and Divine Authority for such was their Original Institution Some in the consideration hereof judged that they were still to be observed and their Consciences had been long exercised in an holy subjection unto the Authority of God in the Observance of them Nor was there yet any express and Positive Law erected for their Abrogation but the ceasing of any Obligation unto their Observance from their Primitive Institution was to be gathered from the nature of Gods Oeconomy towards his Church Many therefore continued to observe them esteeming it their Duty so to do Others were perswaded and satisfied that they were freed from any Obligation
unto the Enjoyment of Himself For that is the Rule of his sending and continuing of it whereon he enjoyned the Apostle Paul to stay in such places where he had much People whom he would have to be converted He would not continue from Generation to Generation to scatter his Pearls where there were none but rending Swine nor send Fishers unto waters wherein he knew there were nothing but Serpents and Vipers It is true the Gospel as preached unto many is only a Testimony against them leaving them without excuse and proves unto them a Savour of Death unto Death But the first direct and principal Design of the Dispensation of it being the Conversion of Souls and their eternal salvation it will not probably be continued in any Place nor is so where this Design is not pursued nor accomplished towards any Neither will God make use of it any where meerly for the Aggravation of Mens Sins and Condemnation nor would his so doing consist with the Honour of the Gospel its self or the Glory of that Love and Grace which it professeth to declare Where it is indeed openly rejected there that shall be the Condemnation of Men but where it finds any admittance there is hath somewhat of its genuine and proper work to effect And the Gospel is esteemed to be in all Places dispensed and admitted where the Scripture being received as the word of God Men are from the Light Truth and Doctrine contained therein by any means so far instructed as to take upon them the profession of subjecting their Souls to Jesus Christ and of observing the Religious Duties by him prescribed in opposition to all false Religions in the World Amongst all these the Foundations of saving Faith are at this day preserved For they universally receive the whole Canonical Scripture and acknowledge it to be the word of God on such motives as prevail with them to do so sincerely Herein they give a tacit consent unto the whole Truth contained in it for they receive it as from God without exception or limitation And this they cannot do without a General Renunciation of all the falsities and Evils that it doth condemn Where these things concur men will not believe nor practise any thing in Religion but what they think God requires of them and will accept from them And we find it also in the Event that all the Persons spoken of where-ever they are do universally profess that they believe in the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and in his only and Eternal Son They all look also for Salvation by him and profess obedience unto him believing that God raised him from the Dead They believe in like manner that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Father and the Son with many other sacred Truths of the same importance as also that without Holiness no Man shall see God However therefore they are differenced and divided among themselves however they are mutually esteemed Hereticks and Schismaticks however through the Subtlety of Satan they are excited and provoked to Curse and Persecute one another with wonderful Folly and by an open contradiction unto other Principles which they profess yet are they all Subjects of the Visible Kingdom of Christ and belong all of them to the Catholik Church making profession of the name of Christ in the World in which there is Salvation to be obtained and out of which there is none We take not any consideration at present of that absurd foolish and uncharitable Error which would confine the Catholick Church of Christ unto a particular Church of one single Denomination or indeed rather unto a combination of some Persons in an outward mode of Religious Rule and Worship where of the Scripture is as silent as of things that never were nor ever shall be Yea we look upon it as intollerable Presumption and the utmost height of Vncharitableness for any to judge that the constant Profession of the name of Christ made by Multitudes of Christians with the lasting miseries and frequent Martyrdomes which for his sake they undergo should turn unto no advantage either of the Glory of God or their own Eternal Blessedness because in some things they differ from them Yet such is the Judgment of those of the Church of Rome and so are they bound to judge by the fundamental Princiciples and Laws of their Church Communion But men ought to fear least they should meet with Judgment without Mercy who have shewed no Mercy Had we ever entertained a thought uncharitable to such a Prodigie of insolence had we ever excluded any sort of Christians absolutely from an interest in the Love of God or Grace of Jesus Christ or hopes of Salvation because they do not or will not comply with those ways and terms of outward Church Communion which we approve of we should judg our selves as highly criminal in want of Christian Love as any can desire to have us esteemed so to be It is then the universal Collective Body of them that profess the Gospel throughout the world which we own as the Catholick Church of Christ. How far the Errors in Judgment or miscarriages in sacred worship which any of them have superadded unto the Foundations of Truth which they do profess may be of so pernicious a nature as to hinder them from an Interest in the Covenant of God and so prejudice their Eternal Salvation God only knows But those Notices which we have concerning the Nature and will of God in the Scripture as also of the Love Care and Compassion of Jesus Christ with the Ends of his Mediation do perswade us to believe that where Men in sincerity do improve the Abilities and Means of the Knowledg of Divine Truth where with they are intrusted endeavouring withall to answer their Light and Convictions with a suitable Obedience there are but few Errors of the Mind of so malignant a nature as absolutely to exclude such Persons from an Interest in Eternal Mercy And we doubt not but that men out of a Zeal to the Glory of God real or pretended have imprisoned banished killed burned others for such Errors as it hath been the Glory of God to pardon in them and which he hath done accordingly But this we must grant and do that those whose Lives and Conversations are no way influenced by the Power of the Gospel so as to be brought to some Conformity thereunto or who under the Covert of a Christian Profession do give themselves up unto Idolatry and Persecution of the true Worshipers of God are no otherwise to be esteemed but as Enemies to the Cross of Christ. For as without Holiness no Man shall see God so no Idolater or Murderer hath eternal Life abiding in him With respect unto these things we look upon the Church of England or the Generality of the Nation professing Christian Religion measuring them by the Doctrine that hath been preached unto them and received by them
they may be laid aside and made use of in another way Much more may any refuse the communion of such Churches if they impose on them their Corruptions Errors Failings and Mistakes as the coudition of their Communion For hereby they directly make themselves Lords over the Faith and Worship of the Disciples of Christ and are void of all Authority from him in what they so do or impose And it is so far that any mens withdrawing of themselves from the communion of such Churches and entring into a way of Reformation for their own good in obedience to the Laws of Christ should infer in them a want of Love and Peaceableness or a Spirit of Division that to do otherwise were to divide from Christ and to cast out all true Christian Love embracing a Cloud of slothful negligence and carelesness in the great concernments of the Glory of God and their own Souls in the room thereof We are neither the Authors nor the Guides of our own Love He who implants and worketh it in us hath given us Rules how it must be exercised and that on all emergencies It may work as regularly by sharp cutting Rebukes as by the most silken and compliant expressions by manifesting an aversation from all that is evil as by embracing and approving of what is good In all things and cases it is to be directed by the Word And when under the pretence of it we leave that Rule and go off from any Duty which we owe immediately unto God it is Will Pride and Self-conceit in us and not Love And among all the Exhortations that are given us in the Scripture unto Unity and Concord as the Fruits of Love there is not one that we should agree or comply with any in their sins or evil practices But as we are commanded in our selves to obtain from all appearance of evil so are we forbidden a participation in the sins of other men and all fellowship with unfruitful works of darkness Our Love towards such Churches is to work by Pity Compassion Prayer Instructions which are due means for their healing and recovery not by consent unto them or communion with them whereby they may be hardned in the Error of their way and our own Souls be subverted For if we have not a due respect unto the Lord Christ and his Authority all that we have or may pretend to have unto any Church is of no value Neither ought we to take into consideration any terms of Communion whose foundation is not laid in a regard thereunto Moreover as hath been declared there is no such society of Christians in the world whose Assemblies as to Instituted Worship are rejected by Christ so that they have a Bill of Divorce given unto them by the Declaration of the Will of the Lord Jesus to that purpose in the Scripture but that until they are utterly also as it were extirpate by the Providence of God as are many of the Primitive Plantations we are perswaded of them that there are yet some secret hidden ones among them that belong unto the purpose of Gods Grace For we do judge that where-ever the Name of Jesus Christ is called upon there is salvation to be obtained however the wayes of it may be obstructed unto the most by their own Sins and Errors They may also retain that Profession which distinguisheth them from the Infidel world In these things we are still to hold communion with them and on these accounts is our Love to be continued unto them Some kind of communion we may hold with them that that are of no Instituted or Particular Churches or whose Church-State is rejected even as a person excommunicated is to be admonished as a Brother And some kind of communion we may lawfully refuse with some true Churches Instances whereof shall be given afterwards There is therefore no necessity that any should deny all them to be true Churches from whom they may have just reason to withdraw their communion For such as are so may require such things thereunto as it is not lawful for them to accept of or submit unto What Assemblies of Christians we behold visibly worshiping God in Christ we take for granted to be true visible Churches And when we judge of our own communion with them it is not upon this Question whether they are true Churches or no as though the determination of our practice did depend solely thereon For as we are not called to judge of the being of their Constitution as to the substance of it unless they are openly judged in the Scripture as in the case of Idolatry and Persecution persisted in so a determination of the Truth of their constitution or that they are true Churches will not presently resolve us in our Duty as to communion with them for the Reasons before given But in such a cà se two things are by us principally to be considered 1. That nothing sinful in it self or unto us be required of us as the condition of communion 2. That we may in such Churches obtain the immediate end of their Institution and our Conjunction with them which is our Edification in Faith Love and Obedience And the things whereof we have discoursed comprize our Thoughts concerning those Societies of Christians whose degeneracy from their primitive Rule and Institution is most manifest and notorious Whilst there is any Profession of the Gospel any subjection of Souls unto Jesus Christ avowed or any expectation of help from him continued among them we cannot but hope that there are in all of them at least some few Names that are written in the Lambs Book of Life and which shall be saved eternally For as a Relation unto a particular visible Church walking according to the Order and Rule of the Gospel is the Duty of every Believer to give himself up unto as that which is a means appointed and sanctified to the furtherance of his Edification and Salvation so where it cannot be obtained through invincible outward Impediments or is omitted through ignorance of Duty or is on just Causes refused where opportunities make a tender of it or where the being and benefit of it is lost through the Apostasie of those Churches whereunto any persons did belong the utter want of it and that alwayes is not such as necessarily infers the eternal loss of their Souls who suffer under it Other Churches there are in the world which are not evidently guilty of the Enormities in Doctrine Worship and Discipline before discoursed of These all we judge to be true Churches of Christ and do hope that his promised presence is with them in their Assemblies Answerable hereunto is our Judgment concerning their Officers or Rulers and all their Sacred Administrations It becomes us to think and believe that the one have Authority from Christ and that the other are accepted with him For it is most unwarrantable rashness and presumption yea an evident fruit of Ignorance or want of Love or secular private Interest
was ordained or for which Pastors and Teacher's are granted unto the Church Eph. 4. 8 9 10 11 12. And the Scripture abounds in the Declaration of what skill and knowledge in the Mystery of the Gospel what Attendance unto the Word and Prayer what Care watchfulness and diligent Labour in the Word and Doctaine are required unto a due discharge of the Ministerial Duty Where it is omitted or neglected where it is carelessly attended unto where those on whom it is incumbent to act more like Hirelings than true Shepherds where they want skill to divide the Word aright or wisdom and knowledge to declare from it the whole Counsel of God or diligence to be urgent continually in the Application of it there the principal end of all Church-Communion is ruined and utterly lost And where it so falls out let any man judge what thoughts they are like to be exercised withal who make Conscience of the performance of their own Duty and understand the necessity of enjoying the Means that Christ hath appointed for their edification And it is certain that such Churches will in vain or at least unjustly expect that Professors of the Gospel should abide in their particular communion when they cannot or do not provide food for their Souls whereby they may live to God Unless all the Members of such Churches are equally asleep in security Divisions among them will in this case ensue Will any Disciple of Christ esteem himself obliged to starve his own Soul for the sake of communion with them who have sinfully destroyed the principal end of all Church-communion Is there any Law of Christ or any Rule of the Gospel or any Duty of Love that require them so to do The sole immediate end of mens joyning in Churches being their own edification and usefulness unto others can they be bound in Conscience alwayes to abide there or in the communion of those Churches where it is not to be attained where the means of it are utterly cast aside This may become such as know not their duty nor care to be instructed in it and are willing to perish in and for the company of others But for them which in such Cases shall provide according to the Rules of the Gospel for themselves and their own safety they may be censured judged and severely treated by them whose Interest and Advantage it is so to do they may be despised by Riotous Persons who sport themselves with their own Deceivings but with the Lord Christ the Judge of all they will be accepted And they do but encrease the dread of their own Account who under pretence of Church-Power and Order would forcibly shut up Christians in such a condition as wherein they are kept short of all the true ends of the Institution of Churches To suppose therefore that every voluntary departure from the constant Communion of such Churches made with a design of joyning unto those where the Word is dispensed with more diligence and Efficacy is a Schisme from the Church of Christ is to suppose that which neither the Scripture nor Reason will give the least Countenance unto And it would better become such Churches to return industriously unto a faithful Discharge of their Duty whereby this occasion of Divisions may be removed out of the way than to attempt their own Justification by the severe prosecution of such as depart from them Thirdly In pursuit of the Doctrine of the Gospel so improved and applyed it is the known and open Duty of Churches in their Guides or Ministers by all means to countenance and promote the Growth of Light Knowledge Godliness strictness and fruitfulness of Conversation in those Members of them in whom they may be found or do appear in an especial manner Such are they to own encourage and make their companions and endeavour that others may become like unto them For unless men in their ordinary and common conversation in their affections and the interest which they have in the Administration of Discipline do uniformly answer the Doctrine of Truth which they preach it cannot be avoided but that it will be matter of offence upto others and of Reproach to themselves Much more will it be so if instead of these things those who Preside in the Churches shall beat their fellow servants and eat and drink with the drunken But by all wayes it is their duty to separate the precious from the vile if they intend to be as the Mouth of the Lord even in their Judgments Affections and Conversations And herein what Wisdome Patience Diligence Love Condescention and Forbearance are required they alone know and they full well know who for any season have in their places conscientiously endeavoured the Discharge of their Duty But whatever be the Labour which is to be undergone therein and the trouble wherewith it is attended it is that which by the appointment of Christ all Ministers of the Gospel are obliged to attend unto They are not by contrary actings to make sad the hearts of them whom God would not have made sad nor to strengthen the hands of them whom God would not have encouraged as they will answer it at their peril The hearts of Church Guides and of those who in an especial manner fear God thriving in Knowledge and Grace under the Dispensation of the Word ought to be knit together in all holy affections that they may together grow up into him who is the Head For where there is the greatest evidence manifestation of the power and presence of Christ in any there ought their Affections to be most intense For as such persons are the Crown the Joy and rejoycing of their Guides and will appear to be so in the Day of the Lord so they do know or may easily do so what Obligations are on them to honour and pay all due respects unto their Teachers how much on all accounts they owe unto them whereby their mutual Love may be confirmed And where there is this Vniformity between the Doctrine of the Gospel as Preached and the Duties of it as practised then are they both beautiful in the eyes of all Believers and effectual unto their proper ends But where things in Churches through their negligence or corruption or that of their Guides are quite otherwise it is easie to conjecture what will ensue thereon If those who are forwardest in Profession who give the greatest evidence that they have received the power of that Religion which is taught and owned among them who have apparently attained a growth in spirituol Light and Knowledge above others shall be so far from being peculiarly cherished and regarded from being loved liked or associated withal as that on the other side they shall be marked observed reproached and it may be on every slight provocation put even to outward trouble whilst men of worldly and prophane Conversations ignorant perhaps riotous and debauched shall be the delight and companions of Church Guides and Rulers it cannot be that
utterly cease and become disused Hence Members of the same Church began to converse together as men only or at the best Civil Neighbours and if at all as Christians yet not with respect unto that especial relation unto a particular Church wherein their usefulness as Members of the same Organical Body is required Hence some persons looking on these things as intollerable and not only obstructive of their Edification but destructive unto all really useful church-Church-Communion we ought not to wonder if they have thought meet to provide otherwise for themselves Not that we approve of every departure or withdrawing from the Communion of Churches where things continue under such disorders but only shew what it is that occasioneth many so to do For as there may sometimes be just cause hereof and persons in so doing may mannage what they do according unto Scripture-Rule so we doubt not but that some may rashly and precipitately without due attendance unto all the Duties which in such Undertakings are required of them without that Charity and Forbearance which no Circumstances can absolve them from make themselves guilty of a blameable separation And these are some of those things which we look upon as the General Causes or Occasions of all the Schismes and Divisions that are at this day found among Professors of the Gospel Whether the guilt of them will not much cleave unto them by whom they are kept on foot and maintained is worth your enquiry For so doth it befall our Humane Nature apt to be deceived and imposed on by various Pretences and Prejudices that those are oftentimes highly guilty themselves of those miscarriages whose chiefest satisfaction and glory consists in charging them on others However if these things do not absolutely justifie any in a Secession from the Churches where unto they did relate yet they render the matter so highly questionable and the things themselves are so burdensome unto the minds of many as that Divisions will thereon undoubtedly ensue And when it is so fallen out to design and contrive the reduction of all unto outward Vnity and Concord by forcing them who on such occasions have dissented and withdrawn themselves from the Communion of any Church without endeavouring the removal of these Occasions of their so doing and the Reformation of those abuses which have given cause thereunto is severe if not unjust But when the Lord Jesus Christ in his Care towards his Churches and watchfulness over them shall be pleased to remove these and the like stumbling-Blocks out of the way there will we hope be a full return unto Gospel-Unity and Peace among them that serve and worship him on the Earth In this state of things where-ever it be found it is no wonder if the Weaknesses Ignorance Prejudices and Temptations of men do interpose themselves unto the encrease and heightning of those Divisions whose Springs and Occasions lye elswhere When none of these Provocations were given them yet we know there was enough in Professors themselves to bring forth the bitter fruit of Differences and Schisms even in the dayes of the Apostles How much more may we fear the like fruits and effects from the like Principles and corrupt affections Now the Occasions of drawing them forth are more Temptations unto them greater Directions against them less evident and powerful and all sense of Ecclesiastical Authority through its abuse and male-administration is if not lost and ruined yet much weakned and impaired But from the darkness of the minds of men and their unmortified affections as the best know but in part nor are they perfectly sanctified it is that they are apt to take offence one at another and thereon to judge and censure each other temerariously and which is worst of all every one to make his own understanding and perswasion thereon the Rule of Truth and Worship unto others All such wayes and courses are against us in the matter of Love and Union all tending to make and increase Divisions among us And the Evil that is in them we might here declare but that it falls frequently under the chastisement of other hands Neither indeed can it well meet with too much severity of reproof Only it were desireable that those by whom such reproofs are mannaged would take care not to give advantages of Retortion or self-justification unto them that are reproved by them But this they do unavoydably whilst they seem to make their own Judgments and Practises the sole Rule and measure of what they approve or disallow In what complyes with them there is nothing perverse and in what differs from them there is nothing sincere And on this foundation whilst they reprove censuring rash-judging and reproaching of others with pride self-conceitedness false Opinions irregular practices in Church worship or any other concerns of Religion backbiting easiness in taking up false reports with the like evils as they deserve severely to be rebuked those reproved by them are apt to think that they see the guilt of many of the crimes charged on themselves in them by whom they are reproved So on all hands things gendor unto farther strife whilst every Party being conscious unto their own sincerity according unto the Rule of their present Light which is the only measure they can take of it are ready to impeach the sincerity of them by whom they suppose themselves causlesly traduced and condemned This evil therefore is to be diligently watched against by all that love Unity Truth Holiness or Peace And seeing there are Rules and Precepts given us in the Scripture to this purpose it may not be unmeet to call over some of them One Rule of this nature and import is that we should all of us study to be quiet and to do our own business in things Civil and Sacred Who will harm men who will be offended with them whilst they are no otherwise busied in the world And if any attempt to do them evil what need have they to be troubled thereat Duty and Innocency will give peace to a worthy soul in the midst of all storms and whatever may befall it Now will any one deny or can they but that it is the duty and ought to be the business of every man to seek his own edification and the saving of his soul Deny this unto any man and you put your self in the place of God to him and make him more miserable than a Beast And this which no man can forbid no man can otherwise do than according to that Light and knowledg of the will of God which he hath received If this therefore be so attended to as that we do not thereby break in upon the concerns of others nor disturb them in what is theirs but be carryed on quietly and peaceably with an evidence in what we do that it is meerly our own personal duty that we are in the pursuance of all cause of offence will be taken away For if any will yet be offended
unto the owning and observance of them And whereas this Liberty was given them by Jesus Christ in the Gospel they were resolved to make use of it and not to comply with the other sort who pressed Conformity upon them in their Ceremonies and Modes of Divine worship So it may fall out in other Instances Some may be perswaded that such or such things may be Lawful for them to observe in the worship of God they may be so unto them and as is supposed in their own Nature On the Consideration of some Circumstances they may judg that it is convenient or expedient to attend unto their Observance Lastly all Coincidencies weighed that it is necessary that so they should do and that others also that walk with them in the Profession of the Gospel should conform themselves unto their Order and Practice On the other hand some there are who because the things of the joynt-practice required are not appointed by Jesus Christ nor doth it appear unto them that he hath given Power unto any others to appoint them do not judg it expedient nor yet all Circumstances considered Lawful to observe them Now whereas this Case answers unto that before proposed the Determination thereof given by the Apostle may safely be applyed unto this also What Rule therefore doth he give therein which he would have attended unto as the means for the Preservation of Love Peace and Unity among them Is it that the former sort of Persons provided they be the most or have the most Power ought to impose the Practice of those things which they esteem Lawful and Convenient on those who judg them not so when it is out of Question that they are not appointed by Christ only it is pretended that they are not forbidden by him Where indeed the Question was about the Institutions of Christ he binds up the Churches precisely unto what he had received from him But in cases of this nature wherein a direct command of Christ cannot be pleaded nor is pretended he absolutely rejects and condemns all thoughts of such a procedure But supposing that Differences in Judgment and Practice were and would be among Christians the Sum of his Advice is that all Offences and Scandals ought to be diligently avoided that censuring judging and despisings on the account of such Differences be cast out that tenderness be used towards them that are weak and nothing severely prest on them that Doubt and for their different Apprehensions and Ways they should all walk in Peace condescending unto and bearing with one another Nothing can more evidently determine the unlawfulness of imposing on Christians unscriptural Conditions of Communion than do the Discourses of that Great Apostle to this Purpose Yea better it is and more agreeable unto the mind of Christ that Persons and particular Churches should be left unto different Observations in sundry things relating unto Sacred worship wherein they cannot joyn with each other nor communicate together endeavouring in the mean time to keep the Vnity of the spirit in the bond of Peace than that they should be inforced unto an Vniformity in the Practice of things that have not the immediate Authority of Christ enstamped on them Accordingly it so fell out among them unto whom the Apostle gave these Directions and that suitably unto his Intention in them For the Dissenting Parties agreeing in the common Faith and Profession of the Gospel did yet constantly meet in distinct Assemblies or Churches for the Celebration of Holy worship because of the different Rites wherein they did not agree And in this Posture were Peace and Love continued among them untill in process of Time their Differences through mutual forbearance being extinguished they Coalesced into one Church state and Order And the former Peace which they had in their Distances was deemed sufficient whilst things were not measured nor regulated by secular Interest or Advantages But it is a part of our present unhappiness that such a Peace among Christians and particular Churches is mistaken to have an ill Aspect upon the concerns of some belonging unto the Church in Power Honour and Revenue But as we apprehend there is as things are now stated among us a plain mistake in this surmize so if the Glory of God and the Honour of the Gospel were chief in our Consultations about Church Affairs it would be with us of no such consideration as to hinder us from committing quietly the success and events of duty unto the Providence of God Fourthly There was also a signal Vindication of the Truth pleaded for in an Instance of Fact among the Primitive Churches There was an opinion which prevailed very early among them about the necessary observation of Easter in the room of the Jewish Passeover for the solemn commemoration of the Death and Resurrection of our Saviour And it was taken for granted by most of them that the observance hereof was countenanced if not rendred necessary unto them by the example of the Apostles For they generally believed that by them it was observed and that it was their Duty to accommodate themselves unto their practise only there was a difference about the precise Time or Day which they were to solemnize as the Head and Rule of their Festival as every undue presumption hath one Lameness or other accompanying it It is Truth alone which is square and steady Some therefore pleaded the example of John the Apostle and Evangelist who as it was strongly asserted and testified by multitudes kept his Easter at such a time and by such a Rule whom they thought meet to follow and imitate Others not inferiour unto them in number or Authority opposed unto their Time the example of Peter whom they affirmed on what grounds and Reasons they know best for they are now lost to have observed his Easter at another Time and according unto a different Rule And it is scarcely imaginable how the Contests hereabouts troubled the Churches both of Europe and Asia who certainly had things more material to have exercised themselves about The Church of Rome embraced that Opinion which at length prevailed over the other and obtained a kind of Catholicisme against that which was countenanced only by the Authority of St. John as that Church was alwayes wondrous happy in reducing other Churches unto an acquiescency in its sentiments as seldom wanting desire or skill dexterously to improve its manifold advantages Now this was that Easter to be celebrated on the Lords Day only and not by the Rule of the Jewish Passover on the 14 day of the first month what day of the week soever it fell out upon Hereon Victor the Bishop of that Church being confident that the Truth was on his side namely that Easter was to be observed on the Lords Day resolved to make it a Condition of Communion unto all the Churches for otherwise he saw not how there could be either Union Peace or Uniformity among them He did not question but that he
had a good Foundation to build upon For that Easter was to be observed byvertue of Apostolical Tradition was generally granted by all And he took it as unquestionable upon a current and prevalent Rumor that the observation of it was confined to the Lords day by the example of St. Peter Hereupon he refused the Communion of all that would not conform unto his resolution for the observation of Easter on the Lords day and cast out of Communion all those Persons and Churches who would observe any other day which proved to be the condition of the principal Churches of Asia amongst whom the Apostle John did longest conâ—erse Here was our present case directly exemplified or represented so long before hand the Success onely of this fact of his remaineth to be enquired into Now it is known unto all what entertainment this his new Rule of Communion found among the Churches of Christ. The Reproof of his Precipitancy and irregular fixing new bounds unto Church Communion was famous in those days Especially the Râ—buke given unto him and his practise by one of the most Holy and Learned Persons then living is eminently celebrated as consonant to Truth and Peace by those who have transmitted unto us the Reports of those Times He who himself first condemned others rashly was for his so doing generally condemned by all Suppose now that any Persons living at Rome and there called into Communion with the Church should have had the condition thereof proposed unto them namely that they should assent and declare that the observation of Easter by Apostolical Tradition was to be on the Lords day only and upon their refusal so to do should be excluded from Communion or on their own accords should refrain from it where should the Guilt of this Disorder and Schism be charged And thus it fell out not only with those who came out of Asia to Rome who were not received by that Diotrephes but also with sundry in that Church its self as Blastus and others as what great Divisions were occasioned hereby between the Saxons and Brittains hath been by many declared But in the Judgment of the primitive Churches the Guilt of these Schisms was to be charged on them that coyned and imposed these new Rules and Conditions of Communion And had they not been judged by any the pernicious consequences of this temerarious Attempt are sufficient to reflect no inconsiderable Guilt upon it Neither could the whole Observance its self from first to last ever compensate that loss of Love and Peace among Christians and Churches which was occasioned thereby Nor hath the Introduction of such things ever obtained any better success in the Church of God How free the Churches were untill that time after they were once delivered from the Attempt of the Circumcised Professors to impose upon them the Ceremonies of Moses from any appearance of unwritten Conditions of Communion is manifest unto all who have looked into the Monuments which remain of those times It is very true that sundry Christians took upon them very early the Observation of sundry Rites and Usages in Religion whereunto they had no Guidance or Direction by the word of God For as the corrupted Nature of Man is prone to the Invention and use of sensible present things in Religion especially where Persons are not able to find satisfaction in those that are purely spiritual requiring great intention of mind and Affections in their Exercise so were they many of them easily infected by that Tincture which remained in them from the Judaisme or Gentilism from which they were converted But these observances were free and taken up by Men of their own accord not only every Church but every Person in the most of them as far as it appears being left unto their own Liberty Some Ages it was before such things were turned into Laws and Canons and that perhaps first by Hereticks or at least under such a Degeneracy as our minds and Consciences cannot be regulated by The Judgment therefore and Practice of the first Churches are manifest against such Impositions Fifthly upon a supposition that it should be Lawful for any Persons or Churches to assign unscriptural Conditions of their Communion it will follow that there is no certain Rule of Communion amongst Christians fixed and determined by Christ. That this is otherwise we have before declared and shall now only manifest the evil Consequences of such a Supposition For if it be so no Man can claim an Admission into the Society or Communion of any Church or a Participation in the Ordinances of the Gospel with them by vertue of the Authority of Jesus Christ. For notwithstanding all his Pleas of submission to his Institutions and the Observation of his Commands every Church may propose something yea many things unto him that he hath not appointed without an admission whereof aâ—d subjection thereunto he may be justly excluded from all Church Priviledges among them Now this seems not consonant unto the Authority that Christ hath over the Church nor that Honour which ought to be given unto him therein Nor on the same supposition are his Laws sufficient to rule and quiet the Consciences or to provide for the Edification of his Disciples Now if Diotrephes is blamed for not receiving the Brethren who were recommended unto the Church by the Apostle probably because they would not submit to that pre-eminence which he had obtained among them they will scarcely escape without reproof who refuse those whom the Lord Christ commends unto them by the Rules of the Gospel because they will not submit unto such new Impositions as by vertue of their Pre-eminence they would put upon them And what endless Perplexities they must be cast into who have learned in these things to call him only Lord and Master is apparent unto all Baptism with a voluntary credible Profession of Faith Repentance and Obedience unto the Lord Christ in his Commands and Institutions is all the warranty which he hath given unto any of his Disciples to claim their Admission into his Churches which are instituted and appointed to receive them and to build them up in their Faith And if any Person who produceth this warranty and thereon desireth according to order the Communion of any Church if he may be excluded from it or forbidden an entrance into it unless it be on grounds sufficient in the Judgment of Charity to evince the falseness and hypocrisie of his Profession little regard is had to the Authority of Christ and too much unto Mens own Churches indeed may more or less insist upon the Explicitness of this Profession and the Evidences of its sincerity as they find it tend to their Peace and Edification with a due Attendance unto the Rule and Example left unto them in this matter in the Gospel And that the exercise of this Power in any Churches may not turn to the Prejudice of any every Professor is allowed with reference unto particular Assemblies to
make his choice of the Measure he will comply withal at least if he will make the choice of his habitation subservient unto his Edification Hereby the Peace and Duty both of Churches and private Persons are secured And this Rule of Church Admission and Communion furnished Christians with Peace Love and Unity for many Ages setting aside the Ruffle given them in the rashness of Victor before mentioned It was also rendred practicable and easie by vertue of their Communion as Churches among themselves For from thence Commendatory Letters supplyed the Room of actual Profession in thâ—m who having been admitted into one Church did desire the same Priviledge in any other And on this Rule were Persons to be received though weak in the Faith thought it may be in some things otherwise minded than the generality of the Church though babes and unskilful as to degrees in the word of Truth But this Rule was alwayes attended with a Proviso that men did not contradict or destroy their own Profession by an unholy Conversation For such Persons never were nor ever are to be admitted unto the especial Ordinances of the Church and a neglect of due Attendance hereunto is that which principally hath cast us into all our Confusions and rendred the Institutions of Christ ineffectual And if this warranty which the Lord Christ hath given unto his Disciples of claiming a Participation in all the Priviledges of his Churches and an Admission unto a joynt-performance of all the Duties required in them may upon the supposition of a Power left to impose other Conditions of Communion on them be rejected and rendred useless all Church Communion is absolutely resolved into the variable wills of Men. The Church no doubt may judge and determine upon the Laws of Christ and their due Application unto particular Occasions as whether such Persons may according to them be admitted into their Fellowship To deprive Churches of this Litberty is to take away their Principal Use and service But to make Laws of their own the subject matter whereof shall be things not commanded by Christ to make them the Rule of admitting professed Christians unto their Communion is an Assumption that cannot be justified And it is certain that the assuming of an Authority by some Churches for such like Impositions is that which hath principally occasioned many to deny them so to be so at once to overthrow the foundation of all that Authority which in so many Instances they find to be abused And although the Church of Rome may prevail on weak and credulous Persons by proposing unto them an absolute Acquiescency in their Dictates and Determinations as the best readiest and most facile means of satisfaction yet there is nothing that doth more alienate wise and conscientious persons from them than doth that unreasonable Proposal Moreover it is highly probable that endless Disputes will arise on this supposition about what is meet and convenient and what not to be added unto the Scripture-Rules of Communion They have done so in the Ages past and continue yet so to do Nor can any man on this Principle know or probably conjecture when he hath a firm station in the Church or an indefensable interest in the Priviledges thereof For supposing that he hath concocted the Impositions of one Church on the first removal of his habitation he may have new conditions of communion prescribed unto him And from this perplexity nothing can relieve him but a resolution to do in every place whereunto he may come according to the manner of the place beit good or bad right or wrong But neither hath the Lord Christ left his Disciples at this Vncertainty which the Case supposeth nor will accept of that Indifferency which is in the Remedy suggested They therefore who regulate their Communion with any Churches by the firm stated Law of their Right and Priviledge if they are not received thereon do not by their abstinence from it contract the Guilt of Schisme or any blameable Division Moreover upon a supposition of such a Liberty and Power to prescribe and impose unwritten conditions of Church-communion on Christians who or what Law doth or shall prescribe bounds unto men that they do not proceed in their Prescriptions beyond what is useful unto edification or unto what will be really burdensome and intolerable unto Churches To say that those who claim this Power may be securely trusted with it for they will be sure not to fall into any such Excesses will scarcely give satisfaction For besides that such a kind of Power is exceedingly apt to swell and extend it self unmeasurably the common Experience of Christendom lies against this Suggestion Was not an Excess of this kind complained of by Austin of old when yet the observation of Ecclesiastical Customes was much more voluntary than in after Ages neither were they made absolutely conditions of communion unless among a very few Do not all Protestants grant and plead that the Papal Church hath exceeded all bounds of moderation and Sobriety herein so that from thence they take the principal warranty of their secession from it Do not other Churches mutually charge one another on the same account Hath not a charge of this Exâ—â—ss been the Ball of Contention in this Nation ever since the Reformation If then there be such a Power in any either the exercise of it is confined unto certain Instances by some power superior unto them or it is left absolutely as unto all Particulars whereunto it may be extended unto their own Prudence and Discretion The first will not be asserted nor can be so unless the Instances intended can be recounted and the confirming power be declared If the latter be affirmed then let them run into what Excesses they please unless they judge themselves that so they do which is morally impossible that they should none ought ever to complain of what they do For there is no failure in them who attend unto their Rule which in this case is supposed to be mens own Prudence and Discretion And this was directly the state of things in the Church of Rome whence they thought it alwayes exceedingly unequal that any of their Ecclesiastical Laws should be called in question since they made them according to their own Judgment the sole Rule of exercising their Authority in such things Where is the certainty and stability of this Rule Is it probable that the communion and peace of all Churches and all Christians are left to be regulated by it And who will give assurance that no one Condition directly unlawful in it self shall be prescribed and imposed by persons enjoying this pretended power Or who can undertake that the number of such Conditions as may be countenanced by a Plea of being things in their own nature indifferent shall not be increased until they come to be such a burden and yoke as are too heavy for the Disciples of Christ to bear and unlawful for them to submit themselves
for the preservation of outward Order And whatever Arbitrariness may be supposed in making a judgment upon the Rule of the Word or in the Application of its rule unto the present Case it must abide in some or other And who shall be thought more meet or able to make a right determination thereon than those whose Duty it is and who have the advantage to be acquainted with all Circumstances belonging to the Case proposed Besides there is the Judgment of the Church or the Congregation it self which is greatly to be regarded Even in the Church of England a suspension of any from the Lords Supper is allowed unto the Curate upon the Offence of the Congregation which is a sufficient evidence that a Judgment in this Case is owned to be their due For none can take Offence but upon a Judgment of the Matter at which he is offended nor in this case without a right to determine that some Offences ought to debar Persons from a participation of the holy Ordinances as also what those Offences are This therefore is to be considered as an Aid and Assistance unto Ministers in the discharge of their Duty It is the Church into whose communion persons are to be admitted And although it be no way necessary that determinations in this Case should be always made by Suffrage or a Plurality of Votes in the Body of the Church yet if the Sense or Mind of the Congregation may be known or is so upon the Enquiry that ought to be made unto that purpose that any persons are unmeet for their communion it is not convenient they should be received nor will their Admission in this case be of any advantage to themselves or the Church The Light of Reason and the Fundamental constitutive Principles of all Free Societies such as the Church is ascribe this Liberty unto it and the Primitive Church practised accordingly So also is the judgment and Desire of the Congregation to be considered in the admission of any if they are made known to the Guides of it For it is expected from them they should confirm their Love unto them without dissimulation as Members of the same Body and therefore in their approbation of what is done their Rulers have Light and Encouragement in their own Duty Besides there is appointed and ought to be preserved a communion among Churches themselves By virtue hereof they are not only to make use of mutual Aid Advice and Counsel antecedently unto a actings of Importance but each particular Church is upon just demand to give an account unto other Churches of what they do in the Administration of the Ordinances of the Gospel among them and if in any thing it hath mistaken or miscarried to rectifie them upon their Advice and Judgment And it were easie to manifest how through these Means and Advantages the Edification of the Church and the Liberty of Christians is sufficiently secured in that discharge of Duty which is required in the Pastors of the Churches about the Admission of persons unto a Participation of holy ordinances in them 5. This Duty therefore must either be wholly neglected which will unavoidably tend to the corrupting and debauching of all Churches and in the end unto their Ruine or it must be attended unto by each particular Church under the conduct of their Guides and Rulers or some others must take it upon themselves What hath been the issue of a Supposal that it may be discharged in the latter way is too well known to be insisted on For whilst those who undertake the Exercise of Church-Power are such as do not dispense the Word or preach it unto them towards whom it is to be exercised but are strangers unto their spiritual state and all the Circumstances of it whilst they have no way to act or exercise their presumed Authority but by Citations Processes Informations and Penalties according to the manner of Secular Courts of Judicature in Causes Civil and Criminal and whilst the Administration of it is committed unto men utterly unacquainted with and inconcerned in the Discipline of the Gospel or the preservation of the Church of Christ in Purity and Order and whilst herein many the most or all of them who are so employed have thereby outward Emoluments and Advantages which they do principally regard the due and proper care of the right Order of the Churches unto the Glory of Christ and their own Edification is utterly omitted and lost It is true many think this the only decent useful and expedient way for the Government of the Church and think it wondrous unreasonable that others will not submit thereunto and acquiesce therein But what would they have us do or what is it that they would perswade us unto Is it that this kind of Rule in and over the Church hath Institution given it in the Scripture or countenance from Apostolieal Practice Both they and we know that no pretence of any such Plea can be made Is it that the first Churches after the Apostles or the Primitive Church did find such a kind of Rule to be necessary and therefore erected it among themselves There is nothing more remote from Truth Would they perswade us that as Ministers of the Gospel and such as have or may have the care of particular Churches committed unto us that we have no such concernment in these things but what we may solemnly renounce and leave them wholly to the mannagement of others We are not able to believe them The Charge that is given unto us the Account that will be required of us the nature of the Office we are called unto continually testifie other things unto us Wherefore we dare not voluntarily engage into the neglect or omission of this Duty which Christ requireth at our hands and of whose neglect we see so many sad Consequents and Effects The Lord Christ we know hath the same Thoughts and makes the same Judgment of his Churches as he did of old when he made a solemn Revelation and Declaration of them And then we find that he charged the Failings Neglects and Miscarriages of the Churches principally upon the Angels or Ministers of them And we would not willingly by our neglect render our selves obnoxious unto his Displeasure nor betray the Churches whereunto we do relate unto his just indignation for their declension from the Purity of his Institutions and the vigour of that Faith and Love which they had professed We should moreover by the Conformity required of us and according to the Terms on which it is proposed engage our selves against the exercise of our Ministerial Office and Power with respect unto them who are already Members of Particular Churches For this we carry along with us that by Conforming we voluntarily consent unto the whole state of Conformity and unto all that we are to do or not to do by the Law thereof Now it is not to be expected that all who are duly initiated or joyned unto any Church
Empire under himself by their common consent In the mean time by the Original Divisions of the Empire and the Revolutions that happened afterwards amongst the Nations of the World the greatest number of Christians were wholly inconcerned in this new Church Soveraignty which was erected in the Western Provinces of that Empire So was the Mystery of Iniquity consummated for whereas the Pope to secure his new Acquisitions endeavoured to empale the Title and Priviledges of the Catholick Church unto those Christians which professed Obedience unto himself unto an exclusion of a greater number there ensued such a confusion of the Catholick and a particular Church as that both of them were almost utterly lost Concerning these several sorts of conceited particular Churches it is evident that some of them as to their nature and kind have no Institution in nor warrant from the Scripture but were Prudential Contrivances of the men of the Dayes wherein they were first formed which they effected by various degrees under the conduct of an Apprehension that they tended unto the increase of Concord and Order among Christians Whether really and effectually they have attained that end the event hath long since manifested And it will be one day acknowledged that no Religious Vnion or Order among Christians will be lasting and of spiritual use or advantage unto them but what is appointed and designed for them by Jesus Christ. The truth is the mutual intestine Differences and Contests among them who first possessed the Rule of such Churches about their Dignities Pre-eminences Priviledges and Jurisdictions which first apparently let in Pride Ambition Revenge and Hatred into the Minds and Lives of Church-Guides lost in the peace of Christendome and the degeneracy of theâ—r Successors more and more into a secular Interest and worldly frame of Spirit is one great means of continuing us at a loss for its retrival How far any man may be obliged in Conscience unto communion with these Churches in those things wherein they are such and as such behave themselves in all their Rule and Administrations may be enquired into by them who are concerned What respect we have unto them or what Duty we may owe them as they may in any place be established by the Civil Laws of the Supream Magistrate is not of our present consideration But whereas in their Original and Rise they have no other warrant but the Prudential contrivance of some men who unquestionably might be variously influenced by corrupt Preâ—udâ—ces and Affections in the finding out and mannagement of their Inventions what ground there is for holding a Religious communion with them and wherein such communion may consist is not easie to be declared For the notion that the Church-communion of the generality of Christians and Ministers consists only in a quiet subjection unto them who by any means may pretend to be set over them and claim a right to rule them is fond and impious In the mean time we wholly deny that the Mistakes or Disorders of Christians in complying with or joyning themselves unto such Churches as have no warrantable institution ought to be any cause of the diminishing of our Love towards them or of withdrawing it from them For notwithstanding their Errors and Wanderings from the Paths of Truth in this Matter they do or may continue interested in all that Love which is due from us unto the Church of Christ upon the double account before insisted on For they may be yet persons born of God united unto Christ made partakers of his Spirit and so belong to the Church Catholick Mystical which is the first principal Object of all Christian Love and Charity The Errors wherewith they are supposed to be overtaken may befal any persons under those Qualifications the admittance of them though culpable being not inconsistent with a state of Grace and acceptation with God And they may also by a due profession of the fundamental Truths of the Gospel evince themselves to be professed Subjects of the visible Kingdom of Christ in the world and so belong to the Church Catholick vâ—sibly professing under which notion the Disciples of Christ are in the next place commended unto our Love And it is the fondest imagination in the world that we must of necessity want Love towards all those with whom we cannot join in all acts of Religious Worship or that there need be any Schisme between them and us on the sole account thereof taking Schisme in the common received notion of it If we bear unkindness towards them in our minds and hearts if we desire or seek their hurt if we persecute them or put them to trouble in the world for their Profession if we pray not for them if we pity them not in all their Temptations Errors or Sufferings if we say unto any of them when naked be thou cloathed and when hungry be thou fed but relieve them not according unto our abilities and opportunities if we have an aversation to their Persons or judge them any otherwise than as they cast themselves openly and visibly under the sentence of Natural Reason or Scripture-Rule we may be justly thought to fail in our Love towards them But if our Hearts condemn us not in these things it is not the difference that is or may be between them and us about Church-Constitutions or Order that ought be a cause or can be an evidence of any want of Love on our parts There will indeed be a distinct and separate practice in the things wherein the difference lies which in it self and without other avoidable evils need not on either side to be Schismatical If by censures or any kind of power such Churches or Persons would force us to submit unto or comply with such things or ways in Religious Worship as are contrary unto our Light and which they have no Authority from the Lord Christ to impose upon us the whole state of the Case is changed as we shall see afterwards As for those Particular Churches which in any part of the world consist of Persons assembling together for the worship of God in Christ under the Guidance of their own Lawful Pastors and Teachers we have only to say that we are full well assured that where-ever two or three are gathered together in the name of Christ there he is present with them and farther than this there are very few concerning whom we are called to pass any other Censure or Judgment So we hope it is with them and so we pray that it may be And therefore we esteem it our Duty to hold that Communion with all these Assemblies when called thereunto which is required of any Christians in the like cases and Circumstances Unless we are convinced that with respect unto such or such Instances it is the Mind of Christ that neither among our selves nor in Conjunction with others nor for the sake of present Communion with them we should observe them in his worship we judge our selves under an Obligation
diligently sought out and improved Nothing but a deceiving Apprehension that they are some way or other meet to have a Dominion over the Faith of their Brethren and Fellow-Servants would prevail with men otherwise Sober and Learned so to deal with all that dissent from them as they are pleased to do Fourthly All these Evils mentioned are much increased in the minds of men when they are puffed up with a conceit of their own Knowledge and Wisdom This therefore we are warned to avoid that the Edification of the Church may be promoted and Love preserved For hence are very many apt to take false measures of things especially of themselves and thereon to cast themselves into many mischievous Mistakes And this is apt to befal them who for ends best known unto themselves have with any ordinary diligence attended to the study of Learning For upon a supposal of some competent furniture with Natural Abilities they cannot but attain some skill and knowledge that the common sort of unstudied persons are unacquainted withal Oft-times indeed their Pre-eminence in this kind consists in matters of very small consequence or importance But whatever it be it is ready to make them think strange of the Apostles advice If any man seemeth to be wise in this world let him become a Fool that he may be wise apt it is to puffe them up to influence their minds with a good conceit of themselves and a contempt of others Hence may we see some when they have gotten a little skill in Languages and through custome advantaged by the reading of some Books are able readily to express some thoughts perhaps not originally their own presently conceit themselves to be so much wiser than the multitude of unlettered persons that they are altogether impatient that in any thing they should dissent from them And this is a common frame with them whose Learning and Wit being their All do yet reach but half way towards the useful ends of such things Others also there are and of them not a few who having been in the ways wherein the Skill and Knowledge mentioned are usually attained yet through their Incapacity or Negligence or some depraved Habit of Mind or course of Life have not really at all improved in them And yet these also having once attained the countenance of Ecclesiastical Offices or Preferments are as forward as any to declaim against and pretend a contempt of that Ignorance in others which they are not so stupid as not to know that the guilt of it may be reflected on themselves However these things at best and in their highest improvement are far enough from solid Wisdom especially that which is from above and which alone will promote the Peace and Edification of the Church Some have no advantage by them but that they can declare and speak out their own weakness others that they can rail and lie and falsly accuse in Words and Language wherewith they hope to please the vilest of men And certain it is that Science which whatever it be without the Grace of God is but falsly so called and oftentimes falsly pretended unto for this evil end of it alone is apt to lift up the minds of men above others who perhaps come not behind them in any useful understanding Yea suppose men to have really attained a singular degree in useful knowledge and wisdom and that either in things spiritual and divine or in Learning and Sciences or in Political pâ—udence yet Experience shews us that an hurtful elation of mind is apt to arise from them if the Souls of men be not well ballanced with Humility and this evil particularly watched against Hence ariseth that Impatience of Contradiction that Jealousie and tenderness of mens own Names and Reputations those sharp revenges they are ready to take of any supposed Inroads upon them or disrespects towards them that contempt undervaluation of other mens Judgments those Magisterial Impositions and censures which proceed from men under a Reputation of these Endowments The Cautions given us in the Scripture against this frame of Spirit the Examples that are proposed unto us to the contrary even that of Christ himself the Commands that are multiplied for Lowliness of mind Jealousie over our selves the Soveraignty of God in chusing whom he pleaseth to reveal his Mind and Truth unto and by may in the consideration of them be useful to prevent such Surprizals with Pride Self-conceit and contempt of others as supposed or abused knowledge are apt to cast men into whereby Divisions are greatly fomented and increased among us But it may be these things will not much prevail with them who pretending a Zeal and Principle above others in Preaching and urging the Examples of Christ do in most of their ways and actings and in some of their Writings give us an unparallel'd Representation of the Devil Lastly It is confessed by all that False Teachers Seducers Broachers of Novel Corrupt and Heretical Doctrines have caused many Breaches and Divisions among such as once agreed in the Profession of the same Truths and Points of Faith By means of such persons whether within the present Church-State or without there is scarce any Sacred Truth which had formerly secured its station and possession in the minds of the generality of Christians in this Nation but what hath been solicited or opposed Some make their Errors the principal Foundation Rule and Measure in Communion Whoever complies with them therein is of them and whoso doth not they avoid so at once they shut up themselves from having any thing to do with them that love Truth and Peace And where these consequents do not ensue mens Zeal for their Errors being overballanced by their love of and concern in their secular interest and their minds influenced by the novel prevailing Opinion of a great Indifferency in all things appertaining unto Outward Worship yet the advancing and fomenting of Opinions contrary unto that Sound Doctrine which hath been generally owned and taught by the Learned and Godly Pastors and received by the People themselves cannot but occasion Strife Contentions and Divisions among Professors And it may be there are very few of those Articles or Heads of Religion which in the beginning of the Reformation and a long time after were looked on as the most useful important and necessary parts of our Profession that have not been among us variously opposed and corrupted And in these Differences about Doctrine lie the hidden Causes of the Animosities whereby those about Worship and Discipline are mannaged For those who have the advantage of Law and Power on their side in these lesser things are not so unwise as to deal openly with their Adversaries about those things wherein the Reputation of established and commonly received Doctrines lie against them But under the pretence and shelter of contending for Legal Appointments not a few do exercise an Enmity against those who profess the Truth which they think it not meet
as necessary Conditions of Communion in or among the Churches of Christ. We dispute not now about the Lawfulness or Vnlawfulness or things in themselves nor whether they may be observed or no by such as have no conviction of any Sin or Evil in them Neither do we judge or censure them by whom they are observed Our Enquiry is solely about our own Liberty and Duty And what concerneth them is resolved into this one Question as to the Argument in hand Whether such Things or Observances in the Worship of God as are wholly unscriptural may be so made the indispensible Condition of Communion with any particular Church as that they by whom they are so made and imposed on others should be justified in their so doing and that if any Differences Divisions or Schismes do ensue thereon the guilt and blame of them must necessarily fall on those who refuse submission to them or to admit of them as such That the Conditions proposed unto us and imposed on us indispensibly if we intend to enjoy the Communion of this Church are of this nature we shall afterwards prove by an induction of Instances Nor is it of any concernment in this matter what place the things enquired after do hold or are supposed to hold in the Worship of God our present Enquiry is about their warranty to be made conditions of Church-Communion Now we are perswaded that the Lord Christ hath set his Disciples at liberty from accepting of such terms of Communion from any Churches in the world And on the same Grounds we deny that he hath given or granted unto them Authority to constitute such Terms and Conditions of their Communion and indispensibly to impose them upon all that enjoy it according to their several capacities and concerns therein For First The Rule of Communion among the Disciples of Christ in all his Churches is invariably established and fixed by himself His Commission Direction and Command given out unto the first Planters and Founders of them containing an obliging Rule unto all that should succeed them throughout all Generations hath so established the Bounds Limits and Conditions of Church-Communion as that it is not lawful for any to attempt their Removal or Alteration Go ye saith he to them and teach all Nations Baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe all things whatever I have commanded you and lo I am with you alwayes even unto the end of the world All the Benefits and Blessings all the Comfort and use of Church-Assemblies and Communion depends alone on the promise of the Presence of Christ with them Thence doth all the Authority that may be exercised in them proceed and thence doth the efficacy of what they do unto the edification of the Souls of men arise and flow Now that any one may thus enjoy the Presence of Christ in any Church with the Fruits and Benefits of it no more can be required of him but that through the Preaching of the Gospel and Baptism being made a professed Disciple he do or be ready to do and observe all whatsoever Christ hath commanded This hath he established as the Rule of Communion among his Disciples and Churches in all Generations In all other things which do relate unto the Worship of God he hath set them and left them at liberty which so far as it is a Grant and Priviledge purchased for them they are obliged to make good and maintain We know it will be here replied that among the Commands of Christ it is that we should hear the Church and obey the Guides and Rulers thereof Whatever therefore is appointed by them we are to submit unto and observe even by virtue of the Command of Christ. And indeed it is certainly true that it is the Will and Command of the Lord Jesus that we should both hear the Church and obey the Guides of it But by virtue of this Rule neither the Church nor its Guides can make any thing necessary to the Disciples of Christ as a condition of Communion with them but only what he hath commanded For the Rule here laid down is given unto those Guides or Rulers who are thereby bound up in the Appointments of what the Disciples are to observe unto the Commands of Christ. And were a Command included herein of obeying the Commands or Appointments of Church-Guides and the promise of the Presence of Christ annexed thereunto as he had given them all his own Power and placed them in his Throne so we had been all obliged to follow them whither ever they had carried or led us although it were to Hell it self as some of the Canonists on this Principle have spoken concerning the Pope Here therefore is a Rule of Communion fixed both unto them that are to rule in the Church and them that are to obey And whereas perhaps it may be said that if the Rulers of the Church may appoint nothing in and unto the Communion of the Church but what Christ hath himself commanded then indeed is their Authority little worth yea upon the matter none at all For the Commands of Christ are sufficiently confirmed and fixed by his own Authority and to what end then serves that of the Rulers of the Church We must say that their whole Authority is limited in the Text unto Teaching of men to observe what Christ hath commanded And this they are to do with Authority but under him and in his Name and according to the Rules that he hath given them And those who think not this Power sufficient for them must seek it elsewhere for the Lord Christ will allow no more in his Churches To make this yet more evident we may consider that particular Instance wherein the Primitive Christians had a Trial in the Case as now stated before us And this was in the Matter of Mosaical Ceremonies and Institutions which some would have imposed on them as a condition of their Communion in the Profession of the Gospel In the determination hereof was their Liberty asserted by the Apostles and their Duty declared to abide therein And this was the most specious Pretence of imposing on the Liberty of Christians that ever they were exercised withal For the Observation of these things had countenance given unto it from their Divine Original and the condescending Practice of the Apostles for a good season That other Instances of the like nature should be condemned in the Scripture is impossible seeing none had then endeavoured the Introduction of any of that Nature But a general Rule may be established in the determination of one Case as well as in that of many provided it be not extended beyond what is eminently included in that case Herein therefore was there a Direction given for the Duty and Practise of Churches in following Ages and that in pursuit of the Law and Constitution of the Lord Christ before-mentioned Neither is there any force in