be placed upon the border of their Vestments The Form of it and the Orders of God for it is written in the 4 last ver of the foregoing chap. the words are these And the Lord Spake unto Moses saying Speak unto the Children of Israel and bid them that they make them Fringes in the Borders of their Garments throughout their Generations and that they put upon the Fringe of the Borders a Ribband of blue And it shall be unto â—ou for a Fringe that ye may look upon it and remâ—mber all the Commandments of the Lord and do them And that ye seek not after your own Heart and your own Eyes after which you use to go a Whoring That ye may remember and do all my Commandments and be Holy unto your God I am the Lord your God which brought you out of the Land of Egypt to be your God I am the Lord your God Which Command was no sooner delivered by Moses but presently Corah and his Confederates stood up and told him to his Face That he took too much upon him to order them what to do These things have at last brought me through a Wilderness of troubled thoughts home to my Text which contains four parts 1. A Message from God to Israel by Moses and Aaron ver 23. 24. 2. The Message it self which was both short and smart and we may observe that as these Mens Remonstrance was short and bitter so Gods Answer to it in this Message is shorter and smarter Get you up from about the Tabernacle of Corah Dathan and Abiram 3. Moses the Messenger's Expedition to deliver it And Moses rose up and went unto Dathan and Abiram He that had an Ear always ready to hear had an Heart always ready to obey Iâ— God bid Moses rise he is ready to go if God bids him go he runs so the Psalmist I made hast and prolonged not the time to keep thy Commandments Psal 119. 60. And again I will run the way of thy Commandments when thou hast set my Heart at Liberty ver 32. 4. Moses's Love to and care for the rest whom he thought not past recovery delivering his Message to them in such a frame of Spirit as he thought most likely to prevail with them if any thing would in begging and intreating them Depart I pray you from the Tents of these wicked Men and touch nothing of theirs least ye be Consumed in all their Sins Now from these parts of the Text and from what hath been spoken as previous to it I shall deliver these six Propositions or Points of Doctrine 1. That it is dangerous and unsafe for Christians to Congregate themselves with such a People tho' never so full of Knowledge and seeming Holyness that do deny Conformity to such Laws and Ordinances as God hath delivered to them by the Hands of faithfull Governors 2. That God will reject and disown the Knowledge and Holiness of such a People 3. That the Sin of such Nonconformity doth exceedingly provoke the Lord to Anger and stir up the Fire of his Jealousie 4. That a People under such Delusions may think themselves Holy and Righteous and at the same time be most sinful and wicked 5. That it is no new thing for a Spirit of damnable Delusions to shelter it self under the Cloak and Masque of extraordinary Holiness 6. That it is the Part and Duty of all the Servants of God in their several and respective Places and Callings to use all Lawfull means and endeavours to stop the further breaking forth of such horrible Delusions and Destructive Principles Having delivered these six Propositions I shall return to prosecute the first Which whilst I am doing I humbly pray you to hear me without Prejudice for the Lord who knoweth the Secrets of all Hearts knows that I have none against the Persons of any of the Sons of Men for I Believe that Christ dy'd as well for them as for my self and therefore I cannot hate them And the Method I shall Observe will be this 1. I offer to your Consideration the Reasons why I Judge it dangerous and unsafe to Congregate with such a People 2. I shall give you a Prospect of the preposterous and unlucky Dispositions of these Mens Spirits under this new discovery of theirs Scisme I may call it 3. Give you a Taste of the harsh bitter and lamentable Effects which this new Doctrin of theirs brought forth in the Common-Wealth of Israel which when we have weighed in the Ballance of the Sanctuary we shall easily be perswaded to believe Solomon That there is no new Thing under the Sun 4. Shew you how the Just Holy and Righteous God took this Disturbance of the Church's Peace at their Hands and what a kind of Savour the Smoak of these Mens Incense did send up to Heaven 6. And Lastly Consider what the more then probable drift and design of these Men might be which they intended to carry on under this false â—eligious Cloak and I beseech you Christians that you will mark me warily whilest â—lav down my Reasons for Proof of my first Assertion that so ye may neither misaprehend me here nor misreport me abroad to my Prejudice aud Scandal of others The first Reason why it is dangerous so to Congregate is Reason 1. Because every particular Christian hath not the special Gift of the holy-Holy-Ghost to discern Spirits Every Man and Woman in any true measure Professing Christ may have so much Knowledge and be so far enlightened as to be sencible of their Misery by reason of Sin committed in the State of Nature to know what Christ hath done for them in satisfying Gods Justice and remouing the Curse of the Law and Punishment due to such Sin To believe in him for Pardon of Sin to love and delight to do his Commandments And yet not have the special Gift of the holy-Holy-Ghost to diseern Spirits The Apostle St. Paul in the 1. Cor. 12. 4. saith That there are diversities of Gifts but the same Spirit that gives them And then at ver 8. reckons them up in order thus For to one is given by the Spirit the Word of Wisdom to another the Word of Knowledge by the same Spirit To another Faith by the same Spirit to another the Gift of Healing by the same Spirit To another the Working of Miracles by the same Spirit to another Prophecy by the same Spirit to another the Discerning of Spirits to another divers kind of Tongues To another thâ— Interpretation of Tongues And then Concludes thus But all these worketh that one and the self-same Spirit dividing to every one severally as he will Knowing then that there are many lying Spirits and many false Christs many false Prophets and deceitfull Teachers gone forth into the World who ever have and ever will by their sly Insinuations endeavour to draw away Disciples aâ—ter them and seduce the Servants of Christ to leave and forsake the plain High-way of Salvation to go into the by-paths of
Heart he gave to Jerusalem a little befere they were carried away Captive into Babilon Chap. 6. 8. Be thou Instructed O Jerusalem Least my Soul depart from thee least I make thee Desolate a Land not Inhabited 'T is true that such Offences will come but woe be to them by whom they do come o ye think that Christ the Prince of Peace will Patronize your Divisions Will ye lay the Burthen of Spiritual Wickedness upon his Back and by force of strange Arguments compel him to bear another Cross This would be one way to Crucifie him afresh and to press him down as a Cart is pressed with Sheaves Are the Divisions of Christians pleasing to God Do ye think that Christ takes it well at your Hands to Foment so many Divisions as ye have crumbled your selves into since ye have left our Church Is the Study of Divisions the visible mark of Christianity Is this to do the Will of God on Earth as it is done in Heaven Are there any sort of Dissâ—nters there No. The Angels were never known since the Fall to fall out amongst themselves either in Heaven above or in any Service that they have been imployed in for Christ upon Earth There is no Strife or Contention amongst them they serve Christ with one Consent and Praise him with one Voice they all Glorifie his name in one Form of sound Words and Perseverance in the same Those two Servants of Christ the Evangelical Prophet Isaiah and the great Evangelist St. John do both agree in their Testimonies concerning this thing The Testimony of the Prophet is written in Chap. 6. 3. And one Cried unto another and said Holy Holy Holy is the Lord of Hosts the whole Earth is full of his Glory The Testimony of the Evangelist is written in the Book of the Revelation Chap. 4. 8. And they Rest not Day and Night saying Holy Holy Holy Lord God Almighty which was and is and is to come You may plainly perceive by these Sacred Records that there are no Dissenters in Heaven that the Angels do serve Christ in Unity of Spirit and in Uniformity of Words So that we may easily gess who were the first Dissenters even the fallen Angels and therefore the name of a Dissenter can be no Glory to the Professors of the Christian Religion But that the fallen Angels were the first Dissenters from the way of Truth The Blessed Jesus in whom are hid all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge hath put the Question out of Doubt in his Discourse with the Pharisees in John 8. 44. Where after they had told Christ that Abraham was their Father and that God was their Father Christ tells them plainly that they were Related to neither but that they were of their Father the Devil and the Lusts of your Father will ye do for he was a Murderer from the beginning and abode not in the Truth From these Words of our Saviour we may understaud what the Devils Sin is for which they are Reserved in Chains of Darkness unto the Judgment of the great Day Also From Christ's Words here it is evident that the fallen Angels did know the Truth and by their Unbelief fell from it and of pure and upright Angels became unclean Spirits and Devils For as no Man can be blamed for not abiding in a House wherein he never was neither would Christ have blamed the Devils for not abiding in the Truth if they had not known it and been Instructed in it Wherefore did Christ call Judas Devil Have I not chosen Twelve and one of you is a Devil Was it not because he knew the Truth and Preach'd the Truth and afterwards became an Enemy to it and betrayed his Lord and Master that had taught and Instructed him in it as by his Confession before he Hanged himself it was too manifest A Christians Eternal Happiness consists chiefly in two things A true Faith and an Holy Life A Judgment rightly inform'd in matters of Faith and a Conversation rightly ordered in the Practical Duties of true Holiness Those Men and Women whose Lives and Conversations are Holy are Baptized with the Holy Ghost and they that are truly Zealous for the Honour of God's Holy Name are Baptized with Fire so that to be Holy in our Lives and Zealous in our Spirits for the Glory of the Holy God is an outward Testimony of the inward Baptism of the Holy Ghost and with Fire precedent to which is the Baptism of Water the Gate of Enterance into an outward Profession of the Gospel Now both these Pillars of the Christian Religion are apparently to be seen in the Doctrine and Prayers of our Church to all that have not shut their Eyes against it nor turn'd their Back upon it I am bold therefore to say that the Service of God in our Church is Holy because it is Founded in the Holy Scriptures Composed of Precepts Examples or Commands Collected out of the Holy Scriptures Therefore many of our Prayers are called by the Name of Collests because they are Collected out of those Portions of Holy Scripture that are Appointed to be Read that Day that they are used All the Hymns that we use both at Morning and Evening Prayer are the very Words of the Holy Scriptures or clearly deduced from them Those that Composed it and set it in that Sacred Order as it is now Established by Law were Dr. Cranmer Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Dr. Ridly Bishop of London Dr. Hooper Bishop of Gloucester Dr. Latimer Bishop of Worcester Dr. Thirlby Bishop of Ely Dr. Day Dean of Chichester Dr. Tayler and Dr. Cox Almoner to King Edward 6 th with divers other Pious Learned Holy and Faithful Men who out of a Godly Zeal and Sacred purpoâ—e to advance the Glory of God the Gospel of Christ ' and the Salvation of Souls Formed these Prayers for the Service of Almighty God that his Houâ—e might be called as Christ and the Prophets foretold An House of Prayer for all People suitable to the State and Condition of all sorts of the Sons and Daughters of Men High and Low Rich and Poor Bond and Free Wise and Foolish Learned and Unlearned Saints and Sinners and all that Profess the Gospel of Christ may in one pure Language and Form of sound Words call upon the name of the Lord to serve him with one consent for the only Wise God hath promised it by the Mouth of the Prophet Zephaniah Chap. 3. Ver 8 9. Therefore wait ye upon me saith the Lord until the Day that I rise up to the Prey for my Determination is to gather the Nations that I may assemble the Kingdoms to pour upon them mine Indignation even all my fierce Anger for all the Earth shall be devoured with the Fire of my Jealoucy For then will I turn to the People a pure Language that they may all call upon the name of the Lord to serve him with one Consent If all Scripture given by Inspiration is profitable for Doctrine
Heresie and Scisme and so undiscernibly maâ—age their Crafty Devices that the very elect choise and eminent Christians will hardly escape from being entangled with such Deceits Now then seeing that these things are certainly true it cannot but be dangerous and unsafe for the best of Christians to venture themselves into any such Congregations as have made a causeless Separation from such a Church where the the Word of God is truely taught Publick Prayer in a Form of sound Word suitable to every State and Condition of Men answerable to all their wants both for Soul and Body and all put up to God in the Name of his only Son Jesus Christ And all this Confirm'd and Establish'd by the Successive Royal Laws and Sacred Statutes Acts and Ordinances of the most Christian Kings Princes and Parliaments that ever were since the Reformation as the Church of England is in Statu quo Our Blessed Saviour hath assnred us by the words of his Sacred Lips That many will come in his Name and deceive not a few but many And the Apostle St. John saith That there are many Antichrists and exhorts them not to believe every Spirit because many false Prophets were gone forth into the World Seeing then that the number of Deceivers are many and the Deceived a Thousand times more I hold it the greatest Wisdom that can be in a Christian to take heed how he adventures into every Congregation of People least he become one of those many that Christ fiath foretold will certainly be deceived for want of this special Gift of the holy-Holy-Ghost to discern Spirits Reason 2. A second Reason is because such Mens Principles will leave a black Brand of detestable hatred upon their very Names amongst the Generations of the People of God that shall Survive them For tho' they may prosper for a time and take their swinge for a time and run their Wildgoose chase for a time and tho' they take liberty to kindle these Fires and compas themselves about with such Sparks and tho' they walk in the Light of these Fires and Sparks of their own kindling yet this shall they have at the hand of the Lord they shall lie down in Sorrow and leave a Curse upon their Names amongst the Surviving Genâ—rations And this was verified on these very Men in my Text for when the Geneologies of the Surviving Tribes were Numbred and Recorded there lieth a Bloâ— of Disgrace upon their Names so that in plain Terms their Names stunck after they were dead The Record is to be seen in Chap. 26. of the Book of Numbers ver 7 8 9. the Words of the Record are these These are the Families of the Reubenites and they that were Numbred of them were Forty and three Thousand and seven Hundred and Thirty And the Sons of Pallu Eliab And the Sons of Eliab Nemuel and Dathan and Abiram This is that Dathan and Abiram which were Famous in the Congregaâ—tion who strove against Moses and against Aaron in that Company of Corah when they strove against the Lord. And the Earth opened her Mouth and swallowed them up together with Corah when that Company Died what time the Fire Devoured two Hundred and Fifty Men and they became a Sign Nor did their Names stink only upon Record but in the Memories and Thoughts of the Surviveing honest Hearted Israelites as appeareth by the Words of the Plea of the Daughters of Zelophehad made in open Court for Inheritance of their Fathers which Plea was also Recorded aud continueth to this Day Num. 27. ver 1 2. Ver. 1. Then came the Daughters of Zelophehad the Son of Hepher the Son of Gilead the Son of Machir the Son of Manasses the Son of Joseph And these are the Names of his Danghters Mahlah Noah and Hoglah and Milcah and Tirzah And they stood before Moses and Eliazar the Priest for Aaron was then Dead and before the Princes and all the Congregation by the Door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation saying Our Father Died in the Wilderness and he was not in the Company of them that gathered themselves together against the Lord in the Company of Corah but died in his own Sin and had no Sons 4 Why then should the Name of our Father be done away from amongst his Family because he hath no Son give unto us therefore a Possession amongst the Brethren of our Fathers 5. And Moses brought their Cause before the Lord and the Lord spake unto Moses saying 6. The Daughters of Zelophehad speak right thou shalt surely give them a Possession of an Inheritance amongst their Fathers Brethreu and thou shalt cause the Inheritance of their Father to pass unto them By the Contents of which Record it is evident that the Remembrance of these Mens Doings was Odious to Posterity more Instances we have as in Simeon and Levi Simon Magus Thudas Judas of Gallilee Nicolitans c. Reason 3. Is because the Breath of such Mens Doctrine is infectious to a sound Judgment the Sons of Men are as really snbject to Spiritual Infection as the Body is to that which is Carnal the Body is not more liable to the Infection of the Plague of Pestilence than the Judgments of the Sons and Daughters of Men are to the Plague of Spiritual Delusions And this my Assertion I ground upon Reason drawn from the Testimonies of Sacred Writ besides Woful and Daily Experience There are three Diseases amongst Men notably Infectious above others viz the Leprosie the Pestilence and the Cancer all whieh three Diseases of the Body do paralell the three grand Infectious Diseases of the Soul viz. Disobedience Heresie and Scisme The first whereof is Epidemical and hath Infected all Mankind with the Leprosie of Original Sin The second is more Secret and indiscernable falling upon sound Constitutions when they think least on 't even whilest they are Talking and Drinking with their Friend and concerning this Disease it is observable that the Party Infected hath a desire to Infect others tho' never so near and dear to them the like desire have all Scismaticks The third Infectious Disease viz. the Cancer hath its Residence for the most part in the Mouth or Tongue that they who drink of the same Cup with them are in danger of Infection For Confirmation of this Assertion I shall give you a Precedent and Precept from the Sacred Scriptures The Precedent is double and of Lamentable Memory because the Sin appeared in the Punishment of those that Committed it The Precept is alone yet worthy of a serious notice because it was Transmitted by an Epistle from an Universal Apostle to a Bishop of a particular Charge 2 Tim. 16. 17. 18. The first Precedent or Example is Recorded in Numb 12. where two prime Servants of God are found Tardy in their Obedience to him which shewed it felf in the Malignant Humour of Miriam and Aarons Murmuring against Moses who tho' their own Brother yet under God their Supream Governour nevertheless they could say