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
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 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
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
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