that the frame which they have laid will be better than that which they seek to overthrow and that upon Experience and in the current of as many Years it shall not prove as faulty as what falls under their present censure Can they secure us that their Model will take and that all Parties that now joyn against ours will center in theirs or that those that dissent from them shall meet with better quarter or fairer usage when theirs is advanced to the Supremacy than they do under ours If this cannot be assured or so much as made probable we had as good be where we are But suppose there could be a better constitution than what we have and that matters might be better regulated yet we must consider our present circumstances in which without doubt it is better to bear with an inconvenience than a mischief and to be content to be secure with what we have than to venture all for somewhat that we have not For a dissolution cannot be at this time without greater mischiefs than what can be conceived to be in the constitution It being as in a Fort where perhaps the Fortifications may be made more regular and contrived to the greater security of it but though this might be done in a time of peace and leisure yet to pull down the old for this purpose whilst the Enemy is before it would be to throw it into his possession and he that should advise to it and adventure upon it though with a good intention would do as great a mischief as if he conspired with the Enemy We are now in the midst of danger and have an Enemy that is deeply concerned to let no opportunity slip that may be to our damage and if we now pull down our constitution which is the bulwark of our Religion we expose our selves to his mercy and he that should attempt it is in these circumstances to be looked upon as no less dangerous an Enemy than if he were of the Party and equally concerned in the plotting our ruine For my part I had rather continue in a Town that is defensible though not fortified altogether to my mind than neglect the present use of that and betake my self to great consultation to amend it and in the midst of all my curiosity be with Archimedes knockt o' th' head by the Enemy So that the preservation of the present Constitution how irregular soever it may seem to some will less expose us than the dissolution of it But yet how far it is from being really so I have before shewed And now I shall proceed to the 3. Third general to shew what regard is to be had to such a constitution If what I have said be true that the present constitution be the best qualified for making resistence to and defending us against the Church of Rome if it be the common Bulwark of the Protestant Religion amongst us and the great security of it abroad it becomes every one that is a true lover of our Religion to seek and promote the welfare of our constitution I know this will be a great piece of self-denial in those that do dissent from it and that perhaps in so doing they may not increase or derive any particular power to themselves But if it be really the interest of our Religion I hope they will see it to be their duty and make it their endeavour When the Jews were carried captive to Babylon they were required to seek the peace of the City whither they were carried captive and to pray unto the Lord for it For saith the Text in the peace thereof shall ye have peace Jerem. 29. 7. When in a state of captivity and amongst Heathens they were thus obliged to have a respect to the welfare of the place and government And then much more should we when our Religion is the same in its fundamentals and the Civil liberties are what all are alike partakers of We all agree in the vital parts of our Religion we agree that Popery is a common Enemy we agree that it is our Interest to joyn against it And where shall we meet if it be not in some settlement and in what shall we agree if the present Constitution will not so far unite us I am sensible that there are many that will not understand this that are like those Lament 4. 12. that would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem that do the Church of Rome what it can it can never make its way and set up its standard amongst us They think if they can clear themselves of our Church at home that they are sufficiently provided against danger from abroad They are ready to say as Tyrus of Jerusalem Ezek 26. 2. Aha she is broken that was the gates of the People she is turned unto me I shall be replenished now she is laid wast And each Party is apt to promise much to it self upon such a victory and change Such as these do watch to break down the carved work thereof with Axes and Hammers These labour to cast Fire into the Sanctuary and attempt all ways to alienate the affections of the People from the present establishment and to raise slanders upon any that appear in its defence They are these that load the present Ministry with contempt and are continually in their Pamphlets exposing them as well knowing that if they can remove the Shepherds or make the People to believe them to be Wolves they have done their business and the whole Flock is likely to lye at their Mercy These are they that make way for Popery to enter in For is it not the Ministry of the Church of England that appears in the Breach upon all occasions that either flings down or takes up the Gantlet and that hath hitherto so far prevailed that the Romish Party hath at last almost quitted the way of Argument and hath attempted the Conquest of us by Blood and Violence when they could not do it by Learning and Reason If we had nothing but a Worldly interest to move us if that were the Compass we steer by as some do basely insinuate if there were nothing of duty in the Contention we might be as quiet as others and make our terms upon as good advantage with a Church that hath store of preferments to reward us and where the Clergy hath a reverence paid to them beyond what we do meet with or may expect in ours If we would shew quarter to them we are sensible enough that they would shew it to us But when notwithstanding all our Industry and Care all our Pains and Hazard we shall be Papists there can no security be given that any are not such and much less those Gentlemen that take the liberty thus to asperse us But it is not with us the boldness of these Persons hath stopped but they will bring others into the same Condemnation If the mischief had
of it and is necessary towards the propagating and securing of Religion 2. That a constitution which takes in these ends is to be regarded I shall at this time chiefly apply my self to the latter viz. the securing of Religion and I shall do it in this following order 1. By shewing that the preservation of a Church and Religion is mainly depending upon a setled Order and Constitution 2. By considering what that Constitution is particularly with respect to our selves in this Nation and our present circumstances 3. By shewing what regard is to be given to such a Constitution and how far it 's the interest of every true Protestant to comply with it First I shall shew that the preservation of a Church and Religion is mainly depending upon a setled Order and Constitution When I speak of the great security of the Church the respect which it hath therein primarily to God the great Patron of it is to be supposed who can and will protect it against the most formidable powers which may threaten and invade it And when I speak of other security I am to be understood of Prudential and Rational means and what is to be done in that way on our part in order thereunto And of this sort I take a Constitution to be Without this there cannot be a Church i.e. without Laws and Officers for direction without having the work of those Officers set forth and described and without a people that bear such a respect to those Officers and to each other as the Laws agreed upon do require For if every person be at liberty to be what he will and do as he please either to rule or to be ruled to teach or to be taught to act or forbear the Church would be none and from being like a City that is compact together it would be no better than a field of contention and confusion And what particular persons are with respect to a Church such are particular Churches with respect to the whole and therefore as every Christian is to look upon himself as a member of the Church and to bear a due respect to the body of which he is So are particular Churches as parts of a greater body to have a regard to it It 's for the safety and edification of every particular Christian not to stand alone but to be united to a body and it 's for the security and advantage of particular Churches to draw into more general Combinations that so they may upon all Emergencies receive mutual advice and assistance And this is to be done according to the Nations they are of the government they are under the times they are in which kind of combination is usually known by the name of a National Church that is when there is an union of particular Churches under one Common Form This is in it self a thing most decent and what as it doth unite the hearts of a People or Nation more firmly to one another so doth also provide for their security for as all good order doth contribute to safety so the more general that Order is the greater security must redound from it And therefore however some may in speculation please themselves with particular Churches altogether independent upon others yet whenever it comes to practice they are forced to take other measures and to enter into larger Combinations as it happened in New England And from hence it is that the Quakers themselves how much soever they pretend to be against all Forms are fallen into such a kind of Order and have several Laws amongst themselves which become binding to the rest and are more or less as extensive as their party is Which is therefore in Print complained of by several amongst them as Usurpation and Arbitrary Imposition The usefulness of Order to the purposes spoken of is what Nature and Reason do dictate and what in all other Cases no man doth dispute it 's that which brought men into Societies and is the great preserver of them It 's that which is the safety of Nations and Armies Cities and Families and it would be the opinion of all men in the present case were but their own Religion and Constitution to be the measure prescribed No man can deny but if the Nation was all in one way and the people all of one mind in matters of Religion it would be as much for our Peace and mutual Satisfaction our Welfare and Security as it is lovely in it self And then methinks no man should deny but that a Constitution of one sort or another which may reach the general part of the Nation and most sute the Government of it doth in its degree tend the same way and that it 's more for our safety to have that which is a National Constitution than to be without it And this is the more necessary in regard of a Potent Enemy that we have to encounter against whom all the force that we can raise and the care that we can take will be little enough to secure us For the Church of Rome is so strongly compacted and so well provided of whatever may support it at home or enlarge its Conquests abroad that it will vie with any Constitution in the World There is first an Universal Head who challengeth the Supream power over all Churches in the World and whom all in their Communion are bound to acknowledg as such It 's he that hath the power of calling Councils arbitrating Differences passing Decrees granting Dispensations issuing out Indulgences making Expositions and of bringing all things to a certainty and determination in their Church It 's he whom all the Bishops and Priests amongst them do swear particular obedience to and which they hold so Sacred and Inviolable that it shall cancel all Obligations to and defend them against all Impositions of any Secular Prince whatsoever It 's his Commands all the several Orders of Monks and Friers do observe and his pleasure they attend and by their vast numbers spread through the Christian World and the intire dependence which they have upon him he hath both an opportunity of gaining Intelligence and of obtaining ordinarily what he designs with greater facility and success than any Prince by his Ambassadors Agents and Correspondents whatsoever For these are the constant Emissaries of the Church and by whose Generals residing at Rome all Orders that may be for the Common Good are immediately dispersed and so Religiously received that where-ever these persons are sent they immediately go whatever they are commanded they out of hand do which they do with the greater resolution bend themselves to as they have cast off all Relations and have no expectations from them have no posterity to take care of or that have any dependence upon them and so if they miscarry the mischief of it lights wholly upon themselves And these that are chosen out for that purpose being persons of inquisitive and active tempers capable of looking into affairs considering circumstances
Edwards Mayor Martis 14. die Octobris 1679. Annoque Regni Regis CAROLI Secundi Angliae c. xxxi THis COURT doth desire Mr. Williams to Print his Sermon Preached at the Guild-Hall Chappel on Sunday last before the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of this City Wagstaffe A SERMON Preached before the RIGHT HONOURABLE THE Lord Mayor AND ALDERMEN of the City of LONDON AT THE GUILD-HALL Chappel October 12. 1679. BY JOHN WILLIAMS Rector of St. Mildreds Poultrey London LONDON Printed by M. Clark for R. Chiswel and W. Kettilby at the Rose and Crown and at the Bishops Head in St. Pauls Church-Yard 1679. To the Right Honourable Sir JAMES EDWARDS LORD MAYOR of LONDON And to the Court of ALDERMEN Right Honourable WHat the terms are upon which our Church hath stood with the Church of Rome since the Reformation and how well it hath acquitted it self in the matters disputed betwixt us is very well known to the World But notwithstanding the power of Truth and the success that hath aforetime attended the endeavours of such as have amongst us maintained it we have found by experience that we have of late gained little upon them by all our diligence What Political Reasons there are for it besides becomes not me to enquire but that our Divisions amongst our selves have been a principal one and given our Adversaries both the confidence to set upon us afresh and also an opportunity of so doing with greater security is what no one can be ignorant of This is one evident Cause of our present danger and what we can therefore never hope to avoid without uniting upon some common Principle and Foundation It is this that I have endeavoured to point and make out in the ensuing Discourse with what success I must leave others to judg but which I hope may be the better received as it had your Approbation and hath now your Order and desire to have it made more publick In obedience to which I have ventured it abroad that I may thereby publish how much I am Right Honourable Your humble servant John Williams A SERMON ON EPHES. iv 16. From whom the whole body fitly joyned together and compacted by that which every joynt supplieth according to the effectual working in the measure of every part maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of it self in love IN the beginning of this Chapter the Apostle doth exhort the Ephesians to the Christian duty of Charity and that he may come upon them with the greater advantage doth make use of several Arguments to inforce it v. 4 5 6. taken from the state they are in and the profession they are of that there is one Body of which they are members one Spirit by which they are quickned one Hope of Eternal Life by which they are excited one Lord whom they profess to obey one Faith and Form of belief that they imbrace one Baptism by which they are initiated into the Church and one God whom they do depend upon and from whom they do receive all Temporal and Spiritual gifts and blessings And whereas it may be thought that the variety of Gifts and Officers in the Church should minister to contention he adds that however they may be abused and the persons in those circumstances may happen to pervert them yet as they were primarily intended by Christ the dispenser and disposer of all for the order the safety and the Edification of the Church so they do make much for it v. 11 12 13 14. For it is from him that the whole body fitly joyned together and compacted c. maketh increase of the body c. In which words there is a comparison implyed betwixt the Natural body and the Christian Church called the body of Christ v. 12. that as the Natural body doth consist of several parts and those parts have a dependence upon the head and are so fitly compacted and united among themselves that there is a distribution of nourishment to all of them according to their measure and capacity So there is in the Church 1. a Supream power in Christ the Head 2. a due subordination of the several parts to the Head 3. a strict relation betwixt these several parts to the Head and to each other 4. a derivation of all necessary supply from the Head and from each communicated to the other according to their measure proportion and relation All that I shall at present take notice of from hence is 1. The firmness of the union that is to be amongst Christians they are joyned and compacted together not only as they are at large members of the Catholick Church called here the whole Body but also as they are more strictly combined according to the places of their residence in particular Societies and Churches having Officers to guide and minister unto them and Laws by which they regulate themselves in such Combinations This I take to be signified in this verse 1 in the phrase 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 every joynt which I conceive hath respect to the Officers of the Church whether extraordinary as Apostles Prophets and Evangelists or ordinary as Pastors and Teachers v. 11. which the Apostle saith v. 12. were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the perfecting and compacting of the Saints and upon whom the gifts did primarily descend for the edifying of the body of Christ v. 12. These are as Ligaments and Joynts to the body that do move strengthen preserve and secure it 2. It 's further signified in the phrase 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 every part by which I conceive is to be understood with respect to the limbs of a Natural body the particular Churches which Christians according to their convenience of abode and affairs were cast and distributed into And this I the rather think because I find particular Christians called often in Scripture 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 members of Christ 1 Cor. xii 26 27. But this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 part is never so applied to any particular person and when on other occasions it is made use of it constantly hath a respect to number and multitude as Acts xxiii 6. one part were Jews c. And this may further be presumed from what the Apostle saith Chap. ii 19 20. where after he had spoken of the Catholick Church of which all Christians are fellow-Citizens he proceeds to their particular union as a Christian Church in that place v. 22. In whom ye also are built together for an habitation of God through the Spirit 2. Here is the advantage of such an union it maketh increase of the body and is for the preservation of it as ver 14. doth imply that we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine c. which was to be prevented by the compacting the Saints together ver 12. From what hath been hitherto said I observe 1. That a constitution or fixed order in the Church doth make much for the increase and safety