Four Books on Matthew 11, Book 4 · Chapter 140
CHAP. CXL.
Sheweth the Reaſons of the Diſcipline and Goverment of Chriſt, and Objections againſt the ſame are anſwered.
WEll, this we cannot but be convinced of, that the Duties of Religion and the waies of Godlineſs (all things conſidered) they are eaſie, But what will you ſay to the other two: The waies of God indeed and Religion, and walking in the waies of God we muſt needs acknowledg to be eaſie, but there is two other things, as the Diſcipline of Jeſus Chriſt, and the ſufferings that Jeſus cals us unto: How will that be made out to be eaſie to us? Now I verily beleeve, that Jeſus Chriſt had an aim at theſe two, as well as to any other, to let them know what Diſcipline and Goverment he would have his people come under in the times of the Goſpel, and indeed we cannot be the Diſciples of Jeſus Chriſt as we ought, except we be willing to put our necks under the yoke of the Diſcipline of Jeſus Chriſt, the Goverment of Chriſt as it is in his Church; we muſt not think it ſufficient meerly that we profeſs Religion, and profeſs God…neſs that we keep from the ſins of the world, that we walk cloſe with God in our Families, but Chriſt requires likewiſe that we ſhould come and ſub…it our ſelves to what Goverment he appoints in his Church, and that is a part of the Kingdom of Jeſus Chriſt, as wel as his ruling in our hearts, indeed, that is the principall work of Chriſt, in ruling in our hearts, but Chriſt hath a Kingly power in ruling in his Church, the main yoke is inward, but there is an outward yoke too, for Chriſt would not have men live as they liſt, in a diſorderly way, but it is the mind of Jeſus Chriſt that all his Saints though ſome in one place, and ſome in another, ſhould joyn together in exerciſing ſuch Ordinances as he hath appointed, in the externall governing of his Church, and yet ſo, that all theſe are very eaſie to a ſpiritual heart, though it may ſeem very difficult to a carnal heart, for I ſhould wrong the Text, and not be faithfull if I ſhould not give you what I verily beleeve is the ſcope of the Text; I ſay this yoke is the order of Chriſt in his Church, if it be neglected by people, it is a great diſhonor unto Jeſus Chriſt, and hinders them exceedingly in the waies of Religion, and though it be very hard to carnal hearts, it is very eaſie to ſpiritual hearts. I am verily perſwaded, that one of the greateſt things that cauſeth ſo much malignity in this Kingdome at this day, it is the fearing of the yoke of Chriſt, men are afraid of the goverment of Chriſt in his Church, they are afraid they ſhall not have that liberty for their luſts and wickedneſs as formerly, but that there ſhall be yokes to reſtrain and keep them from thoſe looſe waies that formerly they lived in, and you may ſee plainly it is ſo, who are they that joyn with the malignant party that have ſuch ſpirits, but ſuch as have looſe ſpirits? they are thoſe that live very looſly, & others that have meer civility, and know little of the power of Godlineſs, they are afraid of this, and Oh, how is it ſaid by moſt, we will not have this man reign over us? they even ſaid they will break his bonds aſunder, and caſt away his cords, that is the controverſie that it is come to at this very day, and that Prophecy in Pſalm 2. ſeems to be fulfilled at this day, at verſe 2. The Kings of the earth ſet themſelves, and the Rulers take counſel together againſt the Lord, and againſt his anointed, ſaying, Let us break their bonds aſunder, and caſt away their cords from us, he that ſitteth in the Heavens ſhall laugh, the Lord ſhall have them in deriſion, Then ſhall he ſpeak to them in his wrath, and vex them in his ſore diſpleaſure yet have I ſet my King upon my holy hill of Zion, for al this I wil ſet my King upon my holy hil: Certainly, Chriſt is not ſet up as King as he ought to be, whatever profeſſion we make, except we be willing to come in, & put our necks under the yoke of Chriſt, and Oh, what a heavy burden and yoke it is? For inſtance, That Men and Women ſhould not make a meer verbal profeſſion, and ſay, I beleeve, and I hope to be ſaved by Chriſt, but ſhould give an account of their Faith, and give an account of ſome work of God upon their hearts, that God hath called them out of the world, certainly, that is one thing that Chriſt doth require in his peoples joyning together, to ſet up the Ordinances as they ought to be, that they ſhould have ſome knowledg one of another, knowledg of ſome work of the Holy Ghoſt upon their hearts. You will ſay, that is ſecret. I but though the Holy Ghoſt worketh in ſecret, yet certainly, this may ſome way or other appear, we cannot know it certainly, for there may be many Hypocrites (no queſtion) in the Church of God, and it is a very vain cavil for men to ſay, can the Church of God be without Hypocrites? that is taken indeed for granted, and no body in the world denies it, I but there muſt be that in the judgment of Charity, ſo as by the judgment of Charity we may ſee ſo far as we are able to ſee, that the Holy Ghoſt hath been working upon the Soul of this Man and Woman, and hath called them out of the world, this is the firſt thing in coming under the yoke of Chriſt in his Church. Now how hard is this to carnal hearts? the very mentioning of it, is enough to make a mutiny in many places, What! have we lived al this while, and muſt we now come to give account of our faith? But now it is an eaſy thing to a gracious heart, what is more eaſy to a Gracious Heart, then to ſpeak of the work of God upon his Heart, & to give Glory to Jeſus Chriſt in manifeſting the work of God in calling him out of the world, and bringing him out of the Kingdom of darkneſs, and tranſlating him into the Kingdom of his dear Son? the manifeſtation of this is exceeding delightful to a gracious Heart. And whereas many think, that ſome wil lay a greater yoke upon them by coming in, and ſubmitting to the gouerment of Chriſt in his Church, they ſay, they wil make them to enter into a ſolemn Covenant before they wil admit them. I confeſs, were it ſo, that this were urged as a thing neceſſary, that they ſhould not come in and joyn in the ordinances of Chriſt, without an explicit ſolemn Covenant, then I cannot but acknowledg it were a yoke that I think Chriſt never laid upon his Church, not an explicit ſolemn Covenant, to urge it as neceſſary, that they cannot come and joyn in the ordinances without it, and as for my part, I know not any that urge it as neceſſary, though it is uſed it is true, becauſe it is the way of manifeſting themſelves one way or another, and ſome way they would have for the manifeſtation of the grace of God, and of their willingneſs to joyn with them in all the Ordinances of Chriſt, ſo far as is revealed to them, and I know no other way that is urged than this, but to manifeſt the Grace of God upon the…r hearts, the work of God upon them.
And for the matter of Covenant, only to profeſs a willingneſs to joyn with ſuch a Society of People in all the Ordinances of Jeſus Chriſt, ſo far as they know, ſuppoſe I ſhould not be convinced of this particular Ordinance, or the other particular Ordinance, if there be a willingneſs to walk in the Ordinances of Chriſt ſo far as I know, this is the uttermoſt that is required, and for the other it is only for edification, but for neceſſity, I know none that do require it. Now what an eaſie Yoke is this? that one ſhould come to be partaker of al the priviledges of the Goſpel, and all the Ordinances that Jeſus Chriſt hath be truſted his Church with, and this is al that we muſt come, and profeſs our willingneſs to walk with all the People of God in all the Ordinances of Jeſus Chriſt, ſo far as is revealed to them, is there not an eaſineſs in this to a Gracious heart, Certainly, this that is complained of hath no great difficulty in it.
Object. I but you wil ſay, There is more difficulty than this, It is required that every one ſhould watch over another, a narrow watching over one another in their waies, and obſerving one another, and this is true, a carnal heart cannot do it, we were wont to have a looſe kind of way, that we lived in a Church communion one with another, and never knew one another, perhaps never ſaw one anothers face in all your lives, but when you came to the Sacrament, and whatever evil you had heard of one another, you never minded their reformation,
Anſw. Now it is true, That in the way of the Goſpel, when the Saints are joyned together in that way, they muſt and ought to watch over one another, And what great burden is this to a Gracious heart? to a carnal heart it is true, all the waies of God are burdenſome, but to a Gracious heart it is an eaſe, that there ſhal not only be my own care, and the Grace of God in me to watch over me, but I ſhal have the uſe of al the Graces in the al Saints of God to watch over me, And is here any hurt in this? It is an honor that God puts upon thee, that he gives not only his Angels charge over thee, but all his Saints a charge over thee likewiſe. A Prince hath a great Guard for the ſafety of his Perſon, and that is the honor of a Prince, he cannot go alone ſo as others do, but muſt go with a Guard: Now as the Prince in an outward way, ſo the Saints in a ſpirituall way, they are dear to Jeſus Chriſt, and therefore they ſhall never go up and down, but they ſhall have their Angels to have charge over them, But what have they charge over them for? it is as the Scripture ſaith, that they ſhould not daſh their foot againſt a ſtone, they have charge over your Bodies in a more peculiar way, and the Saints have charge over you in a more ſpiritual way: now that you ſhall have Angels to watch over your Bodies, and I make no queſtion but they keep Satan off from hurting of you, and then you ſhall have the Saints of God with whom you ſhall live eternally in Heaven, and they ſhall watch over you for your ſpiritual good, and ſo they ſhal communicate all their Graces, and Gifts, and they are bound in Conſcience, ſo to do, and this is a great eaſe to a Gracious heart.
Object. I, but you wil ſay▪ there is another difficulty, if ſo be we fall at any time, then we muſt give publick Satisfaction, if we fall into that which gives publick offence there muſt be publick Satisfaction given, for private offence we▪ muſt give private Satisfaction, and Oh! this is a heavy Iron yoke to a carnal heart, if we ſhould come to ſuch a reformation as we deſire, Oh! what a burdenſom thing would every carnal heart think it? let me look now to my walking, I cannot do as I was wont before time, let me be never ſo vile, do what I will, I could give a Proctor a little mony, or an Archdeacon, or a Commiſſary, or the like, and then let the Miniſter and the Congregation do what they dare, Oh! this is fine and eaſy to a wicked and corrupt heart. But now to come to this, that whatever you are, Rich or Poor, if you fall into ſcandalous ſins, it is not making freinds this way or that way, or to a Miniſter, no, but you muſt come and make publick confeſſion, & give publick Satisfaction, and this is a yoke that is hard to a carnal heart, but to a gracious heart it is eaſie. What difficulty to a gracious heart is this? I have publickly diſhonoured the name of God, and now I come publickly to repaire the name of God that I by my ſins have darkned, and done hurt unto, I come now to repaire it openly, nay, what eaſe canſt thou have till that be done? certainly, if thy heart be throughly humbled for the ſins of thy ſoul, wherein thou haſt ſinned publickly againſt God; if thou haſt ſinned ſecretly, then Chriſt requires not publick Satisfaction, but if thou haſt ſinned publickly, what more ſuitable to thy heart if Gracious then this? Oh! that I might publickly repaire the honor of God, that hath publickly been diſhonored by my ſin? how canſt thou ſleep, or die before thou haſt done this? I cannot poſſibly ſee how ſuch a man or woman can die quietly, and go out of the world quietly, except they have had ſome opportunity to repair the honor of God publickly, as they have ſinned publickly, and therefore this is not a way of puniſhment and p…nnance for thy ſin, but a reſtorring of the honor of God that thou haſt impaired, and this is that that is no burden un…o a Gracious heart, the ſin indeed is a burden, the ſin is a ſhame; it is a ſhame to me that I ſhould ever diſhonor the bleſſed God, that hope to receive ſuch great ſatisfaction from God, it is fit that I ſhould come and repaire the honor of this God, Oh! this is the honor of a Chriſtian, and therefore I beſeech you have no hard thoughts of the waies of Jeſus Chriſt in his Church.
And conſider yet further, for the eaſineſs of it, that Chriſt gives a charge to all his Saints, that if thou be humbled and giveſt Satisfaction, that they ſhould reſtore thee with all meekneſs, and Gentleneſs, and if there ſhould be any one that ſhould inſult over thee, and any way deride and ſcorne thee certainly, Jeſus Chriſt will reckon with ſuch a one for that, and there is no ſin that goes more againſt the Spirit of Jeſus Chriſt, then For any one to inſult over thoſe that come in the trouble of their ſpirits to repaire the honor of God that they have impaired by their ſins. Chriſt requires that every one ſhould mourn with thee, as thou art ſorrowfull and lamenteſt over thy ſin, ſo they ſhould have their hearts melt for thy ſins, and ſhould endeavor to have their hearts ſenſible of thy ſins as thou art, and and they that are acquainted with the waies of Chriſt in his Church, they have found it ſo, they have found all the Congregation aſwell to fall a lamenting and burſting ou… in tears aſwel as thy ſelf, thou burſting out in pea…es for thy ſins, and they praying and ſeeking unto God that he would forgive thy ſins, and al the congregation doth thi…, now is not this better, then … ſhould go on to rancle in his ſin, is in not better that he ſhould come into a Congregation, and give glory to God and lament it before him, and all the Congregation lament, and they all ſend up their ſighes and groans for pardoning of this offender, and reſtoring of him, and for the lifting up the light of Gods countenance upon him, if your heart were humble, you would find it a great d…ale of eaſe, for the truth is, you cannot expect to have eaſe before you have done this, thoſe that have offended, though they have gone in their cloſets and ſought God, yet have had no reſt but upon this, now God doth uſually grant abundance of eaſe, peace, and joy in Chriſt, that it is a thouſand times more eaſe to their ſpirits, then for them to go on in their ſin, and let their ſin ranckle.
And further, Chriſt in the goverment of his Church will not have any officer over you but whom he appoints; indeed in a Civil State, they may appoint taskmaſters, and what officers they pleaſe, but now in a Church State, Chriſt appoints every officer, and therefore all that rabble of Commiſſaries, Archdeacons, Deans, and Deanes and Chapters is gone away, for there ought to be none ſuch, and it is a great eaſe unto the Church of God to bee rid of them.
And again, you are to have none forced upon you, but what you your ſelves ſhall yield unto, they cannot in a domineering way ſay, you ſhall have ſuch a Miniſter. It was enough before, that if a wench in an Alehouſe, or an Hoſtler ſhould have an uncle die, and leave them to be his heire, and an Advouſon belonged to him, this Wench that lives in an alehouſe, or an Hoſtler, Should have power to ſend any fellow that he will, if he can give account of his creed in Latin, to ſend one a hundred miles, or one that they never ſaw in all their lives, and they to whom he was ſent, muſt take this man to have charge over their ſouls, to depend upon this man for diſpenſation of all the ordinances of Jeſus Chriſt as long as they live together, here was a burden. But now the way of Chriſt is, that there ſhould be none that ſhould take the Charge of Souls to diſpence the ordinances of Chriſt, but ſuch as the people themſelves ſhall chooſe to themſelves, that they ſhal be ſatisfyed in before, and that they are faithful, and that they are fit by the gifts and graces of the ſpirit of God to take charge over their ſouls, and to diſpence the ordinances of Chriſt in a right way, is not this now a great deal of eaſe?
And further, what a great deal of eaſe is in the waies of Chriſt in his Church, when the officer is ſuch as Chriſt appoints and you approve?
And further, when they are there, they have no liberty to make any new law, but juſt as Jeſus Chriſt hath made, they cannot obtrude any thing upon you to beleeve and do, but they muſt ſhew that Jeſus Chriſt would have you to beleeve and do the ſame: Now in Civil ſtates, it is otherwiſe, there you may be required to do things that you cannot find directly in the word, if it be a thing that the officer thinks reaſonable to be done, if it be not contrary to the word, it is enough, if it be a thing rational, that may ſuite with the publick good of a Country, or Kingdom, it is enough: but now, when it comes to the Church, the Church officers, it is not enough for them that there is nothing in the word againſt it, but they muſt have it out of Gods word, and this is a great eaſe, that I ſhall have nothing impoſed upon me but what Jeſus Chriſt would have me to have, and to do many other particulars might be ſhewed for the opening of the yoke of Chriſt, differing from the yoke of the Civil State.
Yea, And Chriſt requires nothing to be done in his Church, but what he would have a Reaſon given for it, but if a Prelate did but ſit at his Table amongſt his Cups, and write but a line or two, what a diſturbance was there thereby, unto many thouſand Congregations? he never came to them himſelf, but meerly he commands, and they muſt do it. But now the commands of Chriſt are otherwiſe, whatever is required of them from Chriſt, they may require a Reaſon of it, they are to be ſatisfied themſelves in the Reaſon of the thing, and how Chriſt requires it before they ſubmit unto it. Indeed, I am not bound in a Civil State to ſatisfie my ſelf in all they do, but I may-think that they underſtand more of the Civil good than I do, but it is not ſo in a Church ſtate, the meaneſt in a Congregation is not to ſay, the Miniſters and Officers they know more than I, and therefore though I ſee no Reaſon to the contrary, I will ſubmit: Now Chriſt hath ſuch a tender care over every one of his members, that whatever they do they muſt know it themſelves, they muſt do it in Faith, they muſt know how this comes out of the word, and they muſt do it then in Faith, now what an eaſe is this? and if men did know this, how readily would they come under the government of Jeſus Chriſt? it is as great an Argument of the carnality of the hearts of men, that they having been under the yoke of Antichriſt, and now they have ſome inkling of the yoke of Chriſt, that they cry out of it, and ſay, they had rather be in the former way; juſt as the Children of Iſrael▪ they deſired to go back into Egypt again, and they liked not their deliverance, but would fain have gone back to their bondage again; and hath there not been the ſame murmurings in the hearts of men▪ that they would willingly return to their former bondage? Oh, it were juſt with God that we ſhould return back again to Egypt, to our former condition, and …wo unto us if we ſhould come to this, to return unto our former condition again: But for any of you that deſire to fear the Lord, and keep your Conſciences cleer, and that walk in the way of eternall life, I appeal to your Conſciences, what is there that I have named to you that would not be eaſie in your ſpirits? What difficulty would there be in the waies of Chriſt in the Church? Truly, I have told you the main difficulties, and I have dealt plainly with you in this thing, the chief difficulties in all the outcry in the world about the waies of Chriſt in his Church I have told you. Now is there any Gracious heart, (if I ſhould ſingle out any Gracious heart) that would count this a difficulty? & truly, we ſhould not only think it eaſie, but we ſhould pray for the government of Chriſt, for his government is better than the government of Antichriſt. We muſt know that if we be thoſe that profeſs Chriſt, we have certainly need of all the Ordinances of Jeſus Chriſt, and they are not inſtituted in vain, and therefore if you have not been ſenſible of them heretofore, Labor to be ſenſible now, for if you did underſtand your ſelves, you would ſee a need of them, and thoſe that have had them, they have found this yoke of Chriſt to be very eaſie, and the other yoke to be a very heavy yoke unto them.