all Christians, they that rule the church of God should be men of counsel and understanding.  Where there is an ignorant ministry, there is commonly an ignorant people, according as it was of old—Like priest like people.

How sad is it to see the church of God committed to the care of such that pretend to be teachers of others, that understand not what they say, or whereof they affirm.  No marvel the peace of churches is broken, when their watchmen want skill to preserve their unity, which of all other things is as the church’s walls; when they are divided, no wonder they crumble to atoms, if there is no skilful physician to heal them.  It is sad when there is no balm in Gilead, and when there is no physician there.  Hence it is, that the wounds of churches become incurable, like the wounds of God’s people of old, either not healed at all, or else slightly healed, and to no purpose.  May it not be said of many churches this day, as God said of the church of Israel, That he sought for a man among them that should stand in the gap, and make up the breach; but he found none?

Remember what was said of old, Mal. ii. 7, The priest’s lips preserve knowledge: and the people should seek the law at his mouth.  But when this is wanting, the people will be stumbling, and departing from God and one another; therefore God complains, Hos. iv. 6, That his people were destroyed for want of knowledge; that is, for want of knowing guides; for if the light that is in them that teach be darkness, how great is that darkness! and if the blind lead the blind, no marvel both fall into the ditch.

How many are there that take upon them to teach others, that had need be taught in the beginning of religion; that instead of multiplying knowledge, multiply words without knowledge; and instead of making known God’s counsel, darken counsel by words without knowledge?  The apostle speaks of some that did more than darken counsel; for they wrested the counsel of God; 2 Pet. iii. 16.  In Paul’s epistles, saith he, “are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, to their own destruction.”  Some things in the Scriptures are hard to be known, and they are made harder by such unlearned teachers as utter their own notions by words without knowledge.

None are more bold and adventurous to take upon them to expound the dark mysteries and sayings of the prophets and Revelations, and the 9th of the Romans, which I believe contains some of those many things which, in Paul’s epistles, Peter saith, were “hard to be understood;” I say none are more forward to dig in these mines than those that can hardly give a sound reason for the first principles of religion; and such as are ignorant of many more weighty things that are easily to be seen in the face and superficies of the Scripture; nothing will serve these but swimming in the deeps, when they have not yet learned to wade through the shallows of the Scriptures: like the Gnosticks of old, who thought they knew all things, though they knew nothing as they ought to know.  And as those Gnosticks did of old, so do such teachers of late break the unity and peace of churches.

How needful then is it, that if we desire the peace of churches, that we choose out men of knowledge, who may be able to keep them from being shattered and scattered with every wind of doctrine: and who may be able to convince and stop the mouths of gainsayers.

(2.)  You must not only choose men of counsel, but if you would design the unity and peace of the churches, you must choose men of courage to govern them; for as there must be wisdom to hear with some, so there must be courage to correct others: as some must be instructed meekly, so others must be rebuked sharply, that they may be sound in the faith; there must be wisdom to rebuke some within long-suffering, and there must be courage to suppress and stop the mouths of others.  The apostle tells Titus of some whose mouths must be stopped, or else they would subvert whole houses, Titus i. 11.  Where this courage hath been wanting, not only whole houses, but whole churches have been subverted.  And Paul tells the Galatians, that when he saw some endeavour to bring the churches into bondage, that he did not give place to them, no not for an hour, &c, Gal. ii. 5.  If this course had been taken by the rulers of churches, their peace had not been so often invaded by unruly and vain talkers.

3.  In choosing men to rule (if you would endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit, and the bond of peace thereby), be careful you choose men of peaceable dispositions.  That which hath much annoyed the peace of churches hath been the froward and perverse spirits of the rulers thereof.  Solomon therefore adviseth, That with a furious man we should not go, lest we learn his ways, and get a snare to our souls, Prov. xxii. 24, 25, and with the froward we learn frowardness.  How do some men’s words eat like a canker; who instead of lifting up their voices like a trumpet to sound a parley for peace, have rather sounded an alarm to war and contention.  If ever we would live in peace, let us reverence the feet of them that bring the glad tidings of it.

O how have some men made it their business to preach contentions, and upon their entertainment of every novel opinion to preach separation!  How hath God’s word been stretched and torn to furnish these men with arguments to tear churches!  Have not our ears heard those texts that say, “Come out from among them, and be separate,” &c., and “Withdraw from every brother that walks disorderly?”  I say, have we not heard these texts that were written to prevent disorder brought to countenance the greatest disorder that ever was in the church of God, even schism and division? whereas one of these exhortations was written to the church of Corinth to separate themselves from the idol’s temple, and the idol’s table, in which many of them lived in the participation of, notwithstanding their profession of the true God; as appears, 2 Cor. vi. 1.6, 17, compared with 1 Cor. viii. 7, and as 1 Cor. x. 14, 20, 22, recites; and not for some few or more members, who shall make themselves both judges and parties to make separation, when and as often as they please, from the whole congregation and church of God, where they stood related; for by the same rule, and upon the same ground, may others start some new question among these new separatists, and become their own judges of the communicableness of them, and thereupon make another separation from these, till at last two be not left to walk together.  And for that other text mentioned, 2 Thess. iii. 6, where Paul exhorts the church of Thessalonica to withdraw themselves from every brother that walks disorderly; I cannot but wonder that any should bring this to justify their separation or withdrawal from the communion of a true (though a disorderly) church.  For,

(1.)  Consider, that this was not writ for a few members to withdraw from the church, but for the church to withdraw from disorderly members.

(2.)  Consider, that if any offended members, upon pretence of error, either in doctrine or practice, should by this text become judges (as well as parties) of the grounds and lawfulness of their separation; then it will follow, that half a score notorious heretics, or scandalous livers (when they have walked so as they forsee the church are ready to deal with them, and withdraw from them), shall anticipate the church, and pretend somewhat against them, of which themselves must be judges, and so withdraw from the church, pretending either heresy or disorder; and so condemn the church, to prevent the disgrace of being condemned by the church.  How needful then is it, that men of peaceable dispositions, and not of froward and fractious and dividing spirits, be chosen to rule the church of God, for fear lest the whole church be leavened and soured by them!

4.  As there must be care used in choosing men to rule the church of God, so there