84. “But why then (say some) do you leave the church?” _Leave the church!_ What can you mean? Do we leave so much as the _church walls_? Your own eyes tell you, we do not. Do we leave the _ordinances of the church_? You daily see and know the contrary. Do we leave the _fundamental doctrine of the church_, namely, Salvation by faith? It is our constant theme, in public, in private, in writing, in conversation. Do we leave the _practice of the church_, the standard whereof are the ten commandments? Which are so essentially in-wrought in her constitution, (as little as you may apprehend it) that whosoever breaks one of the least of these, is no member of the church of _England_. I believe you do not care to put the cause on this issue. Neither do you mean this, by _leaving the church_. In truth, I cannot conceive what you mean. I doubt you cannot conceive yourself. You have retailed a sentence from somebody else, which you no more understand than he. And no marvel; for it is a true observation, “Nonsense is never to be understood.” 85. Nearly related to this is that other objection, that we _divide the church_. Remember the church is, _The faithful people_, or true believers. Now how do we _divide these_? “Why, by our societies.” Very good. Now the case is plain. “We divide them (you say) by uniting them together.” Truly, a very uncommon way of dividing. “O, but we divide those who are thus united with each other, from the rest of the church.” By no means. Many of them were before _joined to all their brethren_ of the church of _England_ (and many were not, until they knew us) by _assembling themselves together_, to hear the word of God, and to eat of one bread, and drink of one cup. And do they now _forsake that assembling_ themselves together? You cannot, you dare not say it. You know they are more diligent therein than ever; it being one of the fixed rules of our societies, “That every member attend the ordinances of God.” i. e. _do not divide from the church_. And if any member of the church does thus divide from or leave it, he hath no more place among us. 86. I have considered this objection the more at large, because it is of most weight with sincere minds. And to all these, if they have fairly and impartially weighed the answer as well as the objection, I believe it clearly appears, that we are neither _undermining_ nor _destroying_, neither _dividing_ nor _leaving_ the church. So far from it, that we have great heaviness, on her account, yea, continual sorrow in our hearts. And our prayer to God is, that he would repair the breaches of Sion, and build the walls of Jerusalem, that this our desolate church may flourish again, and be the praise of the whole earth.