746 Direfli'om againft Schifm. --------------------------------- renounce not their underfiandings, and choofe ·not to give up rhcmfdves to a beafiial fubjtC!io 11 1o Ufurpcrs or their Pdftoro:;: he thar thinks it enough that his Tc:acher hath Re4im and be a m.m, inllead of himfeif, and forhinketh it enough that his1tacber be a Chrifiian and Rcligiou~ i m:.m b;t aHo conrcot that hi" Teacher alone be faved : (Bur then he mufi nor be: the Tc:acher of !Uch a dai'nning way). But by PriJe I mean a plain Over-valuing of his own zmd~rjiJndint,, and Conceiu and ReJ– foningJ, quire above all the Evidences of their worth, and an undervaluing and comc:rr.pr ot the judt;c:m~nrs and reafonings of far wifer men, that had evidence enough w have evinced his rOHy and error to a fober and impartial man. Undoubtedly it is the Pridt of p,iejts and pet,p!e, rh.tr h.t1h fo lamenrably in all ages torn the Church. H.: that readerh the Hiflories of Schifrns and Church-con– fufions, and marketh the dli.Cts which this age hJ.th {hewed, will no more doubt wht:thtr Pnde were the caufC, than whether it w::1s the wind that blew down Trees and houfcs, when he f.:~.:rh thn 11 one way overturned by muhirudes, where the tcmpelt came with grearefl fore<:. Th~rt:ort: a B 1 fhop muft be ;zo ~r1vice kH being lifttd-up with pride (lur. p.1l 711~'-'~Ms) he f.JU imo tbe cundenm.:ttivu of the De1Ji!, t Tun. 3· 6. And if fuch Starrs fall from Heaven, no WC1nder if they brin~ many dowu headlong with rhem. Humble fouls dwell moll at hotnt, and think themfelvcs unworthy ot tnc com– munion of their brethren, and are moll: quarrelfome againft their own corruptions : ThrydJitiJthi 11 g in}rife a1td vailt glory, but i11 Jowlimfi of mind,. each one ejfeemeth other betttr tb,m tbemfe!t.~u, Pm!~ ,..~. 2, 3· and judge 11<Jt ktf they be judged, Matth. 6. r. And is it likely fuch !hould b:: Dividers of rhc: Church l Bur Proud men, muli either be great and domineer, and as Diotrephu, 3 J'Jhn9, ro. lu-,;e JtJ bu.ve the prehemiHence, and cajl the Brethren out of the Churcb, and prate againfi thur f.~.uhtulklt P J.– flors with maliti11us wordJ; or clfe mull: be noted for their fuppoftd excel1cncics, and LLr up rhtm– fdves, and fpeak perverfe things, ro draw away difciples after them, and think rhc brethren unA.:t. :o. 30. worthy of their Commuuion , and cfieem all orhers below themfclvc:s ; and as rhc Church oi Rome, confound Communion and Subjellion , and think nooe fit for their CommJtni'm rhac obey tbem not, or comply nor with their opinion and will. There \s no hope of CUJtcord where Pride bath power to prevail. Dirca. 9· §. 86. Direct. 9· Tabs heed of fingularity, and narrowmji of mind, and HIUCfjH:Jlmedmji r>:iitb the former and pre[tnt ftate of the Church and world. Men that are bred up in a corner, and ntver read nor heard ol the common condition of the Church or world, are c:afily miflead into Sfchifm, throu~h ignorance of thofe matters of fact that would preferve them. Abundance of this forr ot honcli p~op!e that 1 have known, haveknown fa little beyond the Town or Countrey where thc:y lived, char they have thought they were very Catholick in their Communion, becaufe they had one or two Congie– gations, and divided nor among rhemfelves. Bur for the avoiding of Schifm, r. Look (with p~r)') on the Unbelieving world, and confider that Chrifiians ofall forts, arc bur a fixrh pJrt of rhe whole earth; And then z.'Confider of rhis fixrh parr how {mall a parr the reformed Churches are; And if you bt! willing ro leave Chri(l any Church at all, perhaps you will be lothero fepararc yet into a nir– rower party, which is no more to all the world, than one of your Cottlges is to the whole King– dom. And is this ail the Kingdom on earth that you will afcribe tb Chrill? Is the King of the Church, the King only of your little puty >Though his flock be but a little jbcl;, , make it nor next to none: As if he c«me into the World on fo low a defign as the gathering of your feet only: The lefs his flock is, the more linful it is to rob him of it, and make it ldfer than ic is : It is a JitJle jlJck, if it contained all the Chrifiians, Protefiants, Greeks, Armenians, AbJlfines and P«piHs on the Euth. Be lingulu and feparate from the unbelieving world, and fpare not : And be fingui.Jr in Hdincfs from P1opryanc and nominal hypocritical Chriftians. But affect not to be fingul,zr in opimon or practice, or feparared in Communion, from the ~tniverfaJ Church, or generality of found be!ieverJ: or if you forfo~.ke fome common errour, yet hold llill the Comn101i Love and Communion, wirh .all the fJirhful according to your opportunities. 3• And it will be very ufeful when you arc tempted to fc::paratc from any Church for the defcctivene[s of its manner of Worfhip, to en- ~ quire how .God U worjhipped i;t aU the Cb~trcher tm Etzrth, aad then confider, wbttbtr ifyou lived [~::::~~' ;;j:~;~~~:,~;~,~:;~~~';;('~~' ~~"'~:~;,~ 7;•:,~;·;te~:i ~:.{;~bc~C~~(, ~i~~;; i.~~ ~e ~~~,~~;,c~~ he:lrtJcth what Hcrdits have been in rimes pall, and what havock Schifms havecaufcd among Chrifiiai1s: t'or if dif ern 1hat rhis much had btcn known by wcll-mtaning perfons in our dayes, we lhould not haVe feen theft: fame frail m~n i·1 Opinions applluded as new light, which were long agoe exploded as old Hadic:s: nor fhguld we ~:~~~;;U;i~~s have feen rnJny hondl people, taking tha~ fame courfe to refarm the Church now, and advance rhc i 1 ttnJ rbe Gofpel, which in fo many ages and NltiOns hath heretofore Jeftroyed rhe Church, and catl out fame 1hing, the Gofpd. A narrow foul, that raketh all Chrifis interefi in the world, to lye "tn a few of their ~nd acce:-:c:th ftparared meetings, and Oumerh up all the Church in a Nurlhell, mufi needs be guilty of the fouleft tt.-:m/. fchifins. le is a CathOfick fpirir and Ctth~lick principles? loving a Chrifii1n as a Chriliia~, ab– E0ilJ >·P· L~. horring the very names of Seds and P.nues as the Churches wounds, rhat mufi make a .....arho- -~ lick indeed Virell. 10. p. 87. Direct. 10. Vnderji.Jnd JvtU the true difference bet'fl'etn tlu vifib!e Church, and the world, left yne jhould think,. tbt yott are bound to [eparate M much from a corrupted Church, IH from the world. It is not True f.Jitb, bur chc Profcffion of true f.;ith, that makc:th a man fir to be acknowledged a member of the V1tible Church. If lhis Profef!ion be unfound, and accompanied with a vicious life, it is the fin and rnifcryof fuch an Hypocrite, bur it doch not prefently put him as far unrelated royou, as if he were an intid'd without the Church? If you ask what advantage have fllCh unfound Church– members? I anfwer with the Apo1tle, Rom. 3. J > ~· Mncb every way 1 cJ,iefiy becau[t unto tbtm are commifttd
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