out of a pure heart and a little after The Servant of the Lord must not strive but be gentle unto all men Patient in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves which tho' it be spoken primarily to the Bishops and Pastors of the Church yet concerns all Christians in general as being Servants also of the same Lord. Mark 9.50 I shall conclude this particular with our Saviours precept to his immediate followers and in them to all that should afterwards believe in him Have salt in your selves and have Peace one with another That is See that you be season'd with that Spiritual Wisdom and that divine Temper of mind which may render you acceptable both to God and men and particularly in order to the same end maintain a constant Peace and agreement among your selves To keep the Vnity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace implies yet more particularly a preserving entire as far as in us lies the External Communion of the Christian Church I am sensible that considering the divided state of the Church in the present Age this is a very tender point to discourse of but as I shall speak so I desire to be heard in the Spirit of meekness and Charity which I am sure is the true Spirit of Christianity External Communion may be very properly call'd the bond of Peace in as much as it shews to all the World that Christians own themselves one Body and especially as it tends to preserve them in that State this being one great end and design of our being appointed to meet together to celebrate the publick worship of God that when we glorifie God and our Redeemer with one Heart and one Mouth our Charity towards our Christian Brethren may at the same time be Inflamed And that it is apt to have this effect I dare appeal to the experience of all that are serious and constant in the publick worship according to the Institution of the Gospel And there can be no doubt but that abundance of that uncharitableness which is to be observ'd in Christians towards each other proceeds from their having first divided Communions and refus'd to worship God and their Saviour together How many unchristian Contentions among our selves in this Nation may be attributed Solely to this Cause I leave all that hear me to judge For after all that men may talk of the Duty and the Possibility of Christians who are of different Communions Loving one another such is the Weakness of humane Nature and the coldness of Christian Charity that as experience convinces us men are easily carry'd from difference in communion not only to a coolness in affection but as the consequence of that a distance and a shyness in conversation First the differing parties admit unkind thoughts of each other then often proceed to hard words to uncharitable censures either of the opinions or which is worse of the Intentions of those that differ from them and it may be at last come in good earnest to strive for Mastery to struggle for superiority and preeminency to contend for Power and Dominion But besides all the Benefits which result from keeping the Vnity of the Spirit c. in the sense I am now speaking of and the Mischiefs which evidently flow from breaking it which are more than I can have time now to enumerate that which I would propose to your impartial consideration is that the Nature and Frame of that Religion which we all profess obliges us to be One in this respect The First Christians assembled in one place offering up their Devotions daily together under the Direction and conduct of the Apostles as long as their number would permit them so to do Thus we read in the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles Acts 2.1 ver 44 45. At the day of Pentecost they were all with one accord in one Place And afterwards in the same Chap. All that believ'd were together and Again They continuing daily with one accord in the Temple and breaking bread from House to House did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart that is they worship God together in the Temple at the Hours of Prayer and then withdrew into some more private apartment to celebrate the Lords Supper together the peculiar Christian service doing all with great simplicity ver 42. Integrity joy and Charity and once more They continued stedfastly in the Apostles Doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of bread and Prayers Thus did the first Christians and then 't is observ'd that the Lord added to the Church daily such as should be sav'd ver 4â— the unanimity of Christians together with the Blessing of God which is ready to attend it having a mighty tendency to the increasing their Number When the Number of Christians was by this means increas'd and the Religion of our Saviour was spread through many distant Citys and Countrys they were then indeed necessitated to assemble in distinct places to which Purpose the Apostles ordain'd and fix'd Bishops and Lastors in every place where they form'd a Church but still they were one in heart and Soul a fair correspondence was kept up between all these particular Churches and when any Christian travel'd from one city to another he immediately joyn'd with and was receiv'd by the Church settled in that place to which he came as may be easily discern'd in the Sequel of that History of the Acts of the Apostles Every Christian is in truth a Member of the Catholick Church of Christ and consequently dispos'd if he be rightly instructed in his profession to joyn with any sound part of the Church throughout the World wherever his business or occasions shall lead him But forasmuch as the Catholick Church must be distributed into several particular Churches for the good of the whole and the Edification of every particular member of it each particular Christian is by consequence of right a member of that part of the Christian Church in which providence hath cast his lot and where his ordinary abode and residence is there in all reason ought his Stated and ordinary Communion to be provided always that no unchristian no unlawful Terms of Communion are impos'd upon him If any particular Church impose any unlawful Terms of Communion then a good Christian is discharged of this obligation that will be a sufficient plea for his separation from it For which reason if the Romish Communion were established among us which God forbid it ever should be we who have been Instructed in the principles of Christianity as reform'd from the Errors and Corruptions of that Church ought not we could not Consistently with our Principles Communicate with it But wheresoever here is a Church established under the conduct of Bishops and Pastors regularly call'd and appointed to guide and govern it and if the State be Christian with the concurrence of its Authority also in which a good Christian may worship and serve his Maker and Redeemer without
professing or complying with any thing contrary to the precepts of Christianity I can see no just reason for separation in such a case Shall the meer pretence of prefering some confessedly indifferent modes or Circumstances of worship and discipline excuse a Christian from holding Communion with that Church to which he otherwise of right belongs But where then will be any end of Division What bounds or limits can be fixt to it How is it possible there should be any order any Peace in the Christian Church if every one is at Liberty to break the Unity of the Body meerly for this reason because he could better approve of some other Modes or Circumstances whilst yet he allows those which are in present use to be Lawful Who is it in all other Bodys and Societies of Men that orders such matters but the Governours of each society And who in a Christian Nation should likewise order them but the Governours in Church and State And when they are so order'd what has any private Member of the Christian Body farther to do but to consider whether he can comply with a good Conscience or not And if he can surely the Peace of the Church the keeping the Unity of the Body of Christ the promoting concord and Charity and Edification amongst its Members are strong obligations upon him to do it If any thing plainly unlawful be requir'd then that reply of the Apostles to the Sanhedrim takes place Acts. 4.19 whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God judge ye But if nothing unlawful by Gods Word nothing unlawful according to our own Judgment and Confession be made a condition of Communion I dare appeal to your selves in a like form of words Whether it be right in the Sight of God to break the Vnity of the Church of Christ Judge ye I should now according to the Method I propos'd go on to consider the Obligation all Christians are under to practice the Duty of the Text. But that I may not exceed the limits of my Time I shall confine my self to what our Apostle himself hath laid down to this purpose in the Context which is indeed so full and emphatical that a very short Paraphrase upon his Words may well suffice The Word he uses in the Text it self is very observable Endeavouring we render it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but it denotes as is well known no slight and ordinary Endeavour but a very diligent one a studious and Earnest care to keep the Vnity of the Spirit which plainly shews the weight of the Duty and the strict Obligation which lyes upon all Christians to practice it And no less can be infer'd from what immediately goes before and follows the words In the First verse of this Chapter as I have already observ'd the Apostle intimates that it is a walking worthy of our Christian Vocation that is 't is a behaving our selves Suitably to the design and Nature of the profession we make 't is what Christianity requires of us and that it is so appears more particularly by what immediately follows the Text ver 4.5 6. There is one Body and one Spirit even as ye are called in one hope of your calling one Lord one Faith one Baptism one God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in you all What can be offer'd more perswasive than this Let us take a short View of each particular There is one Body that is as I said before the Christian Church throughout the world is but one Society Distributed into Several particular Churches as its parts of which particular Churches if sound in Doctrine and worship and imposing no unlawful Terms of Communion each single Christian is of right a Member in the place in which Providence hath cast his Lot and consequently is bound to maintain and promote the Unity and Peace of the particular Church of which he is a Member in order to preserving the Unity and peace of the whole Body One Spirit every sound part of the Christian Church and every genuine Member of it is under the Influence and Conduct of the Holy Spirit of God to which if he yields himself tractable using all those means which he hath appointed for the attaining his Assistance he will not fail to have his Judgment duly Settled and his mind inspired with a sincere Love to all who are under the Influence of the same Spirit the effect of which will certainly be a Peaceable Conversation and especially a readiness to joyn with all his fellow Christians in every part of the worship of God and his Redeemer It follows As ye are called in one hope of your Calling We all expect the same reward even the Resurrection of our Bodys at the last day and the everlasting Happiness of the Life to come we all hope to meet in the same Region of Bliss and to joyn and live together for ever in one Body in Heaven How then can we fall out in the way thither or refuse to walk together in the same path of Life One Lord whose Authority we all equally own whose Laws we profess to submit to and consequently have the same Rule to walk by and the same obligation to make us observe it As fellow servants we cannot disagree without disowning the Authority of our Common Master As fellow-Members we cannot be disunited without relinquishing so far our common Head One Faith One Baptism We all profess to adhere to that Faith which was once delivered unto the Saints agreeing at least in the fundamental and necessary Articles of it this profession we undertook at our Baptism when we were all initiated into the society of Christians in the same manner being washed with water in the Name of the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost declaring our belief in and our resignation to these three Divine Persons And how then can we afterwards be excused if we fall out and divide about inconsiderable and indifferent matters which neither relate to the foundation of our Faith nor contradict the Design of our Baptism And to conclude One God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in you all We are children of the same Heavenly Father and Consequently ought to live in Brotherly Love and Charity in perfect concord and agreement thinking and speaking and Acting the very same things as those who are under the same paternal Government and Authority who are taken care of provided for and directed by the same Providence and the same Grace These are the Arguments by which the Apostle inforceth the Duty of the Text the summe of all which is that the whole Scheme and Frame of our Religion its Author its Rule its Model its end do all oblige us to the keeping of unity so that we cannot any way contribute towards contention or division in the Church of Christ without going Directly cross to our Profession and walking altogether
A Perswasive to Peace and Vnity A SERMON preached before the Right Honourable the Lord-Mayor AND THE ALDERMEN OF THE CITY of LONDON At the Church of St. Mary Le-Bow On Sunday January 16th 1697 1698. By SAMVEL BRADFORD Rector of the said Church LONDON Printed for Brab Aylmer at the Three Pigeons near the Royal Exchange in Cornhil 1698. To the Right Honourable Sir Humphry Edwin K nt Lord Mayor of the City of London AND THE Court of Aldermen Right Honourable THE Publishing this Discourse is purely an act of Obedience to Your Order it being design'd to have gone no farther than the Place in which it was Preach'd When You were pleas'd to come in a Body to my Church upon so solemn an Occasion as that of partaking of the Holy Communion in compliance with a Law which makes the doing so a Test to all who are admitted to Publick Offices and Employments I thought it became me to lay hold on the Opportunity to exhort You earnestly to promote the Good of that Church whereof by this Practice You own Your selves to be Members What I have urg'd for our being as far as is possible united not only in Judgment and Affection but in Communion too is upon such Reasons as will hold equally where there is an Indulgence granted by Law and where there is not namely The Precepts of the Holy Scriptures and the Nature of the Christian Body by both which every Christian is certainly oblig'd to promote the Peace and Unity of the Church of Christ not only for Wrath but also for Conscience sake out of regard to Christ and his Church even where he is lyable to no Civil Mulcts or Penalties for doing otherwise And to prevent all jealousie as if I had the least Intention hereby to express my dislike of Indulgence towards tender Consciences I take this Occasion to declare That I heartily approve it as being thorowly perswaded that for one Christian to persecute another who Conscientiously differs from him meerly for his so doing is a gross violation not only of the Law of Christianity but even of Nature it self Nay farther I believe it the Duty of Church-Governours to insist upon no narrower Terms of Communion than such as to the best of their Judgments regulated by Scripture have a plain and evident tendency to maintain Truth promote Piety and Vertue and preserve good Order in the Churches under their Care Which I mention with the greater freedom because I am well satisfied that this was the Principle upon which those who settled the Reformation amongst us in the Reign of King Edward and Queen Elizabeth acted and because I doubt not but that it is the Principle also of our present Governours both in Church and State But after this the Duty of every private Christian is as plain namely to comply with the Terms establish'd as far as he Lawfully may valuing the Peace of the Church much beyond the gratification of himself and being ready to do every thing for the maintaining its Unity which he thinks Lawful to be done upon any other account whatsoever How the Christians of this Nation came to divide themselves into so many distinct and separate Communions I will not now inquire but till we can attain to this Disposition I can foresee nothing else but that our Divisions must be propagated without Reason and without End from one Generation to another which is but a melancholy Thought to any one who remembers how much stress both our Saviour and his Apostles have laid upon Peace and Unity The Prayer which our Lord offer'd up a little before his Suffering for all who should believe in him was in these words That they all may be one as thou Father art in me and I in thee that they also may be one in us and that for this Reason That the World may believe that thou hast sent me And St. Paul in a set Discourse occasion'd by Contentions in the Church of Corinth concerning the Gifts with which some were endued to a greater degree than others prefers Charity meaning that Charity whereby the Peace and Unity of the Church is maintain'd much before the best of Gifts the strongest Faith the most profuse Liberality and even Martyrdom it self Our Blessed Saviour as an Example to his Followers constantly joyn'd in the Publick Exercises of God's Worship both in the Temple and in the Synagogue notwithstanding the many and gross Corruptions which were at that time crept into the Jewish Church The Apostles in like manner and the other Christians who dwelt at Jerusalem though as they were oblig'd by the Christian Institution they assembled apart from the Jews for the performing that Worship which was peculiarly Christian yet we never find that they deserted either the Temple or the Synagogues till the final desolation of their Country And St. Paul himself who so often and so vehemently upon just occasions asserted and pleaded for the Liberty of Christians as being set free from the Jewish Yoke yet did not at all scruple the making use of those Ceremonies which himself had declar'd to be abrogated when ever it might serve to the benefit of the Church After which Considerations 't is very strange that any Christian should entertain such slight apprehensions of the Evil and Danger of dividing the Christian Church as abundance amongst us have done Pardon me if I seem to press this matter with Zeal upon You who under His Majesty have the Government of this great City committed to You and whose Examples are like to have much greater Influence than the Examples of private Men. Whatsoever others do it certainly becomes those who are in Publick Stations to fulfil all Righteousness and I think I may be allow'd to say without Offence that a Magistrate should be one who needs no Indulgence but that which is by common consent given to Humane Nature in general That whatsoever is truly and justly propos'd in the following Discourse may be of Use to the Publick and that we may all in our respective Stations zealously and constantly promote the Honour of Almighty God the Good of his Church and the Welfare of the Kingdom is the hearty Prayer of Right Honourable Your most Faithful and Obedient Servant Samuel Bradford A SERMON Preached before the Lord-Mayor Perswading to PEACE and UNITY EPHESIANS 4.3 Endeavouring to keep the Vnity of the Spirit in the bond of Peace WE are assembled at this time not only to hear the Word of God read and preached and to offer up our daily Prayers and Praises to the Divine Majesty but also to Celebrate the most peculiar and Solemn Office of our Christian Religion Namely the Commemoration of our Saviours Death according to his own Institution By doing of which we openly profess to the World First our Communion with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ by that Spirit which proceedeth from both and in the next Place our fellowship one with another We declare hereby that we are Members of
Nay a kind and amicable demeanor towards each other in our whole Conversation It implys yet more particularly a preserving entire as far as in us lyes the External Communion of the Christian Church To keep the Vnity c implys the maintaining as much as may be an Unity in Judgment especially as to the main and Principal Doctrines of the Christian Faith 1 Cor. â— 10 This is what St. Paul exhorts the Corinthians to Now I beseech you Brethren by the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ that ye all speak the same thing and that there be no Divisions among you but that ye be perfectly joyn'd together in the same Mind and in the same Judgment 'T is true Christians as well as all other Men may be suppos'd and fairly allow'd to differ in some matters which are of no great consequence but there are certain Truths deliver'd down to us in the Scriptures from our blessed Saviour and his Apostles which are to be faithfully adher'd to by all Christians even such as wherein Christianity it self is concern'd and which cannot be denyed without Subverting or at least shaking and endangering the Foundation as there as likewise many others which are necessary to be understood and believ'd if we will form any true Scheme of our Religion or arrive at any competent Knowledge and Understanding in it Why else should St. Paul require Timothy to hold fast the form of sound words which he had heard of him 2. Tim. 1.13 14. And again to keep by the Holy Ghost that good thing which was committed to him Why did he order him to abide at Ephesus on purpose as himself sayes 1. Tim. 1.1.3 Tit. 2.1.2 that he might charge some that they should teach no other Doctrine Why does he command Titus to speak the things that become sound Doctrine And to teach those under his charge to be sound in the Faith And why again does he in the same Epistle set it down as a Qualification of those Bishops whom Titus should ordain that they should hold fast the faithful word as they had been taught Tit. 1.9 10 11. that they might be able by sound Doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gain-sayers and to stop the Mouths of unruly and vain talkers and deceivers And lastly what else can St. Jude mean Jude v. 3. by his exhorting those to whom he writes Earnestly to contend for the Faith which was once deliver'd unto the Saints Now as all the Truths of Christianity which are propos'd to our belief are contain'd in the Holy Scriptures which we Protestants assert to be the compleat Rule of our Faith as well as our Minners So the main and Fundamental Articles of the Christian Faith were at first contain'd in that short Formulary of Confession which was made by Christians at their Baptism This form of sound words was according to the Apostles Expression committed to or deposited with those whom they ordain'd to Officiate in the Church to be by them delivered unto the Saints that is to all Christians at their Baptism And accordingly the profession then made is by the antient Christian Writers commonly call'd the Rule of Faith the Summ of which was that the Person baptized did acknowledge God the Father as the Creator of all together with his only begotten Son as appearing in our Nature and dying for our Redemption rising again and ascending into Heaven and sitting on the right hand of the Father from whence he is expected to come again and judge the World and also the Holy Ghost the Sanctifier the Guide and the Comforter of all True Christians with the Resurrection of the dead and the Life of the World to come This was afterwards drawn up into that Form which we have in the Apostles Creed which as occasion was given came to be farther explain'd in those which we call the Nieene or Constantinopolitan and Athanasian Forms Farther explain'd I say For these last mentioned Forms do contain no more in substance than that which we call the Apostles Creed as that likewise contains the very same in Substance with the antient Forms of Profession made at Baptism So that there are no New Articles contain'd in any of these Creeds but only an explication of the ancient Baptismal Profession according to the Tenor of the Holy Scriptures and agreeable to the declar'd Judgment of the First and best Christian writers extant So that it is in truth the want of a due acquaintance with the holy Scriptures at least the true sence and meaning of them as understood by those who were nearest to the time of their being written and best able to judge in the case that makes some in our days whilst they profess themselves Christians yet so openly and vehemently to inveigh against these Forms in which our Christian Faith is exprest Which I the rather take notice of because there have appear'd of late divers writers who have in a bold and insolent nay rude and Scurrilous manner attackt those Doctrines which have so constantly from the beginning of Christianity been own'd as some of the first Principles of the Christian Religion Nay it is too apparent that under the pretence of opposing the Doctrine of the blessed Trinity all Religion especially that which hath been reveal'd hath been Struck at So that we may in this Age repeat St. Judes complaint that there are certain men crept in ungodly Men Jude ver 4. denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ upon which account we ought to exhort one another as he did those to whom he wrote earnestly to contend for the Faith ver 3. which was once delivered unto the Saints and that not only against Socinianism and Arianism but even against gross Scepticism and downright Infidelity Now if we would keep the Vnity of the Spirit in this first sense which I am speaking of we ought strictly to adhere to the Doctrine which we receiv'd when we were baptized in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost and thereby dedicated to our great Creator Redeemer and Sanctifier we should seriously consider and endeavour fully to understand the Profession of Faith we were then baptized into settling our Judgments in all the great Articles of our Religion by the careful study of the Holy Scriptures which were indited by men indued with a divine Spirit and which are therefore able to make us wise unto Salvation We should by the daily use of these endeavour to improve our minds not only in the absolutely necessary but in all the other Doctrines of Christianity such as will help us to understand the true Scheme and consequently the great worth and excellency of that Religion which we profess still growing and increasing in all that useful Knowledge which these Books are able to furnish us with To which purpose as we should read them with seriousness and humility so we should make use of all those Methods which