Selected quad for the lemma: power_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
power_n	church_n	minister_n	ordination_n	2,890	5	10.2282	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A75896	An admonition given unto Mr. Saltmarsh: wherein his great sinne in writing those pamphlets intituled, A new quære, Smoak in the temple, Groanes for liberty, &c. is plainly laid open before him, and charged upon his conscience. Where also among other things spoken of, the calling of the ministers in the reformed churches, is proved to bee according to the Word of God. Imprimatur, Ja: Cranford.	M. W.; J. D.; S. B.	1646 (1646)	Wing A594A; Thomason E350_10; ESTC R201045	16,200	19

Eldership to their Classicall and Synodicall and upon unsound grounds which you assert as truths calling the Constitution of their Elders and of the extent of their Congregations into question you labour to bring a disrespect upon them and this is the matter of pag. 3. and part of pag 4. Thirdly Because they pretend Art to have such an immediate Call as the Apostles had but have only an ordinary measure of gifts you inferre from thence that they have no right to challenge Church-power to themselves or to alledge and apply the Scriptures giving that power to Ministers unto themselves and this you insist upon pag. 4. 5. 6. Fourthly You traduce the purpose and the ende of the Constitution of a Nationall Assembly and make it formidable to a State and no losse then Antichristian pag. 7. Lastly your inferences upon the heads of the Petition are the vilest and most injurious misrepresentations of their meaning that any can devise to make them bee thought proud and intending to exalt themselves above the Parliament to make them guilty of mis-interpreting the Nationall Covenant and to make them wholly dependent in all their Administrations upon the State or else to be thought absurd in petitioning the removall of the Commissioners and this is the substance of your pag. 11 12 13 14. These things are nothing else but a masse of Untruths and false representations of matters tending onely to stagger the Simpler sort and to gratifie the enemies either of that Church-Constitution or else of all Religion that by the dissolution of that frame of Government they may bee able to sinne without Controll and doe what they will Now that any who cals himselfe a Preacher of the Gospell should set himselfe thus to tradvce these whom hee cals Brethren to the ende that their Ministerie may become contemptible is a sad matter unto me both in respect of the Gospell which thereby is made unprofitable unto many and in respect of these that are wronged and him that doth the wrong But that I may not seeme to delight so much in the aggravating of wrongs as in the rectifying of them I will Charitably suppose that you have erred partly through ignorance and partly through heat of passion in all these mis-representations of matters and not against the light of your Conscience and through pure Malice For although there is a spirit of Malignity in our corrupt nature leading us to wrest things to the worst sense which concerne those to whom we seeke to insult over yet I hardly can thinke that any who is not a reprobate and voide of all Conscience can wittingly and willingly against his owne knowledge set himselfe thus to be injurious unto his Brethren in the profession of the Gospell to make them Universally odious and despicable in the Ministery Therefore I thinke it onely an error of judgement in you heightned with passion to take advantages against them to exalt your selfe over them and make them despicable And to Remedy this evill I will give you my true sense of these thinges which are alledged wrongfully by you to their disreputation that your mistake may bee rectified I say then that the Reformed Church in these and other parts which hath received the light of the Gospell since the discoverie of Poperie doth hold that the true Ordination of Ministers doth not depend upon any Personall Succession of Men but upon the appointment of God who hath given by the Manifestation of his Truth gifts unto his Church which are to be administred therein by the Office of the Presbyterie which hath a power to propagate it selfe for the continuance of the worke of the Ministery in this world If then since the Apostles times there hath beene a Church that is a Company of true Beleevers in the world alwayes extant whether visible or invisible to the world that is not materiall all hold that the Church is alwayes visible to it selfe wee must acknowledge that to that Church the gifts of the Spirit have never beene wanting therein and if the gifts have never failed there hath alwayes beene a Power in the Eldership of that Church to administer the same unto the members thereof by verue of Gods Commandement 1 Peter 4.10 11. As every man hath received the gift even so minister the same one to another as good Stewards of the manifold grace of God If any man speake let him speake as the Oracles of God if any man minister let him doe it as of the abilitie which God giveth From this Commandement wee learne that God hath alwayes in his Church Stewards of his grace and that hee doth give unto them an Abilitie to minister the same This abilitie is partly inward in the propertie of the gift partly outward in the propertie of the Office by which it is to bee administred unto the Church in an orderly way and that the orderly way of administration may not faile in the house of God for God is the God of order and not of Confusion no man is to take the Office unto himselfe but hee is honoured therewith who is called thereunto by God as Aaron was Hebr. 5.4 Now the power of calling in an ordinary way is by the Office of the Eldership in the Church and not by any Personall Succession For it is the Eldership that giveth Ordination by the imposition of hands 1 Tim. 4.14 and where the Office is established it may and ought to bee propagated by these that are intrusted therewith towards others that are fit to Administer the same unto others also that there may be a perpetuall continuance thereof for so the Lord hath appointed 2 Tim. 2.2 Wee say then that the Lord hath never left the world without some true Ministers of the Word by their Ministerie of the Word Faith hath beene begotten and with Faith the gifts of the Spirit sent forth and where the gifts have beene the Administration thereof hath also beene by vertue of an Office residing in those to whom God doth give abilitie if then a Minister of the Reformed Church bee called unto an account of the Right which hee hath unto his Office hee will give this proof of it That in a true Church of God according to his appointment after tryall and manifestation of his gifts and graces found fit for edification hee was called and by these that did Administer in that Church the Office of the Eldership was in an orderly manner ordained and dedicated with Prayer and imposition of hands unto God to have a lot and part in his Service and they justly reject from the Societie of that Office all such as come not in by this orderly and ordinary way nor ought they to admit of any or acknowledge him to be a Steward of the Mysteries of God who is not thus called by the Eldership of some true Church If you knew this to be the true meaning of the Reformed Churches and did neverthelesse runne out upon the Cavills you have in your

committed to each in their severall Administrations under God the one for the inward the other for the outward man which ought no more to bee at variance in a State then Soule and Body in one and the same Man in their facultties and operations upon their distinct Objects Here you shew the rayling disposition of your minde when you parallel the Nationall Assemblies of all the Reformed Churches against all evident experience of their behaviour to the contrary and against the cleere light of their Doctrine whereby they Challenge no interest in the Government of worldly matters with the Papal and Antichristian Power which hath exalted it selfe above all that is called God on Earth and in Heaven also The inferences which you make upon their Petition are such as truly deserve none other observation but this that it is an untruth which you say at the beginning of every inference namely that you may inferre from their words that which you doe inferre for I say that you may not make evill inferences and misconstructions of any mans meaning from his words if they can beare any better sense then you can put upon them to his prejudice may you bee injurious and uncharitable to your Brethren May you accuse them of wicked intentions against their cleare professions if you may doe this what may you not doe I pray you looke to your selfe what liberty you take you pressed to bee in a Spirituall liberty but looke now whether in using your libertie thus you give not an occasion to your flesh to sow the seede of divisions of Complaints of murmurings and disputes and of all evill affections against your Brethren Therefore the last grievance which I shall offer unto you to Consider in your way is the Artifice which you use to exasperate the Spirits of men by a misconstruction even of the best things which are in them to the worst sense with so much boldnesse and varietie of applications and in such a Tautologicall way to beate it upon the imaginations of Earthly men and to intricate the thoughts of the simple that it is a great matter of sorrow to see you so busie in a perverse zeale to sowe dissension amongst Brethren You builde upon your own false supposalls and inferences a kinde of Method to instruct people in the wayes of opposition wherein It will not trace you because it is tedious and unprofitable and needlesse to shew you all the deceitfull windligs of your Spirit to which you give an unlimited libertie to intangle men by fallacies I shall rather represent unto you what in your case if you had beene zealous for the Truth and not for deceiving and leading men out of the way you should have done Hearken now then and consider you that talke so much of Truth All The Truth which wee should aime at and beare witnesse unto one towards another is either of Doctrine or Practise The Truth of Doctrine is the Testimony of the Word and Spirit whereby God hath revealed himselfe and the things belonging to Christ and his Kingdome unto us that by this knowledge wee might receive all things pertaining to life and to Godlinesse The Truth of Practise is that upright and sincere dealing with others in God for their good according to our best knowledge of the things which wee would desire to have from them in the same kinde The meanes to make this Truth of both kindes effectually profitable to our selves and others is to endevour that which the Apostle exhorts us unto Ephes 4.15 Namely to speake the Truth in Love and the effect of this endevour will bee that which hee doth promise there shall follow thereupon Namely to grow up in all things into him who is the Head even Christ Thus then whether it bee a matter of Doctrine or of Practise whereunto we are to beare witnesse if we desire thereby to grow up within our selves or to build up others into Christ which is the onely warrantable aime wee can have wee must apply our mindes to speake the Truth in Love and to doe the Truth in Love For the originall words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 containe the sense of both in one expression If then this is the Rule by which wee should walke in all things that wee may approve our Consciences to God as his true servants and enjoy Christ by walking after his Spirit in all things then wee must never suffer any humane and worldly aimes to sway our thoughts to speake or act that which may tend onely to satisfie our own or other peoples humours but before wee undertake a businesse towards others whether the concernment be private or publicke we should settle the affections of Truth and discerne the way of uttering them in Love to gaine these with whom wee deale to some dutie of godlinesse wherein they and wee may grow up in Christ Now then to apply this Spirituall Method of proceeding to your Case let us State the Question which you make and consider how you should and I would have proceeded if it had beene my Case to desire a Resolution for my selfe or others in it The Question is Concerning the Divine Right of the Prebyteriall Churches to judge themselves of the scandalls of their Members according to the Word of God whether yea or no it doth belong unto them I would have set downe this Quaere distinctly as a Doubt and then would have sought out a way to resolve my selfe without partialitie onely for love to the Truth in it and to this effect I would have lookt upon the frame and constitution with the Doctrine and Practise of the Churches which are called Presbyteriall and set downe truly all that I should have found substantially materiall in them for their owne beeing or distinctively observable to difference them from other Churches Then in the second place I would have made enquirie of their true meaning of that which they call a Scandall in a Member and of that which is called Judging within themselves of Scandalls And lastly of that which is called a Divine Right whereunto they pretend in this act of judging and when I should have satisfied my selfe in this enquirie so farre as I could attaine if then I had judged them to bee in an error either of Doctrine or Practise hurtfull to the Kingdome of Christ and to their owne and others interest therein I would have taken a resolution to deale with them in Truth and sincerity to reclaime them from that error and answerable to such a resolution would have declared unto them my aime in dealing with them and desired them to weigh and seriously to consider the doubts which I had concerning their Pretence of a Divine Right perswading them to lay downe the plea thereof And if in their ordinarie Practises to maintaine and get possession of this Right I should have observed things destructive to the glorious Gospell of Peace or to the edification and true libertie of their Brethren I would with all zeale