Parish then doe I answere as before I did which was this in effect That wee may and ought to communicate and not goe away or with-drawe our selues from the Lordes Table though wee see some that wee knowe to bee notorious offenders at the same time partake in the signes with vs. This was prooued by the argument a little aboue rehearsed namely because those wicked can-not hinder the celebrating of the remembrance of Christ nor the communicating of his body and blood to vs that come with faith My reason for that is this If the presence of the wicked should hinder vs that must it doe either simply in it selfe or else in respect of vs that knowe them to be wicked but neither of those waies can wee bee hindered by them and therefore not at all That the presence of the wicked in it selfe hindereth not I shewed in a worde as a thing which needed no great proofe And that it hindereth not in respect of vs that knowe them if wee haue borne our selues wisely and charitably towardes them by processe of admonition which I vnderstoode to bee such as our Sauiour appoynteth I proue first by a perpetuall Cannon out of Ezechiel Secondly from the boundes and limittes of a particular members duetie in this behalfe And heere in deede wee growe to the issue of that whole controuersie I say a particular member ought to admonishe and at length to tell the Church but not to with-drawe him-selfe though the Church shoulde not separate the same vnworthy one You I perceyue holde the contrary namely that a particular member ought to with-drawe and go away from the congregation in such a case Howe this poynt is debated commeth hereafter to bee spoken of Here I will stay a litle to take away what hee bringeth of any shewe against so much of myne as I lately rehearsed 6 Touching my distribution of presence simply and in respect of our knowledge by which I proue the vnworthy cannot hinder the effectuall communicating of the worthy let the godly wise iudge whether I haue altered or shifted away the question or hee rather bearing therein a brand of Gods iudgement vnderstoode not what hee read If you doubt what I meane by the presence of the wicked I vnderstande not their presence as by-standers or lookers on but as receiuers at the same time of the Sacramental signes of the body blood of Christ and this my example of Iudas coulde not but teach you Your leader confesseth that Iudas eate the Passeouer but was not at the newe institution of the communion If it did much concerne the businesse in hande I woulde nothing feare to haue him my aduersarie in it but that part of my diuision as I did not there so I will not here insist vpon because it is of both sides confessed that the presence of the wicked in it self hindereth nothing The other part is that their presence hindereth not in respect of our knowledge of them Your answere is it hindereth in respect of our knowing and communicating with them as though I also had not graunted a kinde of outwarde ioyning and communicating Your replier sayth this is sinne but he bringeth not one argument to proue it In deede if I shoulde so ioyne with an vnworthy one in the Sacrament as approuing him thereby to be a liuely and sound member of the body I shoulde sinne in calling euill good otherwise it can be no sinne vnto mee to mee I say that haue performed those dueties of reforming or remoouing him which Christ commaundeth and so I woulde haue you vnderstand mee in all places Which if you doe as you had no other cause if you had weyed my whole answere together you shall finde a large acquittance for the cauilles at the place of Ezechiel and many other debtes which your replier demaundeth at my handes Nowe for proofe that this communicating is no sinne vnto mee at all I will shewe you first that it is not the sinne of allowing him for a sounde member that is vnsound and secondly that there is no other sinne in it For the first I reason thus If I approue him for a sounde member neither in the sight of GOD nor to his owne conscience neither in the knowledge and iudgement of the Church then can it no waye bee sayde I approue him But I doe it not by any those wayes and there-fore not at all That I doe it not in the sight of God it is manifest for he beholdeth the heart therfore knoweth that I do not so allow him Again that I do it not neither to his own conscience or in the knowledge and iudgement of the Church my former proceeding by the commaunded course of admonition hath abundantly cleered it If you inferre that in this sort also I may goe to Masse if I will you are wyde For the question is of the behauiour of a member in that body wherof it is a member and not in a strange body whereof it is no member And so it followeth not that because I holde my selfe bound to keepe the vnitie of that liuing body whereof I am a member euen with some inconuenience of sicknesse and vnsound partes that therefore I may as well ioyne my selfe to a strange body and so become a member of Satan Yet this is your great leaders Sophistrie If you yet insist vrging me with the outward action communicating I answere I doe that not as a thing of mine owne head or which I might at my choyse refraine but as a duetie necessarily enioyned me of God by his prouidence through my being and placing there and iustly required of mee by the Church or spirituall body through that same inforcing lawe of the coherence and being together of the partes and members which is the expresse ordinance of God as amongest other places the fourth of the Epistle to the Ephesians from the first verse to the ende of the sixteene and Philippians 2.4 Hebrewes 10.25 Iud. 19. doe notoriously proue it So that vnlesse I holde the congregation whereof I am nowe disanulled and become no Church of Christ for the not separating an vnworthy member which is Anabaptisticall heresie I cannot voluntarily either absent my selfe from their assemblies to holy exercises or yet depart away being come together without breach of the bonde of peace sundring the cement of loue empairing the growth of the body of Christ and incurring the guilt of schisme and diuision And thus much for the former of my two poyntes namely that my communicating in such sort as is saide is not the sinne of calling euill good or an vn-sounde member sounde Nowe that I sinne not at all in it I proue it as in my former answere because I haue perfourmed the duties of a priuate man or particular member and beyond which I am commanded nothing of the Lord nothing I say in this course of duetie for I exclude not hereby our prayers
of stopping that violent streame of seducing wherein daily such numbers of the yonger and weaker sorte of Christians are caryed out of our assemblies principally because the zeale of such being greater then their knowledge becommeth an apt pray and bootie for the instruments of deceit to practise vpon And this agreeth with the exhortation of the Church when she sayeth Take vs the foxes the litle foxes corrupting the vines whilest our vines bring foorth the first grape the other benefite is that hereby those impure mouthes shall be dashed that hertofore in their malitious defence of corruptions haue made no conscience to clothe all those that haue duetifully vrged the proceeding of our church vnto perfection in one liuerie with these schismaticall spirites that so they might purchase vnto them both from magistrate and common people equall hatred and auoydance This booke shal by the grace of God testifie vnto all that make any conscience to discerne truth from lyes that there is as much difference betwixt those whō they in their bitternesse woulde thus match together as is betweene that childe that in tender affection reprooueth and laboureth the refourming of his mother whome hee seeth by her vndiscreete behauiour to become a reproche among women and him that vnder pretence of the hate of her vncomely behauiour shoulde plucke out her bowels and forsake her In this my trauaile I haue cared as much as I could to husbande the time vnto the reader and therfore haue both cut off many idle discourses which the aduersarie woulde haue drawne mee into and also haue so sounded the matters that I haue delt with by al the writings printed or otherwise that are probably vouched theirs as that I hope the godly spirit shall find me no trifler but such a serious and sincere disputer as the weight of the cause hath required I was I graunt in comparison of others as a woman of too weake a constitution to conceiue and bring forth any such child but the Lord hath had his way purpose herein And as I protest before the Lord his holy angels with much feare and trembling I haue from the beginning applied my selfe vnto this worke so yet in the doing thereof through the mercifulnesse of my God I haue bin assisted with much cōfort and great assurance euen in some things that seemed at the first so in wrapped by Satan with so many intricate folds knittings as could hardly or neuer by me for I shame not to acknowledge my weaknesse herein bee brought to any cleare triall and expedite dissolution Of mine aduersaries I rather knowe the nature then the number Although as it hath beene obserued sundrie among them from time to time haue laboured to be leaders and so vpon the spurre of emulation haue gallopped as hard as they could yet without all question there is none among them that can iustly take the garland from Rob. Browne His writings doe foreiudge the cause agaynst all his competitors And albeit newe maisters are risen among them that nowe in a fresh hote moode condemne his coldnesse and colourable dealing and that worthily yet they must euen Barow and Greenwood with the rest acknowledge him the shop of their store and the steele of their strength for arguments obiections and shiftes to colour and if it were possible to vphold their crasie cause withall Let them not disdaine therefore that he should beare the name as the father of that familie and brood which of late yeares in a quarell for the Discipline haue made that rende in the assemblies of Englande But some will obiect that these that I name agree not among themselues and therefore cannot be accounted of one familie I am not ignorant that they are at oddes betweene themselues but yet so as that neither partie will ioyne member-like with our Churches in the woorde and Sacraments In doctrine I knowe they differ but diuersitie of practise was cause thereof Barow and Greenewood nakedly discouered their profession and are prisoners Browne cunningly counterfeiteth conformitie dissembleth with his owne soule for libertie They fullie beleeuing the Church of England to be no Church of God but vtterly to be auoyded in al things as his writings haue taught them made conscience to separate themselues at all poynts accordingly He though hee haue contriued that cup whereby he hath thus transformed them as into beasts yet himselfe taking better delite in humane shapes liketh not to enter with them into their lot Hence cōmeth that grudge quarrell and heartburning among them They expostulate with him as a coward and one that shrinketh in the wetting He againe nippeth them for their egernesse in running before their olde maister and thereby obscuring his light as though the truth forsooth had first bin reuealed by them It seemeth they would not heare a sermon to gaine their libertie But it is manifest that he to redeeme trouble hath learned to apply himselfe to all times places and persons Nowe in this their iarre manie strange paradoxes and grosse absurdities haue passed betweene them arguing both sides to haue trusted in their strength and therefore to haue beene destitute of the spirit of truth to guide their pennes Barow and Greenwood denie that our preachers doe preach the woorde and that they doe or can beget fayth They say The wicked haue no woorde of God no graces of GOD no spirituall or sanctifyed graces that they doe no good that they may not teach testifie preach or counsaile anie woorde of GOD anie religion or dutie of religion That they haue no kinde of promise nor blessing and that there is no Communion to bee had with them in spirituall graces They denie fayth to come necessarily by the woorde of GOD and say It may bee begotten without anie promise of the woorde Beeing demaunded what faith doeth beleeue They aunswere God without anie consideration of his woorde and promise Likewise beeing asked howe they came by their fayth it seemeth they aunswered as it pleased God namely by his spirite but not acknowledging the outwarde meanes Some of them graunt our preachers beget fayth or beleefe of the woorde but not the fayth of Christ Hee prooueth it not the fayth of Christ because it hath not good woorkes And that also he prooueth full wisely forsooth because they haue euill woorkes Which hee specifieth to be Idolatrie Rebellion and Bondage They say our ministers bring a newe Gospell That the lawe in their mouthes and the sacrifices or presumptuous ministerie of Korah Dathan and Abiram are alike And they make no better account of our Parish meetings than of the meetings at the groaues and hill altars O wofull men and drunken with the wine of their owne headie conceites Browne againe for feare all these reproches shoulde light vppon him because hee commeth into our Churches minseth the matter euerie where with these ill stampt distinctions Of the better and woorser sort of our preachers wherein hee leaues his meaning doubtfull still
to the whole as members do in a naturall body consider what foloweth how absurd it is that you say That a particular mēber may separate it selfe frō the whole in consideration of some vnworthy and vnclene parts Is it meete that because some yea let it be that the most of the mēbers of a body be brokē lamed or diseased the rest that are sound shuld forsake the vnitie of the body were it not to destroy the whole in stead of strengthning the whole against the infection of those parts were not that to cōspire against the whole vtterly disable it to withstand the cōtagion of the parts for take away knitting togither of the mēbers and is not then the body destroied whereas on the cōtrary if the sound mēbers continue in a bodily vnitie though some parts be long time sicke there is possibilitie of their recouery yea though they should not yet may the body liue though with some inconuenience of their maime or blemish But if you say they being corrupt not separate may else infect mee and herein seeme to ground your selfe vpon that place to the Corinthians Know you not that a little leauen leaueneth the whole lumpes I answer the Apostle doth there vrge them to the excommunicating of the incestuous person but stirreth no mā to depart from the Church no not in case of so secure a negligence as the Corinthians had committed It is one thing that we being humbled and afflicted at the dangerous examples of euil mēbers amongst vs must labour to separat thē for the better helth of the whole bodie and this in deed is the purpose of S. Paul to teach the Corinthians in that place but it is farre another thing to say as you meane That all the sounde members must separate themselues if the vnsounde remaine vnseparated and of this the Apostle there giueth no inkeling which certainely had bene necessarie if the daunger to euery particular mēber should be altogether such as you pretend For whereas you vnderstand the comparison of the leauen to be such as that the remaining of vnsounde members in the Church should be accounted of as great force to infect the whole Church as the leauen in leauening a whole lumpe you are greatly deceyued For those two things in that case are compared in likenesse of nature not in there equalitie of effecting Like as you should say the conuersation of two or three righteous men conuerteth a whole companie euen as a little salt sauoureth a whole pot full of liquor we know it were a trueth that you should speake but if I should therof gather that you make those two causes of equall force in respect of their matter to worke their effect should I not doe you great wrong No doubt I should For the liquor neuer faileth to be seasoned of the salt but it is commonly tried that the greatest number of a companie remaineth wicked still notwithstanding the righteous Such also if you marke it is the similitude of the leauen for the effect of it followeth necessarilie in the masse of meale but it is not of such necessitie that in a whole congregation all become vnsanctified for some Let the Church at Corinth be an example hereof If the whole congregation had bin infected and so vnsanctified through the remaining of that wicked man amongest them woulde the Apostle thinke you haue still intituled them The Church of God and sanctified ones in Christ Iesu there had bene no reason in it What then will some say to what ende did the Apostle put them in minde of the effect of leauen when he chalenged them for their negligence euen to the ende that they being put in minde of the resemblance that is betwene the nature of leauen the wicked in that both are disposed to infect that which is neere them might haue more care to vse all the meanes that God hath put into their hands to auoide the daunger For as the remaining with the godly tendeth to the reforming of the wicked so the remaining with the wicked tendeth to the deforming of the godly yet doeth neither of both fall out alway necessarily especially vpon a whole companie or congregation Therefore seeing a Church is as the bodie of Christ and the same bodie consisteth also of many members euerie of which is so to exercise the office of his place as that all may concurre to the conseruation and encreasing of the whole vnto a perfect body it followeth necessarily that no true member ought to separate it selfe for any cause so long as there is life in the bodie and abiding with the head For I trust you wil not say that the remaining of a knowne wicked one doth ipso facto extingish life in the bodie and separate the same from the heade Christ Neither may you thinke to auoide me by obiecting that you separate not your self from the bodie by going from one congregation to another in that euerie faithfull congregation in respect that Christ is the head thereof hath this same resemblance of a bodie For if that be a good reason then Paule saide not well to the Corinthians that to addict themselues so seuerally to diuerse teachers of the same Gospell tendeth to the parting of Christ We knowe well they all helde Christ the foundation vnder which teacher soeuer they professed it yet in that some chose Paule with neglect of the other Apostles some Apollo others Cephas and others held Christ without esteeming the meanes of teachers they were iustly charged to be in dāger of schisme whilest they so continued Howe then can they be excused that forsaking the congregation whereunto through the prouidence of God by their dwelling they are gathered and ioyned doe consort themselues with some others as the affection of their speciall liking leadeth thē Howe can they I say bee excused for beeing guiltie of parting Christ To conclude therefore for this time since it is as I hope plainly prooued First That the presence or remayning of the vnworthie in a Congregation cannot keepe backe the benefite of Christ from the faithfull of the same Secondly That particular members haue from the Lord no further power authoritie in case of offences than by admonition and that their chiefe regarde must be by vnitie to prouide for the continuance of the whole congregation which in this case is considered as the bodie of Christ. Thirdly That the practising and proceeding of particular members beyond the limittes of admonition as namely for some offences to depart from one Congregation where the reason of their dwelling requireth them to be and ioyne themselues to another breedeth schisme and diuision of Christ It followeth of the first point that you may ioyne with vs and of the two latter that you ought not to depart from vs of this Congregation vnlesse you will shewe your selfe to bee a rebellious member to the bodie and bee found guiltie of diuiding Christ Of which things now I
to resort keepe vnto But the first is false saith the same Apostle in the place last quoted therefore the latter standeth firme cannot be denied of any that with the least indifferency cōpareth our cōmunicating with theirs For if you wil obiect they had the right order of discipline so haue not we that maketh them the greatlier in fault aboue vs as hauing more meanes in their hands yet came shorter of a holy profession in outward behauior then we and so sealeth vp my conclusion more surely to conuince you But I returne againe to my former purpose I hope I haue made it manifest that neither the forme of the institution was violated by the Corinthians nor yet the abuses committed were done by them all And now I suppose it will not be hard to prooue that the most vnworthie among them did also eate the outward sacrament First if those had not eaten the sacrament at all they could not haue beene charged with eating the bread and drinking the cup of the Lord vnwoorthelie without discerning his bodie and so to their condemnation But they are charged so therefore we must needes graunt they did eate it The assumption is prooued in the 30. verse saying For this cause many among you are weake and sick and many sleepe Wherein the Apostle by these effectes leadeth them to acknowledge the cause namely their sinne such and so as he had propounded it in the 27. 29. verses Whereby behold and if you will suffer the point of truth to pearce into your heart cast out that furious spirit that saith The Communion can not be good to one partie and bad to another and acknowledge by this case of the Corinthians that manifest indignities may be committed by some and apparant vnworthie ones may communicate with others when they cannot be remoued and neither disanull the sacrament nor yet infect or make guilty all the Communicants with their sinne Neither doth this place alone affoord this instruction for you but euen that place of Iude also where inueying against such filthy professors as whose grosse sinnes could not be altogether secrete in any Church wheresoeuer they liued yet doth he graunt it might come to passe that they should impudently thrust themselues into the Church feastes of charitie wherein also the Lords Supper then vsed to be celebrated though so also they should be but as spots and staines therein In the which place neither doth the Apostle once insinuate that the action should thereby be disanulled vnto them nor all to be made wicked by their meanes in communicating yea contrarywise implyeth to the comfort of the godly that they might by prayer through the holie Ghost in the circumspect obseruing one another keepe both themselues and others from the contagion of all such Now I woulde wishe you W. F. and all of your learning to fixe your eyes heere a little in the meditating of these two places and amongst other things bethinke you what was the cause that neither Paule in consideration of that great disorder in the Church at Corinth nor yet Iude in respect of those wicked ones which he calleth spots in the Church feastes no nor Iohn that I may touch you vtterly to the quick in testifying that Church to be ambitiously vsurped vpon ouerweyed and therefore corrupted in the discipline do yet in the least syllable directly or indirectly account those assemblies thoroughly leauened or the couenant broken or yet perswade any of them to withdrawe from the rest and to gather a part And after you haue diligently sought and considered it may be you shall finde no cause but this namely that the Apostles were as farre from your leaders minde and iudgement in this matter as Heauen and Hell are distant and deuided asunder Now against his odious repetitions and senselesse collections I oppose the plainenes and simplicitie of mine answeres but where I call our dealings by admonition and labouring for the Church censures a kind of protesting against the sinne of the vnworthy he mistaketh me as though I meant an open excepting against thē at the Lords table 12 I say there is no further power giuen to a particular member in proceeding against the vnworthy than by processe of admonition Your replier vrgeth me with diuers Scriptures which he supposeth warrant me some further proceeding The first is Giue not that which is holy vnto dogs Inasmuch as this may be brought to Church assemblies it belongeth to the practise of the whole ioyntly not to a particular member seuerally and alone like as other precepts also of Church gouernement The second is Let him be vnto thee as an heathen and publican that is to say when the Church hath for his sinne separated him for so his binding by the Church is set down in the next verse with the efficacy therof to bridle the obstinate and stiff-necked The third is If an Angell from heauen or Paule preach otherwise hold him accursed I hold him for a cursed instrument of Sathan and not a blessed seruant of God whosoeuer bringeth vs another doctrine then the Lord hath left vs in his word but what is this to the purpose in hand His fourth and fifth places Be not thou partaker of other mens sinne and follow not a multitude to do euill I haue answered before where I haue shewed how far and in what sort we may partake with the vnworthy in the Sacrament and haue proued it to be without guilt of their sin The like I answere to his other two places out of Timothy He quoteth Ierem. 1.17.18 If he meant that euery priuate man should take vpō him as with Ieremies cōmission either for the parts of his duty towards the Church or the manner of carying himselfe in his place he seduceth you dangerously for so euery priuate man may publikely denounce the iudgemēts of God against Princes Ministers people contend with them all if they faile in their duty yea if they but iudge them to faile in their duty for I trow he wil not ascribe to them such sure reuelations as had the Prophet and so what should an Eldership do in the Church yea or any other gouernors whē as if they proceed not according to my expectation in any thing I so any priuate man may disanull their doings If otherwise he cite the place but for the generall doctrine that may therehence be deriued vnto all namely whatsoeuer the Lord cōmandeth any of vs to do be it a matter that seeme neuer so dangerous fearefull to vs that we obserue to do it to the vttermost without fearing the faces of any if I say he quote the place for this let him know that whē he shall proue particular members of a Church to haue receiued such a commandement frō the Lord as is heere in question then this place of the Prophet Iere. shal make for his cause in the meane time I cannot but iudge
that preiudice whereby now his taste is made so vnsincere in al things you may see that as in these poynts there is no such danger as he talked of so neither in the great question betwixt vs of ioyning with the Church at the Lords Table where the vnworthy ones are For the keeping of the bond of vnity in the Church hath an expresse lawe and charge which no generall wordes of other places much lesse preposterous zeale can dispence withall or take away 19 It seemeth to mee by a speech in his 7. Page that he secretly giueth you this answere for that namely if the Church at any time separate not the vnworthy or cannot doe it it is thereby fallen from the couenant of life and ceaseth to bee a Church of Christ so that you may safely goe from them I will not yet say much of this matter I had rather the author woulde recant it if it might please God then that I or any other should stand to cōfute so grosse an error for if he hold that obedience and holy life are causes of our iustification and whereby we enioy the couenant of life and not tokens or fruites only his case is worse then that hee can truely enioy the name of a Christian 20 The rest of his 11.12 and 13. pages shall receiue this answere it seemeth the author of them was not wel in his wittes but malice had made him as those in Bedlem that talke quite out of order and sense For I pray you taketh hee not vppon him there to proue out of your quotations that wee are warranted and commanded to depart from the communion where the vnworthy is not separated for I had denied that those Scriptures intended any such thing Nowe that wherein he occupieth him-selfe in stead thereof is to prooue not without some prophane abuse of the Scriptures by a sort of foolish syllogismes that haue neuer a true assumption that I am herein an heretique the question in the meane time which should bring forth that consequence lying altogether vnprooued the gaine that hee shall get by it is that hee lost the vantage of so much time and hath put himselfe for a laughing stocke to all that shall read his writing I speake not of his inward and higher reckonings I pray God bee mercifull vnto him in them for his Christs sake As for me I will not answere a foole according to his foolishnes Yet there is one thing which in the middest of his rage against me hee vttereth whereof I must admonish you The Sacrament of the Lordes Supper saith he is a Sacrament of order or orderly communion and addeth that order or orderly communion is the very fourme matter manner or essence and nature thereof As he lighteth here vppon popish phrases so you are to feare him in substaunce his diuinitie is sicke to the death when he thus defineth the Sacrament of the Lords Supper The outward matter of this Sacrament is bread and wyne the four me is the blessing and separating of them to that vse with their distributing to the members of the Church Orderly communicating is a fruit or effect of gouernement and a beautifull ornament to the Sacrament but nothing either of matter or fourme and therefore not of the essence of the Sacrament Of his learned vse of logicke termes I will here say nothing for shame I had much rather to couer his nakednes altogether if the trueth would suffer it Thus much for refutation of his defence of your quotations Now I will come to his cauilles at the reasons where-with I prooue that particular members ought to deale no further in this case then by processe of admonition Which wordes if you vnderstand rightly and as the question in controuersie will guide you like as afore I haue declared you shall see his first argument full of vaine words wherein he saith there is more required of particular members then admonition and reckoneth vp mourning lamentation prayers c. which thing are nothing at all in question betwixt vs. For onely this is betwixt you and mee and which hee bringeth here in the last place you say particular members may depart from the Lordes Table for the presence of the wicked thereat I reason against you negatiuely and shewe what dueties are required of one toward another by order of discipline and beyond which wee haue no commandement from God whereby I exclude not those thinges which are not at all in question but that which you hold in question against mee If you had brought mee to a reasonable aduersary wee should neuer haue spent time in such friuolous cauillings 22 Well at length I trowe hee falleth close to the question and will proue euen out of those places that I alledge for the vnitie and knitting together of this body that same separation of the members which is here in controuersie And thus he disputeth What places enforce an outwarde vniting in the Sacrament with the members of Christs body only the same inforce a deuyding or refraining in the Sacraments from those that outwardly are manifest to bee no members of his body But all these places enforce such an outward vniting with members onely Therefore they inforce a refrayning and diuiding in the Sacrament from open wretches which are knowne to be no members I may graunt you this argument in some sort and yet you are as neere your purpose as you were at the first For if hee vnderstand by deuiding and reframing the action of the whole body of the Church then is it that which they ought ioyntly to execute against the vnworthy and that is nothing to the question but if hee meane this those places which command an vniting in the Sacrament with the members of Christs body only do by the same reason command particular mēbers to refraine or depart if any open vnworthy do cōmunicate which had bene rightly to the purpose then his proposition is apparantly false And I reason against him from the same places thus If the members of a Church or spirituall body haue no further promise of life and continuaunce in Christ then as they like the members of a naturall body continue in the vnitie of the same Church or Spirituall body then it followeth necessarylie that what members so euer separate themselues from their spirituall body or Church the same doe separate them-selues from the life of Christ thereby But the first is true and infallibly prooued by those places I quoted whereas vnitie and holding together of the members is made the essentiall fourme of the body Therefore the latter followeth thereof 23 I say that as corrupt and vnworthy members can be no cause why those that are whole should forsake the body so no open grosse communicantes can bee any cause why wee that are faith-full shoulde forsake the Church Your leader makes you beleeue that you hold not this question I thinke in deede he knoweth not what hee holdeth
assumption His proposition carrying the force of a conuexiue falsely inferreth the feyning of a counterfait Christ and a counterfaite Church vpon the deniall of his power and authoritie to be of the essence of a Church For they do not thereby as hee beareth men in hand separate Christ and his Church from his power and gouernement Men of meane vnderstanding knowe that there are propper accidents to thinges which cannot be separated from them and yet are not of their essence For example heate cannot bee separated from the fire nor mouing from the sunne yet are neither of those properties any part of their essence nor doeth hee that saith heate is not of the essence of fire nor motion of the essence of the sunne deny therefore the fire to be hote or the sunne to haue his motion And concerning these offices in question touching which Browne so arrogantly challengeth M.C. to answere whether they be of the essence of the Church I would the reader should aske of him or his friends if he thinke it good whether the kingdome Priesthood of the sonne of God and man the word incarnate be partes of his essence or accidentes vnto him rather and so whether hee that shall say they are not of his essence doeth thereby dispoyle him of his offices I feare not vnlesse you take him in some desperate fit hee will answere no. Why then if a thing may truely be remoued from the essence and neuerthelesse necessarily admitted in the Subiect howe followeth it that they that deny the kingly power or authoritie of Christ to bee of the essence of a Church doe there-fore make or feyne a Church that is without it This being voyded let vs nowe trye whether Christs power authoritie and office of gouerning bee of the very essence of a Church as hee woulde haue it This shall we soundly try out by examining by the word of God what are the essentiall causes of that which is truly may be called the Church of God And first for the matter of a Church I suppose it will-be readily yeelded vnto to bee Christ the head corner stone and Christians who are as liuely stones to bee builded vppon him to a spirituall house For so the Apostles Peter Paul playnely declared according to which proportion hee is likewise called the head and we that beleeue in him the members as Saint Paul sayth that vnder the feete of Christ God hath subiected all thinges and hath appoynted him ouer all thinges to bee the head to the Church which is his body euen the fulnesse of him that filleth all in all thinges To the same end Christ compared him-selfe to a vine and those that beleeue in him to the braunches of the vine Like whereunto is that of the Oliue and the braunches grafted therein as Saint Paul deliuereth it The matter of a Church wee haue Let vs nowe see what may be the fourme Neither will it bee hard to find that if wee consider that the setting together of prepared stones maketh the building the vniting of the head with the members fourmeth the body and the continuance together of the stocke with the braunches giueth the being of a tree For so is it likewise agreeable to all reason that the vniting and knitting together of Christ and Christians bee graunted the formall cause of a Church Nowe this vnition is by two meanes the one eternall the other seruing but for this life The eternall vnition is by the holy Ghost whereby we are flesh of his flesh bone of his bones and made finally complete and perfect in one God through that one and only mediator betweene God and man Iesus Christ This is peculiar and proper to the Catholique Church which is the whole company of the elect of God and doth not pertaine to the members of a particular Church as they are only considered members of any particular Church but as they are also in that regard members of the Catholique The tēporal vnition which as I sayd serueth for this life is by faith which shall cease in the day of the reuelation of the Saincts of God when we shall be possessed of the full fruition of all those things we hoped for as the holie word doth testifie for mortalitie shall be swallowed vp of life perswasion of possession and faith of the fulnesse of the spirit and perfect being in God through Christ Meane time faith is as the engrafting of the braunches into the stock whereby they are vpholden whilest that by the sappe and spirit of life proceeding therefrom they be growne and established And as the braunch to be ingrafted needeth those his enwrappings and bindings to support and defend it against sundrie inconueniences till it be able to be without them and afterward they are of no vse vnto it so doth faith support and desend the tender conscience against all the stormes of temptations till there be that perfect growth in Christ that is vtterly freed from them at which time in like sort faith doth cease But heere withall thys faith must be vnderstood to admit a twofold consideration the one in respect of Gods the other in respect of mans beholding and iudging thereof In regard of God that onely is acknowledged which is vnfeigned and sealed vp with his holie spirit of promise But in regard of man a feigned faith may also stand in the reckoning sith man cannot iudge of the heart but must therfore accept rest in the sound confession of the mouth and so according to this latter consideration hath the Reader the right vnderstanding of faith in this question concerning the fourming of visible Churches for man to discerne of ioyne with them Now that faith doth engraffe and vnite vs vnto Christ and so is the proper fourme of particular visible Churches I needed not at all stand heere to prooue if there were not in this man against whom I deale a iust suspition of fundamentall Apostacie heerein For if he had beene indeede perswaded thereof to this day we should neuer by him haue beene thus brought to the proofe of the being of our Church as now he hath prouoked vs. Therefore although this cause hath beene alreadie so handled by the worthie seruants of God against the common Aduersarye as that he whosoeuer at this day shall call it into question is more worthie the sharpest discipline then any disputation Yet for to stop importunate mouthes whatsoeuer and to make cleere to the world the confutation of Brownes false conclusion heere in hand it is requisite that after the large labour of others I also point at some profes for this purpose shewing that visible Churches in as much as they stand in the accompt of visible Churches are vnited vnto Christ by faith only First let all the planting of Churches thoroughout the story of the Actes be considered and see if the holy Ghost do not euery where testify this vniting vnto Christ
by faith and nothing else The first three thousand soules that Peter gayned at one Sermon are sayd to haue receyued the word and therevpon to haue beene added vnto the Church by Baptisme The whych receyuing of the word wherevpon they were baptised cannot be otherwyse vnderstood for the Lords wayes are one then the same whych Phillip demaunded as the thyng by whych alone the Eunuche could obteyne the seale of a Christian namely fayth and so is it also expounded within two verses in the same former places of the second of the Actes when the story sayth of the same assembly these wordes And they that beleeued were in one place and had all things common But nothyng can more explayne and confirme that example then another lyke vnto it of the gathering of a Church by Phillip in a Citie of Samaria where the Text expressely sayth That assoone as they beleeued Phillip which preached the things that concerned the Kingdome of God and the name of Iesus Christ they were Baptized both men and women Then Symon himselfe beleeued also and was baptized c. The same lykewise is the flat doctrine of the Apostles euery where Let the louers of truth behold and beare witnesse Christ sayth the Apostle hath redeemed vs from the cursse of the Lawe when he was made a cursse for vs for it is written Curssed is euery one that hangeth on tree that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Christ Iesus that we might receiue the promise of the spirit through faith But the scripture hath concluded all vnder sinne that the promise by the faith of Iesus Christ should be giuen to them that beleeue VVherefore the lawe was our schoolemaister to bring vs to Christ that we might be made righteous by faith for yee are all the sonnes of God by faith in Iesus Christ The same Apostle sayth VVe haue boldnesse entrance and confidence by faith in Christ And expressely That Christ dwelleth in vs by faith Now iudge whether the sunne can giue thee clearer light to reade then the playne tearmes of the Apostle doo teach thee to acknowledge our vniting vnto Christ by faith If any man desire to see more varietie of places let him looke these quotations where he shall see by the abundant testimonie of the spirit that we are all reconciled vnto God by faith accepted for our faith vnited vnto a bodie and engrafted into Christ the liuing stock by faith Thus then if matter and fourme be the essentiall causes whereof any thing consisteth and whereby the being of any thing is acknowledged I hope we haue heere with Ma. C. found out and proued the essentiall causes of a Church so as no man needeth to be perplexed in discerning the beeing thereof if he haue atteyned such a minde as can rest in the wisedome of God Heere we meete with that foolishe and vayne exception of Browne agaynst Ma. C. namely That Christ is the life and essence of the Church and not faith which is as though faith had not direct relation to Christ and Christ to faith in this consideration of a Church wherein neyther can fayth bee considered without Christ nor yet Christ as theyr head without faith And if Ma. C. hauing set downe that Christ is the foundation of the Church and that the assemblies are laid vpon him by faith should haue added in such expresse words that faith is the life of the Church were faith to be taken heere without respect of the foundation named before Or were it a harder speech then that which S. Paule vttereth when he sayth VVe stand by faith What difference is there betweene VVe liue by faith and we stand by faith But Habacuck the Prophet missed not the very words The iust shall liue by faith But yet cannot Browne abyde this that by faith only the Church is vnited vnto Christ Wherefore because Ma. C. sayth that nothing besides faith in the Sonne of God is necessary to the very being of a Church he replyeth saying That then belike children which yet through want of discretion cannot haue faith shall be without the essence and life of the Church O deepe Diuinitie worthy a Cambridge degree if I should requite him with his owne tearmes Christ hath these words He that beleeueth not is condemned And the writer to the Hebrewes VVithout faith it is impossible to please God What cause had Browne more to obiect this of childrens faith against Ma. C. his discourse of the beeing of a Church then against these generall axiomes of Scripture touching the being of a Christian or in state of saluation for it lyeth as indifferently against the one as the other And if he had whereby to be reconciled with those Scriptures so as his obiection should not lye agaynst them a little equitie would haue lead hym to haue applyed the same to Ma. C. his conclusion likewise If his knowledge be no better then he sayth he must learne that infants of parents that be within the couenant are not to be accounted without all fayth as his writing supposeth for if they be elect then haue they the spirit and so faith in power habilitie and inclination though not in outward profession and action Lyke as also at the same time they can not be denied to haue reason for as much as they haue a reasonable soule although it be but potentially and not in acte or outward gesture If they be not elect and so haue not the annoynting of the spirit nor therefore any faith in the sight of God yet receiue they so much from the faith of their parents as to be by it accepted of the visible Church for a holie seede and partakers of the promises because they iudging but as men haue no cause at all to doubt thereof This man vrgeth out of Habacuck that The iust shall liue by his owne faith but there was no cause for it is not sayd that infants shall be saued or liue in the sight of God by their parents faith but onely that by it they are of men to be reputed within the couenant and of the visible Church Yet he standeth to it that Not by the faith of the parents but by the promise made to the righteous and their seede the children are reckoned in the Church O trifeler how are the parents within couenant and partakers of the promises but by faith And how doo the promised blessings descend vnto the children but in regard that their parents beleeued Wherefore this foundation will stand vnmoued against all Papists and Apostates that particular visible Churches are vnited vnto their head Christ by faith and by faith do they stand And certainely it is strange how this should be doubted of by any that esteeme themselues iustified by faith sith one member hath not a seuerall lawe of life by it selfe but looke by what lawe and tenure one by himselfe enioyeth