shall not hurt nor destroy in all his Holy Mountain Isai 11.7 8 9. He hath said Verse 13. That the Envy of Ephraim shall depart and the Adversaries of Judah shall be cut off that Ephraim shall not envy Judah nor Judah vex Ephraim He hath said That Judah and Ephraim though two Sticks shall be joyn'd one to another into one Stick and they shall become one in his hand Ezek. 37.16 17. And he hath farther promis'd That he will turn to his People a pure Language and they shall serve him with one consent or shoulder Zeph. 3.9 That he will give them one Heart and one Way These and divers other Promises God hath made of this sort which he likes his People should plead and put him in remembrance of I wish I could say that this Generation shall not pass away till these things come to pass But considering the improbability of such a Blessing for the present I fear I may take up Balaam's words and say Who shall live when God will do this In mean time what reason have we to besiege Heaven and apply to God by Fasting and Prayer to do this together and to do this apart that God would cause these Janglings and Contentions that are among his People to cease If some Plague or Drought came upon us we should reckon it high time to Fast and Pray Yet these as one observes are in themselves but Miseries when our Contentions are so our Miseries that they are also our Sins It may be these Devils of Strife and Division will be driven out no other way but by Fasting and Prayer Let me conclude all with a double Exhortation The first is to those that are Ministers They are the Ambassadors of Peace they are sent by him who is the Prince of Peace therefore they should use their utmost Endeavours to prevent and remove all Strife and Divisions Yet how it comes to pass I know not they are many times the greatest promoters thereof One hath observ'd That there are few Rents and Contentions in Churches in which Ministers have not the chief hand Jerome hath a remarkable Note upon Hosea 9.8 He saith Veteres scrutans Historias nullos invenire possum scidisse ecclesiam praeter eos qui Sacerdotes a Deo positi fuerunt searching the ancient Histories I can find none that have rent the Church like those that sustain the Office of Ministers This is a sad Charge and it is too justly laid upon many of that Order Luther pray'd that the Church might be deliver'd from sundry Evils and among the rest a pastore contentioso from contentious Preachers or Pastors It touch'd me to the quick the other day to hear one tell me That we who are Ministers are the cause of all the Contentions that are in City and Country at this day I thought with my self there was too much of truth in what he said If we would unite and agree our Hearers would unite and agree likewise generally it is like Pastors like People They are tuba instata a sounding Trumpet they sound according to the Breath we breath into them either a Retreat or an Onset a Parly or an Alarum Oh how inexcusable are we that teach others should be peaceable and be our selves turbulent We are like Physicians that prescribe such Rules to their Patients as they never observe themselves It will never be well with us till we give our Hearers a large and fair Copy of Peace and Unity in our own Practices 2. I would exhort private Christians to this Duty to follow after Peace and the things that make for it If it be possible as much as in you lieth have peace with all Men and especially one with another Let me exhort you as the Apostle Paul doth these Corinthians Hear what he says to them in his first Epistle Chap. 1.10 I beseech you Brethren by the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ that ye all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions among you but that ye be perfectly joyn'd together in the same mind and in the same judgment Hear what he says to them in his second Epistle Chap. 13.11 Finally Brethren farewel Be of one mind live in peace and the God of love and peace shall be with you Oh that this Exhortation could reach all the Christians in England and in London Oh that every Pulpit in this Kingdom and City did ring with this Message Peace and Union is that which all seem to desire Pacem te poscimus omnes Ask every Man in this Congregation or in this City Have you any hand in the Strife and Divisions that are among us and he will answer No not I. Again ask any one Don't you desire Peace and Love and Union among your Brethren and Neighbours and he will answer Yes I do But though all seem to desire it how few be they that do really endeavour it or that will be at any cost or pains to accomplish it all exclaim against Strife and Division but though every one cries out of the Thief who will be at the trouble to stop him Give me leave now in the close of all to commend to you some moving Considerations 1. Consider what God is He is as was said before the God of Love and Peace he 's call'd 1 Thess 5.23 the very God of Peace And in 2 Thess 3.16 the Lord of Peace himself The Son of God our Lord Jesus Christ he is the Prince of Peace He is King of Salem which is by interpretation King of Peace His entering into this World was solemniz'd with a Song of Peace whil'st he staid in this World he preach'd and made Peace When he departed out of this World he bequeath'd unto his Followers the precious Legacy of Peace The holy Spirit of God is the great worker of Peace Peace is one of the Fruits of the Spirit There is a cluster of these Fruits in Gal. 5.22 there 's Love Joy Peace Long-suffering Gentleness Goodness What sweet Fruits are here Many Christians live as if they had never tasted any of them Well but what an Argument is here to provoke us to peaceableness This is to make us like unto God to resemble Father Son and Spirit Oh how contrary do they walk to God who walk in Strife and Contention 2. Consider what you are and profess to be You are the Children the Sons and Daughters of Peace You are call'd to Peace 1 Cor. 7.15 You have Peace with God and therefore you should have Peace one with another you are going to one Home and therefore you should not fall out by the Way Why should there be Strife betwixt Abraham and Lot seeing they were Brethren Oh consider Christians you are Children of the same Father Members of the same Body Professors of the same Faith Partakers of the same Spirit Retainers to the same Lord you have the same Baptism and hope of your Calling and if you fall out who shall agree You should be looped together as
amongst Christians are expresly forbidden in the Holy Scriptures Read what the Apostle says to the Corinthians 1 Cor. 1.10 I beseech or I exhort you Brethren by the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ that there be no Divisions among you There are many Precepts and Commands in Scripture for Peace Love and Union and in all these there are Prohibitions of Strife and Divisions The Apostle Paul requires the believing Romans and Thessalonians to be of one mind and to live in peace he exhorts the Colossians that the peace of God may rule in their hearts to the which they are call'd in one body Our Saviour himself hath told his Disciples Mark 9. ult that he would have them to have salt in themselves and to be at peace one with another that is he would have them savoury and peaceable Christians What a solemn Charge doth he give them as to this particular John 13.34 A New Commandment says he do I give to you that ye love one another 'T is as if he had said I will have this Command though it be as old as any other to be accounted new to be call'd my Command and to go under my Name that when ever any Strife should begin to kindle among you the remembrance of this particular Charge or Command of mine may be the more apt to quench it And 't is worth your marking that he doth not only give them this Commandment but to make it the more effectual he annexeth a powerful Argument to it and that is his loving them I charge you that as I have loved you so also that you love one another Oh what will not the love of Christ constrain Christians to do It will prevail with them as there is occasion to lay down their Lives Surely then it will prevail with them to lay down their Contentions and Divisions One thing more I would observe That our Saviour in this last Sermon of his to his Disciples doth again and again mind them of this very thing you have much the same words John 15.12 This is my Commandment that ye love one another as I have loved you And again Verse 17. These things I command you that ye love one another This is no tautology in our Saviour it did not arise from want of Matter but from the weightiness of the Subject he laid a great stress upon this Commandment therefore he so often repeats it Now this shews the greatness of this Sin of Contention and Division that is is so directly contrary to such express and renewed Precepts 3. Contentions and Divisions are contrary to the Prayer of Christ yea to that Prayer which he made so publickly and solemnly in the hearing of his Disciples What he insisted on so much in Preaching he enlargeth on in Prayer likewise Peace was the Legacy he left his Disciples and Peace was the Blessing he desires the Father to bestow upon them He says John 17.11 Holy Father keep through thine own Name those whom thou hast given me Keep them Why and for what See what follows That they may be one as we are As if he had said Father there is a perfect agreement betwixt us we never had any difference let there therefore be the like concord and agreement betwixt my Followers as there is betwixt me and thee let them be one as we are And as he pray'd thus for his more immediate Disciples so he requested the same for and in behalf of them who in after-times should believe in him through their Word So you 'l find a little lower in the 21st and the 23d Verse of that 17th of John It is as if he had said I know that my Followers in future times will meet with great Temptations to divide them one from another therefore I pray thee Father that they may be strongly united together that there may be as firm an Union as is possible betwixt them This is enough if I should say no more to shew the evil that is in Divisions that Christ did put up so many Petitions to prevent them He doth not pray so much that his Followers may be preserv'd from the cruel Persecutions of their Enemies as that they may be kept from uncharitable Contentions amongst themselves Surely that Blessing is worth their utmost Care as Christ counted worthy of his redoubled Prayer Oh let this serve to aggravate this Sin of Contention that it is directly contrary not only to the Command but to the Solemn Prayer of our Lord. I might shew you how Strife and Division is against your own Prayers You often pray and pray hard for the Peace and Union of Christians but this is a powerful Consideration indeed that it is against the Desire and Prayer of Jesus Christ himself 4. Contentions and Divisions do greatly dishonour Christ his Name and Doctrine is hereby blasphem'd it makes our Hearts to bleed within us to hear Christ reproach'd by the black Mouths of his Enemies and nothing more opens them than the Divisions of his Friends and Followers 'T is worth your observation that when Christ pray'd for the Union of his Followers he back'd it with this Argument that the World might believe and know that he was sent of the Father So he says John 17.21 Let them be one that the World may believe that thou hast sent me And again Verse 23. Let them be perfect in one that the World may know that thou hast sent me As if he had said the Divisions and Contentions of my Disciples will tempt the Men of the World to think that I did not come out from thee that I who am their Lord and Master am but an Impostor that my Gospel is but a Fable and the Religion they have received from me is but a Romance If those that believe in me are contentious then standers by will be Atheists If there be no Love in the Church there will be no Faith in the World This one thing is sufficient to proclaim the great evil of Strife and Divisions that they are so dishonourable to Christ and to his Name Who doth not tremble to have his hand in that which brings an apparent Reproach upon Christ and the Christian Religion 'T is storied of Alexander Severus That seeing two Christians at variance one with the other he forbad them any longer to assume the Name of Christians because that by their strife and contention they dishonour'd their Lord and Master Oh how many in the midst of us and round about us might be interdicted the Christian Name for the same reason 5. Which follows upon the former Contentions and Divisions do stumble and harden the ungodly they keep some from entering into the good Ways of God and they make others that began to enter into them to turn back Two things in God's People become great Stumbling-blocks to the wicked one is their Scandalous Sins and Miscarriages the other is their Foolish Strife and Divisions These make wicked and ungodly Men shy of Religion and of
and reconciles them both The Contentions that were amongst the Nestorians and Eutychians were only verbal so that we may wonder and ask with the Apostle If there was not a wise Man among them And what shall I say of the Strife and Division that is among the more religious People of this Island at this day It is unaccountable A thinking Christian is ready to wonder and say Are there no wise Men and indu'd with knowledge that can with meekness of wisdom compose these Differences that are among us Are they all such Fools as Solomon describes He says Prov. 18.6 A Fool 's lips enter into contention I can't say that all the Debates in England and London about Matters of Religion are meerly verbal but I dare affirm this of many if not the most of them nay the greater part by far of our litigant and contentious Christians can give no account of those Points about which they contend nor do they know the Hinges upon which the things in controversie turn Here let me insert a Story of modern date Two Persons lately met together at a Friend's House where they had a great deal of warm Discourse about those that go under the denomination of Presbyterians and Independents One standing by interpos'd and desir'd them to inform him What was the real difference betwixt those two Sorts or Parties For a while there was deep silence till anon he urg'd them to answer him telling them It was a most unseemly thing for persons to contend about what they did not know or understand At length one of them answer'd The Independents were stricter in their admission of Members into their particular Congregations than the others were Hereupon the other reply'd That to his knowledge that was false forasmuch as some that had been rejected for scandalous Conversations by Presbyterians had been receiv'd into Independent Congregations This threw Oyl into the the Fire and increas'd their warmth till by and by this third person began sharply to reprove them both telling them he expected to have heard of some difference in the Principles of these Parties which might have made for his information but all that he could hear did amount to no more than that there was a difference in the Practice of some particular Congregations which would be in the most reformed Churches to the World's end Therefore he desir'd them to lay aside those unchristian Heats that were betwixt them and not inveigh one against another for they knew not what themselves And his Admonition was not ineffectual for they parted good Friends and in a better Temper 7. Take out three Lessons that are taught us by the Apostle Paul He gives us in his Epistles a Trinity of Precepts that would cause Unity among Christians if they were but observ'd and learn'd The first is in 1 Thess 4.11 Study to be quiet and do your own business c. Many study how they may be troublesom and neglecting their own affairs at home they wander about from House to House though they are idle yet they are pragmatical and busie-bodies too they are tatlers also their tongues never lie still but are speaking things which they ought not they sit and speak against their brethren and slander their own mothers children This was the fault of some Women in the Apostles times but now Men are as faulty herein as Women This Practice doth greatly contribute to the heightning and increasing the Differences that are amongst Christians and there is no better Remedy than for all to follow the Apostle's Advice That every Man study to be quiet and to do his own business The second is in Rom. 14.22 Hast thou faith have it to thy self He doth not speak of Faith here in the Fundamentals of Religion but in indifferent things which are the Subject-matter he is treating of Our belief or perswasion therein is not unseasonably to be utter'd so as to occasion scandal or contention All Doctrins of Faith are not of that necessity that they should be urg'd at all times and upon all persons Though no truth must be deny'd yet many truths may be forborn They that are zealous for truth must remember that direction in Ephes 4.15 To speak the truth in love or as the words signifie they must truth it in love The third is in Phil. 3.15 16. Let us therefore as many as be perfect be thus minded and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded God shall reveal even this to you Nevertheless whereto we have already attain'd let us walk by the same rule let us mind the same thing I won't stay to open this Text it is done to our hands by several that have wrote purposely upon it I will only add that if these three Apostolical Rules were conscientiously and strictly observ'd most of the Breaches among us would be heal'd and future Ruptures in Churches and amongst Christians would be prevented 8. Be humbled for Strife and Division and supplicate Heaven for Peace and Union 1. Be humbled for Strife and Division Many rejoyce but do you mourn by reason hereof Whil'st others bring Fewel to increase do you bring Tears to quench the Fire that is kindled amongst Christians If you have no hand in Divisions yet let your Hearts be broken for them I will allude to that place in the Book of Judges For the Divisions of Reuben let there be great Sorrow of Heart 2. Supplicate Heaven the God of Heaven for Peace and Union Beseech the God of Love and Peace to pour down the Spirit of Love and Peace upon his Church and People To this you are exhorted Psal 122.6 Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem they shall prosper that love thee Say Peace be within thy Walls and Prosperity within thy Palaces For your Brethren and Companions sake say now Peace be within thee Pray for the Churches and Christians in our days as the Apostle Paul doth for the Thessalonians 2 Thess 3.16 The Lord of Peace give them Peace always by all means This is a Service that every one may and ought to have a hand in This is a Blessing that God can easily bestow upon his People nothing is hard much less impossible unto him he can make Men to be of one Mind in a House and he can make his Children to be of one Mind in his House He brake down the middle Wall of Partition betwixt Jews and Gentiles and of twain made one He can do the like among dissenting and contending Christians This is that which he hath promis'd He hath said That in the later days his People shall dwell in peaceable Habitations Isai 32.18 That the Wolf shall dwell with the Lamb and the Leopard shall lye down with the Kid The Cow and the Bear shall feed their young ones shall lye down together and the Lion shall eat Straw like the Ox and the sucking Child shall play on the hole of the Asp and the weaned Child shall put his Hand on the Cockatrice-den and that they