a singular and eminent Blessing of God thereunto God made man at the first after his own Image so that as the Lord is wholly one and undivided in himself no dissonancy between any of his Attributes Decrees or Counsels so in man as he came out of Gods hands there was an exact harmony and agreement his Affections consonant unto his Will his Will to his Reason and his Reason to God And being thus perfectly One with himself he could not but be one likewise with others who were perfectly like himself as finding nothing more in them from the which to differ then in himself But when sin came into the world it brake the bond of Union between God and man making us enemies unto him by wicked works and so separating between him and us and hiding hie face from us It brake the bond of Union between a man and himself the Will rebelling against the Mind the Sensitive part against the rational one lust warring against another and all against the Soul It brake the bond of Union between man and man between one wicked man and another upon the ground of different Interests hateful and hating of one another between wicked men and good men upon the ground of contrary seeds the the Lord having put enmity between the Seed of the woman and the Seed of the Serpent Because God hath chosen his Church out of the world therefore the world hateth them When he had his Church only in one single people the Jews who dwelt alone and were not reckoned among the Nations we find not only in the Scriptures but also in prophane Writers how great scorn and contempt was cast upon chem by those of other Nations And when Christian Religion began to obtain in the world the like horrible Reproaches were cast upon Christians as we read of Thyestaea convivia Oedipi incestus in Tertullian Eusebius and others So true is that of Solomon He that is upright in the way is an abomination unto the wicked This Enmity Christ came to heal and to remove by preaching and by giving peace unto men working the hearts of his people to be at unity and peace one with another in which respect Christ saith of his Church My Dove my undefiled is but one Cant 6. 9. Now a thing may be said to be one two manner of ways there is unum per unitatem when a thing is so one as that it doth not any way consist of many as God is one by the absolute simplicity of his Nature without any diversity of part and part power and act matter and form subject and accident being and not being There is likewise unum per unionem when one thing is constituted and made up of many things united and joyned together and thus the Church is One We being many saith the Apostle are one bread and one body And again as the body is one and hath many members and all the members of that one body being many are one body so also is Christ. In this respect it is compared sometimes to an Army made up of many Souldiers ordered into Companies and Regiments under the Command of one General called the Captain of the Host of the Lord and the Captain of our Salvation Sometimes to a City compacted together and accurately proportioned in all the parts and measures thereof Sometimes to the Tabernacle of the Congregation wherein divers Curtains were coupled and joyned together by loops and taches into one Sanctuary Sometimes to the Temple wherein many goodly stones were framed and fitted into a Magnificent Structure in which respect the Church is called the House of God the Houshold of Faith the whole Family of Heaven and Earth a building fitly framed together and growing unto a holy Temple in the Lord Sometimes to a Vine consisting of one root and many branches and to a body wherein many members are conjoyned under one Head and animated by one Soul Thus the Church is One. And albeit we frequently read in the plural of the Churches of the Saints the Churches of Asia of Macedonia of Galatia of Syria and Cilicia yet all these are members of one and the same Catholick Church as many Cities of one Kingdome and many houses of one City For all the persons all the Assemblies and Associations in the world who acknowledge and worship one true God and one Mediator between God and Man the Lord Jesus walking by one and the same rule of Faith and Love in the Gospel do all make up but one Catholick Church And the former Resemblances and Similitudes whereby it is expressed lead us to the consideration of a threefold Unity in the Church 1. An Unity by way of Disposition and Order as in an Army or Building 2. An Unity by way of Composition or integral Completion as between the parts of the body unto the perfection of the whole 3. An Unity by way of Constitution or Essential Concurrence of Soul and Body unto one man or of the Subject and vital principles whereby it is animated There is then in the Church 1. An Unity of Order as the Apostle rejoyced when he beheld the Order of the Church at Colosse And this consisteth 1. In Variety of Offices and in the due and regular Subordination of those one unto another and of the body unto them all as the Apostle telleth us that God hath set in the Church first Apostles secondarily Prophets thirdly Teachers c. And that Christ when he ascended up on high gave some Apostles and some Prophets and some Evangelists and some Pastors and Teachers for the perfecting of the Saints for the work of the Ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ and these the Apostle requireth the rest of the Body to Esteem very highly in love to obey them and submit themselves unto them because they watch for their Souls 2. In Variety of Ordinances in the which Christ is set forth before the eyes of his people Such are Reading the Scripture for as in that Church of the Jews Moses and the Prophets were read in the Synagogues every Sabbath day So the Apostle directeth the Reading of his Epistlâ—s in the Christian Church Preaching of the Word how shall they hear saith the Apostle without a Preacher and how shall they preach except they be sent Prayer as the Temple is called an house of Prayer for all people and Peter and John went up to the Temple at the hour of Prayer Baptism Go and teach all Nations Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost The Supper of the Lord The Cup of Blessing which we bless is it not the Communion of the blood of Christ the bread which we break is it not the Communion of the Body of Christ 3. In variety of Gifts which the
hand in hand against the Church they consult together with one consent and are confederate against it they will lay down their own private enmities to combine against Christ as Pilate and Herod did Fas est ab hoste doceri if enemies unite to destroy the Church should not we unite to preserve it especially considering what a grave Historian noteth That in the cause of Religion every Subdivision is a strong Weapon in the hand of the contrary party Our intestine Mutinies and Distempers do the Enemies work for him He may stand still and please himself to see us bite and devour one another Again Consider the Turpitude Deformity and Danger of Schisms and Divisions which are the same in a Political or Ecclesiastical body as in the natural wherein whatsoever mangleth and separateth part from part doth greatly weaken and deform the whole They gratifie the common enemy Hoc Ithacus velit They grieve the holy Spirit as wounds in the body natural put the soul to pain They dishonour the holy Gospel which is a Gospel of Peace They loosen and weaken the Interest of Religion for when we bite and devour one another we are in danger to be consumed one of another They minister occasion to prophane Spirits to turn Atheists and cast off all Religion as a thing of uncertainty wherein the Professors thereof themselves know not how to agree They have their foundation in carnal and sensual Interests as Pride Revenge Discontent Coveteousness and other inordinate Lusts and therefore are reckoned by the Apostle amongst the Fruits of the flesh If we examine the Rise and Original of many of the antient Heresies whereby the Peace of the Church hath been torn and mangled we shall find that some carnal End or other as Ambition Animosity Discontent or other the like sins have been the Basis on which they were reared It was the speech of a graceless son to his mother Transferam me in partem Donati bibam sanguinem tuum as St. Austin saith Mater omnium Haereticorum superbia It is a very true speech of Baronius ex Officina Sardanapali prodire consueverunt Haeresium sectatores 2. A Necessaâ—â—â— from the the necessity of this excellent Duty and this is a twofold necessity Necessitas praecepti because it is commanded Have peace one with another Mark 9. 50. Necessitas Medii because Peace and Unity amongst brethren in the Church is an excellent means to glorifie God when with one mind and mouth we call upon him and serve him with one consent and to further the Gospel and gain it honour and credit even in the hearts of strangers the Heathen themselves took notice of the love of Christians as Minutius Felix telleth us Vide say they ut se diligunt Christiani 3. A possibili our endavours in this kind are not after things which are unattainable for Christ hath by the blood of his Cross procured the Churches peace and by his powerful Intercession prayeth for it since therefore Christ dyed not in vain but did see of the travel of his soul and was heard in every prayer which he made It is certain that the Lord will in due time pour out upon his people a spirit of Unity and close up the breaches of his Tabernacle as it is our Duty to seek Peace so is it his promise to work it he is not the author of Confusion but of Peace as in all the Churches of the Saints 4. A Facili It is not only possible but easie for Believers to be at peace one with another those things which are natural are ever wrought without difficulty it is not hard for the Sun to shine or the fire to burn nothing more easie then for the members in one body to agree with one another And Believers are members of the same body and have one common spirit to actuate and animate them and therefore should suffer and rejoyce together and be kindly affectioned one towards another with brotherly love as the Apostle argueth Rom. 12. 4 10. 1 Cor. 1â— 12 13. 25. 26. 5. Ab Vtili from the great good advantage which hereby cometh unto the Church it is as the dew of Hermon which bringeth a blessing with it it strengthneth against all adverse power and maketh the Church terrible as an Army with Banners it openeth the passages for Communion of Saints that they may derive good from one another by the supply that every joint maketh as divers members in the body have divers uses the eye to see the ear to hear the tongue to speak the hand to work and these Uses mutually serviceable to the good of each other and Vnion a necessary bond of this Service so in the Church or body of Christ every member hath his measure of gifts and graces by which he may be profitable to the whole one the Spirit of Wisdom another of Knowledge one able to counsel another to comfort one to exhort another to rebuke what is wanting in one is supplied by another and this supply is made by those joints whereby these divers members are united together Love is the Vehiculum of all that help and service which one Christian man deriveth upon another hereby we serve one another and edifie one another we bear with the infirmities sustain the burdens and rejoyce in the comforts mourn in the sorrows distribute to the necessities pray for the souls of one another By this means the graces of the Church are more bright and resplendent as the flame which ariseth out of united fewel is much greater then that which each stick alone by it self doth render and hence it is that the servants of God do love the habitation of his house and the place where his honor dwelleth assembling themselves there together with one accord because he hath promised that in every place where he recordeth his name he will come unto them and bless them and by this means there were added to the Church daily such as should be saved 6. A Jucundo honesto It is not only good but pleasant for brethren to dwell together in Vnity not only as the dew of Hermon for profit but as the ointment on the head of Aaron for comfort and Delight In the united Assemblies of the Saints we behold the beauty of the Lord when the members are disjoynted the body is deformed Shave away the eye-brows only from the face Quantillum decedit de corpore quantum de pulchritudine saith St. Austin you much lessen the beauty by so little lessening the body Now a Schism in the Church is the same deformity as a mutilation in the body 7. Ab Exemplo from the great Examples which we have of Peace in the word God known by the name of a God of Peace with whom his people having Acquaintance and Communion are at peace Christ by the name of a
Lord doth severally divide as it pleaseth him for the profit and good of the whole body In the Administration of which Ordinances Offices and Gifts such Decency and Order is to be observed as that it may appear that in all the Churches of the Saints God is a God of Peace and not of Confusion ordaining in all of them that as God hath distributed to every man called every man so he should abide with God within the Precincts of his own Calling not running before he be sent but serving the Lord in that rank station wherein he hath set him 2. An Integral Vnity as between all the parts of an intire body joyned in due order together unto the compleating of the whole and this Unity presupposeth a double Vnion the one of the body to the head the other of the members to one another of both which the Apostle speaketh Ephes. 4. 15 16. 1. There is a bond of Vnion between Christ and his body the Church He that is joyned unto the Lord is one Spirit and this Bond is on Christs part his Spirit whereby he joyneth himself unto his Body we are an habitation of God through the Spirit and on a Believers part his Fatth whereby he joyneth himself to Christ and appointeth him for his Head by which means Christ dwelleth in the hearts of his people Both which the Apostle putteth together calling it the Spirit of Faith 2 There is a Bond of Vnion between the members of the body amongst themselves viz. The mutual Love of Believers unto one another called the Band of perfectness whereby they are knit together for this Grace is that Cement which joyneth the Stones of this spiritual building into one Temple being shed abroad into their hearts by the holy Spirit and is therefore called the Love of the Spirit Rom. 15. 30. as elsewhere the Vnity the Supply and the Fellowship of the Spirit For where this Unity of Spirit and Love is every member doth make a Supply according to the measure which it self hath for the increasing and edifying of the body walking together in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost 3. An Essential Vnity or as St. Hilary calls it Naturalis Vnitas as the body and the soul being joyned together maketh one man and thus Christ is said to make in himself of twain one new man by the participation of that one Spirit which was without measure poured out upon Christ the Head and from his Fulness shed abroad in such proportion upon his Members as he is variously pleased to dispence unto them by which means Christ is formed in us liveth in us and is a quickning Spirit unto us for the Spirit of Christ is that divine seed whereby we are regenerated unto his life and likeness and as St. Peter expresseth it are partakers of the Divine Nature 4. Consequent upon this Essential Vnity whereby all the mystical members of Christ are animated and enlivened by one and the same quickning Spirit doth follow a Moral unity of hearts and minds between all of them as it is said of the Primitive Christians that the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul. And this Moral unity is four-fold 1. An Vnity of Faith in the great and necessary Doctrines of Salvation or in the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ called by the Apostle the Foundation the Principles of the Doctrine of Christ the form of sound words the proportion or Analogy of Faith the knowledge of Jesus Christ and him Crucified the doctrine and truth which is after godliness the Faith of the Gospel the Faith of Jesus the Mystery of Godliness the Rule by which we should walk called by the Ancients the Seed of Doctrine the Character of the Church the Rule which is common to small and great in one word whatever Doctrine there is the knowledge whereof and assent where-unto is simply necessary unto Salvation in this all who shall be saved do first or last most unanimously agree Differences there may be and usually are in less necessary points which are matters quaestionum non fidei as S. Austin speaks for we know but in part and are not yet come to be perfect men and till the members have attained unto their full stature there cannot be expected an universal consent and harmony of judgements in all points even among the best and most learned men in which case notwithstanding we should receive one another in love and Brotherly Communion because God himself receiveth even those who thus differ into his favour but the Spirit of God doth never fail to lead all that shall be saved into all necessary truths and to preserve them from any damnable and pernicious doctrines 2. Vnity in obedience wherein all holy men do agree albeit some may much exceed others in their progress and degrees of holiness as we may see by comparing the Testimony given unto Asa and unto Josiah such are Repentance from dead works without which we cannot be saved Reliance upon Christ alone by a sincere and unfeigned faith for Life and Salvation A true love of the Lord Jesus and of all that are his A sincere regard unto all Gods Commandments and an hatred of every false way A desire to fear Gods Name and a purpose of heart to cleave unto him and follow him fully Lastly Self-denial submitting our Will and Reason in all things to the Word and Will of God There may be great differences in the spiritual growth and degrees of holiness between one Christian and another some sick others healthy some strong others weak some little children others young men some bruised reeds and smoaking flax others bold as a Lyon But this is obedientia parvis magnisque communis 3. Unity in Worship For though different Churches may have different observances in the External forms and modes of Divine Service yet in the Substantials of Worship they all agree viz. that God is to be worshipped in spirit and in truth and to be sanctified in all those that draw nigh unto him That we are to call upon God only in the Name of Christ as our alone Advocate and Mediator giving thanks unto God the Father by him That we are not to worship Creatures who cannot know our hearts nor answer our prayers nor supply our wants in whom we are not required to believe but are to hold the head to keep our selves from Idols 4. Unity in Ends and Designs for being Brethren in the same Family fellow Citizens with one another and of the houshold of Faith having one Hope one Lord one Faith one Baptisme one God and Father of all the same Enemies to oppose the same interests and common Salvation to