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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
book_n	call_v	church_n	time_n	2,817	5	3.2368	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A89333	A messenger sent to remove some mistakes; or A desirous instrument for the promoting of truth, unity, peace and love in the church of Christ. By way of answer to a book, untruly and improperly intitled, A vindication of that righteous principle of the doctrine of Christ called laying on of hands upon baptized believers. / By Thomas Morris, a servant of Jesus Christ. Also Robert Everards Three questions propounded to Benjamin Morley about his practice of laying on of hands, with his answer, and R. E. reply.	Morris, Thomas, Baptist.; Everard, Robert, fl. 1664. Robert Everards Three questions propounded to Benjamin Morley.	1655 (1655)	Wing M2811; Wing E3541; Thomason E838_23; Thomason E838_23*; ESTC R207456	30,573	49

our meetings with many vain janglings And Secondly insteed of more of the manifestations of Gods Spirit I see nothing but unsound arguments effected by your kinde of laying on of hands And thirdly insteed of being further strengthened in Gods way there are many can witness with me from sad experience how that your kind of laying on of hands hath weakned the Church of Christ and frustrated many proceedings which tended for the good of the Church of Christ as in the relation to the choice and ordination of Officers and also much hindred the increase of the Church but how you will answer these things you know not I confess you have cited many excellent Scriptures in these two last Chapters if you had not wrong applied them but having wrong applied them they are of the more dangerous consequence therefore let all that fear God take heed and so much as to your fift chapter In your last chapter you say that some do question whether this is any command of Jesus Christ viz. laying on of hands upon Baptized Believers but by the way I must tell you that this is like many other of your rash and improper assertions for laying on of hands upon Baptized Believers is an action not a command for command receives its being from God but actions receive their being from the creature enabled thereunto by the Creatour but I shall take your meaning namely that you mean that there is a command from Jesus Christ which injoins Baptized Believers to suffer hands to be laid upon them for proof of which you say doctrines are equivalent to commands and how Robert Everat at a dispute at Tharpe did grant that doctrine and command are tearms equivalent and then you say that in the second epistle of John verse the 6. compared with the 9. we shall find that the same thing which is called command in the one place is called doctrine of Christ in the other but that is but your own words but because I love plain dealing suppose it should be granted that doctrins are equivalent to commands yet it will not follow that their proper quality is one and the same for the proper quality of doctrine is to teach and the proper quality of command is to bind or oblige the creature to the doing the thing taught yet their equivalency doth appear in that they as branches spring both from one root and like streams flow both from one fountain and thirdly the one hath as much authoritie to teach as the other hath to command yet as in relation to their proper signification or quality they are two distinct things as I said before But if it were so that doctrine and command could be proved to be both one in all respects yet they that have neither doctrine nor command for their practice are never the neerer as you have not But because your practice viz. laying on of hands upon Baptized Believers as a distinct thing for which as you say Christ hath given order by it self without respect had to the attaining that great gift the Holy Ghost which we call extraordinary or without respect had to instating into office or healing infirmities or to the suffering persecution I say because this your practice will appear to be either a truth or an error from the right understanding of that Text Hebr. 6.1 2. Therefore I shall desire to take that counsell which Paul gave to Timothy 2 Tim. 2.15 Namely rightly to divide the Word of Truth and now first I shall endeavour to shew the weakness and unsoundness of those things you conclude or lay down from Hebr. 6.1 2. and then declare what I understand from it only this I think we agree in viz. That the tearm Principles in this place signifies only beginning things and not at all chief things because then this absurdity would follow viz. That then the Hebrews must leave the chief things and go on to practise those of less concernment and as for the tearm foundation which doth as it were open the sense of the former tearm Principles it also notes out only the beginning of things and now what you say from the Text and so now I shall take notice of your laying down Laying on of hands Hebr. 6.2 to be a part of the foundation of the Church for you running a parallel between Moses and Christ in the 80. page of your Book you cite the 1 Chro. 28.12 to prove that David had command from God for every thing done in the material house or Temple where say you Was there a command for the stones to be laid upon the soundation in the first house and then say you Is there not a command for lively stones to be laid upon the foundation in the latter house which you desire may be well considered and so I hope it shall Answer First consider what you are here proving a command for it is laying on of hands or subjection to laying on of hands spoken of in Hebr. 6.2 which laying on or subjection to laying on of hands you do here cleerly note out unto us to be a part of that foundation upon which the lively stones are to be laid now in this latter house and for my further satisfaction of this to be your opinion I have not my ground only from what you say in print but also upon a certain time at Earlshilton as you were a preaching to a great audience about laying on of hands you were showing the weakness of that opinion of those who held that the laying on of hands Hebr. 6.2 was meant of Officers in denial of which you said that it could not be that because there cannot be officers in a City before the foundation of the City be laid And when you had ended your speech I desired you to tell me what you meant by the City and what by the foundation you told me that by the City you meant the Church and by the foundation you meant these six particulars which you called principles to be the foundation of the City which is the Church the same doth Mr. Fisher affirm in his long argument and two or three times more in his book but now I desire you and all other whom it may concern to consider what you have made the foundation of the Church of viz. of the creatures actions works or duties for repentance is the creatures action work or duty and so is faith John 6.29 and so is Baptism and so is subjection to laying on of hands and also Faith to the Resurrection and eternal Judgment Now these being all actions works or duties of the creature being imperfect in the best of Saints are too sandy to make a foundation for the Church But if it could have been proved as it never can that the actions of the creature are the foundations of the Church yet you would render your selves confused builders in bringing that which you call a part of the Churches foundation and lay it upon the top of

all you have said makes nothing against their opinion who hold that the great and large gift the Holy Ghost was the end wherefore Peter and John laid on their hands Acts 8. for in verse 15. it is said they prayed for it which argues it was their own end and desire to have it and so much by way of Answer to your fourth Chapter Ben. As to your fift Chapter the substance of what you say here is included in your former grounds and is also answered in my foregoing matter and therefore for brevities sake I shall take notice onely of such things as I have not already answered and in the first place though you confess in your Book page the 51. that in former times the Holy Ghost did attend the practice of laying on of hands and in page the 53. do grant that those twelve men Acts the 19. did receive the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit and yet you deny that the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit are essential to it from Hebr. 6.1 2. and therefore you must tell your Antagonist that laying on of hands will stand as firm and unmoveable in these our dayes without any such extraordinary appearances of the Spirit as formerly for these Reasons first because the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit were to confirm the doctrine of the Gospel and it being confirmed there needs no such extraordinary gifts to that end and so you conclude they confirmed laying on of hands as well as the rest of Christs doctrine putting no difference between actions and doctrine a second reason why you conclude that miracles and the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit are not essential to laying on of hands is because these extraordinary appearances of God are not essential to any other Ordinances of God as you instance in Preaching and Praying Acts 10 and Acts 4. Tho. Answer although you grant the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit did attend laying on of hands Acts 19. yet you deny they were essential to it because you say Hebr. 6.2 no extraordinary gift followed laying on of hands but in this you have laid a ground for your own mistakes by comparing that sort of subjection to laying on of hands Hebr. 6.2 to that sort in Acts 19. where they subjected in order to the receiving of the Holy Ghost but in Hebr. 6.2 I shall hereafter make it appear that they subjected in order to the filling up the measure of the sufferings of Christ therefore you must not think to make us believe that the extraordinary gift of the Holy Ghost is not essential to that kind of laying on of hands Acts 8. and the 19. because it is not essential to that contrary kind of subjection to laying on of hands Hebr. 6.2 neither because it is not essential to preaching and some kind of prayer for indeed preaching and some kind of prayer were never appointed to be instrumental for giving the extraordinary gift the Holy Ghost but the proper effect of preaching is to convey the ordinary gifts of the Spirit as inlightning and many other comfortable Receptions so that though the extraordinary gift of the Holy Ghost be not essential to preaching it never being appointed as the means through which this gift should be given yet they may be and are essential to that kind of laying on of hands through which they were given and never failed as Acts the 8. Acts the 19. The Scripture speaking but of those two times that this sort of laying of hands was used so that I wonder that you should say as you do viz. That we may no more ty up the reception of the extraordinary gift the Holy Ghost to laying on of hands then we may to preaching the Word because as you say the extraordinary gift the Holy Ghost did attend preaching as well as laying on hands And this you say though you may see Acts the 8. the 10. this gift the Holy Ghost was given through laying on of hands but though we find Acts the 19. this gift was given when they were at preaching yet never through preaching And whereas you say the extraordinary gift the Holy Ghost did confirm laying on of hands Acts the 8. as well as it did Preaching Acts the 10. I answer it did confirm laying on of hands Acts the 8. so as to bespeak the lawfulness of the use of that means being used in order to the same end viz. receiving the Holy Ghost And so did miraculous healing confirm or bespeak the lawfull use of laying on of hands to that end viz. to heal But again it is true and you confess it in the 6. page of your Book that the non-being of the gift of healing in the Church doth bespeak the uselesness of laying on of hands to that end viz. to heal And so on the other hand I shall affirm that the non-being of power in the Church instrumentally through laying on of hands to give the Holy Ghost doth bespeak the uselesness of laying on of hands to that end And so I conclude that though God hath the same power now as he had then yet if in his wisedom he sees it no● convenient to will the giving of the same gifts now as he did then his power doth not accomplish it for his power doth act suitable to his will for if in his will he doth not determin a thing then by his power he doth not effect it and so he divides to every one severally as he will 1 Cor. 12.11 And when in his wisdom he sees it convenient to give those glorious gifts into his Church as he did formerly he can again begin the dispensation of them without the use of outward instruments as he did at the first to the Apostles Acts 2.1 2 3 4. And as to the things you call effects of your laying on of hands viz. as you say a most sweet and precrous communion and a delightfull fellowship in the Gospell Secondly more of the manifestation of Gods Spirit to their souls Thirdly to be further strengthened in Gods way for your first effects viz. A most sweet and precious communion you instance in those Acts the 2.41 42 46. in which place there is not one word mentioned that ever they had hands laid on them and therefore though they had a sweet Communion yet it did not arise from laying on of hands and as for these three particulars which you call effects you might more properly have laid them down as three more ends which though they are propounded before hand yet for such are the same with effects and then though you had not attained to them yet at the least we should have thought you should have desired them but now you have laid them down as effects what ever you may say I with many other can from sad experience testify that in insteed of a sweet and reall Communion in the Church of Christ your kinde of laying on of hands hath effected nothing but an unsavory outside Communion and hath furnished