such cases and bind Christians to observe them as we find in that famous decree made upon great deliberation in a Council of the Apostles at Ierusalem wherein they determined those things which they knew were then scrupled and continued so to be afterwards whereever the Judaizing Christians prevailed But notwithstanding all their dissatisfaction the Apostles continued the same Rule and S. Paul here requires the most forward Christians to mind their Rule and to preserve Peace and Unity among themselves But doth not S. Paul in the 14th Chapter of his Epistle to the Romans lay down quite another Rule viz. only of mutual forbearance in such cases where men are unsatisfied in conscience I answer that the Apostle did act like a prudent Governour and in such a manner as he thought did most tend to the propagation of the Gospel and the good of particular Churches In some Churches that consisted most of Iews as the Church of Rome at this time did and where they did not impose the necessity of keeping the Law on the Gentile Christians as we do not find they did at Rome the Apostle was willing to have the Law buried as decently and with as little noise as might be and therefore in this case he perswades both parties to Forbearance and Charity in avoiding the judging and censuring one another since they had an equal regard to the honour of God in what they did But in those Churches where the false Apostles made use of this pretence of the Levitical Law being still in force to divide the Churches and to separate the Communion of Christians there the Apostle bids them beware of them and their practices as being of a dangerous and pernicious consequence So that the preserving the Peace of the Church and preventing Separation was the great measure according to which the Apostle gave his directions and that makes him so much insist on this advice to the Philippians that whatever their attainments in Christianity were they should walk by the same Rule and mind the same things II. We take notice of the Duty and obligation that lies upon the best Christians to walk by the same Rule to mind the same things From whence arise two very considerable Enquiries 1. How far the obligation doth extend to comply with an established Rule and to preserve the Peace of the Church we live in 2. What is to be done if men cannot come up to that Rule For the Apostle speaks only of such as have attained so far Whereto we have already attained let us walk by the same Rule 1. How far the obligation doth extend to comply with an established Rule and to preserve the Peace of the Church we live in This I think the more necessary to be spoken to because I cannot perswade my self that so many scrupulous and conscientious men as are at this day among us would live so many years in a known sin i. e. in a state of Separation from the Communion of a Church which in Conscience they thought themselves obliged to communicate with It must be certainly some great mistake in their judgements must lead them to this for I am by no means willing to impute it to passion and evil designs and out of the hearty desire I have if possible to give satisfaction in this matter I shall endeavour to search to the bottom of this dangerous mistake to which we owe so much of our present distractions and fears But for the better preventing all mis-understanding the design of my Discourse I desire it may be considered 1. That I speak not of the Separation or distinct Communion of whole Churches from each other which according to the Scripture Antiquity and Reason have a just Right and Power to Govern and Reform themselves By whole Churches I mean the Churches of such Nations which upon the decay of the Roman Empire resumed their just Right of Government to themselves and upon their owning Christianity incorporated into one Christian Society under the same common ties and Rules of Order and Government Such as the Church of Macedonia would have been if from being a Roman Province it had become a Christian Kingdom and the Churches of Thessalonica Philippi and the rest had united together And so the several Churches of the Lydian or Proconsular Asia if they had been united in one Kingdom and Governed by the same Authority under the same Rules might have been truly called the Lydian Church Just as several Families uniting make one Kingdom which at first had a distinct and independent Power but it would make strange confusion in the world to reduce Kingdoms back again to Families because at first they were made up of them Thus National Churches are National Societies of Christians under the same Laws of Government and rules of Worship For the true notion of a Church is no more than of a Society of men united together for their Order and Government according to the Rules of the Christian Religion And it is a great mistake to make the notion of a Church barely to relate to Acts of Worship and consequently that the adequate notion of a Church is an Assembly for Divine Worship by which means they appropriate the name of Churches to particular Congregations Whereas if this held true the Church must be dissolved assoon as the Congregation is broken up but if they retain the nature of a Church when they do not meet together for Worship then there is some other bond that unites them and whatever that is it constitutes the Church And if there be one Catholick Church consisting of multitudes of particular Churches consenting in one Faith then why may there not be one National Church from the consent in the same Articles of Religion and the same Rules of Government and Order of Worship Nay If it be mutual consent and agreement which makes a Church then why may not National Societies agreeing together in the same Faith and under the same Government and Discipline be as truly and properly a Church as any particular Congregation For is not the Kingdom of France as truly a Kingdom consisting of so many Provinces as the Kingdom of Ivetot once was in Normandy which consisted of a very small territory Among the Athenians from whom the use of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 came into the Christian Church it was taken for such an Assembly which had the Power of Governing and determining matters of Religion as well as the affairs of State For the Senate of 500 being distributed into fifties according to the number of the Tribes which succeeded by course through the year and was then called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 every one of these had 4 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Regular Assemblies in the last of which an account of the Sacrifices was taken and of other matters which concerned Religion as in the Comitia Calata at Rome From whence we may observe that it was not the meeting of one of
is no sin 2. That a State of Separation would be a sin but notwithstanding their meeting in different places yet they are not in a state of Separation And herein lies the whole strength of the several Pleas at this day made use of to justifie the Separate Congregations both which I shall now examine 1. Some plead that it is true they have distinct and separate Communions from us but it is no sin or culpable separation so to have For say they Our Lord Christ instituted only Congregational Churches or particular Assemblies for Divine Worship which having the sole Church power in themselves they are under no obligation of Communion with other Churches but only to preserve Peace and Charity with them And to this doctrine others of late approach so near that they tell us that to devise new species of Churches beyond Parochial or Congregational without Gods Authority and to impose them on the world yea in his name and call all Dissenters Schismaticks is a far worse usurpation than to make or impose new Ceremonies or Liturgies Which must suppose Congregational Churches to be so much the Institution of Christ that any other Constitution above these is both unlawful and insupportable Which is more than the Independent Brethren themselves do assert But to clear the practice of Separation from being a sin on this account two things are necessary to be done 1. To prove that a Christian hath no obligation to external Communion beyond a Congregational Church 2. That it is lawful to break off Communion with other Churches to set up a particular independent Church 1. That a Christian hath no obligation to external Communion beyond a particular Congregational Church They do not deny that men by Baptism are admitted into the Catholick visible Church as Members of it and that there ought to be a sort of Communion by mutual Love among all that belong to this Body and to do them Right they declare that they look upon the Church of England or the Generality of the Nation professing Christianity to be as sound and healthful a part of the Catholick Church as any in the World But then they say Communion in ordinances must be only in such Churches as Christ himself instituted by unalterable Rules which were only particular and Congregational Churches Granting this to be true how doth it hence appear not to be a sin to separate from our Parochial Churches which according to their own concessions have all the Essentials of true Churches And what Ground can they have to separate and divide those Churches which for all that we can see are of the same nature with the Churches planted by the Apostles at Corinth Philippi or Thessalonica But I must needs say further I have never yet seen any tolerable proof that the Churches planted by the Apostles were limited to Congregations It is possible at first there might be no more Christians in one City than could meet in one Assembly for Worship but where doth it appear that when they multiplied into more Congregations they did make new and distinct Churches under new Officers with a Separate Power of Government Of this I am well assured there is no mark or footstep in the New Testament or the whole History of the Primitive Church I do not think it will appear credible to any considerate man that the 5000 Christians in the Church of Ierusalem made one stated and fixed Congregation for divine Worship not if we make all the allowances for strangers which can be desired but if this were granted where are the unalterable Rules that assoon as the company became too great for one particular Assembly they must become a new Church under peculiar Officers and an independent Authority It is very strange that those who contend so much for the Scriptures being a perfect Rule of all things pertaining to Worship and Discipline should be able to produce nothing in so necessary a Point If that of which we read the clearest instances in Scripture must be the Standard of all future Ages much more might be said for limiting Churches to private families than to particular Congregations For do we not read of the Church that was in the House of Priscilla and Aquila at Rome of the Church that was in the House of Nymphas at Colosse and in the House of Philemon at Laodicea Why then should not Churches be reduced to particular Families when by that means they may fully enjoy the Liberty of their Consciences and avoid the scandal of breaking the Laws But if notwithstanding such plain examples men will extend Churches to Congregations of many Families why may not others extend Churches to those Societies which consist of many Congregations Especially considering that the Apostles when they instituted Churches did appoint such Officers in them as had not barely a respect to those already converted but to as many as by their means should be added to the Church as Clemens affirms in his Epistle The Apostles saith he went about in Cities and Countries preaching the Gospel and appointed their First-fruits having made a spiritual trial of them for Bishops and Deacons 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of those who were to believe From hence the number of Converts were looked on as an accession to the Original Church and were under the care and Government of the Bishop and Presbyters who were first settled there For although when the Churches increased the occasional meetings were frequent in several places yet still there was but one Church and one Altar and one Baptistry and one Bishop with many Presbyters assisting him And this is so very plain in Antiquity as to the Churches planted by the Apostles themselves in several parts that none but a great stranger to the History of the Church can ever call it in question I am sure Calvin a person of great and deserved reputation among our Brethren looks upon this as a matter out of dispute among learned men that a Church did not only take in the Christians of a whole City but of the adjacent Country too and the contrary opinion is a very novel and late fancy of some among us and hath not age enough to plead a Prescription It is true after some time in the greater Cities they had distinct places allotted and Presbyters fixed among them and such allotments were called Titles at Rome and Laurae at Alexandria and Parishes in other places but these were never thought then to be new Churches or to have any independent Government in themselves but were all in subjection to the Bishop and his College of Presbyters of which multitudes of examples might be brought from most authentick Testimonies of Antiquity if a thing so evident needed any proof at all And yet this distribution even in Cities was so uncommon in those elder times that Epiphanius takes notice of it as an extraordinary thing at Alexandria and therefore it is probably supposed there was no
Clayton Mayor Martis quarto die Maij 1680. Annoque Regis Caroli secundi Angliae c. xxxii THis Court doth earnestly desire the Reverend D r. Stillingfleet Dean of S t. Pauls to Print his Sermon Preached at the Guild-Hall Chappel on Sunday Morning last with what further he had prepared to deliver at that time Wagstaff THE Mischief of Separation A SERMON Preached at GUILD-HALL CHAPPEL May II. MDCLXXX Being the First Sunday in EASTER-TERM Before the Lord Mayor c. By Edw. Stillingfleet D. D. Dean of S t. Paul's and Chaplain in Ordinary to His Majesty LONDON Printed for Henry Mortlock at the Phoenix in St. Pauls Church-yard and at the White Hart in Westminster Hall 1680. TO THE Right Honourable S r. Robert Clayton LORD MAYOR of the City of LONDON My Lord IN obedience to Your Lordships Order I now present to Your hands not only the Sermon You lately heard but those Additions which the straits of time would not then permit me to deliver In all which I was so far from intending to stir up the Magistrates and Judges to a Persecution of Dissenters as some ill men have reported that my only design was to prevent any occasion of it by finding out a certain foundation for a lasting Union among our selves Which is impossible to be attained till men are convinced of the Evil and Danger of the present Separation it being carried on by such Principles as not only overthrow the present Constitution of our Church but any other whatsoever For if it be lawful to separate on a pretence of greater Purity where there is an Agreement in Doctrine and the substantial Parts of Worship as is acknowledged in our Case then a bare difference of opinion as to some circumstances of Worship and the best constitution of Churches will be sufficient ground to break Communion and to set up new Churches Which considering the great variety of mens fancies about these matters is to make an infinite Divisibility in Churches without any possible stop to farther Separation But if after themselves are pleased with condescensions to their own minds any think it fit that others should be tied up notwithstanding their dissatisfaction the world will judge it too great partiality in them to think that none ought to separate but themselves and that the same Reason will hold against themselves in the judgement of others it thereby appearing that it is not Uniformity they dislike but that they do not prescribe the Terms of it But my Lord I intend not to argue the Case of Separation here which is at large done in the following Discourse but only to shew how necessary it was in order to the laying a Foundation for Peace and Unity to have this matter throughly discussed And if once the People be brought to understand and practise their duty as to Communion with our Churches other Difficulties which obstruct our Union will be more easily removed I have endeavoured to pursue my design in a way suitable to the nature of it without sharp and provoking reflections on the Persons of any which often set Friends at distance but never reconciled or convinced Adversaries However I must expect the Censures of such who either make our Divisions or make use of them for their own ends but I am contented to be made a sacrifice if thereby I might close up the Breaches among us God Almighty bless this great City and Your Lordships care in the Government of it and grant that in this our day we may yet know the things that belong to our Peace and to the Preservation of the true Protestant Religion among us I am my Lord Your Lordships most faithful and obedient Servant Edward Stillingfleet PHIL. III. 16. Nevertheless whereto we have already attained let us walk by the same rule let us mind the same things ALthough the Christian Religion doth lay the greatest obligations on mankind to Peace and Unity by the strictest commands the highest examples and the most prevailing arguments yet so much have the passions and interests of men overswai'd the sense of their duty that as nothing ought to be more in our wishes so nothing seems more remote from our hopes than the universal Peace of the Christian World Not that there is any impossibility in the thing or any considerable difficulty if all men were such Christians as they ought to be but as long as men pursue their several factions and designs under the colour and pretence of zeal for Religion if they did not find Names and Parties ready framed that were suitable to their ends the difference of their designs would make them So that till mens corruptions are mortified and their passions subdued to a greater degree than the world hath yet found them it is in vain to expect a state of peace and tranquillity in the Church We need not go far from home for a sufficient evidence of this for although our differences are such as the wiser Protestants abroad not only condemn but wonder at them yet it hath hitherto puzzled the wisest persons among us to find out wayes to compose them not so much from the distance of mens opinions and practices as the strength of their prejudices and inclinations What those divisions of Reuben of old were which caused such thoughts and searching of heart we neither well understand nor doth it much concern us but the continuance if not the widening of these unhappy breaches among our selves do give just cause for many sad reflections When neither the miseries we have felt nor the calamities we fear neither the terrible judgements of God upon us nor the unexpected deliverances vouchsafed to us nor the common danger we are yet in have abated mens heats or allayed their passions or made them more willing to unite with our established Church and Religion But instead of that some rather stand at a greater distance if not defiance and seem to entertain themselves with hopes of new revolutions others raise fresh calumnies and reproaches as well as revive and spread abroad old ones as though their business were to make our breaches wider and to exasperate mens spirits against each other at such a time when Reason and common security and above all our Religion obligeth us to follow after the things that make for peace and things wherewith one may edifie another and not such as tend to our mutual destruction as most certainly our divisions and animosities do Yet all parties pretend to a zeal for Peace so they may have it in their own way by which it appears that it is not Peace they aim at but Victory nor Unity so much as having their own wills Those of the Roman Church make great boasts of their Unity and the effectual means they have to preserve it but God deliver us from such cruel wayes of Peace and such destructive means of Unity as Treachery and Assassinations and an Inquisition Their feet are swift to shed blood destruction and
Wrinkle And if men will set themselves only to find faults it is impossible in this state of things they should ever be pleased And if they separate where they see any thing amiss they must follow his example who pursued this Principle so far till he withdrew from all Society lest he should communicate with them in their Sin in which condition he continued till his Children lay dead in the house and he became utterly unable to help himself and because no humane inventions were to be allowed about the worship of God he had cut out of his Bible the Contents of the Chapters and Titles of the Leaves and so left the bare Text without Binding or Covers This is the Case the rigid and impracticable principles of some would bring our Churches to by cutting off all Rules of Order and Decency as encroachments on the Institutions of Christ. 2. I desire them to consider how impossible it is to give satisfaction to all and how many things must be allowed a favourable interpretation in publick Constitutions and General Laws which it is hardly possible so to frame but there will be room left for Cavils and Exceptions Yea when the wisest and best men have done their utmost some of themselves confess there may be dissatisfaction still and if Christian Humility Charity and Discretion will then advise persons to acquiesce in their private security and freedom and not to unsettle the publick Order for their private satisfaction Why should not men practise the same vertues themselves which they do confess will be necessary for some at last Wise and Good men will consider the difficulties that always attend publick Establishments and have that esteem for Peace and Order that they will bear with anything tolerable for the sake of it It is a very hard case with a Church when men shall set their Wits to strain every thing to the worst sense to stretch Laws beyond the intention and design of them to gather together all the doubtful and obscure passages in Calendars Translations c. and will not distinguish between their approbation of the Use and of the Choice of things for upon such terms as these men think to justifie the present Divisions I much question whether if they proceed in such a manner they can hold Communion with any Church in the Christian world If men be disposed to find faults no Church can be pure enough for something will be amiss either in Doctrine or Discipline or Ceremonies or Manners but if they be disposed to Peace and Union then Charity will cover a multitude of failing and then according to S. Paul's advice with all lowliness and meekness with long-suffering forbearing one another in Love they will be endeavouring to preserve the Unity of the Spirit in the bond of Peace And without the practice of the former Vertues no Metaphysical Discourses of Unity will signifie any thing to the Churches Peace 3. They would do well to consider How Separation of the People from our Churches comes to be more lawful now than in the days of our Fathers It hath been often and evidently proved that the most sober and learned Non-conformists of former times notwithstanding their scruples in some points yet utterly condemned Separation from our Churches as unlawful And they looked upon this not as a meer common sin of humane infirmity but as a wilful and dangerous sin in that it is so far from tending to the overthrow of Antichrist that it upholds and maintains him calling it a renting the Church the disgrace of Religion the advancement of Pride Schism and Contention the Offence of the Weak the grief of the Godly who be better settled the hardening of the Wicked and the recovery or rising again of Antichristianism nay even persecuting the Lord Iesus in his Hoast which they revile in his ordinances which they dishonour and in his Servants whose footsteps they slander whose Graces they despise whose Office they trample upon with disdain These are the very words of one of the most learned and judicious Nonconformists before the Wars And surely the mischiefs that followed after could not make Separation to appear less odious Was it a sin was it such a sin then And is it none now Either our Brethren at this day do believe it to be a Sin for the People to separate or they do not If not it must either be that there are new and harder terms of Communion which were not then which is so far from being true that they confess them to be rather easier for the People or it must be that they are gone off from the peaceable principles of their Predecessors which they are unwilling to own If they do believe it to be a Sin why do they suffer the People to live in a known Sin Why do they encourage them by Preaching in Separate Congregations For their Predecessor did not think it lawful much less a Duty to preach when forbidden by a Law neither did they understand what warrant any ordinary Minister hath in such a case by Gods word so to draw any Church or People to his private Ministery in opposition to the Laws and Government he lived under They understood the difference between the Apostles cases and theirs and never thought the Apostles Woe be unto me if I preach not the Gospel did extend to them but thought that silenced Ministers ought to live as private Members of the Church till they were restored and the People bound to learn Of which there can be far less ground to dispute when themselves acknowledge the Doctrine by Law established to be true and found 4. Lastly Let me beseech them to consider the common danger that threatens us all by means of our Divisions We have Adversaries subtile and Industrious enough to make use of all advantages to serve their own ends and there is scarce any other they promise themselves more from than the continuance of these breaches among our selves This some of our Brethren themselves have been aware of and on that account have told the People of the danger of the Principles of Separation as to the interest of Religion in general and the Protestant Religion in particular among us Certainly Nothing would tend more to our common security than for all true and sincere Protestants to lay aside their prejudices and mistakes and to joyn heartily in Communion with us which many of their Teachers at this day allow to be lawful And how can they satisfie themselves in hazarding our Religion by not doing that which themselves confess lawful to be done 2. But if we are not yet ripe for so great a mercy as a perfect Union yet I would intreat our Brethren to make way for it by hearkning to these following Advices 1. Not to give encouragement to rash and intemperate zeal which rends all in pieces and makes reconciliation impossible Those who see least into things are usually the
fiercest condenders about them and such eager Disputants are fitter to make quarrels than to end them for they can be contentious for Peace-sake and make new differences about the ways of Unity Wisdom and Sobriety a good judgement a prudent temper and freedom from prejudice will tend more to end our differences than warm Debates and long Disputations which as Greg. Nazianzen said once of Councils seldom have had any good end But there is a more fiery sort of zeal and more dangerous than this which may lie smothering for a time till it meets with suitable matter and a freer vent and then it breaks out into a dreadful flame This we have already seen such dismal effects of in this age that we should think there were less need to give men caution against it again were it not to be feared that where Reason connot prevail Experience will not All that we can say to such persons that may be like to move them is that if their blind zeal transport them as it did Sampson to pull down the House over their Heads they will be sure to perish themselves in the fall of it but here will lie the great difference of the case while they and their Friends perish together the Philistims without will rejoyce to make others the instruments to execute their designs 2. Not to be always complaining of their hardships and Persecutions as though no People had suffered so much since the days of Dioclesian whereas the severity of Laws hath been tempered with so much gentleness in the execution of them that others have as much complained of Indulgence as they of Persecution It doth not look like the Patience and Humility and Meekness of the Primitive Christians to make such noise and outcries of their suffering so much when they would have been rather thankful that they suffered no more Is this the way to Peace to represent their case still to the world in an exasperating and provoking manner Is this the way to incline their Governours to more condescension to represent them to the People as an Ithacian persecuting Party Where are the Priscillians that have been put to death by their instigation What do such insinuations mean but that our Bishops are the followers of Ithacius and Idacius in their cruelty and they of the good and meek Bishop S. Martin who refused Communion with them on that account If men do entertain such kind thoughts of themselves and such hard thoughts of their Superiors whatever they plead for they have no inclination to Peace 3. Not to condemn others for that which themselves have practised and think to be lawful in their own cases What outcries have some made against the Church of England as Cruel and Tyrannical for expecting and requiring Uniformity And yet do not such men even at this day contend for the Obligation of a Covenant which binds men to endeavour after uniformity in Doctrine Discipline and Worship But they want the ingenuity of Adonibezek to reflect on the Thumbs and the Toes which they have cut off from others and think themselves bound to do it again if it were in their power Who could have been thought more moderate in this way than those who went upon the principles of the dissenting Brethren And yet we are assured that even in New England when their own Church-way was by Law established among them they made it no less than Banishment for the Anabaptists to set up other Churches among them or for any secretly to seduce others from the Approbation and use of Infant-baptism And how they have since proceeded with the Quakers is very well known Nay even these notwithstanding the single Independency of every mans light within him have found it necessary to make Rules and Orders among themselves to govern their Societies to which they expect an uniform Obedience and allow no Liberty out of the Power and the Truth as they love to speak From all which it appears the true Controversie is not about the Reasonableness of Uniformity but who shall have the Power of prescribing the Rules of it Is it not now a very hard case that the Church of England must be loaded with bitter reproaches and exposed to the common hatred of all Parties for the sake of that which every one of them would practise if it were in their Power and think it very justifiable so to do 4. Not to inflame the Peoples heats by making their differences with the Church of England to appear to be greater than they are Let them deal honestly and faithfully with them by letting them understand that they look on our Churches as true Churches and occasional Communion at least with them to be lawful and it is hard to understand if occasional Communion be lawful that constant Communion should not be a Duty This were the way to abate mens great prejudices and to soften their Spirits and to prepare them for a closer Union But if instead of this they endeavour to darken and confound things and cast mists before their eyes that they cannot see their way clear before them all understanding men will conclude they prefer some little interests of their own before the honour of Christ and the Peace of his Church 5. Not to harbâ—â— or foment unreasonable jealousies and suspicions in Peoples minds concerning us This hath been one of the most successful arts of keeping up the distance and prejudices that have been so great among us viz. by private whispers by false suggestions by idle stories by unreasonable interpretation of words beyond the intention and design of those who spake them By such devices as these great mischief hath been done among us and I am much afraid is doing still For nothing sets men at a greater distance from our Church than the apprehending that we are not hearty and sincere in the Protestant Cause which although it be a most groundless and malicious calumny yet there have been some who have had so little regard to Conscience or common ingenuity as not only to charge particular Persons but our Church it self with Marching towards Popery What injustice what uncharitableness what impudence is it to fasten such an imputation upon a Church that hath hitherto continued and long may it do so the chief Bulwark of the Protestant Cause Little do such persons consider how much they serve the design of our enemies who cannot but be mightily pleased to find their most formidable adversaries represented to the People as their Secret Friends 6. Not to run the hazard of all for a shew of greater Liberty to themselves For under this pretence our Adversaries endeavour to make them their Instruments to bring upon our Necks 〈◊〉 Yoke which neither we nor our Fathers were able to bear An universal Toleration is that Trojan Horse which brings in our enemies without being seen and which after a long Siege they hope to bring in at last under the pretence of setting our Gates wide enough