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
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
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
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
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
from the Text is from the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 As the Galatians were overtaken in a Fault so we must account those to have been likewise who have dissented from us There is a great difference between Errors of Judgment and Errors of Practice When men are guilty of Errors of Practice they are Wilful and Obstinate and act quite contrary to their own Principles for they know they are wrong and offer violence to their own Consciences and yet they are to be treated with a Spirit of Meekness that they may be made sensible of their Wickedness and reclaimed without punishment by the Execution of Laws against them if it can be effected And if these men of whom it cannot properly be said that they were overtaken in a Fault because they knew the Fault before they commited it are to be treated with a Spirit of Meekness in the first place much more then are they to be dealt tenderly with of whom it may very properly be said that they were Overtaken No man runs wilfully into an Error of Judgment but it is through Weakness and Ignorance and Inability of mind for which he is to be pitied The minds of Men are liable to such errors and mistakes that sometimes men have thought that they have done well when they have done the worst Acts. Our Saviour said to his Disciples John 16.2 The time cometh that whosoever killeth you will think that he doth God Service His Expression is not whosoever killeth you will say but he will think that he doth God Service It shall be according to the perswasion of his Mind His erroneous Concience will tell him that he doth God service I may mention a very strange Error which takes place in our dayes and does great mischief to the Church There are thousands amongst us who speak very reverently of our first Reformers from Popery that do exceedingly honour their memories and yet they flie as far from the Reformation that was established by them as if to return to it were to return to Popery and all that they did signified nothing but only to that age in which they lived All the Alterations and Amendments which have been made since their time signifies nothing but their orders must be wholly thrown away How little did those Holy and Learned Men think that such things would come to pass I mention these Instances because some men will not be perswaded that there is any thing but Wilfulness and Obstinacy that is the cause of mens dissenting and therefore they ought not to be treated with a Spirit of Meekness We ought in this case to call to remembrance the years that are past to consider how men were affrighted by their Teachers at any thing that did but in the least countenance Conformity to the Church of England They were brought up in a Dislike or rather an Abhorrence to the Rules and Orders of it They engaged themselves in a Communion with men of other perswasions and made choice of a Minister to be their Pastor who Dissented from the Church Nay it may be they are good men and were converted by that Minister or some other of the same perswasion from the ways of Wickedness to the practice of Religion It is well quoted by a late Learned Writer for the Church In the Division of hearts that are in the World it is certain that some good may dissent If we consider what Educations men have had and what Principles have been instil'd into their minds we may well conclude that they were overtaken in the fault of Separation and not that it was a wilful Choice and therefore they are to be treated with the Spirit of Meekness Besides we ought likewise to consider as a Consequent of this that Errors of Judgment being deeply fixt and having been of long continuance are not easily removed When men have entertain'd an Errour how weak and unaccountable soever it be yet it is truth to them and therefore they are very loath to part with it In this case he is mad who thinks he can scold a man out of his Opinion or that Reviling him will restore him There must be another and a milder way used He that would rectifie a mans Judgment must use his utmost endeavour to get first into his Affection The Apostle saith Rom. 15.2 Let every one of us please his Neighbour for his good to Edification He that would do good to another man he that desires his Edification that he may be built up in the Faith and that he may grow in Grace and Knowledg must do all that he can or may to please him Their jnfirmities must be born withal according to what the Apostle saith in the foregoing verse and nothing must be done to discourage them A man that hath indulg'd an Errour will scarcely hear what another man saith who hath no kindness for him It is to be questioned whether he will be convinc'd by him that hath Remarkable to this purpose is that forementioned place 2 Tim. 2.25 In Meekness instructing them that oppose themselves if God peradventure will give them Repentance to the acknowledgment of the truth Doct. Hammonds Paraphrase upon the place is thus with great Calmness and temper dealing with those that are of different Opinions from us though in opposing us they oppose the Truth as counting it not impossible or hopeless but by the Grace of God they may be brought to Repentance and so come to acknowledge the Truth at length There are Three things very sit for us to take notice of in what the Apostle saith First That to shew a Spirit of Meekness is the best way to deal with men of different Opinions from us If any thing prevails with them that will If we think to deal otherwise with them it is the way to make them oppose the Truth still and us likewise and all that we can say to recover them Secondly When we deal with men after this manner Meekly and Gently yet it is but a Peradventure whether it will have any good effect upon them because men are commonly so wedded to their Opinions that they part not so long as they live Thirdly He that useth a Spirit of Meekness hath most reason to expect the assistance of Gods Grace who as I have already shewed requires that Temper of mind and delights in those that have it If we consider that he that hath dissented is not only our Brother but likewise that he hath been overtaken in a Fault we are not only obliged to treat him with a Spirit of Meekness from a principle of Love and Ingenuity but from the Necessity of the Case because it is our Duty to use our utmost endeavour to restore him and a Spirit of Meekness makes us most fit to effect it There is somewhat which may be considered from the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the text which I told you signifies the Setting of a bone that is broken or out of joynt Those that
Reprover and another in the Offender The Reprover will be in a passion and discover a froward Spirit and that 's one Fault and he that hath offended may be enraged by it and not restored and that 's another There are two faults added to that one which might have been amended by a Spirit of Meekness Or if I may allude once more to the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He that restores is as one that sets a Bone but a provoking Reprover is like one that tampers with the Patient and only puts him to more pain Or worse in stead of setting one bone he breakes another Instead of mending a fault he makes more As the case may be he that reproves another may for want of a Spirit of Meekness be in a worse fault than he was in whom he should have restored and may do more hurt to the Church and to Religion II. When one man takes another in a Fault let him take care that there be respect had to the nature of the Offence which the person is guilty of Whatsoever the Crime be a Brother and a Fellow-Christian is to restore with a Spirit of Meekness but there are some who are of such furious Spirits that the Spirit of Meekness is laid aside upon every small occasion of Offence Christians should have a great care that they avoid a censorious Spirit by which every Offence is represented with the greatest aggravations that it is capable of and sometimes far greater We should treat Offenders and I am sure that is the way to restore them as the Apostle treated the men of Athens Acts 17.22 Ye men of Athens I perceive that in all things yee are too superstitious He might have told them that they were Idolatrous which is a far greater crime It is said v. 16. His Spirit was stirred in him when he saw the City wholly given to Idolatry He was exasperated to see such Learned men Worshipping false Gods and yet it appears that his Spirit was very Meek and Calm when he applyes himself to them to tell them of their Faults He doth not say yee Idolaters but yee men of Athens and he only charges them with Superstitition because probably if he had charged them with the Worship of false Gods their Spirits would have been so exasperated against him as not to regard the force of his strong Arguments by which he endeavoured to convince them of the true God and that Jesus whom he preached to them was the Son of God Superstition is nothing but what the Worshippers of the true God may be guilty of It is mens making Conscience where no conscience is to be made and their being afraid in matters of Religion and the Worship of God where no fear is when men account that to be their Duty and are afraid to neglect it for which there is no Rule This is bad and blame-worthy enough but not to be compared to Idolatry As the Apostle used a mild Reproof when he had taken the Athenians in a great fault and rather extenuates than aggravates it in hopes that he should the better prevail with them so should we do to our fellow Christian Men must have a care of a censorious aggravating Spirit They must not look upon the faults of their Brother through a multiplying glass but deal charitably as men who themselves are apt to offend and would not have the worst construction put upon their own actions Men in case of Faults especially where they are not palpably notorious should say as Jacob said to his Sons concerning the Money sound in their sacks Gen. 43.12 Peradventure it was an oversight There is nothing more common in this censorious age than for men to condemn those as guilty of the greatest Crimes whom the Judge upon a fair Tryal acquits as innocent In the case of Faults we should shew a Spirit of Meekness by doing as the unjust Steward did in the Parable Luke 16.6 The man that owed a hundred Measures of Oyl was to sit down and write fifty We must not look at the Faults of others with Aggravations but Extenuations and that must needs be a mighty Advantage to the restoring of him because it is a great Obligation upon him Especially if his guilty conscience tells him that he deserved to be dealt with more roughly But some men are all for Severity If the Offender owes fifty they cry write him down a hundred or a thousand Ruine him for he deserves no favour III. Let men take heed that they do not deal unjustly by charging the fault of him that is Guilty upon another who is Innocent Or to come nearer to what I design Let not the faults which have been committed by some particular persons be charged upon a whole Society Some are so unjustly severe that if one be taken in a Fault they are presently for punishing all that sort of men as if when one Malefactor is taken all must dye that have been in his company or of his acquaintance although they know nothing of that for which he is found guilty I know very well that in some cases when one of a Society is taken in a fault there may be a necessity of a watchful eye upon the rest because it may be suspected that Companions are alike and that they are all infected with the same bad Principles Which I shall have occasion to speak more of before I conclude this discourse But this is not a Rule in all cases nor doth it justifie the unjust Severities of those who condemn a whole Society for the faults of some particular persons There are grievous instances of this nature and such as have been of most pernicious consequence to the Church which ought to be considered and amended on both sides On one hand if there be any that profess themselves to be the Sons of the Church of England who are of scandalous lives the whole number of them is presently condemned If there be some particular persons that are vicious although the Ministers of the Church do sharply reprove them although it appears that the Church hath taken all possible care that men may walk in the wayes of Godliness yet it shall be lookt upon as a general case and that there is no care taken to prevent or amend it And to be sure if there be but one scandalous Minister in a City it shall reflect upon the whole Clergy This is most unjust and unchristian and makes the Innocent greivous sufferers for the Guilty They suffering in their good Name for the offences of these It is to accuse those as guilty of the faults of others who are so far from partaking of them that they mourn in secret for them It is to cast a reflection upon the Church which is the Spouse of Christ and a sorrowful Mother because she hath some such Children who are rebellious and disobedient to her Laws and Ordinances On the other hand in the instance of the late horrid Plot and
the Aspersions of false Teachers and to keep the Galatians from aspersing one another There were two things charged against him One was that he had no right to be an Apostle and the other was that he Preached false Doctrine But this is no part of my present Business But to consider the second viz. The Apostles great care to keep the Gallatians in that Peace and Unity which the Gospel to which they were newly converted does require There was a very great heat amongst them insomuch that the Apostle was afraid lest they should bite and devour one another and be consumed one of another Ch. 5. v. 15. The contest was about Christian Liberty And because there is at this day a great stir about it I think it necessary by the way to shew what that Christian Liberty was It was not a Liberty for every Christian to refuse the Orders of the Church and if the Governours of it did not please them in what was required or shew a special command from God for every indifferent thing which was prescribed for Order and Decency presently to turn their backs and heap up Teachers to themselves in opposition to their Governours I am sure that had been an Unchristian Liberty for it had been a Liberty to throw Christianity out of the World so soon as it came into it Or to make it the most ugly and deformed Religion in the World If when the Apostle told the Corinthians that at his coming to them he would set things in order they had sent him word that they would not observe his orders unless they were by special Revelation from God Or they would be Judges whether his orders were fit to be Received It would have made strange work in the Christian Church and spared the enemies of it the trouble of persecuting Christians for the Stubborn and self-conceited if their numbers had been sufficient would have persecuted the Orthordox and such as were of the most Christian humble and submissive tempers The Christian Liberty which we read so much of was quite another thing There were some Judaizing Christians amongst the Galatians They thought that they must as well observe the Law of Moses as the Law of Christ or else they could not be justified and saved The Apostle to rectify their mistakes tells them that they were at liberty from that Yoke and that they ought to take that Liberty Behold I Paul say unto you that if you are Circumcised Christ shall profit you nothing c. 5. v. 2. But however lest that should be of dangerous Consequence he takes care to prevent two great evils which might ensue One was in reference to themselves and the other was in reference to their misled and dissatisfied Brethren He was afraid as to the first that this Christian liberty should be an occasion of Licentiousness and therefore admonishes them that they should not use this liberty as an occasion to the Flesh v. 13. And he was afraid that heats of Opinion should be the Occasion of coldness of affection and therefore adds imediately in the same verse but by love serve one another and for fear they should not he presseth to them the Duty of Brotherly love as that which is a fruit of the Spirit of God and in the conclusion of the Chapter he cautions them against two great evils which obstruct it Vain glory and Envy Vain glory is a branch of Pride by which a man seeks to be uppermost and they that are guilty of it do seldom think they can stand high enough in their Reputations unless they tread upon their Brother and Fellow Christian Envy is a divelish temper of Spirit by which one mans happiness becomes another mans misery One mans health another mans sickness It was a very proper question which was once asked a pale envivous Man Are you sick or is your Neighbour well Where Envy Rules one mans Prosperity is another mans Adversity The envious man how rich soever he is is undone by the Riches of another man The Apostle having Admonisht them of those two great Enemies to Brotherly Love in the Conclusion of that Chapter In this he prescribes some general Rules which tend exceedingly to the healing of divisions and the continuance and promotion of Love amongst Christians I have made choyce of the first which is a direction how Christians who are themselves inoffensive should treat them that offend Brethren if a man be overtaken in a fault yee that are Spiritual restore such a one with the Spirit of meekness considering thy self lest thou also be tempted I will not spend much time in the explication of the terms in the Text. I suppose I shall not need to tell you what it is to be taken in a fault I wish we all knew as well what it is to have a Spirit of Meekness and I wish we all knew as well what it is to restore our Brother with such a Spirit A fault is any thing that a man does which is against the Profession of Christianity or against any Law of God He is guilty of a fault who commits any known sin to the prejudice of his own soul by which it is polluted and made obnoxious to Gods wrath and displeasure And he is guilty of a fault likewise who breaks the Peace and Unity of the Church by Schism and causeless Separation I intend my discourse shall chiefly relate to the latter The restor-of them to the Communion of the Church who have separated from it The Apostle speaks at large concerning any fault but in regard the Galatians had been seduced by false Apostles and had been taught false Doctrine we have no reason but to think that he intended this fault as well if not rather than any other And this is the fault in which men are most apt to be taken unawares The Works of the Flesh which the Apostle mentions are so manifest Adultery Fornication c. That men are not apt to be taken with them unawares as he is with this A man is more easily led into errors of Judgment than he is into errors of practice especially considering how easily the Scriptures may be wrested and misunderstood and that there hath been in every age False Prophets and False Teachers and many following their Pernitious wayes Whatsoever the fault is in which our fellow Christian is overtaken he is to be restored by those that are Spiritual But the next question is who they are By the word Spiritual I conceive we are to understand all such as are reformed from the deeds of the Flesh and whose lives do shew forth the fruits of the Spirit according to what the Apostle mentions in the former Chapter I know there is another interpretation given of the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which I shall have afterwards occasion to take some notice of but considering the context how the Apostle in the foregoing Chapter ver 13. required that the Galatians should by Love serve one another and in the
great Duties and such as the Gospel doth very strictly require of all that profess Christianity The Apostle joyns them together and it would be happy for the Nation if there were no man that put them asunder Tit. 3.1 Put them in mind to be subject to Principalities and Powers to Obey Magistrates And ver 2. To speak evil of no man to be no Brawlers but Gentle shewing all Meekness unto all men The Apostle supposeth that there might be great occasion to provoke them to Railing and Evill speaking but he tells them they must not give way to Passion although their Zeal for their Religion might prompt them to it My design is to speak chiefly of the Necessity of this temper as conducing to the Churches Peace and Unity which certainly men do not consider whatever they pretend when they exasperate others by Reviling and Evill speaking We have been a great while biting and devouring one another and by that meanes we have made sport for them that hope to devour us all insomuch that it is Gods great Mercy that we are not Consumed one of another There is a great opportunity given to us of promoting the Churches Peace and Unity if an Unchristian temper of Spirit doth not hinder it Many that have dissented are constrained by the execution of Laws to serve God with us I heartily wish that we may constrain them another way such a way I mean as Christ Constraineth us and that is by his Love towards us The great thing which we ought earnestly to endeavour and Pray for is the Peace of Jerusalem that our eyes may see her a quiet Habitation and that we may all joyn together in Love and Unity but this can never be if we are not of peaceable Spirits or as the Apostle saith of meek and quiet Spirits to them that are now come among us We read that when Solomon built his Temple There was neither Hammer nor Axe nor any Tool of Iron heard in the House whilst it was in building It had no doubt a typical Signification to shew that there must be no Jarres or Contentions amongst the Worshippers of God which are as the knocking of Iron Instruments and much more unpleasant than they can be As there was that care taken in the building of the house of God so I wish we may take a care alluding to it in our repairing of the unhappy Breaches of the Church of God and that we may all be as those Workmen who helpt on with the building but made no noyse Reproaching and speaking Evil of men whatever their faults have been is not the way to bring them into the Churches Communion but to make them shun and avoid it I should exceedingly wonder if I should hear one say that he hath been in company with Dissenters and that he took occasion to tell them what they are That he treated them with such reproachful Titles as the Devil and his Emissaries hath sent out of other Nations to set Protestants at variance one against another And now that he hath done this he hopes it will be a means to bring them to Church and that he and they shall all joyn together in lifting up their hearts to God in the use of the publick Prayers of the Church He hopes now that they shall come together to the Blessed Sacrament of the Lords Supper If we love the Church we will heartily endeavour to encrease her Members and if we pretend to that and yet revile those who have dissented we are Fools and contradict our selves We should do very well to learn Wisdom from an Enemy If a Jesuite should see any of us in their places of publick Worship how kindly should we be treated by them in hopes that they might bring us over to the Church of Rome If we had of late gone to the Conventicles of Anabaptists or any other Sectaries how gladly would they have made room for us and treated us with all possible kindness in hopes that we would be in Love with their Party And shall we have less regard for that Church whereof we are Members which is admired by all Learned men of the Reformed Religion as the best constituted Church in the world If the present Execution of Laws drive those that have dissented into our bosoms to be embraced by us and not upon the Swords and Spears of reproachful Tongues we have great cause to hope that they will be satisfied of the great Necessity and likewise of the great Benefit of a hearty and sincere Compliance I will conclude this particular with the Apostles importunate Request to the Ephesians Chap. 4. v. 1 2 3. I beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called with long suffering forbearing one another in Love Endeavouring to keep the Vnity of the Spirit in the bond of Peace IV. As a Spirit of Meekness tends to a General good so likewise to our own Particular good and Benefit It is a great satisfaction to us if we are well assured that we are of such a Temper of mind as becomes our Profession and which is not only pleasant in it self but acceptable to God and serviceable to his Church It is an argument that we are such persons as we ought to be Particularly 1. It a great argument of true Piety and Holiness That we fear God and are truly and sincerely Religious The Apostle joynes Meekness and the Fear of God together 1 Pet. 3.15 But Sanctifie the Lord God in your hearts And be ready alwayes to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with Meekness and Fear The Apostle did not mean that they should fear them that should call them to Question but that they should only shew Meekness towards them and that there should be in them that fear of God which should keep them from the fear of Men. The Apostle saith Ye that are Spiritual c. Intimating that Meekness is to be expected from such If we are not Meek it may be suspected that we are not Spiritual This is one of the fruits of the Spirit mentioned in the foregoing Chapter v. 22. The fruit of the Spirit is Love Joy Peace Long-suffering Gentleness Goodness Faith Meekness A Spirit of Meekness is a great evidence that we are good Christians and that our Religion hath tempered our minds 'T is that as I have already shew'd which our Saviour requires of all that are his Disciples And if we read the Epistles of the Apostles we may conclude that there was nothing which they did with more ardent Zeal and continued fervency contend for not only for the promoting of Christianity in the World but as that which was a good Evidence of mens being in a Religious State Put on therefore as the elect of God holy and beloved bowels of Mercies Kindness Humbleness of mind Meekness Long-suffering Col. 3.12 The Apostle plainly shews that those who are highly valued of God should shew
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
you would be exceedingly offended why then will you offend those who are of the Churches Communion who serve God after the Ancient way of Christian-Worship and that which is approved of by other Reformed Churches as not only Lawful but very useful and profitable for the Souls of men There are others who are guilty of a far greater Offence and they are such as are so far from joyning with others and listing up their hearts to God with them in their Prayers that they spend that time in talking of Vanity and if what I have been credibly informed be true of Lies also They make the House of God to be the place in which they meet to reproach and slander their neighbours This hath been so great an Offence that some who have been their Pew-fellowes have been exceedingly as well they might disturbed at it They do not love the Common-Prayer and therefore that they may lose no time they will be serving the Divel till Prayers be done There is another kind of Unreverence and that is mens having their Hats on all the time that the Minister is Preaching Nay there are some who will not be uncovered whilst the Minister is Praying but only remove their Hats from one part of their heads to another as if there might be some kind of outward Reverence exprest to Almighty God at the time of Praying but it is no matter how little it be But suppose their being covered be only at that time when the Minister is Preaching and suppose that there were nothing to be said to prove that it is indecent and unreverent for it is not my present business to enquire into it yet it is the occasion of Offence And whilst no man can plead the breach of any Law by it I am sure to speak the best it is a great breach of that Ingenuity which Christianity requires in men in that it gives great offence When men come into the Church where they see those that are the Frequenters of it with their heads uncovered and they keep their Hats on it is hard for the most Charitable to say less than that there is thereby Contempt cast upon those who are in another posture and that it doth implicitly accuse them of Folly and Superstition in the service of God I may suppose that which must not be granted that if there were nothing to be said for it but that it were an Offence purely taken and not given yet since it is an offence and a disturbance to the minds of men in the Worship of God and of those men too whom Authority doth commend and countenance in so doing He that is Pious Prudent and Ingenuous will be careful that he be not the occasion of that offence Thus have I shewed what the Offences are by which the minds of men who are Conformable to the Church are exasperated against those that have dissented from her Communion to the end that they may take all possible care to avoid giving those offences and to do that which may oblige those with whom they come to Worship God and not offend them If you would be treated with a Spirit of Meekness and are not willing to meet with any provoking Words or Actions you must have a care that you do not offend others But this is not all that I have to desire of you Methinks it is a hard case if Christians shall think it enough if they give no offence who are commanded by our Saviour to love one another and to be one as he and his Father are one That which I earnestly desire is that you would not think it sufficient if you sometimes come to the Church and shew some Respect to the Service of God but that there be a hearty and sincere Compliance which will certainly be the greatest Satisfaction imaginable to you and then there will be no such occasion for the Exercise of Meekness Consider I beseech you the dreadful mischiefs which Disunion and Separation have been the cause of in our dayes beyond what the Soberest of the discontented Party ever thought of Consider how the life of the King was lately in danger by those who either wholly absented from the Church or we are sure never received their pernitious Principles from it Consider how unsuccessful God hath made all Attempts against the Church when they who were no Lovers of it had those advantages to establish another Constitution which they cannot now hope for And consider I beseech you how infinitely it will tend to the Churches Peace to the Reputation of the Reformed Religion and to the Good of your own Souls if you could be satisfied to forsake the wayes of Separation and have Communion with that Reformed Church whose Ministers and People do hate Popery and earnestly desire the promotion of true Holiness and Goodness as much as you can do howsoever Prejudices and a Misunderstanding have been the cause of most Unchristian Censoriousness And it may tend exceedingly to your Satisfaction and avoid all occasions of Reviling and Bitterness if these Rules may be observed 1. Let not Education be of any force in this matter I know that it is a dreadful thing for men to forsake the practice of Religion in which they have been educated It is a fearful thing for those that have been brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord to forsake their Education and to fall into the practice of sin and Wickedness But for men to make this their Rule as to Modes and Circumstances and matters of Opinion in Religion is altogether unaccountable because a man may as well be brought up in an Error as otherwise and because he may serve God as acceptably after another manner than that in which he hath been educated We know that a great Cause of our Divisions hath proceeded from this that men have been brought up in a Dislike of that way of Worship which is now established and have from their Cradles received Prejudices against it But yet there is nothing more unreasonable than to make that to be a Rule For if it be every one may conclude that to be the best Religion that comes first which certainly every one will grant to be very absurd And whereas some think they are right because they received their Principles from those men whom they accounted Holy and Religious I may reply that there is no Party whatsoever but have Zealots who are of a strict and severe life The Hereticks of old could never have done so much mischief to the Church if they had not been of exemplary Lives Education must therefore be wholly laid aside and men must consider with themselves that if what is required of them be not repugnant to Gods Word and Inconsistent with true Piety and Holiness the Churches Peace and the necessity of Union amongst Christians must silence all the secret pleadings of Education which I know are of themselves very powerful Besides if it be granted that many are educated
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