matici non sunt ex vera Ecclesia, sed tantummodo Ecclesiæ immisti, sicut & excrementa sunt quidem in corpore, sed non de corpore. Alsted, Lexic. Theol. p. 359 *. Now whilst I write these things, I weep: mine. eye, mine eye, runneth down with water; I cannot refrain my self but must cry out, alas, alas, for my dear mother the poor distressed, distracted, and divided Church of England; I will bewail thee with the weeping of Jazer, I will water thee with my tears, my bowels shall sound. like a harp for thee, and my inward parts like pipest. That thine own Children, like Jacob. and Esau, should so jar and disagree in their Womb, as to endanger the very life of her that hore them, by their strugling. What, Brethren, have we not all one God, one Christ, oue Spirit, one Baptism, one Scripture, one hope of Eternal Salvation? And can we not close and communicate together in the Worship and Service, of that one blessed Creator, mercifull Saviour, and most sweet Comforter? Are our differences about I know not what, grown to such an height, that we cannot go to Church together, joyn in one Camero. tract. in quo eccl. Rom. pre. ad exam. c. 14. + Quæ gens, quæ regio tulit tam multa dictu graviu, perpessu aspera quam hodie nos? Non enim partes solum inter nos sunt, sed partium (ô patria quæ salus te servet?) novæ partes. Just. Lipsius. de constant. l. 2. c. 20. confession confession of Sin, profession of Faith, Prayer, each with, and for other, hear the same Scriptures read and preached, and sit together at the same Table, partake of that same heavenly Feast, to which we are altogether most lovingly invited*? So great is the crime of our present Age in this, that Posterity shall never be able to add to it. Oh tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the Streets of Ashcalon, lest the Daughters of the Philistines rejoyce, lest the Daughters of the uncircumcised triumph. What will very Pagans say, when they shall see Christians thus divided? As Clemens Alexandrinus brings in the Heathen exprobrating our Religion for untrue, Quia omnis secta Christianismi titulum sibi vendicat, tamen alia aliam execratur et condemnat †; because every Sect challengeth to it self the Title of true. Christianity, yet one curseth and condemneth another. What can they otherwise think, but that the God and Christ whom we all pretend to serve, is (what he abhors to be) the authour of confusion? Oh what Musick is this in the Ears of Papists to hear of our discords? Did Herod and Pontius Pilate agree as friends to crucifié Christ, and shall Christians that profess * Dij talia Graiis, erroremq; hostibus illum, + Clem. Alex. Strom, 1.7. themselves themselves to be his Members, disagree as mortal Enemies, about their Service of him? Oh Religion, Religion! Hast thou not Enemies enough abroad in the World, that seek thy destruction, but thy deadliest wound must be received in the house of thy friend! Like Joseph thou art basely sold by thine own Brethren, when thou art bringing them necessary food: like Sampson, thou art betray'd into the hands of the Philistines by those that pretend zeal for thee; and like thy blessed Master, thou art delivered up to thy mortal Foes by thine own treacherous Disciples: what Ocean can furnish mine eyes with tears enough to pour out, for the scandal and matter of rejoycing, that these things do give to thine adversaries; and for thy much feared ruine that this portends! Alas, Alas, that those who pretend much tenderness in lesser matters, should make no Conscience at all of endeavouring thy Preservation and Prosperity, by keeping the unity of the Spirit in the bond of Peace! What shall I say of those Men, but as our Saviour of his Enemies, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they doe. The Lord open their eyes that they may see, and perswade Japhet to dwell in the Tents of Shem. Oh all ye my Brethren, that make an unchristian separation from the Society of your Christian Friends and Neighbours in the publick worship . worship of God, especially you, to whom I stand nearest related, I beseech you in the bowels of our common Saviour, do not thus give advantage to the adversaries of our Religion, to endeavour and hope for the speedy overthrow both of us and it; and in the mean time to laugh in their sleeves at our divisions, saying, there, there, so would we have it. I beseech you, Brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no Schisms amongst you, that ye be perfectly joyned together in the same mind, and in the same judgment*. If there be any Consolation in Christ, if any comfort of Love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if there be any bowels of Mercies, fulfill ye my joy, that ye be like minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves †. It is promised as a blessed Fruit of the Gospel, the envy of Ephraim shall cease, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not ver Ephraim; but they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines, toward the West, they shall spoil 1 Cor. i. 10. Phil. ii. 1, 3. them them of the East together, they shall lay their hands upon Edom and Moab, and the Children of Ammon shall obey them. Oh that all animosity and prejudice were banished from the borders of our hearts, that so meeting together by Troops (with primitive Concord *) in the publick places of our Assemblies, being banded together with a kind of holy Violence, we may with one mind and one mouth, lay Siege to the throne of Grace, and give God no rest (such Forces are to him most acceptable) till he fulfill this gracious promise, that we perish not in our divisions. Lord grant that all they that confess thy holy name, may agree in the truth of thy holy word, and live in unity and godly love through Jesus Christ. Amen. * Coimus in cætum & congregationem, ut ad Deum quasi manu facta precationibus ambiamus orantes. Tertul. Apol. c. 39. ARGU |