Selected quad for the lemma: christian_n
Text snippets containing the quad
|
ID |
Title |
Author |
Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) |
STC |
Words |
Pages |
|
A51995
|
The purity of Gospel communion, or, Grounds and reasons for separation from persons of corrupt manners, or that hold erroneous doctrine in matters of faith essential to salvation, or that are guilty of false worship, or irregular administration of Gospel ordinances briefly discussed to prevent the increase of sin and disorder by a mixed communion in church fellowship / by Isaac Marlow.
|
Marlow, Isaac.
|
1694
(1694)
|
Wing M694; ESTC R18243
|
42,542
|
83
|
them To whom I have this to say 1. That I think we may fairly gather from what they have published with their Confession of Faith of the Institution and Order of Churches that they do not admit any unbaptized Christians to their Communion at the Lord's Table for in Article the seventh speaking of a particular Church gathered and compleated according to the Mind of Christ In Article the eighth they say The Members of those Churches are Saints by Calling visibly manifesting and evidencing their Obedience unto that call of Christ who being further known to each other by their Confession of the Faith wrought in them by the Power of God do willingly Consent to walk together according to the appointment of Christ giving up themselves to the Lord and to one another by the Will of God in professed Subjection to the Ordinances of the Gospel So then if the Members of a compleat Church do willingly consent to walk together in professed Subjection to the Ordinances of the Gospel none that do not subject themselves to the Ordinance of Baptism in their Sence can be orderly admitted by them as compleatly quallified to their full Communion and so if they will not hold Communion with such unbaptized Persons they do not hold it as some of them pretend with Christians meerly as such but only with such Christians which are qualified with Water-Baptism to receive the Lords Supper But 2. If they own that our baptizing Persons on Confession of Faith by way of dipping is also right Baptism according to Gospel-Rule and so for this Reason they can freely hold their Communion with us Yet this is no Corrector that their Charity is more universal then ours because then they receive us not meerly on the account of their Charity but as Christians sitly qualified with Water-Baptism But the Case is different respecting us for seeing we deny their Infant-sprinkling to be true Baptism or to be of God and so they being to us as unbaptized Persons our having sull Communion with them would be not only contrary to the Light of our own Consciences but witnessed against by their practice of sprinkling for Baptism as a qualification to full Communion And therefore we have equal Reason to say that our refusing Church-Communion with them is not for want of Charity towards them as Christians any more then it is for want of it in themselves to other Christians that are not sprinkled or any ways baptized if they refuse Communion with them as some have done in their private Conference according to what is gathered as their Mind in Print before So that I see no Reason why our Brethren should in the least be offended at us for keeping our selves from their Communion when otherwise so far as I can perceive their Practice as well as our own Consciences would condemn us for so doing 3. Our aforesaid Brethren of the Independant Churches however some of their Members have in their private Converse reflected on us have fairly granted See their 28 Article of the Institution of Churches at the end of the Congregational Confession of Faith that a Person where he cannot continue in any Church without his Sin may depart from the Communion of one Church to another For they say Persons that are joined in Church-fellowship ought not lightly or without just cause to withdraw themselves from the Communion of the Church whereunto they are so joined Nevertheless where any Person cannot continue in any Church without his Sin either for want of the Administration of any Ordinances instituted by Christ or by his being deprived of his due Priviledges or compelled to any thing in Practice not warranted by the Word or in case of Persecution or upon the account of Conveniency of Habitation he consulting with the Church or the Officer or Officers thereof may peaceably depart from the Communion of the Church wherewith he hath so walked to join himself with some other Church where he may enjoy the Ordinances in the Purity of the same for his Edification and Consolation Now seeing they grant that we may leave our Communion with a Church to join our selves with some other Church where we may enjoy the Ordinances in the Purity of the same then none of them ought to blame us for not holding our full Communion with them as if they were the standard of Truth who we believe are not in the compleat Order and true Administration of all Gospel Ordinances Seeing we walk by their Rule of Communion according to our Consciences tho' we have not the same Light to walk with them 2. For any of our Baptized Brethren to plead for mixed Communion from the Obligation of universal Charity for Christians as they are such does rather betray their want of real Love Gal. 5.22 1 Joh. 4.19 for that is a Fruit of the Holy Spirit flowing first from the Faith we have in the Love of God to us which is the cause of Love in us to him 1 Joh. 5.1 and so to our Brethren which are begotten of him and then our universal Love to Christians depending on our Love to God it must consist with sincere Obedience to his Will so far as we are inlightned For this is the Love of God Joh. 14.21 23. 1 Joh. 5.2 3. that we keep his Commandments and his Commandments are not grievous And by this we know that we Love the Children of God when we Love God and keep his Commandments And therefore whatsoever Love is pretended which is inconsistent with sincere Obedience to Christ 't is rather to be suspected than counted real But in Charity I must conclude it is not for want of Love to the Institutions of Christ but for want of Light that you plead for Communion at the Lords Table with unbaptized Christians However you do thereby virtually deny your own Baptism to be essentially necessary to a regular gospel-Gospel-Church and make void that Holy Ordinance of Christ which in Obedience to him you have subjected to Besides why may you not then also say that you ought in Charity to Christians meerly as such altho' they be not yet baptized to call any gifted Christian to administer the Ordinances of Preaching Prayer and breaking Bread in the Church and in Charity to those Members that walk disorderly and break the Commandments of Christ forbear the Execution of his Ordinance of withdrawing your Church-Communion from them because you believe them still to be real Christians as if we could not Love Mens Persons unless we favour their Sins and thereby perhaps through the neglect of our Duty to them harden their Hearts therein And so under the Notion of Christian Charity the true Order of a gospel-Gospel-Church may be quite destroyed VII Object But some may think I open the door of the Church too wide and give too great incouragement for Persons to wander from Church to Church or to leave their present Communion to imbody themselves into a distinct Church-state Answer 1.
Divine Worship See his Book intitled the Breach Repaired in Gods Worship Page 183 184. that if the Spirit of the Lord does not lift up a spiritual standard against it we may fear the increase of Artificial Worship in our Churches for he saith There is I must ' tell you an Art in speaking and no Man but has need to learn and be instructed to speak as he ought especially when he speaks about Divine Things Also there is an Art in preaching and all young Men when they begin to take upon them that work need Instruction how to handle a Doctrine And saith he so I may say in Praying too So that we see how naturally the Art of singing which he is there pleading for does draw Men in to plead for an Art in Praying too And as I have said in my Reply to him See my Book Page 18. is not this a forward step for him or others that may if the Lord of his Mercy does not prevent hereafter build upon this Foundation to bring into use a prestinted Form of Prayer for Gospel-Worship for if Nature and Grace may and ought to be improved by Art to express the Matter of our Prayers to God what Art can he mean or can any others think is best for Prayer than to use an Artificial Form of Words I mention these things to shew the danger that we are in of loosing the true spiritual Worship of God by the apostatizing of some in our Profession to the Errour of prestinted Forms of Singing And if we do not incourage such gracious Brethren as may be found among us better principled whether with or without the Knowldge of other Tongues to improve their Gifts which through the Blessing of God may be fit for the publick Service of our Churches many of them are like to crumble away for want of Ministers suitable to their Principles and those others which have been advanced to the Ministry by the publick Fund will have the greater opportunity through the necessities of our Churches to infect our Profession with their Error of common set form Singing and I fear with mixed Communion too which seem like twins to go hand in hand together As for their Mode of of Singing I have largely shewed that which was never answered by any of them and plainly proved in my Reply to Mr. Benjamin Keaches Book of Singing Intitled the Breach Repaired c. That we have no Command nor Example neither under the Law nor under the Gospel for the Ministers and all the People to sing with united Voices together in the settled worship of God in his Church And that his common way of Singing is not that Mode of spiritual singing which was used in the Apostles time nor is it the natural but an Artificial Mode of Worship And also that we have not the least ground to conclude that Christ and his Disciples at or after the Lords Supper did sing the Hymn or Praise which they gave to God for those Texts Math. 26.30 Mark 14.26 and Acts 16.25 are not rightly translated in our last Bibles which are witnessed against by many of our old English Bibles and many learned Authours as I have abundantly shewed in my aforesaid Reply to Mr. Keach But to return It is therefore high time for all that have any Love for the Truth and Purity of Gospel-worship to awake out of sleep for the necessities of many Churches call upon us earnestly to seek the Lord by Humiliations Fastings and Prayers that he would graciously raise up Ministers not only sound in the Faith but in all their Principles of Divine Worship in the Spirit of Love and Meekness And tho' we may find some of our Ministers and other Brethren that are for the new Modelling of our Churches with their formal Worship and mixed Communion to decline this Work with us by Reason their different Principles cannot join with our particular Requests relating thereunto yet this should in no wise hinder our People from flocking together and crying fervently to the Lord for the pourings forth of the Holy Spirit according to his promise to bear a lively Testimony against all unrighteousness and false worship Isa 44.3 to 6. Ch. 59.21 Eph. 4.11 12 13. Isa 59.19 20 21. Jer. 3.15 and to give us Pastours according to his heart which shall feed his People with Knowledg and Understanding even such as shall worship him in Spirit and Truth without any mixture of humane Forms and meer Inventions of men For if instead of sound Elders we should have only those for the publick service of God that are for a piece of false worship and mixed communion what else can be expected from new Converts and those who joyn themselves to our Churches but that through Love and Affections to their Ministers they will suck in their Erroneous Principles as sad Experience hath shewed and so in time will overturn the former order and settlement of our Churches and put back that blessed Reformation which God has wrought among us and which many precious Saints have suffered for that the Purity of the Gospel which some are now betraying might be handed down to future ages Fourthly I shall leave a few things to the serious consideration of those who have received the manifestation of the special Grace of God in Christ to their souls through faith which worketh by love and yet are walking at large in neglect of his holy Ordinances as if they were left to Christians liberty to obey or reject them at their pleasures Let me ask a few Questions for thee to answer in thine own Conscience Rom. 2.15 16. which shall either accuse or else excuse thee in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to the Gospel Why art thou partial in Gods laws or in Christs institutions Mal. 2.9 so as to pick and choose which of them thou wilt obey Remember Psal 119.6 David saith Then shall I not be ashamed when I have respect unto all thy Commandments Wilt thou partake of the Benefit of the publick Prayers of the Saints and of the Ministration of the Gospel of Christ in his Church and not put to thy helping hand to support it in the World and to convey it down to future ages what had become of thy precious soul and many thousands more if our late Reformers had bin of thy Mind how should the true worship of God have bin maintained and how little preaching should we have in our present day if Christians did not imbody themselves into Societies to encourage the Gospel Ministers for where can their light best appear if not on a Gospel Candlestick No marvel Soul if thou hast not peace of Conscience and strength of Grace against the power of Sins and Temptations if thy feet are not found in the ways of Christ whose ways are ways of pleasantness Prov. 3.17 Ch. 10.29 Isa 64.5 and all his paths are peace and strength to