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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A88695	The persecuted minister, in defence of the ministerie, the great ordinance of Jesus Christ. Setting forth the severall names of Apostles, prophets, &c. [brace] 1. That there is a ministerial office. 2. That the sacrament of baptisme by a lay-person is invalid. 3. That necessity is no plea. 4. That the long omission of the Lords Supper is unwarrantable. With many other things, plainly and methodically handled / by William Langley late of S. Maryes in the city of Lichfield, minister ...	Langley, William, b. 1609 or 10.	1656 (1656)	Wing L408; Thomason E860_4; ESTC R202682	143,990	208

and Abiram had a specious pretence for their usurpation yet fire consumes Corah and his company and the earth swallows Dathan and Abiram They had perverted that order that God had established to continue in his Church and the Lord works a strange work altering the course of nature Now although God doe not thus execute judgment from Heaven when his Ordinances are violated yet this sin is not hereby lessened the punishment mitigated nor the hand of God shortned The Sacraments of the Gospel of Christ are of much more worth and value than those of the Old Testament and are therefore guilty of much sorer punishment Sacred Functions ordered by God must not be prophaned by voluntary usurpations Secondly the sin must needs be great because it fights against this institution which was given for our direction This sin is not only against man but against the Author and Instituter of the Sacraments Shall private persons usurp to be the Lords Messengers to bring his Letters and Seals not called nor authorized It cannot be without dishonour to God without the check and controlement of Jesus Christ who is the Captain of his own host the head of his own body Lord of his own house and the great King of his own Church if therefore private persons administer the Sacraments they sin against God and go beyond the bounds of their calling Atters 3 book of the Sacr. of the Lords Supper chap 20. If they will not be restrained but rush forward their sin lieth at the door I shall here briefly discover to you the greatnesse of their sin that thrust themselves into the calling of the Ministery without lawfull ordination or deputation thereunto First it is repugnant to the Word of God For none but such as are called according to the rules and cannons of the Apostles ought to take upon them this Office No man saith Luther although he be more wise than Salomon or David ought to take this honour unto himself except he be called of God as Aaron was Heb 5.4 though not called immediately by himself yet mediately by Deputies under him Titus was to ordain Elders in every City T it 1.5 The Apostle ordained Elders in every Church Acts 14.23 Separate me Ba●nabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them and when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them they sent them away Acts 13.2 3. besides their extraordinary gifts they must be set apart to this office God commands it his word enjoynes it St. Paul St. Peter St. James call themselves Apostles implying their Commissions for both their calling and their authority is set down in the word Apostles for Apostolos is as much as one sent This sinne that we are now upon is one of those many that hales down judgments upon this Land Secondly it crosses the custome of the Churches of God those I meane purged from superstition who with one consent hold forth this doctrine that it is not lawfull for any man to take upon him the office of publique praying or Ministring the Sacraments before he be lawfully called and sent to execute the same witnesse the confession of all the Reformed Churches Whosoever is guilty in this particular we may say of him we have no such custome no nor the Churches of God St. Augustine proposeth a rule and I think it is a good one and it is this he that goeth against Reason is no wise man he that goeth against the Scripture is no sober man and he that goeth against the Church is no peaceable man and it is observed if any make his entrance unlawfull his course and progresse is troublesome it is a step to much Schism and Faction Thirdly it is a breach of that order God hath enjoyned for what greater disorder saith a Reverend Doctor can there be then without order to usurp the Ministeriall function nothing better becommeth us then order God is the God of order and the three persons in the Trinity put themselves in order to shew how they love it and our Ministry is called by the name of Orders to shew that we are bound to order above other professions Decor in Domo ejus Beauty and comelinesse are in his Sanctuary and must they not be in his Servants Order it is natures beauty the Churches ornament the worlds harmony 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Zenoph 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a thing excelling all things both for use and grace it is in all things in all places in heaven and Earth hell excepted there is no manner of comliness without it but all out of fashion no kinde of constancy but all loose without it all falls back to the first Tohis and Bohu emptinesse and disordered rude Chaos of confusion Now what greater disorder then for a man to run unsent to the Lords Vineyard to thrust his sickle into Gods harvest to step rudely into Moses chair to climbe in at the Window and not at the door if none durst assume the honour of the Leviticall Priesthood except he were called Heb. 5 4 Evangelicall is much more honourable and it is great boldnesse to presume to assume it without a calling Yea it is a breach of that order God hath enjoyned As is confessed by the Church of England Fourthly the greatnesse of their sin appeareth in that they are guilty of Intrusion and Usurpation These are two freckl●s in the Churches face The sin of Intrusion it is a brand of false Prophets Jer. 14.14 23.21 27.15 The Lord condemneth them in that they prophesied but he sent them not what needs this preposterous haste this running before God It is surest and safest to take him along with us Vix bono peraguntur exitu quae malo sunt inchoata principio Things ill begun are not commonly well ended Neither are the proceedings likely to be good whose beginnings are so greatly out of order They which enter not into the Temple as did Aaron will hardly behave themselves in the house of the Lord as Aaron did Much hast is seldome encountred with good successe Again Of the duty and dignity of the Minist 2 treat the greatnesse of their sin appears in their presumption and violent boldnesse to lay hands upon such a holy function It is a doctrine of Master Perkins That all true Ministers especially such as are deputed in the greatest workes in his Church must be first of all stricken into a great fear in consideration of the greatness of their function yea into an amazement and astonishment in the admiration of Gods glory and greatnesse whose room they occupie and whose message they bring and this he grounds on those words of the Prophet Isa 6.5 Then said I woe is me I am c. He that steps into this function without feare may question his calling When the Lord calleth any of his servants he drives them into fears and amazements as Moses Exod. 4.10 13. Oh my Lord I am not eloquent c. So

void and nothing worth the word of Institution is the form of Baptism For the assumption it is most true Buc 46. com pl. of the Sacram. in generall for where doe we read that Christ ever gave this power of baptizing to any but Men in office The Sacraments be the appurtenances of the Ministery of the Word None may undertake it but such as are thereunto lawfully called Atters 2 book of Bapt cap. 3. God hath joyned the Ministery of the Word and Sacraments together and what God hath coupled let no man put asunder I shall conclude this with that of S. Augustine against Fulgentius the Donatist Etenim Paganus Baptizat Judaeus Baptizat Saducaeus Baptizat Et multi extra regulam legis datae baptizare non cessant sed illud est unum quod verum illud verum quod Christi Although a Pagan a Jew and Saducee and many besides the Rules of Gods Law cease not to Baptize yet that is one which is true that is true which is of Christ For a Lay-person to baptize is a violation of the institution Trelcat lib. 2. de Bapt. Nec homini privato etiam in casu necessitatis baptizare licet cum nulla sit necessitas quae nos cogat praescriptos à Deo ordines violare But this being fully cleared in the precedent Chapter I think it needlesse to adde any more Secondly Baptisme by a Lay-person is invalid because done Non habente potestatem by one that hath no power Zanchy speaking of Baptisme saith Fid. de Christ. relig de Bapt. 6. Ritè autem ac legitimè administrari intelligimus cum doctrina primum praecedit Evangelii juxta Christi institutionem c. We say that it is rightly and lawfully administred when first the doctrine of the Gospel concerning the true God Christ and his office goeth before according to Christs institution and then the parties are baptized by water and that by a lawful Minister in the name of c. Any act of Gods worship not rightly and lawfully done is invalid But Baptisme an act of Gods worship done without a lawful Minister is not rightly and lawfully done Therefore this Conclusion doth necessarily flow from Zanchy's praemisses Seals are no seals except set to by one formall invested with sealing-authority Atters 2. lib. of Bapt. cap. 3. unlesse done by one Quatalis furnished with power to that purpose We see in the affairs of the Common-wealth and in passing Conveyances of Lands how careful and circumspect men are to passe them where they ought to be passed in such Courts and under such Officers as are authorized for that purpose for whatsoever is done by him that hath not a patent to warrant his practise is held to be void and frustrate by Masters of that profession In like manner it stands us all upon in matters of higher importance than the sealing and signing of temporal possessions to walk carefully to the diligent performance of this special duty that the signing of our Infants and sealing them in the Congregation be made by the hands of such Officers as are appointed by God for that purpose and by no other Atters cod loc If it be the will of a King to make a seal for the sealing of his grants and commit it to the trust of some Officers and albeit another be made of the same matter and of the same form and fashion yet it is none of the Kings seale it s but a counterfeit Stamp So the Lord hath instituted the seale of Baptisme and committed it to certain persons that they onely should have a sealing authority so that no Sacraments can be warranted to be his Seals but such as are signed by his Officers I would gladly know to what purpose any mans seal is that never was invested with a sealing power Beza makes a supposition Suppose that a Princes seal should be stolne away which he hath appointed to seal his grants withall and should be set to by him that hath no authority not being the Keeper thereof what assurance hath such an one by such an act So if it were possible to be the seal of God which a private person should set to Baz lib de Quest in Sac. Quest 140 141. yet for all that he hath stolne his patent and used it contrary to Gods commandment it is to no purpose to the party and renders the doer of such an act guilty of a heinous crime The outward parts of a Sacrament are 4. the Minister Atters 1 book of the Sac in Gen. ch 4. the Word of Institution the Element and the Receiver The Minister is the first outward part of a Sacrament There is required a Minister lawfully called chosen and ordained whosoever shall presume to set to any of the Lords seals without a warrant or a calling being no Officer nor Keeper of them prophanes those seals and sets to a counterfeit stamp Christ never gave to private persons any such commandement he never committed to them any such office he never commended to their care these holy actions he never called them to this honour he never layed upon them this charge and therefore have no part in this business Now Eqd. loc saith Attersol All these 4 parts and every of them are needful to the being and nature of a Sacrament take them away or any of them you take away the substance and bring in a nullity of the Sacrament If there be wanting either Minister to deliver it Word to institute it Element to represent it or Receiver to take it we cannot assure our selves to have any Sacrament of God but rather a tradition and invention of our own What is the reason that the Orthodox have condemned the Baptisme of Women but for want of authority It cannot be a Sacrament at all without that which is essentially praerequired Buc. Bez● Calv. Trelcat c. and where there is wanting any essential praerequisite it is a nullity Thirdly No private person but one lawfully called hath power to conferre or seal Sacramentally or Ministerially Rem Baptismi the thing offered by Baptism which none but he can doe To this purpose speaks Trelcatius Lib 2. Inflit. de Bapt. pars 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Causa efficiens Baptismi bifariam considerari potest Vel ut causa instituens vel ut causa instituta Baptismate utens seu Baptizans posteriori modo Minister baptizans dicitur Quia in Christi nomine baptismum administrans Sacramentalitèr ac Ministerialitèr rem baptismi obsignat confert Ministri autem nomine intelligimus eum cui in legitima vecatione Ministerium verbi commissum est The efficient cause of Baptisme is to be considered in a double consideration Christ is the person instituting the Minister the person baptizing so called because administring Baptisme in the name of Christ doth Sacramentally and Ministerially seale and conferre the thing offered by Baptisme and by the name of Minister we understand him

to whom the Ministery of the Word is committed in a lawful calling For when there is no power Sacramentally or Ministerially to seal to what purpose is that fealing such doe violare praescriptos à Deo ordines violate the orders prescribed of God A Minister and not a private person represents the person of Christ in the Sacrament whose Deputy and Ambassadour he is and therefore he onely can offer and deliver with power and authority the outward signe which answereth fitly to the inward matter for he onely hath the key of binding and loosing a power that no Lay-man hath If you look unto men by whom this power is administred it is a meer Ministery but if you look unto Christ it is a most high authority than which there is on earth none greater more profitable or more excellent There are two keys the binding and loosing in regard of the divers objects and effects The loosing key is that part of the Ministery whereby remission of sins or absolution from sins in the name of Christ is pronounced unto the Believers according to Gods word publickly or privately and so Heaven is opened and the Believer loosed by the preaching of the Gospel from the bonds of sin and declared an heir of life The binding key is that other part of the Ministery whereby the retention of their sins is denounced unto the Unbelievers and disobedient and so Heaven is shut unto them and they are bound that is they remain captiv'd in the chains of sin and are adjudged to damnation unlesse repentance follow and these keys are of that weight and efficacy that whosoever is remitted or retained on Earth is also remitted and retained in Heaven according to that John 20.23 whose sins ye remit c. None must imagine that this power depends upon the person or worthinesse of the Minister for indeed properly he can neither binde nor loose any man but it depends upon his lawful Ministery or rather upon God himself who by the holy Ghost is powerful in the Ministery of the word as often as the Minister doth duely execute his office in this sense these two places are reconciled Mark 2.7 Who can forgive sins but God alone that is authoritative and that of John 20.23 Whose sins ye remit c. namely instrumentally therefore saith Attersol Take away the Minister and it is no Sacrament Fourthly a private man hath no power of Consecration without which the water is but common water Atters 1 book c 5. of the Sac. in generall and this is necessarily required to the substance of the Sacrament for when the word is added to the Element then there is made a Sacrament Now the Sacramental word consists partly of a commandment proper and peculiar to Ministers Go teach all Nations partly of a promise annexed in the name of the Father c. In all the Scripture we never reade of either command or promise warranting the use of Baptisme by Lay-persons without the power of Consecration Sacraments are as a dead body without life as a dumb shew without voice as an empty cloud without water and as a barren tree without fruit idle and dumb signs But it will not be amisse to speak somewhat of the Consecration of a Sacrament To consecrate Atters 1 book of the Sac. ch 8. is to take a thing from the Common and ordinary use and to appoint it to some other holy use It is the sanctification or dedication of the outward signes to an holy purpose without this the water in Baptism is common water the bread common bread the wine common wine and such as all men may take at their ordinary tables Without this it hath no power force and vertue 1 book ch 4. and if this be wanting there is no Sacrament for Baptism is no Sacrament except the word be joyned to it and consecrated to that use If either Minister Word or Element be wanting you take away the substance and bring in a nullity of the Sacrament Fiftly There is but one baptisme Ephes 4.5 in regard of the use and of the end so the Nicene Councel I believe one Baptisme for the remission of sins we doe all by this one dore and no other enter into the visible Church Now this one Baptisme is described unto us in the word of truth Atters 3 book of the Sac. of the Lords Supper chap. 20. which we may understand by the Institution of Christ and discharge those from that number of Sacraments that want the warrant of the word so that if there be any other than what is there prescribed it is none a fiction and humane invention This calls to my minde an expression of Zanchy's concerning the Baptism of the 12 Disciples of Ephesus Obs in cap 25. de Bapt Aph. 6. Cùm Paulum diximus eos de quibus Acts 19. Denuo baptizasse tanquam non rite baptizatos id sine ullius interpretis praejudicio diximus c. so goes on Whereas we said that Paul baptized again those of whom it is spoken in the 19 of the Acts as being not rightly baptized we said it without prejudice to any learned Interpreters for we condemn none Only we desire the Reader to construe favourably that word Rebaptize for we meant not that they which were rightly baptized were afterwards baptized again Sed qui vero baptismo praecedente scilicet vera de Deo Patre Filio Spiritu Sancto doctrina baptizati non suerant But they which were not baptized with true Baptisme where the true doctrine of God the Father the Son and the holy Ghost went before This to speak properly was indeed not to be rebaptized but to be truly baptized and presently after Illos duodecim discipulos fuisse à Paulo vel saltem jussu Pauli baptizatos tanquam non ritè antea baptizatos Those 12 Disciples were baptized of Paul or at least by Pauls commandment as having not been rightly baptized before These twelve Disciples have occasioned almost as many opinions the Treatises are large I shall confine them desirous to finish this fourth Chapter and so proceed to the rest concerning which we shall be brief Some from hence draw an argument of Rebaptization But August who held a difference betwixt Johns and Christs Baptisme yet defends his opinion from Rebaptization Ambrose and Hierome are of Zanchy's opinion as before related that by a counterfeit Baptisme under the name of the Baptisme of John they were rather defiled than washed or at least not rightly and duely baptized Chrys 3 tom in art Hom. 40. Orig in 19 Art August Tom. 7. cont Petil. c 7. Sueg Tom. 1. in Evang. Hom. 20. The Fathers taught that these words and when they heard it they were baptized were not the words of Saint Paul spoken of them which heard Saint John Baptist but expounded them as the words of S. Luke spoken of them which heard Saint Paul and so it seemeth evident from the Text. Some say that they

necessity of the Ministerial Office And 4. How shall they preach except they be sent Implying that without mission or sending there can be no preaching 5. How can they preach except they be sent So that mission or sending is necessary to the making up of a true Minister of the Gospel But before I presse this let us consider that in true Gospel-Ministers three things are requisite First Ministeriall abilities that they be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Men apt and fit to teach 2 Tim. 3.2 nursed up in sacred studies 2 Tim. 3.15 and not to be admitted as Chrysostome saith Antequam fidei suae vitae dederint documenta Before they have given proof of their faith and life Sisacerdos est sciat legem Domini Hier. in Haggai si ignorat ipse se arguit non esse sacerdotem Domini This ability S. Paul calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rightly dividing the word of truth 2 Tim. 2.15 The Word of God is Panis vitae the bread of Life and while it is in the whole loafe is not so helpfull as when by a good and skilfull hand cut in pieces Spice unbroken is sweet but pounded in a Mortar is farre sweeter Many men loath Manna because it is slovenly handled And good Liquor is spoyled being in a fusty vessel S. Paul in that excellent Epistle to Timothy which Hierome calleth Speculum Sacerdotii sets down directions for a Pastor one of which is apt to teach The ground of all our Preaching must be taken out of Gods book Scriptum est it is written So August Audi dicit Dominus non dicit Donatus aut Rogatus aut Vincentius aut Hilarius aut August sed dicit Dominus It is not what this or that Man saith but what the Lord saith We are sent to preach on his Preachings to paraphrase his Lectures and to discover that to you which he dictated to us and in truth all our Sermons are nothing else but rehearsals of that old Spittle Sermon as it were preached by God himself to decayed Adam and Eva Boys The second Sunday in Lent Gen. 3.15 For first all that is said by Christ and his blessed Apostles in the New Testament is summarily nothing else but a repetition and explanation of that one prophesie Semen mulieris conteret caput Serpentis Yet we are not to use no other Books but the Bible no other Commentary but the Creed but to read Treatises of Divinity and the best Expositions of the Scriptures for the better understanding of this one Book which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Booke and must be read S. Paul bindes Timothy to it 1 Tim. 4.13 S. Peter shews it to be the practise of the Prophets 1 Pet. 1.10 Jeremy read the Psalmes Jer. 10. Psel 79.6 Daniel perused Jeremy Dan. 9.2 S. Peter lookt into S. Pauls Epistles 2 Pet. 3.16 Nor must we despise Learning and outward helps so long as like an obedient Hagar they serve Sarah with necessary help the Book of God must be the highest in our esteem yet not to make others of contempt it is no small Learning to illustrate obscurities to clear the subtilties of the School to confute Errours and the like S. Paul had his Books and Farchments 2 Tim. 4.13 not to write in but look on if Calv●n may be credited Aristippus being demanded of one how much better his Sonne should be for Learning answered He should have this benefit that there might not one stone sit upon another And to this alluded Tully making the same distinction betwixt a Learned man and an ignorant as betwixt an ordinary Man and a Beast ertainly Learning is of great and unvaluable estimate and bringeth to the enjoyers thereof many unspeakable and unsensible helps and furtherances which as it was well spoken of the benefits of health Carendo potius quam fruendo distinguuntur their use is best discerned by their want Learning is like to fire and water which are most necessary for the daily behoof of mans life being moderately and discreetly used otherwise Experience teacheth the simplest that if they be applied to hurtfull purposes there are not any more dangerous and hurtfull Elements which gave occasion to Luther to say Nunquaus periclitatur religio nisi inter Reverendissimos Religion never comes into greater danger than amongst the right Reverend The Canonists have a rule Omne malum à Sacerdotibus No evil that comes not from the Priests Learning I say is requisite I mean not the Cobwebs of Learning which have more wit than art more art than use nor the distorted and idle Glosses of the Canonists which burthens a mans memory but bettereth not his intellect but the Learning that is helpfull for the understanding of the deep and profound things of God Theologia Scholastica multis modis Sophistica School Divinity is little better than meer Sophistry Plus argutiarum quàm doctrinae plus doctrinae quàm usus It hath more quickness than soundness more sauce than meat more difficulty than doctrne more doctrine than use Here I might take some time to decipher to you the misery of this Age of ours First you have many Septicks meer Questionists who intangle themselves in Genealogies and matters impertinent preach Riddles and Paradoxes which the people admire but not apprehend and make this frivolous use of all This was a deep Sermon But we must speak apta non alta non modo scripta Demosth sed etiam sculpta matters of weight not notions c. Secondly some cannot doe their Message aright for they run before they be sent not having eaten the little Book that Saint John and Ezekiel were commanded to eat Revel 10. Ezek. 3. They given counsell before they receive it of the Lord they preach without any meditation onely turn the cock and let the water run Extemporall preaching is such a levity as works a light conceit of preaching it should not come from a light imagination but a serious meditation of the heart in grounded knowledge Bernard's faithfull Shepherd p. 12. Fishers of men should be as the Apostles when they were fishers who were not alwaies casting in their nets but sometimes mending them So if these men be alwaies feeding others by their preaching and never feeding themselves by reading and meditation they will prove but dry nurses in a while and unfit to give the sincere milke of the Word I leave these Ciphers which are nothing of themselves onely seem to raise the figure to a higher number Thirdly some dare not doe their message aright they gild ragged walls and rotten posts daub with untemper'd morter and sow pillowes under the elbowes of sinners saying Peace peace where there is no peace speaking smooth things and prophesying deceits Esa 30 10 11 verses So did some to Micaiah all the Prophets which are four hundred speak good to the King Let thy word I pray thee be like the word of one of them and speak that which is good 1 King 22.13 All their