Selected quad for the lemma: ground_n
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A85444
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The right of the Church asserted, against the povver usurped over it. By J. Gailhard, A.M. & D.
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Gailhard, J. (Jean)
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1660
(1660)
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Wing G127; Thomason E1046_7; ESTC R208052
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21,398
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25
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that I hope it will not seem to be impertinent if from the Governours of the Church I have passed to the necessity of the Government it self for hereby I do convince of the necessity of having Governors and these to be chosen according to Gods heart and will The Prelatical Party will or must hitherto agree with us and then our work is more than half done for they will be hard put to it when we shall desire them to shew out of Scripture their Hierarchical way Let them prove Arch-bishops Deans Arch-Deacons Prebends Canons Chapters c. as we will prove Pastors Teachers Rulers and Deacons But perhaps they will have refuge to their humane right and say that many things were left to the judgment of the Church It is true of circumstantial and accidental things and cases as to the Censures which ought to be proportionable to the sins and offences whether such a man doth deserve to be suspended from the Sacrament for such a Fact and whether to be excommunicated about which yet we have certain several Rules as that of Charity Decency and Edification which we must not trangress But I do account it is a necessary thing and not indifferent who it is that must administer Church-Discipline For it is not an accidental thing as that it may be executed or not executed without any prejudice to the Church neither is it indifferent as that any one may indifferently administer it but it is thus far necessary as that every one that doth administer it must be called thereunto and every one that is called thereunto must execute it But now we must proceed and shew how they that are to govern the Church must be chosen out of the Church here by Church I understand a Body or Assembly distinct and different from the civil or political Body although somtimes one may be chosen a Ruler in the Church and be a Civil Magistrate yet he is elected not because he is a Member of the Civil but of the Ecclesiastical Body And to speak the truth every member of the Church is a member of the Civil body yet in a different respect and here from the whole and universal Church we must come to particular Congregations who must have in themselves all the right which belongs to them as parts and members of the whole For when we say that Christ hath instituted a Government in his Church we must not conclude it not to be instituted and necessary in particular Congregations because it is not said he hath instituted it in his Churches for the word Church being collective doth include all the parts and if you will Parishes or Congregations belonging to it For I say that every particular Church hath all that which is essential and necessary to a Church as it is a Church as well as the Universal Church or else it will not be a Church and therefore as Doctrine and Discipline are necessary to the Church in general so it is to every Church in particular According to this Maxim of Philosophy he that saith the whole doth also say the parts in the whole hence therefore I do by way of inference conclude that they who are to administer Church-Government in particular places ought to be chosen out of the Church in particular places and the proof of this will also confirm my former universal indefinite Proposition how the Rulers of the Church are to be chosen out of the Church My first reason to prove this is drawn from the sufficiency of the Church whereby the Church hath all things necessary to it having no need to borrow from others any thing conducing to it Herein doth the perfection of the Church appear for as it is a body distinct from other bodies so it hath within it self from Christ alone her dependency for being and well-being Nay it would not be a Church if it had not within her self all things necessary to it as it is a Church If therefore the Church be perfect in it self then she doth receive no perfection from without this perfection consists in the being and well-being of the same that is Doctrine and Discipline so that if the Church had not her Discipline within her self it would be very defective and unperfect by perfection I mean all things necessary And who could think that Christ Jesus after all that which he had done and suffered for his Church would have left somthing yet which it needs to borrow from others What his end was when he gave himself for his Church the Apostle tels Eph. 5.26 27. And in 1 Tim. 2.15 It is called the House of God the Pillar and Ground of truth And elsewhere the Spouse of Christ with whom Christ hath a conjugal communion and from him she receiveth Grace for Grace But I need not to insist upon this perfection and sufficiency of the Church within her self I will wrap it all in Davids words Glorious things are spoken of thee O City of God so that I conceive that Government being so necessary to the Church the Church hath it within her self and they that are to be Rulers must be chosen out of it The second Proof is from the Right of the Church I call the Right of the Church that which Christ hath given to the Church that which the Apostles and others after have yielded to the Church this right is the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven as it is Mat. 16. Where Christ saith that he would build his Church upon Peters confession and give the Keys to the same it is then the Churches Priviledge to chuse her Governours out of her self but because the right of the Church hath several Branches and Particulars I will name some of them It doth consist I. In chusing their Ministers when they are ordained Teachers must not be forced upon a Church as that notwithstanding the dissent of the People they should be maintained in it no Patron or other may lawfully present a Minister in a Parish or maintain him in it against the mind of the Congregation This Right of the Church in this is proved by Three Reasons 1. Christ who is the Authour of Ministry hath given this right to the Church alone as we have shewed afore 2. Because Ministers were given by Christ to the Church that by an ordinary and certain manner they might be procured by the whole Church 3. If it were not so then the Church could not voluntarily submit her self to her Pastors which is as necessary in Ministers as it is in Marriage where the consent of both parties is required And truly this right hath been continued to the Church for the space almost of a thousand years after Christ as we have proved by some Instances in our Letters to a person of quality But here when we say that the people of a Church have a right to call a Minister to themselves we mean not to ordain him for Ordination is not made by every Member of the Church though
THE Right of the Church ASSERTED Against the POWER Usurped over it By J. Gailhard A. M. D. August de Civit. Dei Philautia Dei contemptui insita satanae civitatem edificavit sed suimet contemptus Dei amori junctus Dei civitatem instauravit LONDON Printed for J. Rothwell at the Fountain in Goldsmiths-row in Cheapside 1660. The Right of Christ's Church asserted against the Power usurped over it IN this weighty undertaking of mine to vindicate the Right Liberty and Priviledge that Christ Jesus with his own bloud hath purchased unto his Church although we account it needless to insist upon Principles which our Adversaries and we are agreed upon yet that we may build upon some grounds we will lay the following foundations In the nature of things there is a Church really existing which was saved sanctified and purchased with Christs Bloud and Life and as this Church hath her Being from the Lord Jesus so the continuation and preservation of the same is from him to which effect he hath appointed food in the Word and Sacraments to be distributed to the Church by those who are Pastors and Ministers in it by way of Office in which sense our Blessed Saviour hath promised to be with his Spouse unto the end of the world And further as there is no Body either Natural Civil Political or oeconomical without some Laws and Order so Christ Jesus hath not left his Church without Law and in Confusion there is a certain Government properly belonging to it For our Saviour hath not left it to mens liberty to invent and forge what Government they please but he hath himself instituted one which must not be changed by men and which is strictly to be observed in the Church That there is and ought to be a Government it is clear from the Nature of the Church for it is the House of God wherefore as God is the God of order so his House must be an House of order so that in some respect order is essential to the Church in that it cannot be the House of God except in it there be some order Now since the voice of Christ alone is to be heard in the Church so the Rule of Christ alone is to be observed in it in the giving whereof he hath not been wanting for as soon as he had form'd his Church as soon he stablished some orderly constitution in it as the comparison of a natural body where there is an harmony between all the Members used by St Paul Rom. 12. 1 Cor. 12. where he speaks of the Gifts and Office of the Church do clearly declare it The Lord Jesus Christ therefore who is the only Lord and great Shepherd of his Church having instituted a Government in it did also appoint those that were to administer and execute it to the end that all intrusions and usurpations might be avoided For as the Authour of the Epistle to the Hebrews doth say Chap. 5. That Christ glorified not himself to be made an High Priest but he that said unto him Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee Nay he doth not so much as send his Disciples without shewing his Commission As the Father hath sent me so do I send you Likewise none ought to feed the Church or rule the Church except he be called thereunto whence this must be concluded that as there is a Government in the Church so they that administer it ought to be named of Christ But to find out who these Rulers ought to be we must have our refuge to holy Scriptures where Christ hath clearly and fully revealed his will and mind unto us we must not scorn nor be ashamed to make that our Rule here which shall be our Judge hereafter Peace and Mercy will be to as many as walk according to this rule and upon the Israel of God Gal. 6. Contrary practises must be left to that Antichrist who exalteth himself above God and sitteth in the Temple of God shewing himself that he is God 2 Thes 2. But it becometh Christian Kingdoms such as England Scotland and Ireland wherein the light of the Gospel hath so clearly appeared to be ruled by the Word In the daies of Ignorance God winked at mens waies but now he will not have mens Traditions to make void his Commands neither will he have will-worship preferred to that which he hath instituted Since Christ Jesus his Ascention never a Nation had such knowledge of Heavenly Mysteries neither did a Land so abound in godly and powerful Preaching as we have enjoyed within these Twenty years last past We may then justly desire that to be setled which is according to the Will of God revaled in his Word and that Traditions be not preferred above Scriptures namely in the point of Church-Government So that though there may be some Government good of it self as some would plead for Monarchy and Hierarchy in the Church yet none is to take the place of that which is set down in the Word for of all Rules in the Church that is the best and the only to be kept which Christ hath instituted And this I press the more when I consider the abuse in this and other Church-Offices as it hath provoked God to wrath so it hath procured Gods judgments Observe the case of Ely's Children and their Fathers remisseness to administer the Natural and Ecclesiastical power which he had over them yea the neglect of administring this Discipline in not restraining his Children was so great a sin that God did swear that the iniquity of Elies House should not be purged with Sacrifice nor Offering for ever 1 Sam. 3.14 And the end is known to all And under the Law it was ordinarily one of the greatest complaints of God to express the corruption of Church-men in the neglect of their duty either in giving instruction or bearing rule when they prophesied falsly corrupted the Law and when they did not administer judgment in the House of God So under the Gospel this is one of the few things Christ hath against the Angel of the Church in Thiatira that he suffered Jezebel to seduce Gods Servants and to commit fornication And so it was the blemish of the Angel of Pergamus that he had them that held the Doctrine of Balaam when on the other side it is the great commendation of the Angel of Ephesus that he could not bear them which were evil Rev. 2. And indeed remisseness in Church-government hath ordinarily been followed with licentiousness prophaneness depravation in doctrine and at last with the removing of the Candlestick and overthrow of the Churches This some observe to have been the case of those seven famous Churches of Asia An Army without Discipline will soon be destroyed and an House without Order will quickly be undone Hence I may observe how unjustly Presbyterians are condemned for their strictness in Church-Discipline and how undeservedly the Episcopal Party is commended for their remisseness in it So