devoted in Covenant to God our Creator Redeemer and Regenerater and without which we cannot Love God as reconciled to us in Christ above all and our neighbours as our selves So that in a word he that can tell what the Baptismal Vow or Covenant is can tell what is necessary to that Catholick Church-communion which belongeth to Christians as Christians at how great a distance soever they dwell from one another And then for Particular Church-communion which is local and personal it is moreover necessary 1. That each member acknowledge and submit to the same Pastors 2. That they be guided by them in the convenient circumstances and adjuncts of Worship For if some persons will not consent or submit to the same Pastors that the body of the Church consenteth and submiteth to they cannot have communion particularly and locally with that Church nor are they members of it no more than they can be members of the same Kingdom that have not the same King And there being no solemn worship performed but by the Ministry of those Pastors they cannot joyn in the worship that joyn not with the Minister And if some members will not consent and submit to the necessary determination of the adjuncts or external modes of worship they cannot joyn in local particular church-Church-communion where that Worship is performed As if the Pastor and the body of the Church will meet in such a place at such a day and hour and some members will not meet with them at that place and day and hour they cannot possibly then have their local personal communion Or if the Pastor will use such a Translation of the Scriptures or such a Version of the Psalms or such a Method in Preaching and Prayer or such Notes or books and other like helps if any members will not submit nor hold Communion with the rest unless that Translation or Version or Method of Preaching or Praying or Notes or Books be laid aside he cannot have Communion while he refuseth it If the Pastor and all the rest will not yield to him he must joyn with some other Church that he can agree with And as long as the Catholick Church communion is maintained which consisteth in Vnity of the Christian-covenant or of Christianity or of Faith Love and Obedience the difference of modes and circumstances between particular Churches must be allowed without any breach of Charity or without disowning one another And he that cannot be a member of one particular Church may quietly joyn himself to another without condemning that which he dissenteth from so far as to hinder his Catholick Communion with it even as among the Papists men may be of which Order of Religious persons they best like as long as they submit to their General Government And here the strong judicious Christian for his part will never be guilty of Church-divisions For 1. He will make nothing necessary to church-Church-communion which any sober pious peaceable minds shall have any just reason to except against or which may not well be manifested to be for the Edification of the Church 2. And he will bear with the weak dissenters so far as will stand with the peace and welfare of the Church 3. And he will particularly give leave to such weak ones as cannot yet hold communion with him being peaceable and not promoting heresie ungodliness or sedition to joyn to another Church where they can hold communion with peace to their own Consciences as long as they continue their foresaid Catholick-communion For the strong know that they must not only bear with but bear the infirmities of the weak and not to please themselves but every one of them to please his neighbour for good to edification For even Christ pleased not himself And so they will receive one another as Christ also received us to the glory of God not despising the weak nor rejecting them that God receiveth Rom. 15.1 2 3 7. 14.1 2 3 4 17 18. And thus you may see how easie a matter it were to unite and reconcile all the Christian World if the principles of the judicious confirmed Christian might be received and prevail and that it is not he that is the cause of the abundance of sin and calamity which divisions have caused and continued in the Church But that which now seemeth an impossible thing may quickly and easily be accomplished if all were such as he And that the difficulty of reconciling and uniting Christians lyeth not first in finding out the terms but in making men fit to receive and practice the terms from the beginning received by the Churches This is Lirinensis his Quod semper ubique ab omnibus receptum est supposing still that the Magistrate be submitted to by every soul even as he is the keeper of both talles Rom. 13.1 2 3. 2. But the weak Christian is too easily tempted to be the divider of the Church by expecting that it be united upon his impossible or unrighteous terms Sometime he will be Orthodox overmuch or rather wise in his own conceit Rom. 12.16 and then none are judged fit for his communion that be not of his opinion in controverted Doctrinals e.g. predestination the manner of the work of grace freewill perseverance and abundance such sometime he will be righteous overmuch or to speak more properly superstitious And then none are fit for his communion that Worship not God in that method and manner for circumstantials which he esteemeth best And his charity is so weak that it freeth him not from thinking evil 1 Cor. 13. and so narrow that it covereth not either many or great infirmities The more need he hath of the forbearance and charity of others the less can he bear or forbear others himself The strong Christian must bear the infirmities of the weak but the weak Christian can scarce bear with the weak or strong Nay he is oft too impatient with some of their virtues and duties as well as with their infirmities He is of too private a spirit and too insensible of the publick interest of the Church of Christ. And therefore he must have all the World come over to him and be conformed to his opinion and party and unite upon his mistaken narrow terms if they will have Communion with him I mean it is thus with him when the temptation on that side prevaileth And sometime he is overcome with the temptation of Domination to make his judgement the Rule to others and then he quite overvalueth his own understanding and will needs be judge of all the controversies in the Church and taketh it as unsufferable if wiser and better men do not take him as infallible and in every thing observe his will And when his brethren give him the reason of their dissent as his judgement is not clear enough to understand them so his passion and partiality are too strong to suffer his judgement to do its part And thus oft-times he is a greater hinderance to the Churches
DIRECTIONS FOR Weak distempered CHRISTIANS TO Grow up to a confirmed State OF GRACE With MOTIVES opening the lamentable Effects of their Weaknesses and Distempers The FIRST PART Published also to further that REPENTANCE which WARS and PLAGVES and FLAMES and CHVRCH-CONVULSIONS have so long and loudly Preached to ENGLAND By Richard Baxter LONDON Printed for Nevil Simmons at the Three Crowns over against Holborn Conduit 1669. To my Dearly Beloved the Church of Christ at Kederminster in Worcestershire I Suppose you do not only remember that ten Years ago I Preached these Sermons to you but also what Schisms what revilings of the Ministers of Christ what Heresies of Ranters Seekers and others what cruelties against one another and what remorsless overturnings of Government and worst of all what bold appeals to God himself as if he were the approver of all this did give you and me extraordinary occasions of such thoughts and lamentations as are here expressed But though the great mercy of God did preserve your selves from these transgressions and made it your los to behold them with daily complaints and sorrows yet I must not so flatter you as to say that the ordinary weaknesses of Christians are not at all among you The things which I specially loved in you I will freely praise which were A special measure of humility a plain simplicity in Religion a freedom from the common Errors a readiness to receive the Truth a Catholick temper without addictedness to any Sect a freedom from Schisme and separating wayes and a unity and unanimity in Religion a hatred and disowning of the Usurpations and perturbations and Rebellions against the Civil Government and an open bearing of your testimony in all these cases together with seriousness in Religion and sober righteous charitable and godly conversations But yet with all this which is truly amiable I know you have your frailties and imperfections The weaker sort of Christians either in knowledg or in holiness are the greater number in the best Congregation that I ever yet knew To say nothing of the unsound And what may be your Case these eight years since I have been separated from your presence I cannot tell though through the mercy of God I hear not of your declining It is our sin which hath parted us asunder Let us lay the blame upon our selves I have now done expecting my ancient comforts in labouring among you any more For these six years time in which I thought my greater experience had made me more capable of serving my Master better than before his Wisdom and Justice have caused me to spend in grievous silence And now my decayes and disability of body are so much increased that if I had leave I have not strength nor can ever reasonably expect it Therefore once more I am glad to speak to you as I may and shall be thankful if Authority will permit these Instructions to come to your view that the weak may have some more counsel and assistance And if any shall miscarry and disgrace Religion there may remain on Record one more testimony what Doctrine it was that you were taught The Lord be your Teacher and your strength and save you from your selves and from this present evil World and preserve you to his heavenly Kingdom through Jesus Christ Amen Octob. 31. 1668. Your Servant R. B. THE PREFACE Readers THat you may neither mis-understand this Book nor me I owe you this pre-advertisement That it was Preached in a Lecture at Kederminster in Worcestershire about seven or eight years ago 1658 That the sad experience of the distempers of weak well-meaning people though not in that place yet in those times especially of those who ran after the most gross deceivers distracted the Churches reviled afflicted and busily attempted to pull down the Pastors and actually pulled down the higher Powers whom God forbad them to resist was the chief occasion of the Preaching of these Sermons And that the special reasons for my publishing them now are these that follow 1. Because I perceive not that yet people are sufficiently humbled for those miscarriages or have yet well found out their sins which by many and sore Judgments have found them out 2. Because I perceive that it is too ordinary to speak to Weak Christians only by way of comfort and too rare to shew them the evil of their distempers and that the very terms are used as if they imported nothing but what is to be loved or tenderly gainsayed And most that hear themselves called Weak Christians do take it for a word of honouring-pity and feel in it no humbling matter of reproof As if the comfort of being a Living man did nullify the trouble and pain of Infancy of a Lethargy a Leprosie a Feaver Gout or Stone The scandals which have dishonoured Religion in this Age do tell us that it is not all a Preachers work to convince and convert the Infidels and Profane ones but that much of it lyeth in detecting Hypocrisies and humbling the weak and healing their distempers and saving and raising them from their Falls The thoughts of the Case of such Christians as these did tempt Augustine once to doubt whether there were not a Purgatory It seemed so hard to him to believe either that men who in the rest of their lives were godly and honest should go to Hell or that men so guilty of particular crimes and scandals of which their ignorance and error kept them from repenting could go strait to Heaven And no doubt but it was the heinous sins and great distempers of men professing Godliness which caused humane reason to invent and entertain this doctrine of Purgeing-pains But when God hath cast men into many Purgatories and yet they repent not I fear it threateneth worse than Purgatory 3. Moreover I remembred the request of that Learned Pious Peaceable A. B. Usher which I mentioned in the Preface to my Call to the Unconverted According to which I had before Published 1. That Call 2. Directions against miscarrying in the work of Conversion 3. And this I intended for the Third Part when I began it but was hindered from bringing it to the purposed perfection The Fourth Part being Directions for Peace of Conscience being extant long before 4. But that which since urged me to this publication was that the last Sermon which I Preached publickly was at Black-Fryars on this Text Col. 2.6 7. and presently after there came forth a Book called Farewell-Sermons among which this of mine was one Who did it or to what end I know not nor doth it concern me to enquire But I took it as an injury both as it was done without my knowledg and against my will and to the offence of my Superiors and because it was taken by the Notary so imperfectly that much of it was non-sence Especially when some Forreigners that lived in Poland Hungary and Helvetia were earnest to buy this with the rest of my Writings I perceived how far
mind and in the same judgement Phil. 2 1 2 3 4. If there be 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 Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves Look not every man on his own things but every man also on the things of others Ephes. 1.2 3 4 5 6 7. I therefore the prisoner of the Lord beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called with all lowliness and meekness with long suffering forbearing one another in love endeavouring to keep the Vnity of the Spirit in the bond of peace There is one body and one spirit even as ye are called in one hope of your calling one Lord one Faith one Baptism one God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in you all But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Read also Ephes. 4.12 13 14 15 16. 1 Cor. 12. throughout He looketh at uncharitableness and divisions with more abhorrence than weak Christians do at drunkenness or whoredom or such other hainous sin He feareth such dreadfull warnings as Acts 20.29 30. For I know this that after my departing shall grievous Wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away Disciples after them And he cannot slight such a vehement exhortation as Rom. 16.17 18. Now I beseech you Brethren mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the Doctrine which ye have learned and avoid them For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ but their own belly and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple Therefore he is so far from being a divider himself that when he seeth any one making divisions among Christians he looketh on him as on one that is flashing and mangling the body of his dearest friend or as on one that is setting fire on his house and therefore doth all that he can to quench it As knowing the confusion and calamity to which it tendeth He is of a Christian and therefore of a truly Catholick spirit that is He maketh not himself a member of a divided Party or a Sect He regardeth the interest and welfare of the body the universal Church above the interest or prosperity of any party whatsoever And he will do nothing for a party which is injurious to the whole or to the Christian cause The very names of Sects and Parties are displeasing to him And he could wish that there were no name but that of Christians among us save only the necessary names of the criminal such as that of the Nicolaitans Rev. 2.6.15 By which those that are to be avoided by Christians must be known Christianity is confined to so narrow a compass in the world that he is unwilling to contract it yet into a narrower The greatest party of divided Christians whether it be the Greeks or Papists is too small a body for him to take for the Catholick or Universal Church He admireth at the blindness and cruelty of faction that can make men damn all the rest of the Church for the interest of their proper sect and take all those as no Christians that are better Christians than themselves Especially the Papists who unchurch all the Church of Christ except their Sect and make it as necessary to salvation to be a subject of the Pope as to be a Christian and when by their great corruption and abuses of Christianity they have more need of charitable censures themselves than almost any sort of Christians yet are they the boldest condemners of all others The confirmed Christian can difference between the strong and weak the sound and unsound members of the Church without dismembring any and without unwarrantable separations from any He will worship God in the purest manner he can and locally joyn with those Assemblies where all things considered he may most honour God and receive most edification and will not sin for communion with any He will sufficiently difference between a holy orderly Assembly and a corrupt disordered one and between an able faithfull Pastor and an ignorant or worldly hireling And he desireth that the Pastors of the Church may make that due separation by the holy Discipline of Christ which may prevent the peoples disorderly separation But for all this he will not deny his presence upon just occasion to any Christian Congregation that worshipeth God in truth though with many modal imperfections so be it they impose no sin upon him as necessary to his communion with them Nor will he deny the spiritual communion of faith and Love to those that he holdeth not local communion with He knoweth that all our worship of God is sinfully imperfect and that it is a dividing principle to hold that we may joyn with none that worship God in a faulty manner for then we must joyn with none on earth He knoweth that his presence in the worship of God is no sign of his approbation of all the failings of Pastors or people in their personal or modal imperfections as long as he joyneth not in a worship so corrupt as to be it self unacceptable to God While men who are all imperfect and corrupt are the worshippers the manner of their worship will be such as they in some degree imperfect and corrupt The solid Christian hath his eye upon all the Churches in the world in the determining of such questions He considereth what worship is offered to God in the Churches of the several parties of Christians the Greeks Armenians Abassines Lutherans c. as well as what is done in the Country where he liveth and he considereth whether God disown and reject the worship of almost all the Churches in the world or not For he dare no further reject them than God rejecteth them nor will he voluntarily separate from those Assemblies where the presence of Christ in his Spirit and acceptance yet remaineth And his fuller acquaintance with the gracious nature office and tenderness of Christ together with greater Love to his Brethren doth cause him in this to judge more gently than young censorious Christians do And his humble acquaintance with his own infirmities maketh him the more compassionate to others If he should think that God would reject all that order not and word not their prayers aright he would be afraid of being rejected himself who is still conscious of greater faultiness in his own prayers than a meer defect in words and order even of a great defectiveness in that faith and desire and love and zeal and reverence which should be manifested in prayer Though he be more apprehensive than others of the
excellency and necessity of the holiness and spirituality of the soul in worship yet withall he is more judicious and charitable than the pievish and passionate infant Christians who think that God doth judge as they do and seeth no grace where they see none and taketh all to be superstitious or fanatical that differ from their opinions or manner of worship or that he is as ready to call every error in the method or the words of prayer Idolatry or Wilworship as those are that speak not what they they know but what they have heard some Teachers whom they reverence say before them He that dwelleth in Love doth dwell in God and God in him and he that dwelleth in God is liker to be best acquainted with his mind concerning his children and his worship than he that dwelleth in wrath and pride and partiality 2. But the weak Christian though so far as he hath grace he is of the same mind and abhorreth discord and division among the flock of Christ yet being more dark and selfish and distempered he is much more prone to unwarrantable separations and divisions than the stronger Christian is He is narrower fighted and looketh little further than his own acquaintance and the Country where he liveth and mindeth not sufficiently the general state of the Churches through the world nor understandeth well the interest of Christ and Christianity in the earth His knowledge and experience being small his charity also is but small and a little thing tempteth him to condemn another and aggravate his faults and think him unworthy of the communion of the Saints He is much more sensible of the judgement and affections and concernments of those few with whom he doth converse and that are of his opinion than of the judgement and practice and concernments of the universal Church He knoweth not how to prefer the judgements and holiness of some that he thinketh more excellent than the rest without much undervaluing and censuring of all others that are not of their opinion He cannot chuse the actual local communion of the best society without some unjust contempt of others or separation from them He hath not so much knowledge as may sufficiently acquaint him with his ignorance And therefore he is apt to be unreasonably confident of his present apprehensions and to think verily that all his own conceptions are the certain truth and to think them ignorant or ungodly or very weak at least that differ from him For he hath not throughly and impartially studied all that may be said on the other side The Authority of his chosen Teacher and sect is greater with him if he fall into that way than the Authority of all the most wise and holy persons in the world besides What the Scripture speaketh of the unbelieving world he is apt to apply to all those of the Church of Christ that are not of his mind and party And when Christ commandeth us to come out of the world he is prone to understand it of coming out from the Church into some stricter and narrower society and is apt with the Papists to appropriate the name and priviledges of the Church to his party alone and to condemn all others Especially if the Church-Governours be carnal and self-seeking or otherwise very culpable and if Discipline be neglected and if prophaneness be not sufficiently discountenanced and godliness promoted he thinketh that such a Church is no Church but a prophane society God hath taught him by repentance to see the mischief of ungodliness but he yet wanteth that experience which is needfull to make him know the mischiefs of Church-divisions He had too much experience himself of the evil of prophaneness before his conversion but he hath not tryed the evil of Schism and without some sad experience of its fruits in himself or others he will hardly know it as it should be known Because it is the custome of some malignant enemies of godliness to call the godly Hereticks Schismaticks factious Sectaries c. therefore the very names do come into credit with him and he thinks there are no such persons in the world or that there is no danger of any such crimes Till he be taught by sad experience that the professors of sincerity are in as much danger on that side as on the other and that the Church as well as Christ doth suffer between two thieves the Prophane and the Dividers Paul was unjustly called the ring-leader of a Sect Acts 24.5 and Christianity called a Heresie and a Sect every where spoken against Acts 28.22 24.14 But for all that Heresie is a fruit of the flesh Gal. 5.20 and some of them called damnable 2 Pet. 2.1 and they are the tryal of the Church to difference the approved members from the chaff 1 Cor. 11.19 And an obstinate Heretick is to be avoided by true Believers Titus 3.10 And the Pharisees and Sadduces are well reputed to be several Sects Acts 5.17 15.5 26.5 And dividers and divisions are justly branded in Scripture as aforesaid There must be no Schism in the body of Christ 1 Cor. 12.25 The following of selected Teachers in a way of division from the rest or opposition to them doth shew that men are carnal in too great a measure though it be not in predominancy as in the prophane 2 Cor. 3.1 2 3. And I Brethren could not speak unto you as unto spiritual but as unto carnal as unto babes in Christ I have fed you with milk and not with meat for hitherto ye were not able to bear it neither yet now are ye able For ye are yet carnal For whereas there is among you envying and strife and divisions are ye not carnal and walk as men For while one saith I am of Paul and another I am of Apollo are ye not carnal How much more when he that is for Paul doth censure and rail at Cephas and Apollo He that hath seen the course of men professing godliness in England in this age may easily and sadly know how prone weak Christians are to unjust separations and divisions and what are the effects He that had heard many zealous in prayer and other duties and the next year see them turning Quakers and railing in the open Congregations at the ablest holiest self-denying Ministers of Christ and at their flocks with a Come down thou deceiver thou hireling thou wolf ye are all greedy doggs c. and shall see how yet poor souls run into that reviling and irrational Sect to say nothing of all other Sects among us will no longer doubt whether the weak be inclinable to Schism but will rather lament the dangerousness of their station and know that all is not done when a sinner is converted from an ungodly state Study the reason of those three texts Ephes. 4.13 14 15 16. For the edifying the body of Christ till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect
man unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ that we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro and carryed about with every wind of Doctrine by the sleight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lye in wait to deceive but speaking the truth in Love 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 supplyeth according to the effectual working in the measure of every part maketh increase of the body to the Edifying of it self in love Here you see the children are apt to be carryed into dividing parties And that they are aptest to be Proud and that way to miscarry see 1 Tim. 3.6 Not a novice or raw young Christian lest being lifted up with Pride he fall into the condemnation of the Devil And then followeth the effect Act. 20.30 Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away Disciples after them I would not have you groundlesly accuse any Christian with a charge of Pride But I must tell you that the childish Pride of apparel is a petty business in comparison of that Pride which many in sordid attire have manifested who in their ignorance do rage and foam out words of falshood and reproach against Christs Ministers and Servants as if they were all fools or impious in comparison of them speaking evil of that which they never understood The lifting up the Heart above the people of the Lord in the Pride of supposed Holiness is incomparably worse than Pride of Learning honour greatness wit or wealth Nay it hath oft been to me a matter of wonder to observe how little all those plain and urgent Texts of Scripture which cry down Division do work upon many of the younger Christians who yet are as quickly toucht as any with a Text that speaketh against prophaneness and lukewarmness In a word they are often of the temper of James and John when they would fain have had Christ have revenged himself on his opposers by fire from Heaven They know not what manner of Spirit they are of Luk. 9.55 They think verily that it is a holy zeal for God when it is the boiling of passion pride and selfishness They feel not the sense of such words as Christs Joh. 17.20 21 22 23 24. I pray also for them who shall believe on me through their word that they All may be one as thou Father art in me and I in thee that they also may be one in us that the World may believe that thou hast sent me c. 3. And as for the seeming Christians in this they are of several sorts When their carnal interest lyeth in complyance with the Major part and stronger side then no men do more cry up Vnity and Obedience what a noise do many thousand Papist-Prelates Jesuites and Fryers make with these two words throughout the world Vnity and Obedience unto them upon their terms do signifie Principally their worldly greatness wealth and power But if the Hypocrite be engaged in point of honour or other carnal interest on the suffering side or be out of hope of any advantage in the common rode then no man is so much for separation and singularity as he For he must needs be noted for some body in the world and this is the chief way that he findeth to accomplish it And so being lifted up with pride be falleth into the Condemnation of the Devil and becomes a firebrand in the Church LIII 1. A Christian indeed is not only zealous for the Unity and Concord of Believers but he seeketh it on the right terms and in the way that is fitest to attain it Vnity Peace and Concord are like Piety and Honesty things so unquestionably good that there are scarce any men of reason and common sobriety that ever were heard to oppose them Directly and for themselves And therefore all that are enemies to them are yet pretenders to them and oppose them 1. In their causes only 2. Or covertly and under some other name Every man would have Vnity Concord and Peace in his own way and upon his own terms But if the right terms had been understood and consented to as sufficient the Christian world had not lain so many hundred years in the sin and shame and ruines as it hath done And the cause of all is that Christians indeed that have clear confirmed judgements and strength of grace are very few and for number and strength unable to perswade or overrule the weak the passionate and the falsehearted worldly hypocritical multitude who bear down all the counsels and endeavours of the wise The judicious faithful Christian knoweth that there are three degrees or sorts of Christian Communion which have their several terms 1. The universal-universal-church Communion which all Christians as such must hold among themselves 2. Particular Church-communion which those that are conjoyned for personal Communion in Worship do hold under the same Pastors and among themselves 3. The extraordinary intimate communion that some Christians hold together who are bosome friends or are specially able and fit to be helpful and comfortable to each other The last concerneth not our present business we must hold church-Church-communion with many that are unfit to be our bosome friends and that have no eminency of parts or piety or any strong-perswading evidence of sincerity But the terms of Catholick Communion he knoweth are such as these 1. They must be such as were the terms of Church Communion in the dayes of the Apostles 2. They must be such as are plainly and certainly expressed in the holy Scriptures 3. And such as the Vniversal Church hath in some ages since been actually agreed in 4. And those points are likest to be such which all the differing parties of Christians are agreed in as Necessary to Communion to this day so we call not those Christians that deny the essentials of Christianity 5. Every man in the former ages of the Church was admitted to this Catholick Church-communion who in the Baptismal Vow or Covenant gave up himself to God the Father Son and Holy Ghost as his Creator Redeemer and Sanctifier his Owner Governour and Father renouncing the flesh the world and the Devil And more particularly as man hath an Vnderstanding a Will and an executive power which must all be sanctified to God so the Creed was the particular Rule for the Credenda or things to be Believed and the Lords Prayer for the Petenda or things to be Willed Loved and Desired and the Ten Commandments for the agenda or things to be done so that to Consent to these Rules particularly and to all the Holy Scriptures implicitly and generally was the thing then required to Catholick Communion The belief of the doctrine being necessary for the sanctifying of the heart and life the Belief of so much is of Necessity without which the Heart cannot be sanctified or