tears from our eyes all sorrow from our hearts and thereby to make our faces shine for as Moses by extraordinary Converse with God on the Mount had a lustre on his face so in some proportion all Communion with him doth by the spiritual comfort bring a Beaury upon holy men filling them with the peace of God which passeth understanding and with Joy which is unspeakable and glorious 5. To fit and prepare us for the Lord himself to delight in that his Image in us may attract the eye and heart the love and delight of the Lord of Glory unto us the Lord hath set apart the man that is godly for himself hath chosen Israel for his peculiar Treasure hath formed them for himself to shew forth his praise and purified them unto himself for a peculiar people and because the Church is in this special manner Gods own therefore he will in special manner put his Comliness upon her and will beautifie the place of his Sanctuary as he is called the Glory of his people Israel so he hath hononred his people Israel with this high dignity to be called His Glory Lastly The manner of Christs Governing his Church by his Ordinances is full of Beauty and Sweetness with a still voice with the cords of a man with the bands of Love he gathereth the Lambs in his arm and carryeth them in his Bosome as one whom his Mother comforteth so doth he comfort them he doth not break the bruised reed nor quench the smoaking flax he deals with perswasions and entreaties by his Ambassadors beseeching us to be reconciled unto God he leads his Flock by still waters and into green pastures through ways of pleasantnesse and paths of peace he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men In the midst of wrath he remembreth Mercy when he causeth grief he sheweth compassion and when he speaks against Ephraim he earnestly remembreth him still he hath set up a sweet order in his Church both in Doctrine and Policy managing both with meeknesse and gentlenesse preaching peace proclaiming Liberty erecting over his people a Banner of Love and though he have an iron Rod for his enemies yet he holdeth forth a golden Scepter to his people ruling in their hearts by a spirit of Adoption and by a Law of Love Thus he feedeth his Church by his Staff called Beauty Great therefore is the Indignity which they offer unto Christ who despise the sweetness of this his Government the waters of Shiloah which go softly refusing to submit to his easie yoake being offended at the severity and Sanctity of his Doctrine saying in their hearts like those in the Gospel Luke 19. 14. We will not have this man to rule over us disdainfully undervaluing that great salvation which he by his pretious blood purchased for them and by the word of his Grace doth continually tender unto them Spretae injuria formae is no small dishonour done to him who is the Lord of Glory Great the Thankfulness we owe unto him for the fruit of this his Beautiful and amiable Government that we who were enemies unto him by wicked works and were well pleased with that our misery should by the power of his Spirit be translated from the Tyranny of Satan into the kingdom of Grace and be made a willing people beautified with his Salvation Great the value we ought to set upon the Ordinances of the Gospel the Staff of Beauty by which he governeth his Flock the Ornaments and Bracelets the Chain and Jewels which he sendeth unto his Spouse to adorn her withal No man cometh unto Christ till he seeth Beauty in him and vain men who love their Lusts better then their life are naturally prejudiced against his holy ways He is to the Disobedient a stone of stumbling a rock of Offence a sign to be spoken against Now by the Light and Majesty of the Ordinances this prejudice is removed and we all with open face beholding as in a glass the Glory of the Lord are changed into the same Image from Glory to Glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord. Great the Duty which we owe to the Gospel to bear witness unto the Beauty thereof by our holy Conversation To think on those things which are venerable just pure lovely and of a good report which adorn and become the Gospel and are worthy of that high Calling wherewith we are called to remember that we are vessels of Honour to be purged and sanctified that we may be meet for our Masters use that we are Temples of the Holy Ghost separated unto his special service and presence And if any man defile the Temple of God him will God destroy That we are a redeemed and a peculiar people whom Christ hath purified unto himself That without Holiness our prayers and Sacrifices are but an abomination For as without Holiness no man can see God so without Holiness no man can serve him What hath my Beloved to do in my house saith the Lord seeing she hath wrought lewdness The Lord will be sanctified in all that draw nigh unto him We should thereforeall in our several places especially those unto whom the Pastoral Dignity and Trust doth appertain use our utmost care to preserve the Church of God amongst us in that honour and beauty which belongs thereunto not corrupting the Doctrine thereof or obtruding any meer problematical much less false and unsound positions of our own upon the faith of our Hearers not corrupting the Worship thereof either with superstition or irreverence not suffering either the meer Form of Godliness to swallow up the power or the pretence of power to shut out the Form but to give the Lord both that inward and outward Honour which is due to his holy name in all our solemn Attendances upon him not corrupting the sanctity thereof either with Hypocrisie or Prophaness with meer specious Pretences of Holiness on the one hand or with open and downright Contempt thereof on the other Lastly Not corrupting the Decency and Order thereof either by burthening Gods Service with an excessive number of needless Observances or on the other side censuring and deserting the Communion of a Sound and Orthodox Church because the Order thereof doth not in every particular please us Thus is the Church to be fed and Ruled with the former of our Prophets Staves The Staff Beauty Secondly Christ as the chief Shepherd by his Spirit and Power and his Under-Officers by their Ministery and Service do feed and rule his Church by his Staffe called Bands procuring and advancing the Unity thereof and gathering together into one all the members belonging thereunto that the whole body may be fitly joyned together and compacted without Schisms and Divisions which is
the Lump and corrupt the coin is purged out and fanned away When the unruly are admonished and the weak strengthned and the Feeble-minded comforted and Hereticks rejected and disorderly Walkers made ashamed this greatly tendeth both to the honour and to the health and safety of the Church of God 2. It teacheth us to take heed of those who cause divisions and breaches contrary to the Doctrine of Christ which we have received who rend his Seamless Coat and make their tongues and their pens bellows to blow up the flames of contention among Christians biting tearing and devouring one another of whom the Apostle saith That they serve not the Lord Jesus but their own belly It is noted by Epiphanius as a wicked speech of Marcion the Heretick Ego findam Ecclesiam vestram miâ—tam fiffuram in ipsam in aeternum And the Apostle maketh the ground of contentions and divisions in the Church to be fleshly Lusts 1 Cor. 3. 3. Gal. 5. 20. It is a great sin to make an undue separation from the true Church of Christ. A sin against the Communion of Saints from which the Separation is made A sin against the Unity and Peace of the Church which we all ought with our utmost endeavours to preserve A sin against the Spirit of Christ which is thereby grieved as the soul is pained by the wounds which are made upon the body A sin against the honor of Christ whose name is thereby exposed to contempt and reproach A sin against a mans own edification who thereby cutteth himself off from the means of Grace and exposeth himself to the danger of Heresie and Contagion And therefore those holy Fathers St. Cyprian Augustine and Optatus use to set forth the Atrocity and danger of this sin by the greatness and strangeness of the Judgement wherewith God punished it in Corah Dathan and Abiram and those who adhered unto them whom the earth opened her mouth to swallow up and by the sore Judgement upon the ten Tribes in their total rejection for separating from the house of David and the true Worship of God in Jerusalem We should therefore take special heed of departing from the true Church of Christ where his Word is truly taught and where Christ the foundation is held for every infirmity or blemish which we may conceive to be upon it for though the Apostle reproved many Corruptions and Abuses in the Church of Corinth yet he blameth the Contentions Emulations Breaches and Divisions which were therein 1 Cor. 1. 11 12 13. Of this sort were the Novatians Luciferians Donatists Audians in the antient Church who for laxness of Discipline or other Corruptions which they apprehended to be therein did withdraw keep themselves apart from their Communion To such as these it was a good speech of Optatus We have one Faith one Baptism one Conversation We read the same divine Testaments we are of the same Sheepâ—fold we have been washed and wrought together we are parts of the same garment but ripped one from another Sarâ—ura necessaria est there wants nothing but that we be sewed up and reunited again I shall not here enter upon any Polemical discourse to vindicate our own or other Reformed Churches from that heavy Charge of Schism wherewith Pontificians implead us for having forsaken the Communion of the Roman Church Our Learned Writers have thus stated the Case 1. That it is the Cause and not the Separation that makes the Schismatick they who give the Cause for which it is necessary to separate are the Authors of the Schism for where there is a necessary Cause to separate we are commanded by God so to do 2 Cor 6. 17. Rev. 18. 4. As we find when Jeroboam had corrupted the Worship of God the Priests and Levites and out of all the Tribes such as set their hearts to seek the Lord departed from his Idolatry 2 Chron. 11. 13 16 30. 11. For certainly one particular Church may reform it self though another will not 2. That they gave the Cause of this Breach and Separation and that upon several accompts 1. By many and great Corruptions in Doctrine and Worship whereby they themselves departed from the primitive Purity which Errors and Corruptions they obtruded and imposed upon us as Conditions of their Communion 2. By great encroachments and usurpations upon the just power of Princes and Liberties of Churches 3. By Tyranny in Excommunications Persecutions and fiery Inquisitions frighting and thrusting us from their Communion 4. By refusing to be reclaimed or healed of these distempers in that they challenge a peculiar Infallibility a power to hold all other Churches under their Laws Dominations 3. That this was not a Secession from the Catholick Church nor from the Primitive Church unto whose judgement we are willing to appeal but only from the Corruptions Faction and Tyranny of a particular Church with whom notwithstanding we retain an Unity still in all points of Doctrine and Worship which they hold consonant to the Will of God in his Word revealed disowning nothing but those Errors and Additions which they have superinduced upon the Institutions of Christ. Lastly That this is not to set up a new Church which was never in the world before for the Church is the same now as formerly only sick and overgrown with Corruptions then healed weeded purged and reformed now nor were there waâ—ting in former ages after those Corruptions prevailed in the Church many Witnesses who appeared for the Truths then suppressed greatly complained of the contrary abuses and earnestly desired a reformation as under the defection of the ten Tribes the Lord had seven thousand who had not bowed the knee to Baal 1 Reg. 19. 18. and a Remnant according to the Election of Grace under the Apostacy of the Jews Rom. 11. 1 5. 3. We should be exhorted to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of Peace not to judge despise or condemn one another but mutually to edifie where we agree and to endeavour Reconciliation wherein we differ to be perfectly joyned together if it be possible in the same Judgement to think and to speak the same things however to mind the same End to intend the same Common Salvation to hold fast the same head to pursue the same Interest and however we go in several paths of the same Rode yet still to have our faces towards the same City Arguments to perswade unto this holy unity to obey the Government of Christ under his Staffe Bands are many and weighty 1. A Contrario Consider the Unity and Confederacy of Satan and all his Instruments against Christ and his Church for our Saviour telleth us that Satan is not divided against himself Mat. 12. 26. We read of the Gates of hell whereby we understand the united Powers and Counsels of the kingdom of Darkness agâ—inst the Kingdom of Christ and as Devils so the wicked of the world joyn
hand in hand against the Church they consult together with one consent and are confederate against it they will lay down their own private enmities to combine against Christ as Pilate and Herod did Fas est ab hoste doceri if enemies unite to destroy the Church should not we unite to preserve it especially considering what a grave Historian noteth That in the cause of Religion every Subdivision is a strong Weapon in the hand of the contrary party Our intestine Mutinies and Distempers do the Enemies work for him He may stand still and please himself to see us bite and devour one another Again Consider the Turpitude Deformity and Danger of Schisms and Divisions which are the same in a Political or Ecclesiastical body as in the natural wherein whatsoever mangleth and separateth part from part doth greatly weaken and deform the whole They gratifie the common enemy Hoc Ithacus velit They grieve the holy Spirit as wounds in the body natural put the soul to pain They dishonour the holy Gospel which is a Gospel of Peace They loosen and weaken the Interest of Religion for when we bite and devour one another we are in danger to be consumed one of another They minister occasion to prophane Spirits to turn Atheists and cast off all Religion as a thing of uncertainty wherein the Professors thereof themselves know not how to agree They have their foundation in carnal and sensual Interests as Pride Revenge Discontent Coveteousness and other inordinate Lusts and therefore are reckoned by the Apostle amongst the Fruits of the flesh If we examine the Rise and Original of many of the antient Heresies whereby the Peace of the Church hath been torn and mangled we shall find that some carnal End or other as Ambition Animosity Discontent or other the like sins have been the Basis on which they were reared It was the speech of a graceless son to his mother Transferam me in partem Donati bibam sanguinem tuum as St. Austin saith Mater omnium Haereticorum superbia It is a very true speech of Baronius ex Officina Sardanapali prodire consueverunt Haeresium sectatores 2. A Necessaâ—â—â— from the the necessity of this excellent Duty and this is a twofold necessity Necessitas praecepti because it is commanded Have peace one with another Mark 9. 50. Necessitas Medii because Peace and Unity amongst brethren in the Church is an excellent means to glorifie God when with one mind and mouth we call upon him and serve him with one consent and to further the Gospel and gain it honour and credit even in the hearts of strangers the Heathen themselves took notice of the love of Christians as Minutius Felix telleth us Vide say they ut se diligunt Christiani 3. A possibili our endavours in this kind are not after things which are unattainable for Christ hath by the blood of his Cross procured the Churches peace and by his powerful Intercession prayeth for it since therefore Christ dyed not in vain but did see of the travel of his soul and was heard in every prayer which he made It is certain that the Lord will in due time pour out upon his people a spirit of Unity and close up the breaches of his Tabernacle as it is our Duty to seek Peace so is it his promise to work it he is not the author of Confusion but of Peace as in all the Churches of the Saints 4. A Facili It is not only possible but easie for Believers to be at peace one with another those things which are natural are ever wrought without difficulty it is not hard for the Sun to shine or the fire to burn nothing more easie then for the members in one body to agree with one another And Believers are members of the same body and have one common spirit to actuate and animate them and therefore should suffer and rejoyce together and be kindly affectioned one towards another with brotherly love as the Apostle argueth Rom. 12. 4 10. 1 Cor. 1â— 12 13. 25. 26. 5. Ab Vtili from the great good advantage which hereby cometh unto the Church it is as the dew of Hermon which bringeth a blessing with it it strengthneth against all adverse power and maketh the Church terrible as an Army with Banners it openeth the passages for Communion of Saints that they may derive good from one another by the supply that every joint maketh as divers members in the body have divers uses the eye to see the ear to hear the tongue to speak the hand to work and these Uses mutually serviceable to the good of each other and Vnion a necessary bond of this Service so in the Church or body of Christ every member hath his measure of gifts and graces by which he may be profitable to the whole one the Spirit of Wisdom another of Knowledge one able to counsel another to comfort one to exhort another to rebuke what is wanting in one is supplied by another and this supply is made by those joints whereby these divers members are united together Love is the Vehiculum of all that help and service which one Christian man deriveth upon another hereby we serve one another and edifie one another we bear with the infirmities sustain the burdens and rejoyce in the comforts mourn in the sorrows distribute to the necessities pray for the souls of one another By this means the graces of the Church are more bright and resplendent as the flame which ariseth out of united fewel is much greater then that which each stick alone by it self doth render and hence it is that the servants of God do love the habitation of his house and the place where his honor dwelleth assembling themselves there together with one accord because he hath promised that in every place where he recordeth his name he will come unto them and bless them and by this means there were added to the Church daily such as should be saved 6. A Jucundo honesto It is not only good but pleasant for brethren to dwell together in Vnity not only as the dew of Hermon for profit but as the ointment on the head of Aaron for comfort and Delight In the united Assemblies of the Saints we behold the beauty of the Lord when the members are disjoynted the body is deformed Shave away the eye-brows only from the face Quantillum decedit de corpore quantum de pulchritudine saith St. Austin you much lessen the beauty by so little lessening the body Now a Schism in the Church is the same deformity as a mutilation in the body 7. Ab Exemplo from the great Examples which we have of Peace in the word God known by the name of a God of Peace with whom his people having Acquaintance and Communion are at peace Christ by the name of a
THE STAVES OF Beauty Bands Opened in a SERMON Preached at YARMOVTH August 23. 1663. By the Right Reverend Father in God EDWARD Lord Bishop of NORWICH Augustin de Tempore Ser. 169. Meritum Christianae virtutis vilescit in Cunctis si unitatem non habet pacis nec pervenit ad vocabulum Filii nisi per nomen Pacifici Id. de Civit. Dei l. 15. c. 22. Vera brevis Definitio Virtutis est Ordo Amoris LONDON Printed by T. Ratcliffe for George Thomason at the Rose and Crown in St. Pauls Churchyard 1663. To the Right Worshipfull the Magistrates and to the Reverend Ministers and other Members of the Corporation of Yarmouth in Norffolk Dearly Beloved THIS Sermon was Preached before you in order to the Peace and Vnity of the Church of God amongst you and I presume in order to the same good end I was by You pressed to the publishing of it Which motion I have the more readily entertained that the Arguments unto so necessary a duty which I found prevalent with you then might he always at your hand to revive in you the same affections And truly those many men in all parts of this Nation who upon whatsoever plausible and specious pretences have given entertainment unto novel opinions never before these loose times heard of in the Church of God and thereupon do forsake the Assemblies and disturbe the peace of an Orthodox and Reformed Church little consider the advantage they give the Common Adversary who no doubt rejoyceth to see us break one another with our own hands whom they with theirs hither to have not been able to harm As Vespasian is observed by Josephus to have done in the siege of Jerusalem not choosing to storme the Jewes by any hostile assault while they were destroying one another by their Intestine confusions Certainly what ever prejudices weak and credulous men may have their eyes dazled withall Divisions and Contentions in the Church have alwayes fleshly lusts at the bottome of them as the Apostle assureth us 1 Cor. 3. 3. Nor are they only fruits of sinne in men but evidences of wrath in God and sad symptomes of his further displeasure When Manasse is against Ephraim and Ephraim against Manasse and both against Judah it is a sign that Gods anger is not turned away but that his hand is stretched out still Shismes in a Church being like Leaks in a ship or breaches in a Sea bank which threaten speedy and extremest danger And therefore all who wish well to Sion should listen unto Healing and Vniting Counsels not suffering in so important a businesse as the Peace and prosperity of the Church any secular designes single or divided Interests carnal animosities or perverse disputes to embitter their spirits or alienate their affections from other their brethren heirs of the same common salvation or to draw them away from the Communion of that Church from whose breasts they have often sucked the sincere milk of the word and in whose fellowship they may still undoubtedly partake of all the means of Salvation The Lord grant that all of us in all places of the Land both Pastors and People may be unanimously zealous for the Peace of the Church That Ministers by sound and wholesome doctrine which cannot be disproved by holy humble prudent and peaceable Lives and by unwearied diligence and fidelity in their Callings may stop the mouthes and winne upon the affections of their Gain-sayers and that the People may not lean on their own wisdome nor be carryed away blind-fold with uncharitable prejudices or with every winde of doctrine but may yeild themselves to the guidance of their faithfull Pastors and be swift to hear slow to speak slow to wrath for Contention is usually the mother of disobedience Now the Lord of Peace himself give you peace always by all means the Lord be with you all Yours in all Christian affection to serve you Ed. Norvic THE Staves of BEAUTY and BANDS Opened in a SERMON preached at Yarmonth August 23. 1663. Zechar. 11. 7. I took unto me Two Staves the one I called Beauty and the other I called Bands and I fed the Flock THERE was no Office which Christ undertook no Ministery which he instituted in his Church which was not by him directed and intended unto such excellent Ends as whereby the Honour and Welfare thereof might be advanced When in this place he assumed his Pastoral Office to Govern and guide his Flock he doth by the names of these two Staves acquaint us with two noble Ends of that Service The Restoring of Beauty to his Church corrupted and of Unity to his Church divided Of both which we shall by Gods Assistance take a brief View First He Feedeth and Ruleth his poor Flock with his Staff called Beauty his Word Ordinances and Government being as glorious things in themselves so the special Beauty and Honour of the Church that enjoy them Thus among the people of the Jews the Ark and the Tabernacle are called their Glory in which respect the Apostle saith That unto Israel did pertain the Adoption and the Glory because the Covenants the Law the Service of God aud the Promises were theirs As to external Pomp and Splendor the great Monarchies of the world went far beyond them for they were the â—ewest of all People but herein was their Preheminence and Primogeniture as the Lord saith Israel is my first horn herein was their double portion above all other Nations that they had the Oracles of God committed unto them that they were intrusted with the Custody of that honourable Law which as the Apostle sairh was holy just and good And in like manner in the Christian Church the Gospel which is the Law of Christ is called by the Apostle a glorious Gospel because it is the Riches and the Salvation of those that enjoy it insomuch that the very feet of those that bring glad Tidings thereof are said to be Beautiful Rom. 10. 15. and therefore as we read of Moses that his Face shined when he came down from the Mount to signifie the Glory and Luster of the Legal Ministery as the Apostle teacheth us so likewise do we read of Christ that his face shined as the Sun in his Transfiguration on the Mount to signifie the far more excellent Glory of the Evangelical Ministery of Life and Righteousness in which respect he is called the Glory of his people and a Diadem of Beauty unto the residue of them for where Christ walketh in the midst of the golden Candlesticks having his Ordinances in their vigonr and Efficacy duly administred he thereby rendereth his Church beautiful in these four Respects 1. By the Verity of his heavenly Doctrine When a people are taught of the Lord then their Stones are laid with fair Colours and their Foundations with Saphires their Windows of Agates their Gates of Carbuncles and their Borders
look after they consequently prosecute the same Ends and do not only walk by the same Rule but in so doing do mind the same things Phil 3. 16. It is true being in part carnal they do too much seek and serve themselves but so far forth as they have the same spirit they are of the same mind with the Apostle to prefer the honor of Christ and the service of his Church above their own dearest interest according to what our Saviour hath taught us If any man come to me and hate not his Father and Mother and Wife and Children and Brethren and Sisters yea and his own life also he cannot be my Disciple The Glory of God the progress of the Gospel the advancement of Christs Kingdome the subversion of the Kingdome of Satan the comforts and concernments of the Church of Christ are in their hearts and endeavours still to promote as the members of the Natural so they of the Spiritual Body have all a care one of another the end of the parts is the safety of the whole they are all partakers of one spiritual Nature and all heirs of one common Inheritance and therefore as one principal fruit of the Communion of Saints they aim at the same ends and prosecute the same designes joyning together in all Christian Services of Love against their common enemies the World the Flesh and the Devill These are those several Unities which Christ by his Staffe called Bands doth preserve in his Church thereby greatly beautifying and strengthning the same Of this Peace he is both the purchaser by the price of his blood and the Author by the Efficacy of his Grace giving unto his people one heart and one way And lastly The Bond by the Communion of his Spirit for from him it is that the body is joyned and compacted together as the corner stone of a building fasteneth all the parts thereof unto one another and therefore the Apostle exhorteth us to be like minded by Arguments drawn from Christ and his Spirit If there be any Consolation in Christ if any Comfort of Love if any Fellowship of the Spirit if any Bowels and Mercies fulfil ye my Joy that ye he like minded haveing the same love being of one accord of one mind Phil. 2. 1 2. But it may be here objected against all this that our Saviour himself telleth us That he came not to send Peace but a sword to set a man at variance against his father and the daughter against her mother Mat. 10. 34 34. which words Buxtorf hath observed in the Talmund to be affirmed of the days of the Messiah and we see it plain by much experience many times saith St. Austin a young man pleaseth God and so doing displeaseth a wicked father who is angry that God is preferred before him Fortior est gladius spiritualis separans quam copulans natura carnalis Baronius telleth us of Anastasia a Romane Lady whom because she was a Christian her own husband did cast in to prison and miserably afflict and so the Apostle assureth us that as Isaac was persecuted by his own brother Ishmael so it is stil They that are born after the flesh do persecute them that are born after the Spirit Gal. 4. 29. Where ever the Gospel is preached they that embrace and obey it are hated and virulently opposed by them that disobey it In answer hereunto we say That all this is accidental to the Gospel it is no fault in the Sun if shining on a dunghill a stinking vapour be exhaled nor is it the fault of the Gospel if by occasion thereof the proud lusts of men be exasperated and enraged When the Asyrians spoiled the Nations and none durst open the mouth or peep his Tyranny was not at all commended by such a doleful quietness In like manner neither is the Gospel at all prejudiced by any such commotions as through the lusts of wicked men are meerly per accidens and occasionally stirred up by the preaching of it When Christ went into Jerusalem to offer himself to them as their King it is said That the whole City was moved Mat. 21. 10. And elsewhere that there was a division among the people because of him in like manner where ever he comes as a King to raign there will be motions in the minds of the people there will be some who will say Nolimus hunc we will not have this man to raign over us and when their own pride and obstinacy are the causes of these motions they yet charge all upon the Gospel and the Preachers thereof as if the land were not able to bear their words as Tertullus accused Paul Act. 24. 5. We have found this man a Pestilent Fellow and a Mover of Sedition among all the Jews throughout the world As if the Chaffe should complain of the Fan that all was quiet in the Barn till that came or the dross of the Furnace that the mâ—ttal and that lay quietly together till the fire severed them Christ comes with a Fan to purge his Floor and with refiners fire to purifie the sons of Levi and to gather his Church out of the world by which means he did occasion the hatred of the world against it which would not have been if all had obeyed the Gospel but some receive it with scorn and others with obedience and hence it is that Offences come But the Gospel per se in its own Nature and in its proper and primarie Intention is a word of Peace and doth closely unite all that obey it unto Christ their head and unto one another by the firm bonds of Faith and Love subduing the hearts of Wolves Leopards and Lyons Isa 11. 6. giving gifts even to the Rebellious Psalm 68. 18. casting down every high thing that exaleth it self against the knowledge of God 2 Cor. 10. 5. And besides it is thus far a Staffe of Bands unto the Church farther that though it doth thus exasperate the hearts yet it doth usually muzzle and restrain the rage and power of wicked men that they are not able to perform the evils which they intend so that by the Majesty and Authority thereof Christ ruleth in the midst of enemies maketh them to be at peace with his people maketh Aegyptians to enrich them Moabites and Philistines shelter them Syrians bring gifts unto them and the enemies that afflicted them bend and profese to serve them Now for the Application of this Doctrine it teacheth us 1. THat Christian Policy and Order prudent meek religious Government is a very great blessing to the Church of God and greatly to be desired because thereby Vnity and Concord are preserved among the Sheep of Christ and as by a ferce or hedge they are thereby secured from the irruption of Wolves who would devour and make a prey of them and all leaven and chast which would soure
Prince of Peace who as he is not divided in himself so neither should he be divided in his Members Our Consolation in him should make us be of one accord and of one mind the Primitive Church a mirrour of Vnity and Peace the multitude of believers were of one heart and of one soul primum in unoquoque genere est Regula caeterorum 8. Ab Evangelio from the nature of the Gospel which is called by the Apostle a Gospel of Peace whereby we are called unto peace by the power whereof the rage of Lyons and Bears is calmed and subdued much more should the Sheep of Christ be preserved from biting and devouring one another it is a presage of rain and storms when Sheep run heads together and certainly it bodeth no good unto the Church when the Sheep of Christ are at discord one with another Lastly A Sacramentis which are sigilla vincula pacis from the Sacraments which are the Seals and Bands of Christian Peace In Baptism we were baptized into one body in the Lords Supper we being many are one Bread and one body for we are partakers of that one Bread as the Wine is made of many grapes pressed into one Liquor and the Bread of many grains moulded into one Lump so the Church of many believers compacted together by one Spirit of Faith and Love into one mystical body I shall conclude this Exhortation with two or three solemn and emphatical passages of the Apostle pressing Christians unto this duty Let us saith he follow after the things which make for peace and things wherewith one may edifie another And again I beseech you brethren by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that ye all speake the same thing that there be no divisions among you but that ye be perfectly joyned together in the same mind and in the same Judgement And again Be perfect be of good comfort be of one mind live in Peace and the God of Love and Peace shall be with you And again if there be therefore any Consolation in Christ if any comfort of love if any fellowship of the Spirit if any Bowels and Mercies fulfill ye my joy that ye be like-minded having the same Love being of one accord of one mind Unto which I shall subjoyn the same Apostles pathetical prayer The Lord of Peace himself give you Peace always by all means and the God of Patience and Consolation grant you to be like minded one towards another according to Christ Jesus that you may with one mind and with one mouth glorifie God even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Before I leave this seasonable and necessary Argument let us in a few words consider what is to be done in Differences of Judgement and Divisions of mind to heal the breaches and to recover the Peace of a disjointed and dilacerated Church And here it cannot be denyed but that in all ages of the Church there have been and still are like to be Varieties of Judgement among the Members thereof For 1. The best Proficients know but in part and Prophesie but in part 2. There are many things very abstruse and difficult in the disquisition of divine Truth Religion hath its 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 things hard to be understood as well as other Sciences 3. There is in many men much weakness of Judgement to make search and enquiry into these things or to discover veritatem in puteo latentem 4. There is much carelesness of heart in many men to try the spirits and to prove all things they sleep while the enemy soweth Tares 5. There is in many men a Levity Lubricity and Discomposedness of mind whereby they are apt to be carried away with every wind of Doctrine and out of Simplicity and Credulity to be wrought upon by the cunning of those who are skilful to deceive 6. Some have itching ears hearkning always after new things whom Manna will not please without Quails who have some particular mens persons in admiration and give up themselves by a blind obedience and implicite Faith into their hands to be led by them into novel and singular Opinions 7. Prevailing of Lust and domestical Interest doth in many men darken their mind and entangle their Judgements and betray them unto that sad condition of being given over to strong Delusions to believe Lyes Upon these and such like Reasons there have been always Differences in the Church We find a contention between Paul and Barnabas and between Paul and Peter We find some for Paul others for Apollo and some for Cephas and others for none of them all but for Christ without them we find some building upon the foundation Silver and gold and others Hay and stubble We read of great differences between the Eastern and Western Churches touching the Observation of Easter and between the Roman and African Churches in the matter of Rebaptization of many sharp Dissentions between sundry great and famous Bishops and Pastors of the antient Churches To say nothing of the present sad experience which we may everywhere observe of the same Truth the Scripture hath foretold it and it cannot be otherwise that there must be Heresies and Offences nevertheless we must not hereby be discouraged from using all pious and prudent Endeavours for pacification of the persons so dissenting concerning which Accommodation we are to distinguish 1. Of Opinions whereof some are in the Foundation in those primitive Articles of Faith and Essentials of Religion on which the house of God is built the errors contrary whereunto are subversive pernicious and damnable some are only in the Superstruction which are not Fidei but Quaestionum which do not overturn the Edifice nor endanger the Vitals of Religion such were in the Apostles time Disputes touching Meats and Drinks and Days and Things indifferent wherein though men abound in their own sense yet it must ever be with Meekness and with humble submission to the Spirits of the Prophets and to the Judgement Order and Peace of the Church 2. Of Persons Some are Seducers who out of Pride Enmity against the Doctrine which is according unto Godliness carnal ends desire of Advantage and Domination do sow Tares in the Church and cause Rents and Divisions therein such were Hymeneus Philetus Diotrephes and others Others are seduced people who through Ignorance Credulity Simplicity Facility and Flexibleness of Spirit are led away captive by the cunning Craftiness of them who lie in wait to deceive Again Some are men of meek humble peaceable and quiet spirits amongst whom though there be differences of Judgement yet they do upon common Principles of Faith and Holiness agree in love and joyn in pursuing the same common Salvation neither monopolizing the priviledges of Saints neither judging or despising the other neither holding any Error supinely pertinaciously uncharitably or factiously Others are men of