I love it above gold. We ufe to put a price upon things that are rare: what makes Jewels to be of that worth, but for the rarity of them? Unity, hearty love, fweetness of communion among brethren, is now a very rare thing, a fcarce commodity, let us prize it the more, and you who do enjoy it, blefs God for it. 10. The more confused, broken, and troublesome we fee things to be, the more let our hearts be ftirred up in prayer to God, putting him in mind of all thofe gracious promises that he hath made to his Church for peace and union: Lord is it not part of thy Covenant with thy people, that thou wilt give them one heart? haft thou not faid that they fhall ferve thee with one houlder haft thou not told us that thou wilt make Jerufalem a quiet habitation, that thou wilt take away violence, that there fhould be no pricking bryar nor grieving thorn? 11. Those whofe confciences can witneffe to them, that it hath been their great care not to enwrap themselves in the guilt of these divifions,but they can appeale to God that they have endeavoured after peace fo far as they could with a good confcience, let them blefs God for this mercy, it is a great deliverance to be delivered from the guilt of thofe divifions. Deut. 33.8. Of Levi he faid, Let thy Urim and Thummim be with thy holy One, whom thou didst prove at Maffah, and with whom thou didft ftrive at the waters of Meribah. Maffah fignifies tentation, and Meribah, contention. Places and times of contention are places and times of tentation. Now if God fhall prove us at those places in thofe times, and we be found upright, this will bring a bleffing upon us. At thofe waters where the people murmured, contending even with God himselfe, Aaron (though there was fome weakneffe in him) yet kept himselfe from being involved in the guilt of that finne of contending with God. And Sol-farchi, with other of the Hebrewes, fay, that the Levites were not in that finne neither; which they thinke that place Malachie 2. 5. refers unto, My covenant was with him of life and peace, for the feare wherewith he feared me, and was afraid before my name. The feare of God was upon Levi, at that time he dared not contend as then others did, and therefore my covenant of life and peace was and is with him. We have been these three or foure yeeres at these waters Kk 2 of IO. II. of Maffab and Meribah, God hath tryed us. How happy are WH CHA P. XXXI. The Cure of our Divifions. Hat gracious heart is not cut afunder with griefe for thofe fore and fearfull evils that there are in, and come from our divifions, and is not even the fecond time cut afunder with carefull thoughts in it felfe, what may be done to heal them? Mart. 6.25. Christ forbids that carking care that cuts our hearts,when it is in matters concerning our selves, yea for our lives, un μsequrāts, take no thought for your life, so it is in your bookes: but the word fignifies, Doe not take fuch thought as should cut your hearts afunder:fo v.28. rí prejμvãte; why doe you divide your hearts and ver.3 1. μὴ μεριμήσητε, and ver. 34. un μseunonte again. But though this charge of Chrift be doubled and doubled againe, against our carefull dividing cutting thoughts about our felves, yet for the uniting the hearts of the Saints together for the good of the Church, this heart-cutting care is not onely allowed, but required, 1 Cor.12. Tò aỨTÒ ÚTES 25. That there should be no fchifme in the body, but that the members should have the fame care one for another. The words are, That the members may care,the fame thing one for another, and that with dividing, cutting care, that there might be no fchifme in the body. The word that is here for care, is the fame that in the former places in the 6. of Mat. is forbidden. The expreffions of my thoughtfull cares about this work, is the fubject at this time: When I fet my felf about it, my heart doth even ake within me at the apprehenfion of the difficulty of it. There are some diseases that are called opprobria medicorum, the difgraces of Phyfitians, because they know not what to fay or doe to them; or if they do any thing it is to little purpose. If there be any foule-disease that is opprobrium Theologorum, the difgrace ἀλλήλων με ειμνῶσι τα μήλη. difgrace of Divines, it is this of contention and divifion. How little has all that they have studied and endeavoured to do, prevailed with the hearts of men? What shall we do? Shall we but joyn in this one thing,to fit down together, and mourn one over another, one for another, till we have diffolved our hearts into teares, and fee if we can thus get them to run one into another? Oh that it might be, what forrow foever it costs us! : We read fudges 2.12.3,4,5. the Lord fent an Angell from Gilgal to the men of Ifrael; who told them how graciously he had dealt with them, yet they had contrary to the command of God made a league with the inhabitants of the Land, for which the Lord threatned that they fhould be as thorns in their fides. When the Angell fpake thefe words to the children of Ifrael, the people lift up their voice and wept. And they called the name of toat place Bochim, a place of tears. Their fin was too much joyning, joyning in league where God would not have them thofe whom they joyned with, God told them should be thornes in their fides. Upon this they wept, and that fo fore, that the place received its name from their weeping. But oh that the Lord would fend his Angell, yea his Spirit to us,to convince us of our evill, that we to this day have not joyned in fure league one with another, but are thorns in the fides of one another and that after fo many mercies, fuch great deliverances from our bondage, from the rage of ungodly men, yea that we are fo false one to another, though the Lord hath never broke covenant with us, which was the heart-breaking argument the Angell used, ver. 1. Yea the Lord hath done abundantly for us beyond our hopes,defires,thoughts, and that after all this there fhould be nothing but breaches and divifions amongst us, that we should be not only thornes, but speares and swords in one anothers fides, piercing to one anothers hearts. Are we the children of Ifrael? Let our hearts then break for the breaches of our hearts. Let them break, and melt, and mourn,and bleed,and refolve that nothing fhall comfort them, but peace with our God, and peace one wth another. 2 That one Text, I Thef. 4.9. were enough alone to pierce our hearts through and through. As touching brotherly love, ye need not that I write unto you, faith the Apostle, for ye your felves are taught of God to love one another. Oh Lord, what are we in these Kk 3 dayes dayes fuch kinde of Chriftians as these were? Oh that it were fo with us,that we had no need to be wrote to, to be preached to,concerning this.Does it appear by our carriages one towards another, that we are taught of God to love one another? But that God may teach us this day, attend to what fhall be faid to you in his name, which I fhall caft into these five heads: 2. Zoyning Principles. 5. Conclude with Exhortation. Wherein we fhall endeavour to fet before you the beauty and excellency there is in the heart, union, and mutuall love of Chriftians. I fhall not need to be long in thefe: For take away Dividing Principles, Dividing Diftempers, Dividing Practices, and be thoroughly convinced of the evill of divifions, and one would think our hearts fhould of themselves run into one another. But that I may not feeme to leave our wounds open, fo that aire fhould get into them, but endevour the clofing of them, and fo the healing, I fhall speak fomething to thefe five Heads: The first joyning Principle. In the middeft of all differences of judgement,and weaknesses of the Saints,it is not impoffible but that they may live in peace and love together. Iweakneffes, there may be IF notwithstanding the differences from Gods mind,and many peace and love between God & his Saints: then furely notwithstanding these things,the Saints may be at love and peace among themselves. Let this be laid for a ground, and let our hearts be much poffeffed with it, we shall finde it very helpfull to our clofing. Away with that vain conceit which hath been the great difturber of Churches in all ages, if men differ in their judgement and practice in matters of re ligion, ligion,though it be in things that are but the weakneffe of godly men, yet there must needs be heart-burning and divifion. Let all peaceable men deny this confequence, Let us not fay it will be fo, and that our words may be made good afterwards indeed make it fo: certainly the connection of them, if there be any,is rather from the corruption of our hearts, then from the nature of the things. I have read of two Rivers in the Eaft, Sava and Danuby, that run along in one channell threefcore miles together, without any noyfe, and yet they keep themselves diftinct, the colour of the waters remain diftinct, all along why should we not think it poffible for us to go along clofe together in love and peace, though in fome things our judgements and practices be apparently different one from another? I will give you who are Scholers a sentence to write upon your Study doores, as needfull an one in these times as any; it is this : Opinionum varietas,& opinantium unitas non funt'Acúsala.. Variety of opinions, and unity of those that hold them, may ftand together. There hath been much ado to get us to agree: we laboured to get our opinions into one, but they will not come together. It may be in our endevours for agreement we have begun at the wrong end. Let us try what we can do at the other end: it may be we fhall have better fucceffe there. Let us labour to joyn our hearts to engage our affections one to another: if we cannot be of one mind that we may agree, let us agree that we may one minde. be of Eccl. Hi.lib. Eufebius records a Letter that Conftantine fent to Alexander Eufeb. of the and Arius, before he apprehended the groffeneffe of Arius his lite of Conherefie, conceiving them to differ but in fmaller things, he ftant. 2 cited: endevours to reconcile them: For that (fayes he) the things where- by Socrates in you differ,concerneth not any waighty fubftance of our Religion, there is no reason why it should breed at all any divifion in minde, difcord in doctrine; and this Ifay not to compell you in this light question, of what fort foever it be, altogether to condefcend unto the fame fentence and though you diffent amongst your felves about a matter of fmall importance, (for neither truly are we all in all things like minded, neither have we all the fame nature and gift e,or engraft |