Lesson viz. The whole Church or the collection or aggregation of all the Saints are one body in Christ of which body Christ is the head and all the Saints are members Which I will indeavour briefly to explain and then come to that branch which I have chosen to insist upon this day Know then that our Lord Jesus Christ in the Scripture is said to have a twofold body the one a natural body that body which was conceived in the wombe of the Virgin which was borne into the world wherein Christ lived which dyed rose againe and is now ascended up into heaven this natural body of Christ is not the body meant in my Text But secondly Christ hath another body very often mentioned in the Scripture which is called his mysticall body or a body in a mystery but because that may be looked upon but as a blinde which every man may interpret according to his own fancy therefore the Spirit of God hath taught us that the collection or aggregation or the thus gathering together of all the Saints in one which the Scripture cals the body of Christ though it be not his naturall body yet it is to him as his naturall body and this I pray you to marke and give me leave to prove because it is the onely foundation of all the Discourse that I am this day to make to you I say The Church when the Scripture cals it the body of Christ is to him as his naturall body that is they stand to Christ in the same relation that the naturall body doth stand to the naturall head and Christ stands to them in the same relation that a natural head doth to the naturall body and all the members that is all beleevers or Saints ' stand in the same relation one to another as the members of a naturall body doe stand one to another this I say is the foundation of all and out of the many Texts which might bee alledged to prove it I shall onely to this which I have in hand which saith expresly that wee are all one body in Christ and every one members one of another mention two more which are so plaine that he that runs may read this truth in them one is in the 1 Cor. 12. Indeed almost the whole Chapter is a proofe and an improvement of this one truth the Apostle tels them in the beginning of the Chapter that there are given to the Church diversities of gifts diversities of administrations diversities of operations and all these come from the same Spirit and this Spirit that gives these gifts and administrations and operations hee gives them all to this end that there may be a profiting of the whole and presently that you may understand his meaning tels us that look as it is in the naturall body there is abundance of members joyned and every one have their severall office for the good of all so is Christ saith he by Christ there he doth not mean Jesus Christ in his humane nature onely but Christ mysticall Christ and all his members gathered into one and then goes on in the thirteenth verse and tels us That by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body whether Jewes or Gentiles bond or free and are all made to drink into one Spirit and so throughout to the end of the Chapter prosecutes the same comparison of Christs being as a naturall head to his Church and all the Saints as naturall members to Christ and one to another and the duties which follow thereupon The other place is Ephes. 4 from 12. to 17. in the beginning of the Chapter he exhorted them earnestly to live in love and keepe the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace to provoke them the better to it he shews them verse 4. 5 and 6. in how many things they are one of which you shal hear more afterward Then vers 7. he addes that each of them had received gifts which were the fruits of Christs ascention all which were given for the converting edifying and perfecting of the body of Christ untill it attaine unto the measure of the stature of the fulnesse of Christ that they all might grow up in all things unto him that is the head even Christ Now that it might appear what kinde of head and body is meant he presently fals upon this similitude of a naturall body verse 16. From whom the whole body fitly joyned and compacted together by that which every joynt supplieth according to the effectual working in the measure of every part maketh increase of the whole body to the edifying of it selfe in love And almost parallel to this is Col. 2. 19. where the Apostle tels us that from Christ the head all the body by joynts and bands is knit together receives nourishment administred and so increaseth with the increase of God Nothing can be plainer that look as it is in the naturall body the Lord hath so cast it and what the Head doth for its part the Liver for its part the Heart for its part the Brain for its part and every Joynt and Sinew for its part the whole body growes up to a full stature and all grows up together so hath the Lord ordained and cast it to be in the Church of Christ Now this foundation being laid that though the Church be not Christs naturall body it is yet as his naturall body The great Question is Wherein doth this comparison or resemblance stand To that I answer first it is easie for a man to name many particulars wherein the comparison will not hold betwixt the Church and a naturall body and it is as easie for a man to name many things wherein they are very like one to another but we must not be wise beyond the Scripture nor stretch it any further then the Lord intends it I humbly conceive that the comparison lies properly in these two things First That as in the naturall body the members and every member hath a reall union with the head for its owne part having the same spirit animating it that is in the head and thereby hath a communion with and dependance upon the head in all the offices that the head can do for it so every particular Christian or member of the Church hath a reall indissoluble spiritual union and conjunction with the Lord Jesus Christ having his Spirit communicated unto them which is the foundation of all their communion the very root and principle of their spirituall life and which inables them every one for their part to live unto Christ that is one Secondly Which is the thing I intend that as in the natural body all the members doe not onely meet in the head as all the lines do meet in a Center and are one there though they do not touch one another anywhere else but they are all by the wonderfull power and wisdome of God so contrived and compacted and joyned
same Spirit the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every one to profit withall to one is given a word of wisdome to another the word of knowledge to another faith to another the gift of healing c. but all these worketh that one and the self-same Spirit dividing to every man severally as he will that is the second they are all one body and they have one Spirit Thirdly and they are all one in this That they all have the same hope of their calling by hope there is not meant the grace of hope whereby we expect and waite for the good that Christ hath purchased for us but there it signifies the object of hope and therefore is called the hope of our calling which in other places is called the hope set before us and plainly signifies that which the Holy Ghost cals the common salvation of all Gods people the meanest as well as the greatest have a share in the great things laid up in store for them all which they all aspire to and seek after and in the end doe all injoy which is the end of their faith and hope the salvation of their soules there is one Body one Spirit one hope of their calling Fourthly They have all one Lord one Lord what is that to interpret this aright bee pleased to remember this one rule that where-ever in the New Testament you find God and Lord both mentioned together to signifie distinct Persons Lord always signifies Jesus Christ as Mediator as in 1 Cor. 8. and other places there are gods many and lords many but we have but one God that is over all and one Lord by whom are all things and we by him so that by one Lord he there means that all the Saints throughout the world have their addresse to God only in the name and mediation of the same Lord Jesus Christ they have but one Advocate one Intercessour one Mediator between God and them and by whom alone are communicated to them all the good things which come from God Then fifthly they have all one faith there is one Lord and one Faith I conceive that there by faith is not meant the grace of faith although if that be meant as I shal shew you by and by yet they have all that one faith but there he meanes by faith the rule Doctrine and object of faith the Doctrine which is beleeved and signifies that all the Saints throughout the world doe by faith receive and beleeve the selfe-same truths which give them an interest in God and our Lord Jesus Christ which carry them to eternal Salvation Now because this seemes a little difficult I must endeavour a little more fully to cleare it then I have done any of the former I say all the members of Christ throughout the world have one faith the meaning is in every Age and every corner of the world where Christ hath any of his people there are some common Doctrines wherein Salvation is to be found in which all Gods people doe agree each of them beleeving and receiving them for his particular for although great Clerkes doe know and understand many truthes which others are ignorant of yea and among the people of Christ there are great differences and divisions in their opinions in many particular things of weight and concernment yet if you sever the things wherein they differ one from another and set them aside and gather into one symboll or summe those great truthes wherein they all agree there wil be found so much truth imbraced by all the people of God which wil bring them all to Salvation being really beleeved and answered with a holy conversation For instance looke this day into all the corners of the earth East West North and South where the name of Christ is knowne and professed the great fundamental Doctrines which bring Salvation are received by all the members of Christ Truth is there are in many places damnable Heresies superinduced which if received the foundation is destroyed but Christs Spirit in all the Saints either make them see the danger of them and abhor them or else in mercy keep them ignorant of them and so I doubt not but it is even in the Church of Rome this day among whom Christ wil have a people to be called out from among them when that Babilon is to be destroyed though their Doctrine in the grosse summe as set forth in the Councel of Trent wil not stand with Salvation yet some latent members of Christs Church among them doe through mercy see and shun those things which are damnable or are ignorant of that mystery of iniquity and place all their hope of Salvation in Christ alone and lead their lives in holinesse according to their measure of Light received The summe of all comes to this That among all Christs people in the world there is imbraced so much truth as being accompanied with an answerable conversation wil save them and notwithstanding the remainders of their mistakes errours corruptions of judgement about lesser truthes and corruptions in their conversations we may comfortably say of them all as the Apostle doth in the sixth of the Galathians As many as walk according to this rule peace be upon them and upon the Israel of God This is the fifth thing that all the Saints in every corner of the world have one faith and if also you would take faith for the grace of faith whereby each for their part are united to Jesus Christ which faith also is the principle of that Life of Grace which the Saints lead in this world for we live by faith in this also all Gods people in the world have the same faith which is therefore called the faith of Gods elect and the like precious faith so they are one body have one Spirit one hope of their calling one Lord one faith Then 6ly and they have all one Baptism which is not to be taken literally barely for the Sacrament of washing with water but either it is taken as some interpret it for the Spiritual part of Baptisme which is their new Birth the washing away of their sins and the washing of them with Gods Spirit or rather as it was the custom in the Jewish Church to have all their Ordinances signified by circumcision whence therefore all who imbraced the Jewes manner of worship are called the Circumcision because it was the first Ordinance and that which sealed them to all the rest so I conceive he meanes by Baptisme that as it is the first Ordinance so it is here used to expresse all Gospel institutions so that by one Baptisme he meanes that Gods people all have the same Ordinances or meanes for their edification and building up in Christ And then lastly they have all one God and father of all who is above them all and through them all and in them all which signifies that they all have one God which is their Soveraigne Lord the Father
together that they have a reall union one with another So in this mystical and spiritual body all the Saints have not only each for his owne part a union and conjunction with Jesus Christ but also a reall union and conjunction one with another which is the foundation of many duties which every one of them are thereby bound to perform one to another and of many priviledges which thereby they injoy with and by one another as shall God willing be afterwards opened unto you Now this my Text speakes as plainly as any man could wish when it saith that we being many that is all we Christians all that truly beleeve in and professe the name of Christ being very many are all one body in Christ that is we all meet and are one in him and that is not all but we are also all of us members one of another Now the first of these the reall indissoluble and spirituall union that all the people of Christ have with Christ their head is a most divine excellent and necessary truth and indeed is the foundation and principle of all our Christian life and therefore most worthy to be understood by all Gods people But that not being the maine drift of the holy Ghost in this place I forbear to speak of at this time and shal treat only of the second and that is the union and conjunction that is and ought to be between all the people of Jesus Christ one with another they being members one of another and therein shall indeavour first to prove and clear it and then hasten to the application of it For the proof of it I shall not need any other Texts then those that I have mentioned already that 1 Cor. 12. how fully and clearly doth the Apostle teach that the eye the hand the foot and every member are for the good and use of the whole and none of them can say I have no need of thee or I have no need of thee God having so ordered it that every one of them needs one another and every one of them are and ought to be usefull one to another yea that even the most mean and feeble of all the members are not onely of the body as well as the rest but are necessary to the good of the whole and those members which we are prone to think lesse honourable and more uncomely God hath appointed in this mysticall body as well as in our naturall bodies to have the more honour put upon them And so in that other fore-mentioned place the fourth of the Ephesians where he saith That the whole body being joyned together by that that every joynt supplieth c. there is not the least joynt but it makes for the supply for the edification of the whole To these might be added all those places which speake of the Church as one corporation or body under other resemblances one vine one house one City c. whereof very many do occur in the holy Scriptures but all these things will be clearer in my subsequent Discourse wherein for the fuller clearing the doctrinal part I shall a little insist upon two maine questions and then endeavour to resolve a doubt or two which may seem to lye as objections against all the Saints making but one body First If the Saints bee one body c. it may bee demanded wherein this unity of the Saints stands or what are the things wherein all the members of Christ have union one with another Secondly If they be thus all one what are the bands and ligaments whereby this vast multitude are all of them tyed thus firmly together For the first If all the Church and people of Jesus Christ be all really one one with another and have thereby a communion one with another the Question is what are those things wherein they are thus one To which I answer the particulars are both many and excellent but because I would not burden your memories I desire you to turne to and consider with me but one onely Text which indeed doth comprehend the sum of all that can be said about it and that is Eph. 4. ver. 4 5 6. the Apostle exhorting all the Saints to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace the better to encourage them to it useth this motive For there is one body and one spirit and one hope of your calling one Lord one faith one baptism one God and Father of all who is above you all and through you all and in you all Now in these seven Unities are comprehended all the things wherein all the Saints of Christ are one therefore I shall endeavour briefly to open them First They are all of them one body that is all Gods people throughout all the world are but one incorporation and there is no one of them but hee hath as really a membership in the body of Christ as any other of them as in an Army though every one be not an Officer nor every Souldier equally valiant or skilfull yet every one is equally a member of the Army and as in a City or Corporation every Free-man though no Mayor Alderman or Master of a company c. yet is as really a member of the City as any other or look as in a building it may be some rooms may be larger beautifuller and usefuller yet there is not the least stud the least naile the least pin but it is as really a part of the building as the maine post that upholds it So take the Church of Christ which is made up of the collection and aggregation of all Gods people there is not one of them but hee may truly say I am a part of that house body or building of Jesus Christ as reall as any other Secondly and they are all one in this that there is but one Spirit which I thinke signifies these two things for other Scriptures teach me so to interpret it First they are all of them animated and led by the selfe-same Spirit that as the members of the body though they be it may be many hundreds yet there is one individual soule that animates them all so in the Church of Christ all the Saints every one of them have the selfe-same Spirit of Jesus Christ which is the principle of their life and animates every one of them but that is not all but by the same Spirit he secondly means the Spirit as it is the Administrator or distributor of all the gifts of Christ that whatsoever gifts graces operations administrations are to be found in the whole Church the self-same Spirit distributes his gifts variously as he pleaseth to some more and to some lesse yet gives them all to and for the good of the whole Church in generall and for every member in its particular so the Spirit of God himselfe interprets this in the first of the Corinthians and the twelfth from ver. 4. to 14. There are diversities of gifts but the
Lutherans had had many disputes to see if they could fetch off one another from their principles and could not do it the Calvinists even the holiest and learnedst of them such as Calvin Beza Martyr Zanchy Vrsin Pareus have offered to owne them as brethren as Churches of Christ and would have been willing to heare them to receive Sacraments with them the rigid Lutherans refused it and cry out From communion with the Calvinists Good Lord deliver us Now say I the Schisme was on the Lutherans part if the Lutherans had offered it and the Calvinists had rejected the Schisme had laine on the Calvinists part Bring it yet nearer many of these opinions are got in among us especially about free-will Infant-baptisme formes of Church-government c. and we should not refuse communion with any of them supposing their lives unblameable If they will hold communion with us I say if they will for ordinarily erroneous persons are proud and must have all mens sheaves bow down to theirs and will close only with teachers and companies according to their owne lusts but if we in a spirit of Christian love would have peace and they refuse it then both the errour and schisme lyeth at their doore But against all this it may be and is objected What a speckled bird would you make a particular church Suppose the church you should be an Officer unto should be such a medly of some holding the morality of the Lords day some denying it some for Infant-baptisme some condemning it some like the Presbyterian-government others are for the Episcopal others like a Congregational better then either of them some would have their children baptised others are utterly against it some of them Calvinists some Lutherans to have a Church made up of all these would not this be a reproach to you to be a Pastor to such a flock To which I answer what reproach would it be to me to be Pastor of such a Church as Jesus Christ is a head of If the Church of Christ wherein his Spirit rules to whom he is a head and which shal be saved be made up of all these what reproach if prejudice did not blinde mens eyes could it be to any of us to have such members to be members of our Congregations But doe you then intend a toleration of all these opinions would you have Lutherans and Anti-sabbatarians Anabaptists and others tolerated among us I answer first what the Magistrates office is about toleration or non-toleration I have nothing to doe to meddle with at this time my doctrine confines me to speake only of Church forbearance and upon that account I answer if by toleration you meane an approbation of these God forbid we must approve of no errour we should all seeke to make one another imbrace every truth of Christ But if by toleration you meane a not cutting them off unlesse they lay downe their errours and renounce them that indeed I plead for we should hold Christian communion with them for Christ thus beares with them and will have us beare one with another and as it is in our naturall body if a man have an ulcer in his hand or his leg if ordinary medicines wil not cure it he wil wait till the strength of nature work out the humour or till by the providence of God he can light of some more happy medicines then yet have been propounded but he will not cut his hand or his leg off so long as it may be any wayes usefull to him so is the case here Thirdly Some will yet object indeed if you meane to bear with them for a while till the truth hath been set before them that they have all meanes of conviction it wil be granted but suppose all paines have been taken the truth hath been propounded they have been reasoned with and they still hold the same then they may be judged obstinate and self-condemned I answer plainly faith as it is the imbracing of any particular truth is as well the gift of Gods Spirit as that faith whereby we receive Christ for our Saviour no wisdome or rhethoricke of man can ever make a man receive the faith of any one doctrine of Christianity till Gods Spirit inable him and it is a far easier matter to non-plus a man in disputing then it is to clear his understanding and inable him to receive a truth and when such persons do appeal to the searcher of hearts that it is meer want of light which hinders them from being of one minde our Christian love which ever judgeth the best should rest satisfied especially when their lives are unblameable we must not take upon us to be Lords of their faith and therefore after many disputes and conferences between the dissenting Churches in Germany when they were not able to dispute one another out of their principles as I before noted the Calvinists propounded to hold an amicable Christian communion one with another and if in a fair debating way they could afterward satisfie one another well and good in the meane time they would wait till Christ would give more light and upon this account the Calvinists and Lutherans in Polonia doe at this day live in concord both of them retaining their opinions And in truth we all professe to doe the same toward them for I hardly know any amongst us but confesse the Helvetians Lutherans c. are true Churches notwithstanding their errours Now say I shal a company associated in such and such opinions bee counted a true Church and shal not a particular man who holds the same points be counted a true visible member or shal we hold communion with them in Germany and shal we deny it to our brethren in England God forbid that the exercise of our Christian charity and communion should vary according as Regions vary If whole Churches be owned because of their faith and holinesse of life notwithstanding their errours to be true visible Churches then one man that hath those errours may goe for a true visible Christian because of his faith and holinesse And in truth they who are the brethren of our elder brother are our brethren wil we nil we and we shal repent if we use them not as brethren Yet againe it wil be said but Paul did wish they were all cut off that troubled the Galatians I answer But mark who they were they were such who brought such a doctrin that he profest if they imbraced it Christ would profit them nothing they who would set up a new Christ a new way of salvation to seek justification by their own works he prayed they might be cut off but he never wished it for errours of a lower nature But lastly some may yet demand and say What if they who hold such Opinions joyn in communion with you and in your communion make it their worke and practise for errour is very Pragmatical to draw all the rest of your company
Congregations slow from this Church to the rest or whether any wayes at all it may doe any judicial or judiciary act is a most noble question and much disputed amongst learned Divines especially in our latter age my haste doth not allow me to meddle with that controversie only thus much I may safely assert 1 That all the Officers Offices and gifts that Christ gave when he ascended up into heaven he gave them all to this Church and they all serve for the gathering edifying and perfecting of this Church 2 And as any ever were or are converted to Christ from the world they are all primarily added to this Church 3 Yea and all whether particular Christians or numbers of Christians associated all are to act as parts of this Church and consequently in reference to the good of this whole Church all having such relation to and dependance upon this Church as parts have to the whole and a standing in a particular Church-relation doth no more take off from duties to this great body which is the great Common-wealth then the Jewes being ranked under their several Tribes or in their particular Cities were taken off from the duties which they owed to the whole Common-wealth of Israel c. that therefore he who is justly clave non errante excommunicated or cast out of any particular Church is cast out from all Churches as he who is shut out of any one Gate of a City is shut out of every ward of that City yea out of the whole City it selfe Having thus farre cleared the Doctrinall part I now proceed to the application of it and there are many excellent uses which this Lesson doth afford I shal handle only two at this time 1. for instruction 2. For duty First for instruction from all this it appeares that to be a Member of the Church of Christ or the Association of all Gods people into this one body is the only desirable good Fellowship and Society in this world You shal read of a great many other Fellowships and Co-partnerships you may read in the first of the Proverbs of a fellowship of Theeves in Isa. 56. of a company of Drunkards in Psal. 2. of a Society of Malignants and abundance of several companies and societies of men there are some joyned for pleasure some for profit and many glory and take great content in the society and fellowship and fruit they enjoy in those whom they are linked with but ah beloved when things are rightly viewed it will appeare that the Congregation or the Society of the Church of the first borne whose names are written in Heaven wherein all the Saints of God from the beginning of the world to the end of it are all joyned in one body all of them united to Christ and one to another having the same Spirit the same Lord the same hope all of them one in all these seven things which I have opened to you it will I say one day appeare this is the only desirable society under Heaven Let them therefore who are men of other societies glory as much as they please in their supposed good Fellowship when in the meane time they are strangers from the Common-wealth of Israel But let us count our selves happy that we have a part and lot in this communion wherein we have Fellowship not only one with another but with the Father and his Sonne Jesus Christ Secondly it hence also followes for our instruction That none in all the world are or ought to be judged Members of the Church of Christ but only those that have the Spirit of Jesus Christ in them really regenerate really holy really united to Christ the Head these and no other are Members of the Church which is Christs Body which is a Lesson of very great use You all know there is at this day much disputing about what things are requisite to make men Church-members some very learned men maintain That to make a man admittable into Christs Church or to make him a Church-member no more is in the Scripture required but only that he give up his name and professe that he is willing to learne the wayes of Christ and to walke in them the Church of Christ being say they appointed as a Schoole to traine Schollars up into which are admitted not only those that are Learned but those who are willing to learne Others say That is too laxe if you wil own a man as a Church-member he must be able to give you an account of his faith and a promise of a voluntary subjection to the Gospel of Christ for time to come and if they come to that then you may take them in and owne them as Church-members Others say You must yet goe further unlesse you can in the judgement of your owne charity conceive that the worke of Grace is really wrought in their hearts you are not to owne them or joyne with them if you can probably hope that then you may take them in Others will goe yet further and say These things are not sufficient for unlesse there be a right admission by Baptisme when you make your first confession all the rest is in vaine and upon these points we dispute till we have disputed our selves into a thousand peeces Now Brethren be pleased to know that though there be good use of these debates to direct us to know the persons with whom we may exercise the acts of communion in the wayes and worship of Christ yet none of all these rise up to prove a man to be a Member of the Church of Jesus Christ there are indeed signes and rules that may teach us with whom we may joyne in visible and external Fellowship and whom we may reject or cast out if they be taken in but these are not rules to make us know who are reall Members of the Church of Christ indeed as the Church is denominated from some external things these rules direct us to judge with whom and to whom we may communicate in those external things but these are clearly two Distinct questions with whom we may joyne in visible and externall communion and who are truly Members of this Church of Christ Of the latter there is but one note and that is if they be united to Christ the Head have the quickning Spirit of Christ in them and the grace of Love wrought in them which note is invisible and not external and can be knowne only in our owne Consciences if this be wanting let men carry themselves never so wel so that all the people of Christ under heaven should owne them yet Jesus Christ ownes them not and you may truly say that all they who have not communion with God the Father and the Lord Jesus and his holy Spirit have no reall communion with the Saints therefore let no man rest or pride himselfe in being joyned in this or that Church-fellowship a carnal or unconverted man whatsoever his outward shape
or mould be in his profession that man for his Spiritual standing belongs to another Corporation There are two great Spiritual corporations the one is that wheâ—eof Christ is the Head the other is the corporation of Hel whereof the Devil is the Prince now all men let them be of what Profession they wil if they be not under Christ the Head they belong to another corporation and their external visible profession alters not their Spiritual relation A lump of Lead whilst it is in the lump it is a lump of base Metall called Lead melt this and mould it into the forme of a Beast what is it then it is but a leaden Beast melt it and mould it againe into the forme of a man it is but a Leaden man melt it and mould it againe into the forme of an Angel it is but a Leaden Angel So I say take a carnal Man an unregenerate Man he is a carnal man whilst he professeth no Religion suppose him then to professe himselfe a Protestant at large he is but a carnall Protestant suppose him next to joyne himselfe into some Church Order let him joyne with those that are called of the Presbyterian way he is a carnall Presbyterian Take him off from that put him into the Congregationall way what is he then a carnal congregational man joyne him next if you wil to those who deny our Baptisme he is then but a carnal Anabaptist he is stil a carnal an ungodly man belonging to the corporation of Satan whatsoever his out-side be and know ye all for certain that no Bastard no Gibeonite no Hypocrite no man unconverted what gifts soever he may have what reputation soever he may have amongst men he is no member of the Church of Christ unlesse the Spirit of Christ be in him I say therefore againe beare not your selves too much upon your visible Church-standing as too many doe beleeve it it s an easie thing for the children of the world to put on an outward forme of Church-communion but O! how hard is it to become a new creature to resigne up it selfe wholly to Jesus Christ and the guidance of his holy Spirit and I presse this the more upon this account also viz. were this well understood it would satisfie and cure the mistake of many who thinke that there are the same rules to direct us with whom we must exercise our external communion as there is to judge with whom Jesus Christ exercises his communion no no we may exercise outward acts of communion by the appointment of God with those unto whom Jesus Christ never communicates himselfe nor his Spirit Thirdly one instruction more which I doe but name from all this That the Church of Christ is but one Body it followes plainly that therefore among all the great multitudes of the Members of the Church they are the honourablest and noblest Members who are most useful for the common good of the Church as it is in a Natural body the Liver that makes bloud for all the body the Heart that makes spirits for all the body the Stomach that digests meat for all the body and the Eye which sees for the whole body c. these are counted the noblest and excellentest So among all Christians the man or men who are most useful best fitted for use and laid out for use these wil one day be found and acknowledged the honourablest Members of the Church of Christ what esteeme soever the world hath of them But the maine use which I purpose and which indeed we most need is to shew what duties doe arise from this unity of the Saints in one body and they are two which the Apostle Paul layes downe in the first of the Corinthians the twelfth chap. vers. 25. when he had shewed how the Lord had framed all his people into one body he then tels us to what end and purpose all this was done viz. First That there should be no schisme in the body Secondly That therefore all the members ought to have the like care one of another The first of these I purpose with the Lords assistance to speake somewhat to at this time because all the Church the Saints the people of God in all the world are but one body therefore rents and divisions are most unnaturall and destructive to it I hope you wil all judge it a necessary and seasonable Theam it being almost our epidemical disease we being rent and torne into multitudes of sects and divisions which this doctrine of the unity of the Church of Christ doth utterly condemn and therefore though I know it is an unpleasing subject and possibly many may give me small thanks for it yet truly I durst not being called to this place but cast in my mite towards the healing of this wofull distemper and three things I shall endeavour to cleare about it First What Schisme is and what is the nature of it Secondly the greatnesse of it what a horrible sin it is And thirdly and principally I will labour to shew you who they are that are guilty of it For the first what it is It s usually defined to be a rash or unjust separation in matters of Religion but I would rather describe it to be a renting violating dissolving or breaking of that unity which ought to be amongst Christians or amongst all the Saints of Christ And this rending or breaking of this union properly lyes in two things one is inward and that is dissolving or breaking the band or bands which the Lord hath given to tye them all together which band on our part as you have heard before is the grace of love and therefore the breaking off of love among Christians whether it be from all the Church or from a particular Church yea or from a particular man I say the dissolving or breaking of this spirituall band hath in it the very intrinsecall nature of the sinne of Schisme the Lord having appointed that grace to be the band to tye his people together but because the inward band is invisible and therefore not easie to judge of therefore there is a second thing in Schism and that is a denying or with-drawing from the exercise of those things which Christ hath given as the symboles or pledges of love amongst his people as conversing together praying together hearing together conferring together receiving Sacraments and the like together the with-drawing from these or the denying of these otherwise then Jesus Christ directs in his Word These things are visible and therefore Divines use to appropriate the name of Schism to such with-drawings or denyings which indeed are but the fruites of the other for the dissolving of the band of love is the root of the disease and the denying of the expressions and exercise of love are the bitter fruits growing from that evill root So then he or they who ever they are that do deny to exercise or with-draw from the exercise of those things