The True Way of Concord of All the Christian Churches, Part 1 · Chapter 3
CHAP. III.
II. The neceſſity and Benefits of this Unity and Peace.
II. THE Neceſſity and excellency of the Vnity of the ſpirit and peace, will appear in theſe reſpects. 1. For the good of the particular perſons that poſſeſs it. 2. For the good of Chriſtian ſocieties. 3. For the good of the uncalled world. 4. For the Glory and well-pleaſing of Jeſus Chriſt and of the Father: of theſe in order.
1. For the good of each particular perſon that poſſeſſeth it.
1. It is the very Health and Holineſs of the ſoul, and the contrary is the very ſtate of ſin and death. What is Holineſs but that Vniting Love by which the will adhereth to God and delighteth in his Goodneſs as it ſhineth to us in his works, and ſpecially in Chriſt and in all his members (and in a common ſort in all mankind?) And what is the unholy ſtate of ſin and death, but that Con…ractedneſs and retiring to our SELVES, by which the ſelfiſh perſon departeth from the due Love of God and others, and of that holineſs which is contrary to this his ſelfiſhneſs? So far as any mans Love is contracted, narrowed, confined to himſelf, and to a few, ſo far his ſoul is indeed unſanctified and void of the Vnity of the Spirit, or the Spirit of Vnity. If a man lived in baniſhment or a priſon uncapable of doing others any good, yet if he have that Love and ſpirit of Unity which inclineth him to do it if he could, this is his own health and rectitude, and acceptable unto God. Little do many Religious people think how much they do miſtake unholineſs and ſin it ſelf, for a degree of holineſs above their neighbours! When they contract and narrow their Chriſtian Love and Communion to a party, and talk againſt the Churches of Chriſt, by diſgraceful and Love-killing cenſures and reproaches, as being not holy enough for their Communion; this want of the ſpirit of Love and Unity, is their own want of holineſs it ſelf. It was the old deceit of the Phariſees, which Chriſt the meſſenger and mediator of love condemned, to think that holineſs lay more in ſacrifices and Ritual obſervances, and in a ſtrict keeping of the Sabbaths reſt and ſuch like, than in the Love of God and all men: And the leſſon that Chriſt twice ſet them to learn was, [I will have mercy and not ſacrifice.] He hath moſt grace and holineſs who hath moſt of the ſpirit of Love and Unity.
2. It is the ſouls neceſſary qualification for that life of true Chriſtianity which God hath commanded us in the world. It is this inward Health which muſt enable us to all our duty.
1. Without this ſpirit of Vnity we cannot perform the duties of the firſt table unto God: Our ſacrifices will be as loathſome as theirs deſcribed Iſa. 1. and Iſa. 58. If we lift not up pure hands without wrath, and wrangling (or diſputing) (for ſo I would rather tranſlate foreign, 1 Tim. 2. 8. than [doubting]) our prayers will not be acceptable to God: Though it be Chriſts worthineſs for which our prayers and ſervices are accepted, yet there muſt be the ſubordinate worthineſs of neceſſary qualification in our ſelves. For Chriſt himſelf hath annexed ſpecially the expreſs mention of this one qualification in the Lords prayer it ſelf [Forgive us our treſpaſſes as we forgive them that treſpaſs againſt us] and he repeateth it after, [For if ye forgive men their treſpaſſes, your heavenly Father will forgive you your treſpaſſes; but if ye forgive not men their treſpaſſes, neither will your heavenly Father forgive you] Mat. 6. 13, 14. Love is here included in [forgiving] as a cauſe in its effect: And Chriſt rather nameth [forgiving] than [Love], becauſe men may pretend to that act which is ſecret in the heart, but if it ſhould not work in the neceſſary fruits (of which forgiving others is one) it would be but a vain pretence.
And here I intreat the Reader to conſider a while the ſingularities of this paſſage of Chriſt. 1. That men that muſt truſt in Chriſts merits and mediation, muſt yet be told of ſuch an abſolute neceſſity of a Condition or qualification in themſelves. 2. That Forgiving others as an Act of Love, is ſingled out as this qualification. 3. That this condition muſt be put into the very prayer it ſelf, that our own mouths may utter it to God. 4. That it muſt be annexed to this one petition of [Forgiveneſs] rather than any of the reſt, where men are apt to confeſs their own neceſſity, and where many are readieſt to think that Gods mercy and Chriſts merits and mediation muſt do all without any condition on their part: They that know that [their daily bread] and [deliverance from temptation and evil] muſt have ſome care and endeavours of their own, are yet apt to think that the Forgiveneſs of ſin needeth nothing on their part but [asking and receiving.] 5. That Chriſt ſhould after ſingle out this one clauſe to repeat to them, by urgent application. And yet how little is this laid to heart?
And indeed the firſt word in the Lords prayer [Our Father] teacheth us the ſame leſſon, How needful a qualification Love and Vnity are to all that will come to God in prayer: He that teacheth us that to Love our neighbour as our ſelves is the ſecond ſummary Commandment, and even like to the firſt, which is Love to God (for it is Loving God in his Likeneſs on his works) doth here call us in all our prayers to expreſs it, by Praying for our brethren as for our ſelves. O that men of wrath and wrangling were truly ſenſible what affections ſhould be expreſſed by that word [OVR FATHER], and with what a heart men ſhould ſay [GIVE US] and [FORGIVE US] and how far [VSUS] muſt extend beyond [ME] and beyond [OUR PARTY] or [our ſide] or [our Church] in the dividers ſenſe. I tell you if you will be welcome to God in your prayers or any other religious ſervices, you muſt come as in Vnion with Chriſt and with his Univerſal Church: God will receive no one that cometh to him as alone and divided from the reſt? As you muſt have Union with Chriſt the Head, ſo muſt you have with his Body: A divided member is no member, but a dead thing. Little think many ignorant perſons of this, who think that the ſingularity and ſmallneſs of their ſect or party is the neceſſary ſign of their acceptance with God: Becauſe they read [Fear not little flock:] As if [a little flock] muſt ſeparate from Chriſts little flock, for fear of being too great? And as if his Flock which then was but a few hundreds muſt be no greater, when the Kingdoms of the world are become his Kingdoms? Yet ſuch have there been of late among us, who firſt became (as they were called) Puritans, or Presbyterians when they ſaw them a ſmall and ſuffering party. But when they proſpered and multiplyed, they turned Independents or Separatiſts, thinking that the former were too many to be the true Church. And on the ſame reaſon when the Independents proſpered they turned Anabaptiſts; And when they proſpered, they turned Quakers, thinking that unleſs it were a ſmall and ſuffering party it could not be the Little flock of Chriſt. As if he that is called The Saviour of the world, would take it for his honour to be the Saviour only of a few Families or Villages, and his Kingdom muſt be as little as Bethlehem where he was born.
Should they take the ſame courſe about their Language, and ſay, that it is not the language of Canaan but of the beaſt, if it grow common, and ſo take up with a new one, that it might be a narrow one, the folly of it would diſcover it ſelf: And what is the excellency of a Language but ſignificancy and extenſive community? and what greater plague ſince Adams ſin hath befaln mankind, than the diviſion of tongues? as hindering communication, and propagation of the Goſpel? And what greater bleſſing as a means to univerſal Reformation could be given men, than an univerſal common language? And what is the property of Babel but diviſion and confuſion of tongues? And doth not all this intimate the neceſſity of a Union of minds?
While we keep in the Vnity of the Body and ſpirit, we may, we muſt ſtrive for ſuch a ſingularity, as conſiſteth in an excellency of degree, and endeavour to be the beſt and holieſt perſons, and the uſefulleſt members in the body of Chriſt. But if once you muſt ſeparate from the body as too good to be members of ſo great or ſo bad a ſociety, you periſh.
God will own no Church which is ſo Independent as not to be a member of the univerſal; not any perſon who is ſo independent, as not to come to him as in Communion with all the Chriſtians in the world. We muſt not approve of the faults of any Church or Chriſtian, and ſo communicate with their ſin by Voluntary conſent: But diſowning their ſin, we muſt own them as Chriſts members, and have communion with them in faith and Love, and holy profeſſion of both; and while we are abſent in body, muſt be as preſent in ſpirit with them, and ſtill come to God as in communion with all his Church on earth, and offer up our prayers as in conjunction with them, and not as a ſeparated independent thing.
2. And as our Vnity is part of our neceſſary fitneſs for duties of holy worſhip, ſo is it alſo for duties of the ſecond table, that is; of Juſtice and Charity to men: And this is evident in the nature of the thing. No man will be exact in Juſtice till he do as he would be done by: And who can do that who Loveth not his neighbour as himſelf? What is our unity but our Love to others as our ſelves? And how can we do the works of Love without Love? It is divided SELF that is the cauſe of all the unmercifulneſs and injuſtice in the world. Unity maketh my neighbour to be to me as my ſelf, and his Intereſt and welfare to be to me as my own, and his loſs and hurt to be as mine: And were he indeed my ſelf, and his welfare and his hurt mine own, you may judge without many words how I ſhould uſe him; whether I ſhould ſhew him mercy in his wants and miſery? whether I ſhould rejoice with him in his joy, and mourn with him in his ſorrows? whether I ſhould ſpeak well or ill of him behind his back? and whether I ſhould perſecute him, and undo him? whether I ſhould defame him and write books to render him odious, and to perſwade the rulers that he is unworthy to have the liberty of a Chriſtian or of a man; to preach, to pray, to be converſed with, or to live! Would not uniting Love make a wonderful change in ſome mens judgements, ſpeeches and behaviour, and make thoſe men good Chriſtians, or good Moraliſts at leaſt, who now when they have cryed up Morality, and Charity and good works, would perſwade men by the Commentary of their practice, that they mean Malignity, cruelty, and the propagating of hatred and all iniquity? Where there is not a dominion of LOVE and UNITY, there is a dominion of SELFISHNESS and ENMITY; and how well theſe will keep the Commandments which are all fulfilled in LOVE, how well they will do good to all men, Rom. 13. 12, 13.eſpecially to them of the houſhold of faith, Gal. 6. 6, 7, 8.and provoke one another to Love and to good works, it is eaſie for any man to judge. Once alienate mens hearts from one another, and the Life will ſhew the alienation.
3. This UNITY of SPIRIT (and ſpirit of unity) is our neceſſary preſervation againſt ſins of commiſſion (as well as of omiſſion as aforeſaid), even againſt the common iniquities of the world: LOVE and UNITY tyrannize not over inferiours, contrive not to tread down others that we may riſe, and to keep them down to ſecure our domination: They oppreſs not the poor, the weak, or innocent: They make not ſnares for other mens Conſciences, nor lay ſtumbling-blocks before them, to occaſion them to ſin, nor drive men on to ſin againſt. Conſcience, and ſo to hell, to ſhew mens authority, in a thing of nought. Had this ruled in Ahab and his Prophets, Michaiah had not been ſmitten on the mouth, nor fed in a Priſon with the bread and water of affliction; nor had Elijah been hunted after as the troubler of Iſrael: Had this unity of ſpirit ruled in Jeroboam, and in Rehoboam, one had not ſtretcht out his hand againſt the Prophet, nor the other deſpiſed experienced Counſellours, to make heavier the burdens of the complaining people. Had it overcome the SELFISHNESS of the Kings of Iſrael, their Calves and High places had not engaged them againſt the Prophets, and been their ruine. Had it prevailed in the Kings of Judah and their people, Jeremy had not been laid in the dungeon, nor had they forbid Amos to propheſie at the Kings Chapel or his Court, nor had they mocked the meſſengers of God, and deſpiſed his prophets, till the wrath of the Lord aroſe and there was no remedy, 2 Chron. 26. 16.
Had this Spirit of Vnity been in the perſecuting Jews, they would not have counted Paul a peſtilent fellow, and a mover of ſedition among the people, nor have hunted the Apoſtles with implacable fury, nor have forbidden them to preach to the Gentiles that they might be ſaved, and have brought Gods wrath upon themſelves to the uttermoſt, 1 Theſ. 2. 15, 16.
Had this Vnity of ſpirit prevailed in the Nicolaitans and other hereticks of old, they had not ſo early grieved the Apoſtles, and divided and diſhonoured the primitive Church, nor raiſed ſo many Sects and parties among Chriſtians, nor put the Apoſtles to ſo many vehement obteſtations againſt them, and ſo many ſharp objurgations and reproofs: Nor had there been down to this day a continuation for ſo many hundred years, of the Churches woful diſtractions and calamities by the two ſorts of afflicters, viz. the Clergie Tyrants on one ſide, and the ſwarms of reſtleſs Sectaries on the other.
And if the Spirit of Vnity ruled in the people, there would he leſs rebelling, repining and murmuring againſt Governours, but ſubjects would render to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute, cuſtome to whom cuſtome, fear to whom fear is due, and honour to whom honour, Rom. 13. 7. They would owe nothing to any man but to Love one another, v. 8. For he that loveth another hath fulfilled the Law: For this, Thou ſhalt not commit adultery, Thou ſhalt not kill, Thou ſhalt not ſteal, Thou ſhalt not bear falſe witneſs, Thou ſhalt not covet, and if there be any other Commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this ſaying, Thou ſhalt Love thy neighbour as thy ſelf. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: Therefore Love is the fulfilling of the Law, v. 9, 10. Love is long-ſuffering and kind; Love envyeth not: Love vaunteth not it ſelf (or is not raſh) nor is puffed up, doth not behave it ſelf unſeemly; ſeeketh not her own, is not eaſily provoked (or ſiercely angry), thinketh no evil, rejoyceth not in iniquity, but rejoyceth in (or with) the truth: Love beareth (or concealeth) all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things, 1 Cor. 13. 4, &c.
Did the Vnity of the ſpirit and Love prevail, it would undo moſt of the Lawyers, Atturneys, Solicitors, Proctors: It would give the Judges a great deal of eaſe: It would be a moſt effectual corrector of the preſs, of the pulpit, of the table talk of calumniators and backbiters; It would heal factious preachers and people, and many a thouſand ſins it would prevent. In a word, Love and Vnity are the moſt excellent Law. They are a Law eminenter: For it is to ſuch that the Apoſtle ſaith, there needeth no Law: that is, no forcing conſtraining Law which ſuppoſeth an unwilling ſubject: For what a man Loveth, …e need not be conſtrſhained to by penalties: And men need not many threats to keep them from beating or robbing or ſlandering themſelves: And did they but Love God and the Church, and their Neighbours, and their own ſouls, as they do their bodies, piety and juſtice and concord and felicity would be as common as humanity is.
As the beſt phyſicions are moſt for ſtrengthening nature, which is the true curer of diſeaſes, ſo he that could ſtrengthen Vnity and Love, would ſoon cure moſt of the perſecutions, ſchiſms, reproaches, contentions, deceivings, over-reaching, raſhcenſuring, envy, malice, revenge, and all the injuries which ſelſiſhneſs cauſeth in the world.
4. The Vnity of the ſpirit is neceſſary to the fulneſs of our joy, and the true conſolation of our lives: A private ſelfiſh Spirit, hath very little matter to feed his joy; even his own poor narrow and interrupted pleaſures: And what are theſe to the treaſures which feaſt the joy and pleaſure of a publick mind? If Love Vnite me as a Chriſtian to all Chriſtians, and as a man to all the world, the bleſſings of Chriſtians and the mercies of all the world are mine. When I am poor in my own body, I am rich in millions of others, and therefore rich in mind: When I am ſick and pained in this narrow piece of fleſh, I am well in millions whoſe health is mine: and therefore I am well in mind: when I am neglected, abuſed, ſlandered, perſecuted in this vile and periſhing body, I am honoured in the honour of all my brethren, and I proſper in their proſperity, I abound in their plenty, I am delivered in their deliverances; I poſſeſs the comfort of all the good which they poſſeſs.
Object. By the ſame reaſon you may ſay, that you are holy in their holineſs, and righteous in their righteouſneſs, which will be a fanatical kind of com…ort to ungodly perſons.
Anſw. He that is himſelf unholy and unrighteous, hath not this Vnity with holy righteous perſons: He that hath not the ſpirit, hath not the unity of the ſpirit: This frivolous objection therefore goeth upon a miſtake, as if this Vnity were common to the ungodly. But to thoſe that have the ſpirit of Unity indeed, the comfort of all other mens holineſs is theirs, and that in more than one reſpect. 1. By ſome degree of cauſal participation; As the common health of the body is extended to the benefit of each particular member; And the common proſperity of the Kingdom, doth good to the particular ſubjects: Goodneſs in all men is of a communicative nature; as Light and Heat are: And therefore as a greater fire, much more the Sun, doth ſend forth a more extenſive Light and Heat than a ſpark or candle; ſo the Grace of Life in the Vnited body of Chriſt, doth operate more powerfully for every member, than it would do were it confined to that member ſeparatedly: As in the holy Aſſemblies we find by ſweet experience, that a conjunction of many holy ſouls doth add alacrity to every one in particular: And it is a more lively joyful work, and liker to heaven, to pray and praiſe God with many hundreds or thouſands of faithful Chriſtians, than with a few. I know not how the conceit of ſingularity may work on ſome, but for my part Gods praiſes ſung or ſaid in a full aſſembly of zealous, ſincere and ſerious perſons, is ſo much ſweeter to me than a narrower Communion (yea though many bad and ignorant perſons ſhould be preſent) that I muſt ſay that it is much againſt my will, when ever I am deprived of ſo excellent a help.
2. And as Efficiently, ſo Objectively a holy ſoul by this Unity of ſpirit hath a part in the bleſſings and Graces of all the world. He can know them and think of them▪ (ſo far as he is One with them) with ſuch pleaſure as he thinketh of his own. For what ſhould hinder him? Do we not ſee that husband and wife are pleaſed by the Riches and honour of each other, becauſe their Vnion maketh all to be common to them? Are not Parents pleaſed to ſee their children proſper, and every one delighted in the wellfare of his friend? what then if all the world were as near and dear to us as a husband, a child, or a boſome friend? would it not be our conſtant pleaſure to think of Gods bleſſings to them, as if they were our own? A narrow ſpot of ground doth yield but little fruit, in compariſon of a whole Kingdom, or all the earth: And he that fetcheth his content and pleaſure from ſo little a clod of earth as his own body, muſt have but a poor and pitiful pleaſure in compariſon of him that can rejoice in the good of all the world. It is Vniting Love, which is the great enriching, contenting and felicitating art. (An Art I call it as it is a thing Learned and practiſed by Rule, but more than an Art, even a Nature as to its fixed inclination.)
3. And Vnion maketh other mens Good to be all ours, (as efficiently and objectively, ſo alſo) finally: As all is but a means to one and the ſame end in which we meet: It is my ends that are attained by all the Good that is done and poſſeſſed in the world. They that have One holy ſpirit, have one end. The Glorifying of God in the felicity of his Church, and the perfection of his works, and the Fulfilling and Pleaſing of his bleſſed will in this his Glory, is the end that every true believer doth intend and live for in the world: And this One End, all Saints, all Angels, all Creatures are carrying on as means. If I be a Chriſtian indeed, I have nothing ſo dear to me, or ſo much deſired as this Pleaſing and Glorifying of God, in the good and perfection of his works: This is my Intereſt: In this he muſt grati…ie me that will be my friend: All things are as nothing to me, but for this: And in this all the world, but ſpecially all Saints are continually ſerving me: In ſerving God they are ſerving me; while they ſerve my chiefeſt end and intereſt. If I have a houſe to build, or a field to till, or a garden to dreſs, do not the labours of all the builders and workmen ſerve me, and pleaſe me, while it is my work that they do. This is no fancy but the real caſe of every wiſe and holy perſon: He hath ſet his heart and hope upon that end, which all the world are joyntly carrying on, and which ſhall certainly be accompliſhed. O bleſſed be that Infinite Wiſdom and Love, which teacheth this wiſdom, and giveth this Vniting Love to every holy ſoul! All other wayes are dividing, narrow, poor and baſe: This is the true and certain way for every man to be a poſſeſſour of all mens bleſſings, and to be owner of the good of all the world. They are all doing our Heavenly Fathers will, and all are bringing about the common end which every true believer ſeeketh. It is this baſe and narrow SELFISHNESS and inordinate contractedneſs of ſpirit, and adhering to individual intereſt, which contradicteth all this, and hindereth us from the preſent joyful taſt… of the fruits of UNITY which we now hear and read of.
Yea I can dye with much the greater willingneſs, becauſe (beſides my hopes of heaven) I live even on earth when I am dead: I live in all that live, and ſhall live till the end of all. I am not of the mind of the ſelfiſh perſon, that ſaith, when I am dead, all the world is dead or at an end to me: But rather, God is my higheſt object: His Glory and complacency is my End: Theſe ſhine and are attained more in and by the whole Creation than by me: while theſe go on, the End is attained which I was made for: And I ſhall never be ſeparated living or dead from the univerſal Church or univerſal world: ſo that when I am dead, my end, my intereſt, my united fellow-Chriſtians and Creatures will ſtill live. If I loved my friend better than my ſelf, it would be leſs grief to me to be baniſhed than for him to be baniſhed: And ſo it would be leſs grief to me to dye, than for him to dye. And if I loved the Church and the world but half as much more than my ſelf, as my reaſon is fully convinced there is cauſe, it would ſeem to me incomparably a ſmaller evil to dye my ſelf than that the Church or world ſhould dye. As long as my Garden flouriſheth, I can bear the death of the ſeveral flowers, whoſe place will the next ſpring be ſucceeded by the like: And as long as my Orchard liveth I can bear the falling of a leaf or an apple, yea of all the leaves and fruit in Autumn, which the next ſpring will repair and reſtore in kind, though not thoſe individual▪ What am I that the world ſhould miſs me, or that my death ſhould be taken by others or by me, for a matter of any great regard? I can think ſo of another, and another can think ſo of me: But unhappy ſelfiſhneſs maketh it hard for every man or any man to think ſo of himſelf. Did UNITY more prevail in men, and SELFISHNESS leſs, it would more rejoice a dying man, that the Power, Wiſdom and Goodneſs of God, will continue to ſhine forth in the Church and world, and that others ſhall ſucceed him in ſerving God and his Church when he is dead, than it would grieve him that he muſt dye himſelf.
Yea more than all this, this Holy UNITY will make all the Joyes of Heaven to be partly ours. Even while we are here in pain and ſorrows, we are members of the Body, whoſe Beſt part is above with Chriſt; and therefore their joyes are by participation ours, as the pleaſure of the head and heart extendeth to the ſmalleſt members. Would it be nothing to a mother if all her children, or to a friend if all his friends, had all the proſperity and joy that he could wiſh them?
The nearer and ſtronger this holy UNITY is, the more joyfully will a believer here look up, and ſay, Though I am poor or ſick or ſuffer, it is not ſo with any of the bleſſed ones above: My fellow Chriſtians now rejoyce in Glory: The Angels with whom I ſhall live for ever are full of Joy in the viſion of Jehovah: My bleſſed Head hath Kingdom and Power and Glory and Perfection. Though I am yet weak and muſt paſs through the gates of death, the Glori…ied world are triumphing in perpetual Joyes; Their Knowledge, their Love, their Praiſes of God, are perfect and everlaſting, beyond all fears of death or any decay or interruption. UNITY giveth us a part in all the Joyes of earth and heaven: And what then is more deſireable to a Believer?
5. And in all that is ſaid it appeareth that UNITY is a great and neceſſary part of our preparation for ſufferings and death: without this men want the principal comforts that ſhould ſupport them: They that can fetch comfort neither from Earth nor from Heaven, but only from the narrow intereſt of themſelves, are like a withering branch that's broken from the tree, or like a lake of water ſeparated from the ſtream, that will ſoon dry up: A ſelfiſh perſon hath neither the motives to right ſuffering, nor the trueſt cordials for a dying man. Something or other in this ſinful SELF will be ſtill amiſs; And a ſelfiſh perſon will be ſtill caring, fearing or complaining: Becauſe he can take but little pleaſure, in remembring that all is well in Heaven, and that if he were nothing, God would be ſtill Glorified in the world. Therefore the more ſelfiſh true Chriſtians are, the leſs is their peace, and the more their hearts do ſink in ſuffering: Their Religion reacheth little higher than to be ſtill poring on a ſinful, confuſed heart, and asking, How ſhould I be aſſured of my own ſalvation? When a Chriſtian that hath more of the Spirit of UNITY, is more taken up with ſweeter things, ſtudying how to Glorifie God in the world, and rejoycing in the aſſurance that his name ſhall be hallowed, his Kingdom ſhall come, and his Will ſhall be done, yea and is perfectly done in Heaven: that which is firſt in his deſires and prayers, is ever the chiefeſt in his thankſgivings, and his Joyes.