Professors of Christianitie from that unsettlement which is brought upon those that are children in understanding by the different doctrines of men and their sleights and cunning craftinesse whereby they lay in wait to deceive the simple and draw disciples after them whence wee may gather that if the true Ministers had done their worke as they should have done in love and unitie from the beginning of the Reformation the deceivers of these times would never have prevailed so as they have done hitherto But because this hath not been intended therefore they have gotten all the advantages that they can desire and wish for both against us and all other Protestants Thirdly their worke is not onely to unite them in faith and knowledge Vers 15. and to preserve them from seducers but to endeavour their growth in all things into him who is their head Christ by the sinceritie and truth of love Fourthly and to this effect their worke is to compact them and joyne them together as one body to build up themselves in love by that which every joynt is able to supply unto another Vers 16. Whence wee may most evidently perceive that the whole substance of their worke towards the Church and Saints to perfect them and build them up is in effect nothing but this to unite them in the faith and knowledge of Christ to preserve them from unsettlement and to cause them grow up within themselves by the loving communication of their graces to each other As concerning the work which they are to intend for the Gospel to maintain the profession of it in the world it is in a word to uphold the truth which is after godlinesse that it may be acknowledged to bee the grace of God which bringeth salvation Tit. 1.1 and that it may appeare unto all men to teach them to deny ungodlinesse and worldly lusts Tit. 2.11 12 13 14. and to live soberly righteously and godly in this present world looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and the Saviour Jesus Christ who gave himselfe for us that hee might redeeme us from all iniquity and purifie unto himselfe a peculiar people zealous of good workes Now to hold forth this word of life the Apostle requireth in all Professours and therefore most of all in the Ministers of the profession that they should doe all things without murmurings and disputings Phil. 2.14 and that they should bee in their conversation blamelesse and harmelesse as the Sonnes of God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation and that they should stand fast in in one Spirit Phil. 1.27 with one mind striving together for the faith of the Gospel Where wee may observe that in that worke which is proper to the advancement of the Gospel of truth in the world the holinesse of life the peaceablenesse and the unitie of the professors are the necessary requisites without which nothing in this kind can bee effected For this worke hath two parts The one is towards the children of truth the other is against the adversaries of truth Towards the children of truth the worke is in respect of the common profession to concurre in the wayes of righteousnesse of faith of charitie and of peace with all those that call upon God out of a pure heart 2 Tim. 2.22 and in respect of the aime of mutuall edification for practise it is to exhort one another daily whiles it is called to day Hebr. 3.13 and to provoke one another to love and to good workes Heb. 10.24 and for knowledge it is to endeavour that their hearts may bee comforted being knit together in love and to all riches of the full assurance of understanding to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God and of the Father and of Christ in whom are hid all the treasures of wisedome and knowledge Col. 2.2 3. Where we ought to observe that the studie of love and unitie have not onely an influence upon the common profession and that part of the peculiar worke of edification which is practicall to maintain it but also that it is a meanes to confirme and comfort the hearts of the beleevers in all the riches of the full assurance of the knowledge of the highest and most secret Mysteries And consequently that where this studie is not entertained there both the profession and all the comforts which arise unto the soules of beleevers practically and intellectually from their peculiar interests in each others edification doe wholly decay and the great mysteries of our salvation concerning God and the Father and Christ are darkned made doubtfull and by some utterly contradicted all which is brought to passe now adayes as much if not more then in any age heretofore by our dissensions As for the adversaries and gainesayers who are to bee opposed if wee take them to bee the principalities and powers of darknesse and spiritualities of malice in high places a chief part of the armour by which we are to fight against them and preserve our selves from their assaults is to have our Loines that is our affections girt about with truth that is with sincere love which is the bond of perfectnesse Ephes 6.14 and to have our feet shod that is our wayes of conversion fitted with the preparation of the Gospel of peace that is with meanes of peace Col. 3.14 with Ephes 4.15 to prepare men to entertain without offence and peaceably the Gospel of the peace of God which is revealed in his word to us Ephes 6.15 But if wee take the opposers to bee men although sometimes their mouthes must be stopped Tit. 1.10 11 12 13. Tit. 3.9 2 Tim. 2.23 and they sharply rebuked namely when it is evident that they are vain talkers unruly deceivers and liars yet alwayes matters of strife and jangling both with them and all others are to bee avoided which we now have not heeded and the behaviour of the servant of God even in his greatest zeale and in the worst of times must never bee precipitate and hasty that is without long-suffering 2 Tim. 4.2 3. But chiefly towards such of whom there may be hope of recovery all gentlenesse patience forbearance and meeknesse of instruction is with great care to bee used as the Apostle doth teach Timothy 2 Epist 2.24 25. which is a lesson almost utterly forgotten in these our dayes amongst some that esteeme themselves the chief of Professors Thus then wee see that there is no particular part of all the Ministeriall worke wherein the spirit of love and unitie must not appeare as the principall agent to make it successefull Fourthly and lastly their relation to each other as fellow-labourers in these workes is properly that of joynts which are between the Members of the body to unite them to each other and to make them dependent upon the head For in Ephes 4. vers 16. the Apostle doth cleerly speak of the visible body of the Church as it
equitable and charitable affections which the Spirit of Christ doth suggest yet now being put in minde thereof if henceforth the motions of his Spirit bee not rejected but sincerely entertained openly professed and effectually followed who doth not know but that yet a happy composure of our differences may be effected Thirdly Declarations of the truth that is in us are good but however they are no more but words except then reall actions answer them How they should prosecute thier aime and speake the truth of justice and peaceablenesse in our proceedings there can bee nothing but bitternesse in the end For nothing can prevent the crosse workings of mens spirits against us but that which is able to beget and settle a confidence in their mindes towards us and to beget this confidence and allay these jealousies which cause mens spirits boyle up to a disturbance of those proceedings wherein wee meane well I would suggest to our leading men these impartiall considerations The parts of this discourse 1 That they ought to lay to heart the causes which hinder others to confide in us to remove the same 2 That they ought to seeke and finde out the persons which are most capable of receiving good impressions of us and from us that the same may bee given them and by them propagated unto all 3 That they should make use of the proper meanes by which confidence is bred in honest mindes towards us that the same may bee set a working 4 That they should observe the method and manner of proceeding requisite in doing this that the attempt may bee effectuall and not miscarry Of these foure heads I shall suggest somewhat tending to the advancement of peace and truth as briefly as I can First concerning the causes hindering others to confide in us and begetting feares in them against us let me say this The causes of mistrust and feare He that doth not confide in his neighbours doth hinder them to confide in him and hee that doth feare others doth beget in them causes of feare against himselfe if then wee would have others to confide in us and not feare us wee must also confide in them and not feare them For if I cannot bring my spirit to trust my neighbour how can I expect that his spirit should bee brought to trust me and if I thinke that hee doth not trust me I will readily suspect him if I suspect him I will either arme my selfe to oppose him or weaken him lest hee oppose mee and if I give way to these thoughts I am at warre with him in my heart and the affection of Christian love and ingenuitie which onely can beget confidence is lost between us love being lost the fruits of emulation envie and passion will bee found and break forth in our nature I finde the sequele of matters in our nature to lie thus Where I doe not love I cannot confide where I confide not I will finde cause to mistrust where I finde cause to mistrust I will fortifie my selfe against the same and if I fortifie my selfe against my neighbour I must expect that hee will doe the like against mee for what cause hath hee to trust mee more then I doe him therefore as long as I manifest no love nor trust but force onely there can bee no confidence expected from any towards mee The maine hinderance then of confidence and cause of feare is the endeavour of force and if I once begin to endeavour force I seeke not onely security to my selfe but the conquest of that which I thinke is mine opposit because I cannot naturally rest secure as long as that which I count an enemy is not subdued and whatsoever I doe not trust I am apt to account an enemy therefore whilst I make nothing my friend but mine owne force I am apt to trust to nothing else but it From all which this doth follow that as soone as I forsake the simplicitie of my love I beget naturally feares within my selfe and when I take a course to secure my selfe from my feares by force I multiply feares in others and give them cause to mistrust me Let me then cure mine owne feares first which I have of others and then I shall bee able to cure the feares which others have of me if I take the beame out of mine owne eye I shall see cleer to take the moat out of my neighbours Quest But the question will be How shall I cure mine owne feares Answ Isa 8.12.13 Truely to answer this I know none other way but to follow Gods counsell by the Prophet Isaiah Say ye not saith the Lord A confederacie to all them to whom this people shall say A confederacie neither feare ye their feare nor be afraid sanctifie the Lord of hosts himselfe and let him bee your feare and let him bee your dread It is then nothing else but the base feare of men upon politick considerations The cure of our owne fears and the want of the true feare of God upon divine Principles which troubles mee and drives mee to courses which make others afraid of mee but if I did not at all looke to men but unto God alone if I did not confide in mine owne force but in the Almighty others would finde cause to confide in mee As I behave my selfe towards God so I must expect that others will behave themselves towards mee if I mean from my heart well towards others in God God will move others to meane so also towards me 1 Pet. 3.13 14. And who is he saith the Apostle that will harme you if ye bee follwers of that which is good if I mind nothing but that which is good to every one what cause have I to think that any will mind harme or evill against me But suppose I suffer wrong whiles I minde that which is good and righteous the Apostle saith that I am happy and if I am happy I need not bee afraid of men nor troubled at my suffering But what if I bee afraid and troubled is it not because I am not willing to suffer in doing good if then I to avoyd suffering for righteousnesse will secure my selfe by force and make others afraid of mee it is evident that I doe not commit my selfe and my cause to God in well doing but I take it in mine owne hand to manage it by mine owne strength and how this will prosper I need not to mention Quest But now you will perhaps say How should I become a constant follower of that which is good Answ To answer this Matth. 7.12 the Doctrin and Rule of Christ is without all exception Whatsoever you would have others to doe to you doe you to them also the meaning is doe you it first unto them for we are commanded to consider one another to provoke each other to love and to good workes If I must consider to provoke then hee that is to bee provoked to love The way to
one containing the Diurnall or brief Narrative of the daily proceedings of each Meeting another containing nothing else but the results of each treatie or the advices which shall be agreed upon to advance the accommodation of differences 4 To keepe these two bookes there shall be a peculiar Trunk or Chest or Box with two severall lockes fixed to the meeting place and every one of the one side shall have a key for the one locke and every one of the other side a key for the other lock so that none of either side alone shall bee able to open the Cheff but any two of both sides shall have power to doe it and to make use of their Registers as they shall think good 5 The times of their meetings should bee constantly appointed once for all and inviolably observed because they are wholly to bee set apart to attend the worke without interruption 6 If at any time by reason of some invincible impediment as of sicknesse or some other unavoidable accident one of the number be absent the meeting shall not bee void yet the Acts thereof shall not be Registred till he that was absent hath seen them and approved of them 7 Nothing shall bee carried by the major part of voices what is not consented unto by all shall not bee any Act. 8 The matter of the Treatie shall not bee concerning doctrinall truths because it is supposed that there is no materiall difference therein between the parties but concerning practicall duties relating either to the constitution or to the government of the Churches or to the exercise of Religious worship in a private or publick way 9 The manner of their Treaty shall not proceed by way of debate and dispute to argue what is right or wrong in respect of the particular practises of parties but it shall proceed in the way of positive Declarations and Answers unto certaine Questions which shall bee proposed as cases of conscience to be resolved from the Word of God and the undeniable principles of Christianitie 10. He then that sitteth in the chaire shall aske of every one what matter he would have taken into consideration what shall be offered by every one shall be noted in a memoriall by it self then the question shall be in what order the things offered shall be thought upon and when that which is to be first in order shall be determined a question shall bee framed thereof as a case of conscience to be resolved by the word from which every one shall gather his Answer and bring it in against the next meeting in writing and when the writings are compared that wherein they all doe agree shall onely be taken as a result of their Treatie and that wherein they differ shall be left untouched except some proposall be made which doth take with all for the reconcilement of the difference 11 In bringing in their answers they shall avoid large discourses and set downe that which they shall deliver upon the point to be resolved in short Aphorismes and Propositions per thesim Antithesim and to facilitate the matter each side should contract their severall answers into one summe containing that in which they all doe agree that so at their meeting together the comparison may be made onely between two writings out of which the agreement is to be extracted as a common result upon the Question which was proposed 12 When the resolutions of all profitable questions tending to an accommodation of our differences shall be thus gathered without contradictory debates into cleer and distinct propositions which shall be taken from Gods Word to be offered as an advice unto the dissenting parties towards an agreement then they shall be put into some order and ranked under their proper heads of matters to be communicated unto the rest of each side 13 The way of communicating matters I conceive may bee this 3. For the communication of that which shall be concluded First let the preliminarie determinations of the Treaty bee published by setting forth the Art and Instrument of the mutuall engagement of those that are called to the Treatie and let this be done immediatly after the Treaty is begun to the end that the rest of both sides may know the end of the Treaty and bee desired to recommend the effect thereof to God in their publick and private Prayers Secondly when the Treatie is at an end let there bee a brief narrative published of the order and method of proceeding used in the Treatie to let all see how equally and amiably matters have been carried Thirdly when this is done towards all indifferently then let the results of all the deliberations upon all the questions be printed but not made common to all onely first to the States-men who set the Treaty afoot a certaine number of copies are to bee imparted that they may distribute and send the same to the most peaceable and moderate spirits of each side to engage them to declare how farre they give their assent thereunto and when the chief shall have declared their sense thereof and it doth appeare that the advice is not rejected the Houses of Parliament may be moved to move the Assembly of Divines to declare their sense and approbation of the same which being done the Houses should concurre with their authority not onely to permit but to recommend the practise thereof unto all Thus I have done for the present with these suggestions rather to satisfie your desire and discharge mine owne conscience then that I have any great hope they will bee laid to heart yet who knoweth where this seed may fall and what God may doe with it I know assuredly that hee will doe good to Israel to these that are of a cleane heart Psal 73.1 Matth. 5.9 Iam. 3 1â— I know that the peace-makers are pronounced blessed and called the Sonnes of God and that the fruit of righteousnesse is sowen in peace of them that make peace Now the God of Peace and Truth be with you alwayes Amen From Sion House Septemb. 12. 1647. A Preface to the ensuing discourse shewing what are the speciall lets of Ecclesiasticall Reconciliation and what the causes of Divisions are amongst Ministers and how to be remedied SIR YOu know what hopes you gave me when I was at Sion House that some effectuall course would bee followed to reconcile our differences about matters of Religion I did thereupon impart unto you very freely my thoughts concerning the whole businesse how it might bee advanced as I conceived The Treatie of an accommodation begun at London Since that time being here at London the hopes which you gave me were confirmed by the zeale and forwardnesse of those who in the Citie gave occasion to the best affected to meet at severall conferences whereof the ayme was very laudable and necessary viz. to prevent both in Church and State the imminent dangers of Tyranny on the one hand and of Anarchie on the other and to find
them is not to dictate any thing but onely to discover the possibility of a cure of this disease first in themselves and then in their hearers by the removall of the chiefe causes of all our prejudices which I shall reduce to two heads whereof the one is openly the other is secretly offensive That which doth openly offend and causeth prejudices to rise in the mindes of men who are otherwise godly and against men who are truely godly and their Brethren is the irregularitie of disputes and debates about matters of Religion which is mainly twofold some irregularitie there is in respect of the matter some there is in respect of the manner of disputing In respect of the matter prejudices are raised when men strive about needlesse matters and contend for words and this the Apostle doth often warne Timothy to avoid as a thing whereunto the Ministers were and would bee much subject 1 Tim. 1.4 5 6. and chap. 4.7 and chap. 6.4 5.20 and 2 Tim. 2.14 15 16 17 23. In respect of the manner of debating matters which are necessary and profitable prejudices are raised divers wayes but that which is the most common and hurtfull is that of passionate and provoking expressions against a mans person and his opinions to make him odious and his errours thought to bee extreame dangerous in that wherein hee dissents from us these railing accusations and all other injurious and insolent proceedings breed averse affections and stirring up mens spirits to strife and contradictions augment prejudices extreamly and fill the Churches with disturbance and confusion That which doth offend more secretly and doth beget much prejudice is the perverse and uncharitable observation of mens failings when they are construed suspiciously to the worse sense and then whispered in the eares of others that are leading men under the pretence of a caution or warning given unto them to take heed of this or of that for the strengthning of their hands in partiall designes and the promoting of particular interests This darke malicious devill who covers himselfe oft-times with a cloke of light and a zeale for holinesse and truth is exceeding busie in our dayes and hurtfull to our affaires and doth work his mischiefe not onely against him who is blasted in his reputation to make all the good which his talents may produce unprofitable unto others but also against the Authors of such whisperings themselves to make them the ring-leaders of division and of evill intelligence amongst brethren These are in brief the chief causes of our prejudices these must needs bee removed else the way of a lawfull condescension and forbearance will never bee plaine and easie in the settlement nor lasting in the continuance it will then bee of absolute necessitie that some course bee taken to remedy the same Therefore I shall for the present onely advise that when a brotherly transaction of matters towards a mutuall forbearance shall bee intended then some rules should bee thought upon debated and by common consent setled concerning three things First how needlesse disputes and multiplicitie of new controversies breaking forth in the Presse and Pulpit may be prevented Secondly how the injuriousnesse of censures and of proceeding which men of partiall dispositions and of high thoughts runne into may bee rectified when disputes are necessary And Thirdly how the secret mischief of suspicious whisperings and tale-bearing amongst Brethren may bee prevented and being discovered satisfactorily corrected And that some rules of righteousnesse may bee found in the Word to remedie these evills and may bee raised from the nature of Christian charitie equitie ingenuitie pietie discretion and prudencie I suppose none will deny who doth beleeve that the holy Scriptures with and by the spirit of God which is promised to the children of God are able to make the man of God perfect and throughly furnished unto every good word and worke Thus I have made out as briefly and as distinctly as this occasion seemeth to require the truth of the first and second assertion of this discourse namely that the Ministery of this kingdome is undeniably obliged in conscience to the mutuall profession of Brotherhood and that the termes of their unitie and forbearance are both in themselves full and satisfactory and may bee setled reciprocally amongst them in a plaine and easie way if the men that lead others were but willing to looke to God more then to men and to conscience more then to outward interests CHAP. XII The third Assertion Concerning the motions which should induce us to make profession of this unitie and forbearance Why these are requisite and what they are BUt now although these things are evidently thus demonstrable and by all that which hitherto hath been alledged it may be manifestly apparent that these who are the leaders of the flockes should not onely stand united and walk by one rule in that whereunto they have attained but also that their differences may and ought to bee composed in love by amiable meetings by orderly conferences and by the settlement of a necessary and lawfull forbearance of each other although I say all this is so yet wee see to the great dishonour of God the lamentable disadvantage of the truth and the extreame griefe of many godly soules that this hath not hitherto either beene done or effectually prosecuted and intended by those that are in the worke of the Ministery or if it hath been intended by some yet not so as it ought to have been that is upon the grounds which are proper unto their vocation What the causes of this neglect may bee wee shall not now particularly search into onely in generall wee may take notice that all such failings in dutie may proceed from two main causes either that men otherwise knowing and godly yet consider not the necessitie of this dutie in respect of the evills that follow upon the neglect thereof or that the excellencie commendablenesse and worth thereof is either not known or if not unknown yet not laid to heart Now then in this our present sad condition if any thing can be suggested which may be a helpe to remove these causes of our failing in this kind it may bee hoped that godly and conscionable men will bee more carefull of the performance and more fearefull of the neglect thereof then hitherto they have been Therefore it will not bee amisse but may bee of very great use to offer some motives and inducements to incline them without partialitie to these resolutions and this wee shall intend to doe if God permit CHAP. XIII Concerning the necessitie of Brotherly unitie in the Ministery IF then we should take into consideration the absolute necessitie of this dutie it will appeare that the present evills whereinto these Churches and the state of this kingdome are fallen and which threaten all with unavoydable ruine are mainely brought upon us through the neglect of that ministeriall unitie and correspondencie which is sutable unto Christianitie For whosoever
Christian unitie The chief causes thereof are carnall self-seeking disorderly controversies and the want of true brotherly inclinations notwithstanding the manifold bonds and the name of brotherhood taken up amongst us The remedies of these causes are that wee should learne self-deniall from Christ that wee should not strive nor cry nor let our voice bee heard in the streets Matth. 12.19 20. nor quench the smoaking flax nor breake the bruised reed but that wee should in truth and sincerity as in the presence of God consider one another to exhort and provoke each other unto love and to good workes Heb. 10.24 Now to move us effectually hereunto next unto the expresse and known will of God which is before all others the greatest of inducements I know nothing that should bee more powerfull with us then the discovery of the dolefull and pernicious effects of our divisions and distempers The dolefull effects of our divisions as punishments of the sinne Upon all in generall For whilst wee are thus at a distance for points of outward order the inward substance of the profession is not regarded Whilst wee contend for circumstantials concerning the wayes of going about our worke the maine of the worke is left undone and whilst for temporall jealousies about small matters Brethren uphold no spirituall correspondency Satan in matters of the greatest concernments hath gotten this advantage against us that the whole doctrine of truth is become doubtfull unto very many and the Gospel it self and in it the wayes of peace the chief object of comfort are made a matter of strife and contradiction unto all And if wee will observe particulars wee shall perceive that amongst other things by this way of strife and contradiction hee hath prevailed chiefly in this that the very being of an orderly Ministery is called in question and opposed most universally For to abolish the work and the office of the ordinary ministery is that about which under severall pretences all his agents on all hands are most earnestly imployed and by their meanes all the fundamentals of order and ordinances in the Church are already unsetled and all the grounds of authoritie in the State are almost quite overthrown For by and upon some principles of that which is called a new light it is free for every one to doe what seemeth good in his owne eyes without controule or giving account thereof unto any This licentious freedome doth leade them that follow it to the fulfilling of all their fleshly desires and doth confirme them in all manner of confusion wherein the spirit of railing of bitternesse of envy of contradiction and of uncharitablenesse in opposing and censuring others doth increase strife and hatred and multiplieth scandals infinitely all which bring forth the woes that lie upon us For to raile and calumniate without shame is become the very trade of many nor is there any way left almost either in Church or Common-wealth to redresse the injuries of this kind though never so grosse and palpable All this breaketh the hearts of the godly staggereth the weake gladdeth the adversaries openeth a dore to all profanenesse and causeth the Name of God to bee blasphemed and the way of truth to bee evill spoken of in the world at which Atheists and Papists triumph and exult with joy expecting in the end that the effect of all this will bee the utter ruine and desolation of all Protestants Hee that cannot see these evills to rise originally from the misbehaviours of Brethren in the Ministery of the Gospel about their differences is wholly blind hee that doth not feele the inconveniences thereof is senselesse and hee that cannot grieve for the same is hardned in sinfulned Now because all these inconveniencies reach unto all the Professors in some sort alike therefore every one though chiefly the Ministers as chief of the Professors should bee moved thereby to contribute their whole strength towards the speedy removall thereof But besides these common evils there is in this neglect whereof the Ministery is most of all guiltie something which doth more especially reflect and that justly upon themselves more then others More especially upon the Ministery and from them upon their Ministeriall function as tending to make void the authoritie and wholly frustrate the end of their ordinary vocation For although personal faults ought not to prejudice the vocation the credit of the function yet because it is very naturall to all men to make a consequence from the one to the other therefore the Apostle will have even the meanest of the profession to behave themselves so as it may not suffer any disesteeme for their sakes For speaking of servants professing Christianitie to Titus and to Timothy Tit. 2.10 he will have them to shew all good fidelitie unto their masters that they may adorne the dectrine of Christ our Saviour in all things 1 Tim. 6. and to honour their masters that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed through their misbehaviour If then Christianitie it self will suffer in the opinions of men and bee discredited by the faults of the meanest that take the name thereof upon them how shall it not bee discredited by the miscarriages of those that are the chiefest of the profession and how shall the credit of the ministery be upheld in mens opinions and affections if those to whom the charge thereof is committed dishonour their administration and how can they bee thought to honour their administration if they walke not answerable unto the end thereof Now there is nothing more opposit unto the true end of the Ministeriall calling then this very neglect of dutie whereof they are at this time found guilty For the end use and effect of the Ministeriall worke is to reform the world Ephes 4 1â— 13. To perfect the Saints and to edifie the body of Christ till we all come in the unitie of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man but this effect must needs be made void and this end frustrate as long as the Ministers maintaine no Brotherly communion one with another but stand at their distances and are single by themselves so as to have no familiaritie of concurrence about their Masters worke even although he hath therein strictly commanded them to bee united For how can they reforme others that are not reformed themselves How can they bee thought fit to perfect the Saints so long as they seek not one anothers perfection how can they be said to advance the unitie of Faith who doe all things belonging to the profession of faith within themselves dividedly How can they in the work of the Ministery be able joyntly to build up the same body of Christ who in that work maintain no communion one with another in reference unto his body but rather set themselves to make up every one a separate body for himselfe and how can they be able to bring all unto the
unitie of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man through love whose imperfection in love is such that they doe value no common relations unto Christ and his service further then these set up some private interests nor do mind the unitie of the spirit through the love of Christ which is common unto all so much as to entertain either commembership or ministeriall fellowship or true Gospel-work-acquaintance with any that are not either setled in the circumstantiall courses of their way or willing to come up unto them therein Wee see then upon these grounds that except this neglect of dutie be reformed and the true end of the Ministeriall work without humane aimes be heartily entertained by those to whom it is intrusted the effects thereof will never prosper in their hands but Satan as hitherto he hath done since they were divided will continually prevaile against them all till hee hath brought them unto finall destruction and irrecoverable desolation This then is the danger whereinto wee are fallen and to lay this to heart is that matter of absolute necessitie which by all should be apprehended but chiefly by those that are called to the Ministery that they in doing their principall dutie which is to studie unitie in the truth in Christianity may uphold the holy profession and thereby intend their mutuall preservation For without all doubt their very being in this kingdome if they take not this course will be very shortly in a most desperat condition because as it is undeniably apparent that hitherto nothing but their own disunion about matters extrafundamentall hath made Satan and their enemies to prevaile against them The application to exhort to unitie So it is cleerly manifest that henceforth nothing but their mutuall union will bee effectuall to maintain what they yet hold or restore what they have lost in the minds of men and of their standing in the profession hee then that doth decline to concurre in the wayes of spirituall unitie with those that offer and sue for the same unto him and being convicted of this danger doth not endeavour to prevent it shall bee found guilty of all the evils that follow upon our breaches of all the ruine that befalleth unto these Churches of all the confusions that from thence arise unto the Commonwealth of all the dishonor done to the name of Christ for want of order in his house and of all the shame and reproach which this Nation is either now aspersed withall abroad amongst their Neighbours or will in after ages cleave unto it If then there is any love to the Fundamentall truths of the Gospel if there is any zeale for righteousnesse and against damnable heresies if there is any just hatred due to Blasphemies and to the wayes of profanenesse and licenciousnesse whereby the kingdome of Satan is erected and setled upon the ruines of Christs kingdome amongst us and if there is any faithfulnesse and constancie to bee expected from those that professing Christianitie have entred into solemne protestations vowes and covenants to stand united according to the will of God for the advancement of a common reformation and the settlement of our union therein if I say there bee any such thing as love to truth zeale for righteousnesse and faithfulnesse of Christian Covenants I may adjure such as pretend thereunto to shew themselves at this time therein for their owne and their Brethrens preservation that by the duties of Brotherly unitie in the holy profession they may bee found to keepe faith and a good conscience without blame For as it is not possible that the Faith once given to the Saints can bee maintained by any without a good conscience so the integritie of a good conscience cannot bee kept without observing the end of the holy Commandement which is the practise of love out of a pure heart Now this practise amongst Mininisters in their Ministeriall charges can bee none other but a conscionable concurrence of their spirits in that aime wherein the all relate unto Christ to strengthen one anothers hands in the works of his service For their unity and love to each other can have no truth but as it relates unto him nor can it relate otherwise unto him then by fulfilling his will in doing the works of his service and if this aime be lost in any let them pretend what they will their conscience is not sound their performance is not acceptable nor will their indeavours be for ever established hence it is that because many have left off to aime sincerely at this who either delight to stand wholly by themselves and give way to dividing principles and practises or thinke it more expedient to stand wholly associated but give way to the meanes of humane power to trust more thereunto then to the duties of Christian love and serviceablenesse therefore it is just with God to withdraw from such of both sides that walke in these wayes and from their undertakings the blessing of his presence So that by reason of the want of his strength to goe along and conduct to guide them all their hands are weakned nothing which is undertaken doth prosper the service of Christs house is not advanced the stewards thereof are either divided by themselves or scattered by others and generally they are as men without a heart afraid one of another and through these their breaches a whole deluge of damnable errors and a full current of all unrighteous wicked and scandalous practises hath overwhelmed and almost drowned the Churches so that the very floodgates of hell seeme to bee opened upon us and have covered us with the proud waves of all licenciousnesse And although it cannot bee denied but that it is just with God to suffer Satan thus farre to prevaile against all for the sinnes of all and to make this breach upon the Leaders for their failing in the Ministery yet it is farre from mee to thinke A doubt answered concerning the office of the Ministery as some doe that the promise of God is failed in this our age at if there were neither true Church nor Ministery any more amongst us or any where in this world but that the gates of hell having prevailed against the Church which Christ did once institute by his Apostles a new mission must be expected and a new foundation laid for the erecting of his kingdome I say God forbid that I should thinke so Yea let God bee true but every man a liar for I beleeve that heaven and earth shall passe away Rom. 3.4 Matth. 24.35 Matth. 16.16 17 18 19. but the word that is gone out of Christs mouth shall not passe away Now Christ upon a speciall occasion said distinctly unto his Disciples three things which are these 1 That his Church should bee built upon the rock of that truth whereof the Apostles made confession which was that Jesus was the Christ the sonne of the living God 2 That the gates of hell should not prevaile
build up and confirme and increase the beleevers therein by the testimony of Jesus and by their unitie and love amongst themselves how shall they bee able to doe this except they bee first agreed to hold forth the same testimony and except there be some amiable concurrence amongst them in the workes of their Ministery Therefore as faith and love are inseparably necessary to make a true Christian so the testimony of Jesus and the spirit of unitie are inseparably requisite for the worke of the Ministery For as there is an absolute necessitie lying upon the Ministery to beare witnesse unto the truth towards the manifestation thereof for the saving of their own soules So they are also no lesse necessitated to maintain the profession of their unitle for the edification of their hearers For without this profession that manifestation will never in reason be found a truth fit to convict the world which otherwise it may be because as it is just that when witnesses doe not agree their testimony should not be received so it is equitable that when they doe agree their testimony should not be rejected And if by this onely default they make their testimony without effect it is evident that to establish the truth and not to discredit it to uphold the Ministery and not to make it contemptible to build up the Churches and not to ruine them and to confirme the faith of the Professors and not to stagger them the profession and practise of Brotherly unitie amongst the Ministers of the Gospel is absolutely necessary For all may see that are not blind and senselesse that originally nothing but the neglect of this dutie hath deprived us of all our hopes and blessings and brought us under the yoake of all these miseries Upon all which this consequence doth manifestly follow that the onely way to preserve the remnant which is left entire to restore that which is not utterly decaied in the Church and to helpe this distracted State unto some settlement if there be any possibility of attaining it is this That the Ministers of the Gospel should set themselves to concurre and correspond together that they may hold forth unto the world in the testimony of Jesus Christ the lovelinesse the peaceablenesse the meeknesse and the unitie of his spirit to the end that both they and their hearers may follow therein his footsteps as hee is gone before us to leave us an example For this is a path of the new and the living way which hee hath consecrated for us and out of this way no man can come unto the Father it is therefore absolutely necessary that such as will enter into the holiest become followers of God as deare children and walke in love as Christ also hath loved us and made himselfe as one of us even our Brother to gaine us unto God CHAP. XIV Concerning the usefulnesse and commendablenesse of brotherly unitie in the worke of the Ministery Sect. I. What the communion and correspondency is wherein our unitie is to be setled HItherto wee have reflected upon that which doth make the studie of brotherly love and unitie amongst us absolutely necessary to avoid the danger of ruine and destruction and the guilt of hindering the progresse of the Gospel in the world now wee shall reflect also upon the usefulnesse and commendablenesse of the dutie in reference unto the work of the Ministery It is no generous disposition to be drawn by meer necessitie and feare unto a dutie but to bee moved thereunto by the lovelinesse of grace and by that which is excellent therein is praiseworthy and argueth a noble and vertuous inclination Therefore wee shall set our selves to worke upon this inclination and indeavour to waken it in every one that hath ingenuitie And my aime shall bee rather to deale with the understandings of all able to consider of their wayes to demonstrate that which I conceive to bee a dutie then with the affections of any to perswade them unto a performance before they are convicted of that which is the will of God therein For I shall speak to Ministers and such as I must suppose to bee conscionable and to those I knew nothing so effectuall to perswade as to evidence unto them that a matter is conformable unto the will of God for nothing but this doth interest conscience into action Now lest I should bee mistaken in that which I shall desire to offer as a dutie of the Ministery I shall contract all which for the present I have to say to one assertion which having opened I shall endeavour to make good The assertion is this That although there were no danger of any enemies Act. 20.28 29 30. Phil. 1.27 1 Cor. 1.10 11 12. or of inward breaches and divisions in the Church for the preventing of which to study the unitie of the spirit it wholly necessary yet that for the true 1 Ministers of the Gospel in the duties 2 of their ministeriall charge nothing is more conscionable 3 nothing more profitable 4 nothing more commendable 5 and nothing more sutable to the glory of God 6 and the perfecting 7 of the Saints then to 8 maintain a Brotherly communion 9 and correspondency one with another and that such as lay not this dutie to heart but love rather to stand and walke by 10 themselves and to maintaine the principles 11 of a singular distance from their brethren in the Minnistery will not bee able in the end to approve their consciences unto God that they walke worthy of the calling wherewith they are called This assertion is somewhat large therefore to open the parts thereof that my meaning may bee the better understood I shall say of the severall heads thereof thus 1 That by the true Ministers of the Gospel are meant none but such persons as are authorized by an ordinary and regular way of calling to administer the publick ordinances of Christ in his Church 2 That by the duties of their Ministeriall charge are meant the workes which in and towards the Church are to bee performed as an office and such are To labour in the word and prayer to have the care of gathering and constituting the Church to rule and govern the Saints committed to their charge as one body in Christ to dispense the seales of the Covenant to those that belong unto it and to exercise Church discipline over those that are liable to it all which they are bound to attend as occasion is offered and the edification of the Church doth require 3 That when I say a thing is conscionable I meane that it is prescribed by God in his word as a dutie which cannot be neglected without contracting of guilt unto the conscience 4 When I say that a thing is profitable I meane that it doth yeeld in its owne kind some benefit to him that useth it 5 When I say that a thing is commendable I meane that it hath qualities for which it is to bee esteemed and
the description of this way doth shew a Threefold excellencie and usefulnesse of love The first is that without it no spirituall talents or good workes are profitable to the Church or to our owne salvation Vers 1 2 3. The second is that in it and by it all vertues tending to make a man perfect are wrought in us Vers 4 5 6. 7. The third is that above all other graces it is the onely durable and lasting unto eternitie Vers 8 9 10 11 12. Which doctrine being referred to the foregoing proposition in the last verse of Chap. 12. will produce this argument or demonstration concerning the excellencie of love That vertue without which no gifts nor good workes are usefull unto any and by which all vertues are wrought in us and which alone lasteth unto eternitie is the most excellent way to spirituall gifts But so it is that charitie is that vertue Ergo it is of all others the most excellent way to spirituall gifts The Minor or the Assumption of this argument is made good concerning charitie in the three severall parts thereof forementioned First then that without it no spirituall talents and outward good workes are usefull the Apostle doth make out in many particulars For he first mentioned the gift of utterance suppose a man could speake with the tongues of men and Angels yet if hee want charitie he is to his auditory but as sounding brasse or a tinkling Cymbale Vers 1. Afterwards the gifts of prophesie of understanding all mysteries of all knowledge of all faith to doe miracles yet if there be no charitie he declareth that all this is of no use and vertue neither to the Church nor to him that hath it Ver. 2. Then concerning good workes he supposeth the largest and most compassionate relief of the poore and the greatest constancy in martyrdome for the truth even that a man should give his body to bee burnt yet if there be no charity all these workes will availe him nothing Vers 3. Charitie then is more excellent then these gifts and is to bee counted the life and as it were the soule of them all Secondly that by charitie all vertues are wrought in us the Apostle doth in like manner declare in many particulars For the vertues which make us perfect for our behaviour towards persons in actions and about things they all proceed from charitie For our behaviour towards persons if others bee crosse and froward it teacheth long-suffering If they bee good and vertuons it teacheth kindnesse if they are in glory and prosperity it doth not envie their condition if wee in respect of our selves find some excellencies or eminencies in our own condition which others have not it doth not suffer us to vaunt thereof towards others nor to be puffed up thereby within our selves Vers 4. For our behaviour in actions whether they bee our own or other mens whether evill or good charity doth teach the vertues which are to bee exercised in them In our own actions in respect of the forme charity doth not behave it selfe unseemly in respect of the end it seeketh not her own In the actions of others if they bee evill it is not provoked easily to wrath or sharpnesse by them if they bee good it doth not thinke evill of them Vers 5. it s own proper action is joy whereof the object is not iniquitie but truth whether in our selves or others Vers 6. For our behaviour about things if the things are indifferent and present as done by others it beareth with them if the things are good and said or promised by others it beleeveth them or absent and expected from others it hopeth for them if the things are evill it endureth them Vers 7. Thus in all respects it doth make a man compleat in all vertues So that it is not without cause that the Apostle doth call it the bond of perfectnesse and in that respect doth exhort us above all other endeavours to exercise our selves therein Coloss 3.14 Above all these things put on charitie which is the bond of perfectnesse Thirdly that of all other graces necessary to make us perfect unto salvation charitie is alone the permanent vertue the Apostle doth shew First by declaring that it never faileth Secondly by comparing it with Prophecies with Tongues and with knowledge which all shall faile and vanish away Vers 8 9 10 11 12. And thirdly by exalting it above Faith and Hope as the greatest of these graces Vers 13. And if to all this wee should adde the commendations which the Apostle John in his first Epistle doth give unto this vertue as the chief meanes of our communion with God of comfort within our selves and of our inoffensivenesse towards our neighbour wee might bee very large upon this subject but to such as in their Ministery have any conscionable respect unto the expresse will of God and who can discerne the things that are excellent this will suffice at this time to commend unitie and charitie considered in themselves as they are good pleasant lovely and desirable Sect. III. Of the common rules of Christianitie as they are more especially obligatory unto Ministers in the duties of their calling BEsides the lovelinesse and excellency of these vertues which doth commend to all the practise thereof in a common way there are three speciall considerations which ought to induce Ministers of the Gospell to entertaine in the workes of their Ministery one with another the duties of brotherly communion and correspondency following thereupon The first is taken from the rules which are common to all professors without which none can bee answerable unto the calling wherewith hee is called unto Christianity it selfe The second is taken from the laudable practise of those who are set before them as infallible examples in the Ministery And the third is taken from the consideration of those things which God doth peculiarly require of them as they are Ministers So that none who neglecteth these duties will bee able to approve himselfe in the beautie of holinesse either a true Christian by the common profession or an upright follower of Christ and his Apostles in the Ministery or a faithfull servant to the trust committed unto him in his charge but in the day of accounts must expect to receive not the praise due to the good and faithfull but the reproof to be given to the wicked and slothfull servant Marth 25.21.23.26 together with his reward As for the duties of the common profession wherein professors are obliged to relate to one another and which to that effect are mainly pressed upon the consciences of all againe and again commended unto us in the Scriptures as matters which to uphold the integritie of the profession before the world are most of all necessary they are nothing else but the effects of unitie and love in truth and holinesse For truth and holinesse are the fundamentalls of a single profession but without the effects of love and unitie in these there
that of Christianitie and that of the Ministery And thirdly they are bound to observe these rules towards the workes and in the performances of their Ministeriall administrations more exactly then in and towards other common duties because those workes and performances are of a more important nature then other workes as being more universall and more leading in their kind and such as more neerly concerne the glory of God and reflect upon the soules of men in order to him so that a small failing in any of these is more hurtfull to the profession then a greater fault in any other kind So that wee must forcibly conclude that because all the common rules of Christianitie are more obligatory unto Ministers towards one another in the duties of their calling then unto common professors that therefore the chief and most fundamentall rules of the holy profession which concerne love and unitie communion and correspondency are more binding towards them chiefly in the workes of their Ministeriall administration then towards any others and consequently that the neglect of the least of these duties in any of them is a greater guilt and lesse excusable then in any others the commission of a grosse misdemenour A little moat in the eye will trouble the whole body more then a great handfull of dirt and dust cast upon any other part of the face and the least prick that may bee in the heart or in the pia mater of the braine as Physitians say will kill a man infallibly but a great wound in the flesh nay a stab through the whole body may be cured A thorne in a small joynt will indanger a gangrene to the whole body whereas a great impostume in a part of the flesh will be without danger may be a means though with some trouble to purge the whole of many evill humours Thus a little sparke of disaffection in one Minister against another or breach of unitie in the least dutie of their charge may prove infinitely more hurtfull to the whole Church of God then great and grosse hostilities in common professors for matters of outward concernment Now amongst all the faults and defaults of Ministers in their charge that of the want of mutuall love and of care to maintaine the unitie of the spirit in the profession of Christianitie together with a delight to stand at a distance by themselves is to me one of the greatest because it doth directly crosse the chief end of their Ministeriall function which is to gather the beleevers into one visible body and to bring that body to the perfection of spirituall unitie which may bee cleerly gathered from John 17.21 22 23. compared with Ephes 4.12 13 14 15 16. And if this bee the chiefe end of their Ministery then the maine neglect of the meanes by which this end may bee obtained and without which it cannot bee prosecuted must needs bee their greatest guilt whence it will cleerly follow that to maintain no communion in spirituall things one with another is one of their greatest faults because most directly crosse to the end of their administration So then if to maintaine spirituall communion is a dutie in this respect fundamentall and necessary then it followeth that the engagements unto a concurrence and the lawfull wayes of spirituall correspondency are also fundamentall and necessary to the work of the Ministery and must bee entertained because without these the dutie of holy Communion cannot bee maintained nor the unities of the Church brought to any visible perfection but rather visibly dissolved Thus then upon this consideration it is an undeniable Scripturall truth That for the Ministers of the Gospel in the duties of their Ministeriall charge nothing is more conscionable nothing more commendable nothing more profitable and nothing more sutable to the glory of God and the perfecting of the Saints then that they should maintaine a brotherly communion and correspondency one with another and such as neglect it walke not worthy of the calling wherewith they are called in the common profession of Christianitie Sect IV. Of the practise of those that are set before us as infallible examples in the Ministery ALthough the mediatory actions of Jesus Christ in the flesh as hee is our Saviour are not imitable nor were they performed to bee imitated by any for hee alone is the onely Mediatour between God and man yet his relations unto us as our brother sanctifying us in our flesh Heb. 2.11 and the wayes of his converse amongst men were such that in all cases of dutie wherein wee are to come to God or to behave our selves dutifully one towards another in respect of God he hath left us either an example which wee are bound to imitate or a precept which wee ought to observe and which hee himselfe did practise For in this hee is the Captaine of our salvation because hee went before us in all things and wee are bound to follow not onely him before all others but also none further then they are found to bee his followers 1 Cor. 11.1 and for this cause wee see that the Apostles as in all other things so chiefly in these duties of love unitie forbearance and condescension towards the weake doe alledge his practise as the strongest argument that can bee used to oblige us thereunto Thus 1 John 3.16 Hee laid downe his life for us and wee ought to lay downe our lives for the Brethren Ephes 5.1 2. Bee yee followers of God as deer children and walke in love as Christ also hath loved us Coloss 3.13 Even as Christ forgave you so also doe yee Gal. 6.2 Beare yee one anothers burthens and so fulfill the Law of Christ 1 Pet. 4.1 Forasmuch as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh arme your selves likewise with the same mind And the Apostle Phil. 2. Having used many strong inducements to perswade us to love and unitie Vers 1 2. and to disswade us from strife and division vers 3. then vers 4. hee exhorts us to mutuall care of one another whereunto as an argument is brought in Christs example as the chiefest of all other motives Vers 5 6 7 8. Let this mind bee in you which was in Christ Jesus c. and Christ saith to his Father John 17.22 The glory which thou gavest me I have given them that they may bee one even as we are one By glory I understand here grace as 1 Pet. 5.1 partaker of the glory that shall bee revealed As concerning Christs practise in his Ministery to avoid braches and contentions between him and others it is set forth by the holy Ghost in Isa 42.2 3. and Matth. 12.19 20. thus Hee shall not strive nor cry neither shall any man beare his voyce in the streets a bruised reed shall hee not breake and the smoaking flax shall hee not quench till hee send forth judgement unto victory And concerning his way to bring us to unitie with himselfe and with God the Apostle doth set it forth as
an example to bee imitated Rom. 15. Vers 2 3. Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification for even Christ pleased not himselfe c. which is further applied to our practise vers 5 6 7. The God of patience and consolation grant you that ye be like minded one towards another according to Christ Jesus that you may with one mind and one mouth glorifie God even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ wherefore receive yee one another as Christ also received us to the glory of God And then explained in shewing what the work of Christs Ministery was Vers 8 9. Now I say that Jesus Christ was a Minister of the Circumcision for the Truth of God to confirme the promises made unto the Fathers and that the Gentiles might glorifie God for his mercy c. Where wee may cleerly understand that by Christs Ministeriall behaviour which was without strife free from all clamours and disputes and which did tend to the uniting of all both Jewes and Gentiles both circumcised and uncircumcised unto God wee are taught to bee without partialitie to endeavour the communication of Gods glory unto all and obliged in our Ministery not to stand and walke by our selves to satisfie our owne desires and enjoy our rights and priviledges which wee pretend unto for private content but rather to please others to their edification although wee should suffer reproaches for their sake For thus Christ was reproached by the Pharisees who were much in love with their owne holinesse for conversing and eating with Publicans and sinners Matth. 9. Vers 10 11 12. Chap. 11.19 and upon this ground of pleasing others and receiving all that came in his way to the glory of God Christ conversed did eat and drinke with the Samaritanes with whom other Jewes had no dealings John 4.9 till vers 43. Nor was it without a mystery that at his death hee was crucified between two Malefactors that the Scripture might bee fulfilled which saith and hee was numbred with the transgressors Marke 15.27 28. For by God and by himselfe justly in respect of the imputation of our sinnes to him and by sinners unjustly hee was numbred in his life and in his death one of them for their good to save them This example of Christ in his Ministery made the Apostle Paul become all things unto all men that hee might gaine some and partake of the Gospel with every one as hee himselfe doth set forth his owne practise to exhort us to follow it 1 Cor. 9. vers 19. till 24. Now if Christ and the Apostles did thus behave themselves with indifferencie and apply themselves without respect of persons by their Ministery unto all that were any way capable of the outward meanes of edification though great sinners otherwise how can the practise of a Separation or of a Semiseparation be warranted and that even from those who in respect of their profession cannot bee denied to bee our brethren Should wee dare to put upon matters that are meerly circumstantiall and upon things no where expresly enjoyned but rather taken up by our selves more weight then upon all these fundamentall duties of Christianitie and upon the undeniable practise of Christ and his Apostles in the worke of their Ministery If wee doe make our selves and our owne wayes the measure of all perfection surely wee become perfect Idols to and Idolaters of our selves in Gods worship For if in the outward meanes of worshipping and drawing neer to God in publick though his owne ordinances bee observed as hee hath appointed them as to the outward man for to the inward fellowship hee himselfe alone doth admit whomsoever hee pleaseth yet if then wee love to set our selves at a distance from others or reject others from being partakers with us of the ordinances either because wee count them in holinesse inferiour to us or because wee are not satisfied concerning their sinceritie or because they come not up to joyne in opinion with us concerning all the circumstantials of our way If I say for these or such like causes wee stand aloof in the common profession and think that God is no where to be found but in our way and societie doe wee not Idolize our selves doe wee not make our selves the onely rule of all perfection and say in our hearts Stand thou by thy selfe Isa 65.5 come not neer for I am holyer then thou And what can bee imagined more opposit to the love humilitie and condescension of Christ and his Apostles in the way of their Ministery Let us therefore take heed to this snare let us count nothing perfect but that which upon the grounds of the common profession is conformable to the example of Christ and his Apostles who came into the world to save and draw sinners unto God not by a distance but by a condescension unto them in their weaknesse As for the communion and correspondencie which the primitive Ministers maintained one with another in the Ministeriall workes wee shall find that it did tend to these foure ends First to advance the conversion of the Gentiles to the faith and profession of Christianitie Secondly to build up and confirme those that had received the truth of the Gospel that they might be setled therein Thirdly to preserve those that were setled from the danger of seducers Fourthly and lastly to strengthen themselves in the workes of their employment towards the Churches All which aimes are still necessary to bee followed and therefore the meanes which are serviceable thereunto and which they then used must not now bee neglected if they can bee set afoote First wee find then that for the propagation of the Gospel amongst the Gentiles some went forth to preach unto them the name of Christ and tooke nothing of them To receive such and bring them forward on their journey after a Godly sort was a worke of holy Communion commended in Gajus by the Apostle John as being a dutie which all ought to intend and the ground why all ought to intend it is that all may be fellow-helpers to the truth 3 John 6.7 8. This practise then is still to bee followed by all that are called to the Ministery so long as the propagation of the truth shall be necessary Secondly for the confirmation and edification of converts in the faith by the care of neighbour Ministers corresponding with those that did convert them wee have an example in Acts 8.14 where the Ministers of the Church at Jerusalem sent to Samaria two of their number to confirme the beleevers and build them up in the faith in like manner when they heard that some were turned unto the Lord in Antioch they sent Barnabas and he went to the same end and purpose Acts 11.20 21 22 23. Thirdly for the preservation of the truth from the danger of Seducers and the decision of doubts in doctrine and practise cast in amongst the professours to trouble them wee have an example of
Brotherly Communion and Correspondency in Acts 15. vers 1. till 30. where one Church doth crave and another doth contribute assistance counsell and authoritie in a Synodicall way towards the decision and settlement of the difference which broke forth amongst them Fourthly the example wherein Ministers amongst themselves did strengthen one another in the worke of their employment towards the Churches is that of the Apostles of the Jewes and Gentiles who having communicated together concerning the doctrine which they preached Gal. 2. vers 2. and made known to one another their practise Verse 3 4 5 6. to gaine mutuall approbation and confirmation therein Verse 6.7 8. they did enter into a contract of followship Vers 9. and an obligation of Communion and communication of good things between their Churches Vers 9 10. Nor was it found lawfull or answerable to the truth of the Gospel that upon humane considerations or partiall respects that Communion should be broken Vers 11. till the end From all which againe doth follow that which formerly hath beene concluded that nothing is more conscionable nothing more commendable nothing more profitable and nothing more sutable to the glory of God and the perfecting of the Saints in the worke of the Ministery then that the Ministers of the Gospel should maintaine a Brotherly Communion and correspondency one with another and that such as neglect this dutie walke not worthy of the calling wherewith they are called in imitation of Christ and his Apostles Sect. V. Concerning that which concernes the Office of the Ministery in it self IF wee reflect upon the Ministeriall office in it selfe and consider that whereunto it hath a speciall reference wee shall find that all Ministers that are faithfull to their charge are bound at all times to have respect unto foure things The first is their relation unto Christ as they are under him who is the head of the Church The second is their relation to the Church as therein they are Officers The third is their relation to the workes of their charge in the Office The fourth is their relation to their fellow labourers in these workes None of these respects must be wanting because without their subordination unto Christ they are no Ministers nor are they otherwise in Christ but as they are members of his Church nor can they bee counted members without a work to performe because the use of every member is to be an Organ of the soul in the body now the soul of this body is the spirit of Christ and every true beleever is a member Organicall in his own place that is appointed to some usefull worke Nor is any member alone but it is put together with the rest to make up the whole by mutuall conjunction and cooperation therefore none doth worke as it is alone but as it standeth united with its fellow-labourers in every worke And as none of these respects can bee wanting in the office of the Ministery so none besides these are needfull for if a member doth duely depend upon his head and standeth in its right place in the body and hath a lively facultie to doe its owne worke and is no wayes disjoynted but fitly compacted and linked to the other members in doing its work nothing can bee further desired or wished for in it These are then the essentiall and proper relations under which a Minister as an Officer of the Church is to bee considered Now if it bee found that in the profession of truth and holinesse nothing doth make him so fit for his office in all these relations as to maintaine the duties of brotherly love unitie communion and correspondencie and that without the studie of these hee cannot stand aright in any of those relations then I suppose that these duties will without contradiction bee acknowledged to bee the most commendable and usefull that hee can apply himselfe unto and that without the observance of the same hee cannot bee said to walke worthy of the vocation wherewith hee is called Let us therefore take these relations into a more distinct consideration and see how therein by these duties a Minister is fitted for his office First then a Minister by his Office is subordinate unto Christ as a Servant as a Disciple and as a friend of his and to make these relations evident to the world and sure to himself is to make his calling and election sure which is effected when both others are made to see and hee himself doth assuredly of himselfe know that what hee doth in his charge is done to serve Christ as it becommeth his Disciple and friend But except his behaviour in all the workes of his charge bee sutable to that love whereby Christ his master did love us and thereby did unite himselfe unto us these relations will not bee evidenced For to be a faithfull servant of Christ he must make two things appeare First that hee serves none but him alone as the Apostle doth Gal. 1.10 and as Christ requires of all to bee done when hee tells us that none can serve two masters Matth. 6.24 And secondly that hee applies himselfe to the same worke which Christ did For hee commands all his servants to follow him Iohn 12.26 namely in that service which hee performed which was to doe the will and manifest the love of his Father unto us therefore the Apostle 2 Cor. 4.5 in order to this doth professe not to preach himselfe but Christ Jesus the Lord and himselfe a servant to the Corinthians for Iesus sake This was to be a servant of the love of Jesus to us to invite all to bee reconciled to God for his sake 2 Cor. 5.18 19.21 and 6.1 As the imployment is nothing else but a service of love Gal. 5.13 that is to expresse the love and fulfill the Law of Christ 1 Cor. 16.14 Gal. 6.2 so the infallible character of a disciple by which hee is to bee distinguished in the world from all others is mutuall love and unitie as is cleer by Iohn 13.35 and herein as well as in holding forth the word they are to approve themselves to bee the light of the world Matth. 5.14 which will appeare by comparing these two places Phil. 2.14 15 16. with 1 John 2.9 10 11. The whole relation then of being a true servant and Disciple is evidenced by nothing more then by this worke of love and mutuall unitie Lastly also it is evident that none can claime the title of being Christs friend but by the performance of this dutie For Christ hath intailed the right to this dignitie wholly upon this condition which is cleerly expressed Iohn 15.12 13 14 15 16 17. This is my commandement that yee love one another as I have loved you greater love hath no man then this that a man lay downe his life for his friends Yee are my friends if yee doe whatsoever I command you c. And when in vers 15. and 16. hee hath shewed how much by his friendship to