7 "wicked, and godliness is ever despised by them; of which Lac- tantius + affigns this reafon, That he who fins, wants to have a free opportunity of finning, and thinks he can no otherwise enjoy fecurely the pleafure of his ill deeds, than when there are many who delight in the fame faults. Hence they study to destroy and cut off root and branch, those who are witnef⚫fes of their wickedness, and they cannot endure that good mens lives fhould be a reproof, as it were, of theirs. There•fore by the friendship of the wicked, piety is endangered.' We have fome amongst us, that put on a form of godliness, but have denied the power thereof: of fuch ‡ Bernard in his time thus complained: Woe to this generation, which hath :the leaven of the Pharifees, which is hypocrify: If indeed ́ ́that should be called hypocrify, which now through its prevalency cannot be hid, and through its impudency feeks not to be hid. At prefent rottennefs and corruption affects the whole body of the church, and the wider it spreads, the more defperate; and the more inwardly it spreads, the more dangerous: for if an heretic, an open enemy, fhould rise up, he would be caft out; if a violent enemy, the (i. e.) the church) would perhaps conceal herself from him. But now, whom fhall the church caft out? or whom fall fhe hide herself ⚫ from? All are friends, and all are enemies; all are in mutual connexions, as relations, yet in mutual contests, as adverfaries all are fellow-members of one family, yet none are promoters of peace: all are neighbours, yet all are feekers of their own things: by profeffion fervants of Chrift, in reality they ferve Antichrift: they make an honourable figure ly the good things they have received from the Lord, while, at the fame time, they give no honour to the Lord. I will fay of thefe men, My foul, come not into their council; my glory, be not in their assembly. But there are many others, zealous of peace and truth, agreeing in fundamentais, and standing equally against the common enemies of the reformed religion, who, notwithstanding, differ (alas!) about matters not neceffary to falvation, and 1plit into oppofite parties, and caufe ftrife: while this fierce contention fpreads itself among the brethren, it affords a continual occafion to their enemies to infult and moleft them. Could any one find out a remedy for this epidemical distemper, he would deEee 2 + Lactantius on Juftice, b. 5. p. 382, 383. : ferve well of the church; but fince the experience of so many years has put it beyond doubt that it is difficult, or indeed im practicable to accomplish this by fcholaftic disputes, or by op preffing the confcience with penalties; it were more adviseable to fopite all their debates, than, by fruitless ftrife, to tear afunder the church; and in fine, to have recourse to that which is the most useful, if not the only rule for promoting peace, Phil. iii. 16. Wherein we have already attained, let us walk by the fame rule with which agrees well that moft wholesome advice given by Toffanus to the college of Tubing, in the following words: All bitter railings and accufations ought juftly to be laid afide, and the judgment of these matters in debate left wholly to the Son of God, our Lord Jefus Chrift, and to our own pofterity, who, not being authors but fpectators of the debate, will judge more impartially about it. Our adversa<ries ftill live and become bolder every day; they make it their business, night and day, to plot and contrive how they may • extinguish the light of the gofpel that has arisen, and bring < ancient darkness; in the mean time, we who, at first, with one accord, by God's grace, preached the gospel, do now, with < weapons of death turned against one another, rufh mutually ⚫ on deftruction; thereby exhibiting a delightful spectacle to ⚫ our enemies, who place more of their fafety and confidence ⚫ in our contentions, than the weak foundation of their own ⚫ cause.' Let us therefore frequently confider that of the apoftle, Gal. V. 15. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not confumed one of another. What Cicero faid of the difcords of great men, our countryman Davenant scruples not to affirm concerning those of the churches, That they commonly end, either in the ruin of both parties, or in the unjust tyranny of that fide which overcomes. It is greatly to be feared, that every one, by these continual and fierce debates, is haftening (may God prevent it) his own ruin: yet I doubt not but that all dif cords amongst the godly might be extinguished, whatever fome may alledge to the contrary, if the minds of fome were freed from the violent emotions of fufpicion, anger, and envy. Be hold, brethren, what a seasonable and proper foftening plaister our skilful Phyfician hath applied to us all at this time. God grant it the defired effect, left the fcar not being right closed up, the wound should break out again. The godly in every place lament the present deplorable ftate of the church; and, from the deftruction of fome, do, conjec ture what danger hangs over all, + Hence let contending nations know, What direful mifchief's from their difcords flow. Certain it is, that all wife and good men on both sides, (however they differ among themselves) are unanimous in this at leaft, That these are not times for ftrife, but times that call for prayer and reformation; for, fuch are the prayers they every where offer up: May God turn the heart of the fathers to ‹ the children, and the heart of the children to the fathers, left •he come and fmite the earth with a curfe. These do not well ⚫ confult their own intereft, who, because of difputes among the learned, perhaps never to be ended, will needs be tearing the church by perpetual divifions. Our brethren, that seriously 'profefs they differ from us in smaller matters of religion, for • no other reason, than a fear of offending, these ought to be • embraced with the greateft affection. Let all caufes of of• fence be presently removed, that we may not stumble twice on the fame stone. If we fall upon it again, we are broken in pieces. We will not grant them this praise, that they are more ftudious of peace and concord than ourselves. You may ' re-exact a conformity in fundamentals and things neceffary in religion; but in matters of indifference, and not abfolutely neceffary, you may give a larger liberty. No body should ' affume to himself a liberty of dividing the church, and diffol· ving brotherly unity on fuch a ground as neither Chrift, nor "the apoftles, nor the primitive church in its pureft state would "ever have approved.' It must be confeffed, that all kinds of controverfy will never be at an end; nevertheless we can bid farewel to all difcord; for variety of opinions, and unity among those that hold them, are not things inconfiftent. Why should there dwell in the breaft of a Chriftian, the fiercenefs of wolves, the madness of dogs, the deadly poifon of ferpents, the cruel favageness of beafts? as Cyprian long fince complained. That is (faith Gregory) a new and unheard of manner of preaching, that forces a belief with ftripes: therefore let all bitter railing and accufa tion be gone; May the God of peace bring all into order and peace. III. Efpecially and above all, I humbly beseech you, that, ha ving laid afide all defigns of fmaller importance, you would mind this one thing, how you may gain to Christ the fouls com + En quo difcordia gentes mitted to you, to which all earthly things are to be postponed. This is the labour, this the work incumbent on us. Put far from you a vile, niggardly sparing of your gifts, an immoderate care for worldly things, an exceffive indulgence of the vile body. Let it not feem much to us to spend a little fweat for the fake of thofe fouls for which Chrift fo willingly and plentifully poured out his own most precious blood. If we hide the Lord's talent in a napkin, where shall we find a napkin to dry up our tears of blood for fo bafe a crime? Remember, brethren, that it will be required at our hands, how we have spent every portion of that time which is given us; how much of it have we already loft in unprofitable filence! But among all the oppreffions, under which you have long groaned, I perfuade myself, there is none you have more forrowed for than that of being fo long withholden from feeding poor hungry fouls. The prefent opportunity is flippery, and may be loft, as to what concerns futurity, the clouds return after the rain. Up then ye fervants of God, mind this your business, and the Lord fhall be with you: don't regard the ufual murmurings of the flefh. Look forward to that heavenly crown: "They that be wife fhall fhine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness "as the ftars for ever and ever." With the hopes of this, let us rouze up and fortify our drooping hearts, against the mockings and troubles we may expect for the fake of the gofpel; What bowels of compassion ought we to put on, when we speak to such men of faving their fouls, and fhunning perdition, into which they may quickly fall, but who, in the mean time, have not the leaft thought about these things themselves? A famous author in Amefius * complains, That the words of life in fome preachers and teachers lips die away, as to any power or efficacy: For fo coldly and unconcernedly do they deliver the word of God, that it feems to die in their lips. Hence, as they themselves are cold and dead preachers, so they leave their hearers in a ✦ cold and dead frame. I knew one who left Paris for this rea fon, because he faid, he was more and more benumbed with the lectures and fermons he heard from day to day in that city; and was afraid, that if he ftaid much longer there, his foul would have perifhed with fpiritual cold: wherefore he join <ed himself to lively minifters, as unto live-coals; that fo by *Cafes of Confcience, book 3. p. 16. converfing with them, he night nourish and encrease an ho ly flame in his heart.' Lift up your eyes and behold the fields white, and ready to harvest; see how you are on every fide furrounded with crouds of poor hungry fouls, with open inouth and earnest looks beg ging piritual bread from you. If we have the bowels of the chief Shepherd in us, let us feed his fheep. Some are almost worn out with old age and various troubles: others leffen the majesty of fcripture by infifting much on things of little moment, and fill the ears of the multitude with a vain noise of words, or tickle them with smooth fpeeches. In fuch a situation, if you, who are furnished with all kind of gifts, and have fo full and fair opportunity, do not burn with zeal to God, and love to fouls; I tremble to look forward to the dreadful and wretched end of you all. IV. Lastly, I will conclude with a few things which I thought neceffary for ftudents of Theology, and candidates for the miniftry, who have at this needful time willingly devoted themfelves to this service, or are about to do it: We have long borne the burden and heat of the day; we are veteran, foldiers almoft worn out. The next age will poffibly produce more tractable minds, and men of gentler difpofitions than our times afford. I congratulate you on account of your birth especially, if your natural birth be, or fhall be ennobled and fanctified by regeneration: and this is the more reasonable, because all our famous chronologers and fearchers into times, who have bestowed much time and pains in that study, are big with expectation, like a woman big with child, past the time of her reckoning, who therefore expects her pains to come upon her every hour. It is very probable, that the day which all the prophets foretold, and all good men have, as it were with outstretched neck, been eagerly looking for, is now at hand. Do you, therefore, ye brave youths, the hope and defire of the reviving church, with eagernefs lay hold on this favourable opportunity of enriching your minds with all neceffary gifts. and endowments. Keep yourselves clofe night and day at your studies and most fervent prayers: He will make the best divine, that studies on his knees. And how fhall we contend for the truth, or defend it against the adverfaries, if we are destitute of gifts? Neither a good difpofition, nor the charms of elo quence, nor a graceful gefture, nor good manners, can com penfate for the want of gifts. But on the other hand, beware, brethren, left while the tree of knowledge every day thrives and profpers, the tree of life |