them by our Saviour what to do in case of Offences Matth. 18.15 16 17. If thy Brother shall trespass against thee go and tell him his Fault between thee and him alone If he shall hear thee thou hast gained thy Brother But if he will not hear thee then take with thee one or two more that in the Mouth of two or three Witnesses every word may be established And if he shall neglect to hear them tell it to the Church c. I am sure those Persons are far from obeying the command of our Saviour and observing the Rule which he hath prescribed who never tell Offenders their Faults privately but take the first occasion to publish them with the greatest Aggravations And I am sure they are very far from observing what the Church requires and therefore are themselves very fit to be complained of and would certainly be censured by her Governours if they obstinately persisted in it There is one Homily of the Church against Contention in which a Spirit of Meekness is commended That by being Soft Meek and Gentle in answering we may overcome our Adversary with Gentleness especially in matters of Religion and Gods Word which should be used with all Moderation and Soberness For it is better to give place Meekly than to win the Victory with breach of Charity We may by this see what temper of Spirit the Church requires her Sons to be of and we may conclude that those who are of a contrary Spirit do offend those to whom it belongs to censure Offenders 2. It is a great offence to Ministers It hinders them from doing that good which otherwise they might do in convincing men of the Necessity of uniting and the Reasonableness of a hearty Compliance with the Church as it is now established A reviling reproachful Spirit in the People is enough to make them lay the fault upon the Preacher according to the old saying like Priest like People And if they do not yet it is enough to make them forsake the Church again or come very seldom to it And it is a hard case that Ministers must ask the People leave whether they shall have an opportunity of convincing men of their Errours and Mistakes and treating them with such a Spirit of Meekness as the Gospel requires and which tends to the restoring of them I know it is Objected that Ministers have not been careful in this matter but upon all occasions have discovered a contrary Spirit They have shewed such a Spirit of Bitterness as might rather encourage Reviling than suppress it Ans I cannot deny but there have been and are such Ministers whose Zeal for the Churches interest have so far transported them that they have not considered so well as they should have done that they do not shew that temper of Spirit which the Gospel requires nor that which answers the end which they propound to themselves viz. The bringing of those to the Communion of the Church who have separated from it and the more firm Establishment of those who have not As to the first Sarcasms and Satyrical Reflections do commonly make those that have been hearers who are of wavering minds turn their backs at least upon that Preacher if not upon all other Ministers of the Church And as to the other that which may be and I hope is design'd to encrease in the hearers a dislike of Separation doth only more highly exasperate the minds of some against Dissenters and I am sure there is no need of that but is very displeasing to those that are sober and serious-minded Christians I have therefore somtimes thought that if those men whose Parts and Learning are to be admired would improve them only by meek Insinuations and strong and rational Arguments it would bring Dissenters to be their Auditors and Admirers and might make them prefer their Sermons before those which they hear from others The Apostle was afraid lest Timothy being a young Preacher and I suppose they are Chiefly if not only such who are complained of should be faulty in this and therefore requires him that he should look carely to the Temper of his own mind which is of great moment to every Christian but especially to a Minister 2 Tim. 2.24 25. The Servant of the Lord must not strive but be gentle unto all men apt to Teach patient In meekness instructing them that oppose themselves if God peradventure will give them Repentance to the acknowledgment of the Truth However some few Ministers may be blamed for being too severe in their Expressions yet I am sure there are others men of the greatest Eminency in the Church who are of that Meek temper which may commend them to all good men Such a Temper as was in the Prophets of old time who could not tell how to deliver a harsh Message but were very forward to expostulate the case with sinners and to tell them their Faults and the punishment which they were bringing upon themselves after such a manner that there appeared no fault at all in them Such as Jeremiah was who when he was commanded to tell the Jewes of their Captivity which was approaching declared his grief for it Neither have I desired the woful day thou knowest Jer. 17.16 And such as Daniel was who when he interpreted the dream to Nebuchadnezzar did it with an Aching heart He was astonied and his thoughts troubled him They are of that Temper which the Apostle was of himself and which he requires should be in Timothy and all other Ministers of the Gospel And they have had very great success for by treating men with a Spirit of Meekness they have brought many Proselites to the Church It is well known that many who have Dissented coming but accidentally to hear them have been so satisfied as to return no more to the wayes of Separation And what a great Offence must it needs be to those Ministers if the People shall discourage those from frequenting the Church who may be so treated there as to have delight in her Ministers and her Communion 3. It is a great Offence to all Sober Pious and Orthodox Christians who are Conformable to the Orders of the Church It is their hearty desire and earnest Prayers to God that those who have Dissented may return to the Communion of the Church and that they may be treated with the Spirit of Meekness It is the grief of their hearts to see what causeless Divisions there are amongst us and therefore they cannot but rejoyce at any opportunity which may tend to the healing of them I dare say that those who have been guilty of Reviling are none of those many hundreds of Communicants who meet every Moneth at the Lords Table but are such who absent from the Sacrament and this Spirit of Bitterness which they do discover shews that they are not fit to come to it As I am sure they are a very bad sort of men so I hope the number of them is not great
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
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
hating one another It may seem very strange that men who had been guilty of so many faults should be apt to speak evil and to brawl against others And yet this the base nature of man is very prone and apt to which makes such an exhortation necessary As our Saviour said to those that accused the Woman of Adultery He that is without sin let him cast the first stone So I may say when a man is taken in a fault let him that is without faults lay aside a Spirit of Meekness and bite and devour him It were well if every one especially those that want a Spirit of Meekness had a Phylacterie with the Apostles words written upon it In many things we offend all because it would make men kind and gentle to their Brother offender It might make Christian acquaintance to shew their love one towards another by being kind and gentle Monitors of each others faults I know very well that men are apt to aggravate the faults of others and to extenuate their own or otherwise he that takes another in a fault would presently consider that it becomes him to be Gentle and Meek because if he hath not been guilty of the same offence yet he may have been guilty of many others which have tended as much to the dishonour of God and prejudice of the Church as this which his Brother is taken in Besides the faults that are past we know not what may yet be to come I had not need to revile my Brother to day who may be taken in a greater fault to morrow but considering my own aptness to offend tell him of his fault with such a Spirit of Meekness as I would have used towards me This is the Apostles Argument in the Text and it is or should be a very cogent one Considering thy self lest thou also be tempted We are disturbed at the intollerable and inexpressible mischeifs of Separation and the Consideration of them is apt to exasperate one man against another It is a grievous Scandal to the Protestant Religion all over the world But yet it concerns us to shew a Spirit of Meekness towards them that have Separated Considering our selves lest we also be tempted Peter thought that he could dye rather than deny his Master but temptations prevailed upon him There are a great many who think that nothing can make them fly from their Principles but yet they know not how far the fiery Tryal on one hand and Allurements on the other may prevail by which they may dishonour their profession and bring a great scandal to their Religion It is given as a Reason why God deals gently with us He remembreth that we are but Flesh and a Wind that passeth away and I am sure our weakness and Instability should be a great reason why we should treat our Brother meekly V. We must restore our Brother with a Spirit of Meekness that we may avoid occasions of ossence A Spirit of Bitternes and Reviling is in this respect of more dangerous Consequence than men are usually aware of Those that gratify their Passions may please themselves but they do exceedingly displease others 1. It is a great Offence to our Governours to whom only it belongs to punish those who are taken in a Fault The civil Magistrate hath the Sword in his Hand and therefore it doth not become the People to have Swords in their Mouths I mean sharp and cutting Reproaches If the common People will undertake to Arraign Accuse and Condemn men for their Faults the question may be asked them which the Hebrew man askt Moses Exod. 2.14 Who made thee a Ruler and a Judge We all know that Reviling is the next step to Rebellion and Confusion especially when it is occasioned by that which is of publick concern for then it is not so properly one man that reviles another as one Party reviles another If we shew a Spirit of Hatred against those that have been of a different Opinion we shall make them think long for an opportunity to be revenged because they see no hopes that they can be reconciled And this must needs be a very great offence to the Magistrate to whom it belongs to discountenance and oppose all occasions of Jarres and Contests as he values his own and the Kingdomes safety It hath alwayes been the great care of those whom God hath set upon the Throne to keep their Subjects from exasperating one another by opprobrious Names especially when there hath been Contests about Religion which are of most dangerous consequence to the Government Queen Elizabeth taking notice of this in her Reign forbids it as that which she called the loosening of Charity which is the knot of all Christian Society and commanded that all her Subjects should forbear all vain contentions and that they should not use in despite or rebuke of any these convitious Words Papist or Heretick Schismatick or Sacramentarian It was likewise the Command of King James that there should be no railing against the Persons of Papists or Puritans In the Reign of Our late Soveraign of Blessed Memory who might himself be called a Spirit of Meekness we know very well that there were opprobrious Names which helpt to enrage one Party against another till the King and many thousands of his Subjects were destroyed Our dread Soveraign so soon as God restored him to his Throne did not only pass an Act of Oblivion that he might pardon all Offences past but by several Declarations and Charges given to his Judges hath comanded that there should not be so much as any terms of Distinction by which his Subjects might be at variance one with another It may therefore seem somewhat strange that those who profess so much Loyalty and Duty to the King should not be careful to obey his Commands in this as well as in all other Declarations of his Royal Will and Pleasure It is likewise a great Offence to the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Those to whom the Government of the Church is committed and to whom it belongs to censure those who are Faulty They are by the Rules and Orders of the Church to shew a Spirit of Meekness to admonish him that is taken in a Fault upon complaint made to them in hopes that the Offender will reform and that there will be no need of farther Severity Dr. Hammond by Yee that are Spiritual in the Text understands the Governours of the Church those to whom the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the gifts of the Spirit were given in order to the discharge of their Ministerial Function and Offices That the Apostle requires them not to deal too severely but gently with those that have offended in hopes of reclaiming them I may make this use of it If the Governours of the Church are to restore Offenders with a Spirit of Meekness I am sure it must needs be a just cause of Offence to them if the people discover a spirit of Bitterness The People have a Rule given
Whoever they are they are a great Offence to all Pious and Good Christians who hear of their ill Deportments which may be of good use to those that have been ill treated by them that they should not be discouraged by those Miscarriages which are as offensive to us as they are to them And it should be of good use to them that have been guilty in this matter They should consider that as our Saviour said to his Furious Disciples they know not what Spirit they are of They do not consider that it is neither pleasing to Magistrates nor Ministers nor yet to any good Christians who are of the Communion of the Church and who are as great Enemies to Division and Separation as they can be But 4. It is a great and unwarrantable Offence to those who have Dissented We are as I have already mentioned to shew all Meekness unto all men and we are exceedingly to rejoyce in any opportunity of expressing Love and Kindness It is a very great mistake if any think that a man cannot shew Respect and Kindness to another but he must be a favourer of his Opinion We may easily propound to our selves sufficient Reason why we should Love every man let his Judgment be what it will and I am sure that there is the greater necessity of shewing kindness to those who have Dissented that we may be the better able to rectify their Judgments and to convince them of their Mistakes But more particularly There are three things hinted in the Text why we should not offend such but restore them with a Spirit of Meekness 1. The first I take from the Apostles Compellation Brethren As he gives that Title to the Galatians who had been exceedingly to blame for indulging their Errors and Mistakes so should we to those that have separated from us I know the Devil as I have already mentioned hath by his Factors abroad sent other Names amongst us and they pass very readily but if we look into the Scriptures and consult the Gospel we shall find that our Saviour and his Apostles hath only furnished us with such Titles as signifie Love such as may oblige and win upon those that have erred and not such as may provoke or discourage them It is true that when our Saviour speaks of those who have so offended that they will not be reclaimed by the secret Admonitions of him whom they have trespassed against which is an Argument of a most sweet and pleasant temper of mind and therefore shewes that the offending Person is very stubborn and Obstinate nor regard the counsel of one or two more who come as well to plead with them that they may amend as to be witnesses against them if they continue obstinate nor regard the Publick Complaints made against them to the Church which is the last remedy his direction is That such should be accounted as a Heathen Man and a Publican that is their Society should be avoided and they should have no Communion with them or as Dr. Hammond explaines it in his Paraphrase upon the Place Look upon him as a desperate deplored Sinner fit for the censures of the Church to overtake him Our Saviour saith If thy BROTHER offend thee thou hast gained thy BROTHER which shews that when men have offended they must not presently be cast off with Wrath and Indignation but there must be the Love of a Brother still continuing and it must appear in the Methods which are to be used for the reclaiming of him The reason why our Saviour requires that he should be told his fault privately is that he may be reclaimed and not be exposed to any shame or Reproach for what he hath done by which a man shews the Love and Tenderness of a Brother But I am sure they are very far from observing this Rule and from expressing this Love and Tenderness of a Brother who never tell men their faults privately nor with one or two more but take occasion to upbraid them with their faults publickly and it is at that time too when they are mending their faults and therefore do not so much as want a private admonition I do the rather mention this of our Saviour because though it seems to relate only to personal Offences If thy Brother shall trespass against thee c. Yet doubtless it is to be understood of any Offences whatsoever because they give occasion to Christians to exercise their Charity towards the souls of their Brethren as well as any personal Offence committed by them The Apostles followed this Rule of our Saviour and required that whatsoever Offences men were guilty of yet still they were to be accounted Brethren and the Love of a Brother was to be shewed to them I will mention but one and it hath a Special relation to the case that I have in hand 2 Thes 3. v. 14.15 And if any one obey not our word by this Epistle note that Man and have no company with him that he may be ashamed and what followes Does the Apostle by this encourage them to cast Contempt and Scorn upon him wheresoever they see him No but requires that there should be a tender Love shewed to him Yet count him not as an enemy but admonish him as a Brother These two verses have a special relation to that which goes before at the 11th verse For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly working not at all but are busy-bodies There were such persons amongst the Thessalonians as we have too many of them amongst us who are disorderly persons that had rather mind any other business than that which belongs to them and instead of minding their work they are disputing the Orders of the Church and by what Authority it is that the Governours of it requires this or that to be done for which there is no express Rule Such persons as these are must needs be exceedingly offensive to the Governours of the Church because of their Haughtiness and Insolency And they must needs be very Offensive to all Religious Members of the Church because they disturb the Peace Unity and Harmony which should be amongst the Worshippers of God But however though their Offences were so great that other Christians of better Tempers were to avoid their company yet when occasion was offered they were to admonish them as Brethren as those for whom they still retained a great Love and hearty Desire for their good We ought to retain a Love for them in reference to their temporal Concerns and to be very sorry that they should incur any Penalty which may tend to the impoverishing of themselves and Families This common Ingenuity requires of us and therefore much more doth Christianity require it And we ought more especially to be concerned for their Spiritual and eternal Welfare because they are our Brethren and they are called so from that Relation which we bear unto our Heavenly Father 2. A second Intimation which I have