as wasting fire proceedeth from the incendiaries The Texts recited DIRECTIONS FOR VVeak Christians How they may escape the troubling dividing and endangering of the Church by their Errours in Doctrine Worship and Church-Communion IF we had never been warned by the History of the Sacred Scripture or of the former Ages of the Church yet our experience in this present Age is enough to tell both us and our Posterity how great perturbations and calamites may come to the Church of Christ by the miscarriages of the more zealous Professors of Religion and how great a hinderance such may prove to the prosperity of the Gospel to the Love and Unity of Christians to the Reformation and holy order of the Congregations and to all those good ends which are desired by themselves How great a dishonour they may prove to the Christian name and what occasions of hardening the wicked in their contempt of Godliness to their everlasting ruine and the sufferings of Believers Therefore seeing the peace and welfare of the Church is much more valuable than the peace and welfare of an individual soul as I have Directed you how to escape your own disturbance and undoing so I think it as necessary to direct you how to escape being the Plagues and disturbers of the Church and the instruments of Satan in resisting the Gospel and destroying others And you should be the more willing to hear me in this also because by hurting others you hurt your selves and by wronging the Church of God you cross your own desires and ends if you are Christians indeed and by doing good to others and furthering the cause of Godliness and Christianity you do good to your selves and further your own Cosolation and Salvation DIRECT I. FIrst observe this General direction see that you forget not the great difference between Novices and experienced Christians between the babes and those at full age between the weak and the strong in grace Level them not in your estimation It is not for nothing that the Spirit of God in Scripture maketh so great a difference between them as you may read in Heb. 5. 11 12 13 14 6. 1 2. 1 Tim. 3. 6. 1 Iohn 2. 12 13 14. There are babes strong men and fathers among Christians There are some that are dull of hearing and have need of milk and are unskilful in the word of righteousness and must be taught the principles and there are others who can digest strong meat who by reason of Use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil Novices must not be made Pastors of the Church It is not for nothing that the Younger are so often commanded reverence and submission to the Elder and that the Pastors and Governors of the Church are usually called by the name of Elders because it was supposed that the elder sort were the most experienced and wise and therefore Pastors and Rulers were to be chosen out of them And why is it that children must so much honour their fathers and mothers and must be governed by them It is not meerly because generation giveth the Parents a propriety in their children For God would not have folly to be the governour of wisdom upon pretense of such propriety But it is also because that it must ordinarily be supposed that Infants are ignorant and Parents have understanding and are fit to be their Teachers as having had longer time and helps to learn and more experience to make their knowledge clear and firm If the young and unexperienced were ordinarily as wise as the aged or mature why are not children made governors of their Parents or at least commanded to instruct and teach them as ordinarily as Parents must do their children The Lord Jesus himself would be subject to his mother and reputed father in his Child-hood Luke 2. 51. Can there be a livelier conviction of the arrogancy of those novices who proudly sleight the judgments of their elders as presuming groundlesly that they are wiser than they Yea Christ would not enter upon his publick Ministry or Office till he was about thirty years of age Luke 3. 23. He is blind that perceiveth not in this example a most notorious Condemnation of the pride of those that run with the shell on their head into the Ministery or that hasten to be Teachers of others before they have had time or means to learn and that deride or vilisie the judgments of the aged who differ from their conceits before they understand the things in which they are so confident It was thought a good answer in Iohn 9. 21. He is of age ask him But they that are under age now think their words to be the wisest because they are the boldest and the fiercest The old were wont to bless the young and now the young deride the old It is the character of a truculent people Deut. 28. 50. that they regard not the person of the old that is They reverence not their age How many vehement commands are there in Solomons Proverbs to the younger sort to hearken to the counsel of their Parents The contrary was the ruine of Eli's sons and the shame of Samuels 1 Sam. 8. 1 5. Was Rehoboam unwise in forsaking the counsel of the aged and harkning to the young and rash And are those people wise that in the Mysteries of Salvation will prefer the vehement passions of a novice before the well-setled judgment of the experienced aged Ministers I know that the old are too oft ignorant and that wisdom doth not always increase with age But I know withall that Children are never fit to be the Teachers of the Church And that old men may be foolish but too young men are never wise enough for so high a work We are not now considering what may fall out rarely as a wonder but what is ordinarily to be expected Most of the Churches confusions and diviâ—â—ons have been caused by the younger sort of Christians Who are in the heat of their zeal and the infancy of understanding Who have affection enough to make them drive on but have not judgement enough to know the way None are so fierce and rash in condemning the things and persons which they understand not and in raising clamours against all that are wiser and soberer than they If they once take a thing to be a sin which is no sin or a duty which is no duty there is no person no Minister no Magistrate who hath age or wisdom or piety enough to save them from the injuries of juvenile temerity if they do not think and speak and do according to their green and raw conceits Remember therefore to be always sensible of the great disadvantages of youth and to preserve that reverence for experienced age which God in nature as well as in Scripture hath made their due If time labour were not necessary to maturity of knowledge why do you not trust another with your health as well as a studyed experienced
when I pass any judgment I cannot perceive that my judgment is false except it be in the cure of it and by the same light which changeth it when I err I can never know that I err but in sensu diviso when I cease my error when I know that I erred I so err no longer And because every thing which appeareth to us doth appear in some kind of light or other and appeareth in some form and as clothed with some qualities the understanding therefore presently hath some thought or other of it If we take any notice of it we shall have some kind of conception and opinion of it And few things in the world do appear to us in such equal diverse shapes as to leave the understanding wholly dubious whether it be this or that Though of that which hath no appearance at all I am wholly ignorant and have no conception And when one part of a thing is seen and many other parts of it are unseen we are all apt to conceive of the whole according to the part which we see and not allow a just suspension or suspicion for all the parts which are unseen That which I see affecteth me as a thing seen But that which I see not is nothing to me and therefore affecteth me not at all That part which I know I know that it is so far what it is It is in my mind memory But that part which I know not I know not that it is or know not what it is so that seeing one part of things and not seeing another yea perhaps many others doth not only cause our error in judging of them but also maketh it very hard to question or distrust our judgments For we must not be Scepticks and doubt of all things Nor must we deny belief to so much as is revealed to us And therefore however at the present we apprehend things just such we are usually confident that they are And in this difficulty all error and the lamentable consequences of it do come in But what shall a man do in so hard a streight Why this every humble man must do He must tread safely and proceed warily and try the spirits and try the doctrines offered him throughly and this by all the means which God hath appointed him for that use He must not strive against the light but he must take heed of taking darkness for light or hearkening to the deceiver when he transformeth himself into an angel of light which is not unusual what cometh with evidence of truth must be received as truth and held fast and not again let go however sometimes it may have a second and third tryal And when you see any truth remember that it is still with a defective sight and that you see but in part And therefore allow a freedome in your understandings to receive the rest You are certain that you see not all that is to be seen of any Doctrine or Science any more than of any creature And you are uncertain what influence the unknown parts would have upon that part which you know or what alteration it would make upon your apprehension if you saw them altogether in their connexion Therefore be sure that in your most confident apprehensions you never forget that there is still much more unknown to you than you yet know And this will preserve a humility and modesty in your understandings and a capacity and fitness to receive more knowledge When the forgetting of this will make you proud and arrogant and presumptuous and like the fool that rageth and is confident even in your ignorance and shame and will shut up your minds against that knowledg which you want But especially if you know that your advantages for knowledge have been less than other mens that you are young or that it is but a few years since you entred upon the study of the Scriptures or that you have not any stronger natural parts than other men or that you have not had that measure of Learning which might further your knowledge of the holy Scriptures but that others that differ from you have had much more of all these helps and means than you common reason here commandeth you to be modest and not over-confident in your own opinion nor too much to slight the judgements of such others Especially if those that differ from you be not only more Learned but as truly conscionable as you and as like to be unfeigned lovers of truth and have prayed more and meditated more and have had more religious experiences than your selves And yet more if they are the greater number of the godly that differ from you and you are singular in your conceits in this case rash confidence in your own opinions is too palpable a sign of a religious pride Obj. But the Learnedst men are not always the wisest in the matters of Religion Answ. Many men are Learned in the Languages and Sciences who are not Learned in the Scriptures because they applyed not their studâ—es that way And many men are Learned in the Scriptures and the Sacred tongues who yet live in sin though they are able to teach the truth for others But those that well understand the Scriptures without Learning the Languages which they are written in and the Customs of those times and Countreys or without much reading and long study both of the Scriptures themselves and the writings of them that better understand them are so few so very few if any at all that if you will pretend to be one of them you had need of some miracle or something like a miracle to make your selves or others be-believe that you are not deceived See what I have said of this at large in my Unreasonableness of Infidelity Obj. The greater number are not always in the right therefore why should my singularity discourage me Answ. The greater number through the world are not in the right about Christiany for they are not Christians And the greater number of vulgar Christians be not in the right perhaps in many points of Learning and Scholastick controversies because they are not Learned in such controversies But all Godly men and Christians are in the right in all points essential to Godliness and Christianity And therefore they are in the certain way of life And if in any integral or accidental point you think that you are wiser than the greater part of men as Learned and as Godly as your self you must give very good proof of it to your self and others before it is to be believed I know that in all ages God giveth some few men more excellent natural parts than others and he engageth some in deeper and more laborious studies than others and he blesseth some mens studies more than others and therefore there are still some few who know more than the rest of the Countrey or of mankind and it were well for the rest if they knew these and would learn of them But
and sinners Was it not because their Pride and superstition made them think too highly of their own religiousness and to make sins and duties which God never made and then to condemn the innocent for want of this humane religiousness What was the sin condemned in Isa. 65. 5. Which say stand by thy self come not near to me for I am holier than thou What meaneth that command in Phil. 2. 3. Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than themselves Read this verse over upon your knees and beg of God â—o write it on your hearts And I would wish all Assemblies of dividers and unwarrantable Separatists to write it over the doors of their meeting places And joyn with it Rom. 12. 10. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love in honour preferring one another that is before your selves But specially read and study Iam. 3. In a word if God would cure the Church of Religious pride the pride of wisdom and the pride of Piety and Goodness the Church would have fewer Heresies and contentions and have much more peace and much more true wisdom and Goodness it self DIRECT III. Overvalue not the common guift of utterance nor a high Profession as if the presence or absence of either of them did prove the presence or absence of true saving grace YET I shall anon tell you that neither of these must be undervalued nor accounted needless useless things But the overvaluing them hath caused great distempers in the minds and affections and communion and practise of many very well meaning Christians When God had first brought me from among the more ignorant sort of people and when I first heard religious persons pray without forms and speak affectionately and seriously of spiritual and heavenly things I thought verily that they were all undoubted Saints and the sudden apprehension of the difference of their guifts and speech from others made me think confidently that the one sort had the mark of God upon them and the other had nothing almost of God at all Till ere long of those whom I so much honoured one fell off to sensuality and to persecuting formality and another fell to the foulest heresie and another to disturb the Churches peace by turbulent animosities and divisions But the experience of this Kingdom these twenty sixe yeares hath done so much to convince the world what crimes may stand with high professions that I know not that I ever met with the man that would deny it seeing every sect casteth it upon all the rest however some of them would justifie themselves But I greatly fear lest the generation which is now springing up and knew not those men nor their miscarriages will lose the benefit of these dreadful warnings and scarce believe what high professours did turn the proudest overturners of all Government and resisters and despisers of ministry and holy order in the Churches and the most railing Quakers and the most filthy and blaspheming Ranters to warn all the world to take heed of being Proud of superficial guifts and high professions and that he that stanndeth in his own conceitâ— should take heed lest he fall When guifts 〈◊〉 utterance in prayer or talking are thus overvalued and high professions are taken to have more in them thâ—n they have men presently moddle their â—ffections and then the Church according to these mis-conceivings And â— talkative person who by company and use hath got more of these guifts than better Christians shall be extolled and admired when many a humble upright soul that wanteth such utterance shall be said to be no professor and so to be unworthy of the Communion of Saints Mistake me not I know that though profession may be without sincerity yet sincerity cannot be without some profession when there is opportunity to make it And I know that Grace is a vital principle and like fire which will work and seek a vent if you would restrain it And that Gifts of utterance are great mercies of God for the Edification of the Church But here lyeth your unhappy errour in this case 1. You take the common profession of Christianity to be no profession at all because there is wanting a profession of greater zeal and forwardness When as the common sort of people in this Land do profess to stand to their baptismal Covenant in which they own the essential parts of Godliness and Christianity and all that is of absolute necessity to Salvation He that truly understandeth the baptismal Covenant and Consenteth to it doth perform all which is necessary to a state of grace If he profess this he professeth both true faith and repentance and sanctification and mortification and all that is necessary to make a man a Christian. How then can you say that these are no Professors I tell you except a few Apostates the common sort of people in this Land are Professors of true faith and godliness Whether they are true Professors without dissembling is another question but they are professors of the truth If you say that Their ignorance and ungodly lives doth shew that they either understand not the baptismal Covenant or Consent not to it I answer Mark well what you say your selves For this doth but shew that they are Hypocrites You cannot say then that they are no Professors but that they are diâ—sembling professors They profess the truth they do not truly and uprightly profess it I tell you all the common sort of the people in England are either Saints or Hypocrites see how I have moved this to them in my Treatise called The formal Hypocrite They all profess enough to save them if they sincerely professed it He that is baptized and professeth himself a Christian and yet is a drunkard a swearer a fornicator or such like is certainly an Hypocrite as going against his own profession The very Creed Lords Prayer and Ten Commandments have enough to condemn him as an hypocrite And will you now come in and justifie these men from their hypocrisie by saying that they are no Professors If they were no Professors they could be no Hypocrites but meer Atheists or Infidels I know that those are the highest sort of Hypocrites who counterfeit the highest zeal and piety by the highest profession But this is but a difference in degree Who ever professeth to be a Christian professeth true Repentance faith and holiness and is an Hypocrite if he be not a Saint And then Consider that if you would exclude any of these from the Communion of the Church it must not be because they are no professors but because they are hypocrites ignorant or scandalous And if so then no man must be shut out but upon sufficient proof An unproved hypocrite or sinner is no hypocrite or sinner in the judgment of the Church and therefore Hypocrites are always a great part of the visible Church Otherwise Church-Communion would be founded on meer injustice
and tyranny if men shall be called Ignorant Scandalous and Hypocrites without proof And therefore to exclude baptized professors by whole Parishes or Multitudes without bringing proof against each person one by one is quite to over-turn Christs rules and order and Church Constitutions and all Church justice I confess it is the thing which I have long lamented and often written of especially in my Treatise of Confirmation that those who are baptized in Infancy are not called to a more explicite understanding profession of the Covenant then made and have not a more solemn transition into the number of adult Communicants And we are not out of hope that this may at last be brought to pass But in the mean time the same persons though less regularly do make profession of the same thing both at the Lords Table and in their publick worship and in their common claim to the faith and honour of Christianity so that all such must be rejected as hypocrites upon accâ—sation and proof of Impenitency in some gross sin and not in the lamp as if they were no professors For professors certainly they are And though I abhor their malignity who would vilisie Religion by over-hasty accusing of higher Professors and would flatter the wicked and ignorant by making an indifferency and tepidity seem sufficient in the things of God yet God would have me bear witness to this truth to cure some mens contrary extream that as this age as is said doth need no proof how heinously high professors may miscarry so in the place where I exercised my Ministry I found some give me a satisfying evidence in their last sickness that they had long lived a truly godly life who were never noted by their Neighbours for any extraordinary zeal at all If you ask me How can it stand with grace to be so much hid I answer They made the common profession of Christianity they usually attended the publick worship they lived blamelesly in their places but they were of silent retired dispositions and were inferiours who by their superiours were restrained from private meetings and some converse with more zealous persons which they desired And for ought you know there may be very many such who must not be rejected as no professors nor without a particular accusation and proof unless you would be used in the like kind your selves DIRECT IV. Affect not to be made eminent and Conspicuous in Holiness by standing at a further distance from these lower Professors than God would have you IT is the loathsome scab of the Romish Church that they who will be taken for Religious must go into a Monastery of Fryars and Nans and separate themselves from the rest of Christians as worldly secular people that so their Religion may be a noted thing they may be set up in their singularity as publike spectacles for the world to admire Though perhaps they come thither but under the gripes of Conscience to expiate the guilt of whoredome murder or some notorious sins which the contemned seculars never committed And it is somewhat easie to proud corrupted nature to enter into a life of greater self-denial than most Monasticks are put upon when by it they shall be thus separated from the rest of mankind as a people of more admired holiness To set our selves up in a separated society as persons whom the world must account more Religious than the common sort of Christians hath so much oftentation in it as is a great allurement to Pride For many a one who perceiveth how childish a thing it is to set out ones self to be observed for fine cloathes or for bodily comeliness or for high entertainments curiosities houses lands or such vanities doth yet think that it is an excellent thing to be honoured by men especially by the wisest and the best as a person of Wisdome and Piety and Goodness And indeed it is the truest and the highest Honour to be Wise and Good And it is exceeding natural to man to desire honour And it is lawful to have a due and moderate sense and regard to our honour And all this being so how easie is it for Pride to take this advantage and to go a little farther while we think that we go but this far and keep within our bounds And the root of the errour lyeth in Atheism Self-fishness and Carnality By the first we neglect the Honouring of God which should be our utmost aim and to which all our own Honour should be purely referred as a means By the second we Idolize our selves and are sunk into and centered in our selves and seek that honour to our selves which we should wholly refer to God alone And by the third we over-value Man and his esteem and live upon the thoughts and breath of mortals and seek the honour which is given by one to another more than the honour which is of God Whereas we should make it our grand care and study to be pleasing to our Maker which is the highest honour and lawful and necessary to be sought and should be more indifferent as to the esteem and thoughts of man as being no further regardable than it conduceth to our divine and ultimate end And when Pride hath thus turned the eye of the soul from God to our selves and to the Creature it is a working sin and will be alwayes seeking to fetch in fewel for its self to feed on and to find out wayes to make our selves conspicuous and observed in the world And to separate our selves into distinct societies that the world may see we are above Communion with the colder duller sort of Christians is one of the most notable means to this self-exalting end And many Christians that are more humble do yet so much mis-understand the Scripture principles of Communion that they think they should corrupt the Church and sin against God if they stood not in a separated state from those of the colder sort And this is caused much by taking those Scriptutes to speak of all cold and carnal Christians which speak only of the Heathen and Infidel world And this cometh to pass by the happiness of their birth and breeding because they are born and bred where there are almost none but professed Christians and they see not the swarms of Heathens that worship idols and creatures or of the Infidels who scorn and persecute the Christian name therefore they live as if there were no such persons They know that the world and the Church comprehend all mankind and that the Church is gathered out of the World And because they see the Church but see not the world out of which it is gathered therefore they are looking for the world in the Church and think that the commoner sort of Christians are the World and the better and more zealous sort only are the Church which therefore must be gathered out of the World And so they gather the Church out of the Church while they think that
Church be able to prove it hath worse crimes to nullisie it than any of these had For none of these were for these faults pronounced no Churches of Iesus Christ. Secondly observe that no one Member is in all these Scriptures or any other commanded 〈◊〉 come out and separate from any one of all these Churches as if their communion in worship were unlawful And therefore before you separate from any as judging communion with them unlawful be sure that you bring greater reasons for it than any of these recited were DIRECT VI. Understand well the different conditions and terms of Communion with the Church as invisible and as visible and the different priviledges of the Members that so you may not presume to impose any conditions which God hath not imposed nor yet to grudge at the reception of those that are not sanctified and sincere ALL Christians are agreed that it belongeth to God only to make the conditions of Church-communion and therefore it belongeth not to us to invent them nor to our wit to censure what God hath done but to search the Scripture till we find it out and then obey it This is the great controversie which hath troubled the Church When men know not who should be Members of the Church and who not and when they have no certain rule or character to know whom they must receive it is no wonder if confusion and contention be the complexion and practice of such Churches And here the Pastors have torn the Church by running into contrary extreams Some have thought that the Visible Church must be constituted only of such persons as satisfie the Pastors and the people of the truth of their sanctification by some special account of their conversion or the work of grace upon their hearts in a distincter manner than the ancient Church required of the baptized Wherein being agreed of no certain terms to know anothers sanctification by their Churches are diversified according to the measure of the strictness or largeness censoriousness or charity of the Pastors the people while one thinks that person to have true grace whom another thinks to have done And so they that will be most uncharitable do pretend to the reputation of being the most pure because they are most strict And multitudes are shut out whom Christ would have to be received his children are numbred with the dogs On the other side there is one or two of late among us who think that the Church is but Christs School where he teacheth the way to true Regeneration and not a Society of professed Regenerate ones or Saints And that all who own Christ as the Teacher of the Church and submit to the Government of the Pastors and are willing to learn how to be regenerate should be baptized though they profess not any special saving faith or repentance And their reasons are because first else all that doubt of their sincerity must lie or be kept out Secondly because that in the Church of the Jews the multitude were such as were openly ungodly And some of the Papists talk also at this rate though indeed they are themselves yet â—tterly unresolved in this point What Church soever is constituted according to either of these two opinions will not be constituted according to the mind of Christ But yet with this difference The first Opinion introduceth Church tyranny and injustice and is founded in the want of Christian charity and knowledge and tendeth to endless separations and confusions But the second opinion inferreth all these greater mischiefs First it confoundeth the Catechumens with the Christians and maketh all Christians who are but willing to learn to be Christians Secondly it maketh the Christian Church to consist of such as are no Christians As that person certainly is not who consenteth not that Christ be his Teacher Priest and King For to such a one he is no Christ seeing these are the essential parts of his Mediatory office And the new device of distinguishing Christs Apostolike and Mediatory offices so the Church congregate and the Church regenerate accordingly will not seem to difend this conceit For as Christ is not divided so his office for which he is called Christ is but One which entirely is called the office of a Saviour or Redeemer or Mediator which are all one And the essential parts of it are first his Priestly second Teaching and Ruling offices or works And this which is called his Apostleship is but the same which is called his Teaching or Prophetical Office and is a part of his Mediatory or saving Office And he is no Christian nor is that any Congregated Christian Church which professeth not to take Christ for his Mediator his Priest and King as well as for an Apostle a Prophet or Teacher Thirdly they therefore who hold the aforesaid doctrine do introduce a new sort of Christianity Fourthly and a new sort of Baptism which the Church of Christ never knew to this day And therefore they do ingenuously profess their dissent from our form or words in Baptism because we put the baptized to renounce the flesh the world and the devil and to use such covenanting words as must signifie special grace But through the great mercy of God Baptism is still the same thing in all the Christian Churches in the world the Reformed the Roman the Greek the Armenian yea and the Ethiopian too for all their seeming reiteration of it And Baptism among them all is the same now as it hath been in all Generations from Christs institution of it So that we fully maintain as well as the Romans that Christianity hath by this sacred Tradition been safely delivered down to us to this day What a Christian is and what Christianity is may be most certainly known by this which is commonly called our Christening In which the profession and covenant which maketh men Christians is so express and unchanged from age to age Therefore these men who would have our Baptism changed do speak plainly but impudently as if they were raised in the end of the world to reform the Baptism and Christianity of all ages and were not only wiser than the universal Church from Christ till now but also at last must make the Church another thing I intreat the Reader who would know the judgement of all antiquity about Baptism as supposing saving grace to read those numerous citations of Mr. Gataker in the Margin of his book against Davenant of Baptism Fifthly and by this new doctrine they destroy all that special Love which Church-members or visible Christians as such should bear to one another For if no faith or consent must necessarily be professed at Baptism but that which is common to the ungodly and children of the devil then all Church-members as only such must be taken to be but ungodly and no man must love a Church-member as such with a special love as a visible Saint but only as one of the hopefuller sort of the
ungodly Sixthly and hence it will follow that either none must make any profession of saving Faith and Repentance and so all appearance of holiness must be driven out of the world or else the Church must be constituted of two sorts of professions and professours tota specie distinct from one another yea more distinct than Infidels are from their new sort of Christians And consequently it must needs be indeed two Churches and not one viz. One Church of those who take Christ for their Teacher only and another of those that take him entirely as Christ. Seventhly and by this rule the Socinians and Mahometans who confess Christ to be a great Teacher but deny him to be the Priest and sacrifice for sin may be baptized and taken for Christians These and many more absurdities follow upon this new conceit But I must desire the Reader who would see more of it to peruse my Disputations about Right to Sacraments where it is handled at large As to their Objections I answer First no man is called to lie nor yet are they fearful to be shut out For as no man is perfectly acquainted with his own heart so no man is to profess a perfect knowledge of it But if a man speak as he thinketh upon faithful endeavours to avoid self-deceit no more can be expected of him He that can say Though I am not certain that there is no secret fraud in my heart yet as far as I can discern it I am willing to be a Christian upon the terms of Gods Covenant and to take Christ for my Teacher Priest and King must offer himself and must be received into the Church Secondly and as to the Jews case I have proved in the fore-mentioned Disputations First that it was no less than a profession of saving faith which was made in the Covenant of Circumcision Secondly that men were then to be put to death for almost all those enormous crimes which we now excommunicate men for And the dead are not members of the Church on earth Thirdly that all that in matter of fact was found among them contrary to this was contrary to Gods Law And to argue against the Law from mans breach of the Law a facto contra jus is very bad arguing Fourthly that it is farre surer and clearer reasoning about the Evangelical state and order of the Church from the Gospel than from the Law of Moses much more than from the violations of that law Fifthly but yet all the corruptions of the Churches as I have cited and proved them before do shew us the difference between the Church as visibly Congregate and as Regenerate and shew us that the presence of scandalous sinners will not warrant us to separate or to unchurch the Church And this may suffice against that errour The true conditions of admittance into the Church and state of Christianity are these First A true belief in God the Father Son and Holy Ghost and a Devoting of our selves sincerely to Him as our reconciled Father our Saviour and our Sanctifier in a resolved Covenant or Consent renouncing the Devil the world and the flesh expresly or impliedly is the whole and the only condition of our Communion with the Church mystical or the living body of Christ which is called The Church in the first and most famous sense Obj. If this must be wrought in us before we are in the mystical Church then a state of holiness may be found in such as are yet out of the body of Christ in the world But if this be after our entrance into the Church than less may sufficiently qualifie us for admittance Answ. It is neither before not after but it is our change and entrance it self To be a member of the Church mystical and to be a Christian is all one And this is Christianity If I should say that the making a man a Rational free agent is the making him a member of the Rational world would you think that this must be either antecedent or consequent to his change which is nothing else but the change it self Secondly That which maketh a man a member of the Vniversal Church as Visible is his Baptism Which is his profession of the same true Faith aforesaid and consent to the Covenant or his visible dedication to God the Father Son and Holy Ghost as his Reconciled Father his Saviour and Sanctifier by a Vow and Covenant in Baptism Where note that Baptism hath two parts The Covenant there made and openly declared between God and Man And the Sacramental obsigning and investing sign which is the washing in water The Profession it self or open covenanting with God is the thing statedly necessary to the being of Visible Christianity And the washing with water is necessary as a duty where it may be had and as a means to the orderly and regular entrance by which the Church is commonly to judge who are its admitted members and who not As inward consent and outward profession of consent and publike solemnization are the necessaries to a state of marriage the first being as the soul the second as the body and the third as the wedding garments so is it in this case So that in short if you take Baptism aright for the Covenant and the Sign there is no other entrance into the Visible Church nor any other condition necessary to a title to its communion But if you take Baptism improperly for the wasâ—ing alone there is no title to such washing necessary but Professed faith and Covenanting So that if you require more or invent and impose any further conditions and deny baptized professors of Christianity to be visible members of the Church you are superstitious devisers of a way of your own and makers of will-worship and not obedient submitters to the way of God Profession then of Belief and consent to the Covenant is our title-condition to communion with the Universal Visible Church This profession must be solemn and solemnized under the hand of a Minister of Christ who hath the Keyes of the Church or Kingdom of heaven that it may be satisfactory to the Church and valid at its barre Those that are baptized at age have present Right to communion with the adult Those that are baptized in Infancy upon good right are admitted to such Infant-communion as they are capable of And at years of discretion they themselves must own the Covenant which their Parents entered them into The more solemnly this is done as it was in baptism the better it is But if it be done but by a professing themselves to be Christians and attending Christs ordinances with his Church it is valid unless they forfeit the credit of their profession by proved Heresies or crimes in which they live impenitently But then it must be here observed what a Profession of Christianity is which intitleth to Baptism and Church-communion And objectively it must be the whole Baptismal Covenant that must be professed No less is to be taken
it He resisteth Light as an Angel of Light and his Ministers hinder Righteousness as pretended Ministers of Righteousness And he will be a zealous Reformer when he would hinder Reformation And this is the mark of Satans way of Reformation He doth it by by dividing the Churches of Christ and teaching Christians to avoid each other And to that end he zealously aggravateth the faults of every party to the rest that they may have odious thoughts of one another and Christian Love may be turned into aversation As in the Plague time every one is afraid of the breath and company of his neighbour and they that were wont to assemble and converse with peace and pleasure do timerously shun the presence of each other because they know that it is an infectious time and they are uncertain who is free even so doth Satan break the societies and converse of Christians by making them believe that every party hath some dangerous infection which as they love their souls they must avoid And he destroyeth your Love to one another by pretending Love to your selves O how careful will he be for your souls when the Devil would undo you he will do it as your Saviour And when his meaning is to save you from Heaven and from Christ and from his saving grace and from Union and Communion with his Church and from the impartial Love of one another he takes on him that he is saving you only from sin and from Church-corruptions Or rather that it is Christ and not he that giveth you counsel And he can do much in imitating Christ in the manner of his suggestions to make you believe that it is Christ indeed Perhaps his counsel shall come in in the midst of a fervent prayer or presently after it to make you believe that it is an undoubted answer of your prayers And oft times his impulses are vehement and much affecting to make you think that it is something above nature And the pioâ—s pretence will much perswade you to think that sure this can never come from an evil spirit But if you had well studied 2 Cor. 11. 13 14 15. Gal. 1. 8. Luke 9. 55. 1 Ioh. 4. 1 2. 2 Thes. 2. 2. you might be wiser and be saved from this deceit I will not recite the words because I would have you turn to them and seriously study them And in this dividing work the Devil doth as make-bates do who first goes to one man and tell him a tale what such a one said against him and what a dangerous person he is and then go to the other and say as much of the first to him So the Devil saith to the Presbyterian O take heed of the Independents and to the Independents Take heed of these Presbyterians To the Anabaptist he suggesteth Avoid these Protestants Take heed of them for they Baptize infants And to the Protestants he saith Take heed of these Anabaptists for they are against baptizing any till they come to full age To one he saith Away from that Church or think not those persons to be religious for they pray by the book And to the other he saith Take heed of those people as whimsical and proud and brainsick fanaticks for they pray without-book by the Spirit To one sort he saith Take heed of those people for they wear a Surplice or Kneel at the Sacrament or answer the Priests in the Responses of the Common-prayer To the other he saith Take heed of these disobedient stubborn selfconceited people that will sit at the Sacrament and will not conform to the orders of the Church I am not now minding whose opinion is right or wrong among all these parties or any like them But how charitable to your souls the Devil is when he would destroy your charity and your souls and how piously and kindly he would have you take heed when he would lead you to perdition and how great a Reformer he will be if he may but do it by Dividing It may be the young unexperienced Schismatick of what sect soever will distast these words and think I speak like an adversary to Reformation And so the Devil would make him think of all other Christians as well as of me except his party But if one should give such counsel for the preservation of his own health and bodily comfort as the Dividing spirit giveth him for the Church and for his soul he would quickly understand it according to my present sense If one should come in kindness to him and bid him O take heed of that mouth and belly for it getteth nothing but devoureth all that the hands do get by labour Cut off that hand for it hath a crooked finger Cut off that gouty foot that it may not trouble the whole body Rip up those guts which have such filthy excrements he would not swell against me if I advised him to suspect such kindness Fifthly Remember also that the Unity of Christians is their peace and ease as well as their strength and safety Psal. 133. 1. Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity As the amity and converse with friends is pleasant and the concord of families is their quietness and ease so is it as to the amity and concord which is the bond of Church society And the divisions and discord of Christians is their mutual pain and trouble Do you not feel your minds disturbed by it Do you not see the Church discomposed by it The itch of contention doth ordinarily make it pleasant for the time to every Sect to scratch by zealous wranglings and disputes for their several opinions till the blood be ready to follow But the smart and scab doth use to convince them of their folly But if they will go more than Skin-deep they may need a Surgeon Children will claw themselves but it is Madmen that will wound themselves The hurtâ— which we get in the Christian warfare by mortifying the flesh or by the persecution of the malignant enemy is tenderly healed by the hand of Christ and usually furthereth our inward peace But if we will hurt and wound and divide our selves what pity or comfort can we expect Sixthly Consider also that the Unity and Concord of Believers is their Honour and their Divisions and discord are their shame And consequently the honour or dishonour of Christ and the Gospel and Religion is much concerned in it Agreement among Christians telleth the world that they have a certainty of the faith which they profess and that it is powerful and not ineffectual and that it is of a healing nature and tendeth to the felicity of the world But Divisions and discords among Christians perswade unbelievers that there is no certainty in their belief or that it is of a vexatious and destructive tendency or at best that all its power is too weak to overcome the malignity which it pretendeth to resist where did you ever see Christians live in undivided
unity undisturbed peace and unfeigned Love but the very infidels and ungodly round about them did reverence both them and their religion for it And where did you ever see Christians divided unpeaceable and bitter against each other but it made them and their profession a scorn to the unbelieving and ungodly world and whilst they despise and vilifie one another they teach the wicked to despise and vilifie them all Seventhly I may therefore add that the Unity of Believers is one of Gods appointed means for the conversion and salvation of unbelievers And their Divisions and discord are an ordinary means of hardening men in infidelity and wickedness and hindering their love and obedience to the truth As a well ordered Army or a City of uniform comely building is a pleasing and inviting sight to the beholders when a confused rout or a râ—inous heap doth breed abhorrence even so the very sight of the concordant societies of Christians is amiable and alluring to those without when their disagreements and separations make them seem odious and vile As a musical instrument in tune or a set of musick delight the hearer by the pleasing harmony when one or more instruments out of tune or used by a rude unskilful hand will weary out the patience of the hearer so is it in this case and the difference is much greater between concordant and disconcordant Christians Who loveth to thrust himself into a fray And what wise man had not rather partake of the friendly converse than joyn with drunken men that are fighting in the streets Peace and Concord are amiable even to nature And you can scarce take a more effectual means to win the world to the Love of Holiness than by shewing them that Holiness doth make you unfeigned and fervent in the Love of one another 1 Pet. 1. 22. Nor can you devise how to drive men more effectually from Christ and to damn their souls than to represent Christians to them like a company of mad men that are tearing out the throats of one another How can you think that the unbelievers and ungodly should think well of them that all speak so ill of one another When the Lutheran flyeth from the Calvinist and the Episcopal from the Puritan and the Protestant from the Anabaptist and the Presbyterian from the Independent and all the other side implacably fly from them Can you wonder if the Infidel and the Idolater fly further from you all Mark well the words of Christ in his prayer Ioh. 17. 20 21 22 23. For them which shall believe on me by their word that they all may be one as thou Father art in me and I in thee that they also may be one in us that the world may believe that thou hast sent me And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them that they may be one even as we are one I in them and thou in me that they may be made perfect in one and that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them as thou hast loved me All these observations are obvious in these words 1. That the unity of Christians must be universal even of all that believe the Gospel of Christ. 2. That this Union should have some low resemblance to the Union of the Father and the Son 3. That it is Christs great desire and intercession for his Followers that they may be one 4. That their glory is for their Unity 5. That their Unity is their perfection 6. That the Father and Son are the Head or Center of the Unity 7. That this Unity is the great means of converting the world to the Christian faith and convincing Infidels of the truth of Christ as sent by God Open but your eyes and you may see all these great doctrines in this Prayer of Christs for his people Unity O that all the Christian Churches would try this means for the worlds Conversion Not on the impossible terms of Popery but on the necessary terms proposed by Christ. 8. External Unity and peaceable Church-communion doth greatly cherish our Internal unity of Love And Church-divisions do cherish wrath and malice and all the works of the flesh described by Paul Gal. 5. 21 22 23. I pray you consider how he describeth the fleshly and the spiritual man v. 14 15. For all the Law is fulfilled in one word even in this Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self But if ye bite and devour one another take heed that ye be not consumed one of another I say then walk in the spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh For the flesh lusteth against the spirit c. Now the works of the flesh are manifest adultery enmities or hatred variance emulations wrath strife seditions or as it may be read Divisions or factions heresies envyings murders c. But the fruit of the spirit is Love joy peace lâ—ng-suffering gentlenss goodness faith meekness temperance Against such there is no law And they that are Christs have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts If we live in the spirit let us also walk in the spirit Let us not be desirous of vain-glory provoking one another envying one another Obj. O but those that I separate from are guilty of this and that and the other fault Answ. Chap 6. 1. Brethren if a man be overtaken in a fault ye which are spiritual restore such a one in the spirit of meekness considering thy self lest thou also be tempted Instead of censorious disdain and separation bear ye one anothers burthen and so fulfil the Law of Christ which you think you fulfil by your unwarrantable separations while you are but fulfilling your fleshly passions When once parties are engaged by their opinions in Anti-churches and fierce disputings the flesh and satan will be working in them against all that is holy sweet and safe When united Christians are provoking one another to Love and to good works and minding each other of their heavenly cohabitation and harmonious praise and are delighting God and man by the melody of their concord The contentious zealots in their separate Anti-churches are preaching down Love and preaching up hatred and making those that differ from them seem an odious people not to be communicated with by aggravating their different opinions or modes of worship till they seem to be no less than Heresie or Idolatry If many thousands yet living in England or Ireland had not heard this with their ears yet Iames may be believed Chap. 3. 1 c. My Brethren be not many Teaching-Masters for that is the word knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation For in many things we offend all which he addeth because the arrogancy of Sectaries was caused by the aggravating of other mens offences If any man offend not in word the same is a perfect man that is If you will shew that you are perfecter better your selves than those whom you account so bad see that
understand it with his reason and transcribe it with his hand and travel with his feet The Pastors only excommunicate by Judgement or Sentence and the people by obedient execution of it Obj. Who then shall cast out an Heretick or pernicious Pastor if he himself must be rejected Answ. 1. The Neighbour Pastors shall renounce Communion with him and reject him from their neighbour Communion And they shall warn that people to avoid him by virtue of the common relation which they have to the universal Church of Christ. 2. The people as Cyprian determineth are bound to forsake him not by an act of Government over him or themselves but by an act of obedience to God and of self-preservation As Souldiers must forsake a trayterous General or Seamen a perfidious or desperately unskilful Pilot that would cast them all away As the people did always choose their Pastors to Govern them so may they in such a case refuse them without usurping any Government themselves Well! Now let us see what influence this truth should have upon your Church-Communion Do you say that your neighbours are not to be accounted members of the Church nor to be communicated with Who took them into the Church by Baptism Was it not a Minister of Christ If you say no you must prove your accusation If you grant it was it not his Office so to do Hath not God made his Ministers Judges whom they are to baptize And afterward also whom to catechise and instruct and admit to the communion of the Church There is no doubt of it If then they are admitted by an entrusted Officer will you venture to usurp the place yea and to do them the wrong to say that they are no members Is it any of your trust or work I pray you mark what a mercy it is to you that the Officers and not the private members are entrusted with this work First if it were your work you must study and be able to perform it Secondly you must watch for it and constantly attend it If a Heretick pervert the Text of Scripture you must convince him by your skil in the Originals or in the sense How many hundred or thousand persons are there in a Parish to be tried The worst of them must have a hearing and just trial at least before you can refuse him lawfully And how accurately must this difficult work be done that the weakest be not denied his right nor the unfit admitted How long must a sinner be admonished and exhorted to repentance And are you able and willing to leave all your callings to do all this If the Minister that doth it must lay by the business of the world how think you that you can do the same without laying by your worldly business If he must have so many years learning and preparation can you do it without Mistake not it is not for Sermons only that Ministers need all their learning and labour but also for the discipline and guidance of the flocks Thirdly and if it be your work you must be accountable for it before God And do you not fear such a reckoning And if these busie people had their wish would they not be in a worse case than the most dumb and lazy Minister Consider it well and you will find that you are not at all bound to know what the spiritual state of any man is as he is to joyn in Church-communion with you but upon your Pastors trust and word Whether their understanding be sufficient at their admittance you are not any where called to try but the Pastor is And if he have admitted them you are to rest in his judgment unless you would undertake the office your selves whether their profession of faith and repentance be serious and credible you are not called to try and judge But if your Pastor have admitted them he hath numbred them with the visible Christians And it is the credibility of the Pastor that you have to consider and by him you must judge of the credibility of the professour and not immediately by your own trial Who are the persons that you shall meet at a Sacrament or in publike Communion you are not at all required to try And if you never saw them before or heard them speak you may perform your duty nevertheless Indeed if as a neighbour you are called to instruct or counsel or comfort them you must do it But there may be five thousand in one Church with you whose names or faces you are not bound to know but to rest in the knowledge of them to whom the keyes are committed who according to their office take them in Obj. But what if they are notoriously wicked Must I be blind Answ. No you must do your best by neighboâ—rly watchfulness and help though not by Pastoral Government to reform all about you whom you are able to do good to And if you know them to be so bad you must privately admonish them as is proved and then if they hear not tell the Church But if you see a man in the Church at the Sacrament or a thousand men who are unreformed and you know it not you have no reason to avoid the communion of such And if there be a thousand in the Church whose case you are strangers to thâ—s may be no sin of yours and should be no impediment of your communion Obj. But what if câ—rnâ—l negligâ—nt Ministers will let in 〈◊〉 into the Church by Baptism and give them the Lords Supper Shall it be thus in their power to corrupt the Church And must we joyn with them and take no care of it Answ. There is no person in any office or trust but may too easily abuse it And the more noble the work and trust is the greater is the siâ— and calamity of such abuse And no doubt but a bad unfaithful Minister is one of the greatest sinâ—ers on earth and one of the most pernicious plagâ—es to the Church Which could not be unless it were in his power to do very much hurt But it will not follow that therefore you must take his place and become the Church Governours or try all the peoples fitness your selves If a Judge be bad you may say what an intollerable thing is it that one man shall have power to give away mens estates and take away the livâ—s of the innocent and to acquit the guilty But for all that you must not mend it by stepping up into the judgement seat your self and saying that you or the rest of the people will do it better Some body must be trusted with it If you are fittest offer your self to the office The thing that you must do is to do your best to deliver the Church from so bad a Pastor Use all your wisdome and diligence to amend him And if you cannot do that use all your interest to get him out and get a better And if you cannot do that deliver your own soul from him by removing
abundance more some taking him for the Messiah and some by his breathing on them thinking that they received the Holy Ghost When David George in Holland and Iohn of Leyden in Munster and Behmen Stiefelius and so many more pretended Prophets in Germany could deceive so many persons as they did When the pretended revelations of the Ranters first and the Quakers after could so marvellously transport many thousand professours of religion in this land I think we have fair warning to take the counsel of St. Iohn Believe not every spirit but try the spirits whether they be of God It is a pitiful instance of the good old learned Commenius who so easily believed the prophesies of Daubritius and the rest which he hath published Yea when he saw the prophesies fail yet when he adjured the prophet to speak truth and got him to swear as before the Lord that it was truth this seemed enough to confirm his belief of him whereas if he had been as well acquainted with the nature of Melancholy and Historical passions as many others are he would have known that as strange things as that he recordeth of the man or women may be done without any Divine inspirations and that it is no wonder if that person swear that his words are true who is first deceived himself before he deceive others For a crackt brain'd person to believe his delusions to be real verities is little wonder I have many a time my self conversed with persons of great honesty and piety though of no great judgment who have some of them affirmed that they had angelical revelations and some of them thought that the Spirit of God did bring this Scripture or that Scripture to their mind in answer to their prayers and were so very confident that what they affirmed was the certain truth or voice of God that I have been stricken with a reverence to their professions and with a fear lest I should resist God in resisting them But resolving to take none on earth for the master of my faith but to try the Spirits whether they be of God by going to the Law and Testimony I was constrained to turn my reverence into pity For I found that their seeming revelations were some of them Scripture-doctrine and some of them contrary to the Scripture As for that which is already in the Scripture what need I further revelation for it Is it not there sufficiently revealed Can their words add any authority to the Word of God And have I not Gods own Ministers and means to help me to the knowledge of his word And as for that which is contrary to Scripture I am sure that it is contrary to the will of God And if an Angel from Heaven should preach another Gospel to me I must hold him accursed Gal. 1. 7 8. so that if these persons should have the appearance voice of an Angel speaking to them I would despise it as well as the words of a mortal man if they be against the recorded word of God But by what I have seen and heard I know that it is a great temptation to some weak Christians to hear one that is much in prayer say Take heed what you do Have no Communion with this sort of men nor in this or that way of worship nor in this or that opinion for I am sure it is against the mind of God I once thought as you do but God hath better made known his mind unto me But saving the due respect to the honesty of such persons ask them How shall I know that you are in the right If they say I will not reason the case with you but I know it to be the mind of God Tell them that God hath made you reasonable creatures and will accept no unreasonable service of you and you have but one Master of your Faith even Christ Therefore if they believe that themselves which they can give you no reason to believe they must be content to keep their belief to themselves and not for shame perswade any other to it without proof If they say that God hath revealed it to them Tell them that he hath not revealed it to you and therefore that 's nothing to you till they prove their divine revelation If God reveal it to them but for themselves they must keep it to themselves If he reveal to them for others he will enable them to make some proof of their revelations that others may be sure that they sin not in believing them If they say that the Scripture is their ground Tell them that the Scripture is already revealed to all And if indeed what they speak be there you are ready to believe it But if they pervert the Sâ—â—pture by false interpretation or abuse it and mâ—â—apply it none of this is the work of the Spirit of God If they say that the spirit hath told them the meaning of the Scripture say as before that is not told for you which is not proved to you The Scripture is written in such words as men use of purpose that they might understand it and is to be understood by all men that hear it though they have no revelation God hath set Pastors in his Church to teach it If therefore revelations be still necessary to the understanding of the Scripture revelations then the Scriptures seem to be in vain and these last revelations must again have new revelations to the right understanding of them also The truth is it is very ordinary with poor fanciful women and melancholy persons to take all their deep apprehensions for revelations And if a text of Scripture come into their minds they say This text was brought to my mind and that text was set upon my spirit As if nothing could bring a text to their thoughts but some extraordinary motion of God And as if this bringing it to their mind would warrant their false exposition of it To conclude Decry not the necessity of the ordinary sanctifying work of the spirit to bless the Scripture to your true illumination and sanctification And if any pretend to any other revelations or inspirations or expositions of the Scripture which they cannot prove to youâ— despise them not but modestly leave them to themselves But take heed that the reverence of any ones holiness tempt you not to depart from the certain sufficienâ— word of God and draw you not into any 〈◊〉 Heresie or Separation or Opinion contrary to Gods standing Law DIRECT XXIX Take heed lest the trouble of your own disquieted doubting minds do become a snare to draw you to some uncouth way of cure and so make the fancy of some new Opinion Sect or Practise to seem your Remedy and give you ease and thereby perswade you that it is the certain truth THis is the pitiful Case of the ignorant and ungrounded and troubled sort of religious persons that they are looking every way for ease and comfort And having not wisdom enough to
are not desperate and covereth sins instead of condemning without proof would equally cure them both And let me yet conclude with this double protestation against the carping slanderer who useth to falsifie mens words First That I intend not in all this any flattery of the ungodly or making them better than they are or forbearing plain reproof or Church-discipline nor any unlawful communion with the wicked nor countenancing them in any of their sins nor neglecting to call them to repentance Secondly That while I here name persecution my purpose is not to mark out any persons or party above others or determine who they be that are the persecutors But only to detect the deceitfulness of our hearts when we most complain of it and to shew that wherever that sin is indeed it cometh but from the same principle as sinful separation doth even from the death of Love to others Thirdly and I add that though I here aggravate the persecution of unjust excommunications or separations as robbing men of the priviledge of Christians yet leaving them the common liberties of men and subjects it is none of my purpose to equal this absolutely with that destroying cruelty which leaveth them neither and will not suffer them to enjoy so much liberty as Heathens and Infidels may enjoy or as Paul had under such Act. 28. ult DIRECT LVI Keep still in your thoughts the state of all Christs Churches upon Earth that you may know what a people they are through the world whom Christ hath communion with and may not be deceived by ignorance to separate from allmost all Christs Churches while you think that you separate from none but the few that are about you THousands of well meaning people live as if England were almost all the world And do boldly separate from their Neighbours here which they durst not do if they soberly considered that almost all the Christian world are worse than they But narrow minds who can look but little further with their Reason than with their eye-sight do keep out at once both Truth and Love It is a point that I have often had occasion to repeat and yet will not forbear to repeat it here again It is but about one sixth part of the known world who make any profession of Christianity and are baptized besides how much peopled the unknown part of the world may be we know not Of this sixth part the Ethiopians Egyptians Syrians Armenians the Greek Churches the Muscovites and all the Papists are so great a body that all the Protestants or Reformed Churches are little more than a sixth part of this sixth The Papists being about a fourth or fifth part and the other Christians making up the rest And of these Protestants Sweden Denmark Saxony and many other parts of Germany making up the greatest part are such as are called Lutherans And of the other half which are supposed to be more Reformed there is scarce any of so Reformed lives as these in England and Scotland And among these how great a number are they that you separate from If you look to the Papists their worship is by the Mass If you look to the Muscovians they have a Liturgy much more blameable than ours and have a few Homilies instead of preaching If you look to the Greek Church to the Armenians the Abassines and all the Eastern and the Southern Churches in Asia and Africa they also worship God by Liturgies much more lyable to blame than ours and have but little preaching among them besides Homilies and the Members of their Churches are commonly far more ignorant than the worst of ours even than the rudest part of Wales If you look to the Lutherans they have Liturgies and Ceremonies and Images in their Churches though not adored and have far worse Preachers and of worse lives and more unprofitable preaching than is usually found with us and the people more ignorant and vicious If you look to the remnant called the more Reformed Churches in Holland France Helvetia Germany though they have much less of Liturgy or Ceremonies yet are their Church-members usually as ignorant as ours and more addicted to intemperance and there is no less scandal in their lives than among ours Now this being the true state of the world and though we daily pray that it may be better yet it is no better I would only intreat you but to think of it as it is and that to answer me deliberately these few Questions Quest. 1. Do you believe that all baptized professed Christians not denying any essential part of Christianity are Christs Universal Visible Church Qu. 2. Do you not believe that this Church is only One and that every particular Church and every Christian is a part of it Qu. 3. Do you not believe that it is unlawful in any case whatsoever to separate from it And that to separate from the Universal Visible Church is visibly to separate from Christ Qu. 4. Do you not believe that to give a Bill of Divorce to the Universal Church or to many hundred parts of it or to any one part and to declare that they are none of the Church of Christ is not great arrogancy and injury to men and unto Christ himself Qu. 5. Dare you say before God Let me have no part in any of the prayers of all these Churches on earth who use a Liturgy as culpable as ours because I will have no Communion with them Do you set so light by your part in their prayers Q. 6. If you travelled or lived in Abassia Armenia Greece or any Christian Country where their worship is not Idolatry nor substantially wicked nor they force not the worshippers to any false Oaths subscriptions or other actual sin would you refuse all communion with them and all publick worshipping of God Or would you not rather joyn with them than with no Church at all Qâ— 7. When you remember on the Lords days that now all the Christian world are congregate and are calling upon God and praising him in the name of one Christ and in the profession of one Faith dare you think of being a Body separated from them all And can you think that Christ disowneth them all save you Qu. 8. Can you think it agreeable to the gracious nature design and office of Jesus Christ to cast off and condemn so many hundred parts of the Church-universal and to accept that one part only which you joyn with Judge by his actions and expressions in the Scriptures Qu. 9. If there were bâ—t ten persons of your mind in all the world would you believe that God would save none but those ten or accept the worship of no more or that it were lawful to have communion with none but those ten If not how can you think so in a case so neer it Qu. 10. Can you prove that Christ doth separate from all the Christians of the world which you separate from or that they have no visible Commâ—nion with him or
a Heretick or an impenitent sinner and to be excommunicated or not and the Church where he liveth is divided about it if the matter be but referred to the Pope as the supream Judg it is but going to Rome and sending thither all the parties and witnesses on both sides and the Pope can decide it much more judiciously than those that are on the place and know the persons and all the circumstances And all this may be done in three years time or less if wind and weather and all things serve And if all the persons die by the way the controversie is ended If one part only die let the longer liver have the better and be justified Or if the Pope will rather send Governours to the place to decide the controversie whether the next Lords day you shall hold communion with such a man or not and so forward its like in a few years time some of them may live to come thither And if you must still appeal to the Pope himself for fear lest a Priest be not the infallible or final Judg and can do no better than other folks Priests you may after all have the liberty of the voyage And if you cannot in that age get the case dispatched yet you must believe that you have appeared to the only center of Unity This cheating noise and name of Vnity hath been the great divider of the Christian world And under pretense of suppressing Heresie and Schism and bringing a blessed peace and harmony amongst all Christians the Churches have been set all together by the ears condemning and unchurching one another and millions have been murthered in the flames inquisition and other kinds of death and those are Martyrs with the one part who are burnt as Hereticks by the other And more millions have been murdered by wars And hatred and confusion is become the mark and temperament of those who have most loâ—dly cried up Vnity and Concord Order and Peace It is a common way to set up a sect or faction by crying down schism sects and factions And a common way to destroy both Unity and Peace by cryâ—ng up Unity and Peace Therefore let not bare Nâ—mes decâ—ive you Remember that one of the old sects or factions of carnal Christians cried up Cephas that is Peter and said we are of Cephas which I know not how they could be blamed for if he was the Churches Constitutive or Governing Head 1 Cor. 1. 12. and 3. 22. And remember that the Church is not the body of any Apostle but of Christ and that all the Apostles are but the nobler sort of members and none of them the Head 1 Cor. 12. 27 28. Now ye are the body of Christ and members in particular and God hath set some in the Church first Apostles secondarily Prophets thirdly Teachers c. But Bellarmine aware of this hath devised this shift that the Pope succeedeth Peter in more than his Apostle-ship even his Head-ship But when he hath proved Peter more than an Apostle and the Pope his successor he will do the business Till then we must say that if the Pope were but a good Priest or Bishop below an Apostle we should give him more honour than his treasonable usurpation of Christs prerogatives is like to procure him For he that will needs have all shall have none and he that exalteth himself shall be brought low and he that will be more than a man shall be less than a man DIRECT LVIII Take heed of Superstition and observe well the circular course of zealous superstition malignity formality and peevish singularity and schism that you may not be misled by respect of persons I mean that First Indiscreet zeal and devotion hath been the usual beginner of Superstition Secondly Malignity in that age hath opposed it for the Authors sake Thirdly In the next age the same kind of men have adored the Authors and made themselves a Religion of the formal part of that superstition and persecuted those that would not own it Fourthly And then the same kind of men that first made it do oppose it in enmity to those who impose and own it and suffer and divide the Church in dislike of that which was their own invention IT is marvellous to observe this partial dance But Church-History may convince the understanding Reader that so it hath been and so it is First the zeal of some holy persons doth at first break forth in some lawful and in some indiscreet and unwarrantable expressions Secondly the malignant enemies of Godliness hate and oppose these expressions for the sake of the persons and the zeal exprest 3. When they are dead God performing his promise that the memory of the just shall be blessed Prov. 10. 7. The carnal party of that age as welâ— as others do honour those whom their fore-fathers hated and murthered Math. 23. 29 30. Wo to you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites because ye build the tombs of the Prophets and garnish the sepulâ—hres of the righteous and say If we had been in the dayes of our Fathers we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the Prophets Wherefore ye be witnesses to your selves that ye are the children of them which killed the Prophets Fill you up then the measure of your fathers The wicked of one generation kill Gods servants and the wicked of the next Generation do honour their names and celebrate their memorial The reason is because it is the Life of Godliness which the sinner is troubled with and hateth And therefore it is the living saint whom he abhorreth But the name and form of Godliness is less troublesome to him yea and may be useful to make him a Religion of to quiet his conscience in his sin And therefore the name of dead saints he can honour and the form of their worship and corps of piety he can own And having become so Religious both his former enmity to living holiness and his carnal zeal for his Image of Religion engage him to make a stir for it and persecute those that are not of his way And when the zealous and devout people of that age see this they loath that carkass or Image which the formalist contendeth for and many â—lye from it with too great abhorrence for the persons sake who now esteems it forgetting its original and that it was such as they that set it up and were the first inventers For instance The most of the persons whom the Papists now keep holy dayes for were very religious godly people And the zealous Religious people of that age did think that the honouring of the memories of the Martyrs was a great means to invite the infidels to Christianity and to encourage the weak to stick to Christ And therefore they kept the dayes of their martyrdome in thanksgiving to God and in honour of them The wicked of that age hated and persecuted both the Martyrs and them that honoured them In the next age Religion
1 Cor. 3. 1 2 3 4. II. On the other side if any withdraw from our Communion let us not too hastily accuse them of schism And when we do let us well distinguish of schism and not go further from them than they have gone from us and to be our selves the Schismaticks while we oppose it There are many cases in which local separation may be lawful First As if our callings justly remove us to another place or Country Secondly If our spiritual advantage bind us to remove to a better Minister and more suitable society when we are free Thirdly if our lawful Pastors be turned out of the place and we follow them and turn away but from Usurpers Fourthly If the Pastors turn Hereticks or Wolves Fifthly If the publick good of the Churches require my removal Sixthly If any sin be imposed on me and I be refused by the Church unless I will commit it In these and some other such cases a remove is lawful And when it is not lawful yet it may be but such a blemish in the departers as the departerâ— find in the Church which they depart from which will on neither side dis-oblige them from Christian Love and such Communion as is due with neighbour Churches There is a schism from the Church and a schism in the Church There is a schism from almost all the Churches in the world and a schism from some one or few particular Churches There is a separation upon desperate intollerable principles and reasons and a separation upon some weak but tollerable ones These must not be conâ—ounded The Novatians were tolerated and loved by the sober Catholicks Emperours and others when many others were otherwise dealt with If any good Christians in zeal against sin do erroneously think that an undisciplin'd Church should be forsaken that they may exercise the discipline among themselves which Christ hath appointed It is the duty of that Church to take this warning to repent of her neglect of discipline and then to love and honour those thâ—t have though upon mistake perhaps withdrawn But if when they have occasioned the withdrawing by their corruption they will prosecute the persons with hatred revising slanders contempt or persecution and continue impenitent in their own corruption they will be the far greater Schismaticks and err a more pernicious errour DIRECT LX. When the Love-killing spirit either cruel or Dividing is abroad among Christians be not idle nor discouraged spectators nor betray the Churches Peace by a few lazy wishes but make it a great part of your labour and Religion to revive Love and peace and to destroy their contraries And let nâ— censures or contempt of any Sect or party take you off But account it an honour to be a Martyr for Love and Peace as well as for the Faith OF all parts of Religion I know not how unhappily it comes to pass men think that Negatives are sufficient for the service of Peace If a man live not unpeaceably and do no man wrong nor provoke any to wrath this is thought a sufficient friend to peace And therefore it is no wonder that Love and Peace so little prosper When Satan and his instruments do all that they can by fraud and force against it and we think it enough to stand by and do no harm It is the Peace-makers that Christ pronounceth blessed for theirs is the kingdome of heaven Math. 5. 9. Here he that is not with Christ and the Church is against it Why should we think that so much actual diligence in hearing reading praying c. is necessary to the promoting of other parts of holiness and nothing necessary to Love and Peace but to do no hurt but be quiet patients Is it not worthy of our labour And is not our labour as needful here as any where Judge by the multitude and quality of the adversaries and by their power and success Is it a mark of hypocrisie to go no further in duties of Godliness than the safety of our reputation will give us leave And is it not so in the duties of Love and Peace If the Kingdome of God be in Righteousness and Peace then what we would do to promote Gods Kingdome we must do for them Rom. 14. 17. And if dividing Christs Kingdome is the way to destroy it and Satan himself is wiser than to divide his own Kingdome Math. 12. then what ever we would do to save the Kingdom of Christ all that we must do to preserve and restore the peace of it and to heal its wounds I know if you set your selves in good earnest to this work both parties who are guilty will fall upon you with their censures at least One side will say of you that you are a favorer of the Schismaticks and Sectaries because you oppose them not with their unhappy weapons love them not as little as they As they say of Socrates and Sozomen the Historians that they were Novatians because they spake truth of them called them honest men And as they said of Martyn and Sulpitius Severâ—s that they were favourers of unlearned Fanaticks and of the Priscilian Gnosticks because they were not as hot against them as Ithacius and Idacius but refused to be of their Councels or communicate with them for inviting the Emperour to the way of blood and corporal violence And the other side will say that you are a temporizer and a man of too large principles because you separate not as they do And perhaps that you are wise in your own eyes because you fall in with neither Sect of the extreams But these are small things to be undergone for so great a duty And he that will not be a peace-maker upon harder terms than these I fear will scarce be meet for the reward I again repeat Iam. 3. 17. The wisdome from above is first pure and then Peaceable gentle and easie to be intreated full of mercy and good fruits without partiality without hypocrisie and the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace Rom. 12. 18. If it be possible as much as in you lyeth live peaceably with all men Heb. 12. 14. Follow peace with all men and holiness Obj. But is it not as good sit still as labour to no purpose What good have ever any peace-makers done among differing Divines Answ. A grievous charge upon Divines and Christians Are they the only Bedlams or drunken men in the world If Princes fall out or if neighbours fall out arbitrators and peace-makers labour not alwayes in vain But I answer you It is not in vain Peace-breakers would have yet prevailed more and made the Church unhappier than it is if some Peace-makers had not hindered them The minds of thousands are seasoned with the Love of Peace and kept from cruelties and Schisms by the wholesome instructions and examples of Peace-makers And it is worth our labour to honour so holy and sweet a thing as Love and Peace and to bear our
thus to seek themselves and overvalue their own esteem If it be the former 2 Why doth it not please you then that they are edified by others though not by you Do you think that it is not the same Gospel which others preach to them And may not that Gospel edifie and save them by the Preaching of another as well as by yours And if their dis-esteem of you be a sign or means that they are not edified by you is not their great esteem of others who are as faithful a sign and means that they are or may be edified by them Thirdly And why are you not much more troubled at the state of all those who are not converted or edified by you though they do not slight you or forsake you How many be there that seem to love and honour you and yet do not love and honour God but despise religion and their own Salvation If it be for their sakes and not your own that you are offended you will grieve most for them that are most ungodly though they honour you never so much and you will be glad for them that are faithful and Godly whose Ministery soever it be that they most esteem Fourthly But suppose them yet so foolish and faulty as to run from you to their own perdition The question is What is the way to câ—re them Is Love caused by hard words or stripes Will you say to them Love me or you shall be fined or imprisoned Christ doth not teach you to use such arguments when you speak for him but to beseech men in his name and stead tobe reconciled to God 2 Cor. 5. 19 20. But your own work will be done in your own way Obj. But Christ threatneth Hell to the impenitent and Paul pronounceth him Anathematized that loveth not the Lord Iesus and he talketh to his hearers of coming with a rod. Answ. No doubt but the corrupted mind of man hath need not only of Love to draw them home to God and work the cure but of Threatnings to drive them and to help on the cure And though it be Love that causeth Love which is their Holiness yet Fear removeth many impediments But still remember that it is Love which is predominant and fear is but subservient And that the fear which is contrary to Love is a vice and hindereth theâ—r salvation And remember that Fear and Love towards God will better stand together than Fear and Love to you will For men know Gods Soveraignty and Iustice and know that he is not to be questioned or resisted But if they suffer by you it will not be so digested nor will it so consist with love A patient will not bear to be whipt by his Physician to force him to take his medicâ—nes though a child will bear it from his parents whose Love and Power are more unquestionable to him I desire you but to mark your own experience and let your Love be predominant in all your ministrations and use no force or hurting course which will really abate their Love to you and then I shall leave you in the rest to your discretion Secondly Yet still we grant that Christs threatnings may be preached by you and must be Thirdly And that the rod of discipline must be used But this must be done only on the scandalous and such as more dishonour Christ than you And it must be so done that it may appear to be Christs own work and done by you upon his interest and at his commund and not either arbitrarily or for your selves And I shall be bold with confidence to add that in those cases where violent restraint or â—oaction is necessary the Pastor is the unmeetest person to meddle in it It is the Magistrates work to drive and force where it must be done and the Pastors to perswade and draw The flock of Christ is led by himself the Lamb of God and his Ministers must go before with him and attend him in the conduct and the Magistrate must come behind and drive and it is the hindermost and not those before that must be driven Pastors should be so far from calling out for the help of violence unless it be to keep the peace that they should rather shew their love and tenderness by seeking as far as they may to mitigate it And they should desire that no such ungrateful work be at all imposed upon them as to seem the afflicters of their flocks because when once they have lost their love they have lost their opportunity and advantage of edifying them And it is not Pilate's hypocritical washing of his hands that will excuse him Nor the Romish Clergies disclaiming to meddle in a judgement of blood which will reconcile the minds of sufferers to them as long as they are Masters of the Inquisition or deliver them up to the secular power and excommunicate and depose the temporal Lords who will not do such execution as they require Though I have some where else mentioned it I will again request the Reverend Pastors of the Church to peruse the story of Idacius and Martin in Sulpitius Severus The sum of it is this Priscillian and many others some Bishops and some Presbyters and some private persons were zealous in religion but heretical Gnosticks saith Sulpitius Ithacius and Idacius were two Orthodox Bishops who were very hot against these herâ—ticks Both of them men of rash and haughty spirits and one of them at least saith Sulpitius an injurious person that scarce cared what he said or did by others see what persons a good cause may be defended by These Bishops drew in the Bishops of the neighboring Churches in their Synods first condemned the Priscillianists and next provoked the Emperour against them The Priscillianists found that if that were the way an Emperours Court was not so Orthodox or constant but there might be as good hopes for them And therefore they got a powerful friend in Court to undertake their business and got the better of the Bishops The Bishops being born down for a time at last Maximus was proclaimed Emperour and came over with power and victory into Germany such another as Cromwel who by the Bishops was accounted a very Religious Christian but usurped the Empire and fought against and killed one of the Emperours and pretended that the souldiers made him Emperour against his will This Maximus whether sincerely or for his own advantage is unknown did take part with the Orthodox and greatly honour the Bishops and promote Religion and got a great deal of love and honour Ithacius and Idacius and the rest of the Bishops apply themselves to Maximus against the Priscillianists who hearkened to them and to please them put Priscillian and some others to death and punished others by other wayes of violence The more rude ungodly sort of Christians so far concurred or over-went the Bishops that they turned their fury against any that seemed more Religious than their neighbours so that if any one
of Israel that when they were rooted out the land should keep her Sabbaths Was that a mercy or a judgement Would you so cure Sabbath-breaking and disorder and take a solitude for Peace Fourthly is not the work to be done the saving of mens souls And shall any be saved against his will And then should not all force be meerly such as is subservient to the ends of Love Fifthly will stripes change the judgement in matters of Religion Sixthly is he any better than a Knave or an hypocrite who will say or swear or do that through fear which he verily thinketh God forbiddeth him and is displeâ—sed for and feareth it may damn his soul Seventhly Is it the honour and felicity of soâ—ls to be such or of Church or Kingdome to be composed of such Eighthly is not a conscientious fear of sinning against God a thing well pleasing to him and necessary to mens salvation and to the Churches welfare and to the safety of the lives of Kings and of the Kingdoms peace And is there not then great cause to cherish it though not the errours that abuse it And should not all care be used to cure the ungodly world of impiety and â—earedness of conscience which makes them make a mock of sin And if conscience were once debauched and mastered by fear and the people be brought to prefer their their fleshly interest before their spiritual and to fear mens punishment more than Gods would not such debauched consciences have a great advantage to make such men the masters of the estates and lives of others And are the lives of Kings and the estates of neighbours and the peacâ— of Kingdomes competently secured where God is not feared more than fines or corporal penalties Ninthly if force be so far followed till it have changed mens judgements or conquered conscience or exterminated and destroyed all that will not be thus changed or conquered who differ from superiors in unnecessary things will it not all things well considered prove a dear price for that which might be had at much cheaper rates Are not the most conscientious necessary helpers of the Ministery by their example to cure the unconscionableness of the rest And therefore should be countenanced encouraged Tenthly would not the cessation of unnecessary impositions cast out the most of the scruples of conscientious people and cease the saddest divisions of the Churches If Rome could have been content with a Religion of no more Articles than the Apostles was and would on those terms have held Communion with other Churches O what rends and ruines had it prevented in the Christian world Are not the old Apostolical rules and terms sufficient to the safety and peace of Christians Were those worthy persons B. Vsher B. Hall B. Davenant B. Morton with the Bergii the Crocii and all the great pacificators deceived who wrote and preached and cried out to the world that so much as all Christians are agreed in is sufficient matter for their concord if they would lay it upon no more vid. Vsh. serm before King Iames at Wansted Or do you think it was their meaning Let all Rulers multiply unnecessary scrupled impositions in their own dominion and for scrupling them let them silence imprison and banish at home And then let them send to their neighbour Churches for Unity Peace and Concord and tell them that the subscribing to the Scriptures generally and to the Creed Lords Prayer and Decalogue and Sacraments particularly are terms sufficient to this end Supposing that good order deconcy and peace be kept up by suitable discipline both Ecclesiastical and Civil And why would not this serve for all the world Or why should more scrupled things be called necessary to order and decency than indeed are so My desire of the Churches peace which caused me to write all the rest provoketh me to touch this subject briefly which will scarce endure to be touched DIRECT XIV When you reprove those weak Christians who are subject to errours disorders or divisions reflect not any disgrace or contempt upon Religion and conscientious strictness but be the more careful to proclaim the innocency and honour of serious Godliness lest the prophane and ungodly take occasion to despise it by your opening the faults of such as are taken for the zealous Professours of it HOnest hearers take most notice what is the main scope which the Preacher aimeth at and the business which he driveth on Some men take occasion by the errours and faults of such as have seemed seriously religious to make all seriousness and diligence for our salvation to seem to the hearers to be meer hypocrisie and not only a needless but a hurtful thing and to perswade the people that an ignorant carelesness of their souls with good neighbour-hood quietness and mirth is better than all this ado Which is no more or less than to preach for Atheism and Ungodliness in practise so it be veiled with the hypocritical profession of the Christian faith And this unhappy sort of Preachers do seldome miss to fall upon the real and supposed miscarriages of men that are or seem religious in some part of their sermons and familiar discourse which being done to so odious an end as to bring seriouâ— Religiousness it self into dislike it maketh the best of the hearers abhor such reflections because they abhor the scope of them Believing that Holiness need not to be preached against in the world till mens hearts are more enclined to it and till all its enemies abate their opposition And if it were to be done yet not by a Minister of Christ He that preacheth against Holiness how covertly soever preacheth against God Whereas if a mans designe be to promote Religion the sober hearers though partly guilty will bear his reproof of the faults of professours with much more patience when they see it is for God and godliness that he doth it I speak by experience and must give them this testimony that I have many and many a time poured out my soul in earnest reprehensions of the errours and disorders of rash dividing zeal and the hearers have taken all with patience when the same persons could not bear the tenth part so much from some preachers whom they imagined to aim in it at the depressing of the honour of true and serious religion Therefore be sure what sort of men soever you are reproving that you say nothing which tendeth to make the ignorant or ungodly sort of your auditors think that it is zeal or strictness or careful diligence about their souls which you condemn But still put in sufficient caution for the necessity of a holy heart and life DIRECT XV. Discourage not the Religious from so much of Religious exercises in their families or with one another as is meet for them in their private stations BY this means many Pastors have been very great causes of schisms and separations Some of them are so carnal and selfish that they make
the Ministery but a trade for their benefice and honour And therefore for fear left the people should encroach upon their advantages they drive them as far off as they can and care not how ignorant they are so that thereby they may but lock up the mystery of their trade securely for themselves and keep the people in a blindfold reverence dependance and obedience How ordinarily the Roman Clergy practise this iniquity the nations that are kept in darkness by them are doleful testimonies Like the great dog that will not endure the little one to come near his carrion or his bone And some are so excessively fearful of schism that they dare not endure the people to pray together or repeat a sermon or search the scripture and exhort one another daily in that manner which God requireth private men to do for fear lest they should go further and grow proud of their own gifts and doings and despise their Pastors and set up for themselves When as this very inordinate jealousie is the likely and the commoâ— way to bring them to the evil that is so much feared While peoples care of their salvation is cherished and stirred up and the Pastors do provoke them to pray and search the scriptures and help each other in the way to heaven they are honoured and loved by the faithful of their flocks as men that indeed are true to their great trust and have a love and care for the peoples souls And then those Pastors who further the people in such religious exercises may usually as fathers rule them in it and keep them from usurping any thing that is proper to the officers of Christ and from errours and factions and divisions and may easily suppress any arrogancie when it appeareth And that honest desire which religious persons have to do good to others is thus satisfied by such sober exercises as belong to them And so Pastor and people do peaceably lovingly and successfully concur to carry on the work of Christ whilest each one moveth in his proper place I speak this through the great meâ—cy of God from very great and long experience having still kept up such lawful meetings and sober exercises as are not unfit for private Christians and thereby kept out all heresies factions schisms and arrogancies from the flock with the great increase of their knowledge humility piety and just observance of their guides Whereas when the foresaid inordinate jealousie doth restrain people or discourage them from any of that which is their proper work First they grow into distaste of such Pastors and take them for enemies to godliness and to their souls Secondly they grow next as jealous of all the Pastors doctrine as he is of them and think it no fault to draw oft further from him themselves and then to disaffect others to him Thirdly their appetite to religious exercises when it is restrained groweth inordinate and affecteth that which belongeth not to them Fourthly they conceit that there is some necessity of their turning teachers to do that which the Teachers will not do Fifthly they next keep their meetings by themselves from under the eye and inspection of their Teachers Sixthly then they take liberty to vent what cometh in their minds whilest there is none to regulate and contradict them Seventhly and at last they set up for themselves and the chief speakers among them become Pastors to the rest and so too often speak perverse things to draw away disciples after them Act. 20. 30. Wisdome and Love may prevent all this Envy not the gifts or graces of your people Is it not the end of all your studies and labours to to promote them Are they not the fruits of Gods mercies and your own endeavours Will you grudge at your own successes In stead of restraining them let none so earnestly drive them â—n to such religious exercises that belong to them as your selves and help them and overâ—â—e them in the performance And then you shall have advantage to restrain them from that which belongeth not to them And you shall have them the great assisters of your Ministery who will more uphold your honours than all the prophane and ignorant will do yea they will be your glory crown and joy at the appearing of Jesus Christ. 1 Thes. 2. 19 20. DIRECT XVI Be not wanting in abilities watchfulness or diligence to resist seducers by the evidence of truth that there may be no need of other weapons And quench such sparks among your people before they break out into flames THe clamours and wayes of violence used by many Pastors are oft but an unhappy means to supply the defect of their own abilities and duties And those who are conscions of an insufficiency in themselves to do their parts do most intemperately call out to the Magistrates to help them and do most unmannerly censure them if they answer not their expectations And indeed if the sword of the Magistrate be such an universal remedy and may serve instead of the ability and labour of the Minister let it also serve to cure the sick instead of the skill and labour of the Physician and let all other callings as needless be put down and let us have none but Magistrates alone First Some Ministers are so ignorant that if one of their people do but turn Antinomian Anabaptist or Separatist they are not able to confute them Much less if one that is learned and well-studied introduce these errours If the Sectary challenge them to dispute it s two to one but errour will triumph through the insufficiency of him that should defend the truth And then this insufficient Minister will turn to railing or call out to the Magistrate for his help to declare to all that he is too weak which will harden and encrease the seduced party and make them think that it is the weakness of his cause Secondly And too many Ministers who seem more able are Lordly and lazy and carry themselves strangely and at a distance from the people and are seldome familiar with them in private And so they give advantage to such seducers as creep into houses to sow their tares and for the weaker sort to vend their errours when there is none to contradict them These Pastors take their proper work to which they are called for a slavery or a toil They are so proud and idle that for them to watch over all the â—lock and to teach them publickly and from house to house night and day with tears as Paul did and to watch where any spark appeareth and presently to quench it doth seem to them such a drudgery and burden that God were unmerciful if he should impose it on them That is They think God unmerciful if he will not rather let the patient die than put the Chyrurgeon to the trouble of dressing his sores If he will not let the people be damned rather than put Ministers to so much labour to instruct and save them If it
Church but Christ himself 58. Take heed of superstition indiserâ—â—t â—â—al â—â—th been the usual beginner of superstition Mâ—lignity in that age the sharpest opposer for the Aâ—thorâ—s sake Formality in the next age hath made a Religion of it And then the zealous who first invented it have turned most against it for the sake of the last owners And thus the world hath turned round Instances lay'd down of the superstition of Religions people in this age 59. If through the fault of either side or both you cannot meet together in the same assemblies yet keep that Unity in faith love and practice which all neighbour Churches should maintain And use not your different assemblies to revâ—ling and destroying Love and Peace 60. When the Love-killing spirit either cruel or dividing is abroad among Christians be not idle nor discouraged Spectators nor betray the Churches peace by lazy wishes But make it a great part of your labour and Religion to revive Love and Peace and to destroy their contraries And let no censures or contempt of any party take you off But account it as comfortable to be a Martyr for Love Peace by blind Zealots or proud Usurpers as for the saith by Infidels or Heathens And take the pleasing of God whoever is displeased for your full reward The Additional Directions to the Pastors 1. Let it be our first care to know and do our own duty And when we see the peoples weakness and divisions let us first examine and judge our selves and lament and reform our own neglects Ministers are the Cause of most divisions 2. It is needful to the peoples Edification and Concord that their Pastors much excel them in knowledge and utterance and also in prudence holiness and heavenly mindedness that the reverence of their callings and persons may be preserved and the people taught by their Examples 3. Inculcate still the necessary conjunction of Holiness and Peace and of the Love of God and Man And that Love is their Holiness it self and the sum of their Religion the End of faith and the fulfilling of the Law And that as Love to God uniteth us to Him so Love to man must unite us to each other And that all doctrine and practices which are against Love and Unity are against God against Christ against the Spirit against the Church and against Mankind 4. If others shew their weakness by unwarrantable singularities or divisions shew not your greater weakness by impatience and uncharitable censures or usage of them especially when self-interest provoketh you 5. Distinguish between them that separate from the Universal Church or from all the Orthodox and Reformed parts of it and those who only turn from the Ministery of some one person or sort of persons without refusing Communion with the rest 6. Distinguish between them who deny the Being of the Ministry and Church from which they separate and those who remove only for their own Edification as from a worse or weaker Ministry a Church less pure 7. Distinguish between those who hold it simply unlawful to have Communion with you and those who only hold it unlawful to prefer your assemblies before such as they think to be more pure 8. Remember Christs interest in the weakest of his Servants and do nothing against them which Christ will not take well 9. Distinguish between weakness of Gifts and of Graces and remember that many who are weaker in the understanding of Church-orders may yet be stronger in grace than you 10. Think on the Common Calamity of mankind what strange disparity there is in mens understandings and will be And how the Church here is a Hospital of diseased souls of whom none are perfectly healed in this life 11. Distinguish still between those truths and duties which are or are not of necessity and between the tolerable and the intolerable errors And never think of a Common Unity and Concord but upon the terms of necessary points and of the primitive simplicity and the forbearance of dissenters in tolerable differences 12. Remember that the Pestoral Government is a work of Light and Love And what these cannot do we cannot do Our great study therefore must be first to know more and to Love more than the people and then to convince them by cogent evidence of truth and to cause the warmth of our Love to be felt by them in all the parts of our ministration and converse As the warmth of the Mothers milk is needful to the good nutrition of the Child The History of Martin 13. When you see many evils which Love and evidence will leave uncured yet do not reject this way till you have found one that will better do the work and with fewer inconveniences 14. When you reprove those weak Christians who are subject to errors disorders and divisions reflect noâ— any disgrace upon piety it self but be the more careful to proclaim the honour of Godliness and true Conscientious strictness lest the ungodly take occasion to despise it by hearing of the faults of such as are accounted the zealousest professors of it 15. Discourage not the people from so much of Religions exercises in their families and with one another as is meet for them in their private stâ—tions 16. Be not wanting in abilities watchfulness and diligence to resist Seducers by the evidence of truth that there may be no need of other weapons And quench the sparks among the people before they break out into flames 17. Be not strange to the poet ones of your flocks but impartial to all and the servants of all Mind not high things but condescend to men of low estate 18. Spend and be spent for your peoples good Do all the good that you are able for their bodies as well as for their souls And think nothing that you have too dear to win them that they may see that you are truely fathers to them and that their welfare is your chiefest care 19. Keep up the reverence of the ancient and experienced sort of Christians and teach the younger what honour they owe to them that are their Elders in age and grace For whilest the Elder who are usually sober and peaceable are duly reverenced the heat of rash and giddy youth will be the better kept in order 20. Neither neglect your interest in the Religious persons of your charge lest you lose your power to do them good Nor yet be so tender of it as to depart from sober principles or wayes to please them Make them not your Rulers nor follow them into any exorbitancies to get their love or to escape any of their censures 21. Let not the Pastors contend among themselves especially through envy against any whom the people most esteem A reproof of ignorant pievish backbiting quarrelsome Ministers 22. Study our great pattern of Love and tenderness meekness and patience and all those texts which commend these virtues till they are digested into a nature in you that healing virtue may go from you