absolutely needful in order to the keeping my Conscience clear and void of Offence towards God and Man none will be so unreasonable as to say I ought not to do it because it is according to the Scriptures nor do I think it will savour ill among any serious solid Christians for me to be the more confirmed and perswaded that I am led to this Thing by the Spirit that I find it in it self good and useful and that upon the like Occasions Christ commanded it the Apostles and Primitive Christians practised and recommended it Now seeing it is so that we can boldly say with a good Conscience in the Sight of God that the same Spirit which leads us to believe the Doctrines and Principles of the Truth and to hold them and maintain them again after the Apostacy in their primitive and ancient Purity as they were delivered by the Apostles of Christ in the holy Scriptures I say that the same Spirit doth now lead us into the like holy Order and Government to be exercised among us as it was among them being now the like Occasion and Opportunity ministred to us therefore what can any Christianly or Rationally object against it for that there is a Real Cause for it the thing it self speaketh and that it was the Practice of the Saints and Church of old is undeniable what kind of Ground then can any such Opposers have for to such as scrupling at this do notwithstanding acknowledge our Principle that this were done by Imposition or Imitation more then the Belief of the Doctrines and Principles seeing as it is needful to use all Diligence to convince and perswade People of the Truth and bring them to the Belief of it which yet we cannot do but as Truth moves and draws in their Hearts it is also no less needful when a People is gathered to keep and preserve them in Unity and Love as becomes the Church of Christ and to be careful as saith the Apostle That all Things be done decently and in Order and that all that is wrong be removed according to the Method of the Gospel and the good cherished and encouraged so that we conclude and that upon very good Grounds that there ought now as well as heretofore to be Order Government in the Church of Christ that which now cometh to be examined in the third Place is First What is the Order and Government we plead for Secondly In what Cases and how far it may extend and in whom the Power decisive is Thirdly How it differeth and is wholely an other then the oppressive and persecuting Principallity of the Church of Rome and other Antichristian Assemblies SECTION Fourth Of the Order and Government which we plead for IT will be needful then before I proceed to describe the Order Government of the Church to consider what is or may be properly understood by the Church for some as I touched before seem to be offended or at least afraid of the very Word because The Power of the Church the Order of the Church the Judgment of the Church and such like Pretences have been the great Weapons wherewith Antichrist and the Apostate Christians have been these many Generations persecuting the Woman and warring against the Man-child and indeed great Disputes have been among the Learned Rabbies in the Apostacy concerning this Church what it is or what may be so accounted which I find not my Place at present to dive much in but shall only give the true Sense of it according to Truth and the Scriptures plain Testimony The Word Church in it self and as used in the Scriptures is no other but a Gathering Company or Assembly of certain People called or gathered together for so the Greek Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies which is that the Translators render Church which Word is derived from the Verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. evoco I call out of from the Root 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 voco I call Now though the English Word Church be only taken in such a Sense as People are gathered together upon a Religious Account yet the Greek Word that is so rendered is taken in general for every Gathering or Meeting together of People and therefore where it is said The Town-Clark of the Ephesians dismissed the Tumult that was gathered there together the same Greek Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is used Acts 19. 41. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he dismissed the Assembly or the Church A Church then in the Scripture Phrase is no other then a Meeting or Gathering of certain People which if it be taken in a religious Sense as most commonly it is are gathered together in the Belief of the same Principles Doctrines and Points of Faith whereby as a Body they become distinguished from others and have a certain Relation among themselves and a conjunct Interest to the maintaining and propagating these Principles they judge to be right and therefore have a certain Care and Oversight over on another to prevent and remove all Occasions that may tend to break this their conjunct Interest hinder the Propagation of it or bring Infamy Contempt or Contumely upon it or give such as on the other Hand are or may be banded together to undo them just Occasion against them to decry and defame them Now the Way to distinguish that Church Gathering or Assembly of People whereof Christ truly is the Head from snch as falsly pretend thereto is by considering the Principles Grounds upon which they are gathered together the Nature of that Hierarchy Order they have among themselves the Way and Method they take to uphold it and the Bottom upon which it standeth which will greatly contribute to clear all Mistakes Forasmuch as Sanctification and Holiness is the great and chief End among true Christians which moves them to gather together therefore the Apostle Paul defines the Church in his Salutation to the Corinthians 1 Cor. 1. 2. Vnto the Church of God which is at Corinth them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus called to be Saints so the Church is such as are sanctified in Christ Jesus called to be Saints The Power and Authority Order and Government we speak of is such as a Church Meeting Gathering or Assembly claims towards those that have or do declare themselves Members who own believe and profess the same Doctrines and Principles of Faith with us and go under the same Distinction and Denomination whose Escapes Faults and Errors may by our Adversaries justly be imputed to us if not seasonably and christianly reproved reclaimed or condemned for we are not so foolish as to concern our selves with those who are not of us far less who stand in Opposition to us so as to reprove instruct or reclaim them as Fellow Members or Brethren yet with a Respect to remove the general Reproach from the Christian Name with a tender Regard to the good of their immortal Souls for the Zeal we owe to God's Glory and
should suffer all manner of Irregularities and Abominations that they might have the more to say against us but the Solid and Real Reasons we have for our Way herein will sufficiently plead for us in the Hearts of all Sober Men and moreover the Testimony of God's Spirit in our Hearts doth abundantly confirm us both against the Folly of the one and the Envy of the other Fourthly There being nothing more needful then to preserve Men and Women in Righteousness after they are brought into it and also nothing more certain then that the great Enemy of Man's Soul seeks daily how he may draw back again and catch those who have in some measure escaped his Snares and known Deliverance from them therefore do we also meet together that we may receive an opportunity to understand if any have fallen under his Temptations that we may restore them again if possible or otherwise separate them from us Surely if we did not so we might be justly blamed as such among whom it were lawful to commit any Evil unreproved indeed this were to be guilty of that Libertinism which some have falsly accused us of and which hath been our Care all along as become the People of God to avoid therefore have we sought always to keep the House clean by faithfully reproving and removing according to the Nature of the Offence and the Scandal following thereupon private things privately publick things publickly We desire not to propagate Hurt and defile Peoples Minds with telling them such things as tend not to edifie yet do we not so cover over or smooth over any Wickedness as not to deal roundly with the Persons guilty and causing them to take away the Scandal in their acknowledgment before all to whose Knowledge it hath come yet judge we not our selves obliged to tell that in Gath or publish that in the Streets of Askelon which makes the Daughters of the Vncircumcised rejoyce or strengthen Atheists and Ranters in their Obduredness who feed more upon the Failings of the Saints then to imitate their true Repentance and therefore where we find an Unfeigned Returning to the Lord we desire not to remember that which the Lord hath forgotten nor yet to throw Offences in the Way of the weak that they may stumble upon them And therefore I conclude that our Care as to these Things also is most needful and a Part of that Order and Government which the Church of Christ never was nor can be without as doth abundantly appear by divers Scriptures heretofore mentioned SECTION Sixth How far this Government doth extend in Matters Spiritual and purely conscientious THUS far I have considered the Order and Government of the Church as it respects outward things and its Authority in condemning or removing such things which in themselves are Evil as being those which none will readily justifie the Necessity of which things is such that few but will acknowledge the Care and Order in these Cases to be commendable and expedient Now I come to consider things of another kind which either verily are or are supposed to be Matters of Conscience or at least wherein People may lay claim to Conscience in the acting or forbearing of them in which the great Question is How far in such Cases the Church may give positive Orders or Rules How far her Authority reacheth or may be supposed to be binding and ought to be submitted to For the better clearing and Examination of which it will be fit to consider First Whether the Church of Christ have Power in any Cases that are Matters of Conscience to give a positive Sentence and Decision which may be obligatory upon Believers Secondly If so in what Cases and Respects she may so do Thirdly Wherein consisteth the Freedom and Liberty of Conscience which may be exercised by the Members of the true Church diversly without judging one another And Lastly In whom the Power decisive is in Case of Controversie or Contention in such Matters which will also lead us to observe the vast Difference betwixt us and the Papists and others in this particular As to the First Whether the Church of Christ have Power in any Cases that are Matters of Conscience to give a positive Sentence and Decision which may be obligattry upon Believers I answer affirmatively she hath and shall prove it from divers Instances both from Scripture and Reason for first all Principles and Articles of Faith which are held doctrinally are in Respect to these that believe them matters of Conscience We know the Papists do out of Conscience such as are zealous among them adore worship and pray to Angels Saints and Images yea and to the Eucharist as judging it to be really Christ Jesus so do others place Conscience in things that are absolutely wrong Now I say we being gathered together into the Belief of certain Principles and Doctrines without any Constraint or worldly Respect but by the meer Force of Truth upon our Understanding and its Power and Influence upon our Hearts these Priâ—â—â—â—â—es and Doctrines and the Practices necssarily depending upon them are as it were the Terms that have drawn us together and the Bond by which we became centered into one Body and Fellowship and distinguished from others Now if any one or more so engaged with us should arise to teach any other Doctrine or Doctrines contrary to these which were the Ground of our being One who can deny but the Body hath Power in such a Case to declare this is not according to the Truth we profess and therefore we pronounce such and such Doctrines to be wrong with which we cannot have Unity nor yet any more Spiritual Fellowship with those as hold them and so such cut themselves off from being Members by dissolving the very Bond by which they were linked to the Body Now this cannot be accounted Tyranny and Oppression no more then in a Civil Society if one of the Society shall contradict one or more of the fundamental Articles upon which the Society was contracted it can be reckon'd a breach or iniquity in the whole Society to declare that such Contradictors have done wrong and forfeited their Right in that Society in case by the original constitution the Nature of the Contradiction implys such a Forfeiture as usually it is and will no doubt hold in Religious Matters as if a Body be gathered into one Fellowship by the Belief of certain Principles he that comes to believe otherwayes naturally scattereth himself for that the Cause that gathered him is taken away and so those that abide constant in declaring the thing to be so as it is and in looking upon him and witnessing of him to others if need be to be such as he has made himself do him no Injury I shall make the Supposition in the general and let every People make the Application to themselves abstracting from us and then let Conscience and Reason in every impartial Reader declare whether or not it doth
there are no Extravagancies so wild which they will not cloak with it and so much are they for every ones following their own Mind as can admit of no Christian-Fellowship and Community nor of that good Order and Discipline which the Church of Christ never was nor can be without this gives an open Door to all Libertinism and brings great Reproach to the Christian-Faith and on this hand have foully faln The German Anabaptists so call'd viz. John of Leiden Knipperdoling c. in case these monstrous things committed by them be such as they are related and some more moderate of that kind have been found among the People in England called Ranters as it is true the People called Quakers hath bin branded with both of these extreams it is as true it hath been and is their Work to avoid them and to be found in that even and good Path of the primitive Church where all were no doubt led and acted by the holy Spirit and might all have prophesied one by one and yet there was a Subjection of the Prophets to the Spirits of the Prophets There was an Authority some had in the Church yet it was for Edification and not for Destruction there was an Obedience in the Lord to such as were set over and a being taught by such and yet a knowing of the Inward Anointing by which each Individual was to be led into all Truth The Work and Testimony the Lord hath given us is to restore this again and to set both these in their right place without causing them to destroy one another to manifest how this is accomplished and accomplishing among us is the Business of this Treatise which I hope will give some Satisfaction to men of sober Judgments and impartial and unprejudicate Spirits and may be made useful in the good Hand of the Lord to Confirm and Establish Friends against their present Opposers which is mainly intended and earnestly prayed for The 17th of the 8th Moneth 1674. By Robert Barclay THE CONTENTS Section First THe Introduction and Method of this Treatise page 9. Section Second Concerning the Ground and Cause of this Controversie p. 12. Section Third Whether there be any Order or Government in the Church of Christ p. 18. Section Fourth Of the Order and Government we plead for p. 31. Section Fifth In what Cases and how far this Government extends p. 37. Section Sixth How far this Government extends in Matters spiritual and purely conscientious p. 47. Section Seventh Concerning the Power of Decision p. 66. Section Eighth How this Government altogether differeth from the Oppressing and Persecuting Principality of the Church of Rome and other Antichristian Assemblies p. 75. The Conclusion p. 84. Page 20. line 18. for Gatherng read Gathering p. 21. l. 17. f. Chucrch r. Church l. 19. f. Persecutiton r. Persecution p. 24. l. 22. f. dding r. adding p. 42. l. 2. f. Go d r. God SECTION First The Introduction and Method of this Treatise AFter that the Lord God in his own appointed time had seen meet to put an End to the Dispensation of the Law which was delivered to the Children of Israel by the Ministry of Moses through and by whom he did communicate unto them in the Wilderness from Mount Sinai divers Commandments Ordinances Appointments and Observations according as they are testified in the Writings of the Law it pleased him to send his own Son the Lord Jesus Christ in the Fulness of Time who having perfectly fulfilled the Law and the Rigâ—teousness thereof gave witness to the Dispensation of the Gospel and having approved himself and the Excellency of his Doctrine by many Great and Wonderful Signs and Miracles he sealed it with his Blood and triumphing over Death of which it was impossible for him to be held he cherished and encouraged his despised Witnesses who had believed in him in that he appeared to them after he was raised from the dead comforting them with the Hope and Assurance of the pouring forth of his Spirit by which they were to be led and ordered in all things in and by which he was to be with them to the End of the World not suffering the Gates of Hell to prevail against them by which Spirit come upon them they being filled were emboldned to preach the Gospel without Fear and in a short time Thousands were added to the Church and the Multitude of them that believed were of One Heart and of One Soul and great Love and Zeal prevailed and there was nothing lacking for a season But all that was caught in the Net did not prove Good and Wholsom Fish some were again to be cast in that Ocean from whence they were drawn of those many that were called all proved not chosen Vessels fit for the Master's Use and of all that were brought into the great Supper and Marriage of the King's Son there were that were found without the Wedding Garment some made a Shew for a Season and afterwards fell away there were that drew back there were that made Shipwrack of Faith and of a Good Conscience there were not only such as did backslide themselves but sought to draw others into the same Perdition with themselves seeking to overturn their Faith also yea there were that brought in damnable Heresies even denying the Lord that bought them and also of those Members that became not wholely corrupt for some were never again restored by repentance there were that were weak and sickly and young some were to be fed with Milk and not with strong Meat some were to be purged when the old Leaven received any place and some to be cut off for a season to be shut out as it were of the Camp for a time until their Leprosie were healed and then to be received in again Moreover as to Outwards there was the Care of the Poor of the Widdow of the Fatherless of the Strangers c. therefore the Lord Jesus Christ who is the Head of the body the Church for the Church is the Body of Christ and the Saints are the several Members of that Body knowing in his infinite Wisdom what was needful for the good ordering and disposing all things in their proper Place and for preserving and keeping all things in their right Station did in the Dispensation and Communication of his holy Spirit minister unto every Member a Measure of the same Spirit yet diverse according to operation for the Edification of the Body some Apostles some Teachers some Pastors some Elders there are Old Men there are Young Men there are Babes for all are not Apostles neither are all Elders neither are all Babes yet are all Members and as such all have a Sense and Feeling of the Life of the Body which from the Head flows unto all the Body is the Oyntment of Aaron ' s Beard unto the Skirts of his Garment and every Member has its place and Station in the Body so long as it keeps in the Life of the Body and
all have need one of another yet is no Member to assume another Place in the Body then God has given it nor yet to grudge or repine its Fellow-member's Place but to be content with its own for the Uncomely Parts are no less needful then the Comely and the less Honourable then the more Honourable which the Apostle Paul holds forth in 1 Cor. 12. from Vers. 13 to 30. Now the Ground of all Schism Divisions or Rents in the Body is whenas any Member assumes another Place then is allotted it or being gone from the Life and Unity of the Body and loosing the Sense of it le ts in the Murmurer the Eye that watches for Evil and not in holy Care over its Fellow-members and then instead of coming down to Judgement in it self will stand up and judge its Fellow-members yea the whole Body or those whom God has set in a more honourable and eminent Place in the Body then it self such suffer not the Word of Exhortation and term the Reproofs of Instruction which is the Way of Life Imposition and Oppression and are not aware how far they are in the things they condemn others for while they spare not to reprove and revile all their Fellow-members yet if they be but admonished themselves they cry out as if their great Charter of Gospel-Liberty were broken Now though such and the Spirit by which they are acted be sufficiently seen and felt by Thousands whose Hearts God has so established as they are out of Danger of being intangled in that Snare and who have Power and Strength in themselves to judge that Spirit even in its most subtil Appearances yet there are who cannot so well withstand the Subtilty and seeming Sincerity some such pretend to though in measure they have a sight of them and others that cannot so rightly distinguish betwixt the Precious and the Vile and some there are that through Weakness and want of true Discerning may be deceived and the Simplicity in them betrayed for a season as it is written With Fair Speeches and Smooth Words they deceive the Hearts of the Simple Therefore having according to my measure received an Opening in my Understanding as to these things from the Light of the Lord and having been for some time under the weighty Sense of them I find at this instant a Freedom to commit them to writing for the more Universal Benefit and Edification of the Church of CHRIST Now for the more plain and clear opening and understanding of these things it is fit to sum up this Treatise in these following general Heads to be considered of First From whence the Ground and Cause of this Controversie is the Rice and Root of it Secondly Whether there be now any Order and Government in the Church of Christ Thirdly What is the Order and Government which we plead for in what Cases and how far it may extend in whom the Power decisive is and how it differeth and is wholely another then the Oppressing and Persecuting Principality of the Church of Rome and other Antichristian Assemblies SECTION Second Concerning the Ground and Cause of this CONTROVERSIE VVHenas the Lord God by his mighty Power began to visit the Nations with the Dawning of his Heavenly Day for thus I write unto those that have received and believed the Truth and that he sent forth his Instruments whom he had fitted and prepared for his Work having fashioned them not according to the Wisdom and Will of Man but to his own heavenly Wisdom and Counsel they went sorth and preached the Gospel in the Evidence and Demonstration of the Spirit not in the Enticing Words of man's Wisdom but in Appearance as Fools and mad to those that judged according to Man but their Words and Testimony pierced through into the Inner Man in the Heart and reached to that of God in the Conscience whereby as many as were simple-hearted and waited for the Redemption of their Souls received them as the Messengers of the most high God and their Words were unto them not as the Words of Men but as the Words of God for in the receiving and imbracing the Testimony of Truth through them they felt their Souls eased and the acceptable Day began to dawn in and upon them Now what Evidence brought these Men to make their Testimony to be received did they entice did they flatter did they daub up did they preach Liberty to the Flesh or Will of man Nay verily they used no such Method their Words were as Thunder-Bolts knocking down all that stood in their Way and pouring down the Judgement of God upon the Head of the Transgressor every where Did they spare the Zealous Professor more then the open prophane Nay verily they condemned equally the Hypocrisie of the one as well as the Prophanity of the other yet wanted they not regard to the tender Seed and Plant of God in either Did they give way Did they yield to the Wisdom of man to the Deceitfulness of the Serpent that would reason Truth from themselves saying I must stay until I be convinced of this and thaâ— and the other thing I see not yet this to be wrong or the other thâ—â—g to be my Duty How did they knock down this manner of Reasoning by the Spirit of God which wrought mightily in them shewing and holding forth that this is the Day of the Lord that is dawned that all are invited to come that none ought to tarry behind that that which so pleadeth is the same Spirit which of old time said in those that were invited I cannot come yet I must first marry a Wife I must go prove my Yoak of Oxen I must go visit my Possessions let me first bury my dead Father Did not the Lord through them testifie and declare against these things and is there not a Cloud of Witnesses who felt the Enemy thus reasoning to keep us in the Forms Fellowships false Worships and Foolish Fashions of this World but we felt as we were obedient all these things to be for Condemnation and that as we obeyed the pure manifestation of the Light of Jesus in our Hearts there was no Haesitation We might and should have parted with all those things at the first and what occasioned such Scruples was but that which drew back through being unwilling to give pure Obedience to the Cross of Christ for as many as gave Obedience and believed in the Light found no Occasion of stumbling but such as believed not were condemned already because they believed not in him that appeared Now the Boldness and Courage and Efficacy of these Messengers Testimony wrought such Astonishmenâ— Fear and Amazement in the Hearts of such as were Ingenuous that many began to be inwardly pricked as in the Days of old and the Foundations of many began to be shaken and some that were asleep were awakened and many that were dead and buried in the Graves of Sin and Formality and Superstition and Idolatry of all Sorts
he place so much Weight upon the Judgment of the Church as to make the refusing of hearing it to draw so deep a Censure after it which he will not have to follow the refusing to hear one or two apart though the Matter be one and the same and so as to the Substantial and Intrinsick Truth of the Thing there lies the same Obligation upon the Transgressor to hear that one as well as all for that one adviseth him to that whiâ—h is right and good as well as the whole and they do but homologate or confirm that which that one hath already asserted yet Jesus Christ who is the Author of Order and not of Confusion will not have a Brother cut off or reputed a publican for refusing to hear one or two but for refusing to hear the Chucrch And if it be objected that the Church of Rome and all other false Churches makes use of this Scripture and cover their Persecutiton and Cruelty and Oppression by it and thou sayes no more then they say I answer I suppose no man will be so unreasonable as to affirm that the Church of Rome abusing this Scripture will make it false in it self but how we differ in ours Application of this Scripture shall be spoken of hereafter I am not now claiming Right to this Power as due to us that is reserved for another Place but this I say is that which I now aver to be manifest from the Scripture Testimony and to be in it self an unquestionable Truth That Jesus Christ intended there should be Order and Government in his Church which is the Thing at present in hand to be proved which if it be so really true as it cannot be denyed then I hope it will also necessarily follow that such who really and truely are the Church of Christ have Right to exercise this Order and Government Secondly That the Apostles and primitive Christians did practise Order and Government we need but to read the History of the Acts of which I shall mention a few pregnant and undeniable Testimonies as we may observe in the very first Chapter of the Acts from Verse 13 to the End where at the very first Meeting the Apostles and Bâ—ethren held together after the Ascension of Christ they began orderly to appoint one to fulfil the Place of Judas it may be thought this was a needless Ceremony yet we see how the Lord countenanced it hope none will say that the Apostles appointing of these two Men or of him upon whom the Lot did not fall contradicted their inward Freedom or imposed upon it but both agreed very well together the one in the Will and Movings of God in appointing and the other in the same in submitting to their Appointment Moreover after they had received the holy Ghost you may read Acts 6. so soon as there was an Opport unity how they wisely gave Order concerning the Distribution of the Poor and appointed some men for that Purpose So here was Order and Government according to the present Necessity of the Case and the Lord God was well pleased with it and the Word of God encreased and the Number of the Disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly Might they not have said then as some say now we will give our Charity to whom we see Cause and we will take no Notice of your Appointments and Orders Whether would God have approved of such yea or nay Thirdly When that the Business of Circumcision fell in whether it was fit or not to circumcise the Gentiles we see the Apostles saw not meet to suffer every one to follow their own Minds and Wills They did not judge as one confusedly supposeth that this Difference in an â—â—tward Exercise would commend the Vnity of the true Faith nay they took another Method It is said expresly Acts 15. 6. And the Apostles and Elders came together to consider of this Matter and after there had been much disputing about it no doubt then there was here Diversities of Opinions and Judgments the Apostles and Elders told their Judgments and came also to a positive Conclusion sure some behoved to submit else they should never have agreed So those that were the Elders gave a positive Judgment and they were bold to say That it pleased not only them but the Holy Ghost by all which it doth undeniably appear that the Apostles and primitive Saints practised a Holy Order and Government among themselves and I hope none will be so bold as to say they did these Things without the Leadings of the Spirit of God and his Power and Authority concurring and going along with them And that these Things were not only singular Practices but that they held it doctrinally that is to say it was a Doctrine which they preached that there ought to be Order and Government in the Church is manifest from these following Testimonies 1 Cor. 4. 15 16 17. 15 For though you have ten Thousand Instructers in Christ yet have ye not many Fathers for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the Gospel 16. Wherefore I beseech you be ye Followers of me 17 For this Cause have I sent unto you Timotheus who is my beloved Son and faithful in the Lord who shall bring you into Remembrance of my Wayes which be in Christ as I teach every where in every Church Here the Apostle Paul is very absolute First In that he desires them to be Followers of him Secondly In that he sends a Teacher yea a Minister and Eminent Bishop or Overseer of the Church for to put them in mind of his Wayes which be in Christ as he taught in every Church No doubt there were Apostates and Dissenting Spirits in the Church of Corinth that gave Paul Occasion thus to write as he testifies in the Beginning of the Chapter How he was judged by some of them he shews how they were grown high ver 8. Now ye are full now ye are rich ye have reigned as Kings without us c. Might not these Dissenters of the Church of Corinth have reasoned thus against Paul Did not this Paul teach us at first to mind the Measure of Grace in our selves and follow that for no doubt that was Paul's Doctrine but now he begins to Lord over us and tells us we must be Followers of him might not they have judged the Beloved Timothy to be far out of his Place might they not have said it seems it is not God that moved thee and sent thee here by his Spirit but Lordly Paul that seeks Dominion over our Faith it seems thou comes not here to preach Christ and with us to be Followers of him and of his Grace in our Hearts but to mind us to follow Paul's Wayes and take Notice how he teaches in every Church we are not concerned with him nor with his Mâ—ssenger nor with none of your Orders and so sorth Doth not this run very plausible I question not but there was such a Reasoning among
cry out of Formality and Apostacy because they are not followed in all Things and if they be reproved for their Unruliness according to the good Order of the Church of Christ then they cry out Breach of â—iberty Oppression Persecution we will have none of your Order and Government we were taught to follow the Light in our Consciences and not the Orders of Men well of this hereafter but this gave the Rise of this Controversie which leads me to that which I proposed in the second place SECTION Third Whether there be now to be any Order or Government in the Church of CHRIST IN Answer to this Proposition I meddle not at this Time with those that deny any such Thing as a Church of Christ I have reserved their Plea to another Place neither need I to be at much Pains to prove the Affirmative to wit That there ought to be Government and Order in the Church of Christ unto the Generallity of our Opposers both Papists and Protestants who readily confess and acknowledge it and have heretofore blamed us for want of it though now some of them and that of the highest Pretenders are become so unreasonable as to accuse us for the Use of it improving it so far as they can to our Disadvantage for such is the Blindness of partial Envy that whereas the supposed Want of it was once reckoned Heretical now the present Performance of it is counted Criminal These then to whom I come to prove this Thing are such who having cast off the Yoke of the Cross of Christ in themselves refuse all Subjection or Government denying that any such Thing ought to be as disagreeing with the Testimony of Truth or those who not being so wilful and obstinate in their Minds yet are fearful or scrupulous in the Matter in respect of the dangerous Consequences they may apprehend such a Thing may draw after it For the clearing then as well the Mistakes of the one as answering the Cavils of the other I judge the Truth of these following Assertions will sufficiently prove the Matter which I shall make no great Difficulty to evidence First That Jesus Christ the King and Head of the Church did appoint and ordain that there should be Order and Government in it Secondly That the Apostles and Primitive Christians when they were filled with the Holy Ghost and immediately led by the Spirit of God did practise and commend it Thirdly That the same Occasion and Necessity now occurring which gave them Opportunity to exercise that Authority the Church of Christ hath the same Power now as ever and are led by the same Spirit into the same Practices As to the first I know there are some that the very Name of a Church and the very Words Order and Government they are affraid of Now this I suppose hath proceeded because of the great Hypocrisie Deceit and Oppression that hath been cloaked with the Pretence of these Things but why should the Truth be neglected because Hypocrites have pretended to it The right Institution of these Things which have been appointed and ordained by God must not nor ought not to be despised because corrupt Men have abused and perverted them I know not any thing that hath been more abused and pervented in the whole World then the Name of a Christian shall we then renounce that Honourable Title because so many Thousands of wicked Men yea Antichrists have falsly assumed it to themselves The Man of Sin hath taken upon him to sit in the Temple of God as God yet we must not therefore deny that God is in his Temple if the Synagogue of Satan hath assumed the Name of the Church of Christ and hath termed her Oppression and Violence the Power and Authority thereof therefore must not the Church of Christ its Authority be exercised where it truly is according to his Mind This I prefix to warn all to beware of stumbling at things which are innocent in themselves and that we may labour to hold the steady even Path of Truth without running in either of the extreams for that Jesus Christ did appoint Order Government to be in the Church is very clear from his plain Words Mat. 18. 15 16 17 18. Ver. 15. Moreover if thy Brother shall trespass against thee go tell him his Fault between thee and him alone of he shall hear thee thou hast gained thy Brother Ver 16. But if he will not hear thee then take with thee one or two more that in the Mouth of two or three Witnesses every Work may be established Ver. 17. And if he shall neglect to hear them tell it unto the Church but if he neglect to hear the Church let him be unto thee as an Heathen man and a Publican Ver. 18. Verily I say unto you whatsoever yee shall bind on Earth shall be bound in Heaven and whatsoever yee shall loose on Earth shall be loosed in Heaven From which Scripture it doth manifestly and evidently follow First that Jesus Christ intended there should be a certain Order and Method in his Church in the Procedure towards such as transgress Secondly That he that refuseth to hear two is become more guilty as hardned then in refusing to hear him that first reproved alone Thirdly That refusing to hear the Judgment of the Church or whole Assembly he doth thereby exclude himself and shut out himself from being a Member and is justly judged by his Brethren as a Heathen and a Publican And lastly That the Church Gatherng or Assembly of God's People has Power to examin and call to an Account such as appearing to be among them or owning the same Faith with them do transgress and in Case of their refusing to hear or repent to exclude them from their Fellowship and that God hath a special Regard to the Judgment and Sense of his People thus orderly proceeding so as to hold such bound in Heaven whom they bind on Earth and such loosed in Heaven whom they loose on Earth I am partly confident that no rational Man will deny but that these natâ—rally follow from the above mentioned Scripture and if there should be any found so unreasonable as to deny it I could prove it by necessary and unevitable Consequences which at present as taking it for granted I forbear to do If it be reckoned so great a Crime to offend one of the little ones that it were better for him that so did that a Milstone were hanged about his Neck and he were drowned in the Depth of the Sea without Question to offend and gainsay the whole Flock must be more criminal and must draw after it a far deeper Judgment Now if there were no Order nor Government in the Church what should become of those that transgress How should they be again restored would not this make all Reproving all Instructing all Caring for and Watching over one another void and null Why should Christ have desired them to proceed after this Method Why doth
Infallibility was not inseparably annexed to him he was found blameable in a certain Matter Gal. 2. 11. notwithstanding his Sentence was positively received in many particulars So also the Apostle Paul argues from his gathering of the Churches of Corinth and Galatia that they ought to be Followers of him and positively concludes in divers Things and upon this Supposition exhort the Churches both he and Peter in many Passages heretofore mentioned which I will not to avoid Repetition again rehearse To obey the Elders that watch for them to hold such in Reputation and to submit themselves to them that have addicted themselves to the Miâ—istry of the Saints 1 Cor. 16. 15 16. Also we see how the Lord makes use of John his beloved Disciple to inform and reprove the seven Churches of Asia and no doubt John the rest by the usual Computation being at that Time all removed was then the most noted and famous Elder alive and indeed I mind not where under the Gospel Christ hath used any other Method but that he alwayes in revealing his Will hath made use of such as he himself had before appointed Elders and Officers in his Church though it be far from us to limit the Lord so as to exclude any from this Priviledge nor yet on the other Hand will the Possibility hereof be a sufficient Warrant to allow every obscure Member to stand up and offer to rule judge and condemn the whole Body nor yet is it without Cause that such an one's Message is jealoused and called in Question unless it have very great Evidence and be bottomed upon some very weighty and solid Cause and Foundation And God doth so furnish those whom he raises up in a singular Manner of which as I said I mind no Instance in the New Testament and in the old we see though it was strange that little David should oppose himself to the great Goliah yet he had before that killed both the Lyon and the Bear which was no less improbable and which of all is most observable was before that Time by the Appointment of God and the Hand of the Prophet anointed King of Israel compare the 16th and 17th chap. of the 1st of Samuel Now as to the Third That any particular Persons de Facto or effectually giving out a positive Judgment is no Incroaching nor Imposing upon their Brethren's Conscience is necessarily included in what is said before upon which for further Probation there will only need this short Reflection that for any Member or Members in Obedience to the Lord to give forth a positive Judgment in the Church of Christ is their proper Place and Office they being called to it and so for them to exercise that Place in the Body which the Head moves them to is not to usurp Authority over their Fellow Members as on the other Hand to submit and obey it being the Place of some so to do is not a renouncing a being led by the Spirit seeing the Spirit leads them so to do and not to obey in Case the Judgment be according to Truth and the Spirit lead to it is no doubt both offensive and sinful and that all this may be supposed in the Church of Christ without Absurdity and so establish the above mentioned Propositions will appear by a short review of the former Passages If that Peter and James their giving a positive Judgment in the Case of Difference in divers particulâ—rs did not infer them to be Imposers so neither will any so doing now being led to it by the same Authority every one may easily make the Application and on the contrary if for any to have stood up and resisted their Judgment pretending an unclearness or so and thereby held up the Difference after their Sentence breaking the Peace and Unity of the Church Things being concluded with an It seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us I say if such would have given just Cause of Offence and have been cut off as Despisers of Dignities of old will not the like Case now occurring the same Conclusion holds Now whether those Propositions do not hold upon the Principles before laid down and proved I leave to every Judicious and Impartiall Reader to judge Moreover we see how positive the Apostle Paul is in many particulars throughout all his Epistles insomuch as he saith 2 Thes. ult 14. If any Man obey not our Word by this Epistle note that Man and have no Company with him that he may be ashamed And in many more Places before mentioned where he commands them both to obey him and several others who were appointed no doubt by the Spirit of God to be Rulers among them and yet who will say that either the Apostle did more then he ought in commanding or they less then they were obliged to in submitting and yet neither were to do any thing contrary or more then the Spirit of God in themselves led them to or allowed them in and if the Church of God bear any Parity or Proportion now in these Dayes with what it did of old as I know no Reason why it should not the same things may now be supposed to take Effect that did then and also be lawfully done upon the like Occasion proceeding from the same Spirit and established upon the same Basis and Foundation and thus much as to that Part to shew in whom the Power of Decision is which being seriously and impartialy considered is sufficient to clear us from the Tyranny either of Popery or any other of that Nature with those that are not either wilfully blind or very ignorant of Popish Principles may observe but seeing to manifest that Difference was one of those things proposed to be considered of I shall now come to say something of it in its proper Place SECTION Eighth How this Government altogether differeth from the Oppressing and Persecuting Principallity of the Church of Rome and oâ—her Antichristian Assemblies WHatever Way we understand the Popish Principles in this Matter whether of those that are most devoted to the Sea of Rome as the King of Spain's Dominions the Princes of Italy the Jesuites and Generallity of all those called Religious Orders who hold that Papa in Cathedra non potest errare licet absque Concilio that is that the Pope in his Chair cannot err though without a Council or of those that are less devoted who plead this Infallibility in the Pope and Council lawfully convened who yet by the more zealous are reckoned petty Schismaticks I say whatever Way we take them all those that do profess themselves Members of the Romish Church and are so far such as to understand their own Principles do unquestionably acknowledge First That no General Council can be lawfully called without the Bishop of Rome as Christ's Vicar and Peter's Successor call it Secondly That either he himself or some from him as his Legates must be there present and alwayes preceed Thirdly That the Members having Vote are
of what is asserted and proved in this Treatise resolves in these following Particulars First That in the Church of Christ when it consists of a visible People for I speak not here of the Church in the dark Night of Apostacy that consisted not of any Society visibly united gathered into the Belief of certain Principles and united in the joint Performance of the Worship of God as meeting together praying preaching c. there is and still must be a certain Order and Government Secondly That this Government as to the Outward Form of it consists of certain Meetings appointed principally for that End yet not so as to exclude Acts of Worship if the Spirit move thereunto Thirdly The Object of this Government is twofold Outwards and Inwards the Outwards relate mainly to the Care of the Poor of Widows and Fatherless where may be also included Marriages and the removing of all Scandals in things undenyably wrong the Inwards respects an Apostacy either in Principles or Practices that have a Pretence of Conscience and that either in denying some Truths already received and believed or asserting new Doctrines that ought not to be received which again to subdivide may either be in things fundamental and of great moment or in things of less weight in themselves yet proceeding from a wrong spirit and which in the natural and certain Consequence of them tend to make Schisms Divisions Animosities and in sum to break that Bond of Love and Unity that is so needful to be upheld and established in the Church of Christ and here comes also under this Consideration all Emulations Strifes Backbitings Whisperings and Evil-surmisings Fourthly That in the true Church of Christ according to the Definition above given of it there will in such Cases of Differences and Controversies still be an Infallible Judgment from the Spirit of God either in one or other few or more Fifthly That this Infallible Judgment is only and unalterably annexed and seated in the Spirit and Power of God not to any particular Person or Persons Meeting or Assembly by vertue of any setled Ordination Office Place or Station that such may have or have had in the Church no Man Men nor Meeting standing or being invested in any Authority in the Church of Christ upon other terms then so long as he or they abide in the living Sense and Unity of the Life in their own particulars which whosoever one or more inwardly departs from ipso facto loses all Authority Office or certain Discerning he or they formerly have had though retaining the true Principles and sound Form and may be not faln into any gross Practices as may declare them generally to be thus withered and decayed Sixthly That Jesus Christ under the Gospel hath ordinarily revealed his Will in such Cases through the Elders and Ministers of the Church or a general Meeting whose Testimony is neither to be despised or rejected without good Cause neither is their taking upon them really to decide any just Ground to charge them with Imposition or to quarrel their Judgment unless it can be proved that they are decayed and have lost their Discerning as above Seventhly That to submit and obey in such Cases is no detracting from the common Priviledge of Christians to be inwardly led by the Spirit seeing the Spirit has led some heretofore so to do and yet may and that every Pretence of Unclearness is not a Sufficient Excuse for Disobedience seeing that may proceed from Obstinacy or a Mind prepossessed with Prejudice yet say I not any ought to do it before they be clear and who are every Right will not want Clearness in what they ought to do And Lastly That these Principles are no wayes tainted with Imposition or contrary to true Liberty of Conscience and that they fundamentally differ from the usurpations both of Popery Prelacy and Presbytery or any other of that Nature Robert Barclay THE END * John Owen charges us with so much Ignorance that though he writes against us in Latin he fears we will not understand it And Thomas Danson about the sametime accuses us of being Jesuites sent from abroad under this Vizard * So saith James Durham a noted Man among the Presbyterians in his Exposition upon the Revelations 1 Cor. 4. 15 16 17. W. M. in his Queries * Yet this not so the Bond but that we have also a more inwâ—rd and invisible to wit the Life of Righteousness where by we also have Vnity with the upright Seed in all even in those whose Vnderstandings are not yet so enlightned but those who are once enlightned this is as an outward Bond and if they suffer themselves to be darkned through Disobedience which as it does in the outward Bond so it doth in the inward * For some Popes have been known to deny or at least to doubt the Truth of the Scriptures as to the History of Christ to call in question the Immortallity of the Soul and the Resurrection * West Conf. of Faith chap.