For conceiving the faith of Christ in her heart rather then for conceiving the flesh of Christ in her wombe Let the same minde therefore be in you which was in Christ Iesus our Lord And love them best that come neerest unto him Love your Brethren love your Kindred love your Country but especially love those that are of the houshold of Faith Love your Friends but those especially that are friends with God chuse them not for profit but for piety Illa vera perfect a amicitiâ in Christi Gratiâ sundata That is true friendship that is grounded upon the grace of Christ. Many a man useth his friends as Dionysius did his bottles suck them out when they are full and hang them up when they are empty this comes to passe because wee love not in verity that is in the truth of the Christian profession So for your children love them most that deserve best not like some fond parents that affect one above another not regarding their goodnesse but their handsomenesse or some outward toy bedecking one as if he were Ioves Ganimede and neglecting another as if hee belonged to Tryphons den If any difference be made let it be in respect of their quality and condition and this will beget in them a holy emulation and they will all strive to out-strip one another in goodnesse seeing you preferre those that deserve best To contract this Quos Deus conjunxit nemo separet Those whom God hath joyned together let no man put asunder those whom the Spirit of Christ hath made one let no man separate but as the wicked multitude run in a knot to hell so let us go hand in hand to Heaven for we are all branches of the same stock wee are all links of the same chaine wee are all members of the same body wee are all subjects under the same Soveraigne servants under the same Master Brethren under the same Father Quod superest fratres Finally brethren And when I have said that word I have said all I can for I know no neerer relation as the Etymologie of the word will tell us The word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which comes from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 uterus a wombe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 significante 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 simul together together in one belly or from the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which in the ancient Greeke tongue signifieth unum one so neere is the relation between Brethren I am loth to leave this sweet subject of love to Brethren but because I shall meet with it anon again I will here leave it and come to the next thing considerable which is the Apostles valediction to his brethren Finally Brethren Farewell The word in the originall is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies three things salvere valere gaudere First salvere God save you a word of greeting or salutation at a meeting Thus the Angell saluted Mary by that word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Haile Mary Luke 1. So Croesus in Xenophon saluted Cyrus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Save you my Lord whom Cyrus answered 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and you also ô Croesus but that is not heer meant for the Apostle is not now comming to them but taking his leave of them therefore the second is more probable as it is taken for valere to bid farewell as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Farewell youngmen so Erasmus yet Iunius and Tremelius and generally all the Greek Interpreters do expound it Gaudete rejoyce which seemes to contradict the former for at a farewell-taking we do not use to rejoyce but mourne yet if wee consider is rightly wee shall finde that they signifie the same thing for what else do I say when I say Fare you well but rejoyce I wish you good health Or as our English Proverbe hath it in our taking leave of friends Sit you merry valete gaudete the very same Whereby wee are taught to pray for the welfare of our brethren Thus Rebecca's Family blessed her before her departure from them Gen. 24. And they blessed Rebecca and said unto her Thou art our sister be thou the mother of thousands of millions and let thy seed possesse the gate of those which hate them Thus Isaac blessed Iacob Gen 28. God Almighty blesse thee and make thee fruitfull and multiply thee that thou mayst be a multitude of people c. Thus Aaron and his sonnes were commanded to blesse the people Numb 6. The Lord blesse thee and keep thee The Lord make his face to shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace Thus Iacob blessed all his sonnes Gen. 49. Thus Moses blessed all the ten Tribes Deut. 33. Thus Boaz blessed the reapers Ruth 2. The Lord be with you and they answered him The Lord blesse thee Thus the Apostles concluded their Epistles alwayes with a blessing Peace be to the brethren and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Iesus Christ. Grace be with you Amen The Lord Iesus Christ be with thy spirit Peace be with you all that are in Christ Iesus Mercie peace and love be multiplied How much unlike these men are the Goliah's and the Shimeies of these times that are continually belching out curses against their brethren Their mouthes are full of cursing and deceit and fraud under their tongues is mischiefe and vanity as the Psalmist speaketh So the Apostle The poyson of Aspes is under their lips and their mouth is full of cursing and bitternesse Every childe hath learn'd to vomit out his intoxicate poyson of anger and discontent against his fellow in bitter cursing This is not to observe the Apostles charge Benedicite ne imprecamini Blesse and curse not Rom. 12. For as thou lovest cursing so shall it come unto thee and as thou delightest not in blessing so shall it be farre from thee But you will object against it the examples of the Prophets that did often denounce woes curses and judgements against the people To which I answer that it is not the same to raile or curse out of one's private corrupt affection as Shimei did David as to pronounce a curse in the name of the Lord for this is no imprecation of evill as the other is but only a prediction of their just punishment Saint Ambrose yieldeth one reason for this Non maledicit Propheta saith he sed quasi medicus vult illos sanare ut de propriis flagitiis erubescant The Prophet doth not curse the people but as a Physician hee would heal them that they may be ashamed of their sins And St. Ierom rendreth another answering unto a cavill of wicked Porphyrie who objected that S. Peter did curse Ananias Saphira to death not so saith he Sed Dei judicium spiritu annunciat ut paenaduorum hominum sit doctrina
bruised reed shall He not break and the smoaking flax shall He not quench He shall bring forth judgement unto truth It is true indeed the wound must be launched before we can expect a cure At qui vulnus sauciat non obligat carnifex latro potius est quam medicus Hee that openeth a wound and bindeth it not up again is a hangman and a robber liker then a Physician There must be the oile of comfort as well as the wine of terrour powred into our wounded soules There was a great and strong winde which rent the Mountains and brake in pieces the Rocks before the Lord but the Lord was not in the winde and after the winde an Earthquake and after the Earthquake a fire but the Lord was not in the fire and after the fire a still small voyce and there was the Lord. They that are continually thundring out threatnings preaching nothing else but hell and damnation doe preach without the Lord and without his Spirit for the Lord is the God of mercy and the Father of all consolation and his Spirit is the Spirit of meeknesse the Spirit of Grace the Spirit of Life and the fruit of the Spirit is love joy peace long-suffering gentlenesse goodnesse meeknesse c. Thus the Saints of God have been alwayes wont in converting sinners to God wisely and discreetly to temper and mingle mercies with judgements promises with threatnings as being like the Sun and the light like the fire and the heat unseperable Thus Nathan the Prophet did to David first hee strikes terrour into his soule by laying his hainous and crying sins unto his charge with a Tu es homo Thou art the man but he leaves him not long troubled but immediatly upon his confession peccavi I have sinned he administred comfort the Lord also hath put away thy sinne So Saint Peter when he had terrified the people untill they were pricked in their hearts and cryed out men and brethren what shall we do hee tels them presently Repent and be baptized every one of you in the Name of Iesus Christ for the remission of sinnes and yee shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost Thus when Saint Paul had brought the Keeper of the prison into a strait so that hee came in trembling and cryed out Sirs what shall I do to be saved hee straitway eased his minde Believe on the Lord Iesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house And so did he here with the Corinthians after that he had wounded them with many menaces and threatnings and laying many grievous things unto their charge hee here applyes the playster for the cure Consolatione fruimini be of good comfort Yet hee would have them goe upon good grounds too they must amend their faults which hee formerly had told them of they must lay aside all discord and dissention and live in Unity and Peace and so might they comfort themselves with the expectation of Gods blessing upon them that the God of love and peace should be with them Idem sapite in pace agite be of one minde live in peace Vt à pace exorsus in pacem desinit vir vere Apostolicus As he began with peace so hee ends with peace a man truly Apostolicall for you may observe how aptly do agree those things that are spoken in the end of this second Epistle with those that are spoken in the beginning of the first There hee faith I beseech you brethren by the Name of our Lord Iesus Christ that yee all speake the same things and that there be no divisions among you but that you be perfectly joyned together in the same minde and in the same judgement which is here repeated in fewer words Be of one minde live in peace These are two distinct things to be of one minde and to live in peace and so I will handle them Id ipsum sapite de fidei dogmatibus accipiendum est pax vero seditiones toll it to be of one minde is to be understood in matters of faith or in those things which concerne Religion but Peace is opposed to discord and dissention Sunt enim qui quoad fidem idem sentiunt tumultuantur autem aliis de causis there be some that are of the same minde in matters of Religion yet are together by the eares for other things wee will take them therefore severally First the Apostle wisheth them to be all of one minde that is in matters of Religion which is opposed to two things Heresie and Schisme Haeresis errorem fundamentalem in fide tuetur Heresie mayntaineth some fundamentall errour in the Faith Schisma unitatem Ecclesiae ob minuta discindit Schisme doth cut in sunder the unitie of the Church for small and triviall matters First for Hereticks that doe mayntaine some fundamentall errour in the Faith of whom St. Peter prophecieth saying There shall be false teachers among you which privily shall bring in damnable Heresies 2 Pet. 2. And of such Saint Paul chargeth the Romans to beware Rom. 16.17 I beseech you Brethren mark them diligently which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which yee have received and avoid them for they that are such serve not the Lord but their owne bellies and with faire speech and flattering deceive the hearts of the simple This is the malice that Satan beareth the Church of God by suborning Hereticks and false Teachers to bring in damnable Doctrine to seduce men from the true Religion this his practice from the beginning for no sooner had God finished his work and perfected man but Satan sets himselfe incontinent to pervert him In the two first Chapters of Genesis you shall finde God alwayes speaking Deus dixit God said thus and thus but in the beginning of the Third there comes in Serpens dixit and the Serpent said The Devill will have a word for evill for every word that God shall have for good yet it is to be marked that howsoever errour be old yet truth is elder for first Deus dixit and then Serpens dixit first God said and then the Devill said If then the Devill were so malicious at the beginning Then how much more now since his time is so short like the birds of Norway that because the dayes there are so short make the more haste in flying even so doth Satan because his time draws on when hee shall be bound in everlasting chains under darknesse he doth therefore with the more rage and fury seeke to worke our destruction Therefore since Satan is so busie to rayse up his wicked instruments that hold not the doctrine of Christ in truth but mayntain errours against the tenour of holy Scripture and the profession of the Church how should wee labour to mayntain faith and a good conscience and not suffer our selves to be withdwrawn there from And if thou finde thy judgment weak
with your bodies they shall be satisfied He shall be with your souls they shall be in peace He shall be with your estates they shall be secure He shall be with your good name that shall be inviolable He shall be with you in this life you shall live in Peace and you shall die in Peace and He shall be with you in the life to come where you shall eternally enjoy the beatificall Vision of the Prince of Peace Grant this O Father thou God of Love and Peace for thy Sonnes sake Jesus Christ the Righteous to whom with the Father the holy Spirit three persons and one God be ascribed all Honour and Glory Prayse and Thanksginow and for ever Amen FINIS Mandetur-typis haec Concio cui Titulus An Apostolicall Injunction for Vnity and Peace Ex adibus Fulham dei August 8. 1639. Sa. Baker The division Finally Oecum iâ— locum Psal. 1.3 Luke 13.8 Esay 53.1 Exod. 5.17 1 Cor. 9.16 Matth. 23.4 Brethren Gen. 4.9 Gen. 13.8 Rom 9.3 Liv. Flor. Gen. 13. 1 Tim. 5.4 Plato Cicero Livius St. Aug. de divers Ser. 9. Matth. 12. ult S. August Phil. 2 5. Gal. 6.10 Farewell Luke 1.28 Homer Od. Gen 24.60 Gen. 28.3 Numb 6.24 25 26. Gen. 42. Deut. 32. Ruth 2.4 Ephes. 6.23 1 Thes. 4. ult 2 Tim. 4. ult 1 Pet. 5. ult Jude 3. Psal. 10.7 Rom. 3.14 Rom. 12.14 Psal. 109.17 2 Sam. 16. In Psal. 119. S. Hieron ad Demetriada 1 Cor. 12.10 Act. 8.20 1 John 5.16 Secunda pars 1 Be perfect Aquin. in Matth 5. ult Phil. 3.12 Verse 5. Jam. 2.10 Jam. 3.2 Psal. 19.12 Deut. 6.5 Legem implere id est non concupiscere quorsuÌ„ ergo hoc qui vivit c. S. Aug. de tempore serm 49. 2 Cor. 4.7 Hos. 6.4 Esay 64 6. Job 1.1 Job 9.30.31 Ipsa iustitia â—ostra ad examen diuinae iustitiae deducta in iusticia est sordet in rarâ—bus Iudicis quod in aestimatione fulgâ—t operaÌ„tis Greg mor. l. 5. cap. 8. Rom. 7.24 Prov. 20.9 St. August Luke 1.6 Cant. 1.5 Eccles. 7.20 Pet. Lomb. l. 3. sent dist 27. Matth. 5. ult Aquin. in locum In locum 1 Complete quae desunt ministerio Apoc. 22.11 1 Thes. 4.10 Sal in 1 Thes. cap. 4. Phil. 3.14 Sicut navis in flumen posita per aquae motum descendit nisi remigetur in contrarium sic anima ex corruptione carnis pravitate ad malum contâ—nuò descendit a profectione nisi conetur in contrartum Nich. Lyra in locum Gen. 1.28 2 Pet. 3.18 1. Cor. 15.58 Matth. 19.20 2 Pet. 1.5 6 7. Ephes. 4.13 2 Complet quae desunt ministro Gal. 6.6 Verse 7. Luke 10.16 Matth. 9.37 2 Be of good comfort Gualther in locum Idem Heb. 3.13 Gal. 6.1 2 Cor. .4.9 Psal. 30.5 Deut. 3â— 13 Esay 40.1 Esay 42.3 Aretius 1 King 19.11 12. 2 Cor. 1.3 â— Cor. 4.21 Heb. 10.29 Revel 11.11 Gal. 5.22 2 Sam. 12.7 13. Act. 2.37 38. Act. 16.30.31 3 Be of one minde Erasmus in ocum Benedict Iustinian in locum Gualther in locum Vnanimit as fidei induobus attenditur in intellectu affectu Cor unum in intelligendis credendis Anima una in affectibus id est in volendis operandis Hugo Card. in locum Hereticks against unitie 2 Pet. 2.1 Rom. 16.17 Jude 6. Matth. 757. Jam. 1.5 Schismaticks against unitie Psal. 122.3 Ephes. 4 3. Acts 2.1 4.32 Jude 19. Matth. 12.26 Mat. 27.35 1. Kings 3.26 2. Chron. 30.12 Ezek. 11.19 Rom. 12.5 Matth. 21.9 Ephes. 4.4 Herodotus Quintus Curtius Gal. 5.15 Rom. 15.5 6. 4 Live in peace 1. Cor. 1.11 1 Cor. 3.3 4. 1. Cor. 11.18 Psal. 133.1 Verse 2. Col. 1.18 Esay 49.18 Judg. 5.15 Matth. 24.7 Mal. 2.10 1 Pet. 3.9 John 9.50 John 14.27 Luke 2.14 Heb. 12.14 Psal. 139.21 22. Pet. Mart. Rom. 12.18 Theodoret. Matth. 5.24 Tertia pars And the God of love c. Numb 6.23 24 25 26. Luke 24.50 B. Andrews Gen. 32.26 Gen. 27.34 Gal. 5.21
that thou art not able to answer the cavils of these Seducers these Brownists Familists Anabaptists Papists and the like take my counsell and give no eare at all unto them lest thou be perverted and brought to believe lies and if thou wouldest increase in knowledge and be bettered in thy judgement that thou mayst not be seduced let me advise thee to search the Scriptures diligently and compare one place with another not in private study only but by conferring with the Godly With all pray unto Almighty God in true humility of heart for the illumination of his holy Spirit whereby thou mayst in minde rightly conceive of the truth by Faith embrace it in thy heart and by obedience honour it in thy life If thou shalt thus do constantly and faithfully thou shalt be sure to be preserved from errour both fundamentall and finall and in due time shalt know the truth for the promise is Aske and you shall have seek and you shall finde and If any man want wisdome let him aske it of God and it shall be given him And so much for the first sort of men that do infringe the Apostles charge to be of one minde and they are Hereticks We come now to the second and they are Schismaticks that do cut in sunder the unitie of the Church for small and trifling matters because forsooth there are imperfections and blemishes in the Church because Holy Discipline is not restored to the manner of the Apostles because the Eldership the Presbytry the Brother-hood or Seniory is not re-established which when it shall be done after their desire look for a masse of mischiefe a Chaos of confusion presently to follow These are the new-fangled fantasticall fashionists of these times who for the most part illiterate and unlearned take upon them to censure the Scripture and perversly defend and hold their own judgments rejecting all other interpretations These are they that leave the Society of the Saints and the appointed places of Gods Worship and Service and call assemblies themselves in private houses in secret corners in solitary places in fields in woods in barns and other unseemly places as unholy as themselves Surely these people are not of Hierusalem that is a Citie that is at unitie in it self They seem rather to come from Babylon they are so confounded among themselves they are not such as keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of Peace but they follow the directions of a turbulent and fiery spirit in strife and discord They may bragge of the Spirit what they will but this I know that the holy Spirit did not descend upon the Disciples till they were all with one accord in one place till the whole multitude of them that beleived had all but one heart and one soule And St. Iude saith plainely that They that thus separate themselves have not the Spirit No no it is the spirit of errour it is the spirit of ignorance it is the spirit of rebellion It is the spirit of the Divell I was going to say but then I had wrong'd him for he is wiser than so hee knows full well that if his kingdome were divided within it selfe it could not stand The barbarous Souldiers themselves had this wit with them Not to divide Christs seamelesse coate but rather to cast lots for the whole None but a jadish Harlot will say Scindite puerum Divide the Child None but an enemy to the Church will seeke the division of the Church for that is one In Judah the hand of God was to give them one heart to doe the commandement of the King and of the Princes by the word of the Lord and I will give them one heart and I will put a new spirit within them And We being many are one body in Christ and every one members one of another And the multitude of them that went before and that followed after cryed saying Hosanna to the sonne of David blessed is he that commeth in the Name of the Lord Hosanna in the Highest They that went before and they that followed after sang the same Tune would to God that we were of that mind once that there were no divisions amongst us but that wee all spake the same things The Ministers that goe before and the people that follow after would wee were all of the same minde would we were but one body and one spirit even as we are called in one hope of our calling For what becomes of the member that is cut off from the body What becomes of the branch that is cut off from the Vine What becomes of the River that is cut off from the head you all know that the member dyeth that the branch withereth that the River dryeth up even so shall they that separate themselves from the Church of Christ perish and come to a fearefull end I remember a Story of Cyrus who going to fight against Scythia and comming to a broad River and not able to passe over it hee bethought himselfe and cut and divided it into divers armes and sluces and so made it passable for all his Army This is the Divels policy comming to invade us and finding his passage stopped by the over-flowing streames of Love Unity and Concord he then labours to divide and separate us into divers Sects and Factions and so hee will easily overcome us Would to God therefore that we were but as wise as those barbarous people of whom Quintus Curtius reporteth who though they were continually jarring and falling out and banding in Armes amongst themselves yet when Alexander the great came among them the equality of the danger wherein they all were joyned their hearts and forces together against their common enemy When Moab was against Ammon and Ammon against Moab and Edom against both sheathing their swords each into others sides Iehosaphat and the Iewes need not strike a stroke To this St. Paul alludes when he saith If you bite and devoure one another take heed that you be not consumed of one another How have the Kingdomes of Israel and of Iudah beene weakned but through divisions among themselves How could the Turke have ever made such inrodes into Christendome as he hath if Christians had not been divided among themselves I have read of a Stone called Tyrhenus which being whole swimmeth above water but being broken every part thereof sinketh to the bottome In like manner will it be with us if we remaine whole and undivided having but one heart and one soule and one minde we shall swimme above water all the boysterous surges and raging billows that our enemies can raise up against us shall not be able to overwhelme us but if wee be once broken and divided in our opinions if wee have divers hearts and divers soules and divers minds we shall incontinent sinke perish and come to nought I 'le conclude this with that prayer of the Apostle St.