is like God the Father that is in Heaven who is Love 9. Christ teaches us to avoid Ostentation in our Charity Take heed that ye do not your Alms before Men to be seen of them 10. He teaches us the Duty of Prayer where and what not in the Corners of the Streets nor in the Synagogues to be seen of Men but in the Closet in the secret of the Heart betwixt God and the Soul 11. He forbids Hoarding and Laying up of Money in Bank presses Treasuring up of Wealth in Heaven and the Reason is this that the one is Corruptible and the other is Incorruptible 12. He teaches Dependence upon the Providence of God calling the Dis-trustful O ye of little Faith Which of you says he by taking Thought can add one Cubit to his Stature therefore take no Thought saying What shall we eat or what shall we drink or wherewith shall we be clothed for after all these things the Gentiles seek for your Heavenly Father knoweth that you have need of all these things But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you 13. He sets up a Discrimination or Distinction between false and true Prophets those that are his Disciples from Counterfeits Ye shall know them said Christ by their Fruits Do men gather Grapes of Thorns or Figgs of Thistles even so every good Tree bringeth forth Good Fruit but a Corrupt Tree bringeth forth Evil Fruit. A Good Tree cannot bring forth Evil Fruit neither can a Corrupt Tree bring forth good Fruit Wherefore by their Fruits ye shall know them This was the Distinction given by Christ to his Followers the Tree was not accounted Good or Bad by the Leaves but the Fruits not by the Opinions but the Holy living The Faith in that Day was an Entire Resignation and Dependence upon God and not a Subscription to Verbal Propositions and Articles though never so True that was the Work of After-times more Corrupt and Superstitious Ages But 14. Lastly Christ preaches the General Judgment Many will say to me in that Day what Day the Day of Account and Final Reckoning with Mankind Lord Lord have we not prophesied in thy Name and in thy Name cast out Devils and done many wonderful works And then said Christ will I profess unto them I never knew you Depart from me ye that work Iniquity Not every one that saith Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he that doth the Will of my Father which is in Heaven Therefore whosoever heareth these Sayings of mine and doth them I will liken him unto a Wise Man which built his House upon a Rock and the Rain descended and the Floods came and the Winds blew and beat upon that House and it fell not for it was builded upon a Rock And every one that beareth these Sayings of Mine and doth them not shall be likened unto a Foolish Man which built his House upon the Sand and the Rain descended and the Floods came and the Winds blew and beat upon that House and it fell and great was the Fall of it And it came to pass when Jesus had ended these Sayings the People were astonished at his Doctrine for he taught them as one having Authority and not as the Scribes By all which it is most plain that as Christ is the Rock on which true Christians build so none can be said truly to build upon this Rock but those that keep his Sayings that do his Commandments that obey his Doctrine Wherefore that Faith of JESUS to be the SON and CHRIST of GOD must be such a Faith as does the Will of the Heavenly Father and keepeth THESE SAYINGS of Christ There are Two places in which Christ seems to sum up his blessed Doctrine One is this Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that Men should do to you do ye even so to them for this is the Law and the Prophets Which Christ came not to destroy but to fulfill But the other Passage seems to be more full the first relating only to our Dealings with Men this Second Passage comprehends our Duty both to God and Men viz. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy Mind this is the first and great Commandment and the second is like unto it Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self In these two Commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets This is the Perfection of the Christian Religion the Great Commandment of Christ the Certain Token of Discipleship A new Commandment said Christ I give unto you that ye Love one another as I have loved you that ye also love one another by this shall all men know that ye are my Disciples if ye have love one to another Again Christ speaks to his Disciples If ye keep my Commandments ye shall abide in my Love even as I have kept my Father's Commandments and abide in his Love and this is my Commandment that ye Love one another as I have loved you Yet once more Ye are my Friends if ye do whatsoever I command you and these things I command you that you Love one another He that hath my Commandments and keepeth them he it is that loveth me and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father and I will love him and will manifest my self to him but he that loveth me not keepeth not my Sayings So that only those are Friends and Disciples of Christ Jesus that do his Sayings and keep his Commandments and the Great Commandment of all is LOVE for upon this One Commandment all the rest depend For he that loves God above all will leave all for God not one of his Commandments shall be slighted and he that loves his Neighbour will much more love the Houshold of Faith Well may such be True Christians when their Faith in Christ works by LOVE by the Power of this Divine Love he that dwells in this Love dwell in God if John say true for he is Love And in this he recommended his Love unto us that he sent his only Begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have Everlasting Life Also herein did Christ manifest his Love in laying down his Life for us This is my Commandment said Christ that ye Love one another as I have loved you and Greater love hath no Man than this that a Man lays down his Life for his Friends ye are my Friends if ye do whatsoever I command you Indeed he gave his Life for the World and offered up One Common Sacrifice for Mankind and by this One Offering up of himself once for all he hath forever perfected that is quitted and discharged and taken into Favour them that are sanctified who have received the Spirit of Grace and Sanctification in their Hearts for such as resist it receive not the Benefit
between Arminius and Episcopius c. for the Remonstrants and Gomarus Sibrandus c. for the Predestinarians distracted Holland not a little and had an ill Influence upon the Affairs of England at least so far as concern'd the Church But the Mournfullest part of that History is the Ill Usage Martinius Crâ—cius the Bishop of Landaff and others had who though they were acknowledg'd to be Sound in the Faith of those Times which generally followed the Judgment of Calvin as to the mean points controverted yet if at any time they appear'd moderate in their Behaviour gentle in their Words and for Accommodation in some particulars with the Remonstrators or Free willers Gomarus and his Followers not observing that Gravity of the Assembly the Rules of Debate and least of all the Meekness of Christian Communion fell foul of their Brethren reproach'd their Tenderness and began to fix Treachery upon their Sober Endeavours of Accommodation as if they intended to execute as well as maintain their Reprobation and blow up their Friends rather than not destroy their Adversaries But if we will yet rise higher in our Enquiry and view the Mischiefs of Earlier Times the Fourth and Fifth Centuries after Christ will furnish us with Instances enough We cannot possibly forget the Heavy Life some men made about the Observation of Easter Day as if their Eternal Happiness had been in Jeopardy for so far were they degenerated from the Love and Meekness of Christianity that about keeping of a Day which perhaps was no part but to be sure no Essential part of the Christian Religion they fell to pieces reproach'd revil'd and hated one another A Day was more than Christ who was the Lord and End of Days and Victory over Brethren better than the Peace and Concord of the Church the Great Command of Jesus But the Remarkable and Tragical Story of Alexander Bishop of Alexandria and Arius his Priest in their known Debate about the Nature and Existence of the Son of God with the lamentable Consequences thereof as all Writers upon that Subject have related witnesseth to the truth of what I say The Bishop's Curiosity the Niceness of Arius the Presumption of the one to expound beyond the Evidence and Simplicity of the Text and the Captious Humor of the other that would not bate the Bishop any thing for his Age or the Rank he held in the Church but Logically exacted the Utmost Farthing of the Reckoning began the â—ray Which as it became the Perplexity of Church and State some Ages so it raged to Blood and those that had been persecuted like Sheep by the Heathen not long before turn'd Wolves now to each other and made sport for the Infidel doing their work Nay so much more Christian was Themistius the Philosopher that in his Oration called CONSUL he commended and advised the Emperour Jovianus to Exercise Moderation and to give that Liberty of Conscience which profest Christians refused to do to each other who seem'd to think they never did God better Service than in Sacrificing one another for Religion Did we duly reflect upon the Unnatural Heats Divisions and Excommunications among them the many Councils that were called the strong and tedious Debates held the Translations of Sees the Anathemas the Banishments Wars Sackings Fires and Blood-shed that followed this Unnatural Division that sprang from so nice a Controversie one would verily believe no less than that Religion it self had been in Utmost Hazard that Judaism or Paganism were over-running Christianity and not that all this Stir had been made about an Iota For the whole Question was whether HOMOUSIA or HOMOIUSIA should be received for Faith in which the difference is but the single Letter 1 Certainly we must do Violence to our Understanding if we can think that these men were Followers of that Jesus that Lov'd his Enemies gave his Blood for the World who hated their Brethren and shed one anothers Blood for OPINIONS The Heathen-Philosophers never were so Barbarous in their Differences But how easily might all these Confusions have been prevented if their Faith about Christ had been deliver'd in the words of Scripture since all sides pretend to believe the Text and why should any man presume to be Wiser than the Holy Ghost 'T is strange that God and Christ should be wanting to express or discover their own mind or that the words used by the Holy Ghost should have that Shortness Ambiguity or Obliquity in them that our frail Capacities should be needed to make them more Easie Proper and Intelligible But that we should scarcely deliver any one Article of Faith in Scripture-Terms and yet make such Acts the Rule and Bond of Christian Communion is in my Judgment an Offence hainous against God and Holy Scripture and very Injurious to Christian Charity and Fellowship Who can express any Man's mind so fully as himself and shall we allow that Liberty to our selves and refuse it to God The Scriptures came not in Old time said the Apostle Peter by the will of Man but holy Men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost Who can speak better or express the Mind of the holy Ghost plainer than the holy Ghost the Scripture is the Great Record of Truth that which all these Parties in Controversie agree to be the Declared Mind and Will of God they Unanimously say It ought to be believ'd and profest as such If this be true in what Language can we so safely and properly declare our Belief of the Truths therein contain'd orexpress those Truths as in the very Language of the Scripture And I cannot see how those Persons can be excused in the Day of God's Judgment who make men Heterâ—dox or Heretical for refusing to subscribe their Articles of Faith that are not in Scripture-Terms who at the same time offer to declare their Belief of God Christ Spirit Man's Laps or Fall Repentance Sanctification Justification Salvation Resurrection and Eternal Recompence in the Language of Holy Scripture 'T is preposterous and a Contradiction that those who desire to deliver their Faith of Truth in the Language of Truth should not be reputed True Believers nor their Faith admitted for this were to say that therefore their Faith is not to be received because it is declared in the Language of that very Truth which is the Object of that Faith for which it ought to be received and which is on all hands concluded to be our Duty to believe It seems then we must not express our Belief of God in his Words but our own nor is the Scripture a Creed plain or proper enough to declare a True Believer or an Orthodox Christian Are not things come to a sad pass that to refuse any other Terms than those the Holy Ghost has given us and which are confest to be the Rule or Form of sound Words is to expose a Man to the Censure of being Unsound in the Faith unfit for Christian-Communion Will
Knâ—wing this that our Old Man is crucified with him that the Body of Sin might be destroyed that henceforth we should not serve Sin Likewise reckon ye also your selves to be Dead indeed unto Sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. As if he had said The End of Christs Coming is to turn People from their Sins and that those who persist in their Disobedience resist the Benefits that come by him Let not Sin therefore reign in your mortal Body that ye should obey it in the Lusts thereof Neither yield ye your Members as Instruments of Unrighteousness unto Sin but yield your selves unto God as those that are Alive from the Dead and your Members as Instruments of Righteousness unto God Know ye not that to whom ye yield your selves Servants to obey his Servants ye are to whom ye obey whether of Sin unto Death or of Obedience unto Righteousness For when ye were the Servants of Sin ye were free from Righteousness What Fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed for the End of those things is Death But now being made Free from Sin and become Servants to God ye have your FRUIT UNTO HOLINESS and the End Everlasting Life For the Wages of Sin is Death but the Gift of God is Eternal Life through Jesus Christ our Lord. To Conclude nothing can be more apparent then that Freedom from Actual Sinning and giving Newness of Life to the Souls of Men was the great Reason of Christs Coming and the End for which he hath given us out of his fulness of Grace and Truth and Grace for Grace and that to be under Grace and not under the Law is not to have Liberty to do that now which ought not to have been done before as the Ranters interpret it but to be Freed from the Condemnation of the Law First through Remission of the Sins that are past upon Faith and Repentance and next by Fulfilling the Righteousness of the Law in receiving and obeying the Light and Grace that comes by Jesus Christ Very pertinent is that Passage of the Apostle Paul to Titus to our present purpose for it seems to comprehend the End of Christ's Coming the Faith and Duty of his people which our Great Selden after all his Painful Readings and Curious Inquisitions said but a little before his Death was the Most-Weighty Passage of the whole Bible to him as the Bible was the best of Books in the World viz For the Grace of God that bringeth Salvation hath appeared to all Men teaching us that denying Ungodliness and Worldly Lusts we should live Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present World looâ—ing for that Blessed Hope and the Glorious Appearing of the Great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from ALL INIQUITY and purify unto himself a peculiar people Zealous of Good Works In which Comprehensive Passage we find the End of Christ's Coming to be Our Redemption from all Iniquiquity both to blot out our Sins that are past to purify our Hearts from the Sin that remains We have the means that works and brings this Salvation into our Souls which is the Grace and the Way by which this Grace doth accomplish it is by Teaching us to deny Ungodliness and Worldly Lusts and to live Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present World Which has this great Encouragement joyned to it that those who so live have only right to look for that blessed Hope and the glorious Appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ I will add the Testimony of his Beloved Disciple John who has defined to us the End of Christ's Coming thus Whosoever committeth Sin Transgresseth also the Law and ye Know that he was manifested to take away our Sins And to shew that this is understood not only of the Guilt of Sins past but of the Nature and present Power of Sin in Man observe what follows Whosoever abideth in him Christ SINNETH NOT. As if this Apostle had foreseen the present Mischief Christianity labours under both on the side of Evil Men and but too many Mistaken Professors he adds Little Children let no Man deceive you he that doth Righteousness is Righteous even as he is Righteous he that committeth Sin is of the Devil for the Devil sinned from the Beginning Now comes his most express Passage to the Matter in hand For this purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might DESTROY the Works of the Devil Which is more than the Remission of Sins that are past here is the DESTRUCTION of the Power and Kingdom of Satan They that know not this know not Christ for as we so our Lord is known by his Fruits by the Works which he works in us therefore it is said that His own Works praise him He therefore that lives in Sin denyes Christ by denying the End of his Coming The Fool did not say with his Mouth but in his Heart There is no God yet but too many now adays plead with their Tongues and Pens for Sin Term of Life by endeavouring to shew the Impossibility of overcoming Sin But what saith this Apostle further of the Business Whosoever is born of God doth not commit Sin In this the Children of God are manifest and the Children of the Devil whosoever doth not Righteousness is not of God neither he that loveth not his Brother But if you walk in the Light as God is in the Light we have fellowship one with another and the Blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all Sin Again He that saith he abideth in Christ ought himself also so to walk even as Christ walked A little lower in the same Chapter he says I have written unto you Young Men because ye are strong and the Word of God abideth in you and ye have OVERCOME the Wicked One I will add one Scripture-Testimony more in the present Case and it is this Herein saith John is our Love made perfect that we may have Boldness in the Day of Judgment because as he is so are we in this World Behold now the true End of Christ's Coming viz. To SAVE FROM SIN and to purge us from all Iniquity that he might present us to God without Spot or Blemish Let us not then Flatter our selves for we shall be the Loosers neither let us make the Impossibility through our Infidelity which a Grain of Sincere Faith can make not only Possible but Easie What has been may be again nay in this Case must be Did the First Christians overcome the VVicked one so must the Last Christians too were those Ages led by the Holy Spirit and taught by the Grace of God to live God-like or like God in the World so must we of these Latter Ages too if we will be blessed forever that having put off the Old Man the Devil and his Works we may put on Christ the new and heavenly