Society that there be Head and Members but there must be some Ligaments to the end that there may be Union that is that all those Members of this Society which lie otherwise scattered through so many Ages and Countreys may both become united together to make up one Body and also joyned to their common Head Christ Jesus Now as in the natural Body the Nerves which perform this office proceed from the Head so it is here Christ Jesus hath delivered an Institution of Religion the open profession of which is the Sinew of this Society the Church namely all those that hold and maintain the Doctrine of the Holy Scriptures and especially of the New Testament are united to the Church as Members and to Christ as their spiritual Head For this is the Charter of our Corporation and contains the Laws of our Society he that addes to this distracts and divides the Church and he that abates or diminishes it incroaches upon the Prerogative of Christ the Head The Church of Christ and the profession of the Religion of Christ are of equal extent and the Holy Scripture is the Standard of both But as a symbolical representation of this Union we are speaking of or rather as a standing federal Rite of this Society our Lord Christ hath also appointed the frequent participation of the holy Sacrament wherein we solemnly recognize him our Head and our Fellow-Christians as Members of the same Body which therefore is properly called the Synaxis or Communion To which purpose the Apostle allusively to the New Testament speaks of the Church of the Jews 1 Cor. 10. 2 c. they were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the Sea and did all eat the same spiritual meat and did all drink the same spiritual drink c. But more clearly and expresly of the Christian Church vers 17. For we being many are one Body for we are all partakers of that one bread The sence of which place and the summe of what I have been saying is this That as by holding and professing the Religion of Christ Jesus contained in the Holy Scripture we are united to him and Members of his Church materially so it is our duty that this be solemnly and formally executed by those holy Rites of his institution 4. But in the fourth and last place it is not sufficient that there be an Union of the Head and Members but there must be Order also amongst the Members themselves otherwise it would be a Multitude but not a Church Wherefore in this Society though as we have said all that profess and acknowledge the Doctrine of the Scriptures are Members yet some of those are of an higher quality and more publick use and influence than others namely such as bear Office in this Society So saith the Apostle Eph. 4. 11. He gave some Apostles some Prophets some Evangelists some Pastors and Teachers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. for the orderly knitting of the Saints together into a Body and for the edifying that Body of Christ These and their Successors are the Governours and Officers of the Church as a Church or as it is such a peculiar distinct and spiritual Society To these the Head of this Society hath promised his presence to the end of the world to these he hath given the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven saying Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven c. and He that receiveth you receiveth me and he that refuseth you refuseth him that sent me These as I said are the Governours of the Church as a Church But because as it was well observed by Optatus Milevitanus Respublica non est in Ecclesia sed Ecclesia in Republica and it was not the design of our Saviour in constituting this Society of a Church to revoke or abrogate the Powers and Authority of the Civil State therefore Kings and Princes though as such they are not properly Officers of the Church in its peculiar consideration yet have and retain their ancient right of Legislation and prescribing to the external management of this Society In which respect it was said by the great and famous Constantine that he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is a Civil Bishop or as we commonly speak supreme Governour or Moderator of the Church And now having shewed what our Saviour meant when he said he would build him a Church it will neither be difficult nor unusefull to shew the Reasons of this Institution i. e. Why our Saviour would not leave every single Believer upon his own score but would have them associated and incorporated as aforesaid The great usefulness of this Institution might easily be made appear in very many Instances but I will mention but these three 1. It pleased our Saviour Christ to require such a conjunction and combination of Christians to the intent that by that means they might be the better able to hold up his Truth and Religion in the world For if this had been left to the care of particular Christians singly and separately such is the diversity of their Capacities and apprehensions so different have been their Educations are their Interests and would be their Expressions and so great would be the difficulty of holding intelligence and correspondence with each other that it is not imaginable how the mind of Christ should have been uniformly and intirely represented to all those that would have been concerned in it therefore in regard this summe was too great to be laid out upon private security it pleased him to deliver this great Depositum to the Society of the Church This is that which I take to be meant in that famous passage of the Apostle 1 Tim. 3. 15. where the Church is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the pillar and ground of Truth I know well what perverse use they of the Church of Rome make of this Text and what pitifull shifts some on the other side make to avoid that danger and therefore I thought it worth my labour in a former Discourse of this nature and at a like Solemnity to vindicate the Text from the hands of those that abuse it and the world by it But at present it is sufficient to intimate that though it be evidently true that the truth of Christianity neither depends upon the Authority nor needs the Warranty of men yet was the Society of the Church a wise Expedient of our Saviour for the holding forth and holding up his Religion in the world Nor let any one suspect that this will give any countenance to the unwritten Traditions of the Church of Rome or evacuate the just Dignity and Authority of the Holy Scriptures for it is and must be acknowledged that the written Word is the immediate Conservatory of the Truth of the Gospel yet the Society of the Church doth the same thing remotely and generally which the other doth particularly and immediately that is to say this holds up the Holy Scripture preserves and
Censores morum up starts Erastus and provoked by this Extreme runs a risk and falls into another as bad for not content to disprove that new form of Discipline and especially to degrade that novel Office he proceeds to the denial of all Church-Censure and Ecclesiastical Government As if from such time as the Civil State became Christian the Rights of the Church were escheated to the Prince or State And thus as that Judicious person modestly expresses it the Truth was divided between the contending parties but overseen and outran by both But the last Instance I will now make use of comes more home to my present business When the Church of Rome arrogating to it self an Infallibility and asserting to the Pope an universal Pastorship had under these pretences notoriously usurped upon all Christendome there were not wanting those who seeing through this cheat and desirous to reform all bent things so far towards the other Extreme that they endangered the breaking of all in pieces For whereas the Roman Church had claimed and exercised an exorbitant power of making and imposing what Articles of Faith she pleased These were so far from that as that they would scarcely allow the Church authority to define matters of Order and Decorum Because the Governours in the Roman Communion were arrived at too great a height the Bishops becoming like the Ephori among the Spartans able to check and controll Sovereign Princes therefore to avoid this danger all shall be levelled to a Plebeian Parity Before the interest of the Church was so great as that it drew under one pretence or other almost all Causes from the Civil Tribunals to Ecclesiastical cognisance but now to prevent this for the future all Jurisdiction shall be taken from it In short the Church was thought to be too rich before Religio peperer at Divitias filia devoraverat matrem now therefore the onely way to revive the Primitive Purity is to reduce the Primitive Poverty And so upon the whole matter from an abhorrence of the Incroachments and Exorbitancies of the Roman Church there arose a danger whether there should be any Church at all Now considering with my self how to obviate these and several other mischiefs of like nature and to doe the best service I can to this Solemnity I have made choice of these words of our Saviour for my subject Thou art Peter and upon c. Wherein I observe these three things 1. A Resolution or Decree of our Saviour he will build him a Church 2. The Foundation of this Structure Upon this Rock will I c. 3. His Prediction of the Success and Duration of this Building The Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it I design to open these three things with the greatest plainness and perspicuity I can because of the importance and usefulness of the matter and yet with as much brevity as is possible for I consider I speak to wise men PART I. Touching the First to avoid all impertinence that which I conceive our Saviour means when he saith he will build him a Church is no more nor less than this that he will incorporate all those that profess his Name and Religion into a Society And that he will not content himself to have Disciples and Followers dividedly straggling after him how numerous soever they may be but he will have them united into a Body formed into a regular Society make up a Divine Polity having Unity Order and Government amongst themselves That as there are several forms of Civil Society of Humane Institution so our Saviour would by his Divine Authority institute a Religious Society by the name of a Church whereof He himself would be the Head and which should be ruled and governed by Laws and Officers peculiar to it self Or as in the Old Testament the whole Nation of the Jews though distinguished otherwise by their respective Tribes and Families made up one People and Church of Israel so should all Nations upon Earth and every individual person that was a Christian conspire and make up together one Christian Church For the more distinct and satisfactory apprehension whereof let us consider that every regular Society requires these four things namely 1. A Body 2. An Head 3. Union 4. Order and Government and all these conspicuously concurre to the making up the Church or such a Society as we have described 1. For the Body of the Christian Church that consists of all those who from time to time in all Ages and Countreys are inrolled in Albo Christianorum and have given up their names to Christ or are Christians by profession So the Apostle 1 Cor. 12. 27. Now are ye the Body of Christ and Members in particular that is the whole number of Christians Vid. Theophyl in loc makes up the mystical Body of Christ every individual person being a particular Member thereof And then he addes vers 28. God hath set some in the Church first Apostles secondly Prophets c. By which it is evident that he speaks of the whole Church as one for he supposes the Apostles to be Officers of the whole Christian Church which could not be if every little parcel of Christians convened together made up a Church in the notion the Apostle intends and consequently therefore the whole number of Christians as I said must make up the one Church or Body of Christ To this purpose those that are curious observers of the propriety of phrase in the Greek tongue do note that at Athens from whose Assemblies this name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was first taken when onely the Heads or chief Magistrates were assembled they called this distinctly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when the Colluvies ex agris or whole Rabble of People was called together this they termed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was onely used when the whole Body of Citizens within the Pale or Liberties of the City were assembled 2. Christ Jesus is undoubtedly the Head and Supreme of this Body He is the Founder of this Order he gave command for the forming this Society prescribes Laws and affords protection to it Eph. 5. 23. He is the Head of the Church and the Saviour of the Body And herein that which Divines call the Mediatorian Kingdom of our Saviour properly consists namely that not onely in respect of his Divine Nature he hath a Sovereignty over the world but especially that as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or God incarnate he is Sovereign of the Church and hath power of Legislation authority to constitute Officers under him jus vitae necis hath all Judgment committed to him can sentence to life or to utter destruction Whether de facto he hath appointed any Lieutenant or Vicar-general under him over the whole Church as some pretend will not be necessary now to inquire and besides will be sufficiently clear in the Negative by what I shall say by and by 3. It is not sufficient to an orderly
assures that as the Summe and Code of our Religion as on the other hand the Holy Scripture rules to us the particular Doctrines and Laws thereof To which sence both S. Austin and S. Ierom agree when they affirm that as the Jewish Church was Columna Nubis the Pillar of a Cloud or was incorporated by God to hold up that Ceremonial form of Religion in the Old Testament so the Society of the Christian Church is Columna Lucis or was instituted to hold up that Truth whereof the former was a shadow namely the Doctrine of the Gospel in the times of the New Testament And Saint Austin more particularly expresses himself in his 42. Epistle Radix Christianae Societatis per Sedes Apostolorum Successiones Episcoporum certâ per orbem propagatione diffunditur i. e. Christian Religion is preserved and propagated by the advantage of established Order and successive Government of the Church 2. Christ Jesus would have a Church and his Disciples imbodied and formed into a Society that by means of such conjunction and relation they might be more usefull to one another by instruction admonition counsel reproof and example and so not onely hold up the Doctrine joyntly but hold one another mutually to the practice of Christianity as having a common care and concern for the good of each other for the sake of the whole To which purpose it is observed by the generaliy of Learned men that Gen. 4. 26. and 6. 1. in the Infancy of the World there was a distinction between the Sons of God and the Sons of men by the latter of which they understand that profane part of mankind that cast off all care of God and Religion but by the former such as retained a sense of God and care of his Worship and that these formed themselves into a Body and became a distinct Society for the better practice and prosecution of that great affair of Religion But the influence which this Provision hath upon the practice of Religion is so notoriously evident that the Apostle Heb. 10. 23 c. discourses after this manner to those Jewish Christians that seemed to stagger in their Devotion Let us hold fast the profession of our Faith without wavering Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works Not forsaking the assembling of our selves together as the manner of some is For saith he if we sin wilfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth c. The plain sence of which remarkable passage is this that keeping Church-Society is the way to keep upright in our Profession and warm in our practice and the forsaking of that the ready way to Apostasie and no other tolerable sence can be made of the Discourse of the Apostle but this To which I think it not amiss to adde a worthy Observation of that Learned man Mr. H. Thorndyke He Thorndyke Service of God in Religious Assemblies inquires What should be the reason that the People of the Jews before their Captivity were upon all occasions prone to lapse into Idolatry whenas after their Return from that Captivity they never seemed inclinable that way and yet notwithstanding before the Captivity they were never destitute of the extraordinary Admonitions of Prophets sent from God on purpose to warn them of that sin and danger and after the Captivity they were deprived of this singular advantage And at last gives this ingenious and probable account viz. Before the Captivity though they had the frequent Admonitions of the Prophets as aforesaid yet they had few or no Synagogues insomuch as we never hear of any Synagogue-worship during all that time but after the Captivity Synagogues were very numerous and by means of the frequency of those Assemblies he thinks it might come to pass that they were kept from an evil they were so prone to that Prophecy it self could not cure them of it 3. Church-Order was appointed to fit and train men up for the Kingdom of Heaven to teach and inure men to live in Love and Peace and Order here in a Church Militant that so they might be fit for eternal Society in the Church Triumphant It seems to be one reason amongst many others why those that are designed for the Service of the Church are usually bred up in Colleges and Universities namely that Collegiate life accustoming them to Order and Obedience disposes them to be subject to the Government of the Church And as a College is an Embleme of the Church so is the Church below of that above and the Education in the one makes men fit Candidates of the other For it is not to be imagined that any mere Ornaments of Knowledge and Eloquence or any other Gift or Grace how eximious soever can qualifie a man for the celestial Mansions and make him fit to live in eternal Love and Peace and Concord with holy Spirits that could not be brought to be peaceable humble and obedient and submit to the Culture and Discipline of the Church There were therefore upon the whole matter great Considerations why our Saviour should build a Church And so much for the First part of my Text. PART II. I proceed now to the Second the Foundation of this Fabrick Upon this Rock will I build my Church I am sure it can be no new thing to Learned men to note what triumphs they of the Church of Rome make upon this passage Tu es Petrus is urged upon all occasions as if not onely S. Peter but the whole Succession of Popes were hereby made infallible Oracles of Truth and universal Pastors over the whole Church of Christ If we object that Petrus and Petra are two things they will answer that our Saviour spake in the Syriack tongue and that there Cepha answers to both But if we enquire why Rock must needs signifie Head of the Church or why to be built upon as a Rock must signifie to govern especially if we inquire why S. Peter might not have a Priviledge conferred upon him that such a man as Hildebrand Boniface Innocent or some other either ignorant lewd or enormous Bishops of Rome were not fit for we should receive but slender satisfaction from them However I will not insist upon those Subtilties but deliver my self plainly for the unfolding this part of my Text in these two Points 1. It is notoriously evident to any man that consults the Scriptures impartially that the whole number of Apostles have that said of them which is tantamount to this in the Text I mean the Church is said to be built upon them as well as upon S. Peter For example Eph. 2. 20. the Church is said to be built upon the foundation of the Apostles Christ himself being the chief Corner-stone that is Christ Jesus first set on foot the Doctrine of the Gospel and gave them his Apostles both commission and abilities to preach it and gather Disciples and form them into the Society of a Church and they
accordingly did so Again Rev. 12. 1. the Christian Church is described by a Woman cloathed with the Sun having the Moon under her feet and upon her head a Crown of twelve Stars i. e. shining and glorying in the Doctrine of the Twelve Apostles But more plainly Rev. 21. 19. the New Jerusalem that is the Christian Church is said to have twelve foundations answerable to the number of the Apostles To which purpose it is farther considerable that the generality of the Fathers either make the Petra or Foundation here in the Text to be the Faith and Profession of S. Peter which was the Belief of all the rest though according to the usual zeal and promptness of S. Peter first uttered by him or else they conceive this dignity to have been conferred upon S. Peter in the name of all the rest According to the former of these goe S. * S. Chrys in Matt. Hom. 55. Theophyl in Ioc. Epiph. c. Cathar Aug. trac 10. in 1. Joannis Chrysostom Theophylact Epiphanius S. Austin and several others but †Orig. tr 1. in Matt. Cypr. Ep. 27. Tert. de Pudic. c. 21. Origen S. Cyprian Tertullian and some others the latter way 2. But we will not stick to grant that S. Peter had something peculiar conferred upon him here by our Saviour namely this that he should have the honour first to plant the Christian Faith and so lay the first foundations of Christian Churches both amongst Jews and Gentiles Which is not onely the very account which S. Ambrose gives of the meaning S. Ambros serm 47. of this Text but that which appears eventually true in the History of the Acts. For accordingly Chap. 2. by a Sermon of his on the day of Pentecost he converted 3000 Souls to the Faith of Christ all which vers 41. were baptized and formed into the order of a Church and were the First-fruits of the Jews Again Chap. 10. he is sent to Cornelius and converts and baptizes him and his Family and so laid the foundation of the first Church of the Gentiles So that the meaning of this part of my Text is no more but this that S. Peter in reward of his forwardness in confessing Christ Jesus should have the honour to lay the first Foundation of his Church as aforesaid And of the truth of this interpretation I perswade my self any indifferent person will be abundantly satisfied that will take the pains to consult the Learned Camero upon the place Camer Myrothec PART III. I now hasten to the Third and last Part of my Text namely the Prediction of our Saviour touching the event of this business the Success and Duration of this Structure The Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it And here we have great variety amongst Interpreters Some considering that Gates use to be the greatest Strengths and most fortified places think that by the Gates of Hell is meant the Force and Power of the Devil and infernal Spirits and that consequently the meaning of our Saviour is that all the Persecutions which the Devil and his Agents raise against the Church shall never be able to destroy or extinguish it Others remembring that of old time the Gates of Cities used to be the places of Counsel and Judicature therefore think that by Gates of Hell is meant the Cunning Craft and Policy of the Devil and that the meaning of the Prediction is that neither the Plots and Machinations of the Devil and his Instruments shall take place against the Church nor particularly those Heresies and wicked Opinions which he suggests and foments against it shall ever be able to corrupt and deprave it I do not quarrel with either of these interpretations but I observe they both proceed upon a mistake of the notion of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which I will endeavour briefly to rectifie and then all will be easie Now it hath been made plain by several Learned men particularly by the Learned Dr. Windet of late that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we render Holl doth not signifie the place or the state of Hell-torments or the punishment of the damned either in the ancient Greek Authors or with Hellenistical Writers either the Septuagint or the Writers of the New Testament There is indeed one onely passage in the New Testament that looks towards such a sense and that is Luke 16. 23. where as we render it the rich man is said to be in Hell but that is reconcileable enough with the rest if it be duly considered But the general signification of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 imports onely the state of death or of the dead without relation to reward or punishment misery or happiness which these instances amongst many that might with like ease be assigned will make evident Acts 2. 24. that passage of the Psalmist is applied to our Saviour It was not possible for him to be held by the bands of death and vers 27. the phrase is varied and there it is said in the same sense Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell that is thou wilt not leave me under the power of death or in the condition of separate souls but wilt raise me up again And more plainly Rev. 20. 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Death and Hell are cast into the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone that is Mortality is destroyed the state of Corruption and Death are dissolved or as the Apostle elswhere expresses it Mortality is swallowed up of Life For the confirmation of both which interpretations I will add the Observation of * See Bish Vsher de Symbol Bishop Pearson on the Creed Artic. 5. Learned men upon that Article of our Creed where Christ is said to have descended 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 into Hell They note that in very few of the ancient Creeds those words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are to be found and especially that wherever they are to be found there those other words dead and buried are left out save onely in the Aquileian Creed where indeed both the phrases are used Whereupon it follows that in the sense of Antiquity Death and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or to be in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we render Hell and to be in the state of death were tantamount expressions So then the meaning of our Saviour in my whole Text is this I will by the Ministry of my Apostles and by thy especial agency Peter gather Disciples to my Name and Doctrine and I will have these formed into the orderly Society of a Church united to Me their Head and to each other as in a common Body having Laws Officers and Government peculiar And this my Church shall continue in the World as long as the World it self lasts subject to no Fate Mortality or Intercision nothing shall ever supplant or supersede it And thus I have according to my promise with all possible brevity explained the Doctrine of my Text. Let me now crave
leave to press the Consequences of this Doctrine upon your Practice suitably to the present occasion and I will conclude I will confine my self to these three Inferences First Since our Saviour took care to found a Church let us be of this Society and value the Priviledge of being of Christ's Church Secondly Since there is such a mighty Usefulness of this Foundation and Society let us especially that are Officers thereof endeavour to uphold it and do it all the Honour and Service we can Lastly Since our Saviour hath prophesied that all the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it let us all that love God's Church bear up our selves against all Discouragements and Despondencies on the truth and infallibility of his Prediction I. APPLIC Touching the first To be of the Christian Church is to be of the most honourable Society in the whole world It is to be of an Order whereof the Lord Christ is Founder and Protectour and whereof all the holy Angels are admirers to be incorporate into the Fellowship of Apostles Prophets Martyrs and all holy men to be of that mystical Body of which the Son of God is Head to be Citizens of the new Jerusalem Fellow-citizens with the Saints and of the Houshold of God Observe what glorious things the Apostle speaks Hebr. 12. 22 23 24. Ye are come to mount Sion to the City of the living God to the heavenly Jerusalem to an innumerable company of Angels to the general Assembly and Church of the First-born whose names are written in Heaven to God the Judge of all to Jesus the Mediatour of the new Covenant and to the spirits of just men made perfect And all this means nothing else but You Jews are translated from Moses to Christ from your old Synagogue to the Christian Church God's Church is his Family which he especially takes care of and provides for He that is of it is under the Shechinah the wing of the Divine Majesty and his special Providence His Church is his Vineyard and he not only sets a hedge about it but builds a watch-tower in it No Nation under heaven had such signal instances of God's presence and blessing as the people of the Jews whilst they continued to be his Church but when they ceased to be a Church they ceased to be a People were the most abject and contemptible rabble upon earth Above all to be of God's Church is to be under the means of Grace the Dew of Heaven the motions of the good Spirit and the hopes of Glory For to the Church hath he promised his presence and assistance there are dispensed the lively Oracles of God there hath he provided a constant succession of Dispensers of the bread of life to fit it to all needs and all Capacities Is it a small security to our minds or satisfaction to our Consciences that we are not left to the deceits and whispers of a private spirit to personal conjectures or secret insinuations but have the publick Doctrine of the Church Is it not a great encouragement of our Prayers when we are fortified against the just reflexions upon our own meanness and demerits by the concurrent Prayers of all God's people and mingle our devotions with theirs that so they may together come up a sweet odour before God Is it a small advantage to joyn in that holy Leaguer and besiege Heaven by conjoyned and ardent importunities Coïmus in coetum saith Tertullian ut ad Deum quasi manu factâ precationibus ambiamus orantes Can it chuse but be a great animation and incouragement to us to have before our eyes all the great Examples in God's Church Is it not a mighty matter to have our Faith strengthened and enlivened our Love inflamed our Comforts raised by the holy Communion Will not the flame of others kindle our Zeal and Affections And shall it not put us into an ecstasie of Devotion to see as it were Christ crucified before our eyes opening his Arms to us and pouring out his Blood for us Socrates is said to have given solemn thanks to God amongst other things that by his Providence he was a Philosopher and not a Barbarian and shall the twilight or dawnings of naturallight be more ravishing than the bright beams of the Sun of righteousness Shall Tully break out in a kind of ecstasie O philosophia unus dies ex praeceptis tuis actus peccanti immortalitati est anteponendus and shall not we much rather break out with the Psalmist A day in thy courts is better than a thousand and I had rather be a door-keeper in the House of God than dwell in the tents of wickedness The Chief Captain Acts 22. 28. gloried that he was a free Citizen of Rome and thought it worth the purchase of a great summe of money But saith S. Paul I was free-born and is it a small thing to us that we are born and brought up in the Church of God The Romans generally had such an opinion of the Augustness of their City that to be proscribed or banished was counted a capital punishment and a civil death thought equal to a natural The Pythagoreans when any one forsook their School were wont to carry out a Coffin for him attended with a funeral pomp And shall we esteem those alive that forsake the Church the School of Christ The Primitive Christians had such an esteem of the dignity and Priviledge of the Church that Coetu arceri to be Excommunicate was so dreadfull a doom as that those that pronounced the Sentence were wont to doe it with weeping and lamentation Ye ought to have mourned saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 5. 2. and 2 Cor. 12. 21. I shall bewail many And to be cast out of the Church and to be delivered up to Satan were accounted equivalent Nam judicatur magno cum pondere ut apud certos de Dei conspectu summúmque futuri Judicii praejudicium est si quis it à deliquerit ut à communione or ationis omnis sacri commercii relegetur saith Tertullian in his Apology for Christianity And who is there that hath been conversant in Church-Antiquity that hath not observed what repentance and tears what solicitations and intercessions what humble prostration of themselves were used by those that were fallen under the Censures of the Church to obtain restitution to Peace and Pardon And who that remembers this would ever have thought there should have come a time when it should be esteemed a matter of glory and a point of Saintship to cut off one's self voluntarily and become a Separatist from the Church The Church of Christ is the same it was and the blessings and advantages of it are still the same let us endeavour therefore to raise up its Glory to recover the ancient Zeal and to restore its Veneration And let us all say with those in the Psalm Come let us go up to the House of the Lord Our feet shall stand within thy Gates O