beginning is very evident Our blessed LORD when he began with his Ministry to lay the Foundations of the new Jerusalem the Gospel Church what could be more plainly distinguishing than his chusing the select number of Twelve as one Superiour Order of Ministers and of Seventy whom he sent forth to Preach the Gospel as an Order inferiour to the Twelve Tho' their general Office and Commission as Preachers were both the same which made them of one Body and Society as such but of a different Order and Degree and these as plainly and politically distinguished from the Body of the common Disciples as any one political Society or Company of Men in the World is from another And thus they have been ever since with all the reason in the World taken as a particular Company and Body of Men on the account of their Holy Calling separate and distinct from the Common People and as such have a Government of Christs own Institution proper and peculiar to them I do not think that the exact number of Twelve or of Seventy doth at all concern us Gentiles but that which is in it common both to Jews and Gentiles concerns us as well as them What the Priests were to the Levites that the Twelve were to the Seventy Yea and among the Twelve there seems to be a difference both of Order and Degree Tho' Peter was not the Princeps Apostolorum he was the Primus Discipulorum the Seniour of that School or Collegium Presbyterorum and next in Dignity under Christ his LORD and Master for we find that Peter was the Person unto whom Christ did immediately direct all his Speeches that concerned them in common that when the Twelve or any part of them are mention'd if Peter were one he was always named first Yea and Matthew in his Catalogue does not only name him first but gives him the Title of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which for ought I know is as much as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Praeses Neither tho' this be granted will it at all strengthen or favour the arrogant claim of the Bishop of Rome to be Peter's Successor For Peter himself was call'd the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not with relation to the Church Universal of which Christ alone is the Head but with relation to that particular Society or Collegium of which he was then a Member For when the frame and Oeconomy of that particular Society was dissolved as it was by the Death of Christ Peter was no more a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Primate or President than any of the other Eleven were 2. That it must be always so And great reason there is for this 1. Because Christ hath instituted it by his own practice and example as appears by what hath been now said and what Christ hath once instituted may not by man be abrogated or altered 2. Because there is perpetual need of it I need not descant upon this Doleful Experience tells us to our shame that there is no Society or Body of men in the World that have more need of the Reins of Government than the Ministry Hath every Company of Physicians Chirurgeons Merchants Apothecaries Taylors Drapers Shoemakers Victuallers Vintners Bakers Brick-layers c. need of a Government peculiar to their respective Companies and Professions in the best governed Towns and Corporations I would I could say that Ministers have not much more whose Errours and Miscarriages are of sadder consequence than any of theirs aforementioned If every Minister as such be immediately under Christ as to Government which cannot be unless they had their Commission immediately from him as the Apostles had then is he accountable to none else but is absolute and independent in his Office What grosser principle of Tyranny can there be than this What wider Gate can there be opened to the most Licentious Arbitrariness And in what a case then are the poor Churches This is to pull down one Tyrant and to set up many thousands and to make every Novice a Lord over Gods Heritage Quest 2. By whom must they be ruled Sol. Not by themselves sure that 's plain Anarchy and utterly inconsistent with any Form of Political Government which the Quakers themselves would soon be weary of as in Pensilvania they say they begin to be were they not in despight of their irrational Principles preserv'd from the mischievous consequences of them by the common benefit of the Government they here live under but they must be rul'd by the Authority which God hath set over them and every one both Pastors and People by their own immediate Officers Obey them that have the rule over you and submit your selves Heb. 13.17 And who are they whom Christ hath set to Rule and to Govern in his House but those whom he calls his Stewards his Ministers into whose hands he hath committed the Keys of Government Neither hath he shared the Ruling Power or any part of it between them and the People nor could it have been consistent with the honour of his Wisdom or the Interest and Peace of his Churches to have done it I will give unto Thee not one but both the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven Mat. 16.19 That these are the Keys of Doctrine and Discipline appears by the explication of it in the next words Whatsoever thou shalt bind on Earth shall be bound in Heaven which is the exercise of the Authority given him Neither is this Power of Government given to Peter exclusively nor as a private Disciple but as a publick Minister and publick Officer in the Church of Christ and with him to all the rest of his Brethren in the same Office for them and for their Successors Mat. 18.18 Who is it that Christ means by the faithful and wise Steward Lu. 12.42 Is it not the same that the Apostle means 1 Cor. 4.1 The Ministers of Christ and Tit. 1.7 A Bishop must be blameless as the Steward of God And this is the Steward whom his Lord shall make Ruler over his Houshold to give them their portion of meat in due season So that the Government of his Church is established by Christ in the hands of his Ministers on whom he breathed the Holy-Ghost to qualifie them for and carry them thro' all the work both ordinary and extraordinary whereto he sent them Joh. 20.22 By this it appears in the general in whose hands immediately under Christ the governing power doth lye not in the People but in the Ministers of the Gospel who alone are his Stewards and unto whom at his departure he delivered the Keys of his House and of all the Provisions and Treasures in it And who are sometimes in the New Testament call'd his Ambassadors or Messengers sometimes Bishops or Overseers sometimes Presbyters or Elders sometimes Proestotes or Rulers which are but several Names and Titles given to one and the same sort of men I know no point in Scripture more plainly asserted than this viz. That Christ hath join'd
say if I say any thing did not the sense of my Duty oblige me to accept of the Burthen that is laid upon me and to discharge it with that sincerity and impartiality according to the measure that is given me of God for his Churches Service as doth become one that desires to be found faithful I confess my heart cannot but shrink at the thoughts of entring into this rough and thorny Province this Seat of War where I see so many Parties engag'd and Swords drawn at one another God knows and my Brethren are my Witnesses that this is not a Work of my own seeking nor am I come as an Advocate of any of the contending parties but with an earnest desire and design of Peace and Truth In the prosecution whereof I shall purposely as far as possible decline any use of the sentiments or suffrages of such as have been at sharps on this Argument and confine my self to those Oracles of the divinely inspired and revealed Truth in the Holy Scriptures the Rule which at last we must be determined by if ever we be well determined The word that God this way putteth in my mouth that shall I speak as he shall please to give me understanding and utterance and let those that are otherwise minded consider before they censure Should I pretend to assume the whole Question of Church-government it would swell into a volume whereas I intend only this one short Chapter for what I shall now say on this Subject and therein as little as I can which yet to some perhaps may seem too much and to others too little I shall not spend any time in writing an Encomium of Government either in general or particular which hath been done by many others of the usefulness and necessity whereof the whole rational world is experimentally sensible But of Government there are divers kinds according to the diversity both of the matter and form of it That which we are now to consider is the Ecclesiastical or the Government of the Church and House of God in the World The Apostle tells us There is no Power but of God the Powers that be are ordained of God Whosoever therefore resisteth resisteth the Ordinance of God Rom. 13.1 2. The Powers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Potestates Governments that are amongst men are God's Ordinance tho all the evil ways of climbing into it and male-administration of it or imprudent circumstances in the constitution of it be not of God but of men But if all the Powers and Governments of the world be of God then hath he not left his Church which is his peculiar Kingdom without Government But the Question is not Whether Ecclesiastical Government in the general be jure divino but whether there be any particular Form of this Government that is so and what that Form is This is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Nodus vindice dignus There are some that deny there is any Form of Church-Government appointed of Christ under the New-Testament but that it is left to be modified by the Rules of Human Prudence and Discretion But then such would do well to let us know when and where and to whom the Lord Jesus Christ hath committed this Power of Legislation and establishing the Forms of Government to his Churches 'T is true there are some Circumstantials of Government that are and must be left to the Discretion of Governors to be adapted pro re natâ to the present state of the Governed But if the Essentials of Government be left to the wisdom and will of men then are the Churches in a very ill case Nor do I know how we shall be able to prove That as Moses was faithful in all the house of God as a servant so Christ much more as a son over his own house Heb. 3. begin But that he was so de facto in the business of Government and Discipline as well as in Doctrine and Worship and satisfaction to God as our Redeemer is well enough to be prov'd from the Scriptures Whence I conclude that the Government of the Church is appointed of Christ in the Holy Scriptures in specie as well as in genere Of those that are thus far agreed there are yet divers Opinions and Parties some are for this Form of Government others for that the Reasons of which disagreement are commonly some such things as these 1st An invincible ignorance of the true sense of the Scriptures in this Point and the very mind of Christ and his Apostles in them Charity obliges me to believe that there are very many of most of the contending Parties that would readily and cheerfully acquiesce in the Sentiments of their Opposers could they but overcome the Reasons which they think they have truly and rightly drawn from the Scriptures to be otherwise minded And yet it is most certain that there is gross and affected ignorance enough among the Contenders of all sides And these are the persons that are wont to be most fierce and confident The mind of Christ is in it self but one and can be no more therefore our disagreement about it necessarily concludes our Ignorance or something worse on the one side or the other 2. The natural fondness that men have for their own Ways and Lusts Though there is no Government in the World of so pure a nature or firm a texture or constitution but that it may be abus'd to the service of base ends and private interest yet there are some Modes and Forms of Government that are in themselves more directly accommodated by the Policy of the Compilers and Founders of them to such purposes And such are they especially that are of mens devising and obtruding on the Spiritual Kingdom of Christ For Usurpers be sure will always frame their Laws and Methods in favour of their own Designs And were there nothing else but private Interest and Design among the Parties concern'd that difference that is amongst men on this account must needs be an occasion of contention But much more must such as are acted by Principies of true Conscience and Integrity think themselves bound to protest against all such politick and carnal Forms of Government 3. The Gross Abuse and Degeneracy of a good and well ordered Government The purest and most durable Metal if not well kept will in length of time grow foul and rusty and look very unlike it self and then it will be question'd and quarrell'd at and deny'd to be what in truth it is And the same fate are the best Governments in the World subject to As was the Kingly Government among the Assyrians in the days of Sardanapalus and among the Romans in the days of Tarquinius Superbus And so it hath been of several other Forms of Government amongst men The best and most sacred Constitutions that ever were in the Earth by their abuse have fallen under the Odium and contempt of the more inconsiderate part that are apt to lust after new things and
know not how to restore the old to their Original rectitude as befel the Theocracy of God's own appointment 1 Sam. 8.5 and 7. But were the Argument good from the abuse of a thing against the use of it 't were easy to argue our selves into the grossest Absurdities in Nature Now if we would rightly understand what that Form of Government is that Christ hath chosen for his Churches under the Gospel we must consider what the Subject of the Government is or the matter which is to be inform'd by it 'T is not enough to say the Church which is vox ambigua but we must distinguish Nor is it necessary for me to take notice here of all the Distinctions the Word is capable of or that have been by some others imposed on it As 1. The Church Oecumenical to which the Pope so arrogantly and fasly lays a claim of Supremacy Or 2dly The Church National of which that Eminent Servant of Christ Mr. Baxter hath given so Rational and Scriptural an account and which that I know is not by any one as yet answered Or 3dly The Church Provincial which is the Constitution and Union of the particular Churches within the limits of the Province into one distinct Political Body or Sacred Polity under the general inspection and Authority of one Ecclesiastical Head either single or collective Or 4ly The Presbyterial Classical Collegiate Diocesan c. which I take as Synonimous and includes all the particular Congregations within the bounds of such a Division Or 5ly The Congregational made up of one Pastor with his people and necessary Officers These are the Distinctions given according to the Common Division that hath for Order sake been made of the Church But the only Distinction which I shall now a little animadvert upon is this The Rulers of the Church and the Ruled and shall speak to the Last first The Ruled And herein shall answer these three Questions 1. Who they are they must be ruled 2. By whom they must be ruled 3. By What Laws they must be ruled Q. 1. Who they are that must be ruled S. The Answer in general is what Paul gives loco cit Rom. 13.1 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 every Soul He that is not subject to the good Government of that Political Body civil or sacred whereunto he stands related as a Member and by which he ought to be comprehended is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lawless and Disobedient for whom the Bridle and the Rod of the Law is made and so both Rulers and Ruled are equally subject to the Laws though not the same Laws of Government but according to the different capacities orders and Relation wherein they are placed in the Oeconomy of the Church Though the Rulers and the Ruled cannot be the same sub codem respectu yet in divers respects they may and ought Those that are Rulers of some must be ruled by others So then the Ruled part of which I am first to speak is twofold the Clergy and the Laity or the Ministers and the People according to the duplicity of the Government to which as Church-Members they stand related which is either general and common or special and proper The Rulers and Officers of the Church as those of Armies and Common-wealths or Kingdoms are or ought to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 men under Authority and the Laws of a Polity that is proper to them as such as well as the people whom they govern by the Laws that are fitted for them I say under Authority and that not only and immediately unto Christ but also unto men even such as Christ the Supream Legislator and Lord hath Commissioned to rule for and under him in his Church This seems to me to have been one great mistake and the ground of a thousand more That the Ministers of the Gospel have and hold their Authority in the Church only from Christ in capite so as to conclude an equality and co-ordination of Pastors 'T is true the general Patent and Grant of the Office is originally and immediately from Christ but the particular distribution of Commission is not so but from such hands as are entrusted and authorized by him to bestow it on others and unto whom they that receive it ought to be accountable for their well or male-administration of it All those that are duly qualify'd and call'd to the Ministry are equally Ministers of Christ i. e. one is not more a Minister than another nor meerly as such have they greater power one than another as all men in the World are equally men God's Creatures and partakers of Human Nature But from hence to deny a subordination of one to another in point of Government is to pluck up all Government in the World by the roots and turn the whole Creation into Anarchy and worse than its first Tohn vebohu which is one of the maddest Principles that ever was suggested to the Rational Nature by that grand Author of confusion Let it be considered that the Officers of the Church of Christ or the Clergy as for distinction they are commonly call'd are a particular distinct Company and Society of men as the People or Layity are another and so they ever were and were to be accounted by God's own appointment both under the Old and New-Testament And as it is in all regulated Armies and other secular Governments in the world the Officers are a separate Political Body and Community of themselves distinct from the rest and if so then they ought to have their proper Polity and Government as such a Government peculiar and distinct from that of the common people and which is call'd Hierarchy only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And that it ever hath been and always must be so is not hard to prove 1. That it hath been ever so since Christ hath had a Church upon the Earth I say a Church organically constituted and politically govern'd Such was the Jews under that of the hands of Moses and Aaron That the Ministers under the Old Testament the Priests and Levites were a distinct Body yea and to avoid confusion a distinct Tribe purposely so chosen of God and that they had their distinct Polity and Government of God's own appointing and that with a great deal of caution and particularity even to very minute circumstances in all the Orders Degrees and Courses of their Consecration and Ministration I would think it needless for me to spend time to demonstrate Those that have any acquaintance with the Sacred History of that Church cannot be ignorant of this And this was both the beauty and the strength and security of that Church the Hedge that God made about his Vineyard And as they were a distinct Body as Clergy separate from all the other Tribes so they had their proper Government and Oeconomy the Priests of the House of Aaron the Rulers and the rest of the Levites the Ruled And that it was so under the Gospel too from the
very honourable to him whose Servant he pretends to be especially considering that they could not but know and foresee how tender all Men naturally are in the matters of Honour and Maintenance and of what mischievous consequence the leaving such a Question as this in the dark and undetermined would be That it would involve the Church in endless strifes and quarrels and confusions But will the Lay-Elder lay his Claim to a Maintenance from that word in the Text viz. double Honour taking it for the Honour of Maintenance Let him then read on the next verse there For the Scripture saith Thou shalt not muzzle the Oxe that treadeth out the Corn And the labourer is worthy of his reward The first of these Scriptures you have Deut. 25.4 which the Apostle makes use of 1 Cor. 9.9 And you may see how he there applies it only to the Ministers of the Gospel Those that sow unto the People spiritual things v. 11. That minister about holy things and wait at the Altar v. 13. The other Scripture you have Matth. 10.10 The work-man is worthy of his meat Which are Christ's own words to the Twelve when he sent them forth to Preach the Gospel Here 's never a word of the Ruling Elder in all this nor any provision made for him And this one thing is enough to clear the sense of the precedent verse that there is no such thing as the Ruling Non Preaching Elder intended in it but the double Honour is for those that tread out the Corn and labour in the LORD's Harvest in Word and Doctrine And these are the only Persons spoken of in that 1 Tim. 5.17 So then The Rulers of the People are their Pastors who are to Rule every one over his own particular Flock or Congregation in the things of God and of their Souls who for the ease of their Government and the advantage of their Ministerial work have warrant from Scripture to ordain and appoint Deacons under them and other necessary servile Officers who derive their power immediately from their Pastor are accountable to him and may and ought to be despos'd by him in case of Male-administration as every Captain in an Army Every Mayor in a Corporation every Master in a Family have the proper power over their own Companies Burroughs and Families and all the inferiour Officers in them to dispose and govern them for their good according to the known and common Laws of that Superiour Government under which they live and unto which they themselves are accountable 2. The Rulers of the Pastors or Officers of the Church I am very apprehensive that this is a tender Point wherein I even tremble to think that I must be either sinfully silent or declare my dissent from so many of my dear Brethren whom I know to be otherwise Orthodox Learned Pious and with whom I dare not compare my self But I have said and O that daisy and doleful Experience did not proclaim it to the World to the grief of some and the shame of others that there is no Company or Society of Men in the World that have more need of the strictest Government than the Men of our Function without which we are of all Mankind in this respect the most miserable and the poor Church of Christ in the forelornest case of any of God's Creatures upon Earth But certainly he that hath so provided for the Government of the Kingdoms of the World hath not left his own mystical Kingdom wherein so much of his special interest lies without such a Government as is every way adequate to all the parts and concerns of it He that hath taken such care to inclose and fence out the wild Commons of the World hath not design'd to leave his own Garden uninclos'd Nor his Vineyard without a Hedge about it and a Wine-press and a Tower in it How weak and insatisfactory is this to say that we are all the Ministers of Jesus Christ and Brethren to one another that we have our Commission as Ministers of the Gospel from him tho' not immediately from him which indeed if it were so would alter the case who is the Supream Legislator That we have our Bibles in our hands and therein the unalterable Rules of our administration both in Doctrine Worship and Discipline the Laws by which we are to Govern both our selves and the Churches that we have the promise of the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth and an Unction from the Holy One and know all things that our Office and Work is Sacred and Divine of God and not of Men alas will all this make us Infallible or Absolute and Independent exempt from all Laws and Bonds of an Ecclesiastical Polity were we made the Ministers of Christ to rule and not to be rul'd O that men would consider the dismal consequents of such an Hypothesis which I delight not now to aggravate But if there must be a Government among Pastors consider'd as a distinct Body from the People then it will be said there cannot be an equality the Notion of Co-ordination of Pastors and Churches is subverted this being inconsistent with Government But let wise Men consider what that is that must needs lye at the bottom of this Levelling Principle And yet Government doth not destroy the Equality and Co-ordination of Pastors or Churches as such or per se but only secundum quid or in respect of Order e. g. All the Captains in an Army as Captains are equal so are all the Collonels and all the other Officers that are of one and the same Order but between a Captain and a Collonel there is an inequality And as it is in a well Regimented Army so it is in the Church of Christ which is as an Army with Banners Cant 6.10 And 't is supposed too that this subordination of Pastors and Churches will conclude a necessity of a Supream Papal Head and Governour This I take to be the great stumbling-block the plain sense whereof is but this That if every Minister be not allowed to be a Pope over his own Congregation then there must be one Pope over all the Congregations and Pastors in the Christian World Both which extreams are equally wide from the Truth and perhaps equally pernicious to the Church But to defend the Truth from both the Horns of this Dilemma we will examine what is the true Scripture notions of a Church We find in Scripture that the Churches which the Apostles planted are reckoned by the great Towns or Cities which they chose to begin to gather their Churches in as appears both by the names that are given them and by comparing Act. 14.23 with Tit. 1.5 where the ordinary Elders in every Church is the same with Ordaining Elders in every City Neither do we find any Organical Church of the Apostles founding any where mention'd in the New Testament but it bears the name of the Town or City in which it was besides those Domestick Churches of