labour in the Word and Doctrine Much use hath been made of this Text to little purpose I shall not now mention any of all that I have seen and read of it but give you as God hath enabled me the true sense of this Scripture and let the unprejudiced Reader judge And that we may understand the mind of Christ in it we will consider 1. By whom and to whom this Direction was given It was by the Apostle Paul the great planter of the Churches of the Gentiles and who as an Apostle had Power and Authority to order and determine all the affairs that concern'd the Discipline and Government of the Churches of his own planting Both this and the other Epistle was written by him to Timothy whom he left as his Substitute or Surrogate with Apostolical Power under him in the Church of Ephesus to ordain Presbyters as there should be occasion and to dispose of the Dignities and Revenues of the Church to such as were most worthy of them and would best improve them to the Glory of Christ and the Churches benefit And for the same end it was that he left Titus in Crete as his Substitute or Overseer in that Island as appears Tit. 1.5 So that this advice was not sent to the people nor to the Inferior Presbyters who were to be ordered by it but to one in a higher Sphear of Authority and by whom they were to be ordered whether for distinction sake he be called Evangelist or Bishop or President or Moderator the difference is but verbal 2. What doth the Apostle mean by the double honour here There are two things that seem to bid fair for the Sense which will both come to one in the issue 1. The Honour of Maintenance and so we find the word sometimes used in Scripture as ver 3. of this Chap. Matt. 15.6 Acts 28 10. and the following words of the Apostle in this Scripture seem to look this way and then the Sense must be this Let those Officers of the Church that best discharge the Duties of their Office in ruling but especially in Preaching which is the more noble and necessary part of their Work have the greatest encouragement on this kind i e. Let not the Revenues of the Church which were then but small and uncertain be bestowed promiscuously much less partially 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but so as may best subserve the Churches good Government and the grand Design of preaching the Gospel 2. The Honour of Authority and Obedience And this is the prime sense of the Word as it is used in the Fifth Commandment Honour thy Father and thy Mother Exod. 20.12 is the same with Obey your Parents Eph. 6.1 And obey them that have the rule over you Heb. 13.17 and so is the word used Heb. 5.4 No man taketh this Honour unto himself i. e. this Office this Dignity this power and authority And this indeed is much more worthily and properly call'd Honour than a rich worldly Revenue or a fat Benefice or Bishoprick things unborn in those days which men too often abuse both to God's dishonour and their own Now if this be the Double Honour here intended as to me seems most probable at least that it is included as the most eminent part of it then the sense will be this Let those Presbyters or Ministers that appear on experience and tryal to have a Spirit of Government but especially with it an eminency of ability and diligence in preaching the Word be made Rulers and Superintendents over the inferior part of the Clergy let such be taken into the Collegium Presbyterorum regens the Regency of the Church So that it is not the distinction of Office but the qualification of the Officer that the Apostle gives this direction for 3. We must consider the persons on whom this double honour is to be conferr'd or who are thus to be dignified as the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 properly signifies and these are Elders describ'd 1. In genere by their Office 2. In specie by their Qualifications 1. By their general Office 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is a word always us'd to denote the Ministers of the Word in the Gospel-Church as Act. 11.30 ch 14.23 ch 15.2 6 22 23. ch 16.4 ch 20.17 ch 21.18 Tit. 1.5 Jam. 5.14 1 Pet. 5.1 2 Ep. John 1. and Epist 3.1 2. By their special Qualification which is double 1. They much be such as Rule well 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is another Title peculiarly given in the New Testament to the Ministers of the Word whose Office it is to Rule as well as to Preach 2. They must be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such as labour in the Word and Doctrine So that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth not distinguish as I have said between two Offices but between the twofold Qualifications of one and the same Office There were in the Church of Ephesus which was a Collegiate or Presbyterial Church many Presbyters the Talent of whose Gifts lay diversly as we find it doth in all other Churches some were fitter for Government others for Preaching some excelled in one Gift others in another Now the Apostle advises Timothy how to make his choice of Persons for Government in the Presbytery whom to prefer to and entrust with a double honour or higher degree of Dignity and Power in this kind and sphere of Government and tells him they must be such as have behav'd themselves well in the Pastoral Government of their particular Flocks and Congregations and especially such of them as are most eminent and laborious in Preaching the Word whereby they purchase to themselves a good Degree as it is said of the Deacons 1 Tim 3.13 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a place of higher Honour and Trust from a Deacon to a Presbyter from a Presbyter to a President Preferments ought to be dispensed according to every ones Qualifications and Merits Whence it appears that there are Degrees in the Ministerial Office And this is that the Apostle here gives this Direction about not at all countenancing a Non-Preaching Ruling Lay-Elder but discountenancing a Lordly Lazy Non-Preaching Bishop or Superintendent That the Preaching Elder or Minister of the Gospel is to Rule as well as to Preach the Word is so plainly asserted in Scripture that I think cannot by any be denied But if this Ruling Power were divided by Christ or his Apostles between Them and the People or any part of the People can any one give us a reason why neither Christ nor his Apostles should ever speak a word to direct us how the Division of this Ruling Power must be made What must be their part and what ours How they must be qualified as well as we and the Deacons for which they were careful to give the necessary Rules Yea and how they must be maintain'd too For to lay the burden of an Office on a Man and to make no provision for his Maintenance seems hard and not
their own Shepherd Pastores suos vehementer amant Fr. ib. as if they were Conscious of their own weakness and need of him The bare mention of these things being enough to direct the Spiritual Mind to their due application I shall wave all manner of further enlargement here Quest 3. The Third Question is this Who the Ministers of the Gospel are with whom this Charge of our dear Saviour is left Sol. One would think the Solution of such a Question as this should not be hard nor is it so in Thesi wherein the clear light both of Scripture and of Nature is so concurring and convincing And yet we find there is hardly any one thing wherein Professors such of them as are too apt to be led by the factious Principles of Ignorance and Prejudice are more uncharitably disagreed in than in this How miserably the poor Church of Christ by the malice and subtilties of the common Enemy and the Carnality Pride and blind Passions of Professors is torn into Rags of Divisions and Subdivisions is too well known for me to inform you And of all these every Party is magnifying their own Teachers as the only Ministers of Christ and ready to condemn all others as Hirelings False Teachers Schismatical Intruders c. This is a Lamentation and let it be for a Lamentation But could we return to a right Understanding of our plain rule in this Affair how easily might the Case be brought to its due Issue I know but these two things that essentially denominate a Man to be a Minister of Jesus Christ Qualification and Commission And neither of which is singly sufficient I am sensible that I am now in a large Field and in a ready way to be lost in Controversy but that I have more practical and necessary work before me Yet I beseech you bear with me while I explain my self a little on these two heads and I will be very short the Truth being commonly best seen in a few plain words 1. There must be Qualifications But what Of special sanctifying saving Grace This indeed is needful and most desireable and morally conducive to the happy and glorious ends of the Ministry both as to our selves and those that hear us absolutely necessary as the sine quâ non unto Salvation but not so to Ministerial Qualification A man may be lawfully a Minister that is not Spiritually a Member of Christ The Sealed of the Tribe of Levi were but a Remnant as of any one of the other Tribes Those that in our Saviour's Time sate in Moses's Chair were for the most part of them far enough from Moses's Spirit and yet our Saviour owns them in their Office Judas was a Disciple and sent forth with a Commission to Preach the Gospel of the Kingdom even by Him who knew him to be inwardly a Devil and a Traitor But this is no new Doctrine nor needs any proof to one that has not a mind to be contentious But the Qualification here required as absolutely necessary is Ministerial That whereby a Person is competently fitted for the discharge of all the work and duties of this sacred Office Orthodoxy in Doctrine ability and aptness in at least the gift of Preaching and Praying skill and moderation in ruling c. And certainly there 's a great difference between Ministerial Gâ—â—s and saving Grace 〈…〉 the particulars of 〈…〉 refer you to Paul's 〈…〉 1 Epist ch 3. and to Titus ch 1. 2. There must be Commission No man taketh this honour unto himself but he that is called of God as was Aaron Heb. 5.4 No man taketh 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 No man undertaketh accepteth or assumeth to himself and of himself that is no man ought or can without Sin any way take or receive this Honour or usurp this Office but he that is called of God that is delegated and commissioned by Gods Authority and in the way of Gods appointment tho' not in that immediate and extraordinary manner as Aaron was unless in like extraordinary cases yet by a Power and Dispensation legally and orderly derived from him through such Hands as he hath appointed and impower'd to this end Qualification without Commission makes not a Minister of Jesus Christ but such a thing as he calls a Thief and a Robber a Sacrilegious Intruder such as were Corah and his Complices and such as are too many in our days And Commission without Qualification makes what the Prophet calls an Idol-shepherd or Dumb-Dog a Blind Guide And who are they that have right authoritatively to examine and judge of Qualification or to conveigh Commission to others for the Conservation of a Succession in this sacred Office but those that are themselves both duely Qualified and Commissionated And that too not singly privately or arbitrarily but according to the Rules given in this matter by and from our supream LORD and Master Jesus Christ in the New Testament Methinks this should not amount to a Question with any that have but read the Holy Scriptures and own their Truth and Authority or that have not abandon'd the conduct of common reason by whose light it is easie to see the equity and expediency of the Scripture directions in this case Quest 4. We are now come to the last Question What the duty is that is required of them Or What our dear LORD and Master would have us to understand by Feeding his Lambs and his Sheep Sol. The Flock you see is divided into two parts the Lambs and the Sheep So is the Ministerial Work that concerns them Feed and Rule both which are equally and inseparably enjoined parts of this work as appears in several very plain Scriptures 1 Tim. 5.17 Let the Elders that rule well be accounted worthy of double honour especially they who labour or they labouring i. e. on the account of their labouring in Word and Doctrine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This is a Text that hath been sufficiently vext by men of different Sentiments and Interests I know no reason we have from this Scripture to infer two distinct Orders of Ruling and Teaching Presbyters seeing what is mention'd here both of Ruling and Labouring in Word and Doctrine are but the essential and required Functions of one and the same Sacred Order and Office than which I am not concerned at present to look any further into any Truths that are plainly enough stated in it or any questions that have been vainly enough started on it And with which there are several other Scriptures that agree in the same Hypothesis 1 Thes 5.12 We beseech you Brethren to know them which labour among you and are over you in the LORD and admonish you Here are the same words applied to the same Persons and Things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that are over you or set and appointed over you in the LORD i. e. according to the LORD and in the things of the LORD to rule in his Church and who they are but the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
damning dangerous to the Flock The Thief cometh not but to steal and to kill to divide and scatter the Flock and to serve his own Lusts on it whatever his flattering pretences may be The Shepherd that comes not from God and of God's sending tho in Sheeps Clothing comes not to do God's but his own and the Devils Work I need not endeavour to prove that which the dismal Experience of the Churches hath in so many pernicious Instances in all Ages more than sufficiently proved in whom Christ and his Apostles Predictions are fulfilled Matt. 24.24 Acts 20.29 30. 2 Pet. 2.1 2 Tim. 3. begin c. Whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not and whose damnation slumbereth not I would not speak this to the discouragement of any whose hearts God hath stirred up to put their hands to the work of the Temple but for the caution of those who for base and low ends or on wrong and mistaken Principles are ready to run when they were never sent tho the Tribe of Levy be numerous and the Ministry as well as many other Professions among us seems to be over-stock'd yet have we still need to pray the Lord of the Harvest to send forth more Labourers into his Harvest such as are both willing and wise and fitted for the Work of God whereunto they are called and then accordingly succeeded in it 8. Lastly It informs us of the Sin and danger of abusing opposing slighting or any way discouraging the least of those whom Christ hath sent and set to feed his Flock To affront an Ambassador is all one as personally to affront him that sent him You know how dear and doleful an Experiment Hanan and his people made of this in the case of Dà vid's Messengers 2 Sam. 10. To abuse an Herald of War from a potent Enemy is daring and disingenuous but to deal injuriously with the Messenger of Peace is most provoking none that hath power to do it but will avenge such a villany to the uttermost This is the case We are sent by the Lord Jesus Christ as the Ambassadors of Peace to the World with the Ministry of reconciliation 2 Cor. 5.18 Let them that now herein oppose or malign us see to it how they will justify themselves at that Barr where they and we must shortly appear together indeed as men and as common Christians we neither deserve nor expect any other than what is due to such But as we are the Ministers of Christ be assur'd that he very critically observes how we are treated who they are that receive us and who they are that receive us not he observes not only how our Doctrine but how our persons are entertain'd as every thing that is done for us even to a Cup of cold Water So every thing that is done or said or contriv'd against us is on record with him You know what a caution he hath given Touch not mine anointed and do my Prophets no harm Psal 105.15 He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye Zech. 2.8 and what a Woe to the world he hath denounced because of offences Matt. 18.7 To wrong us in our persons or personal concerns will not be taken well by him But to oppose or hinder us in that regular and faithful discharge of our Work and Office and be resented by him with a far greater indignation Alas Sirs The trampling on us as we are in our selves poor sinful Worms is hardly worth our complaining what are we better than our fellow Mortals But to trample on Christ in us as we are not only his Children but his Stewards and Ambassadors and bear his Authority is a guilt that will make the stoutest and securest heart tremble and cry to the Rocks and Mountains another day Nor will the reproachful Names of Schismaticks or Separatists wherewith they now salsely load us justify them in that day CAP. IV. The first part of the Pastor's Charge viz. To Feed the Flock THE next Vse that I shall make of this Doctrine shall be of Exhortation which I shall direct 1. To Pastors 2. To People 1. To Pastors Reverend and Beloved Gods Providence and your Call having laid this duty upon me the unworthiest and unfittest of all my Brethren I dare not but be faithful according to my measure both to my self and to you as my own Monitor and your Remembrancer Are we indeed some of those to whom the Charge of Feeding and Governing the Flock of Christ both his Lambs and his Sheep is committed O let us then take heed to the Ministry which we have received in the LORD that we fulfil it You know whose Admonition this was and to whom it was sent Col. 4.17 Nor need I tell you that it as much concerns us as ever it did Archippus The Ministry which we have received in the LORD In the Name and by the Authority and in the House of the LORD and the concerns of his House Or from the LORD and for the LORD that we fulfil it discharge every part of it with fulness of diligence fidelity and care to the utmost of our Understanding and Power with all impartiality assiduity and perseverance to the end But this is yet too general The Object of our Charge you see is double 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Lambs and the Sheep and so is the Act double 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Feed and Rule as was before expounded I shall first consider the Object and then sute my Exhortation according to the Act that respectively concerns it And 1. The Lambs The younger sort both in respect of Age and in respect of Grace Here I would fain spend some time but considering to whom I am speaking I can the more contentedly contract my self Sirs you see our LORD will not have these neglected but hath given them first in his Charge to us Feed my Lambs Every wise Shepherd is wont to be very fond of his Lambs and knows 't is his Interest so to be and should not we Our LORD himself the Great Shepherd gathers them with his Arm and carries them in his Bosom and should not we do so He shew'd a peculiar delight he had in Little Ones while he was here in the Flesh Mat. 19.13 14. Mar. 10. 13 14. Luk. 18.15 16. ch 9.47 48. Mat. 21.16 And should not we be herein like our LORD and Master 1. Then let us take them as one special I had almost said the only hopeful part of our Charge I mean as to converting work and put them into our daily Prayers and Intercessions at the Throne of Grace if so be there may be hope in our End and the next Generation may be better than their Fathers have been There are some who are Ignorantly enough influenced by Anabaptistical Principles that will hardly allow the Lambs in this sense to be any part of our Charge I shall not meddle with that Bone of Contentìon now and hope there are no Delirìums of this kind in any of
beginning is very evident Our blessed LORD when he began with his Ministry to lay the Foundations of the new Jerusalem the Gospel Church what could be more plainly distinguishing than his chusing the select number of Twelve as one Superiour Order of Ministers and of Seventy whom he sent forth to Preach the Gospel as an Order inferiour to the Twelve Tho' their general Office and Commission as Preachers were both the same which made them of one Body and Society as such but of a different Order and Degree and these as plainly and politically distinguished from the Body of the common Disciples as any one political Society or Company of Men in the World is from another And thus they have been ever since with all the reason in the World taken as a particular Company and Body of Men on the account of their Holy Calling separate and distinct from the Common People and as such have a Government of Christs own Institution proper and peculiar to them I do not think that the exact number of Twelve or of Seventy doth at all concern us Gentiles but that which is in it common both to Jews and Gentiles concerns us as well as them What the Priests were to the Levites that the Twelve were to the Seventy Yea and among the Twelve there seems to be a difference both of Order and Degree Tho' Peter was not the Princeps Apostolorum he was the Primus Discipulorum the Seniour of that School or Collegium Presbyterorum and next in Dignity under Christ his LORD and Master for we find that Peter was the Person unto whom Christ did immediately direct all his Speeches that concerned them in common that when the Twelve or any part of them are mention'd if Peter were one he was always named first Yea and Matthew in his Catalogue does not only name him first but gives him the Title of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which for ought I know is as much as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Praeses Neither tho' this be granted will it at all strengthen or favour the arrogant claim of the Bishop of Rome to be Peter's Successor For Peter himself was call'd the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not with relation to the Church Universal of which Christ alone is the Head but with relation to that particular Society or Collegium of which he was then a Member For when the frame and Oeconomy of that particular Society was dissolved as it was by the Death of Christ Peter was no more a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Primate or President than any of the other Eleven were 2. That it must be always so And great reason there is for this 1. Because Christ hath instituted it by his own practice and example as appears by what hath been now said and what Christ hath once instituted may not by man be abrogated or altered 2. Because there is perpetual need of it I need not descant upon this Doleful Experience tells us to our shame that there is no Society or Body of men in the World that have more need of the Reins of Government than the Ministry Hath every Company of Physicians Chirurgeons Merchants Apothecaries Taylors Drapers Shoemakers Victuallers Vintners Bakers Brick-layers c. need of a Government peculiar to their respective Companies and Professions in the best governed Towns and Corporations I would I could say that Ministers have not much more whose Errours and Miscarriages are of sadder consequence than any of theirs aforementioned If every Minister as such be immediately under Christ as to Government which cannot be unless they had their Commission immediately from him as the Apostles had then is he accountable to none else but is absolute and independent in his Office What grosser principle of Tyranny can there be than this What wider Gate can there be opened to the most Licentious Arbitrariness And in what a case then are the poor Churches This is to pull down one Tyrant and to set up many thousands and to make every Novice a Lord over Gods Heritage Quest 2. By whom must they be ruled Sol. Not by themselves sure that 's plain Anarchy and utterly inconsistent with any Form of Political Government which the Quakers themselves would soon be weary of as in Pensilvania they say they begin to be were they not in despight of their irrational Principles preserv'd from the mischievous consequences of them by the common benefit of the Government they here live under but they must be rul'd by the Authority which God hath set over them and every one both Pastors and People by their own immediate Officers Obey them that have the rule over you and submit your selves Heb. 13.17 And who are they whom Christ hath set to Rule and to Govern in his House but those whom he calls his Stewards his Ministers into whose hands he hath committed the Keys of Government Neither hath he shared the Ruling Power or any part of it between them and the People nor could it have been consistent with the honour of his Wisdom or the Interest and Peace of his Churches to have done it I will give unto Thee not one but both the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven Mat. 16.19 That these are the Keys of Doctrine and Discipline appears by the explication of it in the next words Whatsoever thou shalt bind on Earth shall be bound in Heaven which is the exercise of the Authority given him Neither is this Power of Government given to Peter exclusively nor as a private Disciple but as a publick Minister and publick Officer in the Church of Christ and with him to all the rest of his Brethren in the same Office for them and for their Successors Mat. 18.18 Who is it that Christ means by the faithful and wise Steward Lu. 12.42 Is it not the same that the Apostle means 1 Cor. 4.1 The Ministers of Christ and Tit. 1.7 A Bishop must be blameless as the Steward of God And this is the Steward whom his Lord shall make Ruler over his Houshold to give them their portion of meat in due season So that the Government of his Church is established by Christ in the hands of his Ministers on whom he breathed the Holy-Ghost to qualifie them for and carry them thro' all the work both ordinary and extraordinary whereto he sent them Joh. 20.22 By this it appears in the general in whose hands immediately under Christ the governing power doth lye not in the People but in the Ministers of the Gospel who alone are his Stewards and unto whom at his departure he delivered the Keys of his House and of all the Provisions and Treasures in it And who are sometimes in the New Testament call'd his Ambassadors or Messengers sometimes Bishops or Overseers sometimes Presbyters or Elders sometimes Proestotes or Rulers which are but several Names and Titles given to one and the same sort of men I know no point in Scripture more plainly asserted than this viz. That Christ hath join'd
the Teaching and Ruling Authority together and committed it in conjunction to the same hands But what God hath joined together let no man put asunder Quest 3. By what Laws must they be ruled Sol. Not by Laws of mens devising which they are wont to accommodate to the service of their own Inclinations and Ends but by the written Laws of his own prescription The Oeconomy is Spiritual and Divine and so must the Laws be by which it is administred Other Foundation can no man lay than that is laid which is Jesus Christ 1 Cor. 3.11 The Foundation of Government and Discipline as well as of Doctrine and Worship is laid by Jesus Christ and whoever lays any other Foundation in either of these entrenches on Christ's Prerogative and shall do it to his own peril Tho' in the necessary Circumstantials of all these humane Prudence and Authority hath a determining power for the Order Peace and Edification of the Church but not to its destruction or disturbance I say the necessary Circumstantials but unnecessarily to multiply Circumstantials under the Notion of Indifferents and on pretence of Decency or Authority is a very unacceptable and offensive piece of Superstition and to impose them as the indispensible terms of Communion on such as are not satisfied about them is not the least Instance of Church-Tyranny Church Officers are but Christ's Deputies and not Lords of Gods Heritage and therefore must rule by Christ's Laws For he is our Judge our Law-giver and our King Isa 33.22 Our Power is but to execute 't is he that must make and give the Laws And what these Laws are and where to be found I need not say the Holy Scriptures are his Statute-Book If they speak not according to this Rule it is because there is no light in them 2. The Rulers If there be some to be ruled there must be others to Rule Relata se simul ponunt tollunt qui novit unum Relatorum novit alterum Yet here it will be enquired who are those that are to Rule I shall not take notice of the Regal Power or how far it being Christian it extends both over Pastors and People not only as Civil Subjects but as Christian Churches and not only in the things of men but in the things of God but shall refer my Reader for this to Mr. Baxter of National Churches and to others that have written of it it being forreign to my present Text. But as Pastors and People are two distinct Political Bodies so there must be two distinct Forms of Government proper to each of them I shall speak 1. Of the People These are to be rul'd and not to rule in the House of God I know this is an hard saying and that there are many that can badly bear it nor would I thus displease them could I help it and yet be faithful Those that are for a Democracy seem to be guided by the same Spirit as they were Numb 16.3 Who gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said unto them ye take too much upon you seeing all the Congregation is holy every one of them Wherefore then lift ye up your selves above the Congregation of the LORD That the Tribe of Reuben should be guilty of such a thing was not so strange but great pity it was that any of the Tribe of Levi should conspire with them There is no Minister of Jesus Christ that can consent to such an Usurpation and be innocent and true to the Trust committed to him Let those that are for the Peoples ruling in the Church of Christ shew us when and where the Keys of Government or any one of them was put into any of their hands Where did our LORD make them partners with us in the Government of his Church Or what part of the Governing Office and Work was it that he assigned to them Herein I am sorry that I must dissent not only from Men of an inferiour Note and more Heterodox Principles but from the Learned Calvin too and almost all that follow him For I could never yet find in Scripture any such Officer as a non-preaching ruling Elder appointed of Christ or of his Apostles in the Church The one and only Officer that Christ himself made was the Minister of his Word the Evangelical Pastor whose work was to feed and to rule the Flock To which the Apostles afterward added the Office of the Deacons as Servants to them and Helps in the meaner part of their work as may be seen Act. 6. begin and as Moses did for the ease of his Government by the advice of Jethro Exod. 18.18 c. Which tho' it be Apostolical yet cannot be said to be Primarily but only Secundarily Jure Divino The Scriptures that are alledged in favour of this Ruling Lay Elder do not as I think prove any such conclusions which I shall now examine and leave all to the consideration of such as can without prejudice weigh what I am now bold to offer One Text we have Rom. 12.6 7 8. To which I have this exception If the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He that ruleth be here mention'd as a distinct Officer in the Church then why not all the rest of which we have these seven in this one Scripture viz. he that prophesieth he that ministreth he that teacheth he that exhorteth he that giveth he that ruleth and he that sheweth mercy But if we go to work in this way how will Offices be multiplied in the Church beyond all that was ever intended or imagined And then 1 Cor. 12.28 29 30. where we have no less than nine mention'd among which we find 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which they would have to signifie the Ruling Lay-Elder and so we would believe too could they prove that all the rest here mentioned were so many Offices in the Church They insist very confidently on these words of sanction 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God hath set and appointed but why this word which hath undeniably an equal relation to all should make or prove one to be an Office and not another I confess is a depth that I am not able to fathom Here as I think the great mistake lies that Gifts and Offices are confounded The Apostle 1 Cor. 12.4 5 6. very plainly distinguishes between Gifts Administ ations and Operations 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Where by Gifts are meant the Abilities bestowed upon the Offices or Administrations in order to the operations or effects of them to the edifying of the Church Now in the fore-mention'd Scriptures we find a diversity of Gifts and Operations but Gifts and Offices are not the same But there is one Scripture more which hath been already quoted on the Doctrinal part of this Discourse which seems to speak more fully to their purpose and to make a distinction between Preaching and Ruling Elders viz. 1 Tim. 5.17 Let the Elders that Rule well be accounted worthy of double honour especially they who
Priscilla and Aquila of Nymphas and Philemon which were equivocally call'd Churches because some Congregations of the Believers did either occasionally or statedly assemble to worship God there or as others think because all of these Families were converted to Christianity and so became Churches or Houses of God which is little to our present Question Besides these Churches thus planted by the Apostles in Towns and Cities did still retain their first names and singularity For one may always observe that where the Scripture speaks of the Churches of a whole Province or Countrey it speaks of them as of different and distinct Churches in the plural number as the Churches of Judea 1 Thes 2.14 the Churches of Asia 1 Cor. 16.19 the Churches of Syria and Cilicia Act. 15.41 the Churches of Galatia 1 Cor. 16.1 and Gal. 1.2 and the Churches of Macedonia 2 Cor. 8. 1. because all these were large Countries in which were many great Towns and Cities in which the Churches were distinctly planted and according to which they had their names and number But when it speaks of the Christians in one Town or City it speaks of them as one Church in the singular as the Church of Jerusalem Act. 8.1 the Church of Antioch Act. 13.1 the Church of Corinth 1 Cor. 1.2 So when the Churches of Asia are spoken of together they are the seven Churches according to the number and names of the seven great Cities of Asia in which these Churches were planted but when written to singly it is the Church of Ephesus and the Church of Smyrna and the Church of Sardis c. And it is to be observed 1. That this account never once fails in all the New Testament which proves that it is not spoken indifferently but industriously and for our instruction 2. That Churches were thus reckoned in the times of John when he was in Patmos which was 64 years after Christ in all which time it is incredible that all the Christians in one of these great Cities were no more than would make up one Congregation 3. That there is no mention in the Scripture of any Churches planted in the Countreys adjacent to these Cities and Towns yet it is rational to suppose that there were many Converts and some Congregations too in the Country-Villages as well as in the great Towns and therefore that these made up but one Church with that of the Town or City Hence I conclude that these things being written by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost for our admonition a Church and a Congregation are in the language and account of Scripture two things And that it is very unreasonable and unwarrantable to alter the first Constitution or Denomination of the Churches as they were left us by the Apostles as far as they went and therein a Rule given us to do the like 'T is true the Universal Church was once but one single Congregation at Jerusalem and from which all the other Churches sprang as so many Daughters on which account she is call'd the Mother of us all but when other Churches were form'd that at Jerusalem was no more the Universal Church but only an integral part of it and co-ordinate with other Churches for its Universality was not of the Essence but only a sperable adjunct of it nor did she propagate these Churches which afterward sprang from her as she was Universal but as she was a Church And so all the Churches of the Apostles planting were at first but single Congregations yet it doth not thence follow that every single Congregation is a Church I mean that which in the Scripture is honour'd with the name of a Church that is the Presbyterial Synodal Classical Diocesan or Collegiate Church I would not be thought to deny to the Congregational or as now they are call'd Parochial Churches any thing either of name or of priviledge that is their right but will call them for distinction sake Pastoral Churches and grant that they have a power of governing themselves as such as every Family hath a power and right to govern it self and every Troop and Company in an Army by their own proper Officers within their own Sphears and cannot be legally impos'd on by other Family-Masters or other Captains with whom they are equal But what Families are to Corporations and these to Kingdoms or Common-wealths and what Troops and particular Companies are to Regiments and these to Armies such are Congregations to Churches that is Presbyterial Churches and these to the Universal I am not now concerned to speak of the Church Universal which is in Scripture call'd The Church but of the Presbyterial which alone is that which in Scripture is call'd a Church that is a perfect and adult Church that hath power by its Officers to propagate and constitute other Churches and Congregations and to over-rule all the particular Pastors of the Charges and Congregations that are within its bounds and limits This Presbyterial or Collegiate Ruling Church must consist of a pars Regens and a pars Regenda all cannot be Rulers here nor equally interessed in the Power of Government that were Democracy and but one little remove from Anarchy neither can the Power rest in one single Person that were absolute Monarchy which is the common Parent of Tyranny but it must therefore be a select number or Collegium of such of the Presbyters or Ministers of the Gospel as are best qualify'd with Age Gravity Experience Learning Piety and especially Humility Charity Moderation and Contempt of the World with an Holy Zeal and Diligence which are the Qualifications the Scripture in this case requires And this company of Ruling Presbyters in every such Church must have one Head or President which is the Episcopus Episcoporum or else it were a Monster an heap of confusion and unororganiz'd matter This Head must be One else there can be no union nor consistency of the parts nor attainment of its ends This One Head must be fixt and constant and that in the same Person till there be just cause to change else the Government cannot be steddy but is dissolved and broken and consequently the Church with all its particular Congregations most dangerously expos'd And this is that Government which is call'd Aristocracy and may as properly be call'd a mixt or limited Monarchy which I take to be most agreeable to the Pattern given us in the Mount of the holy Scriptures And is so far from intrenching upon the Right or infringing the Liberty or Government of the Church Congregational that it is the best Defence to it and as a strong Wall about it 'T is true it may be abus'd and what is there in the World that may not but to plead against any Form of Government only from the Abuse of it is Cavil and not Argument From what hath been said I conclude that the Presbyterial and Diocesan Church in the Essentials of their Constitutions are one and the same thing Tho' there be many Words