Selected quad for the lemma: love_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
love_n	good_a	work_n	work_v	5,769	5	7.4409	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A81927	A peace-maker without partiality and hypocrisie. Or The gospel-way to make up the present breaches of brotherhood, and heale the divisions, whereby some of the reforming professors and ministers of the kindome at the time, sadly dishonour their profession, mainley obstruct our reformation, utterly destroy the safe constitution both of church and state. Wherein are handled, 1. How the meanes of Christian peace, as well civill as ecclesiasticall, may bee found and ought to bee followed, both by pastors and people. 2. What are the speciall lets of Ecclesiasticall reconciliation, and what the causes of divisions are, and how to be remedied. 3. What are the grounds, termes and motives of brotherly unitie and forbearance, which the ministers and members of the churches of England ought ot professe and practise one towards another for the gospels sake. / All written upon severall occasions and at severall times by Mr. John Dury, one of the assembly of divines, &c. and now published by Samuel Hartlib, to whom they were sent.	Dury, John, 1596-1680.	1648 (1648)	Wing D2877; Thomason E458_19; ESTC R205070	94,791	118

equitable and charitable affections which the Spirit of Christ doth suggest yet now being put in minde thereof if henceforth the motions of his Spirit bee not rejected but sincerely entertained openly professed and effectually followed who doth not know but that yet a happy composure of our differences may be effected Thirdly Declarations of the truth that is in us are good but however they are no more but words except then reall actions answer them How they should prosecute thier aime and speake the truth of justice and peaceablenesse in our proceedings there can bee nothing but bitternesse in the end For nothing can prevent the crosse workings of mens spirits against us but that which is able to beget and settle a confidence in their mindes towards us and to beget this confidence and allay these jealousies which cause mens spirits boyle up to a disturbance of those proceedings wherein wee meane well I would suggest to our leading men these impartiall considerations The parts of this discourse 1 That they ought to lay to heart the causes which hinder others to confide in us to remove the same 2 That they ought to seeke and finde out the persons which are most capable of receiving good impressions of us and from us that the same may bee given them and by them propagated unto all 3 That they should make use of the proper meanes by which confidence is bred in honest mindes towards us that the same may bee set a working 4 That they should observe the method and manner of proceeding requisite in doing this that the attempt may bee effectuall and not miscarry Of these foure heads I shall suggest somewhat tending to the advancement of peace and truth as briefly as I can First concerning the causes hindering others to confide in us and begetting feares in them against us let me say this The causes of mistrust and feare He that doth not confide in his neighbours doth hinder them to confide in him and hee that doth feare others doth beget in them causes of feare against himselfe if then wee would have others to confide in us and not feare us wee must also confide in them and not feare them For if I cannot bring my spirit to trust my neighbour how can I expect that his spirit should bee brought to trust me and if I thinke that hee doth not trust me I will readily suspect him if I suspect him I will either arme my selfe to oppose him or weaken him lest hee oppose mee and if I give way to these thoughts I am at warre with him in my heart and the affection of Christian love and ingenuitie which onely can beget confidence is lost between us love being lost the fruits of emulation envie and passion will bee found and break forth in our nature I finde the sequele of matters in our nature to lie thus Where I doe not love I cannot confide where I confide not I will finde cause to mistrust where I finde cause to mistrust I will fortifie my selfe against the same and if I fortifie my selfe against my neighbour I must expect that hee will doe the like against mee for what cause hath hee to trust mee more then I doe him therefore as long as I manifest no love nor trust but force onely there can bee no confidence expected from any towards mee The maine hinderance then of confidence and cause of feare is the endeavour of force and if I once begin to endeavour force I seeke not onely security to my selfe but the conquest of that which I thinke is mine opposit because I cannot naturally rest secure as long as that which I count an enemy is not subdued and whatsoever I doe not trust I am apt to account an enemy therefore whilst I make nothing my friend but mine owne force I am apt to trust to nothing else but it From all which this doth follow that as soone as I forsake the simplicitie of my love I beget naturally feares within my selfe and when I take a course to secure my selfe from my feares by force I multiply feares in others and give them cause to mistrust me Let me then cure mine owne feares first which I have of others and then I shall bee able to cure the feares which others have of me if I take the beame out of mine owne eye I shall see cleer to take the moat out of my neighbours Quest But the question will be How shall I cure mine owne feares Answ Isa 8.12.13 Truely to answer this I know none other way but to follow Gods counsell by the Prophet Isaiah Say ye not saith the Lord A confederacie to all them to whom this people shall say A confederacie neither feare ye their feare nor be afraid sanctifie the Lord of hosts himselfe and let him bee your feare and let him bee your dread It is then nothing else but the base feare of men upon politick considerations The cure of our owne fears and the want of the true feare of God upon divine Principles which troubles mee and drives mee to courses which make others afraid of mee but if I did not at all looke to men but unto God alone if I did not confide in mine owne force but in the Almighty others would finde cause to confide in mee As I behave my selfe towards God so I must expect that others will behave themselves towards mee if I mean from my heart well towards others in God God will move others to meane so also towards me 1 Pet. 3.13 14. And who is he saith the Apostle that will harme you if ye bee follwers of that which is good if I mind nothing but that which is good to every one what cause have I to think that any will mind harme or evill against me But suppose I suffer wrong whiles I minde that which is good and righteous the Apostle saith that I am happy and if I am happy I need not bee afraid of men nor troubled at my suffering But what if I bee afraid and troubled is it not because I am not willing to suffer in doing good if then I to avoyd suffering for righteousnesse will secure my selfe by force and make others afraid of mee it is evident that I doe not commit my selfe and my cause to God in well doing but I take it in mine owne hand to manage it by mine owne strength and how this will prosper I need not to mention Quest But now you will perhaps say How should I become a constant follower of that which is good Answ To answer this Matth. 7.12 the Doctrin and Rule of Christ is without all exception Whatsoever you would have others to doe to you doe you to them also the meaning is doe you it first unto them for we are commanded to consider one another to provoke each other to love and to good workes If I must consider to provoke then hee that is to bee provoked to love The way to

unitie of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man through love whose imperfection in love is such that they doe value no common relations unto Christ and his service further then these set up some private interests nor do mind the unitie of the spirit through the love of Christ which is common unto all so much as to entertain either commembership or ministeriall fellowship or true Gospel-work-acquaintance with any that are not either setled in the circumstantiall courses of their way or willing to come up unto them therein Wee see then upon these grounds that except this neglect of dutie be reformed and the true end of the Ministeriall work without humane aimes be heartily entertained by those to whom it is intrusted the effects thereof will never prosper in their hands but Satan as hitherto he hath done since they were divided will continually prevaile against them all till hee hath brought them unto finall destruction and irrecoverable desolation This then is the danger whereinto wee are fallen and to lay this to heart is that matter of absolute necessitie which by all should be apprehended but chiefly by those that are called to the Ministery that they in doing their principall dutie which is to studie unitie in the truth in Christianity may uphold the holy profession and thereby intend their mutuall preservation For without all doubt their very being in this kingdome if they take not this course will be very shortly in a most desperat condition because as it is undeniably apparent that hitherto nothing but their own disunion about matters extrafundamentall hath made Satan and their enemies to prevaile against them The application to exhort to unitie So it is cleerly manifest that henceforth nothing but their mutuall union will bee effectuall to maintain what they yet hold or restore what they have lost in the minds of men and of their standing in the profession hee then that doth decline to concurre in the wayes of spirituall unitie with those that offer and sue for the same unto him and being convicted of this danger doth not endeavour to prevent it shall bee found guilty of all the evils that follow upon our breaches of all the ruine that befalleth unto these Churches of all the confusions that from thence arise unto the Commonwealth of all the dishonor done to the name of Christ for want of order in his house and of all the shame and reproach which this Nation is either now aspersed withall abroad amongst their Neighbours or will in after ages cleave unto it If then there is any love to the Fundamentall truths of the Gospel if there is any zeale for righteousnesse and against damnable heresies if there is any just hatred due to Blasphemies and to the wayes of profanenesse and licenciousnesse whereby the kingdome of Satan is erected and setled upon the ruines of Christs kingdome amongst us and if there is any faithfulnesse and constancie to bee expected from those that professing Christianitie have entred into solemne protestations vowes and covenants to stand united according to the will of God for the advancement of a common reformation and the settlement of our union therein if I say there bee any such thing as love to truth zeale for righteousnesse and faithfulnesse of Christian Covenants I may adjure such as pretend thereunto to shew themselves at this time therein for their owne and their Brethrens preservation that by the duties of Brotherly unitie in the holy profession they may bee found to keepe faith and a good conscience without blame For as it is not possible that the Faith once given to the Saints can bee maintained by any without a good conscience so the integritie of a good conscience cannot bee kept without observing the end of the holy Commandement which is the practise of love out of a pure heart Now this practise amongst Mininisters in their Ministeriall charges can bee none other but a conscionable concurrence of their spirits in that aime wherein the all relate unto Christ to strengthen one anothers hands in the works of his service For their unity and love to each other can have no truth but as it relates unto him nor can it relate otherwise unto him then by fulfilling his will in doing the works of his service and if this aime be lost in any let them pretend what they will their conscience is not sound their performance is not acceptable nor will their indeavours be for ever established hence it is that because many have left off to aime sincerely at this who either delight to stand wholly by themselves and give way to dividing principles and practises or thinke it more expedient to stand wholly associated but give way to the meanes of humane power to trust more thereunto then to the duties of Christian love and serviceablenesse therefore it is just with God to withdraw from such of both sides that walke in these wayes and from their undertakings the blessing of his presence So that by reason of the want of his strength to goe along and conduct to guide them all their hands are weakned nothing which is undertaken doth prosper the service of Christs house is not advanced the stewards thereof are either divided by themselves or scattered by others and generally they are as men without a heart afraid one of another and through these their breaches a whole deluge of damnable errors and a full current of all unrighteous wicked and scandalous practises hath overwhelmed and almost drowned the Churches so that the very floodgates of hell seeme to bee opened upon us and have covered us with the proud waves of all licenciousnesse And although it cannot bee denied but that it is just with God to suffer Satan thus farre to prevaile against all for the sinnes of all and to make this breach upon the Leaders for their failing in the Ministery yet it is farre from mee to thinke A doubt answered concerning the office of the Ministery as some doe that the promise of God is failed in this our age at if there were neither true Church nor Ministery any more amongst us or any where in this world but that the gates of hell having prevailed against the Church which Christ did once institute by his Apostles a new mission must be expected and a new foundation laid for the erecting of his kingdome I say God forbid that I should thinke so Yea let God bee true but every man a liar for I beleeve that heaven and earth shall passe away Rom. 3.4 Matth. 24.35 Matth. 16.16 17 18 19. but the word that is gone out of Christs mouth shall not passe away Now Christ upon a speciall occasion said distinctly unto his Disciples three things which are these 1 That his Church should bee built upon the rock of that truth whereof the Apostles made confession which was that Jesus was the Christ the sonne of the living God 2 That the gates of hell should not prevaile

can bee no common profession or publick manifestation of the life of Christ unto the world by a body of Professors And for this cause Christ hath made the fundamentall law of the profession in common and the badge of his disciples unto the world to bee this that they should love one another as hee hath loved them Iohn 13.34 35. A new commandement I give unto you that yee love one another as I have loved you that yee also love one another by this shall all men know that yee are my disciples if yee have love one to another Now if this Law is common to all as they are Christians so that the transgressours thereof doe forfeit their right in Christianitie and are not to bee acknowledged Christs Disciples if they persevere in this fault then it is evident that such of the Ministery as observe it not in their Ministeriall relation one towards another are farre more guiltie then others because their charge in the common profession doth oblige them more to this dutie then others in as much as they are more bound thereby to uphold the truth of the profession then others are for they are the joynts of the body and the instruments of the communion between the members which if they through want of love to each other do either breake or not advance they are not onely guiltie of their owne disunion from their fellow labourers in the Ministery but also of the disjoynting of all other professors and members of Christ one from another in the way of the common calling And this is so much the more to be heeded by how much the Scripture is more frequent and earnest in pressing this dutie and the effects thereof then any other thing requisite in the obedience of Faith To reckon up all the particular commandements and strong motives which are in the New Testament to enforce the practise of this dutie is not my purpose at this time but I would onely remonstrate unto those that intend to bee faithfull unto God and conscionable in their ministery that as the fundamentall Lawes of the common profession which are the practise of love and unitie belong more unto them in respect of each other then unto single members in respect of one another because mutuall love and unitie in the Ministers entertained or not entertained doth beget or destroy the same in common professors so the effects meanes and consequents of those duties are more eminently the concernment of their calling then of any others Therefore I shall briefly point at some places of Scripture wherein the chief effects and meanes of those fundamentals are earnestly recommended unto all that the Ministery of this age may see therein the rule of their comportment and how far wee are strayed from it Wee are then all commanded and that as a dutie wherein wee are to walke worthy of the vocation wherewith wee are called to study the unitie of the Spirit in the bond of peace because all our fundamentall relations to all the meanes and to Christ and God the Authors of our salvation are one and the same Ephes 4.1 2 3 4. 5 6. and 1 Cor. 1.10 11 12 13. and 2 Cor. 13.11 Col. 3.13 14 15. Therefore wee are commanded againe and againe to be of the same mind each towards another Rom. 12.16 Phil. 2.2 to have the same love and to be of one accord Phil. 2.2 and 1 Pet. 3.8 and 1 John 4.7 8.11 12. 5.1 and 2 John 5 6. and 1 Pet. 1.22 and the measure and hight of this love is that we are bound in imitation of Christ to lay downe our lives for our brethren 1 John 3.16 and Joh. 15.12 13. far more then ought wee to deny our selves in lesser things The effects of these graces and the meanes to honour the holy profession by the practise thereof are of two sorts the one positive the other negative The positive effects of the spirit of love and unitie are the expressions of all good will towards others in the common profession and the use of all the meanes whereby the integritie thereof may be upheld in every one These are chiefly 1 Mutuall care to build up each other to pray for each other to keep each other in the love of God Jud. 20.21 and to this effect 2 To looke to each others things and not to our owne things alone Phil. 2.4 and 1 Cor. 10.24 3 To serve each other in love Gal. 5.13 4 To please our neighbour for good to his edification Rom. 15.2 5 To provoke one another to love and good workes Heb. 10.24 and to follow the good whereunto we are provoked Hebr. 12.14 6 To exhort and admonish one another Heb. 3.13 Rom. 15.14 7 To preferre others to our selves in love and by humility Rom. 12.10 Phil. 2.3 8 To have compassion on each other in cases of infirmitie considering our owne condition lest wee also be tempted Jud. 22. Gal. 6.1 9 To beare one anothers burdens and in the spirit of meeknesse supporting the weake to restore one another Gal. 6.1 2. and 1 Thes 5.14 Rom. 15.1 10 To make a difference of faults and to save some as pulling them out of the fire Jud. 22 23. The negative effects of this spirit are the inclinations and indeavours whereby all evills which may occasion the breach of unitie or love are avoided And to this effect wee are commanded 1 Not to seeke or to please our selves Rom. 15.1.3 Phil. 2.4.6 7 8. 2 Not to have any evill will or hatred against any 1 Pet. 2.1 and 1 John 2.9 10 11. 3 Not to bee vaine-glorious to provoke any or to envie one another Gal. 5.26 4 Not to revenge or recompense evill with evill Rom. 12.17.19.21 and 1 Thes 5.15 but to forbeare and to forgive one another in cases of offence Ephes 4.2 Col. 3.13 5 Not to murmur nor dispute nor to give offence unto any Phil. 2.14 15 16. and 1 Cor. 10.32 6 Not to strive nor to fight nor to beat our fellow servants Matth. 24.49 and to avoid this it is especially required in the Ministers of the Gospel 2 Tim. 2.24 25. Of all which and such like duties whereof the Scriptures are full and which tend to perfect the Saints in their holy communion and to direct brethren in the common profession of Christianitie to advance truth and holinesse in themselves and others wee must say this that they oblige Ministers in a threefold respect above others For they are not onely bound to observe these rules in all their wayes as they are Christians but they are moreover bound to observe them First towards all more eminently then other common professors because they are appointed to bee the Salt of the earth and the light of the world and as a City built upon a hill that cannot bee bid Matth. 5.13 14. Secondly towards their fellow Ministers more especially and distinctly then towards others because they are bound to them by a double tie of followship viz. by

Professors of Christianitie from that unsettlement which is brought upon those that are children in understanding by the different doctrines of men and their sleights and cunning craftinesse whereby they lay in wait to deceive the simple and draw disciples after them whence wee may gather that if the true Ministers had done their worke as they should have done in love and unitie from the beginning of the Reformation the deceivers of these times would never have prevailed so as they have done hitherto But because this hath not been intended therefore they have gotten all the advantages that they can desire and wish for both against us and all other Protestants Thirdly their worke is not onely to unite them in faith and knowledge Vers 15. and to preserve them from seducers but to endeavour their growth in all things into him who is their head Christ by the sinceritie and truth of love Fourthly and to this effect their worke is to compact them and joyne them together as one body to build up themselves in love by that which every joynt is able to supply unto another Vers 16. Whence wee may most evidently perceive that the whole substance of their worke towards the Church and Saints to perfect them and build them up is in effect nothing but this to unite them in the faith and knowledge of Christ to preserve them from unsettlement and to cause them grow up within themselves by the loving communication of their graces to each other As concerning the work which they are to intend for the Gospel to maintain the profession of it in the world it is in a word to uphold the truth which is after godlinesse that it may be acknowledged to bee the grace of God which bringeth salvation Tit. 1.1 and that it may appeare unto all men to teach them to deny ungodlinesse and worldly lusts Tit. 2.11 12 13 14. and to live soberly righteously and godly in this present world looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and the Saviour Jesus Christ who gave himselfe for us that hee might redeeme us from all iniquity and purifie unto himselfe a peculiar people zealous of good workes Now to hold forth this word of life the Apostle requireth in all Professours and therefore most of all in the Ministers of the profession that they should doe all things without murmurings and disputings Phil. 2.14 and that they should bee in their conversation blamelesse and harmelesse as the Sonnes of God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation and that they should stand fast in in one Spirit Phil. 1.27 with one mind striving together for the faith of the Gospel Where wee may observe that in that worke which is proper to the advancement of the Gospel of truth in the world the holinesse of life the peaceablenesse and the unitie of the professors are the necessary requisites without which nothing in this kind can bee effected For this worke hath two parts The one is towards the children of truth the other is against the adversaries of truth Towards the children of truth the worke is in respect of the common profession to concurre in the wayes of righteousnesse of faith of charitie and of peace with all those that call upon God out of a pure heart 2 Tim. 2.22 and in respect of the aime of mutuall edification for practise it is to exhort one another daily whiles it is called to day Hebr. 3.13 and to provoke one another to love and to good workes Heb. 10.24 and for knowledge it is to endeavour that their hearts may bee comforted being knit together in love and to all riches of the full assurance of understanding to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God and of the Father and of Christ in whom are hid all the treasures of wisedome and knowledge Col. 2.2 3. Where we ought to observe that the studie of love and unitie have not onely an influence upon the common profession and that part of the peculiar worke of edification which is practicall to maintain it but also that it is a meanes to confirme and comfort the hearts of the beleevers in all the riches of the full assurance of the knowledge of the highest and most secret Mysteries And consequently that where this studie is not entertained there both the profession and all the comforts which arise unto the soules of beleevers practically and intellectually from their peculiar interests in each others edification doe wholly decay and the great mysteries of our salvation concerning God and the Father and Christ are darkned made doubtfull and by some utterly contradicted all which is brought to passe now adayes as much if not more then in any age heretofore by our dissensions As for the adversaries and gainesayers who are to bee opposed if wee take them to bee the principalities and powers of darknesse and spiritualities of malice in high places a chief part of the armour by which we are to fight against them and preserve our selves from their assaults is to have our Loines that is our affections girt about with truth that is with sincere love which is the bond of perfectnesse Ephes 6.14 and to have our feet shod that is our wayes of conversion fitted with the preparation of the Gospel of peace that is with meanes of peace Col. 3.14 with Ephes 4.15 to prepare men to entertain without offence and peaceably the Gospel of the peace of God which is revealed in his word to us Ephes 6.15 But if wee take the opposers to bee men although sometimes their mouthes must be stopped Tit. 1.10 11 12 13. Tit. 3.9 2 Tim. 2.23 and they sharply rebuked namely when it is evident that they are vain talkers unruly deceivers and liars yet alwayes matters of strife and jangling both with them and all others are to bee avoided which we now have not heeded and the behaviour of the servant of God even in his greatest zeale and in the worst of times must never bee precipitate and hasty that is without long-suffering 2 Tim. 4.2 3. But chiefly towards such of whom there may be hope of recovery all gentlenesse patience forbearance and meeknesse of instruction is with great care to bee used as the Apostle doth teach Timothy 2 Epist 2.24 25. which is a lesson almost utterly forgotten in these our dayes amongst some that esteeme themselves the chief of Professors Thus then wee see that there is no particular part of all the Ministeriall worke wherein the spirit of love and unitie must not appeare as the principall agent to make it successefull Fourthly and lastly their relation to each other as fellow-labourers in these workes is properly that of joynts which are between the Members of the body to unite them to each other and to make them dependent upon the head For in Ephes 4. vers 16. the Apostle doth cleerly speak of the visible body of the Church as it

follow that which is good hath not yet applyed himself unto the dutie but I am obliged to goe before him in the way thereof and therefore I must expresse my love to him first although hee hath not done his dutie to mee If then I would have another to trust me it is cleere by this rule that I must first shew that I doe trust him but if I shew not this then I provoke him to the contrary namely not to trust mee And if but the Law which the Gentiles by common nature knew were heeded in this case it would take away the causes of our differences and jealousies and teach us to follow that which is good Quod tibifieri non vis alteri ne feceris What thou wouldest not have done to thy self doe not thou to any Is it that thou wouldest not have any feare thee or suspect thee or arme himselfe against thee then doe not thou feare and suspect him or arme thy selfe against him Wouldst thou not have all thy faults ript up and all advantages taken against thee to bring thee into discredit then rip not up the faults of others and take no advantages against them to discredit them Wouldst thou not be judged condemned and disarmed doe not judge condemne and endeavour to disarme others For with what judgement thou judgest Matth. 7.2 thou shalt be judged and with what measure thou dost mete it shall bee measured unto thee againe and if thou wilt disarme others and keepe them as captives under thy power Rev. 13.10 Esa 33.1 thou must expect to bee disarmed and led captive under the power of others for God doth render to every one according to his workes Wilt thou then follow that which is good doe not make thy selfe terrible unto any because thou wouldest have none to be terrible unto thee cure thine owne distempers meane well towards others and as thou hast opportunitie make the power which thou hast in thine hand serviceable unto others for good for hee that hath power to doe good to those that are under his power and doth it not is foolish and weake and by not using his power to the end for which it is given doth overthrow himselfe by it Summisque negatum stare diu things at the height stand not long Therefore if a man hath not learned of Christ to deny himselfe in the use of his power hee must fall under the weight of it now the weight of it is nothing else but the jealousie of State which it begets in others that are equalls or inferiors I have done with the causes hindering others to confide in us 2. The way to finde out such as we ought to deale withall is The second thing to bee considered is How wee shall finde out those that are fittest to entertaine and receive the good which wee doe follow and in case of aversion from us how to make them susceptible of better impressions For to conquer the world it is not enough to meane well and to doe that which in it selfe is good but the good which is done must bee well placed also A good seed should be sowen in fruitfull ground else how will it multiply Now to doe this let me offer these thoughts 1. To free our selves from prejudice towards all 1 No man is able exactly to discerne his owne farre lesse other mens hearts our prejudicate opinions deceive us no where more then in the thoughts of persons the imaginations which wee frame to our selves of others and of their principles insnare our affections and shut us up from that freedome of spirit towards them which might bee a meanes either to gaine or to discover them to us for they byas our proceedings and corrupt that ingenuitie without which wee are darkned and neither can discerne others nor be discerned by them in truth For when wee apply our selves to one this way and to another that way and doe not walke equally by the plain Rule of the new creature towards all wee must needs be intangled and lose our strength which is upheld by nothing so much as by that plainnesse wherein it is alwayes like it selfe Our various presumptions of men and of their different designes cause us to be with child and when they have put us in pain they make us bring forth as it were wind nor can wee at all worke any deliverance in the earth by them to our selves or others because we bring nothing but earthly wisedome with us to subdue the spirits of men before which the inhabitants of the world will never fall Therefore if wee would seeke out and find those that are fit to receive the good which wee would offer to them let us never take upon us to judge determinately of any man this or that way according to appearances but leaving him to God and himselfe let us judge righteous judgement as wee desire others to judge and presume of us by the Rules of Charity so let us apply our thoughts unto them for this will keep us in a frame of freedome within our selves and ingenuity towards them without which no safe addresse can bee made unto any 2. To addresse our selves to all by one rule observe by whom the good which is offered is resented 2 To discover then such as are capable of the good which wee doe follow wee must addresse our selves unto all alike by one and the same Rule of sincerity and truth and where wee finde that the good which wee have prosecuted is resented there we should apply our selves more particularly to multiply the manifestation thereof unto them and to fix more deeply the sense thereof into their apprehensions For where wee see that God doth cause the seed which is sowen to take root there wee may hope that being watered it will fructifie by his blessing 3. To make a more speciall application to those that are of note 3 And although our addresses should bee thus towards all yet this must not hinder a more speciall application of our selfe to some who are likely to bee more capable then others of good motions such then as are of good report for piety and parts such as are noted for temper and moderation from humane passions and such as are apparently zealous for the workes of Reformation ought to bee lookt upon with a speciall eye and sought out They ought to be dealt withall more plainly and more fully for the setting of their judgements aright and the clearing of doubts which they may have concerning our wayes and principles and then wee ought also to put an edge upon their affections to concurre with us towards a progresse in publike workes that the righteousnesse which doth reach alike unto the edification of all may bee advanced for the compleating of the work of our reformation 4. Not to bee much swayed with good or evill reports concerning any but to measure all by the true standard the life of Christ in the Spirit 4 And as

spirituall aime of Christs walking in the world and if he can ingage them into worldly designes to advance the same in a worldly way hee hath gotten them cleerly within his reach where he will endeavour to the utmost first to cause them utterly forget and lay aside the aime of their spirituall calling Secondly to allure them unto and affect them with the appearance and glory of his dominion Thirdly to act them by the principles of outward feares and hopes to that which hee would have them doe and when hee hath once gotten them thus farre under the power of this snare he will be able without resistance to carry them headlong amongst themselves to more and more uncharitablenesse and unconscionablenesse of conversation whereby breaches will bee multiplied and made irreconciliable For although a difference arise but from a very small and circumstantiall matter amongst them as it doth naturally fall out amongst other men yet Satan aiming at them above all others to get advantages against them if he doth find them in such a case either without brotherly and charitable affections or inclined to please themselves hee will bee able to worke upon them first jealousies and by jealousies mistakes and by mistakes a distance and strangenesse by reason of worldly aimes differently carried on and when plots and passions are come to some maturitie crosse courses and mutuall provocations will bee set on foot reall injuries will bee offered complaints and clamours will break forth which in continuance make the divisions of hearts past all remedy and irreconciliable because it is not possible that men who aime at worldly matters should deny themselves either the use of their wit and passions in the prosecution of their designe or neglect the strength which they have in hand when they thinke it can serve their turne For if they should doe so they should seeme to quit their designes and so lose at once both the credit and profit thereof which to men that make use of their reason onely to compasse their owne will and to that effect can employ both power and policie is a thing altogether insufferable as being no lesse contemptible then folly and as hatefull as death This I conceive to bee one of the mysteries of iniquity by which Satan doth prevaile against the Ministers of the Gospel even against many men that are otherwise godly and able but are not sufficiently aware of his wiles by which they are drawn from their owne and ensnared in his way by which meanes their hands being weakned in their work hee gaineth his end at least indirectly by their infirmities and miscarriages Therefore all such as are conscionably sensible of their own frailties and of those dangers should bee wakened from securitie to become watchfull over their owne souls in these times of temptation for amongst the Protestant Churches where with the increase of knowledge a true sense of Christian libertie is begotten in the minds of professors Satan hath none other way to fit to erect his kingdome as this is of dividing the Ministers for which cause as wee see their divisions daily increased so the remedies should be the more earnestly thought upon and offereed with freedome and tendernesse unto all indifferently but chiefly to those who are neerest in principles and have least cause to walke asunder and be at a distance The remedy against Satans way of corrupting the ministery These remedies can bee none other but the helpes to holy communion amongst Ministers in the prosecution of spirituall aimes tending to the advancement of Truth and Peace For the unitie of their spirits in the simplicitie of Truth is their strength and the evidence of grace without worldly wisedome in their walking will make them not onely invincible but even irresistible because the power of the Word of life which is a two-edged Sword and the armour of righteousnesse on the right hand and on the left when they are handled in sinceritie without all mixture of humane policie will bee prevalent to make them triumph in Christ 2 Cor. 2.14 and to cause the inhabitants of the world to fall in due time before them that in the day of Christs power which wee hope is approaching all the strong holds of Satan may be surrendred unto him This ensuing discourse then concerning unitie and forbearance to shew the ground The end of the ensuing discourse and the occasion of putting it to paper termes and motives thereof was by me conceived as a propesall of matters belonging properly to the consideration of the Orthodox Ministers of this kingdome who dissent onely from each other in the way of government that if our private or publique conferences had continued as they were begun in simplicitie the heads thereof might have been a subject of further deliberation amongst us For to that effect they were put to paper at the desire of some but seeing the motions tending to a reconcilement of our Religious differences seeme to be obstructed so that there is little or no hope to gaine any further meetings and conferences in this kind and for this aime therefore I have enlarged them a little and altered the frame thereof somewhat And of enlarging and publishing the same and now shall leave them to you to bee disposed of as God shall direct you for the publick good to make use of them For whether the obstruction of these thoughts of reconcilement arise from the unwillingnesse of some who perhaps thinke it not wisedome to venture their paines in such a way or from the State contrivements or preingagements and combinations of others who by any of these meanes thinke themselves strong enough to gain their own desires another way Whether I say from any or from all of those causes the obstruction doth arise it is to mee a matter of no discouragement but rather an occasion to bee willing to appeare so as I am in the presence of God free from interests and before men without all pretence to wisedome strength and authoritie That so farre as those motions shall be found agreeable to the will of God and sutable to the conscience of those whose wisedome strength and authoritie is the obedience of Faith in performing their dutie they may be entertained with singlenesse of heart and if so many of us as have freed our spirits from the bondage of feares and hopes in respect of outward matters and have given our selves up to walke openly by knowne and undeniable rules and by the Law of unprejudicate love to bee without offence towards all should but resolve upon this provocation to lay the matter of dutie represented therein more seriously to heart then hitherto wee have done and to ripen further thoughts concerning the same who knoweth what God may work thereby It is not impossible for him to blow upon the dead bones of our scattered affections from the wayes of peace and communion to bring them to a concurrence in the acknowledgement of some rules which

them hee hath obliged them already and what further obligations they should receive from his Father hee concludes vers 17. thus These things I command you that you love one another So that hee puts all the relations which wee have to him of servants of disciples and of friends upon the expression of our love to each other from whence wee must forcibly conclude that if there bee no such expression of love but rather of disaffection and of hatred to one another in our Ministery that wee make it apparent unto the world and to our owne consciences when they awake it will bee evident that wee are none of his servants nor his disciples nor his friends but rather the servant disciples and friends of his enemy Ephes 6 1● the Prince of wickednesse in heavenly matters Therefore let no man bee deceived with faire pretences of holinesse and with large pleas and discourses about speciall rights the Apostle tells us that if wee have bitter envy and strife in our hearts one against another and if wee glory therein wee lie against the truth Iam. 3.14 15.16 For the wisedome by which men are led in such cases descendeth not from above but is earthly sensuall and devillish Secondly in relation to the Church as it is a house of God the Ministers therein are builders 1 Cor. 3.10 11 12. as it is the houshold of faith they are stewards of the Mysteries of God 1 Cor. 14.1 2. and as it is a flock they are shepheards thereof 1 Pet. 5.2 Now if in building the same house there bee no concurrence and correspondency between the builders thereof how will it bee fitly framed together as it ought to bee Ephes 20.21 Can builders that have no spirituall communion but are rather disunited in their wayes frame fitly one and the same house for Gods spirit to dwell in And if in a great houshold where one steward cannot oversee all severall stewards being appointed to do all by one and the same rule of administration yet they agree not amongst themselves but walke different wayes and crosse each other will not this distraction disorder the affaires of the houshold will not this reflect upon their Lord and Master as if he could not govern his family in peace And if severall shepheards belonging to a great flock to feed it jointly doe every one take a part thereof for himself and feed it separately each from other without any care to maintaine good neighbourhood and acquaintance but rather to crosse one another in their walkes and draw sheep one from another how will they bee able to answer it to him that hath intrusted them with the joynt care of his flock I find that when the soul which is in love with Christ doth seeke to find him out Cant. 1.7.8 it is afraid to turne aside unto the flockes of his companions and when it is directed how to come to him it is bid goe forth by the footsteps of the flock and feed besides the shepheards tents whence wee may observe that the multitude of flocks under many pretending to bee Christs companions doe perplex the soule and turne it aside from him but the unitie of the flock under shepheards that are united is the way wherein Christ is to bee found Thirdly their relation to the workes of their employment doth wholly necessitate them to maintaine mutuall love and unitie because not onely these duties in themselves are a principall part of their worke but what ever else doth belong to their charge whether it concerne the Church or the Gospel it can neither bee acceptable unto God nor profitable unto men except it bee done in the spirit of love and unitie First then that these duties are recommended unto them as a maine part of the very worke which is chiefly to be aimed at in their profession I suppose hath been abundantly made out by that which formerly hath been alleadged Secondly that nothing can bee acceptable unto God without this frame of spirit is evident because God is love and hee that loveth not knoweth not God 1 John 4.8 and on the contrary hee that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in him ibid. Vers 16. Moreover he that doth not all his workes in love as he is commanded 1 Cor. 16.14 transgreseth the whole Law by the unlovely frame of his spirit because as love is the fulfilling of the whole Law Rom. 13.8 9 10. So the want of it must needs bee the transgression of the whole Law and hee that is not subject to the Law of God cannot please him saith the Apostle Rom. 8.7 8. And as nothing can bee acceptable unto God which is not done in love so it cannot bee profitable unto men For if God blesse it not how can it prosper towards them and how can hee blesse that which is displeasing to him And then the Apostle tells us that knowledge is apt to puffe men up but it is Charitie which edifieth 1 Cor. 8.1 And what I say of love may bee verified of unitie as it is the fruit of love inseparable from it in Christs aime John 17.23 and equally recommended to us by the Apostle 1 Cor. 1.10 and 2 Cor. 13.11 Ephes 4.1 Ephes 4.1 till 7. Phil. 2.2 whence wee see that all things which are to bee done by any must thus bee qualified to find acceptance but if wee looke more distinctly upon the proper workes of their employment towards the Church and for the Gospel wee shall perceive more cleerly the intrinsecall coherence which is found between these duties and the Ministeriall administrations For the workes of their administration towards the Church are all the Ordinances of God belonging to the publick worship in the word and prayer whereunto the Sacraments Acts 6.4 the Government and the Discipline are subordinate that therein by the Word and Prayer the Saints may have communion with God through the Spirit The whole substance and summe of all that they have to doe is expressed by the Apostle Ephes 4. from Vers 11. till 17. where I observe that all the gifts and Offices which Christ hath given to his Church Ephes 4. Vers 11. both the extraordinary of Apostles Prophets and Evangelists and the ordinary of Pastors and teachers their worke is the same towards the Church unto the worlds end namely this 1. To bee serviceable in perfecting the Saints and in building up the body of Christ Vers 12. in Faith and knowledge till they all come to the unitie thereof unto a perfect man unto the measure of the stature of the fulnesse of Christ Vers 13. Where wee see that the end of their worke is nothing else but the perfection of unitie and consequently if any should not aime at this it is evident that they come short of the true end of their administration of the ordinances and shoot not at the marke which God hath set before them Secondly their service is to preserve by this meanes the