Priviledges given by God to the Church Catholike primarily to themselves and leave them secondarily to the Church Catholike Argument 6 Sixthly the Ministers are primarily Ministers of the Church Catholike secondarily of this or that particular flock or congregation and therefore the Catholike is the prime Church And this appeares by this demonstration That Church to the which the donation of the Ministry was first made is the first subject thereof but that was the Church Catholike therefore For proofe hereof see 1 Cor. 12.28 29. God hath set some in the Church first Apostles secondarily Prophets thirdly Teachers Now this Church was the Church Catholike and not any particular congregation for it is the Church to which the Lord gave Apostles Note also from hence that the same Church to which God gave Apostles and Prophets to the same he gave Teachers also Bishop and Pastour may seeme to be in respect to the particular relation to some particular place wherein by the politie of the Church a particular Minister is set but Presbyter Minister and Teacher more generall extending to the whole Church Catholike Paul an Apostle cals himselfe a Teacher and Preacher 2 Tim. 1.11 Peter also and John the Apostles call themselves Presbyters 1 Pet. 5.1 2 Ep. Joh. 1.3 Joh. 1. we finde also that Ministers are in Scripture spoken of under a generall notion They are called Ministers of the Word Luke 1.2 and Ministers of God 2 Cor. 6.4 And Ministers of Christ 1 Cor. 4.1 And Ministers of the New Testament 2 Cor. 3.6 And Ministers of the Gospell 1 Thes 3.2 And Ministers of the Lord Eph. 6.21 where the Ministeriall Office is noted by the reference thereof to the Author that imployeth them and the subject about which they are imployed and not by the Object to whom they preached They are not called Ministers of the people but their Teachers Rulers Pastours Overseers or Ministers for them Col. 1.7 And if a Minister of this or that Congregation were not a Minister of the Church Catholike visible then he were no Minister out of his own Congregation and therefore could not preach or administer any Sacrament as a Minister out of his own Congregation Yea if any members of another Congregation should come and heare a Minister in his owne Congregation he could not preach to them nor they heare him as a Minister but only as a gifted brother And though he may pray and beseech his owne flock as an Ambassadour of Christ to be reconciled unto God 2 Cor. 5.20 yet he cannot say so to any other except he be an Ambassadour in office unto others also and if he be a Minister to one member besides his own Congregation then is he so indefinitely to all by the same reason But if he deliver the Word as a Minister to his own Congregation only then the same Word which is delivered at the same time by the same man is delivered by vertue of Ministeriall Office to some and to others ex officio charitatis generali onely as a gifted brother And if this be granted which is absurd yet a greater absurdity will follow viz. that if he administer the Lords Supper to any members of another Congregation he must doe that also as a gifted brother and as a private person which yet all men hold hath nothing to doe to administer the Scales of the Covenant And yet this communion of members of other Congregations is frequent among our brethren for Congregationall Churches Neither can this be answered that it is done by vertue of consociation of Churches except the consociation of Churches and their members make also a consociation of offices and officers and so every Minister be a generall officer and a Minister of the Church Catholike as well as the particular members be members of the Church Catholike And if a Minister of one Congregation be a generall officer and can administer the Seales of the Covenant Baptisme and the Lords Supper to strangers in his own congregation in his owne meeting-house then any where else in any other meeting house for no man will say his ministeriall office is circumscribed by or tyed unto the limits and fabrick of his own meeting house or any especiall influence or authority afforded him in the execution of his ministeriall function by the presence of his owne congregation He whose office is limited within and stands wholly in relation unto a particular place is out of office when he is out of that place as a Major of a Corporation and Constable of a Parish but it is not so with a Minister he is no private man as soon as he is out of his meeting house or the limits of his congregation and though he indeed be peculiarly their Pastour or Bishop one that hath the oversight of them in the Lord in a more immediate especiall manner yet this extends to all times and places where-ever he or they shall come by occasion though never so farre from their dwellings but so is not a Major or Constable And besides that particular office he is an officer a Minister in generall to all others and may execute his office to them as God giveth him occasion but so cannot a Major or Constable because they are only particular officers Suppose a Ministers flock by mortality captivity or the sword should be dissolved extinct and faile indeed he ceaseth to be their Pastour because the correlative faileth but he ceaseth not to be a Minister of the Gospell A King or Major haply cease to be so any longer if his Kingdome or Corporation should sinke because there is no Catholike Kingdome or Township whereof they were officers but the office of the Minister ceaseth not because he was an officer of the Church Catholike which correlate sinketh not And being an officer of the Church Catholike he hath thereby actum primum to administer all the Ordinances of Christ which a single officer may or can doe in any place only wanteth actum secundum vel exercitum pro hic nunc which is appointed by the politie of the Church for order For though their office be generall as Ministers of the Gospell yet they take particular divisions and parcels of the Church to feed and stretch not themselves within one anothers line without a call by permission or intreaty And that a Minister is a Minister of the Church Catholike visible appeares by this argument He that can ministerially eject admit a member out of into the Church Catholike visible is a Minister and Officer of the Church Catholike visible But every Minister by Excommunication Baptisme ejecteth admitteth members out of into the Church Catholike visible Therefore c. This argument I finde more fully laid downe by Apollonius Pastor ut Pastor exercet multos actus ministeriales non tantum erga Ecclesiam suam particularem cujus ordinario Ministerio est affixus sed etiam erga Ecclesias alias Particulares Provinciales Nationales imò erga Ecclesiam Vniversalem
and be the better accepted and submitted unto without heart burning and grudge against the particular Elders or fear of revenge Secondly it is impossible for one congregation to enjoy all the Ordinances of God within themselves First Synods and Councels are acknowledged to be the ordinance of God and particularly by that reverend Divine Mr Cotton in a late booke set out by him and he groundeth it on Act. 15. And though some of our brethren for congregationall Churches wave that place yet grant the thing and are members of one at this time and this Ordinance all men will grant cannot be had in one congregation but sometimes requires the helpe of a whole Province Kingdome yea many Kingdomes Yea secondly the Ordinances that nearly concerne a particular congregation cannot be performed by that alone for how can a congregation of private Christians try the sufficiency of an Elder to be elected over them and if they have a tryed man among them who shall give him imposition of hands which is belonging only to Elders to performe Neither have our Brethren of congregationall Churches ever dared as farre as I have heard to permit common Christians to impose hands on their Elders but alwayes desired the Elders of other congregations to doe it and therefore they cannot have this Ordinance among themselves And though this seeme to some a thing of small weight yea but a * Quisquiliae veritatu sunt pretiosissimae complement yet is it an Ordinance of God And the Apostle Heb. 6.1 2. reckoneth it up amongst the Principles of Religion and part of the foundation which place Hen Jocob urgeth vehemently to overthrow the lawfulnesse of all the Ministers of the Church of England because they have as he conceived erred in the foundation not having right and due imposition of hands of the Presbytery though by his leave he was mistaken for those that imposed their hands on them were Presbyters And this impossibility befals a Church either in the beginning of it and first constitution or may at other times by mortality of Elders or when but one remains alive which will be frequent And because it is not rationally probable that the Churches of Jerusalem Rome Corinth Philippi Thessalonica or the 7 Churches of Asia were meerly congregationall but rather Presbyteriall unles it were in their very infancy for a little time before their numbers were increased It seemeth difficult to me to find in Scripture an expresse instance or example of a congregationall Church standing and continuing so by it selfe The Church of Cenchraea mentioned Ro. 16.1 is the most probable because of the conceived smalnesse of the place yet it is not certaine for it was a Port Town * Oppidum Corinthiorum navium statione câ—leberrimum et ideò frequent valâ—e populorum Gualr in Rom. 16. and yet it may be the necessity of those times and disjunction from other places might make it stand single for a while at least And yet there might be more congregations then one therin if it were so popuous as some say Indeed we find 1 Cor. 14.34 these words Let your women keepe silence in the CHVRCHES which word Churches if it doth import severall companies meeting in severall places to enjoy the publike Ordinances and that these companies are called Churches which is to some a Question yet it is certain they were all one combined Church of Corinth often spoken of in the singular number But this dispute belongs not to this Question yet the present difference of opinions and practises have caused me to dilate a little upon this subject beyond the explication of the Tearme And I understand by particular Churches any or all the fore-mentioned Churches whether Nationall Provinciall Presbyteriall or Congregationall and this last principally for those that have first mooved this Question meane principally if not solely the congregationall Church because as I suppose they hold no other particular Churches but such The fourth Tearme to be opened is What is meant by Prima vel Orta This distinction or at least in these tearmes is not ancient for Mr Parker in hic Politeia Eccl. was the first that sprung it as farre as I know Primum in Logick is defined to be Quod est suae Originis Ortum quod oritur à primo But I suppose in this Question it is meant which hath the priority in consideration Whether in our apprehension of Churches we are to begin at the Church Catholike and descend to particular Churches or begin at the particular Churches and ascend to the Church Catholike Which notion is first in distinct knowledge whether Ecclesia universalis aut particularis Which is as the root which the branches Which is as the mother which the daughter Or to speake more punctually Whether the nature and priviledges of the Church belong first to the particular congregation and so ascend to the Church Catholike or belong first to the Church Catholike and descend unto the particular Churches I do not in this Question by primum meane absolutè primum for God only is Eus primum who hath his being in himselfe and from himselfe and giveth being to all his creatures And so the whole Church is Gods house built by him but Primum in suo genere in genere Ecclesiarum Neither doe I meane by Ortum that the particular Churches doe arise out of the generall by the sole vertue or innate power and strength of the Church Catholike but because the particular Churches are made up of the members of the Church Catholike and partake of the benefits and priviledges of the Church primarily not because they are members of the particular Churches but of the Catholike And yet I deny not but that a Ministeriall Synodicall or Classicall Church made up of delegated Members of divers particular Churches pro tempore which some improperly call a representative Church may put on the notion of Ecclesia Orta and the particular Churches out of which those members are chosen and delegated may in some sence in reference unto them put on the notion of Ecclesia prima but the Question is not so stated but between the whole Church Catholike and whole particular Churches Now I have opened the Tearmes of my Question I find two Questions instead of one and whether of them is the most difficult I cannot tell For whereas the subject of every Question useth to be taken for granted and the predicate only proved I find the subject of my Question exceedingly opposed and that by our own Divines and therefore I must crave leave to confirme that sufficiently or else whatever I shall say of the predicate will be as a house built on the sand or a castle in the aire For if there be no universall Church visible then it is not capable of being prima or Orta In handling both these Questions I shall follow my wonted method I preferre one divine testimonie before ten arguments and one good argument before ten humane testimonies First
Nam per Baptismum membra in Ecclesiam universalem admittit Per Excommunicationem membra non tantum ex sua particulari sed etiam Provinciali Nationali Vniversali Ecclesia ejicit Matth. 18.18 19. Ex officio pastorali preces Deo offert pro omnibus aliis Ecclesiis laborantibus Verbum Dei in alia Ecclesia particulari praedicare potest non tantum virtute ratione donorum sed cum pastorali authoritate ita ut verbo suo liget solvat peccatores remittat retineat peccata ut legatus missus à Deo obsecret homines ut reconcilientur Deo Gul. Apollon consideratio quarundam c. pag. 86. Of Excommunication I spake before proving that it ejecteth a man out of the whole Church Catholike visible which though it be passed with the knowledge and consent of the Congregation as also is Baptisme yet it is an act of the Presbyters But because it is an act of many 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 * 2 Cor. 2.6 I will therefore insist more largely and particularly upon Baptisme which is the act of a single Pastour or Minister That by Baptisme we are admitted into the Church I thinke is without doubt for if persons baptized be not members of a visible Church then the Seale of the Covenant yea the initiall Seale thereof is administred to those that are and remain out of the Church which were absurd to say Mr Ball in his Catechisme hath this passage Baptisme is a Sacrament of our ingrafting into Christ Communion with him and entrance into the Church for which he citeth Matth. 28.19 Acts 8.38 And afterward explaines himselfe It doth saith he solemnely signifie and seale their engrafting into Christ and confirme that they are acknowledged members of the Church and entred into it though it doth not make us Christian soules And that we are thereby admitted members not of a particular Congregation but the Church Catholike appeares because we are baptized into one body 1 Cor. 12.13 And this appeares further because he that is baptized in one Congregation is baptized all over the world and is not to be rebaptized but is taken as a member where-ever he becomes Now that baptizing is an act of office appeares John 1.33 He that sent me to baptize And goe teach all nations and baptize them was the substance of the Apostles Commission And though Paul 1 Cor. 1.17 saith Christ sent me not to baptize but to preach the Gospell yet that is meant not principally for he was sent also to baptize else he might not have done it And that by vertue of this office we are baptized into the Church Catholike appeares because John Baptist baptized all Jerusalem Judea and the Region round about Jordan And the Disciples of Christ made and baptized more Disciples then John and that without relation to any particular Congregations which had it been necessary they could have combined them into So Peter caused Cornelius and his friends to be baptized Act. 10.48 but no mention is made of any Congregation into which they were baptized And Philip baptized the Eunuch not into any particular Congregation And the Apostles carryed about one with them whom they called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Minister Acts 13.5 who was no Apostle and he baptized for them So Tychicus Col. 4.7 is called a beloved brother and faithfull Minister and fellow-servant in the Lord yet he was none of their Minister and Ephes 6.21 he hath the same stile given him againe certainly he could not be a peculiar Minister to both those distant Churches and I suppose he was of neither Appollos baptized at Corinth 1 Cor. 3.4 and yet was no Apostle but as a Minister and steward of the Mysteries of God as well as they 1 Cor. 4.1 Hence is this distinction of Junius in his Animadversions on Bellaerm cap. 7. nota 7. Alia est electio sive vocatio communis qua vir bonus pius doctus aptus absòlutè eligitur ad ministerium verbi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Alia particularis sive singularis quâ ad ministerium singulariter huic vel illi Ecclesiae praeficiendus eligitur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And the truth is the Scripture alwayes calling the Beleevers in one Citie one Church even Jerusalem though there were many thousands yea myriads that is many times ten thousands of beleeving Jewes therein as James tels Paul Act. 21.20 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which were all probably of Jerusalem as appeares first because they were not such as could beare any witnesse against Paul but by hear-say they are informed of thee but the Jewes amongst the Gentiles disperst having seen and heard Paul could have testified of their own knowledge and would not be blinded with Pauls present conformity And secondly because they only of Jerusalem could receive satisfaction by Pauls conformity to the Law at Jerusalem at that time and not the others And also the Holy Ghost calling the Elders in those Cities the Elders of the Church in communi it leaveth it uncertaine to me whether the severall Elders were fixed over particular congregations or taught and ruled in communi as the Ministers do now in Middleburgh and Strasburgh and other places yet because it maketh most for edification and order to have them fixed I shall thinke they were untill the contrary shall be proved And I verily beleeve they ruled in communi though haply they did not teach so Seventhly that Church to which every Christian bears first relation and which relation continueth last and cannot be broken by him without sin is the first Church but such is the Church Catholike visible therfore Them nor appeares because none can be admitted into a particular congregation except he be judged first of the Church Catholike so againe though he change his habitation never so often and beare relation to never so many particular congregations one after another yet in all those the generall relation holdeth still he is a baptized visible member of the Church Catholike and therfore to be received where ever he becometh into any particular congregation Yea in the Interim between his breaking off from one congregation and placing in another congregation he retaines the generall relation and baptisme and is not a heathen or infidell he is not one without in the Apostles phrase Yea suppose a man should be a Traveller Merchant or Factour and setled in no particular congregation yet being a Christian he is a member of the Church Catholike yea and if he broach any errours or live inordinately he shall be accountable to the Church wherein he for the present resides or such crimes are committed and be lyable to their censure as being a member of the Church Catholike which appeares in that the Church of Ephesus is commended Rev. 1.2 ☜ for trying strangers that came among them under the notion of Apostles And finding them lyars did not suffer them now prohibition is a censure They are not to be left to the