Tythe of Mint Anise and Cummin and yet in the mean time pass over the weightier matters of the Law Judgement Mercy Faith and the love of God Mat. 23.23 Luke 11.42 While Men contend for the shadow the substance is lost Some alas see no need of Reformation all their Cry is Schism Schism And all because there is not a constant Communion externally even in the most unnecessary and needless irksome and troublesome if not sinful things They that harp so much upon this string consider not how secretly they wound and reflect upon our Rulers that would establish or allow which you please a Schism by Law the Spiritual Fathers the right Reverend Bishops also concurring and not so much as bearing their Testimony to the contrary But such restless Spirits would do well to goe yet to School and learn the right and true Notion of Schism If they will not learn from the Scriptures to which they have been so rationally and frequently referred yet methinks they being of the Communion of the Church of England should regard the Judgement of some of the greatest Men and Lights of that Body in this Point The Men I shall name and the most learned and valuable Doctors are of their mind are such as they cannot reasonably except against and by the evidence of two Witnesses instead of many that might be produced they may see an end put to the Strife The first is the Learned and Reverend Chilling worth In his Preface to the Author of Charity maintained his Words are these Neither is it always of necessity Schismatical to separate from the External Communion of a Church tho' wanting nothing necessary For if this Church supposing to want nothing necessary require me to profess against my Conscience that I believe some Error tho' never so small and Innocent which I do not Believe and will not allow me her Communion but upon this condition in this case the Church for requiring this condition is Schismatical and not I for separating from the Church To this let me add the Conclusion of his Preface Let all Men saith he believe the Scripture and that only and endeavour to believe it in the true sense and require no more of others And they shall sind this not only a better but the only means to suppress Heresie and restore Unity For he that believes the Scripture sincerely and endeavours to believe it in the true sense cannot possibly be a Heretick And if no more than this were required of any Man to make him capable of the Churches Communion then all Men so quallified tho' they were different in opinion and I add consequently worshiped in different places and postures yet notwithstanding any such difference must be of necessity one in Communion So far this Learned Man who had a true Notion of Schism The other is the very learned Dr. Stilling fleet late Bishop of Worcester his cool and unbyassed thoughts you have Iren. chap. 6. pag. 117. Where any Church saith he retaining Purity of Doctrine requires the owning of conformity to any unlawful or suspected practice mark that Men may lawfully deny Conformity to and Communion with that Church in such things without incurring the guilt of Schism read pag. 119. to the same purpose And that this was the Drs. settled Judgement not in his younger years only appears from many other places of his learned Writings Discourse of Idol of Rome pag. 7. We are sure saith he that wilful Ignorance or choosing a worse Church before a better is a damnable sin unrepented of destroys Salvation Again pag. 39. That Church is to be judged purest that hath the best grounds and consequently it is of necessity to Salvation to embrace the Communion thereof And in his rational Account of the Prot. Relig. p. 291. Lesser Societies cannot in Justice make the necessary Conditions of Communion narrower than those which belong to the Catholick Church i. e. Those things which declare Men Christians ought to capacitate them for Communion with Christians Again ibid. The main End of the Christian Society being the Promotion of God's Honour and Salvation of Mens Souls the primary Obligation of Men entring into it is the Advancement of these ends to join in all Acts of it so far as they tend to these Ends But if any thing come to be required directly repugnant to these Ends those Men of whom such things are required are bound not to communicate in those lesser Societies where such things are imposed but to preserve their Communion with the Catholick Society of Christians Again pag. 331. He that separates only from particular Churches as to such things as concern not their Being is only separated from the Communion of those Churches and not the Catholick And therefore supposing that all particular Churches have some Errours and Corruptions in them tho' I should separate from them all that is no doubt from those Errours and Corruptions in them I do not separate from the Communion of the whole Church c. And the reason he subjoyns I declare the grounds of my separation to be such Errours and Corruptions which are crept into the Communion of the Churches and imposed on me in order to it I withal declare my readiness to joyn again if those Errours and Corruptions be left out So much and I think enough from our learned Dr. and Bishop O that Ministers would discover their zeal for God in contending not for the shadow but the substance not for silver Shrines and delusory Trifles but for the Faith once delivered to the Saints as Jude ver 3. Then they would no longer sow Pillars under Mens Armholes nor make the Hearts of the righteous sad nor strengthen the Hands of Sinners but spend and be spent to carry on a happy reformation to the glory of God that is they would no longer bear them which are evil III. Once more a Word to all Christians as such in their respective places and relations Be exhorted Christians to put to your helping hand as you have any Zeal for God or Love to religion to advance the reformation of a sinful and degenerate Age. Let Parents teach and inspect their Children and Masters of Families their Servants And let all consider one another to provoke to love and good Works Heb. 10.24 There is a great Emphasis in the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of that Text or word translated Provoking It signifies a provoking with fervour and zeal smartness and sharpness Now Christians be thus zealous for God and valiant for the Truth throw water on the Fire wherever it breaks out round about you You must not mind your own things only but those also of others and more especially what the Honour and Glory of God are most concerned in You must not only Pray Praise Love and Fear God your Selves but you ought to pity Sinners that hasten not only their own Ruin but a common Calamity And in order hereunto if you cannot by your zealous Endeavours pluck these Brands out of the Fire or prevail with them to consider the evil and fatal consequences of their ways you are called in the next place highly to Value and zealously to Encourage all reforming Magistrates and facilitate their Work to them and all Officers of Justice under them and to prize a Powerful Faithful Laborious Ministry These means God usually blesseth to convert and doe good to Souls if Christians were thankful for them and conscientious to improve them to the best advantage how much good might be done What shall I say Christians let every one in his place be valiant for the Truth Lovers of such as love and fear God and Haters of all that hate him in his Laws and Kingdom Them that honour God he will honour and they that despise him shall be lightly esteemed 1 Sam. 2.30 Thrice blessed are and shall they be of whom the Searcher of Hearts shall approve in this Life in Death or Judgment in the words of the Text I know how you cannot bear them which are evil Now to our High Holy and Jealous God who deserves our zealous Appearance for him and will reward the Love and Labours of his Servants to the Father Son and Holy Ghost be all Glory and the Kingdom for ever Amen J. C. FINIS
testimony if no other private Methods are like to reclaim them Our Faithfulness to God and his Interest calls for no less at our Hands what Inconveniencies soever seem to attend the Performance of our Duty It argues too much either of a mean or carnal spirit to consult here with Flesh and Blood or to be swayed by Interest Custom or Example We are to do our duty and trust our God Whatsoever deserveth our Hatred and Displeasure therefore ought not to have our Connivance far less our Countenance and Encouragement A 3d. mean is Earnest Prayer to God and Humiliation for the sins of the Place and Land where we live They discover but little zeal for God's Glory and Kingdom or concern for the danger of impenitent Sinners that live securely and restrain prayer in a time of great Provocation What! a zeal for God and yet not lament and bewail his Dishonour Any zeal for or regard to an angry provoked God and yet not pray unto him Any Pity to or concern for endangered and self-destroying Sinners and yet not lift up a Petition for them How inconsistent are these things Methinks if neither the Honour of God of all others the most powerful Motive or Pity unto Sinners incite and awake us to Prayer and Humiliation in a time of great Provocation our own Danger should do it which we may see when we read that they only escape and are marked and sealed in the Day of God's Visitation that sigh and cry for all the Abominations that be done where they live Ezek. 9.4 It is possible that all our Zeal and Endeavours cannot put a stop to the strong current of Prophaneness But this calls us so much the more to Humiliation and Prayer And this we are called to and can do We can bewail that which we cannot amend We can humble and afflict our selves and wrestle with God by Prayer when there is no hope to prevail with Sinners And what can we do less than mourn over the Violation of God's holy Law and the Folly Madness and Danger of Sinners that hasten their own ruine and the Judgement of the Lard wherein they live Surely our Zeal if we have any will bring us to our Knees and if we cannot bear them which are evil yet as they are Men Charity calls us to lift up our Prayer to God for them If not for their Reformation supposing they are incorrigible yet for the averting of God's Wrath and Judgement under which the righteous also may groan and suffer with them Hitherto I have offered nothing but what I think binds all Christians in general that would manifest any zeal for God But since not only all Christians as such are bound to discover a zeal for God but Christian Rulers Civil and Ecclesiastical in a more especial Manner therefore I think I am called to touch also at the means to be used by them as such And I. As to civil Rulers or Magistrates Their Zeal for God Order and the Advancement of Reformation the great End of their Authority and Power should methinks make them Lovers of those that are good and a terrour to the evil Such in their several Places whether supreme or subordinate are God's Ministers and in a Christian Common-wealth intrusted with the Execution of the Laws of God and the Land The Law is equally a Protection and Rule to them in the way of their Duty They are God's Ordinance for good and to execute Wrath upon him that doth evil Rom. 13.1 2 3. If then they have any zeal for God any regard to Justice any sense of their own Duty or any Dislike of or Displeasure against those which are evil They must look to it that the Laws be not broken or condemned God's Laws are holy unalterable civil Constitutions grounded upon them are necessary and binding and of great Force because of their Correspondency and Agreement with the former Now what good Magistrate can suffer both to be trampled underfoot The highest Powers with the supreme Magistrate where there is any makes Laws in order to be inviolably observed and not broken at will or set at nought And subordinate Rulers are appointed for and generally intrusted with their Execution If the former be good Men themselves the Laws they make are so in like manner And if the latter are such as do their Duty then the Laws have all their Force And is not this the great End and Design of Magistracy Wicked Men fail not to shew and manifest their zeal If placed in Authority they carefully look to it that such as the Statutes of Omri were be kept that the Hands of Sinners be strengthned and so forth Woeful Experience attests this And should not Christian Rulers then and such as would be accounted good Men and a Blessing to their Country shew their zeal in seeing good Laws put in Execution and encouraging such as fear God It is their place to weild the Sword of Justice to strengthen the Hands of the righteous to discourage Sin by Authority and to bring obstinate Offenders and Transgressors to Punishment If they fail herein they defeat the End of Government they enervate the Laws strengthen the Hands of Sinners What shall I say It is by their Faithfulness and Zeal that they become publick Blessings that they gain respect with God and good Men that they credit and strengthen the Laws wherewith they are intrusted and in fine are in any probability to promote the Reformation of Sinners or hinder the spreading of Impiety and Prophaneness On the contrary their Indifferency or Partiality makes them a publick Nuisance Judgement and Curse How then doth it concern them to discover a zeal for God and by their own Example and the due Exercise of their Authority to give force unto the Laws the Execution of which they are intrusted with Thus they appear at once to be good Men and good Rulers and may by God's Blessing do much to destroy the Miseries and stop the current of Prophaneness II. As to Ecclesiastical Rulers or Ministers such are to discover their Zeal and answer the End of their Office by the right use of the Sword of the Spirit which is the word of God Their great Work is to use this Sword so as to reach the Consciences of Sinners Of all Men they should be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 haters discouragers of them which are evil Not that any outward coercive power belongs to them or that any pretended zeal can warrant them to move out of their own spiritual sphere No their Weapons should not be Carnal but Spiritual And their Zeal for God and Charity to Souls sufficiently discovers it self in the consciencious discharge of their Ministerial Office This the Apostle Paul summs up in a few words 2 Tim. 4.2 Preach the Word be instant in season out of season reprove rebuke exhort with all long suffering and doctrine And this one rule observed with a holy life and the exercise of that
discipline against Offenders that the Scriptures Warrant will be a sufficient and practical proof that they cannot bear them which are evil These Rulers are its true to be meek and gentle to all but their meekness is so to be tempered with zeal that they appear not in the least to connive at Sin far less encourage it and strengthen the hands of Sinners Then they are faithful Witnesses and Champions for the Kingdom of God when they cannot bear them which are evil That is when they labour to convince and convert Sinners and by the Key of Discipline deprive the Ungodly and Prophane of Christian Priviledges So shall their Lord and Master approve their Zeal and Reward their Labours and Fidelity Thou canst not bear them which are evil So much of the heads proposed for the clearing of the Doctrine A few words more of the promised Application and I shall conclude The liberty I have taken to enlarge already together with the short prescribed time allowed confine me to doe the less here and leave the more for you Some things I must hint at and these I shall comprize and shut up in an Address to three sorts of Men all bound to discover a Zeal for God and the Reformation of Sinners I mean Civil Magistrates Ecclesiastical Rulers and all Christians as such in their respective Places and Relations I. I make bold to address to Civil Magistrates not presuming to dictate or teach them their duty but as a Christian a Minister and one that breathes after and prays for the advancement of Reformation and Righteousness to put them in remembrance You Christian Rulers then high and low of what denomination soever know That it will be your Glory and what will add to the lustre of your Crown to deserve the Approbation of the Text that you cannot bear them which are evil I know how that c. I beseech you let the Glory of God the Necessity of Reformation the Sense of your own Duty the threatning Clouds that hang over our Land and the great danger and growing number of bold Sinners stir up your Zeal and awake you unto Righteousness You see That the Age is become so degenerate and alas under a profession of Religion and where Christianity is established by Law that the very name of Reformation as well as the thing is become suspected and hateful We seem to be ashamed and afraid of that which our Fathers gloried in Atheism and Prophaneness break in upon us like a Flood And it is to be feared that all a heavy Curse and Gods righteous Judgment upon us flows in a great measure hence That so few call for or execute Justice plead for Truth Or that Judgment is turned into Gall to speak in the Language of the Prophet Am. 6.12 and the Fruit of Righteousness into Hemlock Impiety and Prophaneness have been so long countenanced in this Land that Sinners are not only multiplied but become impudent and resolute against a Reformation So that in the way of second Causes nothing is like to restrain the general Corruption but either a sweeping Scourge with the Sword of Vengeance or the zealous Execution and right Use of the Sword of Justice What can prevent the terrrors of the Lords Wrath but that such as are called Gods and bear the Sword execute Wrath upon him that doth evil if there is no other way to reform him How singular are our helps and advantages to advance a Reformation We have excellent Laws grounded upon the law of God sufficiently plain and full against Prophaneness And now the highest Powers call for the execution of the Laws To this purpose we have had by Divine Providence of late years somany Laws and Proclamations for the suppressing of Prophaneness What remaineth then but that all you who are intrusted with the execution of the Laws approve your selves to be Ministers of God and that every Sin that falls within your Cognizance run upon the point of the Sword Methinks your zeal for God should make you spend your most angry looks on the boldest and most daring Sinners and bring such as fear not God to tremble before you his Vicegerents Ah shall the Sword of Justice rust in your hands while Sinners are hardned 〈…〉 â—â—â—â—nity Shall the best Laws prove a dead or rather a killing Letter for want of being put in Execution Shall Nurseries of Prophaneness grow up before the eyes of Christian Magistrates these also called the Reformed God forbid He that ruleth over Men must be Just ruling in the fear of God 2 Sam. 23.3 Awake then you Ministers of a jealous God and make the Sinners of our Israel ashamed nay tremble before you You have an opportunity put in your hands to doe God Service singular Means and Encouragements You have the Law on your side You have your Inferiour Officers and the Command of all the People to attend your Motions Awake then let not our Sabbaths be prophaneed any longer Let not the Name of God be blasphemed Let not the Holy Laws of the Lord and the good Constitutions of our Land be dareingly broken and trampled under Foot Let not our Taverns and Ale-houses be more frequented and full than our Churches Let not roaring Debauchees Atheists corrupters of Youth and prophane Varlets boast of Impunity Let not the Enemies of God and Godliness find Protection or Encouragement under Christian Rulers In a word let not all that is Sacred be turned into Ridicule to the Scandal and Wounding of Religion the disgrace of Government the grief of all sincere and zealous Christians the joy of Devils and Sinners the increase of Abominations and the hastning of sore Judgments upon our Land Discite Justitiam moniti Be Wise 〈…〉 O ye Kings be instructed ye Judges of the Earth Serve the Lord with Fear and rejoyce with Trembling Psal 2.10 11. What shall I say Let there be an accomplishment of the happy Prophecy in our Days I will make thy Officers Peace and thy Exactors Righteousness Isa 60.17 II A few words to Ecclesiastical Rulers I mean all Ministers of the Gospel and Pastors of Christian Churches let me as a remembrancer recommend to such That they be ambitious of the Character of the Angel of the C. of Ephesus Thou canst not bear them which are evil Surely this is best done by Preaching and Living sin down None but Angels of Darkness do cherish Prophaneness or encourage the Prophane Consider Revd. dear Brethren it is not a blind Zeal or for Trifles that will credit the Ministry or glorifie God Piety Meekness Moderation and Charity not Strife Contentions Wars and Fightings become the Messengers of the Prince of Peace the meek and loving Jesus who smartly reproved the precipitant Zeal of his Disciples that in their Anger would command fire from Heaven saying ye know not what spirit ye are of Luke 9.54 55. Woe to them that spend themselves for Circumstantials and useless Ceremonies and would fire Church and State for the