Section 3: Some Reasons Why These Differences Are Permitted to Arise Among Christians

If it would not offend my Readers, I would here come to an ingenuous Confession, that the different Sentiments and dreadful Quarrels of Christians about some of the lesser Things of Religion, and the dark and dubious Expressions in Scripture, wherein some Parts of our Religion are revealed, have sometimes been a sore Temptation and Sorrow to my Heart, so that I have wished these doubtful Disputables had been more clearly determined there. I have been plunged into the Briars of this Perplexity, when I have seen Persons of devout Soul, serious and humble, dissent so widely from each other, both in Opinion and Practice, and that in Matters of some Moment too, and even after long and honest Inquiries into the Meaning of God in his Word.

Under these Difficulties I have said in my Heart, Why did not the God of Wisdom and of Love express every Article of Belief and Duty in Words of plainest Revelation and Precept, that we might have all read the same Sense, and been all of one Mind? Why did he leave the least Point of our Religion dubious or obscure, when, with a long Foresight, he surveyed all the Quarrels and Rage, the infinite Scandal, the Cruelty and the Blood that in future Ages would be the Consequences of Religious Disputes?

I have been pained at my Soul, and felt an inward afflicting Heaviness in such a Meditation as this; nor could I ever satisfy myself with that profane Answer which some witty Men have given, namely That God, who might have made the Rules of our Duty plain and undisputed, chose to express them in Words capable of several Interpretations, that Christians might be liable to be led into many different Opinions, that hereby God might please himself with the Variety of Devotions that were paid him; and that how different soever their Sentiments and Practices might be, yet that his Commands are equally obeyed by all the various Kinds of Worship and Service, which the Consciences of Men sincerely conceive themselves bound to offer. This Notion inclines to that wild Opinion, which supposes that any Forms or Methods of Worship are all equally acceptable to God, and that there are more true Religions than one: This savours so much of the Deist and the Libertine, and the Disciples of the Leviathan, that I could never admit it into my Assent.

Yet it must be granted that his Wisdom had some very valuable Ends to attain in the Way of Providence, by permitting so many Differences amongst Christians; and if we had been Secretaries to the King of Heaven when he formed his Decrees, we might have known perhaps some of these awful Arcana of his Government; but who has been his Counsellor, or to whom has he given an Account of these Matters? His Paths are in the great Deep, and his Providences are trackless through the mighty Waters; how unsearchable are his Ways, and his Judgments past finding out! I dare not pretend to write a complete Rationale on all his infinite and impenetrable Designs; yet my Faith assures me that they have all the highest and divine Reason in them. And I will take the Freedom here to mention some of those Considerations that have silenced my clamorous Thoughts, pleased my Enquiry, satisfied my Conscience, and vanquished the dark Temptation.

First, By these doubtful Disputables among the accidental Things of Religion, God tries our Sincerity, whether we will hold fast the Substantials. The Constancy and Courage of a Soul devoted to God is exercised and proved amidst the Clamours and noisy Contests of the Men of Party and angry Zeal; and when it perseveres in a Course of Christianity, notwithstanding all these Stumbling Blocks, it approves itself to God, its Judge and Rewarder. The Differences of true Christians in some Parts of their Faith and Worship, have frighted and scandalized the Hypocrite and the giddy Professor; their Heads have been turned round with every Wind of Doctrine, because their Hearts have not been established in the Way of Holiness; they have cast off all the Articles and Practices of Religion, because they find so many Sects divided by their little Particularities, and cannot precisely determine every Circumstance of Truth and Duty.

There were Divisions and Parties, Schisms and Sects in the Corinthian Church, and they must be, says the Apostle, that they that are approved may be made manifest among you, 1 Corinthians 11:19. Our Lord Jesus forewarns his Disciples, that Offences will come, and it is not possible that it should be otherwise; there shall be Variance and Strife in a Man's own Household: But blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me; he that perseveres to the end the same shall be saved, Luke 17:1. Matthew 11:6. There are many things in the Christian Religion that become Stones of stumbling, and Rocks of Offence; blessed are the upright that hold on their Course and Resolution for Heaven, and whose Feet stumble not upon these dark Mountains, because of their Neglect to search out the Truth, or their wilful Obstinacy in dangerous Errors.

Secondly, Not only our Sincerity towards God, but our Charity towards fellow-Christians is hereby put to the Trial, and Charity is the very Livery of the Disciples of Christ. Hereby shall all Men know that you are my Disciples if you love one another, John 13:35. The Lord has commanded all his Sheep to wear this Mark of Distinction from the World, how different soever their lesser Opinions are among themselves. Where I behold the Image of Christ my Lord stamped in legible Characters upon my Neighbour, can I love him with warm Affection, though he never frequents the same Place of Worship with me, though he wears a Garment of another Shape and Colour, prays in a set Form of Words which I cannot perfectly approve, and subscribes a Creed of different Expressions, though the same in Sense and Meaning? Can I receive this good Man into my very Soul, who eats nothing but Herbs, and will not sit down at my Table because Flesh is eaten there? Can I love him at my Heart that loves Jesus the Lord, though he will not religiously observe the Festival of his Birth or Ascension? Or do those little Words Christmas and Holy Thursday set my Heart at a Distance from him, and make him forfeit all my Charity? Such Queries as these may be a Touch-Stone of our Graces, and the Test of true Love to Christ and his Saints.

There seems to be something of this Design in our Lord Jesus Christ, when he ordered his Servant Paul to write the fourteenth Chapter to the Romans, where the Apostle, though he gives a Hint of his own Opinion and Liberty in the Gospel, with regard to Meats and Days, yet he does not impose the same Observations and Abstinences on other Christians; and though he was inspired, yet he leaves these things still indifferent, and calls them doubtful Disputations. Now as the Trial of our Faith, through manifold Temptations, is much more precious than that of Gold that perishes, so the Trial of our Love passing through the smoky Fires of Contention and Dispute, and not mingling therewith, is discovered to be a pure divine Flame, and shall be found to Praise, Honour and Glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen we love, 1 Peter 1:7.

Thirdly, Perhaps our Lord might leave some lesser Points of Religion more obscurely expressed in his Word, because he designed to continue a Ministry in his Church to the End of the World, or till he came again. While other Christians have their Hours and Thoughts engrossed by the Cares of this Life, and want Leisure and Skill and Means to acquaint themselves with all the difficult and more abstruse Parts of Religion, it is the Business of the Men that are honoured and employed in the sacred Office to give themselves to Reading, to search into the hidden Things of God, and explain the more doubtful Paragraphs of his Word unto Men.

I grant that the first and grand Design of their Studies and public Labours should be to preach the Gospel of the Grace of God and Reconciliation by Jesus Christ, and to make the necessary Articles of Faith and Practice plain to the meanest Soul: But a Minister is also required to converse not only with those Scriptures which will make him wise to final Salvation, but with those also which may thoroughly furnish him to every good Word and Work, 2 Timothy 3:17 that he may know how to speak a Word in Season to every weary Soul, and to draw Consciences out of Perplexity which are vexed with Scruples of less important Things; to instruct them in the Mind and Will of Christ about the Methods of his Worship, and the Order of his Church, to show them the Pattern and Fashion of the House of God, and all the Ordinances, and the Forms and the Laws thereof: And that is a Part of his Duty, at proper Seasons, in some of his public Ministrations; for he must conceal nothing of the Counsel of God from them, that may be useful or profitable to Men: The Methods of his Worship, and Institutions of his Gospel, should be treasured up in his Heart; and upon proper Occasions, of private Visit and Conference, the Lips of the Priest should make it appear that they keep Knowledge, that the Law may be sought at his Mouth, for he is the Messenger of the Lord of Hosts, Malachi 2:7.

Not that every Man is bound to pay an implicit Faith and blind Obedience to the Opinions and Dictates of his Bishop or Presbyter. This is Popish Slavery wheresoever it is practised, and Popish Tyranny where it is commanded: But Christians ought to give due Attention to the Advice and Counsel of such as are set over them in the Lord, Hebrews 13:17. 1 Corinthians 16:15, 16. Such as are solemnly devoted to the Ministry of the Gospel, and have addicted themselves to the Study and Search of the Scriptures, and are chosen by the People to be their Teachers, and set apart for that Office in the Way they best approve; and so far as their Advice is conformable to the written Word, they are to receive it as from some of the Messengers of Christ.

We may humbly suppose a fourth Design which God had in his Eye when the sacred Penmen wrote so many Verses of Holy Scripture, which God knew were so difficult to be interpreted; and that is, that no Christian might put the Bible out of his own Hands, or neglect to read and meditate and study the Word of God; and that together with their Reading they might constantly implore the Presence of the Spirit, the Enlightener and the Comforter, to lead them into all Truth. It is the Duty of every Man, so far as his Capacity and Opportunities of Life will admit, to study the holy Scriptures himself, and to see with his own Eyes what he must believe, and what he must practise.

We should imitate the Example of the noble Bereans, Acts 17:11 who searched the Scriptures with Diligence, and brought the Sermons of Paul himself unto that sacred Touch-stone, to see if the Things which he spoke were true or no: And after all our Study, we shall find such Difficulties that will convince us of the Necessity of depending upon a higher Teacher, even the Holy Spirit. Our blessed Saviour commands that we search the Scriptures, and pray for the Spirit too, John 5:39. Luke 11:9, 13. And St. Paul prays unto God that he would give to the Saints which were at Ephesus, that Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation to enlighten the Eyes of their Understanding, Ephesians 1:17. This Unction which true Believers have from the Holy One, makes known to them all Things necessary to Salvation, 1 John 2:20. And though we have no Ground to expect that he will unfold to us every lesser Difficulty, while we live in this World; yet we may humbly hope that in those Things which regard the Forms of his own Worship, and the Means of his own visible Glory amongst Men, he will by Degrees let some divine Rays of Light into the Mind of him that seeks after Truth with great Diligence, fervent Prayer, and more sincere Designs. There are many Instances to be given of plain Christians that have been made the Favourites of the enlightening Spirit, and have arrived at uncommon Knowledge in Christianity by these Methods.

A Fifth blessed End, and which is certainly attained in the Providence of God, by leaving so many Disputables in Religion, is, that our Souls are hereby drawn out to long for Heaven, and pant after the State where there is no Contention, no Dispute. This Prospect renders those happy Regions more desirable whilst we are here, and more abundantly welcome hereafter.

It is impossible that any Controversy should there arise to interrupt the Worship of the Church triumphant. It is eternally impossible to divide them into Parties, or to disturb their Repose. The Doctrines of their Profession are all written as with Sun-Beams, they are no longer the Articles of Faith, but the Objects of Sight: We shall be all taught of God, we shall see Face to Face, and know as we are known. So much of the Holy Spirit dwells in all the Saints, as a perpetual Spring of Revelation and Wisdom. The Discipline of that Church can occasion no Disputes, for the Son of God, in our Nature, is the Pastor or Bishop, he keeps the Keys of Heaven in his own Hands, and the Keys of Hell and Death. The Soul that is once admitted into that Fellowship shall abide like a Pillar in the Temple of his God, and shall go no more out; but the Hypocrite and the Unclean shall never enter there. The Worship that is paid there is with perfect Uniformity of Mind and Affection amongst all the happy Spirits; an unanimous Consent in Self-abasement, divine Honour and Love; and perhaps when our Bodies shall be raised again to make a visible Church in Heaven, Worship may be performed with a glorious Liberty, and with such a pleasing Variety of Form as glorified Nature shall dictate, and our exalted Reason approve; but still with the Exercise of the same perfect Love and Delight among the Worshippers, and under the Influence of the same Spirit.

O the Happiness of that upper Region, where all the Inhabitants are of one Mind and one Heart! Every Doubt shall forever vanish, for we shall behold all Things without a Cloud. In thy Light, O Lord, we shall see Light and enjoy it. Every Quarrel shall forever cease, for we shall dwell in the Land of Harmony and Love. Though our Capacities, perhaps, may be of different Sizes, yet we shall see all divine Truths in the same Light, and therefore our Sentiments, at least in Things of Importance, shall differ no more. We shall be united to each other in the same Band of Love, nor can our Affections be separated any more forever. That Light and that Love springs from the ever-blessed God; God the Creator communicating himself to all his holy and happy Creation, and holding them fast to himself forever, in and by that glorious Person Christ Jesus his Son and Image. For in him must all Things be gathered together in one, and all Things reconciled unto God in him, whether they be Things in Earth or Things in Heaven. Then shall the Prophecy of Zechariah be fulfilled, The Lord shall be King over all the Earth, there shall be one Lord, and his Name one, in the fullest Meaning of that Expression. Nor shall the Saints be distinguished by different Parties or Denominations, but their Hearts and their Names shall be all one. According to those Expressions of inconceivable Glory, wherein our Lord describes the things which are truly unspeakable, all the Saints shall be one, as thou Father art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us, John 17:21.

O with what Pleasure have I often read, and methinks would be always reading, those Words of a great Man spoken on the Funeral of his fellow-Saint. When Death shall have disencumbered and set us free from all sorts of Distempers, and brought us into the State of perfect and perfected Spirits, how delectable will the Society be, when all shall be full of divine Life, Light, Love and Joy, and all freely communicate as they have received freely! But above all that is conceivable in that other State, how delectable will their Society be in Worship, in the unanimous Adoration of the ever blessed God, Father, Son and Spirit! O the inexpressible Pleasure of this Consociation in Worship perpetually tendered with so absolute a Plenitude of Satisfaction in the Dueness of it, and the Gustful Apprehension of what those Words import, Worthy art thou, O Lord: Each one relishing his own Act with just Self Approbation and high Delight, heightened by their apprehended perfect Unanimity, and that there is among them no dissenting Vote. Whence it cannot be but to worship God in Spirit and in Truth, must be to enjoy him, and that he is not under any other Notion, a satisfying Object of our Enjoyment, more than he is the Object of our Worship.

These are Beams of Celestial Light for Souls to drink in, and to live upon them while we are passing onward to these fair Mansions through a Wilderness of Doubts and Darknesses. These are Words of Harmony and Love to entertain our Ears, and make us deaf to the Noise of a wrangling and disputing World. This is a Heaven worth wishing for, while we are travelling to it through this tiresome Earth, this unhappy Stage of Vexation and Controversy. To this let us look with Eyes of ardent Expectation, and the devoutest Wishes of Souls. To this let us all aspire and hasten, who have groaned long under our own Ignorance, and been burdened and grieved with the Quarrels of the Christian Churches; and whatsoever Name or Party we have chosen in our divided Opinions, let us unite our Hearts and Voices in this loud Request, Come Lord Jesus, Come quickly. Amen.