Covenant to maintain her in her Doctrine Worship Discipline and Government and to endeavour a Reformation according to her Pattern but good men they cannot understand for their hearts what this Church of England should be One would think that a National Church in England might as easily be defined as a National Church in Scotland All the odds is the National Church of England is not now so likely to serve their turns as the National Church of Scotland then so termed was Let us but pull down the Bishops and set up a General Assembly of Presbyters and 't will be as easie to understand what the National Church of England is as what the National Church of Scotland was Sect. 37. Let us reason the case a little with these men Why may not the English Nation become a National Church as well as the Jewish What is there wanting which the Jews had that is essential to the constitution of a National Church May not that be as much from God and have as great approbation and as many Blessings from him which is effected in an ordinary way as that which is effected in an extraordinary way What they were by immediate we are by mediate divine Constitution Were they converted from dead Idols to the living God so are we Were they united in the profession of the same true faith so are we Were they bound to the same rules and modes of Worship so are we What is it which makes a Church but Gods Call to a People and their Answer to his Call Now you shall finde that this is to extend to whole Nations of the Gentiles under the Gospel as well as it did to the whole Nation of the Jews under the Law Isai 55.5 Thou shalt call a Nation which thou knewest not and Nations which knew not thee shall run unto thee Zech. 2.11 Many Nations shall be joyned unto the Lord in that day and shall be my people So Mich. 4.2 Many Nations shall come and say Let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and he will teach us his ways and we will walk in his paths And Psal 72.11 12. All King shall fall down before him all Nations shall serve him all Nations shall call him blessed And Christ tells the Jews Mat. 21.43 That the kingdom of God that is the Church-state shall be taken from you and given to a Nation bringing forth the fruits thereof And 't is no more than what Moses foretold them Deut. 32.21 I will move them to jealousie with those that are not a people I will provoke them to anger by a foolish Nation Which the Apostle expresly applieth to the rejection of the Jews and calling of the Gentiles Rom. 10.19 which plainly evinceth that God would convert whole Nations as well as particular Congregations out of them and bring them to a Church-state such for substance as the Jews enjoyed And why may not an whole Nation incorporate into one Body Ecclesiastick as well as into one Body Politick There may be as universal agreement in divine matters as in civil the Members of a National Church may be as useful to one another in that relation as the Members of a Civil State and as governable in the one capacity as in the other So that they which forsake and gather themselves into distinct religious Societies from that Society of Christians here in England which are united by National Laws Political and Ecclesiastical in the profession of the same Faith and observation of the same rules of Worship and Discipline are faulty Separatists and set their Altar beside the Altar of the Lord their God Sect. 38. To make this yet a little plainer to you I shall apply it to a Separation made from our Parochial Churches which are of the same constitution with the National and differ onely as parts from the whole Though Parochial or Congregational Churches are no more of immediate divine Institution than the Jewish Congregation in their Synagogues were but a meer prudential distribution of the whole into parts for the more convenient and orderly Community in a publick confession of Faith and participation of publick Ordinances and no Christian considered simply as a Member of the Church Catholick is any more bound to the Communion of one part of the Church than of another but ought indifferently as he hath opportunity to joyn himself to any one sound part of it as well as to another yet our Parochial Churches being homageneal or similar parts of the National as well as Catholick Church essentially considered they who from Vicinity of Neighbourhood and Cohabitation have or ought to have joyned themselves to them as Christian Assemblies fitly accommodated for publick Worship common Order and Edification and best subserving the duties of a Church-relation if they separate from our Assemblies as acting in a way of Communion with the National Church and set up Assemblies of a different and disagreeing constitution They do not walk as God hath called them 1 Cor. 1.17 pitching every man by his own standard Numb 2.2 according to order 1 Cor. 14.40 Do not go forth by the footsteps of Gods flock nor feed where God maketh his flock to rest at noon Cant. 1.7 8. but set up an Altar beside the Altar of the Lord. Sect. 39. Moreover whatever the Original Constitution of our Parish-churches was or whatever their relation to the National Church is or suppose there were no National Church at all yet 't is evident that our Parish-churches consist of visible Saints such as profess Christianity and have been baptized into the Body of Christ they are the pillars and ground of Truth 1 Tim. 3.15 that is they do preach and proclaim Gods Will as revealed in the Gospel which is the Word of Truth as those Pillars which have the Edicts of Princes affixed to them proclaim their Will and Pleasure the true Sacraments which are the Symbols and Seals of Gods Covenant which is the Bond of all Amity and Commerce with God are administred in them they by mutual consent joyn themselves together as Pastor and People and assemble themselves together to partake of the Ordinances of Christ and therefore they are most certainly true Churches and they which live in an orderly Communion with them keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of Peace abide where they were called with God keep their ranks and places where right Reason and Religion hath fixed them and maintain publick Charity and Order and consequently they which have been once joyn'd to them as all the Separatists in England have been or ought to be for such an Existence as Parish-churches now have they for the main had long before the oldest Separatist in England was born to separate from them they carry it like Mutineers in an Armie violate all the bonds of Love Peace and Order and by setting up distinct and separate Societies for Worship and Discpline from them rebel against God and against us Sect. 40. I. Such
they do or can commit For 't is most directly contrary to the designe of God the Father in sending Christ into the world which was to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children Luke 1.17 and to gather together in one all things in Christ Eph. 1.10 And as contrary to the redeeming work of God the Son which was to gather together in one the children of God which are scattered abroad John 11.52 And as contrary to the sanctifying Operations of the Spirit by which we are all baptized into one body 1 Cor. 12.12 And consequently as contrary to all those Ordinances and means of Grace by which they all derive the effluxes of their Grace Love and Goodness unto the Souls of men which are all purposely designed to accomplish the Churches unity E. g. When we are baptized we are all baptized into one body 1 Cor. 12.13 and what is the communion of the body and blood of Christ for but to minde us that though we are many members yet we are all but one body 1 Cor. 10.16 17. And what are all the Officers of the Church and their respective Ministrations for but to bring us to the unity of the Faith and to speak the truth in love that we may grow up into him in all things which is the Head even Christ from whom the whole body fitly joyned together and compacted by that which every joynt supplieth the body increaseth to the edification of it self in love Eph. 4.13 14 15 16. And Divisions and Separations being so directly contrary and destructive to the designe of Christianity how unreasonable a thing is it for the Dividers of and Separators from our Church in which nothing as some among themselves acknowledge is to be done and approved of which is unlawful to assume to themselves the denomination of the Godly Party Whereas we can justly appeal and call Heaven and Earth to record that for so doing they are Rebels against God and against us I shall conclude my Discourse with a serious and earnest Admonition and Charge to you to remember with great thoughtfulness of heart That the Church of Christ which is the Body of Christ was is and ever will be One and that when you were initiated into a profession of Christianity you were baptized into this one body 1 Cor. 12.12 13. So that here a departure from Vnity is a Nullity He that is of a New and not of the Old Church is of no Church And this is the reason why the Sentence of Excommunication rightly executed is so terrible because it cuts off from Christ's Body which Sentence every Schismatick very desperately executes upon himself and that too in the most effectual and tremendous manner that can be for the Governors of the Church may through some mistake or prejudice sentence such as ought not to be sentenced and then the Sentence is reversed and made void by a superiour Tribunal But whosoever wilfully separates from the Christian Church or any sound part of it for a reason common to the whole most certainly separates himself from Christ too who is the Saviour onely of his Body Eph. 5.23 The Church is compared to the Ark because out of it there is no Salvation and he that wilfully leaps out of it is rather more than less desperately guilty of Self-destruction than he that is deservedly and judicially cast out 'T is a most fearful Curse for a Church to pronounce against an Obstinate Sinner The Devil take him and yet this Curse every man very resolutely executes upon himself when he wilfully forsakes Gods Church for he doth in effect say I will forsake God and the Devil take me A thing so full of terrour and astonishment I even tremble to speak and you to hear and from which Good Lord deliver us for thy Christs and our Jesus his sake Amen FINIS
to the Will and in a sence to the very Being it self of God and in no case eligible And you shall finde when the Prophet laments the evil portion of the Church her sins and not her sufferings are the principal objects of his Lamentations because the worst evils upon her and the procuring causes of all the rest Lam. 1.5 8 9. And David was more passionately affected and afflicted for the wickedness of his very Enemies than for his own Exile and Reproaches Psal 119.136 And why was it Even because he laid Gods dishonours to his heart more than his own wrongs Sect. 16. Secondly Because they love their Brethren as themselves and therefore do not seek their own things as to forget the things of others but account other mens innocencies more valuable than their own conveniencies and consequently more endeavour the eternal salvation of their Brethrens Souls than a temporal provision for their own Bodies What is said of Adam's first sin may also be said of sinful Separation 't is virtually every sin a violation and breach of the whole Law For 't is a sin so formally and destructively opposite to love that if love be the fulfilling of the whole Law as the Apostle tells us it is Rom. 13.10 then Separation is an evacuating of the whole Law And St. James expresly asserts that where Strife and Division is there is every evil work Jam. 3.16 that is such men are not onely at odds among themselves but also with God and themselves counter-acting too often to make and maintain a Party their own Judgments and Consciences And is not Separation then a very likely way to Reformation How light soever some men make of Divisions and Separations they are no other than the Smoak of the bottomless Pit the exudations and workings of that flesh which is Enmity against God Gal. 5.19 and the Authors of them are represented by the Holy Ghost notwithstanding their pretences to the Spirit as carnal 1 Cor. 3.3 4. such as have not the Spirit Jude v. 19. nor are Servants to Christ but Servitors to their own Bellies Rom. 16.18 Yea such is the Malignity of this sin that Divines both Ancient and Modern assert it to be the greatest wickedness Mr. Edwards an eminent Presbyterian and a Member of the Assembly of Divines tells us in his Gangraena second part p. 197. That Schism of it self even with sound Doctrine in every point is a most grievous wickedness which exceeds all other wickedness And Optatus and St. Augustine before him have observed That for this sin God more severely punished Corah Dathan and Abiram though they fell into it from a pretence to Holiness and great Humility Numb 16.3 than he did Cain for his Murther or the Israelites for their Idolatry Epist 142. And Mr. Crofton a man who preached and wrote and suffered as much for the Presbyterian Cause as any man in England plainly asserts in the Presace to his Saints Care for Church-Communion That groundless or causeless Separation from true Churches such as he acknowledgeth and contendeth the Parochial Churches in England to be and Self-constitution of new Churches and Self-consecration of a new Ministry are fundamental Errours and inconsistent with a state of Salvation And he hath a very good warrant for so saying for the Holy Ghost himself taught him That they which addict themselves to Divisions shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Gal. 5.19 20. Now if Schism be of such a dangerous and damnable importance to the precious and immortal Souls of men what price can be given too great to prevent or redeem from it Certainly if we ought to lay down our lives for our Brethrens safety 1 John 3.16 we should not think the expence of our Estates a cost too dear for it Sect. 17. Thirdly Because there is a greater interest of their own even self-preservation requires it The danger of a Separation is not onely to the Separatists but to the whole Society of Christians from whom the Separation is made Eccles 9.8 One sinner destroyeth much good especially a Schismatick for Schism is to a Church what Sedition is to a Kingdom divides and so destroyeth it A Kingdom divided cannot stand but is brought to desolation Mat. 12.25 Other sins destroy the Church effectively and consequentially but Schism formally and directly for Schism is to a Body Ecclesiastical what a Solution of continuity is to the Body Natural doth not like an Ulcer corrupt a part but cuts or rends one part from another and when a compounded body is dissolved 't is destroyed Therefore when the Psalmist aimed at the defeating of his Enemies Conspiracy against him he prayed Destroy O Lord and divide their tongues Psal 55.9 i. e. as the Languages of the Babel builders were divided which brought their Plots to an utter confusion Gen. 11.7 So that Division and Destruction go together The Members of Christs Church are called Living stones built upon a spiritual house 1 Pet. 2.5 Now you know so long as Stones in a Wall are cemented and joyned to one another the Wall stands firm one Stone supports and holds fast another they mutually contribute preservation to each other and to the whole Wall but if you sever one Stone from another 't is no longer a Wall but a ruinous heap Churchuniting is Church-edifying but Church-dividing is Church-destroying work And therefore Mr. Baxter very plainly and honestly tells the Nonconforming Ministers That if they set themselves in a dividing way secretly to rejoyce at the Conforming Ministers disparagement and to draw as many from him as they can they are but Destroyers of the Church of God Call your selves what you will saith he to them I will call you Destroyers if you are Dividers Sacrilegious Desertion page 91. Sect. 18. 'T is true every Division in a Church and Separation from it doth not actually end in the destruction of it but yet 't is the proper and direct tendency of every Division and Separation and the Dividers and Separaters are as really and compleatly guilty as if they did actually accomplish it the ineffectualness of their designe proceeding from a defect of natural Power and not of Will and moral Endeavour And though every Division do not eventually conclude in the destruction of a Church yet 't is a very heavy Oppression to it and a most grievous Persecution of it Sect. 19. 'T is a very heavy Oppression to it We are all Debtors to the Church of God Rom. 1.14 and so far as we are Christians owe to it our very selves Philem. v. 19. for it is the Mother of us all Gal. 4.26 and doth not onely give us being but also ministreth nourishment and increase to us Col. 2.19 Eph. 4.16 and therefore we cannot alienate our selves from its Communion and Service without doing great injustice and wrong to it Separations from a Church are very injurious to it in five respects 1. In respect of its Being and Existence 2. In respect of its Beauty and
Loveliness 3. In respect of its Fame and Reputation 4. In respect of its Stability and Strength 5. In respect of its Propagation and Inlargement Sect. 20. First Separation is an Oppression to a Church in respect of its Being and Existence The Church is as the Body and we are as Members of the Body and is it not a great wrong to the Body for the Members caufelesly to rend themselves from it If the Life be more than Meat and the Body more than Rayment Luke 12.23 then 't is a greater Oppression to destroy Life or to dismember the Body than 't is to take away outward Accommodations which are onely for Food and Rayment By Moses his Law he was guilty of death that stole a man Exod. 21.16 and is his guilt less that robs the Church of a Saint Man being by the very constitution of his nature a sociable creature we cannot conceive him related to any Society but we must conceive him bound to preserve it and to be a Guardian to it to protect and preserve it in all those Laws and Orders Rights and Priviledges which are necessary to its Being Security and Welfare and is not he an Oppressor which overthrows or weakens that Society which he is bound to maintain and support Sect. 21. Secondly Separation is an Oppression to a Church in respect of its Beauty and Loveliness External Beauty and Loveliness is properly nothing else but a resultancy from parts harmoniously and orderly united and disposed so on the contrary Deformity is a resultancy from maimed or disordered parts And who is there which doth not as much dread Deformity as Poverty What would you not give or lose rather than become ugly and abominable And what are Divisions but a disordering of the parts of the same Body And what is Separation but a pulling of one part from another Dismember a Body and you must certainly deform it pluck out an Eye or cut off the Nose or any other visible part and you will finde that you have deformed it The Church of God for the correspondency of her parts in Gods designe and constitution of her is so beautiful that she is altogether lovely and is it not a great Oppression to her by Divisions and Separations to bring Deformity upon her and make her an Object of lamentation to her compassionate Friends and of scorn to her insulting Enemies Sect. 22. Thirdly Separation is a great Oppression to a Church in respect of her Fame and Reputation Detraction from Fame and Reputation is as much and more an Oppression than a detraction from any Civil Right or Possession can be A good Name and Report is such a valuable Blessing Phil. 4.8 Prov. 10.7 that good men of all sorts in all Ages have preferred it before either Pleasures Eccles 7.1 or Riches Prov. 22.1 or Life it self 1 Cor. 9.15 And the violation of it hath ever been ranked amongst the worst injuries incident to humane Society and Commerce A man or a Society of men without Reputation under contempt and scorn is one of the meanest and most impotent things in the world Now Separation from a Church is an high defamation to it and most directly exposeth it to contempt for this represents it to the world as a Society of Christians apostatized from Christ declined from the ways of God gross prophaners of Gods Name and Ordinances and consequently so devested of all goodness that they are not fit for Christian Communion but ought to be avoided and abandoned as Publicans and Heathens This is the irresistible insinuation and true interpretation of every Separation from a Church for no Separation from a Church is justifiable but for that reason which God giveth why his people should come out of Babylon That they be not partakers of her sins and receive not of her plagues Rev. 18.4 So that they which separate from a Church disgrace and brand it for a Society of corrupt and infamous Christians with whom God is not graciously present and with whom good men should have no fellowship which is the most injurious dealing can be met withal in the world and cannot be resented without a great deal of smart and indignation Sect. 23. Fourthly Separation is a great Oppression to a Church in respect of her Stability and Strength One end why Christ imbodied and formed his Disciples into a Church-Society was that from their conjunction and relation they might like parts of the same body contribute mutual help strength and succour to each other Two saith Solomon are better than one Eccles 4.9 to 13. that is Society with Love and Peace is better than Solitariness because 't is useful to encourage Endeavours to support under Burthens to preserve from Dangers to rescue from Distresses to further and cherish in the discharge of Duties and Offices and to sympathize and refresh under all Griefs and Sorrows As Christ for his protecting and quickening influences on the Church is compared to the Head Col. 1.18 so every Christian for his subordinate assistance and beneficialness to the whole Society is compared to a Member fitly and orderly joyned to the Body Eph. 4.15 16. So that As the Eye cannot say to the Hand I have no need of thee nor the Head to the feet I have no need of you 1. Cor. 12.21 so neither can any the most perfect Christian say to the meanest I have no need of thee for they all embarque in the same Bottom and are engaged by the consignation of God to a common care and concern for the whole and one another The Church is said to be as terrible as an Army with banners Cant. 6.1 that is whilst like an Army she continueth in good Order Peace and Unity within it self because in such a case one Member is a succour and defence to another And as every Souldier in an Army keeping his Rank and Order doth partake of the benefit and advantage of the conduct courage and prowess of the whole Army so every Christian abiding in that Calling wherein he is called with God walking orderly in the Church doth partake of the usefulness of all those Gifts and Graces which God hath bestowed upon the whole Church 1 Cor. 3.22 Now we all find by experience that weak things united become strong and strong things divided become weak whence Scyllurus taught his eighty Sons by giving them a sheaf of Arrows which together they could not break but one taken from another they could easily break That Unity and compacted Strength was the Bond that preserves all Societies entire and inviolate but Division that which dissolves and extirpates them So that he which separateth himself from a Church and refuseth to supply his proper place and order in it he breaks down her strong holds and weakens her and consequently oppresseth her Sect. 24. Fifthly Separation from a Church is a great oppression to it in respect of its Propagation and Enlargement We are all obliged to pray and consequently to use our utmost