them by our Saviour what to do in case of Offences Matth. 18.15 16 17. If thy Brother shall trespass against thee go and tell him his Fault between thee and him alone If he shall hear thee thou hast gained thy Brother But if he will not hear thee then take with thee one or two more that in the Mouth of two or three Witnesses every word may be established And if he shall neglect to hear them tell it to the Church c. I am sure those Persons are far from obeying the command of our Saviour and observing the Rule which he hath prescribed who never tell Offenders their Faults privately but take the first occasion to publish them with the greatest Aggravations And I am sure they are very far from observing what the Church requires and therefore are themselves very fit to be complained of and would certainly be censured by her Governours if they obstinately persisted in it There is one Homily of the Church against Contention in which a Spirit of Meekness is commended That by being Soft Meek and Gentle in answering we may overcome our Adversary with Gentleness especially in matters of Religion and Gods Word which should be used with all Moderation and Soberness For it is better to give place Meekly than to win the Victory with breach of Charity We may by this see what temper of Spirit the Church requires her Sons to be of and we may conclude that those who are of a contrary Spirit do offend those to whom it belongs to censure Offenders 2. It is a great offence to Ministers It hinders them from doing that good which otherwise they might do in convincing men of the Necessity of uniting and the Reasonableness of a hearty Compliance with the Church as it is now established A reviling reproachful Spirit in the People is enough to make them lay the fault upon the Preacher according to the old saying like Priest like People And if they do not yet it is enough to make them forsake the Church again or come very seldom to it And it is a hard case that Ministers must ask the People leave whether they shall have an opportunity of convincing men of their Errours and Mistakes and treating them with such a Spirit of Meekness as the Gospel requires and which tends to the restoring of them I know it is Objected that Ministers have not been careful in this matter but upon all occasions have discovered a contrary Spirit They have shewed such a Spirit of Bitterness as might rather encourage Reviling than suppress it Ans I cannot deny but there have been and are such Ministers whose Zeal for the Churches interest have so far transported them that they have not considered so well as they should have done that they do not shew that temper of Spirit which the Gospel requires nor that which answers the end which they propound to themselves viz. The bringing of those to the Communion of the Church who have separated from it and the more firm Establishment of those who have not As to the first Sarcasms and Satyrical Reflections do commonly make those that have been hearers who are of wavering minds turn their backs at least upon that Preacher if not upon all other Ministers of the Church And as to the other that which may be and I hope is design'd to encrease in the hearers a dislike of Separation doth only more highly exasperate the minds of some against Dissenters and I am sure there is no need of that but is very displeasing to those that are sober and serious-minded Christians I have therefore somtimes thought that if those men whose Parts and Learning are to be admired would improve them only by meek Insinuations and strong and rational Arguments it would bring Dissenters to be their Auditors and Admirers and might make them prefer their Sermons before those which they hear from others The Apostle was afraid lest Timothy being a young Preacher and I suppose they are Chiefly if not only such who are complained of should be faulty in this and therefore requires him that he should look carely to the Temper of his own mind which is of great moment to every Christian but especially to a Minister 2 Tim. 2.24 25. The Servant of the Lord must not strive but be gentle unto all men apt to Teach patient In meekness instructing them that oppose themselves if God peradventure will give them Repentance to the acknowledgment of the Truth However some few Ministers may be blamed for being too severe in their Expressions yet I am sure there are others men of the greatest Eminency in the Church who are of that Meek temper which may commend them to all good men Such a Temper as was in the Prophets of old time who could not tell how to deliver a harsh Message but were very forward to expostulate the case with sinners and to tell them their Faults and the punishment which they were bringing upon themselves after such a manner that there appeared no fault at all in them Such as Jeremiah was who when he was commanded to tell the Jewes of their Captivity which was approaching declared his grief for it Neither have I desired the woful day thou knowest Jer. 17.16 And such as Daniel was who when he interpreted the dream to Nebuchadnezzar did it with an Aching heart He was astonied and his thoughts troubled him They are of that Temper which the Apostle was of himself and which he requires should be in Timothy and all other Ministers of the Gospel And they have had very great success for by treating men with a Spirit of Meekness they have brought many Proselites to the Church It is well known that many who have Dissented coming but accidentally to hear them have been so satisfied as to return no more to the wayes of Separation And what a great Offence must it needs be to those Ministers if the People shall discourage those from frequenting the Church who may be so treated there as to have delight in her Ministers and her Communion 3. It is a great Offence to all Sober Pious and Orthodox Christians who are Conformable to the Orders of the Church It is their hearty desire and earnest Prayers to God that those who have Dissented may return to the Communion of the Church and that they may be treated with the Spirit of Meekness It is the grief of their hearts to see what causeless Divisions there are amongst us and therefore they cannot but rejoyce at any opportunity which may tend to the healing of them I dare say that those who have been guilty of Reviling are none of those many hundreds of Communicants who meet every Moneth at the Lords Table but are such who absent from the Sacrament and this Spirit of Bitterness which they do discover shews that they are not fit to come to it As I am sure they are a very bad sort of men so I hope the number of them is not great
Whoever they are they are a great Offence to all Pious and Good Christians who hear of their ill Deportments which may be of good use to those that have been ill treated by them that they should not be discouraged by those Miscarriages which are as offensive to us as they are to them And it should be of good use to them that have been guilty in this matter They should consider that as our Saviour said to his Furious Disciples they know not what Spirit they are of They do not consider that it is neither pleasing to Magistrates nor Ministers nor yet to any good Christians who are of the Communion of the Church and who are as great Enemies to Division and Separation as they can be But 4. It is a great and unwarrantable Offence to those who have Dissented We are as I have already mentioned to shew all Meekness unto all men and we are exceedingly to rejoyce in any opportunity of expressing Love and Kindness It is a very great mistake if any think that a man cannot shew Respect and Kindness to another but he must be a favourer of his Opinion We may easily propound to our selves sufficient Reason why we should Love every man let his Judgment be what it will and I am sure that there is the greater necessity of shewing kindness to those who have Dissented that we may be the better able to rectify their Judgments and to convince them of their Mistakes But more particularly There are three things hinted in the Text why we should not offend such but restore them with a Spirit of Meekness 1. The first I take from the Apostles Compellation Brethren As he gives that Title to the Galatians who had been exceedingly to blame for indulging their Errors and Mistakes so should we to those that have separated from us I know the Devil as I have already mentioned hath by his Factors abroad sent other Names amongst us and they pass very readily but if we look into the Scriptures and consult the Gospel we shall find that our Saviour and his Apostles hath only furnished us with such Titles as signifie Love such as may oblige and win upon those that have erred and not such as may provoke or discourage them It is true that when our Saviour speaks of those who have so offended that they will not be reclaimed by the secret Admonitions of him whom they have trespassed against which is an Argument of a most sweet and pleasant temper of mind and therefore shewes that the offending Person is very stubborn and Obstinate nor regard the counsel of one or two more who come as well to plead with them that they may amend as to be witnesses against them if they continue obstinate nor regard the Publick Complaints made against them to the Church which is the last remedy his direction is That such should be accounted as a Heathen Man and a Publican that is their Society should be avoided and they should have no Communion with them or as Dr. Hammond explaines it in his Paraphrase upon the Place Look upon him as a desperate deplored Sinner fit for the censures of the Church to overtake him Our Saviour saith If thy BROTHER offend thee thou hast gained thy BROTHER which shews that when men have offended they must not presently be cast off with Wrath and Indignation but there must be the Love of a Brother still continuing and it must appear in the Methods which are to be used for the reclaiming of him The reason why our Saviour requires that he should be told his fault privately is that he may be reclaimed and not be exposed to any shame or Reproach for what he hath done by which a man shews the Love and Tenderness of a Brother But I am sure they are very far from observing this Rule and from expressing this Love and Tenderness of a Brother who never tell men their faults privately nor with one or two more but take occasion to upbraid them with their faults publickly and it is at that time too when they are mending their faults and therefore do not so much as want a private admonition I do the rather mention this of our Saviour because though it seems to relate only to personal Offences If thy Brother shall trespass against thee c. Yet doubtless it is to be understood of any Offences whatsoever because they give occasion to Christians to exercise their Charity towards the souls of their Brethren as well as any personal Offence committed by them The Apostles followed this Rule of our Saviour and required that whatsoever Offences men were guilty of yet still they were to be accounted Brethren and the Love of a Brother was to be shewed to them I will mention but one and it hath a Special relation to the case that I have in hand 2 Thes 3. v. 14.15 And if any one obey not our word by this Epistle note that Man and have no company with him that he may be ashamed and what followes Does the Apostle by this encourage them to cast Contempt and Scorn upon him wheresoever they see him No but requires that there should be a tender Love shewed to him Yet count him not as an enemy but admonish him as a Brother These two verses have a special relation to that which goes before at the 11th verse For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly working not at all but are busy-bodies There were such persons amongst the Thessalonians as we have too many of them amongst us who are disorderly persons that had rather mind any other business than that which belongs to them and instead of minding their work they are disputing the Orders of the Church and by what Authority it is that the Governours of it requires this or that to be done for which there is no express Rule Such persons as these are must needs be exceedingly offensive to the Governours of the Church because of their Haughtiness and Insolency And they must needs be very Offensive to all Religious Members of the Church because they disturb the Peace Unity and Harmony which should be amongst the Worshippers of God But however though their Offences were so great that other Christians of better Tempers were to avoid their company yet when occasion was offered they were to admonish them as Brethren as those for whom they still retained a great Love and hearty Desire for their good We ought to retain a Love for them in reference to their temporal Concerns and to be very sorry that they should incur any Penalty which may tend to the impoverishing of themselves and Families This common Ingenuity requires of us and therefore much more doth Christianity require it And we ought more especially to be concerned for their Spiritual and eternal Welfare because they are our Brethren and they are called so from that Relation which we bear unto our Heavenly Father 2. A second Intimation which I have
and brought up in a false Perswasion and that the men of that Party whatever it is may be of such unblameable Lives that they may from thence mistake and conclude that they are right I may in the next place tell you that we of this age have the greatest Cause that ever any had to suspect our Educations because of the many Opinions that were amongst us when we were young which were espoused by men of strict Lives and very good Conversations I cannot therefore but highly commend those both Ministers and others who do not hang the Clogg of their Opinions upon the Consciences of their Children but are very willing that they should comply with the Church of England 2. Lay aside or rather abandon those Prejudices which you have heard and received as indeed Unchristian You have heard that the Ministers and People of the Church of England are so scandalous that good and holy men cannot have Communion with them Let me tell you with a Spirit of Meekness 1. That it is doubtful whether ever any age produced Ministers of greater Eminency both for Piety and Learning than this hath done or whether ever any age had Christians in it more eminent for good Works than those which this Age hath produced who are of the Communion of the Church of England though they make no noise of it It was not long since confest by one who is no Lover of the Church that the men of her Communion do most good by their great Liberality I should not have mentioned this if a false Aspersion did not make it necessary It hath been objected by some that we are no True Church because God hath not blessed the Ministry of it with the Conversion of Souls I pray God convert them that say so Those who heartily comply with the Church may find a very considerable number of Holy Communicants and blessed be God for it Ministers have been very successful in bringing many young Persons and others to Righteousness 2. Those that are vicious and profess a great Respect to the Church are a great Grief to those Pious Ministers and Christians who are lovers of the Church 3. Whereas men pretend to seperate upon that account I must tell them That Debauchery and Wickedness are not so much the Cause of Divisions as they are the Effect of them Death-beds have complained that because there have been such Doubts which is the Right way men have resolved to take no way but the way of Sin and Wickedness I appeal to any sober man in the World whether he doth not think that Division and Separation hath been a great Cause of that Atheism and Profaneness which hath of late abounded And I appeal to any sober man whether a hearty Compliance with the Church of England by which there would be care taken both of young and old by the execution of Censures against those that are Vicious and Irregular would not tend exceedingly to the restraint of Wickedness and the promoting of true Holiness and Goodness Men have dissented from a Pretence that they reap great benefit to their Souls by it but I am sure if they were not prejudiced and did understand and consider the methods of the Church of England they would have little reason to think that any Constitution can tend more to the good of Mens Souls But however men must not tear the body of Christ in peices pretending that they do it for the benefit of their souls The Church is Christs Body which must not be divided upon any pretence whatsoever 3. Consult both sides Be as willing to hear what is said on one side as on the other If men take in with one Party and conclude that they are right and that continuance in their way is Perseverance and to comply with any other were Apostacy which I find to be the Conceit of a great many and therefore they will not hear what others have to say to them it is no wonder if men continue obstinate and perverse If men dealt fairly and Christianly in this case they should go to some Ministers of the Church and tell them that they would gladly comply with them if they could be satisfied concerning some things which they doubt of declaring what their Doubts are and that they are very willing to receive satisfaction that they might not offend by separating from the Church If men did so our Divisions would quickly be at an end And if they do not they have not followed the things that make for Peace for they never endeavoured to be satisfied concerning that which they doubted of There are two things which I will mention as Motives to this Complyance First There are many Good and Holy Christians who are by this means fully satisfied and are not only Devout in the use of the publick Prayers but frequent Communicants at the Lords Table Secondly Those who are thus satisfied must needs have far greater Peace than those who still continue in the wayes of Separation They avoid outward Troubles and whatsoever Disturbances come to the Church or State they are not the Occasion of them Their minds are not royled and exasperated as others are but they live in Obedience to the Laws of their King and Lead a quiet and peaceable Life in all Godliness and Honesty I will conclude with a brief Exhortation to those that are Lovers of the Church You see that I have not chosen this Subject in Favour of those that have Dissented but have been guilty of a long Unwonted Digression that whilest I am contending with you to shew a Spirit of Meekness towards them I might speak of those things to them with the same Spirit which have occasioned their offending of you which otherwise had been very improper from this Subject thereby using my utmost endeavour to restore them to the Communion of the Church I will now renew my Request and leave it with you that there may be no more Complaints made that this Spirit is wanting in you I will add but very little to what I have said 1. Consider that a Spirit of Meekness is a good Reputation to the Church which you are Lovers of Church of England-Men have been Eminent for their bearing the Reproaches of others It is great pitty that they should be accused of Reviling others Besides when men give ill Words it is a sign of a bad Cause and that they have but weak Arguments and that is a disparagement to the Church whose Sons have kept their ground and Valiantly encountred all that opposed them on every side by the force of Arguments 2. I would add somewhat concerning those that are come to our Congregations 1. Consider that they are men of the best Tempers amongst those that have Dissented There are others who speak as ill of us as if we were Jews or Pagans that we are Enemies to Holiness and Destroyers of mens Souls c. And yet if we have opportunity we ought to treat those men with a Spirit of Meekness And I am sure we ought to Pitty them and earnestly to Pray to GOD for them Surely then it doth not become us to be unkind to those who are less Censorious and more Compliant 2. Consider what these men endure from those who are so Censorious They write Letters and tell them of Apostacy and Back-sliding and many are more incens'd against them than they are against us It is a very hard case that they should both suffer by us and by them for their beginning to comply with us This may make them desperate and give way to a Temptation to forsake that Religion which we all contend for 3. If we do not treat them with a Spirit of Meekness we shall wholly discourage the good Inclinations of others who have dissented If they hear that their Brethren who come before meet with any Repulse they will be very loath to follow them who otherwise might come and help to fill Gods House and be of the number of those who Surround the Lords Table GOD of his infinite mercy grant that all Christians whatsoever their opinions are may lay aside all Vnchristian Passions and Prejudices That we may follow peace with all men That we may not make it our business to please our selves but that it may be our great concern to please God in the first place and our Neighbour in the next That we may not rejoyce in any evil which befals others but may endeavour in Christian Love and Kindness to rectify their mistakes and pray to the God of Peace for his Blessing upon our endeavours by which men may understand the necessity of Obedience to Government in all lawful things that they may not suffer but that they and we may all joyn together in Serving and Worshiping God in this World and in Singing Everlasting Praises and Hallelujahs to him in the World to come FINIS
the Aspersions of false Teachers and to keep the Galatians from aspersing one another There were two things charged against him One was that he had no right to be an Apostle and the other was that he Preached false Doctrine But this is no part of my present Business But to consider the second viz. The Apostles great care to keep the Gallatians in that Peace and Unity which the Gospel to which they were newly converted does require There was a very great heat amongst them insomuch that the Apostle was afraid lest they should bite and devour one another and be consumed one of another Ch. 5. v. 15. The contest was about Christian Liberty And because there is at this day a great stir about it I think it necessary by the way to shew what that Christian Liberty was It was not a Liberty for every Christian to refuse the Orders of the Church and if the Governours of it did not please them in what was required or shew a special command from God for every indifferent thing which was prescribed for Order and Decency presently to turn their backs and heap up Teachers to themselves in opposition to their Governours I am sure that had been an Unchristian Liberty for it had been a Liberty to throw Christianity out of the World so soon as it came into it Or to make it the most ugly and deformed Religion in the World If when the Apostle told the Corinthians that at his coming to them he would set things in order they had sent him word that they would not observe his orders unless they were by special Revelation from God Or they would be Judges whether his orders were fit to be Received It would have made strange work in the Christian Church and spared the enemies of it the trouble of persecuting Christians for the Stubborn and self-conceited if their numbers had been sufficient would have persecuted the Orthordox and such as were of the most Christian humble and submissive tempers The Christian Liberty which we read so much of was quite another thing There were some Judaizing Christians amongst the Galatians They thought that they must as well observe the Law of Moses as the Law of Christ or else they could not be justified and saved The Apostle to rectify their mistakes tells them that they were at liberty from that Yoke and that they ought to take that Liberty Behold I Paul say unto you that if you are Circumcised Christ shall profit you nothing c. 5. v. 2. But however lest that should be of dangerous Consequence he takes care to prevent two great evils which might ensue One was in reference to themselves and the other was in reference to their misled and dissatisfied Brethren He was afraid as to the first that this Christian liberty should be an occasion of Licentiousness and therefore admonishes them that they should not use this liberty as an occasion to the Flesh v. 13. And he was afraid that heats of Opinion should be the Occasion of coldness of affection and therefore adds imediately in the same verse but by love serve one another and for fear they should not he presseth to them the Duty of Brotherly love as that which is a fruit of the Spirit of God and in the conclusion of the Chapter he cautions them against two great evils which obstruct it Vain glory and Envy Vain glory is a branch of Pride by which a man seeks to be uppermost and they that are guilty of it do seldom think they can stand high enough in their Reputations unless they tread upon their Brother and Fellow Christian Envy is a divelish temper of Spirit by which one mans happiness becomes another mans misery One mans health another mans sickness It was a very proper question which was once asked a pale envivous Man Are you sick or is your Neighbour well Where Envy Rules one mans Prosperity is another mans Adversity The envious man how rich soever he is is undone by the Riches of another man The Apostle having Admonisht them of those two great Enemies to Brotherly Love in the Conclusion of that Chapter In this he prescribes some general Rules which tend exceedingly to the healing of divisions and the continuance and promotion of Love amongst Christians I have made choyce of the first which is a direction how Christians who are themselves inoffensive should treat them that offend Brethren if a man be overtaken in a fault yee that are Spiritual restore such a one with the Spirit of meekness considering thy self lest thou also be tempted I will not spend much time in the explication of the terms in the Text. I suppose I shall not need to tell you what it is to be taken in a fault I wish we all knew as well what it is to have a Spirit of Meekness and I wish we all knew as well what it is to restore our Brother with such a Spirit A fault is any thing that a man does which is against the Profession of Christianity or against any Law of God He is guilty of a fault who commits any known sin to the prejudice of his own soul by which it is polluted and made obnoxious to Gods wrath and displeasure And he is guilty of a fault likewise who breaks the Peace and Unity of the Church by Schism and causeless Separation I intend my discourse shall chiefly relate to the latter The restor-of them to the Communion of the Church who have separated from it The Apostle speaks at large concerning any fault but in regard the Galatians had been seduced by false Apostles and had been taught false Doctrine we have no reason but to think that he intended this fault as well if not rather than any other And this is the fault in which men are most apt to be taken unawares The Works of the Flesh which the Apostle mentions are so manifest Adultery Fornication c. That men are not apt to be taken with them unawares as he is with this A man is more easily led into errors of Judgment than he is into errors of practice especially considering how easily the Scriptures may be wrested and misunderstood and that there hath been in every age False Prophets and False Teachers and many following their Pernitious wayes Whatsoever the fault is in which our fellow Christian is overtaken he is to be restored by those that are Spiritual But the next question is who they are By the word Spiritual I conceive we are to understand all such as are reformed from the deeds of the Flesh and whose lives do shew forth the fruits of the Spirit according to what the Apostle mentions in the former Chapter I know there is another interpretation given of the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which I shall have afterwards occasion to take some notice of but considering the context how the Apostle in the foregoing Chapter ver 13. required that the Galatians should by Love serve one another and in the
a Spirit of Meekness towards men Besides If we do not treat our Brother with a Spirit of Meekness but with biting Scoffs and Revilings we are not good men for our Carriage towards them contradicts our Prayers to God We pray that God Would lead into the way of Truth all such as have erred and are deceived We pray that all who profess and call themselves Christians may be led into the way of Truth and hold the Faith in Vnity of Spirit and in the bond of Peace And if we treat those ill that have erred and are returned to the Church where 't is to be hoped they will be convinced of their Errors It is a sign that we never were devout in those prayers for we seem discontented that God hath heard them I heartily wish that those men who are so apt to reviling would consider what the Apostle saith Every one must give an account of himself to God and consider how impossible it is that they can be justifyed when they shall appear before that God who will judge men according to the Gospel which as I have shewed doth so strictly require All Meekness towards all men Surely there is not a man that ever read the Comands of Christ who can think that he shall come off well at the great Tribunal if he can only say Lord I was so Zealous for the Church that I hated all that seperated from it I could not see them but my Spirit was incensed I could not speak to them but with provoking Expressions c. This plea might be of great force if God would make mens Passions to be the rule of Judging and not his Word which requires that we do good to all that we love our Enemies and that we should make it our business to convert sinners from the errours of their wayes But on the contrary If a man can say Lord I have been afflicted for thy Church to see the Rents and Divisions which have been amongst Christians It hath greived me to see how little men have regarded Jerusalems peace and how much they have indulged their unreasonable and causeless Prejudices I have heartily prayed to thee to bring them into the way of Truth I have endeavoured to convince them of their mistakes and to perswade them with all expressions of Meekness and Love that they would consider the Dishonour that hath redounded to thy Great Name and to the profession of the Holy Religion of Christianity And when I saw that they Returned my heart rejoyced and my Arms Embraced them and I was glad when I could go with them into Thy House or meet them there This is the right Temper of a Christian and this is the Person that will be found fit to sit with Christ when he shall Judge the World A Spirit of Meekness is a good evidence of a sincere Christian and that he shall come off with Triumph when the Lamb shall appear sitting upon the Throne One would think that what our Saviour said in his Sermon upon the Mount Mat. 5.21 22. should make all men afraid of Reviling their Brother as they love their own Souls and value their Eternal welfare He tells them that they who are guilty of it are Murderers and shall be punished as such and I am sure the House of God is a very unfit place for men to commit Murder in if their timely Repentance which is a change in them to a better temper doth not prevent it Ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old times Thou shalt not Kill and whosoever shall Kill shall be in danger of the Judgment But I say unto you that whosoever shall be angry with his Brother without a Cause shall be in danger of the Judgment and whosoever shall say unto his Brother Racha shall be in danger of the Council and whosoever shall say Thou Fool shall be in danger of Hell Fire Our Saviour spake to them who thought that the sixth Commandment could not be broken unless a man did actually commit Murder and therefore he Explaines it by telling them that men might be Murderers in their Hearts though they were not so with their Hands And that those who are of Malitious and Reproachful Spirits should be punished as such He gives an account of it with allusion to the several degrees of Punishments amongst the Jewes whereof the least was Death Whosoever shall be Angry with his Brother without a Cause shall be in danger of the Judgment that is whosoever shall be Offended at his Brother more from his Aptness to take Offence than from any Cause given to him or shall not moderate his Passion with a proportionable respect to the nature of the Offence shall have that Punishment in another state which is answerable to that which the Jews called Capital He hath made himself thereby liable to Eternal Death in another State And whosoever shall say to his Brother Racha that is worthless empty Fellow that shall vilifie him as mean and inconsiderable shall be in danger of the Council of being condemned to suffer a greater punishment than an ordinary Death that was to be Stoned to death which was the sentence of the Sanhedrim Meaning that he who used Reproachful Expressions should have a greater punishment than he who did not vent his passion in Opprobrious Language But whosoever shall say Thou Fool shall be in danger of Hell Fire which we are not to understand as if the punishments afore-mentioned were any whit less than the punishment of Hell Fire but as signifying a greater degree of Punishment or I may say the Fire made hotter It alludes to the burning in the Valley of Hinnom which was a punishment far greater than the other two where Children were put into Brazen Vessels set over the fire till they were Scalded to death and therefore signifies that he who doth not only use undervaluing Expressions by representing his Brother as weak and empty-headed but proceeds to the highest degree of Railing which is exprest by saying to him Thou Fool shall be in danger of exceeding great punishment in the place of Torments I was the more willing to give an Account of this place according to the Opinion of the best Expositors not only because there are many who do not Understand it but because there are more who do not Consider it and because it is very much to my present purpose If a man would know what his condition is and what it is like to be let him Examine the Temper of his Mind whether Religion hath subdued his Passion and keeps his Tongue from venting it Bad Words do as well discover a bad Man as bad Actions what ever men may pretend to Let men that are apt to revile consider what St. James saith and look to themselves chap. 1. v. 26. If any man amongst you seem to be Religious and bridleth not his Tongue but deceiveth his own Heart that mans Religion is vain Surely then they are very far
you would be exceedingly offended why then will you offend those who are of the Churches Communion who serve God after the Ancient way of Christian-Worship and that which is approved of by other Reformed Churches as not only Lawful but very useful and profitable for the Souls of men There are others who are guilty of a far greater Offence and they are such as are so far from joyning with others and listing up their hearts to God with them in their Prayers that they spend that time in talking of Vanity and if what I have been credibly informed be true of Lies also They make the House of God to be the place in which they meet to reproach and slander their neighbours This hath been so great an Offence that some who have been their Pew-fellowes have been exceedingly as well they might disturbed at it They do not love the Common-Prayer and therefore that they may lose no time they will be serving the Divel till Prayers be done There is another kind of Unreverence and that is mens having their Hats on all the time that the Minister is Preaching Nay there are some who will not be uncovered whilst the Minister is Praying but only remove their Hats from one part of their heads to another as if there might be some kind of outward Reverence exprest to Almighty God at the time of Praying but it is no matter how little it be But suppose their being covered be only at that time when the Minister is Preaching and suppose that there were nothing to be said to prove that it is indecent and unreverent for it is not my present business to enquire into it yet it is the occasion of Offence And whilst no man can plead the breach of any Law by it I am sure to speak the best it is a great breach of that Ingenuity which Christianity requires in men in that it gives great offence When men come into the Church where they see those that are the Frequenters of it with their heads uncovered and they keep their Hats on it is hard for the most Charitable to say less than that there is thereby Contempt cast upon those who are in another posture and that it doth implicitly accuse them of Folly and Superstition in the service of God I may suppose that which must not be granted that if there were nothing to be said for it but that it were an Offence purely taken and not given yet since it is an offence and a disturbance to the minds of men in the Worship of God and of those men too whom Authority doth commend and countenance in so doing He that is Pious Prudent and Ingenuous will be careful that he be not the occasion of that offence Thus have I shewed what the Offences are by which the minds of men who are Conformable to the Church are exasperated against those that have dissented from her Communion to the end that they may take all possible care to avoid giving those offences and to do that which may oblige those with whom they come to Worship God and not offend them If you would be treated with a Spirit of Meekness and are not willing to meet with any provoking Words or Actions you must have a care that you do not offend others But this is not all that I have to desire of you Methinks it is a hard case if Christians shall think it enough if they give no offence who are commanded by our Saviour to love one another and to be one as he and his Father are one That which I earnestly desire is that you would not think it sufficient if you sometimes come to the Church and shew some Respect to the Service of God but that there be a hearty and sincere Compliance which will certainly be the greatest Satisfaction imaginable to you and then there will be no such occasion for the Exercise of Meekness Consider I beseech you the dreadful mischiefs which Disunion and Separation have been the cause of in our dayes beyond what the Soberest of the discontented Party ever thought of Consider how the life of the King was lately in danger by those who either wholly absented from the Church or we are sure never received their pernitious Principles from it Consider how unsuccessful God hath made all Attempts against the Church when they who were no Lovers of it had those advantages to establish another Constitution which they cannot now hope for And consider I beseech you how infinitely it will tend to the Churches Peace to the Reputation of the Reformed Religion and to the Good of your own Souls if you could be satisfied to forsake the wayes of Separation and have Communion with that Reformed Church whose Ministers and People do hate Popery and earnestly desire the promotion of true Holiness and Goodness as much as you can do howsoever Prejudices and a Misunderstanding have been the cause of most Unchristian Censoriousness And it may tend exceedingly to your Satisfaction and avoid all occasions of Reviling and Bitterness if these Rules may be observed 1. Let not Education be of any force in this matter I know that it is a dreadful thing for men to forsake the practice of Religion in which they have been educated It is a fearful thing for those that have been brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord to forsake their Education and to fall into the practice of sin and Wickedness But for men to make this their Rule as to Modes and Circumstances and matters of Opinion in Religion is altogether unaccountable because a man may as well be brought up in an Error as otherwise and because he may serve God as acceptably after another manner than that in which he hath been educated We know that a great Cause of our Divisions hath proceeded from this that men have been brought up in a Dislike of that way of Worship which is now established and have from their Cradles received Prejudices against it But yet there is nothing more unreasonable than to make that to be a Rule For if it be every one may conclude that to be the best Religion that comes first which certainly every one will grant to be very absurd And whereas some think they are right because they received their Principles from those men whom they accounted Holy and Religious I may reply that there is no Party whatsoever but have Zealots who are of a strict and severe life The Hereticks of old could never have done so much mischief to the Church if they had not been of exemplary Lives Education must therefore be wholly laid aside and men must consider with themselves that if what is required of them be not repugnant to Gods Word and Inconsistent with true Piety and Holiness the Churches Peace and the necessity of Union amongst Christians must silence all the secret pleadings of Education which I know are of themselves very powerful Besides if it be granted that many are educated