A sermon preach'd on the late day of thanksgiving, Decemb. 2, 1697 by John Howe ... ; to which is prefixed Dr. Bates's congratulatory speech to the King, Novemb. 22, 1697, in the name of the dissenting ministers in and about London. Howe, John, 1630-1705. 1698 Approx. 71 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 17 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2005-03 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A44695 Wing H3040 ESTC R6550 13506040 ocm 13506040 99795 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A44695) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 99795) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 791:6) A sermon preach'd on the late day of thanksgiving, Decemb. 2, 1697 by John Howe ... ; to which is prefixed Dr. Bates's congratulatory speech to the King, Novemb. 22, 1697, in the name of the dissenting ministers in and about London. Howe, John, 1630-1705. Bates, William, 1625-1699. Congratulatory speech to the King, Novemb. 22, 1697. [16], 24 p. Printed by S. Bridge ... for Tho. Parkhurst ..., London : 1698. Reproduction of original in Huntington Library. Bibliography: p. 24. Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford. Re-processed by University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. Gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. 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Copies of the texts have been issued variously as SGML (TCP schema; ASCII text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable XML (TCP schema; characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless XML (TEI P5, characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or TEI g elements). Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site . eng Bible. -- O.T. -- Psalms XXIX -- Sermons. 2004-10 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2004-10 Aptara Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2004-11 Emma (Leeson) Huber Sampled and proofread 2004-11 Emma (Leeson) Huber Text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-01 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion A SERMON PREACH'D ON THE LATE DAY OF Thanksgiving . Decemb. 2. 1697. By JOHN HOWE , Minister of the GOSPEL . To which is Prefix'd , Dr. BATES's Congratulatory Speech to the KING , Novemb. 22. 1697. In the Name of the Dissenting Ministers in and about London . LONDON : Printed by S. Bridge , in Austin-Fryers , for Tho. Parkhurst at the Bible and Three Crowns in Cheapside ▪ near Mercers Chapel . MDCXCVIII . TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE Lord Haversham . I Offer this Discourse , My Honoured Lord , to Your Perusal , in Confidence that the Subject and Design of it will be so far Grateful to Your Lordship , as in some Degree to Atone for the Imperfections of the Management . I Believe it will not Offend against Your Lordships very Accurate Judgment of Things , that I have not been so sway'd by an Authority , which hath signifi'd much in our Age ; as to represent the Natural State of Man , as a State of War , which either must signifie Man in his Original Constitution , to have been a very ill-natur'd Creature , or must signifie his Nature to be less Ancient than Himself . FOR I cannot Doubt , but the Author of that Maxim , would have Disdain'd their Way of Speaking , who by Nature Mean Vice. Or to have been Guilty of so Pious a Thought , that God at first made Man any better Thing than we find Him. I Shall the less passionately Lament my Infelicity in losing the good Opinion of Men of that Sentiment , if I stand Right in Your Lordships . Not knowing any of your Rank and Figure , in the World , with whom I Count it a greater Honour to Agree in Judgment , or do less Fear to Disagree . IN Matters of Secular Concernment , it becomes Me not to Profess any Judgment at all , besides the Publick , unto which in Things of that Nature , every Private Mans ought to be , and is professedly Resigned . YET within that Compass , notwithstanding the Just Esteem Your Lordship hath of the Noble Endowments , which do then Illustriously Shine in the Military Profession , when there is a Necessity of their being red●c'd to Practice : I Apprehend that otherwise Your Lordship hath no more gratful Thoughts of War , than I , nor more ungrateful of the Necessary Means of Preserving Peace . That which is the Reproach of Humane Nature could never Originally belong to it . Nor can any thing more expose its Ignominious Depravation , than it should ever be Necessary the Sword should Dispute Right , and the Longest , Decide it . IN the Matters of Religion which is every Mans Business , and whose Sphere as it is Higher , must be proportionably Wider and more Comprehensive ; I Hope it is Your Lordships constant Care to add unto Clearness and Rectitude of Thought , the Pleasantness of Taste ; and that you apprehend it to consist not more in a Scheme of Notions , than of Vital Principles ; and that your Love to it proceeds from hence , that you Relish it and Feel you Live by it ; You are hereby Fortified against the Reproach that attends it , from their Contempt of it who are every Day assaulting Heaven , and would have the War not ended , but only transferr'd thither-ward . THAT which though some Vent , and others admire as Wit , even Paganism it self has Condemn'd as Foolishness . Your Lordship is in no more Danger to be alter'd hereby from your chosen Course , than a Man in his Health and Senses , by Satyrs against Eating and Drinking . I Reckon Your Lordship is so much taken up with the great Things of Religion , as to be less taken with the Adventitious Things Men have Thought fit to affix to it . I do not more Emulate Your Lordship in any Thing , than a Disdain of Bigotry ; nor more Honour any thing I Discern in You than True Catholicism . AND Recounting what Things and Persons do truly belong to a Church , I Believe Your Lordship is not professedly of a Larger Church , as Counting it too Large for You but too narrow , and that You affect not to be of a Self-distinguisht Party . Nor , besides the Opportunity of avowing the Just Honour , and Obligations I have to Your Lordship , and Your Noble Consort , with my Sincere Concern for Your Hopeful and Numerous Off-spring , did any Thing more Invite this Address to Your Lordship , than the agreeableness of such Your Sentiments to the Mind and Spirit of My most Honoured Lord , Your Lordships Most Justly Devoted , and Most Faithful , Humble Servant , John Howe . Dr. BATES's Congratulatory Speech to the KING , Novemb. 22. 1697. In the Name of the Dissenting Ministers in and about London . May it Please Your MAJESTY ! YOUR Happy Return with PEACE in your Retinue , has rais'd a Spring-Tide of Joy , that overflows the Nation . This great Blessing , We Primarily owe with our most Solemn and Dutiful Thankfulness to the GOD of PEACE , who has Calm'd the Tempestuous World , and Chang'd the black Scene of Horror , and Misery ; wherein the most Tragical Cruelties were Acted , Cities were Fir'd , and the Fires quench'd in the Blood of the Citizens , wherein Death and Despair appear'd in their Terrible Shapes : And has introduc'd a Bright Scene of Prosperity , wherein Innocence and Liberty , Commerce and Abundance are secur'd . This we Owe , as to the Secondary Cause , with our most Humble Gratitude to Your MAJESTY ; Your open and generous Opposition in the Field of Battle , has Tam'd our Potent Enemies ; who presum'd to Level all Obstacles to their Lofty Designs , as if their Power had been Equal to their Pleasure . They had broke through the Circles of Justice and Honour , but Your MAJESTY has fix'd such Bounds , as may prevent their Swelling Exorbitancies for the Future . EVROPE , has seen with Admiration Your Courage and Heroick Heat guided by an Equal Light , and Superior to all Dangers in War : There is a Just Expectation that an Equal Honour will attend Your MAJESTY , for Your Ruling Wisdom , Your Justice Temper'd with Equity and Goodness in the Counsels and Arts of PEACE : You are the Glory of Your Subjects Abroad , and their Delight at Home . Your Influxive Presence is the Vital Breath the Kingdom Draws , the Vital Band that Unites its Parts , and prevents their Breaking into Confusion . YOUR MAJESTY is Ordain'd for Victories . Thereare more Noble Conquests to be obtain'd over worse than Foreign Enemies : Prophaneness in Manners , and Pernicious Doctrines in Religion that Fight against the Soul , and notwithstanding our PEACE on Earth , Expose us to a Fearful War with Heaven . WE Live in an Age of Degenerate Wickedness : Wherein are Numberless Numbers of resolv'd Loosness , who by their bold Impieties , defie the Supream MAJESTY of Heaven : These WE Hope by Your Authority and Influence , may be Restrain'd , if not truly Reform'd ; for whereas other Princes assume an Infamous Prerogative to Live as they List , to satisfie their Vicious Appetites without Controul ; Your MAJESTY Exhibites such Excellent Vertues in Your Practise , as may be a Persuasive Pattern , and Commandingly Exemplary to Your Subjects . AND whereas , there are such Doctrines frequently Publish'd , as are Infinitely Injurious to the Person and Office of our Blessed Saviour ; WE Hope Your Pious Zeal for his Divine Honour , will put a stop to the Licentiousness of the Press , that the Contagion of the Dead , may not Corrupt the Living . This will be a most pleasing Sacrifice of Praise to the Blessed GOD , who has Preserv'd Your most Precious Life in Raging War , and from more Imminent Dangers , by the Dark and Cruel Conspiracy of Wicked Enemies . WE Humbly Renew the Assurances of our inviolable Loyalty , and our Continual Prayers , That GOD would Preserve Your Sacred Person , and make Your MAJESTY always Happy in Your Government , and Your Subjects Happy in their Obedience . PSALM XXIX . the latter part of the Last Verse . The Lord will Bless his People with Peace . The Whole Verse is , The Lord will give Strength to his People . The Lord will Bless his People with Peace . YOU so generally know the Occasion of this our Solemn Assembly , at this Time ; that none can be in Doubt concerning the suitableness of this Portion of Scripture for our Present Consideration . OUR Business is to celebrate the Divine Goodness , in Preserving our King Abroad , and Restoring him Home in Safety , after he had been the Happy Instrument of bringing about that Peace , which puts a Period to a long Continued , Wasting , and Dubious War , under which We , and all Europe have groaned these Divers Years . And if we find the favourable Workings of Providence to concur and fall in with a Divine Word , pointing them to GODS own People ; as this for Instance , The Lord will Bless his People with Peace : i e. He will vouchsafe this Blessing to his own People in the fittest Season , as it must be understood ; this adds so much the more grateful and pleasant Relish , to the Mercy we are this Day to acknowledge . It cannot but do so with Right Minds , unto which nothing is more agreeable , than to desire and covet such Favour as GOD shews to his own People , and to be made glad with his Inheritance , Psalm 105. 4 , 5. from an Apprehension , that there must be somewhat very peculiar in such Mercy as GOD vouchsafes to his own , to a People Peculiar and Select , severed and set apart for himself , from the rest of Men. 'T IS true indeed , that Peace , abstractly considered , is neither the appropriate , nor the constant Priviledge of such a People ; they neither alone enjoy it , nor at 〈◊〉 Times ; when it is brought about , even for them , they have other ●arta●ers : But yet , such Favours of Providence as are of larger extent , and re●ch to many besides GODS own People , have a more peculiar benign Aspect upon them , and are attended , with reference to them , with such Consequences , as wherein others , without being made of this People of his , are not Sharers with them . Some Intimation there is of this in this Psalm , which the Title speaks , a Psalm of David , and which some think to refer unto the Wars managed by him in his Time with the Moabites , signified by the Wilderness of Cadesh , and the Syrians , signified by the Cedars of Lebanon , of whom he speaks in the Prophetick Stile , as if , by the terrible and amazing appearances of GOD's Power against them , they were Thunder-struck , like the Trees of a Forrest , or as the Hinds that are wont to inhabit amongst them . And so it is concluded , and shut up with this Epiphonema in the End of the Psalm . The Lord will give Strength to his People , the Lord will Bless his People with Peace : i. e. He is in War their Strength , and their Felicity in Peace ; in War , He is the Author of all that Power , wherewith they are enabled to oppose and overcome Potent Enemies ; And in Peace , he is their truly felicitating Good , and makes them , by his own vouchsafed Presence , a truly blessed People . IT is the latter of these , Peace , unto which the Present Occasion confines us . And concerning that , we might , in the 1. PLACE , Note , from the Text , That wheresoever it is brought about , GOD is the Author of it , GOD will Bless his People with Peace . That Title which the Scripture gives him , The GOD of Peace , with the many Expressions of like Import , wherewith it abounds , can leave them in no Doubt , concerning the Divine Influence and Agency in bringing about the grateful Intervals of Peace , after desolating Bloody Wars , who have any Reverence for the Sacred Oracles . And indeed , to insist upon such a Subject as this , in a Case so plain , so acknowledged amongst Men that believe the Bible , were to Reproach the Auditory , as if it were made up of Scepticks and Atheists , or of them that did not believe this World was made by GOD ; or that it was made by him only by some casual Stroak , and without Design , that he cared not for his reasonable intelligent Creatures when he had made them , what became of them , nor did at all concern himself , in their most considerable Concernments . I shall not therefore insist upon this , which seems rather slid in , and supposed in the Text , or taken for granted : For among a People in visible Relation and Subjection to GOD , it had been as great an incongruity industriously to assert and prove such a thing , as it would be , by an Elaborate Discourse , to prove that there is a Sun in the Firmament , unto Men that continually partake and enjoy its Light and Influences , and to whose Sense , the Vicissitudes and Distinctions of Day and Night , by its Presence and Absence , are brought under constant Notice every Four and Twenty Hours . I shall therefore , I say , pass on to what appears more directly to be the Design of the Text. And that seems to be twofold , First , To represent to us in general , the great Blessing of Peace ; wherein , when GOD sees it sit , he is pleased to make his own People Partakers with others . Secondly , Because it is not without Design , that it is said , He will Bless his People with Peace ; unto whom 't is plain , this alone is not an appropriate Priviledge , it seems further designed to intimate , and couch in , the Concurrence and Concomitancy of such things , as , superadded to Peace , will make it a compleat Blessing . The Lord will Bless his People with Peace . He will give them Peace , so , and upon such Terms , and with such Concomitants and Consequences , that to them it shall prove a real and a full Blessing . These two things , therefore , I intend to insist upon , 1. TO shew you how valuable a Good , and ( in the Large and Common Sense ) a Blessing , Peace is , as it stands in Opposition to Bloody and Desolating Wars . And then 2. I shall shew you , what Additions and Concomitants are necessary to make it a compleat Blessing , such as may be appropriate and peculiar to GODS own People , and so make use of the whole . 1. I shall shew you Briefly , how valuable a good Peace is in it self , as it stands opposed unto Bloody and Destructive Wars . And this will best be seen , by stating and viewing it in that Opposition , and by representing to you somewhat of the Horror of War ; which we may do , by viewing it in its Causes , in it self , and in its dismal Consequences , wherewith it is wont to be attended . CONSIDER it in its Causes , and they are principally these two , the Wickedness of Men , and the just Vengeance of GOD thereupon . These two concurring , and falsing in together , must be understood to be the Causes of so great a Calamity among Men in this World. And I shall only consider these two in their Complication , and not speak to them distinctly and separately . VERY Plain it is , That War is a Mark of the Apostacy , and Stigmatizes Man as Fallen from GOD , in a 〈◊〉 ●evolted State. It is the Horrid Issue of Mens having fo●saken GOD , and of their being Abandon'd by Him to the 〈◊〉 of their own Furious Lusts and Passions . The Natural , and the 〈◊〉 Effect of their having sever'd themselves , and broke loose from the Divine Government . From whence are Wars ? Are they not from your Lusts ? Jam. 4. 1. GOD most Justly Punishes Mens Injustice , not by Infusing Malignity , which he needs not , into their minds and Natures , and which it is impossible He can be the Author of , whose very Nature it self is Goodness , and Purity , and Love ; but having Forsaken Him , Rebelled against Him , Disclaimed Him as their Ruler , Refused any longer to be Subject to Him ; they are Forsaken of Him , and left to take Vengeance for it on one another ; of which there cannot be a greater Instance , than that , when Controversies do arise between Men and Men , between Nation and Nation , Kingdom and Kingdom , one People and another , it is presently to be Decided by a Bloody Sword. This speaks a Monstrous Degeneracy in the Intellectual World , and from the Original Rectitude that belongs to the Nature of Men , which in his Primitive State did stand in a Temperament of Reason and Love. That there should be Differences about Meum and Tuum in a Creature of that Constitution , is it self an Horrid Thing ; but then that such Differences are to be Determined only by Violence , that presently they must hereupon Run into War ! Good GOD ! What an Indication is this , That Reason , Wisdom , Justice , and Love are fled from this Earth ! And it speaks Rebellion against GOD in the Highest Kind , 't is a Subversion of the most Fundamental Law of his Kingdom over the Intelligent World , Thou shalt Love the LORD thy GOD with all thy heart , with all they soul , with all thy mind , with all thy might , and thy Neigbour as thy self . 'T IS impossible there should be any such Thing as War in the World , but by the Violation of this most Fundamental Divine Law , the Principal and most Important Thing that this Government does as it were Consist in over reasonable Creatures , their Loving Him above all , and one another as themselves . This Law , observed , must make this Earth another Heaven : This Law , Violated , and Broken , makes it another Hell. Man being Faln from GOD , and having lost their Acquaintance with Him , and all Relish of Divine Things , think to Repair their Loss out of this Sensible World ; whereof no Man thinks he hath enough . Desire of more , blinds their Eyes that they cannot Judge of Right and Wrong . Hence every Man's Cause is Right in his own Eyes . Appetite is the only Measure they Judge by . And Power ( whatsoever of it any one can grasp ) the Instrument by which they Execute their perverse Judgment . A Dismal Spectacle , and Subject of Contemplation to the Inhabitants of the Purer and more Peaceful Regions ! To behold a Divine Off-Spring , the Sons of GOD , now Transform'd into Sons of the Earth , and Tearing in pieces one another , for what some Posses , and others Covet ! YEA , and to a Calm , Uninteressed Spectator on our own Globe , this can be no grateful prospect to View the History of all Times , and Nations , and take Notice how full it is of such Tragedy ! Countries from Age to Age made Akeldama's , Fields of Blood , on this Account , of extending or Confining Empire and Dominion , of Invading anothers , or Defending ones own ! BUT hereupon it is not strange , when a World of Intelligent Reasonable Creatures are thus gone off from GOD , and in Rebellion against him , in the most Fundamental part of his Government , that He suffers them to be the Executioners of His Just Wrath upon one another . AND if we thus look upon War , First , in this it s Complicated Causes , it is the Opprobrium , the Reproach of Humane Nature , of Intelligent Reasonable Creatures . BUT Next look upon it In it self , and what is it , but the Destruction of Humane Lives , of Creatures made after the Image of GOD ? Of whom He has so High a Value , and whose Lives , even for that very Reason , He is pleased to Fence and Secure by a Severe Law , Whoever sheds Man's Blood , by Man shall his Blood be shed , for in the Image of GOD made He Man. But here is a Formed Design of Destroying Humane Lives by multitudes ; Lives of Creatures bearing the Image of GOD. AND by how much the more Necessary this is in many Cases , so much the more Grievous and Calamitous a Thing it is , that when to Cut Off and Destroy by multitudes so Precious Things as Humane Lives , is Tragical and Horrid , not to do it is so much Worse ! Yea , That War it self is become an Art , and that the Valour and Skill which belong to it are Laudable Excellencies , is all Aggravation of the Sadness of this Case . AND if we do consider the Consequences and Effects which do ensue upon such War , How full of Horror and Frightfulness are they ! And those most of all , that are least of all thought on , and that lye most out of view : For , besides that Property is gone , and no Man knows what to call his own , Laws lose their Force , Magistrates their Authority , and Reverence , Civil Government is Disobey'd and Despised , Common Order is Violated and Turned into Confusion ; Families torn in pieces , Countries laid Waste and Desolate , Towns and Cities Sack'd , Ravag'd , and made Ruinous Heaps . Besides all this , ( I say ) the Sacred Rites and Mysteries of Religion are Neglected and Profaned , its Holy Solemnities interrupted , Worshipping Assemblies are broken up . Men have little Opportunity left them to mind their great Concerns with GOD , and for another World ; Care for Immortal Souls , when it is most Necessary , is thrown out of doors , and Reasonal Creatures , that should be employed in Adoring and Worshipping their Great Creator , the GOD of their Lives , are Employed in Designing the Mutual Destruction of one anothers Lives : And it may be , that is least consider'd , which carries the most of Horror in it , that multitudes are hurried down to Perdition , neither Dread●d by themselves , nor Apprehended by the Destroyer ; Souls are passing in shoals into Eternity , they not considering it who are sent , nor they that send them ! And what sport does this make for Devils , those Envious Apostate Spirits , that first drew Men into a like Apostacy , that when GOD had given this Earth to the Children of Men , Assigning to themselves a worse abode amidst Infernal Darkness and Flames , they should be Tearing one another in pieces about this their Portion , under the Sun , making GOD's Bounty to them the Occasion of their doing all manner of Violence to one another ! That the Prince of the Apostacy , the Vsuping God of this World , should have the Opportunity of Peholding Man sometime , by Divine Grant the Lord of it , now its slave , and his Captive by it ! Led by him at his will , into whatsoever is most Repugnant to the Will , and the very Nature of his Maker . That whereas he was at first made after GOD's own Image , a God-like Creature resembling his Maker , especially in Spirituality , and Love , he now more resembles in Sensuality Beasts , and in malignity Devils , and both , by an Inordinate Love of this World ; the Friendship whereof , and a mind Cornalized by it , is Enmity against GOD. ( Jam. 4. 4. Rom. 8 7. ) And whereof also , because every Man thinks his own share too little , he becomes any ones Enemy , that hath more of it than himself . AND thus have Devils the pleasure of Beholding Men by this very Gift and Expression of GOD's Love and Kindness to them , Transformed into Emnity , and Hatred of himself and one another , Forsaken of Him , and Destroying each other , and hastening once more into their Horrid Society ; that as they were Accomplices with them in their first Rebellion , they may be Partakers and Associates with them in W●e and Torment . The most dismal part of the Story , is that which lyes most out of sight . NOW let all this be considered and put together , and surely Peace is a Valuable Thing , It speaks Man in some degree return'd to himself , and in a right mind , when he can Agree and be Content to let another live Quiet and Unmolested by him ; one Man another Man , and one Nation another Nation . THUS far does Peace appear a Blessing , a-part and by it self , a Valuable Good , and , according to the Common Notion and Estimate , it may be called a Blessing , wherewith GOD Blesses His People , in common with others . But we are further to consider . 2. WHAT Things are requisite to make this a Real , and a Compleat Blessing , Capable of being Appropriated unto GOD's own peculiar People . Which seems also to be Intended here , The LORD will Bless His People with Peace . In Speaking to this , I shall do these Two Things : 1. MENTION the Requisites themselves . 2. SHEW their Requisiteness : Or , Shew what is Requisite to make External Peace , a Real and Peculiar Blessing . And then shew you upon what Account the Addition and Concomittancy of such Things is Requisite , 1. I shall shew you the Things that are requisite . 1. SUCH Peace as we have been hitherto speaking of , is then truly a Blessing , when there is in Conjunction with it , a very Copious Effusion of the Spirit of GOD. In such a Concomitancy , Peace will make a People , a Blessed People . When , after such a Calamitous Dispensation was over , and at an End , as we read of , Ezck. 39. wherein ver . 23. GOD is said to hide his Face ; and many of his People were carried into Captivity , and many fell by the Sword , it comes at length to this , He will no more hide his Face , or cover it with so ireful and gloomy Aspects , and Appearances that it cannot be comfortably beheld . 'T is for this very Reason , Because he pours forth his Spirit upon the whole House of Israel , as it is in verse 29. of that Chapter , Pouring forth , signifies a Copious Communication ; and if the Spirit of GOD be copiously communicated , the best of Blessings are in great abundance contained in it , which will infer , or countervail whatsoever is valuable or needful besides , to make the State of such a People a Blessed State. 2. IT will be so , when the Gospel of Peace has its free course , and a large spread in the World. When , in Conjunction with beating of Swords into Plow-shears , and Spears into Pruning-hooks , the Law goes forth of Sion , and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem ; and Nations shall say , Come , let us go up to the House of the Lord , and he will teach us his Ways , and we will walk in his Statutes ; as in that of Micah 4. 2 , 3. And 3. WHEN , according to the Dictate of Divine Wisdom , Kings do Reign ( as Prov. 8. 15. ) and Princes decree Justice ; when GODS People have Judges , as at the first , Counsellors as at the beginning , Isa. 1 , 26. able Men , Men of Truth , fearing GOD , and hating Covetousuess , Exod. 18. 21. When he is pleased to set Kings on the Throne , that scatter the Wicked with their Fyes , and so to establish the Throne in Righteousness ; when there is a Design driven , by those that bear the Civil Sword , the Sword of Justice , to be a Terror to Evil-doers , but a Praise to them that do well ; so as it may be said upon this account , they are the Ministers of GOD for good , whom he has been pleased to set in such Stations . 4. WHEN GOD gives Pastors after his own Heart , that are able , and do make it their business , to feed his People with Knowledge , and Vnderstanding . When he inspirits such to cry mightily , to warn Men off from Sin , When Watchmen , set over his People , are faithful in the business of their Station , at once both to save their People and Themselves , from having their Blood required at the Hands of either . This will make a peaceful State , an happy State ; it will contribute a great deal towards it . And again , when hereupon , in the 5. PLACE , Wickedness languishes , the Lusts of Men droop and wither . There is some visible restraint , if there be not an universal Mortification , of such Fruits of the Flesh as those that are spoken of Gal. 5. 19. Adultery , fornication , uncleanness , lasciviousness , idolatry , witchcraft , hatred , variance , emulation , wrath , strife , sedition , heresies , envyings , murders , drunkenness , revilings , and such like , that are inconsistent with a share in the Inheritance of the Kingdom of GOD , as it after follows . This does much to the making a peaceful State of Things , a Blessed State ; it takss away much of the Occasion of further Controversie between GOD and such a People . But 6. WHEN there is a very great Diffusion of an Holy new Nature , which carries the Matter higher , and is a great Addition , though in certain Conjunction with the former ; as it is when the Lusts , and Works of the Flesh do cease to be Reigning and Rampant among them , who Live under the Gospel , through the victorious and more powerful Operation of the Spirit of Grace breathing in it . For then by the Influence of the same Spirit , not only such vicious Inclinations are pluck't up by the Roots , as certainly withstand a Peoples Felicity ; but such positive Principles are implanted , as tend to promote it . Yet since this Conjunction is not constant , but such insolencies of wickedness , as more directly tend to make a People miserable , may be represt by Inferiour Causes : I therefore more expresly add , that then Peace may be reckon'd a certain , and a full Blessing , when with it we behold a Divine Offspring continually rising up , of Men appearing to be Born of GOD , and to have received a GOD like Nature ; apt to do Good , and become Blessings to the World. When there is a Rising Generation of such ! Not proselyted to this or that Party , but to real substantial Godliness and Christianity . When Multitudes are thus turned unto the Lord , When there are numerous Conversions , a new Creation is springing up in visible and multiply'd instances , so as that Holiness comes to be both an extensive and illustrious thing ; when Multitude comes to give Reputation to serious Religion ; when it is no longer a Reproach to be a visible Fearer of GOD , because generally Men are so . When it is look'd upon as no fashionable Thing , to be a despifer of God , and Heaven , and to breath out Contempt , of the Divine Power that gave us Breath . And 7. WHEN hereupon , the Divine Government obtains and takes place in the Minds and Consciences of Men. When his Authority is owned with Reverential Submission . Then GOD does Bless a People , when his Fear spreads far and near ; GOD shall bless us , and all the Ends of the Earth shall fear Him ; as in that Psalm 67 , the latter end . And again , 8. WHEN there is a manifest Power and prevalency of Divine Love amongst Men , that bear the same Name of Christians ; when that Peace of GOD Rules in their Hearts , unto which they are all called in one Body . When they observably keep the Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace . When they have Peace one towards another , so as that it may be seen that they are all the Sons of Peace , the Children of the same Father , who has conveyed it into them , as part of that Divine Nature , which he communicates to the Regenerate Seed , when there is a natural Propensity to one another , that they can no more Violate and Tear that vital Bond of Love and Peace that is among them , than they can endure to Tear their own Flesh , or pluck out their own Eyes . When Peace among Christians , appears to be a connatural Thing , not the product of Conveniency and prudential Considerations only ; but a Nature , which none can more endure to Counter-Act , than to offer Violence to themselves ; a Thing which Nature admits not , whose Laws never allow it to Act against it self . And Lastly , WHEN , upon all this , GOD appears to be Reconciled unto such a People , For in His Favour is Life . When all these Things do concur , as so many Indications of His being at Peace with them , i. e. That He has intirely Forgiven them All Former Offences , That their Sins and Iniquities He remembers no more ; And these concur with such Things as partly Make , and partly Argue them , the Objects of His Delight , That He has Written His Law in their Hearts , He has Put His Spirit into them , He has made them a Company of God-like Creatures like Himself , whose very Nature is Love ; they are his Living Resemblances in that very Respect , expressing herein His Vertues , who has Called them out of Darkness , into His own Glorious and Marvelious Light. Hereupon , such a People may reckon themselves secure of GOD's own Prefence , He is in the midst of them , and His Glory ceases to hover , becomes with them a Fixed Thing , settles its Station , as not about to discontinue or remove ; their Land may now be called , The Land of Immanuel , and bears the Inscription GOD with us . The Tabernacle of GOD is with them , and He is resolved to Dwell with them , and be their GOD , and a-vow them before all the World for His Peculiar People . After the many things that do concur together , in an Inferiour kind , as the concomitants of a meerly External Peace as , That their Sons grow up as Plants , their Daughters as so many Polished corner Stones , that join together the Walls of a Pallace , that their Garners be full , their Sheep numerous , their Oxen strong , & that there be no complaining in their Streets ; after all these things , it is subjoned , Yea , Happy is the People whose GOD is the LORD . All the foremention'd things , alone , will never make a Blessing worthy of a People peculiar to GOD. But when it can be said , That the LORD is their GOD , they are an Happy People indeed , Psalm 144. 12. 15. Such as these are the Things Requisite to make Peace a Compleat Blessing . But now we are 2. TO shew you the Requisiteness of the Concurrence and Concomitancy of such Things to the mentioned Purpose ; or how it may appear , that such Things as these are necessary to compleat this Blessing , or to make it a truely valuable , or a special Blessing . In Order hereto Note , 1. THAT there is such a Thing , as a special Blessing , very distinguishable from such Blessings as are meerly Common . We read of one Jabez , 1 Chron , 4. 9 , 10. said to be more honourable than his Brethren . And somewhat very remarkable ( as we are to reckon , when to the Divine Wisdom it was thought fit to be inserted amidst a Genealogical Discourse ) is further said of him ; viz. That he called to the GOD of Israel , saying , O! that thou wouldst Bless me indeed , &c. And 't is added , GOD granted what he Requested . It seems , besides what goes under the Common Notion of Blessing , he reckon'd there was somewhat more Peculiar , which he calls Blessing indeed . There is a known Hebraism in that Expression . What we read Bless me indeed , is , Bless me in Blessing me ; q. d. Let me have a Bleessing , within a Blessing ; Let me have that Blessing , whereof the other is but a Cortex , the outside . Let me have that Blessing , that is wrapt up and enclosed in the external Blessing . And because 't is said , And GOD granted his Request , we have Reason to understand , it was som●what very peculiar that GOD vouchsafed unto him : And that account which some give us , has a look that way ; that GOD vouchsafed him somewhat more extraordinary in the kind of Mental and Intellectual Endowments : For we are otherwise informed , that this Jabez became a noted Doctor among the Jews , and that the City , called after his Name , was thereupon afterwards the Residence of such as were most Learned in their Laws , Vatabl. apud Critic . That is to be Blessed indeed , to have these Things conferr'd , that do reach the Mind , and affect the inner Man ; to be blessed with Spiritual Blessings from the Heavenly Places , as in that Eph. 1. 3. There is a Spiritual sort of Blessing , that may be enclosed in the External Blessing : And particularly in this of Peace , which while it is common to the People of GOD , with other Men is it self not common . 2. I further Note , That the things I have mentioned to you , they are of that special kind , they are either immediate Spiritual Blessings or Subservient to such . Whereupon now we may , from several considerations , evince to you , that , without them , such an External Good as this of Peace , is not a compleat Blessing : 1. IT is no Argument of GOD's Special Favour . The Best and most Valuable Blessings are from the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the good pleasure of His Will , Eph. 1. 3 , 4 , 5. Other Men may enjoy External Benefits , may both Prosper in War , and Flourish in Peace , as well , and often more than GOD's own People . You Read of a Time , wherein the whole Earth is said to be at Rest and Quiet , Is. 14. 7. Therefore meer Peace is no mark of Special Divine Favour , and so is not Abstractly considered , a Compleat Blessing ; not a Self-desirable Thing . 2. MEN are not made by it the better Men ; they may enjoy Peace , and being Carnal-minded Men before , may still continue so , as great Strangers to GOD as they were , as Vain and Sensual , as Profligate and Licentious , as Useless in the World , as Mischievous ; every way as Ill Men as ever . And 3. THEY may , by meer External Peace , become so much the worse Men. That may be an Occasion to them of their growing worse and worse . The Prosperity of Fools ( i. e. of Wicked Men ) slays and destroys them , Prov. 1. 32. 'T is an Observation , that runs through the Course of Time , that as Wars at length beget an enforced Peace ; so Peace , infers free Trade and Comerce , and that Plenty , and that , Pride and Wantonness ; so these run us back in an ●esie , but unhappy Circle to be as we were , in War again . And if tha● prove not the present or the speedy Consequent , that ensues which is worse than War , unless GOD vouchsafe that other sort of Blessing , which will Influence , and Better Mens minds . Vice springs up in the more fattened Soil . Mens Lusts will soon prove more Oppressive Tyrants than they can have freed themselves from , by the justest and most prosperous War , and will subdue them to a far Viler and more Ignoble Servitude . An ingenious Writer of those Affairs , observes , that the former Scipio open'd the way to the Roman Power ; the Latter , to their Luxury . Their Vertue languisht , and they were conquered by their own Vices , who before could Conquer the World. † That Noted Moralist says , Infirmi est animi , non posse pati divitias . 'T is a weak mind that cannot bear a prosperous condition : But where are there minds strong enough to bear it , if they be not Blest from Above with somewhat better than that Prosperity it self . 4. Men may , notwithstanding meer External Peace , he as miserable in this , and in the other World , as if they had never known it ; and much more , if by it they have been the more wicked . I beseech you consider , Are they a Blessed People ? Or , Is that a Blessed Man , between whom and Eternal Misery there is but a breath ? He may but breathe another breath , and be in the midst of Flames ; Is he Happy this moment , that may be as Miserable as any Devil the next ? Those things can only be compleat Blessings to any , that are inseparable ones , and that will make them for ever Blessed . For me to have but such a Blessing , as does not make me Blessed ! What an unblest Blessing is this ! A Philosopher can tell you , Blessedness cannot be a thing separable from my self ; not a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , Arist. It can much less be such a thing as may leave me miserable to all Eternity , least of all , what may make me so , by degenerating into a Curse , as Mal. 2. 2. THEREFORE these are demonstrations that meer External Peace , without such Additions as you have heard of , can never be a Compleat Blessing , nor such as can be understood vouchsafed to the People of GOD , as their Ultimate and Consummative Felicity . IT must in the mean time be acknowledg'd , that as a People may belong to GOD , Externally more than another People ; and may some time be Externally more reformed than at other times ; so Peace , with other External Good Things , may thereupon be afforded them , as Less-expressive Marks of GOD's Favour , and approbation of their more Regular Course . And by the Tenor of GOD's particular Covenant with the people of Israel , might more certainly be expected so to be . Yet this is a State wherein it is not reasonable or safe for any finally to acquiess . I therefore now come to the promised Vse , which will correspond to the two General Heads I have been discoursing of First , To let you s●e what cause of Thanksgiving we have in reference to the former , the Blessing of Peace abstractly considered . And , Secondly , What Cause of Supplication we have , in reference to the latter , the Additions that are requisite to make it a Compleat Blessing . 1. As to the former , Since Peace is so Valuable a Thing , consisidered a-part , as you have heard it is . This points out to us The matter of Than●sgiving , for which this day is appointed , That GOD has preserved our KING , amidst so innumerable Dangers abroad ; That He has brought him home to us in Safety ; That He has made him the Instrument of That Peace , that we find is at length brought about , wherein he is returned to us a Greater Conqueror , than if he had Routed and Destroyed never so Potent Armies of our Enemies in the Field , we have Reason to understand the matter so . By prevailing in War , he had only Conquered by Force ; by prevailing for Peace , he has Conquered by Wisdom and Goodness . By prevailing in War , he had only Conquered the Bodily Power of our Enemies , or their baser part ; by prevailing for Peace , he has Conquered their minds . By prevailing in War , he had brought about the Good only of one side ; by prevailing for Peace , he has brought about the Real Benefit of both sides , a far more diffusive Blessing . By prevailing in War , he had Conquered Enemies ; by prevailing for Peace , he has Conquered Enmity it self . By prevailing in War , he had over-come other Men ; but in prevailing for Peace , considering his Martial Spirit , and his high Provocations , he has done a far Greater Thing , he has Conquered himself , whom none ever Conquered before . BESIDES what this Great Blessing of Peace , generally considered , contains in it self , we ought to Amplify it to our selves , being brought about by such means , wherein we have so particular a Concern . This ought to add with us a very Grateful Relish to it , for it is a Glory to our Nation , that GOD has set a Prince on the English Throne , that could signifie so much to the World ; the Beams of that Glory , GOD hath cast on him , reflect , and shine upon His People ; to be made the Head among other Nations , and not the Tail ; GOD hath in His Word Taught us , Not to count it an inconsiderable thing . And it is our more peculiar Glory , that our KING is Renowned , not by throwing Death and Destruction every where round about him ; but by spreading the Benefits included in Peace through the Neighbour-Nations . And is Returned to us , leaving the rest of Europe only to Lament that they all live not under his Government ; I pray GOD he may meet with no Ungrateful Returns ; and that none may be so ill-minded as to grudge at Power so lodg'd as to save us , who were less concern'd at its being lodg'd , where it could only be designed to destroy us . In the mean time , it might Excite us to the higher pitches of Thankfulness to Almighty GOD , for this Blessing of the Present Peace , if we did consider , BOTH , what it hath Cost . AND whereto it is Improvable . BUT the Former Consideration I shall not insist upon , lest any should make an undue use of it . AND the Latter , I leave to the following Head , which we are next to proceed to , Viz. Secondly . TO shew what matter of Supplication remains to us upon the latter Account , that is , with Reference to such things as are yet wanting to make this Blessing of Peace a Compleat Blessing , and without which it cannot be understood to be such ; but we may be left , at last , a most miserable People ; and so much the more miserable , by how much the higher Favours we have to account for , that not being Improved , must have been thrown away upon us . The Mercies included in the Peace , will be unimproved and lost , without the mentioned Additions . Whereof all the several Heads that were Recited belong to one , Viz , That of Spiritual Blessing ; That therefore in the General , we have to pray for , that GOD may be said to Bless us indeed , to Bless us in Blessing us , viz. That He would Bless us with Spiritual Blessings in the Heavenlies , ( i. e. in Heavenly Things , or from the Heavenly Places ) in Christ Jesus , as Eph. 1. 3. LET us I Pray you Learn to distinguish between a Self-desirable Good , that in its own Nature , is such , so immutably , and invariably that it can never degenerate , or cease to be such ; And what is only such by Accident , and in some Circumstances may be much otherwise . SPIRITVAL Good , that of the Mind and Spirit , and which makes that better , especially that which accompanies Salvation , Heb. 6. 9. That runs into Eternity , and goes with us into the other World , is of the former Sort. EXTERNAL Good , is but Res Media , capable of being to us , sometimes Good , and sometimes Evil , as the Case may alter . Blessings of this kind may become Curses . Mal. 2. 2. I will Curse your Blessings — yea I have cursed them already — . A Mans Table may become his Snare , and that which was for his welfare a Trap , Psalm 69. 22. MEERLY External Blessings , are Curses , when they become the fewel of Lusts , when they animate Men unto Contests against Heaven , rebellions against the Divine Government ; when , like Jesurun , Men wax Fat by them , and Kick against Heaven , Deut , 32. This we are always liable to , till Spiritual Blessings , intermingle with our other Blessings . And nothing should more convince the World , that the kindest and most benign Part of the Divine Government lies in immediate Influences on the Minds of Men , and that consequently their own Felicity depends thereon . Let all things that can be imagined , concur in the kind of External Good ; and they can never make him an Happy Man , that has an ill Mind : He will always be his own Hell , and carry that about with him wheresoever he goes ; He will be a constant Spring and Fountain of Misery to Himself ; Misery , and he cannot be separated from one another . There is no Peace to the Wicked , saith my GOD ; but he will be always a troubled Sea , whose Waters cast forth Mire and Dirt , Isa. 57. 20 , 21. The Philosophy of Pagans would have made them ashamed to Place their Felicity in any Thing without , or Foreign to themselves . BUT we are Christians , and shall we not much more be ashamed , to take other , or even opposite Measures of Blessedness , to those which are given us by our Divine Master . TO be Toor in Spirit ; upon just accounts Mourners , Meek , Hungry and Thirsty after Righteousness , Merciful , Pure in Heart . Peace-Makers . To submit to be persecuted for Righteousness-sake . These are his Characters of a Blessed Man. And He places that Blessedness it self in Congenerous Things , Mat. 5. 3 , 4 , 5 , &c. LET us Learn from him ; and Collect that nothing but Wickedness can make us miserable . What an overflowing Deluge have we in View ? Tending to subvert our Religion , and Our Civil State together ! Nor have we another Effectual Remedy in view , but the Spirit of GOD , if He will vouchsafe to pour it forth . The great Enemy of Mankind is come in upon us like a Flood ; and only the Spirit of the Lord can lift up a Standard against him , Isa. 59. 19. The Spirit of the Lord would be to us as a purifying Flame , to burn up our Filthiness , and enkindle in us that Divine Love , that would make us Zealous of good Works . And this should be with us the Matter of earnest and incessant Supplication , not with Diffidence , for He will give his Spirit to them that ask him , Luke 11. 13. Nor with diminishing Thoughts of the Necessity and Value of the Gift . Take heed of that , for that were to be miserable and undone by a Principle ; To be misled by a prophane false Judgment , into the Contempt of the most highly valuable Things , that are most necessary to our true Welfare . And which are all contained in the Gift of the Spirit , as you may see by comparing Mat. 7. and Luke 11. with one another . In the one Place it is said . He will give good Things to them that ask him ; in the other Place it is said , his Spirit ; implying , that the Gift of the Spirit Involves in it all good Things . And certainly nothing can be good to any Man , till he hath that Spirit that makes him Good : And we are greatly concerned , to Supplicate mightily for the Effusion of that Blessed Spirit , for these two Purposes especially . First , That there may be a larger Diffusion amongst us of Vital Religion , whereby we shall be at Peace with GOD. Secondly , That Christian Love may more abound , whereby Christians may be composed to mutual Peace , and more dispos'd to mutual Communion with one another . 1. THAT there may be a larger Diffusion of Vital Religion . Wherein stands indeed their being at Peace with GOD , when there is a mutual amplexus between him and them , Mind touching Mind , and Spirit Spirit ; when He does , by His Spirit , embrace the Spirits of Men , and infuse Light and Life into them , and adapt and suit them for his Communion . To this Purpose , we have great Cause to beg and supplicate earnestly , for a greater pouring forth of his Spirit that this living Religion may spread amongst us : For we appear to be under a Doom , while it does not so , that seeing we should see , and not perceive , &c. Isa. 6. O the fearful guilt incurr'd one Lords Day after another ! When great Assemblies meet together , Multitudes are besought and supplicated , that they would be Reconciled to GOD , but too few Listen . Peace with GOD , seems not a valuable Thing with us , His Favour in which is Life , is little set by . When , with many a one , a Treaty is continued , in Order to Peace , through many Years , Seven , Ten , Twenty , Thirty , nay Forty Years ; and yet this Treaty brings not about a Peace at last ; but they stand out still , hardened in their Impenitency , Infidelity , Obstinacy , Enmity , against GOD and his Christ , through the Power and Dominion that an Earthly , Vain , Carnal Mind has in them , and over them . What can our Peace with Men signifie in this Case ? What do we not know , that the Friendship of this World is Enmity against God ? James 4. 4. 1 John 2. 15. And that it is as impossible , for a Man to be a sincere Lover of GOD , and an over-intense Lover of this World , as to have two GODS , i. e. two Supream Powers to govern him , two Supream Goods to satisfie him . This must breed a perpetual War , till the Case alters between Thee , and Him that made Thee ; and Woe to him that strives with His Maker ! To have the Wrath of GOD , Armed with Omnipotency , engaged against Thee ; and yet that thou shouldest not covet Peace , that yet thou shouldst not cry for Peace ! To have the Peace-making Blood of thy Redeemer , crying to Thee , O he at Peace with GOD ! To have Him that shed it thus bespeaking Thee , I am ready to do the Part of a Days-man ; I have dyed upon the Cross , that I might do so , that I might effect and bring about a Peace between GOD and Thee . I am ready to Mediate , make Use of Me. I will undertake on GODS Part , that He shall Pardon Thee , that He shall Forgive Thee , and let the Controversie fall , if yet thy Heart , on thy Part , will yeild , melt , and relent , and thou cry for Mercy . He came with this Design into this World , the Proclamation of Angels at His coming spake his Design , Glory to GOD in the Highest , and Peace on Earth , and Good Will towards Men. Shall not all this be believed ? Or shall Men pretend to believe it , and not Consider it , or not Look upon it , as a considerable Thing ? 2. AND there is as much need too , that we supplicate for this Spirit , as a Spirit of mutual Love among Christians , to reconcile them to one another . Which indeed is also but to Christianize them , to make Vital Religion take Place with them . For that same Spirit of Christ , which animates his Body , and makes them his Living Members , makes them such to one another . And the Matter speaks it self , That opposite Spirit unto truly Christian Peace and Love which appears amongst us , nothing but the Spirit of Christ can overcome ; we are not to expect a Cure of our Distempers in this Kind , but by the pouring forth of this Blessed Spirit : And if there be not a Cure , we are certainly to expect the pouring forth of his Wrath. And Things look with a Threatning Aspect upon us to this Purpose . Now that Opportunity is so Inviting , GODS Call so Loud , and the Way so Plain . That yet an Indisposition to Peace should be so obstinate , that Breaches should be kept open by Trifles , and unaccountable Things , of which no Man of Sense can pretend to give an Account . That there is Strife , too manifestly not from the Love of Truth whereof not one Hair needs be Lost ( nor of any other valuable Thing ) but meerly from the Love of Strife ; when as to the most Material and Important Truths , Men are agreed , but would seem to disagree ; they Mean the same Things , but impute to one another a different Meaning ; and pretend to know the others Mind better than themselves , that on that pretence they may Quarrel with them ! All this looks Fatally . And our unjust Anger 's at one another , are too expressive of GODS just Anger with us all ; that his Good Spirit , that Spirit of Love , Peace , Kindness , Benignity is so notoriously Resisted , Vexed , Grieved , and Despited by us . And the Consequences are likely , for some Time , to be very Dismal . Though when GOD hath proceeded in a Way of Punitive Animadversion , so far as he shall Judge necessary for the Vindication of his own Name , and the Honour of our Religion so scandalously misrepresented to the World , it will be easie to Him , by one Victorious Effort of that Spirit to reduce the Christian Church to its Original , genuine Temper ; and make it shine again , in its own Native Light , and Lustre . But in the Mean Time , I cannot see , that there is greater need of an over-pouring Influence of the Holy Ghost , to draw Men into Union with Christ , and thereby to bring back Apostate Souls to GOD , or to work in them Faith and Repentance , than to bring them into Union upon Christian Terms , with one another . Or that the Love of this World , or any the most ignominious sensual Lust , or Vice ( Drunkenness , Gluttony , or any other ) are more hardly , or more rarely overcome , than the Envy , Wrath , Malice , which Christians ordinarily , are not at all shy of expressing toward one another . I speak upon some Experience , lamenting that having this occasion ( which Sense of Duty will not let me balk ) I have also so much Cause , to mention that foregoing Observation . For I cannot forget , that sometime Discoursing with some very Noted Persons about the business of Union among Christians , it hath been freely granted me , that there was not so much as a Principle left ( among those the Discourse had Reference to ) upon which to Disagree . And yet the same fixed Aversion to Union , continued as before ; as a plain Proof , they were not Principles , but Ends , we were still to differ for . In this Case , what but the Power of an Almighty Spirit can overcome ? To quote Texts of Scripture upon such Occasions , signifies nothing , even to those who profess a Veneration for those Holy Oracles of GOD. Let such Places be mention'd , as are expresly directed against Division , Wrath , Strife , Slandering or Backbiting one another , and they avail no more , than if the Vice , were the Vertue , or the Vertue the Vice ; no more than if it were a Command to Christians , to Malign , to Traduce , to Backbite one another . To urge so plain and numerous Scriptures in these Cases , it is to as little Purpose , as to oppose ones Breath to a Storm ; It is the same Thing , as if all Scriptures , that had any Aspect or Look this Way , were quite put out of the Canon , and all this , with Men zealous for the Divine Authority of the Scripture . And indeed it is come to that pass as to look like a Jest , to expect that any Man should be swayed by Scripture , or the most convincing Reason agreeable thereto , against his own Passion or Humour , or against the ( supposed though never so grosly mistaken ) Interest of his Party . NOR is it meer Peace , that is to be aimed at , but free , mutual Christian Communion with such , as do all hold the Head , Christ. As Peace between Nations infers Commerce , so among Christian Churches , it ought to infer a Fellowship in Acts of Worship . I wish there were no Cause to say this is declined , when no Pretence is left against it but false Accusation ; none but what must be supported by Lying and Calumny : Too many are busie at inventing of that which is no where to be found , that Exists not in the Nature of Things , that they may have a Colour for continued Distance . And is not this , to fly in the Face of the Authority under which we Live ? i. e. The Ruling Power of the Kingdom of Christ , the Prince of Peace ? 'T is strange they are not ashamed to be called Christians ; that they do not Discard and Abandon the Name , that can allow themselves in such Things ! And 't is here to be Noted , that 't is quite another Thing , what is in it self True or False , Right or Wrong , and what is to be a Measure or Boundary of Christian Communion . Are we yet to Learn , that Christian Communion is not amongst Men that are perfect , but that are Labouring under manifold Imperfections , both in Knowledge and Holiness ! And whatsoever Mistake in Judgment , or Obliquity in Practice , can consist with holding the Head , ought to consist also with being of the same Christian Communion ; not the same Locally which is impossible ; but the same occasionally , as any Providence invites at this or that Time ; and Mentally , in Heart and Spirit , at all Times . And to such Peace ( and consequently Communion ) we are all called in one ●ody , Col. 3. 15. We are expresly required to receive one another ( which cannot but Mean into each others Communion ) and not to doubtful Disputations , Rom. 14. 1. If any be Thought to be Weak , and thereupon to Differ from us in some or other Sentiments , if the Difference consists with holding the Head , they are not , because they are Weak , to be Refused Communion , but Received ; and Received , ●ecause tbe Lord has Received them , Ver. 3. All that we should think Christ has Received into his Communion , we ought to Receive into ours , Rom. 15. 7. Scriptures are so express to this Purpose , that nothing can be more . AND , indeed , to make New Boundaries of Christian Communion , is to make a New Christianity , and a New Gospel , and New Rules of Christ's Kingdom ; and , by which to distinguish Subjects and Rebels , and in Effect to Dethrone Him , to Rival Him in His highest Prerogative , viz. The Establishing the Terms of Life and Death , for Men Living under his Gospel . It is to Confine Salvation , in the Means of it , to such or such a Party , such a Church ; arbitrarily Distinguished from the rest of Christians . As if the Priviledges of his Kingdom belong'd to a Party only ; and that , for instance the Lords Table were to lose its Name , and be no longer so called , but the Table of this or that Church , constituted by Rules of their own Devising . For if it be the Lords Table , they are to keep it Free , to be approach't upon the Lords Terms , and not their own . In the mean time , what higher Invasion can there be of Christs Rights ? And since the Christian Church became so overwise , above what is Written in framing New Doctrines , and Rules of Worship , How miserably it hath Languish't , and been Torn in Pieces , they cannot be ignorant who have read any Thing of the History of it . AND indeed there is not a Difference to be found , amongst them that hold the Head , but must be so Minute , that it cannot be a Pretence for Refusing Communion . For true Christian Charity will at least Resolve it into Weakness . And Men are generally so kind to themselves , that he from whom another differs , will be very apt to think himself the stronger ; then does the Rule conclude him , You that a●e Strong , bear the Infirmities of the Weak , and do not Dispute with them , but Receive them . This Obligation immediately lies on the Strong , and therefore must take hold of them that think themselves so , not to Dispute with the others but receive them , and because the Lord has Received them . Does He take them into his Communion , and will not You take them into Yours ? To profess want of Charity in Excuse , is to Excuse a Fault by a Wickedness . It is to Usurp Christs Judgment-Seat , and Invade His Office , Rom. 14. 4 , 10. Therefore wheresoever there is any such Case to be found , that let a Man be never so sound in the Faith , never so Orthodox , let him be in all Things else never so Regular through his whole Conversation , if he do not submit to some doubtful Thing , Thought perhaps a Matter of indifferency on the one side , and unlawful on the other ; this Person must be excluded Christian Communion , for no other known Pretence , but only that he presumed to Doubt somewhat in the imposed Terms ; for this very Doubt he is to be Treated as an Heathen or Publican , or indeed no more to be Received into our Communion , than a Dog or a Swine . How will this be Justified at Christ's Tribunal ! BUT how much less justisiable is it , if not only Communion be Pefused , but Ruine Designed , to such as Differ from us about those our Arbitrary Additions to Christs Rules , and Boundaries of Christian Communion . AND scarce can a very serious Person ( even in so serious a Matter ) forbear to Smile , when they see them that have done so much harm to their Felion-Christians , attempt to justifie it , only in Effect from their having Power to do it ; which would as well justifie any Thing , since no Man does what he could not do . NOR yet do I look upon this Proneness , to innovate and devise other Terms of Christian Communion than Christ hath Himself appointed , as the Peculiar Character of a Party : But as ● Symptom of the diseased State of the Christian Church , too plainly appearing in all Parties . As I also reckon it too low and narrow a Design , to aim at a Oneness of Communion among Christians of this and that single Party and Perswasion ; which would but make so much the Larger Vleus , and Tumor a greater unnatural Apostem or Secession , in the Sacred Body of our Blessed Lord. Nothing in this Kind , can be a Design worthy of a Christian , or suitable to the Spirit of Christ , b●t to have Christian Communion Extended and Limitted , according to the extent , and Limits of visibly Serious and vital Christianity . And hereof , that distinguishing Judgment , which is necessary , is as little difficult as in Private Conversation between a Visible Friend , and a Visible Enemy , or in Publick and Political , between a Visible Subject , and a Visible Rebel . So far as a Discrimination can and according to Christs Rules ( not our own unbounded Fancies ) ought to be made , any serious Living Christian , of whatsoever Party or Denomination ; I ought to communicate with as such , and with only such . For Living Christians to sever from one another , or to mingle with the Dead , is an equal Transgression . Nor must our Judgment of any such Case , be guided by meer Charity , but must guide it , being it self guided by the known Laws of Christ. TO Summ up all , when once we shall have Learned to distinguish between the Essentials of Christianity , and accidental Appendages , And between Accidents of Christ's appointing , and of our Devising , and to dread affixing of our own Devices to so Sacred an Institution . Much more when every Truth or Duty contained in the Bible , cannot be counted Essential or Necessary , when we shall have learnt not only not to add Inventions of our own to that Sacred Frame , but much more not to presume to insert them into the Order of Essentials or Necessaries , and Treat Men as no Christians , for wanting them . When the Gospel shall have its Liberty to the utmost Ends of the Earth . When the Regenerating Spirit shall go forth with it , and propagate a Divine and GOD like Nature every where among Men. When Regeneration shall be understood to signifie the communicating of such a Nature , and such Dispositions to Men. When the weight of such Words comes to be apprehended [ He that hateth his Brother , abideth in Death , 1 John 2. ] When to be Born of GOD ceases to signifie with us , being Proselyted to this or that Church formed and distinguished by Humane Device . When Religious Pretences Cease to serve Political Purposes , when the Interest of a Party ceases to weigh more with us than the whole Christian Interest . When Sincerity shall be Thought the noblest Embellishment of a Christian , When the Wolf also shall direll with the Lamb , and the Leopard shall Lie down with the Kid : And the Calf , and the Young Lion and the Fatling together , and a little Child shall lead them . And the Cow and the Bear shall feed , their Young Ones shall lie down together : And the Lion shall Eat straw like the Ox. And the Sucking Child shall Play on the hole of the Asp , and the Weaned Child shall put his Hand on the Cockatrice-Desn . They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my Holy Mountain : For the Earth shall be full of the Knowledge of the Lord , as the Waters cover the Sea , Isa. 11. 6 , 7 , 8 , 9. Then will our Peace be as a River , and our Righteousness as the Waves of the Sea. Isa. 48. 18. And the Glorious Lord will Himself be to us a Place of broad Waters , Ch. 33. 21. Where Straits , and Rocks , and Shelves , shall no more Affright or Endanger us . But if these Things take no Place with us , then have we Cause to apprehend that the Things of our Peace are yet hid from our Eyes . FINIS . BOOKS written by the Reverend Mr. John Howe . Printed for Tho. Parkhurst . 1. OF Thoughtsulness for the Morrow . With an Appendix concerning the immoderate Desire of fore-knowing things to come . 2. Of Charity in Reference to other Mens Sins . 3. The Redeemer's Tears wept over lost Souls , in a Treatise on Luke 19. 41 , 42. With an Appendix , wherein somewhat is occasionally Discoursed concerning the Sin against the Holy Ghost , and how God is said to Will the Salvation of them that Perish . 4. A Sermon directing what we are to do after a strict Enquiry whether or no we truly Love God. 5. A Funeral Sermon for Mrs. Esther Sampson , the late Wife of Henry Sampson , Doctor of physick , who died Nov. 24. 1689. 6. The Carnality of Religious Contention . In two Sermons Preach'd at the Merchants Lecture in Broad-street . 7. A Calm and Sober Enquiry concerning the Possibility of a Trinity in the Godhead . 8. A Letter to a Friend concerning a Postscript to the Defence of Dr. Sherlock's Notion of the Trinity in Unity , relating to the Calm and Sober Enquiry upon the same Subject . 9. A View of that Part of the late Considerations Addrest to H. H. about the Trinity . Which concerns the Sober Enquiry , On that Subject . There is now Published two scarce Books , The Fountain of Life Opened ; or a Display of Christ in his Essential and Mediatorial Glory : Containing Forty Two Sermons on various Texts . And also of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or , a Treatise of the Soul of Man. Both in 4to . By the late Reverend and Learned Mr. John Flavel , Minister of the Gospel at Dartmouth . Notes, typically marginal, from the original text Notes for div A44695-e770 Vell : Patercul . † Sen.