absolutely needful in order to the keeping my Conscience clear and void of Offence towards God and Man none will be so unreasonable as to say I ought not to do it because it is according to the Scriptures nor do I think it will savour ill among any serious solid Christians for me to be the more confirmed and perswaded that I am led to this Thing by the Spirit that I find it in it self good and useful and that upon the like Occasions Christ commanded it the Apostles and Primitive Christians practised and recommended it Now seeing it is so that we can boldly say with a good Conscience in the Sight of God that the same Spirit which leads us to believe the Doctrines and Principles of the Truth and to hold them and maintain them again after the Apostacy in their primitive and ancient Purity as they were delivered by the Apostles of Christ in the holy Scriptures I say that the same Spirit doth now lead us into the like holy Order and Government to be exercised among us as it was among them being now the like Occasion and Opportunity ministred to us therefore what can any Christianly or Rationally object against it for that there is a Real Cause for it the thing it self speaketh and that it was the Practice of the Saints and Church of old is undeniable what kind of Ground then can any such Opposers have for to such as scrupling at this do notwithstanding acknowledge our Principle that this were done by Imposition or Imitation more then the Belief of the Doctrines and Principles seeing as it is needful to use all Diligence to convince and perswade People of the Truth and bring them to the Belief of it which yet we cannot do but as Truth moves and draws in their Hearts it is also no less needful when a People is gathered to keep and preserve them in Unity and Love as becomes the Church of Christ and to be careful as saith the Apostle That all Things be done decently and in Order and that all that is wrong be removed according to the Method of the Gospel and the good cherished and encouraged so that we conclude and that upon very good Grounds that there ought now as well as heretofore to be Order Government in the Church of Christ that which now cometh to be examined in the third Place is First What is the Order and Government we plead for Secondly In what Cases and how far it may extend and in whom the Power decisive is Thirdly How it differeth and is wholely an other then the oppressive and persecuting Principallity of the Church of Rome and other Antichristian Assemblies SECTION Fourth Of the Order and Government which we plead for IT will be needful then before I proceed to describe the Order Government of the Church to consider what is or may be properly understood by the Church for some as I touched before seem to be offended or at least afraid of the very Word because The Power of the Church the Order of the Church the Judgment of the Church and such like Pretences have been the great Weapons wherewith Antichrist and the Apostate Christians have been these many Generations persecuting the Woman and warring against the Man-child and indeed great Disputes have been among the Learned Rabbies in the Apostacy concerning this Church what it is or what may be so accounted which I find not my Place at present to dive much in but shall only give the true Sense of it according to Truth and the Scriptures plain Testimony The Word Church in it self and as used in the Scriptures is no other but a Gathering Company or Assembly of certain People called or gathered together for so the Greek Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies which is that the Translators render Church which Word is derived from the Verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. evoco I call out of from the Root 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 voco I call Now though the English Word Church be only taken in such a Sense as People are gathered together upon a Religious Account yet the Greek Word that is so rendered is taken in general for every Gathering or Meeting together of People and therefore where it is said The Town-Clark of the Ephesians dismissed the Tumult that was gathered there together the same Greek Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is used Acts 19. 41. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he dismissed the Assembly or the Church A Church then in the Scripture Phrase is no other then a Meeting or Gathering of certain People which if it be taken in a religious Sense as most commonly it is are gathered together in the Belief of the same Principles Doctrines and Points of Faith whereby as a Body they become distinguished from others and have a certain Relation among themselves and a conjunct Interest to the maintaining and propagating these Principles they judge to be right and therefore have a certain Care and Oversight over on another to prevent and remove all Occasions that may tend to break this their conjunct Interest hinder the Propagation of it or bring Infamy Contempt or Contumely upon it or give such as on the other Hand are or may be banded together to undo them just Occasion against them to decry and defame them Now the Way to distinguish that Church Gathering or Assembly of People whereof Christ truly is the Head from snch as falsly pretend thereto is by considering the Principles Grounds upon which they are gathered together the Nature of that Hierarchy Order they have among themselves the Way and Method they take to uphold it and the Bottom upon which it standeth which will greatly contribute to clear all Mistakes Forasmuch as Sanctification and Holiness is the great and chief End among true Christians which moves them to gather together therefore the Apostle Paul defines the Church in his Salutation to the Corinthians 1 Cor. 1. 2. Vnto the Church of God which is at Corinth them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus called to be Saints so the Church is such as are sanctified in Christ Jesus called to be Saints The Power and Authority Order and Government we speak of is such as a Church Meeting Gathering or Assembly claims towards those that have or do declare themselves Members who own believe and profess the same Doctrines and Principles of Faith with us and go under the same Distinction and Denomination whose Escapes Faults and Errors may by our Adversaries justly be imputed to us if not seasonably and christianly reproved reclaimed or condemned for we are not so foolish as to concern our selves with those who are not of us far less who stand in Opposition to us so as to reprove instruct or reclaim them as Fellow Members or Brethren yet with a Respect to remove the general Reproach from the Christian Name with a tender Regard to the good of their immortal Souls for the Zeal we owe to God's Glory and
13. 7. Remember them which have the Rule over you who have spoken unto you the Word of God whose Faith follow considering the End of their Conversation 17. Obey them that have the Rule over you and submit your selves for they watch for your Souls as they that must give Account that they may do it with Joy and not with Grief for that is unprofitable for you Jude 8. Likewise also these filthy Dreamers defile the Flesh despise Dominion and speak Evil of Dignities I might at length enlarge if needful upon these Passages any of which is sufficient to prove the Matter in Hand but that what is said may satisfie such as are not wilfully blind and obstinate for there can be nothing more plain from these Testimonies then that the Ancient Apostles Primitive Christians practised Order and Government in the Church that some did appoint and ordain certain Things condemn and approve certain Practices as well as Doctrines by the Spirit of God that there lay an Obligation in Point of Duty upon others to obey and submit that this was no Encroachment nor-Imposition upon their Christian-Liberty nor any Wayes contradictory to their being inwardly and immediately led by the Spirit of God in their Hearts and lastly that such as are in the true Feeling and Sense will find it their Places to obey and be one with the Church of Christ in such like Cases and that it 's such as have lost their Sense and Feeling of the Life of the Body that dissent and are disobedient under the false Prentence of Liberty so that thus is sufficiently proven what I undertook in this Place Thirdly I judge there will need no great Arguments to prove the People of God may do well to exercise the like Government upon the very like Occasion for even Reason may teach us that what proved good wholsom Cures to the Distemper of the Church in former Ages will not now the very like Distempers falling in prove hurtful and poysonable especially if we have the Testimony of the same Spirit in our Hearts not only allowing us but commanding us so to do It is manifest though we are sorry for it that the same Occasions now fall in we find that there are that have eaten and drunken with us at the Table of the Lord and have been Sharers of the same spiritual Joy and Consolation that afterwards fall away we find to our great Grief that some walk disorderly and some are puffed up and strive to sow Division labouring to stumble the weak and to cause Offences in the Church of Christ What then is more suitable and more christian then to follow the Foot-steps of the Flock and to labour and travail for the good of the Church and for the removing all that is hurtful even as the holy Apostles who walked with Jesus did before us If there be such as walk disorderly now must not they be admonished rebuked and withdrawn from as well as of old or is such to be the Condition of the Church in these latter Times that all Iniquity must go unreproved Must it be Heresie or Oppression to watch over one another in Love to take Care for the Poor to see that there be no corrupt no defiled Members of the Body and carefully and christianly deal with them for restoring them if possible and for withdrawing from them if incureable I am perswaded that there are none that look upon the Commands of Christ and his Apostles the Practice and Experience of the primitive Church and Saints as a sufficient President to authorize a Practice now that will deny the Lawfulness or Usefulness hereof but must needs acknowledge the Necessity of it But if it be objected as some have done Do not you deny that the Scripture is the adequate Rule of Faith and Manners and that the Commands or Practices of the Scripture are not a sufficient Warrant for you now to do any thing without you be again authorized and led unto it by the same Spirit and upon that Score do you not forbear some things both practised and commanded by the primitive Church and Saints Well I hope I have not any thing weakned this Objection but presented it in its full Vigour and Strength to which I shall clearly and distinctly answer thus First Seasons and Times do not alter the Nature and Substance of Things in themselves though it may cause Things to alter as to the Usefulness or not Usefulness of them Secondly Things commanded and practised at certain times and seasons fall of themselves whenas the Cause and Ground for which they were commanded is removed as there is no need now for the Decision about Circumcision seeing there are none contend for it neither as to the Orders concerning Things offered to Idols seeing there is now no such Occasion yet who will say that the Command enjoyn'd in the same Place Acts 15. 20. To abstain from Fornication is now made void seeing there is daily need for its standing in Force because it yet remains as a Temptation man is incident to We confess indeed we are against such as from the bare Letter of the Scripture though if it were seasonable now to debate it we find but few to deal with whose Practises are so exactly squared seek to uphold Customs Forms or Shaddows when the Use for which they were appointed is removed or the Substance it self known and witnessed as we have sufficiently elsewhere answered our Opposers in the Case of Water-Baptism and Bread and Wine c. so that the Objection as to that doth not hold and the Difference is very wide in respect of such Things the very Nature and Substance of which can never be dispensed with by the People of God so long as they are in this World yea without which they could not be his People for the Doctrines and fundamental Principles of the Christian Faith we own and believe originally and principally because they are the Truths of God whereunto the Spirit of God in our Hearts hath constrained our Understandings to obey and submit In the second Place we are greatly confirmed strengthned and comforted in the joint Testimony of our Brethren the Apostles and Disciples of Christ who by the Revelation of the same Spirit in the Dayes of old believed and have left upon record the same Truths so we having the same Spirit of Faith according as it is written I believed and therefore have I spoken we also believe and therefore we speak and we deny not but some that from the Letter have had the Notion of these Things have thereby in the Mercy of God received Occasion to have them revealed in the Life for we freely acknowledge though often calumniated to the contrary that whatsoever Things were written aforetime were written for our learning that we through Patience and Comfort of the Scriptures may have Hope So then I hope if the Spirit of God lead me now unto that which is good profitable yea and
he place so much Weight upon the Judgment of the Church as to make the refusing of hearing it to draw so deep a Censure after it which he will not have to follow the refusing to hear one or two apart though the Matter be one and the same and so as to the Substantial and Intrinsick Truth of the Thing there lies the same Obligation upon the Transgressor to hear that one as well as all for that one adviseth him to that whiâ—h is right and good as well as the whole and they do but homologate or confirm that which that one hath already asserted yet Jesus Christ who is the Author of Order and not of Confusion will not have a Brother cut off or reputed a publican for refusing to hear one or two but for refusing to hear the Chucrch And if it be objected that the Church of Rome and all other false Churches makes use of this Scripture and cover their Persecutiton and Cruelty and Oppression by it and thou sayes no more then they say I answer I suppose no man will be so unreasonable as to affirm that the Church of Rome abusing this Scripture will make it false in it self but how we differ in ours Application of this Scripture shall be spoken of hereafter I am not now claiming Right to this Power as due to us that is reserved for another Place but this I say is that which I now aver to be manifest from the Scripture Testimony and to be in it self an unquestionable Truth That Jesus Christ intended there should be Order and Government in his Church which is the Thing at present in hand to be proved which if it be so really true as it cannot be denyed then I hope it will also necessarily follow that such who really and truely are the Church of Christ have Right to exercise this Order and Government Secondly That the Apostles and primitive Christians did practise Order and Government we need but to read the History of the Acts of which I shall mention a few pregnant and undeniable Testimonies as we may observe in the very first Chapter of the Acts from Verse 13 to the End where at the very first Meeting the Apostles and Bâ—ethren held together after the Ascension of Christ they began orderly to appoint one to fulfil the Place of Judas it may be thought this was a needless Ceremony yet we see how the Lord countenanced it hope none will say that the Apostles appointing of these two Men or of him upon whom the Lot did not fall contradicted their inward Freedom or imposed upon it but both agreed very well together the one in the Will and Movings of God in appointing and the other in the same in submitting to their Appointment Moreover after they had received the holy Ghost you may read Acts 6. so soon as there was an Opport unity how they wisely gave Order concerning the Distribution of the Poor and appointed some men for that Purpose So here was Order and Government according to the present Necessity of the Case and the Lord God was well pleased with it and the Word of God encreased and the Number of the Disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly Might they not have said then as some say now we will give our Charity to whom we see Cause and we will take no Notice of your Appointments and Orders Whether would God have approved of such yea or nay Thirdly When that the Business of Circumcision fell in whether it was fit or not to circumcise the Gentiles we see the Apostles saw not meet to suffer every one to follow their own Minds and Wills They did not judge as one confusedly supposeth that this Difference in an â—â—tward Exercise would commend the Vnity of the true Faith nay they took another Method It is said expresly Acts 15. 6. And the Apostles and Elders came together to consider of this Matter and after there had been much disputing about it no doubt then there was here Diversities of Opinions and Judgments the Apostles and Elders told their Judgments and came also to a positive Conclusion sure some behoved to submit else they should never have agreed So those that were the Elders gave a positive Judgment and they were bold to say That it pleased not only them but the Holy Ghost by all which it doth undeniably appear that the Apostles and primitive Saints practised a Holy Order and Government among themselves and I hope none will be so bold as to say they did these Things without the Leadings of the Spirit of God and his Power and Authority concurring and going along with them And that these Things were not only singular Practices but that they held it doctrinally that is to say it was a Doctrine which they preached that there ought to be Order and Government in the Church is manifest from these following Testimonies 1 Cor. 4. 15 16 17. 15 For though you have ten Thousand Instructers in Christ yet have ye not many Fathers for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the Gospel 16. Wherefore I beseech you be ye Followers of me 17 For this Cause have I sent unto you Timotheus who is my beloved Son and faithful in the Lord who shall bring you into Remembrance of my Wayes which be in Christ as I teach every where in every Church Here the Apostle Paul is very absolute First In that he desires them to be Followers of him Secondly In that he sends a Teacher yea a Minister and Eminent Bishop or Overseer of the Church for to put them in mind of his Wayes which be in Christ as he taught in every Church No doubt there were Apostates and Dissenting Spirits in the Church of Corinth that gave Paul Occasion thus to write as he testifies in the Beginning of the Chapter How he was judged by some of them he shews how they were grown high ver 8. Now ye are full now ye are rich ye have reigned as Kings without us c. Might not these Dissenters of the Church of Corinth have reasoned thus against Paul Did not this Paul teach us at first to mind the Measure of Grace in our selves and follow that for no doubt that was Paul's Doctrine but now he begins to Lord over us and tells us we must be Followers of him might not they have judged the Beloved Timothy to be far out of his Place might they not have said it seems it is not God that moved thee and sent thee here by his Spirit but Lordly Paul that seeks Dominion over our Faith it seems thou comes not here to preach Christ and with us to be Followers of him and of his Grace in our Hearts but to mind us to follow Paul's Wayes and take Notice how he teaches in every Church we are not concerned with him nor with his Mâ—ssenger nor with none of your Orders and so sorth Doth not this run very plausible I question not but there was such a Reasoning among
how can we expect to invite them to come among us when such Virtues as which still accompany the Truth are necessarily supposed to be wanting should we affirm otherwise it were to destroy the Truth and Faith we have been and are in the Lord's Hand building up and indeed the Spirit and Practice of such as oppose us herein hath no less Tendency Moreover besides the Enforcing and Intrinsick Reason of this Thing we have the Concurrence Approbation and Comfort of the Apostles Testimony 1 Cor. 6. Dare any of you having a matter against another go to Law before the Vnjust and not before the Saints If it be objected Do you reckon all Vnjust that are not of you Think ye all other People void of Justice I answer Though the Apostle useth this Expression I am perswaded he did not reckon all others Unjust that had not received then the Christian Faith there was no doubt Morall and Just Men among the Heathen and therefore the same Paul commends the Nobility of Festus he reckons them there Unjust in Respect of the Saints or comparatively with them as such as are not come to the just principle of God in themselves to obey it and follow it and therefore though he accounts them who are least esteemed in the Church capable to decide such Matters yet he supposeth it safer to submit to their Judgment in such Cases though it were by taking wrong or suffering wrong then to go before others to the greater Reproach of the Truth We hope though many Occasions of this kind have fallen in among us since we have been a People none have had just occasion to decline our Judgment and though some should suppose themselves to be wronged yet if they should go bring their matter before others we might say as the Apostle saith in the forementioned Chapter ver 7. This were thereby a Fault in them and would evidence a greater Care of some outward Concern then of the Honour and Interest of Truth and therefore such as have a tender Regard that Way would rather suffer what to their Apprehensions may seem wrong for in matters wherein two Parties are opposite in the Case of Meum and Tuum it is somewhat hard to please both except where the Power of Truth and the Righteous Judgment thereof reaching to that of God in the Conscience hath brought to a true Acknowledgment him that hath been mistaken or in the wrong which hath frequently fallen out among us to the often refreshing and confirming our Souls in the certain Belief that Christ was fulfilling his Promises among us In restoring Judges as at the first and Counsellors as in the Beginning Now suppose any should be so pettish or humorous as not to agree in such Matters to the Judgment of his Brethren and to go before the Unbelievers for though I reckon them not such Unbelievers as the Heathen of old because they profess a Faith in God and Christ yet I may safely say they are Unbelievers as to these Principles and Doctrines which we know are the Truth of God and in that Sense must be Unbelievers as to him that so appealeth to them from his Brethren I say such as so do first commit a certain Hurt and Evil in staining the Honour and Reputation of the Truth they profess which ought to be dearer to us then our Lives and even in that outward Matter for which they thus do they run a Hazard not knowing whether things shall carry as they expect if they loose they have a double prejudice if they gain it is a too dear Rate even with the Hurt of Truth 's Reputation which their outward Advantage cannot make up If then it be unlawfull to do evil that good may come of it even a Spiritual Good far less is it lawful to do a positive Evil of so deep a Dye as to bring an Evil Report upon the good Land and give the Uncircumcised an Occasion to rejoyce out of the Uncertain Hope of an outward Gain it is far better to suffer Loss as the Apostle very well argues in the Place above mentioned Indeed if there be any such have been or appear to be of us as suppose there is not a wise Man among us all nor an honest Man that is able to judge betwixt his Brethren We shall not covet to meddle in their Matter being perswaded that either they or their Cause is naught thought Praises to Go d among all those that have gone from us either upon one Account or other I never heard that any were so minded towards us but the most part of them having let in the Offence of somethings or persons have had this Unanimous Testimony concerning us that generally we are an honest and upright-hearted People but whatever Sense our Enemies or Apostates have of us who look asquaint on the Face of Truth and can see nothing aright in those they love not or are prejudicate against This we can say in the last Place besides the Reasons and Scripture above declared that the good Fruits and Effects which daily abound to the Houshold of Faith in this as well as the other Parts of the Government the Lord is establishing among us doth more more commend it unto us and confirmeth our Hearts in the certain Belief of that which we can confidently testifie in good Conscience that God hath led us hereunto by his Spirit and we see the Hand of the Lord herein which in due Time will yet more appear that as through our faithful Testimony in the Hand of the Lord that Antichristian and Apostatized Generation the National Ministry hath received a deadly Blow by our discovering and witnessing against their Forced Maintenance and Tythes against which we have testified by many cruel Sufferings of all kinds as our Chronicles shall make known to Generations to come so that their Kingdom in the Hearts of Thousands begins to totter and loose its Strength and shall assuredly fall to the Ground through Truth 's prevailing in the Earth so on the other Hand do we by coming to Righteousness and Innocency weaken the Strength of their Kingdom who judge for Rewards as well as such as preach for Hire and by not ministring Occasion to those who have heaped up Riches and lived in Excess Lust and Riot by feeding and preying upon the Iniquities and Contentions of the People for as Truth and Righteousness prevails in the Earth by our faithful witnessing and keeping to it the Nations shall come to be eased and disburdned of that deceitful Tribe of Lawyers as well as Priests who by their many Tricks and Endless Intricacies have rendered Justice in their Method burdensom to honest Men and seek not so much to put an End as to foment Controversies and Contentions that they themselves may be still fed and upheld and their Trade kept up Whereas by Truth 's Propagation as many of these Controversies will dye by Mens coming to be less contentious so when any Difference ariseth the
turned away from because in so far as I observed before as Sanctification to wit those that are sanctified in Christ Jesus make the Church and give the right Definition to it where that is wholely wanting the Church of Christ ceaseth to be and there remains nothing but a Shadow without Substance such Assemblies then are like the dead Body when the Soul is departed which is no more fit to be conversed with because it corrupts and proves noisom to the living but by the Church of Christ I understand all those that truly and really have received and hold the Truth as it is in Jesus and are in measure sanctified or sanctifying in and by the Power and Virtue thereof working in their inward Parts and this may be made up of divers distinct Gatherings or Churches in several Countries or Nations I say so long as these or any of them do retain that which justly entitles them the Church or Churches of Christ which they may be truly called though there may fall out some Differences Divisions or Schisms among them as we may see there was no small Dissension in the Church of Antioch and yet it ceased not to be a Church Acts 15 2. and 1 Cor. 1. 11. For it hath been declared unto me of you my Brethren that there are Contentions among you and yet verâ—◠〈◊〉 he entitles them the Church of God them that are sanctifiâ—d in Christ Jesus So long I say as they truly retain this Title of the Church of Christ as being really such there will never be wanting the certain Judgment of Truth for which besides the positive Promise of Christ before-mentioned which is not without Blasphemy to be called in question or doubted of I shall add these Reasons That seeing the Church of Christ is his Body of which he is the Head it were to make Christ negligent of his Body who stiles himself the good Shepherd and hath said He will never leave nor forsake his own or else which is worse it would infer a possibility of Error or Mistake in Christ in whom as the Head is the Eyes of the Body by which it is to be ruled in all things Next we never find in all the Scripture since the Gospel that ever this was wanting but that God still gave infallible Judgment by his Spirit in some of the Respects above mentioned if the Transactions and Controversies of the after Centuries be alledged I will boldly affirm and prove that there was never a true Judgment wanting so long as the Nature and Essence of the true Church was retained if any will needs affirm otherwise let them shew me where and I shall answer it though I deny not that after the Mystery of Iniquity did begin to work or had so wrought first by intermixing and afterward by altogether forsaking the Nature of Truth retaining only the bare Name of the Church but that there might be some scattered ones here and there one in a Nation and now and then one in an Age who by the Power and Virtue of the Spirit of Life working in them might be truly sanctified yet these were but as Witnesses in Sack cloth no wayes sufficient to give these Assemblies in which they were engrossed the Appellation of the Church of Christ coming no more under Observation by the Generallity nor having as to them any more Influence then some Tittle or scarcely discernable Sparks of Fire in many great Heaps and Mountains of Ashes and thus much to prove that where there is any Gathering or Assembly which truly and properly may be called the Church of Christ the infallible Judgment will never be wanting in Matters of Controversie Secondly That ordinarily God hath in the communicating of his Will under his Gospel imployed such whom he had made use of in gathering of his Church and in feeding and watching over them though not excluding others for as in a natural Body to which the Church of Christ is compared the more substantial and powerful Members do work most effectually and their Help is most necessary to supply any Defect or Trouble in the Body so also if there be Diversities of Gifts in the Church as is above proved and some have a greater Measure and some a lesser these that have the greater are more capable to do good and to help the Body in its need then others that are weaker and less powerful since there are strong and weak Babes and Young Men who have overcome the Evil One and in whom the Word of God abideth such are more able when the Enemy besets to resist having already overcome then others who are but yet wrestling and not Conquerers Now every Controversie and Dissension in the Church comes from the Besetments of the Enemy yet if any of these Strong or Young Men or Powerful Members go from their Station it is not denied but that they are as Weak as any and it is presupposing their Faithfulness in their Place that I thus affirm and no otherwise nor yet do limit the Lord to this Method for in him are all the Treasures both of our Wisdom and Strength and the weakest in his Hand are as strong as the strongest who may now as well as heretofore kill a Goliah by the Hand of little David yet we see the Lord doth ordinarily make use of the strong to support the weak and indeed when such as may be termed weak are so made use of it alters the Nature of their Place and constitutes them in a higher and more eminent Degree for though it was little David it was also he that was to be King of Israel though the Apostles were mean Men among the Jews yet they were such as were to be the Apostles of the Lord of Glory Instruments to gather the lost Sheep of the House of Israel and to proclaim the acceptable Day of the Lord and though Paul was once accounted the Least of all the Saints a Child born out of due Time yet was he him who was to be the greatest Apostle of the Gentiles Now then let us consider whom the Lord makes use of in the Affairs of the primitive Church and through whom he gave forth his infallible Judgment did he not begin first by Peter he was the first that spoke in the first Meeting they had Acts 1. and who first stood up after the pouring forth of the Spirit and who first appeared before the Council of the Jews and spoke in behalf of the Gospel of Christ though I am far from calling him as some do the Prince of the Apostles yet I may safely say he was one of the most ancient and eminent and to whom Christ in a Manner somewhat more then ordinary had recommended the Feeding of his Flock we see also he was first made use of in preaching to the Gentiles and what Weight his and James's Words had in the Contest about Circumcision towards the bringing the Matter to a Conclusion Acts 15. yet that we may see