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A41456 A sermon preached at Bishops-Stratford, August 29, MDCLXXVII, before the Right Reverend Father in God, Henry, Lord Bishop of London, &c at his Lordships primary visitation / by Jo. Goodman ... Goodman, John, 1625 or 6-1690.; Goodman, Godfrey, 1583-1656. 1678 (1678) Wing G1124; ESTC R48 18,196 42

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Censores morum up starts Erastus and provoked by this Extreme runs a risk and falls into another as bad for not content to disprove that new form of Discipline and especially to degrade that novel Office he proceeds to the denial of all Church-Censure and Ecclesiastical Government As if from such time as the Civil State became Christian the Rights of the Church were escheated to the Prince or State And thus as that Judicious person modestly expresses it the Truth was divided between the contending parties but overseen and outran by both But the last Instance I will now make use of comes more home to my present business When the Church of Rome arrogating to it self an Infallibility and asserting to the Pope an universal Pastorship had under these pretences notoriously usurped upon all Christendome there were not wanting those who seeing through this cheat and desirous to reform all bent things so far towards the other Extreme that they endangered the breaking of all in pieces For whereas the Roman Church had claimed and exercised an exorbitant power of making and imposing what Articles of Faith she pleased These were so far from that as that they would scarcely allow the Church authority to define matters of Order and Decorum Because the Governours in the Roman Communion were arrived at too great a height the Bishops becoming like the Ephori among the Spartans able to check and controll Sovereign Princes therefore to avoid this danger all shall be levelled to a Plebeian Parity Before the interest of the Church was so great as that it drew under one pretence or other almost all Causes from the Civil Tribunals to Ecclesiastical cognisance but now to prevent this for the future all Jurisdiction shall be taken from it In short the Church was thought to be too rich before Religio peperer at Divitias filia devoraverat matrem now therefore the onely way to revive the Primitive Purity is to reduce the Primitive Poverty And so upon the whole matter from an abhorrence of the Incroachments and Exorbitancies of the Roman Church there arose a danger whether there should be any Church at all Now considering with my self how to obviate these and several other mischiefs of like nature and to doe the best service I can to this Solemnity I have made choice of these words of our Saviour for my subject Thou art Peter and upon c. Wherein I observe these three things 1. A Resolution or Decree of our Saviour he will build him a Church 2. The Foundation of this Structure Upon this Rock will I c. 3. His Prediction of the Success and Duration of this Building The Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it I design to open these three things with the greatest plainness and perspicuity I can because of the importance and usefulness of the matter and yet with as much brevity as is possible for I consider I speak to wise men PART I. Touching the First to avoid all impertinence that which I conceive our Saviour means when he saith he will build him a Church is no more nor less than this that he will incorporate all those that profess his Name and Religion into a Society And that he will not content himself to have Disciples and Followers dividedly straggling after him how numerous soever they may be but he will have them united into a Body formed into a regular Society make up a Divine Polity having Unity Order and Government amongst themselves That as there are several forms of Civil Society of Humane Institution so our Saviour would by his Divine Authority institute a Religious Society by the name of a Church whereof He himself would be the Head and which should be ruled and governed by Laws and Officers peculiar to it self Or as in the Old Testament the whole Nation of the Jews though distinguished otherwise by their respective Tribes and Families made up one People and Church of Israel so should all Nations upon Earth and every individual person that was a Christian conspire and make up together one Christian Church For the more distinct and satisfactory apprehension whereof let us consider that every regular Society requires these four things namely 1. A Body 2. An Head 3. Union 4. Order and Government and all these conspicuously concurre to the making up the Church or such a Society as we have described 1. For the Body of the Christian Church that consists of all those who from time to time in all Ages and Countreys are inrolled in Albo Christianorum and have given up their names to Christ or are Christians by profession So the Apostle 1 Cor. 12. 27. Now are ye the Body of Christ and Members in particular that is the whole number of Christians Vid. Theophyl in loc makes up the mystical Body of Christ every individual person being a particular Member thereof And then he addes vers 28. God hath set some in the Church first Apostles secondly Prophets c. By which it is evident that he speaks of the whole Church as one for he supposes the Apostles to be Officers of the whole Christian Church which could not be if every little parcel of Christians convened together made up a Church in the notion the Apostle intends and consequently therefore the whole number of Christians as I said must make up the one Church or Body of Christ To this purpose those that are curious observers of the propriety of phrase in the Greek tongue do note that at Athens from whose Assemblies this name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was first taken when onely the Heads or chief Magistrates were assembled they called this distinctly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when the Colluvies ex agris or whole Rabble of People was called together this they termed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was onely used when the whole Body of Citizens within the Pale or Liberties of the City were assembled 2. Christ Jesus is undoubtedly the Head and Supreme of this Body He is the Founder of this Order he gave command for the forming this Society prescribes Laws and affords protection to it Eph. 5. 23. He is the Head of the Church and the Saviour of the Body And herein that which Divines call the Mediatorian Kingdom of our Saviour properly consists namely that not onely in respect of his Divine Nature he hath a Sovereignty over the world but especially that as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or God incarnate he is Sovereign of the Church and hath power of Legislation authority to constitute Officers under him jus vitae necis hath all Judgment committed to him can sentence to life or to utter destruction Whether de facto he hath appointed any Lieutenant or Vicar-general under him over the whole Church as some pretend will not be necessary now to inquire and besides will be sufficiently clear in the Negative by what I shall say by and by 3. It is not sufficient to an orderly