The churches peace asserted upon a civil account as it was (great part of it) deliver'd in a sermon before the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor in Guild-Hall-Chappel July 4 / by Ad. Littleton, presbyter. Littleton, Adam, 1627-1694. 1669 Approx. 115 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 25 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2004-08 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A48723 Wing L2560 ESTC R37938 17154123 ocm 17154123 105963 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. 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As it was ( great part of it ) deliver'd in a Sermon before the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor , in Guild-Hall-Chappel , Iuly 4. By AD. LITTLETON , Presbyter . Opto equidem , ut , si fieri potest , nemo de fratribus pereat : si tamen quosdam Schismatum Duces ; & dissensionis Auctores non potuerit ad salutis viam consilium salubre revocare ; caeteri tamen , vel simplicitate capti , vel errore inducti , vel aliquâ fallentis astutiae calliditate decepti , à fallaciae vos laqueis solvite , &c. S. Cyprian , de Unitate Ecclesiae . LONDON , Printed for Philip Chetwind , MDCLXIX . THE PREFACE TO THE READER . 'T IS sad to consider , that , as we owe all our Vnsettlements to our Divisions , so we our selves are so settled upon the Lees in these our Divisions , that he that endeavours to remove us , does but put us upon a new Fermentation , and an exercise of Passion . The charming name of Peace it self is now become an Alarm , and entertain'd by most as unwelcom news ; and they , that bring any tidings of it , lookt upon , as Enemies , and Ill-affected . The reason of this 't is no hard matter to find out : for seeing many People have engaged themselves into parties , out of a wrong apprehension of Interest ; as long as that prejudice lies in the way , there is no hope of doing any good ; or ever reconciling them to that , which seems to dis-interest them . Let the best Oratour in the world go to perswade any man against his Interest , he shall but lose his own labour , and the others good opinion to boot . Wherefore I have in this Discourse endeavour'd to und●ceive people b● evincing , That the particular interests of us all , as we are Brethren and Companions , are involv'd in the Churches Prosperity ; and that her Peace , by which the whole and every part , ( the Government , and every Person under the Government ) is ●●cur'd , is , at least ought to be , the Center of all our concerns . If Jerusalem miscarry , if the things of her peace be hid from her eyes ; none of her Inhabitants , what-ever their Zeal or their Wealth , their Religion or their Interest may be , must hope to escape . I do again confidently say , that mistaken Interest is the main ground and principle of our present Divisions : because , had they arose out of pure Conscience , that 's a more treatable thing , and is willing ( if it be a good conscience ) to be inform'd ; whereas now the humour of most is , to run after things without any examination , and to cry up one thing , and condemn another , many times , which they have little or no knowledge of , the one or the other . Now , Reader , to apply to thee ; whether thou art for the Church , or against the Church , this discourse will be serviceable and useful to thee , upon this meer account , as thou art an honest English-man , and wishest thy self well and thy Countrey no harm . If thou art a Friend to the Church ; here thou wilt find some Arguments to confirm thy judgment , and to inable thee in debating with others , that are not Friends . If thou separatest from the Church ; then thou must know , that 't is mainly for thy sake , that this comes abroad , to find thee out : because such discourses cannot meet with thee , where they are deliver'd . What-ever thy Opinion be , and whether it were Conscience or Interest , that made thee take it up ( which thou art best able to resolve thy self ) do not prejudge me , but weigh impartially the truth and reason of things . I desire not to be credited any farther , then I have them on my side . If thou findest the Language any where harsh and severe , do not presently be offended : 't is the nature of truth and reason so to express themselves ; and I do assure thee , my design is only to convince thy understanding , without any intention of breaking thy head . One thing , for thy further satisfaction , I must not conceal from thee , which , besides the importunities of some Friends and others worthy Citizens , which heard me that day , was in part a reason of this Publication ; that some while , after I had Penn'd this Discourse , I met with a Sermon in Print of Doctor Reynolds , the present Lord Bishop of Norwich , Preached in the Parliament-House , Jan. 9. in the Year , 1656. upon this very subject , Intituled , The Peace of Jerusalem : wherein he has , over and above his pious inlargements upon the latter part of this Psalm ( for he takes all the four last verses for his Text ) in his Exhortation to those then in Power , so Learnedly and Solidly , as his manner is , by several strenuous Arguments prov'd , that The Christian Magistrate has a coercive power in matters of Religion ; ( Page 23. ) shewing plainly , 't is but a trick and a design in those that cry it down ; ( Page 22. ) and that the difference of dispensations in the Jewish and Christian Church , doth not a whit alter the case ; ( Page 26. ) nor Christian Liberty priviledge or exempt men from that Power : ( Page 29. ) That with me , and I think with any indifferent Reader , he leaves no place of doubt . I was glad to see that the Church even then , when her Friends were under hatches , was not in so hopeless and desperate a Condition , but that her cause was fairly pleaded with acceptance , before her Adversaries : and This it was encouraged me to entertain some hopes , if not of the like acceptation of my weak performance , yet of a ready excuse for my dutiful endeavour , before those , that have been always , and , I hope , ever will be the Churches Friends . For though that were at such a time , when our Church-Government was laid aside ( which yet that Reverend Person , I make no question , did even then , out of his great Learning , in his Conscience approve and wish restor'd ) and therefore out of prudence the main Controversie ( which is with the Authors of the division , those that made the first breach ) seem to be wav'd , and his style particularly directed against those Sects , which improving the Schism into Heresie , have departed from the Foundation : yet those weighty Arguments , he brings , are generally applicable to all , and are apparently of force against the most specious Sect , we have amongst us ; and that upon this ground , ( Page 31. ) that divisions and sub-divisions in the Church do exceedingly tend to weaken , to distract ; to betray it . To make good this , I shall apply one of his Arguments , which alone is enough to carry the Churches cause ; ( Page 28. ) Whatever things are , per se , subversive and dangerous to the prosperity of States and Nations , come under the proper cognizance of the Civil Magistrate to prevent ; But Heresies , Blasphemies , Idolatries , Impieties against God ( and Schisms too , say I , and so the Reverend Author himself joyns them , ( Page 8. ) Blasphemies , Heresies , Schisms , Idolatry , Superstition ) do as well endanger the Prosperity of States as sins against the second Table . 1. Because God is as much provoked by the one as by the other . 2. Because such sins do more exceedingly divide and unty the bonds of Love and Amity , then other Civil differences do , and so loosen the hearts of men from one another . The Instances , wherein He would have the Magistrate exsert his power , are these ; ( Page 32 , 33. ) To encourage Orthodox Ministers , and the Schools of Learning . To take care that all who own Christian Religion amongst us be required to attend upon the Ministry . To endeavour to reconcile dissenting brethren , that we may unite against the Common Adversary . To secure Fundamental Doctrines , and for that purpose to take care for Catechising , &c. I thought fit to give thee this Intimation , that , if thou think'st my answers not full enough to those Objections ( which the streights of time would not give leave for in the Pulpit ) thou may'st know whither to have recourse ( as I said ) for thy better satisfaction . I shall conclude with the same profession , as that Reverend Author does , ( Page 34. ) that I have not pressed this Doctrine of the Peace of the Church to the straightning or grieving of any , who love our Lord Jesus in sincerity . Only I wish , that they , who made the earliest departure from the English Church in these late times , would ( as He does for many of them ) reflect upon themselves and apply that of Hazael ; whether they could some years since have been perswaded to believe , that they should have lived to see such a trail of opinions and mischiefs break in upon Church and State , upon the advantage of their ( perhaps at first not ill-meaning ) discontents . And let thee and me and every honest English-man pray for the Peace of our Jerusalem , in His Paraphrase ; ( Page 8. ) That God would protect his Ordinances , and maintain his Truth ; that he would prosper Fundamental Laws , the beauty and stability of Religious Government , &c. that the Tabernacle and the Tribunals , Religion and Policy may jointly flourish , they being the foundations of publick happiness , and which usually stand and fall together . PSAL. CXXII . Vers. 8. For my Brethren and Companions sakes I will now say , Peace be within thee . THE Occasion , upon which this sacred Ode was penn'd , a Reverend Person in his Annotations tells us , he believes , was Davids return to Ierusalem , to the Publick Service of God again at the Temple , after Absalon's defeat . Calvin is of opinion , that David made it at the time , when the Ark was setled upon Mount Sion , and the building of the Temple designed , for the uniform Exercise of the National Religion . Upon either account it will very well suit with our Meridian . The whole Psalm is an Elogy or Panegyrick Description of the Metropolis of Iudea , the City of Ierusalem : and that not only nor so much upon the Civil account , that there are set Thrones of Iudgment , the Thrones of the House of David . Vers. 5. That 't was the Imperial City , where the King kept Court , whence Laws were issued , and Authority derived for the Government of the rest of the people . There sate the Sanhedrin , the great Council of the Nation ; and there the supream Courts of Judicature , which received Appeals from all inferior Districts : But also and much more upon the Ecclesiastical account ; this City being the Residence of the great King , the Lord himself , who had set his Name there , and chose the Temple for his dwelling-place . Whither the tribes go up , the tribes of the Lord , unto the testimony of Israel , ( or , more exactly to the Original , according to the testimony for Israel ) to give thanks unto the Name of the Lord. This City then was the appointed place of Gods publick and solemn Worship , whither all the people of that Country were thrice a year , at the three great Festivals , obliged to come up to present themselves before the Lord in the Temple , according to the testimony of Israel , i ▪ e. by a perpetual Statute and standing Ordinance to that people : the Laws of God being usually in Scripture-language styled Testimonies . Now that there was by this Testimony or Statute for the Tribes coming up to Ierusalem designed a strict Uniformity in that peoples Exercise of their Religion , is of it self clear in the very History ; for the Tribes did not every one bring up a several Form of Worship along with them , but all as one man made a solemn appearance together at the Temple in one joynt acknowledgment and regular Service . And Mr. Calvin tells us as much , that God appointed one Temple and one Altar on purpose for the whole Nations use ; nè populus in varias superstitiones difflueret , that the people might not , by being left to their own liberty in the Worship of God , run loose into a world of wild opinions and practices about matters of Religion . And that further by Ierusalem , whose Peace we are here to pray for , is to be understood the Church , as it is the appointed place of Gods publick Worship , appears by the very context of the Psalm it self , which begins and ends with this Notion , vers . 1. I was glad when they said unto me , let us go into the house of the Lord : and then in order to this 't is said , vers . 2. Our feet shall stand within thy gates , O Ierusalem , that being the ready way to the Temple : and in the last verse again he concludes , Because of the house of the Lord our God , I will seek thy good , i.e. the good of Ierusalem in its Ecclesiastical State ; as the House of God , the Temple , the place of solemn Assembly , belonged to it . And thus Calvin expounds that of the third verse , Ierusalem is built as a City , that is compact together ; or , as the common Translation has it , As a City , that is at unity in it self : not for the uniformity of the building , but , says he , propter civium consensum , for the unanimity and mutual agreement of its Citizens in the Worship of God and in the Exercise of Religion . And that the people should all thus joyn their affectionate good wishes and most earnest endeavours for the Peace of Ierusalem thus considered , to seek the prosperity , and to promote the welfare of the Church , in a fair compliance with publick Order , and in a quiet regular Exercise of the National Religion , the Psalmist here in the close of the Psalm , bring no less than three Arguments . 1. From every mans personal concern in the Churches safety . Pray for the peace of Ierusalem ; they shall prosper , or , they shall be quiet and at ease , that love thee , i.e. God will bless such persons with a quiet and a happy life , that love the Church , and wish her well , and pay a regular obedience to her Orders and Government . And this upon a meer Natural Principle of self-love implanted in every mans breast , and of that charity , which , we use to say , begins at home ; the parts being all safe in the preservation of the whole ; every private mans Cabin secure , while the Ship of Government steers right : whereas those , that by wilful disobedience contrive publick disturbances , manifestly hazard their own prosperity in the general Confusion , and at long run do themselves no less mischief than they designed the Church , drowning for company in the miscarriage of the Vessel . 2. For that which ought to be every honest mans next consideration ; for the good of 〈◊〉 Community : for a Heathen could say , Non nobis solùm nati sumus , &c. we are not born only for our selves , but our Country , our kindred , our friends , our brethren and companions , challenge a great share in us : so that , if a man cast up his obligations aright , he ought not so much to live to himself , as to the Publick ; and this much more upon the score of Christianity , where Self-denial is the main Principle , and Charity the grand Duty . And this Argument is represented in the Text. For my brethren and companions sakes , for my Friends and Country-men , for my Neighbours and Relations ; I will say , Peace be within thee , or , as in the reading Psalms , I will wish thee prosperity . And this is upon a Civil account ; the Peace and prosperity of the Church being likely to procure the settlement of good order and the establishment of peace in the Civil State : whereas quarrels about Religion seldom or never end there , till they have involved the Government and Policy of a Nation into dangerous consequents . 3. From that , which , though set last , ought to be considered and resolved on in the first place by all pious men , that have any sense of Gods Honour , any zeal to his Name and Service , any love or kindness to his House and Ordinances ; from the Worship and Respect due to God from his people : Because of the house of the Lord our God , I will seek thy good . And this upon a Spiritual or Religious account ; to love the Church for the Churches sake , and to do it all the good we can for the honour of God , as well as for the benefit of our brethren and companions , that so we may under our King live quiet and peaceble lives in all godliness and honesty , as our Church has taught us to pray . Being to speak before this Honourable Assembly , with whom the Care and Government of our Ierusalem , this once famous City , is intrusted ; I have made choice of the second of these Arguments , which shews how Civil Society is concerned in a quiet Exercise of the National Religion : wherein the Psalmist makes it his resolution , and recommends it to us all , to pray for the Churches peace , and to wish her prosperity , for our brethren and companions sake , in the behalf of our Friends and Country-men ; as we wish well to our King and Country , and stand well affected to the Government and the Laws ; as we hope to see the Nation thrive , Trade flourish , the City rebuilt , and all our friends and acquaintance in a prosperous condition : the peace of the Church and the peoples agreement in the Service of God , being the only probable means of securing and ascertaining our Civil Interests and Publick tranquillity . For my brethren and companions sakes , I will now say , Peace be within thee ; I will wish thee prosperity . In the words we have two things fall under our Consideration . 1. A Duty recommended to us in Davids Example and Resolution : which is to wish the Churches peace . 2. A strong Motive to inforce this Duty : for our brethren and companions sakes ; out of that love and affection , we bear to the Publick and to our native Country . The Resolution of Duty exprest in the latter Clause of the Verse ; I will now say , Peace be within thee : where , though our English render it as the common form of Salutation used amongst that people , when they met or parted with one another : as our Saviour ordered his Disciples , when he sent them forth , Luke 10. 5. Into whatsoever house they entred , first to say , Peace be to this house : and thus our Church has in her Offices for the Visitation of the sick after our Saviours Example ordered , that the Priest entring into the sick persons house , shall say , Peace be to this house and to all that dwell in it : and certainly when ever we address our selves to Gods House , the House of Prayer , 't is very comely and most meet , that we should all of us salute her in this Form , Peace be within thee . Yet this I take to be too narrow a sense ; for the Form of Salutation was somewhat different from this ; and it should have been said , if that had been all intended , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Peace be to thee ; not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Peace be in thee . Therefore the rest of the Interpreters take it in a wider sense by a plainer construction . I will speak peace , say they , in thee : and thus it may be the Magistrates part to speak peace with Authority , to command it , and to see it kept . Say others , I will speak peace for thee , in thy behalf ; and that belongs to the Minister , to preach up the peace of the Church , even with that earnestness as to quarrel for it : though with Ieremy he become a man of contentions , in a perverse and froward generation , while he does so , and when he speaks of peace , others make themselves ready for battel . The Septuagint and Vulgar read it thus , I will speak peace of thee , or , concerning thee , i.e. to speak kindly of it , and to wish it well ; and thus it will concern all the People , the generality , every man in the Nation . And I am afraid there is but too much need , that both Magistrate , and Minister , and People , and all , should all of us bestir our selves , and contribute our utmost endeavours for the Churches peace and welfare , if we will but do what we ought to do , and that out of Interest as well as Duty , for our own and our Countries sake ; for that 's The Motive and Reason , with which this Duty is back'd , indeed faced and put forward with , in the beginning of the verse ; for my brethren and companions sakes ; whose good , will they nill they , be they the Churches friends or foes , is to be sought in the preservation of the Church : for as the Churches peace depends upon the union and agreement of these brethren and companions , so on the other hand in her peace and prosperity , is comprehended the happiness and nearest concerns of us all . By Brethren is meant Kindred and Relations , the charitates naturales , in a strict sense ; but according to the larger acception of the word in the Hebrew language all our Country-men from one end of the Nation to the other , all that live under the same Laws and Government ; especially those that are of the same houshold of faith , and profess the same Gospel of Peace . By Companions or Friends are to be understood those of a stricter and closer Alliance , with whom we have contracted nearer and dearer familiarities ; above all , those that agree with us in the same Orthodox Judgment , and walk regularly and lovingly with us , according to the same Rules and Institutions of Gods publick Worship , whose concerns are more immediately united in the Churches welfare : which we are in that manner to preserve and promote for both their sakes , as not to exclude either . And thus much for the coherence and explication , which I have the longer insisted upon , to gain your full assent to these two things . 1. That by Ierusalem here is meant the Church . And 2. That by her peace is to be understood our agreement in religion ; since without this agreement there is no probability , no likelihood of her enjoying peace . I shall now crave leave to gather up all I have to say into one proposition ; and such a proposition , as the words do naturally without any force put upon them afford us . And 't is this , in the words of the Text , That we ought for our Brethren and Companions sakes to wish and endeavour the Churches peace . Which in a brief Paraphrase speaks thus ; That 't is the duty of every Man amongst us , whether Magistrate or other , as he is the Governour or Member of a Society , upon a meer civil account , our affection to our Native Countrey , and the good of community in our several places and stations , heartily to wish , and vigorously to endeavour the peace and prosperity of the Church , in the uniform exercise of Religion and God's publick worship . And this Proposition I shall make good by three Arguments , taken 1. From the ground of a Peoples happiness , Divine favour and protection ; and that favour not to be procur'd , but by keeping up God's publick honour amongst us ; and that honour no way to be secur'd , but by our unanimous agreement in his publick worship . 2. From that influence , which Religion is apt to have upon the minds of Men , both in awing them and uniting them : which aw and union both without the uniformity of worship , if People be left to their own liberty to worship God publickly how they please , will infallibly utterly be lost ; and when Religion shall once be brought into a publick contempt , and made the ground of an universal quarrel ; when the candlestick is once removing out of the Church , 't is easie to foresee what danger the State will then be in , and what will in a short time become of such a People . 3. From the particular constitution of our Laws and Government , wherein the concerns of State are so intimately and closely link'd with the Peace and prosperity of the Church , that they must needs stand or fall together . First , then for the first Argument , that the Peace of the Church , that is , our agreement in the service of God , is the only way of keeping up God's publick honour amongst us , and consequently of after-taiming to us the favour and blessing of God , which is the main and only ground of National prosperity and happiness , the great concern of all our Brethren and Companions . Wherein I have three things to make out . 1. That the Divine favour is the main and only prop of a Peoples happiness . 2. That the setting up Gods honour in publick amongst us is the only means of procuring and ascertaining his favour . And 3. That our agreement in the service of God is the only way of keeping up his publick honour . I say first , That the favour of God is the grand support and alone foundation of any peoples prosperity and happy estate . This is the Palladium of the Government ; ancile imperii , the buckler of State ; when , as the Psalmist expresses it , God encompasseth us with his favour , as with a shield ; whereupon it is , that by vertue of this divine influence upon his Vice-gerents the Magistrates , they themselves are also term'd the shields of the earth . A learned Frenchman tells us , that the Eastern people were wont , at the building of any City , according to the positions of Heaven at that time , by rules of Astrology and other Magical observations , to make Artificial Sculptures upon Brass , which they call'd Talismans , and to consecrate them to the auspicious beginnings and fortunate success of that City : which they fancied , as long as those Hieroglyphicks were preserv'd , would never miscarry by fire of water , war or plague . And of this nature and design he takes Laban's Teraphim to have been , which his daughter Rachel stole away ; and those of Micah , which the boisterous Danites plunder'd him of : as the pledges of good fortune to those Families , who were therefore both much concern'd in the loss of them . To the same purpose the Grecians and others ( indeed who not ) had their Tutelar Gods , as the guardians of each City : so that the first thing enemies did , that came to besiege a Town , was to call away their God , either by inchantments inticing him , or by extraordinary respects out-bidding the Inhabitants , and proffering the Deity better terms , if he would come over to their side : insomuch that the Tyrians , when Alexander's Army beleaguer'd them , upon such an apprehension of Apollo's leaving them , tyed him fast with a Golden Chain to Hercules his Altar , that he might not stir . And 't was a great part of policy among these Heathens , to conceal these their strengths , and keep them close , as the arcana imperii , that in time of danger they might be sure of them . From these and the like superstitious usages , this serious truth at least may be learnt , that very Infidels and Strangers to the Common-wealth of Israel had , from the instincts of Nature , that sense of a Deity and an over-ruling Power , that they trusted not to the situation and strength of their Cities , to the number or valour and wealth of the Inhabitants , for the defence of them ; but wholly imputed their safety to divine protection . And this much more to be acknowledged by us , to whom God has made himself so well known in his Word , with whom he has entred into Covenant , whom he has admitted unto so endearing nearnesses to himself . Our Royal Author is every where full of these acknowledgments in this his Book of Publick Devotions , calling God a Sun and a Shield , his strong Rock , and Tower of Defence , and mighty Deliverer ; ascribing all his deliverances and preservations to the light of his countenance and the saving strength of his right hand . Particularly in Psal. 144. where he does ex professo handle this Argument , he says , 't is he that gives Victory unto Kings ; and then having recited the several instances of a peoples outward prosperity , That our sons grow up as young plants , and our daughters as the polished corners of the Temple ; that our garners be full and plenteous with all manner of store ; that our sheep bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets ; that our oxen be strong to labour and in good plight ; that there be no invasion upon us , no leading into captivity , and no complaining in our streets ; he closes this account with an acclamation , wherin he resolves the sum of all into divine favour , as the ground and original of all these blessings and advantages : Happy are the people that are in such a case : happy , I say , are the people which have the Lord for their God. But yet more closely to your purpose in Psal. 127. he tells you ; Except the Lord build your houses , they labour in vain that build them . If God be not the Master-builder the great Undertaker of the Work , you do but aedificare in ruinam , build up your ruines to farther ruines : And then too , unless he keep the City , when 't is built , the watchman waketh but in vain . May he build your houses for you , to be habitations of peace , and preserve your City ; make it beautiful for situation , and the joy of the whole Land : may God be well known in her Palaces for a Refuge ; may he love her Gates , and may the most High establish her , and raise up his own Tabernacle in the midst of her : may he make it the City of God , and the Mountain of his Holiness . God does , that I may with reverence speak it , by the very inclinations of his own nature , peculiarly affect man ; and then further he that said , It is not good for man to be alone , he has a more then ordinary care and regard for societies of men . Well govern'd Cities and well order'd States are the special objects of Almighty Gods singular providence . And as he has this care for our good in community ; so it must be our care to keep up his honour in publick : since , which is our next , 2. The setting up Gods honour amongst us in publick is the only means of procuring and ascertaining his favour . The condition of his covenant with all Nations , as well as his own people , is , I will be their God , and they shall be my People ; when we cease to be his people , we must not hope that he will continue to be our God. All just governments are influenced and supported by him ; but , if we abuse those influences and neglect those supports , 't is just for him in displeasure to withdraw the light of his countenance and the saving strength of his right hand , and to leave us in the dark to the weakness of our own counsels and undertakings . He will honour them that honour him ; 't was a pitiful request of Saul , to desire to be honour'd before the people , when he himself had dishonour'd God before them . When Governours are like God , and act all to his glory , as he himself does ; then blessings are showr'd down upon them , and from them to the whole community . This was Christ's own case : Thou lovest righteousness , and hatest wickedness ; therefore God thy God hath anointed thee with the oyl of gladness above thy fellows , Psalm 45. 7. 'T is not the Crown and Scepter , the Purple and the Mace , that distinguish the Magistrate from a common man ; but the oil of gladness , the divine benediction upon his doing righteous things . Then all his Garments smell of Myrrhe , Aloes , and Cassia , out of his ivory palaces ; when the fragrancy of publick example commands at once the veneration and imitation of all that are about them : whereas upon wicked Nations that forget God , and such families as call not upon his name , he pours out his severest indignation . This the very Poet could observe to his Countrymen the Romans , Dîs te minorem quòd geris , imperas ; Says he : that they ow'd their success to their piety , and were made commanders of the world for their obedience to their Gods. Nor is it strange , that God should , even in false Religions , bless people with outward prosperity and temporal success , for that honour they did him under wrong names and mis-apprehensions ; since at bottom of all their vain conceits and idolatrous practises there lay metus numinis , the awe and reverence of a supreme infinite power , wherein the notion of Religion in general consists . And he goes on , and tells them , that all their miscarriages , and all the calamities , that had of late befaln that City and State , were to be imputed to their neglect of Religion . How much more happy should we be , that have the truth of Religion amongst us , if we would but be true to it our selves ? And if a pretended zeal for God's honour has , in our remembrance , made Vsurpation thrive , and heap'd Palms and Laurels upon an unrighteous Cause : what advantage would real devotion do to the establishing of a just Government ? And on the other hand , how much more miserable and improsperous must we expect to be , then any wicked Heathens or backsliding pretenders , if we , having such advantages and such reasons both of advancing God's honour amongst us , fail in our duty , and do not , as we ought to do , for our brethren and companions sake , with one common consent and mutual agreement , praise God for his mercies , and fear him for his judgments , which he hath shewn in the midst of us . That 's the last thing of this head . 3. That our agreement in God's service is the only way of keeping-up his publick honour amongst us . When Cities and Societies here below look like the Sedes beatorum , the blessed company of Saints and Angels above , wherewith the Heavenly Throne is inviron'd , all serving God the same way in perfect harmony of worship : This is doing , that the Apostle bids us , having our conversation in Heaven , by bringing Heaven down to us , and being all of one mind , as we shall be there . For brethren thus to dwell together in the unity of profession and practice , is , as the Psalmist compares it , like the consecrating oyl upon Aaron 's head , that ran down to the skirts of his garment , that is , all over from the head to the foot ; the meanest person of the Nation equally sharing with the highest in the advantages of the Priesthood and one common service . This is that dew of Sion , the Church , where God commanded the blessing , the blessing of peace and plenty . A Church , as ours now is , without this unanimity , is but like the Ship , where Ionas was , toss'd and tumbled with winds of doctrine and waves of faction ; till , at the upshot of all , when they all apply themselves to their several gods , in their several ways of Worship , the Ionas , the only true Religion amongst them , is to be flung over-board . God is a God of order and peace , and accounts himself highly dishonoured by our confusions . 'T was Baal , that delighted to be served with loud crys and furious slashings . It was the Devil with his forked foot , first brought in Heresie and Schism ; that , by multiplying Religions , he might make the world believe , there was no such thing ; and if there were , that people might not trouble themselves about a thing , where it would be so difficult not to mistake in the choice . Thus , when this enemy of God and man saw , that the crucifying Christ would not be sufficient for the disgracing of Religion ; he fell presently , even in the Apostles times , to divide him , for the puzzling of it . It has been observed , that Travellers , that have been abroad , and seen Religion in its various dresses and forms , in the several Countries , where they have been , and in what different manners they serve God , are apt at last to turn Scepticks , arrive at a quiet indifference , and think it a matter of no great concern , what Religion they are of , or whether they be of any at all . But alas ! we have now in this Church that disadvantage , without travelling for it . Our people stay at home , and see fashions ; and some ( as Travellers use to put on the habit and garb of each Country , they go through ) have appeared in all shapes , taken up all Opinions and Forms , and done exercise in them all ; till at last they have taken the degree of Doctors in the Scorners Chair , and have turned profest Atheists . How do the Romanists triumph in our dissensions , make Bonfires out of our flames , and daily get ground of the Protestant Cause ; whilst we Protestants our selves do their work for them , by unnatural quarrels destroying our common Mother the Church ? How do prophane persons make themselves merry at the miscarriages of the Church , and harden themselves in their Atheistical Reasonings against God himself ; when they see so much ado made , such zeal and heat shown on all sides , about Forms of Worship and the Circumstances of Religion : when the mean while the great Duties of Christianity , wherein the life and power of Religion lyes , are by most of us of all perswasions neglected ? and how can they chuse but think Religion it self a trifle , if that be it , that makes us so earnest about trifles , and yet so regardless in those things , which the worst of Atheists themselves confess are necessary for the preservation of men , whether singly in their own persons , or joyntly in Society : such as are Iustice , Temperance , Charity , and the like ? What can Neighbour-States and Churches abroad think of us , that , after God had so wonderfully restored us , to the astonishment of the world , we have so strangely and with no less astonishment , to the dishonour of God and our own shame , lost the Miracle and let it fall to the ground , and given up the Cause in a manner , to which God by his extraordinary Providences and his Anointed our late Soveraign the blessed Martyr by his unparallel'd sufferings gave such testimony ? And at last what can we our selves look for now , that God will yet work more Miracles for our preservation , who have , by our divisions in his Worship and our Spiritual fornications , not only forfeited his protection , but procured his displeasure , and at once both disobliged his mercy and provoked his Justice ? To me , to speak what I apprehend freely , it appears , in the posture we now stand in , a very shrewd symptom and a dangerous indication , that God himself and Religion and all are now about to take their solemn leave of the Country , together with the Churches peace . And then what will become of our brethren and companions , for whose sake we are to endeavour the Churches peace ; when God has once forsaken the Land ? And thus I have done with the first Argument . The second is , that the peace of the Church in the uniform Worship of God is a necessary expedient , to make Religion the happy instrument of Government , by securing that influence it has upon the minds of men , in awing Subjects to obedience , and uniting our brethren and companions in love : without which obedience and love , 't is impossible , that any people should hold together , and prosper ; since , where discontents and divisions prevail , a Society must needs of it self naturally tend to dissolution . A House , a City , a Kingdom , divided against it self , cannot stand ; is a State-Aphorism , we have from the mouth of Truth it self . So then , whether 't were fear or love , was the Principle , which gathered mankind into Nations and Common-wealths , and brought them to live in Community under the same Laws and Priviledges , we find them both in Religion . Whereupon 't is the remark of a Roman Historian , that , as Romulus founded the City by Arms , so Numa setled it by Religion , and then came Ancus and found leisure to adorn it with Temples and publick Buildings . Thus Religion secured the acquists of the Sword on one hand , and prepared the design for the Truel on the other . And till Religion be in a better condition amongst you , then for ought I see 't is now in , I cannot not tell , what you may think of your Building . 'T is true ; it seems to me , in our present divisions , that , much what like the Iews after their return , we rebuild our City with a Sword in one hand , and a Truel in the other : but so , as if that Sword were to be used against our selves , not against an Enemy , as theirs was . I wish heartily , that the peace of the Church may be so setled amongst us , and the rubbish of our late ruines there removed , that you may lay your Foundations upon fair even ground , and raise the Superstructures with comfort and honour ; that , when you have built up your Walls and your Palaces , Peace may be within your walls , and plenteousness within your palaces : which would then most certainly be , when , as you are obliged to an Vniformity of building the City , so the Citizens themselves would joyn all in an uniform Exercise of Religion ; whose first Character it is , that 1. It aws the consciences of men , and binds them up to their good behaviour , in a strict attendance upon the duties of every one in his place , and a careful obedience to the Law in common . And thus Machiavil himself tutours his Prince , that he will put on the shew at least of Religion , to make his Government dreadful ; though he hold it dangerous to his interest to be bigotted into it , and would have him take up no more of it , then will serve his turn . But if the mask and vizard , the bare appearance of Religion be , in the esteem of carnal worldly Policy , so considerable a help to Government : how serene and awful would it be in its genuine native countenance ? with what rays of Divinity would the truth and power of it cloath the Magistrate ; that the people would behold him as an Angel of God ? For since all Government derives its power from God , the more of God it shews , the more powerful it must needs be . Wherefore , if once Religion grow mean amongst a people , no wonder , if they grow familiar and sawcy with the Government , and , having got the reins of conscience upon their neck , run away with their Rider , and 't is well if not dismount him too . When men are suffered to set their mouths wide open against Heaven , to blaspheme God and deny him in a breath , and to droll in Scripture-language , and jeer at sacred things ; how can it be expected , that earthly Majesty should preserve its reverence with the people , but that God will suffer some to be as bold with their Governors , as they have suffered others to be with him : that by way of Reprisal he may recover his lost Honour , and those , that have slighted him , may be meanly esteemed . For , as God subdues the people under their lawful Prince , so it must be the Princes care to subdue the people to God , by keeping up the aw and port of Religion . And this is done in the uniform and unanimous Exercise of Religion . Then the Church shews like an army with banners ; For the Church triumphant , no body doubts but 't is so : but this is spoken of the Church militant ; it should be so ; a well ordered and disciplined body of men . Without discipline and good order and uniformity of Exercise , it may be a tumult , a mutiny , a crowd or throng of men , but not an Army : or if an Army , 't is but a broken routed one , and needs rally and recruit . And such an Army must I call our Church , with her broken Ranks ; when so many flye daily from her Banners , and repair to other Standards ; when some are so hardy to make themselves Commission-officers , and appoint Rendez-vous , and make Musters in private corners ; indeed , in publick Assemblies , to the defiance of the Church and Civil Authority at once . Truth is ; Our divisions have made Religion a ridiculous thing ; whilst every Party priding , it self in the glare of its own spiritual knowledge , looks upon the rest with contempt . The Sects wonder at us , that we stick where we do , and not come up after them : we as much wonder at their unkindness in leaving us , and their confidence in going so far . And the wonder goes round : for they all admire and pity one anothers ignorance . All of them see a great light in the way they walk in , and conclude they are got into Goshen ; when all the rest of the world , as they fancy , are still sitting in Egyptian darkness . Thus we censure , one another , and , when we have hoodwinkt our selves with our own form , think our selves the only seeing people , and all else , that are not as we are , blind-fold ; to the merriment of by-standers , but withal to some peril , lest from these giddy reflections , we make upon one another , they conclude , we have no light at all amongst us in the English Church , but that we are now in Egypt , more then ever we were . What pastime and advantage our divisions give Atheists and Papists , I shewed before : I am now speaking of us amongst our selves . Nor do these differences only stir the spleen , but the choler too , and fill all Parties , as with spiritual disdain of one anothers ways , so with zealous passion too against one anothers persons . The Sectaries are scandalized at Church-musick , and look upon our decent Rites and Ceremonies as trumpery , and reckon our Solemnities of Worship contemptible things . The Orthodox on the other hand are justly offended at their slovenly familiarities with sacred things , and indeed with God himself . So that 't is clear , by dividing from one another , Religion has lost all its awe amongst us , every sort of it being lookt on , as mean and despicable , by all those that are of any other sort . Nor must the National Religion think to find better treatment , then the rest , but rather worse ; as lying under this peculiar disadvantage , that those , who adhere to that , though never so conscientiously , lay themselves open to a general censure of all dissenters , that they , in that they side with the Government , are pleasers of men , and time-servers . Besides , this is that , they all in strict judgment account to be to them Antichrist , that which holds back and hinders , that no one of them can get up in to absolute power . And certainly they must be so good-natur'd , as to pity the Governour himself , if his conscience be not of their model : I , and should he be but half so severe in the maintenance of his way , as they are zealous in theirs , perhaps hate him too , at least have but little kindness for him , who , as they fancy , keeps Christ out of his Throne . Thus we see , if Religion be not tyed up to rules , if it grow lawless , it will quickly become awless too , loose all its respects , and not be able to assist the Government , in the protection of our brethren and companions , whose concerns lie bound up in the Churches peace . Nor Secondly , Will Religion avail in its second property , which is to Vnite ; unless God's worship amongst us be uniformly exercised . Religio à religando ; Religion has its name from binding up men , not only in themselves , binding up their spirits so as to restrain them from publick disorders ; but as to one another too , binding their hearts together in mutual offices of love and kindness . And thus , when we can walk together , as brethren and companions , to the house of God , and there take sweet counsel together ; this is a kindly Vnion : when all the members of the civil society are guided and governed by the same spirit of the mystical body , and hold the faith in unity of spirit , in the bond of peace , and in righteousness of life . This is the true cement , which conjoins neighbours and friends closer , then any legal priviledges and obligations can do . Without this , you build your City with untemper'd mortar : nor will it well bear the weather , when the flouds shall beat , unless it be thus compacted together , and be at unity in it self . And how can it rationally be expected , that Religion should bind us together , if it self be left loose and tyed to no rules and orders ? I confess , the Vnity of the Catholick Church may consist , without the uniformity of particular Churches among themselves ; and thus , notwithstanding some differences , they have in ordering their own affairs prudently to their best convenience , and accommodating themselves to the necessities of time and place , still holding to the Analogy of Faith , and sound Doctrine , and the rule of God's Word : I say , notwithstanding these differences in externals , we do own the communion of Saints , as an Article of our Faith. But to say , that every particular person or party , in the same Church , has , by vertue of his Christianity a liberty to disobey the publick orders of that Church , whereof he is a member ; and to serve God , as shall , notwithstanding those orders , seem good to that party or person ; ( for , as the party breaks , it will come to persons at last : ) to take liberty in this notion is to make it but another name for confusion . Wherefore , what they say , is not true , being applyed to fellow-members of the same particular Church ; that , according to our Christian liberty , and that latitude , God has left things in , if the Church would leave them so too , and not bind , where he has not bound , this would prove the best expedient of peace , and unity : for the way would be wide enough for every one to walk in ; we should not need justle one another ; but though we used not all one form in our serving of God , we might be all of one mind , as to our civil concerns at least . It were well , if dissents in judgment could be so managed , as not to beget distances of affection ; but this is a thing rather to be wished , then hoped for . For , whilest every party thinks it self obliged in conscience , to advance it self , even to the prejudice and ruine of the rest ; Conscience being a principle of that violence , that , right or wrong , it acts , like nature , ad extremum virium , to the utmost of its strength and opportunity : hence it comes to pass , that odia religionum acerbissima , those heats and animosities , which are grounded upon the cause of Religion , are the most dangerous and irreconcileable ; by reason Conscience is ingaged in the quarrel , whose tenderness of apprehension is worse then the jealousies of love or power , which will admit of no rival , cannot indure any competitor . Thus it was betwixt the Iews and Samaritans , that did , upon the score of their Religions , so abominate one the other , that they would not so much as eat and drink together , or buy and sell , or converse in the ordinary civilities of Good morrow or Good even . So nice and squeamish distasted conscience is , out of fear of partaking with others sins , and fancying it can never be at distance enough from what it conceives a dislike to . Nor is that a sufficient Salvo , to keep up Vnity amongst us , that we agree in Fundamentals ; ( I wish we all did that ) and that we differ only in some things of smaller allay ; the more to blame they , that fall out about such things , and to the hazard of publick Peace , make endless differences and quarrels about things indifferent . I must commend the generous Charity of some , that profess to love all that have faith in Christ Iesus , whatever their Form be : and I am of their mind , that our Charity is not to be confin'd to a Party , but to be extended to the whole Community , the Body of the Church . But then 't is a gross mistake , to think the Church it self , in its establishments , a Party in these our divisions ; who is to be lookt on , what S. Paul says of Ierusalem here , as the common Mother of us all : and herein lies the main of our Charity , to seek and secure the Churches peace , in endeavouring to appease divisions , and to reconcile her disobedient Children . This , I say , is right Catholick Charity . As to those persons , who are seduced and live in errour , the greatest Charity can be shewed to them , is to reclaim them , or at least , if that may not be , for our brethren and companions sakes , to keep them quiet . For to see the humor of Schism , after it has once broke off from the Church , how restless a thing it is , and how quarrel is apt to beget quarrel , till it have brought all into confusion . The Sects , we have amongst us , do no more disagree from the Church , then they do from one another : 't is Ephraim against Manasses , and Manasses against Ephraim , as well as both against Iudah . And though they all agreed , time was , too well against the Church , as a common Enemy ; and , whilst her ruine was contriving , held together : yet no sooner had they obtained that , which was the common design of them all , but they fell out among themselves about their particular ends : and when they had pulled down that , which they maliciously termed Babylon , the English Ierusalem , their language was so divided , that they could none of them build up a Babel of their own . For the same Arguments , which the Presbyterian Party had fiercely used against the Bishops , were by the Independents unanswerably managed against themselves : and then there succeeded more subdivisions ; the Baptized Churches got up and bore sway ; the Fift-Monarchy-men made a bustle for the Rule ; then at last arose the Quakers , a spreading Party , and feared by all the rest . What should I speak for Free-willers , Ranters , Bedel's Followers and Naylor's crew ? it shames me thus to discover the nakedness of my Country ; but it grieves me more , to think , these pretences are still on foot , and most of the Parties still owning themselves in their distinctions : who , though , in the general , as Sects , and equally obnoxious to the Laws , do by a kind of Syncretism unite ; yet , had any one of them power in their hand , would be far enough from looking on the rest , that dissent from them , as Brethren and Companions , or shewing that savour to any of them all , as the Church of England does now to them all together . And so the case stood with their Fore-fathers at Frankfort , Amsterdam , &c. where , in opposition to our Liturgie and Discipline , setting up purer Forms of their own , they could not agree ; but were so zealous in their divisions ( though it highly concern'd them , for credit of their new-found way and comfort of their exile , to have held together ) till at last the Son excommunicated the Father , and one Brother the other . So giddy and lost a thing Conscience is , when 't is once stept aside , and gone out of its way . I could wish , the moderate and sober men amongst them would consider this ; that , if God should , in his just Judgment to the Nation , give them an opportunity of another tryal , they may easily , if not blinded with self-conceit , fore-see the event , and in publick ruines read afore-hand their own disappointments . But , they say , they have no such designs ; they are quiet and peaceable men , desire only to seek and to serve God ; but that some of unquiet fierce Spirits amongst us will not let them alone : they intend no disturbance to the Government , but the Government disturbs them , in their religious Exercises and Meetings . The same Plea will serve for the worst of Malefactors ; that , if the Law would let them alone , they an● very quiet men : but , pray , who breaks the peace ? he that looks after the execution of the Laws , or he that disobeys them ? he that disobeys , certainly is the Aggressor . I cannot say but Ishmael and his Mother were hardly dealt with , and did suffer a kind of persecution ; and yet the Apostle tells us , that Ishmaels self was the Persecutor , for but mocking of Isaac : but this , were it sport or contempt , reflecting on the Heir of the Family , the Son of a Princess , ( who in the Allegory is Ierusalem here ) is interpreted Persecution ; while the turning out of Ishmael is own'd as just punishment . And in like manner 't is the Sects persecute the Church , by derisions and contempts ; not the Church , that persecutes them . But if they are so well inclin'd to Peace , why then do they not do what they acknowledge may lawfully be done , and submit in those things , where their Conscience may give them leave ; i.e. in such things as God in his Word has not forbidden ? The Magistrate has bid them come to their Parish-Church ; bid men of my Order renounce the Covenant : God hath no where commanded to the contrary . Why should not they come ? why should not we renounce ? There can be no scruple in the case : for in things , where God himself has given no order , we are to obey the Magistrate , not only for Fear , but for Conscience sake . We read , that our Saviour himself , kept the Feast of the Dedication , though no where appointed by God himself , no where mention'd in the Old Testament ( an Apochryphal Feast ) and taught daily in the Temple and in their Synagogues ; and that some of his Apostles , after the Ceremonies were dead and buried , came up to the Temple still at the hour of Prayer : to set us an example , that in such things , where there is no express command of God against them , though there be no express command for them , we are to comply with publick order and decent custom . If they would but do thus ingenuously , there would be some likelihood of Peace . But they would have the Church submit to them ; and then all should be well . Which of them ? for they cannot all be comply'd with ; that 's impossible : for to take in one , and leave out another , will be the ground of further discontents ; and to gather all at a cast into the comprehension , would possibly be to please none of them , at least to displease the better half . If they would but once agree among themselves and say what they would have ; they would then have some fair pretence to be consider'd . But here 's the misery on 't : 't is very hard for them themselves to define what will satisfie Conscience : because that , being not engag'd upon certain Rules , may to morrow judge that necessary , the necessity whereof to day it doth not fore-see ; and if any mens Consciences are to be satisfied thus at random , the Church will never know , when it has done , but be still to seek upon new emergencies . Whereas would they come to some certainty of demands , wherein the whole party , in all its subdivisions , would agree , they might the better be treated with : there would be some hope in time of a good understanding . But if their meaning is to be left to such a latitude , to do whatsoever they shall upon occasion find agreeable to their Conscience , i.e. possibly sometimes to their interest or humour to do : there 's no body so void of reason , but must needs see of how dangerous a consequence it is to any Government , to leave any sort of men ( whatsoever their Principles be , be they never so honest ) to such a Liberty . And such a Liberty , if they had it , would be so far from composing differences ; that those everlasting quarrels and irreconcileable animosities , they have purely out of Conscience taken up one against another ( which are now , partly in kindness to the common cause they are engag'd in , for the reputation of Schism ; and partly for fear of the Laws , smother'd and kept in ) would then instantly break out with violence into open flames : whilst some , sticking rigidly to those measures , they have already attain'd , and comparing themselves with themselves , severely censure those , that , upon pretence of greater light and more plentiful effusions of the Spirit , walk beyond their line and rule : And those on the other hand priding themselves in their Spiritual Priviledges , and the purity of Ordinances , despise their Brethren , as carnal and narrow-spirited men , that still keep close to outward forms , and walk according to the flesh , and the will of man , in the beggerly rudiments of the world . Thus you see , if we do not come to an agreement , as I do not see , how we ever shall ( unless authority interpose ) in the exercise of Religion , the hearts of English-men are never like to be united , either in brotherly love to one another , or in common affection to our Countrey : but that , the awe and union of Religion being lost , the hazard of the Churches Peace threatens disturbances also to the Civil State ; which is our third and last Argument , Taken from the particular constitution of our Government , wherein the Civil and Ecclesiastick State are so nearly united , that , like Hippocrates twins , they are both well or ill together , and run the same hazard of health , and must take share of the same fortune : so that , who wishes well to the Government , to the concerns of our Brethren and Companions , must by unavoidable consequence favour the prosperity of the Church . To prove this , I shall not pretend to the Law ( though however unkind Lawyers may be to the Churches interest in its Iurisdiction ) there 's enough in the Law it self to this purpose ; nor shall I quote King Iames his Apophthegm , though he must be acknowledg'd a wise man , and one that well understood the nature of Government ; nor shall I tell you out of our own Stories , that men of this Robe have usually undergone the greatest Offices of State , and publick imployments ; which 't is very uncharitable wholly to impute to Church-mens ambition , and to allow nothing of merit in the case , upon which those preferments and publick trusts were grounded ; nor what great benefactures some of them left behind them to Community from those secular advantages , they were assisted with ; nor yet shall I insist upon our own experience ( an irrefragable proof ) in the late times ; when the design seemed levell'd only at the Hierarchy , but was carried on to the ruine of Monarchy it self , and the overthrow of Prelacy was so zealously prosecuted , that they brought all Orders into confusion , and Mar-prelate proved the Mar-all of the Nation . And if we did not buy wit then , at a rate dear enough , we may , if we please , make farther tryal to our greater cost . I shall only make a general Propose . That Magistracy and Ministry are the two Pillars and supports of Society , there 's no body , I think will deny ; and if either of these Pillars fail , the whole Structure is in danger of falling : nor can publick order be secur'd , unless the two Swords , the Sword of Iustice , and th● Sword of the Spirit , assist each the other in the administration of affairs , and in the execution of their several off●●s . Now for any man to take upon him to be a Minister , or , if he be one , to exercise that Function , without the approbation and against the plain sense of the Law , is as irrational and irregular a misdemeanour , and must needs be of as dangerous a consequence to the publick , as for any man to create himself a Magistrate , or to execute the office of a Magistrate without Law. I say , for one , that has no Commission , or has been put out of the Commission of Peace , to act notwithstanding , as a Iustice ( let him be as wise and as honest a man as he will ) is sure a high crime : I know not how the Law may call it . And it is the very same , or worse , in the Ministry ; because this office has a more immediate influence on the Consciences of men , the most busie and sturdy principle in humane Nature . 'T is confest on all hands , that a man cannot exercise the office of a Minister without a Call. Let me ask then , whether theirs be an ordinary or extraordinary Call ? If extraordinary ( by the way , 't is Enthusiasm to say so ) let them make it appear by Miracles and Languages . If Ordinary , certainly they knew afore-hand , before they came into Orders ( for to such I speak ) what the legal constitution requires of them , is their Canonical Obedience ; if they did know this , and yet came with a resolution to disobey ; this is manifest prevarication : if they did not know , and their ignorance betray'd them into a snare ; the men are to be pitied , but their ignorance is by no means to be excused : if they knew it before , and were then satisfied , but have been inlightned since , and changed their mind ; they must know too , that that power , which gives men in publick place leave to act ; may upon publick inconvenience suspend their acting ; and if then they do act , 't is an unjustifiable disobedience . Nor is it with them as it was with Saint Paul ; Wo be unto me if I preach not the Gospel : he had another kind of Call , but for these there 's a Wo belongs to them , if they do . 'T is otherwise too , now the Church is setled under Christian Magistrates , and govern'd by Christian Laws , then at that time , when it was to be planted under the Government of Heathen Emperours . The Church now , with all her subordinations and dependencies , in all her jurisdictions and powers , owns the King her Supreme . She challenges nothing to her self , but what the favour of her Prince , and the Laws of the land have allow'd her . Thus Bishops , as to the execution of their Office , are sent by the King as Supreme , and act in their Courts by the Kings power , as Civil Courts do : the King deputing Arch-Bishops , and Bishops , to be Judges under him in causes Spiritual , and in his name to govern the Ecclesiastical State ; as he makes Lord Keepers , Chief Iustices , and other Iudges of the Land. For had the Church any power in it self in Civil affairs , besides what the Laws give her ; I dare say , there 's ne're a Bishop in England , but would speedily redress those scandals and grievances , possibly brought into their Courts by Lay-Officers , which people so much clamour against . But now what can they do ? they are ty'd up by Law. All of us , that are of the Clergy own the Civil Power , pay the same obedience to the Laws , as any of you do ; and in First-fruits , Tenths , and Subsidies , make as chargable acknowledgments , as any of the populacy . I know , 't is said though ; what need of such a pompous costly Religion , of a Church with so great an allowance of means ? This ample Revenue exhausts and weakens the State : smaller stipends would serve turn very well . But can any one , with any shew of ingenuity , fairly reason against the encouragements of Learning , and the rewards of desert ? Let it be consider'd that several of this Order , had they gone another way , might ( with submission I speak it ) have sate in your Seats , and been clad with your Purple . After all our pains , and time , and strength , and charges too , spent in studies , do not think that what the Law allows us , we have by doing nothing for it . These things are propos'd publickly as the Acquists of Industry , and may be got and injoy'd , as legally , as any of your Estates . And is it not fit , do you think , a National Church , wherein the honour and reputation of Religion is to be kept up , should be secur'd from poverty , and that contempt , which always accompanies meanness ? It were to be wish'd that , as Kings are to be the Nursing Fathers of the Church ; so Princes and the Sons of Nobles would fit themselves for her dignities : that they might bear up the honour of Religion with their personal attendence . It has been so heretofore , when the two great Offices were united in the same person ; Melchisedek King of Salem , and Priest of the living God : and they were kept pretty near in the persons of Moses and Aaron , brethren ; and the Priest elder brother to the Prince . And hence the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Kohen ( whence we have King ) signifies indifferently Prince and Priest : whereupon the Apostle , Rom. 13. calls the King , in Ecclesiastical terms , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , Gods Minister , say we for both ; 't is Gods Liturgie-maker , and Gods Deacon ; to shew too , that a Christian Magistrate , as such , has power to order religious affairs , in the Service of God. This I say , has been , and 't were well , if it could be so with us : however , must the Church alone be held up by a precarious dependence ? Is it not this , that makes Religion a Prostitute to the humors of the people ? when men of mean spirits and parts shall , out of fear , comply , for a paltry livelihood , to preach things that may please ; and others of ambitious minds , and voluble tongues , to serve an interest , shall lead the people to their own hurt . But some will say ; what would you have men do , that are not otherwise considered ? since there is that unequal distribution of Church-favours , that some go away with all , and others get little or nothing . Judge in your own case , whether this be a reasonable ground of quarrel . Shall the inequality of Estates amongst you make the meaner Citizens quarrel the Government of the City , because they have not all the wealth of Aldermen ? Shall I , or any of my brethren and companions , because we have not that place and esteem in the Church , as we , out of the pride of our own hearts may think we deserve , go in a sullen arrogance , and set up for our selves in a distinct interest from the Church ; and flye in the face of our Mother , and put undutiful affronts upon her , for not being so kind , as we would have her ? No. Gen. 49. 6. O my soul , come not thou into such mens secret ; unto their private assemblies , mine honour , be not thou united . Let them for me be divided in Iacob , and scattered in Israel ; that , in their anger and self-will , practise such things . To go on , I know it has been seriously discoursed , and p●inted too , that the largeness of the Church-revenue in any Nation impoverishes the State , sets the people behind-hand , and puts them out of a thriving condition : and no less then demonstration offered , that , if it were retrenched , Trade would flourish , Manufactures and growths receive wonderful improvements , and the people generally grow rich apace . But to Answer that Author ; those Common-wealths , he speaks of , and ours are not alike , in the constitution and nature of the Government ; and God forbid , they ever should . But it may be ones wonder , why our people cannot now , with much more case , make those improvements ; since the Church keeps little in her own hands , and for the most part lets easie penny-worths : nor can it be any reason , that the Church drains the peoples money ; since , if the Church had not what she has , some body else would in the Churches right ; nor would the people be much the better . How our Neighbour-States order their Church affairs , I suppose , ought to be no precedent of Policy to us : though they , to keep up a National Religion , by which those , they admit into publick trust , are brought to test ; and , for the securing publick peace , amidst the differences of Religion , maintain a standing Army ; Further , why our dissenters should not , upon their own bottoms , be comprehended within the legal settlement of the Church , they themselves give a very just occasion : for the very best Party amongst them have such Principles of Policy and Government , as are utterly inconsistent and incompatible , not only with any other Form , but with Monarchy it self ; as hath been clearly evidenced from their own writings and practices : and others there are , that do , in effect , loosen the bands of all Society , by excusing that duty , Servants owe to their Masters , Children to their Parents , Wives to their Husbands , under a pretence of seeking God , justifie disobedience by the Corban of Religion ; and for any command of their Superiors , they like not , have a ready answer , that they are to obey God rather than man : whereas , on the contrary , there is no one thing , that the English Church does in her Doctrine more positively affirm , or in her Offices more zealously express , then obedience to Governors , and her duty to her Soveraign . To draw to an end in this Argument ; some there are , that fear not to charge the Church it self with Sacriledge ; and truly I must grant , that Church-men may be guilty , by imbezilling and mis-imploying Church-revenue , which sure enough was mainly design'd for Pious Uses : but may not a man , that faithfully serves the Publick in his place , have some regard to himself too , in fair provisions for his own Family ? The Apostle tells us , that he , that does not , is worse then an Infidel . To shut up all , and to drive this nail to the head ; I do freely acknowledge , that the Church never flourish'd more under Pagan Governments , then when it was in the poorest condition for it's temporals ; when it lay under Pressures and Afflictions , and had the Heathen-State its Enemy . But shall any Christian Magistrate now design the Perscution and Ruine of the Church therefore ? This were to Argue with the Apostate Iulian , to strip Bishops and Priests of their lively-hood , and to turn them out of all they have ; that they may be poor in imitation of their master's Example , and in obdedience to his command may learn to contemn the World. But , thanked be God , we live not now under Heathen Emperours and Pagan Governours : though , if we did , it were our duty to pray for them , and to thank God for then too , and to obey them in all lawful commands , and where we can not safely obey , chearfully suffer for a good Conscience . Neither is , nor ought the Church to be so now , as it was in the Primitive times , before it was setled under Christian Magistrates ; though then too there was fair liberal allowance ; and there 's no Minister , we have , but would be contented to Preach at the Primitive rates , were our Auditors as free and open-handed , as they were then . In the close of all , these sacred Morsels , though they may seem sweet , yet leave gravel behind them : and this I dare boldly say , that the decay of the Church , and the disrepute of Religion , amongst any people , is a certain token , and an infallible character of that People's approaching Ruine ; Sic profanatis sacris Peritura Troja perdidit primùm Deos. So that from the complication of Church and State , and the extreme hazard , each of them runs in the other's perils , we stand obliged , upon a meer Civil account , for our Brethren and Companion . sakes , to wish the Churches prosperity and welfare , in our mutual Agreement among our selves . Before I make an end , I think it necessary to take notice of an Objection or two , which may seem to overthrow the purpose and design of this whole Discourse . For though it hath already been clear'd out of the Context , that by Ierusalem here must be meant the Church ; and that the Churches Peace , which for his Brethren and Companions sakes David resolves to wish and endeavour , did consist in that People's uniform Worship of God : as appears further by that Churches sad experience , when Ieroboam drew off the Ten Tribes from their Allegiance , and ( which is reckon'd his great sin , which he made the Children of Israel to sin ) had , by setting up new forms of Worship , made their return , as well to the Thrones of David at Ierusalem , as to the Temple , impossible , and , by a subtle contrivance of an establish'd Schism to render his Rebellion perpetually successful , divided them from their brethren in Religion , and made the breach irreconcileable ; then by degrees the poor Samaritans fell off into all kinds of Superstitions and Idolatries , the Statutes of Omri and Ahab , and I know not what else gallymawfreys of Religion : and all this grounded on the fair pretence of that Precise Sect , the Karaei , who would admit of nothing , in the Worship of God , but what they found expresly commanded in the Law of Moses . I say , though thus it stood with the Iewish Church ; I foresee an Objection may be made , that our case is much different from theirs : for first , Theirs was but a Typical Ceremonial Service , which in the Gospel state has no place ; since our Worship now must be in Spirit and in Truth : and then again , for these very Types and Ceremonies they had a Divine Command , and were by strict precept oblig'd to that uniform attendance upon the Temple ; whereas such a precept or command now we have none , to tye us up in like manner to any one form of Worship . To the first part of the Objection , that that was a Typical Service in the Iewish Church ; but that the Holy Iesus has to the Christian Church brought Grace and Truth , which do not tye us up to such severe observances in external things , but have instated us into a Liberty , wherein we are commanded to stand fast ; and therefore we are not to part with it upon any terms ; I answer , that , though the Ceremonies of that Religion be abolished , yet the substance of it remains still in the Christian Church : for the shadow and the truth were to answer one another ; and those Types and representations are therefore now to be made out answerably by us in real performances ; so that the Vniformity of Worship is as agreeable , and perhaps more necessary , now to the Substance , as 't was then to the Shadow ; and the obligation proportionably the same upon us , as upon them . For though God did , by the death of his Son , rent the vail of the Temple , and break down the Partition-wall , and so has brought us Gentiles into the Fellowship of the Church ; it was , that we should in the same orderly manner serve him in substance , as they did in Germony , and in suitable methods accomplish their Types with the Truth of our services . They brought their Calves and their Lambs to the Priest , and had them by his hand offered in the Temple : Christian Religion has , for their Priests and Levites , distinct orders likewise of Bishops , Priests , and Deacons , and instead of a Temple , Churches , where the People , by the Ministration of the Priesthood , are to offer up their Prayers and their Praises , which are our morning and evening Sacrifices . And thus for their Temple , their Sacrifices , their Sabbaths , their Priesthood , and almost all considerable Instances of their Worship , there is a perpetual uniform Analegy throughout betwixt them and us . Only their Worship was perform'd in the shadow of the Law ; ours in the light of the Gospel : and if this light proves to us darkness , how great will our darkness be ? For alas ! that liberty they talk of , and that light , which so dazzles their eyes , that they cannot see their way , is quite mistaken by them . That light was indeed design'd , to lead them out of the shadow ; but not to lead them into the fire ; for of that nature all Schism and division is : and that liberty as it releas'd them from the bondage of the Ceremonial Law , so it doth not at all disoblige them from the Moral Law , but rather engages them to it with faster ties of gratitude . Now , as I take it , the Fifth Commandment , which enjoyns obedience to the Magistrate , was never lookt upon as a part of the Ceremonial Law , but always accounted to have a Moral and a perpetual indispensible obligation in it . And I must assure them , that disobedience to a lawful Governour , in things not simply in their own nature unlawful ( as most of them confess our Liturgy and Rites to be ) is a great sin and of dangerous consequence , to their own Souls , as well as to the Peace of the Church . So that that answer , they make the Magistrate in this case , is not proper ; that they are not free to obey him : for they are by all Laws both of God and Man Free nay more , obliged and bound to obey . Only let them , I advise , take heed of making that Liberty they pretend to , a Cloak of Maliciousness . Again , as to what they say , that the Iews had a peremptory command from God himself for their Vniformity ; but we can produce no such for ours . I grant them , nor am I so fond to say , we have an express command , set down in God's Word , for every rite and usage , our Church has thought fit , for Decency and good Order , to retain . Nor is it at all necessary , it should be so . No , neither had they for all theirs ; as appears by David's and Solomon's ordering the Quire of the Temple , in the course of the Singers , making forms of devotion , and prescribing them for publick use , and instituting several other things , as occasion required , in that service . And the like may be said of Asa and Iosias their Reformations . And this those godly and wise Governours thought , they might with a safe Conscience do , even in that service , which God himself had appointed ; and that Church was never in a more flourishing condition , then it was then . And are they able now to produce any reason , why we should not believe , the Governours of our Church ( of whom we own the King as Supreme ) to have the same power now , as they had then , upon the like occasions ; and that the People stand equally obliged to accept the Proposals of publick Authority , in things of the same nature , that concern the Worship of God. Especially , since Christ at his promulgation of the Gospel , in his own person , took care only for the weightier things , and left those of lesser alloy , which tend only to the convenience and beauty of the Church , not to the Essence of Religion , to the care and prudence of the Apostles , and so from them to others , their Successors , Governours of the Church ; to order the Affairs of each Church , as would be most expedient for the necessities of each Church in its Plantation . And some of these Apostles sure , if I understand any thing , have left not only commands , but Examples behind them too , which reach our case . For what means that , which is said of the Primitive Christians , that they continued together , and were all of one mind ? They were not sure met , some in one place , and some in another , in different forms to exercise their Religion : one part kneeling , another standing , a third sitting at the breaking of the bread . Let not such unhandsom thoughts enter into our hearts . What means the Apostle , when he chides some , that sunk and withdrew from the Publick Assemblies , as the manner of some was ? but that he would have them keep close to an uniform Worship , and not separate , and set up for themselves , in new fangle ways of their own . Indeed what mean those many vehement perswasions to like-mindedness and brotherly love , which we meet with every where in the Apostles writings ; but agreement in Religion ? Since that love can be no way so well exprest , as in such an agreement ; and upon tryal 't will be found impossible , it should be maintained and preserved amongst us otherwise . In a word , if that general Rule , the Apostle doth authoritatively set down , have not in it the force and purport of a Command ; I am to seek , what a Command is ; Let every thing be done decently and in order . And how in the same Church every one might have liberty of his own Methods to serve God by , and yet the Decorum of Religion , and the good Order of the Church , be nevertheless kept up ; I must confess , I am still further to seek for my understanding . In a word ; let them talk of Christian liberty , as they please : that cannot reasonably by pretended , to justifie publick disorders in any Christian State. This may be rational to suppose , that the several Churches , according to the nature of their several constitutions , in several Countries , were left to a liberty , upon prudential reasons , to order their own affairs , to their own convenience , in things indifferent , whether in matters of Government , or Worship , or Discipline : keeping still to the Analogy of faith and sound doctrine , and to the Rule of Gods Word . And hereupon it was , that the English Church , when it threw off the tyrannous yoke of Popery as it did , with prudent Zeal , and by publick Authority , reform the abuses and corruptions of Doctrine , and abolish all superstitious and idle Ceremonies ; so of them what were found not contrary to Scripture-rule , and agreeable to primitive practice , it thought fit to retain , for decency and good order , in her Liturgie and Publick Service . And though some were even then discontented , that no more was done ; and called for a farther Reformation ; yet this was but according to the British Proverb , which tells us , that the Saissons ( so they call us ) never know , when a thing is well ; but will be mending still , till they mar all : as our late times plainly shew ; when , under pretence of reforming Religion , we had put our selves into the ready way of losing it quite , and had scarce the face of a Church left amongst us . Upon this ground Calvin himself ( as judicious Mr. Hooker tells us ) erected his Model at Geneva , applying himself to the exigents of that time , and those people , he had to do with : though others since , besides ; his first intention , have , with violent zeal , endeavoured to impose that Form upon other Churches also , as matter of Conscience ; which was designed by him , meerly out of prudence and convenience . And no question , but Calvin might look upon Government , ( though he had for his own part as much Authority , as ever Bishop of Geneva had ; and Presbytery it self is little else then a multiplied Episcopacy , setting up in every Parish a Diocesan ) I say , he might probably look upon Church-government , as an indifferent thing , as well as he did upon the Lords day it self , which he was about ( as Martin Bucer reports of him ) to have changed from Sunday to Thursday , for the convenience of that people , in their marketings . Again , hereupon it is , from this liberty , whereby the Churches may each order its own affairs in Christian Policy , that the Reformed Churches themselves , though agreeing , as to the main , in doctrinals ; yet in other things differ so much among themselves : and yet with that fair regard nevertheless , that , as all the Reformed Churches abroad do highly magnifie the constitution of the Church of England , and approve her Methods ; as being the main Rampart and Bulwark against the Romish Tyranny ; So , on the other hand , the English Church is very far from condemning them , for accommodating themselves to the necessity of their conditions , but embraces them all with a hearty friendship . And herein , I say , if I mistake not , lies the very ratio formalis , the nature and extent of Christian liberty , so much talkt of ; that the several Churches indeed may , in externals and circumstantials , square themselves to the necessity of times and places , and order their affairs accordingly . But to say that every particular person or party , in the same Church , has , by vertue of his Christianity , a liberty to disobey the publick Orders of that Church , whereof he is a Member , and to serve God , as shall , notwithstanding those Orders , seem good to that party or person , ( for , as the Party breaks , it will come to Persons at last : ) to take Liberty ( as I said before ) in this notion , is to make it but another name for confusion . Wherefore , since Churches are now constituted , and 't is clear , they are no more to be under the peoples Government , then the Civil States are ; but that the ordering of both belongs to the Christian Magistrate as the Guardian of both Tables ; I say , since 't is so , it necessarily follows , that for any man to affirm , that , what the Magistrate , upon grave deliberation , requires of us , in Gods publick Service , is an intolerable imposition upon conscience ; and that things indifferent , and in their own nature lawful to be done , being once commanded and recommended by lawful Authority , become eo nomine , upon that very account , unlawful ; is a most absurd defiance , and not to be endured . For these are such Theses , as , although some have been bold to publish them , and are still confident enough to act according to them ; yet have no footing , either in the Word of God , or in right Reason , ( upon which two , Societies are founded , and the right of Government stands ) as being destructive at once , not only to the Peace of the Church , but to the purposes of the Civil Power too . That I may make all clear ; I shall , to omit that of Korah , the Son of Levi , who might possibly otherwise be lookt upon as a godly and able man , as having a great opinion amongst the people , and an interest in many of the Princes , and , for ought as we read , was guilty of no other fault but Non-conformity and murmuring against Aaron , Numb . 16. 11. Indeed Dathan and Abiram , Lay-men , Sons of Reuben , went further against Moses himself , in vers . 13 , 14. though these State-Reb●ls too , as well as that disobedient Levite , had the luck upon the very morrow after that dreadful execution upon them , to be esteemed at vers . 41. by all the Congregation , the people of the Lord. Though this look too much like our case ; yet , I say , to pass it by ; because that was a severe example , I shall give you two milder instances ; the one , in the Jewish Church , long before the building of the Temple , that of Micah : the other , of a famous Christian Church , planted by S. Paul , that of the Corinthians . The Story of Micah is , that he made an Ephod and Teraphim and consecrated one of his Sons to be his Priest , Iudg. 17. 5 ▪ upon which the remark is , in the next verse ; that in those days there was no King in Israel ; but every man did that which was right in his own eyes , Nor was the matter mended , when he got a young Levite to be his Father and his Priest : for in the very beginning of the next Chapter , 't is again said : In those days there was no King in Israel ; so that 't is clear , that this is taxed as a scandal of those loose ungoverned times , when there was no King ; that any man should set up for himself a private Form of Worship , to which it should seem the people of the neighbour-houses resorted , Chap. 18. vers . 22. This practice then of Micah's was a fault without doubt ; which , had there been a King in Israel , a lawful Authority in being , to have taken order about such things , would not have been suffered . That of the Corinthians is yet more plausible , and yet not faultless neither : they kept to their publick Ministers ; yet , because they prefer'd one to another , and some liked better of Pauls performance , others of Apollo's , in the same common work ; he taxes them of carnality , i. e. of Schism . 1 Cor. 3. 3. for so he gives the reason ; For , saith he , whereas there is among you envying and strife , and divisions or factions , are not ye carnal ? why ? what factions or divisions are these , he speaks of ? he tells you , vers . 4. For while one saith , I am of Paul ; and another , I am of Apollo ; are ye not carnal ? and yet Paul and Apollo were excellent Persons , both of them ; not only Orthodox sound men , but men of eminent abilities both , and extraordinary graces . But Paul and Apollo were but Ministers , as he tells us in the next verse , that employed those gifts , and exercised those graces for the Churches good , as the Lord giveth to every one . If this be envying , and strife , and division or faction , what would Paul have said of us ? how carnal are we , who do not gad after the Pauls and Apollos ? I wish they were , for their own and their Hearers sakes , all such , whom people now-a-days so eagerly follow ; but quite Kim-kam leave the regular Assemblies of Orthodox men , and run a wildring after every Will-in-the-wisp , that comes in our way , and have such persons in admiration , as are , many of them , neither Orthodox nor able ; and further , some of us take up dangerous Principles at any rate , and exercise Religions of our own making , in such a manner , as must needs in the end ( might such things prevail amongst us ) prove destructive to Christianity it self . And thus I have answered that Objection at large , taking in th● ground of the main Controversie , as far as I could , which is in debat● at this day among us . There is another too , which I must not le● go without its Answer , ( and I shall be brief ) That these reasons 〈◊〉 mine for Vniformity will serve indifferently for all Religions of al● Countries , as well as ours ; and that Mahumetans and Papists are , by this Doctrine , no less obliged , then we , to keep up their ways o● Worship amongst the people , for the honour of God , the reputation of Religion , and the safety of the Government : since we ought not in stark Charity to suppose , but that they , who profess the worst of Religions , do , in their conscience , and according to their Principles , take it to be the best in the world . I hope there 's no one in this Assembly , will make so uncharitable a reflection upon my Discourse , as to imagine , that has been the drift of it , to countenance the bloody practices and cruel persecutions , used , either in the Popes Dominions , or the Grand Signor's Territories . Far be it from me to plead the cause , either of the one or of the other . Yet I do in my Conscience think , that some of those the most violent Princes of either Religion , that have been the most zealous Persecuters , were in their Conscience perswaded , that they were in the right . You 'l say , that 's fair for me to grant : Our Saviour says the same ; they shall kill you , and think they do God good service by so doing : and yet I say Positively , and I would have it taken notice of , because it may concern some , who may think themselves far enough from being in the same form with Turks and Papists ; I do Positively say , that this their acting according to their Conscience will by no means excuse them . For my proof , I have both the great Apostles Rule and his Example too . His Rule is set down , Gal. 4. 18. It is good to be zealously affected , always in a good thing . The case , he brings it upon , is not so clear ; I suppose upon the account of some false Teachers , which endeavour'd to alienate them from that Doctrine , which he had taught them , and to withdraw them from the Church for their own advantage ; and this with a great shew of zeal , in the fore-going verse : They zealously affect you ( says he ) but not well : yea they would exclude you : or , in another reading , they would exclude us , that you might affect them . I wish our People would beware of such , who with a great deal of zealous affection carry on their own designs . But whatever the particular case was , the Rule will hold in general . 'T is good to be zealous , if a man's cause be good , and if the man be convinc'd , his cause is so . Otherwise Zeal without knowledge , or in a wrong cause , is a ridiculous and mischievous thing ; and is upon this score reckoned amongst the works of the flesh . And thus is it with those Idolatrous People , who , the more zealous they are , the more they have to answer . I confess 't is a sad thing , for any man to have an erring guide to follow ; I mean an erroneous Conscience . For which way soever he take , either with or against Conscience , he is concluded to an unavoidable necessity of sinning ; and I must acknowledge too , that 't is safest to sin on Conscience side ; and yet the mistake of Conscience will not be a sufficient plea for unjustifiable actions . And thus it was with Paul , who , in the time of his Pharisaism , was a zealous Persecutor , and thought he did well ; but after his Conversion , for that very thing condemns himself , as the worst of sinners , and yet was no less zealous for the Religion he turn'd to . Now does his Zeal , whilst he was a Pharisee , which was his great sin , make his Christian Zeal e're a whit the less commendable ? No sure . No more does Nero's or Dioclesian's Persecutions of the Saints blemish any Christian Magistrates severity , in defending the Faith against Hereticks , or the Order of the Church against Alexander's killing of a Friend in his drink could be no Argument against his putting a Traytor to death by sober advice ; nor could the execution of a Traytor excuse the murder of a Friend . To retort it upon the Objectors : if they are so zealously affected , that , rather then their conceits shall not carry , they will venture the pulling down . Church and State about their ears ; let any one judge , is not the Magistrate , whom God hath intrusted with the care of his Church , obliged to be as Zealous for the preservation of Church and State , in the vigorous defence of Truth and Peace ? To make a familiar instance : an honest man in possession shews a just courage in maintaining his right , and is commended for it ; whilst the injurious invader , let his courage be what it will , is apprehended and deservedly punish'd by Law , unless he grow too strong for the Law ; and then that 's a sad case . I have done with the Arguments , wherein I could not but think it my duty , as to plead the Churches Peace , so to vindicate her against Objections , which are usually made ; and now shall only desire , that , as you have hitherto attended me with an obliging patience , so you will extend that patience a little farther , whilst I make an earnest and affectionate Address to you , in a short Application , with which I shall close all . Let me then press it upon you , Right Honourable and Worshipful , the Magistrates and Patriots of this great City , and you worthy Citizens , of what rank and degree soever , which hear me this day ( and I could wish , my voice could reach from one end of the City to the other ) that you will all of you put on Publick Spirits , and lay to heart the concerns of your Brethren and Companions , and every man in his place exsert his Authority and Interest , contribute his Prayers and endeavours for the Prosperity of the English Church , and the composure of our unnatural irreligious differences in Religion . Your City is the Metropolis of the Nation , the Royal Seat of the Government , and the great Staple of Trade ; which spreads its universal influence into all parts of the Land ; and your Example gives law to all the rest of the people . 'T is your Iustice , which holds the ballance in all National dealings , 't is your mode of Religon here , that is follow'd every where ; yonr fashions of serving God , that are taken up and retayl'd into the Countrey . The union of this City would unite us all . O do not be wanting to so Pious , so Necessary , so Charitable a Work. If you have any regard to God's Honour amongst us , if any care of Religion , if any love to your Native Countrey and the Government you live under ; if any kindness to your own Persons and Families , to your Wives and little ones , to your Friends and Relations ; if you have any hopes left , after all those heavy Iudgments that have gone over you , of enjoying Peace and Liberty and Plenty in your new dwellings ; if all these dear concerns do , as I know they needs must , lye near your hearts ; act then in the name of God , for his sake and your own , in a full and vigorous sense of these things , and study the Churches Peace , which is to secure them all to you by your unanimous Agreement in God's Worship and Service . Your publick Iustice , and Regulation of Trade , and Reformation of Abuses in Civil Affairs , and the prudent and vigilant administration of the Government of the City , are things make you worthily spoken of : but if this be all , if there be not a like zeal for Gods House , and the cause of Religion , we may say , as he did , Arcem perdimus , dum castella defendimus ; We have lost the main sort of our happiness , the Churches Peace ; while we take care of the out-works , things less considerable . Pardon me ; 'T is not flattery , will uphold a Government . I speak it out of hearty affection to my Countrey , and a due respect to this famous City . My heart bleeds within me , and my bowels earn , to think , in what a posture our Ierusalem now stands . You are very now building in the Flames ; they have seiz'd your Suburbs , and are got within your Gates , and are smothering in the midst of your Ruines . Let us do , as is usual , when a Fire breaks out : every one bring his Bucket , and help to quench : unless such a Stupor and unactive astonishment hath overtaken us , as did in the late Conflagration , and we tamely give up all to the Fury of the Merciless Element . And this sure is the far more deplorable Fire of the two , as laying wast the Consciences of men , and burning up our main strengths and greatest ornaments , and laying us open to dismal expectations . I pray read the 28. of Deuteronomy , and apply it to our case ; that , if they did not observe the Commandments and Statutes , God appointed them to walk in , ( by which was not meant the Moral Law alone , for that has an equal obligation upon all mankind ; but those National rules and institutions , by which they were made a People and a Church ) they should be cursed in the City , and cursed in the Field ; they should build Houses , and not dwell in them ; they should be pursu'd with Plagues , and at last given up to the insolence of Forreiners , and pluckt off from the Laud of their Nativity . What then can we look for at last , after so many methods , God has lost upon us , after so many praeludia of his displeasure , but some determining exterminating Judgment ? But God forbid ! I have some hopes still of Gods mercy to this our Ierusalem , and his pity to her , as she lies in her dust . Nor is the thing it self , I am perswaded , past remedy , were it apply'd to , and we would take Saint Iude's advice , Iude 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23. verses , where he tells us of those , that separate themselves ; that , for all their pretences , have not the Spirit . But ye Beloved , ( says he ) building up your selves on your most holy Faith , praying in the Holy Ghost , ( which may most certainly be done in the publick wholsome forms of Church-Devotion ) Keep your selves in the love of God , looking for the mercy of our Lord Iesus Christ unto eternal life . And of some have compassion , making a difference : and others save with fear , his meaning i● , by rugged means ; pulling them out of the Fire . This Schism then and Separation is a Fire , in the Apostles Language ; and some are to be pull'd out of it by force . The ingenuous will be sham'd , the meek will be convinc'd , the considering will be reason'd out of it ; but some there are , it seems , must be roughly dealt with ; and aw'd by Authority . Let us , like Brethren and Companions , take up the business between our selves . Come ; We are Men. 'T is the priviledge of the blessed Angels to be free from errour ; but the infirmity of humane nature to commit mistakes ; to persist in errours though , even to publick mischief , is the character of the Devil's pride and malice ; but to return and repent , is the glory of the Saints of God. Why should any one of us be asham'd of that which is his glory , and will be his Eternal comfort ? We are Brethren and Friends ; we live under the same Laws , and profess the same Gospel of Peace ; why should we disagree , and fall out in our greatest concern , and quarrel one another into common Ruine ? Ierusalem is the mother of us all ; let not us by our Divisions make her a Samaria , a Seminary of Sects and Factions : let us not make our Mother a harlot . What have we to do with the Statutes of Omri and Ahab , and the sin of usurping Ieroboam , which he caused Israel to sin ? They are dead and gone , and let their Statutes dye with them . You are Citizens of London , a People of great Credit and Reputation all the World over , for your Prudence and good Government , for your vast Trade and Dealings ; and you are allied to most of the considerable Families of the Kingdom ▪ let it not be said of you ; that you are grown weak and mean , a fluttering and unsteady People ; that you have quit your establishments , and are perpetually to seek for your Religion , and are ready like Children in your streets , to be caught up by every Spirit , and to run after any one , that pretends to be a Guide . London , an Ancient and Noble Mart , long talkt of in the world , before ever there was Dam or Dike in Holland ; let it not truckle under Amsterdam , and be made a Magazine of Opinions , and new fangled Religions . For shame do not justifie that advantage , the Enemies of our Church have taken from 666. to clap the name of Babylon upon your City ; but wipe off the reproach , and fling it back into the face of them , as they deserve it ; by uniting all , as one man , in the service and worship of God , and in the common defence of the Protestant cause . And then , when you are thus agreed , when your minds are as uniform , as your buildings are like to be ; then shall ye be blessed in the City , and blessed shall ye be in the Field ; blessed shall be your Basket and your Store : then the Lord shall establish you a holy people unto himself ; and all people shall see , that ye are call'd by his name , and they shall be afraid of you . Then the Lord shall open unto you his good treasure , and shall make you plenteous in goods ; and he shall command the blessing upon you , in your Store-houses , and in all that you set your hands unto . And then , when your Example , has prevail'd with the rest of the Nation ( as it will in a very short time ) that having our hearts united in God's fear , and laying aside all animosities and unnecessary quarrels , we may serve him with one heart and with one shoulder , and with one voice confess his holy name and his word , and , being like-minded , we may unanimously seek those things , which tend to publick peace , and to the good of community ; Then , when we are thus united , all other disorders will easily be regulated , all grievances redrest , and all scandals remov'd , to the honour of the Government , and the welfare of the People ; Then shall the Earth bring forth her increase , and God , even our own God , shall give us his blessing : Then shall we see both Church and State , once more in a flourishing condition : when God shall make all our Officers righteousness , and with his favour shall encompass us , as with a shield : Then shall this floating Island be setled upon sure and lasting grounds ; Then shall Albion again be the praise and terrour of the Nations , nor shall her white cliffs , or her wooden walls , or the embraces of her beloved Ocean , so much secure her , as the Divine protection , and agreement of her Inhabitants : Which God in his good time , of his Infinite Mercy , grant , for his Churches , and for our Brethren and Companions sake . Amen , Amen . ERRATA . PAge 3. Line 13. read of community . p. 13. l. 18. will r. would . p. 20. l. 18. form r. forms . p. 22. l. 22. r. of the Land , in Civil affairs , and leave out in Civil affairs in the next line . p. 25. l. 12. r. persecution . p. 27. l. 31. indispensible r. indispensable . p. 28. l. 38. sunk r. slunk , p. 30. l. 7. ●ok r. look . FINIS .