PROPOSITION X.Concerning theMinistry.As by theLightorGiftof God all true Knowledge in Things spiritual is received and revealed, so by the same, as it is manifested and received in the Heart, by the Strength and Power thereof, every trueMinisterof theGospelis ordained, prepared, and supplied in the Work of theMinistry; and by the Leading, Moving, and Drawing hereof ought everyEvangelistandChristian Pastorto be led and ordered in his Labour and Work of the Gospel, both as to the Placewhere, as to the Personsto whom, and as to the Timewhereinhe is tominister. Moreover they who have this Authority may and ought to preach theGospel, though withouthuman CommissionorLiterature; as on the other Hand, they who want the Authority of thisdivine Gift, however learned, or authorized by theCommissionofMenandChurches, are to be esteemed but asDeceivers, and nottrue Ministersof theGospel.The Gospel to be preached freely. Mat. 10. 8.Also they who have received this holy and unspotted Gift,as they have freely received it, so are they freely to give it,without Hire or Bargaining, far less to use it as aTradeto get Money by: Yet God hath called any one from their Employment or Trades, by which they acquire their Livelihood, it may be lawful for such, according to the Liberty which they feel given them in the Lord, to receive such Temporals (to wit, what may be needful for them for Meat and Clothing) as are given them freely and cordially by those to whom they have communicated Spirituals.§. I.Hitherto I have treated of those Things which relate to theChristian FaithandChristians, as they stand each in his private and particular Condition, and how and by what Means every Man may be aChristianindeed, and so abide. Now Icome in order to speak of those Things that relate toChristians, as they are stated in ajoint FellowshipandCommunion, and come under a visible and outwardSociety, whichSocietyis called theChurch of God, and in Scripture compared to aBody, and therefore named theBody of Christ.The Church of God is the spiritual Body of Christ.As then in the natural Body there be divers Members, all concurring to the common End of preserving and confirming the whole Body, so in thisspiritualandmystical Bodythere are also divers Members, according to the different Measures ofGraceand of theSpiritdiversly administered untoeach Member; and from thisDiversityariseth that Distinction of Persons in thevisible SocietyofChristians, as ofApostles,Pastors,Evangelists,Ministers, &c. That which in this Proposition is proposed, is,What makes or constitutes any a Minister of the Church, what his Qualifications ought to be, and how he ought to behave himself?But because it may seem somewhat preposterous to speak of thedistinct Officesof theChurchuntil something be said of theChurchin general, though nothing positively be said of it in the Proposition; yet, as here implied, I shall briefly premise something thereof, and then proceed to the particular Members of it.§. II.It is not in the least my Design to meddle with those tedious and many Controversies wherewith thePapistsandProtestantsdo tear one another concerning this Thing; but only according to the Truth manifested to me, and revealed in me by the Testimony of the Spirit, according to that Proportion of Wisdom given me, briefly to hold forth as a necessary Introduction both to this Matter of theMinistryand ofWorship, which followeth those Things which I, together with myBrethren, do believe concerning theChurch.I.TheEtymologyof the Word[Greek: ekklêsia: εκκλησια](the Church) and Signification of it.TheChurchthen, according to the grammatical Signification of the Word, as it is used in the holy Scripture, signifies anAssemblyorGathering of many into one Place; for the Substantive [Greek: ekklêsia: εκκλησια] comes from the Word [Greek: ekkaleô: εκκαλεω]I call out of, and originally from [Greek: kaleô: καλεω]I call; and indeed, as this is the grammatical Sense of the Word, so also it is the real and proper Signification of the Thing, theChurchbeing no other Thing but theSociety,Gathering, orCompany of such as God hathcalled out of the World, and worldly Spirit, to walk in hisLightandLife.TheChurchthen so defined is to be considered as it comprehends all that are thuscalledandgatheredtruly by God, both such as are yet in this inferior World, and such as having already laid down the earthly Tabernacle, are passed into their heavenly Mansions, which together do make up the oneCatholick Church, concerning which there is so much Controversy.No Salvation without theChurch.Out of whichChurchwe freely acknowledge there can be no Salvation; because under thisChurchand its Denomination are comprehended all, and as many, of whatsoeverNation,Kindred,Tongue, orPeoplethey be, though outwardly Strangers, and remote from those who professChristandChristianityin Words, and have the Benefit of the Scriptures, as become obedient to theholy LightandTestimony of Godin their Hearts, so as to become sanctified by it, and cleansed from the Evils of their Ways.What theChurchis.For this is theUniversalorCatholick Spirit, by which many are called from all thefour Corners of the Earth, and shall sit down withAbraham, Isaac,andJacob: By this thesecret Life and Virtueof Jesus is conveyed into many that are afar off, even as by the Blood that runs into the Veins and Arteries of the natural Body the Life is conveyed from the Head and Heart unto the extreme Parts.TurksandJewsmay become Members of thisChurch.There may be Members therefore of thisCatholick Churchboth amongHeathens,Turks,Jews, and all the several Sorts ofChristians, Men and Women of Integrity and Simplicity of Heart, who though blinded in some Things in their Understanding, and perhaps burdened with the Superstitions and Formality of the several Sects in which they are ingrossed, yet being upright in their Hearts before the Lord, chiefly aiming and labouring to be delivered from Iniquity, and loving to follow Righteousness, are by the secret Touches of thisholy Lightin their Souls enlivened and quickened, thereby secretly united to God, and therethrough become true Members of thisCatholick Church. Now theChurchin this Respect hath been in Being in all Generations; for God never wanted some such Witnesses for him, though many Times slighted, and not much observed by thisWorld; and therefore thisChurch, though still in Being, hath been oftentimes as it were invisible, in that it hath not come under the Observations of the Men of this World, being, as saith the Scripture,Jer.iii. 14.One of a City, and two of a Family.And yet though theChurchthus considered may be as it were hid from wicked Men, as not then gathered into avisible Fellowship, yea, and not observed even by some that are Members of it, yet may there notwithstanding many belong to it; as whenEliascomplained he wasleft alone, 1 Kings xix. 18. God answered unto him,I have reserved to myself seven thousand Men, who have not bowed their Knees to the Image ofBaal; whence the Apostle argues,Rom.xi. the Being of aRemnantin his Day.§. III.II.The Definition of theChurchofGod, as gathered into avisible Fellowship.Secondly, TheChurchis to be considered as it signifies a certain Number of Persons gathered by God’s Spirit, and by the Testimony of some of his Servants raised up for that End, unto the Belief of the true Principles and Doctrines of the Christian Faith, who through their Hearts being united by the same Love, and their Understandings informed in the same Truths, gather, meet, and assemble together to wait upon God, to worship him, and to bear a joint Testimony for theTruthagainstError, suffering for the same, and so becoming through this Fellowship as one Family and Houshold in certain Respects, do each of them watch over, teach, instruct, and care for one another, according to their several Measures and Attainments: Such were theChurchesof the primitive Times gathered by the Apostles; whereof we have divers mentioned in the holy Scriptures. And as to theVisibilityof theChurchin this Respect, there hath been a great Interruption since the Apostles Days, by Reason of theApostasy, as will hereafter appear.§. IV.How to become a Member of thatChurch.To be aMemberthen of theCatholick Church, there is Need of theInward Calling of Godby hisLight in the Heart, and a being leavened into the Nature and Spirit of it, so as to forsake Unrighteousness, and be turned to Righteousness, and in the Inwardness of the Mind to be cut out of thewild Olive Treeof our own first fallenNature, and ingrafted intoChristby hisWordandSpirit in the Heart. And this may be done in those who are Strangers to the History, (God not having pleased to make them Partakers thereof) as in thefifthandsixth Propositionshath already been proved.Theoutward Professionof the Members of thetrue Church.To be aMemberof a particularChurch of Christ, as this inward Work is indispensibly necessary, so is also the outward Profession of, and Belief in, Jesus Christ, and those holy Truths delivered by his Spirit in the Scriptures; seeing the Testimony of the Spirit recorded in the Scriptures, doth answer the Testimony of the same Spirit in the Heart, even asFace answereth Face in a Glass. Hence it follows, that the inward Work of Holiness, and forsaking Iniquity, is necessary in every Respect to the being a Member in theChurch of Christ; and that the outward Profession is necessary to be a Member of a particular gatheredChurch, but not to the being a Member of theCatholick Church; yet it is absolutely necessary, where God affords the Opportunity of knowing it: And the outward Testimony is to be believed, where it is presented and revealed; the Sum whereof hath upon other Occasions been already proved.§. V.The Members of the Antichristian Church in the Apostasy, their empty Profession.But contrary hereunto, the Devil, that worketh and hath wrought in theMystery of Iniquity, hath taught his Followers to affirm,That no Man, however holy, is a Member of the Church of Christ without the outward Profession; and unless he be initiated thereinto by some outward Ceremonies. And again,That Men who have this outward Profession, though inwardly unholy, may be Members of the true Church of Christ, yea, and ought to be so esteemed. This is plainly to putLightforDarkness, andDarknessforLight; as if God had a greater Regard to Words than Actions, and were more pleased with vain Professions than with real Holiness: But these Things I have sufficiently refuted heretofore. Only from hence let it be observed, that upon this false and rotten FoundationAntichristhath built hisBabylonish Structure, and theAntichristian Churchin theApostasyhath hereby reared herself up to that Height and Grandeur she hath attained; so as toexalt herself aboveall that is called God, and sit in the Temple of God as God.The Decay of theChurch.For the particularChurchesofChrist, gathered in the Apostles Days, soon after beginning to decay as to theinward Life, came to be overgrown with several Errors, and the Hearts of the Professors ofChristianityto be leavened with the old Spirit and Conversation of the World. Yet it pleased God for someCenturiesto preserve thatLifein many, whom he emboldened with Zeal to stand and suffer for his Name through theten Persecutions: But these being over, the Meekness, Gentleness, Love, Long-suffering, Goodness, and Temperance ofChristianitybegan to be lost.When Men became Christians byBirth, and not byConversion, Christianity came to be lost.For after that the Princes of the Earth came to take upon them that Profession, and that it ceased to be a Reproach to be aChristian, but rather became a Means to Preferment; Men became such by Birth and Education, and not by Conversion and Renovation of Spirit: Then there was none so vile, none so wicked, none so profane, who became not a Member of theChurch. And theTeachersandPastorsthereof becoming the Companions of Princes, and so being enriched by their Benevolence, and getting vast Treasures and Estates, became puffed up, and as it were drunken with the vain Pomp and Glory of this World: And so marshalled themselves in manifold Orders and Degrees; not without innumerable Contests and Altercations who should have the[79]Precedency. So the Virtue, Life, Substance, and Kernel ofChristian Religioncame to be lost, and nothing remained but a Shadow and Image; which dead Image, or Carcase ofChristianity(to make it take the better with the superstitious Multitude ofHeathensthat were engrossed in it, not by any inward Conversion of their Hearts, or by becoming less wicked or superstitious, but by a little Change in the Object of their Superstition) not having the inward Ornament and Life of the Spirit, became decked with many outward and visible Orders, and beautified with the Gold, Silver, precious Stones,and the other splendid Ornaments of this perishing World: So that this was no more to be accounted theChristian Religion, andChristian Church, notwithstanding the outward Profession, than thedead Bodyof a Man is to be accounted aliving Man; which, however cunningly embalmed, and adorned with ever so much Gold or Silver, or most precious Stones, or sweet Ointments, is but a dead Body still, without Sense, Life, or Motion.In the Church ofRomeare no less Superstitions and Ceremonies introduced, than were either amongJewsorHeathens.For thatApostate ChurchofRomehas introduced no fewer Ceremonies and Superstitions into theChristian Profession, than were either amongJewsorHeathens; and that there is and hath been as much, yea, and more Pride, Covetousness, Uncleanness, Luxury, Fornication, Profaneness and Atheism among her Teachers and chief Bishops, than ever was among any Sort of People, none need doubt, that have read their own Authors, to wit,Platinaand others.[79]As was between the Bishop ofRomeand the Bishop ofConstantinople.Whether, and what Difference there is betwixt theProtestantsandPapistsin Superstitions.Now, thoughProtestantshave reformed from her in some of the most gross Points and absurd Doctrines relating to theChurchandMinistry, yet (which is to be regretted) they have only lopt off the Branches, but retain and plead earnestly for the same Root, from which these Abuses have sprung. So that even among them, though all that Mass of Superstition, Ceremonies, and Orders be not again established, yet the same Pride, Covetousness and Sensuality is found to have overspread and leavened theirChurchesandMinistry, and the Life, Power and Virtue oftrue Religionis lost among them; and the very same Death, Barrenness, Dryness and Emptiness, is found in theirMinistry. So that in Effect they differ fromPapistsbut in Form and some Ceremonies; being with them apostatised from the Life and Power the truePrimitive Churchand herPastorswere in: So that of both it may be said truly (without Breach of Charity) that having only aForm of Godliness(and many of them not so much as that) they areDeniersof, yea,Enemiesto, the Power of it. And this proceeds not simply from their not walking answerably to their own Principles, and so degenerating that Way, which also is true; but, which is worse, their laying down to themselves, and adheringto certain Principles, which naturally, as a cursed Root, bring forth these bitter Fruits: These therefore shall afterwards be examined and refuted, as the contrary Positions of Truth in the Proposition are explained and proved.For as to the Nature and Constitution of a Church[80](abstract from their Disputes concerning its constant Visibility, Infallibility, and the Primacy of the Church of Rome) the Protestants, as in Practice, so in Principles, differ not fromPapists;TheProtestantChurch how they become Members thereof.for they engross within the Compass of theirChurchwhole Nations, making their Infants Members of it, by sprinkling a little Water upon them; so that there is none so wicked or profane who is not a Fellow-member; no Evidence of Holiness being required to constitute a Member of theChurch. Nay, look through theProtestant Nations, and there will no Difference appear in the Lives of the Generality of the One, more than of the Other; he, whoruleth in the Children of Disobedience, reigning in both:Christianitychiefly consists in the Renewing of theHeart.So that theReformation, through this Defect, is only in holding some less gross Errors in the Notion, but not in having the Heart reformed and renewed, in which mainly theLifeofChristianityconsisteth.[80]i. e.National.§. VI.APopish, corrupt Ministryall Evils follow.But thePopish Errorsconcerning theMinistry, which they have retained, are most of all to be regretted, by which chiefly the Life and Power ofChristianityis barred out among them, and they kept in Death, Barrenness and Dryness: There being nothing more hurtful than an Error in this Respect.Like People, like Priest.Hosea 4. 9.For where a false and corruptMinistryentereth, all Manner of other Evils follow upon it, according to that Scripture Adage,Like People, like Priest: For by their Influence, instead of ministering Life and Righteousness, they minister Death and Iniquity. The wholeBackslidingsof theJewish Congregationof old are hereto ascribed:The Leaders of my People have caused them to err. The whole Writings of the Prophets are full of such Complaints; and for this Cause, under theNew Testament, we are so often warned and guarded tobeware of false Prophets, and false Teachers, &c. What may be thought then, where all, as to this, isout of Order; where both the Foundation, Call, Qualifications, Maintenance, and whole Discipline are different from and opposite to theMinistryof thePrimitive Church; yea, and necessarily tend to the Shutting out of aSpiritual Ministry, and the bringing in and establishing of aCarnal? This shall appear by Parts.§. VII.Quest. 1.That then which comes first to be questioned in this Matter, is concerning theCall of a Minister; to wit,What maketh, or how cometh a Man to be, a Minister, Pastor, or Teacher in the Church of Christ?Answ.The Call of aMinisterand wherein it consisteth.Weanswer; By theinward Power and Virtue of the Spirit of God. For, as saith our Proposition,Having received the true Knowledge of Things spiritual by the Spirit of God, without which they cannot be known, and being by the same in Measure purified and sanctified, he comes thereby to be called and moved to minister to others; being able to speak, from a living Experience, of what he himself is a Witness; and thereforeknowing the Terror of the Lord, he is fit to persuade Men, &c. 2 Cor. v. 11. and his Words and Ministry, proceeding from the inward Power and Virtue, reach to the Heart of his Hearers, and make them approve of him, and be subject unto him.Object.Our Adversaries are forced to confess, that this were indeeddesirableand best; but this they will not have to be absolutely necessary. I shall first prove the Necessity of it, and then shew how much they err in that which they make more necessary than this divine and heavenly Call.Arg.1.The Necessity of aninward Callto make a Man aChristian.First, That which is necessary to make a Man aChristian, so as without it he cannot be truly one, must be much more necessary to make a Man aMinister of Christianity; seeing the one is a Degree above the other, and has it included in it: Nothing less than he that supposeth aMaster, supposeth him first to have attained the Knowledge and Capacity of aScholar. They that are notChristians, cannot be Teachers and Ministers amongChristians.But this inward Call, Power and Virtue of the Spirit of God, is necessary to make a Man aChristian; as we have abundantly proved before in the second Proposition, according to these Scriptures,Hethat hath not the Spirit of Christ, is none of his. As many as are led by the Spirit of God, are the Sons of God:Therefore this Call, Moving and Drawing of the Spirit, must be much more necessary to make a Man aMinister.2.The Ministry of the Spirit requires the Operation and Testimony of the Spirit.Secondly, AllMinistersof theNew Testamentought to beMinistersof theSpirit, and not of theLetter, according to that of 2Cor.iii. 6. and as the old Latin hath it,Not by the Letter, but by the Spirit: But how can a Man be a Minister of the Spirit, who is not inwardly called by it, and who looks not upon the Operation and Testimony of the Spirit as essential to his Call? As he could not be a Minister of the Letter who had thence no Ground for his Call, yea, who was altogether a Stranger to and unacquainted with it, so neither can he be a Minister of the Spirit who is a Stranger to it, and unacquainted with the Motions thereof, and knows it not to draw, act, and move him, and go before him in the Work of theMinistry. I would willingly know, how those that take upon them to be Ministers (as they suppose) of the Gospel, merely from an outward Vocation, without so much as being any ways sensible of the Work of the Spirit, or any inward Call therefrom, can either satisfy themselves or others that they areMinisters of the Spirit, or wherein they differ from theMinisters of the Letter? For,3.Under the Law the People needed not to doubt, who should be Priests and Ministers.Thirdly, If this inward Call, or Testimony of the Spirit, were not essential and necessary to aMinister, then theMinistryof theNew Testamentwould not only be no ways preferable to, but in divers Respects far worse than that of theLaw. For under theLawthere was a certain Tribe allotted for theMinistry, and of that Tribe certain Families set apart for thePriesthoodand other Offices, by the immediate Command of God toMoses; so that the People needed not be in any Doubt who should be Priests and Ministers of the holy Things: Yea, and besides this, God called forth, by the immediate Testimony of his Spirit, several at divers Times to teach, instruct, and reprove his People, asSamuel,Nathan,Elias,Elisha,Jeremiah,Amos, and many more of the Prophets: But now under theNew Covenant, where theMinistryought to be morespiritual, theWaymorecertain, and theAccessmoreeasyunto the Lord, our Adversaries, by denying the Necessity of this inward and spiritual Vocation, make it quite otherways. For there being now no certain Family or Tribe to which theMinistryis limited, we are left in Uncertainty, to choose and havePastorsat a Venture, without any certain Assent of the Will of God; having neither an outward Rule nor Certainty in this Affair to walk by: For that the Scripture cannot give any certain Rule in this Matter, hath in thethird Propositionconcerning it been already shewn.4.Christ the Door.Fourthly, Christ proclaims them all[81]Thieves and Robbers, that enter not by him the Door into the Sheepfold, but climb up some other Way; whom the Sheep ought not to hear: But such as come in without the Call, Movings, and Leadings of the Spirit of Christ, wherewith he leads his Children intoall Truth, come in certainly not by Christ, who is theDoor, but some other Way, and therefore are not true Shepherds.[81]John 10. 1.§. VIII.Successionpleaded by the false Church from Christ and his Apostles.To all this they object theSuccession of the Church; alleging,That since Christ gave a Call to his Apostles and Disciples, they have conveyed that Call to their Successors, having Power to ordainPastorsandTeachers; by which Power the Authority of ordaining and makingMinistersandPastorsis successively conveyed to us; so that such, who are ordained and called by thePastorsof theChurch, are therefore true and lawful Ministers; and others, who are not so called, are to be accounted but Intruders.Hereunto also someProtestantsadd aNecessity, though they make it not a Thingessential;That besides this Calling of theChurch, every one, being called, ought to have the inward Call of the Spirit, inclining him so chosen to his Work: But this they say issubjectiveand notobjective; of which before.Answ.As to what is subjoined of the inward Call of the Spirit, in that they make it not essential to a true Call, but a Supererogation as it were, it sheweth how little they set by it: Since those they admit to the Ministry are not so much as questioned in their Trials, whether they have this or not. Yet, in that it hath been often mentioned, especially by thePrimitive Protestantsin their Treatises on this Subject, it sheweth how much they were secretly convinced in their Minds, that this inward Call of the Spirit was most excellent, and preferable to any other;TheCallof theSpiritpreferred to any other byPrimitive Protestants.and therefore in the most noble and heroicActsof theReformation, they laid Claim unto it; so that many of thePrimitive Protestantsdid not scruple both to despise and disown thisoutward[82]Call, when urged by thePapistsagainst them.ModernProtestantsdenying theCallof theSpirit.But nowProtestants, having gone from the Testimony of the Spirit, plead for the sameSuccession; and being pressed (by those whom God now raiseth up by his Spirit to reform those Abuses that are among them) with the Example of their Forefathers Practice againstRome, they are not at all ashamed utterly to deny that their Fathers were called to their Work by the inward and immediate Vocation of the Spirit; clothing themselves with that Call, which they say their Forefathers had, as Pastors of theRoman Church. For thus (not to go further) affirmethNicolaus Arnoldus,[83]in a Pamphlet written against the same Propositions, called,A Theologick Exercitation, Sect. 40. averring,That they pretended not to an immediate Act of the Holy Spirit; but reformed by the Virtue of the ordinary Vocation which they had in the Church, as it then was,to wit,that ofRome, &c.[82]Succession.[83]Who gives himself outDoctorandProfessorofSacred TheologyatFranequer.§. IX.AbsurditiesProtestantsfall into, by deriving their Ministry through theChurchofRome.Many Absurdities doProtestantsfall into, by deriving their Ministry thus through theChurchofRome. As,First, They must acknowledge her to be a trueChurchofChrist, though only erroneous in some Things; which contradicts theirForefathersso frequently, and yet truly, calling herAntichrist.Secondly, They must needs acknowledge, that thePriestsandBishopsof theRomish Churchare trueMinistersandPastorsof theChurchofChrist, as to the essential Part; else they could not be fit Subjects for that Power and Authority to have resided in; neither could they have been Vessels capable to receive that Power, and again transmit it to their Successors.Thirdly, It would follow from this, that thePriestsandBishopsof theRomishChurchare yet really truePastorsandTeachers: For ifProtestant Ministershave no Authority but what they received from them, and since theChurchofRomeis the same she was at that Time of the Reformation in Doctrine and Manners, and she has the same Power now she had then, and if the Power lie in theSuccession, then thesePriestsof theRomish Churchnow, which derive their Ordination from thoseBishopsthat ordained the firstReformers, have the same Authority which the Successors of the Reformed have, and consequently are no lessMinistersof theChurchthan they are. But how will this agree with that Opinion which thePrimitive Protestantshad of theRomish PriestsandClergy, to whomLutherdid not only deny any Power or Authority, but contrary-wise affirmed,That it was wickedly done of them, to assume to themselves only this Authority to teach, and bePriestsandMinisters, &c.Lutheraffirmed, that aWomanmight be a Preacher.For he himself affirmed,That every good Christian (not only Men, but even Women also) is a Preacher.§. X.The pretended Succession ofPapistsandProtestantsexplained.But against this vain Succession, as asserted either by thePapistsorProtestantsas a necessary Thing to the Call of a Minister, Ianswer; That such as plead for it, as a sufficient or necessary Thing to the Call of a Minister, do thereby sufficiently declare their Ignorance of the Nature ofChristianity, and how much they are Strangers to the Life and Power of aChristian Ministry, which is not entailed to Succession, as an outward Inheritance; and herein, as hath been often before observed, they not only make theGospelnot better than theLaw, but even far short of it. ForJesus Christ, as he regardeth not any distinct particular Family or Nation in the gathering of his Children; but only such as are joined to and leavened with his ownpureandrighteous Seed, so neither regards he a bare outward Succession, where his pure, immaculate, and righteous Life is wanting; for that were all one. He took not the Nations into theNew Covenant, that he might suffer them to fall into the old Errors of theJews, or to approve them in their Errors, but that he might gather unto himself a pure People out of the Earth. Now this was thegreat Error of theJews, to think they were the Church and People of God, because they could derive their outward Succession fromAbraham;TheJewsError ofAbraham’s outward Succession.whereby they reckoned themselves theChildren of God, as being the Offspring ofAbraham, who was theFather of the Faithful. But how severely doth the Scripture rebuke this vain and frivolous Pretence? Telling them,That God is able of the Stones to raise Children unto Abraham; and that not the outwardSeed, but those that were found in theFaithofAbraham, are the trueChildrenof faithfulAbraham. Far less then can this Pretence hold amongChristians, seeing Christ rejects all outward Affinity of that Kind:[84]These, saith he,are my Mother, Brethren and Sisters, who do the Will of my Father which is in Heaven: And again;He looked round about him, and said, Who shall do the Will of God, these, saith he,are my Brethren. So then, such as do not the Commands of Christ, are not found clothed with his Righteousness, are not his Disciples; and that which a Man hath not, he cannot give to another: And it is clear, that no Man nor Church, though truly called of God, and as such having the Authority of a Church and Minister, can any longer retain that Authority, than they retain the Power, Life, and Righteousness ofChristianity; for the Form is entailed to the Power and Substance, and not the Substance to the Form.The Form of Godliness is entailed to the Power and Substance, and not the Substance to the Form.So that when a Man ceaseth inwardly in his Heart to be aChristian(where his Christianity must lie) by turning to Satan, and becoming a Reprobate, he is no more aChristian, though he retain the Name and Form, than a dead Man is a Man, though he hath the Image and Representation of one, or than the Picture or Statue of a Man is a Man: And though a dead Man may serve to a Painter to retain some imperfect Representation of the Man, that once was alive, and so one Picture may serve to make another by, yet none of those can serve to make a true living Man again, neither can they convey the Life and Spirit of the Man; it must be God, that made the Man at first, that alone can revive him.Succession interrupted.As Death then makes such Interruption of an outward natural Succession, that no Art nor outward Form can uphold, and as adead Man, after he is dead, can have no Issue, neither can dead Images of Men make living Men: So that it is the Living that are only capable to succeed one another; and such as die, so soon as they die cease to succeed, or to transmit Succession. So it is in spiritual Things; it is the Life of Christianity, taking Place in the Heart, that makes a Christian;The Living Members make the Church: Life lost, the Church is ceased.and so it is a Number of such, being alive, joined together in the Life of Christianity, that make a Church of Christ; and it is all those that are thus alive and quickened, considered together, that make the Catholick Church of Christ: Therefore when this Life ceaseth in one, then that one ceaseth to be a Christian; and all Power, Virtue, and Authority, which he had as a Christian, ceaseth with it; so that if he hath been a Minister or Teacher, he ceaseth to be so any more: And though he retain the Form, and hold to the Authority in Words, yet that signifies no more, nor is it of any more real Virtue and Authority, than the mere Image of a dead Man.Judasfell from his Ministry by Transgression.And as this is most agreeable to Reason, so it is to the Scripture’s Testimony; for it is said ofJudas, Acts i. 25.That Judas fell from his Ministry and Apostleship by Transgression; so his Transgression caused him to cease to be an Apostle any more: Whereas, had the Apostleship been entailed to his Person, so that Transgression could not cause him to lose it, until he had been formally degraded by theChurch(whichJudasnever was so long as he lived)Judashad been as really an Apostle, after he betrayed Christ, as before. And as it is of one, so of many, yea, of a whole Church: For seeing nothing makes a Man truly a Christian, but the Life of Christianity inwardly ruling in his Heart; so nothing makes a Church, but the gathering of several true Christians into one Body. Now where all these Members lose this Life, there the Church ceaseth to be, though they still uphold the Form, and retain the Name: For when that which made them a Church, and for which they were a Church, ceaseth, then they cease also to be a Church: And therefore the Spirit, speaking to the Church ofLaodicea, because of herLukewarmness, Rev. iii. 16. threateneth tospue her out of his Mouth.The Lukewarmness oftheChurch ofLaodicea.Now, suppose the Church ofLaodiceahad continued in thatLukewarmness, and had come under that Condemnation and Judgment, though she had retained the Name and Form of a Church, and had had her Pastors and Ministers, as no Doubt she had at that Time, yet surely she had been no true Church of Christ, nor had the Authority of her Pastors and Teachers been to be regarded, because of an outward Succession, though perhaps some of them had it immediately from the Apostles. From all which I infer, That since the Authority of the Christian Church and her Pastors is always united, and never separated from the inward Power, Virtue, and righteous Life of Christianity; where this ceaseth, that ceaseth also. But our Adversaries acknowledge,That many, if not most of those, by and through whom they derive this Authority, were altogether destitute of this Life and Virtue of Christianity: Therefore they could neither receive, have, nor transmit any Christian Authority.[84]Mat. 12. 48. &c. Mark 3. 33. &c.Object.But if it be objected,That though the Generality of the Bishops and Priests of the Church ofRome, during the Apostasy, were such wicked Men; yetProtestantsaffirm, and thou thyself seemest to acknowledge, that there were some good Men among them, whom the Lord regarded, and who were true Members of theCatholick ChurchofChrist; might not they then have transmitted this Authority?Answ.TheProtestantsplead for a Succession inherent.I answer, This saith nothing; in respectProtestantsdo not at all lay Claim to their Ministry, as transmitted to them by a direct Line of good Men; which they can never shew, nor yet pretend to: But generally place this Succession as inherent in the whole Pastors of the Apostate Church. Neither do they plead their Call to be good and valid, because they can derive it through a Line of good Men, separate and observably distinguishable from the rest of the Bishops and Clergy of theRomish Church; but they derive it as an Authority residing in the Whole: For they think itHeresy, to judge that the Quality or Condition of theAdministratordoth any Ways invalidate or prejudice his Work.This vain and pretended Succession not only militates against, and fights with the very manifest Purpose and Intent of Christ in the gathering and calling of his Church, but makes him (so to speak) more blind and less prudent than natural Men are in conveying and establishing their outward Inheritances.An Estate void of Heirship devolves to the Prince, none claims it, but whom he sees meet to give it: So the Heirship of Life is enjoyed from Christ, the true Heir.For where an Estate is entailed to a certain Name and Family, when that Family weareth out, and there is no lawful Successor found of it, that can make a just Title appear, as being really of Blood and Affinity to the Family; it is not lawful for any one of another Race or Blood, because he assumes the Name or Arms of that Family, to possess the Estate, and claim the Superiorities and Privileges of the Family: But by the Law of Nations the Inheritance devolves into the Prince, as beingUltimus Hæres; and so he giveth it again immediately to whom he sees meet, and makes them bear the Name and Arms of the Family, who then are entitled to the Privileges and Revenues thereof. So in like Manner, the true Name and Title of aChristian, by which he hath Right to theheavenly Inheritance, and is a Member ofJesus Christ, is inwardRighteousnessandHoliness, and the Mind redeemed from theVanities,Lusts, andIniquitiesof this World; and a Gathering or Company, made up of such Members, makes a Church. Where this is lost, the Title is lost; and so the true Seed, to which the Promise is, and to which the Inheritance is due, becomes extinguished in them, and they become dead as to it: And so it retires, and devolves itself again into Christ, who is the righteousHeir of Life; and he gives the Title and true Right again immediately to whom it pleaseth him, even to as many as being turned to hispure Lightin theirConsciences, come again to walk in hisrighteousandinnocent Life, and so become true Members of hisBody, which is theChurch. So the Authority, Power and Heirship are not annexed to Persons, as they bear the mere Names, or retain a Form, holding the bare Shell or Shadow ofChristianity; but the Promise is toChrist, and to theSeed, in whom the Authority is inherent, and in as many as are one with him, and unitedunto him by Purity and Holiness, and by the inward Renovation and Regeneration of their Minds.Moreover, this pretended Succession is contrary to Scripture Definitions, and the Nature of the Church of Christ, and of the true Members.I.The House of God is no polluted Nest; noAtheistnorPretendercan rest there.For,First, The Church is the House of God, the Pillar and Ground of Truth, 1 Tim. iii. 15. But according to this Doctrine, theHouse of Godis a polluted Nest of all Sort of Wickedness and Abominations, made up of the most ugly, defiled, and perverse Stones that are in the Earth; where the Devil rules in all Manner of Unrighteousness. For so our Adversaries confess, and History informs, theChurchofRometo have been, as some of theirHistoriansacknowledge; and if that be truly theHouse of God, what may we call theHouse of Satan? Or may we call it therefore theHouse of God, notwithstanding all this Impiety, because they had a bare Form, and that vitiated many Ways also; and because they pretended to the Name ofChristianity, though they wereAntichristian,Devilish, andAtheisticalin their whole Practice and Spirit, and also in many of their Principles? Would not this infer yet a greater Absurdity, as if they had been something to be accounted of, because of their Hypocrisy and Deceit, and false Pretences? Whereas the Scripture looks upon that as an Aggravation of Guilt, and calls itBlasphemy, Rev. ii. 9. Of two wicked Men, he is most to be abhorred, who covereth his Wickedness with a vain Pretence of God and Righteousness: Even so theseabominable Beasts, andfearful Monsters, who looked upon themselves to beBishopsin theApostate Church, were never a Whit the better, that they falsely pretended to be the Successors of the holy Apostles; unless to lie be commendable, and that Hypocrisy be the Way to Heaven. Yea, were not this to fall into that Evil condemned among the Jews,Jer.vii. 4.Trust ye not in lying Words, saying, The Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord are these; throughly amend your Ways, &c. as if such outward Names and Things were the Thing the Lord regarded, and not inward Holiness? Or can that then be the Pillar and Ground of Truth, which is the very Sink and Pit of Wickedness, from which so much Error, Superstition, Idolatry, and all Abomination spring? Can there be any Thing more contrary both to Scripture and Reason?II.Christ is theHead, hisBodyundefiled.Secondly, The Church is definedto be the Kingdom of the dear Son of God, into which the Saints are translated, being delivered from the Power of Darkness. It is called theBody of Christ, which from him by Joints and Bands having Nourishment ministered and knit together, increaseth with the Increase of God, Col. ii. 19. But can such Members, such a Gathering as we have demonstrated that Church and Members to be, among whom they allege their pretended Authority to have been preserved, and through which they derive their Call; can such, I say, be the Body of Christ, or Members thereof? Or is Christ the Head of such a corrupt, dead, dark, abominable stinking Carcase? If so, then might we not as well affirm against the Apostle, 2Cor.vi. 14.What Fellowship hath Christ withBelial?That Righteousness hath Fellowship with Unrighteousness, that Light hath Communion with Darkness, that Christ hath Concord with Belial, that a Believer hath Part with an Infidel, and that the Temple of God hath Agreement with Idols?Moreover no Man is called theTemple of God, nor of theHoly Ghost, but as his Vessel is purified, and sobefitted and prepared for God to dwell in; and many thus fitted by Christ become his Body, in and among whom he dwells and walks, according as it is written,I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my People. It is therefore that we may become theTemple of ChristandPeople of God, that the Apostle in the following Verse exhorts, saying out of the Prophet,[85]Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean Thing, and I will receive you; and I will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my Sons and Daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. But to what Purpose is all this Exhortation? And why should we separate from the Unclean, if a mere outward Profession and Name be enough to make the true Church; and if the Unclean and Polluted were both the Church and lawful Successors of the Apostles, inheriting their Authority, and transmitting it to others? Yea, how can the Church be theKingdom ofthe Son of God, as contra-distinguished from theKingdom and Power of Darkness? And what Need, yea, what Possibility of being translated out of the one into the other, if those that make up the Kingdom and Power of Darkness be real Members of the true Church of Christ; and not simply Members only, but the very Pastors and Teachers of it? But how do theyincrease in the Increase of God, and receive spiritual Nourishment from Christ the Head, that are Enemies of him in their Hearts by wicked Works, and openly go into Perdition?Priestsfrivolous Distinction ofEnemiesto God byPractice, andMembersof his Church byOffice.Verily as no metaphysical and nice Distinctions, that though they were practically as to their own private States Enemies to God and Christ, and so Servants of Satan; yet they were, by Virtue of their Office, Members and Ministers of the Church, and so able to transmit the Succession; I say, as such invented and frivolous Distinctions will not please the Lord God, neither will he be deluded by such, nor make up the glorious Body of his Church with such mere outside hypocritical Shews, nor be beholden to such painted Sepulchres to be Members of his Body, which is found, pure, and undefiled, and therefore he needs not such false and corrupt Members to make up the Defects of it; so neither will such Distinctions satisfy truly tender and Christian Consciences; especially considering the Apostle is so far from desiring us to regard this, that we are expresly commanded toturn away from such as have a Form of Godliness, but deny the Power of it. For we may well object against these, as the poor Man did against the proud Prelate, that went about to cover his vain and unchristian-like Sumptuousness, by distinguishing that itwas not as Bishop but as Prince he had all that Splendor.The Answer of apoor Rustickto aproud Prelate.To which the poor Rustic wisely is said to have answered,When the Prince goeth to Hell, what shall become of the Prelate?And indeed this were to suppose the Body of Christ to be defective, and that to fill up these defective Places, he puts counterfeit and dead Stuff instead of real living Members; like such as lose their Eyes, Arms, or Legs, who make counterfeit ones of Wood or Glass instead of them. But we cannot think so of Christ, neither can we believe, for the Reasons above adduced, thateither we are to account, or that Christ doth account, any Man or Men a Whit the more Members of his Body, because though they be really wicked, they hypocritically and deceitfully clothe themselves with his Name, and pretend to it; for this is contrary to his own Doctrine, where he saith expresly,Johnxv. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, &c. Thathe is the Vine, and his Disciples are the Branches; that except they abide in him, they cannot bear Fruit; and if they be unfruitful, they shall be cast forth as a Branch, and wither.A withered Branch can draw no Nourishment, so has no Life nor Virtue.Now I suppose these cut and withered Branches are no more true Branches nor Members of the Vine; they can no more draw Sap nor Nourishment from it, after that they are cut off, and so have no more Virtue, Sap, nor Life: What have they then to boast or glory of any Authority, seeing they want that Life, Virtue, and Nourishment from which all Authority comes? So such Members of Christ as are become dead to him through Unrighteousness, and so derive no more Virtue nor Life from him, are cut off by their Sins, and wither, and have no longer any true or real Authority, and their boasting of any is but an Aggravation of their Iniquity by Hypocrisy and Deceit. But further, would not this make Christ’s Body a mere Shadow and Phantasm? Yea, would it not make him the Head of a lifeless, rotten, stinking Carcase, having only some little outward false Shew, while inwardly full of Rottenness and Dirt?A living Head upon a lifeless Body, what aMonsterwould that be?And what a Monster would these Men make of Christ’s Body, by assigning it a real, pure, living, quick Head, full of Virtue and Life, and yet tied to such a dead lifeless Body as we have already described these Members to be, which they allege to have been the Church of Christ? Again, the Members of theChurch of Christare specified by this Definition, to wit, as being thesanctified in Christ Jesus, 1 Cor. i. 2. But this Notion ofSuccessionsupposeth not only some unsanctified Members to be of theChurch of Christ, but even the Whole to consist of unsanctified Members; yea, that such as were professedNecromancersand open Servants ofSatanwere the true Successors of the Apostles, and in whom the Apostolick Authority resided, these being the Vessels through whom this Succession is transmitted; though many of them, as allProtestantsand also somePapistsconfess, attained these Offices in the (so called)Churchnot only by such Means asSimon Magussought it, but by much worse, even by Witchcraft, Traditions, Money, Treachery, and Murder, whichPlatinahimself confesseth[86]of divers Bishops ofRome.
Concerning theMinistry.
As by theLightorGiftof God all true Knowledge in Things spiritual is received and revealed, so by the same, as it is manifested and received in the Heart, by the Strength and Power thereof, every trueMinisterof theGospelis ordained, prepared, and supplied in the Work of theMinistry; and by the Leading, Moving, and Drawing hereof ought everyEvangelistandChristian Pastorto be led and ordered in his Labour and Work of the Gospel, both as to the Placewhere, as to the Personsto whom, and as to the Timewhereinhe is tominister. Moreover they who have this Authority may and ought to preach theGospel, though withouthuman CommissionorLiterature; as on the other Hand, they who want the Authority of thisdivine Gift, however learned, or authorized by theCommissionofMenandChurches, are to be esteemed but asDeceivers, and nottrue Ministersof theGospel.The Gospel to be preached freely. Mat. 10. 8.Also they who have received this holy and unspotted Gift,as they have freely received it, so are they freely to give it,without Hire or Bargaining, far less to use it as aTradeto get Money by: Yet God hath called any one from their Employment or Trades, by which they acquire their Livelihood, it may be lawful for such, according to the Liberty which they feel given them in the Lord, to receive such Temporals (to wit, what may be needful for them for Meat and Clothing) as are given them freely and cordially by those to whom they have communicated Spirituals.
§. I.Hitherto I have treated of those Things which relate to theChristian FaithandChristians, as they stand each in his private and particular Condition, and how and by what Means every Man may be aChristianindeed, and so abide. Now Icome in order to speak of those Things that relate toChristians, as they are stated in ajoint FellowshipandCommunion, and come under a visible and outwardSociety, whichSocietyis called theChurch of God, and in Scripture compared to aBody, and therefore named theBody of Christ.The Church of God is the spiritual Body of Christ.As then in the natural Body there be divers Members, all concurring to the common End of preserving and confirming the whole Body, so in thisspiritualandmystical Bodythere are also divers Members, according to the different Measures ofGraceand of theSpiritdiversly administered untoeach Member; and from thisDiversityariseth that Distinction of Persons in thevisible SocietyofChristians, as ofApostles,Pastors,Evangelists,Ministers, &c. That which in this Proposition is proposed, is,What makes or constitutes any a Minister of the Church, what his Qualifications ought to be, and how he ought to behave himself?But because it may seem somewhat preposterous to speak of thedistinct Officesof theChurchuntil something be said of theChurchin general, though nothing positively be said of it in the Proposition; yet, as here implied, I shall briefly premise something thereof, and then proceed to the particular Members of it.
§. II.It is not in the least my Design to meddle with those tedious and many Controversies wherewith thePapistsandProtestantsdo tear one another concerning this Thing; but only according to the Truth manifested to me, and revealed in me by the Testimony of the Spirit, according to that Proportion of Wisdom given me, briefly to hold forth as a necessary Introduction both to this Matter of theMinistryand ofWorship, which followeth those Things which I, together with myBrethren, do believe concerning theChurch.
I.TheEtymologyof the Word[Greek: ekklêsia: εκκλησια](the Church) and Signification of it.TheChurchthen, according to the grammatical Signification of the Word, as it is used in the holy Scripture, signifies anAssemblyorGathering of many into one Place; for the Substantive [Greek: ekklêsia: εκκλησια] comes from the Word [Greek: ekkaleô: εκκαλεω]I call out of, and originally from [Greek: kaleô: καλεω]I call; and indeed, as this is the grammatical Sense of the Word, so also it is the real and proper Signification of the Thing, theChurchbeing no other Thing but theSociety,Gathering, orCompany of such as God hathcalled out of the World, and worldly Spirit, to walk in hisLightandLife.TheChurchthen so defined is to be considered as it comprehends all that are thuscalledandgatheredtruly by God, both such as are yet in this inferior World, and such as having already laid down the earthly Tabernacle, are passed into their heavenly Mansions, which together do make up the oneCatholick Church, concerning which there is so much Controversy.No Salvation without theChurch.Out of whichChurchwe freely acknowledge there can be no Salvation; because under thisChurchand its Denomination are comprehended all, and as many, of whatsoeverNation,Kindred,Tongue, orPeoplethey be, though outwardly Strangers, and remote from those who professChristandChristianityin Words, and have the Benefit of the Scriptures, as become obedient to theholy LightandTestimony of Godin their Hearts, so as to become sanctified by it, and cleansed from the Evils of their Ways.What theChurchis.For this is theUniversalorCatholick Spirit, by which many are called from all thefour Corners of the Earth, and shall sit down withAbraham, Isaac,andJacob: By this thesecret Life and Virtueof Jesus is conveyed into many that are afar off, even as by the Blood that runs into the Veins and Arteries of the natural Body the Life is conveyed from the Head and Heart unto the extreme Parts.TurksandJewsmay become Members of thisChurch.There may be Members therefore of thisCatholick Churchboth amongHeathens,Turks,Jews, and all the several Sorts ofChristians, Men and Women of Integrity and Simplicity of Heart, who though blinded in some Things in their Understanding, and perhaps burdened with the Superstitions and Formality of the several Sects in which they are ingrossed, yet being upright in their Hearts before the Lord, chiefly aiming and labouring to be delivered from Iniquity, and loving to follow Righteousness, are by the secret Touches of thisholy Lightin their Souls enlivened and quickened, thereby secretly united to God, and therethrough become true Members of thisCatholick Church. Now theChurchin this Respect hath been in Being in all Generations; for God never wanted some such Witnesses for him, though many Times slighted, and not much observed by thisWorld; and therefore thisChurch, though still in Being, hath been oftentimes as it were invisible, in that it hath not come under the Observations of the Men of this World, being, as saith the Scripture,Jer.iii. 14.One of a City, and two of a Family.And yet though theChurchthus considered may be as it were hid from wicked Men, as not then gathered into avisible Fellowship, yea, and not observed even by some that are Members of it, yet may there notwithstanding many belong to it; as whenEliascomplained he wasleft alone, 1 Kings xix. 18. God answered unto him,I have reserved to myself seven thousand Men, who have not bowed their Knees to the Image ofBaal; whence the Apostle argues,Rom.xi. the Being of aRemnantin his Day.
§. III.II.The Definition of theChurchofGod, as gathered into avisible Fellowship.Secondly, TheChurchis to be considered as it signifies a certain Number of Persons gathered by God’s Spirit, and by the Testimony of some of his Servants raised up for that End, unto the Belief of the true Principles and Doctrines of the Christian Faith, who through their Hearts being united by the same Love, and their Understandings informed in the same Truths, gather, meet, and assemble together to wait upon God, to worship him, and to bear a joint Testimony for theTruthagainstError, suffering for the same, and so becoming through this Fellowship as one Family and Houshold in certain Respects, do each of them watch over, teach, instruct, and care for one another, according to their several Measures and Attainments: Such were theChurchesof the primitive Times gathered by the Apostles; whereof we have divers mentioned in the holy Scriptures. And as to theVisibilityof theChurchin this Respect, there hath been a great Interruption since the Apostles Days, by Reason of theApostasy, as will hereafter appear.
§. IV.How to become a Member of thatChurch.To be aMemberthen of theCatholick Church, there is Need of theInward Calling of Godby hisLight in the Heart, and a being leavened into the Nature and Spirit of it, so as to forsake Unrighteousness, and be turned to Righteousness, and in the Inwardness of the Mind to be cut out of thewild Olive Treeof our own first fallenNature, and ingrafted intoChristby hisWordandSpirit in the Heart. And this may be done in those who are Strangers to the History, (God not having pleased to make them Partakers thereof) as in thefifthandsixth Propositionshath already been proved.
Theoutward Professionof the Members of thetrue Church.To be aMemberof a particularChurch of Christ, as this inward Work is indispensibly necessary, so is also the outward Profession of, and Belief in, Jesus Christ, and those holy Truths delivered by his Spirit in the Scriptures; seeing the Testimony of the Spirit recorded in the Scriptures, doth answer the Testimony of the same Spirit in the Heart, even asFace answereth Face in a Glass. Hence it follows, that the inward Work of Holiness, and forsaking Iniquity, is necessary in every Respect to the being a Member in theChurch of Christ; and that the outward Profession is necessary to be a Member of a particular gatheredChurch, but not to the being a Member of theCatholick Church; yet it is absolutely necessary, where God affords the Opportunity of knowing it: And the outward Testimony is to be believed, where it is presented and revealed; the Sum whereof hath upon other Occasions been already proved.
§. V.The Members of the Antichristian Church in the Apostasy, their empty Profession.But contrary hereunto, the Devil, that worketh and hath wrought in theMystery of Iniquity, hath taught his Followers to affirm,That no Man, however holy, is a Member of the Church of Christ without the outward Profession; and unless he be initiated thereinto by some outward Ceremonies. And again,That Men who have this outward Profession, though inwardly unholy, may be Members of the true Church of Christ, yea, and ought to be so esteemed. This is plainly to putLightforDarkness, andDarknessforLight; as if God had a greater Regard to Words than Actions, and were more pleased with vain Professions than with real Holiness: But these Things I have sufficiently refuted heretofore. Only from hence let it be observed, that upon this false and rotten FoundationAntichristhath built hisBabylonish Structure, and theAntichristian Churchin theApostasyhath hereby reared herself up to that Height and Grandeur she hath attained; so as toexalt herself aboveall that is called God, and sit in the Temple of God as God.
The Decay of theChurch.For the particularChurchesofChrist, gathered in the Apostles Days, soon after beginning to decay as to theinward Life, came to be overgrown with several Errors, and the Hearts of the Professors ofChristianityto be leavened with the old Spirit and Conversation of the World. Yet it pleased God for someCenturiesto preserve thatLifein many, whom he emboldened with Zeal to stand and suffer for his Name through theten Persecutions: But these being over, the Meekness, Gentleness, Love, Long-suffering, Goodness, and Temperance ofChristianitybegan to be lost.When Men became Christians byBirth, and not byConversion, Christianity came to be lost.For after that the Princes of the Earth came to take upon them that Profession, and that it ceased to be a Reproach to be aChristian, but rather became a Means to Preferment; Men became such by Birth and Education, and not by Conversion and Renovation of Spirit: Then there was none so vile, none so wicked, none so profane, who became not a Member of theChurch. And theTeachersandPastorsthereof becoming the Companions of Princes, and so being enriched by their Benevolence, and getting vast Treasures and Estates, became puffed up, and as it were drunken with the vain Pomp and Glory of this World: And so marshalled themselves in manifold Orders and Degrees; not without innumerable Contests and Altercations who should have the[79]Precedency. So the Virtue, Life, Substance, and Kernel ofChristian Religioncame to be lost, and nothing remained but a Shadow and Image; which dead Image, or Carcase ofChristianity(to make it take the better with the superstitious Multitude ofHeathensthat were engrossed in it, not by any inward Conversion of their Hearts, or by becoming less wicked or superstitious, but by a little Change in the Object of their Superstition) not having the inward Ornament and Life of the Spirit, became decked with many outward and visible Orders, and beautified with the Gold, Silver, precious Stones,and the other splendid Ornaments of this perishing World: So that this was no more to be accounted theChristian Religion, andChristian Church, notwithstanding the outward Profession, than thedead Bodyof a Man is to be accounted aliving Man; which, however cunningly embalmed, and adorned with ever so much Gold or Silver, or most precious Stones, or sweet Ointments, is but a dead Body still, without Sense, Life, or Motion.In the Church ofRomeare no less Superstitions and Ceremonies introduced, than were either amongJewsorHeathens.For thatApostate ChurchofRomehas introduced no fewer Ceremonies and Superstitions into theChristian Profession, than were either amongJewsorHeathens; and that there is and hath been as much, yea, and more Pride, Covetousness, Uncleanness, Luxury, Fornication, Profaneness and Atheism among her Teachers and chief Bishops, than ever was among any Sort of People, none need doubt, that have read their own Authors, to wit,Platinaand others.
[79]As was between the Bishop ofRomeand the Bishop ofConstantinople.
[79]As was between the Bishop ofRomeand the Bishop ofConstantinople.
Whether, and what Difference there is betwixt theProtestantsandPapistsin Superstitions.Now, thoughProtestantshave reformed from her in some of the most gross Points and absurd Doctrines relating to theChurchandMinistry, yet (which is to be regretted) they have only lopt off the Branches, but retain and plead earnestly for the same Root, from which these Abuses have sprung. So that even among them, though all that Mass of Superstition, Ceremonies, and Orders be not again established, yet the same Pride, Covetousness and Sensuality is found to have overspread and leavened theirChurchesandMinistry, and the Life, Power and Virtue oftrue Religionis lost among them; and the very same Death, Barrenness, Dryness and Emptiness, is found in theirMinistry. So that in Effect they differ fromPapistsbut in Form and some Ceremonies; being with them apostatised from the Life and Power the truePrimitive Churchand herPastorswere in: So that of both it may be said truly (without Breach of Charity) that having only aForm of Godliness(and many of them not so much as that) they areDeniersof, yea,Enemiesto, the Power of it. And this proceeds not simply from their not walking answerably to their own Principles, and so degenerating that Way, which also is true; but, which is worse, their laying down to themselves, and adheringto certain Principles, which naturally, as a cursed Root, bring forth these bitter Fruits: These therefore shall afterwards be examined and refuted, as the contrary Positions of Truth in the Proposition are explained and proved.
For as to the Nature and Constitution of a Church[80](abstract from their Disputes concerning its constant Visibility, Infallibility, and the Primacy of the Church of Rome) the Protestants, as in Practice, so in Principles, differ not fromPapists;TheProtestantChurch how they become Members thereof.for they engross within the Compass of theirChurchwhole Nations, making their Infants Members of it, by sprinkling a little Water upon them; so that there is none so wicked or profane who is not a Fellow-member; no Evidence of Holiness being required to constitute a Member of theChurch. Nay, look through theProtestant Nations, and there will no Difference appear in the Lives of the Generality of the One, more than of the Other; he, whoruleth in the Children of Disobedience, reigning in both:Christianitychiefly consists in the Renewing of theHeart.So that theReformation, through this Defect, is only in holding some less gross Errors in the Notion, but not in having the Heart reformed and renewed, in which mainly theLifeofChristianityconsisteth.
[80]i. e.National.
[80]i. e.National.
§. VI.APopish, corrupt Ministryall Evils follow.But thePopish Errorsconcerning theMinistry, which they have retained, are most of all to be regretted, by which chiefly the Life and Power ofChristianityis barred out among them, and they kept in Death, Barrenness and Dryness: There being nothing more hurtful than an Error in this Respect.Like People, like Priest.Hosea 4. 9.For where a false and corruptMinistryentereth, all Manner of other Evils follow upon it, according to that Scripture Adage,Like People, like Priest: For by their Influence, instead of ministering Life and Righteousness, they minister Death and Iniquity. The wholeBackslidingsof theJewish Congregationof old are hereto ascribed:The Leaders of my People have caused them to err. The whole Writings of the Prophets are full of such Complaints; and for this Cause, under theNew Testament, we are so often warned and guarded tobeware of false Prophets, and false Teachers, &c. What may be thought then, where all, as to this, isout of Order; where both the Foundation, Call, Qualifications, Maintenance, and whole Discipline are different from and opposite to theMinistryof thePrimitive Church; yea, and necessarily tend to the Shutting out of aSpiritual Ministry, and the bringing in and establishing of aCarnal? This shall appear by Parts.
§. VII.Quest. 1.That then which comes first to be questioned in this Matter, is concerning theCall of a Minister; to wit,What maketh, or how cometh a Man to be, a Minister, Pastor, or Teacher in the Church of Christ?
Answ.The Call of aMinisterand wherein it consisteth.Weanswer; By theinward Power and Virtue of the Spirit of God. For, as saith our Proposition,Having received the true Knowledge of Things spiritual by the Spirit of God, without which they cannot be known, and being by the same in Measure purified and sanctified, he comes thereby to be called and moved to minister to others; being able to speak, from a living Experience, of what he himself is a Witness; and thereforeknowing the Terror of the Lord, he is fit to persuade Men, &c. 2 Cor. v. 11. and his Words and Ministry, proceeding from the inward Power and Virtue, reach to the Heart of his Hearers, and make them approve of him, and be subject unto him.Object.Our Adversaries are forced to confess, that this were indeeddesirableand best; but this they will not have to be absolutely necessary. I shall first prove the Necessity of it, and then shew how much they err in that which they make more necessary than this divine and heavenly Call.
Arg.1.The Necessity of aninward Callto make a Man aChristian.First, That which is necessary to make a Man aChristian, so as without it he cannot be truly one, must be much more necessary to make a Man aMinister of Christianity; seeing the one is a Degree above the other, and has it included in it: Nothing less than he that supposeth aMaster, supposeth him first to have attained the Knowledge and Capacity of aScholar. They that are notChristians, cannot be Teachers and Ministers amongChristians.
But this inward Call, Power and Virtue of the Spirit of God, is necessary to make a Man aChristian; as we have abundantly proved before in the second Proposition, according to these Scriptures,Hethat hath not the Spirit of Christ, is none of his. As many as are led by the Spirit of God, are the Sons of God:
Therefore this Call, Moving and Drawing of the Spirit, must be much more necessary to make a Man aMinister.
2.The Ministry of the Spirit requires the Operation and Testimony of the Spirit.Secondly, AllMinistersof theNew Testamentought to beMinistersof theSpirit, and not of theLetter, according to that of 2Cor.iii. 6. and as the old Latin hath it,Not by the Letter, but by the Spirit: But how can a Man be a Minister of the Spirit, who is not inwardly called by it, and who looks not upon the Operation and Testimony of the Spirit as essential to his Call? As he could not be a Minister of the Letter who had thence no Ground for his Call, yea, who was altogether a Stranger to and unacquainted with it, so neither can he be a Minister of the Spirit who is a Stranger to it, and unacquainted with the Motions thereof, and knows it not to draw, act, and move him, and go before him in the Work of theMinistry. I would willingly know, how those that take upon them to be Ministers (as they suppose) of the Gospel, merely from an outward Vocation, without so much as being any ways sensible of the Work of the Spirit, or any inward Call therefrom, can either satisfy themselves or others that they areMinisters of the Spirit, or wherein they differ from theMinisters of the Letter? For,
3.Under the Law the People needed not to doubt, who should be Priests and Ministers.Thirdly, If this inward Call, or Testimony of the Spirit, were not essential and necessary to aMinister, then theMinistryof theNew Testamentwould not only be no ways preferable to, but in divers Respects far worse than that of theLaw. For under theLawthere was a certain Tribe allotted for theMinistry, and of that Tribe certain Families set apart for thePriesthoodand other Offices, by the immediate Command of God toMoses; so that the People needed not be in any Doubt who should be Priests and Ministers of the holy Things: Yea, and besides this, God called forth, by the immediate Testimony of his Spirit, several at divers Times to teach, instruct, and reprove his People, asSamuel,Nathan,Elias,Elisha,Jeremiah,Amos, and many more of the Prophets: But now under theNew Covenant, where theMinistryought to be morespiritual, theWaymorecertain, and theAccessmoreeasyunto the Lord, our Adversaries, by denying the Necessity of this inward and spiritual Vocation, make it quite otherways. For there being now no certain Family or Tribe to which theMinistryis limited, we are left in Uncertainty, to choose and havePastorsat a Venture, without any certain Assent of the Will of God; having neither an outward Rule nor Certainty in this Affair to walk by: For that the Scripture cannot give any certain Rule in this Matter, hath in thethird Propositionconcerning it been already shewn.
4.Christ the Door.Fourthly, Christ proclaims them all[81]Thieves and Robbers, that enter not by him the Door into the Sheepfold, but climb up some other Way; whom the Sheep ought not to hear: But such as come in without the Call, Movings, and Leadings of the Spirit of Christ, wherewith he leads his Children intoall Truth, come in certainly not by Christ, who is theDoor, but some other Way, and therefore are not true Shepherds.
[81]John 10. 1.
[81]John 10. 1.
§. VIII.Successionpleaded by the false Church from Christ and his Apostles.To all this they object theSuccession of the Church; alleging,That since Christ gave a Call to his Apostles and Disciples, they have conveyed that Call to their Successors, having Power to ordainPastorsandTeachers; by which Power the Authority of ordaining and makingMinistersandPastorsis successively conveyed to us; so that such, who are ordained and called by thePastorsof theChurch, are therefore true and lawful Ministers; and others, who are not so called, are to be accounted but Intruders.Hereunto also someProtestantsadd aNecessity, though they make it not a Thingessential;That besides this Calling of theChurch, every one, being called, ought to have the inward Call of the Spirit, inclining him so chosen to his Work: But this they say issubjectiveand notobjective; of which before.
Answ.As to what is subjoined of the inward Call of the Spirit, in that they make it not essential to a true Call, but a Supererogation as it were, it sheweth how little they set by it: Since those they admit to the Ministry are not so much as questioned in their Trials, whether they have this or not. Yet, in that it hath been often mentioned, especially by thePrimitive Protestantsin their Treatises on this Subject, it sheweth how much they were secretly convinced in their Minds, that this inward Call of the Spirit was most excellent, and preferable to any other;TheCallof theSpiritpreferred to any other byPrimitive Protestants.and therefore in the most noble and heroicActsof theReformation, they laid Claim unto it; so that many of thePrimitive Protestantsdid not scruple both to despise and disown thisoutward[82]Call, when urged by thePapistsagainst them.ModernProtestantsdenying theCallof theSpirit.But nowProtestants, having gone from the Testimony of the Spirit, plead for the sameSuccession; and being pressed (by those whom God now raiseth up by his Spirit to reform those Abuses that are among them) with the Example of their Forefathers Practice againstRome, they are not at all ashamed utterly to deny that their Fathers were called to their Work by the inward and immediate Vocation of the Spirit; clothing themselves with that Call, which they say their Forefathers had, as Pastors of theRoman Church. For thus (not to go further) affirmethNicolaus Arnoldus,[83]in a Pamphlet written against the same Propositions, called,A Theologick Exercitation, Sect. 40. averring,That they pretended not to an immediate Act of the Holy Spirit; but reformed by the Virtue of the ordinary Vocation which they had in the Church, as it then was,to wit,that ofRome, &c.
[82]Succession.
[82]Succession.
[83]Who gives himself outDoctorandProfessorofSacred TheologyatFranequer.
[83]Who gives himself outDoctorandProfessorofSacred TheologyatFranequer.
§. IX.AbsurditiesProtestantsfall into, by deriving their Ministry through theChurchofRome.Many Absurdities doProtestantsfall into, by deriving their Ministry thus through theChurchofRome. As,First, They must acknowledge her to be a trueChurchofChrist, though only erroneous in some Things; which contradicts theirForefathersso frequently, and yet truly, calling herAntichrist.Secondly, They must needs acknowledge, that thePriestsandBishopsof theRomish Churchare trueMinistersandPastorsof theChurchofChrist, as to the essential Part; else they could not be fit Subjects for that Power and Authority to have resided in; neither could they have been Vessels capable to receive that Power, and again transmit it to their Successors.Thirdly, It would follow from this, that thePriestsandBishopsof theRomishChurchare yet really truePastorsandTeachers: For ifProtestant Ministershave no Authority but what they received from them, and since theChurchofRomeis the same she was at that Time of the Reformation in Doctrine and Manners, and she has the same Power now she had then, and if the Power lie in theSuccession, then thesePriestsof theRomish Churchnow, which derive their Ordination from thoseBishopsthat ordained the firstReformers, have the same Authority which the Successors of the Reformed have, and consequently are no lessMinistersof theChurchthan they are. But how will this agree with that Opinion which thePrimitive Protestantshad of theRomish PriestsandClergy, to whomLutherdid not only deny any Power or Authority, but contrary-wise affirmed,That it was wickedly done of them, to assume to themselves only this Authority to teach, and bePriestsandMinisters, &c.Lutheraffirmed, that aWomanmight be a Preacher.For he himself affirmed,That every good Christian (not only Men, but even Women also) is a Preacher.
§. X.The pretended Succession ofPapistsandProtestantsexplained.But against this vain Succession, as asserted either by thePapistsorProtestantsas a necessary Thing to the Call of a Minister, Ianswer; That such as plead for it, as a sufficient or necessary Thing to the Call of a Minister, do thereby sufficiently declare their Ignorance of the Nature ofChristianity, and how much they are Strangers to the Life and Power of aChristian Ministry, which is not entailed to Succession, as an outward Inheritance; and herein, as hath been often before observed, they not only make theGospelnot better than theLaw, but even far short of it. ForJesus Christ, as he regardeth not any distinct particular Family or Nation in the gathering of his Children; but only such as are joined to and leavened with his ownpureandrighteous Seed, so neither regards he a bare outward Succession, where his pure, immaculate, and righteous Life is wanting; for that were all one. He took not the Nations into theNew Covenant, that he might suffer them to fall into the old Errors of theJews, or to approve them in their Errors, but that he might gather unto himself a pure People out of the Earth. Now this was thegreat Error of theJews, to think they were the Church and People of God, because they could derive their outward Succession fromAbraham;TheJewsError ofAbraham’s outward Succession.whereby they reckoned themselves theChildren of God, as being the Offspring ofAbraham, who was theFather of the Faithful. But how severely doth the Scripture rebuke this vain and frivolous Pretence? Telling them,That God is able of the Stones to raise Children unto Abraham; and that not the outwardSeed, but those that were found in theFaithofAbraham, are the trueChildrenof faithfulAbraham. Far less then can this Pretence hold amongChristians, seeing Christ rejects all outward Affinity of that Kind:[84]These, saith he,are my Mother, Brethren and Sisters, who do the Will of my Father which is in Heaven: And again;He looked round about him, and said, Who shall do the Will of God, these, saith he,are my Brethren. So then, such as do not the Commands of Christ, are not found clothed with his Righteousness, are not his Disciples; and that which a Man hath not, he cannot give to another: And it is clear, that no Man nor Church, though truly called of God, and as such having the Authority of a Church and Minister, can any longer retain that Authority, than they retain the Power, Life, and Righteousness ofChristianity; for the Form is entailed to the Power and Substance, and not the Substance to the Form.The Form of Godliness is entailed to the Power and Substance, and not the Substance to the Form.So that when a Man ceaseth inwardly in his Heart to be aChristian(where his Christianity must lie) by turning to Satan, and becoming a Reprobate, he is no more aChristian, though he retain the Name and Form, than a dead Man is a Man, though he hath the Image and Representation of one, or than the Picture or Statue of a Man is a Man: And though a dead Man may serve to a Painter to retain some imperfect Representation of the Man, that once was alive, and so one Picture may serve to make another by, yet none of those can serve to make a true living Man again, neither can they convey the Life and Spirit of the Man; it must be God, that made the Man at first, that alone can revive him.Succession interrupted.As Death then makes such Interruption of an outward natural Succession, that no Art nor outward Form can uphold, and as adead Man, after he is dead, can have no Issue, neither can dead Images of Men make living Men: So that it is the Living that are only capable to succeed one another; and such as die, so soon as they die cease to succeed, or to transmit Succession. So it is in spiritual Things; it is the Life of Christianity, taking Place in the Heart, that makes a Christian;The Living Members make the Church: Life lost, the Church is ceased.and so it is a Number of such, being alive, joined together in the Life of Christianity, that make a Church of Christ; and it is all those that are thus alive and quickened, considered together, that make the Catholick Church of Christ: Therefore when this Life ceaseth in one, then that one ceaseth to be a Christian; and all Power, Virtue, and Authority, which he had as a Christian, ceaseth with it; so that if he hath been a Minister or Teacher, he ceaseth to be so any more: And though he retain the Form, and hold to the Authority in Words, yet that signifies no more, nor is it of any more real Virtue and Authority, than the mere Image of a dead Man.Judasfell from his Ministry by Transgression.And as this is most agreeable to Reason, so it is to the Scripture’s Testimony; for it is said ofJudas, Acts i. 25.That Judas fell from his Ministry and Apostleship by Transgression; so his Transgression caused him to cease to be an Apostle any more: Whereas, had the Apostleship been entailed to his Person, so that Transgression could not cause him to lose it, until he had been formally degraded by theChurch(whichJudasnever was so long as he lived)Judashad been as really an Apostle, after he betrayed Christ, as before. And as it is of one, so of many, yea, of a whole Church: For seeing nothing makes a Man truly a Christian, but the Life of Christianity inwardly ruling in his Heart; so nothing makes a Church, but the gathering of several true Christians into one Body. Now where all these Members lose this Life, there the Church ceaseth to be, though they still uphold the Form, and retain the Name: For when that which made them a Church, and for which they were a Church, ceaseth, then they cease also to be a Church: And therefore the Spirit, speaking to the Church ofLaodicea, because of herLukewarmness, Rev. iii. 16. threateneth tospue her out of his Mouth.The Lukewarmness oftheChurch ofLaodicea.Now, suppose the Church ofLaodiceahad continued in thatLukewarmness, and had come under that Condemnation and Judgment, though she had retained the Name and Form of a Church, and had had her Pastors and Ministers, as no Doubt she had at that Time, yet surely she had been no true Church of Christ, nor had the Authority of her Pastors and Teachers been to be regarded, because of an outward Succession, though perhaps some of them had it immediately from the Apostles. From all which I infer, That since the Authority of the Christian Church and her Pastors is always united, and never separated from the inward Power, Virtue, and righteous Life of Christianity; where this ceaseth, that ceaseth also. But our Adversaries acknowledge,That many, if not most of those, by and through whom they derive this Authority, were altogether destitute of this Life and Virtue of Christianity: Therefore they could neither receive, have, nor transmit any Christian Authority.
[84]Mat. 12. 48. &c. Mark 3. 33. &c.
[84]Mat. 12. 48. &c. Mark 3. 33. &c.
Object.But if it be objected,That though the Generality of the Bishops and Priests of the Church ofRome, during the Apostasy, were such wicked Men; yetProtestantsaffirm, and thou thyself seemest to acknowledge, that there were some good Men among them, whom the Lord regarded, and who were true Members of theCatholick ChurchofChrist; might not they then have transmitted this Authority?
Answ.TheProtestantsplead for a Succession inherent.I answer, This saith nothing; in respectProtestantsdo not at all lay Claim to their Ministry, as transmitted to them by a direct Line of good Men; which they can never shew, nor yet pretend to: But generally place this Succession as inherent in the whole Pastors of the Apostate Church. Neither do they plead their Call to be good and valid, because they can derive it through a Line of good Men, separate and observably distinguishable from the rest of the Bishops and Clergy of theRomish Church; but they derive it as an Authority residing in the Whole: For they think itHeresy, to judge that the Quality or Condition of theAdministratordoth any Ways invalidate or prejudice his Work.
This vain and pretended Succession not only militates against, and fights with the very manifest Purpose and Intent of Christ in the gathering and calling of his Church, but makes him (so to speak) more blind and less prudent than natural Men are in conveying and establishing their outward Inheritances.An Estate void of Heirship devolves to the Prince, none claims it, but whom he sees meet to give it: So the Heirship of Life is enjoyed from Christ, the true Heir.For where an Estate is entailed to a certain Name and Family, when that Family weareth out, and there is no lawful Successor found of it, that can make a just Title appear, as being really of Blood and Affinity to the Family; it is not lawful for any one of another Race or Blood, because he assumes the Name or Arms of that Family, to possess the Estate, and claim the Superiorities and Privileges of the Family: But by the Law of Nations the Inheritance devolves into the Prince, as beingUltimus Hæres; and so he giveth it again immediately to whom he sees meet, and makes them bear the Name and Arms of the Family, who then are entitled to the Privileges and Revenues thereof. So in like Manner, the true Name and Title of aChristian, by which he hath Right to theheavenly Inheritance, and is a Member ofJesus Christ, is inwardRighteousnessandHoliness, and the Mind redeemed from theVanities,Lusts, andIniquitiesof this World; and a Gathering or Company, made up of such Members, makes a Church. Where this is lost, the Title is lost; and so the true Seed, to which the Promise is, and to which the Inheritance is due, becomes extinguished in them, and they become dead as to it: And so it retires, and devolves itself again into Christ, who is the righteousHeir of Life; and he gives the Title and true Right again immediately to whom it pleaseth him, even to as many as being turned to hispure Lightin theirConsciences, come again to walk in hisrighteousandinnocent Life, and so become true Members of hisBody, which is theChurch. So the Authority, Power and Heirship are not annexed to Persons, as they bear the mere Names, or retain a Form, holding the bare Shell or Shadow ofChristianity; but the Promise is toChrist, and to theSeed, in whom the Authority is inherent, and in as many as are one with him, and unitedunto him by Purity and Holiness, and by the inward Renovation and Regeneration of their Minds.
Moreover, this pretended Succession is contrary to Scripture Definitions, and the Nature of the Church of Christ, and of the true Members.I.The House of God is no polluted Nest; noAtheistnorPretendercan rest there.For,First, The Church is the House of God, the Pillar and Ground of Truth, 1 Tim. iii. 15. But according to this Doctrine, theHouse of Godis a polluted Nest of all Sort of Wickedness and Abominations, made up of the most ugly, defiled, and perverse Stones that are in the Earth; where the Devil rules in all Manner of Unrighteousness. For so our Adversaries confess, and History informs, theChurchofRometo have been, as some of theirHistoriansacknowledge; and if that be truly theHouse of God, what may we call theHouse of Satan? Or may we call it therefore theHouse of God, notwithstanding all this Impiety, because they had a bare Form, and that vitiated many Ways also; and because they pretended to the Name ofChristianity, though they wereAntichristian,Devilish, andAtheisticalin their whole Practice and Spirit, and also in many of their Principles? Would not this infer yet a greater Absurdity, as if they had been something to be accounted of, because of their Hypocrisy and Deceit, and false Pretences? Whereas the Scripture looks upon that as an Aggravation of Guilt, and calls itBlasphemy, Rev. ii. 9. Of two wicked Men, he is most to be abhorred, who covereth his Wickedness with a vain Pretence of God and Righteousness: Even so theseabominable Beasts, andfearful Monsters, who looked upon themselves to beBishopsin theApostate Church, were never a Whit the better, that they falsely pretended to be the Successors of the holy Apostles; unless to lie be commendable, and that Hypocrisy be the Way to Heaven. Yea, were not this to fall into that Evil condemned among the Jews,Jer.vii. 4.Trust ye not in lying Words, saying, The Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord are these; throughly amend your Ways, &c. as if such outward Names and Things were the Thing the Lord regarded, and not inward Holiness? Or can that then be the Pillar and Ground of Truth, which is the very Sink and Pit of Wickedness, from which so much Error, Superstition, Idolatry, and all Abomination spring? Can there be any Thing more contrary both to Scripture and Reason?
II.Christ is theHead, hisBodyundefiled.Secondly, The Church is definedto be the Kingdom of the dear Son of God, into which the Saints are translated, being delivered from the Power of Darkness. It is called theBody of Christ, which from him by Joints and Bands having Nourishment ministered and knit together, increaseth with the Increase of God, Col. ii. 19. But can such Members, such a Gathering as we have demonstrated that Church and Members to be, among whom they allege their pretended Authority to have been preserved, and through which they derive their Call; can such, I say, be the Body of Christ, or Members thereof? Or is Christ the Head of such a corrupt, dead, dark, abominable stinking Carcase? If so, then might we not as well affirm against the Apostle, 2Cor.vi. 14.What Fellowship hath Christ withBelial?That Righteousness hath Fellowship with Unrighteousness, that Light hath Communion with Darkness, that Christ hath Concord with Belial, that a Believer hath Part with an Infidel, and that the Temple of God hath Agreement with Idols?Moreover no Man is called theTemple of God, nor of theHoly Ghost, but as his Vessel is purified, and sobefitted and prepared for God to dwell in; and many thus fitted by Christ become his Body, in and among whom he dwells and walks, according as it is written,I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my People. It is therefore that we may become theTemple of ChristandPeople of God, that the Apostle in the following Verse exhorts, saying out of the Prophet,[85]Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean Thing, and I will receive you; and I will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my Sons and Daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. But to what Purpose is all this Exhortation? And why should we separate from the Unclean, if a mere outward Profession and Name be enough to make the true Church; and if the Unclean and Polluted were both the Church and lawful Successors of the Apostles, inheriting their Authority, and transmitting it to others? Yea, how can the Church be theKingdom ofthe Son of God, as contra-distinguished from theKingdom and Power of Darkness? And what Need, yea, what Possibility of being translated out of the one into the other, if those that make up the Kingdom and Power of Darkness be real Members of the true Church of Christ; and not simply Members only, but the very Pastors and Teachers of it? But how do theyincrease in the Increase of God, and receive spiritual Nourishment from Christ the Head, that are Enemies of him in their Hearts by wicked Works, and openly go into Perdition?Priestsfrivolous Distinction ofEnemiesto God byPractice, andMembersof his Church byOffice.Verily as no metaphysical and nice Distinctions, that though they were practically as to their own private States Enemies to God and Christ, and so Servants of Satan; yet they were, by Virtue of their Office, Members and Ministers of the Church, and so able to transmit the Succession; I say, as such invented and frivolous Distinctions will not please the Lord God, neither will he be deluded by such, nor make up the glorious Body of his Church with such mere outside hypocritical Shews, nor be beholden to such painted Sepulchres to be Members of his Body, which is found, pure, and undefiled, and therefore he needs not such false and corrupt Members to make up the Defects of it; so neither will such Distinctions satisfy truly tender and Christian Consciences; especially considering the Apostle is so far from desiring us to regard this, that we are expresly commanded toturn away from such as have a Form of Godliness, but deny the Power of it. For we may well object against these, as the poor Man did against the proud Prelate, that went about to cover his vain and unchristian-like Sumptuousness, by distinguishing that itwas not as Bishop but as Prince he had all that Splendor.The Answer of apoor Rustickto aproud Prelate.To which the poor Rustic wisely is said to have answered,When the Prince goeth to Hell, what shall become of the Prelate?And indeed this were to suppose the Body of Christ to be defective, and that to fill up these defective Places, he puts counterfeit and dead Stuff instead of real living Members; like such as lose their Eyes, Arms, or Legs, who make counterfeit ones of Wood or Glass instead of them. But we cannot think so of Christ, neither can we believe, for the Reasons above adduced, thateither we are to account, or that Christ doth account, any Man or Men a Whit the more Members of his Body, because though they be really wicked, they hypocritically and deceitfully clothe themselves with his Name, and pretend to it; for this is contrary to his own Doctrine, where he saith expresly,Johnxv. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, &c. Thathe is the Vine, and his Disciples are the Branches; that except they abide in him, they cannot bear Fruit; and if they be unfruitful, they shall be cast forth as a Branch, and wither.A withered Branch can draw no Nourishment, so has no Life nor Virtue.Now I suppose these cut and withered Branches are no more true Branches nor Members of the Vine; they can no more draw Sap nor Nourishment from it, after that they are cut off, and so have no more Virtue, Sap, nor Life: What have they then to boast or glory of any Authority, seeing they want that Life, Virtue, and Nourishment from which all Authority comes? So such Members of Christ as are become dead to him through Unrighteousness, and so derive no more Virtue nor Life from him, are cut off by their Sins, and wither, and have no longer any true or real Authority, and their boasting of any is but an Aggravation of their Iniquity by Hypocrisy and Deceit. But further, would not this make Christ’s Body a mere Shadow and Phantasm? Yea, would it not make him the Head of a lifeless, rotten, stinking Carcase, having only some little outward false Shew, while inwardly full of Rottenness and Dirt?A living Head upon a lifeless Body, what aMonsterwould that be?And what a Monster would these Men make of Christ’s Body, by assigning it a real, pure, living, quick Head, full of Virtue and Life, and yet tied to such a dead lifeless Body as we have already described these Members to be, which they allege to have been the Church of Christ? Again, the Members of theChurch of Christare specified by this Definition, to wit, as being thesanctified in Christ Jesus, 1 Cor. i. 2. But this Notion ofSuccessionsupposeth not only some unsanctified Members to be of theChurch of Christ, but even the Whole to consist of unsanctified Members; yea, that such as were professedNecromancersand open Servants ofSatanwere the true Successors of the Apostles, and in whom the Apostolick Authority resided, these being the Vessels through whom this Succession is transmitted; though many of them, as allProtestantsand also somePapistsconfess, attained these Offices in the (so called)Churchnot only by such Means asSimon Magussought it, but by much worse, even by Witchcraft, Traditions, Money, Treachery, and Murder, whichPlatinahimself confesseth[86]of divers Bishops ofRome.