Whosoever Will be saved May be saved God Wills it and it is Man only Will not And shall we think that if any would come in to these External Means whereby his Grace is Communicated that they are to be Refused It is a strange thing that Divines should be able to see how Christ how the Spirit it self or its Help can be the Fruit of Vniversal Grace and yet their Eyes be holden as not to see the External Ordinances to be so while they make the Church to consist of the Regenerate only I pray let us consider a little of other Societies What is it makes a Man the Member of any other Society which he may be of if he will Is it not his Consent only to be of it his Coming-in it self that which gives him his Right and makes him one of that Company And why is it otherwise with the Church or Society of Christians It is the Will of a Man upon his Hearing the Gospel Preached or his Receiving the Gospel Preached so as to be Willing is the Foundation I should say Condition to speak exactly of his Right to be Received If he will be Baptized upon it he may be Baptized without more terms It is his Consent to it is the Ratio fundandi in This as in other Voluntary Relations It is true that the Nature of Christian Society is such as requires that a Man be one that hath Received the Christian Doctrine that is to be a Believer and that he lives not in any open gross Sin seeing that would Excommunicate from it if he were In But supposing him such a one that believes that Christ is the Son of God I mean it according to the Articles of the Creed for how shall he be Baptized in the Name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost if he Believe not the Trinity and stands not actually Guilty of any such notorious Sin as if the were in the Church he must to be turn'd out for it there is nothing but his Willingness enjoyned of God nor ought to be required of us to the Receiving Him There are some says St. Austin that Put on Christ so far as to come into the Church and be Baptized Vsque ad Sacramentorum receptionem in his Words and some that put Him on ad vitae Sanctificationem unto that Sanctification of Life as brings them to Heaven I add so much because there are Many Saints or Sanctified Men says Mr. Richard Baxter that shall never come thither There are Saints by Separation from Paganism unto Fellowship with the Political Body of Christians which yet are not so by Separation from all Vngodliness into Fellowship with the Mystical Body of Christ The Door of the Church says that Learned and Pious Author is incomparably wider than that of Heaven and the Gospel is a free Offer to All. If any Man will come quite over in Spirit to Christ they shall be welcome if they will come but only to a Visible Profession He will not deny them Admittance there because they intend to go no farther but will let them come as near as they will and that they come no farther shall be their own fault Saints Rest Part 4. Sect. 3. Let me make bold to set this right and as I have put in before Political Body of Christians instead of his terms Visible Church and also left out the word Visible so instead of Visible Profession let me say Participation of Ordinances as St. Austin but now hath it and I take it to be very happily spoken As for the terms Visible and Invisible which our Divines use ordinarily when they distinguish the Congregate and Mystical Church I do avoid them they are a Snare to us The Sense of the term Visible can have no Place with God who Judges always according to Truth and hath no footing therefore neither in Scripture There is indeed the Outward Jew and Inward Jew in Scripture but the Outward Jew was a Real Jew or really a Jew in God's and Man's Account alike who had thereby ex intentione Dei Ordinantis a Right to be Circumcised and consequently to the Priviledge of all the Ordinances of Israel But a Visible Christian a Visible Member according to our common Notion of Visible is one that is not a Christian or Member Indeed but one only that Appears to be a Christian or Member and as None hath no Right therefore to the Ordinances at all in God's Sight A Visible Profession must be consequently an Hypocritical Profession that hath nothing in it but a Lie and Falshood altogether And can Mr. Baxter indeed say That if any will come to Such a Profession he is welcome No no God Almighty indeed is willing that All should come in to Him and They may come as Far as they will if but to be Baptized or Circumcised they are Welcome But I am against that Doctrine and Practice which depends upon this ensnaring Distinction I am for a Believing in Earnest the Gospel Preached and a Man's Coming-in thereupon and being Willing to be Received or to be Baptized and then I say whosoever Will he May. Whosoever would be Circumcised or Take hold of the Covenant Isa 56.4 6. he might Whosoever will be Baptized under the New-Testament he may Whosoever will come in to Christ so far as ever he Will Come this must be held for certain He will in no wise cast him out But no Man must nor be suffered to say He Believes he Repentâ— if he does Not at least in any Sense otherwise than he Does We must have none of this fame Visible Profession whatsoever comes of it We must see our Way clear how we can admit the Vnregenerate as well as the Regenerate into our Mixt Churcher without a Lie or we must allow none but Gathâ—red ones and turn all Independents unless we should Preach One thing and Pâ—actisâ— Another which no honest Man but must hate to do The People of Samaria are all said to believe Philip Preaching the things concerning the Kingdom of God and were Baptized and Simon himself believed also Here we have none of this Visible Faith or Visible Profession but a Real Belief of what was Preached and that Belief prevailing upon the Will their Willingness to be Baptized is the Ratâ—o Baptizandi the Ground of their Baptism and Fight to be Admitted Simon Magus believed What is that Is it a Profession that he Did when he did Not No such matter his Faith and That of the City was Real and shewn by the Deed in their being Baptized A Man must Believe Indeed and his Faith be True as True does signifie Vndissembled or else he cannot be Baptized But his Faith may be far from True as Simon 's was as True does signifie Saving and yet so far as he can come in with any Truth he hath his Warrant from the Gospel SECT II. I Proceed now 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to my Arguments If the common Opinion be received and a
THE AXE LAID to the ROOT OF Separation OR THE Churches Cause Against It. By the Author who wrote in the late Times for Free Admission to the Lord's Supper So those Servants went out into the High-ways and gathered together as many as they found both Good and Bad and the Wedding was furnished with Guests Matth. 22.10 LONDON Printed by John Leake for the Author MDCLXXXV TO THE MOST REVEREND The Present ARCH-BISHOP OF CANTERBVRY May it please Your Grace I Do not Dedicate this Book to You for any Interest I have In You or for any Preferment I seek From You who may say as the Woman with whom the Prophet sojourned I have nothing to be spoken for to the King I dwell among my own People being One that Conform Not as a Minister but go to Church as a Parishioner and Study to be quiet But I lay these Sheets at the Feet of the Church by Handing them to Your Grace in regard to the Orb You are placed in and in respect to the Subject I have undertaken I do likewise Present it to Your Grace as One I understand that do Love and will Find a Time to Read notwithstanding the Multiplicity and Weight of Your Affairs being not Lifted up with Greatness or Delighted so much in the Sun-shine even of the Court as in Retiring to the Shade of Your Books at Home Who are One consequently that is like to Read the Book and make Your Own Judgment of it and if You find any thing in it serviceable to God are in Place to Move and Promote it as if the Attempt be amiss can by Your proper Instruction appoint some sit Person to Reprove and Answer it that the Publick receive no Detriment by it I must confess I am of the Opinion That the Notion and Doctrine Of and Concerning the Church and Churches of Christ upon Earth which is generally received as Orthodox is not consistent with our Publick Practice and the Being of our Mixt Churches and could not therefore when Time was Declare my unfeigned Assent and Consent to all things in the Liturgy because I must then have both prevented this Book and consented to Some Thing in Point of Doctrine and Vse which will be nam'd in its Place as by a Consequence unavoidable to me does give up the Field to the Separatist And when if I may speak a Consequential Truth I am One that have become herein a kind of Martyr in my loss of all Emolument within the Church for my Resolution and Endeavour of maintaining the Churches Cause so that there does appear something Meritorious in my Nonconformity though nothing at all in My Self what if I Revive a late Motion made to Your Grace That You will hearken to those Papers of mine Entituled Three Steps in order to the obtaining my Liberty to Preach which being desired for Occasional Sermons only without Benefice Dignity Living or Lecture I have in my Third Step brought the Matter to this Issue That if You will concede to me but what any Bishop may do by Law and impune also by the Canons I may have Your License for the Vse of my Ministry and yet keep my Own Conscience in the Case Your Grace's Humble Servant The Author The PREFACE READER I Am sensible under what Prejudice I am like to write and how much more would be imputed to it if some Other served the CAVSE I do Truth and Interest went both to One Service Truth did his Master's Work in good earnest Interest labour'd only to please The Master finding his Businâ—ss done and not regarding by Whom kept Interest and turn'd Truth out of Door Were I Ambitious to conciliate to me the Favor of our present Masters of the Age I might set my self on the Magnifying the Church of England in the Excellency of her Constitution of her Reformation and Glory or I might chase some the like Task But when the Advantage I seek is not my Own but That of the Publick I shall leave such Work to Those that think to gâ—t any thing by it My Business which is of other Vse is to make good our Churches which consist of whole Parishes and Nations that is our Mixt Churches to be Churches for all that as are warrantable from the Holy Scriptures that the Vnderstanding Sober Godly of our Brethren may be satisfied to joyn with and separate no longer from our Publick Congregations upon that Account To do this is a Matter of deeper Thoughts than most are aware of and till this Work be done as it ought unto which I can but contribute my Mite and then call in further Aid from others it will but fare with us in all our Endeavours after the Peace and Prosperity of the Church of God in this Nation as with them that have raised a fair Structure and sumptuous Building and then lose it in point of Law by mistaking the Ground upon which they set it That this is the Root of the Difference between Vs and Those that dâ—part from the Publick there are none but must see that have Eyes in their Head And I for my part must say moreover That having had long occasion to reflect on the Subject I could never but apprehend that the Notion which our Protestant Divines generally entertain of the Church is so narrow that unless we can lengthen our Cords and strengthen our Stakes we shall be driven out of our Tents There are Two Foundations upon which the Separatist that best understands his own Cause will lay it The One regards the Minister of the Parish the Other the People or Matter of the Church That which regards the Minister is this The Church of England consists of so many Diocesses and the Parishes are but Parts of the Diocess The Bishop is sole Pastor and the Minister but the Curate of the Bishop It follows that the Minister being no Pastor and the Church no whole or true Church this is the First Ground of Separation That which regards the People is this The Parish Churches consist of the Regenerate and Vnregenerate ex Institutione Humana The Church of Christ ex Intentione Ordinantis consists of the Regenerate only Here are two Ordinations inconsistent The Matter of these Churches inconsistent And this is the Second Ground of Separation In short Our Ministers say they are not true Pastors nor our People true Flocks according to Christ's Institution and therefore they must Separate from our Congregations and gather Others For Answer to the former Ground let us know that Diocesan Episcopacy may be considered as some hold it to be of Divine or as others hold it to be of Human Institution Of those that hold it to be of Divine Right there are some and such as are of our late Chief Men that do indeed assert the Diocesan Bishop to be the only Bishop or Pastor of Christ's Appointment to whom the Keys are committed as succeeding the Apostles and consequently that the Diocesan Churches are the only Churches
Nations as He did Israel to come in to the Christian Church and to enter Covenant with Father Son and Holy Ghost If the Gospel be Preached and they Believe that these Three Persons are the only true God they are to be Baptized into their Name They are to Come and to come So as to be Sincere Converts They are to Engage and to engage So as to resolve upon the Performing the whole Condition on their Parts that they may be Saved If they fail in the Manner and do not Engage so as they ought or do not resolve upon the Performance supposing it a Conditional Engagement or rather resolve not Entirely but in Part or so far as to take God for their God and King in opposition to other Gods which is the main thing of that Covenant as the Israelites for the most of them at this Time we may be sure Did so that there is a Partial but not Total Hypocrisie to make it Evil in it self in their Engagement I Quaere Whether the Matter is not yet still what they are called to And if it be they Must and for ought I see they May engage as Israel did Where they fail then in regard to the Manner they are to be Reformed but what Their Duty is must be done If they Resolve not as they ought they sin I suppose in the Manner of their Engagement But I must ask Whether they shall not sin more if they Engage not at all if they quite turn their Back upon God and the Gospel and leave both the Manner and Matter undone You may object But can we think that the People could say They Would do all God commanded and God approve of it as Well said of them Deut. 5.27 or that they should make a Covenant by Sacrifice passing between the Parts thereof Jer. 34.18 and Enter into a Curse and Oath to walk in God's Law Nehem. 10.29 and yet intend nothing but a Conditional Dis-junctive Obligation to Do it or be subject to the Penalty Answ I say not so They did all take God to be the True God and their God in opposition to all false Gods And as for these Words here which they Said and God Approved I must first premise This That to engage a Man's self under the Curse of God to Do any thing must be laying the greatest Obligation on his Soul that can be to the Performance and if it were God's Will that the whole Body of Israel should engage to their Part of the Covenant so as to say Amen to the Curses which I think is not to be denyed it does appear that this Obligation by Covenant must be their Duty even the Duty of the Whole Body and consequently their Doing it and God's Command of them to do it must be Justified Which being premised I say that when these Words All that God hath said we will do are attributed to the Whole Body they were all under great Commotion that we know for certain at the Terrible Appearance of God as ever was and some of them I doubt not said So with a present Resolution of Sincere Obedience and did Perform it as Zachary and Elizabeth walked in all the Ordinances of the Lord blameless Others of them I believe said So out of that present Fear only and Awe of God upon them as the Seed that fell on the Stony Ground sprung up Presently but for want of Root Withered The Generality it is like had the Idea of a General Implicit Obedience in their Thoughts which they did also endeavour I suppose in their Lives but it was External altogether thinking That sufficient to their Justification before God And such an Obedience the Vnregenerate Man we know can Engage to and Perform all alike with the Regenerate there being no Duty in the Outward Matter or Outward Act but he can do as well as the other he can Hear Read Pray give Alms as well as the other when yet he cannot do it out of that Principle to that End and after that Manner as the other which is the Doing it so as to be acceptable to Salvation Now if I should rest here and say That these Words All that God commandeth we will do are to be understood of such an Engagement and that such an Obedience which is External only and Insincere is yet in the Matter or in Its self good and Man's Duty so that notwithstanding the Failure in the Manner it must be Engaged to and Done I do apprehend the Cause were carried But because my chiefest Cause ought to be Truth I must yet add That a great many of this Multitude I believe did say I for Company that is they consented with others in the General Terror without any formed Consideration of what they promised or Resolution to perform it nay their Hearts bring wicked they could have no mind to do it whatsoever Fear might constrain from them And when we see well how the First sort could say these Words with the Acceptation of God and how the Second might say the Same without any present Lie yea how the Third also might engage so Far and God in Tantum approve it I would fain know in respect to the Fourth sort of them how God and Moses could require of the Whole Body any Engagement to the keeping all God's Precepts but upon the Account I have offer'd that is upon this Account That it was a Covenant-Engagement which being of Validity for obtaining the Blessings to all those that Perform it was not in Vain as to those whom He deals withal still as Men that perform it Not because they were thereby even according to Agreement yet obliged to the Penalty and God was Righteous as their Lord and King to make every one of them Subscribe to it I will add a Simile that will come a little more near the Matter than some One we have had before In an Oath of Allegiance to a Prince a Man cannot swear to the King's Government but it includes Subjection to his Laws which Laws perhaps he knows not or if he do he knows he Breaks many and yet so long as the Substance of that Oath lies in the Owning his Authority against all Foreign Jurisdiction and being True to the Crown which one that is no Popeling does heartily consent to he makes no Scruple to take it notwithstanding those Laws for he makes this Account that if he submit to the Penalty in case of Transgression or can escape without Resistance that is consistent with his Allegiance So in the Covenant of the Jews which was a Covenant of Fealty to God as their King so long as they could freely and absolutely Consent to take God for their Lord and to serve Him alone in his Appointed Worship in opposition to ull other Gods their Submission to the rest of God's Precepts we may conceive to be under such Political Terms as in this Instance is signified See I have set before thee Life and Good Death and Evil therefore