direct enmity against it seeing our own corrupt and earthly spirits are most contrary to the Holy and Heavenly Spirit of Christ in which the Church lives Wherefore we may learn hence what to judge of those men that cry out much for the peace of the Church and yet themselves neither live in nor are led by the Spirit of the Church but either by their own Spirits or Antichrists 2. They that labour to joyn men into one body with the Church that are not one Spirit with it do marr the peace of it For as unity of Spirit in the Church is the bond of peace so diversity of Spirit is the breach of peace and therefore to preserve the peace of the Church none are to joyn themselves to this one body that are not of this one Spirit 3. They that being of the Church do any thing in it by their own Spirits and not by Christs prejudice the peace of the Church for the true Church is such a body which is to have all its communion in the Spirit And therefore when any pray or prophesie or the like in the strength of natural parts or humane studies and invention onely and do not pray and prophesie in the Spirit they break the unity of the Church for the faithful have communion with one another onely so far forth as the Spirit is manifested in each Now if any shall say How may I know Christs Spirit in these acts and duties from a mans own I answer That as by the Word of God we can judge of all other Words and Doctrines and as by the Faith of Christ we can judge of all other beliefs so by the Spirit of Christ we can judge of all other spirits and can know where is the same spirit and where is a different or a contrary spirit as the members of the body can judge of the one-ness of Spirit that is among themselves The third bond of the true Churches unity is ONE HOPE OF OUR CALLING Even as ye are called in one hope of your calling As all Believers are called by one calling which is the inward and effectual voyce of God to the soul by his Spirit through the Gospel so they are all called into one blessed hope of obtaining the Kingdom and glory of God And no one is called to this hope more then another or hath more interest or share in it then another Fishes that live in the Sea though some be greater and some less yet none hath more interest or share in it then another but all being alike produced in it enjoy it alike and creatures that live on the earth though some be greater and some less yet all enjoy the Sun and Ayr alike and yet nearer the members of the body though of different quantity form and office yet all have alike interest in the head and all its senses and in the soul and all its faculties So all the faithful enjoy Christ alike and in him the Spirit and the Father and no Believer hath more interest in Christ and God then another So that all the faithful are called to the same things and God gives not more nor better things to one then to another but he gives immortality glory eternal life the Kingdom of Heaven which is the inheritance of the Saints or which is all one himself alike to all and makes all to sit alike in heavenly places in Christ and in the Father All the faithful then are equally called to an Vnity of hope and none can hope for greater or better things then another It was a very carnal thing in the Mother of Zebedee's children to desire of Christ That one of her Sons might sit at his right hand and another at his left hand in his Kingdom where all alike sit at his right hand and none at all at his left Indeed in the Kingdoms of men some have greater estates then others and are in higher Honour and Authority and this breeds envie and emulation and strife and distances c. but in the Sons Kingdom and in the Fathers all that are counted worthy to dwell therein do alike inherit all things All things are yours saith Paul And he that overcomes shall inherit all things saith Iohn And the least believer hath no less and the greatest hath no more and this causes unity and peace among them We see what a strong bond of peace and agreement unity of hope is in them that travel together that fight together that labour together and so much more in them who are equally called by God to the Kingdom of God And this is the third bond of the true Churches Vnity Vnity of Hope Now they break this bond of the Churches Vnity that live out of this hope of the Church whose hope is in earthly carnal base things who pretending to be Christians yet live onely in the hopes of men in hopes of worldly profit honour preferment and the attaining and enjoyment of the things of this life which they according to the eagerness of their hopes prosecute mightily by all ways and means These men I say break the Vnity of the Church for what true Vnity can they have with the true Church that live not in unity of hope with it Seeing worldly hopes carry men one way and the hopes of Believers carry them another carnal hopes make men leave God for the world and the hope of Saints makes them leave the world for God Wherefore they that differ in their hopes which are their ends must needs differ in their ways and works and so he that lives out of the hope of the Church lives also out of the unity of it The fourth bond of the true Churches unity is ONE LORD The right Church hath not many Lords but One and this one and only Lord is the Lord Iesus Christ And so all the subjects of this Kingdom are fellow servants to one Lord to whom they do owe equal obedience and this also is a strong bond of Vnity For when there are divers Lords there are divers minds and wils and ends and so divers laws and these breed divisions and dissentions and wars among men but where there is but one Lord there is also but one Law and where people live by one Law under one Lord unto whom all are equally subject this breeds peace and union Now the Lordship of the Church is the Royal Prerogative of Christ and no creature must presume to arrogate this honour to himself seeing unto the very Angels he hath not put in subjection this world to come whereof we speak And for men Christ hath charged his own Apostles who if there were any difference among Believers might undoubtedly challenge the preheminence I say Christ hath charged even them on this sort Matth. 23.10 Be not ye called Masters for one is your Master even Christ but he that is greatest among you shall be your servant That is you may and ought to be servants to
THE WAY OF TRUE PEACE and VNITY In the true CHURCH OF CHRIST In all humility and bowels of love presented to them By WILLIAM DELL One of the least and unworthiest of the Servants of God in the Gospel of his dear Son Psal. 120.7 I am for peace but when I speak they are for war Utrum nos schismatici sumus an vos nec ego nec tu sed Christus interrogetur ut indicet Ecclesiam suam August contr liter Petil. l. 2. c. 85. London Printed for Giles Calvert at the Black-Spread-Eagle at the West-end of Pauls near Ludgate 1651. To the Honourable the Commons of England Assembled in PARLIAMENT IT is written that the Kingdoms of the World shall become the Kingdoms of the Lord and of his Christ and now when all almost that is great and honourable and noble and Royal and wise and learned is found against this Counsell and design of God how highly are you honâ—ured of him and how happy are you that You yet are found for it You after a manifold Apostacy and defâ—ction of many of your Members seem yet to remain as pillars in the House of our God yet you seem to be among those called and chosen and faithful ones that now continue with the Lamb who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords in his engagement against and conquest over the TEN-HORN'D BEAST And to turn aside from this work would be to give up your selves to double ruine to wit both from heaven and earth And therefore the Lord make you faithful that you may do this work for God and to fulfill his Word and not for your selves and to fulfill your own Ends. And now as you are busie about the Peace of the Kingdom to settle and establish that upon a right and sure foundation so God hath engaged my heart to meditate the peace of the Church And though I have excluded your power from having a hand in this Work yet I have not in any measure wronged you as you shall perceive but rather endevoured to preserve you from dashing your selves against that Rock against which all the ignorant and unwise Rulers and Kingdoms of the world both have and yet shall dash themselves in peeces It shall be your wisdom to be built up together with the Church on Christ but it would be your confusion to go about to build the Church on your selves and your power seeing this building is too weighty for any foundation but Christ himself Your power will do well in the Kingdoms of the world but not in Gods Kingdom which is Christs inheritance from the beginning to the end You shall be happy to be subject in it but none must be Lord or Law-giver here but Christ himself Let not the Devil who in these last times hath in many places translated the mystery of iniquity from the Ecclesiastical Kingdom of the Clergy into the temporal Kingdom of the Magistrate any longer keep it there seeing it will be as pernicious in this as in that for it will be no less dangerous an evil for the Magistrate to make himself Lord and Law-giver in the Church then for the Pope or General Councel in all the Kingdoms called Christian or for the Archbishop or National Assembly in particular Kingdoms Men have commonly thought that to preserve the godly in worldly peace and prosperity is to preserve the Church whereas to preserve them in faith hope love in union and communion with Christ and the Father in and through the Spirit this only is to preserve the Church and this oft-times is better done by Christ whose work only it is in affliction then in prosperity Wherefore do You look to the care of the State and trust Christ with the care of his Church seeing he is both faithful and able to save it perfectly The peace of the Church lies in Christ only and no part of it out of him no not for a moment and this their peace Christ is able to preserve in Himself in the midst of the most cruel and desperate evils of the world Now what the true Church of Christ is and wherein its Peace and Unity lies is here in some measure declared for the good of the faithful every-where and particularly for Your good lest you being glorious instruments in the hand of God for one work should miscarry in another And this I have done through God not because I was worthy to do it but because it was worthy to be done For why should the Church any longer be ignorant of the things that belong unto its peace and why should the Members of it any longer lie as scattered bones dry and dead and not gathered up into the unity of a living body and who could longer indure to see unskilfull Physitians under pretence of healing the Church wound it still deeper and under pretence of procuring its peace hurry it into endless dissentions and divisions In this case of necessity I could not but speak both out of duty and love and I hope none of You will despise to hear who consider that God when he layes aside the wise and prudent chooses Babes and Sucklings to perfect his praise out of their mouths that so he himself may be the more glorified and admired in his weak and mean instruments Now let his praise be above the earth and the heavens and let him give you the honor that all his Saints have and this is his hearty desire who humbly writes himself Your servant in the Gospel William Dell. To his Excellency the Lord General FAIRFAX And the Honorable Lieutenant-General CROMWEL Together with the Councel of VVar. THE presence of the Lord having turned your course backward like Iordan from what it was a year ago and all former inchantments and divinations used against you being dissolved through the renewing of the same presence of God with you after a manifest with-drawing of it and You through a blessed necessity being now doing that work of God which once you had little minde to viz. The procuring the Peace of the Kingdom by subduing the great enemies of Pâ—ace and removing all the enmity against peace that was inwrapped in our very Laws and degenerated Constitution of the Kingdom I thought good whiles You are thus busie about the peace of the Kingdom which is a peace without you to put you in minde of the true peace of the true Church which is a peace within you and an eternal peace as the former is but a temporal for what advantage will it be for you to have peace among men to want peace with God to do the work of God in the world and to be destitute of the work of God in your own hearts to destroy the enemies to worldly peace and yet to maintain in your own hearts the corruptions of unrenewed nature which are the enemies of heavenly peace Take heed therefore that your present employments do not so over-ingage you in this world that you neglect the world to
one another but not masters and this same doctrine the Apostle Iames preacheth Iam. 3.1 My brethren saith he be not many Masters knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation it is not fit for brethren who are equal among themselves to make themselves masters over one another Christ also hath spoken again so plainly to this matter Math. 20. that one would wonder that ever the Beast or his image should dare to arrogate to themselves Lordship over the People of God in so clear a light Ye know saith Christ to the twelve that the Princes of the Gentiles exercise Dominion over them and they that are great exercise authority over them but it shall not be so amongst you he speaks it peremptorily that some Believers should not exercise dominion and authority over Believers no not the greatest over the least all being fellow servants alike under one Lord. Wherefore they that are puffed up in their hearts against their fellow servants might better think thus with themselves why Christ is our Lord as well as theirs and is as much over us as over them and we are not over our fellow servants nor they under us but both of us are equally under Christ and Christ is equally over us both and so Christ hath given us the same laws he hath given them to wit that we should believe in him and love one another and he expects the same obedience from us as from them and so we are not to command one another but are all alike to be commanded by him It was the evil servant that beat his fellow servants upon hopes of the delay of his Masters coming And this is the fourth bond of the true Churches Vnity Vnity of Lord. Now they break this bond of the Churches Vnity that either make themselves or others Lords over the Church besides Christ and parcel out this one Kingdom of the Son to many Lords to the great dishonour of Christ and dis-union of the Church The Pope was the first that professed himself to be the general Master in the whole Church of God and after the Pope a general Councel took this honour to it self and by degrees this last became as hard yea a harder taskmaster to the Church then the former After when particular Kingdoms fell off from the Pope and his Antichristian Church the mystery of iniquity was not by this means wholly dissolved but only was contracted and brought into a less compass for then the Archbishop made himself general master of the Church in each particular Kingdom as the Pope before had done in all and after the Archbishop rises up a National Assembly as the General Councel after the Pope and each of these in their courses usurp Lordship over the Church of Christ to the sad dissolution of its unity Most evident then it is that during the time of the Apostasie the Church hath been most miserably Lorded even amongst us for the Priest he Lorded it over the People the Arch-deacon over the Priest the Dean over the Arch deacon the Bishop over the Dean and the Arch-bishop over the Bishop under which woful bondage the Church cried out as Isa. 26. O Lord our God other Lords besides thee have had dominion over us And is this bondage of the Church now eased by casting off those strange Lords Yea do not men rather seek to encrease it by setting yet stranger over it whose names are so full of mystery that the common people cannot understand them for now they would have the Classical Presbytery set over the Congregational and the Provincial over the Classical and the National over the Provincial for so it is Voted THAT IT IS LAWFULL AND AGREEABLE TO THE WORD OF GOD THAT THERE BE A SUBORDINATION OF CONGREGATIONAL CLASSICAL PROVINCIAL AND NATIONAL ASSEMBLIES FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CHURCH Now here is mystery and nothing but a certain rising up into the old power under a new name And mark how they prove this subordination of Congregational Classical Provincial and National Assemblies to wit by that Scripture Mat. 18. where it is written If thy brother trespass against thee and will neither hear thy admonition nor councel nor the admonition and councel of other brethren TELL THE CHURCH that is the Congregation of the faithful Now from this place they prove the fore mentioned subordination of Assemblies just as the Pope once proved himself to be above the Emperour to wit because it is written Gen. 1. That God made two great lights the Sun to rule by day and the Moon by night Now if this might be brought about which they design the Church would be so far from being eased of its strange Lords that it should have them exceedingly multiplied for what is a National Assembly but an Archbishop multiplied and what a Provincial Assembly but a Bishop multiplied And a Classical but a Dean and Arch deacon multiplied And thus the former Lords being removed they would in their stead cause the Church to swarm with Classical Provincial and National Lords and would by no means suffer Christs own Kingdom to return to his own Lordship and Dominion And thus whilest they by secular power seek to enforce these Ecclesiastical Lords over the Church they absolutely break in pieces the unity of it even whilst they bear the simple people in hand that they above all other men seek to preserve it seeing the plurality of Lords is alwayes the cause of Schisms and divisions in the Church which can never be one but under one Lord the Lord Jesus Christ. The fifth bond of the true Churches Vnity is ONE FAITH The true Church of God hath but one Faith wrought by one Spirit apprehending the same Christ or the same living and eternal truth of God So that Abraham and Moses and David and all the Prophets and all the Apostles and we who now believe and all that shall believe hereafter all have and do and shall live in the same mystery of faith that is Believers in all Ages do not live their own lives but all live the life of Christ in their own soul and bodies each one receiving equally from Christ the life of Christ which they all live alike in him being one with him as the branches live equally the life of the Vine and one branch lives it not more then another Through faith then every Christian is carryed out of himself and all his own things into Christ whom he apprehends with all his fulness for his own and in this faith all Christians are equal and none hath a better or worse faith then another So that in regard of faith also there is among the true Church unity and equality For all Believers have one and the same faith of the operation of God wrought by the same Spirit which raised up Christ from the dead and that faith which the Spirit works neither sin death nor the devil can possibly prevail against and so the faith of the operation of
by this means their idle and vain thoughts and speculations of governing the Church of God by humane power and methods would soon vanish and they would soon give over to trouble themselves and the faithful about things that have neither power in them to free from eternal death nor to procure eternal life And thus much for that two-fold Government of the Church which God himself exercises immediately in and over it whereof we must not be ignorant if we desire to preserve the peace of the Church both in our selves and others Now besides this immediate Government of God there is another sort of Government of the Church which Christ exercises mediately by the Church And this also is Christs Government and not mans and men who have not known not understood the former Government of Christ have mistaken this also through the same unbelief wherefore they not so much as minding the former Government of Christ which is immediate and by himself have made this mediate Government of the Church by man to be all And this also I say they have understood most grossly and carnally and not according to the Word but according to their own ignorant and seduced hearts I shall not trouble the Reader with their particular mis apprehensions in this matter seeing it is far more profitable to content our selves with the plain and evident truth then to enquire after variety of errors Wherefore letting alone their darkness I shall onely endeavour that the light of the word may shine unto us in this matter that herein also we may be taught of God if it be the will of God This mediate Government then of Christ in the true Church I conceive to be nothing but this Christs ordering all things by the faithful among the faithful in reference to the communion of Saints Now because many Christians desire instruction and light in this matter I shall be willing to hold forth to them that measure of knowledge which I have received herein being desirous also to learn my self of them that can teach me better by the Word And that I may proceed the more distinctly I shall propound several things to which I shall speak in order and they be these 1. To whom Christ hath committed the power of ordering and managing all things in the true Church in reference to the communion of Saints 2. What kinde of power this is which the true Church hath 3. What is the extent of this power 4. What is the outward instrument of it 5. What the true Church can do by vertue of it And this comprehends these particulars 1. It can gather it self together 2. It can appoint its own order 3. It can choose its own officers and if need be reform them or depose them 4. It can call its own councels 5. It can judge of all Doctrines both of its Officers and Councels And all these things I reckon needful for the true Church to know for the preserving among themselves that peace and unity they have in Christ. They first thing then is 1. To whom Christ hath committed the power of ordering and managing all things in the true Church in reference to the communion of Saints I Answer He hath given it to the true Church it self as formerly described even to each and all the members of it for as natural power belongs to all natural men alike so spiritual power which is the true Church-power to all spiritual men alike Christ in a Believer is the root of true Church-power and because Christ dwels in all Believers alike through unity of faith therefore all Believers partake alike of spiritual and super-natural power and no one partakes of this power more then another any more then he partakes of Christ more then another but Christ in them all is the self-same power of God to do all things that are to be done in the Kingdom of God And according this sense that place in Math. 16.19 is to be understood where Christ saith to Peter And I will give unto thee the keys of the Kingdom of heaven and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven The Pope and Papal Church under colour of this place have made great merchandise and have exceedingly abused and cheated the Nations for many hundred years together but the light of the Gospel hath shined forth and the days of their traffique are at end And yet since others have been trucking with the world by their false interpretations of this place and have thought to use it to their great advantage but the day hath so far dawned that their shadows also are flying away But not to keep you longer from the words themselves Peter had said to Christ Thou art Christ the Son of the living God And Christ replyed to Peter Blessed art thou for flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee but my Father which is heaven and then adds Vnto thee will I give the keys of the Kingdom of heaven c. that is not to Peter as an Apostle or Minister but as a Believer who had the Revelation of the Father touching the Son and so also they are given equally to each faithful Christian who hath the same Revelation with Peter as also to the whole communion of Saints And so these Keys are not given to any particular person or persons consisting of flesh and blood or imployed in such or such an Office but that man whoever he be that hath the Revelation of the Father he it is to whom these Keys are given and to none else and so they are given to each Believer in particular and to the whole Church of Believers in general But what are these Keys about which there hath been so great a do in the Church I answer They are not any outward Ecclesiastical power whatever that men have devised to serve their own turns withal but to pass by the many false conceits wherewith many former and present Writers have and do still trouble the Church Iohn doth tell us plainly Ioh. 20.22 what Matthew means by the Keys of the Church Christ saith he appearing to his Disciples after his Resurrection breathing on them said Receive the holy Spirit here are the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven and then adds Whose sins ye remit they are remitted and whose sins ye retain they are retained that is when ye have received the Spirit then you have received the Keys to binde and loose to remit and retain sin and that not according to your wils but wholly according to the minde and will and direction of the Spirit And so Christ then before his ascention gave these Keys truly to his Disciples but more solemnly and fully at the day of Pentecost when the Spirit was given by Christ glorified and after the Gentiles who by the preaching of Peter received the Spirit even as the Apostles
did they also received these Keys and so all that have received the Spirit have the Keys of the Kingdom equally committed to them and the power of binding and loosing by the ministration of the Spirit And so these Keys appertain not only to greater Congregations of Christians but to the very least communion of Saints as Christ hath promised Where two or three are met together in my name there am I present in the midst of them Where we see that two or three gathered together in Christs name have as much power as Peter and all the Apostles because Christ is equally present with these as with those Again Christ hath commanded that if the offending brother will not hear the admonition of two or three other brethren the offended brother should tell the Church Mat 18.17 Now the Church is not the Officers but the Congregation of the faithful seeing men are not of the Church through any Office but only through faith And by all these things it is evident That the power of Church-government that is the power of acting and ordering all things among the faithful belongs to every faithful man alike in the Congregation of the faithful 2. What kinde of power this is which the true Church hath I answer in general that it is a power sutable to the Church or Kingdom whereof it is the power now as the Church we speak of is that Church which is born of God and of the Spirit and so is not at all of this world so the power that is agreeable to this Church is the power of God and his Spirit and not at all of this world that is it is not any civil or secular power I may add nor any Ecclesiastical power according to the common understanding it that hath any place in the true Church but meerly a spiritual and heavenly power without any conjunction or mixture of the other seeing Christs power is perfect and every way sufficient for his own Kingdom and Christs Kingdom is Gods Kingdom as well as the Fathers and so men may as well carry worldly and secular power into the Fathers Kingdom as into the Sons seeing this is no other then the Kingdom of God though it be among men and no other then the Kingdom of Heaven though it be upon earth which hath not been understood nor considered by them who have been so busie to being secular power into a spiritual Kingdom as if Christs own power in his own Kingdom were either weak or imperfect More particularly this true power of the true Church is as I said Christs power in the faithful which is the self-same with Christs power in himself and so 1. It is not a power of violence but a power of influence even such a power as the Head hath over the members and the soul over the body it is not a coercive but a perswasive power a power that makes men willing that are not willing and doth not force the unwilling against their wils 2. This power is humble and not proud as worldly power is for the power of the world sets men over others but the power of the Church sets men under others I saith Christ of himself am among you as one that serves and again He that will be the chief among you let him be the servant of all 3. This power is for edification and not for destruction as Paul acknowledges again and again that the power the Lord gave him was this and no other power viz. not to cast men out of their native Kingdoms but to translate them into Gods Kingdom not to take away their outward Liberties or Estates but to bring them into the Liberty and Inheritance of the Saints to bring men to eternal life and not to destroy men by temporal death 4. This power seeks the good of others more then its own yea good of others with the neglect of its own So Moses was not busie to have a most rebellious people blotted out of the Book of life but rather desired his own name might be blotted out of that book that if it had been the will of God theirs might have been written in And Paul desired that himself might be separated from Christ that his brethren and kinsmen after the flesh might have been united to him And if this power seek the good of others after this high rate even to the neglecting as it were and laying aside their own eternal good how much more to the neglecting and laying aside their temporal good their worldly profits advantages and dignities 5. This power doth not make others suffer to enlarge the Church but suffers it self to bring this about So Christ as Wickliff saith through his poverty humility and suffering injury and death got unto him the children of his Kingdom and not by force and the Martyrs enlarged the Church of Christ by dying themselves and not by causing others to die the blood of the Martyrs being the seed of the Church 6. This power only acts to a spiritual end salvation and only according to spiritual Laws but not to any temporal and worldly ends according to civil and humane laws And thus you see that this true Church power for the nature and quality of it both in general and in particular differs very much both from the apprehensions and practise of the most of our Ecclesiastical men 3. What is the extent of this true Church power I answer that this power extends it self full as far as the Church but no further For what hath the Church to do with those that are not of the Church What have we to do saith Paul with them that are without For Church power which is spiritual is no more sutable to the world then worldly power which is fleshly is sutable to the Church The power of the Church which is Christs power onely reaches so far as Christs Kingdom that is the people that are born of God and his Spirit True Church Government reaches as far as Christs and the Spirits effectual influence and operation but no further that is to all that are willing but to none that are unwilling As nothing hath more troubled the Church then to govern it and give it Laws after the manner of the world by secular force and power so nothing hath more troubled the world then to govern it and give it Laws after the manner of the Church by the aforesaid compulsion Wherefore as the Government of the world is not to be spread over the Church so neither is the Government of the Church to be spread over the world but as the world and the Church are distinct things in themselves so they are to be contented with their distinct Governments 4. What is the outward instrument of this power I answer The word only which is the only scepter and sword of Christs Kingdom to govern his people and subdue his enemies Christ himself the Head of the Church used no other instrument to
not if he will be wise to salvation to take up things on trust in a matter that concerns either his eternal life or eternal death 2. As the Church is to judge of the Doctrine of its Officers so also of its Councels For the Church judges of them and their doctrine also by the word and doth not take all that they determine for truth to be certain and unquestionable Yea in the first Councel of the Apostles Act. 15. Other Churches and Christians had both liberty and power to try both the doctrine and Spirit of the very Apostles in that matter and were not to swallow it down whole as they say because the Apostles had determined it and they were holy men but the faithful were to judge whether or no they had judged according to the word and if not they might have resisted them as Paul did Peter And Paul gives this liberty to Christians yea we have it from Christ himself whether Paul had allowed it or no to try the very Apostles themselves and the very Angels of Heaven whether they bring the right word or no for Christ commanded the Apostles to teach the Nations to observe and do whatsoever he had commanded them and nothing else and saith Paul If I or an Angel from heaven bring you any other doctrine let him be accursed So that the Church hath power to examine try and judge the doctrine of the Apostles and Angels much more of other men who have not received such an anoynting neither do live in so clear a light of God And thus I have declared the things which seemed to me both convenient and necessary for the true Church to know for the preserving of that peace among themselves which they have in Christ. Now as the judgement of the Church is to be rectified in these things so the practice of it is to be rectified in other things for the preserving it in peace The things wherein the practice of the Church is to be rectified in the Way of Peace are either 1. More absolute and general Or 2. More special and occasional in case of difference among the faithful Among the things that are more absolute and general which are to be done to procure and preserve the peace of the Church these nine things that follow have not the least place 1. Practical Rule for Peace 1. The true Church is to preserve it self distinct from the world and is neither to mingle it self with the world nor to suffer the world to mingle it self with it For if the Church and the world be mingled together in one Society the same common Laws will no more agree to them who are of such differrent natures principles and ends then the same common Laws will agree to light and darkness life and death sin and righteousness flesh and spirit For the true Church are a spiritual people being born of God and so they worship God in the Spirit according to the law of the Spirit of life that was in Christ and is in them but the carnal Church is of the world and only savours the world and so will have a worldly Religion Forms Orders Government and all worldly as it self is Now whilst these two are mingled together what peace can there be for what fellowship hath righteousnesness with unrighteousness and light with darkness and Christ with the Devil And so what agreement have Believers with unbelievers or the true Church with the world Wherefore it is not the way of Peace to mingle the Church and the world but to separate them and to keep them distinct that those that are of one nature and spirit may be of one communion among themselves and this way of Peace God himself teacheth us by Paul 2 Cor. 6.17 saying Come out from among them my people and be ye separate for to separate the Church from the world in its communion of Saints is the only way to preserve peace in both seeing the Church will best agree with it self and the world with it self The second Rule 2. The Church being thus distinct from the world is to be contended with its own power for its own affairs and is not to introduce or entertain any power in it that is not of it Wherefore the true Church being such a Kingdom as is not of this world stands in need of no worldly power and being a spiritual and heavenly Kingdom is only to have and exercise a spiritual and heavenly power seeing this power alone and by it self is able to accomplish the whole good pleasure of God in the Church and to work all the works in it that God hath to do And so it is strongly to be suspected that those men that dare not commit the success of their business to Christs power alone but will call in secular power over and above to help them I say it is more then probable that they have underneath some secular end seeing Christs power alone is fully sufficient to do all things that are necessary and profitable for his Kingdom Besides this worldly power never works peace but always disturbances in the Church putting all things out of Gods way and method into mans and working mans will rather then Gods yea mans will against Gods and it is wholly contrary to the very nature of the Church and how then can it agree with it in any thing If any shall reply that worldly power doth well in the Church because it keeps down many profane persons that would not be kept down by the word I answer That so far as such profane ones are governed by worldly power they are of the world and not of the Church and worldly power had better govern them in the world it s own proper sphear then in the Church which is beyond their line especially seeing the Church hath power enough in it self to govern those that are of it and they that will not be governed willingly in the Church as Christians let them be governed against their wils in the Commonwealth as men For the Government of the Church is over men as Christians as spiritual but the government of the state is over men as men as natural and carnal The first of these governments belongs to Christ and the latter to the Magistrate And if the Magistrate be faithful in his Office and headship there is no doubt to be made of Christs faithfulness in his But now if the Magistrate will not content himself with his own Kingdom and power but will needs intrude on Christs also and not reckoning it enough to govern men as men by his worldly power will also by the same power be tampering with the very Church this both renders him troublesome to the faithful and the faithful troublesome to him Him troublesome to the faithful in that he uses a power over them that is neither sutable to them nor their affairs and them troublesome to him because in Gods Kingdom as they hear not the
voice so neither do they obey the command of a stranger The Pope he arrogates both swords to himself when neither belongs to him and therefore in due time shall perish by both and if the Magistrate shal assume to himself power of both Kingdoms Christs and the Worlds when of right but one belongs to him to wit the Worlds and not Christs it will be very dangerous lest by encroaching on Christs Kingdom he lose his own Let the Magistrate therefore use his power in the state and let him suffer Christ to use his power in the Church seeing his presence is alwayes there and then there will be quietness in both but else in neither seeing Christ will as assuredly trouble the Magistrates Kingdom as the Magistrate trouble his The third Rule is Not to bring or force men into the Church against their wills The Kingdoms of the world are unquiet because many that are unwilling are under those Regiments but Christs Kingdom is therefore quiet because all the people in it are willing and none of them are forced in but all are perswaded in as it is written God perswade Japhet to dwell in the tents of Shem That is the Gentiles were to be perswaded and not forced into the Church And so Christ commanded his Disciples to go and teach all Nations and not to offer them outward violence and to perswade peace but not to threaten or enforce it For such is the nature of the Church that inward perswasion is required nowhere more then here For none may be compelled to the faith against their wils and God will be loved with the whole heart and also hypocrisy is a sin chiefly hated of God Whereby it comes to pass that the whole manner of governing the Church must have this scope that they that are perswaded may be first called unto it and after kept in it upon the same account And so the more this manner shall be free from dominion so much the more fit it is to govern increase and confirm the Church And this way onely was used as long as the Apostles lived and those that succeeded them in the same Spirit and that unquestionably for 300 years after Yea and when the Church came to be countenanced by worldly authority yet this same freedom still was allowed of which I shall produce a few testimonies I read that Constantine the Emperour would have no man enforced to be of one religion more then another Also the same Constantine in his Epistle to his Subjects inhabiting the East saith Let no man be grievous one to another but what every man thinketh BEST that let him DO For such as are wise ought thorowly to be perswaded that they onely mean to live holily as they should do whom the Spirit of God moveth to take their delight and recreation in reading his holy will And if others wilfully will go out of the way cleaving to the Synagogues of false Doctrine they may at their own perill As for us we have the worthy House of Congregation of Gods verity which he according to his own goodness and nature hath given us And this also we wish to them that with like participation and common content they may feel with us the same delectation of minde And after Let no man hurt or be prejudiciall to his neighbour in that wherein he thinketh himself to have done well If by that which any man knoweth or hath experience of he thinketh he may profit his neighbour let him do the same if not let him give over and remit it till another time For there is a great diversity between the willing and voluntary embracing of Religion and that whereunto a man is forced and constrained I read also that Ethelbert King of Kent Being converted to the faith ann 586. after his conversion innumerable others dayly did come in and were converted to the faith of Christ whom the King did especially embrace but COMPELLED NONE for so he had learned THAT THE FAITH AND SERVICE OF CHRIST OUGHT TO BE VOLUNTARY AND NOT COACTED The Church then at first consisted onely of the willing and such as were perswaded unto it by the word till Antichrist began to prevail and then they fell from perswading to forcing and they no longer went about to make men willing by the word but to get power from the Kings of the earth to force them against their wils And this main piece of the mystery of iniquity was perfectly brought forth by Boniface the third who was the first that used these words in the Church Volumus mandamus statuimus ac praecipimus We will we require we appoint we command which is not the voice of the true Ministers of Christ but the true voice of theeves and murderers And from that time the peace of the Church decayed apace when there were moe unwilling forced unto it then willing perswaded And true peace will never be restored to it again till men shall abandon the power of force and onely use the perswasion of the word that the Church may consist onely of a willing people The fourth Rule is To make void the distinction of Clergy and Laity among Christians For the Clergy or Ecclesiastical men have all along under the reign of Antichrist distinguished themselves from other Christians whom they called the Laity and have made up a distinct or several Kingdom among themselves and separated themselves from the Lay in all things and called themselves by the name of the Church and reckoned other Christians but as common and unclean in respect of themselves Whereas in the true Church of Christ there are no distinctions nor sects nor difference of persons no Clergy or Laity no Ecclesiastical or Temporal but they are all as Peter describes them 1 Pet. 2.9 A chosen generation a royall Priesthood a holy Nation a peculiar people to shew forth the virtues of him that called them out of darkness into his marvelous light And so all Christians through the Baptisme of the Spirit are made Priests alike unto God and every one hath right and power alike to speak the word and so there is among them no Clergy or Laity but the Ministers are such who are chosen by Christians from among themselves to speak the word to all in the name and right of all and they have no right nor authority at all to this office but by the consent of the Church And so Presbyters and Bishops or which is all one Elders and Overseers in the Church differ nothing from other Christians but onely in the office of the word which is committed to them by the Church as an Alderman or Common Councel man in the City differs nothing from the rest of the Citizens but only in their Office which they have not of themselves neither but by the Cities choice or as the Speaker in the House of Commons differs nothing from the rest of the Commons but only in his office which he hath also by
the choice of the House and thus and no otherwise doth a Minster differ from other Christians as Paul saith Let a man so esteem of us as of the Ministers of Christ and dispensers of the mysteries of God But Antichrist he hath cast out the simplicity of Christian people and brought Sects into the Church dividing it into Clergy and Laity and this distinction they have made visible by their garments disguising their Clergy in their habit from other Christians that they might appear holier then they and of another order from them And this distinction hath proved a Seminary of implacable discord and heart-burning in the Church For hereupon the Clergy have prefer'â— themselves above others Christians and have exercised authority and coercive power and domination and very tyranny over them and have made themselves their Lords and given them Laws rules forms orders after their own mindes and agreeable to their own advantages and would not so much as suffer them to judge whether they were agreeable to the word of God or no as if other Christians were their Subjects Slaves Vassals yea very dogs And hence again the Laity as they called them have envied and maligned them and hated and opposed them and as they could get power have been subduing them and have looked upon them as men of a dâ—fferent sect and interest from themselves whose prosperity was their ruine and whose power was their inslaving and all this was to the making void Christian brotherhood and communion Wherefore the right Church to preserve in it the peace of Christ must admit of no such distinction of Laity and Clergy but all Christians must equally remain it it Kings Priests and Prophets unto God The fifth Rule is To keep equality in the Curch and that both between Christians and Churches for this also is an excellent way to preserve peace 1. To keep equality between Christians For though according to our first Nativity whereby we are born of men there is great inequality some being born high some low some honourable some mean some Kings some Subjects c. yet according to our new or second birth whereby we are born of God there is exact equality for here are none better or worse higher or lower but all have the same faith hope love the same God Christ Spirit the same divine nature the same precious promises the same incorruptible Crown and inheritance of Saints in light And therefore saith Paul speaking of this true Church There is neither Iew nor Greek nor bond nor free nor male nor female but all are one in Christ Iesus Indeed in the world and before men I say again there is distinction of persons and inequality but in Christs Kingdom and before God all Believers aae equal and this equality preserves peace But when in this Kingdom some will be advancing themselves above others like Diotrephes that would have the preheminence and some will be striving to sit at the right hand and some at the left whilst they leave others to sit at the footstool this is that which breeds difference among the very Disciples who envied Zebedees children for such a desire And therefore Christ to preserve peace forbad Lordship in his Church and commanded service and tells them that the nature of his Kingdom is not to place men one over another but one under another and that the greatest must be the least the greatest in the way of the spirit must be the least in the way of the flesh 2. As equality among Christians is to be kept for the preserving of peace so also among Churches For all Churches are equal as well as all Christians and there is no Church can set it self before or above another all being sisters of one Mother beams of one Sun branches of one Vine streams of one Fountain members of one Body branches of one golden Candlestick and so all equal in all things Wherefore there may and ought to be a consociation of Churches but no subordination which makes void at once both equality and unity And so that Church or those Churches that will set themselves above other Churches that are their equals as the Classical above the Congregational c. they are the breakers of Christian peace and unity and the unskilful vote of the Assembly for the subordination of Churches was not a way to make peace but to mar peace in the Church of God Moreover no Church can be subjected to another but Christ who is present in it and is King and Lawgiver is subjected too which no true Church will either require or allow For if the true Church will not subject the Word of God which they have received to any men or Angels but will judge all by it and will suffer none to judge it much less will they subject Christ the Lord of all to any other power or authority for so they should dishonor and disanul their Head Where two or three are met in Christs name Christ himself is among them and the Head of them and so they can submit to no body else seeing Christ hath made no greater nor surer promise of his presence to any body then to them The sixth Rule is To keep the Officers of the Church in subordination to the whole Church or community and not to suffer them to get head over it seeing the very nature of ruling the Church is not Dominion but Service We reade Act. 11.2 that when Peter had preached in the house of Cornelius a Gentile or Heathen the Church of the circumcision to whom Peter was Minister contended with him that he went in to men uncircumcised and did eate with them for as yet they knew not that the Gentiles were to be called And Peter waâ— fain to give an account to them of the whole matter and to shew them that he was warned of God in a Vision to do so c. And this was a sign that Peter was a servant of the Church and in subordination to it and no Lord over it And after vers 22. when the Church at Ierusalem heard that the Grecians at Antioch had received the Gospel they sent Barnabas to Antioch to forward and perfect the Work And also the Church at Antioch sent forth Paul and Barnabas to the work of the Ministry in divers Towns and Countries All which are an evident sign that the Church was above the Officers and not the Officers above the Church Now this also will preserve peace in the Church to keep the Officers in their proper place and to let them remain as servants in the Church which Christ hath commanded and not to let them grow up to be Lords and Masters which Christ knowing the evil and inconvenience thereof hath forbidden For if the Officers get above the Church though they be never so good they are masterful and troublesome and though never so bad yet will they get a party in the Church for themseves and so work disturbance but if
way of peace and therefore do not thou dare to say it is the way of confusion seeing God knows better how to order the affairs of his own Church then thou doest Wherefore seeing Prophesying is Gods Ordinance in the Churh for the peace of it if any sort of men shall nowithstanding what hath been said still attribute to themselves a proper and incommunicable Ministry or the onely power to speak in the Church I shall but use the Apostles words to them and so pass on from this thing What came the word of God onely unto you and is it to come out onely from you Nay it is come to every believer as well as to you and it is also to come forth from all them unto whom it is come seeing they cannot but speak what they do believe 5. The last means I shall name whereby the true Church may keep errour out of it self is To exercise its power in judging Doctrines as Paul commandeth 1 Cor. 14.29 Let the Prophets speak two or three and let the rest judge If they that publish Doctrine should also be judges of it and the people be bound to subscribe to their judgement error would not only by this means have opportunity to be vented but would also be established and confirmed without the least contradâ—ction But now God hath appointed it otherwise in the Church for whoever speak there the hearers are to judge of the truth of the Doctrine and accordingly are either to receive it or reject it having power to do either as they see occasion and so errour cannot prevail in that Church where the faithfull have liberty to judge of all Doctrines and do exercise that liberty But where they that publish Doctrine are also the judges of it and the people are bound up to the Doctrine of the Teachers and may not question or contradict it there errour reigns as in its proper Kingdom And thus by these means errour may certainly be kept out of the Church that the Church may live in truth and peace But here now a great question wil be moved and that is this Whether the Magistrate hath not power to suppress errour by the sword and whether the Church may not use this remedy against errour as well as all those before named I answer that many men of great eminency have attributed such a power to the Magistrate and have done him the honour besides his throne in the world to erect him a throne in Gods Kingdom at the least equal to Christ thinking that Religion would soon be lost if he should not uphold it And to make this good they have produced many Scriptures of the Old Testament which seem to arm the Magistrate against the authors and spreaders of errours But I desire the wise-hearted to consider whether as clear Scriptures may not be produced out of the Old Testament to prove that temporal power in the world belongs to Ecclesiastical men as that spiritual power in the Church belongs to worldly Magistrates And to this purpose because I would not be too large in this matter now I shall desire him who hath a minde to be instructed to reade and weigh the Reply of the French Prelates to the Lord Peters which he may finde in Fox his Book of Martyrs vol. 1 p. 467. Wherefore seeing the Scriptures of the old Testament are every whit as strong to give Ministers power in temporal matters as Magistrates in spiritual it is without all question the only sure and safe way to determine this cause by the new Testament or the doctrine of Christ and the Apostles by whom in these last dayes God hath spoken fully to the Church and after whose doctrine there is no other word to be expected And because herein I finde no such power given to the Civil Magistrate to judge and determine in spiritual matters therefore I conclude he hath none Now if any shall say This is a great wrong to the Magistrage to thrust his power out of the Church and to confine it to the world I answer That to make the Church and Ecclesiastical Kingdom standing in outward Laws orders authority dignity promotion goverment all which are to be granted established and managed by state power and yet to deny the Magistrates authority and influence into these things which flow from his own power and consist in it and by it this is to streighten and to wrong him indeed But to declare the true Church to be a spiritual Kingdom as Christ hath made it and not at all of this world but the very Kingdom of heaven upon earth and thereupon to deny him power in it is no more to prejudice the Magistrate then to deny him power in heaven Seeing the Sons Kingdom which is heaven on earth is to be as free from worldly and humane power as the Fathers Kingdom which is heaven in heaven Christ being to be all in all in this as God is to be all in all in that And so to deny the Magistrate that power which Christ never granted him is no wrong to him at all but to grant him and gratifie him with such power would be a great and intolerable wrong to the truth and Church of Christ as in many other things so in this present matter we are speaking of as you may see in the following particulars For the putting the power of the sword into the Magistrates hands to suppress errour is attended with these evils 1. Hereby the Magistrate is made a Iudge of Doctrines and hath power given him to pronounce which is truth and which is errour being yet no more infallible yea everywhit as liable to erre as the meanest of the people And what Magistrate is there that hath the power of the sword but will uphold his own Religion and judgement to be the truth though never so false and will sentence what ever is contrary thereunto to be errour though never so true and so the truth and word of God which only is to judge all and it self to be judged of none by this means is made subject to the judgement of vain man and shall either be truth or errour as he pleases to call it and errour when it pleaseth the Magistrate shall be adorned with the glorious title of truth and shall have his authority to countenance and uphold it And how great a prejudice this hath been and is to the truth and how great an advantage to errour it is very easie to judge Now if any shall say that the Magistrate may not judge of doctrine by himself and use his sword accordingly but he may take to him the councel and advice of godly and able Ministers as now of the Assembly and so may judge and punish according to their judgement I answer Is it fit that the Magistrate in so great matters should be blinde folded himself and see onely by other mens eyes Again if the Magistrate judge according to the judgement of
the Ministers and depending more on their knowledge then his own shall draw his sword against whomsoever they shall perswade him What higher honour doth he attain to in all this then to become their Executioner Yea if he punish amiss he may prove a very murderer Pilate in this case may be a sea-mark to all the Magistrates in the world who following the councel and judgement of the High Priests put the Son of God himself to death as if he had been the son of perdition Which I say may serve for a sufficient warning to the end of the world to all Magistrates that they confide not on the judgement of the Clergy but that they be sure themselves in what they do 2. The putting power into the Magistrates hands to suppress error by the sword gives him full opportunity to destroy and slay the true children of God if at any time he shall mistake and judge them Heretikes For what power men ignorantly allow a godly Magistrate against true Heretikes the same power will all Magistrates arrogate to themselves as their just due against all those that differ from themselves in matters of Religion though their judgement who so differ from them be never so true And thus the Magistrate who is a most fallible Judge in these things instead of tares may pluck up the wheat and kill the faithful instead of Heretikes at his own pleasure till he have destroyed all the faithful in the land Wherefore let all Christians take heed how they favour the Magistrates with this power to punish those whom he judges Heretiks for if he shall change his minde as he easily may seeing he is but a man or if another shall succeed him of another minde that very Sword may be sheathed in their own bowels which now they draw forth against other mens 3. When the Magistrate assumes power to himself to suppress error this makes Ministers negligent in studying the Scriptures the Magistrate doing that by force which they ought to do by the word and so saves them their labour For when once the Ministers shall have so far interessed themselves in the Magistrate as to procure him to call for the Goaler and Executioner against whomsoever shall oppose their Doctrine they will then need no great pains to study the word that they may be able to convince the gainsayers and perswade the rebellious seeing the Magistrates sword at all adventure is to defend their Doctrine and all the objections against it either from reason or Scripture the hangman is to answer And so the Pastors having their work as they conceive thus done for them to their hands do commonly betake themselves to ease and idleness and to the prosecution and injoyment of worldly things and grow careless and negligent of the Scripture and word of God whereupon error steals in apace upon the Teachers themselves whereby by degrees they corrupt and seduce very many And thus whilst the Magistrate thinks to chase out error before him one way he lets it in behinde him seven wayes 4. This takes men off from the certain means to destroy errors which is the word and leads them to that which can never destroy it which is the sword of the Magistrate and so the Devil here in hath a notable Stratagem For he fears not all the Swords and Halters and Weapons and Prisons in the world to destroy error withall but as securely contemns all these things as Leviathan a Bulrush and yet doth earnestly stir up the world to use these things against him and his errors as the only meanes to subdue him Whereas the only thing he fears is the word of God which is that mighty power than can binde the Devil and destroy his Kingdom and break down all his strong holds of errors and Heresie and he is in no sort able to stand out against the power thereof Wherefore in his great cunning he causes men to lay aside this that is able to prevail against him and to go to the sword of the Magistrate which will do him no harm And thus the sword of the Magistrate presuming to lift it self up against Error instead of the word of God is so far from destroying Error that it upholds it and strengthens Satans Kingdom whilst it seems to destroy it By these things it appears how great an Error and evil it is for any to attribute to the Magistrate or for the Magistrate to assume to himself power to suppress Error by the sword If any shall yet demand Whether the Magistrate can do nothing at all towards the suppressing of Errors I answer This he may do he may and ought and if he be a godly man he will countenance and encourage faithful Ministers that are called of God and anointed by the Spirit to this work of the Gospel and having done this he need not trouble himself any farther for the word preached will do all the rest And let it not be doubted but if the truth of God do enter the Lists against Error it will be infinitely able to prevail of it self alone without calling in any power or borrowing any weapons from the world The ninth Rule is By no means to inforce Vniformity in the outward orders and discipline of the Church For such Vniformity hath been in all ages not only the hinderance but the very break neck of the Churches peace and unity Now because this is so vehemently and strongly urged by the unskilful builders of this age I shall the more fully acquaint the Reader with the State of this business from the very beginning of the Gospel and show when this part of the mystery of iniquity first invaded the Church of God Most manifest it is that the Apostles and Disciples of Christ were only intent about the Doctrine of Salvation and so accordingly preached and pressed nothing but faith in Christ and love to all the Saints as being the only necessary things which Christians were to regard And for all outward Rites and Ceremonies and forms wherein Christ had made them free they commanded them to stand fast in that liberty And so they gave no heed nor regard to the observation of dayes and times neither bound the Church to any Ceremonies or Rites except those necessary things mentioned Act. 15. to wit things strangled and blood which was then ordained by the holy spirit not without urgent and necessary cause For when the murdering and blood of Infants was commonly laid to the charge of Christians by the Heathens they had no other Argument to help themselves but their own Law by which they were commanded to abstain from the blood of common Beasts much more from the blood of innocent men And therefore that Law seemeth to be given by the holy Spirit and also for the same end to be continued in the Church so long as the cause thereof that is the persecutions of the heathen Gentiles continued And besides these we reade of no other Ceremonies or
all that belong to God And it is the only Gospel way to conquer error by the truth and all humane yea and devilish doctrines by the Gospel which is the ministration of the Spirit and therefore so mighty that all false teachers and false doctrines must needs fall down before it seeing stronger is that Spirit that is in it then that spirit that is in the world which is its own spirit and the devils And if the Gospel of Christ have given already such proof of its power in former times when the whole world lay in horrible ignorance and error darkness covered the earth and gross darkness the people and yet the Gospel alone without any conjunction of earthly power of States and Kingdoms with it did binde the devil and cast him out of his possessions and dominions and overthrow all false Religions men had received from their fore-fathers through many generations and changed the manners customes opinions Religions and very natures of men and utterly dispelled errrors and heresies of all sorts I say seeing the Gospel hath already given such large testimony of its power and made so great a conquest of the world when it was wholly under the power of the devil I see no reason that we should now so doubt the power of it as to suffer no man to say any thing but what likes us or what is indeed agreeable to the word as if error should have now gotten more power to make void the word then the world power to make void error Wherefore if the word be suffered to have free passage I dare rest on that alone and so dare all that have felt the power of it in their own hearts for the conquering and destroying all errors and Heresies whatsoever in the true Church of God And now it would be profitable to hear what some other men who have walked in the same light and Spirit have said in this matter Zuinglius in his book quoted in the margent speaks thus Haec unica eaque sola via est qua ad concordiam proxime perveniri potest c. that is This is the one and only way whereby we may most suddenly attain to concord if whatsoever things may be or are commonly said for any opinion or against it be freely propounded in the Churches so that the people be allowed free judgement in all these things For God who is not the God of discord but of peace nevers suffers those who are gathered together in his spirit to erre or be deceived And if this way were observed we should shortly see the Churches of Christ enjoying sweet peace and concord But now as often as there are some Princes and Cities that would have the doctrine of the Gospel free to all presenly there are others that would stop and hinder the course of it and so long there must needs arise great discords and dissentions And hence I would have you judge whether you or we are departed from the Church of God and the doctrine of it For we suffer those writings that proceed as well from you as from the Papists to be openly and freely read and read again and the evils which are taught in them we slay by the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God but you think all this business may be dispatched with PUBLICK EDICTS AND COMMANDS And therefore do you be judge whose cause is most to be suspected ours who suffer the doctrine of our adversaries to be published in our Churches and overthrow them by the word or yours who reproach our doctrine before the simple people as heretical in the mean time by your good will neither suffering them to read it nor understand it Thus far he Luther also in his Epistle to Frederick and Iohn Dukes of Saxony speaking against that Spirit which he cals Spiritus Alstetinus a proud haughty enthusiastical spirit that despised faith and love and the cross and the whole Scriptures as low things not worth their minding and gloried in strange Revelations and superlative holiness which they had above other believers And these enemies of the Gospel especially were gathered together in Alsteta and Luther writes to the Dukes in whose Province this Town was to this purpose touching them Quod vèro praesentis interest negotii nolim ab illustrissimis D. V. praedicandi officium praecludi cuiquam c. That is But for what pertains to our present business I would not that the office of preaching should be denyed to any by your most illustrious Lordships but let there be granted to them free Liberty to preach and let them exhibite the best proof of their learning For I said by the Testimony of Paul It must needs be that there must be sects and the word of God must strive and wage war in camps And therefore it is evident in Psa. 67. that the Evangelists are called Armies and that Christ in the Psalms is called more then once the King of Armies Now if their spirit be a right and approved spirit it will easily subsist before us without all fear and so if our spirit be right as we hope it is it will fear neither them not any body else But if they transgress the bounds of the Gospel and will not contain their hands but will do their work with violence it is the duty of your most Illustrious Lordships when they grow fierce and seditious to repress them or to banish them out of your Dominions saying we will easily grant to you to fight with the word for the proving and examining which is true Doctrine but we will restrain the fierceness of your spirits and contain your hands for these things belong to our Magistracie And therefore they that will not herein obey let them depart the Country For saith he we who are Ministers of the word may preach but we must do no violence and Daniel hath witnessed that Antichrist shall be destroyed without hands And Isaiah saith that Christ shall fight in his Kingdom with the spirit of his mouth and the rod of his lips c. Also Albertus Duke of Borussia when the great controversie fell out between Andreas Osiander and Morlinus and other Ministers touching the Righteousness whereby a Christian is made righteous before God he would not forbid either side either the Pulpit or Press but left them free to both alike and desired them to forbear reproaches one against another and to debate the business quietly by the word of God Likewise the Bohemians in a certain exhortation of theirs to Kings and Princes to stir them up to the zeal of the Gospel subscribed by Procopius and Conradus and other Captains of the Bohemians have these words They say that is the Papists it ought not to be suffered that we should be heard in confessing our faith Now how may that be proved by the holy Scripture since Christ heard the devil as is written Mat. 4 And they are not better
communion which they have here in this world with one another To preserve that peace among our selves we have in Christ. 1. We must know some things otherwise then we do Particularly the Churches Government Church government two fold Immediate Mediate Gods immediate government two fold 1. The government of his special providence Ego saepe certas rationes conatus sum Deo praescribere quibus uteretur in administratione ecclesiae c. Luther in Gen 39 tom 6. fol. 542. 2 The Government of his spiritual presence The Church never wanted this two-fold Government of God in any Age. It were to be wished that they that are so busie about outward orders in the Church were themselves acquainted with inward temptations The mediate Government of the Church is Christs and not Mans. What the mediate Government of the Church is The particulars contained in this mediate Government Church-power given to the whole Church alike Math. 16.19 explained The Keys given to all thaâ— have the revelation of the Father Quest. Answ. What the Keyes are The true power of the true Church is a spiritual and heavenly power 2 Cor. 10.8 13.10 Christs power extends it self to the whole Church but no further The word the only outward instrument of Church power Christiani eo verbo non alio regi debent quo Christiani id est liberi à peccatis siunt hoc est solo Evangelio Dei puro sine additionibus Conciliorum Doctorum Patrum c. Luther Epist. ad Carol Ducem Subaudiae tom 7. f. 483. Quae ergo insanta est spontance bonos urgere legibus malorum Sunt uon parum multi leves futiles homunciones putantes rem Evangelicam gladio pugnis esse promovendam Ibid. Reputatè animo quo gladio ipse Papatum c. What the Church can do through the power it hath received from Christ. 1 It can convene and meet together as often as it pleaseth 2. It can appoint its own orders Rules to be observed in the Churches appointing its Orders Nunquid Ecclesia per mundum gubernanda est non potius contra morem mundi eo quod scriptum est nolite consormari huic seculo Jo. Gers. Decl. Viror Ecclesiast The carnal Church minds outward Orders more then the power of godliness The Church is to appoint Orders for its Officers and not its Officers for it 3. To chuse its Officers What Officers the Church is to chuse 3. Who chuses them Object Answ. Hi profecto non venient in concilium ut judicentur ab aliâ—s ut emendent ea quae ipsorummet conscientia adeoque totus mundus emendanda esse clamat sed omnes alios judâ—care subjugare suam illam potentiam retinere quicquid ipsorum obstat libidini conculcare è medio tollere conabuntur Bullinger Ep ad Edward sext Tindal Practise of Popish Prel p. 344. 4. Can call its Councels Certain reasons why the true Church may very well want a Councel Nam quid expectemus ex generalium Conciliorum determinationibus docent â—os proxima aliquot seculorum exempla jam ind ab anâ—is quandragintis aut amplius Quo enim crebriora ceiâ—re concilia tanto magis invaluit superstitio error in doctrina abusus in ritibus superbia luxuries avaritia omnisque corurptio in docentibus vel sacerdotibus denique soedissima omnis disciplinae obliteratio Bulling Epist ad Edvard Sextum Object Answ. Rules to be observed in calling a Councel Ex ejusmodi coetu i.e. fidelium deligâ—ndi erunt hâ—mines ad concilium hoc vâ—ro esset pulcherrimum conciliuÌ„ qâ—od ab ipso Spiritu Sancto regeretur In hanc sententiam Lyra scriptum reliquit Ecclesiam noÌ„ aestimandam esse ex summis illis aut spiritualibus ordinibus sed ex verè credentibus Luth. Libel de notis verae Eccles tom 7. f. 152. The Church is to keep it self distinct from the world The true Church is to be contented with its own power for its own affairs Object Answ. The true Church is not to force men unto it against their wils Ea est Ecclesiae natura ut nusquam magis requiratur interna persuasio Nam ad fidem nemo co gi potest invitus Deus toto se corde vult amari denique hypocrisis peccatum est imprimis Deo exosum Quo fit ut toto Ecclesiae gubernandae ratio hunc scopum habere dâ—beat ut in Ecclesiam vocentur plurimi persuasi in Ecclesia contincâ—ntur non aliâ ratione Itaque quo magis ea ratio aberit ab imperio hoc magis est apta regâ—nde augendae confirmande Ecclesiae Chamter de Oecumen Pontific Secundum hanc itaque nostram voluntatem sano ac rectissimo judicio decrevimus nemini prorsus dâ—negandam esse potestatem christianam observantiam vâ—l religionem eligendi ac sequendâ— sed unicuique dandam esse hanc facultatem ut animum suum illi religioni addicat quam ipse sibi competere putat quo nobis Deus consuctam in omnibus diligentiam probitatem praestet Euseb l. 10. c. 5. Fox vol. 1. p. 131. Fox vol. 1. p. 150. The true Church hath no distinction of Clergy and Laity Gal. 3.28 Equality among Churches Christ the Head is subjected in the subjection of any true Church that is of his body The true Church keeps its Officers in subordination to it self Regendae Ecclesia ratio nâ—n imperium est sed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All true Christians and Churches take Christ alike for their Head The true Church keeps out all error in Doctrine Quest. Answ. The wayes whereby the true Church keeps out Error Object Answ. 1 Cor. 14 36. Quest. Whether the Magistrate hath power to suppress error Answ. Object Answ. Quest. Answ. Quest. Answ. The true Church doth not inforce Uniformity in outward Ordeâ—s and Discipline Fox vol. 1. pag 72. Iraen Mebex l. 4. Nihilo tamen minus omnes illi pacem inter se retinuerunt retinemus etiamnum jejunii dissonantia fidei concordiam commendat Euseb. l. 5. c. 26. Socrat. l. 5. c. 19 Perspicuum est Apostolos liberam potestatem in eadem cujusque menti arbitrio permisisse ut quisque nec metu nec necessitate inductus quod bonum sit ageret Verum omnes Ecclesiarum ritus qui in singulis urbibus regionibusque usurpantur scriptis mandare ut valde laboriosum est ita vix aut ne vix quidem fieri potest Iohn Gerson against Uniformity Homines non non generaliter astringi debent per determinationes positivas Paparum ad tenendum credendum unum eundemque gubernandi modum in rebus quae non proxime respiciunt vel siâ—e medio fidei nostrae veritatem vel legis Evangelicae Luther against Uniformity Si una Ecclesia alteram non vult imitari externis istis quid opus est conciliorum dâ—cretis cogi quae mox in leges ammarumlaqueos vertuntur Initetur ergo altera alteram libere aut suis moribus sinatur scui modò unitas spiritus salva sit in fide vero quantumvis sit diversitas vâ—rietas in carne elemento mundi Cujus exemplar sicubi aliis placuerit imitari licet sin minus iâ—â—ctioni libenter locum dabimus parati a vobis quibusvis aliis commodiora accipere Melancton against Uniformity Cum de praecipuis articulis doctrinae Christianae in ter nos coâ—stet complectemur nos mutuo amore neque dissimilitas varietas rituum ceremoniarum disjungere debet mentes nostras Rules to be observed to procure and preserve peace in the Church when the faithfull differ among themselves The weight of things wherein they differ is to be considered Rules to preserve peace when the difference among the faithfull is in circumstantial things 4. To be contented with the substance of Gods Kingdom in the faithfull To take care in these three things of great importance 1. That they equally admit men of different judgements in these things into the communion of Saints 2. That they equally use and imploy them 3. That they do not destroy the one to uphold the other If the faithfull differ in very truths but such as are not absolutely necessary to salvation they must observe these rules to preserve peace Phil. 3-15 16. If the difference be in doctrine absolutely necessary to salvation what the faithfull must do in this case Zuingl respon ad libel Strethionis tom 2. f. 302. Luther Farrag epistol tom 7. s. 509. Luâ—hers rule how the Magistrate shall deal with the Ministers to wit if they contain â—hemselves within the bounds of the Gospel to suffer them but if they raise seditions and disturbances to suppress or banish them Albertus Duke of Borussia Meâ—ch Adam in vieâ— Osiand The Bohemians Fox Mortyrolog vol. 1. p. 858. 2 Esdr. 3. 2. If the doctrine after hearing of it be found damnable the community is 1. To condemn the doctrine 2. To excommunicate the person Rules to be observed in excommunication Excommunication the Churches last punishment Conclusion