With wham, and in what manner we may [ammmzicate. 3 • If you rather choofe a corrupted uodifciplined Church to .communicate with, wheM you have your choice: of a better ( attriJ partb~ ), 1t IS your fault. . . . But on the contrary, It is not your hn, but your duty to commumcate wtth that Church, whTCb hath a true PJftor, and where the denominating part of the members are cap:~ble o~ Church-com.– munion, though there may fome Infidel!, or HeathtnJ, ~r ~n~apab~e perfons violently muude,orpan.. Jalou 1 perfons are admitted through the negldl of D1fcTplme; m cafe you ha~e not your chmc~ to hold pcrfonal communion with a beuer Church, and in cafe alfo you be not gurltl of the c~rrupuon, bur by feafonable and mndefl prnfdling your dilfent, do clear your felf of the gull! of fuch mtrufion and conuption. For here the Reafons and Ends of a lawful fcparat10n are removed: Becaufe 1t tenderh nOt to Gods honour or their reformation, or your benefit: For all thefe are more croifed by holding communion with n 1 o Church, than with fuch a corrupted Church: And 1hif is to be preferred before nunt as much as a better before thU. 9· 4 o. Q,ea. 3· But what if I cannot communicate unlefs I conform to an impojid geffurr, <H l(.ncel · ~eft· 3• ing or fitting? . . . . . . A 11 fw. 1, Forjittir.g orftandmg, no doubt) Jttslawfu1 an Jtfelf: F?relfe aut~ontyw~re ?OttG be obeyed if they fhould command it : and elf< the Chur~h had finned m forbem~g l(.ntelmg m the act of Receiving, fo many hundred y~ar~ after Chnfi; as tS plam the_y dtd, by the \....anon~ ot Gentral Councils ( Nic. I· & 1ruU.) that unJverfally foibad to adcre ~nerlrnt; any Lords Day m the year, and any Wctk·day between Eajlerand Whitfuntidt; and by the Fathers, 1ertuUian, EpiphanitM, &c. that make this an Apoftolical 'or Univerfal Tradition. 2· And for ltnttling I gever yec heard any thing Mr.l'tyiMdJIS to prove it unlawful : If there be any thing, it mufi be eitf)er fame Word of God, or the Nature of Book I chink the Ordinance, which is fuppofed to be contradicted. But I· There is no Word of God for any ge- unanfwerable. flure, nor againfi any gefture: Chrifts example can never be proved to be intended to ob_lige us more in this, than in many mher circurnfiances that are confeffed not obligatory: as that he delivered it but to Miniitcrs, and but to a fatnily, to twelve, and after Supper, and on a 'Ihur{day night, and in an upper room, &c. And his gd\ure was not fuch a fitting as ours. 2· And for the N.sture ofthe Ordi· nance it is mixt: And if it be lawful to take a Pardon from the Kin~ upon our knees, I know not what can make it unlawful to take a fe•l"l Pardon from Chrifi ( by his Embalf•dour,) upon our knees. 9· 41· Q!_ef\:. 4• But what if IciiHH.ot receive it, but according to tbeadminijlralioH oftbe Common·pray- 9J.!!efl. 4tr-Book,. l or fome other impojid f.rm of proyer l I1 it l•wful foto tall,! it? A n[w. If ic be unlawful to receive it, when it is adminitlred with the Common-prayer-book, it is either, 1. Becaufe it is a form of prayer ; 2· Or becaufe that form hath fume forbidden matterin it ~ 3· Or becaufe that form is impofed; 4· Or bccaufc it is impofed to fame evil end and confcquent. I• That it is not unlawful becaufe a form, is proved before, and indeed needs no proof with any that is judicious. 2. Nor yet for any Evil in thir particular furm: for in thiJ part the Common– pray~r is generally approved. 3· Nor yet bccairfe it is Impoftd: For aCommand maketh not that unlawful to us, wh!ch is lawful before : but it makerh many things lawful and dutier, that eH€: would have been unlawful accidentally. 4· And the intentions ot the Commanders, we have little to do with ; and for the confiquents they mufl be weighed on both fides ; and the confcquenrs of our r<fufal will not be found light. ~· 42. In the General, I mufl here tell all the people ofGod, in the bitter forrow of my foul, that at lafi it is time for them to difccrn that Temptation, that bath in all ages of the Church atmoll, made this S.tcument of our Union, to be the grand occafion or infirumcnt of our n ;viftons : And that true humility, and acquaintance with ~ur fejvtJ, and fincere Love to Chrifi and one another, would Chew fame men, that it was but then pride, and prejwJict, and ignorance, that made them think fo heinoUily of other mens manner ofWorihip! and that on all fides among true Chrifiians, t'he manner of thtir WorChip is noc fo odious, as prejudice, and fad:ion, and partiality reprefenteth it: and that God accepteth that which they reject. And they fhould fee how the Devil ha:h undone thecomn:on people by this means_; by teaching them every one · to expect falvation for being of that party wh1ch he takcth to be the nght Church, and for worfhipping in that Mmncr which he and his party thinkerh bel\: And fo wonderful a thing is prejudice, that every part by this is brought to ac– count that ridicolous and vile, which the other party accountcth bell. 9· 43· .~efl. 5· But what i(myeonfiitnce .be not [atujitd, b•t I am jliU in doHbt, muft I not for- ~eft. 5• bear? flemg he that doubteth 11 condemned if be tat, becau[e be eateth not in faith: for wbar[oevtr Rom. •4·'-t· U not of faith is fin l An[w. The Apoalethcre fpeaketh not of eating in the Sacramtnt, but of eating meats which he doubteth of whether they are lawful, but is fure that it is lawtul to forbear them. And in cafe of doubting about things indifftrtnt, the furer fide is to forbear them, becaufe there may be fin in do. ing, ~ut ~here can be none on ~he oth~r fide in for~caring: Bur_in cafe of Dmies your do 11 htin.g wilt not ~tfobh~e you: Elfe men.m1t?h.t gtve ?ver pr.armg, and heanng Gods Word, and believing, and obeymg the~r Rulers, ~nd ~amtammg the1r fam!ltes, ·when they are but blind enough to doubt ofit. 2. Your ernng confctence IS not a Law-maker, and cannot make it your dHty to obey it: For God is ')'OUI King: and the Ofl,ice of Confcience is to difctrn his Larv.r, and urge you to obedience and not to make you_Law/ of irs OWN: So that if it fp~ak falf!y, it doth not oblige you, but deceiv; ru: le do:h only ltga:e, or enfnare you, _but not obl~gare., or make a fin a duty : It c1fieth you into a ne– ceffity of finnmg more or lefs ull you rc!mqUJ(h the error : But ia the cafe of fuch duties as Iii i thefe
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