That which contributed much to
this ill work, was, in some, a begrudging of this meek man the love and
esteem he had and deserved in the hearts of the people; and weakness in
others, that were taken with their groundless suggestions of imposition
and blind obedience.
They would have had every man independent, that as he had the principle
in himself, he should only stand and fall to that, and nobody else: not
considering that the principle is one in all; and though the measure of
light or grace might differ, yet the nature of it was the same; and being
so, they struck at the spiritual unity which a people, guided by the same
principle, are naturally led into: so that what is an evil to one, is so
to all; and what is virtuous, honest, and of good repute to one, is so to
all, from the sense and savour of the one universal principle which is
common to all, and which the disaffected also profess to be the root of
all true Christian fellowship, and that spirit into which the people of
God drink, and come to be spiritually-minded, and of one heart and one
soul.
Some weakly mistook good order in the government of church affairs, for
discipline in worship, and that it was so pressed or recommended by him
and other brethren.
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