Selected quad for the lemma: book_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
book_n	call_v	church_n	true_a	2,489	5	4.9909	4	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

the house after it is built for I have heard you grant in your exercise at Markfield that Faith and Baptism do render a Church rightly constituted and if so then that you call a part of the foundation is laid upon the house after it is built and not onely so but you lay it upon every single stone belonging to this house if they will suffer it but wise builders do not use to do so therefore in this also you render your selves confused builders but when you see that the actions of the creature will prove too sandy a foundation for the Church of Christ to be built upon then you say you mean Christ in his doctrine or to speak plainly that this doctrine it self is the foundation of the Church as in page the 29. of your Book line 16 17. But for answer to this though it is true the doctrines of Christ are usefull and very excellent in their places and for those ends and uses God hath appointed them yet they cannot be the foundation of the Church for these reasons First because of the unsuitability of the matter for the rest of the matter of the Church doth consist of lively stones believing-men and women Pet. 2. And what must the rest of the matter viz. the foundation be made of words that cannot be because t is inconsistent with the rest of the matter of the house A second reason why doctrines cannot be the foundation of the Church is because of the shortness of their duration in comparison of the duration of the Church as will appeare thus for when men have done sinning that doctrine which teacheth repentance shall cease and when we injoy that by sense which we have now but by Faith the doctrine which teacheth us to believe shall cease and when we have wholly mortified the old man and are perfectly risen to newness of life that doctrine which teacheth Baptism shall cease and when the Tyrant or oppressor is taken off that doctrine which teacheth sufferings from the hands of wicked men shall cease and when the Resurrection and eternal Judgment are past these doctrins which teach as in relation to them shall cease now if these doctrins should be the foundation of the Church when the Church comes in its most triumphant state viz. after the Resurrection it will have lost its foundation Ergo not for that use Thirdly doctrins cannot be the foundation of the Church because God hath appointed them for another use viz. to fit the matter for the building Secondly for to inform the builder how to lay the fitted matter into the building And thirdly how to order it well when it is built and therefore it is compared to a Hammer and to an Axe and to a Line so that it cannot be the foundation but rather the Instrument wherewithall the builder fits his matter for the building as Christ told his disciples John the 15.3 saith he You are clean through the Word which I have spoken to you where you see the Word fits the matter for the house by clensing of it and in the 2 Tim. 3.17 It is said that the Scripture serves to perfect the man of God and throughly to furnish him to every good work and so presents the matter viz. The lively stones fit for their masters use now the doctrine being the chief instrument which fits the matter for the house no wise builder will lay his tooles under the house for the foundation of it so that you may see from these three reasons that though doctrines be excellent in their place and for that end and use God hath appointed them yet they cannot be the foundation of the Church But if we look into 1 Cor. 2.11 Paul tells us what is the foundation in these words Other foundation can no man lay than that which is Jesus Christ Now I desire you and the Impartial Reader to consider whether it is his person or his doctrine which all along in Scripture is called Jesus Christ for that which is properly called Jesus Christ is the foundation of the Church now if we take him for the foundation which is indeed the foundation and none other can be laid then the Church shall never want a foundation as in John the 8.35 Christ saith of himself The son abides in the house for ever and therefore it stall never be unprovided Question But some may say upon what account is Christ the foundation of the Church as in his Person Answer Christ is the foundation of the Church in Person upon this account in that he is the first born of many Brethren Rom. 8.29 First in the Fathers love the first fruits of them that slept and first upon every account and so the first lively stone in this spiritual building which must needs be the beginning of this building and the beginning of this building is the foundation of this building and so you see Christ is the foundation or beginning of the Church and none other can be laid and he having three places in this spiritual house is also said to be the chief Corner-stone Ephes 2.20 And thirdly he is also the head of this house Ephes 1.22 And so the wisdom and goodness of God doth most gloriously appear in making choice of such a holy perfect durable and lovely lively stone to be the foundation cornerstone and head of this house Therfore take heed of putting Christ out of any of his places and setting other things in his stead for it is not a sleight matter to put any of the things of God out of their proper places Now we have seen that these particulers Heb. 6.1 2. cannot be the foundation of the Church neither in respect of actions nor doctrine let us examin what those foundations or principles are Heb. 6.1 2. The Authour exhorts the Hebrews to leave the principles or foundation which tearm foundation explains what is meant by the tearm principles viz. the beginning for foundation is a beginning leaving the beginning may some say of what why saith the Author according to Mr. Tindals translation which you confess in your Book page the 74. is a plain translation and I also in that place Heb. 1 2. Judge it to be the truest translation that ever I saw for faith the Author leaving the beginning of Repentance of Faith of Baptism of Doctrine of Laying on of hands of Resurrection and eternal Judgment So that it is clear that the Author doth not apply the tearm foundation or beginning to the whole worke of repentance nor the whole work of Faith nor to the whole work of any of the other five but only the first steps or degrees of repentance are here called foundation or beginning and so the first steps are degrees of all the rest but if the tearm foundation or beginning should here have been applyed to the whole work of Repentance and so of all the rest we must leave out the tearm of and read it thus therfore leaving the foundation