Church concord

Our great danger in England is of Popery, above any thing except Impiety it self. And the strength and upshot of all the Papists arguings, is [Where was your Religion and Church before Luther?] which by their Exposition is, [Where was your Thirty Nine Articles, or your Assemblies Confession, or any Church that Successively from the Apostles held them.] This is their all, (which indeed is nothing.) LET US OWN AS THE RULE OF OUR RELIGION BUT THE HOLY SCRIPTURES, AND EXPRESS OUR BELIEF IN SCRIPTURE PHRASE, (without distorting it to look towards any Heretical or Erroneous Sense,) AND THEN WE MAY EASILY TELL A PAPIST WHERE OUR RELIGION AND CHURCH WAS BEFORE LUTHER;] yea the simplest Women, that understand but what Christianity is, may thus be able to defend their Religion against the Cavils of these Learned Adversaries: Let us not therefore give away so great an advantage, and withal divide the Church of God, by departing from the sufficiency of the Scripture, when it is the principal point wherein a Protestant differeth from a Papist, and that wherein we unanimously oppose them.

II. If we would avoid Separations, we must keep up holy Discipline, and not leave the Churches so polluted by the abundance of impenitent impious Persons as may frighten tender Consciences from us: Discipline that is pleaded for must be faithfully practised. We must not step out of the way of God by unjust rigour to please any Men, nor to avoid their offence; but we must cast out those that should not be in the Church, the rather lest those withdraw that should be in: And herein a principal part of our Care must be, to set Godly people a-work upon their own Duty, in a loving, humble admonishing of Offenders, that we may convince them how sinful a course it is to expect that Men should be cast out, before they have been dealt with on the Terms, and by the degrees that Christ hath appointed; and to run away from the Church because they will not do their Duties.

II. If we would avoid Separations, we must keep up holy Discipline, and not leave the Churches so polluted by the abundance of impenitent impious Persons as may frighten tender Consciences from us: Discipline that is pleaded for must be faithfully practised. We must not step out of the way of God by unj•st rigor to please any Men, nor to avoid their offence; but we must cast out those that should not be in the Church, the rather lest those withdraw that should be in: And herein a principal part of our Care must be, to set Godly people a-work upon their own Duty, in a loving, humble admonishing of Offenders, that we may convince them how sinful a course it is to expect that Men should be cast out, before they have been dealt with on the Terms, and by the degrees that Christ hath appointed; and to run away from the Church because they will not do their Duties.