they may lay the thing to heart and weigh it consideratly that God may perswade their affections to the practise thereof The excellencies of brotherly unitie are set forth in the 133. Psal where first by way of preface and proposition the holy Ghost doth call upon us and invites us to contemplate and observe the same with admiration in the twofold propertie thereof viz. the goodnesse and the pleasantnesse which is in it Behold how good and how pleasant it is for Brethren to dwell together in unitie Vers 1. Then secondly by way of proof and demonstration he doth shew wherein that goodnesse and pleasantnesse doth consist and whence it doth proceed The goodnesse and pleasantnesse of brotherly unitie doth consist in this that it doth bring with it to those that maintain it all manner of blessings in great plentie The blessings are both spirituall and bodily the first in the Church the second in the Common-wealth The spirituall blessings bestowed in the Church are the graces of the holy anointing it is like the oyntment whose excellencies are 1. in their worth the precious oyntment 2. in their use and application which is to consecrate and make men Priests unto God by the vertues conferred upon their principall faculties upon the head the beard Aarons beard 3. in their abundance and fruitfull proceeding from the head to all the inferiour parts it ran down upon the beard went down upon the skirts of his garment Vers 2. The bodily blessings bestowed in the Common-wealth are the fruits of the earth in the highest parts thereof both farre from the Church and neer unto the same As the dew of Hermon a hill and land farre from Jerusalem neer Jordan and the dew that descendeth upon the mountaines of Zion Vers 3. All this goodnesse and pleasantnesse doth accompany brotherly unitie because the Lord hath commanded the blessing to bee there viz. where unitie is and the blessing which he hath commanded is even life for evermore Vers 3. and consequently all the meanes of life and if of life eternall then of temporall also for wee have the promise that if wee seek the kingdome of God and his righteousnesse all other things shall bee added unto us Matth. 6. 33. Now from all this which is the cleer doctrine of the holy Ghost I shall make this inference onely that if these promises are made to brotherly unitie by reason of the blessing of God upon those that maintain it in Church and Common-wealth then we may denounce the contrary threatnings unto those that maintain it not for the wrath of God is upon those that are contentious Rom. 2. 8 9. and obey not the truth Hitherto of unitie The ground of it is love as may bee gathered from 1 Cor. 12. 25. where the same care of members one for another which is the effect of their love is the cause why there is no rent in the body and consequently why unitie is preserved For where that loving care is not unitie is not but a rent will bee as wee may daily perceive in our dolefull estate Therefore all the excellencies that belong to brotherly unitie are first and originally to be attributed unto charity But then there are yet other excellencies which are more immediatly attributed unto it by the holy Ghost in 1 Cor. 13. where the Apostle having in the foregoing Chapter from the beginning reckoned up the spirituall gifts which are given to the Saints in the Church to profit withall in the unitie of the body as is cleer from Vers 7. compared with Vers 12 13. of Chap. 12. he commeth in the conclusion of that Chapter to exhort the Saints to covet earnestly the best gifts and to encourage them unto this dutie he promiseth to shew them the way which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 most excellent Which is that which immediatly in the following 13th Chapter he begins to describe From whence this inference doth offer it selfe that as the chief and most excellent meanes to attaine to all spirituall gifts is the practise and exercise of love so the neglect of that dutie is the chief cause of the decay and losse of all spirituall gifts Now the Apostle in the description of this way doth shew a Threefold excellencie and usefulnesse of love The first is that without it no spirituall talents or good workes are profitable to the Church or to our owne salvation Vers 1 2 3. The second is that in it and by it all vertues tending to make a man perfect are wrought in us Vers 4 5 6 7. The third is that above all other graces it is the onely durable and lasting unto eternitie Vers 8 9 10 11 12. Which doctrine being referred to the foregoing proposition in the last verse of Chap. 12. will produce this argument or demonstration concerning the excellencie of love That vertue without which no gifts nor good workes are usefull unto any and by which all vertues are wrought in us and which alone lasteth unto eternitie is the most excellent way to spirituall gifts But so it is that charitie is that vertue Ergo it is of all others the most excellent way to spirituall gifts The Minor or the Assumption of this argument is made good concerning charitie in the three severall parts thereof forementioned First then that without it no spirituall talents and outward good workes are usefull the Apostle doth make out in many particulars For he first mentioned the gift of utterance suppose a man could speake with the tongues of men and Angels yet if hee want charitie he is to his auditory but as sounding brasse or a tinkling Cymbale Vers 1. Afterwards the gifts of prophesie of understanding all mysteries of all knowledge of all faith to doe miracles yet if there be no charitie he declareth that all this is of no use and vertue neither to the Church nor to him that hath it Ver. 2. Then concerning good workes he supposeth the largest and most compassionate relief of the poore and the greatest constancy in martyrdome for the truth even that a man should give his body to bee burnt yet if there be no charity all these workes will availe him nothing Vers 3. Charitie then is more excellent then these gifts and is to bee counted the life and as it were the soule of them all Secondly that by charitie all vertues are wrought in us the Apostle doth in like manner declare in many particulars For the vertues which make us perfect for our behaviour towards persons in actions and about things they all proceed from charitie For our behaviour towards persons if others bee crosse and froward it teacheth long-suffering If they bee good and vertuous it teacheth kindnesse if they are in glory and prosperity it doth not envie their condition if wee in respect of our selves find some excellencies or eminencies in our own condition which others have not it doth not suffer us to vaunt thereof towards others nor to be puffed up thereby within
perfection of spirituall unitie which may bee cleerly gathered from John 17. 21 22 23. compared with Ephes 4. 12 13 14 15 16. And if this bee the chiefe end of their Ministery then the maine neglect of the meanes by which this end may bee obtained and without which it cannot bee prosecuted must needs bee their greatest guilt whence it will cleerly follow that to maintain no communion in spirituall things one with another is one of their greatest faults because most directly crosse to the end of their administration So theâ— if to maintaine spirituall communion is a dutie in this respect fundamentall and necessary then it followeth that the engagements unto a concurrence and the lawfull wayes of spirituall correspondency are also fundamentall and necessary to the work of the Ministery and must bee entertained because without these the dutie of holy Communion cannot bee maintained nor the unities of the Church brought to any visible perfection but rather visibly dissolved Thus then upon this consideration it is an undeniable Scripturall truth That for the Ministers of the Gospel in the duties of their Ministeriall charge nothing is more conscionable nothing more commendable nothing more profitable and nothing more sutable to the glory of God and the perfecting of the Saints then that they should maintaine a brotherly communion and correspondency one with another and such as neglect it walke not worthy of the calling wherewith they are called in the common profession of Christianitie Sect IV. Of the practise of those that are set before us as infallible examples in the Ministery ALthough the mediatory actions of Jesus Christ in the flesh as hee is our Saviour are not imitable nor were they performed to bee imitated by any for hee alone is the onely Mediatour between God and man yet his relations unto us as Heb. 2. 11. our brother sanctifying us in our flesh and the wayes of his converse amongst men were such that in all cases of dutie wherein wee are to come to God or to behave our selves dutifully one towards another in respect of God he hath left us either an example which wee are bound to imitate or a precept which wee ought to observe and which hee himselfe did practise For in this hee is the Captaine of our salvation because hee went before us in all things and wee are bound to follow not onely him before all others but also none further then they are found to bee his followers 1 Cor. 11. 1. and for this cause wee see that the Apostles as in all other things so chiefly in these duties of love unitie forbearance and condescension towards the weake doe alledge his practise as the strongest argument that can bee used to oblige us thereunto Thus 1 John 3. 16. Hee laid downe his life for us and wee ought to lay downe our lives for the Brethren Ephes 5. 1 2. Bee yee followers of God as deer children and walke in love as Christ also hath loved us Coloss 3. 13. Even as Christ forgave you so also doe yee Gal. 6. 2. Beare yee one anothers burthens and so fulfill the Law of Christ 1 Pet. 4. 1. Forasmuch as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh arme your selves likewise with the same mind And the Apostle Phil. 2. Having used many strong inducements to perswade us to love and unitie Vers 1 2. and to disswade us from strife and division vers 3. then vers 4 hee exhorts us to mutuall care of one another whereunto as an argument is brought in Christs example as the chiefest of all other motives Vers 5 6 7 8. Let this mind bee in you which was in Christ Jesus c. and Christ saith to his Father John 17. 22. The glory which thâ—u gavest me I have given them that they may bâ—e one even as we are one By glory I understand here grace as 1 Pet. 5. 1. partaker of the glory that shall bee revealed As concerning Christs practise in his Ministery to avoid breaches and contentions between him and others it is set forth by the holy Ghost in Isa 42. 2 3. and Matth. 12. 19 20. thus Hee shall not strive nor cry neither shall any man beare his voyce in the streets a bruised reed shall hee not breake and the smoaking flâ—x shall hee not quench till hee send forth judgement unto victory And concerning his way to bring us to unitie with himselfe and with God the Apostle doth set it forth as an example to bee imitated Rom. 15. Vers 2 3. Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification for even Christ pleased not himselfe c. which is further applied to our practise vers 5 6 7. The God of patience and consolation grant you that ye be like minded one towards another according to Christ Jesus that you may with one mind and one mouth glorifie God even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ wherefore receive yee one another as Christ also received us to the glory of God And then explained in shewing what the work of Christs Ministery was Vers 8 9. Now I say that Jesus Christ was a Minister of the Circumcision for the Truth of God to confirme the promises made unto the Fathers and that the Gentiles might glorifie God for his mercy c. Where wee may cleerly understand that by Christs Ministeriall behaviour which was without strife free from all clamours and disputes and which did tend to the uniting of all both Jewes and Gentiles both circumcised and uncircumcised unto God wee are taught to bee without partialitie to endeavour the communication of Gods glory unto all and obliged in our Ministery not to stand and walke by our selves to satisfie our owne desires and enjoy our rights and priviledges which wee pretend unto for private content but rather to please others to their edification although wee should suffer reproaches for their sake For thus Christ was reproached by the Pharisees who were much in love with their owne holinesse for conversing and eating with Publicans and sinners Matth. 9. Vers 10 11 12. Chap. 11. 19. and upon this ground of pleasing others and receiving all that came in his way to the glory of God Christ conversed did eat and drinke with the Samaritanes with whom other Jewes had no dealings John 4. 9. till vers 43. Nor was it without a mystery that at his death hee was crucified between two Malefactors that the Scripture might bee fulfilled which saith and hee was numbred with the transgressors Marke 15. 27 28. For by God and by himselfe justly in respect of the imputation of our sinnes to him and by sinners unjustly hee was numbred in his life and in his death one of them for their good to save them This example of Christ in his Ministery made the Apostle Paul become all things unto all men that hee might gaine some and partake of the Gospel with every one as hee himselfe doth set forth his owne practise to exhort us
to follow it 1 Cor. 9. vers 19. till 24. Now if Christ and the Apostles did thus behave themselves with indifferencie and apply themselves without respect of persons by their Ministery unto all that were any way capable of the outward meanes of edification though great sinners otherwise how can the practise of a Separation or of a Semiseparation be warranted and that even from those who in respect of their profession cannot bee denied to bee our brethren Should wee dare to put upon matters that are meerly circumstantiall and upon things no where expresly enjoyned but rather taken up by our selves more weight then upon all these fundamentall duties of Christianitie and upon the undeniable practise of Christ and his Apostles in the worke of their Ministery If wee doe make our selves and our owne wayes the measure of all perfection surely wee become perfect Idols to and Idolaters of our selves in Gods worship For if in the outward meanes of worshipping and drawing neer to God in publick though his owne ordinances bee observed as hee hath appointed them as to the outward man for to the inward fellowship hee himselfe alone doth admit whomsoever hee pleaseth yet if then wee love to set our selves at a distance from others or reject others from being partakers with us of the ordinances either because wee count them in holinesse inferiour to us or because wee are not satisfied concerning their sinceritie or because they come not up to joyne in opinion with us concerning all the circumstantials of our way If I say for these or such like causes wee stand aloof in the common profession and think that God is no where to be found but in our way and societie doe wee not Idolize our selves doe wee not make our selves the onely rule of all perfection and say in our hearts Stand thou by thy selfe come not neer for I am holyer then thou And what Isa 65. 5. can bee imagined more opposit to the love humilitie and condescension of Christ and his Apostles in the way of their Ministery Let us therefore take heed to this snare let us count nothing perfect but that which upon the grounds of the common profession is conformable to the example of Christ and his Apostles who came into the world to save and draw sinners unto God not by a distance but by a condescension unto them in their weaknesse As for the communion and correspondencie which the primitive Ministers maintained one with another in the Ministeriall workes wee shall find that it did tend to these foure ends First to advance the conversion of the Gentiles to the faith and profession of Christianitie Secondly to build up and confirme those that had received the truth of the Gospel that they might be setled therein Thirdly to preserve those that were setled from the danger of seducers Fourthly and lastly to strengthen themselves in the workes of their employment towards the Churches All which aimes are still necessary to bee followed and therefore the meanes which are serviceable thereunto and which they then used must not now bee neglected if they can bee set afoote First wee find then that for the propagation of the Gospel amongst the Gentiles some went forth to preach unto them the name of Christ and tooke nothing of them To receive such and bring them forward on their journey after a Godly sort was a worke of holy Communion commended in Gajus by the Apostle John as being a dutie which all ought to intend and the ground why all ought to intend it is that all may be fellow-helpers to the truth This practise then is still to 3 John 6. 7 8. bee followed by all that are called to the Ministery so long as the propagation of the truth shall be necessary Secondly for the confirmation and edification of converts in the faith by the care of neighbour Ministers corresponding with those that did convert them wee have an example in Acts 8. 14. where the Ministers of the Church at Jerusalem sent to Samaria two of their number to confirme the beleevers and build them up in the faith in like manner when they heard that some were turned unto the Lord in Antioch they sent Barnabas and he went to the same end and purpose Acts 11. 20 21 22 23. Thirdly for the preservation of the truth from the danger of Seducers and the decision of doubts in doctrine and practise cast in amongst the professours to trouble them wee have an example of Brotherly Communion and Correspondency in Acts 15. vers 1. till 30. where one Church doth crave and another doth contribute assistance counsell and authoritie in a Synodicall way towards the decision and settlement of the difference which broke forth amongst them Fourthly the example wherein Ministers amongst themselves did strengthen one another in the worke of their employment towards the Churches is that of the Apostles of the Jewes and Gentiles who having communicated together concerning the doctrine which they preached Gal. 2. vers 2. and made known to one another their practise Verse 3 4 5 6. to gaine mutuall approbation and confirmation therein Verse 6. 7 8. they did enter into a contract of followship Vers 9. and an obligation of Communion and communication of good things between their Churches Vers 9 10. Nor was it found lawfull or answerable to the truth of the Gospel that upon humane considerations or partiall respects that Communion should be broken Vers 11. till the end From all which againe doth follow that which formerly hath beene concluded that nothing is more conscionable nothing more commendable nothing more profitable and nothing more sutable to the glory of God and the perfecting of the Saints in the worke of the Ministery then that the Ministers of the Gospel should maintaine a Brotherly Communion and correspondency one with another and that such as neglect this dutie walke not worthy of the calling wherewith they are called in imitation of Christ and his Apostles Sect. V. Concerning that which concernes the Office of the Ministery in it self IF wee reflect upon the Ministeriall office in it selfe and consider that whereunto it hath a speciall reference wee shall find that all Ministers that are faithfull to their charge are bound at all times to have respect unto foure things The first is their relation unto Christ as they are under him who is the head of the Church The second is their relation to the Church as therein they are Officers The third is their relation to the workes of their charge in the Office The fourth is their relation to their fellow-labourers in these workes None of these respects must be wanting because without their subordination unto Christ they are no Ministers nor are they otherwise in Christ but as they are members of his Church nor can they bee counted members without a work to performe because the use of every member is to be an Organ of the soul in the body now the soul of this body is
in the world to prevent or to rectifie the distempers which arise from thence but yet wee must say in this case what Christ saith in another With men this is Matth. 19. 26. impossible but with God all things are possible Therefore I beleeve that God is able both to prevent and rectifie such excesses of passion two wayes First by wakening our consciences effectually towards himself in minding The remedy of these distempers us of the end and way of our ministeriall function as it is in Christ that is to say to teach us to aime at nothing but to bee conformable unto Christ by minding the same thing which he did mind towards God and by walking in the same way wherein hee is gone before us to glorifie his Father in his Ministery Secondly by setting a spirituall edge upon our affections towards men not to consider them after the flesh but after the spirit as they are or may be in Christ Iesus our Brethren That is to say to walke in all things towards them by the Law of Christian Brotherhood and make the positive rules thereof beare the onely sway in all our resolutions For by these principles and by these alone wee shall bee enabled both to free our selves from the trouble which otherwise will fall upon us for small and inconsiderable matters of difference in judgement and practise and also to cause all outward concernments fall flat before the Majestie of Gods will in the duties of peace and Brotherhood but without these wee shall bee found void of all strength to doe any such thing and every little trifle will make us fall from our own stedfastnesse Whence it is that because these principles and duties have been and are disrespected in our work of reformation amongst those that undeniably are Brethren therefore the scandalls which are given to the weak and observed by the wicked to discredit our proceedings are multiplied to the sadding of the hearts of all that are godly nor is there any other way imaginable as I conceive relating to conscience fit to remove them and to heale the breaches which follow thereupon but this to manifest unto those that are faithfull to their principles and conscionable in the Ministery that the relation wherein God hath set them one towards another is a brotherly Unitie which in it self is so full and satisfactory and by his commandement is so strict and obligatory that whosoever doth not take up the profession thereof and endeavour to observe the duties belonging thereunto shall not only be found a transgressour but even inexcusable and unworthy of the name of a Christian For this cause I have laid to heart this subject of Brotherly Unitie and Forbearance that if God permit it may cleerly though briefly bee laid open to some of the Ministery that seeme wholly to neglect the consideration thereof For my scope is onely to name the chief heads of their agreement to shew how ful satisfactory it is in my opinion to settle the profession and practise of a Christian Brotherhood between them offering this that if any shall make a scruple of the Truth of that which shall bee asserted concerning this matter in brief that a large deduction and demonstration in due time shall bee made thereof to the end that such who heighten matters of strise amongst Brethren that multiply controversies unadvisedly for small matters and that walke by dividing Principles rather then by the spirit of Unitie in the Gospel of Peace may have cause to reflect upon themselves to consider seriously of the errour of their way and shape their course otherwise then hitherto they have done lest happily they bee found guilty of that contentiousnesse and disobedience unto the Truth whereunto the Apostle hath sadly threatned a heavie judgement of wrath and indignation of Anguish and Tribulation in the Epistle to the Rom. Cap. 2. v. 8 9. from which I beseech the Lord to grant unto us all the seale of our deliverance and the effectuall evidences thereof in a conversation which is holy and blamelesse in love CHAP. V. Concerning the particular termes of Vnitie whereunto the Ministers of this kingdome have attained in the doctrine of Faith and in their relation to Christ and his Church FOrasmuch as I am very confident that the Ministers of both sides are fully convicted of each others Orthodoxy in all those Truths which containe not onely the substance and Fundamentals of Christianitie but also all profitable matters unto edification therefore I shall assert the fulnesse and satisfactorinesse of this Unitie briefly in a few propositions which I am sure doe containe much more as to the agreement in doctrinals and no lesse as to the agreement in their relation unto Christ and his Church then is requisite to make up a Brotherly Vnitie First then it is undeniably evident that they all acknowledge and receive the same holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to bee the onely Word of God outwardly given both to the Church in generall and to all men in particular as the onely rule of Faith and Obedience which in it selfe and to all beleevers is cleer and sufficient for the attainement of salvation and for their direction in all good workes Secondly they all agree that in doubtfull places of Scripture the Interpretation thereof is to bee taken from the undoubted analogie that is the proportion of Faith which is in other cleer places of Scripture and from the right Analysis that is the resolution or division of the context of the same place Thirdly it is evident that they all beleeve unanimously that in these holy Scriptures is revealed unto us that there are three bearing witnesse in heaven the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghost and that these three are one and the onely true and living God of whom the true knowledge is life eternall Fourthly they all agree to professe and teach that wee have hope to bee justified and saved by Faith onely in God through Iesus Christ alone who according to the Scriptures is the Messias promised to the Fathers and sent into the world and who being the onely begotten Sonne of the Father from eternitie was in time made flesh a true man like unto us sinne excepted in all things and becomming a Mediator between God and us suffered our punishment and paid the ransome for our sinnes to satisfie Gods justice and doth still make intercession for us in heaven Fifthly they all agree fully in this That there hath been alwayes that now there is and ever shall bee unto the end of the world amongst men a true Church wherein God is worshipped according to his will in spirit and truth by the Ordinances of his owne appointment That unto this Church the promises of perpetuall assistance by the spirit and word of protection against the gates of hell and of remission of sinnes are made in and through the Covenant of grace and that such as live in this Covenant the life of
the advantage of loving conferences whereby differences may be reconciled and mistakes and scandals prevented and taken out of the way or so long as there is cause to thinke that God may reveale his profitable truths to such as erre not wilfully but through weakenesse of judgement and harmelesly Phil. 3. 15 16. and 2 Tim. 2. 22 23 24 25 26. CHAP. IX Concerning the way how to settle and prosâ—cute a mutuall Toleration by rules wherein there is an agreement HItherto in this matter of forbearance wee have looke upon the principles of our dutie which wee conceive both â—ides will fully assent unto if now wee can also from thence gather and from other undeniable and knowne truths find out some rules which may direct us in a way how to settle and prosecute to a full period of practise the duties of this forbearance and if these rules being found out can bee applied to the case in hand between the parties by some transaction so fully and orderly that none who doth assent unto the principles and the rules can except against the proceedings therein if I say these rules can be thus found out and applied then we shall be able convincingly to conclude that all such as follow not the practise thereof walke neither answerable to the light which they have received nor to the vocation wherewith they are called in the profession of Christianitie and consequently that as they are not upright in their way so they shall bee frustrate of the felicitie promised thereunto and receive the reward of hypocrites for in this case that which Christ said unto his Disciples is to bee said unto thâ—â—inistery and to the professors of this kingdome John 13. 17. If ye know these things happy are yee if yee â—â—e them But if you know them not you cannot bee happy in doing them and if knowing them you doe them not your profession shall be found vaine and your end eternall misery for not every one that saith Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdome of heaven but Matth. â— 21. hee onely who doth the will of God who is in heaven From all which wee must gather this conclusion that if wee know that there is a forbearance which is necessary it will not be enough for us to know what the principles thereof are but the way how to practise the duties must also bee sought after and regularly followed Let us then doe this and endeavour to find the rules of such a transaction as will beget between the parties a settlement of that toleration whereof wee have seene and allowed the principles And to this effect if any Treatie or conference be intended for without some such thing nothing can bee setled there must be before all other things an agreement found in the aime of the transaction and in the meanes to bring it to passe For if these two be not determined by common consent and a resolution fixed to proceed according to that determination nothing will take effect or be successefull in the transaction The aime then of the transaction should not bee to settle a forbearance which should leave the parties or confirme them in the distance whereinto they are unhappily fallen But both sides should expresly declare that the Treatie is to bee set afoot and professedly intended for these two ends First that a dore may bee kept open and enlarged to further a more perfect unitie then as yet the parties have attained unto Secondly that a path and course to maintaine the further unitie which will be attained by Gods blessing may bee prepared and made more plaine and easie then hitherto it hath been If this aime bee sincerely taken up the meanes to bring it to passe will neither be difficult to be found nor without successe when they are set a worke amongst true Christians I shall offer therefore at them First then the meanes to open a dore to advance the parties to a more perfect unitie then as yet they have attained unto is to find out and settle rules of mutuall condescension Secondly the meanes to make the path plaine and easie to maintaine and walke in the unitie which shall bee setled is to remove by common consent and upon conscionable motives all the causes of disaffection and of breaches For if both sides cannot onely yeeld and stoop to embrace each other in love but also remove all that which may occasion the dissolving of that embracement we may bee sure that peace and unitie will bee setled without interruption Therefore in hope that either now or hereafter this may bee laid to heart and followed to produce a necessary toleration I shall offer my thoughts of these two meanes CHAP. X. Of the rules of condescension how they may bee found out VVEe have formerly seene that some toleration amongst Christians is necessary if so then undoubtedly some condescension also towards one another because without some yeelding it is not imaginable that any mutuall forbearance can bee setled or transacted amongst parties that are at variance and although this might suffice to satisfie the scruples of some who perhaps will boile at the matter of condescension as prejudiciall to the truth of the holy profession yet I shall adde a word to shew the lawfulnesse of such a course as being a dutie recommended unto us by God and necessary for edification The Apostle Rom. 15. 1 2. saith that we ought not to please our selves but that every one of us should please his neighbour for his good to edification Now in this case every one is supposed to be strong and the neighbour whom hee ought to please is by the Apostle supposed to be weake Therefore wee are all bound to yeeld unto each other as supposing others to be weake that wee may be able to edifie each other And to presse this home as a dutie to the conscience of all hee doth give us Christs example as a patterne thereof in this particular that he did not seek to please himselfe but condescended even to beare reproaches that wee might bee edified by that which is written of him vers 3. and 4. And then to make an application of this unto the end for which he doth prescribe it as a dutie hee first prayeth to God for us and secondly exhorts us to the imitation of Christs example His prayer is that God would grant us to be like minded one towards another according to Christ Jesus that wee may glorifie God with me mind and mouth where he intimates two things which are in this matter very considerable First that except wee have this grace to bee so minded unto each others as Christ was to us wee cannot bee at unitie amongst our selves Secondly that except wee be united with one mind and one mouth in our profession of Christ God cannot be glorified by us vers 5 6. Then his exhortation is a consequence inferred upon these premises thus ver 7. Wherefore receive yee one another as Christ also received us to
the glory of God Now Christ received us to the glory of God that is to the participation of Gods love and goodnesse by a great condescension unto our weaknesse studying not to please himselfe but us to our good therefore wee are all bound to yeeld unto each other in like manner so then some condescension is both lawfull and requisite Compare with this that which is further to this purpose delivered concerning Christ Phil. 2. 4 5 6 7 and 1 Pet. 2. 21 22 23. But to presse further the point which in this dutie is to be heeded let us consider the precept given by the Apostle Rom. 12. 16. and his owne practise which hee sets before us elsewhere to bee followed as an example of that rule The precept is this Be of the same mind one â—â—wards another mind not high things but condescend to mâ—n of low estate or to mean things bee not wise in your own conoâ—its As if he had said it is your dutie to bee like minded towards each other in love and that you may not bee taken off from performing this take heed to your thoughts that you neither affect high matters wherein naturally men use to please themselves nor that you bee in love with your owne wisedome but studie rather to make your mindes pliable and bring your selves to condescend to men and matters that are meane and low for except you all resolve upon this you can never bee of the same mind one towards another So then wee see that some condescension is not onely lawfull but wholly requisite to maintaine love and unitie and resist pride and self-love whence strife and confusion doth proceed Answerable unto this rule was the Apostles own practise mentioned 1 Cor. 9. for our imitation for there from the first verse till the 19th he sheweth that although hee had a full right to take maintenance from the Church of Corinth for his service done to them yet he would not doe it but condescended rather for their weakenesse sake to make the Gospel of Christ without charge unto them lest hee might bee thought to abuse his power in the Gospel So then to prevent an inconveniencie hee did condescend to quit his right to a benefit and a conveniencie which he might otherwise have lawfully enjoyed But then from vers 19. till the end of the Chapter hee speakes of another kind of condescension wherein hee did exercise himself and which hee relates that hee might therein bee imitated by others which was this that although hee was free from all men yeâ— hee made himselfe a servant to all that hee might gaine the more Vers 19. To the Jewes he became as a Jew to them that are under the Law as under the Law Vers 20. To them that are without Law â—â— without Law though hee was not without Law to God but under the Law to Christ Vers 21. To the weake he became as weake and he made himselfe by way of condescension all things unto all men that hâ—â— might by all meanes save some Vers 22. And the reason why hee exercised himselfe in this dutie was not onely for the good of others but for his owne good also in three things First that he might partake of the Gospel with every one in every condition Vers 23. Secondly that hee might keepe himselfe in a fit temper of spirit so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in his calling as to receive the prize and so to fight as not to 〈◊〉 the aire Vers 24 25 26. And thirdly that hee might bee master of his own body lest if hee neglected the dutie of bringing it into subjection hee might bee sound himselfe a reprobate after all his paines in preaching the Gospel unto others Vers 27. Thus wee see that the Apostle doth make this not onely a dutie which is lawfull but in some sort necessary to the faithfull discharge of the ministeriall function even so farre that without the performance of it a man can neither gaine all sorts of people to the Gospel noâ— partake fully of the Gospel himselfe nor â—ee in a temper so to runne and strive as to gaine his incorruptible crowne before others nor at last escape the danger of being a castaway although hee hath painefully preached the Gospel unto others From all which wee must conclude that the studie of condescension chiefly in a Minister with whom I am now dealing is not a matter of indifferencie but a dutie of very great importance And if so then wee are obliged in conscience not onely to resolve upon the practise but to seeke out the rules by which our conversation in this matter may bee ordered aright for seeing in every dutie there are some rules and in this of condescension because none do set themselves to the practise thereof the rules are not lookt into Seeing also none ought in any thing to presume to prescribe rules unto others but all should rather in all humilitie search after the discovery thereof in the holy Scriptures and then hold forth in simplicitie that which God doth teach them and they find profitable for the edification of others therefore we shall apply our selves unto this search and offer that which wee suppose neither side will except against and yet may prove a sufficient directory for the practise of condescension and the transaction of a forbearance in the cases of our divisions Wee shall say then that to find out without difficultie the rules of condescension towards a forbearance three things should bee reflected upon 1 That wherein there can bee no yeelding 2 That wherein there may bee and ought to bee a voluntary yeelding 3 That which may draw forth and oblige the spirits of men to discover the things whereunto they shall bee willing of themselves to yeeld Concerning the first there can bee nor condescension proposed which should oblige any to make profession of any thing otherwise then it is in his heart For no man can with a good conscience yeeld to professe any untruth or transact to relinquish his sense and opinion of any thing which hee doth esteeme a point of truth or of right I say no man can condescend to relinquish his opinion or his challenge of a right to a priviledge because the matters of truth and right can edifie no man but disedifie both our selves and others if they bee denyed and professedly given up A man may dispense with a truth so farre as not to speak of it to all sorts of persons or at all times because they cannot beare it nor is it seasonable for edification to speake all truths at all times as wee may see by Christs example John 16. 12. and the Apostles practise 1 Cor. 3. 1 2. and the rules Matth. 7. 6. and Rom. 14. 1. And concerning a point of right a man may dispense with the use of it as wee see the Apostle doth 1 Cor. 9. But no man ought to yeeld himselfe obliged to deny any truth or not to beare witnesse to it when it is opposed
Heb. 10. 24. Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good workes and Phil. 2. 15 16. Bee ye blamelesse and harmelesse the sonnes of God without rebuke shine as lights in the world hold forth the word of life From all which this expedient will follow towards the finding out of the rules of condescension that every one who doth delight to goe before others in good workes and walke in the light ought in obedience to the will of God revealed in these commandements of his owne accord to offer unto his neighbour with whom hee doth desire to walke in peace and unitie a full discovery of those principles and rules by which hee doth find himselfe obliged in conscience according to Gods will to walke towards every one in the wayes of condescension If every one would doe this freely and fully it would bee easie without any danger of disagreement or of debates about particular interests which continually trouble the wayes of our profession to set downe the rules of condescension and forbearance for that might bee taken as a rule to bind every one which hee should offer freely and acknowledge to bee an obligation upon his conscience or which being offered unto him by others should by the Law of love bind him to practise the like unto them For I conceive this to be equall that what another doth yeeld unto mee supposing the matter in it selfe to be lawfull I should yeeld unto him in like manner even as I would have him yeeld unto mee that which I offer unto him as then I would not have any to presse upon mee any thing of a Religious concernment further then my light from the Word doth lead mee to embrace it so I ought not to intend to presse upon others any thing of that nature further then their light doth lead them but as I would bee born withall so I should beare with another till God give in more light to either of us by private meditations or regular conserences In the meane time let that which is yeelded on all sides bee setled as a rule of agreement to walke by and improved to the best advantage of peace and unitie Thus wee see that if every one would but hold forth his principles of light and life unto others and would bind himselfe as in the presence of God to walke answerable thereunto wee might easily come to the settlement and observation of the rules of condescension CHAP. XI Concerning the causes of disaffection and of breaches how they should bee removed by common consent THe first and originall causes of disaffection and of breaches are for the most part not taken notice of and hardly discerned by many even then when they are discovered because they lie very close to our nature for they are commonly nothing else but the neglect of charitable inclinations and duties and the unadvised admitting of prejudices and entertaining of evill surmises which not being observed and cured fester in the mind and first breed a shinesse or warinesse of him against whom they are conceived then a distance from him afterwards a strangenesse to his wayes and lastly a breach of unitie with opposition The causes of prejudice are very many in all sorts of men those which the ungodly and naturall man doth entertaine against a conscionable and religious walking with God I need not here to meddle withall * Viz R. Junius in two Treatises the one called The cure of Prejudice the other The cure of Misprision another hath handled that subject profitably at large and shewed the cure thereof but those which godly and religious men through humane frailtie entertaine one against another are the matter which here is to bee considered to make the way of unitie and forbearance plaine and easie and I shall now onely name them and point at the cure thereof in a word or two because I doe intend to speak to men of understanding onely to whom God hath committed the charge of soules and my aime towards them is not to dictate any thing but onely to discover the possibility of a cure of this disease first in themselves and then in their hearers by the removall of the chiefe causes of all our prejudices which I shall reduce to two heads whereof the one is openly the other is secretly offensive That which doth openly offend and causeth prejudices to rise in the mindes of men who are otherwise godly and against men who are truely godly and their Brethren is the irregularitie of disputes and debates about matters of Religion which is mainly twofold some irregularitie there is in respect of the matter some there is in respect of the manner of disputing In respect of the matter prejudices are raised when men strive about needlesse matters and contend for words and this the Apostle doth often warne Timothy to avoid as a thing whereunto the Ministers were and would bee much subject 1 Tim. 1. 4 5 6. and chap. 4. 7. and chap. 6. 4 5. 20. and 2 Tim. 2. 14 15 16 17 23. In respect of the manner of debating matters which are necessary and profitable prejudices are raised divers wayes but that which is the most common and hurtfull is that of passionate and provoking expressions against a mans person and his opinions to make him odious and his errours thought to bee extreame dangerous in that wherein hee dissents from us these railing accusations and all other injurious and insolent proceedings breed averse affections and stirring up mens spirits to strife and contradictions augment prejudices extreamly and fill the Churches with disturbance and confusion That which doth offend more secretly and doth beget much prejudice is the perverse and uncharitable observation of mens failings when they are construed suspiciously to the worse sense and then whispered in the eares of others that are leading men under the pretence of a caution or warning given unto them to take heed of this or of that for the strengthning of their hands in partiall designes and the promoting of particular interests This darke malicious devill who covers himselfe oft-times with a cloke of light and a zeale for holinesse and truth is exceeding busie in our dayes and hurtfull to our affaires and doth work his mischiefe not onely against him who is blasted in his reputation to make all the good which his talents may produce unprofitable unto others but also against the Authors of such whisperings themselves to make them the ring-leaders of division and of evill intelligence amongst brethren These are in brief the chief causes of our prejudices these must needs bee removed else the way of a lawfull condescension and forbearance will never bee plaine and easie in the settlement nor lasting in the continuance it will then bee of absolute necessitie that some course bee taken to remedy the same Therefore I shall for the present onely advise that when a brotherly transaction of matters towards a mutuall forbearance shall bee intended
then some rules should bee thought upon debated and by common consent setled concerning three things First how needlesse disputes and multiplicitie of new controversies breaking forth in the Presse and Pulpit may be prevented Secondly how the injuriousnesse of censures and of proceeding which men of partiall dispositions and of high thoughts runne into may bee rectified when disputes are necessary And Thirdly how the secret mischief of suspicious whisperings and tale-bearing amongst Brethren may bee prevented and being discovered satisfactorily corrected And that some rules of righteousnesse may bee found in the Word to remedie these evills and may bee raised from the nature of Christian charitie equitie ingenuitie pietie discretion and prudencie I suppose none will deny who doth beleeve that the holy Scriptures with and by the spirit of God which is promised to the children of God are able to make the man of God perfect and throughly furnished unto every good word and worke Thus I have made out as briefly and as distinctly as this occasion seemeth to require the truth of the first and second assertion of this discourse namely that the Ministery of this kingdome is undeniably obliged in conscience to the mutuall profession of Brotherhood and that the termes of their unitie and forbearance are both in themselves full and satisfactory and may bee setled reciprocally amongst them in a plaine and easie way if the men that lead others were but willing to looke to God more then to men and to conscience more then to outward interests CHAP. XII The third Assertion Concerning the motions which should induce us to make profession of this unitie and forbearance Why these are requisite and what they are BUt now although these things are evidently thus demonstrable and by all that which hitherto hath been alledged it may be manifestly apparent that these who are the leaders of the flockes should not onely stand united and walk by one rule in that whereunto they have attained but also that their differences may and ought to bee composed in love by amiable meetings by orderly conferences and by the settlement of a necessary and lawfull forbearance of each other although I say all this is so yet wee see to the great dishonour of God the lamentable disadvantage of the truth and the extreame griefe of many godly soules that this hath not hitherto either beene done or effectually prosecuted and intended by thâ—se that are in the worke of the Ministery or if it hath been intended by some yet not so as it ought to have been that is upon the grounds which are proper unto their vocation What the causes of this neglect may bee wee shall not now particularly search into onely in generall wee may take notice that all such failings in dutie may proceed from two main causes either that men otherwise knowing and godly yet consider not the necessitie of this dutie in respect of the evills that follow upon the neglect thereof or that the excellencie commendablenesse and worth thereof is either not known or if not unknown yet not laid to heart Now then in this our present sad condition if any thing can be suggested which may be a helpe to remove these causes of our failing in this kind it may bee hoped that godly and conscionable men will bee more carefull of the performance and more fearefull of the neglect thereof then hitherto they have been Therefore it will not bee amisse but may bee of very great use to offer some motives and inducements to incline them without partialitie to these resolutions and this wee shall intend to doe if God permit CHAP. XIII Concerning the necessitie of Brotherly unitie in the Ministery IF then we should take into consideration the absolute necessitie of this dutie it will appeare that the present evills whereinto these Churches and the state of this kingdome are fallen and which threaten all with unavoydable ruine are mainely brought upon us through the neglect of that ministeriall unitie and correspondencie which is sutable unto Christianitie For whosoever in the feare of God shall lay to heart the wofull condition of the Churches of Christ in this land will perceive that amongst the manifold causes of our miserable breaches The cause ofâ— all our miseries and sinfull distractions the originall and consequently the greatest of all the rest is this That such as are called to bee the Ministers of the Gospel who by their owne confession are Brethren and fellow-labourers in the same imployment doe not maintaine those duties of Brotherly love fellowship and communion which by the nature of their work and by the appointment of their Lord and Master are made necessary for the manifestation of his glory and for their own mutuall edification For seeing by that which hath been hitherto shewed it must needs be acknowledged that they ought to stand together and looke upon each other as Brethren begotten of the same Father as fellow-souldiers in the same fight and warfare and as fellow-members in the same body of Christ Seeing I say this is confessed and cannot bee denied to bee so it will follow also undeniably that they ought in conscience to discharge the duties belonging to these relations which are not onely to professe a Brotherhood but to bee knit together in fervent love to have the same care one for another and joyntly to communicate in things belonging to the kingdome of Christ But that these duties notwithstanding all these relations are neither really thought upon nor at all prosecured to any purpose almost by any is no lesse undeniable and must needs although to our great shame be plainly and ingenuously confessed Seeing then the guilt of this their fault is so great and so apparent that no colour of excuse can bee pretended to extenuate it therefore the judgement is ripe for them and the punishment hath now in the sight of all the world most justly overtaken them For whereas they were lately in a capacitie to bee as happy within themselves and as profitable to the Kingdome of Christ abroad as any of all the Ministers on earth if they had continued in their unitie now they are like to bee more unsetled and more miserable within themselves and lesse respected by others and lesse usefull both at home and abroad towards the cause of Christ then any that are elsewhere in all the Churches this onely because they have suffered themselves in their profession to bee divided and have not regarded nor doe they yet regard the duties of their Christian Brotherhood The guilt of the Ministery so much as outward concernments For by this meanes they have corrupted the Covenant and are become partiall in the Law and caused many to stumble at the Law and therefore the Lord Mal. 2. 8 9. hath made them contemptible and caused all their adversaries to prevaile against them so that they have just cause to give glory unto him to lay their hands upon their mouths to be sensible of
left almost either in Church or Common-wealth to redresse the injuries of this kind though never so grosse and palpable All this breaketh the hearts of the godly staggereth the weake gladdeth the adversaries openeth a dore to all profanenesse and causeth the Name of God to bee blasphemed and the way of truth to bee evill spoken of in the world at which Atheists and Papists triumph and exult with joy expecting in the end that the effect of all this will bee the utter ruine and desolation of all Protestants Hee that cannot see these evills to rise originally from the misbehaviours of Brethren in the Ministery of the Gospel about their differences is wholly blind hee that doth not feele the inconveniences thereof is senselesse and hee that cannot grieve for the same is hardned in sinfulned Now because all these inconveniencies reach unto all the Professors in some sort alike therefore every one though chiefly the Ministers as chief of the Professors should bee moved thereby to contribute their whole strength towards the speedy removall thereof But besides these common evils there is in this neglect whereof the Ministery is most of all guiltie something which doth more especially reflect and that justly upon themselves More especially upon the Ministery more then others and from them upon their Ministeriall function as tending to make void the authoritie and wholly frustrate the end of their ordinary vocation For although personal faults ought not to prejudice the vocation the credit of the function yet because it is very naturall to all men to make a consequence from the one to the other therefore the Apostle will have even the meanest of the profession to behave themselves so as it may not suffer any disesteeme for their sakes For speaking of servants professing Christianitie to Titus and to Tit. 2. 10. Timothy he will have them to shew all good fidelitie unto their masters that they may adorne the doctrine of Christ our Saviour in 1 Tim. 6. all things and to honour their masters that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed through their misbehaviour If then Christianitie it self will suffer in the opinions of men and bee discredited by the faults of the meanest that take the name thereof upon them how shall it not bee discredited by the miscarriages of those that are the chiefest of the profession and how shall the credit of the ministery be upheld in mens opinions and affections if those to whom the charge thereof is committed dishonour their administration and how can they bee thought to honour their administration if they walke not answerable unto the end thereof Now there is nothing more opposit unto the true end of the Ministeriall calling then this very neglect of dutie whereof they are at this time found guilty For the end use and effect of the Ministeriall worke is to reform the world To perfect the Saints and to edifie the body of Christ Ephes 4. 12 13. till we all come in the unitie of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man but this effect must needs be made void and this end frustrate as long as the Ministers maintaine no Brotherly communion one with another but stand at their distances and are single by themselves so as to have no familiaritie of concurrence about their Masters worke even although he hath therein strictly commanded them to bee united For how can they reforme others that are not reformed themselves How can they bee thought fit to perfect the Saints so long as they seek not one anothers perfection how can they be said to advance the unitie of Faith who doe all things belonging to the profession of faith within themselves dividedly How can they in the work of the Ministery be able joyntly to build up the same body of Christ who in that work maintain no communion one with another in reference unto his body but rather set themselves to make up every one a separate body for himselfe and how can they be able to bring all unto the unitie of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man through love whose imperfection in love is such that they doe value no common relations unto Christ and his service further then these seâ— up some private interests nor do mind the unitie of the spirit through the love of Christ which is common unto all so much as to entertain either commembership or ministeriall fellowship or true Gospel-work-acquaintance with any that are not either setled in the circumstantiall courses of their way or willing to come up unto them therein Wee see then upon these grounds that except this neglect of dutie be reformed and the true end of the Ministeriall work without humane aimes be heartily entertained by those to whom it is intrusted the effects thereof will never prosper in their hands but Satan as hitherto he hath done since they were divided will continually prevaile against them all till hee hath brought them unto finall destruction and irrecoverable desolation This then is the danger whereinto wee are fallen and to lay this to heart is that matter of absolute necessitie which by all should be apprehended but chiefly by those that are called to the Ministery that they in doing their principall dutie which is to studie unitie in the truth in Christianity may uphold the holy profession and thereby intend their mutuall preservation For without all doubt their very being in this kingdome if they take not this course will be very shortly in a most desperat condition because as it is undeniably apparent that hitherto nothing but their own disunion about matters extrafundamentall hath made Satan and their enemies to prevaile against them So it is The application to exhort to unitie cleerly manifest that hence forth nothing but their mutuall union will bee effectuall to maintain what they yet hold or restore what they have lost in the minds of men and of their standing in the profession hee then that doth decline to concurre in the wayes of spirituall unitie with those that offer and sue for the same unto him and being convicted of this danger doth not endeavour to prevent it shall bee found guilty of all the evils that follow upon our breaches of all the ruine that befalleth unto these Churches of all the confusions that from thence arise unto the Commonwealth of all the dishonor done to the name of Christ for want of order in his house and of all the shame and reproach which this Nation is either now aspersed withall abroad amongst their Neighbours or will in after ages cleave unto it If then there is any love to the Fundamentall truths of the Gospel if there is any zeale for righteousnesse and against damnable heresies if there is any just hatred due to Blasphemies and to the wayes of profanenesse and licenciousnesse whereby the kingdome of Satan is erected and setled upon the ruines of Christs kingdome
Concerning the usefulnesse and commendablenesse of brotherly unitie in the worke of the Ministery Sect. I. What the communion and correspondency is wherein our unitie is to be setled HItherto wee have reflected upon that which doth make the studie of brotherly love and unitie amongst us absolutely necessary to avoid the danger of ruine and destruction and the guilt of hindering the progresse of the Gospel in the world now wee shall reflect also upon the usefulnesse and commendablenesse of the dutie in reference unto the work of the Ministery It is no generous disposition to be drawn by meer necessitie and feare unto a dutie but to bee moved thereunto by the lovelinesse of grace and by that which is excellent therein is praise worthy and argueth a noble and vertuous inclination Therefore wee shall set our selves to worke upon this inclination and indeavour to waken it in every one that hath ingenuitie And my aime shall bee rather to deale with the understandings of all able to consider of their wayes to demonstrate that which I conceive to bee a dutie then with the affections of any to perswade them unto a performance before they are convicted of that which is the will of God therein For I shall speak to Ministers and such as I must suppose to bee conscionable and to those I knew nothing so effectuall to perswade as to evidence unto them that a matter is conformable unto the will of God for nothing but this doth interest conscience into action Now lest I should bee mistaken in that which I shall desire to offer as a dutie of the Ministery I shall contract all which for the present I have to say to one assertion which having opened I shall endeavour to make good The assertion is this That although there were no danger of any outward enemies or of Act. 20. 28 29 30. Phil. 1. 27. 1 Cor. 1. 10 11 12 inward breaches and divisions in the Church for the preventing of which to study the unitie of the spirit is wholly necessary yet that for the true 1 Ministers of the Gospel in the duties 2 of their ministeriall charge nothing is more conscionable 3 nothing more profitable 4 nothing more commendable 5 and nothing more sutable to the glory of God 6 and the perfecting 7 of the Saints then to 8 maintain a Brotherly communion 9 and correspondency one with another and that such as lay not this dutie to heart but love rather to stand and walke by 10 themselves and to maintaine the principles 11 of a singular distance from their brethren in the Ministery will not bee able in the end to approve their consciences unto God that they walke worthy of the calling wherewith they are called This assertion is somewhat large therefore to open the parts thereof that my meaning may bee the better understood I shall say of the severall heads thereof thus 1 That by the true Ministers of the Gospel are meant none but such persons as are authorized by an ordinary and regular way of calling to administer the publick ordinances of Christ in his Church 2 That by the duties of their Ministeriall charge are meant the workes which in and towards the Church are to bee performed as an office and such are To labour in the word and prayer to have the care of gathering and constituting the Church to rule and govern the Saints committed to their charge as one body in Christ to dispense the seales of the Covenant to those that belong unto it and to exercise Church discipline over those that are liable to it All which they are bound to attend as occasion is offered and the edification of the Church doth require 3 That when I say a thing is conscionable I meane that it is prescribed by God in his word as a dutie which cannot be neglected without contracting of guilt unto the conscience 4 When I say that a thing is profitable I meane that it doth yeeld in its owne kind some benefit to him that useth it 5 When I say that a thing is commendable I meane that it hath qualities for which it is to bee esteemed and embraced by all 6 By brotherly communion and correspondency I mean not a bare name and profession of brotherhood but a reall conjunction of the thoughts of the desires and affections and of the endeavours of men proceeding from this principle that they acknowledge one another to be the children of the same Father or at least the servants of the same master for as a master is a father to servants so fellow-servants are brethren in service 7 By the meaning of the communion and correspondency I meane a constant following of the duties thereof through the acknowledgment of some professed engagement obliging thereunto 8 By the glory of God in this dutie to bee aimed at I mean besides the generall praise due to him for all his goodnes a more speciall manifestation of the unitie of his Name in all his Saints 9 By the perfection of the Saints in this dutie to be advanced I meane three things 1 The building of them up into one body by the onenesse of the Name of God as Christ and the Father are one that they Ioh. 17. 22 23 may be perfect in one 2 The strengthning of them with might by the Spirit in the inner man that being knit together in love they may be comforted unto Ephes 3. 16. all riches of the full assurance of understanding to the acknowledgment of the Ministery of God and of the Father and of Christ Col. 2. 2. 3 The powerfull propagating of the Gospel of truth in the world to be a testimony thereunto to convict it that Christ is sent of the Father and a means to call in all the elect of God to Iohn 17. 23. the communion of Saints out of it 10. By the standing and walking by ones selfe I meane not the distinction of charges as if none might stand or walke in a distinct office wherein another hath no right to intermeddle or the maintaining of the particular rights belonging to particular Congregations for I hold that every Church hath within it selfe a right to all Christs ordinances in respect that it is built upon the foundation but I meane the disjoynting of mens practises and the dividing of their affections and purposes in the exercise of their distinct charges whereby as parties in opposition to one another they set up markes of distinction and separation between themselves and others whom they cannot deny to belong to Jesus Christ and to be built upon the same foundation with themselves 11 By the maintaining of principles of a singular distance I meane such a plea for the rights and priviledges of particular associations of professors as doth make void the fit joynting and compacting of themselves together with others that stand upon the same foundation that according to the purpose of God the whole building may bee fitly framed together and grow unto
our selves Vers 4. For our behaviour in actions whether they bee our own or other mens whether evill or good charity doth teach the vertues which are to bee exercised in them In our own actions in respect of the forme charity doth not behave it selfe unseemly in respect of the end it seeketh not her own In the actions of others if they bee evill it is not provoked easily to wrath or sharpnesse by them if they bee good it doth not thinke evill of them Vers 5. it s own proper action is joy whereof the object is not iniquitie but truth whether in our selves or others Vers 6. For our behaviour about things if the things are indifferent and present as done by others it beareth with them if the things are good and said or promised by others it beleeveth them or absent and expected from others it hopeth for them if the things are evill it endureth them Vers 7. Thus in all respects it doth make a man compleat in all vertues So that it is not without cause that the Apostle doth call it the bond of perfectnesse and in that respect doth exhort us above all other endeavours to exercise our selves therein Coloss 3. 14. Above all these things put on charitie which is the bond of perfectnesse Thirdly that of all other graces necessary to make us perfect unto salvation charitie is alone the permanent vertue the Apostle doth shew First by declaring that it never faileth Secondly by comparing it with Prophecies with Tongues and with knowledge which all shall faile and vanish away Vers 8 9 10 11 12. And thirdly by exalting it above Faith and Hope as the greatest of these graces Vers 13. And if to all this wee should adde the commendations which the Apostle John in his first Epistle doth give unto this vertue as the chief meanes of our communion with God of comfort within our selves and of our inoffensivenesse towards our neighbour wee might bee very large upon this subject but to such as in their Ministery have any conscionable respect unto the expresse will of God and who can discerne the things that are excellent this will suffice at this time to commend unitie and charitie considered in themselves as they are good pleasant lovely and desirable Sect. III. Of the common rules of Christianitie as they are more especially obligatory unto Ministers in the duties of their calling BEsides the lovelinesse and excellency of these vertues which doth commend to all the practise thereof in a common way there are three speciall considerations which ought to induce Ministers of the Gospell to entertaine in the workes of their Ministery one with another the duties of brotherly communion and correspondency following thereupon The first is taken from the rules which are common to all professors without which none can bee answerable unto the calling wherewith hee is called unto Christianity it selfe The second is taken from the laudable practise of those who are set before them as infallible examples in the Ministery And the third is taken from the consideration of those things which God doth peculiarly require of them as they are Ministers So that none who neglecteth these duties will bee able to approve himselfe in the beautie of holinesse either a true Christian by the common profession or an upright follower of Christ and his Apostles in the Ministery or a faithfull servant to the trust committed unto him in his charge but in the day of accounts must expect to receive not the praise due to the good and faithfull but the reproof to be given to the wicked and slâ—thfull servant together Matth. 25. 21. 23. 26. with his reward As for the duties of the common profession wherein professors are obliged to relate to one another and which to that effect are mainly pressed upon the consciences of all againe and again commended unto us in the Scriptures as matters which to uphold the integritie of the profession before the world are most of all necessary they are nothing else but the effects of unitie and love in truth and holinesse For truth and holinesse are the fundamentalls of a single profession but without the effects of love and unitie in these there can bee no common profession or publick manifestation of the life of Christ unto the world by a body of Professors And for this cause Christ hath made the fundamentall law of the profession in common and the badge of his disciples unto the world to bee this that they should love one another as hee hath loved them Iohn 13. 34 35. A new commandement I give unto you that yee love one another as I have loved you that yee also love one another by this shall all men know that yee are my disciples if yee have love one to another Now if this Law is common to all as they are Christians so that the transgressours thereof doe forfeit their right in Christianitie and are not to bee acknowledged Christs Disciples if they persevere in this fault then it is evident that such of the Ministery as observe it not in their Ministeriall relation one towards another are farre more guiltie then others because their charge in the common profession doth oblige them more to this dutie then others in as much as they are more bound thereby to uphold the truth of the profession then others are for they are the joynts of the body and the instruments of the communion between the members which if they through want of love to each other do either breake or not advance they are not onely guiltie of their owne disunion from their fellow labourers in the Ministery but also of the disjoynting of all other professors and members of Christ one from another in the way of the common calling And this is so much the more to be heeded by how much the Scripture is more frequent and earnest in pressing this dutie and the effects thereof then any other thing requisite in the obedience of Faith To reckon up all the particular commandements and strong motives which are in the New Testament to enforce the practise of this dutie is not my purpose at this time but I would onely remonstrate unto those that intend to bee faithfull unto God and conscionable in their ministery that as the fundamentall Lawes of the common profession which are the practise of love and unitie belong more unto them in respect of each other then unto single members in respect of one another because mutuall love and unitie in the Ministers entertained or not entertained doth beget or destroy the same in common professors so the effects meanes and consequents of those duties are more eminently the concernment of their calling then of any others Therefore I shall briefly point at some places of Scripture wherein the chief effects and meanes of those fundamentals are earnestly recommended unto all that the Ministery of this age may see therein the rule of their comportment and how far wee are strayed from it
Wee are then all commanded and that as a dutie wherein wee are to walke worthy of the vocation wherewith wee are called to study the unitie of the Spirit in the bond of peace because all our fundamentall relations to all the meanes and to Christ and God the Authors of our salvation are one and the same Ephes 4. 1 2 3 4. 5 6. and 1 Cor. 1. 10 11 12 13. and 2 Cor. 13. 11. Col. 3. 13 14 15. Therefore wee are commanded againe and againe to be of the same mind each towards another Rom. 12. 16. Phil. 2. 2. to have the same love and to be of one accord Phil. 2. 2. and 1 Pet. 3. 8. and 1 John 4. 7 8. 11 12. 5. 1. and 2 John 5 6. and 1 Pet. 1. 22. and the measure and hight of this love is that we are bound in imitation of Christ to lay downe our lives for our brethren 1 John 3. 16. and Joh. 15. 12 13. far more then ought wee to deny our selves in lesser things The effects of these graces and the meanes to honour the holy profession by the practise thereof are of two sorts the one positive the other negative The positive effects of the spirit of love and unitie are the expressions of all good will towards others in the common profession and the use of all the meanes whereby the integritie thereof may be upheld in every one These are chiefly 1 Mutuall care to build up each other to pray for each other to keep each other in the love of God Jud. 20. 21. and to this effect 2 To looke to each others things and not to our owne things alone Phil. 2. 4. and 1 Cor. 10. 24. 3 To serve each other in love Gal. 5. 13. 4 To please our neighbour for good to his edification Rom. 15. 2. 5 To provoke one another to love and good workes Heb. 10. 24. and to follow the good whereunto we are provoked Hebr. 12. 14. 6 To exhort and admonish one another Heb. 3. 13. Rom. 15. 14. 7 To preferre others to our selves in love and by humility Rom. 12. 10. Phil. 2. 3. 8 To have compassion on each other in cases of infirmitie considering our owne condition lest wee also be tempted Jud. 22. Gal. 6. 1. 9 To beare one anothers burdens and in the spirit of meeknesse supporting the weake to restore one another Gal. 6. 1 2. and 1 Thes 5. 14. Rom. 15. 1. 10 To make a difference of faults and to save some as pulling them out of the fire Jud. 22 23. The negative effects of this spirit are the inclinations and indeavours whereby all evills which may occasion the breach of unitie or love are avoided And to this effect wee are commanded 1 Not to seeke or to please our selves Rom. 15. 1. 3. Phil. 2. 4. 6 7 8. 2 Not to have any evill will or hatred against any 1 Pet. 2. 1. and 1 John 2. 9 10 11. 3 Not to bee vaine-glorious to provoke any or to envie one another Gal. 5. 26. 4 Not to revenge or recompense evill with evill Rom. 12. 17. 19. 21. and 1 Thes 5. 15. but to forbeare and to forgive one another in cases of offence Ephes 4. 2. Col. 3. 13. 5 Not to murmur nor dispute nor to give offence unto any Phil. 2. 14 15 16. and 1 Cor. 10. 32. 6 Not to strive nor to fight nor to beat our fellow servants Matth. 24. 49. and to avoid this it is especially required in the Ministers of the Gospel 2 Tim. 2. 24 25. Of all which and such like duties whereof the Scriptures are full and which tend to perfect the Saints in their holy communion and to direct brethren in the common profession of Christianitie to advance truth and holinesse in themselves and others wee must say this that they oblige Ministers in a threefold respect above others For they are not onely bound to observe these rules in all their wayes as they are Christians but they are moreover bound to observe them First towards all more eminently then other common professors because they are appointed to bee the Salt of the earth and the light of the world and as a City built upon a hill that cannot bee hid Matth. 5. 13 14. Secondly towards their fellow Ministers more especially and distinctly then towards others because they are bound to them by a double tie of followship viz. by that of Christianitie and that of the Ministery And thirdly they are bound to observe these rules towards the workes and in the performances of their Ministeriall administrations more exactly then in and towards other common duties because those workes and performances are of a more important nature then other workes as being more universail and more leading in their kind and such as more neerly concerne the glory of God and reflect upon the soules of men in order to him so that a small failing in any of these is more hurtfull to the profession then a greater fault in any other kind So that wee must forcibly conclude that because all the common rules of Christianitie are more obligatory unto Ministers towards one another in the duties of their calling then unto common professors that therefore the chief and most fundamentall rules of the holy profession which concerne love and unitie communion and correspondency are more binding towards them chiefly in the workes of their Ministeriall administration then towards any others and consequently that the neglect of the least of these duties in any of them is a greater guilt and lesse excusable then in any others the commission of a grosse misdemenour A little moat in the eye will trouble the whole body more then a great handfull of dirt and dust cast upon any other part of the face and the least prick that may bee in the heart or in the pia mater of the braine as Physitians say will kill a man infallibly but a great wound in the flesh nay a stab through the whole body may be cured A thorne in a small joynt will indanger a gangrene to the whole body whereas a great impostume in a part of the flesh will be without danger may be a means though with some trouble to purge the whole of many evill humours Thus a little sparke of disaffection in one Minister against another or breach of unitie in the least dutie of their charge may prove infinitely more hurtfull to the whole Church of God then great and grosse hostilities in common professors for matters of outward concernment Now amongst all the faults and defaults of Ministers in their charge that of the want of mutuall love and of care to maintaine the unitie of the spirit in the profession of Christianitie together with a delight to stand at a distance by themselves is to me one of the greatest because it doth directly crosse the chief end of their Ministeriall function which is to gather the beleevers into one visible body and to bring that body to the
separately each from other without any care to maintaine good neighbourhood and acquaintance but rather to crosse one another in their walkes and draw sheep one from another how will they bee able to answer it to him that hath intrusted them with the joynt care of his flock I find that when the soul Cant. 1. 7 8 which is in love with Christ doth seeke to find him out it is afraid to turne aside unto the flockes of his companions and when it is directed how to come to him it is bid goe forth by the footsteps of the flock and feed besides the shepheards tents whence wee may observe that the multitude of flocks under many pretending to bee Christs companions doe perplex the soule and turne it aside from him but the unitie of the flock under shepheards that are united is the way wherein Christ is to bee found Thirdly their relation to the workes of their employment doth wholly necessitate them to maintaine mutuall love and unitie because not onely these duties in themselves are a principall part of their worke but what ever else doth belong to their charge whether it concerne the Church or the Gospel it can neither bee acceptable unto God nor profitable unto men except it bee done in the spirit of love and unitie First then that these duties are recommended unto them as a maine part of the very worke which is chiefly to be aâ—med at in their profession I suppose hath been abundantly made out by that which formerly hath been alleadged Secondly that nothing can bee acceptable unto God without this frame of spirit is evident because God is love and hee that loveth not knoweth not God 1 John 4. 8. and on the contrary hee that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in him ibid. Vers 16. Moreover he that doth not all his workes in love as he is commanded 1 Cor. 16. 14. transgresseth the whole Law by the unlovely frame of his spirit because as love is the fulfilling of the whole Law Rom. 13. 8 9 10. So the want of it must needs bee the transgression of the whole Law and hee that is not subject to the Law of God cannot please him saith the Apostle Rom. 8. 7 8. And as nothing can bee acceptable unto God which is not done in love so it cannot bee profitable unto men For if God blesse it not how can it prosper towards them and how can hee blesse that which is displeasing to him And then the Apostle tells us that knowledge is apt to puffe men up but it is Charitie which edifieth 1 Cor. 8. 1. And what I say of love may bee verified of unitie as it is the fruit of love inseparable from it in Christs aime John 37. 23. and equally recommended to us by the Apostle 1 Cor. 1. 10. and 2 Cor. 13. 11. Ephes 4. 1. Ephes 4. 1. till 7. Phil. 2. 2. whence wee see that all things which are to bee done by any must thus bee qualified to find acceptance but if wee looke more distinctly upon the proper workes of their employment towards the Church and for the Gospel wee shall perceive more cleerly the intrinsecall coherence which is found between these duties and the Ministeriall administrations For the workes of their administration towards the Church are all the Ordinances of God belonging to the publick worship in the word and prayer whereunto the Sacraments the Acts 6. 4 Government and the Discipline are subordinate that therein by the Word and Prayer the Saints may have communion with God through the Spirit The whole substance and summe of all that they have to doe is expressed by the Apostle Ephes 4. Ephes 4. from Vers 11. till 17. where I observe that all the gifts and Vers 11. Offices which Christ hath given to his Church both the extraordinary of Apostles Prophets and Evangelists and the ordinary of Pastors and teachers their worke is the same towards the Church unto the worlds end namely this 1. To bee serviceable Vers 12. in perfecting the Saints and in building up the body of Christ in Faith and knowledge till they all come to the unitie thereof unto a perfect man unto the measure of the stature of the fulnesse of Christ Vers 13. Where wee see that the end of their worke is nothing else but the perfection of unitie and consequently if any should not aime at this it is evident that they come short of the true end of their administration of the ordinances and shoot not at the marke which God hath set before them Secondly their service is to preserve by this meanes the Vers 14. Professors of Christianitie from that unsettlement which is brought upon those that are children in understanding by the different doctrines of men and their sleights and cunning craftinesse whereby they lay in wait to deceive the simple and draw disciples after them whence wee may gather that if the true Ministers had done their worke as they should have done in love and unitie from the beginning of the Reformation the deceivers of these times would never have prevailed so as they have done hitherto But because this hath not been intended therefore they have gotten all the advantages that they can desire and wish for both against us and all other Protestants Thirdly their worke is not onely to unite them in faith and Vers 15. knowledge and to preserve them from seducers but to endeavour their growth in all things into him who is their head Christ by the sinceritie and truth of love Fourthly and to this effect their worke is to compact them Vers 16. and joyne them together as one body to build up themselves in love by that which every joynt is able to supply unto another Whence wee may most evidently perceive that the whole substance of their worke towards the Church and Saints to perfect them and build them up is in effect nothing but this to unite them in the faith and knowledge of Christ to preserve them from unsettlement and to cause them grow up within themselves by the loving communication of their graces to each other As concerning the work which they are to intend for the Gospel to maintain the profession of it in the world it is in a word to uphold the truth which is after godlinesse that it Tit. 1. 1. may be acknowledged to bee the grace of God which bringeth salvation and that it may appeare unto all men to teach them to Tit. 2. 11 12 13 14. deny ungodlinesse and worldly lusts and to live soberly righteously and godly in this present world looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and the Saviour Jesus Christ who gave himselfe for us that hee might redeeme us from all iniquity and purifie unto himselfe a peculiar people jealous of good workes Now to hold forth this word of life the Apostle requireth in all Professours and therefore most of all in
or not to challenge his right to a priviledge when it is called in question for to do so were to betray truth and righteousnesse which cannot stand with a good conscience therefore no condescension may bee intended to suppresse the profession of these things but rather a transaction is to be intended to this purpose that both sides shall beare with one another in such a profession without offence and grant a freedome to each other to declare the truth as it is in their hearts for this is the dutie and one of the commendable characters of those that shall abide in the tabernacle of God and dwell in his holy hill Psal 15. 1 2. Concerning the second namely that wherein there may and â—â—ght to bee a voluntary yeelding on all sides I shall not take upon me to specifie any rules for that is to bee referred to the transaction of the forbearance it self but I shall onely mention the heads of matters whereof rules may bee determined and gathered from the Word As first there may and ought to bee a mutuall condescension towards the setling of wayes and expedients of different sorts of orderly proceedings at severall places and times in publick meetings for the confirmation of the unitie of the spirits of brethren in the common profession and for the avoiding of confusion As for example at the publick meetings in some places they have no Assessors adjoyned to him that is the Prolocutor in other places they have in some places the Prolocutor or Mediator of the meeting is perpetually the same in other places he is continually changed and that either by a new election through the pluralitie of votes or without any election by a vicissitudinary succession of one after another into the office of presiding over the meeting in some places nothing is determined without the consent of all in other places it is otherwise and where the consent of all is required in some places the Preses of the action is obliged to aske every mans vote distinctly and in order in other places that custome is not precisely observed but it is free for any one to speak when hee can get a turne and if matters goe against his sense to enter his dissent and elsewhere who doth not give his consent is not obliged to the determination In all such wayes of orderly proceedings if those that entertain the meetings for their mutuall edification do alter their constitutions according to circumstances of times places persons and affaires upon grounds which they think valid for the end for which they meet I say in all such wayes a condescension may and ought to bee mutually intended and there ought not to bee any breach of unitie and affection for the difference of opinions amongst Brethren in matters of this nature Onely a care is to beâ— had that the generall rules of order and decency bee observed according to the Apostles commandement 1 Cor. 14. 40. Secondly there may and ought to be a voluntary condescension â—o all the meanes which are thought by those who are of repute fit and expedient to give just satisfaction to any that are possessed with prejudices against us or to cleer mistakes or to prevent the evill effects of sinister reports or to take away all inconveniencies and scandals of that nature I say there ought to bee a yeelding to all motions in that kind which do not prejudicate the truth because all things that are commendable and of good report are to bee followed and all the occasions of murmurings of jealousies and of discontents are to bee avoided In such a case as this Peter condescended to make an Apologie for himself to those of the circumcision who contended with him for his going unto Cornelius Act. 11. 2 3 4. till 19. and Paul at the advice of James and the Elders of Jerusalem went into the Temple and condescended to observe the customes of the ceremoniall Law to take away the prejudice which many had against him Acts 21. vers 18. till 28. Another time Paul of his owne accord did circumcise Timothy by way of condescension to the Jewes who were weake and would have been offended if that had not been done Act. 18. 1 2 3. but when the cause was altered and by condescending to circumcise Titus the libertie of the Gospel would have been prejudged towards the Gentiles he would not at all yeeld unto it Gal. 2. 3 4 5. Thirdly there ought to bee a condescension in matters of indifferencie such as the Apostle doth mention Rom. 14. throughout to beare with the weake item in matters of offence which may bee foreseen wee are bound to prevent the same by yeelding unto the weake and ignorant lest either our good bee evill spoken of or our Brother be grieved at what wee doe or his conscience bee emboldâ—od by our example whiles it wanteth light to discerne its owne libertie to sinne Rom. 14. 15 16. and 1 Cor. 8. 9 10 11 12 13. and chap. 10. vers 23. till the end Fourthly and lastly there ought to bee a condescension to beare with all men in that whereunto they have not yet attained that by the things whereunto they have attained and our friendly converse with them according to the rules of edification they may bee gained Concerning this way of condescension towards others these places are considerable Matth. 12. 18 19 20. and 1 Cor. 9. 19. till the end Gas 4. 12. and 6. 1. 2 Tim. 2. 24 25 26 and 1 Thâ—â— 5. 14 15. 20 21. Phil. 3. 15 16. And all things which flow from the principles of Charitie Gentlenesse meeknesse and humilitie with prudency and discretion for the good of those that erre and are ignorant may bee called a condescension and ought to bee practised in imitation of Christ and his Apostles from whom the rules of forbearance are to bee learned Col. 3. 13. Concerning the third which is the way to draw forth the spirits of men to discover the things whereunto they shal be willing of themselves to condescend unto others I shall offer an expedient which I suppose none who desireth to walke in the light will thinke unreasonable or unconscionable and that is this That all such as would be borne withall in any thing by others should offer first unto those from whom they expect a brotherly forbearance all that condescension which they intend touse and the rules of forbearance by which they purpose to walke towards them for this is according to Christs fundamentall rule of justice Matth. 7. 12. Whatsoever things you would have men â—â—e to you doe yee even so to them for this is the Law and the Prophets If this one rule were rightly applyed and followed there would bee no great difficultie in transacting this matter chiefly if wee take up the practise of it not upon the grounds of humane policie but of Christian obedience to the dutie which is commanded Heb. 3. 12. Exhort one another daily whâ—â—es it is called to day and