An Appeal to the Churches of Christ for their Judgment, To the reader
To the Chriſtian Reader.
HAving named thee Chriſtian, we account thee one of the very beſt or very worſt in all the world; like thoſe figgs (Jer. 24. 3.) If good, very good; If bad, very bad; or like the Vine (Ezek. 15) If fruitfull, the very beſt; If barren, the very worſt; worſe than thornes and briars, theſe will ſerve to ſtop a gap better than Roſes or Roſemary; Theſe ſerve for ſome uſe, ſo not a barren Vine, nor a See D. G. Triall of growth. p. 19.barren Chriſtian; he doth but cumber the ground, he ſhall be taken away and caſt into the fire, ſaith the Lord, Joh. 15. 2. 6. 26. His being a branch in Chriſt, (which we muſt obſerve in paſſage) ſhall not help him at all, but rather further increaſe, and haſten his condemnation, being to be underſtood in reſpect not of internall implantation, but externall profeſſion; he hath the viſibility of a branch, not the reallity; not by any internall communion, but outward profeſſion, as a branch that hath no coalition with the tree, nor receiveth any juice or nouriſhment from it; ſo neither hath this perſon any inward participation of efficacy from Christ; he is in Him by outward baptiſme only, but not baptized into Chriſt by the inward work of the Word and Spirit (in thoſe that are growne up to yeares, for the Spirit workes alone in Infants as wonderfully, as is the knitting and growing of the bones in the womb of her that is with Childe) whereof he gives cleare evidence, not having put-on Chriſt, nor walking in Him, he is not united to Him; he hath no communion with Him, no participation from Him of life and holineſſe, therefore he muſt be taken away, and caſt into the fire. It ſhall be dealt unto him as unto the barren Vine, which being not for fruit, muſt be for fewell, Ezek. 15. 4. Once more and more plainly, Thou art as the Jew was, If indeed a Jew, and inwardly, he was one of the excellent of the earth. But if one outwardly, and in name onelyonly, he was the baſeſt of all men. A very provocation to God, and a very abomination; for, ſaying he was a Jew, he blaſphemed, Rev. 2. 9. and a very loathſome perſon he is among the living in Jeruſalem, Chriſtians indeed, being dead while he liveth, and then continuing ſuch, how dead will he be when he dyeth, being twice dead; now dead as to that death we are all involvedin by nature; and dead to all the means of quickening, and plucked-up by the roots; in no capacity now by the ſent of water to revive and quicken againe, which ſoareſt judgement can befall none but the Jewes then and Chriſtians now. This being a point of ſo great and general concernment, In our tendereſt love unto Thee, we take leave to be more large that we may be more plaine about it. And truly our Drift is to remove ſome grand-miſtakes, relating to this Name and Thing we commonly call Chriſtian or Chriſtianity; There are ſome errours about it, which we have heard or reade ſome-where, may be called Beelzebub-errours, being as pernicious, we thinke, and damnable, as any hereſie can be: ſo as, if we are taken with them, we are fearfully miſtaken, and undone for ever; We would narrow theſe things what poſſibly we can. This is the firſt grand-errour.
1. That the Civil honeſt man, he is the Chriſtianman, who attends only the Negative Commandments, Thou ſhalt not kill. He hath obeyed God therein, for he hath layd violent hands upon no man. Nor hath he committed bodily adultery with Maide or Wife; he ſtands cleare to God as to that matter alſo; nor hath he violently taken away any mans goods, a ſin to be puniſhed by the Judges, he is cleare at that point too; He minds Affirmative precepts as wel as the Negative, though he underſtandeth them not at all, in their comprehenſive ſenſe or latitude. This is the Chriſtian man though, And his negative godlineſſe, he is neither drunkard, nor murtherer, whore-maſter, nor theife, ſhall intitle him to Church-communions here, and to fellowſhip with the Saints hereafter.
A grand a Beelzebub errour! That any man living under the means of ſalvation, inſtructed out of Gods word dayly, ſhould get paſſe for a Christian, and knowes nothing as he ought to know touching the depth and breadth of the myſtery of original ſin, nor of the myſtery of the dutyes comprehended in Gods law, and then nothing at all of the myſtery of Grace by Jeſus Chriſt. A Chriſtian, though but in his owne conceite; for he is indeed, living in a land of viſions, much worſe than is the worſt heathen, though you ſuppoſe him a Sodomite, or a worſhipper of the Devil.
2. There is another miſtake much the ſame with the former: That there is a middle perſon or a middle ſtate between good and evil, godly (in Chriſt Jeſus) and ungodly (out of Chriſt.) The truth is, there is nothing between good and evil, light and darkneſſe, no medium of participation between theſe extreames. Solomon, Eccleſ. 9. 2. rankes all in two orders, ſo doth a greater than Solomon, our Lord and Master, Math. 5. 45. This is the dichotomie, the diviſion that runnes through the whole world, righteous or wicked, good or bad, cleane or uncleane; good and evil in a remiſſe degree may be mingled in the ſame perſon, but no mans perſon is in a middle ſtate between good and evil. And ſuppoſe him, as here we muſt, to be a Christian, he is very good or very bad, the beſt in all the world, or the very worſt; there is not an allmoſt a Chriſtian in all the world, he is altogether or not at all a Chriſtian, & then worſe than can be the worſt heathen in all the world. And it is a pernicious conceite to thinke the contrary, and mindes us how Mr Smith, an able Preacher in his time, argued the deadlineſſe of that Conceite (take it in paſſage) The woman in travel was almoſt delivered, not altogether, which coſt the life of the Mother and the Infant both. It is ſo in Chriſtianity, in a Christian land we meane, where Chriſt is preached, to be almost a Chriſtian, that is, to be altogether an heathen and worſe, though the worst among the heathens.
It matters not then, where thou, or we ranke our ſelves; and as little where our Miniſters rank us, nor what account we have of our ſelves, nor how our Miniſters reckons of us, or deales forth unto us. What are we in Scripture account, among whom doth the word of God ranke us? we have read ſome-where, That Scripture-Chriſtianity is as farre different from that, which paſſeth for Chriſtianity in the account of moſt men, as the Sun is from a Glow-worme, which is but a ſlimey earth-worme, and caſteth ſome luſter in a darke night. Therefore for the remooving of this miſtake, let us heare what the holy Scripture ſaith, Thou mayst be more chained-in than is another from running-ut into the ſame exceſſe of riot; but if this be all, this is nothing at all to render thee a Chriſtian. This is the Diviſion; Thou art changed in thy nature, and in thy actions, or not changed; renued in the ſpirit of thy minde, or not renued; renued in the out ward-man in practiſe and converſation, and in the inward man in thy minde, yea in the ſpirit of thy minde, if not in both, then in neyther of both; Thou art of the firſt Adam, in whom all dye; or taken out of him by the glorious worke of the Spirit of Grace with His word, and brought-up to the ſecond Adam, in whom all are made alive; thou art dead or alive, dead in treſpaſſes in ſinnes, or being quiokened by the Word and Spirit, thou art alive to God. In a word, for we would faine remoove this miſtake; Thou art light, or thou art darkneſſe; and doe not dreame, as thou regardeſt thy pretious ſoule; for it is but a dreame that there is a middle thing betwixt theſe extreames, thou art marvelouſly light, or marvelouſly darke, light it ſelfe or darkneſſe it ſelfe. If light in the Lord (Eph. 5. 8. 1 Pet. 2. 9.) then how marvelous is that light! if darkneſſe, how great is that darkneſſe! When the light that is in thee is darkneſſe, and while the Sunne of the Goſpel ſhines round-about thee: we ſay againe, how great is that darkneſſe, the greater and more hideous, the more glorious the light is.
And let not that which looks like light deceive thee, nor thy looking more like a Chriſtian than others may doe; thou wilt be the worſe for that, for looking like a Chriſtian, and not one indeed, thou wilt looke like an Ape in Chriſtianity, whoſe great deformity is, (And therefore we hold in great ſcorne to be likened unto an Ape) in this, becauſe he is ſo like man. Copper, we know, is never rejected but when it would paſſe for ſilver; The Devil was never ſo like himſelfe as when he ſeemed covered with Samuels Mantle, or looked like an Angel of light; as a Chriſtian in name only lookes never ſo like a Devil, as when he lookes like a Saint at the Lords Table.
3. A third miſtake, and if we miſtake not one of the greateſt magnitude, what Chriſtianity or a true Chriſtian is? He is one (the common conceite) that doth performe ſome knowne dutyes, and abſtaineth from groſſe ſins, This is well and to be commended, but if this be all, we know who condemneth it to the lower moſt hell; for what is it, in dread of that wrath that is written, ſhall be the portion of thoſe familyes who call not upon Gods name, (Jer. 10. 25.) to pray in thy cloſet, and with thy family, and then goe to Church, while yet thou doeſt ſpeake and doe evil things as thou canſt, Jer. 3. 5. onelyonly for ſhame of the world thou abſtaineſt from groſſe ſinnes. All this is ſearce Chriſtianity in forme, it will hardly render thee a Chriſtian dealbatum, whited over to uſe Mr Calvins word upon Mat. 23. 27. At the most, all this and more than this makes thee but like a dead corpes, as ſomtimes thou haſt obſerved ſtuck with ſweet flowers all over it, or like a dunghill covered with ſcarlet.
To caſt-out this Beelzebub-errour, pray to God for his eye-ſalve, that thou mayſt ſee and perceive, heare and underſtand; That a forme of Chriſtianity is nothing in power, it is but a forme. That a name without the thing is worſe than nothing; like a dreame, that an hungry man is eating, who, when he is awakened, feeleth himſelfe hungry and ſeeth nothing. It is like a Title without reality, a miſerable comfort, to be titularly rich, and really poore. To beare-up a mans ſelfe upon fleſhly priviledges is an high preſumption, and the higher thou art built-up upon it, the more terrible thy ruine will be; for if the fleſh of Chriſt profiteth nothing, Joh. 6. 63. And if we now know not Chriſt after the fleſh, 2 Cor. 5. 16. leſſe muſt we know a Chriſtian after the fleſh, becauſe he bath ſome carnall or fleſhly priviledge: Well; he is not a Chriſtian then who hath no more but what we may call fleſh, ſome outward thing; but he is a Chriſtian truly and indeed, in whom Chriſt 2 Cor. 13. 5. Col. 1. 27.himſelfe is the hope of his glory; for Chriſt without us, all that glorious Redemption wrought by him, but a broad and without doores in the world, can profit us no more, than cloaths on anothers backe, or meate in anothers ſtomack, or the ſpirit of holineſſe in anothers heart; A Chriſtian indeed is Chriſt in the ſoule, the Anointing of Chriſt, the new creature, the divine nature, the image of holineſſe rooted in the heart, and fruited in the life; he is, as the whole Church, and every part is, the habitation of Eph. 2 22.God by the Spirit. He is godly in Chriſt Jeſus; the power of godlineſſe is in him, and with him, his whole converſation is a meere mortification, a very hell to fleſh Perpelua na… violentia.and blood; he is ſtill offering a ſacred violence thereunto; he prayes, and in prayer, prayes earneſtly; he heares, and he heares in hearing, he heares as for his life, in deſire and indeavour that he may heare, and live. There is no duty he performes, but it putteth him to coſt; a meere outſide Chriſtian, not ſo, he will heare and pray, but all this he can doe with little or no trouble, all his care is for this, that his fleſh be put to no coſt; he would rather performe an hundred thouſand Religious dutyes, than to put himſelfe to the torment of crucifying one luſt pleaſant or profitable. Once more.
This Chriſtian indeed ſpeakes of the Sacraments, as the holy Scripture doth, contemptibly of them, when theſe are reſted upon, and gloried in, as they are by the outſide-man, this Chriſtian in name onelyonly. Circumciſion is nothing, and availeth nothing; Baptiſme as little, and availeth as little. The Paſſeover is nothing, and availeth nothing. Receiving at the Lords Table is as little, and availeth as little. The new creature is all, and doth all, and receiveth all, the Lord Christ and all, our Paſſeover ſacrificed for us. Thus contemptibly as the ſacred Scripture doth, he ſpeaketh of the Sacraments, when as aforeſaid. But when the Inſtitution is obſerved, together with the proper uſe of them, and bleſſed intendment the Lord Chriſt had in the inſtituting of them, then as the Scripture doth, ſo doth he ſpeake gloriouſly of them. And ſo we come to the fourth.
4. The fourth miſtake, as great, and deadly, as any of the former, How thou cameſt to thy Chriſtianity? or how thou waste made a Chriſtian? The common conceite is, and a meere conceite it is, That to be ſprinkled on the face with water makes us Chriſtians; This was our conceite, and we are ſure tis thine, if thou art not truely a Chriſtian? Thou wast baptized, and ever ſince in thine owne account, and others, a Chriſtian. Thou art not wholly, or alltogether miſtaken herein, yet ſuch a miſtake there may he that may procure thee deſperate ſorrow at the end of thy dayes, when thou art launching forth into the wide Ocean of Eternity, where thou muſt continue for ever, eyther everlaſtingly bleſſed, or vnſpeakably miſerable for ever and ever.
Outward Baptiſme gave thee thy name Chriſtian; but there is a worke wrought within by the Spirit and the Word on Gods part, and faith on thine, that gives with the Name the thing, and the name without the thing is nothing, and renders thee worſe than nothing, a meere vanity, a thing of nothing. All holy actions come from within firſt, and thence to the outward man: A Chriſtian, within firſt, then, ſure enough, he is one without. Therefore to remove this grand errour, or to doe what we can, obſerve well what was hinted before, and we can but repeat it now. It is the voice of Chriſt in the Miniſtry of His Goſpel, heard, obeyed and beleived, that makes us true Chriſtians. All the Angells in Heaven, much leſſe all the waters in the Sea, are not able to turne one ſinner upon earth, and make him cleane, that is, make him truely Chriſtian; but the Word in the Spirits hand, having the Lords ſeale of Inſtitution upon it, that onelyonly can doe it. Now put this to thy heart as thou canſt. Hast thou heard God ſpeaking his Word unto thee? that is, hath the Spirit. ſpoke the Word to thy ſpirit, which the Miniſter ſpake to thy eare? (as farre as he could poſſibly carry it, to the eare, and ſo farre when time was, his hand bare the water to the face.) Hath thy heart heard the Word, has thy ſoule been liſtod up to it? And in making anſwer hereunto the Lord God chargeth thee not to hearken what thy owne heart ſayth, the moſt notorious deceiver, the verieſt jugglar in the world; no nor what the Miniſter ſayth, if he ſpeakes his owne words, which are but his dreames, and not the words of his God, being as his mouth and ſtanding in his ſtead. Hearken what the Lord ſayth in his Word, That thou art not made Chriſtian, if the Word in the Spirits hand hath not made a thorow change in thee, as well of thy nature as of thy actions, This is the onelyonly meanes, where and when God gives them, whereby we are tranſlated from darkneſſe to light; from death to life; life and mortality is brought to light to the ſoule by the Goſpels voyce, or the voyce of Chriſt in the Goſpel; which alone quickeneth the dead, awakeneth the ſleeper, bids him ſtandup for his light is come; Put it then to the queſtion, Haſt thou heard this voyce? Thou hast; Then thou art a Chriſtian indeed; Thou haſte not heard this voyce, Then thou art, as was ſaid, worſe than an Infidel in the remoateſt parts of the world, being but a waſhed heathen, and doeſt ſlightingly paſſe over the meanes, whereby thou mightest underſtand thy caſe, and the way to better it: And now if thou wilt ſeale the Stone upon thy graves mouth, and make thy condition irrecoverable, (which we would be as loath Thou ſhouldeſt doe, as that thou ſhouldeſt thruſt thy ſelfe upon the mouth of a Cannon charged againſt thy breaſt with a Bullet of a tallent weight) yet if thou art reſolved to undoe thy ſoule for ever, hasten (ſo Sathan, and thy fooliſh heart will adviſe thereto, and thy Miniſter will admit thee) together with the heards and droves of men in thy caſe unto the Lords Table, to receive Chriſt there, whom thou haſte rejected in the Goſpel; This will doe it, and nothing more certainly than this, for there thou ſhalt eate and drinke damnation to thy ſelfe, not diſcerning the Lords body. Therefore deſire of the Lord He would make thee ſerious in this matter. Hath the Word been prevailing in thy ſoule, to make thee a childe, a ſonne or a daughter? Then thou haſte the heart of a Childe to thy heavenly Father; Thou wilt breake his Commandements as willingly and ſtudiouſly as thou wilt thy bones; and offend Him, with full conſent of will, when with the ſame will thou offendest the apple of thine eye; And now thou mayeſt be aſſured He hath the heart of a Father towards thee; Thou haſte the priviledge of a Childe, a warranted right to all Church Communions here; thou art inſtated-in and poſſeſſed-off, being new borne, all thy ſoule can deſire, open the mouth of it never ſo wide; OnelyOnly we repeate againe, make it thy worke and thy very buiſneſſe to make this ſure to thy owne ſoule, thou art borne againe. Its meere preſumptioneſſe, as holy Bolton ſayd to his deare Children when he was dying, To thinke that God will receive our ſoules to heaven, whom He hath not renued here on earth; This being a grounded truth, for a man to be alwayes the ſame, he was from the womb, borne a childe under wrath, and in that ſtate dying, is certaine and irricoverable death.
Oh! this undoes many, even all that are undone, are undone by it; As they never dreame of a change, which death will one day make upon them, ſo they never deſire a change, that grace in this preſent life ſhould worke on them, Therefore heare the Counſell that worthy man Maſter Burgeſſe gives thee; As Job ſayd of the change by death, He would every day waite till his change come, Job 14. 14. Doe thou ſay of this change by grace, I will every day pray, heare, reade, meditate, mourne and roare out before God, every day and all the day long, till this ſpirituall change come; And doe not accept of the Miniſters invitation to the Lords Table (though thou findeſt him very gentile and courteous this way) before this change be wrought, or in a way of working; for heare what that worthy Man ſayth; Heathens, Fornicatours, Idolaters, Adulterers, Theeves, Covetous, Drunkards, Revilers, Extortioners, became waſhed and cleanſed by the Word; but waſhed Fornicatours, Idolaters, &c. we meane, Baptized Drunkards, Theeves, Covetous, Theſe ſit under the Word and reforme nothing, but make a ſcorne of it. What may be the reaſon? Why? They live in the practiſe of knowne ſinnes, and in the neglect of knowne dutyes, under the dayly exerciſe of the Word, and yet frequent the Lords Table, which hath provoked a ſpirituall Cenſure, and ſorest judgement, now wholly inflicted upon them; whence it is as the Clay under the Sunne, ſo theſe become more obdurate under the Word, from which judgement the Lord deliver thee and us all.
But beware of this as thou tendereſt thy life, (therefore we caution thee againe,) That thou dost not goe to the Lords Table in a conceite, preſumption rather, thou ſhalt receive Chriſt Jeſus the Lord there, whom thou haſte not received in the Miniſtry of the Goſpel. Remember and forget not, The rocke ſhall not be removed out of his place, as was ſpoken by Job, that is, God will not change the courſe, which He hath ſetled as firmely as the Rockes, or as the Earth, He will not alter His method, nor goe out of the way He hath preſcribed; His Word ſhall profit thee firſt, before any thing elſe ſhall or can; thou muſt keepe cloſe to His way, if thou lookeſt to attaine His end.
We intended more to thee, ſo dearly we love thee, as to minde thee well, there are but two Maſters that can be ſerved, and to which of theſe thou art an obedient ſervant, the Apostle will tell thee. Rom. 6. 16, 17, 18. (2) And as there are but two rankes or ſorts of people, whereof before, ſo alſo but two wayes, the roade way of the world, the broad way; the roade way of the Lords redeemed ones, the way of holineſſe, where the uncleane cannot paſſe, nor any Lion can be, nor ravenous Beaſts, being a ſtraight and a narrow way, which theſe cannot indure, And thou muſt certainly know in what way thy foote walketh, for ſuppoſe it the narrow way, and thou wilt finde thy fleſh pinched, if not tormented. (3) And that there are but two Manſion houſes, where thy ſoule anon, and thy body anon after, muſt dwell that long day, or night of eternity, the narrow way tendeth to the one, the broad way to the other; If now thou wilt conferre with fleſh and blood, we know what way thou wilt chooſe, the broad way, and hell to be thy Manſion houſe for ever; for though thou mayſt have, as the wicked may have, a Velliety, a faint will for Heaven, to dye the death of the righteous, and that thy laſt end may be like his; yet, walking in that broad way, the ſtrength of thy will carryeth thee hell-ward, that horrid place of darkneſſe, Therefore give-up thy hand to God, having fixed thy eye upon His Word, and ſay, Lord plucke me into the way, and leade me in it, and ſuffer me not to decline from it.
In all this we intended to be more large; And to touch lightly upon other things alſo, the ſubject matter of the following diſcourſe, but this well digeſted and pondered-on may ſuffice; And it will be ſufficient, though thou readeſt not one word of the Booke; for ſuppoſe thou art made a Diſciple indeed, a Chriſtian in truth, thou wilt ſeperate from the world, at the Lords Table, nor wilt thou eate, that is, familiarly converſe with the men of the world, unleſſe neceſſarily (as a Phyſitian with the ſick) having thy warrant for it, thou mayſt convey good unto them, and thine owne affaires may require it. And (2) Thou canſt no more obſerve the day, the men of the world call Chriſtmas, than thou canſt prophane the Lords day; for thou mayst have heard that one being asked whether he did obſerve the Lords day, keeping it holy? Yes, ſayd be, for I am a Chriſtian. And doe you obſerve Chriſtmas day, to keepe it holy? No, ſaid he, for then I were no Chriſtian, unleſſe in name, and that is nothing indeed. A true Chriſtian flees from Idolatry, for what hath he any more to doe with Idols? And be will not put up his Petitions in anothers words, he praiſeth God for what he hath received, he prayeth to God for what he would receive; he confeſſeth the ſinnes he hath committed, all this with his owne mouth: He uſed ſet formes of Prayer, when time was, hee was a Chriſtian in name onelyonly; but now that he is, through grace, a Chriſtion indeed, he remembers heartily, that a prayer by the Booke left him as cold as it found him, it had no more heate in it, than hath cold Iron or froſt, and had he not layd them aſide, he had proved a Christian when an Ape prooves a man; he bares himſelfe-up as formerly, upon the crutches then, as others now doe, and he was as well in his owne conceite as others now are; bare formes never put the fleſh to any paine; But to feele no paine, Comes, we know, from the rottenneſſe of the fleſh as well as ſoundneſſe. A dead Chriſtian, ſuch as he, that hath but a name that he liveth, feeles no paine, hee preſumes all is well with him, and preſumption being a ſinne of mans-ſelfe flattering-heart, meets with no trouble; though he be deſperately wicked, that is, deadly ſick unto death, yet aske him how he doth, and he ſayes well, for he was baptized when time was, and dealt with as a Saint, he thankes his good Miniſter, ever ſince he grew up to the yeares of underſtanding. But little doth he know how hardly that diſeaſe is curable, that is ſo like to health; Ille morbus vix ſanabitur, qui ſanitatem vinitatur.one ſayth, ſeldome or never; and he addeth, None are more deſperate than thoſe, that are leaſt deſpairing in their owne ſelves, through not of the grace of God; preſumers therefore are in the more deſperate condition, by how much they are the leſſe deſpairing. But what a ſad thing is it that men ſhould preſume they are rich and want nothing, when they are miſerably poore and want all things, we will pitty thoſe deluded mad men, who are perſwaded, they are ſuch great perſons, and have ſuch large eſtates, when in the meane time they lye miſerable and wretched bound up in chaines in a darke dungeon; ſuch a ſpirituall madneſſe is upon moſt, and this renders them more mad, if more can be; they were baptized, and upon that Infant priviledge, have free admiſſion to the Lords Table, without making the leaſt profeſſion of faith and repentance, wherein it comes to paſſe, that as they live like mad men, ſo they are like to ciye, being ſtrongly perſwaded ſtill upon principles of Infant Baptiſme, That, they are Diſciples and Saints, while they are Drunkards and Devills; they are ſheepe and lambs, when they are dogges and ſwine; And call themſelves grapes and figges, when they are thornes and thiſtles, to uſe, and ſo to end with that Learned Mr Burgeſſe his words:
Love, that ſpares no coſt, nor feeleth any burthen, hath drawne us-out thus farre, conſider what hath been ſayd, meditate upon it, be wholly in it, and ſo doing, whoever fareth ill, thou ſhalt fare well.
FINIS.
End of the text · Hezekiah Woodward, An Appeal to the Churches of Christ for their Judgment (1656)