an Israelite in the Land of Promise he hath Milk and Honey flowing in the temper of his own mind A meek Spirit doth not only keep men from hurt but it gives them the enjoyment of all that is good There are a great many in the World who have great plenty of the good things of this Life but they enjoy no good at all by them because of the uneasiness of their own peevish fretfull Spirits The sewerness of their own tempers takes away the sweetness of all that they do possess but a meek Spirit gives a man all that is pleasant from what he enjoyes He patiently bears Crosses and thankfuly receives Comforts In this sense that which our Saviour said is very true Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the Earth They enjoy the good things of this life and have the greatest Sweetness that they afford and may expect the longest Continuance of them I might shew likewise that it is the most obliging Temper and therefore doth exceedingly conduce to the good and Comfort of mens lives whilst they are in this World But II. As it is a Temper very pleasant in it self so it is highly acceptable to God and gives us a good assurance of his Love and Favour A meek and quiet Spirit is to God of great price 1 Pet. 3.4 And it must needs be so for it is like unto God himself Fury is not in me saith the Lord. In this as well as in other vertues we are Followers of God as dear Children The Lord is slow to anger and so is the meek man When he is provoked He doth not willingly afflict nor grieve the Children of Men. Men may pretend to what they please but he that delights to vex or torment him that is taken in a fault is far from being Merciful as his Heavenly Father is Merciful God draws offenders to him by the cords of a man and by the bonds of Love The greatest offenders who are not hardned and incorrigeable are dealt tenderly with God saith Let us reason together to those whose sins were as Scarlet and as Crimson His Language to great sinners is by meek Expostulations Why will ye die c. And if God be so favourable and so desirous that those who have offended him should be reformed and not punished what strange Tempers are they of whom nothing will satisfy but Rigour and Severity We find likewise how highly God values a Meek Spirit by the great Love that he shews to those that are of that temper He doth severely punish those who can be so base and disingenuous as to offer any Affront or injury to a meek man When Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses Num. 12. God was exceedingly offended at them for but opening their lips against him He said unto them Why are ye not afraid to speak against my Servant Moses And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them and he departed ver 8 9. And by what follows it appears that he went away in an anger for Miriam was struck with a Leprosie and Aaron seeing it made hast to lament for what he had done and with an humble submission to Moses to ask forgiveness Aaron said unto Moses alas my Lord I beseech thee lay not the sin upon us wherein we have done foolishly and wherein we have sinned ver 11. And might for all that have suffered very severely if the Meek man whom he spake against had not spoken to God for them Nay though Moses cried unto the Lord yet Miriam who probably was the first in the fault and instigated Aaron to it or was more peremptory in her reproofes was shut up seven dayes that she might spend that time in considering what it is to speak against a Meek man It appears likewise how great an Esteem God hath for a Spirit of Meekness by the many promises which he hath made to Meek men in his word The meek will he guide in judgment and the Meek will he teach his way The Meek shall be hid in the day of the Lords Wrath as in Psal 25.9 Zeph. 2.3 and inumerable other places in the Scriptures Meekness was the Temper of our Blessed Saviour and it was his command that his Disciples should follow his example in it Learn of me for I am Meek and lowly A furious man is no true Disciple of Christ He is a Scholar that will not learn of his Master Our Saviours Meekness was such that it occasioned Fury in his enemies because they could find no evil in his words or actions was so far from reviling any or using reproachful Expressions that when he was reviled he reviled not again If any were taken in a fault he was not presently for punishing them but but by Meekness and Kindness reforming of them The Scribes and Pharisees John 8.3 Brought him a Woman that was taken in Adultery in the very Act. She was taken in a fault indeed Moses in the Law said they commanded that such should be stoned but what sayest thou This they said tempting him that they might have to accuse him If he had absolved her they would have accused him of violating the Law of Moses If he had condemned her he would then seem to annul the very purpose of his Coming which was to call sinners to Repentance and not to inflict temporal Punishments In this transaction we do not only find the Wisdom of our Saviour in propounding that to them which made their guilty Consciences turn them all away but his Meekness to the woman that was taken in the fault He said to her Woman where are those thine accusers hath no man condemned thee Shee said no man Lord. He said to her Neither do I condemn thee Go and sin no more We are not to think that our Saviour said this that he might so much as extenuate the Fault that she was taken in but to shew that he would not take upon him to be a temporal Judge who came to be a Spiritual and Merciful Saviour He did not so much as give her a reproachful word but bad her Go and sin no more He that delights to revile and reproach to condemn and punish one would think that of all Religions in the world he were no Christian nor ever heard who Christ was or what he required of his Followers The Apostle had no stronger Argument to use to the Corinthians than this was 2 Cor. 10.1 Now I Paul beseech you by the Meekness and Gentleness of Christ III. A Spirit of Meekness tends to a publick good both of Church and State There are two things of absolute necessity for the Establishment of our Peace and Prosperity That the People should have a Spirit of Submission towards their Governours and a Spirit of Meekness one towards another My great design is to perswade those that are not faulty as to the first but are of undoubted Loyalty to the King that they would not be failing as to the second They are both very
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
a Spirit of Meekness towards men Besides If we do not treat our Brother with a Spirit of Meekness but with biting Scoffs and Revilings we are not good men for our Carriage towards them contradicts our Prayers to God We pray that God Would lead into the way of Truth all such as have erred and are deceived We pray that all who profess and call themselves Christians may be led into the way of Truth and hold the Faith in Vnity of Spirit and in the bond of Peace And if we treat those ill that have erred and are returned to the Church where 't is to be hoped they will be convinced of their Errors It is a sign that we never were devout in those prayers for we seem discontented that God hath heard them I heartily wish that those men who are so apt to reviling would consider what the Apostle saith Every one must give an account of himself to God and consider how impossible it is that they can be justifyed when they shall appear before that God who will judge men according to the Gospel which as I have shewed doth so strictly require All Meekness towards all men Surely there is not a man that ever read the Comands of Christ who can think that he shall come off well at the great Tribunal if he can only say Lord I was so Zealous for the Church that I hated all that seperated from it I could not see them but my Spirit was incensed I could not speak to them but with provoking Expressions c. This plea might be of great force if God would make mens Passions to be the rule of Judging and not his Word which requires that we do good to all that we love our Enemies and that we should make it our business to convert sinners from the errours of their wayes But on the contrary If a man can say Lord I have been afflicted for thy Church to see the Rents and Divisions which have been amongst Christians It hath greived me to see how little men have regarded Jerusalems peace and how much they have indulged their unreasonable and causeless Prejudices I have heartily prayed to thee to bring them into the way of Truth I have endeavoured to convince them of their mistakes and to perswade them with all expressions of Meekness and Love that they would consider the Dishonour that hath redounded to thy Great Name and to the profession of the Holy Religion of Christianity And when I saw that they Returned my heart rejoyced and my Arms Embraced them and I was glad when I could go with them into Thy House or meet them there This is the right Temper of a Christian and this is the Person that will be found fit to sit with Christ when he shall Judge the World A Spirit of Meekness is a good evidence of a sincere Christian and that he shall come off with Triumph when the Lamb shall appear sitting upon the Throne One would think that what our Saviour said in his Sermon upon the Mount Mat. 5.21 22. should make all men afraid of Reviling their Brother as they love their own Souls and value their Eternal welfare He tells them that they who are guilty of it are Murderers and shall be punished as such and I am sure the House of God is a very unfit place for men to commit Murder in if their timely Repentance which is a change in them to a better temper doth not prevent it Ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old times Thou shalt not Kill and whosoever shall Kill shall be in danger of the Judgment But I say unto you that whosoever shall be angry with his Brother without a Cause shall be in danger of the Judgment and whosoever shall say unto his Brother Racha shall be in danger of the Council and whosoever shall say Thou Fool shall be in danger of Hell Fire Our Saviour spake to them who thought that the sixth Commandment could not be broken unless a man did actually commit Murder and therefore he Explaines it by telling them that men might be Murderers in their Hearts though they were not so with their Hands And that those who are of Malitious and Reproachful Spirits should be punished as such He gives an account of it with allusion to the several degrees of Punishments amongst the Jewes whereof the least was Death Whosoever shall be Angry with his Brother without a Cause shall be in danger of the Judgment that is whosoever shall be Offended at his Brother more from his Aptness to take Offence than from any Cause given to him or shall not moderate his Passion with a proportionable respect to the nature of the Offence shall have that Punishment in another state which is answerable to that which the Jews called Capital He hath made himself thereby liable to Eternal Death in another State And whosoever shall say to his Brother Racha that is worthless empty Fellow that shall vilifie him as mean and inconsiderable shall be in danger of the Council of being condemned to suffer a greater punishment than an ordinary Death that was to be Stoned to death which was the sentence of the Sanhedrim Meaning that he who used Reproachful Expressions should have a greater punishment than he who did not vent his passion in Opprobrious Language But whosoever shall say Thou Fool shall be in danger of Hell Fire which we are not to understand as if the punishments afore-mentioned were any whit less than the punishment of Hell Fire but as signifying a greater degree of Punishment or I may say the Fire made hotter It alludes to the burning in the Valley of Hinnom which was a punishment far greater than the other two where Children were put into Brazen Vessels set over the fire till they were Scalded to death and therefore signifies that he who doth not only use undervaluing Expressions by representing his Brother as weak and empty-headed but proceeds to the highest degree of Railing which is exprest by saying to him Thou Fool shall be in danger of exceeding great punishment in the place of Torments I was the more willing to give an Account of this place according to the Opinion of the best Expositors not only because there are many who do not Understand it but because there are more who do not Consider it and because it is very much to my present purpose If a man would know what his condition is and what it is like to be let him Examine the Temper of his Mind whether Religion hath subdued his Passion and keeps his Tongue from venting it Bad Words do as well discover a bad Man as bad Actions what ever men may pretend to Let men that are apt to revile consider what St. James saith and look to themselves chap. 1. v. 26. If any man amongst you seem to be Religious and bridleth not his Tongue but deceiveth his own Heart that mans Religion is vain Surely then they are very far
Conspiracy against the Life of our Soveraign who is the Breath of our Nostrils nothing will satisfy some men but to conclude that all that dissent are more or less concerned in it Whereas we have great reason to hope and I have some reason to speak it that it hath been of very good Consequence to some of the Dissenters who were so startled and amazed at it that they have acknowledged the Kings Commands for the execution of his Laws against them to be both just and necessary Thus doth unjust and unchristian Censoriousness prevail for want of a Spirit of Meekness Let men therefore take heed that they do not charge the Innocent of being faulty for oft times it happens to be so and he that abhors the Fault which another is guilty of is reviled and accused after a most unchristian manner This is a very dreadful thing If he that is taken in a fault must be restored with a Spirit of Meekness what a great fault is he guilty of who treats him with a Spirit of Reviling and Bitterness who is taken in no fault at all IV. I would go a step higher Let men take heed that they do not call that a Fault which is commendable and praise-worthy and then lay aside a Spirit of Meekness too Some men are reviled for that for which they ought to be praised There are some very good men who are dealt withal as Hannah was 1 Sam. 1.14 15. She was falsly accused and it is worthy our observation that it was by Eli who was a very good man It is the great fault of many good men that they are very apt to censure and judge amiss of others whom they ought to have a high Value and Esteem for And although it may proceed from a Jealousie which is caused by their abhorrence of that which is evil yet it is by no means to be justified Eli said unto her how long wilt thou be drunken put away thy wine from thee And observe what she replyed And Hannah answered and said no my Lord I am a Woman of a sorrowful Spirit I have drunk neither Wine nor Strong Drink but have poured out my Soul before the Lord. Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto One would think that Eli should have asked her what it was that she was doing for though it had been very ill to have disturbed her in her Devotion by asking her any question yet it was ten times worse to charge her of being guilty of one of the foulest sins when shee was performing to God one of the most acceptable Duties To load her with an unjust Accusation when her Soul was burthened with Grief and Sorrow Yet this is sometimes the lot of those that are good of which many Instances may be given And good men and women may well be content to bear it for it was that which our Saviour met withal when he was in the world When he went into the company of Sinners that he might Call them to Repentance he was accused of being a Friend to them as they were Sinners and guilty of the same Sins likewise They said behold a man gluttonous and a Wine-bibber a friend of Publicans and Sinners Mat. 10. v. 19. As this was our Saviours Lot when he was in the World so it is likewise of many that are Holy and Religious Members of his Church amongst us There are many who because of some outward Deportments which are Expressions of that inward Reverence which they have for God in their minds and by which they shew likewise that Bodily as well as Mental Reverence which is due to God have been and are called Popish and Superstitious and reviled as if they were Vile men when as Hannah did they are Pouring out their Souls to God with the greatest Zeal and most fervent Devotion Those who accuse them if they conversed with them might have cause to account them the most Pious and Charitable Christians so far as it is possible for men to judg But this is a great Unhappiness and doth exceedingly aggravate the Fault of the Censorious They will not charge a man of his supposed faults by which they may be convinc'd of their mistakes but rail against them and Revile them abroad wheresoever they come Though Eli was to blame in charging Hannah falsly yet he was to be commended much more for accusing her to her face than if he had taken it for granted that she was guilty of it and then reproacht her by an unjust Defamation behind her back He spake his mind to her and was satisfied that he had been mistaken and said to her Go in peace and the God of Israel grant thee thy Petition that thou hast asked of him If those that accuse others would converse with them and tell them of what they think to be a fault in them they might possibly be satisfied that there was no fault but a commendable practice which they ought to imitate There are others likewise who have been accused as our Saviour was of being Vicious because they have been in the Company of Vicious men although they never comply'd with them in any thing that is bad but have taken all occasions to reprove and admonish them Thus have men been injur'd in their Reputations by false Aspersions both as to their Principles and their Practices when both of them have been very commendable And if it be a Christian Duty to restore him that is taken in a fault with a Spirit of Meekness how Unchristian are they who make a Vertue to be a fault and condemn it with a Spirit of Bitterness V. I must add to all this that those who are so ready to accuse the Innocent and to condemn those that are religious and good Men are commonly such as are guilty of very great Faults themselves and yet will not be restored nor endure so much as to be told of their faults We commonly find those that are most faulty themselves finding most Faults with others They do not so much as see a mote in their Brothers eye and yet they find great Fault with him and in the mean while they must not be so much as told of a very great Beam that is in their own eye If those that are Spiritual are required to restore them that are faulty with a Spirit of Meekness what a most notorious fault is it when they that are Carnal treat those that are Spiritual whom they have not taken in a fault with the Spirit of Bitterness That which follows shall be by way of Exhortation and Advice both to those that have Dissented from the Church and those that have not I begin with those that have seperated but are now come I hope with Religious minds to joyn with us in the Worship of God Let me desire you to suffer a word of Exhortation and as I have earnestly contended with others to
shew a Spirit of Meekness towards you and I value not the Censures of furious and unreasonable men for what I have done so I do intreat you with no less Importunity that you will receive with Meekness that which I have to offer to you 1. Let me desire you to take care that a Spirit of Meekness be not wanting in you towards others that are of conformable Principles to the Rules and Orders of the Church They that complain that a Spirit of Meekness is wanting in others should take great care that it be not wanting in themselves They that would not be bitten should take care that they do not bite They that would not be Reviled must take care that they do not Revile others You know that what I have already mentioned is very true viz. That many of the Religious Members of the Church of England have been accused of being Popish and Superstitious and of having a Form of Godliness though some will scarce allow that but not the Power of it whereas it appears to Sober and Unprejudic'd Persons that they abhor both Popery and Superstition and that they have the Power of Godliness as well as the Form of it It is my earnest desire that you should never be Reproached for that which is true I hope therefore that you will take care for it is a dreadful thing that you Revile not others for that which is false And the truth is I know no Advice more necessary to be given than that all sober Christians whatsoever their Perswasion be should make it their business to discourage Revilers and Evil-speakers upon all occasions whatsoever although they be of the same Opinion with themselves It is great pitty that all men do not consider the truth of a good old saying A good word does no hurt and a bad word does no good Revilers and Evil-speakers are certainly the most mischievous men of any party whatsoever But this is not all that I have to desire of you therefore 2. If you would not be offended this way by opprobrious Language or uncivil Carriage let me desire you to take care that you give no offence any other way as I must needs say too many do and I will shew you wherein 1. There are a great many of you who cast Contempt upon one Ordinance for the sake of another Such I mean as will come to hear the Sermon but will not come to joyn with their fellow Christians in lifting up their hearts to God in the use of the publick Prayers of the Church Gods house must be only the house of Preaching to them and not the house of Prayer The great Reason is that they have heard it spoken against by those whom they have accounted the best men and therefore they cannot be satisfied to make use of it By the same Reason if those Ministers had commended it they would have liked it very well If this be the Reason and I am confident there are many men whose Consciences tell them that it is so what Infallibility do they attribute to their Preachers And what Partiality are they guilty of For if they granted the Ministers of the Church to be Religious men and such as aim at the Glory of God and the good of mens Souls they would for the same Reason be convinc'd that it is an acceptable Worship of God Some have been so weak and misled as to think Extemporary Prayers to be the best because they are dictated by the Spirit of God This proceeds from a high Opinion that some people have of their Ministers for I never heard of any Minister that pretended to any such Divine Inspiration The weakness of this Conceit hath been sufficiently exposed and therefore I will not enlarge upon it However I will speak something and I hope you will not think that I forget my Text and lay aside a Spirit of Meekness I have seriously considered of it and I can not tell of any Spirit that extemporary Prayers come from more than other Prayers unless it be a Spirit of Opposition to the Publick Lyturgy of the Church for before that Opposition not only some Ministers of the Presbyterian Persuasion but likewise some of the Independants made use of a set Form of which I could give particular instances from the acknowledgments of men of both Perswasions I may add to this that if extemporary Prayers were really more beneficial to the People and did not tend only to the gratifying of their curiosity or to the cheating of them by a vain conceit that they are dictated by the Spirit of God or that New words when men pray are the Gift of Prayer a new-coyn'd expression for I find it not in the Scriptures there are many Ministers who would Pray extempore as well as they and no question but use would soon make great perfectness in it Or if they could understand that New words every time they pray to God would be more acceptable to him and tend more to the good of the People they would use a new Prayer every Lords Day which the Church doth not forbid them I must needs say that it is a very strange Conceit that men should think it unnecessary when they pray to the Great God to bethink themselves before hand what they shall say to him or that it should not be a great happiness to the People that they have a wholsom Form prescribed them in the use of which they may lift up their hearts to God with great and acceptable Devotion There is another Reason why many come not into the Church till the Prayers be done And that is an apprehension they have that our Prayers are taken out of the Mass-Book and therefore this were for them to Pray as the Papists do I should not need to mention this or make any Reply to it if I could be sure that the Books which are published for satisfaction in these cases are perused by those who have been dissatisfied However I shall speak very briefly concerning it and with a Spirit of Meekness Suppose we pray as the Papists do Nay suppose we Pray in many things as the Turks do who Worship the True God as well as we there is no hurt at all in it Besides our using the same Form of Prayer with them can be no Disrepute to us or occasion of any starting from it if we consider what our Religion is as it relates to the Church of Rome It is Reformation from them and not a Malicious Destruction of them Reformation must only be the excluding of that which is bad and the retaining of that which is good If it were Malice or Hatred against them we should then indeed reject all that they do Our Reformers wisely and Piously considered that Peace and Communion with them and with all that profess Christianity is exceedingly to be desired But in regard of some horrible Corruptions that were broken in amongst them they could not have Communion with them For these they
and brought up in a false Perswasion and that the men of that Party whatever it is may be of such unblameable Lives that they may from thence mistake and conclude that they are right I may in the next place tell you that we of this age have the greatest Cause that ever any had to suspect our Educations because of the many Opinions that were amongst us when we were young which were espoused by men of strict Lives and very good Conversations I cannot therefore but highly commend those both Ministers and others who do not hang the Clogg of their Opinions upon the Consciences of their Children but are very willing that they should comply with the Church of England 2. Lay aside or rather abandon those Prejudices which you have heard and received as indeed Unchristian You have heard that the Ministers and People of the Church of England are so scandalous that good and holy men cannot have Communion with them Let me tell you with a Spirit of Meekness 1. That it is doubtful whether ever any age produced Ministers of greater Eminency both for Piety and Learning than this hath done or whether ever any age had Christians in it more eminent for good Works than those which this Age hath produced who are of the Communion of the Church of England though they make no noise of it It was not long since confest by one who is no Lover of the Church that the men of her Communion do most good by their great Liberality I should not have mentioned this if a false Aspersion did not make it necessary It hath been objected by some that we are no True Church because God hath not blessed the Ministry of it with the Conversion of Souls I pray God convert them that say so Those who heartily comply with the Church may find a very considerable number of Holy Communicants and blessed be God for it Ministers have been very successful in bringing many young Persons and others to Righteousness 2. Those that are vicious and profess a great Respect to the Church are a great Grief to those Pious Ministers and Christians who are lovers of the Church 3. Whereas men pretend to seperate upon that account I must tell them That Debauchery and Wickedness are not so much the Cause of Divisions as they are the Effect of them Death-beds have complained that because there have been such Doubts which is the Right way men have resolved to take no way but the way of Sin and Wickedness I appeal to any sober man in the World whether he doth not think that Division and Separation hath been a great Cause of that Atheism and Profaneness which hath of late abounded And I appeal to any sober man whether a hearty Compliance with the Church of England by which there would be care taken both of young and old by the execution of Censures against those that are Vicious and Irregular would not tend exceedingly to the restraint of Wickedness and the promoting of true Holiness and Goodness Men have dissented from a Pretence that they reap great benefit to their Souls by it but I am sure if they were not prejudiced and did understand and consider the methods of the Church of England they would have little reason to think that any Constitution can tend more to the good of Mens Souls But however men must not tear the body of Christ in peices pretending that they do it for the benefit of their souls The Church is Christs Body which must not be divided upon any pretence whatsoever 3. Consult both sides Be as willing to hear what is said on one side as on the other If men take in with one Party and conclude that they are right and that continuance in their way is Perseverance and to comply with any other were Apostacy which I find to be the Conceit of a great many and therefore they will not hear what others have to say to them it is no wonder if men continue obstinate and perverse If men dealt fairly and Christianly in this case they should go to some Ministers of the Church and tell them that they would gladly comply with them if they could be satisfied concerning some things which they doubt of declaring what their Doubts are and that they are very willing to receive satisfaction that they might not offend by separating from the Church If men did so our Divisions would quickly be at an end And if they do not they have not followed the things that make for Peace for they never endeavoured to be satisfied concerning that which they doubted of There are two things which I will mention as Motives to this Complyance First There are many Good and Holy Christians who are by this means fully satisfied and are not only Devout in the use of the publick Prayers but frequent Communicants at the Lords Table Secondly Those who are thus satisfied must needs have far greater Peace than those who still continue in the wayes of Separation They avoid outward Troubles and whatsoever Disturbances come to the Church or State they are not the Occasion of them Their minds are not royled and exasperated as others are but they live in Obedience to the Laws of their King and Lead a quiet and peaceable Life in all Godliness and Honesty I will conclude with a brief Exhortation to those that are Lovers of the Church You see that I have not chosen this Subject in Favour of those that have Dissented but have been guilty of a long Unwonted Digression that whilest I am contending with you to shew a Spirit of Meekness towards them I might speak of those things to them with the same Spirit which have occasioned their offending of you which otherwise had been very improper from this Subject thereby using my utmost endeavour to restore them to the Communion of the Church I will now renew my Request and leave it with you that there may be no more Complaints made that this Spirit is wanting in you I will add but very little to what I have said 1. Consider that a Spirit of Meekness is a good Reputation to the Church which you are Lovers of Church of England-Men have been Eminent for their bearing the Reproaches of others It is great pitty that they should be accused of Reviling others Besides when men give ill Words it is a sign of a bad Cause and that they have but weak Arguments and that is a disparagement to the Church whose Sons have kept their ground and Valiantly encountred all that opposed them on every side by the force of Arguments 2. I would add somewhat concerning those that are come to our Congregations 1. Consider that they are men of the best Tempers amongst those that have Dissented There are others who speak as ill of us as if we were Jews or Pagans that we are Enemies to Holiness and Destroyers of mens Souls c. And yet if we have opportunity we ought to treat those men with a Spirit of Meekness And I am sure we ought to Pitty them and earnestly to Pray to GOD for them Surely then it doth not become us to be unkind to those who are less Censorious and more Compliant 2. Consider what these men endure from those who are so Censorious They write Letters and tell them of Apostacy and Back-sliding and many are more incens'd against them than they are against us It is a very hard case that they should both suffer by us and by them for their beginning to comply with us This may make them desperate and give way to a Temptation to forsake that Religion which we all contend for 3. If we do not treat them with a Spirit of Meekness we shall wholly discourage the good Inclinations of others who have dissented If they hear that their Brethren who come before meet with any Repulse they will be very loath to follow them who otherwise might come and help to fill Gods House and be of the number of those who Surround the Lords Table GOD of his infinite mercy grant that all Christians whatsoever their opinions are may lay aside all Vnchristian Passions and Prejudices That we may follow peace with all men That we may not make it our business to please our selves but that it may be our great concern to please God in the first place and our Neighbour in the next That we may not rejoyce in any evil which befals others but may endeavour in Christian Love and Kindness to rectify their mistakes and pray to the God of Peace for his Blessing upon our endeavours by which men may understand the necessity of Obedience to Government in all lawful things that they may not suffer but that they and we may all joyn together in Serving and Worshiping God in this World and in Singing Everlasting Praises and Hallelujahs to him in the World to come FINIS