532 BAXTER'S FAREWELL SERMON. men as thorns and thistles; but the zeal of Christianity, as such, is pure and peaceable, full of mercy, and good fruits, mellow and sweet, and inclineth to the good of all. If God give you a faith- ful, or a tolerable public minister, be thankful to God, and love, honor, and encourage him ; and let not the imperfections of the Common Prayer make you separate from his. communion : preju- dice will make all modes of worship different from that which we prefer, to seem some heinous, sinful crime ; but humble Chris- tans are most careful about the frame of their own hearts, and conscious of so much faultiness in themselves, and all their service of God, that they arenot apt to accuse and aggravate the failings of others, especially in matters which God has left to our own de- termination. ' Whether we shall pray with a book, or without, in divers short prayers, or one long one ; whether the people shall sing God's praise in tunes, or speak it in prose, &c., is left to be determined by the general rules of concord, order, and edification. Yet do not withdraw from the communion of soberly, godly non- conformists, though falsely called schismatics by others. VII. Be sure that you maintain due honor and subjection to your governors': "Fear the Lord, and the king, and meddle not with them that are given to change ; " Prov. xxiv. 21. And that, in regard of the. oath of God, (Eccles. viii: 2.). "Curse not the king, no, not in thy thought, and curse not the rich in thy bed- chamber; for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter;" Eccles. x. 20. Obey God with your first and absolute obedience, and no man agtinst him ; but obey the just commands of magistrates, and that out of obedience to God ; and suffer patiently when you cannot obey. And if God should ever cast you under oppressing and persecuting gov- ernors, in your patiencepossess your souls; trust God and,keep your innocency, and abhor all thoughts of rebellion or revenge; he that believeth will not make haste. Do nothing but what God will own, and then commityourselves and your way to him. Re= press wrath, and hate unpeaceable counsels ; our way and our time must be only Göd's way and time. Self-saving men are usually the destroyers of themselves and others. Peter, that drew his sword for Christ, deniedhim the same night, with oaths andcurses. Fools trust themselves, and wise men trust God : fools tear 'the tree by beating down the fruit that is Unripe and harsh ; and wise men stay till it is ripe and sweet, and will drop into their hands: fools rip up the mother for an untimely birth; but wise men stay tillmaturity give it them. Fools take red-hot iro,n to be gold, till it burn their fingers to the bone; they rush into seditions and blood, as if it were a matter of jest; but wise men sow' the fruit of righteousness in peace, and, as much as in them lieth, live
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