The state of the Church of Christ in its militancy upon earth, and the duty of it, with respect to penal laws in a sermon preach'd at the assizes at Chelmsford in the county of Essex, 8 March 1687/8 / by Richard Golty ... Golty, Richard. 1688 Approx. 42 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 16 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2009-03 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A41382 Wing G1022 ESTC R1819 12775807 ocm 12775807 93769 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. A41382) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 93769) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 983:2) The state of the Church of Christ in its militancy upon earth, and the duty of it, with respect to penal laws in a sermon preach'd at the assizes at Chelmsford in the county of Essex, 8 March 1687/8 / by Richard Golty ... Golty, Richard. [4], 27 p. Printed and published by Randall Taylor ..., London : 1688. Reproduction of original in Huntington Library. Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford. Re-processed by University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. Gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. 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Copies of the texts have been issued variously as SGML (TCP schema; ASCII text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable XML (TCP schema; characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless XML (TEI P5, characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or TEI g elements). Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site . eng Church history. Sermons, English -- 17th century. 2007-08 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2007-08 Apex CoVantage Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2008-02 Emma (Leeson) Huber Sampled and proofread 2008-02 Emma (Leeson) Huber Text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-09 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion THE STATE OF THE Church of Christ , IN ITS MILITANCY upon EARTH , And the DUTY of it , with respect to Penal LAWS , IN A SERMON Preach'd at the Assizes at Chelmsford In the County of ESSEX , 8 MARCH 1687 / 8. By RICHARD GOLTY M. A. Minister of Hutton in the County aforesaid . Quod tibi non vis , alteri ne feceris . LONDON , Printed and Published by Randall Tayler near Stationers-Hall . 1688. This may be Printed . SVNDERLAND . P. To the Right Honourable Sir Robert Wright Knight , Lord Chief Justice of England , to the Honourable Sir John Powel Knight , one of the Justices of His Majesties Court of Kings-Bench ; My Lords , the Judges at the Assize holden at Chelmsford , &c. And also to the Right Worshipful Sir Thomas Manby Knight , High Sheriff of the County aforesaid . THis Sermon , at the Appointment of the High Sheriff , was Preach'd before ▪ Your Lordships and the Great Assembly at the Assizes ; and whatever unkind and sinistrous Censures in this nice and critical Age , may be cast upon me and it , yet it was honestly design'd by me , in Service to the Peace and Vnity of the Christian Church , to affect that Auditory with a sense of their Obligation constantly to assert what is necessary to the support and honour of Religion among us , and to allay our salt and eager Differences and Animosities , in what is impertinent thereunto ; to dispose us to a willingness to be rid of those Apples of Strife , that have been the notorious occasion of Discord and Contention in this unhappily divided Kingdom . I can't but hope that there is such a general sense of our having been too long under those symptomes of Gods disp●●asure , which the Prophet Isaiah 9. 21. observes , concerning the Jews ( that while Ephraim was divided against Manasseh , and Manasseh against Ephraim , and both against Judah , Gods Anger was not turned away , but his hand was stretched out still against them ) as may prepare our hearts to a chearful concurrence in , and compliance with such healing Proposals , as are proper for the establishing amongst us a Christian Amity and brotherly Reconciliation . I have humble Considence that this , which was my end in Preaching , is Your Lordships and Worships , in laying me under such Obligation to the Publication of it , as I cannot in decency decline ; not doubting but that all such as bear Good Will to Zion , will promote such uniting Methods , that all single and narrow Interests , may give place to that of common Christianity ; that no unchristian heats and contests , may cause such alienation in affection among Brethren of the same Sacred Family , as for trifles to fall out in their way to their Fathers House ; but that we may all consent in the pursuit of the Divine Ends of Religion , which are sincere Devotion towards God , sound Faith in Christ , Holiness in Heart and Life , Humility , Meekness , Brother-Love and Charity towards Men ; in service to which , that Your Honours and Worship may be eminent in your respective Stations Instrumentally , is the most hearty Prayer of Your most Obedient and Humble Servant RIC. GOLTY . S. Matthew Chap. XIII . the 29th and the former part of the 30th . Verse . But he said , Nay ; lest while ye gather up the Tares , ye root up also the Wheat with them ; Let both grow up together until the Harvest . THe shortest Preface will be an unseasonable Remora to my Entry into that Spacious Field in which my Text ingages my travel ; it being by the most Divine Expositor , with respect to its Extent , styl'd the World. I shall therefore observe to you , That in this whole Parable of the Tares and Wheat , our Blessed Saviour doth first describe the State , and secondly prescribe the Duty of his Church in its Militancy here upon Earth . In the first of which 't is evident , that tho Christ himself the Seedsman , tho he sows only the good seed of Pure and Divine Doctrine , yet when the blade springs up , the tares also appear : Tho the Church is styl'd here the Kingdom of God , in which he in especial governs , yet there are in it too many rebellious and undutiful Subjects : Tho the Apostle tells us , 'T is the House of God , in which by his grace and spirit , he particularly resides , yet 't is not void of ungracious and disobedient servants . 'T is Magna Domus Dei , but in it there are not only Vessels of Gold and Silver , but of Wood and Earth ; some to honour and some to dishonour . Tho 't is that Vine which Gods right hand hath planted , yet it hath some dead and infertile branches . That this is the condition of the Christian Church in this World , is not only the purport of this but of the Parable of the Fold , consisting both of Sheep and Goats , of the Barn Floor , having both Wheat and Chaffe , and of the Net inclosing Fishes good and bad . To this purpose St. Austine in his First Book De Civitate Dei , saith , Perplexae sunt istae duae Civitates in hoc seculo invicemque permistae ; The City of God and the City of Satan , are so intermix'd in this World , that they are not to be separated till the Day of Judgment . This from all that make common Observation , commands such an universal acknowledgment , that I shall not waste the time in offering further enlargment upon it ; only from it observe the Vnacaccountableness of the Separation in the Donatists of old , and some others , of late , from the Visible Church , upon pretence of Spots and Corruptions in it ; notwithstanding which , we are to be firm to that Article in our Creed , in believing One Holy Catholick Church . Denominatio sit a nobiliori ; and 't is one , tho one part is Militant here on Earth , and the other Triumphant in Heaven . It must be here in a state of Imperfection ; 't is at the great Harvest , then , and not till then , it will be Perfect , consisting only of the Righteous , as St. Austine , Contra Donatistas , Tandent ipsam unam & sanctam Ecclesiam , nunc habere mixtos malos , tunc non habituram : Now the Holy Church hath a mixture of unholy Men in it , which then it will not have . At that great Day Christ will present it to himself without spot , and blameless . Then , only the Wheat will be gathered into his Barn. But 't is the Direction Christ gives in this place [ that being the most seasonable and useful at this time ] to which I shall now confine my Discourse . When the Blade sprung up , the Tarcs also appeared , the Servants inquiring in this uneasie , and to them unexpected Case , Wilt thou that we go and gather them up ? In answer to this their demand , he said , Nay , &c. Where first he enters his Denial . 2. He gives his positive Sentence , Let them grow up together . The Reason of the Negative , Lest while ye gather up the Tares , &c. And of the Positive , why suffer'd in their growth ? Because at the time of the Harvest they could more seasonably , and with greater safety , be separated from the Wbeat . Then I will say to the Reapers , &c. In my procedure upon this , I shall endeavour first to shew you what is meant by Tares : 2. What Christ intends in this his Answer : And 3. To accommodate the whole of it to our Use . First , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is the greek word , is mention'd only in this place in the New Testament , and it is rarely to be found in other Authors , that its obscurity gives the occasion of variety in Translations of it ; the Frencb render it Lolium darnel , and Theophrast . saith , That Corn doth sometime Loliescere , degenerate into Darnel . Diodate thinks it some particular Weed growing amongst Corn in that Countrey . Dr. Hammond translates it Cockle . Others give a more general Interpretation of it , as Mala Herba & planta semini noxia ; we translate it Tares : By which may be understood Tyne , or a sort of Wild Fitches , which hath small fibrous Roots , and in twisting about the Roots of the Corn , sucks away its Nourishment , and hath claspers in the Branches , that fastening upon the Stalk , depresses it , and without greatest hazard to it , cannot be separated from it . Since in this Parable the Devil is the Sower of them , and the Tares are Wicked Men , in this Variety may be meant [ as in our Marginal Notes ] all noisome Weeds whatsoever that are noxious to the Corn , and particularly Infelix Lolium Darnel , which naturally disaffects the Head , and so may properly de●ote Men Erring in Judgment , or more rank and unsavoury Weeds , as Carlock , Mayweed , &c. which may properly describe Men Vicious in their Lives , such as walk disorderly ; 't is the unhappy Fate of the Church to be infested with them both . Infelix Lolium & steriles dominantur Avenae . But 2. What doth Christ mean in forbidding his Servants to gather these up , and in suffering their growth 'till the Harvest , which himself being the Expositor , is to the end of the World ? First , Negatively , Christ is not to be interpreted in this , as if he were at all pleas'd with the growth of these Weeds . It would undoubtedly be most grateful to him to have only such pure Grain in his Field , as is fit to be gathered into his Barn , Beauxamis in locum , Docetur hic non quale sit officium nostrum , sed quae sit futura Ecclesiae conditio . We are advised here not so much in the Duty of the Servants , as in the Condition of the Field . Yet neither 2. doth Christ intend the least prohibition to the Magistrates Execution of Justice in punishing Malefactors . The Sword of Justice is not to be born in vain , Magistrates are to be a Terrour to Evil Doers ; in their rooting out them there can be no danger , but altogether safety to the Wheat ; if they should be let alone , so as to proceed in impunity till the Harvest , the World would be but Magnum La ▪ trocinium , or a Circean Stable ; it would be an unclean Stage , where only Vice and Villany would act its part ; it would be like to that Field under the Curse of Job 31. 40. Thistles would grow instead of Wheat , and Cockle instead of Barly ; or like Solomons Field of the Sluggard , nothing would appear in it to denominate it a Field of Corn , but 't would be all over-grown with Briars and Thorns . 'T is observable , Christ doth not say , Regna hujus Mundi , the Kingdom of this World , but Regnum Coeli , the Kingdom of Heaven ; which is universally interpreted of the Church , and tho in our Saviours Exposition of it , 't is styl'd the World , yet that is in respect to its Catholicism and Vniversality , as dispers'd over the whole World ; according to the Prophesies of it , it extends from Sea to Sea , and Christ sent his Disciples to all Nations , and the Apostle tells us , That their sound is gone into all the World ; 't is properly his Kingdom redeem'd by his Blood , sanctified and enlightened by his Spirit , and will at last be presented to himself without spot and blemish . That this Parable is meant not of a Civil and Political , but of an Ecclesiastical Body , is generally agreed ; but then still the Question returns , Whether our Saviour enters his Noli Pros — against Ecclesiastical Censures ? To this 't is answer'd 3. Negatively , That Christ here intends no Prohibition to Church Censures for the punishing of Offenders . St. Austin puts and determines this Case thus , Ipse Dominus cum servis volentibus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 colligere dicit , sinite utraque crescere usque ad messem , premisit causam dicens , ne forte cum vultis colligere 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 eradicetis & triticum ; ubi satis ostendit , tum metus iste non subest , non dormiat severitas disciplinae . Our Lord to the Servants appearing in readiness to gather the tares , requiring their growth together till the Harvest ; he intimates the Cause , Lest with them ye root up also the Wheat : in evidence that when no danger of that , then the severity of Discipline is to take place . Of which at large in his Epistle contra Parmen . & contra Vincent . Christ himself decreed that he that would not hear the Church , should be as an Heathen or Publican , and the Apostles by unquestionable Authority gave Sentence of Excommunication upon the Incestuous Corinthian ; 1 Cor. 5. 4. and upon Hymenus and Alexander , 1 Tim. 1. 20. The Church is not to be supposed an undisciplin'd Rout , divested of power necessary to its consistence ; which it would be , if it were here or elsewhere , under prohibition of exercising its Censures . What then do's our Saviour mean in his thus expressing himself in this case to the servants ? To which positively , First in general , He expects patience , lenity , and tender caution , in eradicating those tares , he corrects the intemperate zeal of his Disciples , in whom he foresaw a disposition with improper and undue severities to prosecute offenders ; of which they gave an early instance , in demanding fire from heaven to consume the Samaritans . The mind of Christ in this will be more particularly understood by considering his Sentence First , With respect to the Question , as put by the Servants , Wilt thou that we go and gather them up ? And Secondly , With respect to his Reason , Why not ? Lest while ye gather up the Tares , ye root up the Wheat also . Now in their Enquiry , Wilt thou that we go and gather them up ? They signifie their intent of a sudden and immediate dispatch of them without the exercise of due Patience , and necessary Consideration ; thus , Chrisost . in Matth. interprets the Servants intending to prosecute Hereticks with Fire and Sword , and saith , That if by his Negative they had not been obliged to alter their Resolutions , Bloodshed and War must have followed all over the World. The Word in the Original for gathering up , is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and signifies not so much a single Collection , as a Gathering them up in Bundles ; they would at once have swept away these Tares by some devouring Judgment , like that of Fire from Heaven ; to this their Proposition Christ enters his dissent , and tho he well enough approv'd of the thing , yet by no means consented with them in the time and manner they would effect it , but gives check to that devouring Zeal that would destroy all Opposers ; and doth intend first , that this gathering together , or rooting up , be rather gladio oris then ore gladie ; that no other Sword , then the Sword of the Spirit be used ; that by Admonition by the Sword of the Spirit of Meekness they be rather restor'd ; Christ determines against their immediate and utter destruction in that way they design'd , lest in gathering them up , they root up the Wheat . The Sword tho never so well edg'd , is an ill distinguisher between Wheat and Tares , and War the most improper Judge to determine Religious Controversies : 'T is gladius delphicus , and strikes on both sides without difference to Men or their Doctrines ; it involves the Innocent and the Guilty in the same Calamity ; like those dreadful Thunderbolts , Minutius Faelix tells of , Sine delectu tangunt sacra & profana , hominis noxios feriunt & religiosos ; they without distinction , strike places sacred and profane , and personsinnocent and nocent ; but 't is never more fatally devouring , than when in the hands of those in whom Glesselius one of the Anti-remonstrants in Roterdam plac'd it , who defin'd , That if the Prince or Clergy neglected the Reformation of a Church , Necesse est id facere plebeios licet ad sanguinem usque pro ea pugnent : That the Plebeians must Reform , tho it be with a Resistance unto Blood. Theophylact makes the more Christian Comment upon the Text , who saith , God would not by War have the Tares pull'd up , lest in so doing the Righteous suffer with the Wicked . Theophylact in Loc. saith , The Servants were so incens'd and inflam'd against these Tares upon their appearance in their Lords Field 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , to save the trouble of a dilatory Process , were resolved by a rash Execution to rid them from the troubles of this miserable and wretched Life . This return of our Lord to the Servants , if it be not a strict Prohibition of Capital Punishments , it is a severe Caution , that due care be had in inflicting it , lest the Wheat also be rooted up . 'T is certain the Primitive Christians did interpret Christ , in saying , He came to save mens lives , not to destroy them ; and here in my Text , as entring not barely a Caveat , but a Prohibition of punishing with death upon the score of Religion . They reckon'd such a Process foreign to the Temper and contradictory to the Rules of Christianity . It was once St. Austin's Opinion , Neminem ad unitatem Christi cogendum esse , That none were to be compelled to become Christians : And when the insolence of the Donatists made it necessary for him to alter his mind , yet as Bellarmin confesses , Semper excepit supplicium mortis ; He always excepted punishment with death . If it had been thought lawful to punish Heresie with death , the Apologies of Tertullian and the Primitive Christians , would have been in a great part insignificant . 'T is a Modern Maxime in Christianity , but no where , that I can find , an Article of Faith , Posse Haereticos ab Ecclesia damnatos temporalibus poenis & etiam morte mulctari : That Herericks condemned by the Church , were by the Civil Magistrate to be sentenced to Temporal Punishment , yea to Death it self . It was Calvin's Opinion , Haereticos jure gladii coercendos ; That Hereticks were to be restrain'd by the Power of the Sword : Which Beza improves in his Tract , De Haereticis puniendis , where he lays down this Thesis , Haereticos interdum capitali supplicio a Magistratibus coercendos : That Hereticks are to suffer Capital Punishment . This Question was better determin'd in the more early and purer Times of Christianity , as by Lactantius lib. 5. cap. 10. Defendendam esse religionem non occidendo sed moriendo . Religion is to be defended rather by the exposing our own , than violating the lives of others . Our Saviour here forbids their thus being gathered up , lest the Wheat be rooted up also ; it being evident if the servants had gone in that Method , they had wrong'd the Harvest ; for as St. Austine saith , Multi primo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sunt & postea triticum fiunt ; fieri potest ut qui noxio dogmate depravatus est cras resipiscat & defendere potest veritatem : as St. Austin , once a Manichee , afterwards Malleus Hereticorum . Many at first appear tares , which afterwards become wheat ; he that is depraved with Error now , may repent too morrow . Upon this saith St. Jerome , Monemur non cito amputare fratrem , not rashly to cut off a Brother , for they that are bad now , may be better hereafter ; Nisi Deus expactaret impium , non haberet unde glorificaret pium ; Had not God patiently expected the Repentance and Conversion of such whom Men would destroy , ad laudabilem mutationem non pervenissent , they had never attained to Saving Repentance . Had F●●e at the instance of the Disciples consumed the Samaritans , they had been prevented in their after receiving the Gospel ; had not Gods Patience given respite to the Tares after their first discovery , nec Mattheum de Publicano Evangelistam , nec Magdalenam de Meretrice penitentem habuisset ; si Deus eradicasset Paulum persecuentem , non haberet Ecclesia Paulum praedicantem ; Matthew of a Publican had never been an Evangelist , nor Magdalen the Harlot become Magdalen the Penitent ; if Saul had been rooted out when he was a Persecutor , the Church would ever have wanted Paul the Apostle . The meaning of Christ in the Text then is , That they might have space for Repentance . St. Chrysost . affirms , That a Heretick , tho he persists with obstinacy in his Heresie , yet is not to be Punish'd with Death , with whom Euthimius consents . Christ , saith he , in this Parable would not suffer the plucking up the Tares , lest the Wheat should be rooted up with them ; forbidding the execution of Hereticks , lest the Orthodox suffer with them . It was therefore an unchristian heat in Calvin , that sent Servetus to the Flames , and in the Switzers , that commanded the Execution of Valentine Gentilis at Bazil ; and in Maximilian the Emperour in causing the Priscillianists to be put to death ; tho Sulpitius Severus saith of them , That they were homines luce indignissimi ; yet he adds they were pessimo exemplo necati ; tho they were the worst of Men , yet their Execution was of dangerous Consequence . And when Alexius of Constantinople caused the Bongomili to be put to Death , who ( if their Opinions were candidly represented ) were sufficiently bad , yet the Eastern Bishops , disallow'd of the Fact ; and Baronius tells us , it was the ancient usuage of the Primitive Bishops in moving the Secular Power against Hereticks , so to manage it , Vt tamen a capitali supplicio inferendo dehortati sunt . 'T is evident that Capital Punishment had its first rise from the Heathen and Arrian Emperours , and in that it was after return'd by the Christians upon their Enemies ; it was because the Man was too hard for the Christian . Thirdly , Tho it is more generally interpreted , that the Servants resolved by the above-mentioned Severity , to cut them off from the body of Mankind , yet others , that they intended only to cut them from the Body of the Church ; and Lyra and Gorran are of Opinion , That the Servants design to gather them up , was in such a way as was proper to the Church , Separando eos a Communione Ecclesiae , by separating them from Church Communion . Christ may probably here intend a caution and lenity in that direful and solemn Sentence of Exmunication , which is an Amputation or a cutting off from the Body of Christ ; 't is in the Name and Power of Christ , a delivery over unto Satan for the destruction of the Flesh , that the Spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus . In comport with the meaning of Christ here , it was an old Rule , Non Excommunicandam multitudinem , that a multitude were not to be Excommunicated . There was to be no gathering up in Bundles in this Life : the Church did only Legere , select one out of many Offenders , Vt paena ad paucos esset , metus ad omnes ; tormenta paucorum exempla omnium : That the Punishment of a few , might be caution to all . Dr. Taylor in Duct . Dubitant , tells us , The Judgment of the Church in this Censure is an effective terrible Declaration of the Judgment of God , and therefore must not be exterminating and final for things of little concernment . The Second Canon of the Council at Worms , doth Decree , Vt Nullus sacerdotum , quanquam rectae fidei , homines , pro parvis & levibus causis suspendat : That no Priest , tho never so sound in the Faith , may suspend Men from Church Communion for a light Cause . Dr. Taylor in his Duct . Dubitant . asserts , That no Man is to be separated from the Church , but he that separates himself from God ; and tells us , That he who for a trifling cause cuts off a man from Church Communion , is like him in the Fable , who with an Axe beat out his Neighbours brains , that he might brush off a fly , which he espied on his Fore-head : or like an indiscreet and severe Nurse , that to clean the Childs head of the Dandruff , fleas off his Skin . All endeavours ought first to be us'd , that he may be restor'd with the Spirit of Meekness , that by Admonition and Reproof , to which the Scriptures are profitable , he may be reclaim'd , and till it appears vulnus immedicabile , he is not with that severity to be cut off . Fourthly , The meaning of Christ may probably be , That in the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Religion , such as are mention'd Rom. 14. in which the Kingdom of Heaven doth not consist , the obligation of Christians is to exercise Charity , mutual Condescension , and Forbearance one towards another . The Apostle there directs to the alloy of all Animosity and Discord about such things , and provides that there be no Censuring or Grieving one another , and to this purpose he allows a Liberty to Men of either Perswasion , informing us , That Christ died for both , and that God receiv'd both : The Controversie in these indifferent things , lies not between Wheat and Tares , but between Wheat and Wheat , and it may be is founded only because one grows in a more fertile Soyl , and on a more Florid Stalk , or is of a brighter Complexion than the other . That the true Corn should thus go together by the Ears , we may be sure is assignable to the hand of an Enemy , and if our Lord permits the Concrescence of Tares and Wheat , much more that Wheat and Wheat grow together . 'T is as natural and usual for Christians to differ in their Sentiments in matters of that kind , as 't is for Men to be of divers Statures and Complexions , wherefore ( the Apostle telling us ; That he who doubteth is damned if he eat ) by Penalties to require a consent in one Opinion in things so indifferent , would be as hard as for one to thrust out his Neighbours Eye , because not so strong and piercing as his own ; and would be a barbarity exceeding that of Procrustes the Robber , who measured all men by his own bed , and would bring them to that dimension , either by a Rack or Defalcation , he only torturing the Bodies , while the other wounds the Consciences , and cruciates the Minds of Men. 'T is observeable in this Parable , that the Servants entred their Complaint against such as appear'd Tares , and it was for the rooting up of them they offer'd their service , to which our Saviour answer'd as in my Text , Nay , &c. If they had address'd to their Lord with their Censures of their Fellow Servants , and had signified an Inclination , because in every trifling punctilio they agreed not with the Complainants that therefore they would go and gather them up our Lord would have given them another kind of Answer . If the Pharisees were inexcuseable in their neglect of the great things of the Law , through their Zeal in the lesser things of it , Christians are much more Criminal in violating the great Gospel Law of Charity and Meekness , upon the score of such things as are not at all required by any Divine Law. If it were inimicus homo that sow'd those Tares that endanger'd the Wheat , certainly it is inimicissimus homo that would gather up the VVheat instead of Tares . 'T is here observeable , that tho the Tares appeared to the eys of the Servants , yet our Saviour did not adventure the well-doing of his Field upon their hand , so as to allow their Eradication ; if he had given any intimation of the Field , being committed to such a Conduct , as without possibility of being injurious to the VVheat , the Tares might be gathered up , the force of the reason of his Prohibition , Lest with them ye root up the VVheat , would be enervated . 'T is probable our Saviour design'd the prevention of this , when he respited them till the Harvest , well knowing that they may then appear to be Children of the Kingdom , which through the passion or inadvertency of his Servants , would as Tares have been bundled up for the fire . Thirdly , In the Accommodation of all this to our use , though it may be indecent for me to insist too particularly on the Parallel between the State of the Field , and the Condition of the Church of Christ amongst us , so as to charge the growth of the Tares to the Supineness or any other default in the Servants , or to suggest , that those concern'd in gathering the Tares , have not with the Servants of the Houshold consulted their Lord , nor taken their measures from him : Yet I shall adventure to give you the Judgments of such as are of great Honour and Authority upon this Subject ; and shall close my Discourse with a Recommendation of the Example of the Servants to our Imitation . The Authorities of such as have given their Opinion in this Matter : The Lord Chancellor Hide his Speech to the Parliament 1660 , is fill'd up with the Expressions of his Sense of this Case and Directions for its Cure. The Honourable and Pious Lord Chief Justice Hale , lamenting that the Cause of Love and Piety was hindred by our present Constitutions , did declare , That the only means to beal us , was a New Act of Vniformity , that should neither leave all at liberty , nor impose any thing but what was necessary : And with the Assistance of the Lord Keeper Bridgman and Bishop Wilkins , drew up the Form of a Bill to be tendred to the Parliament to that purpose . The Arch-bishop of Armagh , for the healing of Distractions , and for the return of a Wished for Peace and Vnity , did contrive some prudent Accommodation necessary . Bishop Taylor in his Duct . Dubitant , expresses himself abundantly in this Case , as thus , with respect to our Condition he gives it as a Rule , That the Ecclesiastical Laws must be easie and charirable , and when they are not , they oblige not , and that Ecclesiastical Laws that are meerly such , can't be universal and perpetual . Bishop Davenant in his Letter to Dureus saith , That which makes Schisms perptual , i st he exercise of a Tyrannical Power , so as not to acknowledge any for Brethren , or admit any to Communion with them , who will not receive from them , in any difference of Opinion , a Law both of believing and speaking . 'T is the determination of a Learned Doctor of our Church , That without Controversie , the main inlet of all the Distractions , Confusions , and Divisions , of the Christian World , is by adding other Conditions of Church Communion , than Christ hath done . Were it needful , I might fill a Volume with Quotations of this kind ; but , I shall only instance in these which next to that in my Text , ought to be the greatest Authority with us . King James the First of Pious Memory , as Causabon in his Epistle to Cardinal Perron , informs us , Thought that for Concord there is no nearer way than diligently to separate things necessary from the unnecessary , and to bestow all our Labour , that we may agree in what is necessary , and that in what is not so , there may be Christian Liberty allow'd . The Royal Martyr Charles the First of glorious Memory , in Consideration of the State of the Kingdom in 1641 , speaks thus , As for Differences among our selves for Matters in their own nature , that are indifferent concerning Religion , We shall willingly Comply , with the Advice of our Parliament , that some Law may be made for the exemption of Tender Consciences from Punishment or Prosecution for such Ceremonies , which by the judgment of most men are held to be matters indifferent , and of some , to be absolutely unlawful . The late King Charles the Second of blessed Memory , in his Declaration from Breda first , and in his Declaration for Indulgence to Tender Consciences afterwards , gave sufficient Evidence of his Concurrent Opinion with his Royal Progenitors . Thus it can't but be acknowledg'd , That some of the Wisest and most Learned , and the greatest of Men in these Three last Reigns , were affected with a sense of a Disease that the Church and Nation have been labouring under , and it appears that his Majesties Royal Ancestors had it often in their Thoughts , and upon their Desires , that it might be heal'd . And as for our present Gracious Soveraign , that now wears the Imperial Crown , and sways the Royal Sceptre , whom God preserve ; it appears that what was in the Heart of David his Father , hath a long time been upon the Heart , and now is upon the Hand of our Solomon his Son , and his Hand findeth to do it with all his Might : He like a Tender and Prudent Physician , experiencing the inefficacy and inconvenience of those corroding and acrimonious Applications , that have been too long us'd , thinks it proper , instead of that Salt and Vinegar , which hath only increas'd and inflam'd our Wounds , to recommend the Lenitives of Oyl and Balsam ; most probably hoping , that the warm Beams of an Indulging Sun will prevail to the laying of that viciousness of Temper , which the rough and tempestuous Wind had occasion'd . Our Healing Soveraign observing the Body Politick and Ecclesiastick , like the Man in the Gospel that fell among Thieves , if not half dead , yet lying sorely wounded , like the Good Samaritan , is pouring in Oyl and Wine , and while he is so , let not any of us be like him that passed by on the other side , as all together unconcern'd , or like him that only vouchsaf'd to look , but offer'd nothing to relieve him in that distressed Case ; but let us all to our Capacities help to the quenching those common Flames , and the allaying those threatning heats that have been so fatal to us , and contribute our utmost in this most Christian Service : some of us by Humility and Obedience , others of us by Compassion and Condescension , and all of us by our Prayers and Tears . Lastly , To this we must reckon our selves oblig'd , by considering the Example of the Servants in the Text , In servis habemus tam quod laudemus quam quod imitemur : We have in the Servants both what is commendable and imitable . They cleared themselves from a treacherous betraying the Trust repos'd in them , of the Field , by reporting to their Master the unexpected accident of the growth of the Tares ; they being inform'd that an Enemy had done it , offer'd their service to redress the Mischief ; that if the Enemy entred the Field by their Sloth , he might be expell'd by their Zeal . St. Austin to that Inquiry , Who is that Man that is eaten up with Zeal to Gods House ? Answers , Qui omnia quae videt perversa satagit emendare : That if he sees the foundation of it too narrow and strait , will endeavour the inlargement of its basis to its due extent . If he perceives an inconvenience in the fense incompassing the Field , will consult such an Amendment of it as may neither keep out such as belong to Christs Fold , nor suffer the wild Beast of the Field , nor the wild Boar of the Wood , neither Turk nor Pagan , to enter in . And that our Zeal in this , may not be an Ignis Fatuus to precipitate us into unsafe and dangerous Methods , that it may not be a feavorish heat , that invades the Health , and threatens the Life of that Body that cherishes it , but that it may be a Coal kindled at Gods Altar , let us with the Servants in the Text , go to our Lord. So , first , not to be too much influenc'd by our Passions . Solomon tells us , Wrath is Cruel , Anger is outragious , and nothing can stand before Envy , Pro. 27. 4. So as , secondly , Not to take our Measures from the Examples of others , to return to them in proportion to those undue severities which at any time have been received from them , the Rule of our Saviour , Is not to do to others as they do , but as we would have them do to our selves . Let us therefore receive our Directions from Christ , and acquiesce in them , referring all to our Masters Will , and then proceed according to his Dictates , whose Service consists altogether in the following of his own Rules ; for in so doing we shall most promote our Masters Honour , and be most servicable to his Field the Church ; and best provide , that when we shall be translated from our Stations in his Kingdom here , we may be made partakers of his Eternal Kingdom in Heaven ; and in the mean time , God in his infinite Mercy , so direct the Counsels and Influence the Hearts of Men , that the Tares which at the Harvest shall be gathered , may not in the mean time be able either to suppress the Wheat , or destroy the Field ; and that our Lord Jesus , who loved his Church , and gave himself for it , may Sanctify and Cleanse it , and at last present it to Himself a Glorious Church without spot or blemish . To Him , with the Father and the Holy Ghost , be all Honour , Glory , and Praise , both now and for evermore . Amen . FINIS .