way of peace and therefore do not thou dare to say it is the way of confusion seeing God knows better how to order the affairs of his own Church then thou doest Wherefore seeing Prophesying is Gods Ordinance in the Churh for the peace of it if any sort of men shall nowithstanding what hath been said still attribute to themselves a proper and incommunicable Ministry or the onely power to speak in the Church I shall but use the Apostles words to them and so pass on from this thing What came the word of God onely unto you and is it to come out onely from you Nay it is come to every believer as well as to you and it is also to come forth from all them unto whom it is come seeing they cannot but speak what they do believe 5. The last means I shall name whereby the true Church may keep errour out of it self is To exercise its power in judging Doctrines as Paul commandeth 1 Cor. 14.29 Let the Prophets speak two or three and let the rest judge If they that publish Doctrine should also be judges of it and the people be bound to subscribe to their judgement error would not only by this means have opportunity to be vented but would also be established and confirmed without the least contradâ—ction But now God hath appointed it otherwise in the Church for whoever speak there the hearers are to judge of the truth of the Doctrine and accordingly are either to receive it or reject it having power to do either as they see occasion and so errour cannot prevail in that Church where the faithfull have liberty to judge of all Doctrines and do exercise that liberty But where they that publish Doctrine are also the judges of it and the people are bound up to the Doctrine of the Teachers and may not question or contradict it there errour reigns as in its proper Kingdom And thus by these means errour may certainly be kept out of the Church that the Church may live in truth and peace But here now a great question wil be moved and that is this Whether the Magistrate hath not power to suppress errour by the sword and whether the Church may not use this remedy against errour as well as all those before named I answer that many men of great eminency have attributed such a power to the Magistrate and have done him the honour besides his throne in the world to erect him a throne in Gods Kingdom at the least equal to Christ thinking that Religion would soon be lost if he should not uphold it And to make this good they have produced many Scriptures of the Old Testament which seem to arm the Magistrate against the authors and spreaders of errours But I desire the wise-hearted to consider whether as clear Scriptures may not be produced out of the Old Testament to prove that temporal power in the world belongs to Ecclesiastical men as that spiritual power in the Church belongs to worldly Magistrates And to this purpose because I would not be too large in this matter now I shall desire him who hath a minde to be instructed to reade and weigh the Reply of the French Prelates to the Lord Peters which he may finde in Fox his Book of Martyrs vol. 1 p. 467. Wherefore seeing the Scriptures of the old Testament are every whit as strong to give Ministers power in temporal matters as Magistrates in spiritual it is without all question the only sure and safe way to determine this cause by the new Testament or the doctrine of Christ and the Apostles by whom in these last dayes God hath spoken fully to the Church and after whose doctrine there is no other word to be expected And because herein I finde no such power given to the Civil Magistrate to judge and determine in spiritual matters therefore I conclude he hath none Now if any shall say This is a great wrong to the Magistrage to thrust his power out of the Church and to confine it to the world I answer That to make the Church and Ecclesiastical Kingdom standing in outward Laws orders authority dignity promotion goverment all which are to be granted established and managed by state power and yet to deny the Magistrates authority and influence into these things which flow from his own power and consist in it and by it this is to streighten and to wrong him indeed But to declare the true Church to be a spiritual Kingdom as Christ hath made it and not at all of this world but the very Kingdom of heaven upon earth and thereupon to deny him power in it is no more to prejudice the Magistrate then to deny him power in heaven Seeing the Sons Kingdom which is heaven on earth is to be as free from worldly and humane power as the Fathers Kingdom which is heaven in heaven Christ being to be all in all in this as God is to be all in all in that And so to deny the Magistrate that power which Christ never granted him is no wrong to him at all but to grant him and gratifie him with such power would be a great and intolerable wrong to the truth and Church of Christ as in many other things so in this present matter we are speaking of as you may see in the following particulars For the putting the power of the sword into the Magistrates hands to suppress errour is attended with these evils 1. Hereby the Magistrate is made a Iudge of Doctrines and hath power given him to pronounce which is truth and which is errour being yet no more infallible yea everywhit as liable to erre as the meanest of the people And what Magistrate is there that hath the power of the sword but will uphold his own Religion and judgement to be the truth though never so false and will sentence what ever is contrary thereunto to be errour though never so true and so the truth and word of God which only is to judge all and it self to be judged of none by this means is made subject to the judgement of vain man and shall either be truth or errour as he pleases to call it and errour when it pleaseth the Magistrate shall be adorned with the glorious title of truth and shall have his authority to countenance and uphold it And how great a prejudice this hath been and is to the truth and how great an advantage to errour it is very easie to judge Now if any shall say that the Magistrate may not judge of doctrine by himself and use his sword accordingly but he may take to him the councel and advice of godly and able Ministers as now of the Assembly and so may judge and punish according to their judgement I answer Is it fit that the Magistrate in so great matters should be blinde folded himself and see onely by other mens eyes Again if the Magistrate judge according to the judgement of
he is the man with them that breaks the Churches peace and so Antichrist-like they have exalted their single uniformity above this seven-fold unity of the Church and so have as much as in them lies made the word of the Spirit void through their carnal that I say no more traditions For a man may break all these seven bonds of the Churches unity and yet be a very good member of their Church if he onely observe their uniformity but if he break this he is a Schismatike and an Heretike and not worthy to live in their account though he live in all the bonds of this true and spiritual unity Wherefore to escape these snares let all believers know assuredly that these seven bonds named by the Apostle which are all spiritual and of God and not one of them carnal or of man are the onely bonds of the true Churches true unity and that whoever of their own minds presume to add to thesâ— are guilty of adding to the word of God themselves being but wretched creatures and so involve themselves in all the curses written in his Book among which death and hell have their place And let us further know that whoever do combine together to make themselves one out of the fore-named unity though they call themselves the Church never so much yet they are but sects and schismes and divisions and factions rent from the true Church of God for such men choose and frame to themselves some singular way of worship form order c. whereby they think they excell other Christians and so cause the simple and ignorant which are the multitude of people to follow them especially having countenance of worldly authority by which means both they and their followers depart from the true unity of the Church For when this seven-fold spiritual unity is neglected Christianity is torn in pieces into as many sects as the world and Devil please till there be no footsteps left either of faith or love So that whatever these men pretend most certain it is that all confedaracies in the Church of outward orders forms rites laws ceremonies disciplines which are necessarily enforced by the secular power seduced by the Ecclesiastical will never hold the Church together but all these are and have proved and will prove rather a wall of partition in the Church then a bond of union and if they seem to work union yet it is no other then the mingling clay and iron together which no pains nor art can perfectly compound For all peace and union in the Church knit by other bonds then are here named is no spiritual union neither will it stand And therefore dear Christians and believers seeing we have seven bonds of unity all of Gods own making to make us one let not diversity of forms and rites which are but sorry things of mans making separate and divide us but seeing each of these bonds are able to make us one how much one should all of them together make us And thus having shewed from the word how all Christians and believers are made one by God the next thing I shall aim at is to shew how they may continue one among themselves in reference to that communion they have with one another whilst they sojourn in this world flowing from the former union that so all darkness and mistakes which now even many believers are grievously inwrapped in may be dispelled and done away and we may live in this pure and perfect union with one another in God making all outward things subservient hereunto and none of them prejudicial And to this purpose I conceive we are 1. To know some things And both otherwise then yet we seem either to know or do them And 2. To do other things And both otherwise then yet we seem either to know or do them 1. To preserve our peace we have in Christ we must be instructed aright in the matter of the Churches GOVERNMENT because the mistake in this thing is so great a cause of controversie and division among us at this day For if the true Church hath its true government without any such forms and laws and power as is now so earnestly contended for there is no reason we should fall out and divide for these things Now the Government of the Church is two fold 1. There is that Government which God exercises immediatly by himself And 2. That Government which he exercises mediately and by the faithfull The first of these that is Gods immediate Government is also two-fold 1. The Government of his speciall providence 2. The Government of his spiritual presence The first sort of Gods immediate Government of his Church is the Government of his special providence and this is a most strange wonderful and glorious Government This was that Government of God over the Church of Israel when he took his own Nation out of the midst of another Nation by temptations signs wonders by a strong hand and a stretched out arm and great terrours when he led them through the red Sea and through the wilderness in paths that were not trodden when he fed them with bread from heaven and water out of the Rocks when he suffered no man to do them wrong but reproved even Kings for their sake and through multitudes of enemies and oppositions led them into the Land of Canaan Thus God led that Church from bondage to liberty from tribulation to quietness from a sordid condition to honour and renown from a strange land to a land of inheritance and from slavery to a Kingdom And this was a glorious Government indeed standing in Gods immediate conduct from heaven far above all humane councels wisdom stratagems or any thing else of mans contriving and acting and this government of God is so far beyond all humane apprehensions that according to this it is said His way is the Sea and his path in the great waters and his footsteps are not known And is not this kinde of Gods government of the spiritual Church of the New Testament every whit as wonderful and glorious as was that of the visible Church of the Old Testament For though the beginning of it was small and low in the world yet did it receive encrease with the encrease of God and was preserved maintained and enlarged in the world notwithstanding all the rage and cruelties of the persecuting Heathen Emperours for three hundred years together and ever since God himself hath taken the conduct of this Church and hath carryed it through difficulties distresses reproaches prisons torments deaths to ease liberty comfort joy salvation glory life happiness and this hath been Gods glorious government of the Church hitherto And at this present time the Church of God wants not this government among all the troubles confusions wars and desolations of the Kingdom but God is now as near his true Church as ever and supports it and comforts it and guides it as a skilful Pilot
all that belong to God And it is the only Gospel way to conquer error by the truth and all humane yea and devilish doctrines by the Gospel which is the ministration of the Spirit and therefore so mighty that all false teachers and false doctrines must needs fall down before it seeing stronger is that Spirit that is in it then that spirit that is in the world which is its own spirit and the devils And if the Gospel of Christ have given already such proof of its power in former times when the whole world lay in horrible ignorance and error darkness covered the earth and gross darkness the people and yet the Gospel alone without any conjunction of earthly power of States and Kingdoms with it did binde the devil and cast him out of his possessions and dominions and overthrow all false Religions men had received from their fore-fathers through many generations and changed the manners customes opinions Religions and very natures of men and utterly dispelled errrors and heresies of all sorts I say seeing the Gospel hath already given such large testimony of its power and made so great a conquest of the world when it was wholly under the power of the devil I see no reason that we should now so doubt the power of it as to suffer no man to say any thing but what likes us or what is indeed agreeable to the word as if error should have now gotten more power to make void the word then the world power to make void error Wherefore if the word be suffered to have free passage I dare rest on that alone and so dare all that have felt the power of it in their own hearts for the conquering and destroying all errors and Heresies whatsoever in the true Church of God And now it would be profitable to hear what some other men who have walked in the same light and Spirit have said in this matter Zuinglius in his book quoted in the margent speaks thus Haec unica eaque sola via est qua ad concordiam proxime perveniri potest c. that is This is the one and only way whereby we may most suddenly attain to concord if whatsoever things may be or are commonly said for any opinion or against it be freely propounded in the Churches so that the people be allowed free judgement in all these things For God who is not the God of discord but of peace nevers suffers those who are gathered together in his spirit to erre or be deceived And if this way were observed we should shortly see the Churches of Christ enjoying sweet peace and concord But now as often as there are some Princes and Cities that would have the doctrine of the Gospel free to all presenly there are others that would stop and hinder the course of it and so long there must needs arise great discords and dissentions And hence I would have you judge whether you or we are departed from the Church of God and the doctrine of it For we suffer those writings that proceed as well from you as from the Papists to be openly and freely read and read again and the evils which are taught in them we slay by the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God but you think all this business may be dispatched with PUBLICK EDICTS AND COMMANDS And therefore do you be judge whose cause is most to be suspected ours who suffer the doctrine of our adversaries to be published in our Churches and overthrow them by the word or yours who reproach our doctrine before the simple people as heretical in the mean time by your good will neither suffering them to read it nor understand it Thus far he Luther also in his Epistle to Frederick and Iohn Dukes of Saxony speaking against that Spirit which he cals Spiritus Alstetinus a proud haughty enthusiastical spirit that despised faith and love and the cross and the whole Scriptures as low things not worth their minding and gloried in strange Revelations and superlative holiness which they had above other believers And these enemies of the Gospel especially were gathered together in Alsteta and Luther writes to the Dukes in whose Province this Town was to this purpose touching them Quod vèro praesentis interest negotii nolim ab illustrissimis D. V. praedicandi officium praecludi cuiquam c. That is But for what pertains to our present business I would not that the office of preaching should be denyed to any by your most illustrious Lordships but let there be granted to them free Liberty to preach and let them exhibite the best proof of their learning For I said by the Testimony of Paul It must needs be that there must be sects and the word of God must strive and wage war in camps And therefore it is evident in Psa. 67. that the Evangelists are called Armies and that Christ in the Psalms is called more then once the King of Armies Now if their spirit be a right and approved spirit it will easily subsist before us without all fear and so if our spirit be right as we hope it is it will fear neither them not any body else But if they transgress the bounds of the Gospel and will not contain their hands but will do their work with violence it is the duty of your most Illustrious Lordships when they grow fierce and seditious to repress them or to banish them out of your Dominions saying we will easily grant to you to fight with the word for the proving and examining which is true Doctrine but we will restrain the fierceness of your spirits and contain your hands for these things belong to our Magistracie And therefore they that will not herein obey let them depart the Country For saith he we who are Ministers of the word may preach but we must do no violence and Daniel hath witnessed that Antichrist shall be destroyed without hands And Isaiah saith that Christ shall fight in his Kingdom with the spirit of his mouth and the rod of his lips c. Also Albertus Duke of Borussia when the great controversie fell out between Andreas Osiander and Morlinus and other Ministers touching the Righteousness whereby a Christian is made righteous before God he would not forbid either side either the Pulpit or Press but left them free to both alike and desired them to forbear reproaches one against another and to debate the business quietly by the word of God Likewise the Bohemians in a certain exhortation of theirs to Kings and Princes to stir them up to the zeal of the Gospel subscribed by Procopius and Conradus and other Captains of the Bohemians have these words They say that is the Papists it ought not to be suffered that we should be heard in confessing our faith Now how may that be proved by the holy Scripture since Christ heard the devil as is written Mat. 4 And they are not better
then Christ nor we worse then the devil If they be righteous and have the truth with them as they say they have and we be unrighteous why do they fear since the truth ought not to be afraid of falshood and Zorobabel declared That truth is of all things the most mighty and overcometh all things For Christ is the truth John 14. I am the way the truth and the devil is the father of lyes John 8. Therefore if the Pope and his Priests have the truth let them overcome us with the word of God but if they have lyes then they cannot long abide in all their presumption Wherefore we exhort and beseech all the Imperial Cities all Kings Princes Noble-men rich poor for Gods sake and for his Righteousness that one of them write hereof to another and that there may be some means made how we may commune with you safely and friendly at some such place as shall be fit both for you and us and bring with you your Bishops and Teachers and let them and our Teachers fight together with the word of God and let us hear them and let not one overcome the other by violence or false subtilty but only by the word of God c. By all which it appears That let mens Doctrine be what it will they ought to be heard and convinced by the word and not presently to be silenced and subdued by force Now secondly if upon hearing and debating things by the word it shall clearly appear that our adversaries hold such things which are so false and erroneous that they cannot be reckoned believers and members of Christ that hold them not can retain those Doctrines without unvoidable damnation then in this case the true Church hath Authority from the word to do these things 1. To condemn the doctrine 2. To excommunicate their persons 1. The Church ought to condemn the doctrine as contrary to the Gospel and to that eternal and unchangeable and most clear and certain truth which Christ hath heard from the Father and delivered to his Church which is the faith once given to the Saints and never to be altered And so to tell the people what Doctrine it is even such as carries in it an utter enmity to Christ and his Spirit and so consequently death and damnation and that therefore they are to take heed of it as they love eternall life and would void eternall death And thus Christ condemned the Doctrine of the Scribes and of the Pharisees and of the Sadduces and bid his Disciples Beware of them and Paul the Doctrine of Hymeneus and Philetus which did eâ—t as a canker c. 2. The Church in this case may also excommunicate the Person yea though he should be silent and not seduce others seeing believers 〈…〉 have no true 〈…〉 the word of life in which all the true communion of the faithfull stands Wherefore such pâ—â—sons may justly be cut off from the Society of the faithfull But herein also these Rules are to be observed to wit 1. That this censure be not proceeded to for every varying from the truth as is already said but for denying such truths or holding such errors as make a man incapable of salvation 2. That this be not done till all other wayes have been tryed to reclaim him 3. That this be done not by two or three persons but by the whole Church or communion 4. That it be done not by their own but by Christs Authority who is alwayes present in his Church as the Head of that body and that it be done not by any humane Passion or violence but by the efficacy of the holy Spirit who is alwayes present among believers as the Spirit of those members And this Excommunication thus regulated is the last punishment the Church can inflict by the warrant and authority of Christ and it cannot imprison any or banish them or fine them or put them to death for we must not expound that place of Paul Hareticum hominem devita as Hugo Charensis did to take a Heretike out of his life but him that is a Heretike we must avoid we must not kill the former being Christs rule the latter Antichrists Now these things have I spoken and propounded to the faithfull and Churches of Christ wherever the providence of God shall cast this Book which may travel farther on this errand then weak flesh can do and I so propound them all as being most ready my self to hear from any what they can propound in more light 〈…〉 in these matters they will ye◠〈…〉 over and preserve Peace and Vnity in the true Church of Christ The desire of which through Gods goodness is much stronger in my heart then any private interest or respect of mine own FINIS 2 Cor. 11.6 â—cclesia Regiâ—a misericordiae cujus viscera sunt merae miserationes remissiones peccatorum Cito vos omnes ut respondeatis mihi coram Attissimo justissimo Iudice post paucos annos The peace propounded is 1. Not between the Church and the world 2. Nor between the carnal and spiritual children of the Church Spiritual Christians make up the body of Christ. Carnal Christians the body of Antichrist Peace between the children of pâ—ace What the right Church is not What it is How the Church of God differs from the Churches of men How the true Church may be known though spiritual and invisible Quest. 2. Answ. How we may be joyned to the true Church though invisible The Church the body as well as Christ the head a great mystery The Church just such a body as Christ is a Head Wherein the Unity of the true Church lies The right Church is one body This one body comprehends Believers of all Ages Of all sorts Many things to be considered from the Churches unity of body 1 Cor. 12. Who break this bond of the Churches Unity The right Church is one Spirit Who break â—his bond of Unity Quest. Answ. The right Church have one hope of their calling Who break this bond of Unity The right Church hath one Lord. Who break this bond of the Churches Unity The Assemblies vote for their government The right Church hath one faith Unity of faith preserves peace 1. Notwithstanding diversity of inward gifts 2. Notwithstanding diversity of outward works Who break this bond of the Churches Unity Who break this bond of Unity The right Church hath one God and Father of them all The true Church is a Kingdom of Brethren Where all are 1. Alike dear to God 2. Alike dear to us This one God and Father of the true Church is 1. Above you all 2. Through you all 3. In them all Who break this bond of Unity There is no other bond of the Churches unity besides these seven It is a wicked thing to cry up Uniformity in the stead of this Unity How the union which God hath wrought among Believers should be preserved in the