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A90526 A perswasive to all dissenters to unity in religion, as it is establish'd in the Church of England 1684 (1684) Wing P1671; ESTC R230755 6,952 11

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A Perswasive TO ALL DISSENTERS TO Unity in Religion As it is Establish'd in the Church of England THe wisest of Kings hath told us That there is a time and a season for all things a time to keep silence and a time to speak and certainly now if ever the last time is not only convenient but absolutely necessary And should man hold his Peace and neglect this Duty even the Stone should cry out of the Wall and the Beam of the Timber shall answer it I direct this my Discourse and Perswasive to Unity in Religion to all in general But more particularly to those who are Dissenters from the Church of England and who seem to make a breach in the Conformity and happy Unity of the Church and over-nice Scruples cause a Schism and rent in its seamless Garment 'T is to You that I now speak as a Friend as a Brother for so we ought to be one to another and not as Wolves and Dogs snarling and snapping one at the other but with gentleness and freedom admonish one another with all lowliness and meekness with long-suffering forbearing one another in Love 'T is the command of Christ who is Love it self That we Love one another by It we are known to be his true Disciples and followers of him And there can be no greater sign of his Love than friendly to admonish one another of Errors and straying from the Truth and to assist the weak to raise up those that fall to call to Unity and Concord and to stir up to Peace and Amity That we may be all of one mind having compassion one of another loving as Brethren being pitiful being courteous not rendring evil for evil and railing for railing 1 Pet. 3.8 9. Since Separation and Division among Brethren proceeds from the cunning and malice of Satan why should it continue any longer in our Israel why should not every man put to his helping hand to build up the walls of Unity Are we not Brethren Have we not one Father God One Head Jesus Christ Is he not our common Shepherd Have we not one Faith Salvation by Christ Do we not believe him come in the Flesh Do not we confess his Name Are we not all Christians And indeed are we not also of one Mother the Church Why then this Separation This Division This drawing several ways Why cannot or why do not you Unite as you ought to do And that this may be effected and that our happy Unity may be lasting and perpetual You must leave off to interpret the whole scope of Scripture as if framed to maintain your own form of Government presenting your followers with false Glosses whereby they read only as you would have them and pervert Scripture to maintain the false Ideas of sickly Imaginations and thus every Sect makes the Scripture to speak in favour of their way and false Opinions to maintain their Schism and Separation calling all Samaria and Babylon that are not of themselves and their own Congregations Sion and Jerusalem You must also leave off those Names of Separation and distinguishment calling your selves the Godly the Brethren the Good People Gods Children the Sanctified Others the Vngodly Reprobates Wordlings Time servers Men-pleasers Moralists and Latitudinarians Arminians and the like You must also cease to cry out against Magistrates and Rulers Kings and Governours as Severe Cruel and Tyrannical upon the least restraint of your Liberties as if you were thereby become Martyrs for the Cause of Christ Also you must not speak contemptibly of Bishops as some too frequently do giving them scurrillous Names as Vsurpers Spiritual Tyrants Lordly Bishops c. And-calling the Ministers of the Gospel in contempt Priests nay Baal's Priests Time-servers State Divines Dumb Dogs Vain Bablers with such like Language Those whom the Scriptures Dignifie and Honour with the Titles of Christs Embassadors Gods Stewards and the like Open then your Eyes at last and look not so a squint on this Form of Government and more particularly as it is here Establish'd in the Church of England which certainly is the most like and comes nearest to the Primitive Institution of the Apostles and the next Ages of any Church in the World both for the Purity of its Doctrine and the Order of its Government its Ceremonies being both few and Decent and its Power regulated by Iust Laws And as one says The Church of England is a Body of so firm a Constitution and so excellently Temper'd and so well Shap'd Vind. of the Conforming Clergy p. 50. and of so clear a strength and vigour in all its Limbs that no outward force is able to injure it nothing but some inward Corruption and decay in the Vital parts that can possibly bring it to the ground Indeed some had trip'd up its Heels and lay'd it all along but it was but a Foil you see how soon it arose again and in that little Interspace or Inter-regnum as I may term it what horrid Confusions were amongst us Methinks this little Tryal might convince you of the weakness and Imbecility of the one and the Firmness and excellent Temper of the other Government by which this Land has so long flourished and which is so fitted not only to Monarchy making that Maxime good as we by experience saw No Bishop No King and among the rest the Learned Mr. Hooker in his Pref. Sect. 1. has these words which he sets down as his full perswasion Surely the present Form of Church Government which the Laws of this Land have Established is such as no Law of God nor Reason of Man hath hitherto been alledged of force sufficient to prove they do ill who to the uttermost of their power withstand the alteration thereof And contrarywise the other which instead of It we are requir'd to accept is only by Error and Misconceit named the Ordinance of Jesus Christ no one proof as yet brought forth whereby it may clearly appear to be in very deed And those two Assertions he hath so fully and unanswerably maintained in his excellent Book of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity that methinks you should lay your Finger on your Mouths and no longer speak against this Form of Church Government nor remain at this distance and in this state of Separation till you have found out better Arguments for to justify your so doing than those you have yet made known to the World Therefore as the Form of Divine Service contain'd in the Book of Common Prayer which is now used in the Church of England conduceth so much to the Edifying those that use it and it agrees exactly with the Rules of the Apostles and is performed in English the Vulgar and common Language of the Nation which every one understands But in the Church of Rome the common People are made uncapable of being Edify'd by the Prayers of the Church in that they are all made in Latine a Language which they do not all understand So that when they