obscure and burthensom and narrow it hence follows that that Remnant of Jews who received and embraced it were so far from renouncing their old Religion that they still admitted and professed and adhered to it under its greatest advantages and improvements that they renounced nothing of it but only its comparative defects and did only admit of these new reformations of it by which our Saviour advanced it to its utmost lustre and perfection and rendered it infinitely more clear and easie and extensive and since it was their old Religion thus reformed and improved that they still embraced and continued in upon their turning Christians it necessarily follows that they did not become a new distinct Church but were only a continued succession of the Old one And hence it is that Christians in the New Testament are sometimes called Iews Rev. 2.9 i. e. reformed Jews or which is the same true Christians and sometimes the Israel of God Gal. 6.16 and sometimes the Children of Abraham Gal. 3.7 and sometimes a chosen generation a Royal Priesthood an holy Nation a peculiar people which is the proper Character of the Iews because by their Faith and Religion which is nothing but the true spiritual and mystick Judaism they were Iews and Israelites and the Children of Abraham though they were not all so according to the Flesh as the Apostle distinguishes 1 Cor. 10.18 and hence also it is that the Christian Church is called the new Ierusalem Rev. 3.12 because it is nothing but the Old Ierusalem or Jewish Church renewed and enlarged Eighthly and lastly That to this individual Church or Kingdom of Christ thus reformed and improved was superadded all those Gentiles that were afterwards converted to Christianity When the main body of the Jews had rejected our Saviour his Kingdom was reduced to a very narrow compass and consisted only of one single Congregation of Christians in Ierusalem which through the blessing of God upon the indefatigable industry of his Apostles and Disciples was by degrees spread and dilated over all the World. For this single Congregation was the Primitive root out of which the vast stock of the Catholick Church sprung which hath since branch'd forth it self into particular Churches to all the ends of the Earth for it is of this Church that the Apostle speaks Acts 2.47 when he tells us that the Lord added to the Church daily such as should be saved So that all that were converted to the faith of Christ were but so many additions to this Primitive Church so many living stones incorporated into this spiritual building which by the industry of its builders did soon encrease and multiply into several other Congregations and these Congregations though they were several yet were not separate or independent but continued all of them united to the first as Homogeneous parts growing out of the same body or distinct Apartments superadded to the same building So that the Christian Church began in one Congregation and by degrees enlarged it self like a fruitful stock by branching forth it self into other Congregations in a continued unity with its own body which for the convenience of Worship and Discipline were afterwards formed into several though not separate particular Churches under the conduct of their particular Pastors and Governours And thus all the particular Churches that are now in the World are only so many Lines drawn from this Primitive Centre and united in it and it is upon this account particularly that they all of them constitute but one Catholick Church because they all grew out of one and so are but comparts of the same body and branches of the same root and are only that one Primitive Church multiplied into several Churches living in the same Catholick Communion and Vnity And accordingly the Gentile Converts are said to be grafted into the Jewish Church which the Apostle calls the good Olive tree in Rom. 11.17 18 For if some of the branches that is the unbelieving Jews be broken off i. e. rejected from being any more the Church and People of God and thou being a wild Olive Tree growing in the wild common of the World without the Pale and Inclosure of God's Church wert grafted in among them i. e. incorporated with the believing Jews and made a member of the body of their Church and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the Olive Tree i. e. communicatest with them in all the blessings of God's Promise to Abraham which is the foundation of their Church boast not against the branches but if thou boast consider thou bearest not the root but the root thee i. e. the Jewish Church grew not out of thee but thou out of that she is no branch of thee but thou of her as being ingrafted into her Stock and added to her Communion By which it is evident that the converted Gentiles were all but so many superadditions to that Primitive Church of Ierusalem which was the only remainder of the ancient Jewish Church and which from one single Congregation did by degrees increase and multiply it self into an infinite number of particular Churches in Vnion with it self from one end of the World to the other And this in short is the Progress of Christ's Kingdom which from Adam to Abraham consisted of all such as were true Worshippers of God of whatsoever Kindred or Nation from Abraham to Jesus Christ principally of the Iewish Nation and when the greatest part of that Nation had revolted from Christ and renounced their relation to him his Kingdom extended no farther than to the small Remnant of the Jews that adhered to him who made up but one single Congregation which Congregation by the diligence of its Ministers and the blessing of God increased and propagated from it self vast numbers of other Congregations and these were formed into particular Churches which like so many conquered Provinces were still united to that Primitive Kingdom till at last by a continued accession of new Conquests it was spread and enlarged into an universal Empire SECT VIII Of the Nature and Constitution of Christ's Kingdom THE Kingdom of Christ and the Church of Christ are phrases of a promiscuous use in holy Scripture and do import the same thing Thus Matth. 16.18 19. Thou art Peter and upon this Rock will I build my Church and I will give unto thee the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven where the Church and the Kingdom of Heaven are the same thing And thus to be translated into the Kingdom of Christ Col. 1.13 and called to the Kingdom of Christ 1 Thess. 2.12 imports no more than to be made a member of the Church of Christ. And thus also by the Kingdom Matt. 13.38 by the Kingdom of God Matth. 21.31 by the Kingdom of Heaven Matt. 11.12 and by the Kingdom of Christ Rev. 11.15 no other thing can be intended but only the Church of Christ. I confess the Kingdom of Christ taken in the largest sence extends a great deal farther than the
Church of Christ. For under God the Father he is universal Lord and King of the World his Kingly power being upon his Ascension into Heaven extended as was shewn before to the utmost limits of the Vniverse For so he himself tells us by way of Anticipation that God hath given him power over all flesh John 17.2 i. e. over all mankind For his Regal power extends as far as his power of judging which is one of the principal Acts of his Regality and his power of judging is over all mankind for so we are assured that God hath appointed a day in which he will judge the World by the man Christ Iesus Acts 17.31 and that Christ is ordained of God to be the Iudge of quick and dead Acts 10.42 and not only so but that when he shall sit down upon the throne of his glory all Nations shall be gathered before him Matth. 25.31 32. Since therefore by the right of his Royalty he shall judge all Nations it necessarily follows that all Nations are under his Empire and Dominion and accordingly the Apostle tells us that God hath set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named not only in this world but also in that which is to come and hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be head over all things to the Church Eph. 1.20 21 22. So that the Kingdom of Christ in a large sence extends to all Nations in the World even to the Heathens and Infidels that never heard of his name and upon this account he is stiled The blessed and only Potentate the King of Kings and Lord of Lords 1 Tim. 6.15 and so also Rev. 17 14. But the Church is more peculiarly his Kingdom as consisting of that part of the World which owns and acknowledges his authority makes a visible profession of fealty to him and submission to his Laws and Regulations As for the other parts of the World they are all of right his Subjects by vertue of that Vniversal Regal Authority wherewith the most High God and Father of all things hath invested him but de facto they are Slaves to the Prince of darkness all whose Dominions in this World are nothing but usurpations on the Kingdom of Christ. But the Church is that part of the World that hath thrown off the yoke of this Vsurper and by a solemn Profession surrendered up it self to the Authority of Christ its rightful Lord and Sovereign and hence the Members of the Church are said to be translated out of the Kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ Col. 1.13 The Church therefore being more peculiarly Christ's Kingdom as being that part of the World which is actually subjected to him and under his Government I shall with as much brevity as the Argument will admit inquire into the nature and constitution of it In general therefore the Church or Kingdom of Christ may be thus defined It is the one universal society of all Christian People incorporated by the new Covenant in Baptism under Iesus Christ its supreme head and distributed under lawful Governours and Pastors into particular Churches holding Communion with each other in all the Essentials of Christian Faith and Worship and Discipline For our better understanding of which definition it will be necessary to explain the several parts of it First Therefore it is the one universal Society of all Christian People Secondly Of all Christian People incorporated by the New Covenant Thirdly Of all Christian People incorporated by the New Covenant in Baptism Fourthly Of all Christian People incorporated under Iesus Christ its supreme Head and Governour Fifthly It is a Society of all Christian People distributed into particular Churches Sixthly It is distributed into particular Churches under lawful Pastors and Governours Seventhly It is distributed into particular Churches holding Communion with each other Eighthly The Communion which these particular Churches hold with each oâ—hâ—r is First In all the Essentials of Christian Faith and Secondly In all the Essentials of Christian Worship Thirdly In all the Essentials of Christian Discipline First The Church or Kingdom of Christ is one universal Society consisting of all Christian People who as was shewn before were at first comprised in one single Congregation at Ierusalem and then this single Congregation was the whole Church or Kingdom of Christ which by the continual accession of new Converts increased and multiplied by degrees till at length it was spread over the whole Earth So that the Christian Society as it is now enlarged is nothing but that Primitive Church diffused and dilated For it was not diffused into separate and independent Societiâ—s but into similar parts and members of the same Society and therefore as a man is one and the same person when he is full grown as he was when he was an Infant but of a span long because his growth consists not in an addition of other persons to him but only of other parts of the same person so the Church of Christ is the same individual Church now since it is grown to this vast Bulk and Proportion that it was in its infant state when it extended no farther than one single Congâ—egation because it grew not into other divided Churches but only into other distinct parts of the same Church and therefore since its growth consisted only in new accessions of similar parts to the same body it must be as much one Body or Society now as it was at first when it was but one single Congregation For this Congregation was the root out of which the Catholick Church sprang or as our Saviour phrases it the grain of mustard-seed which though a very small seed shot up into a mighty tree in whose far-spread branches the Birds of the Air came and lodged and therefore as the stock and branches grow up from the root in a continued Vnion with it and all together make but one Tree so all the Christian People in the World sprang out of this single Congregation and as they sprang were still incorporated and united to it so as that all together they make but one Church And this is that which in our Creeds is called the holy Catholick or universal Church For so the Apostle tells us that there is but one body or Church as well as one Spirit one Lord one Faith and one Baptism Eph. 4.5 6. and our Saviour tells us Other sheep have I meaning the Gentiles which are not of this fold meaning the Iewish Church and they shall hear my voice and there shall be one fold and one shepherd John 10.16 For so the Gentiles added to the Christian Iewish Church are said of twain to make one new man Eph. 2.13 and both together are compared to a building fitly framed together growing into an holy Temple in the Lord Ibid. ver 21. And indeed since all
find in Scripture that all Ecclesiastick Commissions were either given by the hands of some of those first Apostles who received their Commission immediately from our Saviour or else by some of those secondary Apostles that were admitted into Apostolick Orders by them which secondary Apostles as was shewn before were the same with those whom we now call Bishops for so in Acts 6.3.6 the seven first Deacons we read of were Ordained by the Apostles the whole number of the Disciples being present but the Apostles only appointing and laying their hands on them and in Acts 14.23 we are told that Paul and Barnabas two of the Apostles ordained Elders in every Church that is of Lystra Iconium and Antioch and though these two were Ordained Apostles of the Gentiles by certain Prophets and Teachers in the Church of Antioch Acts 13.1.3 yet there is no doubt but those Prophets and Teachers where such as had received the Apostolick Character being ordained by the Apostles Bishops of the Churches of Syria for otherwise how could they have derived it For so Iudas and Silas are called Prophets Acts 15.32 and yet ver 22. they are said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Rulers among the Brethren or Bishops of Iudea and afterwards we find that Ordination was confined to such as had been admitted to the Apostolate for so the power of laying on of hands in the Church of Ephesus was committed by S. Paul to Timothy whom he himself by the laying on of hands had ordained the Apostle or Bishop of that Church 1 Tim. 5.22 1 Tim. 1.6 so also the power of Ordaining in the Church of Crete was by S. Paul committed to Titus whom he had also Ordained the Apostle or Bishop of that Church Tit. 1.5 for this cause left I thee in Crete to ordain Elders in every City Thus all through the whole Scripture History we find the power of Ordination administred by such and none but such as were of the Apostolick Order viz. either by the Prime Apostles or by the secondary Apostles or Bishops And if we consult the Primitive Antiquities which to be sure in matters of fact at least are the best Interpreters of Scripture we shall always find the power of giving Orders confined and limited to Bishops which is so undeniable that S. Ierom himself who endeavours his utmost to equalize Presbyters with Bishops is yet fain to do it with an excepta Ordinatione Ep. ad Evagr. Quid facit excepta Ordinatione Episcopus quod Presbyter non faciat What can the Bishop do except Ordaining that the Presbyter may not do also III. Another peculiar Ministry of the Bishops and Governours of the Church is to execute that spiritual Iurisdiction which Christ hath established in it i. e. to Cite such as are accused of scandalous offences before their Tribunals to inspect and examine the Accusation and upon sufficient evidence of the truth of it to admonish the offender of his fault and in case he obstinately persist in it to exclude him from the Communion of the Church and from all the Benefits of Christianity till such time as he gives sufficient evidence of his Repentance and amendment and then to receive him in again For that Christ hath established such a jurisdiction in his Church is evident from that passage Mat. 18.16 17 18. Moreover if thy Brother shall trespass against thee go tell him his fault between him and thee alone if he shall hear thee thou hast gain'd thy Brother but if he will not hear thee then take with thee one or two more that in the mouth of two or three Witnesses every word may be established i. e. that thou mayst be able in case he doth not then amend to produce sufficient testimony of his guilt before the Churches Tribunal to which thou art next to apply thy self and if he shall neglect to hear them i. e. to promise amendment upon their admonition take them along with thee and tell it to the Church that so she may examine the matter and upon thy proving his guilt by sufficient witness may Authoritatively admonish him to amend but if he neglect to hear the Church let him be unto thee as an Heathen man and a Publican i. e. give him over for a desperate sinner as one that is to be ejected from the Communion of the Church and no longer to enjoy the common benefits of a Christian for verily I say unto you that it is to you of the Church before whom this obstinate Offender is cited and accused for now he speaks no longer in the singular number Whatsoever ye shall bind on Earth shall be bound in Heaven and whatsoever ye shall loose on Earth shall be loosed in Heaven i. e. whomsoever ye shall for just cause eject from the Communion of the Church into the state of a Heathen man and a Publican I will certainly exclude out of Heaven unless he reconcile himself to you by Confession and promise of amendment and if thereupon you pardon him and receive him into the Churches Communion I will most certainly pardon him too if he perform his promise for that by binding and loosing upon Earth our Saviour means excluding out of the Church and receiving in again is evident from that Parallel passage Mat. 16.19 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 where by the Keys of the kingdom of Heaven is plainly meant the Authority of a Steward to govern his Church or Family for so Isa. 22.21 22. God promises Eliachim that he would cloath him with the Robe of Shebna who was over the Houshold ver 15. i. e. Steward of the Kings Family and that he would commit Shebna 's Government into his hand c. and then it follows And the Key of the House of David will I lay upon his shoulders so he shall open and none shall shut and he shall shut and none shall open that is in short I will make him the Governour of the Family and give him power to admit or exclude what Servants he pleases and accordingly by the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven must be meant the Government of the Church for so Keys denote Authority to Govern vid. Rev. 3.7 and by binding and loosing the power of shutting out of or readmitting into it and therefore in Iohn 20.23 this binding and loosing is thus expressed whose sins ye remit or loose shall be remitted or loosed whose sins ye retain or keep bound shall be retained or kept bound for though the words are different from those in S. Matthew yet they are of the same import and signification and consequently our Saviours meaning must be the same here as there viz. whose sins you loose from the penalty of exclusion from the Church I also will loose from the penalty of exclusion out of Heaven and whose sins
will 118. Fourthly He sealed his Declaration with his own Blood 120. Fifthly He Instituted an Order of Men to Preach what he had declared to the World 121. Sixthly He sent his Holy Spirit when he left the World to recollect and explain his Doctrine to those whom he had ordained to Preach it and to inable them also to prove it by Miracles 123 124. SECT IV. Of Christs Priestly Office. To what persons the Priesthood antiently belonged 130. What the Melchisedecan Priesthood was and in what respects Christs Priesthood is of that Order 132. what the old Priesthood was and in what acts it consisted 136. That it consisted first in Sacrificing and secondly in presenting the Sacrifice to God by way of Intercession for the People 136 c. That this ancient Priesthood was in both these acts of it intended by God for a Type of the Priesthood of our Saviour 142 c. SECT V. Concerning the first Act of our Saviours Priesthood viz. Sacrificing That the death of Christ had in it all the requisite Conditions of a Sacrifice for Sin and what those Conditions are shewed in five Particulars 147 c. these Conditions applyed to our Saviours death as first In his death he was substituted in the room of sinful Men to be punish'd for them in order to their being released from their personal Obligation to punishment 151. Secondly He dyed a pure and spotless Innocent Thirdly His death was of sufficient intrinsick worth and value to be an equivalent commutation for the punishment that was due to the whole World of sinners 155. Fourthly His death was on his part voluntary and unforced 160 161. Fifthly His death was admitted and accepted of God in lieu of the punishment which was due to him from Mankind 164. The wisdom of this method of Gods· admitting Christs sacrifice for sinners in order to the reforming Mankind shewn in five Particulars â— First That the Sacrifice of Christs death was a most sensible and affecting acknowledgement of the infinite guilt and demerit of our sin 167. Secondly It was an ample declaration of Gods severity against sin 169. Thirdly It was a most obliging expression of the love of God and our Saviour to us 171. Fourthly It is a sure and certain ground of our hope of pardon if we repent and amend 174. Fifthly It is a seal and confirmation of the New Covenant 177. SECT VI. Of Christs Intercession or presenting his Sacrifice to God in Heaven by way of Advocation for us The Nature of it defined 183. The definition explained in the several parts of it which are four First It is a Solemn Address of our Blessed Saviour to God the Father in our behalf 184. Secondly This Address is performed by the presenting his Sacrificed Body to the Father in Heaven 186. Thirdly it is continued and perpetuated by the perpetual Oblation of this his sacrificed Body 190. Fourthly In vertue of this perpetual Oblation he doth always successfully move and solicit God 193. And that which he moves him to is First to receive and graciously accept our sincere and hearty Prayers 196. Secondly to impower him to bestow on us all those Graces and Favours which in consideration of his Sacrifice God hath promised to us 199. The admirable tendency of this method of Gods communicating his Favours to us through Christs Intercession to reform Mankind shewn in five Particulars First It naturally tends to excite in us a mighty awe of the Divine Majesty 204. Secondly It also tends to give us the strongest conviction of Gods hatred of Sin 206. Thirdly It secures us from presuming upon Gods mercy while we continue in our sins 208. Fourthly It encourages us to approach God with chearfulness and freedom 212. Fifthly It assures our diffident minds of Gods gracious intentions to perform to us all the good things which he hath promised to us upon our performing the condition of them 216. SECT VII Of Christs Kingly Office. Christs universal Royalty successâ—â—e to his Sacrifice and Intercession pag. 221 c. Christ had a particular Kingdom in this World viz. The â—ewish Church before his Incarnation and during his abode upon Earth 225. and therefore that which he was exalted to upon his ascension was the universal Kingdom of the World ibid. Six Heads proposed to be treated of concerning our Saviours Kingdom 226. SECT VIII Of the Rise and Progress of Christs Kingdom from the Fall to his Incarnation Of which an account is given at large in eight Propositions pag. 227. First That the Kingdom of Christ is founded in the new Covenant 228. Secondly That the new Covenant commenced immediatly after the Fall and was afterwards in a particular manner renewed to Abraham and his Posterity ibid. c. Thirdly That from its first Commencement Christ was Mediator of it and so he continued to be all along under that particular renewal of it to the People of Israel 233 c. Fourthly Christs being always Mediator of this Covenant necessarily implies his having been always King over all that were admitted into it and particularly over the People of Israel 235 c. and that he was the Divine King that reigned over Israel and who in the Old Testament is promiscuously called Jehovah and the Angel of Jehovah is proved in five Propositions 238 239 c. Fifthly That after his coming into the World he still retained this his right and title of King of Israel in particular 255 c. Sixthly That the main Body of the Jews rejected Christ from being their King and were thereupon rejected by him yet was there a remnant of them that received and acknowledged him 258. Seventhly That this remnant still continued the same individual Church or Kingdom of Christ with what it was before its main Body revolted they very much reformed and improved 259 c. Eighthly That to this individual Church or Kingdom of Christ thus reformed and improved was superadded all those Gentiles that were afterwards converted to Christianity 272 c. SECT IX Of the Nature and Constitution of Christs Kingdom The Kingdom and Church of Christ the same 275. The universal Church or Kingdom of Christ defined 277. This definition explained in the several parts of it which are eight 272 278. First It is one Vniversal Society consisting of all Christian People 278 c. Secondly It consists of all Christian People incorporated by the New Covenant 280 c. Thirdly These Christian People are incorporated by the New Covenant in Baptism 283 c. Fourthly They are incorporated under Iesus Christ their supreme Head 291. Fifthly This one Vniversal Society thus incorporated is distributed into particular Churches 292 c. Sixthly These particular Churches are distributed under Lawful Governors and Pastors 295 c. Seventhly These particular Churches thus distributed hold Communion with each other 298 c. Eighthly The Communion which these particular Churches hold is first in all the Essentials of Christian Faith 303 c. Secondly in all the
Essentials of Christian Worship 307 c. Thirdly In all the Essentials of Christian Regiment and Discipline 309. SECT X. Concerning the Ministers of the Kingdom of Christ. Which are of a fourfold Rank and Order First The supreme Minister of it is the Holy Ghost p. 315. Secondly next to him are the whole world of Angels both good and bad and as for the good they are subjected to Christ by the Order and appointment of God the Father ibid. That the good Angels were not subject to him as Mediator till his ascension into Heaven but had their distinct regencies over the several Gentile Nations 316 c. But upon Christs ascension these their distinct regencies were all dissolved and they subjected to Christs Mediatorial Scepter 320 c. And as for the bad Angels they were subjected to him by just and lawful Conquest 322. That this Conquest he obtained while he was upon Earth but especially in his last agony 323 c. Seven particular instances of the Ministry of good Angels under Christ first they declare upon occasion his mind and will to his Church and People 331 c. Secondly they guard and defend his subjects against outward dangers 333 c. Thirdly they support and comfort them upon difficult undertakings and under great and pressing calamities 334 c. Fourthly they protect them against the rage and fury of evil spirits 336 c. Fifthly they further and assist them in their religious Offices 340 c. Sixthly they conduct their separated spirits to the Mansions of Glory 342 c. Seventhly they are hereafter to attend and minister to him at the general Iudgment 345 c. The Ministry of evil Angels to Christ in four particulars First they try and exercise the vertues of his subjects 347 c. Secondly they chasten and correct their faults and miscarriages 351 c. Thirdly they harden and confirm incorrigible sinners 354 c. Fourthly they execute the vengeance of Christ on them in another world 357 c. The third sort of the Ministers of Christs Kingdom are the Kings and Governors of the world 361 c. by their subjection to Christ they are not deprived of any natural Right of their Sovereignty 363 c. But in the first place have the same commanding Power over all indifferent things and that in Ecclesiastical Causes as well as Civil that they had under the Law of Nature 364 c. And secondly are as unaccountable and irresistible as they were before 365 c. What thâ—se Ministries are which Kings are obliged to render our Saviour shewn in general from Isa. 49.23.476 c. Particularly first they are to protect and defend his Church in the profession and exercise of the true Religion 377.378 secondly they are to fence and cultivate its peace and good order 378 c. they are to chasten and correct the irregular 379 c. they are to provide for the decency of its worship and for the convenient maintenance of its Officers and Ministers 381 c. The fourth sort of Ministers of Christs Kingdom are the spiritual or Ecclesiastical Governors 383. That Christ hath erected a spiritual Government in his Church 384 c. That this Government is Episcopal proved from four Arguments first from the institution of our Saviour 388 c. secondly from the practice of the Apostles upon it 393 c. thirdly from the Vniversal Conformity of the Primitive Church to this Apostolick practice 404. fourthly from our Saviours declared allowance and approbation of both 421 c. Of the Ministers of this spiritual Government which are either such as are common to the Bishops together with the inferiour Officers of the Church as first to teach the Gospel 427 c. secondly to administer the Evangelical Sacraments 429 c. thirdly to offer up the publick Prayers and intercessions of Christian Assemblies 431 c. Or such as are peculiar to the Bishops as first to make Laws for the peace and good order of the Church 433. secondly to ordain to Ecclesiastical Offices 436. thirdly to exercise that spiritual jurisdiction which Christ hath established in his Church 439. fourthly to confirm such us have been Baptized and instructed in Christianity 446 c. SECT XI Of Christs Regal Acts in his Kingdom Which are of three sorts First such as he hath performed once for all of which there are four first his giving Laws to his Kingdom 449 c. That what Christ taught as a Prophet had the force of Law ibid. His Law spiritual 450. His Laws reduced under two heads first his Law of perfection 452 c. secondly his Law of sincerity 455 c. The second of those Regal Acts which he hath performed once for all is his mission of the Holy Spirit 457. A third is his erecting an external Polity and Government 458 c. Another sort of Christs Regal acts are such as he hath always performed and doth always continue to perform of which there are four first his pardoning penitent Offenders the nature of which is explained 461 c. the Scripture attributes it both to Christ and God the Father 462. that both of them have an appropriate part in it 463. The part of God the Father is first to make a general Grant of Pardon 464 c. secondly to make it in consideration of Christs death and sacrifice 466 thirdly to limit it to believing and penitent sinners ibid. c. The part which Christ performs in it is to make an actual and particular application of this general Grant of his Father to particular sinners upon their faith and repentance 474 c. The second of these Regal Acts of Christ is his punishing obstinate Offenders 476. A third is his protecting and defending his People and Kingdom in this world 479 c. The fourth is his rewarding his faithful subjects in the life to come 483 c. The third last sort of Christs Regal Acts are those which are yet to be performed by him of which there are three first he is yet farther to extend and enlarge his Kingdom by a more universal conquest of his Enemies 485 c. secondly he is yet to destroy Death the last Enemy by giving a general Resurrection 492 c. this proved from his own Resurrection ibid. The Objections against this argument and the Doctrine of the Resurrection answered 494 c. The manner of the Resurrection described at large from 1 Cor. 15.42.501 First this mortal body is to be the seed or material principle of our resurrection 502. secondly this seed must die and be corrupted before it is to be raised and quickened 503. thirdly this dead seed is to be raised and quickened by the Power of God 505. fourthly it is to be raised and quickned into the proper form and kind of a human body 508. fifthly this human body is to be very much changed and altered 510. the change that will be made in the bodies of good men is
6.3 in doing of which he even then Mediated for God with Men under the Great Mediator and so he hath continued to do through all successive Ages of the World. For there is nothing more apparent from Scripture than that it is under Christ that the Spirit acts in the Kingdom of God upon which account he is called the Spirit of Christ 1 Pet. 1.11 even as by the ancient Jews he is called the Spirit of the Messias as was observed before and this Spirit whom St. Peter calls the Spirit of Christ was as he himself there tells us the Spirit which was in the ancient Prophets by which it is evident that long before Christ came this Spirit was his and that he acted by him And even when he came down into the World to transact personally with men he generally acted by this holy Spirit For so at his Baptism we are told that the Holy Ghost descended on him in a bodily shape Luke 3.22 upon which it is said that he went away full of the Holy Ghost Luk. 4.1 after which it is plain that it was by this Holy Ghost in him that he Prophesied and wrought his Miracles for so Isa. 61.1 the Prophet attributes the whole Prophecy of Christ to the Spirit of the Lord which was upon him and in Matt. 12.28 our Saviour himself affirms that he cast out Devils by the Spirit of God and therefore he calls the Jews attributing his miraculous works to the Devil blasphemy against the Holy Ghost Matt. 12.31 because it was by the power of the Holy Ghost that he wrought them Now as the Father's acting by the Son implies the Son's Subordination to him so the Son 's acting by the Spirit implies the Spirit 's subordination to him which subordination of the Spirit in his Mediatorial Office is immediately founded in that Compact of the Son with the Father upon which he undertook the Mediation For the Spirit was a part of the purchace of the Son's Bloud and whatsoever he purchased he purchased of the Father by compact and agreement with him so that now he hath a right to the Spirit 's Ministry not only by vertue of his proceeding from him together with the Father but also by the purchace of his own Bloud whereby he obtained the promise of him from the Father For so the Holy Ghost is said to be shed on us abundantly through Iesus Christ our Saviour i. e. through the Intercession he makes in vertue of his meritorious Sacrifice Tit. 3.5 6. For whatsoever comes to us from God through Christ is part of what he hath purchased for us and in Rom. 5.5 6. he makes Christ's dying for the ungodly the reason of the giving the Holy Ghost to us The promise of the Holy Ghost therefore being part of the purchace of Christ's bloud he by his Advocation in Heaven obtained the performance of it of the Father even as he doth the performance of all his other promises For the Father being the supreme person in the Holy Trinity is the prime and Original Fountain of all our blessings and every good thing we receive is derived from him to us through the Son and by the Holy Ghost and even the Holy Ghost himself is derived to us from the Father through the Advocation of the Son. For so he himself tells us I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter namely the Holy Ghost Iohn 14.16 So that though Christ hath purchased the Holy Ghost of the Father as he hath also all the other blessings of the New Covenant yet it is plain this Purchace vests him not with a right to bestow and send him without the Father but only to obtain him of the Father upon his Prayer or Advocation and so of all those other blessings So that still the Father is the supreme Source from whence the Spirit and all those blessings are derived to us and it is from his hands that the Son procures them by his powerful Intercession in short therefore Christ by his death purchased a right of the Father to obtain of him by his Intercession Authority to send the Holy Ghost to Minister for and under him in his Mediation for God with men and accordingly he promises his Disciples that when he departed this World he would send the Comforter to them Iohn 16.7 where he uses the very same phrase as he did when he Commissioned his Apostles to minister under him As the Father hath sent me so send I you John 20.21 and accordingly his sending the Comforter must denote his Commissioning him by the Authority he had received from the Father to minister under him in his Mediation for the Father For so in Iohn 15.26 When the Comforter is come whom I will send to you from the Father even the Spirit of truth which proceedeth from the Father he shall testifie of me where first the Son is said to Commission or send him Secondly to Commission or send him from the Father i. e. by Authority from him And thirdly to Commission or send him to testifie of him and therein to minister to him and so in Luke 24.49 when he was just ascending into Heaven he tells his Disciples Behold I send the promise of my Father upon you i. e. the promise of the Holy Ghost and accordingly Acts 2.33 St. Peter tells us upon that miraculous descent of the Holy Ghost that Christ being exalted to the right hand of God and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost i. e. having by his Intercession received authority of the Father to send the Holy Ghost according to that promise which he had before purchased of him with his bloud he hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear i. e. this Miraculous Gift of the Holy Ghost in all which places it is evident that the Holy Ghost was substituted commissioned and sent by the Son authorized thereunto by the Father to minister under him For as the Son acts by the Father's Authority as he is his Minister so all that authority which he communicates to others to act under him he must derive Originally from the Father and consequently that Authority by which he sent the Spirit to act as his Minister he must have derived from the Father whose Minister himself is and hence the Father is said to send the Spirit in the name of the Son i. e. to appoint the Spirit to act under the Son and by his authority Iohn 14.26 as the Son is said to send the Spirit from the Father i. e. by the authority which he had received of the Father and this I verily believe is the reason why the Apostle in Eph. 4.8 quotes the Psalmist with that variation he ascended up on high saith he speaking of Christ he led Captivity Captive he gave gifts unto men whereas the words of the Psalmist are He received gifts for men Psal. 68.18 to denote that that gift of the Holy Ghost which Christ gave
Scripture his Ascension into Heaven there to intercede for us represented as a Triumphal progress to his Coronation wherein after the manner of Princes in that glorious Solemnity he scatters a Royal Largess among his Subjects Ephes. 4.8 It is true before his Ascension he tells his Disciples that all power was given him in Heaven and Earth Matth. 28.18 but this it is evident he spake by way of Prolepsis or Anticipation a very usual Scheme of speech in Scripture which is to express things of certain futurity as if they were actually existing according to which Scheme all power is given me imports no more than all power is shortly to be given me i. e. upon my Ascension into Heaven For so it is evident our Saviour must be understood in that parallel expression Iohn 5.22 The Father judgeth no man but hath committed all judgment to the Son which words he spake long before his Death when it is evident that all judgment i. e. Vniversal Regal authority was not actually committed to him but there was only a certain futurity of it For so he himself tells us that his sitting down with his Father on his Throne or investiture with that Regal Authority which he now exercises was the reward and consequence of his overcoming or consummate victory on the Cross Rev. 3.21 By all which it is evident that it was upon his Ascension into Heaven and Oblation of his Sacrifice there by way of Intercession that Christ was installed in his Vniversal Mediatorial Kingdom It is true our Saviour had a particular Kingdom in this World viz. the Iewish Church not only before his Ascension but before his Incarnation as I shall shew hereafter but as for that Right of Dominion over the Gentile world too by which he became universal Lord and King he was not invested with it till his Ascension into Heaven And therefore he himself tells us that his Mission into this world was purely to the lost Sheep of the house of Israel Matth. 15.24 and accordingly in the pursuance of this his Mission when he sent forth his Ministers to preach his Gospel he orders them not to go into the way of the Gentiles nor to enter into the City of the Samaritans but to go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel Matth. 10.5 6. which implies that at that time he was not actually authorized to subdue and reduce the Gentiles under his dominion but that his Authority extended only to the Iewish Nation but when he had told his Disciples in that proleptical speech after his Resurrection that all power was given him in Heaven and Earth it immediately follows go ye therefore and teach all Nations baptizing them in the name of the Father c. as if he had said now my Commission and Authority is inlarged and I am made Vniversal Lord and King go ye therefore in pursuance of it and by your Ministry endeavour to reduce all Nations under my dominion And hence it was that the Mystery of the calling of the Gentiles into the Kingdom of Christ was not revealed till after his Ascension vid. Acts 11.18 because it was upon his Ascension that he received his Vniversal Kingly Authority over them and till then it was to no purpose to reveal it So that it was over the Gentile world peculiarly that he received Power and Dominion upon his Ascension into Heaven he was King of the Iews long before but upon his Ascension he was invested with a right of Dominion over the Gentiles too and thereupon became the Vniversal Lord and Monarch of the World under the most High God and Father of all things but this I shall have occasion farther to explain hereafter In the prosecution of this great Argument I shall endeavour these six things First To give an account of the Beginning and Progress of this Kingdom of Christ. Secondly To explain the Nature and Constitution of it Thirdly To shew who are the Ministers of it under Christ. Fourthly To assign and explain the Regal Acts which Christ hath and doth and will hereafter exercise in it Fifthly To give an account of the End and Conclusion of it Sixthly and lastly To shew the reason and wisdom of this method of God's governing sinful men by this his Mediatorial King Christ Iesus SECT VII Of the Rise and Progress of Christ's Kingdom AS for the first viz. the beginning and progress of Christ's Kingdom I shall endeavour to give an account of it in these following Propositions First That the Kingdom of Christ is founded upon the New Covenant Secondly That the new Covenant commenced immediately after the Fall and was afterwards particularly renewed to Abraham and his Posterity Thirdly That upon its first Commencement Christ was the Mediator of it and so he continued all along in that particular renewal that was made of it to the People of Israel Fourthly Therefore that as Mediator of this Covenant Christ was King of all that were admitted into it and particularly of Abraham and his Posterity or the People of Israel with whom it was renewed Fifthly That after his coming into the world he still retained his Title of King of Israel in particular till they finally rejected him and the Covenant in which his Kingdom is founded Sixthly That though the main body of that Nation rejected him yet there was a Remnant of it that received and acknowledged him as their rightful Lord and King. Seventhly That this Remnant still continued the same individual Kingdom of Christ with the former though very much reformed and improved Eighthly That to this individual Kingdom of Christ thus reformed and improved was superadded all those Gentiles that were afterwards converted to Christianity First That the Kingdom of Christ is founded in the New Covenant For it is by the New Covenant that he engages himself to us to be our gracious and merciful Lord and that we engage our selves to him to be his faithful and obedient Subjects and from these mutual Engagements results the relation of King and Subjects between him and us So that the Church or Kingdom of Christ consists of all those People Nations and Kindreds who have been admitted into this Covenant-relation to him wherein by a solemn Vow of Fealty and Allegiance they have indispensably obliged themselves to serve and obey him but of this I shall have occasion to discourse more largely hereafter Secondly Therefore this new Covenant commenced immediately afâ—er the Fall and was afterwards in a particular manner renewed to Abraham and his Posterity For the New Covenant was a Plank thrown forth to Mankind immediately after that woful Shipwreck that was made by the Fall. For no sooner had God denounced his deserved Doom on our lapsed Parents but to support them from sinking into utter desperation he subjoyns that gracious promise Gen. 3.15 The Seed of the woman shall bruise the Serpent's head where by the Seed of the woman not only Christian but the ancient Iewish Interpreters understand the
he actually forgave sins Matth. 9.2 compared with the sixth where he doth not only pronounce to one that was sick of the Palsie Son thy sins are forgiven thee but declares that he did it by that power and authority which he had upon earth to forgive sins All which being acts of Regal power do sufficiently manifest that even whilst he was upon Earth he was vested with Royal Authority and that by assuming our nature he did not divest himself of his ancient Royalty but still continued King of the Iews so long as they continued a Church Sixthly That though the main body of the People of Israel rejected Christ and were thereupon rejected by him yet there was a Remnant of them that received and acknowledged him for their rightful Lord and King. For so as S. Paul observes it is foretold of Isaiah concerning Israel Though the number of the Children of Israel be as the sand of the Sea a remnant shall be saved Rom. 9.27 and accordingly it proved in the event For though the much greater part of the Jewish Nation obstinately persisted in their Infidelity and Rebellion against the blessed Iesus their King notwithstanding all those powerful Arts and Methods he had used to reclaim and save them yet there was a great number of them that willingly received and loyally adhered to him For not only the Disciples which he gathered whilst he was upon Earth but also the first Converts after his Ascension into Heaven were generally of the Iewish Nation within which not only his own Personal Ministry was confined but also the Ministry of his Apostles for some time after his Ascension For so S. Paul and Barnabas tell the Jews that it was necessary the Word of God should first have been spoken to them Acts 13.46 But this Proposition is so manifest from the whole Gospel that I shall not need to insist any farther upon it Seventhly Therefore that this Remnant still continued the same individual Church or Kingdom of Christ with the former though very much reformed and improved For it still remained upon the same basis with the former as having the self-same Covenant for its Charter which is the form that Identifies all Societies and notwithstanding the perpetual change and renovation of their parts still continues them the same individual Politick bodies Since therefore that remnant of Israel who believed in Christ continued still in the same Covenant with that whereupon the old Jewish Church was founded it necessarily follows that they were not a new or distinct Church but still remained the same individual sacred society with the old So that they were the unbelieving Jews that revolted from their old Church by rejecting the Mediator of that Covenant by which it was formed and constituted but as for the believing Jews who imbraced and acknowledged him they still continued in it and so remained the same continued Church as being still united and incorporated by the same Charter But though it was the same continued body with the old Jewish Church yet was it very much reformed and improved by our blessed Saviour For in the first plâ—ce whereas before it was extremely corrupted through the many false glosses and superstitious traditions of their Elders and like an unâ—â—est Garden was all overgrown with Thorns and Weeds its Religion being almost dwindled away into Ceremonies and outward observances and evaporated into a dead shew and formality our blessed Saviour repaired its ruines and decays removed its rubbish and reformed its disorders and restored it to its primitive beauty and purity For the great design of all his Sermons and Parables was to explain the Laws of it into their Genuine sence and to rescue them from the false Glosses and Comments of the Scribes and Pharisees to reprehend and expose its hypocrisie and formality and to refine its Religion from all those corrupt and heterogeneous mixtures with which it was dasht and sophisticated That Remnant of the Jews therefore who believed in Christ and submitted to his Doctrine when all the rest of them finally rejected him were the same individual continued body with the Old Jewish Church as purified and reformed from its errors and corruptions For by submitting to our Saviour's regulations they did not commence into a new Church but still continued the same body only with this difference that whereas before it was distempered with sundry corrupt humours now it was throughly purged and recovered And as our Saviour restored that Church to its ancient purity so secondly he advanced and improved it to a far more perfect state than it was in even under its primitive Constitution It is true as for the Religion of that Church it was for substance the same with that which our Saviour and his Apostles taught it proposed to them the same Covenant and the same Mediator and the very same Doctrines and Articles concerning this Mediator to create in them the same belief and oblige them to the same practice only with this difference that whereas it proposed him to their belief as hereafter to be incarnate and sacrificed to rise and to ascend into heaven it proposes him to ours as actually incarnate and sacrificed and as actually risen and ascended but this is only a circumstantial difference since that as to all the purposes of his Mediation his future Incarnation and Sacrifice c. had the same vertue and influence with his actual But though as to the main the ancient Iewish Religion was the same with ours yet in respect of clearness and easiness and amplitude there is a vast difference between them For first as to clearness it is evident that it was much more darkly and obscurely revealed to the ancient Iews than it is to us for to them it was revealed only either in general Promises out of which they were fain to argue and deduce particulars or in temporal Promises that carried a mystical sence with them and obscurely implied the spiritual blessings which the Gospel proposes or in dark Types and material Figures and Emblems which were Prophetick Pictures or as the Apostle calls them shadows of good things to come For thus in that general Promise In thy Seed shall all the Nations of the Earth be blessed was included Christ and all those particular blessings which we receive by and through him under those temporal promises of deliverance from their enemies and peaceâ—ble possession of Canaan was couched their deliverance from sin and hell and their eternal rest and happiness in heaven and under their legal Sacrifices the all-sufficient Sacrifice of the blessed Mediator was exhibited and represented to them and in a word under the High Priest's offering the bloud of the Sacrifice in the Holy of Holies was intimated the Mediator's intercession for them in heaven Thus both the Promises and Types of the Iewish Religion were all of them obscure revelations of Christianity which is nothing but Mystical Judaism or Judaism explained into its spiritual sence and meaning And accordingly
Christians do enjoy in common and without any distinction the same priviledges and immunities they must of necessity be all of the same Community For it is by theiâ— peâ—uliar Faith and Laws and Rights of Worship and Promises and Priviledges that the Christian Society is distinguished from the rest of the World and therefore since these peculiariâ—ies are by the very institution of Christian Society mâ—de common to all Christian People it is non-sense to suppose them distinguished by that institution into separate and independent Communities For how can they be separate Societies which have nothing to separate and distinguish them but enjoy all things in common with one another Secondly The Church is one universal Society of all Christian People incorporated by the New Covenant For this is that which distinguishes râ—gular Societies from confused multitudes that whâ—reas the latter are only locally united so that as soon as â—ver their parts are dispersed into distant places they cease to be and are utterly dissolved the former are united by Laws and mutâ—al stipulations which are the Political Nerves and Arâ—â—ries by which their several parts how remoteâ—nd â—nd distant soever are united to one another Even as it is in our City Companies which are not only united while their Members are met together in their Common Halls but do also continue united after they are dispersed abroad to their several homes because that which unites them is not their being together in the same place but their being obliged together under the same Laws and stipulations and communicating with one another in the duties and priviledges of one and the same Charter by reason whereof though they suffer a continual defluence of old and access of new parts yet still they remain the same Societies even like natural bodies that are under a perpetual flux of parts because they still retain the same Laws and Charters which are the sâ—atique Principles or Forms that individuate them and keep them still the same And thus it is with the Church which partakes of the common nature of all other formed and regular Societies For hence in Scripture it is called a Kingdom a City or Commonwealth and compared to a natural Organized body to denote that it is a Regular Society all whose parts are united together by legal bonds and ligaments Now the legal bond which unites the Church and renders all its Members one regular Corporation is the New Covenant by which all Christian People are in one body obliged to all the duties it requires and entitled to all the Priviledges it proposes and by being all engaged together in this one Covenant whereby they are all concerned together in the same common duties and priviledges they are all incorporate together into the same Community And thus it was that the Iewish People were all united into one Church by their being all confederated as one party in one and the same Covenant whereby they all engaged themselves as one body to be God's People and God engaged himself to them as to one body to be their God which in Deut. 26.17 18. is thus expressed Thou hast avouched this day the Lord to be thy God and to walk in his ways and to keep his Statutes and his Commandments and the Lord hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar People as he hath promised thee This therefore was that which united them into one Religious Society that they were all confederated with God in one and the same Covenant For thus saith God I entered into Covenant with thee and thou becamest mine Ezek. 16.8 and hence God is said to be married to thâ—t People Iâ—r 3.14 and to be their Husband Isa. 54.5 because by the Covenant which like a Matrimonial engagement was transacted between God and them they were all united into one Spâ—use and contracted to one Husband And in thâ— same sense the Christian Church is called the Bride and the Spouse of Christ vid. Rev. 22.17 and Christ is called her Husband 2 Cor. 11.2 because we by contracting our selves to him in one and the same Covenant do all become one Party and are incorporate together into one Spouse and he by contracting himself to us in one and the same Counterpart unites us in one common Husband and endows us in common with all his spiritual Goods and Blessings So that by the New Covenant which is the Nuptial Contract between Christ and Christians and in which we are said to be married to Christ Rom. 7.7 we are not only united to one head and Husband but are also incorporated into one body and Spouse And accordingly as the Iews by vertue of their Covenant with God were separated from all Nations and united together into a distinct body upon which account they are called God's peculiar Treasure a Kingdom of Priests and an holy Nation Exod. 19.5 6. so we Christians by vertue of our Covenant with God in Christ are separated from all other Societies and made a distinct Corporation from the World upon which account we are also called a chosen Generation a Royal Priesthood and holy Nation and a peculiar people 1 Pet. 2.9 Thirdly The Church or Kingdom of Christ is the universal Society of all Christian People incorporated by the new Covenant in Baptism For so in humane Contracts it hath been thought meet even by the unanimous consent of all prudent Law-givers that the mutual engagements of the contracting Parties should not be legally Pleadable till they have been first mutually sealed and solemnly confirmed before witness And accordingly God who is wont to proceed with men in humane Methods hath always thought meet to strike and ratifie his Covenants with them by some visible sign or solemnity For thus he struck his Covenant with the Iews in that visible solemnity of Circumcision which was the sign by which God and that People sealed and consigned to each other their respective parts of that Covenant by which he stipulated to be their God and they to be his People And till such time as this outward sign was transacted between God and them the Covenant it sealed was not in force so as to oblige either Party or give them a mutual claim in one another And hence it is called God's Covenant in their flesh for an everlasting Covenant and they who refused to admit this sign unless it were under some great necessity in which case God accepted the sincere desire for the deed were to be cut off from that People i. e. to be treated as Aliens from that Church and that because they had broken or rejected God's Covenant i. e. by refusing that sign which was the Seal and ratification of it Gen. 17.13 14. But this bloudy sign as was shewn before being not so commodious for the state of the Christian Church which was to be diffused over all the World our Saviour abolished it and in its room introduced the sign of Baptism which was before used by the Iews for the initiation of their
them in the name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost where that Phrase in the Name plainly imports as it generally doth in other places of Scripture by the Authority So that by this Commission Christ's Ministers are authorized and constituted the legal Proxies of the holy Trinity in the stead of those blessed Persons to seal the New Covenant with the Baptismal sign to those whom they baptize and thereby legally to oblige the Father Son and Holy Ghost to perform the Promises of it to all those Baptized persons who perform the conditions of it For that the Baptismal sign is a legal ingagement upon God as well as us to perform the New Covenant is evident from Mark 16.16 He that believes and is baptized shall be saved where it is evident that Baptism as well as Faith doth confer a right to Salvation and therefore since Faith confers it only as it is the Condition of the Covenant Baptism must confer it as it is the Seal of the Covenant And accordingly S. Peter exhorts his Converts to repent and be baptized for the remission of sins and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost from whence it is evident that Baptism as well as Repentance has a great influence on our remission of sins and our communication of the Holy Ghost Since therefore Faith and Repentance are the whole condition of the promise of remission and of the Holy Ghost it necessarily follows that Baptism doth not influence it as it is the Condition but as it is the Seal of the Promise And so also in Baptism we are said to wash away our sins i. e. the guilt of them Acts 22.16 because the sign of Baptism seals to us on God's part the Promise of Forgiveness By all which it is evident that Baptism is a federal Rite in which God and we do seal and ratifie to one another each others part of the New Covenant and it is this sealing that makes the Covenant obliging to both Parties and gives to each a legal Claim and Title to each others promise and engagement to God it gives a legal Title to all that duty which we promise and to us it gives a legal Title to all those blessings which God promises So that till such time as we are Baptized the New Covenant is not struck between God and us nor have we any right or title to any of the blessings promised in it And though we should perform all that duty which the Covenant requires yet this will not at all intitle us to the blessings it promises For he who engages to walk a Mile for me upon my promise to give him a thousand pounds hath upon his performance a just claim and title to the whole Sum whereas he that walks ten Miles for me without any such promise hath a right to no more than what in strict justice he deserves And therefore since what God promises in the New Covenant infinitely exceeds the merit of what he requires our performance of what he requires doth not at all oblige him to bestow the blessings of his promise on us unless we perform it upon a Covenant-engagement and therefore till this engagement is made and sealed in our Baptism we can have no promise to rely upon and though we should nevâ—r so heartily endeavour to repent we canâ—â—t claim the divine grace and assistance and though we should actually repent we can plead â—o title to remission of sins and though we should pâ—rsevere in well-doing to the end we cannot challenge eternal life And since our endeavours do not merit God's grace nor our repentance his Pardon nor our perseverance eternal life he is no more obliged to bestow these blessings on us by his Iustice than he is by his Promise So that in this state all we have to rely upon is the hope of an extraordinary mercy that God will do for us that which he never promised and bestow upon us that which he is not obliged to But when once we have struck Covenant with him in Baptism we have him fast obliged to us to perform his part of the Covenant whenever we perform ours and our being thus tied together as one party in one and the same Covenant by this federal Rite of Baptism is that which makes us one Catholick Church or Community For our admission into this New Covenant which is the Churches Charter is our admission into the Church it self and it is by being intituled to all the blessings that belong to Christians in common by vertue of the New Covenant that we become Members of the Christian Community And hence we are said to be Baptized into the body or Church of Christ 1 Cor. 12.13 because Baptism which is our admission into the Christian Covenant is only in other words our admission into the Christian Church which is nothing but the Body of Christian People joyned and confederated by the New Covenant Fourthly The Church or Kingdom of Christ is one universal Society of all Christian People incorporated by the New Covenant in Baptism under Iesus Christ its supreme head And it is this also that makes all Christian People one Body and Society because they are all united under one and the same supreme head and Governour For as several neighbouring Congregations are called in Scripture one Church as I shall shew hereafter because they were all under the Government of one and the same Bishop so all the Churches under all the Bishops in the World are in Scripture called one Church because they are all under one Governour even Iesus Christ the supreme Bishop of our souls And accordingly the Apostle tells us that as there is but one body i. e. one Church so there is but one Lord or supreme Governour of that Church Eph. 4.4 5. and in Col. 1.18 he tells us that Christ is the head of this body the Church and again Eph. 5.23 that the Husband is the head of the Wife even as Christ is the head of the Church For Christ being Mediator of the Covenant by which we are incorporated into a Religious Society it must be under him as our immediate head and Governour that we are incorporate by it because as he is Mediator of it for God his Office is to govern us for and under God according to the terms and conditions of it Fifthly The Church or Kingdom of Christ is one universal Society of all Christian People distributed into particular Churches which distribution is made for the convenience of divine Worship For the Catholick Church being a vast Body composed of infinite parts which are separated from each other by vast distances of place it is impossible for it to celebrate the Offices of Divine Worship in any one Assembly or Congregation At first indeed the whole Catholick Church was only a single Congregation but this in a little time encreased and multiplied so fast that they could no longer exercise the Publick Worship of God together in one place or Assembly
and therefore the first distribution of it was into several Congregations which in Scripture are called by the name of Churches as being similar parts of the Catholick Church even as every breath of Air is called Air and every drop of water water For thus those Believers who were wont to assemble in any one particular house to worship God together are frequently called Churches as for instances the Church in the house of Priscilla and Aquila Rom. 16.5 The Church in the house of Nymphas 1 Cor. 16.19 The Church in the house of Philemon Col. 4.15 In which houses in all probability there was an upper Room Consecrated and set apart according to the Custom of the Jews for divine Worship in which upper Rooms not only the Believers of the Family but several other neighbouring Christians were wont to assemble for the publick exercise of Divine Worship And so where ever the Scripture speaks of several Churches in the same Country as for instances the Churches of Iudea Gal. 1.22 of Samaria and Galileâ— Acts 9.31 it is evident that by these Churches no more is meant but only the several Congregations of Believers in those several Churches But these Congregations growing numerous there was a second distribution made of them by which many of those Congregations neighbouring upon one another were collected into one body under one head or Bishop who was the common guide and Pastor of all the Members whether Lay or Clergy appertaining to them And these Collections of several Congregations under their several Bishops or Governours are in Scripture also frequently called Churches for thus for instance the Church of Corinth contained in it several Congregations and therefore though in the Dedication of his Epistle the Apostle calls it the Church of God in the singular number which is at Corinth 1 Cor. 1.2 yet in the Epistle he enjoyns that the women should keep silence in the Churches 1 Cor. 14.34 which is a plain Evidence that in that Church there were several Churches or Congregations and so also we read of the Churches of Asia and Syria Cilicia and Macedonia all which were large Countries and did without doubt contain in them several Congregations of Christians and thus also we read of the Church of Ierusalem in the singular number and so of Antioch Ephâ—sus c. which Churches doubtless consisted of several Congregations in and about thâ—se Populous Cities which were all united into one body under the care and inspection of one Bishop or Governour Now as the first distribution of the Catholick Church into distinct Congregations was made for the convenience of Worship it being impossible for the whole Church when it began to encrease and enlarge it self to celebrate the divine Offices by the Ministry of one and the same Pastor so this second dâ—stribution of it into particular Churches consisting of several Congregations was made for the convenience of Government and Discipline it being impossible for the whole Church to maintain its Order Government and Discipline under the single inspection of any one Bishop or Governour But yet notwithstanding thâ—se distributions the Churches unity still remains for as the Empire was but one notwithstanding that for the convenience of Society and Government it was distributed into several Cities and Regions and those into several Provinces because they were all incorporated together under one Civil head the Emperor so the Church is but one though for the convenience of Worship and Government it be distributed into several Congregations and those into several particular Churches or Episcopacies because they are all incorporate under one spiritual Head even Jesus Christ the supreme Bishop and Pastor of our Souls Sixthly It is the universal Society of all Christian People distributed into particular Churches under lawful Governours and Pastors and it is this indeed that constitutes them distinct Churches viz. their being joyned and united together under distinct Pastors and Governours For thus a single Congregation is a distinct Church because all the Members of it do locally Communicate together in all the Offices of Divine Worship administred to them by a distinct Pastor and so also a Collection of several Congregations is a distinct Church because they all participate together of the direction and conduct of a distinct Governour For as I shewed before the reason of these distributions of the Catholick Church first into single Congregations was the Convenience of Worship and then into several Collections of several Congregations was the Convenience of Government and therefore since that which serves the convenience of Worship is the having distinct Pastors to administer it and that which serves the convenience of Government is the having distinct Rulers to exercise it it hence necessarily follows that that which makes a Congregation a distinct distribution of the Catholick Church must be its worshipping together under a distinct Pastor and that which makes a Collection of Congregations a distinct distribution of the Catholick Church must be its being united together under a distinct Governour because without their Pastor or their Governour they want the formal reason of their being distributed into distinct Churches And indeed there is no Church whatsoever whether it be a single Congregation or a Collection of Congregations can act as a Church without a Pastor or Governour No Congregation can lawfully communicate in the publick Offices of Divine Worship without a lawful Pastor to administer it no Collection of Congregations can lawfully exert any act of Church-Government without having an authorized Governour to exercise it For the administration of all Church-Offices is committed by our Saviour into the hands of the Churches Officers it is to them that he hath given the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven i. e. Authority to admit or exclude or readmit men into the Communion of the Church It is they alone whom he hath made the Keepers of the Seals of the New Covenant viz. Baptism and the Lord's Supper they alone whom he hath authorized to teach the Gospel to bless the People and to offer up the Publick Prayers of Christian Assemblies And these are the proper acts of a Church considered as a Church so that without Pastors or Governours there is no Church can perform any of those acts that are proper to a Church and therefore since all action proceeds from the Essence of the Agent Pastors and Governours without which Churches as such cannot act must necessarily be essential to Churches and hence the Apostle tells us that the great purpose for which Christ ordained Apostles Prophets Evangelists and Pastors and Teachers was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the compacting or joyning together the Saints as one body in Church-Communion and Society Eph. 4.11 12. and hence also you find the Churches of Asia following the number of the Angels or Rulers of them Rev. 1.20 which plainly implies that therefore they were seven distinct Churches because they had seven distinct Rulers or Bishops and therefore though the Ordination of Pastors and
Bishops is not consined to the Ministry of any particular Church but extends to the Ministry of the Church Catholick for so S. Paul Whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas all are yours and you are Christ's that is they are all Ministers of the Catholick Church in common of which you are Members and as such you have all a share in them 1 Cor. 3.22 23. yet it is the particular application of this their general capacity to this or that particular number of Christians or Congregations of Christians that constitutes them particular Churches and being first authorized Ministers of the Catholick Church they carry along with them into the particular Church they are sent to all that Church-Authority and Power by which it acts and operates as a Church So that without Pastors or Governours particular Churches are nothing but so many Bodies without Souls to animate and act them and therefore as in natural Bodies the form that acts them doth also constitute their Kind and Species so in these Ecclesistical Bodies the Pastors and Governours that move and act them as Churches do also constitute them Churches What these lawful Pastors and Governours are I shall have occasion to discourse hereafter when I come to treat of the Ministers of Christ's Kingdom it being sufficient at present to shew the necessity of them to the constituting particular Churches Seventhly The Church is one universal Society of all Christian People distributed into particular Churches holding Communion with each other by holding Communion with each other I mean owning each other as parts of the same body and admitting each others Members as occasion serves into actual Communion with them in all their Religious Offices It is true in the Primitive Churches there were sundry prudential acts of Communion pass'd between them such as their formed and communicatory Letters by which the holy Bishops gave an account to each other of the state and condition of their respective Churches and consulted each others judgment about them but these were not at all essential to that Communion which they were obliged as true Churches to maintain with one another All the Communion which they are obliged to as they are similar parts and distributions of the Catholick Church is that they should not divide into separate Churches so as to exclude each others Members from Communicating in each others Worship when ever they have occasion to travel from one Church to another For so long as there is no Rupture between distant Churches no declared disowning of each other no express refusal of any act of Communion to each others Members they may be truly said to maintain all necessary Communion with each other And that this Communion is absolutely necessary between all those particular Churches into which the Catholick Church is distributed will evidently appear from these four considerations First that by Baptism as was shewed before all Christian People are made Members of the Catholick Church and by being made Members of it they are all obliged to Communicate with it for how can they act as parts of the whole that hold no Communication with the whole They who are Members of any Society have not only a Right to communicate in all the common Benefits of it but also an Obligation to communicate in all common Offices of it and therefore since by Baptism we are made Members of the Catholick Church or Society of Christians we are thereby not only entituled to partake with it in all its Priviledges but also obliged to joyn with it in all its Offices But then secondly it is farther to be considered that the Catholick Church being all distributed into particular Churches we can no otherwise communicate with it than by communicating with some particular Church for how can we communicate with the whole that is all distributed into parts without communicating with some part of the whole And since the whole is nothing but only a Collection of all the parts what Communion can they hold with the whole who hold no Communion with any part of it So long therefore as there is any such thing as a visible Catholick Church upon Earth we are obliged by our Baptism unless necessity hinder us to maintain a visible Communion with it and so long as this Catholick Church is all distributed into so many particular visible Churches we cannot visibly communicate with it unless we communicate with some one of those particular Churches For how can we be in Communion with the whole body when we are out of Communion with all the parts unless we can find a body to communicate with without all its parts or some universal Church without all particular Churches But then thirdly it is also to be considered that as we cannot Communicate with the universal Church without Communicating with some particular one so neither do we Communicate with the universal Church by Communicating with any particular one unless that particular one be in Communion with the Church Universal For if I cannot communicate with the whole without being in Communion with some part of the whole it is impossible I should communicate with the whole unless I communicate with some part that is in Communion with the whole It is as possible for a Finger to communicate with a body by being joyned to an Arm that is separated from the body as it is for a Christian to Communicate with the Church Catholick by being joyned to a Church that is separate from the Church Catholick But then fourthly and lastly There is no particular Church can be in Communion with the Catholick that separates it self from the Communion of any particular Church that is in Communion with the Catholick For they who separate from any part of any whole must necessarily separate from the whole because the whole is nothing but all the parts together and it is a contradiction to say that they who are separated from any one part are yet united to all How then is it possible for any Church to separate it self from the Communion of any other Church which is a true part of the Church Catholick without separating it self from the Communion of the Church Catholick it self since the Church Catholick is nothing but a Collection of all true Churches and to be at the same time united to all true Churches and separated from one true Church is the same absurdity as to be separated from all true Churches and yet united to one In short the Catholick Church is one by the Communion of all its parts and therefore they who break Communion with any one part must necessarily disunite themselves from the whole For when two Churches separate from one another it must be either because the one requires such terms of Communion as are not Catholick or because the other refuses such as are Now that Church which requires sinful or uncatholick terms of Communion doth thereby exclude not only one but all parts of the Catholick Church from its Communion because they
with each other And this being the standing Government and Discipline of the Catholick Church no particular Church or Community of Christians can refuse to communicate in it without dividing it self from the Communion of the Church Catholick I say refuse to Communicate in it because it is possible for a Church to be without this Government and Discipline which yet doth neither refuse it nor the Communion of any other Church for the sake of it A Church may be debarred of it by unavoidable necessities in despite of its power and against its consent and under this circumstance I can by no means think such a Church to be separated from the Church Catholick it is indeed an imperfect and defective part of the Catholick Church and if this defect of it be any way owing to its own negligence it is a very great fault in it as well as an unhappiness But though this instituted Government is necessary to the perfection of a Church yet it doth not therefore follow that it is necessary to the being of it For even in the Jewish Church wherein all things were determined by divine institution even to the minutest Circumstances there were sundry notorious deviations from that Institution which yet did not un-church them It was a great deviation in them to offer Sacrifice in their High Places after God had determined them to Sacrifice only at the Temple at Ierusalem It was another great deviation in them to make Priests out of other Families after God had determined them to the Family of Aaron and yet it is certain that neither the one nor the other did un-church them And if these deviations from divine Institution which were the effects of their negligence did not yet un-church them it is not to be imagined that such deviations from it as are the pure effects of necessity should un-church others For though no necessity can dispence with the Eternal Laws of good and evil because the observance of them depends wholly upon our Wills and there is no such necessity can happen to us as can put them out of the power of a willing mind yet as for positive Institutions there are a thousand necessities may occur any one of which may render them wholly unpracticable and then no man can be obliged to do that which is impossible as for instance the whole Family of Aaron might have been extinct and if it had it is evident that positive institution by which God required the Jews to chuse their Priests out of the Family of Aaron must have been wholly unpracticable and consequently the Obligation of it must have for ever expired and they must have been obliged notwithstanding that positive Institution either wholly to have dropt their Priesthood and with that their Publick Worship which was much more necessary to them than that their Priests should be all of such a Family or to have chosen their Priests out of other Families of the Tribe of Levi and if in this exigence they had done the later there is no doubt but that the Divine Providence which created the necessity must thereby have designedly dispensed with its own institution and so have left them free to make Priests out of other Families And by the same reason when ever the divine Providence doth by unavoidable necessity deprive any Church of its Episcopacy it thereby for the present at least and whilst the necessity continues releases it from the obligation of the Institution of Episcopacy and allows it to administer its Government and Disscipline by a Parity of Presbyters And therefore so long as it doth not renounce the Episcopacy but still continues in Communion with other Churches that enjoy it it ought to be look'd upon and communicated with as a true Member though a maimed one of the Church Catholick For the Catholick Church never denied her Communion to any Christian or Community of Christians upon any unavoidable deviation from positive Institution It was without doubt as great a deviation from positive Institution for Lay-men to Baptize as for a Parity of Presbyters to Govern or Ordain c. and yet in cases of necessity the Catholick Church always allowed the Baptism of Lay-men as deeming Baptism in it self more necessary than the administration of Baptism by persons in Holy Orders and therefore where such persons could not be had she thought meet rather to admit that Lay-men should administer it than to suffer such as were qualified for it to die unbaptized And why may we not reasonably suppose that the Catholick Church will admit Presbyters to Govern and Ordain where there are no Bishops to be had since it hath admitted Lay-men to Baptize where there are neither Bishops nor Presbyters to be had Since the later is as great a deflection from positive Institution as the former And if the Catholick Church may be reasonably presumed to allow it in such necessary cases we must acknowledge either that she hath not Authority enough to provide against her own necessities which supposes her to be very defective or that her allowance is sufficient to authorize such persons to Rule and Ordain as well as to Baptize in case of necessity as are not authorized by positive Institution But though a Community of Christians may be a true part of the Catholick Church and in Communion with it though it hath no Episcopacy yet it is plain case that if it rejects the Episcopacy and separates from the Communion of it it thereby wholly divides it self from the Communion of the Catholick Church For whether Episcopacy be of divine Institution or no this is matter of fact granted on all hands that for twelve hundred years at least all those Churches into which the Catholick Church hath been distributed have been subject to the Episcopal Government and Discipline and therefore they who now separate themselves from the Episcopal Communion as such must in so doing separate themselves from the Communion of all Churches for twelve hundred years together and then either all those Churches must be out of the Communion of the Catholick Church and consequently during all that time there must be no such thing as a visible Catholick Church upon Earth or else those Communities of Christians which separate from all those Churches must be Schisms and Separations from the Catholick Church SECT IX Concerning the Ministers of the Kingdom of Christ. HAving in the foregoing Section treated at large concerning the Nature and Constitution of Christ's Kingdom I shall in the next place shew who the Ministers are by whom he Rules and Governs it And these are all included under a fourfold Rank and Order First The first and supreme Minister by which Christ rules his Kingdom is the Holy Ghost Secondly The second and next to him are the Angels of God. Thirdly The third are Princes and Civil Governours Fourthly The last are the Bishops and Pastors of the Church I. The supreme Minister by which Christ rules his Kingdom is the Holy Ghost or
their visible profession of Christianity have actually submitted themselves to the Scepter of Christ have yet together with Christianity espoused the Interest of sundry Antichristian Principles in pursuance of which they have been as inveterate Enemies and Persecutors of the truth as it is in Iesus as any of the Heathen Kings or Emperors yet these also notwithstanding their male-administration are the Subjects and Ministers of our Saviour and it is by his Authority and Commission that they Reign and by his Omnipotent Providence that all their wicked designs and actions are over-ruled to gracious ends and purposes so that all the Sovereign Powers of the Earth are subjected by God to the Dominion of our Saviour and in their respective Kingdoms and Empires are only his Substitutes and Vicegerents for so we are told not only that all judgment is committed to him and that all power is committed to him in heaven and earth and that he is Heir of all things and hath power over all flesh but also that he is King of Kings and Lord of Lords the only Potentate the head of all Principality and Power and the Prince of all the Kings of the Earth vid. P. 810. and so the Fathers of the Council of Ariminum tell Constantius the Arrian Emperor that it was by Christs Donation that he held his Empire 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by him i. e. Christ thou art appointed to Reign over all the World upon which account Liberius advises him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 do not fight against Christ who hath bestowed this Empire upon thee do not render him Impiety instead of Gratitude and to the same purpose Athanasius tells us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. that Christ having received the Throne hath translated it from Heathen to holy Christian Kings to return them back to the House of Iacob So that both from Scripture and the current Doctrine of the Primitive Church it is evident that all the Sovereign Powers upon Earth are subjected to our Saviour and are only the Ministers and Viceroys of his universal Kingdom But for the farther prosecution of this Argument I shall shew in the first place that by this their subjection to Christ they are not deprived of any natural Right of their Sovereignty and secondly that they are obliged by it to certain Ministries in the Kingdom of Christ. First That by their subjection they are not deprived of any natural Right of their Sovereignty for when our Saviour pronounced the Sentence Give unto Cesar the things that are Cesars he thereby renewed the Patent of Sovereign Powers and reinvested them in all the natural Rights of their Sovereignty which doubtless are included in the things that are Cesars for upon the Pharisees asking him that captious question Is it lawful to pay Tribute to Cesar He doth not answer yes it is lawful which yet had been a sufficient reply to their Question but calls for a Tribute Peny and having asked them whose Image and Superscription that was upon it and being answered Cesars he returns them an Answer much larger than their Question Give unto Cesar the things that are Cesars i. e. it is certain that you are obliged not only to pay Tribute to Cesar but also to render him whatever else is due to him by vertue of his Sovereign Power for Sovereign Power being immediatly founded on the Dominion of God hath from thence these two unalienable Rights derived to it to which all the essential Rights of Sovereignty are Reducible First to Command in all things as it judges most convenient for the publick good where God hath not Countermanded for the Power of Sovereigns descending from God can only be limited by God or themselves for if they are limitable by any other Power they are Subjects to that Power and so can no longer be Sovereigns and if they are limitable only by God or themselves then where they are not limited either by God or themselves they must necessarily have a right to command Secondly The other unalienable Right that is derived to them from God is to be accountable only to God for by deriving to them Sovereign Power God hath exalted them above all Powers but his own and therefore since no Power can be accountable but to a superiour Power and since Sovereigns have no Superiour Power but God it is to God only from whom they received their Power that they are accountable for the administration of it These therefore are the natural Rights of Sovereign Powers and these Rights remain intire and inviolate in them notwithstanding their subjection to the Mediatorial Scepter of our Saviour as I shall endeavour to shew in the particulars First Therefore by this their subjection to Christ they are not deprived of their natural Right of Commanding in all cases as they shall judge most convenient for the publick Good where God hath not countermanded them For the Christian Religion is so far from any way retrenching the power of Princes that it abundantly confirms and enforces it by requiring us to submit to every Ordinance of man for the Lords sake to be subject to the higher Powers and that not only for wrath but for conscience sake to submit to Principalities and Powers and to obey Magistrates to render Tribute to whom Tribute is due Custom to whom Custom Fear to whom Fear Honour to whom Honour i. e. to submit to all the lawful impositions of our Princes whether it be of Taxes or of any other matter whatsoever and in all the New Testament there is only one limitation made of our obedience which is a natural and eternal one and that is that we ought to obey God rather than Man that is when Mans Command and Gods do apparently clash and interfere with each other for in this case the Magistrate hath no Right to be obeyed because his Will is countermanded by a Superiour Authority by which Exception this general Rule is confirmed that in all cases whatsoever whether Temporal or Spiritual Civil or Ecclesiastical Sovereign Powers have an unalienable right to be obeyed For if their Right to be obeyed in the Kingdom of Christ extended only to Civil and Temporal causes their Authority would be very much lessened and Retrenched by their subjection to our Saviour since before their subjection to him it undoubtedly extended to all causes whatsoever because being Sovereign under God it could have no other bounds or limits but what God had set to it and therefore since before their subjection to Christ God had bounded their Authority by no other Law but that of Nature it must either be made appear that the Law of Nature did then limit their Authority only to Civil causes which I am sure is impossible or it will necessarily follow that it extended also to Spiritual and Ecclesiastical and if it did so then it must do so still unless it be made appear that Christianity hath retrenched and lessened it It is true Christ hath erected a standing form of
Subjection to Christ to render his Church is to Fence and Cultivate its Peace and good Order either by wholsom Laws of their own or by permitting and requiring it when occasion requires to make good Laws for it self and if need be by inforcing 'em with Civil Coercions for so when the Church was either broken by Schisms or corrupted by Errors and disorderly Customs it was always the practice of Christian Kings and Emperors even from the time that they became Christians to restrain and give a check to those Divisions and Disorders either by their own Royal and Imperial Edicts or by convening the Ecclesiastical Governors to Councils there to consult and agree upon such good Laws and expedients as the present necessities of the Church required and because these Laws being grounded upon mere Spiritual Authority could as such be inforced by no other Penalties than Spiritual which by bold and obstinate Offenders were frequently despised and disregarded therefore those holy Kings and Emperours thought themselves obliged as they were the Ministers of Jesus to strengthen and reinforce 'em with temporal Sanctions and Penalties by which means they became the Laws of the Empire as well as of the Church Of all which I have given sufficient Instances and all this was no more than what they were obliged to by vertue of their Subjection to Christ for being subjected to him they are his Viceroys in the World and do Reign and Govern by his Authority and since their Authority is his they must be accountable to him if they do not imploy it for him in Ministring to the necessities of his Church and Kingdom and therefore if when it is in their power to check a prevailing Schism or Corruption in the Church by wholsom Laws and Edicts they refuse or neglect to do it they must doubtless answer to him from whom they received their power and who being himself the Supreme Head of the Church hath constituted 'em its Guardians and Nursing-Fathers III. Another of those Ministries which Princes are obliged to render his Church is to Chasten and Correct the irregular and disorderly Members of it for though there are Spiritual Rods and Corrections which Christ hath solely committed to the Spiritual Government and which if men understood and considered the dire effects and consequences of 'em are sufficient to restrain and keep in awe the most obstinate Offenders yet when men are stupified in sin and do feel nothing but only what pains or pleases their bodies these Spiritual Corrections are insignificant to 'em they being such as make no impression on their corporeal Senses and so when men are hardened in Schism or Heresie to be sure they will despise the Ecclesiastical Rods as being confidently perswaded that they cannot be justly applied to 'em and that where they are applied unjustly they are only so many Spiritual scare-crows that can only threaten but not hurt 'em and therefore in these cases the Secular Powers are obliged by vertue of their Subjection to Jesus to second the Spiritual with the Temporal Rod and to awe such offenders with corporeal corrections as are fearless and insensible of the Censures of the Church And conformable hereunto hath been the constant practice of all good Kings and Emperors even from their first Conversion to Christianity as might easily be demonstrated by innumerable Instances out of Ecclesiastical History for they not only made Laws inforc'd with temporal Penalties for the regulation of the Clergy as well as Laity not only commanded and obliged their Bishops in case of notorious neglect to execute the Church Censures on the Schismatical Heretical and disorderly of both sorts but when they found those Spiritual Executions ineffectual they very often seconded 'em with temporal such as pecuniary mulcts Imprisonments and Banishments and though in the case of error and false belief they were always very tender and gentle yet whenever they found men busily propagating their Errors into Sects and Divisions to the disturbance of the Churches peace they thought themselves obliged to restrain their petulancy with temporal Chastisements And indeed as they are the Vice-roys of our Saviour they are ex officio the conservators of the peace of his Kingdom and stand obliged to exert that Authority he hath devolved upon 'em in the defence of its Unity and good Order which in many cases they can no otherwise do but only by restraining the Schismatical and disorderly with the terror of temporal corrections so that as well in the Church as in the Civil State they are the Ministers of God to us for our good and therefore if we do that which is evil we have just cause to be affraid for they bear not the Sword in vain for they are the Ministers of God Revengers to execute wrath upon them that do evil Rom. 13.14 IV. And lastly Another of those Ministries which Princes are obliged to render to Christ's Church by vertue of their subjection to him is to make good provision for the Decency of its Worship and for the convenient maintenance of its Officers and Ministers to take care that it hath decent and commodious places set apart for the publick Celebration of its Worship and that those places be supplied with such Ornaments and Accommodations as are sutable to those venerable Solemnities that are to be performed in them that so its Worship may not be exposed to contempt by the slovenliness and Barbarity of its outward appendages and this is the clothing of the Church which as it ought not on the one hand to be too Pompous and Gaudy that being naturally apt to distract and Carnalize the minds of its Votaries and to divert their attention from those spiritual exercises wherein the life and soul of its Worship consists so neither ought it on the other hand to be sordid and nasty that being as naturally apt to prejudice and distaste men against it and to create in their minds a loathing and contempt of it Now the furnishing the Church with such decent Places and Ornaments of Worship as do become the grave Solemnities of a spiritual Religion being a matter of Cost and Charge must necessarily belong to the Civil Powers who alone can lay Rates upon the Subject and have the sole Command and disposal of the publick Purse and therefore by vertue of their subjection to Christ they are obliged to take care that such Religious Places and Ornaments be provided as the Decency and convenience of his Worship do require And then as for the Ministers and Officers of his Church they are under the same Obligation to take care that they whose Office it is to serve at the Altar should live upon the Altar and that according to the different stations and degrees wherein they are placed that so they may neither be necessitated for a subsistence to involve themselves in secular affairs and thereby to neglect their spiritual Calling which is Burthen enough of all conscience for any one mans shoulders nor be tempted
to base Compliances with the lusts of men and the iniquities of times for a maintenance and that so Religion it self may not be exposed to contempt through their wretched Poverty and indigence who are the Ministers of it and who for want of a fair and honourable subsistence can never obtain Credit and Authority enough to do any considerable good in the World. And this is the food and sustenance of the Church without which it cannot long flourish either in true Knowledge or true Piety but must insensibly wither away and degenerate into Barbarity and Ignorance And accordingly if you consult Ecclesiastical History you will find that it was ever the practice of Pious Princes and Emperors to take care both for the erecting of decent and convenient Churches in all parts of their Dominions for the Celebration of Divine Worship and to furnish them with all the decent Accommodations and Ornaments that were proper thereunto and also for the endowing the Bishops and Pastors of the Church with such honourable subsistences as becomes the Port and Dignity of their several Orders and Offices in which they did no more than what they stood obliged to as they were the Viceroys of Jesus and the foster Fathers of his Church by vertue of which Relation to it they are bound in duty to supply it with decent Raiment and convenient Food And now having explained the subjection of the Sovereign Powers of the Earth to our Lord and Saviour and shewn what those Ministries are which they are obliged to render to him in his Kingdom I proceed to the Fourth and last sort of his Ministers by which he governs his Kingdom viz. the Spiritual or Ecclesiastical Governours in treating of which I shall endeavor these three things First To shew that Christ hath erected a spiritual Government to minister to him in his Church Secondly To shew in what hands this spiritual Government is placed Thirdly To shew what are the proper Ministries of this Government I. That Christ hath erected a spiritual Government in his Church And indeed supposing the Church to be a regular and formed Society subsisting of it self distinct from all other Societies it must necessarily have a distinct Government in it because Government is essentially included in the very notion of all regular Society which without Rule and Subjection is not a formed Society but a confused multitude for what else do we mean by a Humane Society but only such a company of men united together by such and such Laws and Regulations But how can any company of men be united by Laws without having in it some Governing Power to rule by those Laws and exact obedience to them So that we may as well suppose a compleat Body without a Head as a Regular Society without a Government Now that the Church is a Regular Society utterly distinct from all Civil Society is as evident as the truth of Christianity which all along declares and Recognizes the Law or Covenant upon which it is founded and by which it is united to be Divine and consequently to be superior to and independent upon all Civil Laws and if that which constitutes the Church be Divine Law and not Civil then the Constitution of the Church must be Divine and not Civil for that which makes us Christians at the same time makes us parts of the Christian Church and that which makes all the parts of the Church makes the Church it self which is nothing but the whole or Collection of all the parts together and therefore as we are not made Christians so neither are we made a Christian Church by the Laws of the Commonwealth but by the Laws and Constitutions of our Saviour which were promulgated to the World long before there were any Laws of the Commonwealth to found a Christian Church on for there was a Christian Church for three hundred years together before ever it had the least favour or protection from the Laws of Nations In all which time it subsisted apart from all other Societies and was as much a Church or Christian Society as it is now and as it is now it is only a continued Succession of that Primitive Church and therefore as to the Constitution of it must necessarily be as distinct now from all other Societies as it was then when it subsisted not only apart from but against the Laws and Edicts of all other Societies in the World in short therefore since the Church of Christ is founded on a Charter and incorporated by a Law that is utterly distinct from the Charters and Laws of all Civil Societies it hence necessarily follows that it self is a distinct Society from them all because that which individuates any Society or makes it a distinct body from all other Societies is the Charter or Law upon which it is founded and accordingly our Saviour tells Pilate when he asked him whether he was a King that he was a King indeed but that his Kingdom was not of this world Joh. 18.36 i. e. though my Kingdom be in this World yet is it not of the World for neither are the Laws of it Humane but Divine nor the powers of it external but invisible nor the Rewards and Punishments of it temporal but Spiritual and eternal From the whole therefore these two things are evident First That Government is Essential to formed and regular Societies Secondly That the Church of Christ is in the Nature and Constitution of it a formed and regular Society distinct from all other Societies from both which it necessarily followeth that it must have a distinct Government included in the very essence and being of it And accordingly in the New Testament besides the Civil Magistrates we frequently read of Spiritual and Ecclesiastical Governors so Heb. 13.17 there is mention made of the Rulers that watch for our souls and a strict injunction to obey and submit our selves to 'em and so again in the 7th and 24th Verses and in 1 Tim. 5.17 The Apostle speaks of the Elders that Rule well who are to be accounted worthy of double Honour And indeed the Greek Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies a Bishop or Overseer doth in Scripture always import a Ruler or Governour Vid. Hammond Acts 1. Note 1. and therefore being applied as it is frequently in the New Testament to a certain Order of Men in the Christian Church it must necessarily denote 'em to be the Rulers and Governors of it and this power to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. Oversee and Rule and Govern the Church was derived to 'em from Christ the Supreme Bishop of our Souls even by that Commission he gave 'em John 20.21 As the Father hath sent me so send I you i. e. so I Commission you with the same Authority in kind to Teach and Govern in my Kingdom as I my self have received from the Father and accordingly as Christ is called the Pastor or Shepherd which name imports Authority to Govern his Flock for
it a great many years after for so Ignatius who was his Cotemporary in his Epistle to that Church stiles him Polycarp your Bishop and earnestly exhorts his Presbyters and Deacons as well as the Laity to be subject to him and Irenaeus who personally knew him hath this passage concerning him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Polycarpus was not only instructed by the Apostles and did not only converse with many of those who had seen our Lord but by the Apostles who were in Asia was made Bishop of Smyrna Euseb. Hist. l. 4. c. 15. and in their Encyclical Epistle of his Martyrdom the whole Church of Smyrna stile him Bishop of the Catholick Church of Smyrna ibid. So also Polycrates Bishop of Ephesus who was thirty eight years old when Polycarp suffered tells us that he was Bishop and Martyr in Smyrna Euseb. Hist. l. 5. c. 24. And the same is attested by Tertullian Eusebius and S. Ierom and indeed by all Ecclesiastick antiquity so that it is a plain case that one of these Angels to whom S. Iohn writes was Bishop of the Church whereof he stiles him the Angel and since one was so to be sure all were so especially considering that very near if not at the very time when these Epistles were written we have certain accounts that there were Bishops actually presiding in these seven Churches So within twelve years after these Epistles were written Ignatius in his Epistle to the Ephesians makes mention of Onesimus their Bishop whom he exhorts them all as well Presbyters and Deacons as Laity to obey That there was also at the same time a Bishop in Philadelphia is abundantly evident from Ignatius his Epistle to that Church though he doth not name him and about the same time Carpus was Bishop of Thyatira as the ancient Roman Martyrology testifies and Segasis of Laodicea Vid. Euseb. Hist. lib. 4. c. 25. And Melito Bishop of Sardis ibid. And as for the Church of Pergamus Paraeus in his Commentary on Chap. 2. of the Revelations proves out of Aretas Caesariensis that Antipas that faithful Martyr mentioned Rev. 2.13 was Bishop of it immediately before the Angel of that Church to whom S. Iohn wrote and that that Angel was one Gaius who as he proves out of Clemens immediately succeeded Antipas in the Episcopal Chair Since therefore it is apparent that at the writing these Epistles to these seven Churches there was a Bishop actually presiding in one of them and that about the same time there were Bishops presiding also in all the rest there can be no colour of Reason to doubt but that all those Churches had Bishops in them when S. Iohn wrote to them and if so to be sure those Bishops being the Governours of those Churches and having the charge of them committed to them were those very Angels whom S. Iohn wrote to because he all along writes to them as to those who were the Overseers and Governours of their respective Churches and if those Angels were Bishops then in them our Saviour expresly allows and approves of the Episcopal Order since he not only dignifies them with the name of Angels but calls them stars in his own right hand The sum of all therefore is this If our Saviours own institution seconded by the practice of his Apostles upon it and succeeded by the Conformity of all the Primitive Churches to it and this Conformity of theirs authorized by the express approbation of our Saviour be a sufficient argument of the Divine Right of any form of Church-Government then must the Episcopal form which hath all these things you see to plead for it self be of Divine Right and Ordination Having thus shewn at large what that Ecclesiastick or spiritual Government is which Christ hath established in his Church I proceed Thirdly and lastly To shew what are the proper Ministries of this Government in the Kingdom of Christ and these are of two sorts First such as are common to the Bishops or Governours of the Church with the inferiour Officers and secondly such as are peculiar to the Bishops or Governours First Such as are common to the Bishops together with the inferiour Officers of the Church and these are 1. To teach the Gospel 2. To administer the Evangelical Sacraments 3. To offer up the Publick Prayers and Intercessions of Christian Assemblies I. To teach the Gospel which is the first Ministerial Act mentioned by our Saviour in the Commission which he gave his Apostles Go teach all Nations Mat. 28.19 and accordingly the Apostles declare Acts 6.2.4 that preaching the Word was one of the principal imployments appertaining to their Office but yet it is evident that it never was restrained to their Office for not only the Apostles but the seventy Disciples also were Commissioned to Preach the Gospel by our Saviour Luke 10.9 10 11. and even in the Apostles days not only they but Philip also and Stephen and Lucius of Cyrene who were no Apostles did yet preach the Gospel to the World and besides the Apostles there were Prophets Teachers and Evangelists that preached the Gospel as well as they But yet as for the Office of Preaching it is plain that none were ever admitted to it but either by immediate Commission from our Saviour or by Apostolick Ordination or by an immediate Miraculous Unction of the Holy Ghost by which they were inspired with the gift of Preaching and enabled freely and readily and without any study of their own to explain and prove and apply the Doctrines of the Gospel to their Hearers and that either in their own or other Languages as occasion required which gift was the same with that which is called in Scripture the gift of utterance and it being bestowed upon them for the publick benefit and edification of the Church the very bestowing it without any other Ordination was an immediate Mission from the Holy Ghost only they who pretended to it were to be tried by such as had the gift of discerning of Spirits vid. 1 Cor. 12.10 compared with 1 Cor. 14.29 and if upon that trial their pretence was found real they were owned and received without any more ado as authorized Preachers sent by the Holy Ghost and it was upon this extraordinary Mission as it seems very probable that those extraordinary Offices of Prophets and Evangelists were founded both which included Authority to preach the Gospel and therefore upon the Cessation of this extraordinary Mission those Offices ceased immediately with it as depending wholly upon it and from thenceforth none were ever admitted to the Office of Preaching but by ordinary Mission and Ordination from the Apostolate derived to the Bishops and Governours of the Church For though there are some very early instances of learned Lay-men that were admitted to preach upon some emergent occasions and upon special license from the Bishop yet can there no one instance be produced of any that were admitted to the Office of Preaching without Episcopal Ordination II. Another of the
of the Earth For the Scripture not only foretels this universal conquest of his but also describes and delineates the whole method and progress of it which upon laying the Scripture Prophesies together in their proper Train and Series seems to me to be this that the opening of this great Scene of Providence will be the conversion of the Iewish Nation those obstinate and hitherto implacable Enemies of our Saviour whom notwithstanding they have been a thousand times over conquered slaughtered and oppressed and do to this day continue scattered over the face of the whole Earth he hath preserved by a strange and unparalleled Providence for above sixteen hundred years together a distinct and separate people from all the Nations of the Earth to shew his mighty power in them and once more render them what they have always been the Subjects of his miraculous conduct For by a wonderful effusion of his Holy Spirit upon them such as that was on the day of Pentecost though far more extensive he will all of a sudden and in a most surprizing manner open the eyes of this blinded Nation and powerfully convince them of the error and wickedness of their infidelity and malice against him whereupon with one heart and one mind they shall return to the Lord and with penitent tears wash off the guilt of the blood of their Saviour which like an Heir-loom hath hitherto descended upon them from one Generation to another for thus Rom. 11.25 26. I would not brethren that ye should be ignorant of this mystery that blindness in part is hapned to Israel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 till when the fulness of the Gentiles be come in and so all Israel shall be saved as it is written there shall come out of Zion the deliverer c. From whence it is plain that that blindness which then hapned to Israel and which continues on them to this day shall one day be removed viz. about that time when the Conversion of the Gentiles shall be compleated and that then all Israel and not a small remnant of them as at first shall be saved so also 2 Cor. 3.14 16. But their minds are blinded meaning the People of Israel for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the Old Testament nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord the vail shall be taken away where he first supposes that Israel that till then was blinded and that till now remains so should turn unto the Lord and then asserts that then the vail of ignorance which hindered 'em from discerning Christ in the Figures and Prophesies of the Old Testament should be removed from before their eyes And now the Jews being thus converted by the power of our Saviour shall under his victorious Banners be conducted into the Holy Land and repossessed of their ancient native Country whither they shall be close pursued with mighty Hosts of the Eastern Infidels and be reduced by them into imminent danger of utter desolation in which extremity of theirs our blessed Saviour will make bare his Almighty Arm and in a most miraculous manner confound and scatter those mighty swarms of Infidels and crown his Israel with Victory and Triumph The fame of which miraculous events spreading far and wide even to the utmost ends of the Earth shall in a little time convince all the Heathen World of the truth of Christianity and prevail with the Kingdoms of the earth to become the Kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ And now the Kingdom of Christ in this World being arrived to its full extent and growth Truth and Peace Charity and Justice shall reign and flourish over all the Earth Now all the World shall be Christendom and Christendom shall be restored to its ancient Purity For now he who is to come with the Fan in his hand will throughly purge the Floor of his Church from all that Chaff of Superstition and Idolatry Schism and Heresie Irreligion and Immorality with which it is almost totally covered and the true Faith the sincere Piety the generous and unaffected Vertue which Christianity teaches and prescribes shall be the universal livery and cognisance of the Christian World For much about the time of this Conversion of the Iews and that glorious Call of the Gentiles thence ensuing that corrupt and degenerate Faction of Christians whom the Scripture calls the mystical Babylon and the Antichrist and which for several Ages hath been the great Nuisance of Christendom will in these Western parts of the World muster up all its Forces to destroy and extirpate the purer Professors of Christianity by a general persecution in which attempt for some time this Faction will be very prevalent and successful when all of a sudden the Kings and Princes of the Earth who have thitherto been partakers with it in its foul Impostures and corruptions being either awakened by those miraculous Conversions of the Jews and Eastern Gentiles or convinced of their errors by the powerful impressions of his Spirit in whose hands the hearts of Kings are will turn their Swords upon this Antichristian Faction whose Cause they have hitherto espoused and conspire to root it out from off the face of the Earth which being effected the Western Church will universally reform it self according to the Standard of the Church of Ierusalem which will then be in a literal sense the Mother of us all Thus partly by destroying and partly by converting its Enemies our Saviour will yet mightily enlarge the borders of his Kingdom and advance it to the utmost pitch of purity and splendour that this state of mortality will admit and in this happy state he will preserve and continue it for several Ages till a little before the commencement of the General Iudgment at which time the Devil who had been hitherto chained up will be loosed again to work in the Children of disobedience to excite them to delude and deceive the World again and to persecute the sincere Professors of Christianity with incessant cruelties when all of a sudden and while they are securely triumphing in the success of their Villanies they shall be surprized with the Day of Judgment which like a Thief in the night shall come upon them and put an end to all their mischiefs for ever II. Another of those Regal Acts which he is yet to perform is to destroy Death the last Enemy by causing a general Resurrection of the Dead which being one of the great Articles of our Creed I shall insist more largely upon it and endeavour First To prove the certainty of the Fact and Secondly To explain the manner how it will be performed I. I shall endeavour to prove the certainty of the Fact viz. that our Saviour shall raise the dead which is as plainly and frequently asserted in holy Scripture as any Proposition contained in it for so 2 Cor. 4.14 we are assured that God will