Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n
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A34955
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The vanity of the dissenters plea for their separation from the Church of England a sermon preached before the King at Windsor, September the 10th. 1682 / by Robert Creyghton ...
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Creighton, Robert, 1593-1672.
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1682
(1682)
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Wing C6876; ESTC R34843
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9,456
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30
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A SERMON Preached before the KING AT WINDSOR September the 10th 1682. By ROBERT CREYGHTON D. D. Chaplain in Ordinary to his Majesty Published by his Majesties Command LONDON Printed by J. Wallis for Benj. Tooke at the Ship in St. Pauls Church-yard 1682. 1 COR. 1. 10. Now I beseech you brethren by the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ that ye all spake the same thing and that there be no divisions among you but that ye be perfectly joyned together in the same mind and in the same judgement WHAT the great Apostle stoop so low as to beseech and so passionately too by the Name of our Lord and Saviour Christ Be the People never so impatient boyl and toss and roar like a raging Sea sure here 's Charm enough to strike the World immediately into a Calm Beseech 't is tantamount to a Command he beseeches by a Name that cannot but prevail a Name whom Storm and Tempest it self must Obey But beseech or command 't is all one the World is deaf to all such Charms to all such Commands Be joyn'd together in the same and in the same judgement and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 too united in a beautiful Order and Symmetry of parts alass when will this be Epicurus his Atoms will as soon by cross interfering motions weave themselves into a beautiful System of a World as mens thoughts variously cross and running counter unite in one Discipline one Doctrine one Church We shall never see Peace so long as there are rough uneven tempers in the World as unfit for Societies as some rough unhew'n Stones or knotty crooked pieces of Timber unfit for Building There are certain tempers naturally sour enough to break through Mountains and Rocks like Hanibal's vinegar and to dissolve the firmest Foundations of Government and Order And there is especially a Pharisaical Leven sour enough to put whole Societies and Kingdoms into a perfect fermentation We shall never be all alike till the different humors of our several constitutions be quite spent and we are mouldred away in our Graves to rotten Bones and Skulls then and not till then exactly all alike with half noses hollow-ey'd and grinning as Lucian describes Skulls of Wise-men Mad-men Fools Cynicks Politicians Hero's Beggers blended together in Charnel Houses But especially in Religion men never yet wanted pretences to disagree Cain and Abel though Brothers agree not in the same kinds of Sacrifices Contention once intruded into Heaven amongst the Gods that 's Romance but 't is too true she hath more than once intruded into the Church a bold and troublesome Guest What and will Religion then Religion which is or should be the very Bond and Cement of Societies will that also crumble us to pieces Nay then there 's little hope of Unity in this World Our Corinthians divide upon pretences specious enough even of honouring some Apollos others Paul others Cephas The least pretence of dividing will serve the turn when men are resolved to be quarrelsome especially in Citties of great Trade such as Corinth was the Metropolis of Achaia Rich Populous and Proud where as they Traffick'd with Forreigners Goods for Goods So they seem to have barter'd Religion for Religion too the Seller basely prostituting his judgement to the Buyers either Heresie or Schism to set off Goods the better and to advance Trade Our Apostle St. Paul though by degrees he deals very plainly with these Corinthians yet at the beginning of his persuasive to Unity he deals with them with all the tenderness immaginable But what shall we do now our modern Shismaticks are grown so stiff and stubborn that 't is to little purpose to Entreat them Begg or Command Weep or Thunder 't is all one they are inexorable they are inflexible If the Mercy of God in settling Religion here upon so good grounds by so legal and warrantable methods according to the model of the Primimitive Church if the Bloud of our Late Dread Sovereign the Church of Englands Martyr if this King 's incomparable Clemency can prevail nothing all the Passion of our Sacred Oratour St. Paul is utterly cast away They have been gently dealt with these many years and they are but the more hardned in the Schism The warm Sunbeams will sometimes but harden that Clay which heavier Storms may soften and make pliable to the Government But I must remember the Apostles condescension I must remember his pitty and his good nature and with all the moderation I can endeavour to remove some of the prejudices they have taken up against this Church And I must be so far free with them as to charge them with the following Mistakes three especially the ground of all the rest A false Notion of Christian Liberty A false Notion of Tender Conscience A false Notion of the Nature and Measures of a Due Reformation First A false Notion of Christian Liberty The Church we apprehend hath a Liberty infeoffed in Her to determine this way or that in matters of Decency and Order If this be the Churches Prerogative conveyed to her by Scripture particularly that of the Apostle Let all things be done Decently and in Order it is certainly my Christian Liberty to Obey warranted and secured to me virtually by the same Scripture When I am satisfied in Conscience that the Church maintains the Faith sound in all the Doctrines she professes which to say truth are the proper Objects about which Conscience acts 't is my Priviledge to be govern'd by her in other matters of less moment which do not directly and immediately concern Conscience farther then as a general Rule of Charity obliges me to obey For as the Apostles leaving out particulars there is a general Warrant for the Church to Prescribe so is it a Warrant to me who am a member of an Orthodox Visible Church-branch of Christs Holy Catholick Church to submit to that which makes it a Visible Church I mean Government and Order So that the Schismatick is so far wide in his Notion of Liberty that if I refuse to obey I in a manner fell away my Christian birth-right and basely betray my own Liberty For tho' we have often heard much talk to little purpose of Christian Liberty yet as the Apostle uses the word Liberty we are able to understand no morethan this that Christians under the Gospel are redeemed from the bondage of the Law So that I am at perfect Liberty to be Govern'd by a Christian Church the Obligation to the Mosaick Law being cancell'd Else there would be a Visible Church-Government in general Terms settled upon the Apostles Successors without Obedience to that Government which is an absurd Chimera Now then if the Schismatick tell us his Conscience will not suffer him to submit where then is his Liberty of Conscience who put those Fetters upon his Conscience but himself what Cyclops made those Fetters where were they forged in what Vulcans Shop in what Aetna but in his own zealous over-heated brain Does the Scripture
Charity with the good Primitive Church These men may possibly mean well but they seem only to consider how to go far enough from Rome never consider to what we are in Charity bound to reduce our selves I mean to that State whence by degrees Rome fell away In truth our Controversies with the Romanists move most upon this hinge that we reject their Novelties which against them is one of our best Pleas. So that should we frame against them Arguments from such Topicks as our Schismaticks some of them would suggest we must tamely give up the Cause For if we maintain not our ground if we keep not to the first Ages and the four first General Councils if we secure not as far as may be our Conformity with the most Ancient Church we give them the greatest Advantage immaginable At our Reformation had we I condemn not other Churches had we I say renounced Episcopacy the Ancient model of Church-Government that bears date long before Infallibility Supremacy Transubstantiation c. were thought of what would the Romanists have said how could we have avoided the just imputation of a most Uncharitable Separation from the Ancient Church But now our Reformation may be an Object of the Romanists Envy because we did thereby as it were reconcile our selves to the most Ancient Church and our return is in truth to upbrayd them with Schism and the most honourable way to justisie our departure from them in points wherein we and they had so long departed from the Ancient Church which we should never be able to effect were not our constituted as now it is For let the model be any other not known to the Ancient Christians men of such Principles may rayl at Popery but the Arguments they must be forced to use will be such as will be scorn'd and make the Roman Catholicks but the more obstinate And therefore if under pretence of flying farther from Rome we Ruin this Church of England we shall have neither Arguments enough left us to defend our selves against Romes Novelties nor Loyalty enough left us I am sure to secure any Prince in his Throne Defender of the Faith But what do we talk of a Primitive Church away with this dull Old Way tell us Schismaticks something Brisk and New these Sons of the Church of England can tell us nothing new they say no more than Old Ignatius and Polycarp Ireneus Clement of Alexandria Tertullian and Cyprian they can Fight with nothing but old rusty Weapons of Antiquity we have Swords new burnished at Geneva and Francford nay we have Antiquity too on our side we have Donatists and Novatians and there we gain a point Yet Old Schismaticks were dull heavy phlegmatick Sots to ours They never durst attempt a Schism but they would set up a Bishop of their own making and remain in the state of their Separation right Episcopal however as to the Government of the Church never hoping to gain any Proselytes should they not pretend at least to Episcopacy But ours run down Episcopacy and then cry they have discovered new wonders to the world and found out better methods of Church-Government than their idle Predecessors Donatists and Novatians could ever dream of Indeed Epiphanius mentions a dear Friend of our Schismaticks one Aerius of precious memory who turn'd Leveller because he could not get a Bishoprick But I must tell them for his Credit he had but few Proselytes and they hooted at as the Owl by the more ingenious of his winged Brethren when he appears with his Gravity among the Airy Witts I am sorry for the sake of some of our Schismaticks who would fain be nibbling at this Story that Aerius was not a Leveller out of pure Conscience because then the Presbyterian Parity might claim some kindred with Antiquity Thus I have briefly discoursed of Liberty Tender Conscience Reformation the three fairest pretences of Schism Now if this one single Text prevail nothing if neither our great Apostles Frowns nor Charms nor his Excommunications nor his Embraces nor his Apostolical Authority nor the Passion of his Oratorie prevail with the Schismatick but he will tear the Church to pieces ungratefully rend the very Bowels of that Church that gave him Life whose Breasts he suck'd What Expedients for Unity further to propose I cannot imagine 'T is the Temper's Policy too to Divide that he may Rule to break the Churches Ranks and Files that he may Enter and Conquer with Ease Our Quarrels are his Conquests the Ruins of our Churches are his Trophies 't is only our Peace that he dreads Pax vestra bellum est illi said Tertullian In all the Apostles Writings there are not more Cautions against any one thing than against Schism For though Schism in it self consider'd does not directly destroy any one Article of the Faith yet by destroying the Churches Unity it will in time destroy the Faith Because 't is a false Phantastick Light hovering in the Air that will lead thousands after it into Errors over Bogs and Precipices and will have in time so fatal an influence upon the whole Body of the Catholick Church as not only to weaken that by drawing off great numbers from it but also put the Schismaticks themselves out of a Capacity of being at least Confirmed in the Truths they have received and so they will lie open to all the Temptations immaginable of being debauched in the very Principles of their Christian Faith For this seems one design at least of the first Plantations of Churches under such a model of Episcopacy as might unite Christians in larger Bodies and prevent the breaking of their numbers into little Junto's and Conventicles that so they might like great Armies United in Government and Order both secure their own Faith by their greater Union and also make more effectual Conquests upon the Unconverted Parts of the World to whom it must needs be one great motive to come in when they should see Christians so strongly knit together in so large Societies with so much Charity Order and Harmony Why then do our Schismaticks by going off from our Church from the common safe Path to say no more expose themselves to so great dangers did they not forsake us we might hope one day by calm reasoning to reform their judgement Why do they thus fight with us disengeniously and basely like Parthians who turning their backs scatter'd their Arrows from behind them Why do they thus scatter their envenom'd Arrows even bitter Words and never turn their faces either to survey our Strength or stay to hear what we can say for our seIves Why do they amuse us with Accusations of Popery like Atalantas Ball with Accusations back upon us that they might get the start in the Race and get to Rome first Is it Superstition they dread but have not they themselves some Tincture of that too at least while they I may venture to say superstitiously avoid it have we not known the time when they honour'd