A Brotherly and Friendly CENSURE OF THE ERROVR Of a dear Friend and Brother in Christian affection IN An ANSWER to his four Questions lately sent abroad in print to the view of the world PROV. 27. 5 6. Open rebuke is better then secret love Faithfull are the wounds of a friend but the kisses of an enemy are deceitfull Published according to Order LONDON Printed for Nathanael Webb 1645. To the Reader CHristian reader I will take it as a great favour from thee if in reading this my Answer thou wilt judge me to be as indeed and in truth I am an adversary of the cause and not of the person He who is commonly reported to be the Author of the foure questions in hand is one whose person I have from my first knowledge of him dearly loved honoured and admired for his excellent parts profitable paines for the publike good and his unwearied labours and patient sufferings in the cause of Christ If he hath but once in all his life stumbled upon a bad cause and pleaded for it which is a common and in some sort a necessary evil hardly to be avoided by men of his vocation let not this blemish his great learning nor his judgement sound in all other points and least of all his approved piety and zeale for true religion His name which was happily concealed and not annexed to these foure questions shall ever be precious with me and I hope with all Gods people also who truly feare the Lord long for the peace of Zion and unfeignedly seek the reformation of Christs Church in all these three Kingdomes It is no small griefe to me that I am compelled to move my pen in writing against any paper published by an hand so deare to me But in the cause of Christ and in a point so prejudiciall to the peace and pure reformation of the Church Who can be silent The nearest relations of love which one Christian can have to another in this world must not hinder us nor stay our hands tongues or pens from performance of any duty in which we all stand obliged to the Lord Christ our Redeemer and to his Church our deare mother And wherein can we be more necessitated to shew our duty to both then in resisting with all our power whatsoever tends to the common and continuall prophanation of the holy Sacrament of Christs body and blood which cannot possibly be avoided if the power of the keys which Christ hath given to his Apostles and their successors with a promise to be with them to the end of the world be taken under any pretence out of the hands of the Pastors and Presbyters of the Church and no power left unto them to put by any sinners openly scandalous and impenitent from the holy Communion nor to exclude such spirituall lepers most loathsome and infections from the sacred meeting at the Lords holy Table Who doth not see that the maine cause of the Schismes and separations of divers godly and zealous Christians from our Communion is the mixture of the prophane among the pious and godly and the admission of persons openly scandalous to the holy Sacrament This is that which hath moved many out of their blinde zeale to proclaime our Church a whore a strumpet a Synagogue of Antichrist and our faithfull Ministers Baals Priests and limmes of the beast All true Christians and most of all the Ministers of the Word are bound to put to their hands and shoulders for the removing of this stumbling-block and rock of offence out of the way And I especially more then others by reason of that singular love I bear to this deare brother erring in this point and least I should offend against that commandement Lev. 19. 17. Thou shalt not have thy brother in thine heart thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour and not suffer sin upon him or bear sin for him His paper is gone forth in publike private rebuke will not hinder the hurt which it may doe It hath given such publike wounds as cannot be cured but by a publike remedy The Lord the great healer of soules give a speedy cure to the maladies of his Church and all our soule-sicknesses to him be praise for ever and ever A brotherly and friendly Censure of the errour of a dear friend and brother in Christian affection In an Answer to his foure Questions lately sent abroad in print to the view of the world The Inscription Four serious Questions of grand Importance concerning Excommunication and Suspension from the Sacrament propounded to the Reverend Assembly and all Moderate Christians to prevent Schismes and settle Vnity among us in these divided times by a lover both of Peace and Truth The Answer to the Inscription WHen I did first meet with this paper of foure serious questions fleeing abroad in print into every Book-sellers shop in London and ready upon the wing to take flight into all parts of the land That flying toll which appeared to the Prophet Zecharie presently upon my viewing of the matter and scope thereof came to my minde which is said to be a curse going forth over the face of the whole land Zech. 5. 3. For as that was a curse to punish cut off and consume even to the timber and stones of the houses into which it entered So I feared this would be a corrupting curse in the heart house and family of every one that entertained it with approbation and did welcome it with applause seeing it proclaims liberty for all sinners though openly scandalous and impenitent to come boldly to the Lords supper and to eat and drinke their own damnation without controll of the Pastors and Presbyters of the Church whom Christ hath ordained to have the rule over them and to watch for their soules Heb. 13. 17. And whereas the questions are by the Author professed to be serious and of grand importance propounded to the Reverend Assembly for the setling of unity among us in these divided times First I must professe that I am much grieved that any learned Christian brother should seriously urge such arguments so weak so fallacious and of so little strength to maintaine so bad a cause as this even the opening of a wide gap to Libertinisme and prophanation of the holy Sacrament of Christs body and blood and giving this liberty to carnall and prophane men of dissolute and scandalous life that they without repulse may intrude themselves among godly Communicants to the just offence and scandall of the whole Congregation which they may have opportunity to doe at severall times before the sentence of Excommunication can in a way of orderly proceeding especially when there are appeales made to higher Consistories one after another by obstinate and contentious offenders come forth against them and be put in execution Secondly I hope it will be made to appeare by this and other Answers of more able brethren that here is no matter of grand importance in these questions except
and Prelats excommunications which belike doe still runne in your minde were brutish thunderbolts thrown out upon every small occasion presently and like the fooles dagger which is out to stab at every crosse word and makes but a word and a blow yet Gods Word teacheth godly wise Pastors and Presbyters more meeknesse and gravity in proceeding to the utmost censure that is first to reprove admonish and rebuke and if those more gentle meanes doe not prevaile then to suspend from the Sacrament which by experience is often found to humble stubborne offenders and bring them to repentance and so prevent cutting off from the Congregation And all godly Christians doe here see a double warrant of divine Authority First from Gods Word secondly from his blessing of this proceeding with good successe This is my first answer Secondly to your bold assertion That in the Old Testament we reade of no circumcised person ever debarred from the passeover by the Priests that was desirous to eat it I Answer that it is as void of truth as full of boldnesse For Levit. 22. 3. Numb 9. 5. and divers other places Every circumcised person who was legally unclean is forbiden to eate of the passeover or any holy thing under pain of being cut off and might not eat of it till he was cleansed and rightly prepared as appeares 2 Chron. 30. 3 the very chapter by you quoted according to the expresse words of the law Numb. 9. 11. And therefore much more ought baptized persons now under the Gospell who are manifestly unclean with the spirituall defilement of scandalous sin be suspended from the more holy Sacrament of Christs body and blood untill he be cleansed by repentance Thirdly to the instance of Judas whom our Saviour knew to be a devil and a traytour I Answer first that Judas was not admitted to the Sacrament for Judas went out before the Supper was ended immediatly upon his receiving of the sop Joh 13. 30. But our Saviour did not ordaine this Sacrament till after Supper Luk. 22. 20 When he had supped 1. Cor. 11. 25. Secondly if Judas had been admitted it makes nothing to the matter for Judas professed faith in Christ and in his outward conversation appeared so unblameable that when our Saviour told them that one of them twelve should betray him they did not suspect Judas more then themselves but every one asked saying Master is it I And indeed let a man be an hypocrite traytor or devil inwardly the Minister is not to judge of such secret things which belong to God but to looke to the outward profession life and conversation and accordingly deal with them Fourthly S. Pauls admonishing of the Corinthians of the great danger of unworthy receiving namely that it was eating damnation to themselves and making them guilty of Christs body and blood and thereupon enjoyning a strict examination of every one before he eat of that bread and drinke of that cup doth sufficiently instruct the elders to put back all such as did outwardly appeare to be scandalous impenitent sinners and so most unworthy to receive the holy signes and seales of the Lords body and blood Fifthly To that question of yours Whether a Minister hath not discharged his full duty and conscience if he doth admonish his flock of the danger of unworthy receiving and seriously dehort such as he deemes unworthy from receiving the Sacrament till they become more fit to participate under paine of eating and drinking their own damnation and other judgements I answer that this is no full discharge neither doe those Scriptures which you quote Ezek 33. 1 2 c. Act. 20. 16. or ours and French Liturgies prove any such thing in this case For they who suspend scandalous persons doe also admonish all others to examine themselves and mention the danger of unworthy receiving that none unprepared may presume It is a discharge of a Ministers duty when he admonisheth onely of the danger of a sin in which when it is committed the party admonished hath onely an hand But here the Minister is partaker of the sin and as much guilty by giving as the other by receiving I pray you tell me Sir if you have a cup in your hand which will poyson and kill a sick distemperd man if he drinke of it will you give it unto him if he desires it and doe you thinke it enough to admonish him that it is deadly poyson and first dehort him from drinking of it and then immediatly reach it to him with intent that he shall drinke of it I perswade my selfe that as he shall perish so his blood shall be required at your hands and that you shall as guilty hold up your hand at the barre for it Quest 3. The third Question intimates that you conceive unworthy hearing of the Word to be as great as dangerous as damning a sin as unworthy receiving of the Sacrament That Ministers are no more partakers of other mens sins not more guilty of their sins and of giving holy things to doggs and casting pearles before swine by giving the Sacrament of Christs body and blood to unworthy receivers who are openly scandalous then by preaching the Word to unprofitable hearers to whom he is the favour of death unto death And hereupon you would inferre that Ministers may as well refuse to preach the Word unto their people lest it should not profit them as they may refuse to give the Sacrament to scandalous persons who eat their own damnation To this I answer that there is vast difference between these two preaching the Word to unprofitable hearers and giving the Sacrament to persons openly scandalous impenitent and prophane receivers First a Minister preacheth the Word to many that are unprofitable hearers not knowing them to be such and in hope to convert and profit them if there be any such in the auditorie and so also he gives the Sacrament to some unworthy receivers unwillingly not knowing them to be such and in such cases he is blamelesse but if he gives the holy seales of Christs body and blood to scandalous impenitent persons he knowes that he gives them damnation to eat and drink and he is halfe sharer with them in the sinfull act And therefore though the sin of unworthy hearâ—â—â— of the Word is as dangerous and damning as unworthy receiving of the Sacrament to the hearen and receivers yet to the Minister in the one to weet preaching without knowledge of the hurt which some receive by it there is no fault but in giving to the scandalous receiver he wittingly acts and partakes of the profanation of the holy ordinance Secondly The Lords holy Table in the holy communion is for the time a place of Gods more speciall presence then the common Auditory and there we come neerer to God and receive with the word and promises particularly applyed to us the seales of our communion with Christ and of our right and interest in him and all his benefits But preaching
to a common Auditory is only a generall propounding of the word and promises to all not a particular applying of it to any especially that hear unprofitably for that were giving holy things to doggs therefore there is more danger and greater sinne in admitting unworthy receivers to the Lords Table A small errour in such an holy ordinance doth provoke the Lord to wrath who will be sanctified in them that come neere to him as appears in Aarons two sonnes Levit. 10. â— 2 3. Vzzaâ— 2 Sam. 6. 7. Thirdly Preaching the Word to such as are openly knowne to be scorners of the Gospell and persecutours of the Preachers and doe more rage and are hardened thereby is a prophanation of an holy thing and a casting of pearles before swine which our Saviour expressely forbids Matth. 7. 6. Matth. 10. 14. Bids his Apostles turne from such and shake off the dust from their feet as a testimony against them and so Paul and Barnabas did Act. 13. 51. Fourthly In preaching the Word the Minister of Christ propounds the truth to many wicked men generally but doth not particularly apply any word of comfort or promise of blessing to any but profitable hearers and upon condition of repentance But in giving the Sacrament to known impenitent persons he preacheth most palpable lyes against his own conscience when he saith The body of Christ was broken for you and his blood wasshed for you And therefore the points urged in this Question are very dangerous and divers Scriptures herein quoted are wrested and grossely perverted Quest 4. The fourth Question upon that received truth That God only knows the secrets of mens hearts which Ministers doe not but mistake hypocrites for worthy receivers and more honest simple weak men for unfit Communicants would inferre That Ministers ought not to have power to judge or censure Iâ— which reasoning First I finde grosse absurdity for what can be more ridiculous then to argue that because Ministers know not secret things which belong to God therefore they know not revealed and manifest things as open scandalous sins and impenitency professed in the face of the Church and by consequent may not judge and censure them by the Word of God which doth plainly reveal their wickednesse to them and the whole Consistory Secondly Observe how the Scriptures which forbid rash judgement concerning mens estate before God which is secret or concerning mens last end and the like as Matth. 7. 1. Luk 6. 37. Rom. 14. 4. are wrested to overthrow all judging and censuring in generall both civil and ecclesiasticall Thirdly How vainly the power of God is abused to prove that he will in the midst of a profane wicked act change notorious sinners hearts in a moment which if he should doe how shall these sinners manifest their repentance in a moment to the Church which they have offended that they may he admitted orderly and not rashly without just ground or satisfaction Fourthly The breaking of a bruised reed and quenching of smoking flax is most miserably applied to the suspending of proud refractorie impenitent sinners from the holy Sacrament between which two sorts of persons and actions there is as vast a difference as between heaven and hell light and darknesse For the bruised reed signifies men of broken heart and contrite spirit groaning under the burden of their sins and fleeing to Christ for ease And smoking flax signifies such as have a weak but true faith which like a spark in flax sheweth by smoking that there is fire striving to break forth and to shew light of holy life Now how contrary these are to proud scandalous impenitent sinners let reasonable men judge the first are such as the Publicans and sinners who came to Christ repenting and confessing their sins and by him were received cherished and comforted the latter are like those trees which brought forth no good but bad fruit unto the root of which the axe was laid to hew them down and cast them into the fire The not breaking nor quenching the first is a point of mercy and a work of Christ the tolerating of the other and cherishing and encouraging them in their scandalous sins by admitting them to the holy Communion of Christs body and blood is a point of great impiety and a diabolicall act of profanation Here therefore the Scriptures are dangerously abused and wrested where scandalous impenitent and refractory persons are confounded with humble penitent sinners breathing after comfort and communion with Christ Fifthly Here is a strange supposition that all bearing the name of Christians even scandalous impenitent sinners are invited to the Sacrament and are bound to come and receive it under pain of sin and contempt I am sure the French and our Liturgies before cited doe admonish all impenitent persons to abstain lest they eat and drink their own damnation And the Scriptures here quoted 1 Cor. 11. Heb. 10. 29. do shew that unworthy wicked sinners doe by unworthy receiving count the blood of the Covenant an unholy thing Therefore to inferre that no Minister in point of conscience can refuse to give the Sacrament to such is to conclude quidlibet ex quolibet But whereas it is added that Ministers may not refuse any Christian not actually excommunicated the Sacrament if he desires to receive it in case he professe sincere repentance for sins past and promise newnesse of life for the time to come this we embrace with all our hearts and if he obtrude on us no other but only such we will not be so uncharitable as to judge them unworthy neither need we fear to partake of their sin or suspect their unworthy receiving For our rule is to proceed with men according to that which manifestly appears whether it be in truth or in hypocrise if any so professing doth eat unworthily he eats damnation to himself not to the Ministers who therein doe nothing against their consciences but proceed according to the judgement of charity and he shall bear his own burthen The Ministers act of administration to them who professe sincere repentance is an holy and divine institution but to open scandalous impenitent persons it is a manifest profanation and they are partakers in the guilt and punishment The Conclusion being the result of the former arguments which are plainly shewed to be weak and of no strength doth of it self fall to the ground and vanish For I have shewed that unworthy hearing and unworthy receiving are equally sins in the hearers and receivers but in the Preachers of the Word and the givers of the Sacraments it is farre otherwise the Preacher doth onely propound the Word generally and not falsely apply the promises of blessing and life to any particular scandalous persons but upon condition of their beleeving repentance and obedience If he knows any in the auditory who are scorners of the Word and haters and persecutours of him and his doctrine he denounceth a curse from God against them and desires them to keep away and holds himself guilty of sin if he should cast the pearl of the Gospel before such swine when they are alone and separated from other hearers he will not wittingly be to any the savour of death unto death But the Minister who gives the Sacrament to open scandalous sinners in their impenitency doth wittingly profane Gods holy ordinance and lyeth against his conscience in saying that Christs body was broken and his blood shed for them and makes himself guilty of their blood while he gives them wittingly to eat and drink their own damnation as is before shewed Whatsoever power takes from Christs Ministers the lawfull and necessary liberty to exclude from the Lords table scandalous sinners openly impenitent that is such a transcendent arbitrary unlimited power as lordly Prelates sometimes exercised and no lesse then tyrannie and oppression of the consciences both of Ministers and their godly people And therefore here the Divines of the Assembly are charged most unjustly and calumniously who have humbly desired by way of Petition to both the honourable Houses of Parliament that their consciences may not have this yoke of oppression laid on them which will force them either to profane the Sacrament of Christs body and blood by giving it to unworthy persons or to decline their Ministery and administration of that holy ordinance chusing affliction rather then iniquity FINIS
justice Why then will you not take away all power also of judging from Judges and of pleading and expounding the Law from Lawyers and leave all civil government in the hands of the common people Take heed Sir you be not partiall and unequall to one side more then another Aretius hath given you a very good caveat not to strive so earnestly against this point of Christian discipline in those words of his by you cited impossibile praesentibus moribus colla submittere ejusmodi disciplinae which words tell us That the corrupt manners and profane lives of men desperately bent in these evil times to continue in their lewd and scandalous courses make it impossible to bring them to submit their stiff necks to this discipline of Excommunication and Suspension from the holy Communion which is Christs light yoke to tractable Christians If you proceed to take part with such refractory opposers which I hope your religious heart will not permit you to do and spend your strength in so unworthy a cause in hope by justifying these Questions to prevail against the votes of your best friends and most faithfull lover which you have in this world who truly honour you and wish all good to you I trust in God you shall fail of your hopes as Aretius did in his judgement where speaking of this discipline set up by some in the Churches of Germany he seems to deride it in those words by you rehearsed Cecidit in spongiam ridiculus mus For now this despised mouse is become an high mountain in all the best reformed Churches of Germany 4. As for your addresse to the Assembly whom you charge unjustly with falling into extreams and indeed calumniate them as if they seemed to affect a great lording power over the consciences and priviledges of their Christian brethren which of right belongs not unto them usurping that to themselves which they vehemently declaimed against and caused to be taken quite away from the Pope and Prelates To this I answer that you utterly mistake the matter For they abhorre all affectation and usurpation of lording power over the consciences of any Christians but have condemned it in the Pope and Prelates and their humble Petition to the Houses of Parliament is That none may usurp lordly power as the proud Prelates did over them and the people of their flock compelling them either against their consciences and with great offence and scandall to the godly to admit scandalous sinners to the Lords table and to profane the Sacrament of Christs body and blood by giving the seals thereof to them or else to decline the administration of that holy ordinance and their Ministerie chusing affliction rather then iniquity In plain truth this is the lordly tyrannicall power over their consciences and the iron yoke which you in your Question seek to lay on them After the Preface answered I proceed to your Questions The first of which is Quest 1. Whether those places of Scripture Matth. 18. 16 17. 1 Cor. 5. 5. 11. 1 Tim. 1. 20. Joh. 9. 22. 32. 12. 42. 16. 2. â—Thess 3. 14. 2 Joh. 10. 11. Joh. 3. 10. Numb. 12. 14. Deut. 23. 1. be properly meant of Excommunication which you take upon you to prove from Fathers School-men and others to be an exclusion from all ordinances or of Suspension from the Lords Supper onely The first you hold and we will grant it to you The latter you deny and I affirm that it is here also meant inclusively but not only The first place you seem to weaken and enervate by intimating that our Saviour speaks of private personall trespasse between man and man and not of publike scandalous sins against the Congregation and that the censure is private not publike because it is said Let him be not to the whole Church and all others but to Thee as an Heathen man and a Publican and you quote Luk. 17. 3 4. to prove that such private trespasses must be forgiven if seventy times seven which no man will deny if the trespasser repent as often as he offends But now suppose be stand out and persist in his sin and scorn private admonition yea when he is convented before the Church he will not hear nor obey publike admonition doe you not think that this is publike scandall against the Congâ—egation and deserves Excommunication Surely if it were not so our Saviour would not have passed against it that dreadfull censure of Excommunication saying Let him be to Thee as an Heathen man and a Publican And if to the private person for his private wrong much more to all others in the Congregation for publike contumacy and scandalous obstinacy in his sin against the Church It is a dangerous doctrine to teach any private person to censure and judge a brother to be in the state of an Ethnike and as a Publican for a private trespasse if for his contumacie against the whole Church and obstinacie in that sin the sentence of Excommunication be not by the Church publikely given against him Whereas you make it a branch of your Question What warrant there is in Scripture for Ministers to suspend men from the Lords Supper only and not from the Congregation and all other publike ordinances with it I answer this very easily That because Suspension from the Sacrament is a step yea the next degree to Excommunication as reason and the practice of all the best Churches of Christ doe teach us the Scriptures which warrant Excommunication do also warrant it as a profitable and necessary means either to prevent that dreadfull sentence by bringing the sinner to repent and be ashamed or to make his impenitency more evident and notorious and to justifie the more the Excommunication of him But I marvell that you should thinke it so strange and unwarrantable a thing to suspend a man from a Sacrament who hath communion in all other ordinances of the Church seeing it was the practice of all the ancient Churches to exclude the Catechumeni from Baptisme till by catechising and hearing the Word publikely preached they were better instructed And how dare you dispute against that which is resolved in this present Parliament To wit That ignorant and some scandalous persons shall not be admitted to the Lords table Qâ— Your second Question is the same which you propounded last before as a branch of the first belike you are well pleased and affected with it and have some thing more to say in urging it I omit what I have answered before and here I doe first adde That Christian compassion and moderation in dealing with perverse men is commended and commanded in the Scripture 2 Tim. 2. 24 25 26. Jude 22 23. And this is a maine point of compassion and moderation in Ecclesiasticall rulers to try all inferiour meanes whereof suspension from the Lords Table is one before they proceed to the last and greatest censure of excommunication Though the Popes