A SERMON Preach'd at TURNERS-HALL The 5 th of MAY 1700. By GEORGE KEITH In which he gave an Account of his joyning in Communion with the Church of England With some Additions and Enlargements made by Himself LONDON Printed by W. Bowyer for Brab Aylmer at the Three Pigeons in Cornhil and Char. Brome at the Gun at the West-End of St. Paul's Church-yard 1700. Mr. KEITH's LAST SERMON AT TURNERS-HALL MAY the 5 th 1700. 1 PETER iii. 16. Having a good Conscience that whereas they speak evil of you as of evil doers they may be ashamed that falsly accuse your good Conversation in Christ THE last Lord's Day I made the former Verse of this Chapter the Subject of what I then said in this Place which I shall not repeat only let me put you in mind that I told you who were then present That it was the Duty of every one who professeth himself to be a Christian to be ready to give to every Man that asketh him a Reason of the Hope that is in him Under which Term Hope by a Synecdoche of a part for the whole is comprehended and understood our whole Faith and Religion and all our religious Actions and Performances for all which as we ought to be able to give a Reason or Ground why we so believe hope act and why we so profess to our own Hearts and Consciences so we ought also to be able and ready to give the like Reason or Ground of the same to others that ask it of us which yet suffers some Limitation that I shall not now repeat to the end that by the same they may be convinced to embrace the same way with us as God is pleased to make us instrumental by the Operation of his Holy Spirit to produce that effect or at least to put to silence their unjust Clamours against us But the chief thing is with good Reason to be persuaded in our own Consciences that what we so believe hope or act is true and right is approved in the sight of God and in that we shall have Peace In the opening of the Words of this 16th Verse I purpose to answer these three Questions I. What Conscience is II. What a good Conscience is and how a good Conscience is distinguished from an evil Conscience III. What the Rule of a good Conscience is according to which it ought to be directed and guided To the first I answer Conscience is that Power or Faculty of our reasonable Soul or Mind that can and doth reflect on our Thoughts Words and Deeds both present and past so as to judge and determine concerning them whether they be really or apparently right or wrong good or evil justifiable or reproveable Hence Rom. 2. 15. the Conscience of the Heathen or Gentiles is said to bear witness and their thoughts the mean while to accuse or excuse one another To the second I answer There are several things altogether necessary to denominate a Man's Conscience to be good 1. It must be an enlightned Conscience with a good measure of true Knowledge whereby to know what is right and good or wrong and evil An ignorant Conscience cannot be good 2. The Obedience of the Heart and Will of Man to what he is convinc'd of his Duty either to be believ'd or practis'd is necessary to denominate the Conscience to be a good Conscience for though true Conviction and Knowledge are necessary yet that alone without Obedience is not sufficient to denominate the Conscience to be good even though the Knowledge and Conviction come from the Spirit of God there must be a Consent and Harmony betwixt the Understanding and the Will to constitute and denominate the Conscience to be good 3. The Conscience that is purged and justified by the Blood of Christ even the Blood of his Cross that was outwardly shed through Faith in that Blood Rom. 3. 25. and where the Heart and Conscience and whole Soul and Body is sanctified by the Spirit of God and the inward work of Regeneration is known by the Spirit of God the Conscience only of such a Man is a good Conscience I say that the Conscience must be purged by the Blood of Christ that it may be good See Heb. 9. 13 14. For if the blood of Bulls and of Goats and the ashes of an Heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh how much more shall the Blood of Christ who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without Spot to God purge your Conscience from dead works to serve the living God And the Faith which is in the Blood of Christ Rom. 3. 25. is wrought in us and generally in all who have it by means of the written Word that is to say by the Doctrine of Christ crucified and the spiritual Blessings we have by him as it is preached to us for as the Scripture saith Faith comes by Hearing and Hearing by the Word and that Word is the outward Word as it is in the mouth of the Preachers as it followeth in Rom. 10. 14. And how shall they hear without a Preacher and how shall they preach unless they be sent Hence the Word even the doctrinal Word is called the incorruptible Seâ—â— of which true Believers are regenerated and born again according to 1 Pet. 1. 23. And Christ in the Parable compar'd his Preaching to the People to the Husbandman that soweth his seed in the several sorts of ground Matth. 13. 3. There are a great * Among the Quakers many who think they have a good Conscience but they have no need of this Blood of Christ nor of Faith in it they will have the Object of their Faith only within them they find no need of having the Conscience sprinkled by the Blood of Christ without them nay they argue against it as an impossible Notion not considering that this Sprinkling is spiritually by Faith and not by any material Application Also they have a wrong Notion of Faith they think they have no need of the written Word or any outward Means or Helps to have this Faith wrought in them The Spirit or Light within alone doth all the Light within them is sufficient to Salvation without any thing else the Light within them is whole Christ God and Man Flesh and Spirit and Bone They need no Christ without them nor no written Word without them they can Preach Pray Believe without Book without all outward Helps they need no Crutches as some argue against Forms of Prayer and call them Crutches to lame Persons which whole and sound Men need not So others make no more of the written Word the whole Doctrine of the Gospel as outwardly delivered us in the Holy Scriptures but as Crutches which they have no need of at all They will not allow of any written Word at all or any outward Word they ask where we find a written Word in Scripture I tell them I find it in John 15. 25. where Christ calleth a short
in the invisible Creation of Angels and Spirits the Scripture doth plainly inform us as Angels Archangels Thrones Dominions Principalities and Powers Cherubim and Seraphim Jethro Moses's Father-in-Law advised him to set Captains over Tens over Fifties over Hundreds and over Thousands of the People of Israel for the better and easier Government of them both in War and Peace and Moses hearkned to his Advice Exod. 18. 24. And we find in Scripture that the Church is compared to an Army and the Members thereof to Soldiers the chief General and Captain whereof is our Lord Jesus Christ who hath appointed divers Officers in his Church under the New Testament distinct not only in degree but in kind as Bishops Presbyters otherwise called Priests and Deacons answerable to the three Officers that were in the Church of the Jews under the Old Testament to wit the high Priest Priests and Levites and because they were but one Nation all living within a small Compass of Ground one High Priest did suffice according to God's Appointment This threefold distinction of Church Government by Bishops Presbyters and Deacons upon a further search into the New Testament I find so very clear as doth fully satisfie me notwithstanding that by prejudice of Education I was formerly Principled against it and also by searching into Church-History and the Writings of the Ancients nearest to the Apostles Times and the succeeding Ages in the purest and best State of the Churches as well as when there was a great declining from that purity yet as many other things both of sound Doctrine and good practice still remained so this distinction of Church Rulers did all along remain generally in all Places as well as in all Ages where God had any Visible Church or where there was any Society of People professing the Christian Religion until the beginning of the Reformation where in divers Countries abroad there was no Protestant Kings the Protestants set up Churches without Bishops not rejecting the Office nor condemning it as unlawful or Antichristian as some in late Times have done but excusing the want of it by that general maxim Necessity has no Law I need not insist to prove the distinction of Presbyters and Deacons out of the New Testament it being in some sort generally acknowledged by the Dissenters But the Superiority of Bishops over Presbyters is that which is condemned by some as Antichristian and by some others judged at best unnecessary and no part of Christian Discipline belonging to Christianity either essential or integral But if you will lay aside all prejudice of Education and uncharitableness you will clearly and evidently see it in the Holy Scriptures That the Apostles had a Superiority over not only the LXX but all other Ministers and Pastors or Teachers is very clear from 1 Cor. 12. 28. compared with Eph. 4. 11. That Bishops were to succeed the Apostles and have the like Office both with them as Churches came to be planted in divers parts of the World before their Decease and also after their Decease not with respect to the extraordinary gifts of Prophecy and Miracles but with respect to the Government of the Church by a regular Succession is evident from Mat. 28. 19 20. compared with the above-cited Eph. 4. 11. otherwise all standing or setled Ministry as an Ordinance of Christ may be rejected as Enthusiasts generally do yea what can these Governments be mentioned 1 Cor. 12. 28. but as really the Superiority of Bishops over Presbyters as of Presbyters over the Deacons and the People otherwise why Governments in the Plural Number Also what are these Dignities mentioned Jud. 8. that some despised in the Apostles days and 2 Pet. 2. 10 11. And how should any doubt of the Office of Episcopacy being an Ordinance of Christ in the Church when the qualifications requisite to such an Officer are so expresly set down 1 Tim. 3. from v. 1. to v. 8. But whereas it is objected that seeing there is only mentioned in that Chapter a twofold Order 1. Of Bishops 2. Of Deacons it would seem that Presbyters are there understood by Bishops otherwise Presbyters should be wholly excluded from Church Government I answer that will not follow 1. Because Presbyters though not expressed yet may be understood and implied under either the one or the other expresly mentioned the name Deacon being sometimes a general Name in Scripture signifying the most superiour as well as inferiour Officers in the Church 1 Cor. 3. 5. St. Paul called himself and Apollo by the Name of Deacons as it is in the Greek and 2 Cor. 3. 6. he calls all Ministers and Teachers at large by that Name But 2. in the order of things there were but these two Officers at first excepting the Apostles Bishops and Deacons The Churches in many places at first being small the Bishop could both sufficiently teach and rule his Flock and so did without Presbyters only by the assistance of Deacons but the number of the Flock increasing he did chuse and raise up those that had well used the Office of a Deacon to the higher degree of Presbyters which is called by St. Paul 1 Tim. 3. 13. a good degree which they purchased to themselves even as those that well used the Office of a Presbyter were afterwards raised up to the Office of a Bishop as was accordingly practised in the Church so that in priority of Nature and also of Time the Deacon is before the Presbyter though in priority of Dignity the Presbyter is before the Deacon Hence according to the Order established in the Church none is to be ordained a Presbyter until he first be ordained a Deacon nor can he at one and the same time be Ordained to be both The Distinction and Superiority of Bishops over Presbyters or Elders is very clear to me as well as to many out of St. Paul's Epistles to Timothy and Titus 1 Tim. 1. 3. I. St. Paul writes to Timothy to Command or give in Charge to some that were Teachers at Ephesus to teach no other Doctrine than the pure Doctrine of the Gospel such as he had heard of him And had not Timothy had a Superiority of Office above other Teachers which were then at Ephesus why did he direct both his Epistles to him only laying down excellent rules and method of Government for him to follow in the exercise of his Episcopal Function 1 Tim. 3. 15. with respect to several States of Persons both Male and Female II. Why did St. Paul give the Charge to Timothy to count the Elders that ruled well which were no doubt under him worthy of double Honour especially them who laboured in Word and Doctrine but that he was able to confer that double Honour upon them a part of which was an Honourable Maintenance according to what follows ver 18. for the Scripture saith Thou shalt not muzzle the Ox that treadeth out the Corn and the Labourer is worthy of his reward By this it is plain
that it belonged to Timothy being the Bishop of Ephesus as he is expresly called the First Bishop of Ephesus at the end of the second Epistle to him to whom the Church Treasure made up of the Gifts of the People was entrusted to provide for the Presbyters under him a necessary Maintenance which manner of practice continued in the Church the Bishops having the dispose of the Churches Treasure within their several Precincts during all that time the Church had no Christian Magistrate to Countenance her and long after III. He writes to him as an Ecclesiastick Ruler and Judge that had power to hear and examine Accusations brought against Presbyters and accordingly to judge after due Evidence of two or three Witnesses which plainly shews his Power of Jurisdiction over Presbyters 1 Tim. 5. 19. IV. He gives him a most solemn Charge before God the Lord Jesus Christ and the Elect Angels that in the exercise of the Power of Judicatory he act impartially without Favour or biass of Affection not preferring one before another ver 21. V. He writes to him as one having Power of Ordination to Ordain Elders by laying on of Hands and cautions him to lay hands suddenly on no Man ver 22. VI. He writes to him in his second Epistle to stir up the gift of God that was in him by the putting on of his Hands together with the Hands of the Presbytery or Eldership viz. some other Apostles that might jointly with St. Paul lay Hands on him 1 Tim. 4. 14. for that the Presbytery here mentioned was a Colledge only of Presbyters is a bare alledgment viz. when he ordained him the first Bishop of Ephesus as appears from the end of the second Epistle 2 Tim. 1. 6. VII He willeth him that he commit to faithful Men who shall be able to teach others also those Things that he had heard of him among many Witnesses which behoved to be some peculiar Things relating in great part to Rules of Discipline and Church Government which were not fit either for Heathens to hear or Novices in the Faith who yet might hear the common Doctrines of the Christian Faith preached in the Christian Assemblies VIII Writing to Titus he presupposeth him Bishop of the Cretians as appears from the end of the Epistle to him and tells him why he left him in Crete That he should set in order the things that are wanting and ordain Elders in every City as he had appointed him I know no reason why these should be thought Lay-Elders i. e. such as were not to Preach I find none such either here or any where else in the New Testament How could Titus exercise this Authority in such a spacious Island where many Cities were and Christian Congregations set up if he had been only a single Presbyter And if the other Presbyters had equal Power with him why did not he write to him and them jointly Whether in the Ordination of Presbyters others jointly did not lay on Hands with the Bishop is not the present question but whether it is to be found in Scripture or Church History that any Number or Colledge of Presbyters Ordained any without a Bishop presiding over them IX He telleth him that the Mouths of such Teachers as were unruly and vain Talkers and Deceivers and who taught things which they ought not for filthy lucre sake must be stopped which plainly shews his Authority to depose and silence false Teachers as well as to Ordain Sound and Worthy X. He telleth him of his Authority to judge who is a Heretick and how after the first and second Admonition if he amend not he ought to reject him By these Instances plainly collected out of the Epistles to Timothy and Titus it may I think appear to all impartial persons that well and duly consider them that both Timothy and Titus were Bishops and had a Superiority of Power and Jurisdiction over the Presbyters in the Churches of Ephesus and Crete as well as of Ordination I know W. Prynne hath printed a Book which he called the Unbishoping of Timothy and Titus which I have read but I find not that he hath either sufficiently answered the Arguments brought from Scripture to prove that they were Bishops or given any sufficient Arguments to the contrary I have also seen another great Book of his giving a Historical Relation of the evil Practises of many Bishops all which if true saith nothing against the Office But I could write a great Book threefold greater giving a Historical Relation of many good Things Bishops have done in the World Many Bishops both in the early and latter Ages have been eminently exemplary in Holiness of Life and all Christian Virtues and for divers Ages succeeding the Apostle's Days were blessed and happy Instruments to preserve the Truth and Purity of the Christian Doctrine in the World and the Unity and Peace of the many Churches in it hindring Schisms and curing them that did threaten to arise Cutting down with the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God even the Doctrinal Word outwardly delivered in the Holy Scriptures as they were mightily assisted by the Holy Spirit so to do the monstrous and vile Heresies that sprung up from time to time oppugning the Christian Faith wherein Almighty God blessed them with great Success and this they did partly by their particular Writings Treatises and Epistles as well as Sermons and partly by their assembling in great Numbers in Synods and Councils to condemn them and that many times to the danger of their Lives under persecuting Kings and Emperours some whereof were Heathen and some Arian and Eutychian Such who are but ordinarily well acquainted with Antiquity and Church History cannot be ignorant that the Government of the Church from the very days of the Apostles in all the famous places of the World where Christianity came to be planted was by Succession the which did lineally descend for four hundred years from the Apostles days and upwards and in divers places to this Age. There are two places of Scripture in the Old Testament which divers of the Fathers understood of Episcopal Government as it was to be set up in the Church under the New Testament as Psal 45. 16. being a Prophecy concerning Christ's Church and his Government in the same by Church Officers Instead of thy Fathers i. e. the Apostles who were the Founders of the New Testament Church and were her Fathers shall be thy Children i. e. their Successors in the Government of the Church after their Decease whom thou maiest make Princes in all the Earth The other Place is in Isaiah 60. 17. I will appoint them Bishops in Righteousness and Deacons or Ministers in Faith as Clemens Bishop of Rome quotes it in his famous Epistle to the Corinthians but as the Septuagint hath it is thus And I will give thy Princes in Peace and thy Bishops in Righteousness Ignatius who conversed with St. 〈◊〉 the Apostle and as his Disciple and Bishop of Antioch being committed by him writeth thus to the Church of Smyrna let the People be subject to their Deacons the Deacons to the Presbyters the Presbyters to the Bishop and the Bishop to Christ as he is to his Bishop Policarp also was constituted by St. John Bishop of Smyrna who both suffered Martyrdom as Church History giveth 〈…〉 saith lib. 3. cap. 3. We have to remember them who were appointed Bishops by 〈…〉 qui ab Apostalis 〈◊〉 sunt Episcopi in Ecclesiis Successoret eorum usque ād nos the Apostles in the Churches and their Successors even 〈◊〉 us This Irenaeus was Bishop at Lyons and lived within about a hundred years after St. John It is acknowledged both by ancient Writers and later yea by some 〈◊〉 and particularly by David Paraeus that the seven Angels of the seven Churches of Asia to whom St. John wrote were the seven Bishops set over those seven Churches also it is very probable that St. John himself had planted all these seven Churches and did constitute the Bishops in them Hierom whom the Adversaries of Episcopacy think that he favoureth in opposition to the Episcopal Authority plainly granteth that the Power of Ordination is lodged in the Bishop saying quid enim facis excepta ordinatione Episcopus quod Presbyter non faciat i. e. for what doth the Bishop that the Presbyter may not on ought not to do except Ordination Epist ad Euagrium And the sense affirmeth that from Mark the Evangelist until Heracla 〈…〉 Bishops there the Presbyters of Alexandria did name him Bishop one among themselves elected and placed in a higher degree but he doth not say that they ordained him And both Hierom and Clemens Romanus long before him did make a paralel betwixt the High Priests Priests and Levites in the Jewish Church and Bishops Presbyters and Deacons in the New Testament Church what Aaren and his Sons and the Levites were in the Temple saith he the same in the Church may Bishops and Presbyters and Deacons challenge unto themselves Hier. ad Eugr. And how universal the extent of Episcopacy was in all the Churches and to what end it was appointed he further declareth in that same Epist it was decreed in the whole world that one chosen out of the Presbyters should be placed above the rest to whom all care of the Church should belong and so the Seeds of Schism be removed Thus far I think I have made it appear that in none of the Particulars above mentioned the Dissenters have any advantage above the Church of England but that what advantage there is to be found either from Scripture or Church History and Antiquity lieth on her side FINIS
Sentence that he quoted out of a Psalm of David 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. that written Word They say they call the Scripture what it calleth it self to wit a Treatise for which they quote Acts 1. 1. the former Treatise but had they understood or consulted the Greek they would have found it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. the former Word whereby he understands the whole Book of the Gospel according to St. Luke Now as to the distinction betwixt a good and evil Conscience of which also the Scripture speaks 1. An evil Conscience is an ignorant Conscience 2. Unfaithfulness and Disobedince to what a Man is convinced of renders the Conscience to be evil 3. Unbelief and want of Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ makes the Conscience evil 4. Not to follow the dictates of Conscience even when it errs is an evidence of an evil Conscience Here that Axiom takes place Conscientia errans ligat sed non obligat an erring Conscience ties but doth not oblige it is a great pinch and strait He 〈◊〉 follows not an erring Conscience sinneth because he acts not in Faith and what is not of faith is sin and when he followeth his erring Conscience he sinneth This is no new Doctrine however possibly it may so seem to some here it is that which every Casuist doth commonly teach I will illustrate it to you by a Similitude that some have given If a Subject be deceived by a counterfeit Messenger from his Prince who brings a counterfeit Message from the King sealed with a counterfeit Seal and he thinks it to be real this Subject sufficiently shews his disrespect and disloyalty to his Prince if he refuse to obey it the application is easie If any object that as Contradictories cannot be both true or both false but the one true and the other false so if to follow an erring Conscience be a sin not to follow it is no sin being Contradictory But I answer they are not Contradictory for they are both affirmative Propositions He that followeth an erring Conscience sinneth this is affirmative He that followeth not an erring Conscience sinneth this is also affirmative But the way to get out of this pinch is to get a well-informed Conscience and to get rid of those Errours of Conscience which prejudice of Education by evil Teachers has led them into read the Holy Scriptures search meditate pray God to give you a good Understanding and let you see your Errours confer with such whom you have good cause to esteem both more holy and more wise and understanding than your selves To the third and last what the Rule of Conscience is according to which it must be directed and guided that so it may be denominated a good Conscience I answer We must distinguish betwixt an inadequate or incomplete Rule of Conscience and that which is adequate and complete The Law writ in the Heart of every Man is an incomplete Rule to a Man's Conscience obliging every Christian to obey it so that whosoever transgresseth against it is guilty of hainous sin and this Law extendeth in some degree to most of all yea in some sort to all the ten Precepts of the Moral Law but our highest Obedience to that Law and Rule cannot denominate the Conscience good or give true peace of Conscience or heal the wound of it that sin hath given for all have sinned and faln short of the Glory of God and whatsoever the Law saith it saith to them who are under the Law that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world become guilty before God The best of our Obedience cannot make atonement for our sins nay not for one sin not the least sin it is only the Lamb of God as he was slain for us that takes away our sins as we have faith in him his Blood cleanseth us 〈◊〉 all sin and the Merit and Value of it hath procured to us the Gift of the Holy Spirit to sanctifie us and therefore we owe both our Justification and Sanctification to the Lamb of God and to his most precious Blood for by our Justification we are cleansed from the guilt of sin and by our Sanctification from the filth of it And though Faith and Repentance are necessary conditions and qualifications to our obtaining Remission of sin Justification and eternal Salvation yet they are not in any wise the meritorious Cause thereof but Christ alone by what he hath done and suffered for us Holiness and our Obedience to God's Laws and Precepts both as writ without in the Holy Scriptures and as writ within in our Hearts is indispensibly necessary to our eternal Salvation but we must not rest nor rely upon it even when it is wrought in us by the help of the Holy Spirit it must not be the foundation or ground of our Faith and hope for remission of Sins and eternal Salvation either in whole or in part but our reliance must be alone on the Lord Jesus Christ both God and Man as he died for us c. and on the Mercy of God through him apprehended by Faith Now the knowledge of this in God's ordinary way is given to us and all who have it by the inward Illumination and Operation of the Holy Spirit in the use of the written Word as it is preached and heard by us or read and meditated upon We feeling the working of the Spirit of Christ to mortifie the works of the flesh and the earthly members and to draw up our mind to high and heavenly things as the 17th Article of the Church of England plainly expresseth The complete and adequate Rule therefore of our Faith and Practice is the whole revealed Will of God as it is declared unto us in the Holy Scriptures the Laws and Precepts whereof are of a far greater extent than those writ in every Man's heart without all Scripture Revelation or antecedent to it as David said I have seen an end of all perfection but thy Commandment is exceeding broad that is the whole complex or body of the Divine Laws given us by God and Christ as they are contained in the Holy Scriptures for Doctrine for Correction for Instruction c. It is therefore a great and dangerous Errour in them who hold as many do in these Nations that the Light within and what it dictates in every Man is the full and entire complete and perfect Rule of all Faith and Practice and nothing is absolutely needful to our Salvation but what that Light within teacheth us and all Mankind or will teach us if we hearken to it and obey it without all Scripture and all outward means of Instruction and yet the utmost extent that this Light within goeth to teach Men without Scripture and without the special Illumination and Operation of the Spirit accompanying the Scripture's Testimony is no more than the Righteousness of the Moral Law and Terms of the first Covenant Do and Live which Covenant we have all transgressed and
are the more knowing and judicious and of best repute among them either for Piety or Learning and it will be found that they have more Books of Church of England Divines and other forraign Divines who own Communion with her than of any others And yet for all this shall I be so uncharitably judged and my Friends who go along with me as a sort of Apostates and as having bad Ends and Designs and as some of them I hear suggest against me that I do it for a Living I pray God forgive their uncharitable Judgment I neither was nor yet am so hard put to it for a worldly Living as some imagine and as others wish and desire I mean of my Adversaries among the Quakers who have Prophecied of my outward as well as inward Ruine and longed to have their false Prophecies accomplished against me but God hath hitherto disappointed them and preserved me and mine from Ruine both inwardly and outwardly for which I bless his Name and I hope he will preserve me to the End Why should the Expectation of a Living incline me more to the Church of England than to the Dissenters Had I joyned with them I might have got a Living among them perhaps more plentiful by the Peoples Gratuities than by a Set maintenance in the Church of England Which last way of living I think is the more Honourable and less obnoxious to many great Temptations and every way as suitable to the Gospel I find that the Church of God in Scripture is compared to an Army whose Captain is our blessed Lord Jesus Christ called the Captain of our Salvation Now suppose there were two Armies in the Field the one very great and numerous the other far less in Number as suppose the one Thirty thousand the other Ten pray tell me whether it is not more safe for us all who are concerned in one common Cause against the common Enemy to keep within the Body of the Army then in several Parties to straggle and keep asunder from it or Entrench by themselves The like is our present Case both the Church of England and all called Protestant Dessenters profess to be concerned in one common Cause against Papists Turks and Jews Deists and Atheists and others guilty of vile Heresies in a Spiritual Warfare Is it not therefore more prudent and safe to unite together in one Body of Christian Society and Communion against the common Enemy that we may be the stronger especially seeing the differences betwixt the Church of England and the more judicious and moderate of the Dissenters are not in any Materials either of Doctrine or Worship but the very same as they have Confessed Have not these Divisions and Separations had bad Effects weakned the Protestant Interest strengthned the Papists yea and Deists and Atheists and loose and scandalous Persons who take occasion to say there is no true Religion on either side by observing the great Heats and Annimosities and bitter Prejudices of the differing Parties I will now come to answer what I think they will object mainly against my Reason above given They will tell us that if the parity or equality on both Sides were the same my Reason would be good but they will alledge there is a great disparity and inequality the Dissenters having the Advantage in several Particulars as 1st in Doctrines 2dly in manner of Worship 3dly Administration of the Sacraments 4thly Church Governments which say the Dissenters is more agreeable to Scripture among them than in the Church of England To every one of which I think to say something as briefly as I can And First as to the Doctrine as touching the Articles of Faith the Quakers excepted they profess to be one with the Church of England and have signed or profess themselves willing to sign to her Articles Secondly as to the manner of Worship which the Dissenters contend for should be wholly by an extempore Gift of the Spirit whereas the Church of England though she alloweth that Ministers before and after Sermon may Pray without a Set Form either read or repeated from the bare Memory by using their sanctified Parts and Gifts of Understanding to Conceive Prayer by the Help of the Spirit yet She is not only for the Lawfulness of Set Forms of Prayer composed by Pious Men of Spiritual Abilities both ancient and late but for the great Conveniency and Profitableness of them yea and Necessity of them in many respects in the Publick Worship of God leaving every one to their Christian Freedom whether to use or not use Set Forms in their Closet and Private Devotions But to this I say The most Pious as well as Judicious whom the Dissenters esteem so and repute as their Fathers and others that repute them not so yet will allow that they were very holy and spiritual Men have owned the Lawfulness of Set Forms of Prayer yea not only the Lawfulness but the great Conveniency and Necessity of them in the Publick Worship of God Calvin one of the most famous of the Protestant Reformers was for them as I proved to you some time ago Quod ad formulam precum c. As to the Form of Prayers and Ecclesiastical Rites Note that I greatly approve that it be certain from which it may not be lawful for Pastors to depart in their Function both to guard against the Simplicity and Unskilfulness of some and also that the Consent of all the Churches among themselves may be more certainly known And lastly to Put a Check to the insolent Liberty of some who affect certain Innovations So then it behoveth there be a Set or fixed Catechism a Set Admininistration of Sacraments also a Set Form of Prayers out of his express words in his Letter to the Protector of England Epist 87. The Protestant Churches abroad in Germany Holland Poland Sweden Denmark and France from the beginning of the Reformation to this very day have used Set Forms of Prayer and Thanksgiving in their Publick Worship And yet I think the Dissenters here will not conclude that their Worship was wholly carnal dead and without Life or Spirit as many of them do now argue against the publick Prayers of the Church of England The Life and Spirituality of Prayer doth not consist in the Mode or Form of the words whether Set or Extempore say all sound and judicious Christians but in the Purity and Fervour of the Affections And therefore an Extempore Prayer may be very Formal dead and dry and a Prayer in a Set Form may be very lively powerful and effectual as the experience of Thousands daily confirm And suppose the Dissenters would be so uncharitable to judge that Calvin's Prayers at Geneva in Set Forms and Luther's in Wittenberg and all the other Protestants Prayers in Set Forms were barely Formal Carnal Dead and Dry and the blessed Protestants Prayers who died Martyrs in Queen Mary's Reign that used Set Forms yea many of these now in use which would