The Cure of Church Divisions, Directions · Direction 40 – Direction 41
DIRECT. XL.
Labour for a sound judgement to know good from evil, left you trouble your selves and others by mistakes: And till you gr…w so judicious, forsake not the guidance of a judicious Teacher, nor the company of the agreeing generality of the Godly.
ALmost all our contentions and divisions are caused by the ignorance and injudiciousness of Christians; especially the most self-conceited. They are for the most as children, that yet need to be taught the very principles of the divine Oracles, and to be fed with milk, when they think themselves fit to be teachers of others. Heb. 5. 11, 12. And therefore as children they are tossed to and fro, and caried about with every wind of doctrine, Eph. 4. 14. And when they have many years together been crying up an opinion, and vilifying dissenters, at last they turn to some other opinion, and confess that they did all this upon mistake. And was it not a pitiful life that they lived that while? and a pitiful zeal which did set them on? and a pitiful kind of worship which they thus offered to God? Alas to hear a man pray and preach up Antinomianism one year, and Arminianism the next, and Socinianism the next! To hear a man make Separation and Anabaptistry a great part of his business to men in preaching and to God in prayer for seven and seven years together; and at last confess that all this was his errour and his sin: (Or if he confess it not, it is so much the worse.) Is it not sad that ignorance and hasty rashness, should so much injure the Church and mens souls that so many well meaning people, should put evil for good and good for evil, darkness for light and light for darkness, Isa. 5. 20.
But because there is no hope that most should be judicious, there is no other remedy for such but this of Christs prescript which I have here set down.
First, Happy is he that chooseth a judicious faithful Guide and learneth of him till his own understanding be better illuminated; And that escapeth the conduct of ignorant, erroneous, self-seeking, proud, dividing Teachers.
Secondly, Continue in the Communion of the generality of agreeing Christians: The generality of the godly are more unlikely to be forsaken of Christ, than a few odd self-conceited singular professours. This is the way of peace to your selves and to the Church of Christ.
DIRECT. XLI.
Let not the bare Fervour of a Preacher, or the Lowdness of his voice, or affectionate manner of utterance, draw you too far to admire or follow him; without a proportionable degree of solid understanding and judiciousness.
IT is pity that any wise and judicious Minister should want that fervour and seriousness of speech, which the weight of so great a business doth require. And it is greater pity, that any serious affectionate Minister, should be ignorant and injudicious: And it is yet greater pity that in any good men, too much of their fervour should be meerly affected, and seem to be what it is not; or at least be raised by a selfish desire to advance our selves in the hearers thoughts, and to exercise our parts upon their affections. But it is most pitiful that the Church hath any hypocrites who have no other but such affected dissembled fervency. And it is not the least pity that so many good people, especially youths and women, should be so weak, as to value an affectionate tone of speech, above a judicious opening of the Gospel. I confess there is something in an affectionate expression, which will move the wisest: And as light and judgement tend to generate judgement, so heat of affection tendeth to beget affection. And I never loved a senseless delivery of matters of eternal consequence; As if we were asleep our selves, or would make the hearers to be so: Or would have them think by our cold expressions, that we believe not our selves, when we set forth the great inestimable things of the life to come. But yet it grieveth my very soul to think, what pitiful, raw, and ignorant kind of preaching, is crowded most after in many places, for the meer affectionate manner of expression, and lowdness of the Preachers voice! How oft have I known the ablest Preachers undervalued, and an ignorant man by crouds applauded, when I that have been acquainted with the Preacher ab incunabulis, have known him to be unable well to answer most questions in the common Catechism. And I durst not tell them of his great insufficiency and ignorance, for fear of hindering the success of his labours, and being thought envious at other mens acceptance. I have known poor tradesmens boys have a great mind of the Ministry; and we that were the Ministers of the Countrey, contributed to maintain them while they got some learning and knowledge: But they had not patience to keep out of the Pulpit till they competently understood their business there: And yet many of the religious people valued these as the only men: And some of them shortly after turned to some wh…msical Sect or other, and contemned the Ministers that instructed and maintained them: And all this while, understood not half so much as many of our sober Auditors understood. This prepareth the poor people to be hurried into any disorder or division, when they no better know how to choose their Guides.