Doctrine and Distinction but the contrary it fully assures us that the Power of Order is all the Power which Christ communicated to his Apostles and their Successors it being abundantly sufficient through his gracious Assistance and Concurrence for the ordering guiding governing and disciplining of the Church unto the end of the World And what Power of regular Jurisdiction is in Bishops distinct from the Power of Order is not Divine but Humane from Man's Law and not from God's Law And therefore if it should be supposed that Ordination by Presbyters without a Bishop is an Error as being against an innocent Law of Man yet is it not therefore null and invalid for though it ought not to be done yet being once done it is firm and valid because done by those who by God's Law are confessed to have Power to do it being equal with the Bishop as to the Power of Order it being very absurd and a Contradiction in adjecto that those should have Power to order who have no Power to ordain and that those should have equal Power to order who have not equal Power to ordain 23. True it is that besides that fixed Pastors of each particular Church there were in the primitive Times the Apostles as general Overseers who did use to visit the Churches and took care of them But this was no Act of external Jurisdiction distinct from the Power of Order but what may innocently and safely be done by an eminent Presbyter qualified with Gifts and Graces for the Work of his own free accord according to the general Rules of God's Word Mr. John Dury a Scotish Presbyter in the Reign of King Charles I. made it his business for thirty Years together purely upon a Christian Account and of his own free Heart without all colour of external Jurisdiction to visit the transmarine Churches Lutheran and Calvinistical and by writing personal Conserence and unwearied Travels to reconcile them touching Predestination Christ's Ubiquity and the Sacrament tho the Success was not answerable through the unreasonable Stiffness of the Lutheran Party And in the Reign of King Charles II. Mr. Thomas Gouge a Nonconforming Presbyter did for several Years together in Person use to visit all the Counties in Wales purely upon a Christian Account at his own Charge without all shew of external Jurisdiction having the Bible for his Warrant and the Glory of serving God and doing Good for his Reward making it his business to promote Religion and Learning An Apostolical and most blessed Work and not without great Success 24. True it is that the Distinction between Bishop and Presbyter is of great Antiquity and large Extent But that in the time of Cyprian it imported more than with us at this day doth the Distinction between the Dean and Chapter of each Cathedral Church between the Warden and Fellows of Manchester between the Parish-Minister and his Curate will not be easily proved Now all know that all these are but one Order in the Ministry and this Inequality is not at all inconsistent with the Principles and Practice of the Presbyterian Brethren 25. Finally the great Principle of those of the Church of England who hold Ordination by Presbyters without a Bishop to be invalid is this that to every Church there ought by God's Law to be a Bishop and no Bishop no Church ordinarily Now either they will stand to this their Principle or they will not If not then they undo their whole Cause and stultify themselves If yea then also their Cause cannot stand for they will not deny the Parish-Churches to be true Churches But these in England are more than nine thousand and the Diocesan Bishops are but some six and twenty Can six and twenty Men be Bishops to more than nine thousand Churches if to every Church there must be a Bishop Either then you must grant that the Parish-Churches are not true Churches and then Separation from them is a Duty and you yield the Cause to the Brownists Or if you admit them to be true Churches upon your own Grounds you must needs yield that the several Parish-Ministers who are but Presbyters are as true Bishops as they are Churches and then Ordination by them without a Diocesan must needs be valid and Diocesan Bishops are no Bishops of God's making This then is the Issue of the Matter that the Parish-Ministers who are but Presbyters are Bishops of God's making and Diocesan Prelates are Bishops of Man's making The Nullity of all external Jurisdiction in the Church not derived from and dependent on the State 1. THere cannot be external Jurisdiction without external Supremacy For all Jurisdiction doth necessarily import a Supream in whose Sentence and Decision all contending Parties are to acquiesce and from whom there can be no Appeal Therefore there cannot be external Jurisdiction without external Supremacy Now under God all external Supremacy is in the State Let every Soul be subject unto the higher Powers Rom. 13.1 that is those who bear the Sword as is afterward declared ver 4. and the Context plainly shews Submit your selves to every Ordinance of Man for the Lord's sake whether it be to the King as supreme or unto Governours as unto them that are sent by him for the Punishment of Evil-doers and for the Praise of them that do well 1 Pet. 2.13 14. Herewith agrees the old Oath of Supremacy and the 37th Article of the Church of England unanimously subscribed by the Episcopal and Presbyterial Clergy 2. To set up a contrary external Jurisdiction and Supremacy in the Church is to overthrow the Nature of the Church and to undermine the State and to act contrary to the Example of Christ and his Apostles and to imitate that Man of Sin the Son of Perdition who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped 2 Thess 2.3 4. 3. Christ himself considered as Man in the Days of his Flesh and State of Humiliation had no external Jurisdiction he exercised none he claimed none but disclaimed it saying My Kingdom is not of this World John 18.36 Man who made me a Judg or a Divider over you Luke 12.14 It belonged not to him to exercise external Jurisdiction but to be a Minister of the Circumcision for the Truth of God to confirm the Promises made unto the Fathers Rom. 15.8 He came not to be ministred unto but to minister and to give his Life a Ransom for many Mat. 20.28 And therefore in Obedience to God and out of Love to us he owned and submitted to the Jurisdiction of the Roman President in Judea He humbled himself and became obedient unto Death even the Death of the Cross for a Pattern to all his Followers and Disciples and to shew that his Kingdom was not of this World Phil. 2.8 John 19.11 1 Pet. 2.21 4. All external Jurisdiction is necessarily either supreme or subordinate But Christ considered as Man in his State of Humiliation had neither Not supreme for
Church to himself For God being supposed graciously present with him all Wants are made up in God he is all not as exclusive of Instruments Means and second Causes where they may be had but where they cannot be had through no fault of ours but through God's most wise and holy over-ruling Providence and he be graciously with us and talk with us by the invisible Operation of his Word and Spirit and in the multitude of our sad Thoughts within us delight our Souls with his heavenly Comforts here is God's Church This is none other but the House of God and this is the Gate of Heaven Gen. 28.17 17. There are Multitudes of particular Churches upon Earth as the Churches in England in Scotland in Ireland in Holland in Germany and other Places which have particular Guides and Pastors set over them and are distinguished one from another by convenient local Bounds and Limits and Diversity in some external Modes and Customs and Rites tho they all agree in the Substance and Foundation of true Religion Hence according to Scripture we say The Church of God at Ephesus the Church of God at Corinth the Churches of Galatia meaning all the Christian People at Ephesus all the Christian People at Corinth and so forth But this is no proof that God's Church is two Universal and Particular like as it is no proof that the Body of a Man is two Bodies because it is one Body consisting of many Members and that England is two Kingdoms because it is one Kingdom consisting of many Counties Cities Towns and Villages 18. The Church of God is plain and visible to such as believe the Gospel as is the Sun at Noon-day to all that are not blind But who so blind as those that will not see If Men wilfully shut the Eyes of their Minds by Unbelief and call Darkness Light and Light Darkness the Church of God the Synagogue of Satan and the Synagogue of Satan the Church of God they may deceive themselves they cannot deceive him For the Foundation of the Lord standeth sure having this Seal The Lord knoweth them that are his And let every one that nameth the Name of Christ depart from Iniquity 2 Tim. 2.19 19. We see those Men and Women who are by Profession Christians and of the Church they are as visible as any other People upon Earth But that which makes them sincere Christians inwardly before God we see not but believe for Faith is the Evidence of things not seen Heb. 11.1 And it is only sincere Christians which are the Church of God so as to be in a State of Salvation Our own godly Sincerity we may be infallibly sure of the Spirit it self bearing witness with our Spirit that we are the Children of God Rom. 8.18 But we cannot be infallibly sure of the Sincerity of any other in particular neither is such Assurance necessary 20. Again those who deny Ordination by Presbyters without a Bishop to be valid suppose that God's Church doth not consist wholly and only by the Divine Laws but partly by the Divine Laws and partly by Humane Laws But this is a great Error repugnant to the Nature of God's Church for the Church is not partly the Church of God and partly the Church of Man but it is absolutely and entirely the Church of God which he hath purchased with his own Blood Act. 20.28 and therefore it consisteth by the Divine Laws only not as exclusive of wholsom and useful Humane Laws these are subservient but they add no Perfection to the Divine Laws they do not they cannot by themselves bind the Conscience for the Conscience of Man cannot be bound save by something superiour to it which no humane Law by it self can be Indeed we are bound to be subject to the higher Powers not only for Wrath but also for Conscience sake and peaceably to observe and conform to humane Laws not repugnant to God's Law But this Bond and Tie upon the Conscience doth not arise from Man's Law but from God's Law only this is superiour to the Conscience The Church is absolutely and entirely the Body of Christ his Wife and Spouse and not partly the Body of Christ his Wife and Spouse and partly the Body Wife and Spouse of this or that Man or number of Men. And therefore she is to be wholly governed by the Laws of Christ her only Head and Husband and by no other But then the more observant she is of Christ's Laws and obedient to his Divine Commands she will be the more observant of Second-Table-Duties and careful to render to all both Superiours Equals and Inferiours their just Dues and all that lies in her to live peaceably with all Men and to give no Offence to any because all these are Duties laid upon her by the Divine Laws 21. The Voice of God's Church and every part thereof is Psal 62.5 6. God only is my Rock and my Salvation Not partly God and partly Man Bishops Presbyters Princes Parliaments Convocations Synods an Arm of Flesh humane Laws Canons and Decrees But God only is my Rock and my Salvation he is alsufficient he is all in all while we cleave only and wholly to him and observe his Laws and keep in his good Way we are safe and happy no Evil can befal us because he is Almighty to protect and provide for us and give us every good thing and will not fail so to do But if we trust partly in God and partly in Man and ascribe any the least part of the Glory belonging to God and his Law to Man and his Law and contend that the Being and Well-being of the Church from first to last doth not consist by God's Law only but partly by his Law and partly by Man's Law then we are guilty of spiritual Idolatry and Adultery we debase God and deify Man we make God and Man coequal and coordinate Causes of the Churches Peace and Safety both temporal and eternal which is a transcendent Vice and plucks up all true Religion by the Roots and makes God's Church adulterous partly Christ's Wife and partly the Wife of the Pope of this or that humane Law-maker which Christian Ears cannot bear to hear 22. Again the same Adversaries of the Validity of Ordination by Presbyters without a Bishop are constrained to hold them by a Popish distinction between the Power of Order and the Power of Jurisdiction confessing that by God's Law the Bishop and the Presbyter have equal Authority as to the Power of Order but not as to the Power of Jurisdiction But this Doctrine and Distinction God's Law hath not and therefore it may not be received For the present Dispute doth nearly touch that great Article of our Faith The holy Catholick Church the Communion of Saints And it is a sure Rule consented to by all sound Divines that as to Articles of Faith no Doctrine or Distinction not contained in God's Word may be admitted But God's Word hath not this
for Ecclesiastical Rule Authority and Jurisdiction over one another all Affectation Claim and Exercise of Imperial Power over one another for they were all equal in Office Brethren in the Ministry Fellow-Apostles no one was Pope and Monarch over the rest neither might be 11. If Bishops were Spiritual Lords in respect of inward spiritual Worth and Goodness then they would be Spiritual Lords while they are but Presbyters and before they are made Bishops For first they are Presbyters which the Advocates for Prelacy suppose to be an Order or Degree in the Ministry inferiour to a Bishop Now it is plain that what inward spiritual Worth and Goodness is in the new-made Bishop it was in him before he was Bishop even whilst he was a Presbyter But no one did repute him a Spiritual Lord while he was but a Presbyter though he was a good and worthy Man His assuming of the Episcopal Office adds no inward spiritual Worth and Goodness to his Soul it being but a thing common to worthy and unworthy Men. Mr. Prideaux in his Introduction for reading all sorts of Histories pag. 67. divides the Bishops of Rome into seven Ranks 32 good Bishops 33 tolerable Archbishops or Patriarchs 38 usurping Nimrods 40 luxurious Sodomites 40 Egyptian Magicians 41 devouring Abaddons and 20 incurable Babylonians 12. It is then plain that Lord-Bishops are so by Humane Law and not by Divine Law they are made by Man and not by God their Office Power and Authority as they are Lord-Bishops is Humane and not Divine I say not that it is unlawful but that it is not Divine many things are lawful which yet are not Divine as the Offices of Constables Head-Constables Sheriffs Mayors Lord-Chancellors and Keepers of the Great Seal are all lawful and yet they are not Divine and Evangelical but Humane and Civil 13. Lord-Bishops being but Civil and Temporal Lords of Man's making their Courts cannot be Spiritual Courts but only Civil and Temporal By Permission of the King and Parliament they hold their Courts not expresly in the King's Name but in their own Name Yet are they nevertheless but Civil and Temporal Courts deriving their Authority from and dependent on the King and Parliament which under God are the highest Judicature in this Nation from whom there lies no Appeal save to God But there lies an Appeal from the highest Ecclesiastical Court in the Nation to the King and Parliament The contrary Doctrine brings in foreign Jurisdiction and sets up the Papacy and is destructive both of Church and State 14. Many of the Nobility and Gentry of England and others of the Laity hold Courts not expresly in the King's Name but in their own Name And yet no one doubts but that they are Civil and Temporal Courts derived from and dependent on the Crown and there lies an Appeal from them to a superiour Civil Court 15. True it is that in the first Ages of the Church after Christ's Ascension the Holy Ghost by Paul reproves the Christians at Corinth for going to Law with one another before the Heathen Judges about worldly and secular Matters there being then no Christian Magistracy I speak to your Shame Is it so that there is not a wise Man amongst you 1 Cor. 6 5â— no not one that shall be able to judg between his Brethren Upon which it is like the Christians from thenceforth did desist from going to Law with one another before the Heathen Judges about small Matters pertaining to this Life and chose some judicious and understanding Christian as an Umpire or Arbitrator for the ending and deciding of their litigious Causes about worldly Matters which continuing for some hundreds of Years unto the Reign of Constantine the first Christian Emperor it is very likely that he by his Imperial Sanction confirmed the aforesaid Apostolical Decree and the Way of the Primitive Churches ending and deciding their Suits about secular Matters pursuant to and grounded on the same and did enlarge and add to it and so made it an Ecclesiastical Court and called it the Bishops Court and the Judg thereof the Bishops Chancellor or the Chancellor of the Ecclesiastical Court But before this Sanction by the Emperor it was no Ecclesiastical Court neither had it any Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction it was only a prudential Institution without all external Jurisdiction 16. The King of England is by God's Grace a Christian King Being so he must needs be a Christian and as such he is a Member of God's Church in England in common with all other Christian People therein and he is no more he is not Head thereof for only Christ is Head of God's Church in England like as he is sole Head of the whole Church on Earth it being a Contradiction to be sole Head of the whole and not of every Part. Considered as a King so he hath no more Power and Jurisdiction over the Church and its Causes than he would have if he were a Heathen King his being a Christian doth not inlarge and add to his Regal Power but only qualify him supposing him truly godly with Grace and spiritual Wisdom to use his Regal Power aright for God which a Heathen King cannot 17. The King is sole Supream under God and Christ the Mediator over all the Souls in the Nation as to coercive Rule by the Sword yet is he limited by fundamental Laws whereby the Rights of Prince and People mutually consist and which he is bound inviolably to observe But all his Power is only Civil and Temporal and not Spiritual and therefore he can grant no Spiritual Jurisdiction he can create no Spiritual Office For no Effect can exced its Cause neither can the Streams differ in kind from the Water in the Fountain 18. The King and Parliament will meekly and reverently hear a common Presbyter or Minister preach the Gospel and be awed by the Word in his Mouth as the Word of God and not the Word of Man though Man be the Preacher and they will reverently own and submit to Baptism and the Lord's Supper dispensed by him as Divine and not Humane Institutions Convincing Evidence will go along with the Preacher's Word being scriptural sound good and faithful whereby it will evidence it self to be Divine and from above to all such as believe it will to them be the Savour of Life unto Life and the rest who do not believe yet will stand condemned by it and it may be with Felix tremble under it as being through their own Sin the Savour of Death unto Death to them Here it is plain Jesus Christ as sole Lord of the Conscience doth by the Ministry of a weak Man a coâ—â—â—â— Presbyter exercise Spiritual Lordship and Jurisdiction over the King and all the Lords and Commons inwardly in each one's Bosom over such as are good willingly and in Love over such as are wicked against their Will for if wicked ones might have their Will they would all be above God and lord over him at