the application and destroy the corruptions that blind us and hinder us from perceiving the Truth Whereas the unsanctified are all in the Dark and what wonder if there they disagree and are of many minds They be not guided by the word and Spirit and they are strangers to the Light that must Reconcile us if ever we be reconciled It s true too true that the godly are illuminated but in part and therefore as yet they differ in part But yet this imperfect illumination doth more to a true and safe Agreement then all the world can do besides If you would stop your ears against the flesh yield all to the teachings of the word and Spirit we should be sooner agreed 13. And if we were once United in the Spirit and Holiness We should all have the use and benefit of all the Reconciling Healing means and Ordinances of God which would be an exceeding great advantage to us The unsanctified have but the outside the sound and shell of Ordinances but it is the Sanctified that have the light and life and fruit of them Every Chapter that you read and every Sermon that you hear will do somewhat towards the healing of our breaches It will further our Knowledge and our Love The Communion of the Saints in all holy Duties especially at the Lords Supper when they partake of one Christ will enflame their Love and humble them for their divisions and soder and glue their hearts together as being all one bread and one body And so they will be all as of one heart and soul Acts 4.32 1 Cor. 10.16 17. Acts 2.42 43 44 46. When we hear of the tender Love of Christ to his weakest members how can we choose but love them if we be his Disciples When we hear how much and how freely he hath forgiven us how can we choose but forgive them Mat. 18.35 When we have Communion with them in holy worship as servants of the same Lord as Members of the same body how can we choose but have the affections of fellow-Members 1 Cor. 12.26 When we joyn with them in Prayer or holy Conference and perceive the fragrant odour of their Graces and the holy breathings of their souls after God we cannot choose but Love Christ in them As the new Commandment so frequently pressed in the Gospel is the Law of Love Ioh. 15.12 17. and the New Nature of the Saints is a Disposition of Love for this they are taught of God effectually 1 Thes. 4.9 So the Ordinances do all of them exercise that Love and engage us to it We must leave our gift at the Altar and go first and be reconciled to our Brother if we remember he hath any thing against us Matth. 5.23 24. We must pray for forgiveness but on condition that we do forgive Differences and Divisions that make a breach in Christian Charity are so insufferable among the Saints that they long for healing and smart as the wounded body doth till the time of healing and are pained as a bone out of joynt till it be set again And as they cannot bear it themselves when they are themselves so the Church cannot bear it but is engaged to watch over them and to set them in joynt again so that God hath hedged in his Servants into one holy Society that they should not straggle from him or from each other and hath set Pastors over them for this very end to guide them and keep them in holy Unity Ephes. 4.11 12 13 14. Now all these Uniting Healing Ordinances are effectual upon the Sanctified for their hearts are open to them and their New nature is suited to the new Commandment and work But to others they are in a manner as Food or Physick to the dead They hate the power of them they break the holy Enclosure of Discipline and proudly Rebel against their Guides and say Let us break their bands and cast away their cores from us Psal. 2.3 what must we be Ruled by such and such It is but the outside of Sacraments Praises and Prayers that they are acquainted with and these have no such healing force So that in this you see the great advantage that we should have for full agreement if we were but once agreed in the main and United by the Sanctifying Spirit 14. Moreover if once we were United in the Spirit and in Holyness We should manage all our differences in a holy manner and be awakened and disposed to seek after healing in a healing way It would put us upon enquiring after Peace and studying the meetest terms of Peace till we had found out the way in which we should accord The Spirit of Love and Holiness would provoke us to begin and seek for Peace with those that will not seek to us and that seem averse to it and to follow after peace when it flyeth from us Heb. 12 14. and even to lie down at the feet of men and deny our honour and worldly Interest if it might procure Brotherly love and peace Whereas a proud unsanctifyed heart will scorn to stoop especially to those that are below them or have wronged them and will scorn to ask forgiveness of those that they have wronged When you have shewed them the plainest word of God for it and perswaded them to it with undeniable reasons you lose your labour and may almost as well perswade the fire to be cold If you will stoop and humble your self to him and ask him forgiveness and give him the honour or change your minde and be of his opinion and say as he saith and do as he would have you perhaps you may have some Peace with the most ungodly man But the servants of Christ have a spirit of Meekness and Humility and Self-denyal and therefore if there be fallings out among them they can humble themselves and seek for reconciliation If there be difference in Judgement about any weighty matters they will go or send to one another as Brethren and confer about it in Love and meekness and search the Scripture and seek after Truth and compare their evidences and Pray together for that Light and Love that must Reconcile them If they fall out they can say to one another We are Brethren and must not Live at a distance nor suffer any wounds in our Affections or any breach of Charity to remain The Sun must not go down upon our wrath Come lâ—t us go together in private and beg of God that he would repair our Love and reconcile us and prevent such breaches for the time to come And thus they can pray themselves friends again I am perswaded that one quarter of an hours fervent Prayer would do more to quiet our distempered minds and reconcile us if thus we would get together in private then many hours debates without it Now the Spirit of holiness is a Spirit of Prayer and therefore disposeth the servants of Christ as meekly and lovingly to search for Truth so earnestly to
malignity of ungodly hearts will be breaking out on all occasions And as now you hear men scorning at the practice of that Religion which themselves profess so if God prevent it not you may shortly see another War take off their restraint and let them loose and then they will seek the blood of those that now they seem to be agreed with At furthest we are sure that very shortly we shall be separated as far as Heaven and Hell if there be not now a nearer agreement then in words and outward Shews and Ceremonies It being then past doubt that there is no happy lasting Unity but in the Spirit and a holy life What hindereth us from so safe so sweet so sure a Peace Why might not all our Parishes agree on such necessary honourable and reasonable terms Why is there in most places but here and there a Person or a Family that will yield to the terms of an everlasting peace live as men that believe they have a God to serve and please and immortall souls to save or lose Is not God willing that all should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth 1 Tim. 2.4 and that all should agree in so safe a path Why then doth he invite all and tender them his saving mercy and send his messengers to command and importune them to this holy Concord He would take them all into the bond of his Covenant How oft would Christ have gathered all the Children of Ierusalem to him as the Hen gathereth her Chickens under her Wings but it was they that would not Mat. 23.37 He would have the Gospel preached to every creature Mar. 16.15 16. would have the Kingdoms of the world become the Kingdoms of the Lord and of his Christ. What then is the cause of this sad division in our Parishes Are Ministers unwilling that their people should all agree in holiness No it would be the greatest favor you could do them and the greatest joy that you could bring to their hearts They would be gladder to see such a blessed Unity then if you gave them all that you have in the world O how a poor Minister would boast and glory of such a Parish He would bless the day that ever he came among them and that ever he was called to the Ministry and that ever he was born into the world for their sakes How easie would all his studies and labours be if they were but sweetned with such success How easily could he bear his scorns and threatnings and abuses and persecutions from others if he saw but such a holy Unity among his people to encourage him So far are your Teachers from excluding you from this happiness that it is the end of their studies preaching prayers yea and of their lives to bring you to partake of it And glad would they be to preach to you and exhort you in hunger and thirst in cold and nakedness in all the contempt and derision of the world if thereby they could but bring their parishes to agree in a life of faith and holiness And sure our difference is not because the godly will not admit you to joyn with them in the waies of God For they cannot hinder you if they would and they would not if they could It is their joy to see the house of God filled with guests that have oâ— the wedding garment We must conclude thereforâ— that it is the ungodly that aâ— the wilfull and obstinate divâ—ders They might be unite to Christ and reconciled 〈◊〉 God and they will not The might be admitted into thâ— Communion of Saints anâ— into the houshold of Goâ— and partake of the Privâ—ledges of his children anâ— they will not They have leaâ— to Read and pray and meditate and walk with God in a heavenly conversation as well as any of their neighbours but they will not It is themselves that are the refusers and continue the division to the displeasing of God and the grief of their friends and the gratifying of Satan and the perdition of their own immortall Souls We might all be united and our divisions be healed and God much honoured and Ministers and good Christians be exceedingly comforted and the Church and Commonwealth be delivered and highly honoured and themselves be saved from everlasting misery if we could but get the hearty consent of these foolish obstinate ungodly men What say you wretched Souls can you deny it How long have your Teachers been labouring in vain to bring you to the hearty Love oâ— God and heaven and serious holiness How long have they been perswading you to set up Reading and Catechizing and constant fervent prayer iâ— your families and yet it is undone How long have they in vain been perswading the worldling from his worldliness and the Proud person to humility and the sensual beast from his tipling and gluttony and other fleshly pleasures And besides this most of the disorders and divisions in the Churches are caused by ungodly men I will instance in a few particulars 1. When we ask any godly diligent Ministers either in London or the Country why they do not unanimously catechize instruct and confer with all the Inhabitants of their Parishes man by man to help them to try their spirituall state and to prepare in health for death and judgement they usually answer us that alas their people will not consent but many would revile them if they should attempt it 2. When we ask them why they do not set up the practice of Discipline which they so unanimously plead for and why they do not call their people to Confirmation or open profession of faith and holiness in order thereto they tell us that their people will not endure it but many will rather set themselves against the Ministry and strengthen the enemy that now endangereth the Churches safety or turn to any licentious Sect then they will thus submit to the undoubted Ordinance of Christ which the Churches are so commonly agreed in as a duty 3. We have an ancienâ— too-imperfect version of the Psalms which we sing in the Congregations in the judgment of all Divines that ever I spoke with about it of what side soever it is our duty to use a better Version and not to perform so excellent a part of the publick Worship so lamely and with so many blemishes And if you ask the Ministers why they do not unanimously agree on a Reformed corrected Version most of them will tell you that their people will not bear it but proudly and turbulently reproach them as if they were changing the Word of God 4. In many places the Sacrament of Baptism is ofter used in private houses then in the publick Assemblies and if we ask the reason of so great a disorder the Ministers will tell us that it is the unruliness and wilfulness of the people that proudly set themselves above their Guides and instead of obeying them must rule them and have their humors
propoundeth Impossibilities to be agreed on is the enemy of agreement But it is impossible for us to come to you and so to Unite with you Thâ—s I now prove 1. â—t is Impossible to have any Vniversal Vnity but in an Vniversal Head and Center and that is only God the Father Son and Holy-Ghost As I told you the Army must Unite in the General the Kingdom in the Soveraign the Family in the Master the School in the School-master In order of Nature you must Unite with God in the Redeemer by the sanctifying Spirit before you can Unite with us But while you are unsanctified you are divided from God Do you not feel your minds strange to him your hearts draw back from him and find by his strangeness to you that there is a division It s impossible for us to be United to you till Christ be United to you For 1. It s against Nature seeing he is the Center and the Head and Fountain of Life And what good would it do you to be one with us and not with him 2. God is against any Unity without him If you will not begin with him he will take it but as a treasonable conspiracy and will break it We dare not go without him lest he be angry and destroy us Souldiers must not make either Peace or war not so much as treat without the General Do you not remember how Iehosaphat had like to have sped by a friendship and confederacy with Ahab 2. Moreover the Godly and ungodly are of contrary natures I told you God hath put an enmiâ—y between them You must chanâ—e your nature or we ouâ—s before we can Unite You may as well think else to Unite fire and water or to build in the air or to incorpoâ—â—â—â— fire and Gun-powder or to reconcile men and serpâ—nts and maâ—ry the dog and the bear together Sirs these â—hings are meer impossâ—bilities 2 Cor. 16.14 There is no agreement between Christ and Belial righteousness and unrighteousness light and darkness dâ—ath and life the members of Christ and the members of an harlot or a drunkard or such like We have contrary spirits how then can we be One One hath the Spirit of holiness and the other the Spirâ—â— of profaneness One is led by the Spirit of God and the oâ—her by the flesh We live not by one Law Gods will revealed in hâ—s Word is Our Law and the will of the flesh and the course of the world is your Law We live not on one sort of food how then can we accord together Christ and his heavenly truth and holy Spirit and Ordinances is the meat and drink of the Saints they cannot live without them And the world and fleshly delights are your food you cannot be without it Your food would be our poyson your worldly cares your drunkenness and profaneness would be a torment to an honest heart They cannot live without some Communion with God in Faith and Love by Prayer and â—editation and your heart is against it They have not the same â—nd as you have Their work is all for Heaven and yours is all principally for earth Their work and yours are contrary Thâ—y go one way and you another So that its Impossible to be United and agree till one side change And we cannot Possibly turn to you God holds us fast by his Love and Spirit and will not let us go nor suffer us ever to be willing to go Do you not read Christ â—elling you that its impossible to deceive the Elect that is so far as to turn them away from Christ. We are kept by the mighty power of God through faith to salvation 1 Pet. 1.5 And who can break away from the upholding arms of Almighty power Christ hath such hold of us that he is resolved none shall take us out of his hands Ioh. 10.28 So that we cannot come over again to you But you may come over to us if you will God calls you and Christ would welcome you and the Holy Ghost would hâ—â—p yâ—u the door is set open by the blâ—od of Christ the promise is â—o you and to your children that you may and shall have Christ and life if you will come in and accept the offer The Devil cannot hinder you against your wills he holds you but in the fetters of your own wilfulness by his meer deceits Seeing therefore that you may come over to the sanctified and they cannot possibly come to you let any reasonable man be judge on what terms we should unite and agree 2. Moreover if we Agree it must be on terms of wisdom and honesty A dishâ—nâ—st Agreement is not to be desired but abhorred For you to lâ—ave your ungodliness and turn to the Love and Fear of God is an honest coursâ— of Agreement for it is but to have dishonesty it selâ— and become honest I hope none of you dare charge the way of God and godliness with any dishonesty God calls you to nothing but what is holy and just and good and therefore Honesty requireth you to yield But for the sâ—nctified 〈◊〉 unsanctified for the 〈…〉 bâ—come ungodly to be one 〈◊〉 you this were the bâ—sâ—st dishâ—â—â—sty in the world We know your way to be of the Devil and 〈◊〉 flesh and is it honest then to joyn with you in it We have â—yed too long already in the dâ—â—es oâ— our ignorance and have found it dishonest and deceitful and would you have us go against our own experience We were once in the way that you are in and were forced to renounce it or else we had been undone body and soul for ever and should we â—â—ck up the vomit which we were forced to cast out we were once Agreed with you and God constrained us to break that Agreement and shall we renew it again Alas your way hath cost us dear Many a bitter repenting day and many a sad thought to the breaking of our hearts and the very sense of Gods displeasure a taste of Hell was cast into our consciences many a groan and â—ear and prayer it cost us before we could recover the hurt that we câ—tâ—ht in the way of ungodlinâ—ss and yet we have not fully recovered it to this day And would you have us stark mad to forget so soon our former sorrows and turn to a hâ—e that hath cost us so 〈◊〉 already No we have paid too dear for it and smarted too much for it to go that way any more It brought us to the very brink of Hell and if we had but dyed in that condition we had been damned at this hour And would you be so unreasonable as to wish us to go back again No by that time you know as much of an unsanctified state as we do you will run from it your selves as fast as you can run as â—he Israelites did from the cry of the company of Dathan and Abiram lest the earth should swallow them up also Numb 16.34 We are cerâ—â—in that the Lord
is the final part of the Duty here required To keep the Vnity of the Spirit The Preserving cause is the Peaceable behaviour of the members and this is the mediate Duty here required In the bond of Peace Our own Endeavours are hereto required because as every natural body must by eating and drinking and fit exercise and usage be a cause of its own preservation and not forbear these under pretence of trusting the all-sufficiency of God and as every Political Body must by Government and Arms in case of need preserve themselves under God so must the Body of Christ the Church be diligent in using their best endeavours to preserve the Being and well-being of the whole So that you see here are two causes of the Churches Unity expressed 1. The principal Constitutive cause in which our Unity consisteth and that is The Spirit 2. The Preserving cause by which our Unity is cherished and that is Peace which therefore is called the bond of it The fifth and sixth verses do open this Vnity of Spirit in its parts effects and ends There is One Hope of our Calling that is One Heaven or Life Eternal which is the end of our Christianity and Church Constitution There is one Lord Jesus Christ One Head one Saviour one Soveraign Redeemer to whom by this Spirit the members are all United There is One Faith both one summe of holy Doctrine which all that will be saved must believe which was used to be professed by the adult at Baptism and One internal saving Faith which this Spirit causeth in our Spirits and useth it as a means of our union with Christ in whom we do believe There is One Baptism or solemn Covenanting with God the Father Son and Holy-Ghost and the same promise there to be made by all And there is One God the Father of all from whom we fell and to whom we must be recovered and who is the End of all and to whom Christ and all these means are the Way So that all these are implyed in and conjunct with the Vnity of the Spirit The sense of the Text then briefly is this As all the living true members of Christ and the Church have one Spirit and so one Faith by which they are all united to Christ the Head and so to the Father in and by him which Vnion in One Spirit is your very Life and it that constituteth you true members of Christ and his Church so it must be your care and great endeavour to preserve this Spirit in you and this vital Vnity which by this Spirit you have with Christ and one another and the way to preserve it is by the bond of Peace among your selves It is here evident then that all the members of Christ and his Body have One Spirit and in that is their Union All the question is What Spirit this is And that 's left past all doubt in the Chapter For though the common gifts of the Spirit are sometime called by that name yet these are no further meant in the Text then as appurtenances or additions to greater gifts As godliness hath the promise of the common mercies of this life as well as of the special mercies of the life to come but yet with great difference the later being absolutely promised and the former but limitedly so far as God sees best for us Even so the Spirit gave to the members of the Church both Sanctifying Grace and common Gifts but with great difference giving Sanctification to all and only the members of Christ but giving common gifts also to some others and to them but with limitation for sort and season and measure and continuance as God should see good It is then the same Holy-Ghost as our Sanctifier into whose name we are baptized as wel as into the name of the â—ather and the Son and in whom we all profess to believe that is here meant in my Text. And it is only the Sanctified that are the people United to Christ and to One another This is proved expresly by that which foâ—loweth vers 6 7. It is those that have the One Hope one Lord one Faith one Baptism one God the Father vers 12. It is the Saints and body of Christ that are to be perfected by the Ministry vers 13 15 16. It is those that must come in the Vnity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God to a perfect man to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ and that grow up in all things in Christ the Head It is the Body that is Vnited to him and compacted in Love and edifieth itself in Love vers 20 21 22 23 24. It is those that hâ—vâ— so leâ—rned Christ as to put off tâ—e â—ld man thâ—t is câ—rrupt â—nd are râ—neweâ— in the Spirit of their â—inâ—s and put on the nâ—w man which â—fter God is reâ—tâ—â— in righteouâ—neâ—s and true holiness If thereâ—â—re any words be plain its plain tâ—at its true â—aints only that are here spoken of that have the Vnity of spirit which they must preserve in the bond of Peace And therefore I shall make this Observation the ground of my discourse Doct. The true Vnity of the Catholick Church of Christ consisteth in this that they have all one Sanctifying spirit within them By the Holy-Ghost within them they are all United to Christ and to one another By this One Spirit they are all made â—aints or an Holy people having One Heaven for the matter of their Hopes One Christ their Head One summe of Christian doctrine which they believe containing all the Essentials of Christian Faith and One living principle of Faith to believe it One solemn Covenant with Christ and One God the â—ather their End and All. It is only the Sanctified that have true Christian Vnity and it is unholiness or ungodliness that is the cause of the miserable Divisions of the world Now Sirs you see the Only way to Vnity Even to have One Sanctifying spirit within us and be all an Holy People and there is no way but this Now you see the principal cause of Division even unholiness and refusing the Spirit of Grace In handling this point 1. I shall give you some Propositions that are necessary for the fuller understanding of it 2. I shall demonstrate the Point to you by fuller Evidence of Reason 3. I shall make Application of it I. PRop 1. Though it be only the Sanctified that have the true Unâ—on of Members wâ—th Chrâ—st and the Body yet all that make Profession of Sanctification and Null not that Proâ—ession have an Extrâ—nsick Analogical Union in profession As the wooden or dead leg is united to the body and the dead branch to the Vine And so even Hypocrites must not only dwell among us but be of the same visible Church with us as the chaff and tares are in the same corn-field And as long as they seem Saints we must value them and use them as Saints and love them
and have Communion with them as Saints Not as conceiving them certainly to be such but probably and by that humane faith by which we are bound to believe their profession not as we believe God who is Infallible but as men that are fallible And this in several Degrees according to the several Degrees of their Credibility and the Probability of their Profession So that you must not after this mâ—stake me as if I tyed our external Church-Communion only to true Saints for then we must have Communion with none because being not able to search the hearts we know not what Professors are sincere But yet even this External Church-Communion belongs only to them that make Profession of Love and Holiness as well as of Belief and no lower Profession must serve the turn Prop. 2. There is a Common Vnity of humane Nature that we have with all men and a common Peace that as much as in us lyeth we must hold with all Rom. 12.18 But this is nothing to the Unity in questâ—on which belongeth to our happiness The Devils have a Unity of Nature and some order and accord in Evil for if Satan be divided how can his kingdom stand Mat. 12.26 Prop. 3. The Unity of the Saints in the Spirit of Holiness consisteth in this life with much imperfection and discord according to the imperfection of their Holiness But as Grace is the seed of Glory and the beginning of Eternal Life for all its weakness and the sins that accompany it Iohn 17.3 So the Unity of the Spirit of holiness is the seed and beginning of the perfect Unity in Heaven for all the differences and discord that here accompany it II. HAving shewed you the only bond of Unity I come now by fuller evidence to convince you of the truth of what is said and even to force it into your understandings if you will but use your Reason and believe the Word of God It is unholiness and ungodliness that causeth our Discord and it is the Spirit of Holiness that is the Vniting Principle and there 's no true Christian Vnity to be had with ungodly men Never think of Vnity by any other way then Sanctification You are as on the other side of the River and cannot be united to the servants of Christ till the Spirit Convert you and pass you over You are dead men and unfit to be United to the living and it s the Spirit that quickneth and this Life must be our Vnion You madly rail against Division and yet stand at a distance from Christ and his Church and maintain the greatest division in the world Believe it you do but doat and dream if you think to have true Christian Vnity on any other terms then by the Sanctifying Spirit of Christ. And this I shall now evince as followeth 1. You know sure that there can be no Christian Unity but in God as your Father and the Center of Vnity All the true members of the Catholick Church must say Our Father and be as his children United in him If you will have Unity without the favour of God it must be the Unity of Rebels and such a concord as is in Hell The family of God do all Unite in him As all the Kingdom is United in one King so is all the Church in God Can you think it possible to have Unity as long as you will not Unite in God Well then there 's nothing plainer in the Scripture then that all men by nature are departed from God and none are United to him but those that are regenerate and made new creatures not a man is his child by Grace and in his favour but only those that are sanctified by his Spirit Ioh. 3.3 5. Mat. 18.3 2 Cor. 5.17 Heb. 12.14 So that there 's no true Vnity without Sâ—nctification because there 's no reconciliation with God nor Unity with him without it 2. There can be no true Christian Vnity but in Christ the Redeemer and Head of the Church For how can the members be United but in the Head or the Schollars but in their Teacher or the Subjects but in their Soveraign You know there 's no Christian Vnity but in Christ. Well then What Unity can we have with those that are not in Christ The unsanctified have indeed the name of Christians but what is that to the nature Some branches not bearing fruit are said to be in him the Vine by outward profession but they are dead and withered and must be cut off and cast away for the fire and so are unfit for Communion with the Vine Iohn 15. He that is in Christ is a new creature old things are past away behold all things are become new 2 Cor. 5.17 If any man have not the Spirit of Christ which is this sanctifying Spirit the same is none of his I pray you mark the plainness of these passages All you that are unconverted and unsanfied are out of Christ and none of his though you may talk and boast of him as long as you will And therefore you cannot have Vnity with Christians till you will first have Unity with Christ himself Till you are engraffed into him you are not engraffed into the Catholick Church but only seem to be what you are not 3. The dead cannot be United to the living who will be married to a dead corpse or would be tyed to it and carry it about It is life that must Unite us The unsanctified are dead in sin Eph. 2.5 and the Spirit is given to quicken the dead that they may be fit for converse What Union can there be between a block and a man or a beast that hath but a sensitive life and a man that hath a rational Soul So what Union between the sensual world and the sanctified Believer If you could have Vnity without the Sanctifying Spirit why are you then Baptized into the name of the Holy-Ghost as your Sanctifier To have a Vnity of Being is common to us with the Devils for they are Gods creatures and so are we To have a Vnion of Specifick Being is common to us with all the damned for they are men as well as we and common to the Devils among themselves But it must be a Unity in the Spirit of Holiness that must prove us happy and afford us comfort 4. There is no possibility of having Unity with those that have not the same ultimate principal end But the sanctified and the unsanctified have not the same end nay have contrary ends If one of you will go to York and the other to London how can you possibly go one way This is the great difference that sets the world and the sanctified by the ears You serve Mammon and they serve God You have one portion and they another Your portion is in this life Psalm 17.14 Here you have your good things Luke 16.25 and here you lay up your treasure Mat. 6.19 21. Your belly is your God and you mind earthly things Phil.
out against Divisions when your hearts are thus divided from God and his servants You must learn to Love them with a special Love and Christ in them before you can be United with them 14. There is no Unity to be had wiâ—hout a Love to the Body that you are United to You must Love the Church and long for its prosperity and the success of the Gospel and the downfall of wickedness Thus do the Saints but thus do not the ungodly Nay many of them are glad when they hear of any evil befall the godly 15. There is no true Vnity without a singular respect to the special members that are the ligaments and chief Instruments of Unity even the Officers of the Church and most useful members The Overseers of the Church must be highly esteemed in Love for their work sake 1 Thes. 5.12 Thâ—s do the godly but not the ungodly 16. There must be an inward inclination to the Communion of Saints before there can be any agreement and Unity All that are of the Holy Catholick Church must desire the Communion of Saints Their delight must be in them Psal. 16.3 But the ungodly have no such delight in their Communion 17. If you will have Vnity and Communion with the Church you must have a Love to the Holy Ordinances which are the means of Communion as to the Word of God heard and read to Prayer Sacraments Confession c. But the ungodly have either a distaste of these or but a common delight in the outside and not in the Spirit of the Ordinance And therefore they cannot agree with the Church when you loath that which is our mâ—at and drink and we cannot feed at one Table together what Agreement can there be 18. If you will Agree you must wâ—rk in the same Vineyard and labour in the same employment and walk the same way as the sanctified do And that is in a way of holiness and righteousness giving all diligence to make your calling and election sure 2 Pet. 1.10 If you live to the flesh and they live to the Spirit Rom. 8.5 13. What Unity and Agreement can there be 19. There is no Unity to be had unless you will joyn in a defensive and offensive league and in an opposition to that which would tend to our destruction What Common-wealth will Unite with them that defend their enemies and rebels There is an enmity put in the beginning between the seed of the woman and of the Serpent Gen. 3.15 Because we are not of the world the world will hate us Iohn 15.19 If you will be United to the Church and people of Christ you must be at enmity with sin and hate it and joyn for the destroying of it and you must be souldiers in Christs Army which the Devil and his army fight against and you must fight against the flesh the world and the devil and not live in friendship with them But this the unsanctified will not do 20. And therefore because you will not be United to them in the state and Kingdom of Grace you shall not be United with them in the state and Kingdom of Glory And thus I have made it plain to you that none can have true Union with the Church of Christ but only they that are sanctified by the Spirit Use I. BY this time you may see if you are willing to see who it is long of that the world is all in pieces by divisions and who are the greatest hinderers of Unity Even unsanctified ungodly men And you may see how fit these men are to cry out against Divisions that are the principal causes of them And how wisely they deal to cry up Unity and in the mean time resist the only ground and way of Unity As Ioshua said to Achan 7.25 Why hast thou troubled us the Lord shall trouble thee this day So I may say to all the ungodly Why trouble you the Church and hinder Vnity you shall one day have trouble your selves for this They cry out against the Ministry and others that fear God as Ahab did to Elijah Art thou he that troubleth Israel But saith Elijah It is thou and thy Fathers house that trouble Israel in that ye have forsaken the Commandment of the Lord 1 King 18.17 18. Sirs I tell you and I may confidently tell you when I have proved it so fully that it is the ungodly that are the great Dividers of the world It s you that make the breach and keep it open We are willing to agree to any thing that is reasonable or pâ—ssible but there is no possibility of Agreeing with the ungodly unless they will turn It would make any honest heart to ake to see these wreâ—ches set all on fire and then cry out against others as the Authors of it As Nero set Rome on fire and then persecuted the Christians for it as if it had been done by them They pluck up the Foundations and hold most damnable practical errours and when they have done they go about reviling other men as erroneous I speak not in the excuse or extenuation of other mens errours I have spoke my part against them also But I tell you it is the prophane and ignorant rabble and all the ungodly whether Gentlemen Schollars or of what rank soever that are the great dividers and stand at the greatest distance from Christian Unity O what a happy Church should we have for all the sects that trouble us so much if it were not for ungodliness that animateth some of those sects and virtually containeth many more Had we none but men fearing God to deal with we should have no opposition to the Essentials of Religion and we should still have the comfort of agreeing with them in all things necessary to salvation They would carry on their differences in Christian meekness charity and moderation and at the worst our Agreement would be greater then our disagreement But when we have to deal with haters of holiness or at least with men that are strangers to the sanctifying work of the Spirit we have predominant Pride and Selfishness and Covetousness to strive against We have radicated Infidelity and enmity to God and holiness giving life and strength to all their errours and making them stubborn and wilful and scornful against the clearest truths that can be shewed them There is no dealing effectually with a carnal heart for any but God himself Unless we can create light in them as well as reveal the truth to them what good can we do them What good doth the Sun to a man that is blind They have understandings left and therefore they can err but they have no heavenly light in them and therefore they cannot choose but err They have wills and therefore are capable of sin but they have no holy rectitude of them and therefore sin they will with obstinacy When we dispute with the godly that err through weakness we deal with men that have eyes in their heads and
them You will wish and wish a thousand times that you had done as they did and lived as holily as the best on earth You will then wish O that it were to do again and that my life were again to be lived and God would but try me on earth once more Those tongues that railed against Religion will a thousand times more reproach your selves for those reproaches and the neglect of this Religion You will then cry out Where was my wit and reason when I made so mad a change as of God for the creature Christ for sin and Heaven for Hell Do you think Sirs that it were any wisdom for us to Agree with you now in that for which you will fall out with your selves for ever and to go with you in that loose ungodly way which you will wish your selves that you had never known Besides we know that it is only the Saints that we must live with for ever and therefore you must become Saints if you would be Unitâ—d to us here What! Should we be so careful to Agree with you a while and be separated from you eternally or do worse by suffering with you But if you will Unite with us in Christ and Holiness this will be a lasting Unity which you will never have occasion to repent of The Union between the Lord Jesus and his members shall never be dissolved Heartily joyn with his servants now in the wayes of Holiness and you shall certainly joyn with them in the state of Happiness and in the joyful fruition and praises of the Lord. Well Sirs in this much of our treaty I have layed the case plain and open before you and shewed you that we cannot come over to you It is not Possible nor Honest nor Safe we cannot forsake an holy life without forsaking God and our Redeemer and our salvation which no man that is a man indeed should desire us to do nor can we do it till we first forsake our understandings But oâ— your side the case is oâ—herwiâ—e You may turn to God and an holy life without any hurt or wrong to you at all nay it is the only way to your felicity and if you do it not you are undone for ever So that the case is past all controversie before you that there is no way in the world to Unity but by Consent in Piety If half the Common-wealth turn Rebels and so shall make a Division in the body the way to Unite them is by the returning of the Rebels to their Allegiance and not for the true and lawful subjects to turn all Rebels and joyn with them For without the Head there cannot be a Union So that if the world be still divided and disagreed it is not long of the godly but of the ungodly And if you would have an Agreement it s you that must yield who cause the disagreement You may do it and must do it or do worse but the godly may not yield to you What say you now would you have Unity or Division Would you have Peace or no Peace You complain that the world is of so many minds Would you have them all reconciled and of one mind If you would let us see it The work sticks with you on your hands it lyeth and it is you that must do it if ever it be done If you would have all ungodly you deserve not to live on the earth Shall we then without any more ado agree all upon a life of Holiness O that our Towns and Parishes would all joyn together in this Agreement and it must be this or none But perhaps some of you will say What need you make so many words about a matter that no boâ—y doth deny We all knâ—w we should â—e Holy and Godly and nâ—ne should be ungâ—â—ly who doubts of this But the Question is What Holinâ—ss and Godliness is Tell us thâ—refore whâ—t you meâ—n by it â—nâ— who those be that you takâ— to be the Godly sanctified people Answ. If we are all agreed of the Necessity of Holiness then those that are not yet agreed to be Holy themselves do sin against their own consciences and condemn themselves in the things which they allow and wilfully divide themselves from Christ and from his Church And if any of you have been so long Baptized into the Name of the Holy-Ghost as your Sanctifier and yet know not what Sanctification is and who are to be accounted sanctified and godly you shew that you have perfidiously cast away and broak your Covenant with God and made but an â—ll use of your Baptism or any Means and Ordinances since But if you know not who are godly or ungodly I shall quickly tell you A godly man is one that being formerly in a state of sin and misery both strange and backward to God and heaven and an holy life and prone to earthly flesâ—ly pleasures is now by the powerful wâ—rk of the Word and Spirit of God converted to unfeigned faith and repentance broaken-hearted for his former sin and misery flying to Christ as the only Hope anâ— Physitian of his soul and so is made a new creature having his heart set upon God and everlasting life and contemning all the pleasures of the flesh and the things of this world in comparison of his hopes of Glory hating all known sin and not wilfully living in any and loving the highest degree of Holiness and willing to use the means that God hath appointed to destroy the remnants of sin and bring him nearer to perfection This is a truly godly man And he that is not such is ungodly He that yet remaineth in his Natural depraved state and is unacquainted with this great and holy change that hath any sin that he had rather keep then leave and any that he wilfully liveth in and wilfully neglecteth known duties as one that had rather be free from them then perform them and had rather live a fleshly life then a spâ—ritual and an holy life and is more in love with the creature then with God with his life on earth in flesh and sin then a life in heaven wiâ—h God and his â—aints in perfect holiness this man is undoubtedly a wicked and ungodly man how evilly or religiously soever he may seem to live in the world And so I have in a few words told you who they be that are godly and who are the ungodly The Question now that we are treating about is whether we shall all agree together to be godly Do you not believe it to be best and necessary If not you are blind If you do let us agree on it without delay You tell us with many great complaints of the many differences and divisions that are among us but shall we Agree so far as we are agreed that is shall we agree in heart and practice so far as we are agreed in opinion and profession O that you would make a solemn Covenant that you will but Consent and go along
we ever agree with such men as these that think themselves wiser then God and Scripture and dare prefer the very folly of their own muddy brains before the word and wisdom of their Maker Give these men as plain Scripture and Reason as you will they have more wit as they think then to believe you and what they want in Reason they have in Pride and Self-conceit and therefore your wisdom is folly to them But now when the Spirit of Holiness comes it takes them down and abaseth and humbleth the proud and self-conceited and makes them ashamed of the folly and weakness of their own understandings so that a man may speak to them now as to men of reason and have a hearing and consideration of his words A humble godly man is low in his own eyes and therefore suspicious of his own understanding in doubtfull things and therefore is more flexible and yielding to the truth when others are so stiffened by Pride that they are readier to deride the wisest that shall contradict them If therefore we could but all Agree in Holy meekness and humility what readier way could there be in the world to draw to an end of our differences and divisions 10. Moreover if we could but Agree in Holiness it would free us from that uncharitableness that causeth our Disagreement in other things and it would possess us with a special endeared Love one to another And who knoweth not that Love is a uniting healing thing Sanctification principally consisteth in Love to God and man and this the unsanctifyed principally want It s want of Love that makes men surmise the worst of one another and make the worst of all that they say do and draw matter of contention from that which never gave them Cause Love would put a better sence upon mens words and deeds or at least would bear them far more easily But instead of Love there is a Natural Enmity in all that are unsanctified to all the servants and the ways of God And can we ever be agreed with our Natural enemies why Malice will so pervert their understandings that all that we say or do will be misconstrued and as a man that looks through a red glass thinks all things to be red that he looks upon so these men through the distemper of their malicious minds will finde matter of quarrelling with all that we can say or do Ill will never saith well Our very obedience to the Law of God and seeking to save our own souls will be matter of quarrel and taken to be our crime If we will not run into Hell fire with them and think there is no danger when we know the contrary it will be a fault sufficient for their malice to reproach us with so that if we should Agree with ungodly men in all our Opinions of Religion yet if we will not damn our souls and make no bones of displeasing the great and dreadfull God there is no Peace to be had with them They have no Peace with God and they have no solid Peace with themselves for God hath professed that there is no peace to the wicked Isa. 48.22 And how then can we expect that they should have peace with us But Sanctification doth beget that effâ—ctual Love that is as healing to a divided Church or to disagreeing persons as the most precious Balsom or Wound-selve is to bodily wounds Love will not let you rest in wrath but will keep you under smart and disquietness till you are either at Peace or have done your part to have procured it Husband and Wife Parents and Children Brethren and Sisters do seldomer fall into greater dissentions then strangers do And when they do fall out they are easilier reconciled The Spirit of Grace doth possess unfained Christians with as dear a love to one another as is between the nearest Relations For by our New birth the Saints are Brethren in Christ. If you saw an Army fighting or a company of people quarrelling and scolding at one another do you think there could be a readier way to make them all friends and end their quarrels then to possess them all with a dear and tender love to one another If it were in my power to cause all contenders to Love those that they contend with as themselves do you think I should not soon agree them Why you know if you know any thing in Christianity that Sanctification causeth men to Love their Neighbors as themselves and to Love one another with a pure heart fervently 1 Pet. 1.22 For by this we know that we are passed from death to life because we love the Brethren He that loveth not his Brother abideth in death Joh. 3 14. And therefore it is a case exceeding plain that the readiest way in the world to reconcile our lesser differences is to be united in the Spirit and to Agree upon a Holy Life 11. Moreover were we all united in the Spirit We should have all one God one Master of our Faith and one Law-giver and Iudge of all our Controversies And this would be an exceeding help to unity The Principal cause of Divisions in the world are the multitude of Rulers and Masters and Judges For with unsanctified men their own Conceits and Carnal Interest is their Counsellor and Judge The Rulers of the world that have the power of the sword and can do them good or hurt in their estates are the Masters of their Religion more then God They will follow this Man or that Man that best pleaseth their fancies and fleshly desires and so will never be of one minde But Sanctification takes down all other Masters of our Faith save Christ and those that declare his will Let flesh and blood say what it will let all the world say what they will if God say the contrary his word shall stand and be a Law to them And can there be a readier way to Unity then to bring us all into one School and subject us all to one Lord and Master and to bring us all to refer our differences to one most wise infallible Judge Though we do not yet understand his will in all things yet when we understand it in the main and are resolved to search after the knowledge of the rest it is a great preparative to our Agreement when we all look but to one for the deciding of our controversies Whereas the unsanctified have as many Judges and Guides as persons For every man is a Guid and Judge to himself 12. Moreover were we but once Agreed in Holiness We should all have one Light for the ending of our differences and that Light would be the true Infallible Light For we should all have the same Holy word of God as the extrinsick Light which is most True as coming from the Lord of Truth And we should all have the Spirit of Truth within to teach us the meaning of that word without and to help our understandings and assist us in
the world that our Religion is not changed at all Our worship is the same whether within Book or without Our Prayers are the same for matter with those in the Common Prayer Book And if I should one day use the Common Prayer Book and another day forbear it I should not change the worship of God To pray is part of his worship but whether it be on a Book or off it is no part at all but only a mode or circumstance which may be altered as occasion serveth I doubt not but a Book is fittest for some but not for all And do they think that we know not what adding and chopping and changing they have made with their Mass Book Who is it then that hath changed their worship Is it like the same Book that it was before the changes made by Gregory the great It was so ordinary a thing to change the manner and forms of worshp that private Bishops did it without any Synods whence else had the world the forms that are now in use Tell us how many of those in the Biblioth Patrum were made by Apostle or General Council if you can When Basil the great had set up a new way of singing to God and made some other changes in worship the Clergy of Neocesarea were offended with him for the novelty and told him that none of that was used in Gregory's dayes To whom he answers that neither was their own Letany known in Gregory's dayes who yet had lived not 140 years before and was the famous founder of their Church by miracles Basil Epist. 63. And Basil added to the Clergie of Neocesara But how can you tell that these things were not in use in Gregories daies when you have kept nothing unchanged which he was used to And that you may see his mind in this he adds But I pardon all these things though God will examine all Only let the principal things be kept safe If we had changed the Sacraments as the Papists have done viz. a Commemorative Sacrifice into a Real Sacrifice of Christ himself the Sacramental Body and blood of Christ into the Real Body and blood the administration of it in both kinds into one kind alone defrauding the people of the cup the Communion into a private Mass the people only looking on the Priest when he receiveth alone himself c. I say had we made such changes as these they might have called us changelings indeed and have told us of novelties in the worship of God 18. Moreover this laying so much upon lower or unnecessary things doth impoverish the soul and make it low and empty and formal according to the matter that it hath to work upon As the great unquestionable Truths of God are they that sanctifie and elevate the soul and leave their Image on it so will contending about private opinions or laying out our zeal in ceremonies and shaddows depress the soul and famish it and turn our Religion into a shaddow We find by sad experience that people are so prone to turn all Religion into meer words and shews and customary formalityes that when we have done our best we cannot cure them of this mortal sin God is a Spirit and will have such worshippers as worship him in spirit and in truth John 4.23 We have little need to cherish this disease of hypocrisie seeming histrionical outside Religiousness when we see so many perish by it after all that we can do for their deliverance 19. And this making a Religion of unnecessary things or laying the Churches Unity thereon is a dangerous snare to delude the Ignorant and ungodly and make them believe that they are godly people and in the way to Heaven as well as others I use not this or any Argument against the profitable use of any forms in order to the understanding of the matter nor against the due circumstantiating of the worship of God But if profitable forms and Gods own Ordinances are somwhat lyable to this abuse we cannot devise how to increase the danger and quite enthral these miserable souls more certainly then by multiplying unnecessary formalityes and placing Religion and Unity in them For they that are most ignorant and empty of the Love and fear of God and the bitterest enemies to a Heavenly life will presently set in with these formalities and make themselves a Religion of these and then they will take themselves as godly as the best You shall never make them believe that they are ungodly They think the difference lyeth but in the way and manner of serving God You serve him one way and they another but yet they serve him as well as you Yea they will overdo in these Indifferent things that they may make up that which is wanting in true godliness and then they will think that they are better and righter then you Thus did the Heathens cry out against the ancient Christians with a Tollite impios away with the ungodly and killed them and cast them to wild beast to be torn by them because they would not worship their Idols And so many ungodly wretches now that will not be perswaded to a Holy life will yet cry dow others as impious because they observe not all the Ceremonies which they observe When we have used all the means we can to bring them to the study of the Scripture and to meditate in the Law of the Lord and to holy conference and servent prayer to hatred of sin the contempt of the world the mortifying of the flesh to the Love of God above all to a thankful admiration of the Love of Christ and the great mystery of Redemption to the believing delightful forethoughts of everlasting life and preparation for it c. I say when we have done all to bring them to this which is godlyness indeed we lose our labour and leave them as we find them They cannot away with so precise a life But yet a Religion they will have instead of it to deceive their souls and quiet them in the way to Hell For instance I must speak it with grief of heart that I meet with no small number among us that know not who Christ is some say he is God and not man some say he is man and not God some say he was made both God and man at once some say he is neither God nor man but a Spirit some say he is not God but the Son of God and hath the power of God given him Abundance say that he is God only and not man now he is in Heaven though he was both on earth and very many know not what Christianity is nor wherein the Christian Religion doth consist And yet all these persons that are Heathens rather then Christians are the most zealous Keepers of Christmass as it is called and the bitterest condemners of those that do not and so do make themselves believe that they are Christians as well as others The same persons that know not
â—he time is a hand when 〈…〉 Grâ—ce or Hell shall make you â—iâ—h and wish â—gain thaâ— you might have but â—he pooreâ—â— lowest place in 〈…〉 which you so despâ—sed 〈◊〉 what I say to you Sirs in the name of God If the Loâ—d of Heaven do not shortly make the dullest heart the greatest dender of godlâ—ness among you that heareth these words to wish and wish an hundred times that he had lived as holy anâ— heavenly a life as the strictest of those that he foâ—merly derided â—hen call me a false Prophet for ever and spare not Whâ—n you feel the misery of unholy souls and see the happinesâ— of the Saints above you then O that you had been but such as they and lived as they whatever it cost you And as Balaâ—m you will shortly say O that I might ill the death of the righteous and that my last and may bâ— as his Numb 23.10 There is never a one of you all but would fain be among the Saints at Judgement and receive their Sentence and reward and therefore its best for you joyn with them now or it will be too laâ—e to wish iâ— then 11. If all this will not serve the turn but you will needs stand off and separate your selves fâ—om the servants of Christ be it known to you you shall ere long have separation enough and be further from them then your hearts can wish As you would not be United to them and joyn with â—hem in Holinesâ— so you shall not be partakers with them of their Happiness One Heaven will not hold you both and there is but One to hold you and therefore an everlasting separation shall be made Between them and you will a great gulf be set so that they that would pass from you to them shall never be able Luke 16.26 When they stand on the right hand you shall be set upon the left and when they hear Come ye blessed you shall hear Go ye cursed and when they go awâ—y into lifâ— eternâ—l you shall go â—way into evâ—rlasting punishment Mat. 25.31 32 41 46. Then you shall see that the man is blessed that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly nor standeth in the way of sinners nâ—r sitteth in the seat of the scornful but his delight is in the Law of the Lord and in his Law doth he meâ—itate day and night The ungodly ar◠〈◊〉 so but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the Iudgement nor sinners in the Congrâ—gation of the righteous For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous but the Way â—f the ungodly shall perish Psalm 1. Then you will say to them that now you differ from Give us of your oyl for our Lamps â—re gone out Oh that we had part in your holiness and your hopes but they will answer you Not so lest there be not enough for us and you We have little enough for our selves you should have done as we did but then it will be too late Mat. 25.8 9 10. It will then make the proudest heart to shake to hear Depart from me all ye that are workers of iniquity I never knew you Matth. 7.23 You departed from me and would not live in the Communion of Saints and now Christ himself of whom you boasted and in whom you trusted will not know you but cause you to depart much further then you desired both from his â—aints and him These are the true revelations of God which may be laught at and slâ—ghted now but will certainly be made good on all that are not now United to Christ and his Church 12. And let me tell you to consummate your mâ—seâ—y when that day of everlasting separation comes those servants of Christ whâ—m you refused to joyn with in an holy life will be so iâ— any witnesses against you to your condemnation As Christ tells you Mat. 25. he will say In as much as you 〈…〉 to one of thâ—sâ— you 〈◊〉 it nâ—t me â—o in as much as you râ—fused the Communion of Saints and peâ—haps derided them you refuâ—ed Communâ—on 〈◊〉 Châ—ist hâ—mself aâ—d derided him Then â—hey 〈◊〉 testâ—fie 〈…〉 you We were willing to hâ—vâ— had his company in the way â—f holiness but he refused it And when you see them set so far above you then your own consciences will say We might have been of this blâ—ssâ—d Society and would not we might have done as thâ—y and now spâ—â—l as they we were often entreatâ—d 〈◊〉 by our Teachers â—nd full glad would the godly hâ—ve been of our compâ—â—y in an holy life but we â—estinately refused all Wrâ—t heâ—thâ—â— we are we refused all Wâ— thâ—â—ght iâ— reâ—â—lâ—ss our hâ—arts wâ—râ—â—gâ—inst it we prâ—ferrâ—d 〈…〉 anâ— prâ—fits and creâ—it 〈…〉 â—f the worlâ— bâ—fâ—re it an◠〈…〉 â—ustly do wâ— pâ—rish in â—ur 〈…〉 lie in yoâ—der â—urnin◠〈◊〉 and be separated as far as Hâ—â—l is â—â—om Hâ—â—ven frâ—m thâ—se that we willfully â—eparâ—tâ—â— fâ—om on â—arth â—eloved hearers I were not a Believer if I did nâ—t foresee this dâ—eâ—dâ—ul day and I were nâ—t a man if I did not desire that you might escape this misery and therefore I could do no less then warn you as you love your selves and would not be separated from them for ever that you would presently be United to the Godly and live in the true Communion of the Saints and withdraw your selves from the wayes of the ungodly lest you be found among them and perish with them I have done my part in telling you the truth and now must leave the success to God Use ult BUT I must conclude with a word of advice to the Godly I have made a very large ambitious motion for the conversion of all at once But alas it is far from my expectation that it should prevail I am not so unacquainted with the power of sin and the subtilty of the Devil and the wilfulness of blind unsanctified men and the ordinary course of Providence in this work as to cherish any hopes that All the Town and Parish should Consent If many or any more do I shall be glad But plurima quaeras ut pauca feras An high motion when reasonable may be serviceable to lower hopes By what I have here said you may see how little hope there is that ever the Church should have any such Peace on earth as we desire If unhoâ—iness be the hinderance and the greatest part of the world are so unholy and so our Unity is like to rise no higher then our Piety you may see then how much Unity to look for But for your own parts be sure among your selves to maintain the Unity of the Spirit in the bond of Peace Love the Brother-hood even Saints as Saints And because you are not the searchers of the heart proceed according to the Word of God Let all that Profess themselves a sanctified people and live so as that you cannot certainly disprove their profession be used as Saints by you and
leave the infallible judgement to God It is only â—eal Saints that have the internal special Unity of the Spirit and saving Communion but its Professors of Faith and Holiness thaâ— must have external Communion wiâ—h us in Ordinances as they have a visible Union of Profession with the Church But if they profess not Holiness they ought not to have any Christian Communion at all O Christians keep close to Christ the Centeâ— of your Unity and the Scripture which is the Rule of it and cherish the â—pirit which is the vital cause walk evenly and uprightly in a dark generation and give no offence to those without nor to the Church of God Know them that are over you in the Lord and be at Peace among your selves and the God of Peace shall be with you 1 Thes. 5.12 Phil 4.8.9 Object BVt may not a Profession of the same Faith procure a sufficient Vnity among us though all be not Saints and savingly regenerate Let us first be of one Religion and then we may come to be sincere in the Practice of that Religion by Degrees Answ. 1. For the Churches sake we are thankful to God when we see a common concord in Profession though most are false in and to the Religion which they profess Many wayes God doth good to his Church by unfound Professors 1. Their Professing the same Faith doth somewhat tye their hands from persecuting it And of the two we can better bear Hypocrites then Persecutors 2. And it somewhat tyeth their tongues from reproaching the Faith and arguing against it and seducing others from it And of the two it would be more hurtful to the Church to have these men open enemies to the truth and bend their wits and tongues against it and to have the multitude assaulting their neighbours with invectives and cavils against Religion then to have them falsly pretend to be Religious 3. And it is a great mercy to the Church hereby to have the benefit of these mens common parts and interests When they profess the same Religion with us though unsoundly yet it engageth them to stand for the Religion which they profess and their illumination and conviction may lead them to do much service for the truth By this means many hands are at work to build up the Church of Christ. And by this means the lives of many faithful Christians are preserved and their estates much spared Many have skill in building that are not true heirs of the house which they build Many have excellent gifts for preaching and expounding Scripture by which the Church may be edified and the Truth defended against the adversaries when yet the same men may themselves be destitute of the Power of this truth The Church hath great cause to be thankful to God for the gifts of many an unsanctified man Had the Church been denyed the Minâ—stry and Gifts of all mâ—n except Saints it would have been confined to a narrower room and many a soul might have beâ—n unconvâ—rted that have been called by the Ministry of unsanctified men By some such did God work Miracles themselves for the confirmation of the Christian Faith And in times of war if the Church had none but Saints to fight for them it could not stand without a continued Miracle And if we had not the daily help of others in civil and secular affairs we should find by the miss of it what a mercy we undervalued Were every unregenerate man an open enemy to the Church we should live as Patridges and such other birds that must hide themselves from every Passenger 4. Moreover this Profession of Hypocrites doth much restrain them from many a sin by which God would be much dishonoured and the Church more wronged and the godly more grieved and the open enemies more encouraged 5. And also it is some honour to the Gospel in the eyes of men to have a multitude of Professors Should Christs visible Church be as narrow as the mystical and should none be Professors of the Faith but those few that are sanctified Believers the paucity of Christians and narrowness of the Church would be a dishonour to Christ in the eyes of the world and would hinder the Conversion of many a soul. All this I have said that you may see that we do not despise a Unity in Profession and that we are not of those that would have all hypocrites and common professors shut out Yea that we take our selves bound to be very thankful to God for the mercy which he vouchsafeth us by the gifts and favour and help and interest of many such Professors And such a Unity of Profession we shall endeavour to our power heartily to promote as knowing that the Church as visible consisteth of such professours 2. But yet for all this I must come closer to your objection and tell you that this Vnity of meer Profession is comparatively so poor a kind of Unity that this will not this must not satisfie us and serve the turn which I desire you to observe in these discoveries 1. This Unity in meer Profession is properly no Christian Vnity because you are not properly Christians If this be all it is but in the bark and shell that we are agreed It is but a seeming agreement from the teeth outward but not an hearty agreement to be Christians What! shall we all agree to say we are Christians when with most it is not so For all this Agreement you will still have one Father and we another You will not be United with us in Christ the Head you will not have the same Holy Spirit who is the Life of the New creature You will be contrary to us in Nature or Disposition You will not have the same Intention and Ultimate End with us but you will aâ—m at one thing and we at another You will not go the same way nor walk by the same Rule and Law as we It will be but a tying â—ogâ—ther the Living and the Dead Bellâ—râ—ine himself confesseth that the ungodly are but dead members It is not life that Uniteth a dead member to the living You will bâ— stilâ— either openly or secretly betraying the Body to which you profess your selves United and taking part with its deadly enemies the flesh the world and the Devil Your very Hearts and ours will still be contrary You will love the sin that we hate and set our selves against and you will dis-relish that Holy Heavenly life which must be our business and delight Your Affections will go one way and ours another You will Live by sense when we must live by faith and you will be laying up a treasure on earth when we are laying up a treasure in heaven You will be asking counsel of flesh and blood when we must advise with God and his holy Word You will look first to your bodies when we must look first and principally to our souls It will be your business to feed those sins which it is our daily work