alone upon free grace if he doth help to persecute any in their bodies or states for outward relations and interests rather than study to addresse and convert their soules to God and if he doth set himselfe in a state-way either to gain power and authority in his own hand to share it with the magistrate or to subordinate his ministeriall imployment unto wordly ends of State-government to cover the tricks thereof with a cloke of Conscience and Religion that people should worship the Image which he sets before them if I say any man doth pervert the use of his ministery thus yet professing himselfe to be the servant of Christ he doth play the part of the false Prophet who doth work miracles before the great Beast and exerciseth all his power over men And the Rev. 13. 11 12 13 c. and chap. 19 20. greater the naturall and acquired parts and gifts of this man are and the more revealed and spirituall truths or mystcall shewes thereof he doth mix with this kind of service the more fire he doth cause to come down from heaven and the more deeply he doth deceive and therefore he shall accordingly receive also with the false Prophet so much the more of his reward if he repent not 5 If therefore such as are in power look upon religion onely as Jeroboam did in order to their owne interests and will suffer none to stand in places of employment but men of their own creating that will serve turnes towards the people and if ministers that are in places of employment look onely upon their Magistrate as the Jewish Priests did upon Pilate when they delivered Christ up to be crucified by him and affect him no further than he will act their designes whether they agree or disagree upon their matters together it is apparent that by so doing they conspire to make the people that are led by them miserable and desolate because neither of them follow either the true work or the right way of their employment neither towards the multitude or towards one another but if they doe openly disagree they conspire then by tearing them in pieces and setting them in factions against one another to make their misery and desolation sudden and without remedy For except God turn their hearts to a right course and set them upon the works of their calling wthout partiality and direct their counsels in a loving righteous and peaceable way as Christ hath appointed his Disciples to walk for his glory towards the good of those that are under their charge and for their own mutuall happinesse they shall never be able for feare of one another to intend or attend any other designes but such as are acted by power and violence whereupon the great Dragon their master in these courses doth set them and whieh for want of Christian love and compassion can end in nothing else but in mercilesse cruelties equally ruinous to each other and to the Common-wealths of humanesocieties Of the duties of Love Righteousnesse and Peace joyntly Hitherto we have seen both what the proper workes and wayes of the Magistracy and Ministery are as they relate unto the ends for which Christ hath ordained them and what the error and deviation is from those works and wayes And lastly also what this deviation doth produce in all societies where the duties of Love of Righteousnesse and of Peace are not thought upon to referre the whole state thereof unto Christ as Christians ought to doe Let us now come to the second point of our Disquirie which is to discover what the naturall properties and proper acts are of true Love of Righteousnesse and of Peaceablenesse which Christians and chiefly their Leaders unto happinesse ought to intend towards all men but especially towards each other in the workes of their employment and above all in times of distresse Now to speak of these duties ingenerall as to commend their worth their necessity their usefulnesse and such like I conceive it needlesse for certainly it is not so much for want of knowledge of that which we ought to doe that we run into errors as by reason of our perturbation and of our by-respects which beget in us a disregarding of these and an observation of other matters and are begotten in us through partiality in our selves and fore-stalment of thoughts concerning others For it is by reason of these things that we play the hypocrites and lye against the Truth for which cause our sin is the greater For to him that knoweth to doe good and doth it not to him it is sin saith the Apostle Jam. 4. 17. Of the duty of Christian love by it selfe Therefore as concerning the duty of Christian Love it cannot be supposed in probability that any in the Ministery or in any other charge amongst Christians should be ignorant of the nature therof because it is known to all that have been taught the first Principles of the knowledge of Christ that the duty of Christian love is two-fold First the affection by which we cleave to God as to our Father in Christ And next the affection by which we embrace our neighbour for Gods sake as Christ hath embraced us Now concerning our love to God and friendship to Christ it is evident that it stands onely in this That we keep the commandements of the Father and that we doe whatsoever Christ doth enjoyne us to performe John 15. 14. and 1 John 5. 5. whence it is further manifest that to neglect the known will of God and to set our selves in a course which is contrary to his commandements is openly to renounce Christs friendship and plainly to become a hater of God and hatefull to him And as for the commandement wherein God will have us to shew our love and Christ our friendship to himself it is known by all to be none other but the Law of Love whereof the whole substance hath been delivered unto us in the new commandement which Christ hath given us when he sairh John 13. 34 35. A new Commandement I have given you That ye love one another as I have loved you that ye also love one another by this shall all men know that ye are my Disciples if yee have love one to another The true evidence then of our love towards God is this That we love the Brethren For he that saith he loveth God and hateth his brother is a lyar saith the Apostle 1 John 4. 20 21. For he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen how can he love God whom he hath not seen And this Commandement have we from him That he that loveth God love his brother also The end for this alwayes is to be lookt upon as that which doth manifest the nature and property of every thing of love is to seek the good of that which is beloved Now our goodnesse Psal 16. 2 3. 1 Cor. 10. 24. 1 Cor. 13. 5. cannot extend unto God therefore God hath appointed us
conquer this passion and therefore none but such as are taught of him to deny themselves in all things can follow his footsteps in this that when he was reviled he reviled not again when he 1 Pet. 2. 23. suffered he threatned not but committeth himself to him that judgeth righteously nor can any promise themselves freedom from vindicative affections who have not learned of him to love their Enemies to blesse them that curse them to do good to Matth 5. 44 them that hate them and to pray for them that despitefully use them and persecute them this Lesson the Apostle had learned being reviled saith he we blesse being persecuted we suffer it and being defamed we intreat 1 Cor. 4. 12. 13. It is evident then that nothing can make a natural man effectually to lay down the resentments of privat injuries but a real change of his nature by the work of grace in conformity to Jesus Christ which only can incline us to be kind and tender hearted towards others forgiving them what they have done to us amisse even as God for Christs sake hath forgiven us Ephes 4. 32. So then all that can be done to cure this as to men incorrigible evil is to hold forth this frame of the spirit of Christ and his Commandement both in our obedience thereunto and in our word of exhortation to move the Conscience of others to follow it The third is the apprehension of Gods vengeance But if those that should thus bear witnes of the life of Christ are to set rather upon the motions of revenge themselves and Rom. 12. 19. incourage those that are bent that way than inclined to take them off what shall we say unto it shall we not acknowledg that it will be just with God that he should execute his vengeance upon those that delight in privat vengeance against others and that take his proper work out of his hands for the Lord hath said vengeance is mine and I will repay it Behold then all ye that kindle a fire of wrathful revenge and compasse your selves about with sparkes of vindicative plots and attempts walk in the light of your fire and in the sparkes that ye have kindled seeing by no perswasions you can be brought herein to deny your selves This shall ye have of mine hand saith the Lord ye shall lie down in sorrow Isaiah 50. 11. Hitherto of the single Remedies The complicated follow as proper to the work of Magistrates and Ministers And why And thus much concerning the single and distinct Remedies which every one in private for himself is to make use of now it remaineth to speak also something of the universal and complicated remedies which all of us with reference one to another should seeke to apply unto our distracted publick Condition to heale the distempers which occasion the same and although all are obliged to desire and endeavour in their places the advancement hereof towards the publick yet properly the procurement and the application thereof doth belong mainly to the Ministery to the Magistracy in their several places and that with a special Reference to each other in their publick Administrations towards the Communalty As then the complication of our distempers doth beget an universal disease both in Religious and Civil Affaires So the general Remedies which flow from the fundamental duties of Love of Righteousnes and of Peaceablenes ought in a way of concurrence to be applyed both to the Church and Common-wealth Now the Ministers of the Gospel are Messengers of Gods Love and the Governours of the State are Ministers of his Righteousnes unto all men and both these as well in respect of their particular imployments as in respect of the common Profession of Christianity are called by God both unto the enjoyment of peace for themselves 1 Cor. 7. 15. Colos 3. 15. and to the practice and procurement of it unto others Rom. 12. 18. and Matth. 5. 9. therefore as the love of God that is our obligation to love him is the ground of all humane peace So the peaceable cure of all publick distempers and the first overtures and addresses thereunto must needes result from the effects and properties of love as it is Christian that is common to all and ought principally to be reached out unto all by the peaceable hand the righteous carriage and orderly behaviour of those that are the Messengers of Divine Love And again as nothing is truly love which doth not tend to a real good of him who is the object thereof or is not intended as a real good towards the object by him who is the Author thereof So nothing can be counted or will ever be found a real good or is intended for such unto any which is neither applyed nor intended as from God And herein the Minister should be the first to apply the Remedy of love Now it belongeth to none more to intend or apply things as from God then to the Ministers of his Word whose Profession it is to be the Messengers of his love as being sent forth to invite all men to partake thereof if therefore these do any thing towards any without a reference unto God and without the affections of his love they are of all men living the most unworthy of their employment it is true that all who glory in the name of Christ to call him Lord are bound to walk by this same Rule of love towards every one even as Christ hath loved us but yet it is evident that the Ministers appointed to publish unto all men his name are obliged herein to go before all others and to make it their special work to teach and perswade others to follow this way as it becometh the Disciples of such a Master and if any doth not this professedly he hath abandoned the main work as well of his Christian as Ministerial Calling for it is clear that the end of the whole Commandement both in respect of the duties of the Law and of the Doctrine of the Gospel is love out of a pure heart and of a good Conscience and of Faith unfained Rom. 13. 10. and 1 Tim. 1. 5. and 1 John 3. 23. and that Ministers ought to raise their own and other mens thoughts and spirits in reference to the life of God in Christ to a comportment sutable unto this Duty and Doctrine above earthly interests and worldly concernments is a truth so evident that no Christian can make any doubt of it nor also of this that as no engagement is so near to us as this so none is to be preferred to it or ought to take us off from it From whence this conclusion is to be inferred That if any Minister of the Gospel doth at any time take upon him to be a judge of the Affaires of this world between Man and Man about which they are commonly in strife and therein doth take part with the one and opposeth the other as an Agent of the Affaires of this
to bestow that good which by us is communicable upon men our brethren that beare his image For love seeketh not his own but the good of others And in Christian love the good which is to be sought and the way of seeking and imparting it unto others is no where so discernable as in the example of Christs love unto us for he procured and imparted unto us that which in it selfe was the onely good and to us that whereof we stood in greatest need For nothing it self is good but God and that which advanceth his glory Now we were separate from God and came short of his glory Rom. 3. 23. but Christ brought us neare unto him and received us into his glory Rom. 15. 7. Ephes 2. 13. Whence it is that the Apostle exhorts us to receive one another as Christ also received us to the glory of Goll Rom. 5. 7. The end then and aim of Christian love doth tend to that good alone which makes us partakers of Gods glory for it aimes at the reall perception of Gods kindnesse of his mercy of his truth of his faithfulnesse and of all his goodnesse towards us that all may find it and in the covenant of Grace through Iesus Christ embrace it for this is that glory whereinto Christ did receive us As for the way of seeking and imparting this good unto others we see by Christs example a most excellent property of this love that it doth humble and deny it selfe and forsakes its own interests and conveniencies for the good of others and that even to the utmost For Christ through his love to us though he was in the form of God and thought it no robbery to be equall with God yet made himselfe of no reputation but took the shape of a Servant upon him and became obedient even unto death and laid down his life for us Whence it is also that we are exhorted by the Apostles to have the same mind wich was in Christ Jesus Phil 2. 7. And to lay down our lives for the Brethren 1 John 3. 16. We see then that the naturall properties and proper acts of Christian love tend wholly to engage the heart first to a perfect obedience unto the will of God in all things and then particularly to obey his will in this That we should procure the good of our neighbour even as Jesus Christ did procure for us that which was our good Thus then through love to him to doe to others that which he did to us is the true Being of Christian love Of the duty of Righteousnesse by it selfe As for the nature and proper acts of Righteousnesse all do know First that nothing can be accounted right in Christianity which is not conformable to a Rule Secondly that no such Rule can be accounted absolutely good straight and perfect but Gods will Rom. 12. 2. Thirdly that this Will is revealed in his Word And fourthly that this Will and Word are the way of holinesse wherein we ought to walke with God for without holinesse no man shall see his face Heb. 12. 14. 1 John 4 16. The proper act of righteousnesse therefore is the straightnesse of our will in subordination unto Gods will to walk with him Now as God is Love and he that dwelleth in Love dwelleth in God and God in him so it followeth that he that walketh in love walketh with God and God with him Whence it is that the whole Law is fulfilled in the duty of love because all the straightnesse of the spirit of man is the integrity of his love in subordination to the will of God So that as the law of love is found to be the main principle of righteousnesse so all the acts of righteousnesse are nothing else but the fulfilling of this law Whence it is that the proportion which is the measure of the straightnesse of all actions between Man and Man is taken from the naturall principle of love which every one hath to himselfe for by the law we are commanded to love our neighbour as our selves Levit. 19. 18. Matth. 22. 39. And Christ makes the Rule plainer to us when he saith that all things whatsoever we would that men should doe to us we should even likewise doe unto them for this is the Law and the Prophets Matth. 7. 12. And according to this Rule God shall right all things that are out of frame for with what measure we mete unto others it shall be measured unto us again Matth. 7. 2. Now the cause why Love is the root of Righteousnesse is because it engageth the affection to be harmlesse and to pay willingly unto others all things which are due unto them for their good Whence it is also cleare that hatred is the root of all unrighteousnesse because it engageth the affection to the quite contrary motions Now as Righteousnesse is the daughter of Love so it is the mother of Peaceablenesse for by giving to every one his due contentednesse is begotten which preventeth the cause of strife and maintaineth peace So then the end of Righteousnesse is to direct our way to live with God by the uprightnesse of our spirit and actions in conformity to his will As concerning Peaceablenesse the nature and property of it is inwardly that quiet and meek disposition of the mind which is of great price in the sight of God and outwardly that sweetnes 1 Pet. 3. 4. and gentlenes of the carriage towards men which neither taketh nor giveth occasion of offences Of the duty of Peaceablenes The end of Peaceablenesse is to maintain increase and restore the joy which commeth from the enjoyment the augmentation and recovery of that which is good appertaining to us in the way of righteousnes And to gain this end two things are in the life of Christianity to be observed namely what the proper acts of Peaceablenes are in our selves and towards others and whence the disposition of the soul which doth beget them is begotten in us The proper acts of Peaceablenes in our selves are to study to be quiet 1 Thess 4. 11. not to mind high things but to condescend to things of low degree Rom. 12. 16. for of Pride cometh nothing but contention Prov. 13. 10. and to behave and quiet our selves as a child that is weaned from his mother Psa 131. that is to wean our soules from the lusts of the flesh for warres and fightings come from nothing else but from our lusts that warre in our members Jam. 4. 1. if therefore we have Salt within our selves to mortifie these lusts we shall be able to have Peace one with another as Christ commands us Mark 9. 50. The acts of Peaceablenesse towards others are in respect of all men to shew all meeknesse unto all men Tit. 3. 2. in respect of those that are of a quiet disposition to be of the same minde towards them Rom. 12. 16. endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit with them in the bond of Peace Eph. 4. 3.
not envying them nor provoking them nor being desirous of vain glory towards them Galat. 5. 26. In respect of those that are of an unquiet disposition to follow Peace and ensue it towards them 1 Pet. 3. 11. and that even so far as it is possible and as much as in us lyeth Rom. 12. 18. to do all things without murmurings and disputings against them in a blamelesse and harmlesse way that they may have no cause to murmure at us or to dispute with us Phil. 2. 14 15. And to this effect to lay aside all malice and all guil and hypocrisie evil speakings and surmisings 1 Pet. 2. 1 2. And lastly in respect of those that are injurious to recompense no evill for evill nor to avenge our selves but to give place unto wrath Rom. 12. 17 19. Not to be overcome with evill but to overcome evil with good Rom. 12. 21. And to that effect with all lowlinesse and meeknesse with long-suffering to forbear them in love Ephes 4. 2. And to forgive them as God in Christ hath forgiven us Ephes 4. 32. Now the originall and immediate cause of this Peaceable disposition of the soul is to suffer the Peace of God whereunto we are called to rule in our hearts Col. 3. 15. for when this by the new Covenant in Christ doth possesse the spirit the soul is quieted within it self because it entreth with Christ into that rest which he hath purchased and prepared for it Hebr. 4. 10 11. And it receiveth the Peace which he hath left with it and given to it so that the heart is not troubled neither is it afraid at any thing which in this world can befall unto it Joh. 14. 27. for the promise of the Lord wherein he hath caused us to hope doth sustain us which saith that he will keep him in perfect Peace whose heart is stayed on him because he trusteth in him Isa 26. 3. But on the other side those that have no interest in the Covenant of Peace which Christ hath made with us can have no rest nor quietnesse within themselves or towards others because my God hath said There is no Peace to the wicked but his heart and his whole course is as the troubled Sea which cannot rest but casteth forth mire and dirt perpetually Isa 57. 20 21. The ends then of these duties shew the perfection whereunto they lead us and their proper works the way by which we attain the same For by the law of love we are taught how to aime at that which is truly good by the law of righteousnesse how to order our way in prosecuting of it and by the law of Peaceablenesse how to attend the delightfull possession of it The first sets our minde upon God the second directs us to him and the third fits us to enjoy him What is proper to a Christian in these duties more then to other men Thus in brief we see what these duties are and whence in a Christian more then in other men they proceed for other men know nothing herein but the principles of Reason and Morality by which they look more upon the materiall outside of the works then upon any thing else because naturall men cannot raise their minds unto the apprehension of spirituall truths which beget in the soul a new life and farre lesse can they act any thing thereby without speciall grace yet if the Intellectuals of a man truly rationall in nature which is not altogether impossible be raised so far by the right use of common illuminations as to perceive the proportion which is between such performances as these are and the principles from whence they flow he will finde no just cause to contradict any thing therin although his heart will not be able thereupon to close with the duties themselves for a true Christian is a spirituall man is not inabled to close heartily with these duties either because he is convicted of the rationalitie thereof or because he doth understand the excellencie and worth of this way above the way of Morality for these are onely preparative inducements inclining his affection thereunto but he closeth therewith onely because his conscience is enlightned by the truth and purified by faith and therein is bound over and given up to walk thus with God in Christ by the covenant of grace for through the law of the spirit of life and love which is in Christ Jesus whereby he is freed from the law of sin and of death he is made conformable unto the image of the Son of God and the righteousnesse of the Law of God through faith and love being fulfilled in him he hath peaceable communion with the Father and with the Son wherein he doth set himself to walk with joy and unspeakable comfort in the light of their countenance by which he is daily transformed from glory to glory as by the Spirit and presence of the Lord. The rule then and the way of a Christian is to walk in these duties towards all men and for these ends not with humane wisdome and the reasonings of his naturall understanding although he doth nothing irrationally but according to the direction and manifestation of the Spirit of grace that is according to the testimony of Jesus revealed unto his spirit which obligeth his conscience to follow affectionately the rules of these duties in all simplicitie and godly sincerity through love to the life of Jesus Christ and the grace of God in him and not for any other obligation or by any other consideration whatsoever and whosoever doth walk after this rule Peace be upon him and upon the Israel of God And because we have not hitherto walked after this rule we have not as yet found the way to Peace for to finde Peace out of this way is as impossible as to misse of it within it How universal they are and inseparable from Christianity And chiefly in leading men and times of greatest need From hence we may observe that these duties have an universall influence upon all the wayes of Christians for as Christians they are essentiall to them in all the works of their severall callings and if they studie not to do all their works by these rules they cannot be said to do them as Christians for as Christians we are commanded to do all our matters with charitie 1 Cor. 16. 14. for we are obliged by the love of God to us as his dear children to be followers of God and to walk in love as Christ also hath loved us Ephes 5. 1 2. And if we walk not thus it is evident that we are none of his children but have renounced his love and are destitute of the life of God in all our undertakings for he that loveth not knoweth not God for God is love 1 Joh. 4. 8. And again as Christians we are bound to serve God and Christ in his kingdom and if we serve him not how can we truly bear his Name Now the kingdom of God wherein
doth evince that in the 5. verse there must be instead of one which in our ordinary translation is expressed a double interrogation whereof the latter must run in this sense Doth the Spirit dwelling in us lust to envie as if he had said by no means 3. That the Spirit which is in the friends of the world doth lust to envy For it is clear that all worldlings are bent to lust after that which they would have so as that they envy others to have it it besides themselves and that is the thing which the Apostle here doth presuppose whereupon the question denying it to befall unto the spirit which dwelleth in the Saints is raised We must observe then that as the Spirit of God and the spirit of the world are opposite so their lusts tend to different ends and what is denyed of the one is affirmed of the other Whence we must further observe that the corruption and infection of our spirit in nature making our lust disorderly and contentious is originally self-love as it taketh us off from the love of our neighbour that is as it perverteth our intention from desiring that he may partake of that good which we wish for our selves for self-self-love is not otherwise vicious but as it confineth our intentions within our selves alone It is no sin to love ones self if we love our neighbour as our self The object of it Now the imaginary good thing which naturally between all parties as they are parties is the object of their mutuall envie is the Preeminencie for which they strive in comparison one of another that either they may subject others unto their will or at least exempt themselves from being subject to the will of others both which are most opposite unto the spirit of Christianity which doth not at all affect any dominion over others but rather doth set it self to serve and please others through love Even as Christ Jesus served us and pleased not himself but others to their edification Gal. 5. 13. Rom. 15. 3. Therefore his way and aime was was when hee walked amongst men not to joyne himselfe to any of the parties that then were a foot amongst his countrey men the Jewes but to walke indifferently and by one Rule towards all Nay he was not averse from conversing with the Samaritans themselves whom all other Jews did abhor as is apparent by I 〈◊〉 h 4. v. 5. till 45. that he might impart himself unto all freely in that which was good without envying the enjoyment thereof unto any It is therefore evident that if professours live in envie strife and division one with another they are not to be counted Christians that is spirituall but carnall And at the best they are no more but babes in Christ because therein they walk not as his disciples but as men all parties 1 Cor. 3. 2 〈◊〉 and partialities are amongst men as men of this world and not amongst men as Christians and their aime in the world is to deprive others of that good which they pretend to possesse as due unto themselves rather then to others Now as I said before the Imaginary good which a party as a party doth pretend unto in comparison of others who do oppose it is nothing else but to have the preeminencie in that where it is opposed Nor can men as men walk by any other rule but this because they can see no reason why they should deny themselves to give others the preeminencie above themselves none but Christians as Christians can understand that they ought to deny themselves take up a crosse and preferre the benefit of others to their own conveniencies onely because Christ did so towards us because this is the badge of his disciples and because by the new covenant we are bound to be conformable unto his image and to follow his footsteps Therefore no naturall man can say from his heart as the Apostle did to the Corinthians 1 Cor. 4. 8 Now ye are full now ye are rich ye haue reigned as Kings without us and would to God ye did reign and again I pray to God that ye do no evil not that we should appear approved but that ye should do that which is honest though we be as Reprobates for we are glad when we are weak and ye are strong 2. Cor. 13. 7. 9. And again To the weak I became as weak 1 Cor. 9. 22. But it is otherwise amongst men for all strive to get strength in their own hand and make others weak all strive for the preeminence as in riches and in glory so for that which doth bring these things with it which is the trust to manage power and government in this world and truly if we look upon our selves as in the presence of God to see what we have been doing as men in this kind we cannot be so senselesse of our naturall inclinations as to think that we have not acted as parties one against another nor so unconscionable as not to be convicted and willing to confesse that in such actings the object of our partialitie and envie hath been the gaining of preeminencie to manage the trust of power and goverment above others or at least before them Our practise about that object It is not my work to judge of State affairs I am directly endeavouring to take off others to whom it doth not belong from the partiall judgements which they make thereof nor do I intend to please or displease any partie in the State for I hate partialitie with a perfect hatred as by that which I have here said may appear nor do I for any private designe seek to humour any body behold God is my witnesse in that which I shall say but intending at this time to drive this nail to the head I must not seem so stupid and brutish as not to take notice of Gods work and hand over us and not to see what the changes are which the Almighty hath brought upon this Kingdome and State which have given occasion to the spirit of envie to become active among us We cannot then but see that God hath permitted him in whose hand before these troubles the chief trust of government and power was to be deprived of the same and by what means this is come to passe is apparent unto all for first the management of affairs which he used being judged very prejudiciall to the safetie of the State by those unto whom the publick Reformation thereof was intrusted it then fell out that the trust of Government and Power was devolved by degrees upon those whom God did suffer in their places to act against him How this fell out I think none can be ignorant who hath been able to observe any thing For after that God had set up those who acted against him in their places by a right which the King himself conferred upon them to sit as long as they thought fit to manage their trust after that they were engaged
world and doth not directly and mainly by raising their spirits above earthly passions and by leading them to the life of Christ endeavour to allay their worldly affections to compose their differences and to reconcile their affections one to another in the love of Christ if I say any Minister doth not set himself to work thus when he is obliged to meddle with carnal controversies about the things of men he hath clearly renounced not only the work of a true Minister of the Gospel but the name also of a true Christian for there can be no earthly concernment of such importance or so near to a Christian as to engage him to forge and cast off the duties and the affections of divine love towards any or not to endeavour the common welfare of all without partiality as Christ hath loved us and endeavoured our welfare if therefore any be found who call themselves The snare wherein some Ministers are caught which doth hinder them from applying the Remedy Ministers and yet make themselves on all sides the chief Actors and Abettors of State differences and controversies by whose instigation under a pretence of Religion the distempers of men are heightned and the common welfare of humane societies is disturbed shall we call them herein Ministers of the Gospel of God shall we say that in so doing they are guiltless before men or shall we not rather say that they are quite out of their way that they are Ministers of the Kingdome of Satan by following their own humours and that the Lord by them doth mingle a perverse spirit amongst the unsound professors of Christianity I do not think or say that all Ministers on all sides are thus set or set themselves a work for that would be a great untruth nor do I take upon me to judge any in particular or to judge in generall of all those that take upon them to meddle in State Matters that they do it against the Dictates of their Conscience for that would be a presumptuous and uncharitable judgement but this I say and judge that so many of the Ministery as are thus set and do meddle as they suppose by an engagement of Conscience with State Matters to take part with one and oppose another party therein and do not studie directly to take off the edge of all mens carnall animosities by the love of Christ that all may be directed to build up one another in all truth and righteousnesse towards the kingdome of God I say so many of the Ministery as take this course let it be upon what pretence soever are in a manifest error and dangerous snare of Satan from which I shall intreat the Lord in mercie to deliver them And that I may not be wanting to my duty and affection to help them out of it according to that rule of charitie Whosoever censures any fault ought to shew the way how it should be redressed I shall in the measure which I have received hold forth and demonstrate the course by which in these our present distractions the Ministers who truly mind the work of the Gospel should walk towards all men without blame to avoid this snare of Satan And to this effect I shall take this for granted that the Ministeriall employment in the Gospel is nothing else but a stewardship wherunto the dispensation of the messages and mysteries of Gods love to mankind in and by Christ Jesus The way to recover them out of the snare is committed and that consequently all the acts of this stewardship must at all times answer the nature and end of this dispensation or if any thing answer it not and is inconsistent with the love of 〈◊〉 to be dispensed therein that this thing let it be what it will and coloured with a shew never so faire is in respect of them unministeriall as to God and unwarrantable as to men Upon which ground this doth manifestly follow that no faithfull Minister of the Gospell will dare to do or say any thing ministerially concerning our present distractions in the State but that vvhich the love of God in Christ doth direct him to do and doth prompt him to say as a Christian unto Christians indeed or unto such as pretend to be the disciples of Jesus Christ Which can be effectually nothing else but that which is fit to incline through the love of God the heart of every one to put on towards each other the bowels of mercy of compassion of kindenesse of meeknesse and of long suffering that the breaches which make us unprofitable one to another in the profession of Christianity may be healed by the unity of the Spirit of Christ in the bond of peace For if all our works and our perswasions center not in Gods love upon the hearts of those with whom we deal through the unfeigned profession of Christianity it is certain that we will venture upon them in the love of this present world for something which doth oblige us to the profession of partialitie for so farre as we go out of the one way we step immediately into the other therefore to keep our selves free from the trappes wherein many are caught by the subtile contrivances of State Mysteries and to help those that are recoverable to recover themselves out of the engagement to further breaches and to prevent the great thoughts of heart which our destructive divisions are like to bring forth Let us reflect as in the sight of God upon the Rules of our Christian duties first in love and then in righteousnesse and in peaceablenesse that so many of us as make not the pretence of Religion and conscience a cloak of maliciousnesse but in all things and above all endeavour without partialitie towards men to approve our conscience in sinceritie before God may finde a directory by the spirit in the word of Truth which is the testimony of Jesus whereby to â—â—â—y how to behave our selves harmlesly as the Sons of God without rebuke in the midst of these distractions that we may not be accessory to the perversenesse and the crookednesse of the generation which doth occasion and foment the same The complicated causes of our publick disease Seeing then our complicated disease doth lye in the generall disagreement of mens imaginations about things past in the unrulinesse of their actions about things present in the unsettlement and difference of their desires about things to come and in the peremptorinesse of their resolutions taken up upon mutuall discontents and future hopes of changes our way to cure these distempers must be also in a complicated course of using Remedies which will meet with the disorderlinesse of mens hearts and actions in all these unsettlements and because the first ingredient and basis of this whole Remedie must needs be Divine Love for without it the rest will be ineffectuall and this ought first to be exhibited in the work of the Ministery by their practise and perswasion we shall take the
flye from us should I therefore leave off to do my duty shall I cease to pray for those that are over me shall I not endeavour that they may know Gods wil in their places and receive grace to doe it shall I be weary of well doing towards all I hope none will advise this I therefore shall not need to scruple a compliance and concurrence with any in things just and lawfull in themselves For let the Title of those that stand now with power in the places of Rule be what it will whether it be called a conquest of the former state yea or no and whether as Conquerours they may justly claim all the rights which the State could pretend unto yea or no Or whether it be a vindication of the inherent power and liberty in the body of a Nation from the hands of those that had enslaved it yea or no Or whether it be the necessity of a naturall defence of the Rights and Priviledges of the people against those that by power seek still to invade the same yea or no Or whether it be as some terme it an irregular usurpation and abuse of power and trust in those that are servants to make themselves masters yea or no or what Title soever else may be given to their ruling state and power it maketh no matter to me in respect of Christianity and those fore-named duties because in Christianity those are duties which I must intend without respect of persons at all times and towards all men except I can truly judge that they have sinned the sin unto death which I hope none will judge of these for suppose as to men that their standing had no place and should be thought not onely in respect of the Nationall but even of naturall lawes altogether unjust yet if I must look upon them as they are by Gods permission and direction set up and from him if I find them as over me in places of Government so such in whose hand he hath put the full administration of his power over the whole Nation I must conclude that by vertue of his command I am bound to pray for them that they may have grace to manage their Power and Talents rightly according to his will and for the good of the Nation and for the City of God therein for whose sake also I ought to assist them with my best abilities received for publick service to inable them so to doe Upon this account therefore I wish from my heart that every one of them may be in their lives and charges as perfect and upright in the way of God as David was and as zealous to advance all good and destroy all wicked doers from the Citie of the Lord as he professeth himselfe to be What ever the title and claim to right may be in others who stand as competitors with or against those that are in possession I take not upon me to determine either way no man hath made me a judge or a divider of rights between the great ones of the world my way in the Gospel is to prejudge none in that which God hath given them but to serve all through love in that which is good As for that right which God doth give to power For the most high of all ruleth in the Kingdome of Dan. 4. 17. men and giveth it to whomsoever he will and setteth up over it the basest of men I shall leave it to his own effectuall determination by the setting up of one and putting down of another for the actuall possession of Gods place over men by the administration of his supream power in the hand of one and out of the hand of another is that by which I must take notice of his determination of the matter As for my selfe my whole work is to judge of mine own wayes how to keep them pure and without offence towards all how to hold forth the word of life and thereby to stirre up every one to follow the example of Christ Iesus by walking in love as he hath loved us and in holinesse as he is holy and how to follow peace and reconcile differences which are destructive to Church and State in a Gospell-way chiefly when God doth open a doore of utterance unto me and this is all that I am to meddle withall in my place and calling and as I hope without humane respects and worldly ends never to be wanting to this so beyond this line nor consideration no man nor thing God willing shall ever draw me It is a small matter to me what any may think or say of my present medling in this businesse and this way yet I shall never refuse to give a true reason to any that shall discreetly seek it of my proceedings but to answer the partiall cavils and interpretations which passionatly selfe-willed and conceited men shall intend to put upon my actions I shall alwayes think it below my care and Calling and regard it no more than the noyse of a Dogges barking A briefe Digression Concerning a correspondency between Magistrates and Ministers And these expressions I have here inserted concerning my self by way of digression not only to shew the true grounds by which I am led thus to judge and act within my Sphere but also to obviat something in the mindes of some men which is obstructive to the entertaining of these impartial suggestions in Gospel-simplicitie as at this time offered without any further designe for cursed be he that doth the work of the Lord deceitfully and finally to make it apparent that I am neither ignorant nor imprudently careless nor afraid of The intent of the digression the thoughts of men concerning my self nor unaware of the imaginations which some will entertaine concerning that which I have said already and that which now I am entring upon to say which shall referre to a mutuall correspondencie which ought to be between the Ministers of the Gospel and the Rulers of this and of every Christian State For seeing the last Aphorisme which I have drawn from Davids Directory concerning the aime of a wise and godly Magigistrate doth lead me as it were by the hand unto this matter whereof the consideration is as necessarie for our safety as any thing hitherto spoken of I should be very much grieved that my Brethren of the Ministery by a mistake of duty and preposterousnesse of zeale against those that are over them with power in the State should necessitate them through their unruly and implacable misbehaviours to take up designes for their own and the publick safety wherein neither we nor they themselves will have any cause of rejoycing or that they should divert them from the intentions whereunto hopefully they may be fully carried as being inclined thereunto by their own principles For I know no probable reason to think that they should not be willing to performe the perfect duty of a Christian Magistrate and follow Davids example therein when they are fully