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A19858 A treatise of the Church VVritten against them of the separation, commonly called Brownists. Wherein the true doctrine of a visible Church is taught, and the Church of England, proued to be a true Church. The Brownists false doctrine of the visible Church is conuinced; their shamefull peruerting of the holy Scriptures discouered, their arguments to proue the Church of England a false Church answered. Darrel, John, b. ca. 1562. 1617 (1617) STC 6286; ESTC S117495 230,202 407

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and vs one would thinke should now be ended considering how clearely the trueth shineth on our side yet for feare it prooue otherwise I will adde something more In the third to the Galathians verse 29. Paul saith thus to them And if ye be Christs then are yee Abrahams seede and heires by promise As if he had said If yee beleeue in Christ whereby you are made one with him then are ye indeede the seede of Abraham and heires of eternall life according to the promise God made with Abraham From hence I reason thus All they and onely they who be Christs that is are ingrafted into him by faith are Abrahams seede to whom the promise of eternall life is made But all of the church inuisible and onely they are Christs ingrafted into him by faith Therefore all of the inuisible church and onely they are Abrahams seede to whom the promise of eternall life is made The Proposition is proued by these words of the Apostle If Christs then are ye Abrahams seede The Assumption needs no proofe Againe I argue from hence thus against you If the vis Church be Abrahams seede and they to vvhom the promise of saluation was made then the vis Church and consequently all the members thereof are heires of saluation But this latter is false Therefore the first The Assumption you will not deny and the Proposition is as cleare by this Scripture and needs must be true seeing God is faithfull and constant in the performance of his promise which he could not be if any one of those should goe to hell to whom he hath made promise of heauen God is not as man Num. 23.19 that he should lye neither as the sonne of man that hee should repent Hath he said and shall hee not doe it And hath hee spoken and shall he not accomplish it No no. God is true Rom. 3.4 though euery man be a lyar If therefore God haue made a couenant or promise of saluation vvith the vis Church as you all affirme and specially M. Smith euer and anone in his Parralleles then all of the visible Church shall be saued But for as much as many of that societie shall be damned it cannot be that to them this promise was made but to some other company euen to the heires of saluation And this latter may bee confirmed and so you conuinced by your owne words By faith saith M. Ainsworth we are the seede of Abraham and consequently heires by promise of the blessed inheritance and so doe enter into his rest Com. of Saints 321. Here you affirme that the company of the faithfull or true beleeuers are the seede of Abraham with whom God made this couenant which manifestly ouerthroweth you Secondly that they who be the seed of Abraham are heires of the heauenly and blessed inheritance And heere I reason thus from your owne words They onely are the seede of Abraham vvith vvhom God made that gracious couenant of life euerlasting that be he●res of the blessed inheritance and doe enter into the h●auenly rest But the elect or inuisible Church onely are heires of the blessed inheritance and doe enter into the heauenly rest Therefore the elect or inuisible Church onely are the seede of Abraham with whom God made that gracious couenant of life euerlasting The Proposition is your owne the Assumption I trust you abhor to deny imbrace therefore the conclusion wherevpon necessarily followeth that God made not this couenant with the vis Church as all of you doe teach but with the inuisible as wee affirme But you tell vs that 1. Tim. 4 8. doth proue this Bodily exercise profiteth little but godlinesse is profitable vnto all things which hath the promise of the life present and of that that is to come Here is mention indeede of a promise concerning life eternall But to whom it is made Paul answereth to the godly But such onely are the elect and inuisible Church Therefore to them and not to the visible Church is the promise made of life euerlasting by Christ So that this Scripture maketh against you Moreouer you alleadge here 2. Pet. 1.3 According as his diuine power hath giuen vnto vs all things that pertaine to life and godlines Peter here telleth vs that all good things belonging to life eternall are giuen vs of God But to whom To the visible Church We reade no such thing but cleane otherwise To vs saith he As if he had said to me and the rest of the elect That by life here the Apostle meaneth life eternall no man will deny Neither that life eternall shall bee giuen vnto them to whom all things appertaining to that life are giuen Seeing then the inuisible Church onely haue all things pertaining to life giuen them of God forasmuch as they onely enioy that life and that the Apostle speaketh of them who are made partakers of this gift it followeth necessarily therevpon that hee speaketh onely of the inuisible church Obserue besides that hee saith not onely that God hath giuen vs all things that appertaine vnto life but addeth and godlinesse Implying thereby that they to whom this life is giuen of God haue first all things pertaining vnto godlinesse bestowed vpon them in this life before they enioy that life eternall in the world to come But to the inuisible Church onely all things pertaining to godlinesse are giuen Therefore of the inuisible Church the Apostle here speaketh and not of the visible as you affirme And here marke how M. Ainsworth applying this Scripture to the vis Church doth conuince both himselfe and his friends Let vs saith he consider some principall of the many good th●ngs Communion of Saints 165. 168. 170. that God doth giue vs pertaining vnto life godlinesse Among these he nameth Faith And what faith That saith hee whereby our fathers walked with God pleased him wrought many good workes obtained good report and in the end the saluation of their soules It is the gift of God vnto his chosen people which therefore is called the faith of Gods elect And a little after The most excellent fruit that we reape of faith is our iustification in the sight of God by his grace in Christ Iesus Hereby it is plaine enough though there is much more seruing to this purpose that hee speaketh of iustifying faith Another good thing pertaining to life and godlinesse that is giuen vs of God is saith he sanctification Ibid. 177.179.183.186 also the feare of the Lord loue out of a pure heart and of a good conscience and of faith vnfained the loue of God and his loue shed abroad in their hearts by the holy Ghost which is giuen vnto them with other graces of this kinde From these words of your owne I argue thus against you Of that Church or company of men Peter here speaketh to vvhom of God are giuen iustifying faith sanctification and the other graces before specified But the said graces are giuen onely to the elect and
that which you doe from hence vsually collect and vrge against vs. CHAP. II. A confutation of another description of the true visible Church giuen by the Brownists Where much is said concerning the first gathering of a Church and commixture of good and bad in the Church BVt omitting this description of H. Barrowes wee will proceed to another of theirs laid downe in their Apologie Apologie 44. It is say they a company of people called and seperated from the world by the word of God and ioyned together by voluntary profession of the faith of Christ in the fellowship of the Gospell If this be a true description then whosoeuer is not called and seperated from the world by the word of God c. is not a member of the visible Church for of such a company so called and qualified it doth consist as you affirme But some not called and seperated from the world c. haue bin are and shall be of the v●sible Church as is euident by that which followeth this therfore is not a true description of the visible Church It is a company of people say you called by the word of God whereby you meane that by the power and force of the Word only in the Ministery and preaching therof men are brought to be of this societie that is of the visible Church and not by the call perswasion or commandement of the Magistrate or any mortall man And this you put downe in your description that thereby you might proue our Parish assemblies to bee no true but false visible Churches because in the beginning of Queene Elizabeths raigne the people then liuing were not called by the Word and gathered by the preaching thereof but all brought in at once by her commandement and proclamation Hereupon it is that in the former description of the visible Church they say It is a company gathered in the name of Christ Iesus And Master Iohnson applying this to vs saith We were neuer rightly gathered together according to Gods ordinance Defence of the Churches and Minist of Eng. 86. that is as heere he speaketh not called by the word of God meaning the preaching thereof as appeareth by his quotations of Scripture in the margent We answere If we speake of a Church when it is first planted I meane of a Nation when first it commeth to embrace and professe the Gospell and true Religion the people of such a Nation for a great part there of are called by the word of God before they come to be a visible Church By the power and truth of the Word and diuine maiestie shining euery where therein the children of men be brought to forsake their false Religion and worship and to ioyne together in the profession of true Religion whereby they become a visible Church And this is confirmed throughout the whole story of the Acts of the Apostles both in the conuersion of the Iewes or gathering visible Churches of them set downe in the nine first Chapters and likewise of the gentiles continuing from the beginning of the tenth Chapter to the latter end of that booke In the second of the Acts where mention is made of a great increase or addition to the visible Church that before that time was among the Iewes of about three thousand soules and in the fourth of the Acts of a further increase to about fiue thousand Act. 2.14 and 4.4 in both these places the meanes is specified whereby this was brought to passe and that is said to be the hearing and and receiuing of the word of God preached by Peter and other of the Apostles In the eight chapter of the Actes wee reade of a Church gathered in the Citie of Samaria by Philip his preaching Christ vnto them and in the eleuenth Chapter of the Acts of a great Church gathered by the preaching of certaine Prophets and Euangelists in Antiochia in Syria In a word where in the Acts we reade of the conuersion of a people to God as in Antiochia a Citie of Pisidia in Iconium Listra Derbe Philippi Thessalonica Berea Athens Corinthus and Rome in the same places we heare that they were called and the said visible Churches gathered by the preaching of the word But mark all these Churches were now first planted and these people newly conuerted from Iudaisme or Gentilisme that is eyther from the Iewish Religion or false Religion of the Gentiles to the Christian Religion In such a case to the gathering and be●ng of a Church the preaching of the Word is absolutely necessary so as without it a company of people cannot bee brought to be a Church But if we speake of a Church established or of a Country where for some time true Religion hath beene professed and God truly worshipped though sometimes interrupted broken off and discontinued which is our case then this holdeth not As vnder the Law both Iewes and Gentiles professing the Iewish religion by Circumcision so by Baptisme Christians vnder the Gospell are incorporated into the visible Church and made members thereof Are not the children of the faithfull by Baptisme receiued into the visible Church and thereby made members thereof And not by the call of the word the sound whereof many of them do not heare and if they doe they cannot vnderstand it And what letteth why some of these when they bee growen men may not thorough hypocrisie continue in the Church though in the hardnes of their hearts they neuer were affected and touched with the word many such hypocrites and hard-hearted men dead in their sinnes and trespasses and that haue consciences seared with a hot Iron haue euer beene are and shall be in the Church who neuer by the call of the word and power thereof would haue become members of the Church nor haue felt any touch that way but onely because they were borne and brought vp in the Church and not cast out either through the want of due execution of discipline or else through their deepe dissimulation and hypocrisie they being like painted tombes which appeare beautifull outward but are within full of dead mens bones and all filthinesse Surely it is not to be thought that Cain Ismael Esau with others that many of the fatte Bulls of Basan that many of those who in Israel killed the Prophets and stoned them which were sent vnto them that many of the Scribes and Pharisies were affected with the Word or so much as tasted of the power and sweetnes thereof and yet were they all of the visible Church How were these then called by the word of God Againe that without this call by the word men may come to be of the visible Church it is yet more euident by the scripture In the twelfth chapter of Exodus where mention is made of the departure of the Children of Israel out of Egypt it is said That a great multitude of sundry sorts of all people went out with them Verse 38. now all or most of these we may assure