Section 1.
THE RECONCILIATION: OR AN EASY METHOD
TO UNITE THE PROFESSING PEOPLE OF GOD.
BY PLACING THE DOCTRINES OF GRACE AND JUSTICE IN SUCH A
LIGHT AS TO MAKE THE CANDID ARMINIANS BIBLE CALVINISTS, AND THE CANDID CALVINISTS BIBLE ARMINIANS.
Vestra solum legitis; vestra amatis; cœteros, incognita causa, condemnatis. — CICERO.
“Follow peace with all men. Look not every man on his own things [and favourite doctrines only;] but every man also on the things [and favourite doctrines] of others.” “The wisdom that is from above is peaceable, and without partiality,” Hebrews 12:14; Philippians 2:4; James 3:17.
SECTION 1.
The sad consequences of the divisions of those who make a peculiar profession of faith in Christ — It is unscriptural and absurd to object that believers can never be of one mind and heart. UNSPEAKABLE is the mischief done to the interests of religion by the divisions of Christians: and the greater their profession is, the greater is the offence given by their contests. When the men who seek occasion against the Gospel, see them contending for the truth, and never coming to an agreement, they ask, like Pilate, “What is truth?” and then turn away from Christianity, as that precipitate judge did from Christ.
Of all the controversies which have given offence to the world, none has been kept up with more obstinacy than that which relates to Divine grace and the nature of the Gospel. It was set on foot in the fourth century by Augustine and Pelagius, and has since been warmly carried on by Godeschalchus, Calvin, Arminius, and others. And it has lately been revived by Mr. Whitefield, and Mr. Wesley, and by the author of Pietas Oxoniensis, and the orator of the university of Oxford. This unhappy controversy has brought more contempt upon the Gospel for above twelve hundred years, than can well be conceived. Preachers entangled therein, instead of agreeing to build the temple of God, think themselves obliged to pull down the scaffolds on which their brethren work. Shepherds, who should join their forces to oppose the common enemy, militate against their fellow shepherds: and their hungry followers are too frequently fed with controversial chaff, when they should be nourished with the pure milk of the word. After the example of their leaders, the sheep learn to butt, and wounds or lameness are the consequences of the general debate. The weak are offended, and the lame turned out of the way. The godly mourn, and the wicked triumph: bad tempers are fomented; the hellish flame of party zeal is blown up, and the souls of the contenders are pierced through with many sorrows.
This is not all: the Spirit of God is grieved, and the conversion of sinners prevented. How universally would the work of reformation have spread if it had not been hindered by this growing mischief! How many thousands of scoffers daily say, Can these devotees expect we should agree with them, when they cannot agree among themselves? And indeed how can we reasonably hope that they should give us the right hand of fellowship, if we cannot give it one another? “By this,” saith our Lord, “shall all men know that you are my disciples, if ye love one another.” Continual disputes are destructive of love; and the men of the world, seeing us cherish such disputes, naturally conclude that we are not the disciples of Christ, that there are none in the world, that the Gospel is only a pious fraud or a fine legend, and that faith is nothing but fancy, superstition, or enthusiasm. Nor will such men be prevailed upon cordially to believe in Christ, till they see the generality of professors “made perfect in one,” by agreeing in doctrine, and “walking in love.” We may infer this from our Lord’s prayer for his Church: “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also who shall believe on me through their word: that they all may BE ONE, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that THE WORLD MAY BELIEVE,” John 17:20, 21. Christ intimates, in these words, the men of the world will never generally embrace the Gospel, till the union he prayed for take place among believers. To keep up divisions, therefore, is one of the most effectual methods to hinder the conversion of sinners, and strengthen the unbelief which hardens their hearts. The destructive nature of this sin appears from the severity with which St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians and Galatians, who were divided among themselves. The former he could not acknowledge as “spiritual men,” but called them “carnal,” and affirmed that “to their shame, some of them had not the knowledge of God.” And the latter he considered as persons almost “fallen from Christ;” intimating, that if they continued to “bite each other,” (an expression which is beautifully descriptive of the malignity, with which most controvertists speak and write against their antagonists,) they would “be consumed one of another,” Galatians 5:15.
In families and civil societies divisions are truly deplorable; but in the Churches of Christ they are peculiarly pernicious and scandalous:
(1.) Pernicious: to be persuaded of it, we need only consider these awful words of St. James: — “If ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom is devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work,” James 3:14, &c.
(2.) Scandalous: if Christ be the Prince of Peace, why should his subjects be sons of contention? If he came to reconcile Jews and Gentiles, “by breaking down the middle wall of partition between them;” if he “made in himself, of twain [of those two opposed bodies of men] one new man,” that is, one new body of men, “all of one heart and of one soul;” if he has “slain the enmity, so making peace;” if “it pleased the Father to reconcile all things unto himself by him;” and if “in the dispensation of the fulness of times [the Christian dispensation] he gathers together all things in him:” if this, I say, is the case, what can be more contrary to the Gospel plan than the obstinacy with which some Protestants refuse to be “gathered together” with their fellow Protestants, under the shadow of their Redeemer’s wings? And what can be more scandalous than for Christ’s followers, yea, for the strictest of them to spend their time in building “middle walls of partition” between themselves and their brethren, or in “daubing over with untempered mortar” the walls which mistaken men have built in former ages?
Many Jews refused to be saved by Christ, because he came to save the Gentiles as well as themselves. And it is to be feared that some Christians, from a similar motive, refuse the Divine favour, or the eminent degrees of it, to which they are called in the Gospel. Christ says to these bigots, “How often would I have gathered you together, as a hen gathers her scattered brood under her wings! but ye would not:” ye were afraid of your Calvinian or Arminian brethren, and preferred the selfish heat of party spirit, to the diffusive warmth of Divine and brotherly love. I say Divine, as well as brotherly love; for he “that loveth not his brother, whom he hath seen, how can he love God, whom he hath not seen?”
My regard for unity revives my drooping spirits, and adds new strength to my wasted body. f62 I stop at the brink of the grave over which I bend: and, as the blood, oozing from my decayed lungs, does not permit me vocally to address my contending brethren, by means of my pen I will ask them if they can properly receive the holy communion while they wilfully remain in disunion with their brethren from whom controversy has needlessly parted them? For my part, if I felt myself unwilling to be reconciled on Scripture terms, either with my Calvinian or Arminian neighbours, I would no more dare go to the Lord’s table, than if I had harboured murder in my heart; and this scripture would daily haunt my conscience, “Whosoever shall say to his brother, Thou fool, [thou silly free willer, thou foolish bound willer, thou heretic!] shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore, if thou bring thy gift before the altar, and there rememberest that thy [Calvinian or Arminian] brother hath aught against thee; leave thy gift and go thy way, first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. Agree with thine adversary quickly” — thy religious as well as thy civil adversary — him with whom thou differest about the gold of the word; as well as him with whom thou contendest about the gold of this world.
Not to be reconciled when we properly may, is to keep up divisions; and to keep up divisions is as bad as to cause them. And what a dreadful thing it is to cause divisions, appears from St. Paul’s charge to the Romans: “I beseech you, brethren, mark them who cause divisions and offences, contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned, and avoid them,” Romans 16:17. Avoid them, for those who have the itch of contention, and the plague of party spirit, are not only in a dangerous case themselves; but they carry about a mortal infection, which they frequently communicate to others.
Should party men exclaim against my reconciling attempt, and say that “there always were, and always will be divisions among the children of God, and that to aim at a general reconciliation, is to aim at an absolute impossibility;” I reply, —
(1.) This plea countenances the lusts of the flesh. “Walk in the Spirit,” saith St. Paul, “and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh:” and among these lusts he immediately numbers “debate, emulations, wrath, contentions, and such like,” observing, at the same time, that “the fruit of the Spirit is love, peace, gentleness, meekness,” &c. Now when party men insinuate that we can never live in peace and harmony with our Christian brethren, do they not indirectly teach that “debate, emulations, contentions, and such like, must” still waste our time, disturb our minds, and impair our love? And is not this an underhand plea for a wretched obligation to neglect “the fruit of the Spirit,” and for an Antinomian necessity to bring forth the “fruit of the flesh?”
(2.) It militates against St. Paul’s conflict for believers: “I would,” says he to the Colossians, “that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, that their hearts might be comforted; being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God,” Colossians 2:1, 2. It opposes also the end of the apostle’s prayer for the Romans: “The God of patience and consolation grant you to be like minded, &c, that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, &c. Wherefore receive you one another, as Christ also received us,” Romans 15:5, &c. But what is far worse, it directly contradicts Christ’s capital prayer, which I have already quoted: “I pray,” says he, “that they [believers] may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee: that they also may be one in us: that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one: that the [unbelieving] world may know that thou hast sent me,” John 17:20, &c. Now if our Lord asked for an absolute impossibility, when he asked for the perfect union of believers in this life, where was his wisdom? And if he cannot make us one in heart and mind (supposing we are willing to abide by his reconciling word) where is his power?
(3.) It strikes at the authority of these evangelical entreaties, exhortations, and commands: — “Be of the same mind,” Romans 12:16. “I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind, and in the same judgment,” 1 Corinthians 1:10. “Finally, brethren, be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind; live in peace, and the God of love and peace shall be with you,” 2 Corinthians 13:11. “Let your conversation be as it becometh the Gospel of Christ: that I may hear ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind; striving together for the faith of the Gospel. Fulfil ye my joy that ye be like minded — being of one accord, of one mind. I beseech Euodias and Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord,” Philippians 1:27; 2:2; 4:2. “Finally, be ye all of one mind, &c. Love as brethren, be courteous. For he that will see good days, &c, let him seek peace [with his enemies, much more with his brethren;] and let him pursue it,” 1 Peter 3:8, &c. “Let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same things,” Philippians 3:16. “With all lowliness and meekness, with long suffering, forbearing one another in love: endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. For there is one body and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all,” Ephesians 4:2, &c. The same apostle, writing to the divided Corinthians, tries to reconcile them by comparing again the body of believers to the human body, and drawing a suitable inference: “The body is one,” says he, “though it hath many members; that there should be no schism, [no division] in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another; all suffering when one member suffers, and all rejoicing when one member is honoured,” 1 Corinthians 12:12-26. Hence it follows that to plead for the continuance of schisms and divisions in Christ’s mystical body, is evidently to plead for a breach of “the bond of peace,” and for the neglect of all the above-mentioned apostolic injunctions.
(4.) It gives the lie to the following promises of the God of truth. “The hatred to Ephraim shall depart, &c. Ephraim shall not envy Judah, neither shall Judah vex Ephraim,” Isaiah 11:13. “I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them and of their children,” Jeremiah 32:39. “I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them,” Ezekiel 11:19. “I will turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent, &c. Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold. Them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd,” John 10:16.
(5.) It contradicts the following accounts of God’s faithfulness in the initial accomplishment of the preceding promises: — “They were all with one accord in one place; continuing daily with one accord in the temple,” Acts 2:1, 46. “The multitude of them that believed were of one heart, and of one soul,” Acts 4:32. “If we walk in the light, &c, we have fellowship one with another. For he that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is in him no occasion of stumbling:” nothing in his heart will either cause or keep up divisions, 1 John 1:7; 2:10. “We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, because your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth,” 2 Thessalonians 1:3. “By one Spirit, all complete Christians are baptized into one body, whether they be Jews or Gentiles, whether they be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit” — the Spirit of truth and love; and (unless they leave their first love as the Corinthians did) they sweetly continue to “keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace,” 1 Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 4:3. From these accounts of the unity of the primitive Christians before they “left their first love,” I infer, that unity is attainable, because it was attained. The arm of the Lord is not shortened; “the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him;” and if we be not obstinately bent upon despising the “wisdom from above, which is peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of good fruits and without partiality;” we shall find that “the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace;” and we shall evidence that all the sincere followers of Christ can yet “continue steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship,” instead of perversely continuing in their own mistakes and in the spirit of discord. Lastly: the objection I answer has a tendency to stop the growth of Christ’s mystical body, and opposes God’s grand design in sending the Gospel: for “he gave apostles, evangelists, and pastors, for the perfecting of the saints, and the edifying of the body of Christ; till all come, in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: that we be no more carried about with every wind of doctrine, &c, but speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into him who is the head, even Christ; from whom the whole body fitly joined together, and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body, unto the edifying of itself in love,” Ephesians 4:11, 17. No believer can I think, candidly read these words of the apostle, without being convinced that union and growth are inseparable in the Church of “Christ, from whom all the body, by joints and bands having nourishment [or help] ministered, and being knit together, increaseth with the increase of God,” Colossians 2:19. From these observations, I hope, it appears, that whether we consider the earnest entreaties of the apostles; their conflicts and pious wishes for their converts; the wisdom of our Lord’s address to his Father for the union of believers; the repeated commands of the Gospel to be of “one mind and one judgment;” the promises which God has made to help us to keep these commands; the Divine power, by which the primitive believers were actually enabled to keep them, so long as they walked in the Spirit; or whether we consider the end of evangelical preaching, and the unity and growth of Christ’s mystical body; nothing can be more unscriptural than to say that believers can never be again of one heart and of one mind. And as this notion is unscriptural, so it is irrational; inasmuch as it supposes that the children of God can never agree to serve him, as the children of the wicked one do to honour their master; for St. John informs us that “these have one mind to give their power and strength unto the beast,” Revelation 17:13. And experience daily teaches that when the men of the world are embarked in the same scheme, they can perfectly agree in the pursuit of wealth, pleasure, and fame, or in the performance of duty. If ships that sail under the command of the same admiral do not give each other a broadside, because they have different captains, and are employed in different services; if soldiers, who follow the same general, do not quarrel because they belong to different regiments, because their coats are not turned up alike, or because they do not defend the same fort, fight in the same wing of the army, hear the same drum, and follow the same pair of colours: and if the king’s faithful servants can unanimously promote his interests, and cheerfully lend each other a helping hand, though their departments are as different as the fleet is different from the army, is it not absurd to suppose that Christ’s faithful soldiers and servants, who are the meekest, the humblest, the most disinterested, and the most loving of all men, can never live in perfect union, and sweetly agree to promote the interests of their Divine Master? I conclude, therefore, that the objection which supposes the contrary, is not less contrary to reason than to the word of God.