Selected quad for the lemma: order_n
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A60688
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The spirit of meekness recommended for the reducing of the erroneous and such as have dissented from the Church of England / by William Smythies ...
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Smythies, William, d. 1715.
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1684
(1684)
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Wing S4374; ESTC R10957
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45,142
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149
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the Aspersions of false Teachers and to keep the Galatians from aspersing one another There were two things charged against him One was that he had no right to be an Apostle and the other was that he Preached false Doctrine But this is no part of my present Business But to consider the second viz. The Apostles great care to keep the Gallatians in that Peace and Unity which the Gospel to which they were newly converted does require There was a very great heat amongst them insomuch that the Apostle was afraid lest they should bite and devour one another and be consumed one of another Ch. 5. v. 15. The contest was about Christian Liberty And because there is at this day a great stir about it I think it necessary by the way to shew what that Christian Liberty was It was not a Liberty for every Christian to refuse the Orders of the Church and if the Governours of it did not please them in what was required or shew a special command from God for every indifferent thing which was prescribed for Order and Decency presently to turn their backs and heap up Teachers to themselves in opposition to their Governours I am sure that had been an Unchristian Liberty for it had been a Liberty to throw Christianity out of the World so soon as it came into it Or to make it the most ugly and deformed Religion in the World If when the Apostle told the Corinthians that at his coming to them he would set things in order they had sent him word that they would not observe his orders unless they were by special Revelation from God Or they would be Judges whether his orders were fit to be Received It would have made strange work in the Christian Church and spared the enemies of it the trouble of persecuting Christians for the Stubborn and self-conceited if their numbers had been sufficient would have persecuted the Orthordox and such as were of the most Christian humble and submissive tempers The Christian Liberty which we read so much of was quite another thing There were some Judaizing Christians amongst the Galatians They thought that they must as well observe the Law of Moses as the Law of Christ or else they could not be justified and saved The Apostle to rectify their mistakes tells them that they were at liberty from that Yoke and that they ought to take that Liberty Behold I Paul say unto you that if you are Circumcised Christ shall profit you nothing c. 5. v. 2. But however lest that should be of dangerous Consequence he takes care to prevent two great evils which might ensue One was in reference to themselves and the other was in reference to their misled and dissatisfied Brethren He was afraid as to the first that this Christian liberty should be an occasion of Licentiousness and therefore admonishes them that they should not use this liberty as an occasion to the Flesh v. 13. And he was afraid that heats of Opinion should be the Occasion of coldness of affection and therefore adds imediately in the same verse but by love serve one another and for fear they should not he presseth to them the Duty of Brotherly love as that which is a fruit of the Spirit of God and in the conclusion of the Chapter he cautions them against two great evils which obstruct it Vain glory and Envy Vain glory is a branch of Pride by which a man seeks to be uppermost and they that are guilty of it do seldom think they can stand high enough in their Reputations unless they tread upon their Brother and Fellow Christian Envy is a divelish temper of Spirit by which one mans happiness becomes another mans misery One mans health another mans sickness It was a very proper question which was once asked a pale envivous Man Are you sick or is your Neighbour well Where Envy Rules one mans Prosperity is another mans Adversity The envious man how rich soever he is is undone by the Riches of another man The Apostle having Admonisht them of those two great Enemies to Brotherly Love in the Conclusion of that Chapter In this he prescribes some general Rules which tend exceedingly to the healing of divisions and the continuance and promotion of Love amongst Christians I have made choyce of the first which is a direction how Christians who are themselves inoffensive should treat them that offend Brethren if a man be overtaken in a fault yee that are Spiritual restore such a one with the Spirit of meekness considering thy self lest thou also be tempted I will not spend much time in the explication of the terms in the Text. I suppose I shall not need to tell you what it is to be taken in a fault I wish we all knew as well what it is to have a Spirit of Meekness and I wish we all knew as well what it is to restore our Brother with such a Spirit A fault is any thing that a man does which is against the Profession of Christianity or against any Law of God He is guilty of a fault who commits any known sin to the prejudice of his own soul by which it is polluted and made obnoxious to Gods wrath and displeasure And he is guilty of a fault likewise who breaks the Peace and Unity of the Church by Schism and causeless Separation I intend my discourse shall chiefly relate to the latter The restor-of them to the Communion of the Church who have separated from it The Apostle speaks at large concerning any fault but in regard the Galatians had been seduced by false Apostles and had been taught false Doctrine we have no reason but to think that he intended this fault as well if not rather than any other And this is the fault in which men are most apt to be taken unawares The Works of the Flesh which the Apostle mentions are so manifest Adultery Fornication c. That men are not apt to be taken with them unawares as he is with this A man is more easily led into errors of Judgment than he is into errors of practice especially considering how easily the Scriptures may be wrested and misunderstood and that there hath been in every age False Prophets and False Teachers and many following their Pernitious wayes Whatsoever the fault is in which our fellow Christian is overtaken he is to be restored by those that are Spiritual But the next question is who they are By the word Spiritual I conceive we are to understand all such as are reformed from the deeds of the Flesh and whose lives do shew forth the fruits of the Spirit according to what the Apostle mentions in the former Chapter I know there is another interpretation given of the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which I shall have afterwards occasion to take some notice of but considering the context how the Apostle in the foregoing Chapter ver 13. required that the Galatians should by Love serve one another and in the
Conclusion of the Chapter immediately before my Text that they should not Provoke one another nor envy one another And in the words next to my Text that they should bear one anothers burthens I know not why by Spiritual we should not understand every good man in whom the fruits of the Spirit do appear Restore The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies properly to set a bone that is broken or out of joynt The bonds of Christian Love are very strong and it is by them that we are knit together like joynts inclosed with nerves and sinews and when one dissents and breaks Communion it is or should be like a bone broken or out of joynt at which the rest of the members should be deeply concerned Thus we may consider the meaning of the word if by being taken in a fault we understand the fault of separating from the Publick Communion of the Church which as I mentioned is a very proper sense of the words In the Spirit of Meekness It is very necessary that we should understand what the Spirit of Meekness is that we may rejoyce and be thankful if we have it and earnestly strive and pray to God for it if we have it not It may best be known by its opposites 1. Meekness is opposite to turbulent passion that which doth exceedingly disorder both the soul and body where it is prevalent The Apostle therefore joyns a meek and a quiet Spirit together 1 Pet. 3.4 He that takes another in a fault and is so rufled and discomposed that he knows not how to speak calmly to him in order to the restoring of him wants a Spirit of Meekness 2. A meek Spirit is opposite to a revengful Spirit This made Moses so famed for the meekest man in all the Earth Numb 12. Because when Aaron and Miriam spake against him and said Hath the Lord only spoken by Moses hath he not also spoken by us He was not moved to passion nor did he seek revenge And therefore it is said ver 3. Moses was meek above all men which were upon the face of the Earth 3. A Meek Spirit is opposite to a rigorous Spirit When a man desires the Punishment rather than the Reformation of him that is taken in a fault which is the end of Punishment such a man hath not a Spirit of Meekness The Apostle saith to the Corinthians 1 Epist chap. 4. ver 21. Shall I come unto you with a Rod or with a Spirit of Meekness Where the Spirit of Meekness is opposed to the Rod which signifies severity 4. A Spirit of Meekness is opposed to a Spirit of reviling and speaking evil Meekness bridles the Tongue Our Saviour was famed for this Spirit because he was dumb and opened not his mouth He was silent and answered not a word when to be sure there were no provocations which could be compared to his Or if it doth not shut up the tongue yet it commands a soft and gentle speech which is exceedingly obliging to the offending person Thus Lot shewed his Meekness to the men of Sodom when they pressed upon him and would have offered violence to the Angels that were his Guests I pray you Brethren do not so wickedly Gen. 19.7 A taunting reproaching tongue is as contrary to a Spirit of Meekness and as contrary to a Christian Spirit as any thing can be as will appear more in the sequel of my discourse The words being thus explained I proceed to that which is principally contained in them They give us a direction how we should treat our Brother when he hath done amiss We must restore him we must use our utmost endeavours to set him right again and this cannot be done any other way so well as by a Spirit of Meekness Or to be sure this must be the first way that must be used with him I have thought fit to discourse on this Subject as that which is very necessary and very seasonable All that we can do being little enough to allay those Unchristian heats which are amongst us and which are blown into a Flame upon every occasion There is nothing more requisite at this time than that we should treat those that have been taken in a fault with a Spirit of Meekness and yet there are Complaints as if men were farther from it now if possible than they have been heretofore The rage and fury of some men and their desire to ruine all that have done amiss is such that he who speaks but a Meek word concerning them is supposed to be guilty of the same fault himself Many men are so far from observing this Rule and Precept of Christianity restoring him that is taken in a fault with a Spirit of Meekness that they account a Spirit of Meekness to be the greatest fault of all It would be enough if some might be judges to prove a man guilty if he does not presently fly in the face of him that hath done amiss As if the Character which our Saviour gave of a Disciple were to be blotted out and another quite contrary were to be placed in the room of it That it should be no longer By this shall all men know that yee are my Desciples if yee love one another But by this shall all men know that ye are my Disciples if ye hate and revile one another and speak evil one of another The world is come to that pass now that it requires more than ordinary courage in a Minister if he dares commend a Spirit of Meekness But I will adventure to do it and to tell you the reason of it too which may exceedingly aggravate my crime There is a grievous complaint made by some who have dissented from the Church that upon their return to it they do not meet with that Christian Spirit by which they should be encouraged to have Communion with us and to continue it but with Revilings and Affronts to the great grief and discomposure of their Spirits in the House of God This Text tells them that Christianity requires men to be of another Spirit and such persons and all others that have been overtaken in faults ought to be otherwise treated I shall therefore recommend a Spirit of meekness to you from the consideration of these five things I. From the consideration of what it is in it self It is a most sweet pleasant and delightful temper of mind A meek man is alwayes at quiet in himself When other men are almost consumed by the heat and rage of their own passions Wrath Kills the foolish man He is like Jonah under his Gourd cool and in very good temper When other men are like the Israelites in the Wilderness fretting and vexing themselves because every thing doth not happen as they would have it wrangling with God and distrusting his Providence as if he did not know how to provide for men in their streights or how to deliver them from their fears and are therefore complaining against their Governours he is like