if the whole Church were of one heart and one soul as they were at the first in matters of their Communion 3. Catholick Communion consisteth also in the mutual assistances which Christians give to and receive one from another couched in that one word Fellowship in the description of Catholick Communion Acts 2.42 And they continued stedfastly in the Apostles Doctrine and Fellowship c. The same word which in our Version is here translated Fellowship is by the Dutch in their Version translated Communion And according to Dr. Hammond it signifies both to communicate and to participate to distribute and to receive So that according to the nature of Christian Communion every Member of the whole Church is or ought to be useful and serviceable to the whole Community of Christians in general and to every Christian in particular so far as they can in the place and rank in which the Providence of God hath set them The which if duly observed by all as it ought to be the same persons that thus communicate and contribute assistance to others would be receiving back again from the whole and from every Member in particular the like succour service and assistance as opportunity serves as they themselves had contributed to them As a Christian is to serve every fellow-Christian so according to the same Law every one is to serve him This is that the Apostle means when he says By love serve one another Gal. 5.13 And this giving and receiving assistance the same Apostle calls communicating with him Phil. 4.15 If this Catholick Communion were but duly maintained among all Christians how like a heaven upon earth would the Catholick Church be And how happy would they be even now for the present that are of it And how would the Inhabitants of the world that are not of it then flow into it And yet for Christians thus to exchange Offices of love with one another is nothing more than what we are all obliged to by the Royal Law of Love Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self For if I am hereby bound to love every Neighbour as my self so is every Neighbout obliged by it to love me as they love themselves And how delightful a commerce would this be if the Christian Church were but so happy as to hit on it The particular duties and offices of love in which this part of Christian Communion does consist are such as these the instructing and exhorting one another the watching over and admonishing one another the strengthening the feeble minded the visiting and comforting the afflicted the relieving one anothers wants the bearing on anothers burdens the having the same care one for another and the like Together with these we may reckon the yielding and allowing to every one the liberty of sharing in the common priviledge of enjoying Communion in Gospel-Ordinances and Worship so long as they have not made themselves uncapable of it by drawing on themselves deservedly the Censures of the Church nor are otherwise naturally uncapable of the end and use for which those Ordinances or any of them were ordained as little Children seem to be in reference to the Lords Supper THus much briefly touching the nature of Catholick Commumunion Come we now to enquire how and by what means it may best be preserved There are two Bonds which the Scripture mentions by which Christians are bound and knit together in one Communion the bond of Charity and the bond of Peace 1 The bond of Charity Above all these things put on Charity which is the bond of perfectness Col. 3.14 Charity is a bond which knits and unites mens hearts together and makes them one in affection knit together in love as as it is exprest Col. 2.2 and while they be so it can hardly be but that they will be one in Communion This was that which made the Catholick Church in its beginning to be all of one heart and one soul as it is said the multitude of them that believed were Acts 4.32 And that was the reason doubtless why they continued stedfastly in their Communion in the Apostles Doctrine and Fellowship and in breaking of bread and prayer Charity we see is called the bond of perfectness for the Church is in a kind of perfect state in her Communion so long as the Parts and Members of it are knit together in one Communion by love made perfect in one as our Saviour expresseth it Joh. 17.23 And the Union in Communion which is made by love is Union in its perfection nothing unites Christians so entirely and firmly as love does If Christians love one another in the truth and for the truth sake which dwelleth in them as St. John speaks this Love and Union by Love will last there will be no failure in the oneness of Communion until there be first a failure in love Charity must needs unite and knit Christians together in one Communion because it is the Principle from which the particular acts of Christian Fellowship fore-mentioned do spring a great part of the acts of Christian Communion are nothing else but offices of brotherly love and by these Christians take fast hold one of another Charity in its own nature is communicative of the good it has and the good it can do and by that it does attract and draw others to a nearer conjunction with those in whom it dwells Charity is the Arms of the Christians inner man by which they imbrace one another though absent Love is of a winning nature it gains upon others that stand at a distance If a Principle of love be in the heart it will season a mans speech and enable him to speak the truth in love according to St. Pauls direction And the truth spoken in love will sooner reconcile than the strongest Arguments when mixt with bitterness of Spirit A tongue of love is Solomons tongue of health it will heal wounds when another tongue does but make them And therefore with great reason did St. Paul call upon the Church of Corinth to do all their things with Charity and spent a whole Chapter upon them to persuade them to it as an effectual means to cure the divisions into which they were unhappily fallen Again Charity covereth a multitude of sins 1 Pet. 4.8 and by that means among other it keeps Christians from flying asunder and dividing in their Communion which many times takes its first rise from very small matters when they meet with an evil mind that will aggravate and make the worst of things and seek out matter to make the breach wider But Charity is not apt to spie faults or to pick quarrels nor to aggravate and make the worst of things nor to harbour jealousies or evil surmises out of which breaches are wont to grow but it will over-look mens weakness mistakes and inadvertencies as believing they do not proceed from an evil mind And if any thing be amiss love will take notice of all the extenuating circumstances in the
the Church by Baptism but upon Supposition that they had a true justifying saving faith before such admission And hereby faith in this question is not meant faith objectively but subjectively considered For it is agreed that a profession of a belief of the same truth doctrinally considered is necessary to visible Church-membership by Baptism in the adult which if believed as it ought to be will be sufficient unto Justification and Salvation and such is the Belief That Jesus Christ is the Son of God John 20.31 Acts 8.37 But the question is whether a less degree of belief of saving doctrine be not sufficient to visible Church-membership than is sufficient unto Justification and Salvation and whether it is not probable that the Apostles did admit some into the Church by Baptism upon the appearance and probable evidence of such a Faith And in order to the making a due judgement in this case it is necessary to know what this Faith is and wherein it differs from justifying and saving Faith The one for distinction sake we call a Faith initial or inchoate the other a Faith consummate or complete The initial Faith stands in such a lower degree of assent of the mind unto the Truth of the Gospel concerning Christ his being the Son of God or Saviour of Sinners as has not yet thorow its power over the Will renewed the whole man so as to become Regenerate or a new creature But the Faith consummate or complete lies in such a firm assent of the mind unto the Truth of the Gospel as by which through frequent consideration of the things assented to the Will is changed and renewed in its inclinations motions and affections in reference both to Sin and Duty This difference between Faith and Faith is fairly set out in the Scriptures St. James chap. 2. treats of a Faith that will not avail to Justification and Salvation and of that also which will The one is the Faith which is alone or by it self verse 15. which has not yet purified the heart from earthly affections and fleshly lusts nor brought forth the fruit of the Spirit but is dead and remains barren But the other Faith which will avail to Justification is operative and vigorous producing internal and external acts of Christian Obedience by which it s made perfect ver 22. that is it is thereby made to attain its end in the Justification of the person that hath it This Faith worketh by Love and is thereby consummate or made perfect Gal. 5. For the Greek word according to learned Authors is in the middle voice and may be taken actively or passively or rather both it working by Love is thereby consummate or made perfect Dr. Hammond understands it in a passive sence and reads it thus Faith which is consummate by Love When St. Paul saith I could not write to you as unto spiritual but as unto carnal even as unto babes in Christ because of the envy strife and division they lived in 1 Cor. 3.1 his words seem to intimate that men might be babes in Christ by such a Faith as fell short of purifying the heart and working by love and which left them in a carnal state And when S. Peter saith Add to your Faith Virtue c. 2 Pet. 1.5 he supposeth it very possible for some Christians to have a faith without the addition of those Christian virtues there enumerated and to be barren and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ as it follows Vers 8 9. And we read of some who believed in Christ when they saw his Miracles to whom yet he would not commit himself Joh. 2.23 and of others who believed on him but would not confess him lest they should be put out of the Synagogue and because they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God John 12.42 And it s said of Magus that Simon himself also believed Act. 8.13 This may suffice to shew what that Faith is which falls short of that which is Justifying and wherein it differs from it I shall now improve this to shew how unlikely a thing it is that the Apostles should receive none into the Church by Baptism but such as they esteem'd to have a Justifying Faith 1. It is no ways probable that those who had lived in the darkness of Paganism should ordinarily if at all in their first beginning to believe believe unto Justification but that there was some space of time between their first believing and their believing unto Justification and if so then it cannot be probable that the Apostles who Baptised men presently and when they first began to believe would Baptize them under the notion of their having already believed unto Justification Now the reason why it is not probable that such men when they first began to believe did then believe unto Justification is this because men do not believe unto Justification untill their Faith hath wrought such a change in the whole man as by which they become Regenerate as I have shew'd for we cannot say God justifies unregenerate men while they are such Now such a change as this is not ordinarily if at all wrought in an instant and as soon as men begin to believe For the word of God by believing of which this change is wrought does not effect it physically but morally by causing such thoughts and considerations to rise in the mind as do by degrees alter and change the moral frame and constitution of the Soul For tho' the Spirit of God is the principal Agent and the word of God his Instrument in this work yet he causeth this change by working upon mens thoughts and by bringing them seriously to consider the things they believe whereunto they tend and how they were concern'd in them And mens discerning things of this nature and consequently their thoughts and considerations about them are brought on but by degrees as light comes in being confusedly and indistinctly discerned at first And the assent of the mind to the truth of things to be believed cannot exceed the minds discerning the credibility of the evidence upon which they are to be believed but so long as the one is weak the other will be weak also And so far as the assent of the mind is but weak so far its operation upon the will to alter and change it will be but weak likewise as the one is wrought gradually so is the other Men may be forced to believe whether they will or no thro' the strength of conviction as that signifies the assent of the mind when yet the will is not thereby prevailed upon to consent and yield to the dictates of the mind for some considerable time and sometimes never And let a mans faith or belief be what it will yet untill it prevails over the will which is the great wheel in the Soul that gives motion both to a mans affections and actions to alter and change it as to its prevailing bent and
whether in bringing their Children to be Baptized they do not intend thereby to dedicate them to the Father Son and Holy Ghost and to engage them as much as in them lies to be Gods faithful Servants and to believe and live according to the Doctrine and Precepts of our Lord Jesus Christ or somewhat to that effect And whether likewise such Answers from the Parents should not be expected as are most suitable to such demands And further it would be considered Whether Infants can be so well or so directly and properly obliged to God in Covenanting with him in Baptism by what Sponsors which are not their Parents then do to oblige them as they may by what their Parents themselves may do to that end And the reason of this proposal or question is this If the Childrens being obliged to do that when they come to Age which Parents obliged them to in their Baptism does depend upon their Parents properly in them and authority over them as is supposed it does from what has been formerly argued then they cannot be so properly obliged by what other Sponsors do in their behalf at their Baptism which have no such property in them or authority over them It is true indeed Parents are not wholly unconcerned in entering their Children into Covenant with God by Baptism when yet Sponsors act in the Parents stead For it is the Parents that cause their Children to be Baptized and what the Sponsors act is by the Parents procurement and upon these accounts it is interpretatively their act But yet Parents immediately and in their own persons acting the part of entering their Children into Covenant seems more proper and better to answer the nature of the things Sponsors may be more useful in case Parents of Children to be Baptized are dead as possibly it might be the case of some Children whose Parents were Martyr'd in the Primitive times from which perhaps that usage in the Church took its first rise There are other cases in which Sponsors or Pro-parents may be useful and necessary but hardly so as to exclude Parents from their proper work But I speak of these things with submission to those of better judgment and more authority having only offered them to consideration QUERY VII FOr what reason is Church-Membership said to be Invisible as well as Visible in some and yet but only as Visible in others And from whence does this difference arise This difference proceeds from the difference there is between Visible and Invisible Christianity and from the different Union between Christ the Head and his Members which is caused thereby By invisible Christianity I mean those inward acts and affections of soul by which men abhor that which is evil and cleave to that which is good which are wrought by a serious assent of the mind unto the truth of the doctrine and great motives of the Gospel by which they are convinced of the necessity of repentance and holy living in order to their escaping everlasting misery and becoming eternally happy By visible Christianity I mean external and visible acts of Religion in reference both to God and men such as is the profession of the God that made the World to be the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent to be his Son and the rest of the Articles of the Christian Faith and such other acts as consist in an external performance of the external acts of worship due to this God and Saviour and in acts of Justice and Charity towards men and in sobriety of behaviour in reference to a mans self Now by the internal and invisible Christianity forementioned in conjunction with that which is external the Covenant entred into in Baptism is so performed that by it a man is internally and invisibly united to Christ and consequently to all those who are invisibly one with him But visible Christianity alone is but an external performance of the Covenant entred into in Baptism and this amounts to no more than an external and visible Union with Christ and with his Church as visible By this much then we may understand wherein the difference between visible and invisible Church membership lies and from whence it doth arise Now that the internal Christianity which consists in an internal change in the faculties of the soul to wit in their apprehension inclination motions and operations in reference to their various objects of good and evil does produce or obtain an internal and invisible Union of men with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ will appear if we consider these things 1. This internal Renovation of soul contains in it an Union with God by adhesion for by it a man doth with his heart and soul and out of judgment and choice cleave unto the Lord which in the sence of Scripture is a being joyned to him He that is joyned or he that cleaveth unto the Lord is one spirit for it is rendred by both words 1 Cor. 6.17 And for a man firmly and resolvedly to adhere and stick to the Lord and to the interest of his honour and glory in the world in worshipping loving and obeying him and in placing his affiance in him as his only God and Saviour come what will which is his cleaving to him is such a moral Vnion with God as the nature of man is capable of 2. This internal Renovation worketh an invisible Union with God by a participation of the divine nature as the Apostle phraseth it 2 Pet. 1.4 By which participation men are morally united to God For they are thereby renewed to the Image of God in Knowledge Righteousness and Holiness and so are made one Spirit or one in spirit with Him according to that of the Apostle in 1 Cor. 6.17 He that is joyned to the Lord is one spirit or of one spirit For so far as such an one is partaker of the Divine nature by Renovation he judgeth of good and evil as God judgeth and loves and hates and designs the same things that he doth 3. By this Renovation of the Inner man men come to have the same Spirit of God and of Christ to reside and dwell in them by which their Vnion with the Father and the Son is compleated The holy Spirit first prepares them as living Temples or an Habitation for himself to dwell in by renewing them in a less degree and then comes and takes up his abode and dwells in them by affording them a more constant and more plentiful influence and assistance And the same Spirit dwelling both in Christ and in them the Vnion between them becomes more intimous and more entire Hereby we know that we dwell in him and he in us because he hath given us of his Spirit 1 John 4.13 As the Union of all the members of a natural body is not made so much by their contiguity or close joyning as by being all animated by one and the same spirit which is in all the parts so it is
admitted into the Church by Baptism before they had quite lost off their Idolatrous worship For some with conscience of the Idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered to an Idol and their conscience being weak is defiled saith St. Paul concerning some in the Church of Corinth whom he afterwards admonisheth to flee from Idolatry 1 Cor. 8.7 10.14 Now if a judgment of mens being truly Regenerate had been the rule by which the Apostles and others had governed themselves in Baptizing of men suspicion would hardly have suffered Philip to have Baptized such an one as Simon the Sorcerer without some considerable tryal of him And considering what discerning men the Apostles were it is very strange that they should discern none of those unfit to be Baptized whom yet they did Baptize that were very bad before they were Baptized and proved to be so still shortly after I say this would seem strange in case nothing less had qualified them for Baptism than a reputation of their being Regenerate These circumstances considered together with the plain rule the Apostles had in their Commission whom to Baptize to wit Disciples as such it is more than probable that they governed themselves by that rule and Baptized those they did Baptize under the notion of Disciples or such as were learning to be Christians without tying themselves to a judgment that they were already Regenerate 5. Our blessed Saviour who does not judge according to outward appearance but according to his certain knowledge of things does account such to be of his Visible Church whom yet he knows to be none of the Invisible This I gather from his own words John 15.2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away By which he supposeth and plainly intimates that there would be many such branches in him by being in his Visible Church which yet being unfruitful and to be taken away are therefore not of the Invisible For by their being in him is doubtless meant of their being externally and visibly united to him as members of his body the Church as Visible And how can we conceive them to be united to him so as to be said to be in him but by Covenanting with him in Baptism For by that they are brought into him Baptized into Christ as St. Paul speaks Gal. 3.27 and planted in him by Baptism Rom. 6.5 And upon the same account and for the same reason for which our Saviour judgeth and accounteth men to be in him to be of his Visible Church we may we must so account them likewise The Scripture knoweth no other being in Christ but by being united and related to him either by external Covenanting with him or by internal Renovation In this latter sence such unfruitful branches as our Saviour speaks of in the Text aforesaid are not in him and therefore it must be understood in the former sence unless any third sence of mens being in Christ can be found out in Scripture which I never yet heard of 6. Our blessed Saviour in the Primitive times owned such to be of his Visible Church as were not of the Invisible by pouring out upon them miraculous gifts of the Holy Ghost That there were such gifts poured out upon such men as tho they did believe yet not to the saving of the soul is evident by our Saviours own words Mat. 7.22 Many will say unto me in that day Lord Lord have we not Prophesied in thy name and in thy name have cast out Devils and in thy name done many wonderful works And then will I profess unto them I never knew you Depart from me ye that work iniquity And the Author to the Hebrews plainly supposes that such as were partakers of the Holy Ghost might be so bad as quite to fall away from the Christian profession Heb. 6.4 5 6. And that our Saviour by pouring out such gifts upon such men did own them as related to him and as Members of his Visible Church will appear when we consider that the promise of these was made to such as should believe and only to such Mark 16.17 These signs shall follow those that believe In my name shall they cast out Devils they shall speak with new tongues By conferring upon such Believers whose faith did not operate to Regeneration he set his Seal upon them as mark'd for his in a visible relation For the pouring out of miraculous gifts of the Spirit is called the sealing of the Spirit After ye believed ye were sealed with the holy spirit of promise Ephe. 1.13 There was a two-fold seal of the Spirit the one by inward sanctification or renewing men to the Image of God Of this St. Paul seems to speak 2 Cor. 1.22 Who hath sealed us and given the earnest of the spirit in our hearts This Sealing belongs to the Invisible state of the Church But then there was a sealing of the spirit which belonged then to the visible state of the Church by which a visible mark or seal was set upon them and by which God owned them as related to him as Members of his Visible Church and that was the conferring upon them some extraordinary or miraculous gifts And this was common to those that had but common grace and were unregenerate as well as to them that had special as appears by the 7th of Mat. and 6th of Heb. fore-mentioned These extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost seem to be confined to the Visible Church 1 Cor. 12.28 God hath set in the Church Apostles Prophets and Teachers then Miracles gifts of Healing diversities of Tongues by which those that had them bestowed upon them were known to be of the Church and to be owned by God to be so The conferring miraculous gifts upon such men as yet shall be rejected by Christ at last as workers of iniquity argues these things First that they were Believers in Christ in a sence because they wrought their Miracles in his Name and by virtue of Faith in his Name And because our Saviour had said that such signs as they shew'd should follow them that believe Mark 16.17 Secondly that they professed the Christian doctrine for that miraculous power was conferred upon them for the confirmation of the doctrine they professed and Preached The Lord working with them and confirming the Word with signs following vers 20. Besides our Saviour brings them in pleading that they had Prophesied in his Name Thirdly they being Believers Professors and Preachers of the Christian doctrine it argues that they had been Baptized and by Baptism made Members of the Visible Church and that our Saviour did own them for such by conferring on them such extraordinary gifts which he did not bestow upon Unbelievers 7. I might add in the last place that our Saviour owns some bad men to be related to him as his Servants Hence it is that he calls them Servants tho slothful Servants Mat. 25 26. unprofitable Servants vers 30. evil Servants Mat. 24.48 wicked
Servants chap. 18.32 The title of Servants is given to such as these because they are of the Houshold of the great Lord and Master that is Members of his Visible Church which is his House And St. Paul saith in a great House and so in the Church he means there are not only Vessels of gold and of silver but also of wood and of earth and some to honour and some to dishonour 2 Tim. 2.20 And our Saviour hath said that many shall come from the East and West and shall sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven but the Children of the Kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness Mat. 8.11 12. Having seen what evidence the holy Scriptures do afford to prove that God that Christ himself does own others to be part of his Visible Church than such as are of the Church as invisible I shall now proceed to take into consideration such Texts of Scripture as in the apprehension of some seem most to favour the contrary opinion I will begin with 1 Pet. 3.21 The like figure whereunto Baptism doth also now save us not the putting away the filth of the flesh but the answer of a good Conscience towards God by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ Whence it is argued that those who were received into the Church by Baptism were always supposed such as had the answer of a good Conscience towards God the inward qualification which answers the outward figure or sign in Baptism Death unto sin and a Resurrection unto a new life But the answer to this is very easie The Apostle in these words was shewing what is necessary in the parties Baptized besides their Baptism to make their Baptism available to their salvation but not what is necessary by way of condition to their being Baptized this Text meddles not with that so far as appears by any clause or circumstance in it And is much of the same nature and much like to that of St. Paul Rom. 2.28 29. where he saith That is not Circumcision which is outward in the flesh but that which is of the heart and in the spirit By which he does not mean that Circumcision which was but outward in the flesh served to no other ends but to signifie Heart-circumcision for it did engage the Circumcised in Covenant with God and initiate them and give them entrance into the Church and made them partakers of the Oracles and Ordinances of God there as he shews in the following words in the next Chapter But his meaning was that Circumcision in the flesh alone without Circumcision of the heart would not avail to any mans having acceptance with God So here that Baptism which consists in outward washing only the putting away the filth of the flesh will not save will not avail to salvation without the answer of a good Conscience towards God But then it does not follow but that it may avail as well as Circumcision in the Letter did to bring men into the Visible Church and to procure them the benefit of the outward priviledges of it Another Text is John 3.5 Except a man be born of Water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God Some that are of the opinion which I am opposing by the Kingdom of God here understand the Church as well Visible as Invisible and then infer that none can enter into the Church without being born of the Spirit as well as of Water But the answer to this is very easie For if by Kingdom of God here we understand either the Church as Invisible or the Kingdom of glory it is granted that men cannot enter into to the Kingdom of God except they be born of the Spirit But then this does not at all oppose what I have been proving viz. That Men may be and many really are Members of the Visible Church and that in Gods account who yet are none of the Invisible Church by being born of the Spirit or internally Regenerated And that by Kingdom of God here cannot be meant the Visible Church is evident because many have entered into it who yet have not been born of the Spirit as I have as I think abundantly proved against all reasonable contradictions Our Saviour we see speaks here of a being born of Water and of a being born of the Spirit which are two distinct things And there are many that have been born of Water and thereby entered into the Visible Church that have never been born of the Spirit And there are many also that have entered into the Visible Church by being born of Water who have been born of the Spirit but not till afterwards not till some time after they have been in the Visible Church We must suppose this or else say there is no possibility of effectual conversion in the Visible Church which is a thing so absurd to imagine and so much against all experience as that no man I think has the heart to assert it which yet must be asserted if the other be denied It is further alledged from those words Tit. 3.5 According to his mercy he saved us by the washing of Regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost I say it is hence alledged that since Baptism is called the washing of Regeneration that therefore those who are admitted to Baptism must be supposed to be Regenerated before or in Baptism Answer This follows not since Baptism may be called the washing of Regeneration for another reason and in another respect more probable and that is because men by Covenant are engaged to become new men and to lead new lives And it is from this engagement by Baptism that St. Paul so often exhorts and persuades Christians to mortification and a new life as we see he does Rom 6.2 3 4 5 6. Col. 2.12 3.1 2. As John the Baptist Baptized the People unto Repentance Mat. 3. â—â— So they are Baptized unto Regeneration that is they are thereby brought under a solemn engagement to repent and so to be Regenerate And in this respect Baptism is properly enough called the Laver of Regeneration Not that Baptism does inwardly Regenerate by the act done or suffered to be done tho it does engage to it but it is the work of the Holy Ghost as the principal agent and therefore is here called the Renewing of the Holy Ghost And its evident that the washing of Regeneration and the Renewing of the Holy Ghost are here mentioned as two different things as they are in their own nature Altho the Christians here spoken of were said to be saved according to Gods mercy by both yet it no ways follows that this end could not be attained unless they were renewed by the Holy Ghost at the same instant in which they were Baptized for the one might succeed the other in point of time as often it hath done And if so there can no necessity be inferred from hence of not admitting men to the one but upon supposition
the God of love and peace shall be with you saith St. Paul 2 Cor. 13.11 While the Catholick Church is of one mind in the great things of Christian Religion and being so do live in peace and not unpeaceably contend fall out and divide about lesser things such as for which God perhaps doth neither esteem or disesteem men he who is the God of love and peace will be with them to bless them with his presence with spiritual blessings especially And as the presence of the soul in the body enlivens it with natural life by virtue whereof the several Members perform their several functions proper to each of them respectively even so the presence of the holy Spirit in the body of Christ the Church does animate it with spiritual life and does so influence and actuate the several Members of it as that by virtue thereof they all perform their several Christian offices proper to each for the common good of the whole But then this vital power of acting spiritually is conveyed by the Spirit to each of the Members as they are in Vnion and communion with the whole and so as one Member is made a Channel of this conveyance to another and each enabled to contribute its part to the common good of the whole Thus Col. 2.19 where St. Paul mentioning the Head of the Church saith from which all the body by joynts and bonds having nourishment ministred and knit together increaseth with the increase of God This spiritual nourishment of the body flows from Christ the Head we see as having obtained it by his Mediation but then it is the great Office-work of the holy Spirit to apply the benesits obtained by Christ to the several members of his body by working and increasing grace and comfort in them He shall glorifie me for he shall receive of mine and shew it unto you saith our Saviour speaking of the Holy Ghost Joh. 16.14 And this conveyance of nourishment from the Head to the Members by the Holy Spirit is made by the union of the parts as knit together by joynts and bands by which Union one member is made a Channel of conveyance of nourishment to another and in this way the whole body increaseth with the increase of God This being so a disunion of the parts or members must needs obstruct this spiritual nourishment and hinder the growth of the body To the same effect is that parallel place Ephes 4.15 16. Speaking the truth in love may grow up into him in all things which is the head even Christ from whom the whole body fitly joyned together and compacted by that which every joynt supplieth according to the effectual working of the measure of every part maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of it self in love This increase of the body to the edifying it self in love is made we see both by the parts of the body being joyned together and also by that which every joynt supplyeth being so compacted Thus we see how the increase of the Church in spiritual strength depends upon Gods special presence and assistance and how the enjoyment of that presence depends upon the peaceable agreement and mutual love of the parts of which the Church doth consist And if so then unpeaceableness discord and strife contention and dividing into Parties in the Church must necessarily tend to deprive her of that special presence and divine assistance of the holy Spirit without which Christians cannot thrive and increase in true goodness and for want of which they will rather decline and go backward Tho the God of peace and of love will be with his People while they are so of one mind in the Essentials of Christianity as upon that account to live in peace and Christian Communion one with another notwithstanding their differing in some lesser things which will always be found in the best estate of the Church which can be expected here on earth yet there is no reason to expect he will be so with them when they do not so live in peace tho they should otherwise be of one mind in the fundamental Doctrines of Christianity and all the substantial parts of Worship The holy Spirit may indeed dispense gifts of Knowledge and Utterance and the like which are common to bad men as well as good such as these he may bestow upon Christians even while they are in disorder and unpeaceable division But as for those fruits of the Spirit which constitute men truly good such as love joy peace long-suffering gentleness goodness and meekness Gal. 5.22 the having of these and mens being of an unpeaceable temper and in a state of discord and division are I fear inconsistent for these are contrary one to another Tho St. Paul acknowledged those of the Church of Corinth to be enriched with all utterance and all knowledge Chap. 1 5. yet in Chap. 3.1 he tells them that he could not speak unto them as unto spiritual but as unto carnal even as to babes in Christ and for this reason as it follows in ver 3. because there was among them envying strife and division Ye are yet carnal saith he for whereas there is among you envying and strife and divisions are ye not carnal and walk as men that is as other men which were no Christians They might indeed know and believe and talk otherwise and better than those that were out of the Church but their walking and living was but as theirs while envying strife and division was found with them For these are of those works of the flesh of which St. Paul saith that those which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Gal. 5.20 21. And if Christians would but examine and judge of themselves by these Scripture measures it would make them on all hands one side as well as another to be as much afraid to do any thing to disturb the peace of the Church or to be guilty of envying strife and division in it as they would be to find themselves but in a carnal state and of being shut out of the Kingdom of heaven And as for those who are guilty of these things in these sad times wherein envying strife and division do abound it is hugely necessary that as they love their own souls they would without delay repent and get out of such a state and not flatter and deceive themselves with an opinion of their good and safe condition upon account of their being otherwise Orthodox and Religious so long as they indulge themselves in such a state QUERY XIV What is the nature of Schism From what hath been discoursed touching the nature of Catholick Communion and the means of preserving it we may be able to make a judgment of the nature of Schism what it is and who are guilty of it For if Catholick Communion stands in the Unity of the Spirit or Christians Unity in their Communion in the Doctrine of Faith in things necessary to Salvation and in the