an example and at their next meeting though hee were absent by the mightie power of the Lorde Iesus hee would deliuer him vnto Satan for the destruction of the flesh to saue the spirite by repentance Paul decreed this of himselfe without the knowledge or consent of the Corinthians To execute that which hee decreed hee needed and therefore vsed the mightie power of the Lorde Iesus For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with Saint Paul is often taken for the miraculous power of the holie Ghost whereby the Apostles and others did great workes and had euen the diuels in subiection vnto them That which he woulde doe should be this to deliuer him vnto Satan in the presence of them all for the destruction of the flesh to the ende the affliction of his flesh might bring him to repentance and so saue his soule in the day of Christ. To deliuer vnto Satan is more then to excommunicate Many are secluded from the companie of the godly for a time that are not yeelded vnto Satan yea many were deliuered vnto Satan without excommunication as Ananias and Elymas The end of this action was the affliction or destruction of the flesh which in excommunication hath no sense except it be Metaphoricall For excommunication endangereth the Spirite and toucheth not the flesh And the lustes of the flesh are not destroyed by excommunication but by repentance which of it selfe is no consequent to the other for many are excommunicated that neuer repent but affliction and feare of destruction cause repentaunce and thereby the soule is saued Forsomuch then as Paul decreed it alone and that absent and in perfourming it vsed the mightie power of Christ to the destruction of his flesh that had sinned which thinges can not bee vnderstoode of excommunicating or remoouing the offendour from the fellowship of the faithfull and that is before and after in other wordes expressed I am perswaded that by deâ—iâ—ering vnto Satan the Apostle meant to shewe the mightie â—ower which Christ had giuen him to reuenge the disobedient when the Spirite of God shoulde see it needefull to make some men example to others Of that power hee thus warneth the rest of the Corinthians I write these thinges vnto you absent lest when I am present I shoulde vse sharpenesse according to the power which the Lorde hath giuen mee I feare when I come I shall be waile many of them which haue sinned already and not repented I write to them which haue heretofore sinned and to others that if I come againe I will not spare But grant that by deliuering vnto Satan were meant excommunication what reason is there to affirme the Apostle alone coulde not doe it He alone decreed it and required them though hee were absent to execute it yea hee rebuketh them for not putting the Trangressour from amongest them and else-where he saieth of himselfe that hee did the like Hymeneus and AlexaÌ„der I haue deliuered vnto Satan that they might be taught not to blaspheme Why shoulde wee not beleeue he could doe it since he saith he did it He that had vengeance in readines against all disobedience why coulde hee not by the same power deliuer the offendour at Corinth vnto Satan as well as he did else-where Hymeneus and others Excommunication some thinke pertained to the whole Church because our Sauiour saide Tell the Church If hee heare not the Church let him bee to thee as an Ethnike and Publicane and therefore they conclude the Apostle neither coulde nor woulde excommunicate without the consent and liking of the Church What I take to be the true meaning of Christes wordes if hee heare not the Church let him bee to thee as an Ethnike and Publicane I haue said before I shall not neede to repeate it as nowe Neuerthelesse because the ancient Fathers vse as well these wordes of our Sauiour as those of Saint Paul to expresse the strength and terrour of excommunication I will not gainesay their exposition yet this shall wee finde to bee most true that no Catholike father euer heard or dreamed that lay Elders or the whole multitude shoulde meddle with the keyes and Sacraments of the Church but onely the Apostles and their successours Dic Ecclesiae Praesulibus scilicet Praesidentibus Tell it the Church that is saieth Chrysostome the Rulers and Gouernors of the Church And vpon the next wordes Verely I say vnto you whatsoeuer you binde in earth shall be bound in heauen c. he writeth thus Non dixit Ecclesiae Praesuli vinculis istum constringe sed si ligaueris haec vineula indissolubilia manent Christ biddeth not the Gouernour of the Church to binde him but if thou binde him the band is in dissoluble By these words faith Ierome Christ giueth his Apostles power to let them vnderstand that mans iudgement is ratified by Gods Hee forewarneth saith Hilarie that whome the Apostles binde or loose answerably to that sentence they are bound or loosed in heauen If this persuade vs not y â— the Apostles had power without the consent of the people or Presbyterie to excommunicate and deliuer vnto Satan we cannot denie but our Sauior gaue them this power that whose sinnes they did remit shoulde be remitted and whose they did retaine should be retained yea speaking particularly to one of them he saide I will giue thee the keies of the kingdome of heauen and whatsoeuer thou shalt binde on earth shall be bound in heauen and whatsoeuer thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heauen If then the rest had equall power and like honour with Peter as Cyprian saieth they had and if Paul were nothing behind the chiefe Apostles as him selfe affirmeth he was not it is euident he had power to binde in heauen and to deliuer vnto Satan without the helpe of the Presbyterie or people of Corinth And why The power of the keys was first setled in the Apostles before it was deliuered vnto the Church and the Church receiued the keyes from the Apostles not the Apostles from the Church And therefore when Augustine sayeth If this I will giue thee the keyes of the kingdome of heauen were spoken onely to Peter the Church doeth it not if this bee doone in the Church then Peter when hee receiued the keyes represented or signified the whole Church Wee must not thinke by the name of the Church hee entendeth the Lay Presbyterie or the people but hee doeth attribute this power to the Church because the Apostles and their successours the Pastours and Gouernours of the Church receiued the keyes in Peter and with Peter The keys of the kingdome of heauen we all that are Priests saieth Ambrose receiued in the blessed Apostle Peter The Apostles then had the keyes of Christs kingdome to binde and loose both in heauen and in earth and by the dignitie of their Apostleship receiued the holie Ghost to remit and retaine sinnes as well before as after
rest yet after his rising from the dead hee gaue all his Apostles like power as Cyprian obserueth and they all receiued the keies of the kingdome of heauen as Ierome auoucheth Are the keyes of the kingdome of heauen giuen onely to Peter by Christ saieâ—h Origen neither shall any other of the blessed receiue them If this saying I will giue thee the keyes of the kingdome of heauen be common also to the â—est why should not all that went before and followeth after as spoken to Peter be common to all the rest So Augustine If in Peter had not bene a mysterie of the Church the Lord would not haue said vnto him I will giue thee the keies of the kingdome of heauen The Gospell ouer the vncircumcision that is ouer the Gentiles was committed to mee saieth Paul as ouer the circumcision or Iewes was to Peter Letâ— man therefore so reckon of vs as of the Ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God The Apostles were Stewards of the word and Sacraments and had the keyes of Gods kingdome not onely to dispence them faithfully whiles they liued but in like sort to leaue them to the Church of Christ as needfull for the same vntill the ende of the worlde Neither neede I spend moe words to prooue they must remaine in the Church since that is not doubted on any side but rather examine to whome the Apostles left them and to whose charge those things were committed The worde and Sacraments are not so much questioned to whom they were bequeathed as the power of the keyes and right to impose hands to whom they are reserued To diuide the word and administer the Sacraments is the generall perpetual charge of all those that feede the flocke of Christ and are set ouer his housholde to giue them meate in season The Elders that are among you I that am also an Elder exhort saieth Peter feede you the flocke of Christ which is committed to you Take heede to your selues and to all the flocke whereof the holie Ghost hath made you ouerseers to feede the Church of Christ saith Paul to the Elders of Ephesus Goe teach baptize which our Sauiour hath ioyned may not be seuered and the seruice must endure as long as the promise which is this in so doing I am with you alway vntill the ende of the worlde not with his Apostles so long they are dead fifteene hundred yeeres before our dayes but Christ is present with those that succeede his Apostles in the same function and ministerie for euer Their Commission to doe both ceaseth not so long as his precept bindeth them and help supporteth them in both which is to the worlds end The power of the keyes and right to impose handes I meane to ordaine Ministers excommunicate sinners for so I alwaies interprete those two speeches are more controuersied then the other two by reason that diuers men haue diuers conceits of them Some fasten them to the liking of the multitude which they call the Church others commit them to the iudgement of certaine chosen persons as well of the Laitie as of the Clergie whome they name the Presbyterie some attribute them onely but equally to all Pastours and Preachers and some specially reserue them to men of the greatest gifts ripest yeeres and highest calling amongst the Clergie which of these best agreeth with the trueth of the Scriptures and vse of the primitiue Church in place conuenient will soone appeare It shall now suffice in few wordes to obserue how neere imposing handes and binding sinnes doe ioyne with the dispensation of the word and Sacraments that thereby wee may resolue whether laie men may entermeddle with these ecclesiasticall actions or no. To create ministers by imposing hands is to giue them not onely power and leaue to preach the word and dispence the Sacraments but also the grace of the holy Ghost to make them able to execute both parts of their function This can none giue but they that first receiued the same They must haue this power and grace themselues that will bestow it on others Laie men which haue it not can by no meanes giue it and consequently not impose hands which is the signe and seale of both Yea what if to giue power to preach and baptize bee more then to preach and baptize euen as lawfully to authorize an other to doe any thing is more then to doe it our selues Sacramentum baptismiest quod habet qui baptizatur Sacramentum dandi baptismi est quod habet qui ordinatur It is the Sacrament of baptisme saieth Austen that hee hath which is baptized It is the Sacrament of giuing baptisme that he hath which is ordered Yea Caluin himselfe a man of no small learning and iudgement in the Church of God confesseth it is a kind of Sacrament and in that respect not to be giuen by any but onely by Pastours Surely saieth he the Papists are very leud in that they dare adorne their sacrificing Priesthood with the title of a Sacrament As for the true function of the ministerie commended vnto vs by the mouth of Christ Libenter eo loco habeo I willingly accept it for a Sacrament for first there is a ceremonie of imposing hands taken out of the Scriptures then Paul witnesseth the same not to be superfluous and emptie but a sure signe of spirituall grace And that I put it not third in the number of Sacraments it was because it is not ordinarie nor common to all the faithfull but a speciall rite for a certaine function and therefore of imposition of hands he saieth Hoc postremo habendum est non vniuer sam multitudinem manus imposuâ—sse ministris sed solos Pastores This lastly we must learne that the whole multitude did not impose handes on their Ministers but onely the Pastours did it Then may laie men no more chalenge to impose handes then to baptize yea to preach and baptize is not so much as to giue power and grace to others openly and lawfully to doe the like in the Church of Christ and therefore if laie-men be debarred from the one they be much more excluded from the other To excommunicate is to remooue the wicked and irrepentant from the participation of the Lordes Supper least by sacrilegious presuming to violate that table the vngodly should condemne themselues and defile others Whose calling it is to deliuer the bread and cup of the Lord to the due receiuers is out of question they are for that cause named the ministers of the worde and Sacraments Nowe to whom it pertaineth to admit the woorthie to them it belongeth to reiect the vnwoorthie they that are placed by God to deliuer the mysteries to the faithfull and penitent are commanded by him to denie them to the faithlesse and impenitent The charge to deliuer the Sacraments is theirs the care not to deliuer them but where they be willed by God so
seruice of his Church or limite the Apostles on whom they should laie their handes siâ—ce not man but God made choise of those persons As for excommunication if you take it for remoouing the vnrulie from the ciuill societie of the faithfull vntill they conforme themselues to a more Christian course of life I am not altogether auerse that the whole Church where there wanteth a Christian magistrate did and should concurre in that action for thereby the sooner when all the multitude ioyne in one minde to renounce all maner of conuersing with such will the parties bee reduced to a better minde for shame and griefe to see themselues reiected and exiled from all companie and the whole Church shall declare their innocencie before men by auoiding and shunning the doers of wickednesse and encrease their zeale and loue of holinesse before God by hating and detesting vnrighteousnesse in others and by keeping themselues cleane and vnspotted from the like offences If any man that is called a brother bee a fornicatour or couetous or an idolater or a railer or a drunkard or an extortioner with such an one eate not Yet count him not as an enemie but admonish him as a brother This rule as I could wish euery Christian man did for his owne part duely obserue so I iudge it not amiffe if the whole congregation in defect of a christian magistrate ioyne with the Pastor in misliking rebuking and forsaking such disordered vsuall offenders as will neither be reclaimed nor ashamed of their lewdnesse but for deliuering or denying the Sacraments I take that to be the Pastors charge and not the peoples Yet Pastors shall do well after the example of the ancient godly fathers Cyprian and others not only to prouoke repentance in the malefactors but to tender the offence taken by the multitude so farre that as the minds of the godly are grieued by notorious impieties so they may be satisfied and contented by the earnest and vnfained sorow of the repentant before they be receiued to the Lords table Against these rules of Christian moderation circumspection I dispute not I onely enquire whether by the word of God any laie persons haue any interest to withhold or yeeld the Sacraments without the allowance and liking of the Pastour And to expresse what I thinke I finde no warrant in the Scriptures for it and the maine consent of the Catholike fathers and course of the Primitiue Church against it Some places are detorted and wrested to that effect but they must be very partiall that will be led with such weake proofes The words of our Sauiour If he heare not the Church let him be to thee as an Ethnike and Publicane which are the onely ground-worke of this opinion I haue before handled examined as far forth as needed If by those words the church of Christ were ment which no circumstance there enforceth yet the rulers gouernors of the Church are thereby intended as Chrysostome affirmeth and a soule error it is as Beza thinketh to say the whole multitude is there comprised In deed it is no new rule neither with the Scriptures nor with other writers for the chiefer and worthier part to beare the name of the whole The fathers who often attribute excommunication to the Church by no meanes endure that laie-men should vse the keies deliuered to the Apostles and their successors That right is permitted only to Priests as Ambrose saith It is the Priests band that toucheth the soule and reacheth vnto heauen as Chrysostome teacheth When they which chalenge the place of Bishops and receiued the keies of the kingdom of heauen from our Sauiour teach what they bind is bound in heauen what they loose is loosed in heauen we must acknowledge they say wel if withall they haue those things for the which it was said to Peter The gates of hell must not preuaile against him that will binde and loose for if he bee bound with the ropes of his owne sinnes in vaine doeth he offer to bind or loose saith Origen Shal it not be imputed to vs saith Cyprian with the rest of the Bishops his Colleagues if so good a souldier should die without peace and without the Communion Shall not great slacknesse or cruell hardnesse be ascribed to vs in the day of iudgement that being Pastours we neither in peace would heale the sheepe committed credited vnto vs nor arme them in the battell How doe we teach or prouoke them to shed their bloud in the confession of Christes name if wee denie them the bloud of Christ when they be entring the conflict or how doe we make them readie for the cup of martyrdome if first in the Church we admit them not by right of Communion to drinke the Lordes cup It hath pleased vs therefore the holy Ghost directing vs that vpon examination of euery mans cause such as fell in persecution should be reconciled or receiued to the Lords table and if there be any of our Colleagues which doth not thinke it good to giue peace that is the Communion to the brethren or sisters persecution approching he shal in the day of iudgement render account to the Lord of his importune censure or inhumane rigor And so againe when as in smaller faults a man may not come to the Communion except the Bishop and the Clergie first lay their hands on him in signe of reconciliation how much more should the discipline of the Lord be obserued in these most grieuous extreme sinnes Likewise Basil Confession of sinnes must necessarilie be made to them to whom the dispensatioÌ„ of the mysteries of God is committed for so they which in former times repented amongst the Saints are read to haue done It is written in the Gospel that they confessed their sinnes to Iohn Baptist In the Acts they all confessed their sinnes vnto the Apostles of whom they were baptized Power to forgiue sinnes is not absolutely giuen but limited to the obedience of the penitent and agreement with him that hath the charge of the soule Apud Deum non sententia Sacerdotum sedreorum vita queritur Quomodo ergo ibi leprosum Sacrdos mundum vel immundum facit sic hic alligat velsoluit Episcopus Presbyter With God saith Ierome not the sentence of the Priest but y e life of the partie is respected As therefore in the law the Priest did make that is pronounce the Leeper cleane or vncleane so in the Gospell the Bishop and Presbyter bindeth or looseth And againe formicator adulter homicida caetera vitia per Sacerdotes de Ecclesia propelluntur The fornicator the adulterer the homicide and all other transgressours are cast out of the Church by the Priest S. Augustine Hee that willingly iudgeth himselfe least against his will he be iudged of the Lord Veniat ad Antistites per quos illi in Ecclesia claues ministrantur à Praepositis sacrorum
were all one with Doctors you haue lost one of those offices which you affirme to bee perpetuall in the Church if they were distinct from them they were superiours vnto them and so betwixt ministers of the word for such were Teachers by Saint Pauls rule you establish a difference of degrees Thus much for the worde and Sacraments the dispensing whereof no doubt was common to all Apostles Euangelists Prophets Pastours and Teachers and so to Presbyters and Bishops not withstanding the moderatioÌ„ and ouersight of those things were still reserued to the Apostles as well absent as present euen when the power and charge thereof was imparted to others The discipline and gouernement of the Church I meane the power of the keies and imposing hands are two other partes of Apostolike authoritie which must remaine in the Church for euer These keyes are double the keie of knowledge annexed to the word the keie of power referred to the Sacraments Some late writers by vrging the one abolish the other howbeit I see no sufficient reason to counteruaile the Scriptures and Fathers that defend and retaine both The keie of knowledge must not bee doubted of our Sauiour in expresse wordes nameth it Woe be to you interpreters of the lawe for yee haue taken away the keie of knowledge yee entered not in your selues and those that were comming in you forbade The keie of power standeth on these words of Christ to Peter I will giue thee the keies of the kingdome of heauen and whatsoeuer thou shalt binde on earth shall be bound in heauen and whatsoeuer thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heauen And likewise to all his Apostles Whatsoeuer ye binde in earth shall be bound in heauen and whatsoeuer ye loose on earth shall be loosed in heauen And after his resurrection in like maner to them all Receiue ye the holie Ghost whose sinnes soeuer yee remit they are remitted vnto them and whose sinnes yee retaine they are retained And least we should vnderstand these places of the preaching of the Gospell as some new writers doe Saint Paul hath plaine wordes that cannot be wrested to that sense Speaking of the incestuous Corinthian that was excommunicated and deliuered vnto Satan he saieth Sufficient for that man is this rebuking of many so that now contrary wise yee ought rather to forgiue him and comfort him least hee bee swallowed vp with too much sorowe To whom you forgiue any thing I also forgiue for if I forgaue ought to any I forgaue it for your sakes in the sight of Christ. As Paul deliuered this offender to Satan and shut both the Church and heauen against him so now vpon the detesting and forsaking of his sinne hee restored him to the peace of the Church communion of the Lordes table and hope of Gods kingdome from which before hee was excluded And this Paul did not by preaching the word vnto the penitent for as then hee was absent from Corinth but by forgiuing him in the sight of Christ and his Church as by his Apostolike power hee might Both these keyes the one of knowledge the other of power Ambrose mentioneth in his 66. Sermon and likewise Origen in his 25. tractate vpon Matthew adding a third keie where hee saieth Blessed are they that open the kingdome of heauen either by their word or by their good worke for liuing well and teaching rightly the word of trueth they open the kingdom of heauen before men whiles they enter themselues and prouoke others to follow The meaning of these late writers it may bee is not wholie to cast away the keie of power but onely to drawe the wordes of Christ spoken to Peter and the rest of his Apostles rather to the preaching of the Gospell then to excluding from the Sacraments and yet to the Church or Presbyterie they reserue the power of the keies that is ful authoritie to excommunicate notorious and rebellious sinners These men foresee that if the power of the keies bee giuen to the Apostles and their successours then haue laie Elders who doe not succeed in the Apostles roumes and functions nothing to doe with the Apostles keies Because this was enough to marre the Laie Preâ—â—â—terie therefore the Patrones thereof conueie the wordes of Christ to another sense and builde the ground-worke of excommunication vpon the 18. chapter of Saint Matthewes Gospell where the Church is named and not the Apostles But this deuise is both a preiudice to the Apostles and a Preamble to the laie Presbyterie which all the Catholike Fathers with one voyce contradict as I haue before at large declared Omitting the Laie Burgesses of the Church as hauing no interest in the Apostles keies it resteth in this place to bee considered to whom those keies were committed whether equallie to all Presbyters or chieflie to Pastours and Bishops The like must bee done for imposition of handes whether that also pertained indifferently to all or speciallie to Bishops Before wee make a full resolution to these questions we must search the time when Bishops first began and by whom they were first ordained and authorized In which inquisition wee will begin with the report and opinion of the auncient Fathers and so descend to the positions and assertions of such as in our age impugne and gainesay the vocation and function of Bishops Epiphanius report is this The Apostles could not suddenlie settle all things There was present need of Presbyters and Deacons for by those two the necessities of the Church might bee supplied Where there was none found woorthie of the Bishoprike the place remayned without a Bishop But where there was neede and fitte men found for the Episcopall function Bishops were ordained Euerie thing was not perfect from the beginning but in processe of time things were fitted for the furnishing of all occasions the Church in this wise receiuing the perfection of her gouernment Ambrose somewhat differing from Epiphanius saieth Apostolus Timotheum Presbyterum a se creatum Episcopum vocat quia primi Presbyteri Episcopi appellabantur vt recedente eo sequens ei succederet Sed quia coeperunt sequentes Presbyteri indigni inueniri ad primatus tenendos immutata est ratio prospiciente concilio vt non ordo sed meritum crearet Episcopum c. Paul calleth Timothie created a Presbyter by himselfe or with his owne handes a Bishop because the first Presbyters were called Bishops so as the first departing the next succeeded him But for that the Presbyters which followed beganne to bee found vnwoorthie to beare the chiefe regiment the maner was chaunged a Councill prouiding that not order but desert should make a Bishop appoynted by the iudgement of many Priestes least an vnfitte person should rashlie vsurpe the place and bee an offence to many Ieromes opinion is euident by his words which I repeated before in effect hee affirmeth thus much Before there were factions in religioÌ„ a Presbyter a
more particularly and effectually then Pastours doe or may by their doctrine Such labyrinths they leape into when they seeke for those things in y e sacred Scriptures which were neuer intended But were the word of God in this point indifferent which for ought I yet see is very resolute against them the generall consent of alantiquitie that neuer so expounded S. Pauls words nor euer mentioned any laie Presbyters to gouern the Church is to me a strong rampire against all these new deuises I like not to raise vp that discipline from the dead which hath lien so long buried in silence which no father euer witnessed no councill euer fauoured no Church euer followed since the Apostles times till this our age I can be forward in things that be good but not so foolish as to thinke the church of Christ neuer knew what belonged to the gouernment of her selfe till now of late that the sonne of God hath bin spoiled of halfe his kingdome by his owne seruants and Citizens for these 1500. yeeres without remorse or remembrance of any man that so great wrong was offered him I can yeelde to much for quietnes sake to this I can not yeelde They must shewe mee their Lay Presbyteries in some ancient Writer or else I must plainly auouch their Consistories as they presse them to be a notorious if not a pernicious nouelty Ierome Ambrose and others are brought to depose that the first Church had her Senate and Elders without whose aduise nothing was done but how wrongfully the deuise of Lay Elders is fathered on them I haue declared in a special discourse I wil not heere repeate it onely this I say if any of them affirme that in the Primitiue or Apostolike Church Lay Presbyters did gouerne Ecclesiasticall affaires I am content to recall all that I haue written of this present matter if not it is no great praise nor good policie for them to abuse the names and wordes of so many learned Fathers to the vtter discredite of themselues and their cause in the end Since then the Church of Christ in and after the Apostles times was not gouerned by Lay Presbyters as this newe discipline pretendeth it resteth that we declare by whom both the Apostolike church and the Primitiue after that were directed ruled which I haue not failed to performe in many chapters as farre foorth as the Scriptures doe warrant and the vndoubted Stories of Christs Church do leade In the Apostles I obserue foure things needefull for the first founding and erecting of the Church though not so for the preseruing and maintening thereof and foure other points that must be perpetuall in the Church of Christ. The foure extraordinary priuiledges of the Apostolike function were Their vocation immediate from Christ not from men nor by men Their commission extending ouer all the earth not limited to anie place Their direction infallible the holie Ghost guiding them whether they wrate or spake and Their operation wonderful as wel to conuert and confirme beleeuers as to chastice and reuenge disobeyers Without these things the Church could not beginne as is easily perceiued but it may well continue without them for now God calleth labourers into his haruest by others not by himselfe Pastors take charge of those Churches that are already planted they seeke not places where to plant new Churches The Scriptures once written serue all ages for instruction of faith and the myracles then wrought witnesse the power and trueth of the Gospell vnto the worldes ende Wherefore those thinges had their necessary force and vse to lay the first foundations of the gospel before Christ was knowen but the wisedome of God will not haue his Church still depend on those miraculous meanes which serue rather to conquere incredulitie then to edifie the faithfull signes being as the Apostle saith not for such as beleeue but for such as doe not beleeue The other foure points of the Apostolike delegation which must haue their permanence and perpetuitie in the Church of Christ are the Dispencing the word Administring the sacraments Imposing of hands and Guiding the keys to shut or open the kingdome of heauen The first two by reason they be the ordinary meanes and instruments by which the spirite of God worketh ech mans saluation must be general to al Pastors and Presbyters of Christs Church the other two by which meete men are called to the ministerie of the word and obstinate persons not only repelled from the societie of the saints but also from the promise and hope of eternall life respect rather the cleansing and gouerning of Christes Church and therefore no cause they should be committed to the power of euery Presbyter as the word and sacraments are for as there can be no order but confusion in a common wealth where euery man ruleth so woulde there be no peace but a pestilent perturbation of all thinges in the Church of Christ if euery Preshyter might impose handes and vse the keyes at his pleasure How the Apostles imposed hands and deliuered vnto Satan and who ioyned with them in those actions I haue handled in places appointed for that purpose whereby we shal perceiue that though the Presbyters of eache Church had charge of the worde and Sacraments euen in the Apostles times yet might they not impose handes nor vse the keys without the Apostles or such as the Apostles departing or dying left to be their substitutes and successors in the Churches which they had planted At Samaria Philip preached and baptized and albeit he dispenced the word and sacraments yet could hee not impose handes on them but Peter and Iohn came from Ierusalem and laide their hands on them and so they receiued the holie Ghost The Churches of Lystra Iconium and Antioch were planted before yet were Paul and Barnabas at their returne forced to increase the number of Presbyters in each of those places by imposition of their handes for so the worde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth with al Greeke Diuines and Stories as I haue sufficiently proued and not to ordaine by election of the people as some men of late had new framed the Text. The churches of Ephesus and Creete were erected by Paul had their Presbyteries yet could they not create others but Timothie and Tite were left there to impose handes and ordaine Elders in euerie Citie as occasion required Herein who succeeded the Apostles whether all Presbyters equally or certaine chiefe and chosen men one in euerie Church and City trusted with the gouernment both of people and Presbyters I haue largely debated and made it plaine as well by the Scriptures as by other ancient Writers past all exception that from the Apostles to the first Nicene Councill and so along to this our age there haue alwayes bene selected some of greater gifts then the residue to succeede in the Apostles places to whom it belonged both to moderate the Presbyters of ech Church and to take the
of halfe his kingdome because their Laie-elders are not suffered to sit Iudges in euery parish together with the Pastour and Teacher of the place I dispute not as yet whether euer there were any such Elders as they talke of in the Church of Christ from the preaching of our Sauiour to this present age I reserue that to a further inquirie but though there were such suffered or setled by the Apostles in the Primitiue Church yet were they no part of Christes kingdome which is proper to his person and by many degrees excelleth all other gouernments for the diuine force and grace that are eminent in the spirituall fruits and effects of his kingdom I doe not denie but God hath ordained and established on earth many kinds of externall gouernments as in spirituall causes the Minister in domesticall the master of the familie and superior to them both the Magistrate what is prescribed or exacted by any of those that God hath set ouer vs for a quiet honest and Christian course of life in this world according to his word and their charge he doeth ratifie and confirme in heauen accepting the submission and punishing the rebellion of all that disobey in each degree but neither Prince Pastour nor Parent can search or change the heart much lesse can they endue it with any heauenly grace and vertue or settle it with expertance of life to come They moderate and direct the outward actions which may bee soone dissembled further they neither see nor iudge they haue not to doe with the secrete affections of the heart with the sacred giftes of the spirite the stedfast trust of future glory these alwayes belong to the kingdom of Christ and of God which worketh all things after the connsell of his owne will vnto the praise of his glory Since then this king is set at the right hand of God in the heauens farre aboue all principalitie and power and might and dominion and euery name that is named not in this world onely but also in the world to come and all things are subiected vnder his feete he appointed head ouer all vnto the Church which is his body euen the fulnesse of him that filleth all in all and declareth daily from heauen what is the riches of his glorious inheritance in the Saints and exceeding greatnesse of his power toward vs which beleeue by lightening the eyes of our vnderstanding and scaling vs with the holy Spirit of promise the watchmen and leaders of his flocke though their seruice bee needfull and fruitfull in his Church and they trusted with the keyes and mysteries of the kingdom of heauen yet may they not arrogate any part of Christes honour or power as incident to their calling or function but leaue all entire and vntouched to the sonne of God whose right it is much lesse may the seuerall or Synodall assemblies proceedings or censures of the supposed Presbyterie be reckoned the halfe deale of Christes most righteous and glorious kingdom CHAP. III. The Synedricall iurisdiction which some men thinke our Sauiour in the Gospell restored and recommended to his Church AS I auouch that Christ reserued to himselfe the mightie force and heauenly grace of his spirituall kingdome so am I out of doubt he left the superuision and moderation of externall things and actions which respect the peace order and comelinesse of his Church to such as hee called to bee the guiders of his flocke and stewards of his houshold Who they were is not so wel agreed on Some men imagine Christ did reinfuse the Iewish Synedrion and thence extracted the Laie-Presbyterie that should gouerne his Church Their proofe they take cut of these wordes If thy brother trespasse against thee goe and tell him betweene thee and him alone if he heare thee thou hast gained thy brother if hee heare thee not take yet with thee one or two that by the mouth of two or three witnesses euerie word may bee confirmed And if hee will not vouch safe to heare them tell it vnto the Church if hee refuse to heare the Church let him bee to thee as an Ethnike and Publicane Hence they collect first that our Sauiour spake to the Iewes by reason hee sayd let him be to thee as an Ethnike and Publicane whom the Iewes and no people els abhorted and shunned next that he preseribed no new nor vnknowen forme of Iudiciall proceeding but referred them rather to the vsuall and accustonâ—ed maner of their Countrey then generally receiued and euery where practised amongst them which was by the Elders of euery place to determine their matters or els to transmit them vnto the Sanhedrin or councill of Ierusalem which was the highest court in that common wealth Thus fame they seeme to haue some ground to support their opinion but that our Sauiour appointed the like order to take place for euer in his Church I see neither mention of it nor reason for it in the Scriptures and assure my selfe it can neuer bee prooued For if our Sauiour meant to transferre any kind of regiment from the Church of the Iewes to his owne it is certaine he would not choose out the corruptions of time nor inuentions of men but ascend to the originall ordinance of God and thence deriue his platforme He would not follow much lesse authorize in his Church any breach of Gods lawe growen by deprauation and vsurpation of wicked men that hated and pursued both him and his trueth that were with them to transgresse the commaundement of God for the traditions of men from which he was farre but if hee purposed to deduce any forme of gouernement from the lawe to the Gospell it was the same that God by Moses erected and allowed Nowe that cannot be vrged and vsed in the Church of Christ without apparant violence to the word of God euident iniurie to the Christia magistrate as by the view thereof we shall easilie vnderstand Firâ—t therefore let vs shortly see what kindes of gouernements were authorized and established by Moses in the first erection of the common wealth and Church of Israel and consequently what coherence or resemblance there may bee betweene those Councils and Synedrions of the Iewes and the Presbyteries in euery parish which some men labour to impose on the Church of Christ in euery christian kingdom and countrey The sorts of regiments setled amongst the Iewes by Gods law were these Under Moses the chiefe magistrate by the counsell of Iethro consent of the people allowance of God were y â— knowen and wise men of euery tribe set to be rulers and captaines ouer thousands ouer hundreds ouer fifties ouer tens they iudged the people at all seasons and brought the hard matters vnto Moses iudged all small causes themselues When matters of importance grew many wearied Moses God willed him to bring seuentie men whom he knew to be Elders gouernors of the people and they should beare the burden
Christes resurrection without either Presbyterie or people to concurre with them O you blessed and holie men saith Hilarie speaking of the Apostles that for the desert of your faith gate the keyes of the kingdome of heauen and obtained right to binde and loose in heauen and earth I suppose then it is not much to be contradicted that the Apostles had from their master a larger commission fuller instruction higher power and greater gifts then the rest of the Doctours Pastours Prophets and Euangelist in the Church of Christ and that the Churches in their time were not gouerned by the voyces and consents of the greater part concurring with them before any thing could be done but by their precepts and rules deliuered by speach or expressed by writing which the faithfull in euery place as well Pastors as people with all readinesse obeyed And that in appointing and ordeyning Pastors and Elders as likewise in reteyning sinnes and binding offenders by deliuering them vnto Satan or reiecting them from the felowship of Saints they needed not the helpe or agreement of the people or Presbyterie but had power sufficient with imposing their handes as the Spirite directed to make Prophets and Pastors by giuing them the gifts of the holy Ghost needefull for their seuerall callings and by the same power coulde yeeld the bodies of such as sinned and repented not to be punished and afflicted by Satan or remooue them from the Communion of Christes Church and exclude them from the kingdome of heauen as their wickednes or wilfulnes deserued This superioritie they reteined whiles they liued so moderating their power that they sought rather to winne the euill disposed with lenitie then represse them with authoritie saue when the wicked might no longer be endured lest others should be iufected and vsing such meekenes and mildnes towards al that no schisme disordered the Church by their rigour nor soule perished by their default labouring more to profit many with their paines then to preferre themselues before any by their priuiledge and vtterly forgetting their owne dignitie whiles they serued and aduanced Christes glory I obserue as well their patience as their preeminence lest any man should thinke I goe about to make them Princes in the Church of Christ to commaund and punish at their pleasures and not rather faithfull Stewards and careful Shepheards to feede and guide the Church committed to their charges CHAP. IX What parts of the Apostles power and charge were to remaine in the Church after their decease and to whom they were committed IT will happely be graunted the Apostles had their prerogatiue and preeminence aboue others in the Church of Christ but that limitted to their persons and during for their liues and therfore no reason can be made from their superioritie to force the like to be receiued and established in the Church of Christ for all ages and places since their office and function are long since ceased and no like power reserued to their successours after them I doe not denie but many things in the Apostles were personall giuen them by Gods wisedome for the first spreading of the fayth and planting of the Churches amongst Jewes and Gentiles that all nations might be conuerted vnto Christ by the sight of their miracles and directed by the trueth of their doctrine yet that all their gifts ended with their liues and no part of their charge and power remained to their after-commers may neither be confessed by vs nor affirnted by any vnlesse we meane wholy to subuert the church of Christ. To be called by Christes owne mouth and sent into all nations to be furnished with the infallible assurance of his trueth and visible assistance of his spirit not onely to speake with tongues cure diseases worke miracles know secretes and vnderstand all wisedom but to giue the holy Ghost to others that they might doe the like these things I say were needfull at the first preaching of the Gospell to conuert infidels that neuer heard of Christ before to confirme the beleeuers compassed with diuers temptations and to store the whole world then presently with meete Pastours and Teachers but to maintaine the Church once setled and faith once preached there is no cause why either the immediate vocation or generall commission or mightie operation and sudden inspirations of the Apostles should alwayes endure The Scriptures once written suffice all ages for instruction the miracles then done are for euer a most euident confirmation of their doctrine the authoritie of their first calling liueth yet in their succession and time and trauell ioyned with Gods graces bring Pastours at this present to perfection yet the Apostles charge to teach baptize and administer the Lordes Supper to bind and loose sinnes in heauen and in earth to impose hands for the ordaining of Pastours and Elders these partes of the Apostolike function and charge are not decaied and cannot bee wanted in the Church of God There must either be no church or els these must remaine for without these no church can continue The Gospell must be preached the Sacraments must be frequented for which purposes some must bee taken to the publike seruice and ministerie of the Church for how shall they inuocate in whom they haue not beleeued or how shall they beleeue in him of whome they haue not heard or how shall they heare without a Preacher and how shall they preach except they bee sent without sending there can bee no preaching without preaching the word there is no ordinarie meanes for faith and without faith there is no Church Neither onely the lacke of the word and Sacraments but the prophanation and abuse of either how greatly doethit endanger the state and welfare of the whole Church of Christ yea the casting of holy things vnto dogges and of pearles before swine how dreadfull a iudgement doeth it procure as well to the consenters as presumers A little leauen so wreth the whole masse So that power to send labourers into Gods haruest and to separate prophane persons for deâ—iling the mysteries and assemblies of the faythfull must be retained and vsed in the Church of Christ vnlesse we will turne the house of God into a denne of theeues and make the Temple a cage for vncleane and hatefull birdes As the things be needfull in the Church of Christ so the persons to whom they were first committed cannot bee doubted Goe teach all Nations baptizing them sayd our Sauiour to the eleuen in mount Oliuet whenhe ascended Doe this in remembrance of mee sayd hee to the twelue that sate at supper with him After his resurrection when hee appeared to the eleuen sitting together hee sayd As my father sent me so send I you Receiue yee the holy Ghost whose sinnes yee remit they are remitted whose sinnes yee retaine they are retained for though the Lord before his death promised the keyes of the kingdome of heauen vnto Peter and as then sayde nothing vnto the
the world much more the sonnes of men to bee in subiection vnder his feete but so wonderfull was his patience and humilitie at his first appearing in our flesh that a bruised reede he would not breake smoking flaxe he would not quench yea no man heard his voyce in the streetes for he came to serue and not to be serued to suffer for the world that he might saue it and not as yet to iudge the world All power then in heauen and earth belonged vnto him euen when hee was conuersant with men but he neither declared nor chalenged so much vntill he was risen from the dead and in the dayes of his flesh as he was a Prophet to teach and instruct a Priest to cleanse and sanctifie his Church so was he a king to rule and gouerne the same saue that his kingdom was not of this world and therefore he would not raigne in his Church with the presence of his bodie as a man but with the power of his spirit as the sonne of God The kingdom then and throne which he reserued to himselfe farre passeth the directing ordering of outward things in the Church which he hath left to others To the true kingdom of Christ belong the manifold wisedome might and mercies of God shewed on vs for our saluation I meane all the Power Grace and Glorie that God vouchsafeth to bestowe on his Saints in this life and keepeth in store for them vntill the next so that whatsoeuer effects of his trueth gifts of his spirit and feeling of his promise we presently possesse or hope to haue at the handes of God through Christ our Lord it proceedeth from the strength and fauour of this king By the mightinesse of his power though he sit in heauen we receiue that continuall protection helpe and deliuerance which we find in all our troubles and aduersities And so we see his arme stretched out for the repressing scattering and reuenging of our enemies whose pride and rage he doeth so guide and order that it tendeth onely to the triall of such as feare him and the confusion of their foes From the riches of his grace come all those heauenly giftes fruits and blessings of his spirite where with the Church and euery member thereof is furnished and adorned as namely the lightning of our mindes softning of our hearts quenching of our lustes the grounding vs in faith moring vs in hope and rooting vs in charitie by the loue of his trueth obedience of his will and resemblance of his vertues that hath called vs out of darknesse into his marueilous light For what haue wee that wee haue not receiued and whence commeth euery good perfect gift but from aboue euen from him of whose fulnesse we all haue receiued From the stedfastnesse of his promise are deriued that peace ioy and comfort of the holy ghost which the godly feele within them and whereby they are maintained and preserued against the day of Christ and like wise that crowne of righteousnes and glory which he will giue to all that loue his comming when he shall appeare in the cloudes to bring eternall life and blisse with him for all the children of God Till then he must raigne to subdue his enemies which now resist and to fill vp the number of his Saints which yet are wanting That iudgement which finally rendereth to all flesh according to their workes and eternally dureth without altering or ending shall be the very close and conclusion of his kingdom which he man then deliuer vp to God his father when he hath crowned his seruants with honour and immortalitie and adiudged his enemies for their cursed sinnes to perpetuall torments This is the true kingdom of Christ and in this effectuall spirituall and celestiall maner he doeth and shall gouerne his Church here on earth and euery member thereof till all his enemies be vnder his feete After that generall iudgement sinne death and hell being vtterly conquered as in himselfe long agoe so then in all his members the administration of his kingdome shall cease all his brethren being brought vnto God but the fruition shall be euerlasting euen as the ioyes thereof are exceeding aboue all that wee can speake or thinke By the maner of his gouernment it is soone vnderstood that the prcheminence of his kingdom is personall belonging wholie and onely to the sonne of God in so much that no earthly creature may claime without apparant blasphemie to be lieutenant vnder him or communicant with him in his roiall dignitie Vnsearcheable are his iudgements and his wayes vnartaineable Who knoweth the minde of the Lord or who was his counseller His hand is not shortened that it cannot helpe The foolishnesse and weaknesse of God is wiser and stronger then men And therefore he will haue neither partner nor helper The outward face of the Church where the good and bad by the word and Sacraments are gathered and mixed together may be called the kingdom of heauen and of Christ but we must take heed that we wisely distinguish euen in the word and Sacraments the mightie power of God from the outward seruice of men The Gospel which saueth is not written with inke but with the spirite of the liuing God not in tables of stone but in the fleshlie tables of the heart The seed of the word may be carefully cast by vs but it taketh no roote nor beareth fruite vnlesse the Lord prepare the ground We are ioint workemen with God in his husbandrie and yet neither he that planteth nor he that watereth is any thing but God that giueth the increase Circumcision though it were the Seale of the righteousnesse of faith yet auailed it nothing so long as it was out ward in the flesh but that is true circumcision which is in the spirite not in the letter whose praise is of God and not of men The Preacher is the sauour of death vnto death vntill God lighten and open the heart and Christ crucified euen when hee is preached is a stumbling blocke to the Iewes and foolishnesse to the Graecians except God giue repentance and obedience of faith that they may beleeue and be saued The Sacraments are dead elements in our handes and the word a deadly sound in our mouthes without the spirite that quickneth So that in them both it is no hard matter to disseuer the outward signes from the inward graces and the corporall actions performed by men from the spirituall operations effected by the holy Ghost which properly pertaine to Christes kingdom I stand some what the longer in separating the true kingdom of Christ from the externall order and discipline of the Church for that in our times some more zealous then wise and too much deuoted to their owne fansies haue promoted their Eldership and Presbyterie to the heigth of Christes scepter and make grieuous outcries as if the sonne of God were spoiled
elect Angels that thou obserue these things without preiudice or parcialitie And in the very close of his epistle I charge thee before God and Iesus Christ that thou keepe these precepts without spot or reproofe In like maner to Titus an other of his helpers and coadiutors in the Gospell For this cause I left thee in Crete to supplie those things y t want orrectifie those things which remaine to ordain Elders in euery city as I appointed thee There are many vaine talkers deceiuers of minds whose mouthes must be stopped that subuert whole houses for filthy lucres sake Rebuke y â— Cretians sharply that they may be sound in faith not take heed to Iewish fables coÌ„mandements of meÌ„ These things speake exhort reprooue with all authoritie Let no man despise thee Reiect him that is an hereâ—ike after the first second admonition By these the like precepts she wing himselfe euery where to speake as Christes embassadour and in matters of faith good behauiour and needfuâ—l discipline to be the Apostle and Teacher of the Gentiles for in all these things not onely the people that were beleeuers but euen the godly Pastours Prophets and Euangelists perceiuing his sinceritie and reuerencing his authoritie obeied the Apostles voyce as hauing the spirite of Christ giuen him for the perfect directing and guiding of the Church amongst the Gentiles Much more might be sayd to this effect but by this it is euident that the Apostles function and calling was superiour to all other degrees and offices of the Church of Christ were they Deacons Doctors and Pastours Prophets or Euangelists or of the 70. Disciples and this their superioritie was giuen them by Christ himselfe whiles he liued on earth and confirmed vnto them by the mightie gifts and power of his holy spirite after his ascending into the heauens and acknowledâ—ed and honoured by all the faithfull so long as the Apostles liued none spurning at it or contradicting it but such as drew disciples after them to raigne ouer their brethren or seduced the simple to serue their owne bellies S. Iohn noteth Diotrephes for not acknowledging his Apostleship in this wise I wrote to the Church but Diotrephes that loueth to be chiefest among them receiueth vs not wherefore when I come I will declare his workes which hee doeth prating against vs with lewd wordes Farre otherwise were the godly Pastours and Teachers minded in the Church of Christ yeelding with all submission vnto the Apostles as vnto the expresse messengers of Gods will and disposers of his mysteries and putting a great difference betwixt the Apostolike function and theirs as Ignatius confesseth in his epistle to the Romanes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I prescribe or enioyne nothing vnto you as Peter and Paul did they were the Apostles of Iesus Christ but I the least And agayne 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I commaund not as an Apostle but keepe my selfe within my measure Whereof we neede no further nor surer proofe then this that the whole Church then and euer since did and doeth hold all the precepts rules orders and admonitions of the Apostles contained in their epistles for authenticall oracles of the holy Ghost and partes of the Canonicall Scripture and they no doubt had the same authoritie speaking which they had writing and consequently no Pastour or Teacher might then more resist or refuse the Apostles doctrine decrees or doings then we may now their letters sermons or epistles This Prerogatiue to be best acquainted with the will and meaning of our Sauiour and to haue their mouthes and pennes directed and guided by the holy Ghost into all trueth as well of doctrine as discipline was so proper to the Apostles that no Euangelist nor Prophet in the new Testament came neere it and therefore the stories written by Marke and Luke were not admitted to be Canonical in respect of the writers but for that they were taken from the Apostles mouthes and by the Apostles perused and confirmed as true and sincere So saieth Luke of his owne Gospell As they deliuered vnto vs which from the beginning were eie witnesses and ministers of the word as soone as I searched out perfectly from the first all things it seemed good to me in order to write them And those his writings S. Paul saieth were ratified and receiued in all Churches I haue sent the brother whose praise is in the gospel throughout all the Churches which could not haue so generally bene accepted with good liking but that the Apostles who then gouerned and directed the Churches had first viewed approued the same els neither would the faithfull haue so esteemed it nor S. Paul so commended it The Gospel of Marke had the like approbation froÌ„ Peter as Ierome others doe testifie Marke the disciple interpreter of Peter according as he had heard Peter make relatioÌ„ wrote a short gospel being therto desired by the brethren at Rome The which Gospell when Peter heard he allowed it by his authoritie published it to be read of y e church as Clemens in his first booke Hypotypωseωγ writeth Can any man doubt reading the words of S. Paul which I haue cited but the Apostles had in the Church of Christ right to require and command power to rebuke and reuenge authoritie to dispose and ordaine in all such cases as touched the soundnesse of faith syncerenesse of life or seemlinesse of order amongst the faithfull and that in so doing they did not vsurpe vpoÌ„ their brethren nor tyrannize ouer them but were guided by Gods spirit and obeied as Christes messengers and Legates in euery place where the trueth was admitted Neither did Paul resolue conclude in such cases by number of voyces or assent of the Presbyterie but as himselfe speaketh so I teach in all Churches if an Angel from heauen teach otherwise hold him accursed some are puffed vp as if I would not come to you but I will come to you shortly by Gods leaue and know not the wordes but the power of those that swell thus if any man obey not our sayings note him by a letter and keepe no companie with him Under the Apostles were a number of their disciples whom the Apostles caried with them as companions of their iourneis and helpers of their labours and whom when they had perfectly trained and throughly tried they left any where behind them at their departure or sent any whither in their absence to finish things imperfect to redresse things amisse to withstand or preuent false prophets and seducers to suruey the state of the Churches and to keep theÌ„ in that course which was first desiuered by the Apostles These men for their better instruction serued with the Apostles as children with their fathers So Paul saieth of Timothie Yee know the proofe of him that as a sonne with his father he hath serued with me in the Gospel Touching
such sort that thereby they should serue euen the meanest of their brethren to doe them good and become all things to all men that they might winne some This he caught them that very time not in wordes onely but by deeds also for hauing washed their feete and wiped them drte he saieth vnto them Vnderstand you what I haue done to you you call me Master and Lord and you say well for I am so Then if I your Lord and Master haue washed your feete you ought to wash one an others feete I haue giuen you an example that as I haue done to you you should also doe the liked They should be so farre from striuing who should be greatest that euen the greatest and chiefest should striue to preuent the lowest and meanest with honour and seruice after the example of their Master These texts then conâ—â—â—â—e two speciall doctrines vnto vs. The 〈◊〉 that Apostles and Preachers may not chalenge by vertue of their office any compulsiue dominion or violent iurisdiction ouer their brethren but leaue that to Princes The next the greater our calling is in Christes Church the readier we should te to make our selues euen with those of the lowest degree to gaine them thereby but that Christ intended in those places to giue all sortes of Minister and helpers in his Church equall power and authoritie with his Apostles I am not perswaded and that for these causes What Christ had alreadie giuen or after meant to giue to his Apostles he would neuer crosse with any speach of his The sonne of God cannot repent his fact or alter his mind but the same kingdome that was appointed to him he appointed to them and as his father sent him so sent he them into all the world with a larger warrant from his mouth and greater power and wisedome of his holy spirit to teach all nations what he commanded them and to open all the counsell of God vnto them then was giuen to other teachers and helpers in the Church He therefore neuer recalled nor rebated any part of their Apostolike prehâ—â—nnence aboue others but onely taught them to vse it to Gods glory and the edifying of his Church Againe what Christ had prohibited no Apostle guided by his spirite would euer haue vsed or chalenged but Paul in his writings hath chalengeth and vseth an Apostolicall power and preheminence aboue other Pastours and Teachers in the Church as is alreadie declared It was therefore neuer intended by our Sauiour to make all others equall with his Apostles in the direction and regiment of his Church Lastly if those places did conclude any thing for an equalitie that must bee referred to the Apostles amongst themselues to whom Christ gaue equall power and honour as Cyprian noteth of them The Apostles were endued with like fellowship of honour and power And Ierome All the Apostles receiued the keies of the kingdome of heauen and the strength of the Church is equally grounded on them But Paul speaking of himselfe saieth not that wee haue dominion ouer your fayth but are helpers of your ioy and Peter admonisheth all Pastours to feede the flocke of God not as if they were lordes ouer Christes inheritance but as examples to the flocke Qui vocatur ad Episcopatum faieth Origene non ad Principatum vocatur sedad seruitutem totius Ecclesiae Hee that is called to bee a Bishop is called not to the soueraigntie but to the seruice of the whole Church Episcopi sacerdotes se esse nouerinst non Dominos saieth Ierome Let the Bishops vnderstand they are Priestes not Lordes or Masters And Bernard Forma Apostolica haec est Dominatio interdioitur indicitur ministratio The paterne for the Apostles themselues is this dominion is interdicted a ministration is enitâ—ned These and such like speaches in the Scriptures and fathers doe neither prooue all ministers to haue equall power and honour with the Apostles nor impugne the regiment which the Pastours haue ouer their flocks but as wee 〈◊〉 before by the wordes of our Sauiour they distinguish betweene pastorall and princely regiment and direct both Apostles and Pastours how they shall gouerne The thing so much prohibited by Christ and his Apostles whose wordes the auncient fathers doe follow is that Preachers and Pastours should 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 behaue or thinke themselues to be lords and masters ouer their brethren What word is opposed to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Scriptures and wherein consisteth the relation betwixt them if we call to mind we shall not be deceiued in the right sense of these wordes Christ saieth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The seruant is not aboue his lord or Master and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 no seruant can serue two masters The power of lordes masters ouer their seruants is likewise expressed by our Sauiour The seruant that knoweth his masters will and doeth not according to his will shall bee beaten with many stripes And againe I say to my seruant doe this and he doeth it Yee seruants faieth Paul obey the masters of your flesh in all things for know yee not that his seruaunts you are whom you obey whereby as by infinite other places it is euident that opposite to lord and master are neither children nor brethren but seruants and he is a seruant that is vnder the yoke and bound to obey his masters will euen as he is a lord or master that may commaund his seruant to execute his will or thereto compell him with stripes for that is the right of a lord and master to commaund and punish his seruant that disobeieth What maruell then if Christ forbade his Apostles to bee lordes and masters ouer their brethren that is to commaund them and compell them aâ— their vassals since the beleeuers are no servaunts but brethren and the Pastours no lordes ouer Gods inheritance but fathers vnto the faithfull Whereby the honour 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 of Christes flocke is not diminished but augmented and the people not licenced the sooner to 〈◊〉 theâ— but thereby required the rather to regard them for 〈…〉 honour due to master or father and who loueth most a seruant or a sonne Amare filiorum timere seruorum est A sonne doeth loue a seruant doeth feare which God expresseth by his Prophet when he â—aith If I be a father where is mine honour If I be a Master where is my feare Wherefore to increase the loue of his sheepe towards their shepeheards Christ would not haue his Apostles to be feared as masters but to be honoured as fathers and consequently Pastours not to force but to feede not to chase but to lead the flocke committed to their charge neither toughly to intreat them as seruants but gently to perswade them as coheires of the same kingdome If at any time they require and commaund they doe it in Gods name as messengers sent to declare his will who
onely and rightly may commaund in such cases and as fellow seruants set ouer their masters household to diuide them meate in due season and to put the rest in minde of their masters pleasure For which cause their office is rather a seruice then a soueraigntie in the Church of Christ as Origene noteth and as Ierome saieth Si quis Episcopatum desiderat bonum opus desiderat opus non dignitatem laborem non delitias opus per quod humilitate decrescat non intume scat fastigio If any man desire the office of a bishop he desireth a good worke if he desire the worke not the dignitie the paynes not the case the labour whereby he should waxe lowe with humilitie not swell with arrogancie Nomen est operis non honoris vt intelligat se non esse Episcopum qui praeesse dilexerit non prodesse The office of a bishop saieth Austen is a name of labour not of honour to let him vnderstand that he is no bishop which loueth the preferring of himselfe not the profiting of others So Bernard Specula est sonans tibi Episcopi nomine non dominium sed officium It is a watch sounding vnto thee in the name of a bishop not an imperie but a ministerie If any man thinke I debase the office of a Bishop more then needs in that I say he must rather serue then rule in the Church of Christ let him remeÌ„ber the sonne of God though he were heire and lord of all came to serue not to be serued to whose example all his disciples must conforme themselues by his expresse commandement and the elect Angels though greater in power and excellency then we yet are they al ministring spirits for ouâ— sakes that shall be heires of saluation yea Kings and Princes are not approued of God if their hearts be lifted vp aboue their brethren but rather in all societies of the righteous and faithfull as Austen obserueth Qui imperant seruiunt ijs quibus videntur imperare Non enim dominandi cupiditate imperant sed officio consulendi nec principandi superbia sed prouidendi misericordia They that rule serue those whom they seeme to rule for they rule not with a desire to master them but with a purpose to aduise theÌ„ neither with pride to be chiefe ouer them but with mercifull care to prouide for them It is no shame then for a Christian Bishop to say with the Apostle We preach not our selues but Iesus Christ to be the Lord and our selues to be your seruants for Iesus sake We are not Bishops for our selues sayth Augustine but for their sakes to whom we minister the worde and Sacraments of the Lord. If therefore any man desire the office of a Bishop saith Chrysostome non principatus ac dominationis fastu verùm cura regiminis charitatis affectu non improbo bonum quippe opus desiderat not for pride to be chiefe and beare rule but for care to gouerne and charitable desire to doe good I mislike it not he desireth a good worke Our Sauiour you will say forbiddeth his disciples not onelie the power but the very name of Lord in saying They that beare rule are called gratious Lords but you shall not be so I heare the Translator but I finde no such Text. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which word S. Luke vseth is a benefactor or a bountifull man it soundeth nothing neare neither Grace nor Lord. The simple may so be deceiued the learned cannot so be deluded but they must finde it is a gloze besides the text If so small a title be denied them it is cleere you thinke that higher stiles as Gratious Lordes can not be allowed them That is an illation out of the wordes no translation of the wordes Besides it is more cleere that the name of matter is forbidden them Christ saieth in precise wordes Nolite vocari Rabbi Be not called Master and yet I weene the meanest Presbyter will looke sowerly if he be not vouchsafed that name If we were disposed to quarrel as some are we could say no man may be called father for Christ saieth Call no man father on earth there is but one euen your father which is in heauen no creature man nor Angell may be called lord Nobis vnâ—s est Dominus Iesus Christus To vs there is but one Lord Iesus Christ. The trueth is if we attend either the right or force of the creator or the worthier pâ—rte of the creature which is the soule no man on earth can iustly be called Master Father or Lord for none doth effectually fashion teach and gouerne man specially the soule of man saue onely God who worketh all in all but if wee respect the proportion and resemblance deriued from God and approoued by God in his word then those that beget or gouerne our bodies as Gods instruments and substitutes on earth may be called Masters Lordes and Fathers yea for submission or reuerence strangers vnknowen and knowen superiors either spirituall or temporall may be called by those names which as well the custome of the Scriptures as the consent of all Nations will confirme vnto vs. The French haue no higher worde for Lorde then Seigneur which they attribute to Christ and God himselfe as Le Seigneur Iesus The Lord Iesus Le Seigneur Dieu The Lord God and yet they call euery one by that name which is of any credite or reputation with them With vs euery meane man is Lorde of his owne Tenants haue no name for the owner of the land or house which they inhabite but their Lord yea euery poore woman that hath either maid or apprentise is called Dame and yet Dame is as much as Domina and vsed to Ladies of greatest account as Dame Isabel and Madame In Latin Dominus soundeth more then Master and yet the boyes in the Grammer schoole do know how common the stile of Dominus is and vsually giuen to euery man that hath any taste of learning shew of calling or stay of liuing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the chiefest word the Grecians haue for Lord either on earth or in heauen and yet S. Peter willeth euery christian woman after Sarahs example to call her husband whatsoeuer he be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Marie Magdalene supposing she had spoken to the keeper of the garden where Christ was buried said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is Lord if thou hast taken him hence tell mee where thou hast layed him The Greekes that were desirous to see Christ came to Philip the Apostle and said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lord we would see Iesus The Hebrewe word Adoni my Lord which otherwise the Iewes did attribute to Kings and Princes and euen to God himselfe was for honor reuerence yeelded to any superior or stranger When Loth prayed the two strangers whom he then did not thinke to be Angels to lodge with him that
49. Math. 28 16. 19. Marc. 16 14. 15. Act. 1 2. 4. In the processe of the Storie they are all said to be of Galilee neither is Peter sayd to stand foorth with any other Collegues then with these eleuen Act. 2 7. 14. 37. so that it euidently appeareth this solemne sending of the holy Ghost pertained to none other then to those twelue appointed with a speciall aboundance of the holy spirite to plant Churches throughout the world by whose ministerie or handes afterward the giftes of the holie Ghost might bee giuen to such others as should be their helpers That none besides the Twelue receiued the holy Ghost when they did or that all the rest receiued the same by the Apostles hands and not immediately from God I dare not affirme S. Austen saieth The holy Ghost came from heauen and filled an hundred and twentie of them sitting in one place The seuen Deacons were full of the holy Ghost before the Apostles handes were laied on them And Peter testifieth the same of the Gentiles that heard him preach in Cornelius house As I began to speake the holy Ghost fell on them euen as vpon vs at the beginning So that God gaue the power of his spirite as well to others as to the Apostles and that without the Apostles handes but I verily beleeue that at the first none gaue the giftes and graces of the holie Ghost by imposing handes saue onely the Apostles And so saieth Chrysostome Philip baptising gaue not the holy Ghost and in deed he could not Hoc enim donum solorum Apostolorum erat for the giuing thereof belonged onely to the Apostles And againe Others receiued power to doe signes but not to giue the holy Ghost Igitur hoc erat in Apostolis singulare this was peculiar to the Apostles So that not onely the Apostles might impose handes on such as should be Prophets and Pastours in the Church to make them fitte for their callings by the power and giftes of Gods spirite without the Presbyterie but in that cafe the Presbyterie might not arrogate so much vnto themselues as to ioyne with the Apostles in giuing the holy Ghost which was the very seale of their Apostleship and therefore whom the Spirite appointed the Apostles ordained with imposing hands without either people or Presbyterie to ioyne with them to ratifie their election or action Mens voyces might bee spared when Gods will was reuealed and the spirite gaue his giftes not as others consented or liked but where himselfe purposed and appoynted The holie Ghost then electing and choosing howe could the Presbyterie take vpon them either to confirme it without presumption or reuerse it without rebellion against God and his spirite Can any bee shewed that was so named by the spirite to receiue imposition of handes from the Apostles No doubt the Apostles were directed as well to the persons whom they should choose as to the places where they should teach When Paul would haue preached in Phrygia he was forbidden of the holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia When he sought to goe into Bithynia the spirite suffered him not but the Lord called him by a vision into Macedonia At Antioch the holy Ghost sayd Separaâ—e mee Barnabas and Paul for the worke whereto I haue called them Of Timothie Paul saieth the prophesies or Prophets spake of him before that he should fight a good fight Neither was this priuate to Timothie but as Chrysostome noteth it it was vsuall in the Apostles times Tunc quia nihil fiebat humanum sacerdotes ex prophetia veniebant Quid est exprophetia ex Spiritu sancto Then because nothing was done by men the Pastours were made by prophesie What is by prophesie by the holy Ghost speaking by himselfe or by the Prophets as Saul was shewed by prophesie where he lay hid amongst the stuffe as the holy Ghost sayd separate me Paul and Barnabas so was Timothie chosen And likewise Theodoret vpon the same words of the Apostle to Timothie writeth thus Thou hast not thy calling saith Paul by men but thou receiuedst that order by diuine reuelation And so the Scholies collected by Oecumenius By the reuelation of the spirite Timothie was chosen of Paul to bee his Disciple and circumcised and ordained a Bishop Yea this dured a long time after Pauls death as Eusebius reporteth out of Clemens Alexandrinus all the while S. Iohn the Apostle liued of whom hee writeth that after his returne out of Patmos vnto Ephesus hee went to the Churches of the Gentils adioyning some where appointing Bishops somewhere setting whole Churches in order 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 somewhere supplying the Clergie with such as the spirite named or drawing lots for such as the spirite signified So that thirtie yeeres after Peter and Paul were dead the holy Ghost signified to S. Iohn whom hee should take into the Clergie and for auoiding ambition and contention he drew them by lots euen as we read in the Acts was done in the choice of Matthias If you aske mee what was the generall rule for elections and ordinations in the Apostles times in a doubtfull case I must returne a doubtfull answere There are three sortes of elections mentioned in the new Testament By the spirite By lots By voices By lots was Matthias chosen by voyces the seuen Deacons By the spirite speaking in his owne person were Paul and Barnabas called from Antioch to preach to the Gentiles By the spirite speaking in the Prophets was Timothie designed Neglect not the grace which was giuen thee by prophesie with imposition of hands of an Eldership And againe This commandement I commit to thee according to the prophesies that went before of thee The Apostles were warned by the spirite as well of the parties on whom he would bestow his giftes as of the places whither they should goe or where they should staie The spirite spake to Philip to ioyne himselfe to the Eunuches charet and to Peter willing him to goe with Cornelius messengers Ananias and his wife would needes trie whether the spirite in Peter knew the secretes of their dealings but their tempting the holy Ghost in the Apostle was sharply reuenged in them both If I come againe saieth Paul I will not spare seeing you seeke experience of Christ that speaketh in me By that spirite were Peter and Iohn directed on whom they should lay handes at Samaria and so was Paul at Ephesus when hee laied the first foundation of that Church And in that sense hee might afterward truely say to the Pastours and Elders of Ephesus Take heede to the flocke where the holy Ghost made you ouerseers for it was the holie Ghosts doyng both to notifie the persons vnto Paul that should receiue imposition of hands and to powre out his wonderfull blessings on them to make them meete for the calling of Pastours and Prophets whereto hee had chosen them
should bee giuen but to satisfie their consciences and to preuent schismes In offering the sacrifice of a troubled heart let the deuote and suppliant doe not onely that which helpeth for the recouering of his owne saluation but that also which may doe others good by example when his sinne hath greatlie hurt himselfe and scandalized others atque hoc expedire vtilitati ecclesiae videtur Antistiti and the Bishop or chiefe Priest thinke it expedient for the good of the Church let him not refuse to repent in the sight of many yea of the whole people How daungerous it is to offend the least of those that beleeue in Christ the Gospell doeth witnesse Great reason then had those godlie fathers to see the whole Church satisfied before they released the sentence of excommunication or time of repentance and in so doing they shewed not what right the multitude or laie-Elders had to sit Iudges with the Bishop but what care themselues had to remooue from the people all occasions of stumbling diligentlie teaching their flockes neither to stagger at other mens falles to their owne subuersion nor to bee straight laced agaynst repentance through presumption of their owne standing which were nothing els but to insult at other mens miseries The like course S. Augustine aduiseth to bee vsed for auoiding seditions and factions When any mans fault is so knowen to all and abhorred of all that it hath no partakers or not such by whom a schisme may rise slacke not the seueritie of discipline And then may it bee done without breach of peace and vnitie and without harming the corne when the whole multitude of the Church is free from that â—inne for which the offender is excommunicated for then the people rather helpe the Gouernour or Pastour nebuking then the guiltle resisting Then do the people keepe themselues from his societie so as not one of them will eate with him not of an hostile rage but by brotherly correction Then the offender is striken with feare recouered with shame when seeing himselfe held accursed of the whole Church he can finde no number to ioyne with him to insult on the good and reioyce in his sinne But all this not withstanding the censure proceeded from the Bishop and Pastour of the place and not from the people or laie-Elders associated with him in pronouncing that iudgement Examples and testimonies whereof are euery where to bee had both in Austen and Cyprian When Rogaâ—ianus a Bishop contumeliously abused by his Deacon complained vnto Cyprian and others of that iniurie Cyprian wrate backe in this wise You did vs great honour and shewed your accustomed humilitie in that you choose rather to complaine of him to vs Cumpro Episcopatus vigore Cathedrae authoritate haberes potestatem quia possis de illo statim vindicari whereas by vigour of your Episcopall function and authoritie of your chaire you had power enough to bee straightway reuenged of him And after a long discourse that honour and obedience is due to the Priests and Pastours by Gods law he concludeth Therefore the Deacon of whom you write must shew himselfe penitent for his boldnes and acknowledge the honor of your Priesthood and with full humilitie satisfie you being his Bishop Gouernour And if he shall offend prouoke you any more with his contempts vse against him y e power of your calling honor either in deposing or excommunicating him And because you wrate of an other that toke part with your Deacon in his pride and stiffenes him also and if there be any more that set themselues against Gods Priest you may either represse or remooue froÌ„ the Communion Yet we wish desire with mild patience to conquere the reproches and wrongs of euery one potiùs quà m sacerdotali licencia vindicare rather then to reuenge them in such sort as it is easie for Priestes to doe Speaking of himselfe and his owne cause hee saieth The Church here is shutte agaynst no man the Bishop with-holdeth himselfe from none my patience facilitie and mildenesse are open to such as come I remitte all things I conceale many things I doe not examine trespasses against God with a religious and exact iudgement for the verie desire and care I haue to keepe the brethren together I my selfe doe almost sinne with remitting offences more then I should Auxilius a fresh yoong Bishop hauing excommunicated a person of good account with his whole family for infringing the liberties of his Church as he supposed Saint Augustine treateth with him by letters to know what ground he had out of the Scriptures to excommunicate the sonne for the Fathers the wife for the husbands the seruants for their masters offence and amongst others vseth these wordes Loe I am readie to learne an olde man of a yong a Bishop of solong continuance from my Colleague not yet a yeeres standing what good reason we may yeelde to God or to men if for another mans sinne we indanger innocent soules with a spirituall punishment If you can giue a reason for it vouchsafe by writing to acquaint me with it that I may be able likewise if you cannot what is it for you to doe such a thing vpon an vnaduised motion of the minde whereof being asked you are not able to yeelde a iust reason Neither thinke that vniust anger cannot ouertake vs because we are Bishops but let vs rather remember wee liue dangerously amidst the snares of temptations because we are men Saint Austen blameth neither people nor Presbyters for the deede but the Bishop whose hastie iudgement it was and willeth him not them to be thinke himselfe what account he can yeelde to God or man for that Ecclesiasticall censure And that excommunication pertained to the Pastorall charge and proceeded from the Episcopall power and seate the same Father euery where witnesseth Upon the wordes of Saint Iohn I sawe seates and some sitting on them and iudgement was giuen he writeth thus Non hoc putandum de vltimo iudicio dici sed sedes Praepositorum ipsi Praepositi intelligendi sunt per quos ecclesia nunc gubernatur Iudicium autem datum nullum melius accipiendum videtur quà m id quod dictum est quaecunque lig aueritis in terra erunt ligata in caelo c. This must not be thought to be spoken of the last iudgement but the seats of the Presidents and the Presidents themselues by whom the Church is now gouerned are thereby to be vnderstoode And iudgement giuen can no better way be taken theÌ„ for that which is spoken of in these wordes Whatsoeuer you binde in earth shalbe bound in heauen what you loose in earth shalbe loosed in heauen May not the word Praepositi signifie the Lay Elders aswel as Bishops since they also are set ouer the Church to gouerne the flocke in their kinde as well as Pastours The Fathers vse many words to expresse the calling and office of
people from Priests is neither prophane nor strange in the Scriptures There shall be saieth Esay like people like Priest And so saieth Osee as also Ieremie diuideth the Church into the Prophet Priest and People As for the name of Clergie men Ierome saieth Proptereà vocantur Clerici vel quia de sorte sunt Domint vel quia ipse Dominus sors idest pars Clericorum est Therfore are they called Clergie men or Clerkes either because they are the Lordes portion to serue the Church of Christ or for that the Lord is their portion part to liue on such things as are dedicated to the Lord. The Laie hee calleth Seculares Secular men which word is not so good as Laici the Laitie or people The name of Presbyter I vse not thereby meaning aged and ancient men of what calling soeuer they be as the word sometimes signifieth and wherewith I see many that fauour the Presbyterie deceiued and deceiuing others but I vse it for those whom the Apostles call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Presbyters whence our tongue following the French long since deriued Priests who for their age should be Elders and by their office are ministers of the word and Sacraments and ouerseers of the flocke of Christ. And though there can be no doubt but very often in the Scriptures 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Latine Seniores in English Elders are taken for Pastours Teachers and such as laboured in the word and dispensed the Sacraments yet some more zealous then discreet no sooner he are of the word Presbyter or Senior an Elder in Scriptures or Fathers but they straightway dreame of their laie Presbyterie which is the greatest ground of all their errour and lightest proofe that may possiblie be brought For which cause I am forced often to distinguish the ministers of the word from such as some men would haue to bee Gouernours of the Church by the name of Presbyter and not of Elder which in our tongue is more common to aged men then to Clergie men But howsoeuer they may play with wordes to make some the we that Elders were Gouernours of Christes Church in the Apostles times assuredly no man is able to 〈◊〉 that laie men were publike Gouernours to ordaine ministers or remooue sinners from the Lordes table while the Apostles liued and after their deaths the longer we search the further we are from finding any such Elders The whole Church by the very wordes of our Sauiour might exclude disobedient and froward persons from their felowship as Etâ—nikes and Publicanes and bind them both in heauen and earth I haue answered alreadie that those wordes of Christ by the verâ—â— confession of such as are the greatest defenders of this newe discipline were spoken of the Iudges and Magistrates of the Iewes And if by the credite and authoritie of the fathers wee will needes haue them spoken of Christes Church wee must then take the Church for the Pastours and leaders of the Church that haue receiued power from Christ to binde and loose in heauen and earth Lastly if we intend nothing els by those wordes Let him be to thee as an Ethnike and Publicane but refraine all company with him and eate no more with him then thou wouldest with an Ethnike and Publicane this charge pertaineth rather to the whole Church then to any laie Elders or Gouernours in the Church The Apostles wordes When you are gathered together put away from among you that wicked man are rather directed to the whole Congregation then to any laie Elders in the Church of Corinch as are also these that folow I wrate vnto you that you should not company together with fornicatours but nowe I haue written vnto you if any man that is called a brother bee a fornicator or couetous an Idoâ—ater railer drunkard or extortioner with such an one eate not Must onely the laie Elders or all the multitude auoyd the companie of such enormous persons I beseech you brethren saieth Paul obserue those which cause diuisions and offences against the doctrine which you haue learned and decline them Should none but Elders and Teachers shunne Schismatikes and hainous malefactours or must the people and hearers doe the like If any man obey not our sayings keepe no companie with him that he may be ashamed yet count him not an enemie but admonish him as a brother Shall wee thinke the Apostle thought it sufficient for soâ—â— fewe laie Elders to forbeare the company of such disordered persons or doeth hee will the whole Church with one consent to shunne all societie with such vnrulie ones that they may bee ashamed Then yet the whole Church might excommunicate and not Pastours onely With open reproouing by the word and excluding from the Sacraments such as notoriouslie sinned Pastours and Prophets might intermeddle the people and laie Elders might not it was no part of their charge but in banishing malefactours from all fellowship and companie both ciuill and sacred with the faithfull the Pastours were to direct the people to assist and execute that iudgement The Apostle doeth not leaue it to peoples liking as a matter indifferent till they haue consented but enioineth it as a necessarie duetie and commandeth them in the name of Christ Iesus to withdraw themselues from euery brother that walked inordinately For as S. Iohn warneth vs He that receiueth to his house the bringer of another doctrine or biddeth him good speede is partaker of his euill deedes And so is euery one that with countenance fauour or familiaritie doeth embolden the wicked to goe on in any other lewdnesse when by Christian dutie he should reproue such offenders if they persist renounce al societie with them yea where there wanteth a beleeuing magistrate the Pastours shall not doe wisely to proceed to any such rigour against wilfull and obstinate sinners without the knowledge and consent of the people for feare of contempt if the most part mislike or factions if the multitude be deuided If Pastours in such cases were to staie for the liking of the whole Church is it not more likely that the people did referre the hearing and censuring of all such matters to certaine chosen Elders of themselues rather then in a tumult confusedly without any Iudiciall forme determine such causes That if wee euict wee make no doubt that laie Elders were Gouernours in the Church of Christ as well as Pastours Indeed likelihoods and surmises were the best demonstrations that euer were made for your supposed discipline but if this hee all you will neuer euict any thing The people might well relie themselues on the credite and conscience of their Pastours and beleeue them in other mens cases whom they trusted with their owne soules Againe they might approoue and confirme their Pastours iudgement in an open assemblie without an vprore things were at that time handled in the Church religiously not tumultuously Lastly if the people did appoint certaine wise and sufficient
matters to whom the Apostolike power and charge which must alwayes remaine in the Church may be communicated and imparted and those are Presbyters and Bishops By Presbyters I meane those whom all the Catholike Fathers and Councils with one consent call Presbyteros placing them in the middle betweene Bishops and Deacons when they deuide the Clergie into Episcopos Presbyterosâ— Diaconos Bishops Presbyters and Deacons Laiâ— Elders I ouerskip as meere strangers to all antiquitie So that when I speake of Presbyteries I vnderstand thereby the assemblies of such Presbyters as were Clergie men and in euery Citie assisted the Bishop in the seruice of God and aduised the Bishop in all other affaires of the Church Thus much I premonish least the often vse of the word Presbyter in this chapter should either perplexe or vnsettle the Reader The times must like wise be remembred The Apostles both in teaching and gouerning the Churches when they were present had helpers when they were absent had substitutes after their finall departures or deathes left successours So that the things originally descending from the Apostles and continuallie remayning in the Church are the charge of the worde and Sacraments and the power of keyes and handes the persons to whom they were committed either Presbyters or Bishops the times when the presence absence departure or death of the Apostles If wee neglect or confound these partes wee shall but roaue in the aire at the right gouernement of the Church if wee obserue them wee shall force the Question to an Issue that will not deceiue vs. And first for the worde and Sacraments It may not bee deuied but as the worde and Sacraments are the most essentiall seedes of the Church so the handling and sowing thereof in the Lordes ground must bee the generall and principall charge of all Pastours and Presbyters that eyther feede or rule the flocke of Christ. for whether they be Apostles Euangelists Prophets Pastours or Teachers I meane such as Paul reckoneth to the Ephesians for the worke of the Ministerie or as the holy Ghost in other places calleth them Bishops and Presbyters this power is common to them all Without the worde and Sacraments the Saintes are not gathered the Church is not edified faith is not perfited heauen is not opened wherefore in preaching the worde and administring the Sacramentes the Scriptures know no difference betwixt Pastours and Teachers Bishops and Presbyters Had not our Sauiour deliuered both in one ioynt Commission to his Apostles when he willed them to goe and teach all Nation baptizing them Paul sheweth that preaching the worde was of the twaine the greater and woorthier part of his Apostolike function Christ sent mee not to baptize but to preach the Gospell not that hee might not or did not vse both but the latter was the chiefer So Iohn preached the baptisme of repentance not deuiding the offer of the worde from the confirmation of the Sacrament but ioyning them both together as coherent and consequent the one to the other for God doeth not send his messengers to make emptie promises but ratifieth the trueth of his speach with the seales of his word which are the Sacraments And therfore hee that hath charge from God to preach the one hath also leaue to performe the other Whom God hath placed in his church that by his mouth we should beleeue by his hands also we may bee baptized as appeareth by Philip conuerting and baptizing not onely the Eunuche but the whole Citie of Samaria and for that cause S. Austen iustly calleth as well Presbyters as Bishops Ministers of the word and Sacraments A newe distinction is lately deuised that Pastours in Saint Paul were such as had not onely the word and Sacraments but also the Church and charge of soules committed vnto them and Teachers those that laboured in doctrine but receiued no charge neither of Sacramentes nor soules In deede Ambrose taketh them for Catechizers of Infants and at Alexandria there were moderators of Schooles resembling our Uniuersities for the training and instructing of such as in time were likely to profit the Church of God but these were not ecclesiasticall functions in the Church they were profitable members of a common wealth that so did but no necessarie workemen in the ministerie And though there were such for a season at Alexandria yet all other Cities and Churches had not the like and they that gouerned those Schooles and taught the Catechumes there as Pantenus Clemens and Origen were Laie men and neuer vsed at Alexandria to teach the people in the Church as appeareth by Demetrius wordes then Bishop of Alexandria finding great fault with the Bishops of Ierusal in and Cesaria for suffering Origen after hee had bene Catechist at Alexandria to expound the Scriptures before the people in the Church His wordes are these It was neuer heard nor euer suffered that Laie men should teach in the Church in the presence of Bishops With no face could the Bishop of Alerandria haue disliked Origens fact if it had bene vsuall in his owne Church and the Bishops that wrate in defence of the matter doe not auouch it was a generall or perpetuall rule in the Church of Christ for a Catechizer to teach in the Church but alleage three instances where they sawe the like vsed and confesse they knew no more Wherefore vnlesse their examples and reasons were stronger and surer I preferre the iudgement of Ierome Augustine Chrysostome Theodorete and others before this late conceite who thinke the Apostle expressed one office by two names to shew what things belonged to the Pastorall charge Austen Pastours and Doctours whom you greatly desired I should distinguish I thinke to bee all one as you doe not that wee should conceiue some to be Pastours others to bee Doctours but therefore he subioyned Doctours to Pastours that Pastours might vnderstand doctrine pertained to their office Euery Pastour is a Doctour saieth Ierome Pastours and Doctours saieth Chrysostome were they to whom the whole people were committed and they were inferiour to those that went about preaching the Gospell because dwelling in more quietnesse they were employed onely in one place Paul calleth them Pastours and Doctours saieth Theodorete which were deputed and fastened to a Citie or village Oecumenius by Pastours and Teachers Paul meaneth Bishops to whome the Churches were committed But grant Pastours and Doctours were distinct offices in the Church as you imagine what gaine you by it You may thereby prooue an inequalitie of ecclesiasticall functions you prooue nothing els Obey your Ouerseers saieth Paul and bee subiect to them they watch ouer your soules to giue account for them Obedience and subiection to the Pastour is due from the whole flocke and all degrees thereof which are no Pastours but Teachers as you say were no Pastors they were therfore inferiour to Pastors and subiect to their ouersight Now take your choice if Pastors
yet he did carrie about with him Epiphanius the diuine speach of the Apostle teacheth who is a Bishop and who a Presbyter in saying to Timothie a Bishop Rebuke not a Presbyter but exhort him as a father How could a Bishop rebuke a Presbyter if he had no power ouer a Presbyter as also Receiue not an accusation against a Presbyter but vnder two or three witnesses Theodoret. Titus was a notable Disciple of Paul ordained by Paul Bishop of Creete and authorized to make the Bishops that were vnder him Vincentius Lirinensis writing vpon some words of Paul to Timothie saith O Timothie that is O Priest O Teacher if the diuine grace hath made thee meete for witte exercise and learning be thou Beseleel that is a most skilfull workeman of the spiritual Temple Augustine instructing all Pastours by Paules words to Tite addeth Was it saide in vaine to the seruant of God now eminent amongst the members of the chiefe Pastour Shewe thy selfe an example of good workes to all Gregorie Paul admonisheth his scholler Timothie now Prelate of a flocke saying Attend to reading til I come Primasius Timothie had the grace of prophecie cum ordinatione Episcopatus together with the order of a Bishop And that grace was the blessing which Timothie at the time of his making Bishop receiued by the imposition of Paules hands Oecumenius interlacing the words of Paul to Timothie saieth Neglect not the gift which is in thee That is either Doctrine or the office of a Bishop for it was the grace of God that being yoong hee deserued to be made a Pastour Which was giuen thee by prophecie for by the commaundement of the holie Ghost Bishops were made and not at all aduenture With imposition of hands of the Presbyterie By Presbyters hee meaneth Bishops for Presbyters did not ordaine him being a Bishop Yea which of all the auncient Fathers doeth not with Tertullian confesse that the Epistles of Paul to Timothie and Tite were made concerning the ecclesiastical state or doth not with Chrysostome Ambrose and Oecumenius apply the words precepts of the Apostle written to them as spoken to all Bishops You say Euangelists could be no Bishops y e whole Church of Christ with one resolution said they were bishops whatsoeuer Paul speaketh to them pertaineth to all Bishops and Pastors and of al others Ieromes confession is most cleere in that behalfe Howe then coulde Ierom doubt but the vocation and function of Bishops was an Apostolike ordinance and consequently confirmed and allowed by the wisedome of Gods spirit in his Apostles Saint Iohn in his Reuelation will assure you that the Sonne of god willed him to write to the seuen starres and Angels of the seuen Churches of Asia that is to the seuen Pastours and Bishops of those seuen places Whereby it is euident that not onely the Apostles were liuing when one superiour gouerned the Churches but the Lord himselfe with his owne voice confirmed that kinde of regiment I do not feare lest with Origen you will wrest the place to the Angels in heauen say that in euery Church there were two Bishops one visible another inuisible S. Augustine hath learnedly quenched that error If the Lord woulde haue had those words vnderstood of the Angels of the higher heauens and not of the Rulers of the Church hee woulde not haue afterward added But I haue some what against thee because thou hast left thy first loue remember therefore whence thou art fallen and repent This can not be spoken of the heauenly Angels who always retaine their loue whence they that fell are the Diuell and his Angels Therefore by the diuine voice vnder the name of an Angell the Ruler or ouerseer of the Church is praised And againe The Angels of the Churches in the Apocalypse ought not to be vnderstoode to be any but the Bishops or Rulers of the Churches If Iohn in his time sawe those seuen Churches gouerned by seuen Pastours or Bishops then was the common and equal gouernement of Presbyters before that time changed If Christ called them Starres and Angels of the Churches they were no humane inuention after the Apostles were dead and buried You see Ierome saieth the regiment of Bishops came not into the Church by the truth of the Lords disposition You doe not alleadge Ierom because you admit or regard what he saith you onely snatch at some words in him which seeme to serue your humours otherwise you receiue no part of his report In the place which you bring against Bishops Ierome saieth that at the first when Presbyters gouerned Ecclesiae cura aequaliter inter plures diuidebatur the charge or care of the Church was equally diuided amongst many You say no there was neuer any such time it were lacke of wisedome so to thinke Your wordes be Neque enim ille quum diceret Ecclesias initio fuisse communi Presbyterorum consilio gubernatas ita desipuisse existimandus est vt somniaret neminem ex Presbyteris illi coetui praefuisse Ierome when hee said the Churches were at the first gouerned by the common aduise of the Presbyters may not be thought to haue bene So FOOLISH as to dreame that none of the Presbyters was chiefe of that assemblie Ierome saieth the care of the Church was equally deuided amongst them you say it were a dreame and a follie so to suppose And thus is Ierome rewarded for bearing witnesse to your Presbyterall regiment Againe Ierome saieth that vpon the primarie dissentious of Presbyters it was decreed in the whole world Vt omnis Ecclesiae cura ad vnum pertineret that the whole care or charge of the Church should pertaine to one This you cannot digest for if this bee true your laie Elders had nothing to doe with Church matters since Bishops began Ieromes whole tale therefore your selues reiect as vntrue onely you hold fast the latter ende which you vnderstand not and thence you would prooue that the gouerning of the Church by Bishops was mans inuention contrarie to Gods institution In all reason when you impugne the two partes of your owne witnesses deposition wee might refuse the third but wee will not presuming that Ierome would not so grossely contradict himselfe as to say the superioritie of Bishops aboue Presbyters was and was not an Apostolike ordinance Ieromes wordes then that the Bishops maioritie aboue Presbyters came rather by the custome of the Church then by the trueth of the Lordes disposition may bee two wayes construed First that by the trueth of the Lordes disposition hee meaneth a precept from Christes mouth and by the custome of the Church hee vnderstandeth a continuation of that regiment euen from the Apostles For Veritas is often taken with the auncient Fathers for a trueth written in the Scriptures consuetudo for a thing deliuered by hand from the Apostles which otherwise thep call a tradition And
great loue in you towardes vs that wee dare not offend you for the gaine of our soule Some of the Presbyters saieth Cyprian to his Clergie neither remembring the Gospel nor their place neither thinking on the judgement of the Lorde to come nor on the BISHOP THAT IS SET OVER THEM which was neuer doone vnder any of my predecessours with contempt and reproch of their Ruler take vpon them to doe anything euen to communicate with those that fall in time of persecution Let those rash and vnwise among you know that if they persist any longer in such actions I will vse that admonition which the Lord willeth mee in suspending them from the ministerie of the Lordes Table and at my returne make them answere before vs and the whole people for their dooings Some ripe youthes will thinke all these Fathers were infected with humane deuises in attributing so much vnto bishops but the grauer sorte will remember these learned and godly men were as like to knowe what in Christian duety they were to yeelde or to aske as the plotformers of our time that affirme the bishop must be subiect and obedient to the greater part of his Presbyters and do nothing but what they determine The bishop then or President of the Presbyters for I stand not on names whiles I discusse their powers is by Christs owne mouth proneunced to bee the Angell of the Church that is the chiefe Steward ouer Gods housholde and ouerseer of his flocke and the authoritie that hee hath in the Church is Pastorall and Paternal euen the same that hath continued in the church since the beginning of the world This fatherly kinde of regiment began in the Patriarks dured in the Priests and Prophets of Moses Lawe was deriued to the Apostles and so descended to the chiefe Pastours of Christs church to this day who are to be honored and obeyed in the word and Sacraments as Fathers of all their children This power and honour I trust is so tolerable and Christian that you dare not spurne against it If you did not giue it onely to them and take it from all others wee would not gaine say it so much as we doe That which is common to euery Pastour in regard of those that are vnder them cannot be denyed the chiefe to whose ouersight and charge the whole church in euerie place is committed If you thinke the name of Pastour cannot be common to many in one and the same Church then the bishop must be Pastour alone for he is the Angel of Gods Church If the pastorall charge may be common to many then must he haue it chiefly and aboue all because he is Gods Angell and superior to all You remember your owne positions it is Gods essentiall and perpetuall ordinance that one shoulde be chiefe as well ouer Presbyters as people He cannot be chiefe in the Presbyterie but he must be chiefe in the Church and consequently if the Presbyters be Pastours he is chiefe Pastour We giue him no power but to moderate the meetings and execute the decrees of the Presbyters That we are well content the Bishop shall enioy but further we giue him none Blessed are your Presbyters that must haue their betters to execute their decrees but I pray you sirs for Gods decrees who shall execute them Must the Presbyters voyces be asked before Gods Lawes shalbe executed Take heede not of tyrannicall but of Satanicall pride if Gods will shal not take place in your Churches till the Presbyterie be assembled and agreed You haue prouided a president to execute your owne pleasures now let God haue one amongst you to execute his Execution in all things we reserue to him that is chiefe for as to consult and decree a number is fittest so to execute that which is decreed one is the surest lest if execution be committed to many their excusing themselues one on another or dissenting from eche other do hinder the whole You beginne to be wise The honour to determine you keepe to your selues the paines to execute you lay on your chiefe Ruler to make him the gladder to be rid of his office that another by course may succeede in his roume And so where by Gods ordinance you must haue one chiefe you take such order with him that he shal neuer be willing to stay long in it Wee doe it to preuent ambition in such as woulde seeke for the highest place You decrease the ambition of one that shoulde be highest and increase the pride of an hundred that should be lowest for where wee haue one bishop in a Diocese tied to the Lawes of God the Church and the Prince you woulde haue three hundred in a Diocese in some more all of equall power and set at libertie to consult and determine of al matters at their pleasures We subiect our Presbyteries to the Lawes of God the Church and the Realme as well as you doe your Bishops and giue them no leaue to resist or reuerse the decrees of any superiour powers You doe well For when the God of heauen hath declared his will or the Church by her prouinciall or generall Councils determined doubts and made rules or Christian Magistrates by their Lawes redressed and ordered things amisse besides the loâ—se of your paines it were more then pride for your Presbyters in their assemblies to consult afresh and bring the selfe same things againe to the question What is decreed by superiours must not by inferiours be debated whether it shall take place or no but be rather obeyed with readinesse So that in all cases determined by the Lawes of God the Church or the Prince consultation is both superfluous and presumptuous execution is onely needefull and that must be committed to some persons that may precisely be chalenged and punished for the contempt if that which is commanded be not performed now whom appoint you to execute the decrees of God the Church and the prince The whole Presbyterie Then vpon the not execution of Gods or mans Lawe by any one Prebyter all must be punished aswell innocent as nocent diligent as negligent The blame must lie on all where the charge is in common Were you but once or twise well followed for other mens faultes you woulde soone ware weary of this generall and confused execution And though you woulde not yet neither the equity nor prudency of Gods or mans Lawes endure that wandering kinde of execution they note and specifie the persons that shall haue the charge and ouersight to execute their decrees that vpon any neglect or defect the right offendours may be chalenged And since to auoide confusion and preuent delayes you committe the execution of your owne decrees to the care and circumspection of your President what cause can there be why the lawes of God the Church and the Prince should not like wise be executed by the bishop or chiefe Pastour of eche place There can be no doubt but the Canons of Councils and Lawes of Christian princes
any rashlie presumed to inuade that honor per ordinationē regiam as ordained by the king not by the Metropolitane his Comprouincials no man might accept him or acknowledge him for a Bishop Neither hath the ancient Canon any other sense which saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. If any Bishop resting on worldly gouernors by their helpe get any Church let him be deposed excommunicated all that ioyne with him They do not exclude Princes frō naming electing of bishops no more then they do the people only they reiect violence forsomuch as a bishop by the rules of the holy Ghost must be throughly examined peaceablie ordained by such as shal impose hands on him and not perēptorilie intruded or imposed by any earthly force or power CHAP. XVI The meeting of Bishops in Synodes and who did call and moderate those assemblies in the Primitiue Church THe necessitie and authoritie of Synodes is not so much in question betwixt vs as the persons that should assemble and moderate those meetings The disciplinarians themselues if I be not deceiued are farre from making their Pastours or Presbyteries in euery parish supreme Iudges of doctrine and maners without all exception or reuocation and wee bee further for what if the Pastours or Presbyters of any place maintaine heresie or offer iniurie which are cases not rarelie incident but euery where occurrent euē in those that beare the names of Christians shall impietie and iniustice so raigne and preuaile in the Church that none may withstand it or redresse it That were to make the house of God worse then a den of theeues for theeues feare the detecting and flie the punishing of their offences which many Presbyters would not if there were no way to restraine and ouer rule their pestilent and wicked purposes Wherefore as in ciuill affaires there are Lawes and Powers to vphold iustice and prohibite violence without the which humane societies could not consist so in the Church of Christ when it is without the helpe and assistance of a Christian magistrate there must bee some externall and iudiciall meanes to discerne errour and redresse wrong in case any particular person or Church be infected or oppressed otherwise there is no possibilitie for trueth and equitie to harbour long amongst the sonnes of men The remedie which the Primitiue Church had and vsed against heresie and iniurie she deriued as well from the promise made by Christes owne wordes as from the example of the Apostles in the like case Christ willing such of his Disciples as were grieued by their brethren after the first and second admonition to toll it to the Church addeth for the direction and confirmation of all religious assemblies and conferences Where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the middest of them and whatsoeuer you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heauen and whatsoeuer you shall loose in earth shall bee loosed in heauen Whether the name of the Church in this place hee taken for the assemblie of Elders and Rulers vnder Moses lawe or of Pastours and Teachers vnder the Gospell to me it is indifferent this is euidentlie the order which our Sauiour willeth to be obserued from priuate admonition to goe to witnesses and from witnesses to assemblies So the worde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doeth most plainelie signifie and so the promise annexed doeth clearelie import where two or three are assembled together in my name I am in the midst of them Neither could any other course bee established in the Church for since an ende of controuersies must bee had amongst men least perpetuall contention bring finall confusion and plucke vp the verie rootes of all charitie and equitie from amongst men when neither priuate perswasion nor friendlie mediation can appease the parties contending what other order could bee prescribed but a Iudiciall hearing and determining of things in question Nowe Iudges must needes bee either single or assembled and single Iudges of force must either be Soueraigne and supreme Iudges or els vnder superiours appointed by the same warrant The Bishop of Rome claimeth a single and sole commission to heare and conclude all causes concerning either faith or right and were his proofe as good as his chalenge is proude it were woorth the discussing but the more he claimeth the more he sinneth by reason he taketh vnto himselfe without commission an infallible and ineuitable iudgement ouer all men and matters vpon the face of the earth that any way touch the trueth or the Church Princes are single and soueraigne Iudges of earthlie things and when they beleeue the defence and maintenance of the Church and fayth is by God himselfe committed to their power and care but Christ did not settle the sword to bee the generall and perpetuall rule to gouerne his Church for then without a Prince there could be no Church and consequentlie neither in the Apostles times nor three hundred yeeres after had Christ anie Church heere on earth since none of the Romane Princes that were lordes of the world publikelie maintained the Christian faith before Constantine Since we find no single nor supreme Iudges on whome the Church of Christ must alwayes depend for the debating and ending of ecclesiasticall strifes and contentions of necessitie there must either be none which were the vtter subuersion of all peace and order amongst the faithfull where there wanteth a Christian Magistrate or els the Pastours and Stewards of Christes Church to whome the care and charge thereof is committed must assemble together and with mutuall conference and consent performe those dueties to the Church in generall which otherwise they doe to each particular place and person for though Pastours be affixed to their places and charges yet that doeth not hinder the common care they should haue of all the members of Christes bodie and therefore when need so requireth they must as well imploy their trauell abroad as bestowe paines at home to direct or pacifie the household of faith This brotherlie kind of succouring and assisting each other in troubles and dangers is sometimes performed by letters but neuer so throughly and effectually as by meeting and assembling together when with deliberate and full aduise they may heare and determine what they thinke meetest for the safetie and quietnesse of the Church of God Their warrant so to doe is builded on the maine grounds of all diuine and humane societies strengthned by the promise of our Sauiour and assured vnto them by the example of the Apostles and perpetuall practise of the Church of Christ. By Gods lawe what obedience and reuerence the father may expect from his children the same or greater must all beleeuers yeeld to the fathers of their faith They are comprised in the same name and in the same commaundement with the fathers of our flesh and consequently must haue the same honour And if the fulnesse of each mans reward must be according to the excellencie