as the waters cover the sea See also cap. 65. 25. Isa. 2. 2 3 4 5. And it shall come to pass in the last dayes that the mountain of the Lords house shall be established in the top of the mountains and shall be exalted above the hils and all nations shall flow unto it And many people shall go and say Come ye and let us go up to the Mountain of the Lord to the house of the God of Iacob and he will reach us of his ways and we will walk in his paths For out of Zion shall go forth the Law and the word of the Lord from Ierusalem And he shall judge among the nations and shall rebuke many people And they shall beat their swords into plow-shares and their spears into pruning-hooks Nation shall not lift up sword against nation neither shall they learn waâ—s any more O house of Iacob come ye and let us walk in the light of the Lord. Mal. 2. 5 6 7 8 9 10. My covenant was with Levi of life and peace and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared me The law of truth was in his mouth and iniquity was not found in his lips He walked with me in Peace and Equity and did turn many from iniquity For the Priests lips should keep knowledge and they should seek the Law at his mouth for he is the Messenger of the Lord of hosts But ye are departed out of the way ye have caused many to stumble at the Law ye have corrupted the Covenant of Levi Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people according as ye have not kept my wayes but have been partial in the Law Zech. 9 9. Behold thy King cometh unto thee he is just and having salvation lowly and riding on an ass He shall speak peace to the heathen and his dominion shall be from sea to sea Math. 11. 29. Learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest unto your souls Luke 4. 18. He hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted 43 I must preach the Kingdome of God to other Cities also for therefore am I sent Mark 3. 20 21. The multitude cometh together again so that they could not so much as eat bread And when his friends heard of it they went out to lay hold on him for they said He iâ— beside himself Ioh. 4. 32 34. I have meat to eat that ye know not of My meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work Ioh. 9. 4. I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day the night cometh when no man can work Luk. 22. 24. And there was a strife among them which of them should be accounted the greatest Math. 20. 25 26 27. But Jesus called them to him and said ye know that the Princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them and they that are great exercise authority upon them But it shall not be so among you but whosoever will be great among you let him be your Minister and whosoever will be chief among you let him be your servant Even as the son of man came not to be ministred to but to minister and to give his life a ransome for many Ioh. 18. 36. My Kingdome is not of this world â—lse would my servants fight Luk. 12. 14. Who made me a judge or a divider over you 1 Pet. 5. 2 3 4. Feed the flock of God which is among you taking the over-fight thereof not by constraint but willingly not for filthy lucre but of a ready mind Neither as being Lords over or Over-ruling Gods heritage but bein ensamples to the flock And when the chief shepheard shall appear ye shall receive a crown of Glory 2 Cor. 1. 24. Not for that we have dominion over your faith but are helpers of your joy Math. 23. 8. Be not ye called Rabbi for one is your Master Christ and all ye are brethren 1 Cor. 4. 1 2. Let a man so account of us as of the Ministers of Christ and Stewards of the mysteries of God 2 Cor. 10. 8. 13. 8 10. For we can do nothing against the truth but for the truth according to the power which the Lord hath given me to edification and not to destruction Act. 20. 18 19. Ye know after what manner I have been with you at all seasons serving the Lord with all humility of mind and with many tears 20 And have taught you publickly and from house to house In every City bonds and afflictions abide me but none of these things move me neither count I my life dear unto my self that I might finish my course with joy and the ministery which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testifie to you the grace of God 29 30 31. Grievous wolves shall enter And of your own selves men shall arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them Therefore watch and remember that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears 33 34. I have coveted no mans silver or gold or apparel yea your selves selves know that these hands have ministred to my necessities and to them that were with me I have shewed you all things how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak 2 Cor. 12. 5. Of my self I will not glory but in my infirmities So 9 10. I take pleasure in infirmities in reproaches in necessities in persecutions in distresses for Christs sake for when I am weak then am I strong 2 Tim. 2. 23 24 25. But foolish and unlearned questions avoid knowing that they do gender strifes And the servant of the Lord must not strive but be gentle to all men apt to teach patient in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth 1 Tim. 3. 2 3. A Bishop must be blameless apt to teach no striker nor greedy of filthy lucre but patient Tit. 1. 7 8 9 10. A Bishop must be blameless as the Steward of God not self-willed or self-pleasing or stiffe in his own conceit not soon angry not given to wine no striker not given to filthy lucre but a lover of hospitality a lovâ—r of good men sober just holy temperate holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught that he may be able by sound Doctrine both to exhort to convince the gain-sayers for there are many unâ—uly and vain talkers and deceivers whose mouths must be stopped 2 Cor. 10. 3 4 5. For though we walk in the flesh we do not war after the flesh For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth it self against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience
quench it and hath these fifteen hundred years but especially these thirteen hundred been the wolvish Scatterer of the flocks of Christ And must that be now the way to build it which hath so long been the way to pull it down It is Love that must be our Union and Love that must cause it or we shall never have the Union of a Christian Church By this shall all men know that you are Christs Disciples if you have Love one to another If you believe not this pretend not to believe in Jesus Christ who doth affirm it I confess I am so far guilty of superstition my self that if I had been one of the Changers of our ancient Government I should have been somewhat the more backward for his Name sake to the beheading of Christopher Love lest it should be an ill Omen both to Church and State but especially to the Actors of it 8. Another of the Motives of this Discourse is because I know that times of most temptation are times of greatest danger and commonly of greatest sin And all faithful Pastors must know what are the special Temptations of the Time and Place which they live in When had we ever greater Temptations to Love-killing principles and practices than now except in the times of the miserable Wars I need not name them to you The harder it is for men to Love them that hate them that censure them unjustly that revile them and reproach them and make them odious or that hurt them the more cause have Ministers and all Christians to set a double watch upon their Love Lest before they are aware a flaming and consuming zeal do tell others that they know not what manner of Spirit they are of Luk. 9. 55. 9. Yea it is not only a time of great Temptation to this sin but of common guilt They are multitudes that are overtaken already with this sin Is not the Land in a continual heart war Are there not parties against parties and cause against cause and heart-risings and passions and censurings of Dissenters to say no worse And is it not time to bring water when we see the flames 10. And I perceive few know so heinous a sin to be any sin at all But all factions and parties are still justifying their Love-killing wayes and reproaching those whom they have wronged As if when they have sinfully withdrawn their Love from them it were no crime to take away next their good names and all that they have but power to take away And when they have cast their brethren out of their estimation and affection they think it a piece of commendable zeal or justice to cast them ouâ— of Christian communion and if they could out of the Land and of the world And shall Ministers stand by and see men take such sin for duty and serve God by abusing his Servants and look for a reward for dividing and pulling down his Church and never tell them what they are doing 11. And the old Non-conformists who wrote so much against separation were neither blind nor temporizers They saw the danger on that side Even Brightman on Rev. that writeth against the Prelacy and Ceremonies severely reprehendeth the separatists Read but the writings of Mr. Iohn Paget Mr. Iohn Ball Mr. Hildersham Mr. Bradshaw Mr. Baine Mr. Rathband and many such others against the separatists of those times and you may learn that our Light is not greater but less than theirs and that we see not further into that cause than they did and that change of times doth not change the truth nor will warrant us to change our Religion unless we will make our Religion subject to the wills and interests of men and change it as oft as the times shall change 12. Lastly if your friends tell you not of your faults and errours in Love those whom you account your enemies will do it in wrath And though all sober Christians should learn by the keenest rebukes of their Adversaries yet passion and prejudice maketh it so difficult that it usually hardeneth men more in their sin And this is another thing which causeth me the more to abhor division and to long for the reconciling of the minds of all dissenting Christians Because while they take each other for adversaries nothing that is written or said by any is like to do the Adversaries any good Nay I must confess when I see an adversary tell men of their sin especially with furious spleen and wrath mixing together words and swords I am greatly afraid lest by that temptation Satan will draw the reproved to impenitency and greatly harden them in their sin and make them glory in that as a virtue which such a person doth so reprove But if you will neither hear of your sin nor duty by adversaries nor friends by fair speeches nor by foul you fasten the guilt upon your selves Remember I pray you that I am not kindling fires nor drawing Swords against you nor stirring up any to do you hurt but only perswading all dissenters to love one another and to forbear but all that is contrary to love And if such an exhortation and advice seem injurious or intollerable to you the Lord have mercy on your Souls III. And now without a spirit of Prophecy I will foretel what entertainment this Paper must expect 1. Some on the one side will say It is sharper and rounder dealing than all this that must cure the Schismes in the Church And if you would heal our Divisions why do you not conform you self but stand out as one of the party that divideth 2. Some on the other side will say that it is an unseasonable time when so much anger is breaking forth against those that we account Dividers to mention their faults and so to stir up more I will give these men no other answer than to bid them read the last part of this Book or else do not talk till they know of what 3. And some will say that I am doing that which will prove a hurt to my self and others For if I should draw the People to Communion with the Conformists there would little compassion be shewed to the Ministers that cannot conform But selfish wisdome must be shut out of the Council when we are consulting about the healing of the Churches and the good of Souls And indeed there is little danger of this consequence as long as the people are far more averse to Communion or Concord with the Parish-Churches than the Non-conforming Ministers are But suppose it prove true should we not do good to Souls and save men from sin and heal divisions at the dearest rate What though it cost us more than is here mentioned The reviving of decayed Love and the closure of any of the Churches wounds is a recompence worth our liberties and lives 4. And those that are most guilty of the Love-killing principles here detected and are most eminent in self-conceited ignorance will do by me and by
child of God And if you knew how every word of oblequy especially by back-biting against your brethren doth tend to infect the hearers with the same vices and kill their Love and lead them into divisions you would take heed for the sake of others Unless you are of those who are foolisher than the devil and would build Christs house and Kingdome by dividing it Math. 12. One raileth at Luther and another at Calvin and another at Arminius and another at this man and another at that for matters which are above their reach and the people are taught to rail at all and to make it also their talk behind mens backs â—o prate against this man and that man and the other and in time to shew it by breaking into sects In a word such carnal courses of their Teachers do make or harden carnal professors to be one for Paul and another for Apollo and another for Cephas but few sincerely and prudently for Christ so that instead of Holiness Love and Concord we have in almost all company little but ignorant censorious wrangling at the opinions of those that they never were acquainted with or at the controverted practises or circumstances of worship which are not suitable to their prejudice and custom and of which they never desired to be the impartial hearers of a just account If ever God will shew mercy to his Church he will give them Pastors after his heart who shall abound in Light and Love and lead the people into Concord upon the ancient terms and make it their work to bring this Love-killing spirit inâ—o hatred whether it work by the way of stâ—iving-disputes or dividing principles or practises or by reproaching others by corporal cruelty or by a Religious censorious cruelty which doth not strike men but unchurch and damn them and separate from them as men unfit for christian communion And whilest the Pastors take another course we must patiently wait and pity the Church and fore-see our further misery in this prognostick though the guilty being puffed up with the conceits of their preciousness to God do promise themselves the desires of their hearts Are not the sons of Levi yet refined when they have been in so many furnaces and so long When wisedom holiness and humility are their nature and selfish pride and worldliness are cured this wrinkled malignant ENVY will then cease and an honest emulation to excel one another in wisdome and Love and all good works will then take place And then we shall not like drunken men one day fight and wound each other and the next day cry out of our wounds and yet go on in our drunken fits to make them wider DIRECT XXII Lastly Let all the Ministers of Christ so deeply study their wonderfull pattern of Love and tenderness meekness and patience and all those passages of Holy Scripture which still commend those vertues to his servants till their souls are cast into this sacred mould and habituated to this Image and imitation of their Lord And then Vertue will go from them and they will be healing among all where-ever they shall come As fire goeth out from the flinty contenders by their collisions which maketh them still incendiaries and consumers of the Churches Peace I Will therefore end these Directions with the bare repetition of some more of those sacred words besides those forecited which may be fit to breed such a gracious habit in those that will faithfully study and receive them Isa. 9. 6 7. The government shall be laid upon his shoulder and his name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor the mighty God the everlasting father the Prince of Peace Of the increase of his Government and Peace there shall be no end Isa. 40. 11. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd he shall gather the lambs with his arm and carry them in his bosome and shall gently lead those that are with young Isa. 42. 1 2 3. 4. Behold my servant whom I uphold mine elect in whom my soul delighteth I have put my spirit upon him he shall bring forth judgement to the Gentiles He shall not cry nor lift up nor cause his voice to be heard in the street A bruised reed shall he not break and the smoking slax shall he not quech he shall bring forth judgement unto truth He shall not fail nor be discouraged till he have set judgement in the earth and the isles shall wait for his law Isa. 44. 3 4 5. I will pour water upon him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground I will pour my spirit on thy seed and my blessing on thy off-spring And they shall spring up as among the grass as willows by the water-courses One shall say I am the Lords and another shall call himself by the name of Iacob and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord and surname himself by the name of Israel Psal. 110. 2 3. Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power in the beauties of holiness Ezek. 34. 2 3 4 5. Wo to the shepherds of Isâ—ael that feed themselves should not the shepherds feed the flocks Ye eate the fat and cloath you with the wool ye kill them that are fed but ye feed not the flock The diseased have ye not strengthened neither have ye healed that which was sick neither have ye bound up that which was broken neither have ye brought again that which was driven away neither have ye sought that which was lost But with Force and with Cruelty have ye ruled them and they were scattered because there is no shepherd Read the rest of that Chapter Isa. 11. And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Iesse and a branch shall grow out of his roots And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him the spirit of wisedome and understanding the spirit of counsel and might the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord and shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes nor reprove after the hearing of his ears but with righteousness shall he judge the poor and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked The wolf shall dwell with the lamb and the leopard shall lie down with the kid and the calf and the young lion and the faâ—ling together and a little child shall lead them And the cow and the bear shall feed their young ones shall lie down together and the lion shall eat straw like the oxe and the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice dâ—n They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord