Two Sticks Made One, Title page – Dedication
Two Sticks made One: OR, THE EXCELLENCY OF UNITY. BEING A SERMON Preached by the Appointment of the Miniſters of the Congregational and Presbyterian Perſwaſion, at their Happy UNION. On the Sixth Day of April, 1691. Which was a Day ſet apart by them, partly to bewail former Diviſions, and partly as a Thankſgiving to God for their preſent Agreement. And now at their Ʋnanimous Requeſt made Publick.
By MATTHEW MEAD, Paſtor of a Church of Chriſt at Stepney.
Pſal. 133.1. Behold how good, and how pleaſant it is for Brethren to dwell together in Unity.
Si virtutum finis ille ſit maximus qui plurimorum ſpectat profectum, moderatio omnium pulcherrima eſt. Ambr.
LONDON: Printed for Tho. Parkhurſt at the Bible and Three Crowns at the lower end of Cheap-ſide, near Mercers-Chappel. 1691.
THE Excellency of Vnity: A SERMON preached by the Appointment of the Miniſters of the Congregational and Presbyterian Perſwaſion at their Happy Union: On the Sixth Day of April, 1691.
By MATTHEW MEAD, Paſtor of a Church of Chriſt at Stepney.
To the Reverend THE Diſſenting Miniſters OF LONDON, Formerly called Congregational and Presbyterian, But now known by the Name of United Brethren
Reverend, and much honoured in the Lord,
AS this Sermon had not been Preached, ſo nor had it been made publick, but in obedience to your Call; which I the more willingly complied with, that I might thereby give Testimony to my readineſs of promoting that good Deſign abroad, which you have made ſo happy a progreſs in at home.
You no ſooner had appointed me to this Work, but God pointed me to the Text; which I found ſo ſuitable to the Occaſion, that I reſolved to do the utmoſt my ſhort Arm could reach to, in improving it to the bleſſed ends of Love and Ʋnion, that I might thereby ſhew my ſelf to be not only foreign, but foreign; and indeavour with all my might that the Heaven below might be made like the Heaven above, a quiet and peaceable Habitation.
To intermeddle in Matters of Strife is in common Caſes deemed a thankleſs Office, and he oft times feels moſt Fiſts who ſteps in to part the Fray.Naz. Orat. de Pace. foreign. But the Goodneſs of this Ʋndertaking is ſuch, as will richly Recompenſe for the greateſt Inconvenience that can attend the Attempt; and if it ſhould not find Succeſs among Men, I am ſatiſfied that it will not want a Bleſſing from God.
None can, with any colour of Reaſon, be prejudiced at this happy Ʋndertaking of yours, which is not in the leaſt intended to countenance any Carnal or Worldly Deſign, but to ſerve the great Intereſts of our Lord Jeſus, and promote that Kingdom of his which is not of this World.
Many there are who call every kind of Compliance baſeneſs, and a betraying of Principles; but ſo long as our Conſciences tell us, that what we do is in Obedience to the Command of Chriſt, the peace we ſhall find within will more then pay the Charge of all unjuſt Cenſures from without. Men of ſuch rough and ſowr Spirits are ready to think God to be ſuch a one as themſelves; As the Lacedaemonians, being a Warlike People, repreſented their Gods all in Armour. But God is love, and he that dwells in love, dwells in God, and God in him.
Who doth not deſire to ſee the Church of Chriſt in a flouriſhing ſtate? It was one of Auſtin's wiſhes, to ſee Romam in flore. And ſhould it not be every good Man's wiſh, to ſee Eccleſiam in flore? When the Temple is purged, and a Separation made between the Sanctuary and the profane Place, (Ezek. 41.20.) then the Glory of the Lord will fill the Houſe, Ezek. 43.5.
God hath eminently appeared among you hitherto in carrying on this bleſſed Work, therefore it greatly concerns us to hold him faſt by Endeavouring to keep the Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace, leſt this Silence in Heaven ſhould be but for the ſpace of half an hour.
How ſhould the conſideration of the Coming of the Lord, which now draws very nigh, put us all upon promoting this Work. Will it not be a very uncomfortable thing to be found in our Diviſions in that day? Therefore we ought not to ſtand at a diſtance, but upon ſuch Reaſons as will juſtifie our diſſent, and be approved of by the impartial Judge.
The Lord pour out a richer meaſure of the Spirit of Love upon all that fear his Name, and ſhew to them that foreign which none can find, but they who are taught of God. The Inquiry after which, in order to walking therein, was the chief Deſign of this Diſcourſe. Such as it is it is now yours, not only by my Act in the Dedication, but by your own in the Publication. And therefore as it humbly begs your Patronage becauſe it needs it, ſo it earneſtly calls for your Obſervance becauſe of the importance of the Deſign of it, which is to ſtrengthen the Staff of Bands now put into your hands by God; and this nothing can do but a conſtant and conſcientious practice of thoſe Principles upon which your Ʋnion ſtands.
And now Brethren, as that Rod out of the Stem of Jeſſe (upon whom the Spirit of the Lord reſts, the Girdle of whoſe Reins is Faithfulneſs) hath ſo far fulfilled that comfortable Promiſe, as to cauſe the Wolf to dwell with the Lamb; let it alſo appear that he hath bowed your Spirits to ſuch an intire Reſignation to Truth, as that a Child may lead you. And then the Counſels here given will be as readily imbraced, and as carefully practiſed, as they were faithfully tendered by him who greatly rejoyceth to be known by the pleaſing Title of one (tho the meaneſt) of the united Brethren, and
Your moſt faithful Servant, Matth Mead.