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 |
|
A44095
|
Some considerations of present use wherein is shewn that the strong ought to bear with the weak, and the weak not clamour against or censure the strong, in which the true notion of the strong and weak is stated / delivered in a farewell-sermon at St. George Buttolph-Lane, London, by Benjamin Hoffman ...
|
Hoffman, Benjamin.
|
1683
(1683)
|
Wing H2347; ESTC R36002
|
14,423
|
41
|
Weakness but pity them that they do not see tho Mercies of God in so good a Prince and such good Laws Let us not I say despise them for as the Apostle argues Who made thee to differ Was it not the Grade of God that rescued thee from this Weakness And indeed the Sufferings even of a notorious Malefactor are pitiable as we have a general Respect for Humane Nature And this will induce our weak Brother to think that we are loving and tender and Christian-like when we do not mock at but pity their Calamity Tho 't is very fit and meet that good and righteous Laws should take place and be executed upon Offenders yet 't would be hard if those that are to execute these Laws or any other should superadd any Censure or intermingle any sort of Treatment that the Laws will not directly allow or do not expresly enjoyn 'T is no Persecution to put good and justifiable Laws in Execution but it looks like one when those that are to do it rejoyce in their Brothers Sufferings But 3. The Strong should consider and pity the Meanness and Confusion of their Faith and Understanding Now Faith as the Scripture saith comes by hearing and therefore this Fault I shall rather chuse to lay upon their Teachers than upon them tho 't is in part their fault to make no better a Choice And I must confess I take it to be the particular sleight of their Preachers to cut out Work for themselves to make their Hearers of nice and bogling Consciences that they may have them under their Dominion to raise such Scruples that they and none else care to answer and render Religion an odd and unintelligible Undertaking I must confess I have not much heard their Sermons but I have perus'd some of their Books where a great deal of what they say is very formidable and some again unintelligible Doctrine where Nineteen Marks of Grace are set down and strictly required when Two or it may be never a one of them will serve the turn Now for my part I heartily pity any Hearer that with Awe and Reverence puts his Soul into the Hands of a Teacher that is not Faithful that drags him thorow a rough and tempestuous Way when a much plainer and casier is nigh at hand Christ came to make Religion plain and easie and if any Man that puzzles and entangles it be his true Embassadour judge ye But having some Considerations to add to the other sort of Men the Weaker Brethren I shall pass to them and speak but briefly to them and so conclude And to these my Request is 1. To have a competent and becoming Reverence for Authority And here I do not go perswade these Men into the Notion of Infallibility as if all their Governours did or said were as infallible as any part of the New Testament but to desire them to have in themselves ductile obedient governable and perswasive Frames of Spirit not to be morose or peevish or sowr or obstinate And let the Consideration of his being the Power and the Ordinance of God carry them beyond all their little Doubtings and Objections A meek and a quiet and a submissive Frame of Spirit is in the sight of God of great price 2. My Desire to the Weak of our days is seriously to consider That the Government can never provide against all the petty Exceptions of every particular Person and that 't is impossible that all the Dissenters can be pleas'd Is not this to be prov'd within our Memory when the Presbyterian and Independent tho now they love so dearly were as much Antichristian one to another as now We are to Both And if at this time the Government goes to comply with the Conscience of the Presbyterian what then will become of the Independent If the Mouths of both these can be stopp'd what must be done for the Anabaptist Or if these could be complied with too what shall we do for the great Numbers of Dissenting Quakers All these come in with a pretended equal Cry and Loudness of Conscience and if these Dividers cannot condescend to each others Weakness how can they expect the Government should Therefore when they desire that the Governours should make such Laws as shall suit every Mans Conscience that 's impracticable nay and impossible without bringing absolute Confusion into the Church and State Nay themselves I dare say do not desire the Laws should be made so loose as to take in all the several Sects of Dissenters and if it takes in one Party that is blinded and weakned by his Conscience why not another If they object That a little Condescension would take in some I beseech them On whose side ought the Condescension to lie Is it not more feasible that particular Persons may come into the Church than that the whole Form of Church and State-Government must be new-molded for them If this be an humble or modest Demand I leave every Man that can to judge and I think we may safely undertake that the Government will grant when all the Dissenters are agreed what to ask I mean that will make us all one according to Christ Jesus 3. My Desire to the weak Brethren is not to place Religion or the Suspension of it in little trifling Indifferent Things This was that our Saviour highly blamed in the Pharisees Nay is it not the extreme Dotage of some in our days that think a Tag more the Gospel-mode than a Ribband or a short Black Coat more Edifying and Evangelical than a Gown or a Surplice This is that which we really and truly call Superstition in the Church of Rome that a Stick set on cross should be more Reverend and Venerable than in any other Posture The Substance and Truth of Religion lies in great and weighty Matters and these thanks be to God our Dissenters own we retain in the Doctrine of the Church of England And therefore why do they fly us by reason of our Ceremonies All that we say for them is That they are Ancient and Decent and who fitter to judge of Order and Decency than our Governours If they object Had these things been used in our Saviours time they had not scrupled them But how are we assured that they speak truth in this Matter The Sacraments were used in our Saviours time and yet a great number of our Dissenters scruple them The Creed was compiled in the Apostles time and yet most of them boggle at some part of it viz. The Communion of Saints and the truest and most intelligible Notion of the Holy Catholick Church Besides Christ and his Apostles had then neither Room nor External Authority to plant and perfectly settle a Visible Church they could instil their Doctrines and General Rules of Faith but could not descend to all the Particular Modes of Worship these we derive as faithfully as we can from the Primitive Christians which all sober and wise Men have a great Veneration for And indeed
reject the scrupulous or erroneous Judaizer but receive him to your Communion Him that is weak in the Faith receive ye but yet so receive him as that he may not thereby be encouraged to take too much upon him receive him but not to doubtful disputations as if he had said If he be weak and erroneous in himself let him not be censorious and troublesome to others do not you despise and reject him neither perswade I that he should molest you so that this Chapter was writ and this Advice here given that the strong might be gentle and courteous towards the weak and not the weak from hence be clamorous against the strong as some especially in these days make this and such like advice in Holy Writ to be as it were a Shelter and a Sanctuary for them to do and say what they please under the pretence of Weakness and that prudent and legal Restraints must not be talkt of without grieving or judging our Brother But there is a great deal of difference between mildly and wisely indeavouring to reduce men to Catholick Communion and between offering any Offence or Despising them as I shall shew farther anon and St. Paul plainly doth it in the following Chapter for if saith he after so much Charity and Tenderness and Good-will that the strong bear towards the weak they do not hearken then the Offence lies on their side and at their doors and Consciences Rom. 16.17 18. Now I beseech you Brethren mark them which cause divisions and offences and if after all the friendly Offers you make to Communion they will not comply avoid them for they which are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ but their own belly and interest and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple And thus for the introducing my ensuing Discourse I have shewed you the Design of the Apostle which is as I shew'd you 1. To lay down hearty Obedience to Magistrates as the indispensible Duty of all Christians and Men that own a God 2. To have Christians friendly towards each other the strong not to Despise or Scorn the weak and the weak not to Clamour at and Censure the strong that the strong should more value his Brother's Soul than a needless humouring and pleasing himself ch 15. v. 1. and that the weak should not be Loud and Positive in Disputations that he doth not understand And that all in their several places may do this he proposeth both the Fountain and Example of all Heavenly and Christian Graces Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be like minded one towards another according to Christ Jesus wherefore receive ye one another as Christ also received us to the glory of God Upon these Words I shall briefly and plainly discourse upon these following things 1. Give a short and easie Explication of the Words of the Text. 2. In some few Words touch upon the Duty of Obedience to Magistrates 3. I shall principally endeavour to shew you how we ought to carry our selves towards each other with reference to Communion the Strong to the Weak and the Weak to the Strong which may serve as a Method or Incitement to us to be like-minded one towards another that we may with one mind and one mouth glorisie God and receive one another as Christ also received us to the glory of God 4. Conclude with some Practical Reflexions upon the Whole As for the Text the Apostle is here wishing a very great Blessing upon the Infant christian-Christian-Church and he founds the Rise of all Blessings in God And so the meaning of the Words is this Now saith he I have laid down as amply and as plainly as I can the Duty of Christians one towards another I beseech God who is the Fountain of Patience and Consolation the God of Patience and Consolation i. e. the God from whom all Patience and Consolation comes make you to be like minded one towards another i. e. cause that you may all think and own the very self-same thing lest through diversity of Opinions there arise Discords Hatreds Separations Offences and Scandals to the great damage of the Church and Glory of God Or if there be some little difference in Opinion among you don't separate and break asunder and rend the Communion of the Church of Christ yet still be like minded one towards another i. e. come with equal degrees of Charity and Love one towards another and hope the best one of another for that the sense no doubt is that by like-mindedness is meant agreeing in the same Truths 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to think the very same thing So that the plain meaning no doubt is this God grant saith the Apostle that your Heats and Differences being laid aside whether about the Observation of Meats or Days or the like that you may think and agree mutually in the same thing and that according to Christ Jesus This is added to restrain them from agreeing in any false or erroneous Opinions but wishes their sense of Religion to be agreeable to Christ the Author of all Truth That you may with one mind and one mouth glorifie God That when you come to pray to or praise God you may not onely do it in the same Form and sound of Words but also with all your Minds full of mutual Affection one towards another without any surly demeanour contempt hatred or censuring of each other that you may do it so unanimously as if there were but one Mind and one Mouth among you He would have the Weak and the Strong lay aside their Differences and joyn in the Fundamentals to glorisie God together Wherefore saith he receive ye one another as Christ also received us to the glory of God i. e. Look upon each other as Brethren in all humility of kindness and condescension embrace and succour one another In stead of despising and driving Men from your Communion help up them that are fallen let one endeavour to bring the other to himself the Strong reduce the Weak the Learned the Ignorant and the believing Gentile the prejudiced Jew and let him cherish and instruct and be tender of him with a Brotherly Care and Affection Even as Christ also received us to the glory of God Christ did much more than all this for us that he adviseth us to do one for another Christ did not disdain us that are more unworthy of his Presence than we are of each others So our Saviour saith by St. John ch 17. v. 24. Father I will that those whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me So that Christ received us into the Fellowship and Partnership of the Glory of God and therefore we ought to receive one another So that the whole meaning of the Text is The Apostle beseeches God to grant them the same Sentiments and Understanding of the true Religion of Christ or if they