let us not rent it but cast Lots for it whose it shall be Whereupon one of the Ancients hath an elegant Observation The Merciless and Cruel Hang-men of Pilate did not dare to attempt the rending of Christs seamless Coat and wilt thou dis-member the Church which is One divide Charity which is God himself He that blows the Coals of Contention promotes or makes a disturbance in Christian Society does not only lacerate Christs seamless Garment but tear in pieces his Body rend his Spouse argues himself guilty of Barbarity beyond Comparison greater than the former Abraham Gen. 13.8 urges an Argument for the reconciling all Differences between him and Lot and their respective Attendants from that near Relation in which they stood Let there be no strife I pray thee between me and thee and between thy Herdsmen and my Herds-men for we are Brethren If there be any weight in this as we have great reason to believe I am sure it comes home to us with Improvement We proceeded out of one common Stock and so are Brethren At the Font we engaged in the same Baptismal Vow and Promise and so are Brethren We met in this Holy place professing the same Faith and practising the same Duties and so are Brethren our Houses and Estates join to each other we make up one Society and so are Brethren Therefore though our Herds-men for want of Breeding and Education quarrel let there be no strife between Us. O let us provoke one another to Love and if there be any Contention let it be who shall exceed in Acts of Kindness the only Emulation justifiable Let us imitate the Ancients who as St. Luke tells us were of one accord of one Heart and one Soul Acts 2.44 and 4.32 Let us put off the Old Man and put on the New as the Elect of God Holy and Beloved Bowels of Mercies Kindness Humbleness of Mind Meekness Long-suffering Forbearing one another and Forgiving one another and above all put on Charity For Christs sake For the Gospels sake For our Souls sake For our Brethren and Companions sake For the sake of our own present temporal Welfare and Quiet Let us become New Creatures So shall we find the two excellent Properties of the Psalmist Psal 133. meeting and conspiring in our Felicity The Goodness and Pleasantness of our Vnity to the general benefit of all Like the Dew of Hermon which fell upon the Hill of Sion and that sacred Oyntment which was poured out on the Head of Aaron to the Advantage of his Beard and the Skirts of his Cloathing So shall we be able to give Laws and Presidents to the lesser Villages round about us So shall our Sons grow up as the young Plants and our Daughters as the polished Corners of the Temple our Garners shall be full and plenteous of all manner of Store our Sheep shall bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our Streets our Oxen shall be strong to labour there shall be no decay no leading into Captivity and no complaining in our Streets So shall we grow sweetly old in Love live an Heaven upon Earth here and be quietly translated to that Kingdom where the other Graces cease Charity still continues It remaineth that with bended Knees and contrite Hearts we all joyne in Prayer Beseeching that God Who maketh men to be of one mind in an House yea who maketh Wars to cease in all the World who breaketh the Bow snappeth the Spear and burneth the Chariot in the Fire That he would be graciously pleased to put an end to all our unhappy Divisions to beat our Swords into Plow-shares and our Spears into Pruning-hooks That he would be pleased to give us one Heart to put a new Spirit within us to take away the Stony Heart out of our Flesh and to give us an Heart of Flesh that we may walk in his Statutes and keep his Ordinances That we may be of one Mind live in Peace so shall the God of Love and Peace be with us FINIS Books newly Printed for James Collins in Essex-Street without Temple-Bar THE Reward of Diligence By Lewis Sharp 8o The Confinement an Ingenious Poem 8o A Letter from a Protestant Gentleman to a Lady revolted to the Church of Rome 12o A Sermon Preached at the Funeral of Mrs. Dorothy St. Johns By Antony Hornick Minister of the Savoy Popery or the Principles and Positions approved by the Church of Rome when really believed and practis'd are very dangerous to All. And to Protestant Kings and Supreme Powers more especially pernicious and inconsistent with that Loyalty which by the Law of Nature and Scripture are due to Supreme Powers In a Letter to a Person of Quality By Thomas Lord Bishop of Lincoln Quarto A Discourse of Truth By the late Reverend Dr. Rust Lord Bishop of Downe and Connor To which is added The Way to Eternal Happiness By Joseph Glanvil Chaplain in Ordinary to His Majesty 12o
be offended with a blind man for taking the wall of me or of a deaf man because he doth not hear me or of an Ideot because I cannot by reason perswade him The Ancients allowed not the liberty of Passion or at least no extravagancy thereof to vertuous men and indeed it implies no less than a contradiction that Reason should sit as supreme in that Breast where Anger Malice Pride and such like bear sway These are to be handled as Beasts of great strength and violence to be reserved in chains and kept within due bounds for exspatiating they will become destructive As thou art a Being endowed with Understanding thou shouldest be careful to preserve a Calm as knowing that Winds and Storms will expose thy Vessel at present to strange motions and disorders and to shipwrack in the conclusion And as the Ship bound for Tarsis by reason of the Fugitive was overtaken with a storm not to be appeased with any expedients the Mariners could think on but onely by throwing the rebellious Prophet over-board So here as long as the old sinner sways within we can expect no Quiet this must succeed his being committed to the deep This Reason doth suggest And if it be not fully convincing have we recourse to the infallible directions of our Religion Hear how the Angel does bespeak the devout Women He is not here he is risen why seek ye the living among the dead Upon our admission to Discipleship we are to forsake the Tombs and to shake off the condition of filth and rottenness Listen to the Doctrine of our Saviour No man can serve two Masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will hold to the one and despise the other he cannot serve God and Mammon As in Baptism those that were to be dip'd upon their return from the Water did change their Cloaths and put on clean attire so must every Christian in a Spiritual Sense I make this Comparison the rather because the Learned Grotius doth assure us that the Phrases of Putting off and Putting on have reference to the aforesaid Custome as also because I find this to be the Subject of our Baptismal Vow as in our Church-Catechism is excellently expressed That I should renounce the Devil and all his Works the Pomps and Vanities of this wicked World and all the sinful Lusts of the Flesh that I should keep God's Holy Will and Commandments and walk in the same all the days of my Life If then we design to embrace this Religion and really to be what we profess we must not only swear but procure the destruction of these Disorderly Passions the Sinner must be driven out that the Saint may be brought into possession the Old Man must die that the New Creature may grow and prosper which brings me to my second Part. But a New Creature FOr the true meaning of which let us as before consider those parallel expressions whereby 't is set forth in Scripture sometimes under the notion of Regeneration as in our Saviour's discourse with Nicodemus sometimes by the Phrase of the New Man elsewhere by the Armour of Light the whole Armour of God The putting on of Christ Jesus the Fruits of the Spirit c. In short then this is one of those Scripture-Phrases Crell Ech. Chris lib. 2. cap 3. in by which Piety in its most comprehensive sense is set forth for which there is undeniable Evidence to be produced because the Spirit in Scripture in the Description of the New Creature or New Man in many places mentions those Duties which we owe to God our selves and one another as parts or effects thereof Now because this comprises the whole of our Religion it may not be expected that I should run through every particular and because I find in the parallel place instead of a New Creature Faith which worketh by Love ch 5.6 and because our Love to our Brother is the best Argument and Expression of our Love towards God as St. John in his Epistles excellently reasons And forasmuch as Col. 3.12 13. I find some more particularly mentioned Put on therefore Bowels of Mercies Kindness Humbleness of Mind Meekness Long-suffering Forbearing and Forgiving one another if any have a Quarrel at any and above all put on Charity I shall touch at these laying down this as a sure Foundation That the best Evidence we make a Conscience of our Duties towards God and our selves that we engage in publick Duties out of a true Principle and are not wanting in our closest Devotions is ourrstving in the due Discharge of those we owe to one another the siâ—â— whereof is Bowels of Mercies By which we are to understand no mean or common Affection no Superficial Outside-love but that of the Bottom of the Heart as appears from the frequent Use of the Word Job 38.36 ch 5.10 Jer. 3.31 being put for our Heart the Seat of our Love and Affection so that the Apostle requires here Mercifulness in its highest and most intense degree such a Carriage toward our Fellow-Creatures as is of the Lord in the Parable Mat. 18. to his Servant he uses no Methods of extream rigour he does not take him by the Throat and hale him to Prison to the ruine of himself and Family but being affected with his Poverty forgives him the Debt Nor such a regardless carriage as the Priest and Levite shewed to the robbed and wounded Way-faring-man touched with no pity at the sight of an Object able to have moved an Heart of Stone But like that of the good Samaritan who no sooner sees him but melts towards him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Luke 10.33 as it clearly appears by what he does for him binds up his Wounds pours Wine and Oyl puts him upon his own Horse carries him to an Inn entertain'd him during his abode there and makes Provision for him after his departure The most genuine effects of this Vertue And to add one Instance more like that of the Father to his Prodigal Son Luke 15.20 he had Compassion on him the same Word He was affected with his Misery his Words Tears and Poverty constrained him to Pity and Relief how lovingly doth he receive him he ran fell on his Neck and kissed him how nobly does he entertain him Calls for the best Garment for a Ring Shoes the Fatted Calf is slain and there is Feasting Musick and Dancing 2. Kindness whereby I understand that Vertue which does direct us in our Conversation a sweetness and pleasantness in our Discourse and Behaviour not to carry Frowns in our Countenance not to be bitter in our Words nor morose in our Actions in Company to betray no ill Humour not to mourn in an House of Feasting nor to laugh in one of Mourning but in things Lawful Civil and Convenient to be Conformable this our Humanity as well as our Religion doth require So that they are much mistaken who conceive that Christianity doth oblige us to the
those things that are above if our earthly Members are mortified if we have put off the Old Man and put on the New which after God is created in Righteousness and true Holiness Arg. 3. An Argument drawn from the very Life and Essence of Christianity Without the New Creature those Prayers which we make are an abomination to the Lord our Sabbaths and holy Performances his Soul abhorreth our whole Religion is vain We may make broad our Phylacteries Compass the Sea and Land to gain Proselytes make a fair Show in the World but without the qualification of the Text we can be no other than the Brats of the Wicked One who is never more a Devil than when he appears in the Form of a Cherubin Men saith the Prince of our Salvation Do not gather Grapes off Thorns nor Figgs off Thistles The Apostle lays down this as a Maxim 2 Cor. 5.17 He that is in Christ is a new Creature and further assures us Gal. 5.24 That they that are Christ's have Crucified the Flesh with the Affections and Lusts You see our Profession requires no small Change The Old Adam must be renounced that the New may be entertained the Flesh swallowed up by the Spirit our Senses must be forbidden to entertain Vanity our Eyes dim-sighted to irregular Glances our Feet lame to the Path of Iniquity our Palates dead to the draught of alluring Pleasure our Ears according to the President of the wise Ithacan must be stop'd against the Mermaids Songs Pleasure must not entice nor Profit must not entangle us Delilah must not draw us down to Timnah nor Lais put us upon a Journey to Corinth Achan's Wedge must not be the Diana the Idol-Goddess of thy Heart All Vice in general and especially the more leading are inconsistent to Christian Religion Thou must take thy leave of thine unsufferable Ambition if thou desirest to be one of his Servants who hateth beholdeth afar off resisteth the Proud but giveth Grace unto the humble thou must part with the sweet Sin of Revenge the God whom thou servest challenges this as his Prerogative Numb 12.18 Vengeance is mine and I will repay it If thou wilt be a devout Follower of the Great Galilean thou must give a Bill of Divorce to Anger Malice Envy not be guilty of foul mouth'd Language but observe the Rule of Yea Yea and Nay Nay Thou must turn the left Cheek to him that smites thee on the Right part with thy Coat to him that takes away thy Cloak And what is a task of far greater difficulty Love thine Enemies Bless them that Curse thee do good to them that hate thee pray for them that despitefully use and persecute thee Mat. 5.44 Forgive not only seven but seventy times seven Trespasses These I take not to be Counsels i. e. Doctrines delivered by way of Advice to the Sons of Zebedee those who propose to themselves the Right Hand and the Left Hand of Christ in his Kingdom places of Supremacy in Heaven as the Patriots of the Roman Church would perswade us but formal Precepts to which in their right sense all Christians are obliged Is it not the great Design of Christ's Sermon on the Mount and his others to refine and exalt his Followers not only above the Dregs but the strictest sect among Mankind being required to live above the Publicane and upon the greatest penalty to exceed the Scribe and Pharisee in Righteousness They are the Commands of our General who not as the Pharisees obliges our Backs to these heavy Burthens which he would not touch himself but in this like Cesar who was never observed to bid his Souldiers Go but Come In his Practice he leads us the way and frequently proposes his Example for a Pattern for our Imitation Be ye Perfect as I am Perfect Holy as I am Holy Learn of me Trace his Life and see how eminently those Vertues which he requires of us shine forth in him v. g. His Bowels of Mercy his Meekness Humbleness Long-suffering Now he serves to teach his Disciples Condescention anon he washes their Feet thereby reading them a lively Lecture of their Comportment eath to other He refuses to be made King He takes no notice of the many Revilings he met withal in his Sufferings he expresses unparallel Patience being led as a Sheep to the Slaughter and as a Lamb dumb before his Shearers opened he not his Mouth Let us for our Encouragement see how after this Copy the Primitive Converts did write upon their admission we shall discover them far different from what they were like Abraham in his Journey toward Mesopotamia Taking leave of their Country and kindred and Fathers House or as the Kings Daughter in the Psalmist Psal 45.10 Forgetting her own People and her Fathers House Parting with all their Carnal Affections St. Matthew upon his Call does quit his Office abhorring nothing more than his former Trade of living A Disciple must not be a Publicane Zaccheus is no sooner called down from the Sycamore-tree to be engrafted in the true Vine no sooner affected with Christianity but he publisheth it by an Alteration wonderfull he no sooner receives Christ within his House but he resigned the full Possession of his Heart he testifies his Repentance by that Restitution which he makes the surest marke of unfeigned Contrition in the present Case the Sincerity of his Faith by the measure of his Charity Lord the half of my Goods I give to the Poor and if I have taken any thing from any man by false Accusation I restore him four-fold Luke 19.8 See farther how the New Creature shines forth in Mary Magdalen after her Conversion we have great reason to suppose the former part of her life notoriously wicked from that Hellish Crew which quartered with her For if one single Devil create no small Extravagancie where he is what wickedness shall not seven Devils united practise Beside she is described to be a Sinner Luke 7.37 i. e. not as some in favour as they think to Christianity and its present Proselyte upon a great mistake have construed an ordinary Sinner but 't is with the unanimous consent of Antiquity agreed on that the expression denotes her one lewd and unclean and if not actually such yet little less than a Prostitute And so no sooner are the Devils driven out but that the Flesh is subdued and she becomes quite another thing she is a constant Attender on our Saviour whilst her Sister is busied about the Cares of the World She has her Eye on the grand Concern the one thing necessary She provides a Box of Oyntment costly and odoriferous against his Funeral washes his Feet with her Tears and wipes them with the Hairs of her Head She laments him Crucified is the first Woman upon Record who prevented the Dawning of the day to enquire after his Resurrection Though the Apostles forsake him and fly she scorns to flinch is the first Preacher of the Resurrection and as one calls