dwelling in them after the manner he dwelt
in Chrift, though not in that measure; for
God dwells in Chrift and Chriftians otherwise
than in the rest of the Creatures; to wit, by
communicating his nature to them through
his union with them: And wherever God
communicates his nature, there he is prefent
moft truly, powerfully, and gloriously in-
deed: And fuch a prefence of God in his
Church as this, keeps it in conftant and un-
changeable unity: For how can they who
have God thus dwelling in them, and who
again thus dwell in God, be at odds among
themselves?

And this is the feventh Bond of the true
Churches Unity:

ONE GOD AND FATHER, &c. Who break Now they break this Bond of the Churches unity, this bond of who have not this one God and Father of the

Unity.

Church to be their God, and their Father, who will needs call God Father, and yet are none of his Children; who will be of the Church of God, and yet are not born of God; and fo live according to their own natures, and not according to Gods; all thefe, 1 fay, break the unity of the Church, seeing we can no longer live in peace, than this one God and Father is above us, and through us, and in us. All they then that will needs be Members of the Church through outward profeflion, and yet are none of this Spiritual Brotherhood, as having no defcent from this Heavenly Father, they break this unity of the Church, even all the Children that are only born after the flesh, and fo ftill live according to the natures of men, and are not born of the Spirit, to live after the nature of There God.

other bondof

the Churches

These now are the feven Bonds of the true unity, be- Churches true unity and peace; and there is no fides these

other

ed thing to

other Bond of unity necessary for the Church, befides thefe: For if there had, the Apostle being guided by the Spirit, would never have omitted it. And therefore the more are they to blame, It is a wichwho making a great noife, and lifting up their cry up Univoice one high for unity, peace and agreement in formity, in the Church, yet do wholly neglect these feven Bonds this Unity, the ftead of of the true Churches unity, and cry up one instead of them all; and that is External Uniformity. So that now among them, one Body, and one Spirit, and one hope of our calling, and one Lord, and one Faith, and one Baptifm, and one God and Father all, are nothing at all to the Churches Unity, but their Uniformity is all in all; and whoever breaks that (which yet they have no Scripture of God to enjoyn, no nor once to name) he is the man with them, that breaks the Churches peace; and fo, Antichrift-like, they have exalted their fingle Uniformity above this feven-fold unity of the Church, and fo have (as much as in them lies) made the word of the Spirit void, through their carnal (that I fay no more) traditions. For a Man may break all these seven Bonds of the Churches unity, and yet be a very good member of their Church, if he only obferve their uniformity: But if he break this, he is a Schifmatick, and an Heretick, and not worthy to live in their account, though he live in all the Bonds of this true and Spiritual unity.

Wherefore to escape these Snares, let all Believers know affuredly, that these seven Bonds named by the Apostle, which are all Spiritual, and of God, and not one of them Carnal, or of Man, are the only Bonds of the true Churches true unity; and that whoever of their own minds prefume to add to thefe, are guilty of adding to the word of God, themselves being but wretched Creatures; and fo involve themselves in all the

P 3

Curfes

Curfes written in his Book, among which, Death and Hell have their place. And let us further know, that whoever do combine together to make themselves one, out of the fore-named unity, though they call themselves the Church never fo much, yet they are but Sects and Schifms, and Divifions, and Factions rent from the true Church of God; for fuch Men choose and frame to themfelves fome fmgular way of worship, form, or der, &c. whereby they think they excell other Chriftians, and fo caufe the fimple and ignorant (which are the multitude of People) to follow them, especially having countenance of worldly Authority; by which means, both they and their Followers depart from the true unity of the Church: For when this feven-fold Spiritual Unity is neglected, Christianity is torn in pieces, into as many Sects as the World and Devil please, till there be no footsteps left, either of Faith or love. So that whatever thefe men pretend, most certain it is, that all Confederacies in the Church, of outward Orders, Forms, Rites, Laws, Ceremonies, Difciplines, which are neceffarily enforced by the Secular Power, feduced by the Ecclefiaftical, will never hold the Church together; but all these are, and have proved, and will prove rather a wall of partition in the Church, than a Bond of Union; and if they seem to work Union, yet it is no other than the mingling clay and iron together, which no Pains nor Art can perfectly compound. For all Peace and Union in the Church, knit by other Bonds, than are here named, is no Spiritual Union, neither will it ftand.

And therefore dear Chriftians, and Believers, feeing we have feven Bonds of Unity, all of Gods own making, to make us one, let not diversity of Forms and Rites, which are but forry things of

mans

mans making, feparate and divide us; but seeing each of these Bonds are able to make us one, how much one, fhould all of them together make us?

mong Belie

in the com

And thus having fhewed from the word, how How the all Christians and Believers are made one by God, God hath the next thing I fhall aim at, is, to fhew how wrought athey may continue one among themselves, in re- vers, thould ference to that Communion they have with one be preferv'd another, whilst they Sojourn in this World, flow-munion, ing from the former union; that fo all darkness which they and mistakes, which now, even many Believers in this world are grievously inwrapped in, may be difpelled and with one adone away, and we may live in this pure and perfect union with one another in God, making all outward things fubfervient hereunto, and none of them prejudicial.

And to this purpose I conceive, we are,

1. To know fome things, And

2. To do other things:

have here

nother.

To preferve

And both otherwife that peace than yet we feem,

ther to know or

them.

ei-felves, we do have in Chrift.

among our

we muft

know fome things other

Particularly

1. To preserve our peace we have in Chrift, we must be inftructed aright in the matter of the Churches GOVERNMENT, because the mi- wife than ftake in this thing is fo great a Cause of Contro- we do. verfie and Divifion among us at this day. For if the Churchthe true Church hath its true Government, without es Govera any fuch Forms, and Laws, and Power, as is now fo earnestly contended for, there is no reason we fhould fall out and divide for these things.

ment.

Now the Government of the Church, is two- Church Gofold.

vernment

two-fold.

1. There is that Government, which God exer- Immediate. cises immediately by himself.

And 2. That Government which he exercises mediately, and by the faithful.

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The

Mediate.

Gods imme. The first of these, that is, Gods immediate Government, is also two-fold:

diate Government two-fold.

1. The Go

vernment of

1. The Government of his Special Providence.
2. The Government of his Spiritual Prefence.

his fpecial
The first fort, of Gods immediate Government of
providence, his Church, is the Government of his Special Pro-
vidence, and this is a moft ftrange, wonderful and
glorious Government. This was that Government
of God, over the Church of Ifrael, when he took
his own Nation, out of the midst of another Na-
tion, by temptations, figns, wonders, by a strong
hand, and a stretched out arm, and great terrors,
when he led them through the red Sea, and
through the Wilderness, in paths that were not
trodden, when he fed them with Bread from Hea-
ven, and water out of the Rocks; when he fuf-
fered no man to do them wrong, but reproved
even Kings for their fake, and through multi-
tudes of Enemies and oppofitions, led them into
the Land of Canaan. Thus God led that Church
from Bondage to Liberty, from Tribulation to
Quietness; from a fordid Condition, to Honour
and Renown; from a strange Land, to a Land of
Inheritance; and from flavery to a Kingdom.
And this was a glorious Government indeed,
standing in Gods immediate conduct from Hea-
ven, far above all humane Councels, Wisdom,
ftratagems, or any thing else of mans contriving
and acting; and this Government of God is fo
far beyond all humane apprehenfions, that ac-
cording to this, it is faid, His way is in the Sea,
and his path in the great waters, and his footsteps are

not known.

And is not this kind of Gods Government of the SpiritualChurch of the New Teftament, every whit as wonderful and glorious, as was that of the visible Church of the Old Teftament? For though the beginning of it was small and low in

the