England, as any, who yet feldom come to Church to exercife the Acts of Church communion, I fhall, to leave them without excufe, add these following fubftantial Proofs of their Duty, waving thofe Multitudes of Precepts, Examples and Promises scattered through both Teftaments, belonging to this Subject, each of which enlarged upon, would be a particular ftrong Argument; for I will prefume them to be fufficiently known to all, that read the Scriptures. Now let it be observed,

1. That Baptifm makes men Members as of the one Body, the Church; fo of a vifible Church, and I hope none will doubt that God would have his Church vifible, fo far as is poffible, like a City upon a Hill that cannot be hid * ;

but it would be impoffible for the *Mat. 5.14. Church to be vifible without a

vifible, and confequently an external Communion of her Members in religious Offices, which is a folid Proof of every Chriftians, or baptized Perfons Duty to maintain fuch external Churchcommunion, unless it can be fuppofed left by God to be in the Power of Church-members to make the Church invifible, which all irreligious Perfons endeavour as much as lieth in them, by not reforting to the Church's Affemblies; now this muft neceffarily be a horrid guilt, and no excuse can it have but a Man's being in travel through, or living in a Country, where no true Church, nor Church-affemblies are to be found to communicate with (for no Man can be bound to an Impoffibility) and yet even in this case a Chriftian's Right of Church-communion, and his D 3 Duty

Duty of maintaining it continues firm, though at present he be where there is no Church to communicate with.

2. It must neceffarily be as much the Duty of Church-members to refort to the Church's Affemblies for Church-communion, as it is of the Members of any other Society to communicate in the Affairs and Duties effentially belonging to that Society. What is a Body or Society but a Community, wherein the refpective Members are to perform fome common Duries and Offices for the common good? And it would be a strange Community, where every Member might act by it felf, and all for their private Intereft without refpect to the publick good. Now fuch a strange kind of Body or Community would the Chriftian Church be, if it were no Duty incumbent upon its Members to affociate in ftated Affemblies for Divine Worship, and for the common good of one another. But without doubt it is the Duty of all within the Church's Society, high and low, rich and poor, Paftor and Flock, of what quality foever, as much to refort to Church-affemblies, as it is for a Major, or any Magiftrate, and his common Council with all the Free-men in the Corporation, to come together for performing their refpective Places for the publick Business; and

the Precept for it is obvious, Not Heb.10.25. forfaking the affembling of your felves together, as the manner of fome is; where the Affirmative (frequenting the Affemblies) muft neceffarily be implied in the negative (not forfaking them.) To this purpose,

3.

*

Eph.4.12.

The Chriftian Church hath divers Offices and Officers of Divine Appointment *, Apoftles, Prophets, Evangelifts, Paftors and Teachers, fome extraordinary, others ordinary, as a standing Ministry, all for the edifying of the Body of Chrift, till we all come in the Unity of the Faith, and of the Knowledge of God unto a perfect Man, unto the Measure of the Stature of the fulness of Chrift, which cannot be till. the World's end: This Miniftry and these Offices and Officers did our Lord ordain for the edifying of the Body of Chrift. How? By teaching, inftructing, and reproving, and by adminiftring holy Sacraments, as well as by offering up the Prayers of the People: All which would be utterly useless and in vain, if the Members of the Body were not obliged to a conftant actual external communicating with them in the Discharge of their Offices: How fhould the Body of Chrift be edified without it? To fay that Chrift's Inftitution of this Ministry is useless, must be at least a daring Pretumption, if not Blafphemy; for it is in effect to lay, that Chrift was very foolish in inftituting fuch Offices and fuch Officers in his Church to no purpose: And,

4. Unless all Church members were bound to fuch Church-communion, the Authority conferred on this Ministry by Jefus

Chrift, to bind and loose †, that † Mar. 16.19. is, to admit into, and to caft & 18.18.

out of the Church's Communi

on, would be void and utterly ineffectual, He

D 4

gave

gave them the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and faid, Woomfoever ye shall bind on Earth, fhall be bound in Heaven: And whomfoever ye fhall loofe on Earth, fhall be loofed in Heaven. He gave them the Authority to receive Men into the Church-communion, that they may have right to join in all religious Acts, and to fhut out of the Church, i. e. from its external vifible Communion, in hearing, praying, and receiving the Lord's Supper, and this neceffarily fuppofeth the Duty of them that are received into a Church, to join in all the external Acts of Church communion, for what they have a right and liberty to do, that are they bound to do, or elle to no purpofe is the Authority to receive into, or to exclude from them.

*Pf. 14. I.

5. If it were not all Chriftian's Duty, how fhall God's publick Worship be fecured and maintained in his Church? Not to adore and worship God, is in effect to fay, or it implies Men's faying in their Hearts, There is no God: For if there be a God, he is to be adored and worshipped, nor can we be truly faid to acknowledge God, unless we adore and worship him, and that publickly in the fight of the World. Now wherein the publick Divine Worship according to Chrift's Inftitution confifta, cannot be better learn'd, than from the Practice of those primitive Chriftians, who being converted by St. Pe ter's Sermon, and baptized, was firft formed into a Church: They continued *A&.2.42, stedfafty in the Apostle's Doctrin, 47. Fellowship, breaking of Bread and

Prayers:

Prayers: That is, in hearing the Apoftle's Sermons, and in all Acts of external Divine Worhip, and in Sacramental Administrations, and in their publick Devotions and Prayers. But without any Obligation lying upon all Chriftians to relort to the Church-affemblies, and to join and continue ftedfaftly in thofe Holy Exercises of Divine Worship, it would be impoffible, to fecure this publick Divine Worship in the Church; for by Multitudes difcontinuing their Attendance in, and communicating together in fuch Exercises of Divine Worship in the publick Affemblies, the publick Divine Worship would fail of course, and in a fhort time come to none at all. And indeed, to this sad pass do all those contribute as much as lieth in them, that do frequently abfent from the Churches, and the Divine Worship in them.

Obj. Now I fuppofe, fome Men may here in excufe of this their ungodly and irreligious Courfe fay, that as for them, they for their parts, would certainly do what the primitive Chriftians did, if they had (like them) the Apoftles to preach to, and adminifter the Holy Sacraments amongft, and to pray with them in the Churches.

Anf. To whom this Admonition is seasonable and very necellary, that without all doubt, they who fay and think fo, do as much deceive themfelves, as Dives in Hell did, when he defired Abraham, that one from the Dead might be fent

to