meer unaccountable Will And if it be so then it 's in vain for any to amend their Lives or to live Soberly Righteously and Godly in order to their acceptance with God tho' they are contrary in all manner of Conversation as may be inferr'd from their Doctrine yet these have been taught and so fondly think that by being God's Chosen or Beloved they shall be saved which abominable and absurd Doctrine has not only the Malignity of the worst of Popery but of Heathenism too for it makes good Works unnecessary c. True they have a Faith indeed but it 's very Airy which is only a receiving trusting and relying upon Christ by and in which they do well being parts of true Faith But even this the Devils have and practise which as St. James 2. 19. 26. tells us is Dead and Insignificant alone to the purpose of Justification and Acceptance with God Nay Further you know that the imputed Righteousness of Christ is a great Truth rightly understood But some Sects abuse it to this false Notion that all the Righteousness which Christ wrought is formerly and properly theirs as if they themselves had done it So they fondly think that by Christ's Holiness they can and are made Holy and Righteous tho' they have none of their own All which is apparently contrary to that in St. John 3. 9. Liltle Children let no Man deceive you He that doth Righteousness is Righteous So these which I have mentioned that have such Solifidian and Antinomian Notions by placing as I did once their Religion in the Fancy as the Papists do theirs in some External Services do both effectually take away the necessity of a real Reformation and true Goodness Nay I might add a great many more such as their 〈…〉 Infirmities by which they are apt to excuse themselâ—â—â— in their Spiritual Sins and their Decrying Moraiity as a dull low Graceless Thing crying up the Immoral practises of Schisme and Disobedience which they indulge and defend themselves in True I must confess that there are many misled abused Persons of peaceable and quiet Spirits among these Sectaries So that we as Christians are to pray and endeavour that such may be regained And in all Humble submission to my Goverours If the Grand Council the next Sessions thinks fit to abate some lesser things in Consideration of such verily it would in my weak Judgment in all Christian Countries be esteemed Charity and Kindness which I am confident no true Christian either would or could dislike But alas I am not insensible that those which are of the right Sectarian Stamp and Temper will as I formerly did never rest or settle any where nor be satisfied with any Concession God Almighty indeed may change their Minds by his Power But I am afraid nothing less can So that all both you and I and others of our Church can and must do is only to pray to God for the Conversion of such For we have found and I have some Reason to think may now find again as it 's feared by woful Experience that nothing less than the whole Wills of some and an entire Subjection to their Fancies have or will content them for if such were granted all as they were formerly we cannot be assured that these would please long only this we know that formerly they did not nay as St. Jude in his Epistle ver 12. saith such a Whimsicall and Discontented People are as Clouds without Water carried about with every Wind For it is certain that let the Wind be where it will to Day none can say from what Point it will blow to Morrow just thus as such a People acted by their private Spirit as God knows I was once which is as observed as little certain as the Wind for as I have found by woful Experience the Opinions it suggests are numerous and all accounted Divine and Sacred viz. Gospel-Truths Gospel-Ways which forsooth must not be parted with No in no wise Yea all Laws and Constitutions of Government must be thwarted and overthrown rather 〈…〉 aâ—d all must be Sacrificed to the 〈…〉 the Imaginations of such Oh what Blessed Doâ—â—â— and Days can we expect thence What Peace and Temper have sprung from such Principles the Histories of Germany England and Scotland make us remember for caution only So I heartily wish that no such People in this Age did or would not remember them so well as to put them in Practise which if they do we have no refuge but to use that daily Petition and say Father not ours but thy Will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven Which brings me to the Third and Last particular Mark or Sign to know a true Church by and that is that all which it commands is both Reasonable and Certain which the Wiseman alludes to Prov. 20. 27. That the Vnderstanding of Man is the Candle of the Lord the Light of Reason is his Light with that the true Light hath enlightned every one that cometh into the World And now one Light should not be contrary to the other there is I must confess a difference in degree but no opposition of Nature so Faith and Reason accord Yea Faith is an act of Reason for it 's the highest Reason to believe in God and the belief of our Reason is an act of Faith viz. Faith in the Truth and goodness of God which gives no Man faculties to delude or deceive him If so be he doth but rightly Exercise and Employ them yea by Faith Reason is further enlightned and by the use of Reason Faith is applyed c. So true Religion and Reason sweetly agree For nothing can be Religious that is unreasonable which made the great Apostle call the Christian Religion a Reasonable Service Yea so certain is the true Faith that those which had it from the Holy Spirit of God Signed it with their Blood these speaking as they were inspired and that they were really so was no fond Imagination or bold Presumption But a Truth assured by these mighty Miracles they were enabled to perform These are God's Seal and a grand Confirmation of a Commiisson from him and to that proof of their Doctrines both Christ and his Apostles continually Appealed Here was and is then the firm reasonable Foundation of the Christian certainty the Truths we are to believe were confirmed by Miracles than which there can be no greater Evidence by which last Character these two before cited dangerous Extreams are Dispised and Condemned As First that of Popery which imposeth on the Minds of Men as Articles of Religion things that are both Extream Unreasonable Absurd and Uncertain viz. These namely the Worshipping of invisible Beings by Images of Wood Stone or some Mettal c. but more especially that Doctrine of Transubstantiation which is full of Contradictions Since the asserting that the same Body may be in a Thousand places at once and that it may be divided into Parts tho' not into wholes
Gospel Faith by which you may judge what the True Church is and where it is to be 〈◊〉 Now a Gospel Faith is an Ancient Primitive Faith for Truth you know was from the beginning yea divers of the Doctrines with which our Saviour enlightened those that came to 〈◊〉 were from the Moral Law before his Personal Appearance for as he well said Abraham saw his Day that it his great Truths and Ways For our Blessed Lord was the Author and Finisher of our Faith in him it begun and was consumated in his Personal Teachings and Instructions of his immediate Disciples and Apostles who by the unerring guide viz. The Spirit left to us what they had received from him True natural Truths are more and more discovered by Time for many go too and fro so that Science is increased But the Divine Truths are most perfect in their Fountain and Original they indeed may and do contract Impurities in their Streams and remote Derivations So that the way to discover the Corruptions is to stand upon the old Ways and see how it was in the Original or Beginning whether that Righteousness which is taught is to Man as well as to God For a good Conscience must and should be always void of Offence towards both and whether their walking is and has been in all the Commandments and Ordinances of the Lord or no if it has but been only in some and not in all verily it cannot nay must not be accounted blameless So by this first and true Character of a true Church and Faith two very dangerous Extreams are condemned as first that of the now Roman Church whose Doctrines and Usages which are truly denyed by that Church to which I am now joyned these following are in comparison Novelties and Innovations viz. their Image Worship Innovations of Saints Half Communion Prayer in an unknown Tongue◠〈…〉 Infalliability and Vniversality with 〈…〉 c. which whatsoever they pretend to I can assure you many of the Learned Divines of the Church to which I adhere have proved that all the before mentioned were generally unknown in the First and purest Times and so must be contrary to a Gospel Faith and True Church The Second on the other Extream is that Faith of the most of the New Sects is to be Condemned because of its Novelty and Innovation For where was Presbytery Independency Anabaptism and Quakerism of Old True I must confess that thâ—â—e were some such like Heresies swiming in the Brains of some Ignorant but Conceited Men and Women then yet never as we Read were they in any general Practise any where For the Eldest we Read of were not above Three Hundred Years ago and some have sprung up even in this last Century or Age which to my Sorrow and Shame I must confess my self to have been of and to have grown and sprung up even from Mine and others sickle Fancys and vain Imaginations And God knows how soon now even amongst such and so many Confusions other new yet unheard of Sects and Heresies may arise and all to the further dividing of the true Church by Law Established and the scandal of Christian Faith and Religion c. True all These like the Pharisees may profess a great many Truths of the Gospel Faith yet for all that as their's had may have too much Leaven to spoil the whole Lump But as the true Faith was of Old ever from the begining So Secondly it was and is to be both Pure and Peaceable for St. James 3. 17. Assures us that Wisdom or Truth which is from above is first Pure than Peaceable Gentle and easie to be intreated full of Mercy and good Fruits without Partiality and without Hypocrisie teaching and producing Purity Holiness and Righteousness in Life and Heart For the business of it both was and is to conform us unto Christ and to make us Holy as he was and that in all manner of our Conversations as 1 Pet. 2. 15 16. And not only Holy but Peaceable also for Christ was the Prince of Peace and his Gospel the Gospel of Peace and not of Confusion as is manifested 1 Cor. 24. from the 33. to the end For God is not the Author of Confusion but of 〈◊〉 As in all Churches of the Saints let your Women keep Silenâ—â— in the Churches for it is not permitted them to Speak but these are Commanded to be under Obedience as also saith the Law c. By which second Character of a true Church there are likewire these two aforesaid dangerous Extreams Condemned and Confuted The first of which viz. Popery which apparently teaches not only direct Impieties and Immoralities by the consequences of its Doctrines but also endeavours to Destroy both Ecclesiastical and Civil Peace For First by their Idollatries and Invocation of Saints and Angels which by the Prophets and Apostles is termed Spiritual Fornication and Whoredom by Dishonouring God's Majesty and Affronting his Glory These then must undoubtedly be accounted great Impieties and likewise their Doctrines and Practices of Deposing and Murthering Princes by absolving People from their Allegiance and dispencing with their Perjuries and Rebellions all which are verily high Immortalities and clear contrary to the Spirit and design of the Holy Jesus which came to redeem unto himself a Peculiar People zealous of good Works Nay besides these they even strike at the Root and main Design of Christianity by these following Doctrines which renders Repentance and Change of Life unnecessary For as they think so are apt to believe that the Favour of God and Eternal Salvation may be had upon easier Terms namely Crosses Pilgrimages Ave Marias Whipings c. Fastings often with a bare Confession and Absolution They I say do not only think but also really believe that these will do their Business or if these will not but to Pugatory they must go Yet these suppose and verily believe that if they can but procure Money enough to leave for such a number of Masses and Dirgies then they shall be secured of being Prayed out thence So that the greatest design of the Gospel which is real inward Holiness is Destroyed by them for they never so much as think of a Necessity of Cutting off right Hands and plucking out Eyes that is of Subduing and rescinding an inordinate Appetites and Affections which are the great diâ—â—â—culties of Religion These they account hard Sayings and cannot endure either to hear of or practise them Nay moreâ—â—er as for their Unpeaceable Tempers and Behaviours both in Spiritual and Temporal concerns that's Manifested not only from our own but Forreign Histories And the other dangerous Extream is there are many Sects which Forsooth pretend as I once did to my Shame be it spoken to Purity and Spirituality Saying That God sees no Sin in his Saints or Elect they beâ—ng without Sin a Precious and Choice People yea affirming That God loves not for the sake of Holiness and Vertue but freely i. e. for no reason but
Three Characters of a True and Gospel Faith the Church to which I am now joined doth not only profess but practise it True the best Church and Religion may be discredited by its Professors and that the Established Religion as such is false can never be wrested out of the Mouths of those of the Church of Rome and others which seek and take occasions to Blaspheme it till such time as the composing our Differences shall take away that occasion which they have so unhappily given and we take the Apostles advice to the Epistle of Phil. 1.29 28. to stand fast in one Spirit with one Mind striving together for the Faith of the Gospel and in nothing terrified by our Adversaries which to them is an evident token of Perdition but to us of Salvation and that of God I know its possible some may not only think but say that they may maintain Charity notwithstanding they break Communion with an Established Church But Beloved give me leave to tell nay to assure you that that is next to impossible to be done for when Men's Differences are about Matters of Religion then as I know by Experience Passion is apt to slide under that fair pretext and lay claim to Conscience it self so that it becomes a piece of Zeal to be Uncharitable But give me leave to premise that it 's not sufficient for any Man or Woman's Repose to say that they are acted by Conscience which is no other than ones present Perswasion Conscience it self then must needs lie at the Mercy of every thing that has Power to perswade it and hence oftentimes it comes to pass that whilst Conscience acts such it self as I and I do not doubt but many of you have observed is acted by Passions and Weaknesses then what has must or will become of the Regularity of what some have 〈…〉 I am fully perswaded that every Christian detests the 〈…〉 of being sawyed in Matters of Religion either by Interest or Pâ—â—visâ—ness or Pride or Appetites or Aversions or something that is and has been either avowedly Evil or Shamefully Weak But now I shallnot rashly charge any with being swaied with such tho' I have great Reason to suspect that all these before-mentioned have found ways to pass into some nay I may say into too many Men and Womens Consciences and there act as securely as behind a Curtain yea even at that time when such were and are ready to detest them in their naked Appearances To confirm which Truth I will appeal not only to mine own but some others undeniable Experiences themselves being Judges Nay have none of you here ever heard of nor known any who out of Wantoâ—ness of Wit and Affectation of Singularity have made a perfect new Model of Christian Religion by making a God without Eternity a Saviour without Satisfaction and an Hell without Torments these forsooth did first admite their Scheme and then believed it and so became Masters of a Sect and thus their Vanity passed into Conscience Others there have been and are of a Moroser Temper and Complexion which falling as it were into dislike with that Sweetness Christianity obliges to and those Sacraments and Ordinances which are the Tyes of Union and that Gospel that so incesantly presses it These as I know by former Experience being one of them verily have believed that the very Gospel-Institutions are but Types and Shadows and that every Man and Woman has a surer Word of Prophesie within Themselves and that God must be served without all possitive Commandments or Ordinances c. These you as well as I know have sprung into a numerous Sect and thus Completion and Humour have passed and doth pass into Conscience Others there are which you cannot but have heard of whose Covetousness has first inclined them to Teach and then the Success of their Doctrine has tempted them to believe that the Merits of Humane Piety may be transferred from Person to Person and that the Fruits of Repentance may be purchased at a Price So having let their Minds grow Gross and Carnal and then finding themselves either too much at Loss in their Devotions to a Pure and Invisible Being have introduced sensible Objects of Worship and humane Mediators to whom they might address both with more Boldness and Carelesness And thus both Avarice and Beastiality have passed and do pass into Conscience Others there are and have been which being fond of some Opinions and having no other Foundation to build upon have by their Dreams and vain Imaginations made them Canonical and being of a temper more Zealous and Fierce and having perswaded themselves that all is Sacred that they do for the Advancement of their own Opinions and so have allowed and practised Persecutions Murders and Outrages And thought as Saul which afterward was named Paul that in so doing they did God good Service Thus Fondness and Cruelty have Passed into Conscience Others there are and have been which being uneasie in their Worldly Circumstances and then reflecting upon that Mysterious Intimation that Christ should some time Reign alone upon Earth have as they were willing believed that that Time was near Accomplished and thereupon have cryed down all Worldly Government as Antichristian hoping thereby to set up King Jesus and themselves together And thus Discontent has passed into Conscience But to be brief Others there have been and also are which have been 〈…〉 devoted to an Aversion to the Church established as I was even 〈◊〉 their Youth being warned to avoid it and not to have any particular Communion with it on the Peril of their Souls being told as I was that it was Antichristian Popish Socinian or Pelagian being made to believe that it 's Monstrous without ever being suffered to Examine or Understand it And being thus bred under Masters better skilled in Affirming than Proving have been also taught that the most commendable Faith is that which swallows All Things without any Examination and that the more Reason one hears against ones Self the more Meritorious is and will be ones obstinacy And thus not only Curiosity but Prejudice also and Cruelty have passed into Conscience Now what can or shall I say more if both Men and Womens Appetites Passions Follies Prejudices Fondnesses Aversions Wishes and Dreams both may and have passed into Conscience and prescribed and governed there as by these you may understand and some I doubt not here may by undeniable Experience know Nay it has been by many as well as my self observed that the Matters which these of the Reformed Church differ about are very small and the Animosities both have been and are generally the higher and greater For to our Shame be it spoken the smaller the Distance or Difference the wider the Breach insomuch that most can live more Friendly with an Infidel that differs in the object of Worship than with another Christian that differs only in the Form The Reason whereof as I conjecture and judge must be