Selected quad for the lemma: heaven_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
heaven_n	apostle_n	church_n	key_n	2,057	5	9.6217	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A85444	The right of the Church asserted, against the povver usurped over it. By J. Gailhard, A.M. & D.	Gailhard, J. (Jean)	1660 (1660)	Wing G127; Thomason E1046_7; ESTC R208052	21,398	25

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