Selected quad for the lemma: authority_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
authority_n	apostle_n	church_n	minister_n	2,916	5	6.7721	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A96982	Fides divina: the ground of true faith asserted. Or, A useful and brief discourse, shewing the insufficiency of humane, and the necessity of divine evidence for divine or saving faith and Christian religion to be built upon. Being a transcript out of several authors extant.		1657 (1657)	Wing W3723; Thomason E1598_3; ESTC R208870	56,696	110

circumcize all his male-servants whether born in his house or bought with money of any stranger though not of his seed as well as his natural seed Gen. 17. but these baptize no servant from that ground which they may as warrantably do as baptize any Infant Nor are the Anabaptists who deny the baptizing of Infants excusable upon the same account in pretending to derive divine authority to preach and baptize from the meer recital of that authority which was by Christ given personally to the eleven Apostles who both received and exercised the same long before the recital thereof in Matth. 28. from which no such authority can be derived to any because on that recital no authority at all was conferred by the eleven Apostles themselves there mentioned nor was their authority the more for it 's being there recited nor had it been the less if it had never been recited either there or any where else and therefore no such authority can be derived from that or any other Text. Besides these are very partial in that they assume such great and sublime authority to themselves from the meer recital of such authority given by Christ to his Apostles and not withall judge themselves also as well bound by the recital of that prohibition given also by Christ to the same Apostles viz. That they should not go out in the excercise of that Ministerial Function until they were indued with power from on high by the coming down of the Holy Ghost upon them Luke 24.49 Act. 1.4.8 And therefore upon due consideration of the whole matter it will be found That these do assume to themselves from meer recitals more authority then that which Christ gave to the Apostles themselves and whereof the Scriptures are but bare recitals Some other there are who disowning all the former wayes of conveyance yet to keep on foot that divine authority and that reverence accommodation which usually they received thereby in the world would by another trick both cozen themselves and all others their own consciences only excepted by telling the people that this divine authority which hitherto they have mist of must needs be in them and that they by their free election and bountiful contribution may convey it on whom they will and on them if they please but this also will be found a meer shuffle and as vain as any of the former for we finde both by Scripture and reason That a true Ministry divinely authorised and impowered did and alwayes must precede beget and constitute a true Church divinely authorised and that no Church or people whatsoever who are not so begotten and indued with divine power and authority themselves can possibly convey any such divine authority on any other this is evidently seen a truth by all the empty vain and fruitless laying on of hands used as well in particular Churches as by others in their Ordination of Ministers in imitation of the Apostles laying on their hands whereby the manifest and powerful gifts of the Spirit as that of tongues and prophesie c. were conveyed Act. 19.6 This form is still retained generally throughout Christendome as well as amongst us but where 's the power that should follow here 's the shell but where 's the kernel Might not little children or Apes in imitation of these lay hands one upon one another to as good purpose and with as much success Nor want we many amongst us who would needs have this whole Nation governed meerly by the Lawes and Ordinances of the Jews recited in Scripture and by Scriptural precepts onely pretending its divine authority to be alike over us as the Lawes and Ordinances given by Moses were over the Jews but how by this our case would be better then now it is I cannot imagine unless our Lawyers could which is not likely and would against their own profit which is not to be hoped make more certain and undoubted Translations Commentaries and Expositions of Scripture then ever any of the most Orthodox Divines have hitherto done But these men as it seems deeming themselves Saints and to be divinely authorized from Scripture to make this Nation the Kingdome of Christ and to set up and enthronize themselves to rule and raign for Christ and in his stead do declare it now their duty to effect all this by force and power * In their Standard set up pag. 10. inviting all the upright in heart to follow and joyn with them in this the work of the Lord * I wish that all Christians besides such as do jump with them were not to be numbred among the Heathen upon whom they would execute vengeane if they had power in their hands to do it To execute vengeance upon he Heathen and punishment upon the people c. and for this take their warrant from Psal 50.5 Psal 94.15 Psalm 149.7 applying these and very many other Scriptures of like import now unto themselves which do properly belong to other times persons and not to be fulfilled until the times of restoration of the Jews and the personal coming of Christ to set up his Kingdome But these mistakes at least as I conceive do arise from their deeming as many others inconsiderately do that the coming of Christ and his Kingdome is to be meerly spiritual by his grace coming and ruling in mens hearts without his personal coming whereas the Scripture plainly sets forth his personal coming in power and great glory visible to all men Act. 1.11 Act. 3 20 21. Matth. 24.30 Luke 21.27 Esa 40.5 after which he will gather together his ancient and elect people the Jews out of all Countreys where they are dispersed Luke 21.28 Matth. 24.31 compared with Esa 11.12 c. after which he will set up his Kingdome Luke 21.30 31. Luke 19.11 12 13. which shall be upon the earth and at the end of this world when he will gather and destroy out of his Kingdome the earth all the wicked and them that work iniquity Matth. 13.39 40 41. Then and not till then shall the righteous shine forth as the Sun in the Kingdome of ther father vers 23. and then Christ will be King over all the earth Zach. 14.9 which will not be until his personal coming on the earth as ver 4 5. do manifest And then will be fulfilled the promise to Abraham and his seed to inherit the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession Gen. 17.8 wherein whilest he lived he did but so journ and dwell as in a strange Countrey with Isaac and Jacob heirs with him of the same promise Heb. 11.8 9. Act. 7.4 5. these all died in faith and expectation of that promise nevertheless to be performed to them afterward Hebr. 11.13 Then will the Kingdomes of this world become the Kingdomes of our Lord and his Christ wherein he shall reign for ever and ever Rev. 11 15. having the Heathen for his inheritance and the utter parts of the earth for his posession Psal 28. And

with the goodness of God to condemn those who erre where errour hath nothing of the will in it who therefore cannot repent of their errour because they believe it true who therefore cannot make compensation because they know not that they are tied to dereliction of it thus far the Doctor In the first sence Pharaoh with his Egyptian Magicians believed that the miracles which Moses did was by the finger of God to which belief or convincement they were not Volunteers but compelled by force of the said miracles wrought in their sighs yet they disobeying the message confirmed so by those miracles were destroyed notwithstand their so believing In this sence also it is said Joh 12 42 43. That many of the chief Rulers believed in Christ but did not confess him because of the Pharisees lest they should be turned out of the Synagogues because they loved the praise of men more then the praise of God Hereunto compare Joh. 16.7 8 9. where Christ sets forth the ends of his sending the spirit or power by which the Apostles others wrought such mighty works one whereof was to convince the world of sin where note the expression when he comes saies Christ he will convince the world of sin As if he had said That when or wheresoever this spirit and power which I will send you shall demonstate it self in the world to the sons and drughters of men it shall certainly procure the convincement of their understandings to believe the truth of the Gospel attested thereby And why of sin because they believe not that is obey not the Gospel in their wills and affections being convinced or believing of the truth thereof in their understandings For further justifying this Exposition take notice That that which in the former text is termed a belief is here in this later text termed a convincement and both having reference to the understanding And in like manner that which in the former text is termed a not confessing is in this later text termed a not believing and both having reference to the will and affections in respect of obedience so that in the Scripture-sence a man at one and the same time may be said to believe and not to believe that is to believe intellectually and not to believe obediencially whereby he becomes a self-condemner being found guilty even by the verdict of his own understanding and conscience This being that great condemnation which in Joh. 3.17 is set forth with an Emphasis on men for loving darkness rather then light which no man can reasonably be said to do unless he seeth the light for how can any man be said to love one thing rather then another which he never saw Adde to this 2 Thess 2.10 where St. Paul speaks of some that perish because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved This they could not justly be blamed for unless they had apprehended it in their understandings to be a truth For whatsoever in my understanding I judge an untruth though the same in it self be a truth yet whiles I do judge it otherwise I neither can or ought to love it as a truth Hereunto also contributes the parable declared by Christ Mat. 22. Luke 14. of a King who at the marriage of his son made a great feast and bad many thereto and when all things were in readiness he sent for his guests who although all were unwilling to come yet not one of them said or could say That he did not know of the Kings invitation or that he did not believe the truth of the message or of the great preparation made for his bountiful entertainment and welcome none of all which was doubted by them nor did any of them say that between them and the Kings Palace was any gulf or sea mountain or rock exceeding their power to get over or that any one of them were either sick or lame or otherwise disabled to come but their meer wills and affections adhering to the things of this life was the onely impediment and all their excuse Object And for that which may be objected from John 12.37 Though Christ had done so many miracles before the Jews yet they believe not on him but said He cast out Devils by the Prince of Devils Answ It may be answered That though they believed not so as to love or obey him yet they believed as the chief Rulers afore-mentioned did being convinced in their understandings by the mighty works done by Christ among them for how else could their meer saying so amount to any sin much less to the unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost wherewith they were charged by Christ if they had but spoken in the simplicity of their hearts and as in truth they apprehended believed for it is of none but such that Christ speaks in Joh. 15.24 where he sayes If I had not done among them the works which no other man did they had not had sin but now have they both seen and hated both me and my father Where note 1. What the great works done among them produced namely their seeing convincement or believing intellectually 2. What the consequence of that their seeing was namely their hating both him and his father from whence sprang this their saying which aggrevated their sin which had had nobeginning or being unless they had seen and been convinced And therefore I conceive from the premisses may be safely concluded That none at years of discretion in whose sight and presence signes and miracles were wrought by Christ or his Apostles and Ministers to attest the truth and divine authority of their doctrine but they were so convinced as to believe the same to be true and of God or thus That all unbelievers seeing the great witness by signs and miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost which God gave to their doctrine were so convinced in their understandings as they could not but rationally conclude and believe the same to be true and of god Notwithstanding all that 's premised and all the late and great pretences of Reformation yet the pretence of divine right still remains and is challenged by many without divine power or manifestation for besides the Episcopal or rather Papal relicks of ordination that is still retained and upheld amongst us to be of divine right did not the Assembly of Divines so called consisting of Independents as well as of Presbiterians hold themselves and their Assembly to be divinely authorized from the meer recital of the Apostles and Elders assembling at Jerusalem mentioned in Acts 15. And as these still maintained their authority to be divine which was by holy Orders as they call it conferred upon them from the Bishops supposed divine authority lately exploded as Antichristian So these with the Separatists do still maintain the baptizing of Infants to be of divine right from the meer recital of the Covenant of Circumcision made with Abruham and his natural seed wherein Abraham was commanded to