Christ speaking in me which to you wards is not weak but mighty who ever is the instrument Christ is the only Preacher of the New Testament and that which is the true Gospel is the ministration of the Spirit for holy men spake as they were moved by the holy Spirit and were first anointed with the Spirit before they preached Judas who preached the word and was not anointed with the Spirit proved a traitor to Christ and who ever preach the word without the Spirit are the successors of Judas and also traitors to Christ 11. The Churches of men have the government of them laid on mens shoulders whether single persons as Pope or Archbishop or combined as the General Councel or a National Assembly but the true Church hath its government laid only on Christs shoulders as the Prophet fore-told Isa 9. Vnto us a child is born a Son is given and the government shall lie on his shoulders and Zech. 6. 12. He shall build the temple of the Lord c. and he shall sit and rule upon his throne for none can rule the true Church but he that built it For if the Church be gathered together in Christ as the true Church is Christ is alwaies in the midst of them and if Christ is ever present with them his own self how cometh it to pass that Christ may not reign immediately over them Wherefore the true Church reckons it sufficient authority that they have Christ and his Word for the ground of their practice and what ever they finde in the word they presently set upon the practice of it and never ask leave either of civil or ecclesiastical powers but the Churches of men will do nothing without the authority of the Magistrate or Assembly though it be never so clear in the word of God For in their Religion they regard the authority of men more then the authority of God 12. The Churches of men are still setting themselves one above another but the assemblies of the true Church are all equal having Christ and the Spirit equally present with them and in them and therefore the believers of one congregation cannot say they have power over the believers of another congregation seeing all congregations have Christ and his Spirit alike among them and Christ hath not anywhere promised that he will be more with one then with another And so Christ and the Spirit in one congregation do not subjected neither are subject to Christ and the Spirit in another congregation as if Christ and the Spirit in several places should be above and under themselves But Christ in each assembly of the faithful is their head and this head they dare not leave and set up a fleshly head to themselves whether it consist of one or many men seeing Antichrist doth as strongly invade Christs headship in many as in one man in a Councel as in a Pope Lastly The churches of men the gates of hell which are sin and death shall certainly prevail against but the true church of Christ though the gates of hell do always fight against it yet they shall never prevail against it as Christ hath promised Mat. 16. 18. Vpon this rock I will build My church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it In these things among other the true Church of Christ differs from the churches of men By which we may clearly see that the true Church is not an outward and visible society or corporation neither can it be pointed out by the finger loe here or loe there seeing it is not confined to any certain place time or person but it is wholly a spiritual and invisible society as I have said that is assembled in the Son and in the Father who are the true pale and circumference of this Church and out of whom no part of it is to be found Now hereupon it will presently be said if the true Church be invisible as you have affirmed then 1. How shall we know it 2. How can we joyn our selves to it To both which I hope I shall return a clear answer And first to this Question How shall we know the true Church seeing it is invisible I answer Just so as Christ the head is known is the church his body known and no other way now Christ is known 1. By the revelation of the Father when Peter confessed Christ to be the Son of the living God Christ told him that flesh and blood had not revealed it to him but his Father now the members of Christ can no more be known without this revelation of the Father then Christ the head of these members seeing the Apostle hath said that as he is so are we in this world so that he had need of other eyes then the world sees withal that would discern the true Church and of another Revelation then any that flesh and blood can make 2. Christ was known by the Spirits resting on him Joh. 1. 33. And I knew him not said John Baptist but he that sent me to baptize with water the same said unto me Vpon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Spirit and I saw and bare record that this is the Son of God After the same manner the Church of Christ is known to wit by the Spirits comming and remaining on it So that whatever people have received the Spirit of Christ of what sort or condition soever they be they are the Church of Christ and they that are destitute of this Spirit are not of the Church 3. Christ was known by the works he did Joh. 10. 37. If I do not the works of my Father believe me not but if I do though you believe not me believe the works that ye may know that the Father is in me and I in him And thus also is the true Church known by doing the works of Christ seeing Christ hath said He that believes in me the works that I do shall he do c. And thus the body of Christ is known by its living the life of the head which is the life of faith and love and the members of Christ are known by their doing the works of the head Thus then you see that though the true Church be spiritual and cannot be known by our outward senses yet we have certain tokens of her spiritual presence whereby we may reckon that in this or that place there be certain of her members As by a natural example though the soul of man in it self be spiritual and invisible and cannot be discerned by any of our senses yet may we have sure tokens of its presence by the effects and operations of the soul in that body wherein it dwels as the exercise of reason understanding discourse c. so likewise the true Church which is invisible in it self may yet be known by some certain signs as by the word of faith which sounds no where but in
Several SERMONS AND DISCOVRSES OF William Dell Minister of the Gospel Sometimes attending both the Generals in the ARMY AND Now Master of GONVIL and CAIUS Colledge in CAMBRIDGE Heretofore published at several times and on several occasions and now gathered in one Volumn for the benefit of the faithful and conviction of the world LONDON Printed for Giles Calvert at the Sign of the Black-Spread-Eagle at the West-end of Pauls towards Ludgate 1652. A Preface to the Reader WE are almost at the end of Bookes these paper works are now preaching their own Funerals whilst they are holding forth the spirit the letter is growen old and is dying into the newness of the spirit and there looks to be found into which all things shall be resolved being restored out of their enmity as into their Original whence they came even Preaching and Preachers Apostles Prophets Evangelists Pastors and Teachers given for the perfecting of the Saints for the edifying of the body of Christ till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ till we come into a spiritual uniformity in Christ being all filled and cloathed with him beyond all external forms which are the rudiments and elements of children with which state there is no uniformity consistent there being in it so many several statures and ages And the Design of Vniformity upon that is from none but Satan to kill Christ whilst he is a Child and stifle him in his swadling cloathes though the pretence be with Herod to give him honour and worship But how vain are these plots upon him who shall subdue all things to himself and swallow up death or the vail a part whereof external forms are into victory and bring forth judgement with triumph He shall swallow up all and rise up out of that which hath swallowed him and been his grave and that have we been and made every thing to be who are now giving up our dead expecting to live in the liberty of of our prisoner whom we see at last to be our Lord and Life We are now by an earthquake and the shaking of the prison beginning to awake and to make to our Prisoners feet as the Jaylor at Philippi did to Paul and Silas his looking for Salvation there waiting when he will lead his Captivity Captive and convert us from being Goales and Tombs to be his City and Temple built of precious stones in whom he will live and walk and cause us to live and walk in him We are giving up our own life which is death finding in these present earthquakes the true life which hath been buryed in us now rising and are with the whole Creation groaning to be found in him giving up all that we thought gain as loss and rejoycing in our decrease seeing his encrease and our dying dayly because he lives And we glory in him who hath wrought us to this to be content to lose our lives that we might find them now that the day is coming when all that will find their life shall lose it and whatsoever comes not into him the fire of destruction shall take hold of it and it shall be thrown with death and hell into the lake The ensuing Treatises have begotten this in me or driven it forth into a Preface or Epistle for which the book came into my hands by a Friends direction which office of love I could not refuse however conscious of my own unworthiness And I cannot dismiss it with so short a Preface having the Author and book in my heart and that venting it self out of its abundance yet not as Solomons fool who hath his heart in his mouth pouring out all that is in it or more then is convenient for an Epistolary Designe which is only to be a signe to acquaint the Reader of what good entertainment there is to be found within It is time now for us to hear of power which is in the Spirit who so long have been opposing it and languishing in flesh in man in forms external in wisdom of words in Ministers Preachers Writers Books Vniversities Moralities Councels Synods Assemblies Civil and worldly Power instead of standing upright and being strong in the Lord and the power of his might we have only exhibited a shell and carcase of Religion and have held out our selves the generation which these last Times by the expresse prediction of the spirit were to bring forth Having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof It hath been the hour and power of Darkness the man of sin his revealing and sitting in the Temple of God and holding forth himself to be God The Spirit hath given this Man large Rope he hath suffered this Absolom the underminer of his Father David his hair to grow and is now coming forth the strong and spread and tall oak where this man is hanging and twisting himself for his destruction He hath been contented to become the stone though precious and the head of the Corner to be rejected by the builders that Satan and all his Kingdom might fall upon him and dash themselves to pieces and he is pleased to make his way through these clouds and to rise more gloriously the King of Israel from under the stuff higher by the head and shoulders then any annointed with the oyl of gladness above his fellows This is the Child set for the fall and rising of many in Israel and a sign to be spoken against Christ the power of God and wisdom of God the foolishness and weakness of man What destructions do we see already made what heaps upon heaps by a Jaw-bone of an Ass the weakness of God stronger then man and the foolishness of God wiser then man How far is the day of the Lord already risen upon the tall Cedars of Lebanon and the oakes of Bashan and the high mountains and Hils upon the high Towers and fenced Wals what ruine upon these how many gallant Ships wrackt how many pleasant Pictures defaced And yet the rest of the trees and ships and Towers the high things which yet stand do not fear nor lay to heart nor begin to stoop and bow of themselves but say we sit as a Queen and shall see no sorrow they see not who is risen They bribe their own consciences as they did the Soldiers least they should speak the truth they are far from asking the question What ayled thee O sea that thou fleddest and thou Jordan that thou wast driven back ye mountains that ye skipped like Rams Tremble thou earth at the presence of the Lord Power belongs to God he puls down one and sets up another How hath he broken the staff of the wicked the Scepter of the rulers how hath hell enlarged her self and what glory and pomp is sent down thither which stand exspecting those by whose hand they were thrown down to come to
forth as the Spirit is manifested in each Now if any shall say How may I know Christs Spirit in these acts and duties from a mans own I answer That as by the Word of God we can judge of all other Words and Doctrines and as by the Faith of Christ we can judge of all other beliefs so by the Spirit of Christ we can judge of all other spirits and can know where is the same spirit and where is a different or a contrary spirit as the members of the body can judge of the one-ness of Spirit that is among themselves The third bond of the true Churches unity is ONE HOPE OF OUR CALLING Even as ye are called in one hope of your calling As all Believers are called by one calling which is the inward and effectual voyce of God to the soul by his Spirit through the Gospel so they are all called into one blessed hope of obtaining the Kingdom and glory of God And no one is called to this hope more then another or hath more interest or share in it then another Fishes that live in the Sea though some be greater and some less yet none hath more interest or share in it then another but all being alike produced in it enjoy it alike and creatures that live on the earth though some be greater and some less yet all enjoy the Sun and Ayr alike and yet nearer the members of the body though of different quantity form and office yet all have alike interest in the head and all its senses and in the soul and all its faculties So all the faithful enjoy Christ alike and in him the Spirit and the Father and no Believer hath more interest in Christ and God then another So that all the faithful are called to the same things and God gives not more nor better things to one then to another but he gives immortality glory eternal life the Kingdom of Heaven which is the inheritance of the Saints or which is all one himself alike to all and makes all to sit alike in heavenly places in Christ and in the Father All the faithful then are equally called to an Vnity of hope and none can hope for greater or better things then another It was a very carnal thing in the Mother of Zebedee's children to desire of Christ That one of her Sons might sit at his right hand and another at his left hand in his Kingdom where all alike sit at his right hand and none at all at his left Indeed in the Kingdoms of men some have greater estates then others and are in higher Honour and Authority and this breeds envie and emulation and strife and distances c. but in the Sons Kingdom and in the Fathers all that are counted worthy to dwell therein do alike inherit all things All things are yours saith Paul And he that overcomes shall inherit all things saith John And the least believer hath no less and the greatest hath no more and this causes unity and peace among them We see what a strong bond of peace and agreement unity of hope is in them that travel together that fight together that labour together and so much more in them who are equally called by God to the Kingdom of God And this is the third bond of the true Churches Vnity Vnity of Hope Now they break this bond of the Churches Vnity that live out of this hope of the Church whose hope is in earthly carnal base things who pretending to be Christians yet live onely in the hopes of men in hopes of worldly profit honour preferment and the attaining and enjoyment of the things of this life which they according to the eagerness of their hopes prosecute mightily by all ways and means These men I say break the Vnity of the Church for what true Vnity can they have with the true Church that live not in unity of hope with it Seeing worldly hopes carry men one way and the hopes of Believers carry them another carnal hopes make men leave God for the world and the hope of Saints make them leave the world for God Wherefore they that differ in their hopes which are their ends must needs differ in their ways and works and so he that lives out of the hope of the Church lives also out of the unity of it The fourth bond of the true Churches unity is ONE LORD The right Church hath not many Lords but One and this one and only Lord is the Lord Jesus Christ And so all the subjects of this Kingdom are fellow servants to one Lord to whom they do owe equal obedience and this also is a strong bond of Vnity For when there are divers Lords there are divers minds and wils and ends and so divers laws and these breed divisions and dissentions and wars among men but where there is but one Lord there is also but one Law and where people live by one Law under one Lord unto whom all are equally subject this breeds peace and union Now the Lordship of the Church is the Royal Prerogative of Christ and no creature must presume to arrogate this honour to himself seeing unto the very Angels he hath not put in subjection this world to come whereof we speak And for men Christ hath charged his own Apostles who if there were any difference among Believers might undoubtedly challenge the preheminence I say Christ hath charged even them on this sort Matth. 23. 10. Be not ye called Masters for one is your Master even Christ but he that is greatest among you shall be your servant That is you may and ought to be servants to one another but not masters and this same doctrine the Apostle James preacheth Jam. 3. 1. My brethren saith he be not many Masters knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation it is not fit for brethren who are equal among themselves to make themselves masters over one another Christ also hath spoken again so plainly to this matter Math. 20. that one would wonder that ever the Beast or his image should dare to arrogate to themselves Lordship over the People of God in so clear a light Ye know saith Christ to the twelve that the Princes of the Gentiles exercise Dominion over them and they that are great exercise authority over them but it shall not be so amongst you he speaks it peremptorily that some Believers should not exercise dominion and authority over Believers no not the greatest over the least all being fellow servants alike under one Lord. Wherefore they that are puffed up in their hearts against their fellow servants might better think thus with themselves why Christ is our Lord as well as theirs and is as much over us as over them and we are not over our fellow servants nor they under us but both of us are equally under Christ and Christ is equally over us both and so Christ hath given us the same laws he hath given them to
wit that we should believe in him and love one another and he expects the same obedience from us as from them and so we are not to command one another but are all alike to be commanded by him It was the evil servant that beat his fellow servants upon hopes of the delay of his Masters coming And this is the fourth bond of the true Churches Vnity Vnity of Lord. Now they break this bond of the Churches Vnity that either make themselves or others Lords over the Church besides Christ and parcel out this one Kingdom of the Son to many Lords to the great dishonour of Christ and dis-union of the Church The Pope was the first that professed himself to be the general Master in the whole Church of God and after the Pope a general Councel took this honour to it self and by degrees this last became as hard yea a harder taskmaster to the Church then the former After when particular Kingdoms fell off from the Pope and his Antichristian Church the mystery of iniquity was not by this means wholly dissolved but only was contracted and brought into a less compass for then the Archbishop made himself general master of the Church in each particular Kingdom as the Pope before had done in all and after the Archbishop rises up a National Assembly as the General Councel after the Pope and each of these in their courses usurp Lordship over the Church of Christ to the sad dissolution of its unity Most evident then it is that during the time of the Apostasie the Church hath been most miserably Lorded even amongst us for the Priest he Lorded it over the People the Arch-deacon over the Priest the Dean over the Arch-deacon the Bishop over the Dean and the Arch-bishop over the Bishop under which woful bondage the Church cried out as Isa 26. O Lord our God other Lords besides thee have had dominion over us And is this bondage of the Church now eased by casting off those strange Lords Yea do not men rather seek to encrease it by setting yet stranger over it whose names are so full of mystery that the common people cannot understand them for now they would have the Classical Presbytery set over the Congregational and the Provincial over the Classical and the National over the Provincial for so it is Voted THAT IT IS LAWFULL AND AGREEABLE TO THE WORD OF GOD THAT THERE BE A SUBORDINATION OF CONGREGATIONAL CLASSICAL PROVINCIAL AND NATIONAL ASSEMBLIES FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CHURCH Now here is mystery and nothing but a certain rising up into the old power under a new name And mark how they prove this subordination of Congregational Classical Provincial and National Assemblies to wit by that Scripture Mat. 18. where it is written If thy brother trespass against thee and will neither hear thy admonition nor councel nor the admonition and councel of other brethren TELL THE CHURCH that is the Congregation of the faithful Now from this place they prove the fore mentioned subordination of Assemblies just as the Pope once proved himself to be above the Emperour to wit because it is written Gen. 1. That God made two great lights the Sun to rule by day and the Moon by night Now if this might be brought about which they design the Church would be so far from being eased of its strange Lords that it should have them exceedingly multiplied for what is a National Assembly but an Archbishop multiplied and what a Provincial Assembly but a Bishop multiplied And a Classical but a Dean and Arch deacon multiplied And thus the former Lords being removed they would in their stead cause the Church to swarm with Classical Provincial and National Lords and would by no means suffer Christs own Kingdom to return to his own Lordship and Dominion And thus whilest they by secular power seek to enforce these Ecclesiastical Lords over the Church they absolutely break in pieces the unity of it even whilst they bear the simple people in hand that they above all other men seek to preserve it seeing the plurality of Lords is alwayes the cause of Schisms and divisions in the Church which can never be one but under one Lord the Lord Jesus Christ The fifth bond of the true Churches Vnity is ONE FAITH The true Church of God hath but one Faith wrought by one Spirit apprehending the same Christ or the same living and eternal truth of God So that Abraham and Moses and David and all the Prophets and all the Apostles and we who now believe and all that shall believe hereafter all have and do and shall live in the same mystery of faith that is Believers in all Ages do not live their own lives but all live the life of Christ in their own souls and bodies each one receiving equally from Christ the life of Christ which they all live alike in him being one with him as the branches live equally the life of the Vine and one brnch lives it not more then another Through faith then every Christian is carryed out of himself and all his own things into Christ whom he apprehends with all his fulness for his own and in this faith all Christians are equal and none hath a better or worse faith then another So that in regad of faith also there is among the true Church unity and equality For all Believers have one and the same faith of the operation of God wrought by the same Spirit which raised up Christ from the dead and that faith which the Spirit works neither sin death nor the devil can possibly prevail against and so the faith of the operation of the Spirit is altogether invincible in all the faithful Among true Christians some are not justified by faith and some by works but all are saved through faith without the works of the law Among true Christians one Believers faith doth not apprehend one word and anothers another word but the faith of each and of all apprehends one and the same word of truth and life which is Christ himself Yesterday and to day and the same for ever Among Believers one doth not live his own life and another Christs which indeed would make them very different and unequal but all live Christs life alike and none their own And thus is the whole Church knit together in Vnity of Faith Now this unity of faith is mightily able to preserve peace among Believers notwithstanding diversity either of inward gifts or outward works 1. Vnity of Faith preserves peace notwithstanding diversity of inward gifts inasmuch as we are not made members of Christs body through such and such gifts but meerly through faith and so he that hath one or a less gift is equally a member of Christ through his faith with him that hath another or a greater gift and so unity of faith which makes us all one body in Christ is to keep us one notwithstanding diversity of gifts and operations and
underneath them they fall sadly and desperately to the great scandal of the ways of God However if men be not called forth to such eminent doings and sufferings and so scape such manifest discoveries and downfals yet the form of godliness hath this evil in it That it brings a man onely to the troublesome part of Religion but not to the comfortable it engages a man in the same duties with the godly but supplies him not with the same strength it involves him in the same bitterness of flesh but doth not furnish him with the same joy of Spirit For as such a mans Religion doth not reach above flesh and blood no more doth his strength and comforts And so he performs duties at a low rate yea and his bare and empty form casts a black vail upon Religion and utterly obscures its beauty and glory and makes the world judge meanly of it and to think it a matter only of singularity and humour and not of power Whereas when a Christian walks in the strength of the Spirit doing and suffering the will of God beyond all strength and abilities of flesh and blood the world often times wonders and gazes at him and many are provoked to glorifie God who hath given such power to men For this power of godliness among other things hath these three advantages 1. It makes a man do every duty strongly and mightily And whatever might take a man off from duty or distract and disturbe him in it all fals to nothing before this power There is that strength in each duty performed by the power of the anoynting which declares it to be the operation of God himself in man and nothing else but the very power of God that is Jesus Christ himself in action in us 2. It makes a man inflexible in the ways of God that he shall neither turn to the right hand nor to the left but take straight steps towards the mark set before him No fear nor favours nor frowns nor flatteries nor temptations nor insinuations nor designs of others nor ends of his own can turn him aside He carries such strength in his Spirit as he can never be bended and so far forth as he partakes of the power of God is as unmoveable and unchangeable as God him self 3. It makes a man invincible by all evils and enemies Because all the power against him is but the power of the creature but the power in him is the power of God And the power of God easily overcomes the mightiest power of the creature but is never overcome by it And if this power in a Christian should be prevailed against God himself who is that power should be conquered which is impossible To conclude the power of godliness is the doer of every duty in Gods Kingdom the subduer of every sin the conquerour of each tribulation and temptation the life of every performance the glory of each grace the beauty of a Christians life the stability of his conversation the lustre of his Religion his great Honour and excellency both in doing and suffering yea it is the very glory of God himself in the Church of God for by faith the Lord arises on us and by this power of godliness his glory is seen upon us These considerations right honourable moved me to discourse of the power of the Holy Spirit coming on all Christians Ministers and People And besides the importunity of some other friends your Honours earnest desires of these notes hath especially prevailed with me to publish them Not that I am worthy to publish any thing but that the truth of God is worthy to be published be the instrument never so mean and unworthy And although I well know the doubtful success of such undertakings as these yet in this matter I am not at all carefull being most willing to be bound up in one condition with the truth of God and to have with it the same common friends and enemies Besides if Christ dwell in my heart by faith I carry in my bosome already my reward out of whom I neither regard praise or dispraise good or evil Now I was bold to prefix your Honours name to these Notes because your desire of them hath made them yours and also your many noble favors are a strong and continual engagement for me to serve you according to what God hath made me Especially I remember your extraordinary compassion and bowels towards me in the day of my deepest distress when my soul drew near to the Pit and the shadow of death sate upon my eye lids and I had not the least drop of comfort either from earth or heaven Your Honor then shewed me the kindness of the Lord and encompassed me both with your pitty and goodness though then through bitterness of spirit I tasted it not Wherefore when I remember the wonderful goodness of God to me after so great sorrow and darkness I cannot forget that part of his goodness which he was pleased to administer to me by your Honours hands And the remembrance of this causes me to pray that God would double the same goodness on you and that he would pour forth upon my Lord your Honour your noble off-spring and family this power of the holy Spirit here treated of which shall render you a thousand times more precious and excellent before God and his Saints then all worldly Honour aud Nobility whatsoever And by this means shall Religion shine in your Family in its native beauty and lustre and the Kingdom of God which stands not in word but in power shall appear in its bright glory among you till the Kingdom of the Son first fit you and then after deliver you up to the Kingdom of the Father and God be all in all immediately Which is the earnest prayer of your most humble and faithful servant WILLIAM DELL The Contents THe Context The Explication of the Words Three General Doctrines 1. That Christ gives his own people sufficient strength for their imployments his own strength for his own Works 2. That when Christ leaves his people in regard of sense he never leaves them without a promise and in that promise his Spiritual presence 3. That the pouring forth of the spirit is the means whereby God both increases and governs his Church The more special Doctrine from the words is That the receiving of the Spirit is the receiving of power For the Spirit it self is power 1. Essentially in it self 2. Operatively in us By being in us 1. A Spirit of Knowledge 2. Of Truth 3. Of Wisdom 4. of Faith which inables us To do Indure the same things with Christ himself 5. Of Righteousness in Destroying sin Imparting Grace 6. Of the fear of the Lord. 7. Of Love and Vnity The Use twofold 1. Exhortation to inforce this the necessity of having this power is urged in reference 1. To Ministers 2. To all Christians 1. Ministers stand in need of the power of the Spirit to come upon them 1.
to flight and an hundred a thousand And this was performed in the very letter of it at that famous and memorable battel at Naseby Many more instances I could relate of the power of faith in this Army but that I should thereby grieve and afflict many too much 4. The spirit of Prayer and this the Lord hath poured forth upon many of them in great measure not only upon many of the chief Commanders but on very many of the inferiour Officers and common Troopers some of whom I have by accident heard praying with that faith and familiarity with God that I have stood wondering at the grace We never undertook any thing of weight but God was always sought to of us again and again and we have found God near to us in all things we have called upon him for Yea God hath been found of us whilst yet we have been seeking him and hath given us the answer of our prayers into our bosoms 5. The special presence of God with them I have seen more of the presence of God in that Army then amongst any people that ever I conversed with in my life There hath been a very sensible presence of God with us we have seen his goings and observed his very foot-stepts for he hath dwelt amoug us and marched in the head of us and counsel'd us and led us and hath gone along with us step by step from Naseby to Leicester and from thence to Langport and Bridgewater and Bath and Sherborn and Bristol and the Devises and Winchester and Bazing and Dartmouth and Exceter and into Cornwal and back again to Oxford and all along his presence hath gone along with us and he hath been our strength and glory How often hath fearfulness and trembling taken hold upon the enemy and the stout men been at a loss for their courage and the men of might for their hands because of the presence of God with us yea because of this they have melted away in their strong Holds and delivered up their fenced Cities into our hands and every place we have come against we have taken in and every battel wherein we have fought we have prevailed And because God hath been in the midst of us we have not been moved our selves and our Enemies have perished not by our valour and weapons and strength but at the rebuke of his countenance This shall be writen for the generation to come seeing so many of this present generation so little regard it and the people that are to be born shall praise the Lord. 6. The sixth remarkable thing in the Army is their faithfulness to the state How have they gone up and down in weariness and labors and dangers and deaths to do the Kingdoms work when was it that they sate idle have they not as soon as one field was fought prepared to another as soon as one City was taken advanced to another and so gone on from one strong hold of the enemies to another till all have been reduced that peace might be hastned to this Kingdom if it were the will of God and not come as a snaile but as on Eagles wings yea have they not been active even all the winter long in a most cold and frosty season that continued so for two months together beating the enemy on t of the field and taking their Strong Holds when other Armies use to lie still Have they taken the pay of idleness or lived the life of luxury upon the State-maintenance Have they sought to lengthen the Wars for their own advantages Have they not made even a short work I challenge all the former Generations of the world to stand forth and to shew so much work of this kinde done in so little time And farther by all this success have they ever been lifted up so much as to petition the Parliament in any thing or to remonstrate any thing proudly and undutifully to them as some people surfeited with peace and plenty have done Or though the Kingdom next under God and the Parliament owes its protection and deliverance and freedom from Tyranny and Popery to this worthy Army have they for all this ever appeared to contest against the Kingdom for any thing or to stand with their swords in their hands to make demands Nay I declare this to all the Kingdom that as God hath made them glorious in doing so he hath made them contented to be perfected by suffering if it be the will of God And most confident I am that though some men for private ends and interests are murmuring and others speaking out against this Army as the perverse Israelites against Moses and Aaron yet the Lord in his due time will take away the reproach of all his people therein and that we shall hear songs from all the ends of the kingdom even glory to the righteous This I have spoken in truth and sincerity to the Kingdom And to that Army I shall say Who is like unto thee O people saved by the Lord who is the shield of thy help and the sword of thine excellency and thine enemies shall be found lyars unto thee and thou shalt tread upon their high places I have been longer in this Epistle then I intended but seeing there was such a cause at this no ingenuous man will blame me Christian Reader I am Thine to serve thee in the Lord and in the Gospel of his Son W. D. AN EXPOSITION Of the 54. Chapter of Isaiah from Vers 11. to the end The words are thus Vers 11. Oh thou afflicted tossed with tempest and not comforted behold I will lay thy stones with fair colours and lay thy foundations with Saphires 12. And I will make thy windows of Agates and thy gates of Carbuncles and all thy borders of pleasant stones c. THis place of Scripture is very useful to the Church of God in these times wherein we live yea verily this Prophet did not so much Prophesie to his own age as to ours nor to the Jewish Church as to the Christian For unto them it was revealed that not unto themselves but unto us they did minister the things which are now reported unto you The Prophet Isaiah prophesied in the Spirit touching the Kingdom of Christ which stands not in the flesh but in the Spirit and delivers from the Father by the Spirit many excellent promises to be fulfilled in the Son Incarnate head and members The first promise in this Chapter is touching the great increase of the Church in the days of the New-Testament that whereas before the Church was to be found but in one kinred and tongue and people and nation now it should be gathered out of every kinred and tongue and people and nation And this is so desirable and comfortable a thing that in the beginning of the Chapter he calls upon all to rejoyce at this vers 1. Sing O barren thou that didst not bear break forth into singing and shout aloud thou that didst
for its sake and so shall every other Kingdom and Common-wealth that undertakes against it Vers 16. Behold I have created the Smith that blowes the coals in the fire and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work and I have created the waster to destroy Vers 17. But no weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper c. Thou art saith God to the Church a small weak despised contemned persecuted people but thy safety protection blessing lies in me and in my power and wisdom and love Behold I have created the smith c. That is I have formed him that makes the Sword and Gun and Pike and that prepares the Ammunition and both he that makes the weapon and he that useth it are in my hands and they shall onely do what I would have them do and no more and so No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper God blunts the edge of the weapon and weakens the hand and puts fear into the heart of him that useth it and so no weapons that have been used have prospered hitherto and if any more weapons shall be used hereafter they shall be as unprosperous as these And every tongne that shall rise against thee in judgement thou shalt condemn Two wayes you see the Enemies of the Church assault the Church by their hands and by their tongues and this latter way is the more dangerous of the two by the former they scourge the Church with rods by this latter with Scorpions This weapon of the tongue is the most dangerous weapon that ever was used against the Church in any Age and the last refuge of the Devil and his instruments to annoy the Church And thus when the enemy sailes at the strength of his weapons he undertakes again with the malice of his tongue and with this the Enemy strikes against the Saints that profess the truth and against the truth it self professed by the Saints Against the Saints that profess the truth clothing them with odious names and loading them with base aspersions Independents and Sectaries and Schismaticks and Hereticks and some suh there are indeed in the Kingdom but they abuse the precious Saints of God with these and other reproaches and so crucifie Christ again in his body not between two Theeves but between two hundred Theeves that so it may be the greater difficulty to discern him Their tongues rise up in judgement against them it intimates they shall have specious pretences against the Church Oh these are the men that would turn the world upside down that make the Nation full of tumults and uproars that work all the disturbance in Church and State it is fit such men and Congregations should be suppressed and they should have no imployment in Church or State it will never be a quiet world till some course be taken with them that we may have truth and peace and government again And thus they have fair pretences against the godly and use the glorious names of truth peace and government to the destruction of them all And this is the sense of these words for their tongues to rise up in judgement against them Yea me think this phrase intimates thus much as if they would call in the ayd and power of the secular Magistrates against the spiritual Christians and then their tongues rise up in judgement against them indeed and except they engage the Magistrates power against the Saints they think they can never do them mischief enough And thus their tongues rise up in judgement against the Saints that profess the truth 2. As the enemy strikes with their tongue against the Saints that profess the truth so also against the truth professed by the Saints and this they call by way of reproach new light as their Predecessors at the beginning of the breaking forth of the Gospel in this Kingdom called it new learning yea they call the truth error and the very minde of Christ in the word heresie and the power of godliness Independency and the contending for the faith once given to the Saints faction and sedition and the like and this grieves the Saints a thousand times more then any personal reproaches to hear the truth and light and life and spirit of the Gospel despised and spoken against and blasphemed that is that that fetches not onely tears from their eyes but even drops of bloud from their hearts the truth of God being much dearer to them then their estates or names or lives But see how God conquers this weapon of the Enemies tongue to the faithful as well as the former weapons of their hands every tongue that riseth up in judgement against thee thou shalt condemn All that speak and rage and rail and reproach and slander and vilifie and abuse the Saints either by their tongues or pens thou by thy uprightness integrity innocency truth faithfulness shalt condemn them thy wayes and thy works that are led and acted in Christ and his Spirit shall be the condemnation of all thine Enemies and their misreports and slanders shall be done away as a mist before the Sun and thy righteousness and integrity shall break forth in that clearness and brightness and strength that they shall sit down astonished and amazed and they shall be condemned not only by the word and by the Saints but by all the common morality of the world yea and by their own conscience so that they shall carry their guilt with them night and day and shall not be able to look the godly in the face whom they have so reproached the very presence of the Saints shall be the condemnation of their enemies who have before so unworthily judged them yea the whole world shall see the faithfulness and integrity of the Saints of God and shall justifie them and condemn their Enemies and shall say lo these are the men that the world judged for Sectaries and Schismaticks what not see how faithful they have been to God and the true Church of God and to the State and surely they must needs be bad men that are Enemies to these And thus while our Enemies judge us they shall be condemned themselves And this shall certainly be done as sure as the world of God is true as sure as the Lord lives to make good his word For This is the heritage of the Servants of the Lord. That is you shall have this by as sure right as any man hath an inheritance that is entailed upon him This is your heritage O ye servants of the Lord to make void the force of every weapon that is used against you and to condemn every tongue that judgeth you This promise is our portion and the lot of our inheritance and in this we rejoyce that while we serve the Lord truly and faithfully neither the hands nor tongues of the Enemy shall hurt us but in the end we shall be more then Conquerous over all Let my portion fall in this pleasant place and I shall have a
1. To whom the keyes of the church are given 2. What they are 3. What is the extent of this power 190 4. What is the outward instrument of it ibid. 5. What the true church can do by virtue of it And this comprehends these particulars 1. It can gather it self together 192 2. It can appoint its own Orders 193 What rules it is to observe herein 194 3. It can choose its own Officers 196 And here 1. What Officers are to be chosen 197 2. Out of whom ibid. 1. By whom 198 What the true church as the case now stands is to do in point of chusing officers p. 199 And if need be can Reform them p. 200 Or depose them p. 201 4. It can call its own Councels if it need any ibid. Certain reasons why the church may now well want Councels p. 202 And if it will have any what rules it is to observe touching them p. 204 5 It can judge of all Doctrines both of its Officers and Councels p. 205 And thus the judgement of beleevers is to be rectified in these things for the preserving peace among themselves 2. The practice of the true church is to be rectified in other things The practical Rules that are more absolute and general in the way of peace are these 1 That the true Church keep it self distinct from the world p. 206 2. That the true Church content it self with its own power for its own affairs p 207 3. That the true church do not fetch or force men unto it against their wils 209 4. That the true church make void the distinction of Clergy and Laity among Christians p. 211 5. That the true church keep equality between Christians and Churches p. 212 6. That the true church keep the Officers of the church in subordination to the Community p. 213 7. That all true Christians and Churches do take Christ alike for their Head and do not set up visible heads or Ring-leaders to themselves of men no not of the best men p. 214 8. That the true Church keep out all error in doctrine p 215 5 Wayes by which this may be effectually done without the help of the Magistrate p. 216 The great Question touching the Magistrates power to keep out error answered p. 224 9. That the true church do not inforce Uniformity in outward orders and discipline p. 225 Practical rules for peace more special and occasional in point of difference among the faithful Here the weight of things is to be first considered If the things wherein beleevers differ be circumstantial and ceremonial only then there are 5 Rules to be observed for the preserving peace p. 233 If the things wherein they differ be points of Doctrine yet such are not absolutely necessary to salvation then there are 7 Rules to be observed for the preserving of peace p. 235 If the Doctrine wherein the difference lies is such as is absolutely inconsistent with true faith and salvation yet then 1. The person is to be heard p. 237 2. If after full hearing it is manifest to be a Doctrine contrary to the faith of Gods Elect then the true Church ought 1 To condemn the Doctrine p. 241 2 To excommunicate the person ibid. And this is the last punishment the true Church can inflict p. 242 The conclusion of all ibid. THE Way of true Peace and Vnity in the true Church of CHRIST HAving now for a long time time together observed with a said heart and troubled spirit the grievous differences and dissentions among the faithful and Churches of Christ and perceiving also that there is yet no healing of this error many or most of them not clearly understanding wherein their true peace and unity ought to consist and so are still prosecuting former with later mistakes till their wound is become almost incurable I found my heart inclined and engaged by God to propound to others that way of Peace which my self have learned from the Word And this I desire to do not that I might seem to be something or be accounted of any more then the meanest of all Gods people being indeed unworthy to minister so much as a cup of cold water to the Church the Spouse of Christ much less â—o incomparable a treasure as the word of God is in comparison of which all the world is not to be mentioned but meerly out of love and compassion to the infirmities of my brethren whom I see walking in the light of their own 〈◊〉 and in the sparks which they themselves do kindle whereby they are in great danger to lie down in sorrow whilst in the mean time they neglect the true light which alone is to shine in the Kingdom of God till all ignorance and darkness be done away And aâ— my end and scope is to bring all men from all humane doctrines and conceptions of carnal wisdom and prudence to the Word of God so I desire all men that are spiritual and able to judge to allow of no more in this Discourse then they shall finde agreeable to this word and what ever the Word of God in the true sense and meaning of it shall disapprove or condemn so far let them also disapprove and condemn with it as I my self also do knowing well that no Word ought to have any place in the Church of God but the Word of God which alone carries light life righteousness wisdom and power sufficient and enough in it self to do the whole minde and work of God in his Church Wherefore what I have freely learned I shall freely communicate desiring every one to regard his own salvation seeing now after so clear a discovery of truth he can have no cloak nor the least excuse for his sin Now that he that reads may understand it is necessary for me speaking of the unity and peace of the Church to tell you now at first that I intend not to propound any way of peace either between the Church and the World or else between the carnal and spiritual children of the Church as having learned no such thing out of the word of God First Not between the Church and the world for the Lord never intended any reconciliation and agreement between these in the spiritual and eternal things of the Kingdom of God for these are two distinct seeds and sorts of people the one from beneath the other from above the one the seed of the woman the other the seed of the Serpent and between these two God hath put such an emnity that no man can take away Wherefore they who never minding these two different seeds between whom God hath put such irreconciliable enmity would make all the people of one or moe whole Kingdoms a Church at once and would reconcile all of them together in the things of God and in the ways of his worship according to devices and methods of their own these men know not what they do for they walk in the darkness of their own hearts
the Church through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit as also by the life of Christ and presence and operations of his Spirit c. And thus you see how the Church though it be spiritual may be known Well but how can we be joyned to such a spiritual and invisible Church I answer Is not Christ a spiritual and invisible head And how canst thou be joyned to such a head Sure our joyning to Christ the head and to the Church his body is of one nature and that which joyns us to Christ the head will assuredly joyn us to the Church his body Now through faith and the spirit onely are we joyned to this head and through faith and the Spirit onely are we joyned to this body and we cannot be of this spiritual body and society but by being taken up into one faith and spirit with them And so it is no more a difficult thing to be joyned to the true Church because it is spiritual and invisible then to be joyned to Christ himself upon the same account that is it is no more difficult to be joyned to a spiritual and invisible body then to a spiritual and invisible head and all acknowledge Christ to be such a head and all must acknowledge the Church to be such a body If any shall say that they cannot presently agree to these things because they have had far different apprehensions of the Church heretofore I desire all such to consider that if the true Church were onely an outward and visible society and corporation of men that were to be governed by outward and visible officers according to outward and visible forms and orders there would then be no great mystery in the Church for these things lie within the easie reach of every mans reason But now whole Christ is a great mystery hid from ages and generations that is not onely Christ the Head of the Church but also the Church the body of Christ Ephes 5. 32. This is a great mystery but I speak concerning Christ and the Church And this latter mystery though both indeed make up one and the same mystery of the Church or Christ the body can no more be known by humane sense or reason then the former of Christ the head the revelation of the Father and the anointing of the Spirit being equally necessary for the right knowledge of both And as Antichrist hath had his mystery of iniquity in opposition to Christ the Head in setting up a visible and carnal Head instead of the invisible and spiritual so also he hath had his mystery of iniquity in opposition to the Church the body in erecting a visible and carnal body or Church instead of an invisible and spiritual for without all peradventure the head and the body must be sutable each to other and of the same kinde and nature And so as a visible and carnal head the Pope was in no measure sutable to an invisible and spiritual body the true Church so likewise a visible and carnal body or Church made and constituted by a mixture of Civil and Ecclesiastical laws and power is in no measure sutable to a spiritual and invisible head But what a kinde of Head the true Christ is such a kinde of body or society the true Church is and both are spiritual and invisible And as the Lord in the former age hath been pleased to reveal to the Church the mystery of the Head after a long time of its obscuring and darkning under the reign of Antichrist so now we wait in hope that he will in this present age reveal the mystery of the body which hath been no less obscured then the former that so the whole mystery of whole Christ may both be known and accomplished among us according to the riches of his glory by the Gospel Wherefore all the faithful are desired as occasion serves to make known what God hath taught them in this matter to supply what is here spoken weakly and imperfectly And thus having declared what the true Church of Christ is and rectified some ancient and general mistakes touching it I shall now proceed to make known from the clear and evident word the true and onely bonds of the Churches union peace and agreement as the Apostle hath delivered them to us by the Spirit Ephes 4. 4 5 6. There is one body and one spirit even as yee are called in one hope of your calling One Lord one Faith one Baptism One God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in you all Where note in general that among all these bonds of the Churches unity the Apostle makes not so much as any mention of UNIFORMITY Indeed the Rhemists being through the just judgement of God blinded from this very place urge and press Vniformity which is the very word they use as being the great and mighty engine first to advance the mystery of iniquity to its Throne and after to preserve it there But it will appear anon by the Apostles Doctrine that no Conformity or Vniformity are any bonds of the true Churches peace and union seeing the Church is such a Kingdom as is not preserved in its peace by any outward forms and orders as the Kingdoms of the world are but by inward principles Wherefore I shall proceed to speak of those spiritual bonds of the spiritual Churches unity which the Apostle names and they are in number seven the first whereof is ONE BODY There is one body saith Paul The right Church of Christ is but one body consisting of many members and this is not a natural or Political but a spiritual body even the body of Christ Paul in several of his Epistles takes pleasure to set forth the unity of the Church by this similitude as in Rom. 12. 4 5. As we have many members in one body and all members have not the same office So we being many are one body in Christ and every one members one of another And again 1 Cor. 12. 12. As the body is one and hath many members and all the members of that one body being many are but one body so also is Christ Where he cals the body by the name of the head both making up one Christ Now this Unity of Body comprehends believers of all ages and of all sorts 1. Of all ages for all believers that hath been in the world heretofore or now are or shall be hereafter do all make up but one body of Christ though born and brought forth of God in several times and ages of the world as in a natural example a childe is not born all in a moment but is brought forth by degrees and though one part be born and another not yet born this doth not hinder unity of body in the child so the bringing forth the Church into the world in several ages doth in no wise hinder this unity of body 2. As this unity of body comprehends
from the glory of God but it will make much for the sanctifying of thy name the gathering and encreasing thy Kingdom the propagating the knowledge of thy word and to be brief it is a most excellent and profitable design But God no doubt laughed at this wisdom of mine and said Go to now I know thee to be wise and learned but this was never my manner that either Peter or Martin meaning himself should teach or form or govern or lead me For I am not a passive but an active God who use always to lead govern form Now saith he it is very grievous that our wisdom should be only passive and that we are commanded to mortifie and slay it and therefore many who could not endure this mortification have fallen horribly And thus this kinde of Gods government is wholly according to his own wisdom and councel and wholly without yea contrary to ours And thus we are in some measure acquainted with the government of Gods special providence over his Church 2. The second sort of Gods immediate Government of his Church is the Grvernment of his spiritual Presence or Gods government within us For the right Church is the City of God and hath God in the midst of it being built and framed and that according to every part of it by the Spirit to be the habitation of God this is the temple of the living God as God hath said and God is in it of a truth And if any would know what this Church is called the name of it is THE LORD IS THERE And so the whole guiding and ordering of this Church depends wholly on God who dwels within it For God will not dwell in his own Church and sit still whilst others that are without it shall govern it but the government of the right Church lies on his shoulders who is Immanuel God with us and in us And so this government of the Church is one of the invisible things of God in the Church Christ who fils it governing it by a most present and powerful but invisible influence leading it into truth by the Spirit of truth into patience by the Spirit of patience into love by the Spirit of love into power by the Spirit of power into humility meekness patience heavenly mindedness and into the fulness of all Righteousness by that Spirit which contains all these graces in it self and works them in all those in whom it dwels In this government we hear the voice behind us saying This is the way walk in it when we turn either to the right hand or to the left In this government we have not outward laws to order us as the Kingdoms of the world have but an inward law written in our hearts by the Spirit of God as God hath said I will write my law in their hearts and in their inward parts and this law is the word of life for the living Church or body of Christ can only be governed by a living word which is called the law of the spirit of life And according to this Government also God guides the true Church wonderfully the soul not seeing the ways and councels of God whereby he forms and fashions the Church according to his own minde and good pleasure clean contrary to humane reason and judgement for he brings them to mourning to bring them to comfort brings them to despair to bring them to faith to death to bring them to life yea even to hell to bring them to heaven leading his chosen people after such a manner that nothing would follow but faith which looks not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen And thus when the soul is in the midst of many fears woes agonies temptations till it feel in good earnest the true sorrows of death and pains of hell and in this darkness sees no beam nor the least glimmering of light and wants all counsel and knows not which way to turn it self then Christ comes and manifests himself to the soul and counsels and directs and comforts it and leads it into the path of life and redeems it from all distress subduing the world and the devil and sin and death and hell under it yea and carrying it into all the fulness of God Now these two sorts of Governments to wit the one of his special providence and the other of his spiritual presence the true Church never wanted in any Age And in this present Age when the Prelatical Government hath been dissolved for several years together Can any Christian think that the right Church of Christ hath been without all Government Nay all this while it hath been governed most powerfully by his special providence and most sweetly by his spiritual presence So that neither the world nor the devil have been able to prevail neither against its grace nor comforts And for an outward formal visible enforced Government after the manner of civil Corporations or worldly Kingdoms the true Church can as well want such a Government at all times as at any time yea and it is best without it as being farthest removed from the tyranny of men and more immediately under the Government of Christ its onely King and Law-Giver And therefore they that are so violent for an outward and visible Government of the Church after the manner of the Kingdoms of the World I do heartily wish that if it be the good pleasure of God they might sometime or other be exercised with temptations of despair and with the sence of the wrath of God and everlasting burnings For by this means their idle and vain thoughts and speculations of governing the Church of God by humane power and methods would soon vanish and they would soon give over to trouble themselves and the faithful about things that have neither power in them to free from eternal death nor to procure eternal life And thus much for that two-fold Government of the Church which God himself exercises immediately in and over it whereof we must not be ignorant if we desire to preserve the peace of the Church both in our selves and others Now besides this immediate Government of God there is another sort of Government of the Church which Christ exercises mediately by the Church And this also is Christs Government and not mans and men who have not known nor understood the former Government of Christ have mistaken this also through the same unbelief wherefore they not so much as minding the former Government of Christ which is immediate and by himself have made this mediate Government of the Church by man to be all And this also I say they have understood most grossly and carnally and not according to the Word but according to their own ignorant and seduced hearts I shall not trouble the Reader with their particular mis apprehensions in this matter seeing it is far more profitable to content our selves with the plain and evident truth then
they prove evil it hath power either 1. To reform them Or 2. To depose them 1. It hath power to reform them if so be that they may be brought to repentance and amendment Yea as all the evils of the Church do commonly first flow from the Officers so the reformation of it is first to begin with them And who shall reform the Officers of the Church but the Church it self Seeing the Officers will be sure to tolerate one another in their Vn-Gospel and Vn-Christian courses against the life of Christ and true practice of the word because it is their own case Wherefore seeing the Generality of the present Clergy are arrived to this height of evil that they will not be contented to be servants but will needs make themselves Lords over Christs Flock plotting and striving to procure and maintain their Ecclesiastical state by secular power seeing they have left off to preach Christ and the Gospel and onely preach of state-affairs raging and railing against the most just and necessary proceedings of the Supream Authority of the Kingdom as not sutable to their designs seeing they are daily depraving the sayings and writings of men more righteous then themselves yea and dare cast a veil of their fals Expositions over the very Scriptures to darken them and make them as Sack-cloth to the world that the glory of the Father and the minde of Christ might if it were possible be wholly obscured yea seeing they are become so vile that they had rather Christ himself with his Gospel and true Church should all perish then that they should suffer the least diminâ—tion of their power dignity riches dominion and tyranny What remains but that the Societies of Christians should meet together to reform these evil Officers And whereas they are now met to reform the Church it is far more necessary and would be far more profitable for the Congregations of the faithful to meet together to reform them if yet they be capable of reformation which I confess is much to be doubted seeing they sin against so clear a light 2. If the Officers of the Church prove incorrigible the Church hath power to depose them seeing they have no indelible character whatever the Romish Church affirms Wherefore as the true Church hath power to chuse its Ministers and to continue them as long as they remain faithful in their work so also it hath power to remove them if they forsake the truth and power of the Gospel For as in civil Societies not subjectd to tyranny Officers that prove evil are moveable by them that made them so likewise the Church hath power to remove if it see cause this spiritual Officer yea the spiritual Officer is so much the more moveable then the civil by how much the more he is intolerable if he be unfaithful for the civil Officer can onely hurt in the things of this life but the spiritual in the things of eternal life Wherefore the Church hath the greatest necessity to remove him and chuse another seeing this salt when it hath lost its savour is good for nothing but to be cast upon the dunghil And to this worthy Mr Tindal a blessed Martyr witnesses saying If they that is the Ministers err from the word then may whosoever God moveth his heart play Paul and correct him and if he will not obey the Scripture then have his brethren â—uthority by the Scripture to put him down and send him out of Christs Church among the Hereticks which prefer their false doctrines above the true word of Christ 4. The true Church hath power to call its Councels If the Church of the faithful stand in need of a Councel it may call one if it pleaseth and it hath power so to do and the Councel is not to call and appoint the Church as is now done but the Church is to call and appoint the Councel and the Councel is to have its Authority from the Church and not the Church from it And for the world it can no more call the Councels of the Church then the Church can call the Councels of the world the Councels of the Church and the world being as distinct as the Church and the world themselves are Now I said The Church if it need a Councel may call one because the Church of Believers now seldom needs a Councel seeing all things are so clear in the word of God with which the faithful are so well acquainted There are many other causes why the right Church may very well be without Councels As 1. Because Councels as the manner was were either called or congregated by the Pope a meer Vsurper in the Church or by secular and worldly Princes who advanced themselves to the same power in the Church though upon another account And according to their ends and designs Councels for the most part have been guided and pointed 2. Because they have for the most part been made up of Bishops and Ecclesiastical men who have onely sought the interest and advantage of the Clergie to the prejudice of the body of Christianity by which means they have set up their own Kingdom and tyranny over all other Christians 3. Because being gathered and met they have especially medled with outward rites and Ceremonies and touching these have made binding and coercive laws to the overthrow of Christian liberty and the ensnaring and enslaving mens consciences 4. Because if they have medled with Doctrine they have rather perverted and obscured the clear word of the Gospel then truly explicated and unfolded it 5. Wherein they have done well yet this evil hath always gone along with it that they have made People rather look to men then unto God and that in the very things of God and to take divine things from them by a humane saith rather then from God himself and his immediate word according to the faith of Gods Elect and so have given forth themselves in their opinions and judgements as a foundation to the Church in the stead of Jesus Christ 6. Because they always determine the things of God by the plurality of Votes and do not weigh but number the suffrages and so the greater part still overcomes the better and the many that are called carry the Vote against the few that are chosen Whereby it comes to pass that the truth is subdued and error is established by a plausible Authority 7. Because such Councels commonly attribute to themselves infallibility and so set themselves up as a peremptory rule by which the whole Church must walk and none must presume to say to them curita facitis why do ye so though they do never so ill They say they cannot be judged by any other Christians because they are subject to none but all other Christians are subject to them and are to be judged by them They say they may pronounce all other Schismaticks and Hereticks but no body must pronounce them so though they be so And