Christ Joh 16. The world shall hate you and persecute you and shall put you out of their synagogues and shall kill you and in doing all this shall think they do God good service But saith he I will send you the comforter Christ knew well enough that among all these evils they should have no Comforter on earth and therefore promises to send them one from heaven And therefore when thy soul is placed in affliction never look after any earthly or sensual or creature comforts for they will prove poison to thy soul but only look for heavenly comforts such as the Spirit brings such as flow immediately from God for these are pure and sweet and unmixed and refreshing and supporting and satisfying and enduring comforts comforts that are able to make thee rejoyce not only in fulness but in wants not only among friends but in the midst of enemies not only in good report but in evil report not only in prosperity but in tribulations not only in life but in death they will make thee go singing to prison to the Cross to the grave they are mighty comforts infinitely stronger then all the sorrows of the flesh and hence it is that many Saints and Martyrs have gone cheerfully to the stake and sung in the very flames the comforts of God in their souls have strengthned them to this Thou that art a beleever and in union with Christ never doubt of this comfort in thy greatest sorrows When Christ had none to stand by him and comfort him God sent an Angel from heaven to do it And so when we are left alone in the world rather then we shall want comfort God will send us an Angel from heaven to comfort us yea the Spirit it self which is greater then all the Angels in heaven and we shall certainly be comforted by God when we are afflicted and tossed with tempest and not comforted by men Behold I will lay thy stones with fair colours c. The Lord seeth the Church in its affliction without all comfort in the world and then the Lord comes and comforts it himself and this he doth by a promise They are the sweetest comforts that are brought to us in the promises The promises are the swadling-clothes of Christ they carry Christ wrapt up in them and Christ represented to the Church hath been the comfort of it in all its evils outward or inward And therefore whatever affliction takes hold on thee have recourse to the promises to draw thy comforts from Christ through them Oh how sweet is that life that is led in the promises a life led in the promises is the best life in the world Men that have estates in money or land depend on those things for their maintenance but a Christian may have little or nothing of these in the world but he hath a promise which is a thousand times better and makes his life more comfortable I am God All-sufficient and I will not fail thee nor forsake thee whereupon he comes to this resolution The Lord is my portion saith my soul I will trust in him Oh how sweet a life is this life that knows no cares nor fears nor troubles nor disquietments here saith a believer lies my estate and living and the lot of mine inheritance and this is a thousand times better and more certain estate then all the Mannors and Lordships in the Kingdom for my bread shall be given me my waters shall be sure The Lord is my shepheard and I shall not want no not then when the Lions the great men of the Kingdom to whom every poor man is a prey shall lack and sufferâ—hunger He that hath given me his own Nature and Spirit will not leave me destitute of food and clothing Take another instance A man feeling the bitterness of affliction to flesh and blood is ready to think Oh how shall I ever be able to suffer this or that or to part with my relations with my estate with my life and all that is near and dear unto me Why when a Christian lays hold on the promise God is faithful and will not suffer us to be tempted above that which we are able O saith a Christian God will never bring me to any temptation or trial but he will give me strength proportionable to it or above it and so lives satisfied with the truth and goodness and power of God And thus you see in these instances that a life led in the promises is the sweetest and best life when a man can draw all from God himself through a promise And this in general That God comforts his Church by a promise But to come more particularly to the words Behold I will lay thy stones with fair colours and lay thy foundations with Saphires Vers 12. And I will make thy windows of Agates and thy gates of Carbuncles and all thy borders of pleasant stones The promise relates to the Spiritual Church of the New Testament and this you shall observe is oft in Scripture compared to a building and that to a most stately sumptuous magnificent and glorious building as being all built of precious stones and so more glorious then the first Temple which was built up of common stones and it was prophesied that the glory of the second Temple should far exceed the glory of the first The first Temple was Solomons which was indeed filled with the outward presence of God but the second Temple is the humanity of Jesus Christ or the flesh of Christ both head and members this is the living Temple of the living God the Temple that God hath built by his Spirit for his own habitation wherein God dwels truly really spiritually and most neerly by the way of the most neer union whereby God and the creature are knit together and this spiritual Temple is more glorious then the first material one either according to the first edition of it by Solomon or the second edition of it by the Fathers in the dayes of Cyrus Darius and Artaxerxes Here then you see that the Lord promiseth to build up the Church of the New Testament with stones of fair colours with precious stones I will not stand to enquire particularly into the natures of the several stones here named for the Jews themselves do not fully agree about them It shall be sufficient for us to attain to the meaning of the Spirit in this place and that is this That the Spiritual Church of the New Testament is not to be built with common but with pretious stones Now the full sense of these words I shall give you forth in several particulars 1. You see here the matter of which the Church of the New Testament is made and that is not of common but of precious stones elect and precious stones and such are the faithful For 1. They have a more excellent nature then other men have for they are born of God and so partake of the nature of God and so in
this sense may be said to come forth from God as the child from the father and the Lord Jesus did not more truly partake of the nature of man then these do partake of the nature of God and therefore saith Peter Great and precious promises are made to us that we should be partakers of the divine nature Others have only the nature of men in them or which is worse the nature of the devil but the faithful have in them the nature of God communicated to them through a new birth 2. They have a more excellent spirit then others have as it was said of Daniel that there was a more excellent spirit found with him then with all the other wise men Now the excellency of each creature is according to the spirit of it but the Saints have the Spirit of God even the Spirit of the Father and the Son dwelling in them they have the same spirit of God dwelling in their flesh as Christ had dwelling in his flesh so that the very Spirit of God is found in the faithful and therefore they are more glorious then the rest of the world 3. They have a more excellent lustre then other men One thing that appertaines to the excellency of precious stones is the lustre of them Now this lustre in the faithfull is the glory of God upon them The Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall bee seen upon thee saith Isaiah Chap. 60. And Paul saith We all beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord. So that as Christ was taken into the glory of the Father so are we taken into the glory of Christ as he saith Joh. 17. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them for the head and members are taken into the same glory acccording to their proportion 4. They have more excellent operations for the faithful are not such precious stones that are onely for shew but they also have some vertue in them even the very vertues of Jesus Christ for they having the same Nature and Spirit of God as he had are able according to the measure of the gift of Christ to do the same works that he did and so the Saints are excellent in the operations of faith hope love humility meekness patience temperance heavenly mindedness c. And in this regard also are more precious then the rest of the world And therfore the Lord cals them his Jewels In the day whrein I make up my jewels and elswhere they are called the precious Sons of Sion The people of God are a most precious people men and women of a precious anointing though some wicked and scurrilous Libellers against the spiritual Church will not allow them this name but according to the anointing they have received from Sathan reproach it And yet still it is a truth that the gates of hell shall not prevail against That the truly faithful are precious stones in the building of the Church partaking of the Nature and Spirit of God and of the lustre and operation of both Whereas on the contrary other people are the vile of the earth the true filth and off-scouring of all things Psal 15. In whose eyes a vile person is contemned a man that is a natural man a sinful and unregerate man who hath no other nature in him but that corrupt nature he brought into the world though in this present world he may be a Gentleman or a Knight or a Noble man or a King yet in the eys of God and his Saints he is but a vile person and a poor mean Christian that earns his bread by hard labour is a thousand times more precious and excellent then he according to the judgement of God and his Word And thus much for the first thing The matter of which the Church of the New Testament is made that is of precious stones 2. Now the next thing observable is the variety of these precious stones For the spiritual Church is not built up of precious stones of one sort onely not all of Saphires or all of Agates or all of Carbuncles but of all these both Saphires Agates Carbuncles and many other precious stones of fair colours And this notes the diversity of gifts in the Saints of God For though all of them are precious stones yet they are of diversity of colours and lustre and operations And this also makes for the greater glory of the Church for the variety of lustre adds to the beauty and ornament of it In the body of a man there is not one member but many If the body were all but one member it would be but a lump of flesh but the variety of members with their several gifts and operations are the glory of the body And so it is in the Church the Body of Jesus Christ wherein are divers members with diversity of gifts and operations excellently set forth by Paul 1 Cor. 12. 4. c. Now there are diversities of gifts but the same Spirit And there are differences of administrations but the same Lord and there are diversities of operations but it is the same God that worketh all in all But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every one to profit withall For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisedom to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit to another faith by the same Spirit to another the gift of healing by the same Spirit to another the working of miracles to another prophecie to another discerning of spirits to another divers kinds of tongues to another interpretation of tongues but all these worketh that one and the same Spirit dividing to every man severally as he will Here you see are diversities of gifts and administrations and operations in the faithful but all proceed from one and the same Spirit and whatsoever gift proceeds from the Spirit there is an excellent beauty a heavenly lustre in it And therefore labour to distinguish between those gifts that are connatural to thee and flow from thy own spirit and those gifts that are supernatural and flow from Gods Spirit In all the operations of thine own spirit in all thy natural abilities parts wisdom learning actings there is nothing but ungloriousness deformity darkness death how specious soever they may appear to the world but in the gifts and operations that flow from Gods Spirit there is a heavenly beauty and lustre and glory yea even in weak Christians that are true Christians you shall oft see and discern an excellent beauty in some gift or other which they have received from the Spirit which shines not forth so clearly in some stronger Christians And therefore let us not expect all gifts in all men and that every man should excell in every gift for then one would be saying to another I have no need of thee But God hath given diversity of gifts to
and not in the light of the Word which shows us clearly that it is as possible to reconcile Michael and the Devil as the Angels of both 2. Neither secondly do I finde any way in the World to reconcile all those together who are commonly called The visible Church seeing even among these there are two distinct sorts of children as Paul teacheth us one sort of those that are born after the flesh as Ishmael and Esau and another of those who are born after the spirit as Isaac and Jacob and there is as great enmity between these in the Church as between the former in the world for they that are born after the flesh are always persecuting them that are born after the spirit but never agreeing with them Now of these two sorts of Christians one makes up the body of Christ the other the body of Antichrist The spiritual children make up Christs true body as it is written He gave him to be the Head over all things to the Church which is his body for these being born of the Spirit do also partake of the Spirit and so are the true flesh of Christ as all that flesh is in which the Spirit dwels and these all worship God in the spirit and have no confidence in the flesh that is in no fleshly Forms Ceremonies or Worship The carnal children of the Church make up Antichrists true body For as Christs body consists of spiritual Christians so Antichrists of carnal For Antichrist sets up in the temple of God as well as Christ and as Christ get his body together of spiritual Christians so Antichrist gets his body together of carnal Christians and these have a form of Religion or godliness but they have no spirit or power in that form yea under the form of godliness they exercise the greater power of ungodliness And Christ and his Spirit and all their things are nowhere more opposed then by those in the Church who have the letter of the word but want the spirit of it being taught of men only and not of God So that all that part of Christianity that is destitute of the Spirit and hath the name only and not the anointing of Christians this makes up the body of Antichrist And now there can be no more agreement between these two bodies of Christ and of Antichrist that is between spiritual and carnal Christians then between Christ and Antichrist themselves the heads of these bodies And as I finde nothing in the word so neither do I propound any thing for an agreement here for to go about to reconcile there where the Father never intended nor the Son never undertook any reconciliation would not be a work of wisedom but of weakness So then the way of peace I shall speak of is between the children of peace touching whom God hath promised That he will give them one heart and one way and for whom Christ hath prayed That they all may be one as thou Father art in me and I in theâ— that they also may be one in us And these are the elect made faithful called to be Saints and sanctified through their calling and these are the true Church of God The peace then I seek by this Discourse is the peace of the true Church Wherefore I shall first declare the Church it self whose peace I seek and then after declare wherein this Churches true peace and unity lies and also how it may be preserved among themselves it being first wrought by Jesus Christ For the Church it self what I have learned touching it I shall speak plainly and something largely because the right understanding hereof is so absolutely necessary to our present business and yet there are very many and very great mistakes and mis apprehensions touching it even among the faithfull The right Church then is not the whole multitude of the people whether good or bad that joyn together in an outward form or way of worship for in this Church there are Whoremongers Idolaters Thieves Murderers and all sorts of wicked and unbelieving persons which are so far from being the Church of Christ that they are the very Synagogue of Satan and children of the Devil and therefore I shall not speak of this Church But the Church I shall speak of is the true Church of the New Testament which I say is not any outward or visible society gathered together into the consent or use of outward things forms ceremonies worship as the Churches of men are neither is it known by seeing or feeling or the help of any outward sense as the Society of Mercers or Drapers or the like but it is a Spiritual and Invisible Fellowship gathered together in the unity of faith hope and love and so into the unity of the Son and of the Father by the Spirit wherefore it is wholly hid from carnal eyes neither hath the world any knowledge or judgement of it This true Church is the Communion of Saints which is the communion believers have with one another not in the things of the world or in the things of men but in the things of God for as believers have their union in the Son and in the Father so in them also they have their communion and the communion they have with one another in God cannot be in their own things but in Gods things even in his light life righteousness wisdom truth love power peace joy c. This is the true Communion of Saints and this Communion of Saints is the true Church of God Now this true Church of God differs from the Churches of men in very many particulars as follows 1. Members come unto the Churches of men either of their own minds or else by the perswasion or by the forcing of others and so but after the will of man but none come to this true Church but from the drawing of God the Father and his own calling according to his own purpose 2. In the Churches of men members are admitted through an outward confession of doctrine but none are admitted into this true Church but through a new birth from God and his Spirit Joh. 3. Except a man be born again he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God which is the right Church of the New Testament For that which is born of the flesh is flesh and so remains without in the world but that which is born of the spirit is spirit and so hath entrance into the true Church 3. In the Churches of men there are more wicked then righteous but in this true Church of Christ the people are all righteous not one excepted as it is written Thy people shall be all righteous Isa 60. For they all have their iniquities forgiven them and they are all redeemed and washed with the blood of the Lamb. 4. In the Churches of men the people for the most part are onely taught of men who are their heads and leaders and whose judgements they depend on
themselves whose prosperity was their ruine and whose power was their inslaving and all this was to the making void Christian brotherhood and communion Wherefore the right Church to preserve in it the peace of Christ must admit of no such distinction of Laity and Clerg but all Christians must equallâ—â—â—main â—â—main it it Kings Priests and Prophets unto God The fifth Rule is To keep equality in the Church and that both between Christians and Churches for this also is an excellent way to preserve peace 1. To keep equality between Christians For though according to our first Nativity whereby we are born of men there is great inequality some being born high some low some honourable some mean some Kings some Subjects c. yet according to our new or second birth whereby we are born of God there is exact equality for here are none better or worse higher or lower but all have the same faith hope love the same God Christ Spirit the same divine nature the same precious promises the same incorruptible Crown and inheritance of Saints in light And therefore saith Paul speaking of this true Church There is neither Jew nor Greek nor bond nor free nor male nor female but all are one in Christ Jesus Indeed in the world and before men I say again there is distinction of persons and inequality but in Christs Kingdom and before God all Believers aae equal and this equality preserves peace But when in this Kingdom some will be advancing themselves above others like Diotrephes that would have the preheminence and some will be striving to sit at the right hand and some at the left whilst they leave others to sit at the footstool this is that which breeds difference among the very Disciples who envied Zebedees children for such a desire And therefore Christ to preserve peace forbad Lordship in his Church and commanded service and tells them that the nature of his Kingdom is not to place men one over another but one under another and that the greatest must be the least the greatest in the way of the spirit must be the least in the way of the flesh 2. As equality among Christians is to be kept for the preserving of peace so also among Churches For all Churches are equal as well as all Christians and there is no Church can set it self before or above another all being sisters of one Mother beams of one Sun branches of one Vine streams of one Fountain members of one Body branches of one golden Candlestick and so all equal in all things Wherefore there may and ought to be a consociation of Churches but no subordination which makes void at once both equality and unity And so that Church or those Churches that will set themselves above other Churches that are their equals as the Classical above the Congregational c. they are the breakers of Christian peace and unity and the unskilful vote of the Assembly for the subordination of Churches was not a way to make peace but to mar peace in the Church of God Moreover no Church can be subjected to another but Christ who is present in it and is King and Lawgiver is subjected too which not true Church will either require or allow For if the true Church will not subject the Word of God which they have received to any men or Angels but will judge all by it and will suffer none to judge it much less will they subject Christ the Lord of all to any other power or authority for so they should dishonour and disanul their Head Where two or three are met in Christs name Christ himself is among them and the Head of them and so they can submit to no body else seeing Christ hath made no greater nor surer promise of his presence to any body then to them The sixth Rule is To keep the Officers of the Church in subordination to the whole Church or community and not to suffer them to get head over it seeing the very nature of ruling the Church is not Dominion but Service We reade Act. 11. 2. that when Peter had preached in the house of Cornelius a Gentile or Heathen the Church of the circumcision to whom Peter was Minister contended with him that he went in to men uncircumcised and did eate with them for as yet they knew not that the Gentiles were to be called And Peter was fain to give an account to them of the whole matter and to shew them that he was warned of God in a Vision to do so c. And this was a sign that Peter was a servant of the Church and in subordination to it and no Lord over it And after vers 22. when the Church at Jerusalem heard that the Grecians at Antioch had received the Gospel they sent Barnabas to Antioch to forward and perfect the Work And also the Church at Antioch sent forth Paul and Barnabas to the work of the Ministry in divers Towns and Countries All which are an evident sign that the Church was above the Officers and not the Officers above the Church Now this also will preserve peace in the Church to keep the Officers in their proper place and to let them remain as servants in the Church which Christ hath commanded and not to let them grow up to be Lords and Masters which Christ knowing the evil and inconvenience thereof hath forbidden For if the Officers get above the Church though they be never so good they are masterful and troublesome and though never so bad yet will they get a party in the Church for themselves and so work disturbance but if the Church remain as it ought above the Officers it quits them when they grow evil and unruly and chooses better in their stead and so preserves union Whereas fixed and unmoveable Officers when they do degenerate are the causes of all disturbances and confusions both in Church and State The seventh Rule is For all true Christians and Congregations to take Christ alike for their Head and not to set up visible heads or Ring-leaders to themselves of men no not of the best men For whilst some said we are of Paul others we of Apollos others we of Cephas they were all in this matter carnal and divided both from Christ and among themselves whilst several set up several heads whom they especially owned and after whom they were called Whereas each that believed by the Ministry of Paul or Apollos or Cephas were through the same faith and spirit with them as neer to Christ as themselves were and so were not to set up a fellow member as a Head to the division of the body I say each believer and Communion of Saints hath Christ equally for their Head and so ought not to set up any outward or visible Head for them to joyn to for this is to rend the body in pieces and to work great division and distraction among the faithful And therefore I conceive it
of God that will exercise a Judicature in Heaven and determine of things of the Kingdom of God which the Spirit hath kept in his own hands you may break one the other earthen potsheards But if you joyn against the Spirit and be one as Jew and Gentile Herod and Pilate against Christ it will be your everlasting breaking so that a man cannot gather a Sherd of you to take fire from the hearth or water out of the Pit for God hath set his King upon his holy Hill and you are but sheaves against a hearth of fire The Power of Christ is coming forth happy they that wait for it The Lord shall send the rod of his power out of Sion be thou Ruler in the midst of thine enemies Psal 110. All Forms and Shadows shall flie away and the new creature only abide and they that walk after this Rule peace be on them and mercy and upon the Israel of God The spiritual Church shall rise and be established in the beauty of holiness These are the tidings of this Book And I heard a voyce saying Hallelujah Praise the Lord from the Heavens prayse him all ye heights prayse him all ye Angels of his all the wisdom of man Prayse him Sun and Moon all worldly Magistrates praise him all the Stars of light all Ministers Pastors Teachers prayse him ye Heavens of Heavens all Forms and Churches and what ever of you excel and are lifted up above others exalt the Lord not your selves for his name only is excellent his glory is above the Earth and Heavens he also exalteth the Horns of his people the prayse of all his Saints even of the children of Israel a people neer to him Thy part be among these who ever art the Reader it is the desires and prayer of him who knows no greater no other happiness Who is thine as to it Christop Goad CHRIST'S SPIRIT A Christians Strength OR A plain discovery of the mighty and invincible power that all Believers receive through the gift of the SPIRIT First held forth in two Sermons on Act. 1. 8. and after published for the instruction and use of those that are spiritual Anno 1645. By WILLIAM DELL Minister of the Gospel of JESUS CHRIST at Yelden in the County of Bedford 1 Cor. 4. 19. 20 I will come to you shortly if the Lord will and will know not the speech of them that are puffed up but the power For the Kingdom of God is not in word but in power 2 Tim. 3. 5. Having a form of Godliness but denying the power of it from such turn away London Printed for Hen. Cripps and Lod. Lloyd 1651. To the Right Honorable the Lady ELIZABETH Countess of BULLINGBROOK Right Honourable THe form of Godliness is very common in these dayes of ours but the power of it is very rare How few persons shall we finde in the visible Church who live and act in the strength of God But generally men do what ever they do in their own strength and that not onely in humane things but in divine How seldom do we see either in Ministers or Christians in the discharge of their duties in their several places more then the power of men The greatest part by far not onely of those who are called Christians but also of forward Professors being ignorant what it is to be strengthened with might in the inner man according to the glorious power of the great God How little is there among all our plenty of that preaching which is not in the plausible words of mans wisdom but in the demonstration of the Spirit and Power How few Congregations among the many that are in the Kingdom are gathered together in the Spirit and Power of our Lord Jesus Christ How few of those Christians are there in whom is the exceeding greatness of Gods power together with the effectual working of it But the form of Godliness is now become almost the covering of all flesh and in these dayes of light and knowledge it is accounted by all that are not down-right Atheists a great shame not to seem to be religious And when men and families and Congregations are gotten into this form they think themselves both safe and happy as being near the suburbs of the Kingdom of God and close Neighbours to the Saints And this form of godliness as it is of very easie compliance with flesh and blood in this particular in that according to this men onely make their actions new retaining still their old natures so it is also of great credit and esteem with carnal Gospellers But the spiritual man judgeth all things and yet he himself is judged of no man and he being partaker of the power of God himself can in some measure discern both the presence and want of it in others both which he knows in his own experience Now this form of godliness is when men are godly without God and anoynted without Christ and regenerate not having the Spirit that is when they have a semblance of holiness but not the thing it self a semblance of grace retaining their old natures And such Christians as these perform spiritual duties with natural strength heavenly duties with earthly strength the works of God with the power of men In the Religion of these men there is the outward duty done and it may be very speciously and plausibly but there is none of Christ nor the Spirit in the duty There is their own working towards God which is faint and faithless and not Gods own working in them towards himself which is lively and mighty and all the religious acts they do are onely their own operations and not the operations of God in them This form of godliness how pleasing soever it be to a mans self and of what reckoning soever with others who are like himself yet is indeed of very evil and woful consequence whether we regard the doings or sufferings unto which this form necessarily engages For first when men by occasion of this form are called forth to do the great works of God and yet are destitute of the power of God their duties are above their strength and their strength bears no proportion to their duties And so sooner or later meeting with difficulties they faint and languish as a Snail their works being too high for their faculties For nature being strained above its power and offering at that which is beyond its abilities by degrees grows weary and returns to its old temper again And he that sought that glory which was not his own at last lies down in his own shame Again the form of godliness exposes a man to those evils that are incident to the faithful because of godliness Now when a man hath the same evils with the faithful and not the same power to support him under those evils when men have the same evils in the flesh but not the same power in the Spirit the same burthens on their shoulders but not the same everlasting arms
their imployments for their sufferings and for their doings And as Souldiers that are under a wise and carefull Commander when they are neer an ingagement are not suffered to run rashly upon the enemy nor permitted to go forth to battle till they are armed and mounted so Christ would not suffer his Disciples to go forth in his warfare to incounter so many evils and oppositions and persecutions and the whole power of the world and of the Devil till first he had armed them with the power of Holy Spirit Ye shall receive power when the Holy Ghost is come upon you c. Christ alwayes gives unto all those whom he sends forth and imployes of his own power for his own works heavenly power for heavenly works spiritual power for spiritual works the power of God to do the works of God Indeed Christ gives unto some a greater measure of power and to some a lesser according as he intends to use some in greater works and difficulties and some in lesser but still they have of Christs power whether more or lesse who are imployed by Christ and a little of that power that is communicated by Christ will inable a man to do great things far greater then the world suspects or imagines So that we may judge of our calling to any business and of our imployment in it by the power we have received from Christ for it If we have none of the power of Christ we were never set on work by Christ for Christ never sets any on his work with out communicating unto them of his power And hereby we may certainly know and conclude that those in the Ministery that are loose and vitious and idle and negligent and insufficient for that work were never called to it nor imployed in it by Christ but they run of their own heads when they were not sent and minister in the Church for the gain of money and preach onely that they might live Whereas if Christ had imployed them in that calling he would have furnished them with abilities for it and they being destitute of such abilities it is most evident they were not sent by Christ Judge then what a kinde of Reformation this church were like to have if some men might have their minds who would have ignorant and insufficient men yea loose and prophane men tolerated in the Ministry under pretence of keeping up ordinances when yet such men were never imployed by Christ nor supplyed with any power from him Yea and what ordinances I pray are those like to be which are kept up by men that are carnal not having the Spirit But you see here that Christs way and wisdom was different from this for he first gives the Apostles the power of the Spirit and then sent them to preach when he had first inabled them to preach 2. You see here that Christ being to leave his Disciples in regard of his bodily presence yet leaves behind him the promise of the Spirit of power and this was some establishment to them yea this gave great joy and comfort to them who before had their hearts filled with sorrow Christ though sometime he leave his people in regard of sense yet he never leaves them without a promise The soul sometimes in the hours of temptation and desertion may want the sense and feeling of Christ but it never wants a promise from Christ and the promise makes Christ present in his absence For Christ himself is spiritually present in the promise and not Christ onely but the Holy Spirit also for Christ and the Spirit are never asunder but as the Father and the Son are one so is Christ and the Spirit one and all are in the promise And so the promise is able to uphold the soul in any condition not because of its own nature but because God and Christ and the Spirit are present in the Promise and they are infinitely able to support the soul through the Promise under the greatest evils either of earth or hell Now this injoyment of God in the Promise is the injoyment of faith and not of sense and this injoyment of faith is the most excellent and intimate injoyment of Christ And thus may the soul injoy Christs presence in his absence his presence according to faith in his absence according to sence And therefore Christ departing from his Disciples in regard of his bodily presence leaves with them the promise of the Holy Spirit and in that promise his spiritual presence And this is the worst condition that Christ ever leaves his true Church in he leaves them his presence in a Promise when in regard of sense he forsakes them 3. Note that Luke being to speak in this Book of the Acts of the Apostles of the propagating and inlarging and governing the Christian Church doth first make mention of the pouring forth of the Spirit and that both upon the Apostles and afterwards upon the Disciples Signifying hereby that there is nothing so necessary for the increase and well ordering of the true Church of Christ as the pouring forth of the Spirit And therefore they are altogether deceived and walk in the light of Nature and not of God who think the increase and propagation and preservation and establishment and order and ordering of the Church of God depend especially upon the Councels and Decrees and Constitutions of men and that without these the Church of God would soon come to woful disorder yea to utter ruine and confusion as if Christ and his Spirit sate idle in heaven and had left the whole business of his Church to men and the sacred power confirmed with the secular were abundantly sufficient for the increase and well ordering of the Church In the mean time not regarding the promise of the Father or the pouring out of the Spirit by the Son And this is the very mystery of the mystery of iniquity among us and the very head of Antichrist which is yet to be broken And therefore let us know that as the Psalmist saith Except the Lord build the house they labor in vain that build it and except the Lord keep the City the watchman watcheth but in vain so also except the Lord through his Word pour forth the promise of the Spirit and by that Spirit of his in and through the Word inlarge and govern the Church they labor in vain that undertake these things of themselves For it is the Spirit alone that through the faithful ministry of the Word makes the increase of the Church and layes hold on all the elect and brings them through faith into the unity of the Son and of the Father and teaches them and orders them and governs them and preserves them And therefore you see here that the promise of the Spirit is first performed before the Church of God hath any inlargement or government And now from these general things we proceed to the words more particularly Ye shall receive power when the
strength and according to each mans measure of the Spirit so is his measure of grace And thus the Holy Spirit by being a Spirit of righteousness is also in us a Spirit of power 6. The Holy Spirit is a Spirit of power in us by being in us a Spirit of the fear of the Lord and so he is by representing God to us in his Glory and Majesty according as he hath revealed himself to us in his word from which knowledge of God springs his fear For what is the reason that the men of the world fear not God but sin securely against the great and glorious God every day Why the reason is because they know not the Lord. Now the Spirit comes and reveals the Father in the Son and presents God to the soul through his word in his infinite and eternal power and justice and wisdom and truth and faithfulness and love and mercy and goodness c. and shines to the soul in each attribute of God and now when a man sees God by his own light and knows him by his own teaching then first doth he begin truely to fear God and the fear of God is his strength For he that fears God is free from all other fear he fears not men of high degree nor men of low degree nor the united power of all the creatures he fears not the fear of other men in their evils but in the midâ—â— of all fearful things he is without fear because he sanctifies the Lord of hosts in himself in his heart and makes him his fear and his dread And by this means amidst all evils he hath admirable confidence and assurance because he knows that no evil can befall him from any man or from any creature till first it be the will of God and also that what ever evil befalls him according to the will of God it shall work for good unto him in the end Thus the fear of the Lord is a Christians confidence and a beleevers strength whereas he that fears not God fears every thing yea not onely reall but imaginary evils and as evils multiply his fears so his fears again multiply his evils till at last he be swallowed up of both But the Holy Spirit being in us a Spirit of the fear the Lord is also in us a Spirit of strength 7. The Holy Spirit is a Spirit of power in us by being in us a Spirit of love and unity The Holy Spirit is a Spirit of love and unity in the Godhead for the Father loves the Son with the Spirit and the Son loves the Father with the Spirit and the Father is one with the Son in the Spirit and the Son is one with the Father in the Spirit and the Spirit is both the bond of love and unity between the Father and the Son and God being most love and most one is also most strong Now what the Spirit is in the Godhead he is the same in the Church of God which is the true temple and habitation of the Godhead and that is a Spirit of love and unity For why is there such constant love and unity between the members of the same body but because one Spirit runs through them all and so there is such constant love and unity between all beleevers because one Holy Spirit runs through them all And hence we may take notice of a remarkable difference between nature and grace for nature of one makes many for we all who are many among our selves even a whole world of men were but one in Adam omnes eramus ille unus homo but grace of many makes one for the Holy spirit which is as fire melts all the faithfull into one mass or lump and makes of many one body one thing yea it makes them one in the unity of God according to that of Christ John 17. 21. that they all may be one as thou Father art in me and I in thee that they also may be one in us mark the words for they are wonderful that they all may be one that is that all beleevers who are many among themselves may be all made one one How one As thou Father art in me and I in thee that is as thou and I being two persons are yet but one God after this highest example of unity let them be made One in us as long as they remain in themselves they are many and how much they remain in themselves they are many for their unity is not in themselves but they are one in us who are one that is how much the saints by the Spirit are carried into the Father and the Son who are one so much also are they made one not onely with the Father and the Son but also with one another You may see in the Acts how the multitude of beleevers after they had received the Spirit so far forth as they had received the Spirit Were of one heart and of one minde And this unity of beelievers is their strength and when God shall take away all those prejudices and suspicions and jealousies and particular ends and interests and divisions and separations and Schismes that are among his own people and the people of God shall be reduced into this blessed unity among themselves and the Lord be one and his name one among them all then shall the Church also be of admirable and invincible power So that all they that strive with it shall perish and all they that war against it shall be as nothing yea then shall the Lord make the Church as a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth and it shall thresh the Mountains that is the Kingdomes of the world and shall beat them small and shall make the hills that is the lesser Common-wealths as chaffe But till the Church of God attain to this unity it shall not do any excellent thing it shall not work any notable deliverance in the earth neither shall the inhabitants of the world fall When the Spirit of God shall be a Spirit of unity in the faithful and shall heal all the sad differences and dissensions that are now between them then also shall it be a Spirit of admirable power in them And thus much for the explication of the point The Vse is twofold 1. The first is to exhort all men everywhere to endeavour to partake of this supernatural spiritual and divine power of the Holy Spirit which is certainly communicated to all the faithful and Elect in Christ Jesus And let no man think it is a thing indifferent whether he have this power or no but know that the having of this power of the Spirit is of absolute necessity and that both for Ministers and for all other Christians 1. There is a necessity of this power of the Holy Spirit for Ministers and to them this present place doth chiefly relate 1. For first if they have not this power of the Holy Spirit they have no power at all For
power of the Spirit coming on them then they are stronger then all opposition and Persecution whatsoever otherwise when these evils encounter them they with Demas leave the Work and imbrace the World And thus you see what necessity all the faithful Ministers of the Gospel have of the power of the Holy Spirit coming upon them and without this power though they be called Ministers yet they are none For without this power they are unable to preach the Word to preach it powerfully and to persevere and hold out in the course of the Ministery they are unable to reprove the World to wrestle with and overcome the. Devil and to suffer that Persecution which necessarily attends that calling And so without this power they may Minister to themselves but cannot Minister to others the manifold graces of God they may do their own work but they cannot do Gods work they may seed themselves but not the Flock of Christ they may domineer over the sheep but cannot drive away the Wolf they may build up their own houses but cannot build up God house Secondly as the Holy Spirit and the power of it is necessary for Ministers so also for all other Christians whatsoever But some here will be ready to say yea but do all believers receive the Spirit of God and the power of the Spirit as Ministers do Yes Equally and alike with them without any difference This is evident Act. 11. 15. where Peter tels the Jews who contended with him for conversing and eating with the Gentiles that when he began to speak the Word to them the Holy Spirit fell on them saith he as on us at the beginning And again ver 17. Forasmuch then as God gave unto them the like gift as he did unto us who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ what was I that I could withstand God So that God gave the Holy Spirit to as many Gentiles as believed in like manner as he did unto the Apostles themselves and they received the same power of the Holy Spirit coming on them as the Apostles did Whereby you may perceive that not Ministers only are Spiritual men and all others temporal as the Papists have taught and many Ignorant people among our selves are still perswaded but all true Believers are spiritual as well as they being born of the Spirit and Baptized with the Spirit equally as they are And so all true Believers as well as Ministers being indued with the Spirit are also indued with the power of the Spirit and so have more then an Earthly power in them They have all of them power of another nature then the power of the World they partake of spiritual heavenly and divine power even of the very power of Christ himself which infinitely transcends all the power of the creature You see then clearly that all faithful Christians have the Spirit of power and the power of the Spirit coming on them aswel as Ministers And they stand in need of both these for these causes 1. They stand in need of the Spirit of power first to difference and distinguish them from Reprobates and Devils for without the gift of the Spirit there is no difference between us and them For Michael doth not differ from the Devil nor Gabriel from Belzebub but only by the Spirit And Moses differs not from Pharoah nor Abel from Cain not Jacob from Esau nor Peter from Judas in regard of their substance but in regard of the Spirit which the one received and the other were counted unworthy of 2. To advance them above the condition of flesh and blood and above all those in whom is none of Gods Spirit The excellency of each creature is according to its Spirit for the more excellent the spirit of the creature is the more excellent is the creature it self and each creature is valued and rated according to the Spirit of it How excellent then must they be above all the World who have received the Spirit that is of God Surely these are people of the most excellent spirit And hence it is that the righteous is more excellent then his neighbour because his spirit is more excellent then his neighbours 3. To unite them unto Christ The Spirit is the bond of Vnion between the Father and the Son in the Godhead and the Father and the Son are one in the Spirit as we spake before And now the same spirit is our bond of Vnion with Christ and makes us one with Christ as Christ is one with God and unites us unto Christ in the unity of God for as Christ is one with the Father in the Spirit so are we one with Christ in the Spirit For he that is joyned to the Lord is one Spirit and he that is not one Spirit with the Lord is not joyned to him 4. All faithful Christians stand in need of the power of the Spirit as well as of the Spirit of power 1. To change their nature which is impossible to all power but the power of the Spirit It would be a great power to change clay into Gold and a pibble into a Diamond but it is a greater change that is wrought in a Christian and requires a greater power For the power of the Spirit when it comes into our flesh changes the nature of it For it finds a man carnal it makes him spiritual it finds him earthly it makes him heavenly it finds him a drunkard it makes him sober an adulterer it makes him chast a swearer it makes him fear an oath proud it makes him humble it finds him darkness makes him light in the Lord in a word it finds him nothing but a lump of sin and makes him the righteousness of God in Christ Thus the power of the Spirit changes our whole corrupt nature and makes it conformable to the divine nature as fire makes the Iron in which it prevails like unto it self communicating its own nature to it After this sort the power of the Spirit changes our nature and our nature cannot be changed without it But without this power of the Spirit we shall always remain the same we were born without any change at all Yea our corruption will by daily use and exercise encrease in us till at last it quite eat out that common natural good which God hath given to every one of us for the common benefit of mankind 2. All Christians have need of the power of the Spirit to work grace in them For our natures are wholly carnal and corrupt and nothing can implant grace in them but the mighty power of Gods Spirit And it is as great a Miracle to see the Grace of God dwelling in the corrupt nature of man as to see the Stars grow upon the Earth And yet the power of the Spirit doth this as it is written truth shall spring out of the earth and again great and precious promises are made to us that we should be partakers of the
Divine nature and again he hath predestinated us that we should be conformable to the Image of his Son That is as in other things so also in all his vertues So that the power of the Spirit implants grace in our nature and each grace is so much of the power of the Spirit in our flesh as was said before Wherefore we must needs learn to know whose power the power of grace is For though grace be a power in our flesh it is not the power of our flesh for Paul saith in me that is in my flesh dwels no good thing but and if any good be in my flesh it dwels not in my flesh but in Gods Spirit which dwels in me As light is in the ayr but dwels in the Sun so when men are regenerate good is in the flesh but dwels in the spirit For grace in the soul is nothing but so much of the power of the Spirit immediately dwelling and working in us and when the Spirit is gone all grace goes along with him as all light with the Sun but it dwels in him and is inseparable from him 3. All Christians stand in need of the power of the spirit to enable them to mortifie and destroy sin There is no power in our flesh against sin but all the power of our flesh is for it and therefore it must be another power then the power of our flesh that must destroy sin and that can be no other then the power of Gods Spirit And the power of the Spirit destroys the whole body of sin and each particular strong corruption 1. The whole body of sin in all the parts and members and branches of it each several influence and operation of the Spirit being a several destruction of some sin or other For as the spirit that is in us lusts after envie or pride or vain-glory or covetousness or uncleanness or the like so the Spirit we have of God according to its mighty power destroys all those sinful works of our corrupt spirit and mortifies all the deeds of our flesh according to that of Paul if ye mortifie the deeds of the flesh by the Spirit ye shall live The flesh will never mortifie its own deeds but the spirit must mortifie the deeds of the flesh and this will mortifie them according to the whole Latitude of them 2. Again as the power of the Spirit sudues the whole body of sin so also it over powers each particular strong corruption and keeps a Christian straight and upright in the ways of God Every man hath some one corruption to which by nature he is more inclined then to another and this is the byas of a man but the strength of the Spirit will over-power this A boul if it be thrown with strength knows not its byas but is carryed on strait as if it had no byas at all So the Godly have still some flesh in them which is their byas and carries them from God to themselves and the World but the strength of the spirit takes away this byas and makes us take straight steps to God 4. All Christians-stand in need of the power of the Spirit to inable them to perform duties to perform them aright that is spiritually For spiritual duties may be performed for the outward work carnally and in such duties there is no strength but weakness because there is none of the Spirit in them For there is no power in any duty except there be something of the spirit in the duty There is no more power in praying nor in preaching nor in hearing nor in meditation nor in reading nor in resisting evil nor in doing good nor in any duty of sanctification or of mortification then there is of the Spirit in them And according to the measure of the spirit in each duty is the measure of power in the duty If there be none of the Spirit in a mans duties there is no power at all in them but onely weakness and deadness and coldness and unpofitableness If a little of the spirit there is a little power if abundance of the Spirit there is great power and that duty that is most spiritual is the most powerful And therefore saith Paul I will pray with the Spirit and I will sing with the spirit and all the worship of the faithful is in the spirit Philip. 3. 3. We are the Circumcision which worship God in the Spirit and have no confidence in the flesh So that there is no more power in any duty then there is of the Spirit in it and there is no more acceptance of any duty with God then there is of power in it Fifthly all Christians stand in need of the Power of the Spirit to inable them to the use of the Word and that both in private and in publique as occasion serves 1. In private for no man can say that Jesus is the Christ but by the Holy Spirit No man can speak of Christ spiritually but by the Spirit and without this spirit which searches the deep things of God and reveals them to us Christians are unable to give the Sense of the Word of God in their families and among their friends and acquaintance and are also ashamed to do it Whereas the Spirit of God gives both ability and boldness as Aquila and Priscilla his wife did not onely speak the word in their family but also took Apollos a Minister home when they perceived him somewhat ignorant in the mystery of Christ and instructed him in the way of God more perfectly 2. They have need of the power of the spirit to inable them to speak the word of God in publike as every Christian may do if he come where people are ignorant of Gods Word and there be no Minister to do it This I say in such a case he may do by vertue of his anointing with the spirit And for this you may see the practise of Stephen and Philip who were but Deacons and not Elders or Ministers and yet published the Word where the people were ignorant yea you may see Act. 8. how all the Disciples except the Apostles were by reason of a great persecution scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria and they that were so scattered went everywhere preaching the Word because the people among which they were were ignorant and there was no body else to do it And God having made known Christ unto them they could not but declare him unto others the love both of Christ and of their brethren constraining them But this is in case of necessity and where other fuithful Christians are absent otherwise when Christians are present no man can take that to himself without the consent of all which belongs to all Sixthly all Christians stand in need of this power of the spirit to inable them to confess the word before Kings and Rulers and Magistrates when they are called thereunto Whereas without this power they
first and chief work of the Spirit upon the Elect whereby he prepares them to receive himself For the more empty a man is of other things the more capable he is of the Spirit If you would fill a vessel with any other liquor then it holds you must first empty it of all that is in it before if you would fill it with Wine you must empty it of Beer or Water if any such liqour be in it For two material things cannot possibly subsist in the same place at the same time the substances of each being safe and sound And so if the Holy Spirit who is God must come into us all mortal and unstable creatures together with sin and our selves and what ever else is in us must go forth Humane reason and humane wisdom and righteousness and power and knowledge cannot receive the Holy Spirit but we must be emptied of these if ever we would receive him We must thus suffer our selves to be prepared by the Spirit to receive the Spirit but with this caution That when the Spirit of God hath wrought this in us we do not attribute it to our selves as our own work nor think any thing of our selves but descend into our own meer nothing Otherwise we shall be a hinderance to the Spirit that he cannot work in us after a more excellent manner And when a man is thus empty of himself and of other things then he becomes poor in spirit and such the Spirit alwayes fills and descends into with a wonderful and unresistible power and fills the outer and inner man and all the superior and inferior faculties of the soul with himself and all the things of God And this is the second work of the Spirit to fill those whom he hath emptied Now the usual and ordinary means through which the Spirit doth this are these three 1. The hearing of the Word preached But here we must distinguish of the Word For the Law is the word of God but St. Paul saith that by that word the Spirit is not given but by the Word of the Gospel And therefore how beautiful are the feet of them that bring the Gospel of peace for nothing is so sweet and precious as the word of the Gospel which brings with it the Holy Spirit This you may see Act. 10. 44. where it is said that whilest Peter yet spake the Holy Ghost fell on all them that heard the Word And therefore also the Gospel is called the ministration of the Spirit because as it proceeds from the Spirit and the Holy Spirit gives utterance so it also conveyes the Spirit to the faithful Now the gift of tongues and miracles and other such like gifts are at the present ceased in the Church but the gift of the Spirit is not ceased and this the Lord still joynes with the Ministery of the Gospel that he may keep up in our hearts the due respect of this ordinance and may preserve us from the wayes of those men who seek for the Spirit without the Word 2. Means is faith in the word heard For it is not every one that hears the word that receives the Spirit but onely they that hear with the hearing of faith For if thou hear the word of the Gospel a thousand times and wantest faith thou shalt never receive the Spirit for unbeleef shuts up the heart against the Spirit and ever opposes and resists the Spirit and never receives it But faith opens the heart to receive the Spirit By faith we lay hold on Christ in the word and through our union with Christ we obtain the Spirit For we have not the Spirit immediately in it self but in the flesh of Christ And when we by faith are made the flesh of Christ then we partake of that Spirit that dwels in the flesh of Christ Now through these two things the Word and Faith the Spirit communicates to us a new birth it begets us unto God and so we partaking of the nature of God partake also of the Spirit of God They are born of men have nothing in them but the spirit of men but they that are born of God have the Spirit of God That which is born of the flesh is flesh hath no spirit in it but that which is born of the Spirit is spirit and hath spirit in it So that there is no means to partake of the Spirit of God but by being born of God and the means by which we are born of God are the Word Faith 3. Means is Prayer For Christ hath said the Spirit is given to them that aske And the Disciples when they were to receive the promise of the Spirit continued with one accord in prayer and supplication Act. 1. 14. For God who hath promised to give us his Spirit hath commanded us to aske it and when God hath a minde to give us the Spirit he puts us in minde to ask it yea God gives us the Spirit that by it we may ask the Spirit seeing no man can ask the Spirit but by the Spirit Now in asking the Spirit there is no difference whether we ask it of the Father or of the Son seeing the Spirit proceeds from both and is the Spirit of both And therefore Christ promiseth the sending of the Spirit from both From the Father Joh. 14. The Spirit which the Father will send in my name From himself Joh. 16. Except I go the Comforter will not come but if I go I will send him to you So that both the Father and the Son give the Spirit and it is no matter whether we ask him either of the Father or of the Son so we ask him of the Father in the Son or of the Son in the Father And thus you see the way to obtain this power is to obtain the Spirit and also by what means this is done 2. The way to increase this power is to increase the Spirit And therefore it is as needful for us to know the means to increase the Spirit as to receive it And they among others are these 1. To continue in the use of the Word As the Spirit is first given by the word so by the same word it is increased and the more any Christian is in the use of the word the stronger and more vigorous and mighty is the Spirit in him but the neglect of the word is the quenching of the Spirit Let a Christian that is strong in the spirit neglect the word a while and he will soon become weak and as a man without strength For the Spirit is not bestowed on us but through the word neither doth it dwell in us but by the word and the more the word dwels in our hearts by faith the more the spirit dwells in our hearts by the word And according to the measure of the word in us is the measure of the Spirit 2. To increase faith For the more we beleeve the more we receive of
Christ and the more we receive of Christ the more we receive of the spirit in Christ For faith doth not apprehend bare Christ but Christ with his Spirit because these are inseparable Now alwayes according to the measure of Christ in us is the measure of the spirit and according to the measure of faith is the measure of Christ in us 3. To be much in prayer For the prayer of the spirit increases the spirit The more we have the spirit the more we pray and the more we pray the more we receive the spirit So that when we have the spirit in truth we shall have daily a greater and greater increase of it till we be filled with the spirit For the spirit comes from Christ in whom is the fulness of the spirit and carries us back again to Christ that we may receive still more of the spirit And so by the spirit that is in our hearts we lay hold on the spirit that is in Christ and receive more and more of it 4. To turn our selves daily from the creature to God For the more we inlarge our hearts towards the creature the less capable are we of the Spirit of God For to live much upon the creature is to live much according to the flesh and this quenches and straitens the spirit in us And therefore we must live abstractedly from the creatures and so use them as if we did not use them and so minde them as if we did not minde them and abandon the contents and satisfactions of flesh and blood and wean our selves from all things but the necessities of nature And the more free and loose we are from the creature the more capable are we of Gods spirit and the operations of it He that lives at greatest distance from the world and hath least communion with the things of it hath alwayes the greatest proportion of Gods spirit For as the Apostle saith If any man love the world the love of the Father that is the Holy Spirit is not in him so if any man love the Father the love of the world is not in him now the more any one loves the Father the less he loves the world and the less he loves the world the more the spirit dwels in him 5. To cease daily from our own works The more we act our selves the less doth the Spirit act in us And therefore we must must from day to day cease from our own works from the operations of our own minds and understandings and wils and affections and must not be the Authors of our own actions For we being flesh our selves what ever we do is fleshly seeing the effect cannot be better then the cause And if we mingle the works of our flesh with the works of Gods Spirit he will cease from working in us But the less we act in our selves according to the principles of our corrupt nature the more will the spirit act in us according to the principles of the divine nature But our own works are alwayes a mighty impediment to the operations of the Spirit 6. To encrease the spirit in us we must give up our selves to the Spirit that he only may work in us without the least opposition and resistance from us That as the soul acts all in the body and the body doth nothing of it self but is subject to the soul in all things so the spirit may do all in us and we may do nothing of our selves without the Spirit but be subject to the Spirit in all its operations For the Spirit of God cannot work excellently in us except it work all in all in us And in such a man in whom the Spirit hath full power the Spirit works many wonderful things that he according to humane sense is ignorant of For as the soul doth secretly nourish and cherish and refresh the body and disperses life and spirits through it even when the body is asleep and neither feels it nor knows it so the Holy Spirit dwelling in the soul by a secret kinde of operation works many things in it for the quickning and renewing it whilst it oftentimes for the present is not so much as sensible of it 7. The seventh means to encrease the spirit is to attribute the works of the spirit to the spirit and not to our selves For if we attribute to the flesh the works of the Spirit and take from the Spirit the glory of his own works he will work no longer in us Wherefore we must ascribe unto the Spirit the whole glory of his own works and acknowledge that we our selves are nothing and can do nothing and that it is he only that is all in all and works all in all and we our selves among all the excellent works of the Spirit in us must so remain as if we were and wrought nothing at all that so all that is of flesh and blood may be laid low in us and the Spirit alone may be exalted first to do all in us and then to have all the glory of all that is done And thus you see the means to encrease the Spirit and so consequently strength as well as to get it And by the daily use and improvement of these means we may attain to a great degree of spiritual strength that we may walk and not be weary and may run and not faint and may mount up as Eagles yea and may walk as Angels among men and as the powers of heaven upon earth to his praise and honour who first communicates to us his own strength and then by that strength of his own works all our works in us And thus is he glorified in his Saints and admired in all them that believe FINIS Uniformity Examined Whether it be found in the GOSPEL OR In the PRACTICE of the Churches OF CHRIST By WIL. DELL Minister of the Gospel 2 Cor. 4. 13. We having the same spirit of Faith according as it is written I believed and therefore have I spoken we also believe and therefore speak Published according to Order London Printed 1651. Vniformity Examined OBserving that our Brethren of Scotland together with the Assembly of Divines and the rest of the Presbyterian judgement do often both in their Discourse and writings exceedingly press for Vniformity I have been urged in my spirit to think upon the matter and to consider whether there could be any such thing found in the Word of the New Testament or in the practice of the Churches of Christ And for my part I ingenuously profess I cannot yet discover it and would be glad if any would instruct me further in this particular so he do it from the Word Now Vniformity what is it but an unity of form and the form they mean no doubt is outward for the inward form as it cannot be known by the outward senses so neither can it be accomplished by outward power And therefore till I know their meaning better I conceive that by uniformity they understand an unity
of outward form in the Churches of God yea some of them do declare so much calling the thing they would have External Vniformity Now such a thing as this after so much meditation and recollection as my other imployments and the many distractions that necessarily attend my present condition will permit me I cannot discern in the Word of the Gospel For Christ speaking of the Church of the New Testament saith Joh. 4. 23. The hour cometh and now is when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in Spirit and Truth for the Father seeketh such to worship him God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in Spirit and Truth In which words it is most evident that the worship of God in the time of the New Testament is inward and spiritual consisting in faith hope love and in prayer which is the operation of the three former c. And so is so far from Vniformity as it hath been explicated and as they understand it that it is not at all capable of it And therefore I cannot but wonder at the strange workings of darkness in the minds of men who would have an exernal Vniformity in a worship that is inward and spiritual and of which the outward form is no part at all but is meerly accidental and so absolutely various Again as I finde not this Vniformity in the doctrine of the Gospel so neither in the practice of the Saints who had the spirit of the Gospel as that practice is represented to us in the Word In Acts 1. 14. I read how the Apostles being together with the women and Mary the Mother of Jesus and his brethren continued 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with one accord or mind in prayer and supplication and Acts 2. v. 44. 46. how all that believed were together and continued daily 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with one minde in the Temple and did break bread from house to house c. And in all this there was Vnity but no external Vniformity neither name nor thing Again Acts 4. 23. Peter and John being let go by the Magistrates went to their own company which many of our Clergy would term a Conventicle and reported all that the chief Priests and Elders had said to them and when they heard it they lift up their voice to God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with one mind and prayed Here was inward Vnity in faith and love and joy and spiritual prayer but no external Vniformity and vers 32. The multitude of them that believed were of one heart and one soul Vnity still but nothing of external Vniformity Further we read Acts chap. 7. and chap. 8. that Stephen and Philip who by the Church were ordained Deacons and were to serve only for the Ministery of the Table yet by vertue of the anointing preached the Word of God freely and powerfully and how all the Members of the Church of Jerusalem who were neither Ministers not Deacons being scattered abroad by Persecution went Preaching the Word everywhere where they came in that case of necessity the unction of the Spirit of which all Believers partake alike being one fundamental ground of such Ministery where there are no Believers to call to the Office and in this though there was unity of faith spirit and doctrine yet I am sure they will say there was no such uniformity as they would have Again Acts 20. Paul the first day of the Week preached to the Disciples of Macedonia from the Evening till Midnight which Dr. Pocklington in a printed Sermon saith was out of order that is out of Prelatical order or Presbyterial Vniformity and after brake bread and did eat and talked with them a long while till break of day and going from thence he arrived at Ephesus and there called the Elders of the Chuch together and appeals to them after what manner he had been with them to wit serving the Lord with all humility of minde and with many tears and temptations c. and how he had held back nothing profitable for them but had taught them publikely and from house to house which I wish were more in use now-a-dayes if it might obtain so much leave from Vniformity and had preached to them Repentance towards God and Faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ our chief work towards God since our fall and corruption being Repentance which is the change of the creature towards God through Gods own work in the creature and this is not done without the sorrow of the flesh and our chief work towards Christ who is given to us as a head being Faith or Union And in the end exhorts the Presbyters to take heed to themselves who according to the Church principles of this age want no admonition themselves seeing they are become a peremptory rule to all others and to the flocks over which the holy Spirit and not Patrons had made them Over-seers to feed the Church of God which he had purchased with his own blood c. But in all this neither practices himself nor preaches to them nor commands them to preach to others or impose upon others any such kind of thing as external uniformity And so surely they that so vehemently urge this thing that they make it all in all in their Reformation have some other teacher then the Apostle who being taught of Christ as Christ was taught of God yet knew no such thing at all in the worship of God as Vniformity And yet further that the world if it be possible may be the more convinced observe a little more seriously the practice of Christ and the Saints in reference to this point and you shall see nothing less then external Vniformity See this in the prayer of Christ Prayer for the duty it self being nothing but so much spiritual worship as being the voyce of the Spirit in the flesh both in head members This Christ sometimes performed with his eyes lifted up to Heaven sometimes being prostrate with his body on the Earth and so several times several wayes and as he so the Saints have some prayed standing lifting up their hands as Moses some kneeling and lifting up their hands as Solomon some standing and not lifting up their eyes as the Publican c. And what external Vniformity in all this And as for Praying so for Preaching Christ sometimes preached in a ship sometimes on the shoar sometimes in the City Jerusalem sometimes in the Temple sometimes in the Desart sometimes early sometimes late as if he intended on purpose to witness against that piece of the Mystery of Iniquity which in after Ages should be called Vniformity So Paul preached sometimes on the Jews Sabbath sometimes on the first day of the week sometimes each day of the week sometimes in the day sometimes in the night sometimes prayed in the house sometimes on the shoar he circumcised Timothy among the weak refused to circumcise Titus among the perverse became as a Jew to the Jews as a
Greek to the Greeks to the weak as weak to the strong as strong all things to all men that he might win some and what external Vniformity was here And then for the Sacraments Christ administred the Sacrament of the Supper immediately after Supper Paul at midnight and it may be others in the morning or at noone and what external Vniformity in all this And for Government sometimes the Apostles met together into a Councel and in that Councel ordered things not of their own heads or by plurality of voyces but by the Word and Spirit and what they ordered by the Word and Spirit they put in execution by the power of the Word and Spirit and not by the power of the World At other times Ministers and Believers did things by the Word and Spirit among themselves by the mutual consent of both or else Believers alone among themselves if there were no Ministers present And where the number of Believers were more they stood in need of more Officers and where fewer of fewer Officers and all these things are the free ordering of the Churches who have Christ the Spirit and the Father among them and in them and so are taken out of the bondage of men into the freedom of God That truly I see not the Gospel more setting its spirit against any thing of Antichrist then against this point of external uniformity For if we have one Lord Christ Spirit Faith Baptism and God all other things are free to the Churches as God shall order by them and no otherwise and the reason and wisdom and prudence of man have no place in this world where the Sun of righteousness shines as the only light But against this that hath been said do lie some objections as first The Prophet foretold that the Lord should be one and his name one and doth not this imply external uniformity I answer nothing less for the Apostle explicates plainly and clearly what it is to have the Lord one and his name one among believers Eph. 4. ch 4. 5. 6. where he saith there is in the spiritual Church one Body and one Spirit one hope of our calling one Lord one Faith one Baptism one God and father of all who is above all through all and in all Where you see that among believers there is a manifold unity but no external uniformity yea the prayer of Christ the Son for the Church unfolds clearly the promise of God the Father to the Church Joh. 17. Christ prays that they all who are many among themselves according to the flesh may be one as thou Father art in me and I in thee that is according to the unity of the Spirit not external uniformity that after this manner they also may be one in us But again it is objected out of 1 Cor. 14. that the Apostle requires that all things may be done in the Church decently and in order and doth not this imply external uniformity I answer that they will hardly admit in their Parish Churches such a decency and order as the Apostle there means neither are they capable of it For he saith before When the whole Church is come together into some place that all may prophesie one by one that all may learn and all may be comforted and that during this exercise of prophesying if any thing be revealed to another the former to give place and he must speak that hath the clearest light seeing the Spirit to whomsoever it is given it is given to profit withall And that though all may prophesie one by one yet all may not prophesie at once for then it would not be order but confusion which the Apostle would have avoided saying Let all things be dâ—ne decently and in order And this decency too he perswades to by the word he doth not enforce by secular power And if they will call this uniformity for beleevers to prophesie one after another according to the variety of the gifts of the Spirit and not many or two or three at once or the same time we willingly agree with them but how far this thing is from their sence every one knows Thus you see these objections answered and I am confident there are no more can be brought but may as clearly and easily be answered as these And therefore I say I wonder and wonder again that we having covenanted and agreed together solemnly to endeavour for a Government most agreeable to the word of God should in the mean time be left so void of the spirit and light of the Gospel as to fall upon external uniformity which is nowhere to be found in the Gospel nor in the practise of primitive Christians Yea while I consider more seriously of the Matter me thinks external uniformity is a monstrous thing how glorious soever in their eyes and not to be found either in nature or in grace either in Christs Kingdom or the Kingdoms of the World In nature is no external uniformity extended to all the works of nature for look into the world and see if there be not variety of forms heavenly and earthly bodies having several form and in the earth each bird beast tree plant creature differs one from another in outward form If the whole creation should appear in one form or external uniformity what a monstrous thing would it be nothing differing from the first chaos But the variety of forms in the world is the beauty of the world So that though there be a most admirable unity among all the creatures yet there is nothing less then external uniformity Again as there is no external uniformity spread over the great world so nor yet over the little world or man For look upon a man consisting of head and members unto which the Apostle compares the Church and you shall not finde all the members like one another neither in regard of their outward forms nor operations for the hand doth not move as the foot nor the foot act as the hand and if all the members should appear and act in one form what a monster would a man be And yet among the members though there be no external uniformity yet there is admirable unity And yet again look into the Kingdoms of the world and you shall see no such thing in them as external uniformity Here in England you shall observe that York is not governed as Hull nor Hull as Hallifax nor that as Bristol c. neither is one County governed uniformly as another there is no uniformity in the government of Kent and Essex nor one town governed like another in Godmanchester the youngest son inherits in Huntington the Eldest nor one Corporation governed like another nor one Company in the City governed as another and yet between all Counties Cities Towns Corporations Companies there is unity though no external uniformity Yea look upon the famous City of London and there are it may be an hundred thousand families or more in it and each one governed after a
several manner and among all these families there is no external uniformity and yet they all agree well enough in the unity of a City Nay further to bring but one man to an uniformity of life and practice by an outward Law would be the most absolute tyranny in the world and make his life worse then death To compel every man by a Law every day in the week or every Munday Tuseday c. in the week to an uniformity of life that he shall rise at the same time use the same postures speak the same words eat the same food receive the same physick sit and stand and walk and lie down at the same set times who ever heard of such a cruel bondage What an absurd and intolerable thing then is uniformity in the life of a man taking away all freedom of the soul But how much more evil and intolerable is uniformity in the life of a Christian or of the true Churches of Christ taking away all freedom of the Spirit of God who being one with God works in the freedom of God and is not to be bound with any authoritative or coercive power of poor dark ignorant vain foolish proud and sinful men What now then do the Presbyters mean by uniformity Would they have the word preached and the Sacraments administred and the name of God called on and all this done in Spirit and truth in the Churches of Christ this truly is unity and not uniformity and such an unity as no man can compel But would they have the Word preached the name of God called on Sacraments administred the spiritual Discipline of the spiritual Church mannaged the vertues of Christ and graces of the Spirit in the Saints exercised and all this in one and the same outward form or uniformity This is the burthen of the Saints the bondage of the Church the straitning of the Spirit the limiting of Christ and the eclipsing the glory of the Father And how wise so ever these men may be in natural and carnal things yet their wisdom is but foolishness in spiritual things in which there is no more uniformity then in the workings of the Spirit who works severally in several Saints and severally in the same Saints at several times And therefore they that would tye the Church to an uniformity which works not of it self but as the Spirit works in it let them first tye the Spirit to an uniformity and we are contented But these men seem to run a sad hazard who would thus reduce the workings of the Spirit in Christians and Churches to an outward uniformity according to their own mind and fancy and so would rule and order and enlarge and straiten the Spirit of God by the spirit of man seeing it is worse to sin against Christ in the Spirit then against Christ in the flesh And therefore till I be otherwise taught by the word I cannot conceive that there ought to be or is possible to be any such external uniformity in the Churches of Christ as these men strive wrastle sweat contend for I will not say are ready to fight for but that several Churches of Christ having unity of doctrine faith the Spirit ordinances c. may have divers forms of outward administrations as God and Christ by the Spirit shall lead them and that every Church is in these things to be left free and no Church forced by any outward power to follow or imitate another Church against its Will not being freely led unto it by the Spirit of God Neither do I think that God hath set up any company of men or Synod in the world to shine to a whole Nation so that all People shall be constrained to follow their judgement and to walk by their light seeing other Ministers and Christians may have more light and spirit then they Neither hath Christ promised his presence and spirit to Ministers more then to believers nor more to an hundred then two or three And if two or three Christians in the Country being met together in the name of Christ have Christ himself with his word and Spirit among them they need not ride many miles to the Assembly at London to know what to do or how to carry and behave themselves in the things of God And therefore for any company of men of what repute soever to set up their own judgement in a Kingdom for a peremptory rule from which no man must vary and to compel all the faithful people of God who are the very members of Jesus Christ himself to fall down before it upon pain of being cast into the burning fiery furnace of their indignation heated seven times more hot then ordinary through the desired access of secular power to their power is a far worse work in my eyes then that of King Nebuchadnezzars setting up a golden Image and forcing all to fall down before it seeing spiritual Idolatry is so much worse then corporal as the spirit is better then the flesh And therefore I do think let them teach me better by the word that can that uniformity the great Diana of the Presbyterians and the Image that falls down from the brain and fancy of man hath no footing in the Scriptures or in the practise of the Churches of Christ And that the Presbyterian uniformity is neer a kin to Prelatical conformity and is no other then the same thing under another word after the manner of Prelacy and Presbytery and do conclude that unity is Christian uniformity Antichristian And this I have only hinted and that briefly among many occasions to discover to the faithfull that some of the very dregs of Antichristianisme still prevail and domineer under the very name of Reformation And also to give occasion to men of more spirit and abilities and leisure to discourse more fully to this point that the Serpents head of Formality which is so carefully nourished by humane reason may be crushed in pieces by the power of the word 1 JOHN 2. 27. The annointing which ye have received of him abideth in you and ye need not that any man should teach you but as the same anointing teacheth you all things and is truth and is no lye and even as it hath taught you you shall abide in him The spiritual Church is taught by the anointing the carnal Church by Councels FINIS The Building Beauty Teaching and Establishment of the truly Christian and Spiritual CHURCH Represented in an EXPOSITION On Isai 54 from Vers 11. to the 17. PREACHED To His Excellency Sir Tho. Fairfax and the general Officers of the Army with divers other Officers and Souldiers and People At Marston being the Head-quarter at the Leaguer before Oxford June 7. 1646. By WILLIAM DELL Minister of the Gospel attending on His Excellency Sir Thomas Fairfax in the Army Together with a faithful Testimony touching that valiant and victorious Army in the Epistle to the Reader Matth. 5. 11. Blessed are ye when men shall revile you
and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsly for my sake Vers 12. Rejoyce and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven for so persecuted they the Prophets which were before you Psal 69 9. The reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me Published according to Order London Printed for G. Calvert at the Black Spread Eagle at the West-end of Pauls 1651. To the Reader HAving obtained this grace from God to be called into some friendship and familiarity with Jesus Christ among the rest of his poor Saints so as to to hear and receive from him something of the minde and bosome of the Father according to his Free-grace who hath mercy on whom he will and having after many tears and temptations not-unknown to many yet in the body obtained this further grace to speak the Word of God with boldness I have also though most unworthy been counted worthy to be taken into some fellowship with Christ in his sufferings and to endure the contradiction of sinners and oft-times to encounter the rage and madness of men yea and to fight with men after the manner of beasts altogether brutish and furious And thus it hath fared with me often especially at two remarkable times The one at Lincoln upon occasion of two Sermons preached there on these words of the Prophet Isaiah 9. 7. Of the enâ—crease of his Government peace there shall be no end Wherein giving unto Christ his own proper due many were angry I had taken too much from men to whom yet nothing belongs but iniquiry shame and confusion they could not bear this that the Lord alone should be exalted But that Doctrine of Truth being the Lords and not mine the Lord himself hath strongly upheld with the right hand of his righteousness and the glory of it hath since shone into many hearts in this Kingdom much contrary to their desire The other time wherein I met with remarkable opposition was lately at Marston the Head quarter at the Leaguer before Oxford whither some coming out of the City of London in all probability out of some special design seeing the old malignity now acts in a new form and is daily coming forth in a second and more plausible cunning and deceiving edition became exceeding angry and heady against the plain and clear Truth of the Gospel delivered in this following Exposition wherein the whole truth and substance of what was then delivered is exactly set down and nothing abated but rather some things farther pressed adding as Jeremiah in the second role many like words to the former Now some of these men seeing themselves and their new designs cleerly discovered by the light of the Word and made altogether naked suddenly they grew fierce and furious contradicting and blaspheming yea some of them speaking the language of Hell upon earth of which there are some witnesses as became men of such a generation These men according to the operation of that spirit which works mightily in the children of disobedience come and fill the whole City with lyes and slanders laying to my charge things that I knew not the falshood and untruths whereof there are some hundreds and some of them of great and eminent worth and piety ready to witness Wherefore of meer necessity I was constrained to publish this Exposition as a witness to this present and the following generations of these mens resisting the Spirit and acting against Christ himself in the Word And though the Discourse be very plain not favouring of any accurateness of humane wisdom and learning yet they that are themselves spiritual will acknowledge something of the Spirit in it and for that cause will rellish and love it though others will therefore be at the greater enmity against it But for my part I have set down my resolution in the Lord in this Cause of Jesus Christ not to weigh all the power of earth or Hell one feather but to put it to the utmost tryal whether the truth of the Gospel or the slanders and lyes of men shall prevail whether the smoak of the bottomless Pit that comes forth out of the mouth of these and many others shall be able to blot out or darken the brightness of Christs coming in the Ministery of the Gospel yea and whether the power and malice of the Devil and the World shall be stronger then the love and protection of Jesus Christ And I doubt not but the more the World acts in the spirit of the Devil the more will Christ enable us to act in his own Spirit till all at last shall be forced to acknowledge that the Spirit that is in us is stronger then the spirit that is in the World And what now have all these men obtained by all their malice and fury but a greater and more open discovery of the truth and to cause that that light of the Gospel that only stone in one Congregation should through the printing of it have its beams scattered in many pars of the Kingdom and where ever the truth comes the children of the truth will entertain it and ask no body leave And thus through the over-ruling power of Gods wisdom do these men betray their own and their fellows cause and overthrow their own and their ends and whilst they think to oppress the truth propagate it the more and thus shall truths enemies perish and the truth it self flourish yea flourish through slanders oppositions contradictions blasphemies and all the vileness and villany in the world And all this confidence in us arises hence because Christ is not as a dead man but is risen and ascended and sits at the right hand of God and fils all things and doth all things in heaven and in earth in the World and in the Church among his friends and among his enemies till these be made his foot-stool which is the very thing we are now in expectation of Now one thing more which I think fit to acquaint the world withall in this Epistle is this That none of these thorny hearers durst after come to Discourse with me or to look me in the face but one among them that seemed of a better temper then the rest upon the urging of a godly Citizen then present did speak with me and the question he asked of me was this Whether I thought that all Presbyterians were carnal Gospellers I told him I was far from thinking any such thing for I knew some of them very godly Christians and did acknowledge the grace of God in them and that for mine own part I did not allow any such distinction of Christians as Presbyterians and Independents this being onely a distinction of mans making tending to the division of Church and added that as in Christs Kingdom neither circumcision availeth any thing nor uncircumcision but a new creature so in this same kingdom of Christ neither Presbytery availeth any thing nor Independency but a new creature and that
not travel with child for more are the children of the desolate then of the marryed wife saith the Lord. Enlarge the place of thy tent and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habitations Spare not lengthen thy cords and strengthen thy stakes for thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles and make the desolate Cities to be inhabited So that there shall certainly be a most wonderful and numerous increase of the faithful in the Christian Church till they become as the stars of heaven and as the drops of the morning dew that cannot be told all of them assembled in the beauties of holiness And therefore let us not be overmuch troubled though at present we see in a numerous nation but few true children of the spiritual Church for God shall bless these few and bid them increase and multiply and replenish the earth so that though the Assemblies of the Saints be now but thin and one comes from this place and another from that to these Assemblies and in many and most places of the kingdom these few are fain to come together secretly for fear of the Jews that is the people of the letter yet through the pouring forth of the Spirit it shall come to pass at last that they shall come in flocks and as doves to their windows And it shall be said to the Church by the Lord Lift up thine eyes round about and behold all these gather themselves together and come to thee As I live saith the Lord thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all as with an ornament and binde them on thee as a bride doth c. till at last the Church shall say in her heart Who hath begotten me these seeing I have lost my children and am desolate a captive and removing to and fro and who hath brought up these Behold I was left alone these where had they been Yea these very promises are now in the very act of accomplishing among us for the spiritual Church hath received a very great increase within these few years and God hath many faithfull people in many places of this Kingdom and of this my self and many more in this Army are witnesses for having marched up and down the Kingdom to do the work of God and the Sate we have met with many Christians who have much Gospel light and which makes it the more strange in such places where there hath been no Gospel Ministery which hath put me in minde of that prophecy Isa 66. 8. Who hath heard such a thing who hath seen such things Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day or shall a Nation be born at once For as soon as Sion travelled nay before she travelled she brought forth her children There was no outward Ministery of the Gospel to travel or take pains with them and yet Sion brings forth her children And one thing that is remarkable touching the increase of the Church at this day is this That where Christ sends the Ministration of the Spirit there many young people are brought in to Christ as being most free from the forms of the former age and from the Doctrines and Traditions of men taught and received instead of the pure and unmixed Word of God whereas many old professors who are wholly in the form prove the greatest enemies to the power of godliness and thus the first are the last and the last first Now this great and sudden increase of the faithful is that which doth so exceedingly trouble the World and makes them angry at the very heart For if they were but a few mean contemptible and inconsiderable persons whom they might easily suppress and destroy they would be pretty quiet but when they begin to increase in the land as Israel did in Egypt and notwithstanding all the burdens of their task-masters wherewith they are afflicted and grieved do yet increase abundantly and multiply and wax exceeding mighty till they begin to fill the land and when they consult to deal wisely with them lest they multiply too much do yet see them grow and multiply the more that they know not at what Countrey or City or Town or Village or Family to begin to suppress them this is that which doth so exceedingly vex and inrage the world and makes them even mad again as we see this day For the increase of the faithful as it is the glory of the Church so it is the grief and madness of the world But these men in vain attempt against this increase of the faithful as the Egyptians against the increase of the Israelites for none can hinder the increase of the Church but they that hinder God from pouring out his Spirit and according to the measure of God pouring forth the Spirit is and must be the increase of the Church in despite of all the opposition of the world And thus much touching the first promise of the Churches Increase Now in the words I read to you the Lord comes to another promise so that the Lord because of the Churches weakness addes one promise to another and these promises are nothing but the out goings and manifestations of his love throug the Word Christ But to look more neerly upon the words Vers 11. Oh thou afflicted Affliction in the world doth so inseparably attend the Church that the Church even takes its denomination from it Oh thou afflicted The condition of the Church is an afflicted condition For the Church being born of God and born of the Spirit is put into a direct contrariety to the world which is born of the flesh and is also of its father the devil And so the whole world is malignant against the faithful and spiritual Church and all that are not regenerate set their faces yea their hearts and their hands against the Saints and the unregenerate world is against the regenerate and the carnal world against the spiritual and the sinful world against the righteous and all the people and nations in the world are against that people and nation which the Apostle cals a holy nation and a peculiar people As the world cannot endure God in himself So neither can it endure God in the Saints and so the more God dwels in the Saints the more doth the world afflict the Saints for they oppose not the faithful for any thing of flesh and blood in them but because that flesh and blood of theirs is the habitation of God and the very presence of God himself is there as he saith I will dwell in them and walk in them Agreeable to this is that of Christ where he saith All this shall they do to you for my Names sake that is when the Name of Christ is called upon us and we are taken into his Name that is into his righteousness and life and truth and wisdom and holiness and into his Nature which comprehends all this then when the world
it doth not belong Being in the mean time really against Magistracy further then it is serviceable to their own ends Whereas we reckon Magistracy not less Magistracy no less the Ordinance of GOD though we suffer under it and by it This Clergy-Antichristian power where ever it is will still sit upon the power of the Nation the power of Anti-christ so domineering over the powers of the World that none but the power of CHRIST can cast it off That will still be uppermost what power soever is supream Besides all the experience of former Ages which is the greatest wonder in the World that men consider not GOD gives you sparklings enough of it in this Age some preaching That the government of the Church which they make outward and visible and over mens estates bodies and lives belongs not to King nor Parliament but to the Ministers and their Elders and better it is there should be no government at all say they then not in their hands by whom it should be And here lies the Mystery of Iniquity in this That they make the whole Kingdom a Church then require a power authority and jurisdiction in their Church-Kingdom which the Magistrate is not to deal withal but themselves Whereas we acknowledge the whole power of the Kingdom to belong to the Magistrate and onely give unto CHRIST the power of his own Kingdom which is not of the World but spiritual and heavenly And here also fully to deliver my self from misapprehensions I understand not by the Church of CHRIST any company of men whatsoever who under the notion of a Church or Saints or any other title may plead priviledge or exemption of their lives liberties or estates from the power of the Civil Magistrate for that were to justifie the Papal Prelatical or any other government of a newer name which under pretence of Jus Divinum shall set up and exercise an outward and visible power and jurisdiction free and exempted from the authority and power of the civil Magistrate which I utterly both deny and detest as Antichristian And therefore I humbly represent how prejudicial this may prove to you in the end to suffer a Generation of men in the Kingdom under the name either of Church or Clergy whose power preferment interest is different and excentrical from the power welfare and interest of the Kingdom and what a ballance they may prove against the State where they live in turning and tumultuous times as they themselves know so I hope you clearly perceive it as well as they How they already dare lift up the Head against you who sees not How do they manifest their discontents against you in Pamphlets and Pulpits in their Sermons and Prayers because you have not setled the Government they have studied out for you as Jus Divinum and the certain and unchangeable minde of GOD though they can neither make it out to your selves nor to any body else by the Word that it is so And how do they labour to instill into the people their own discontents perswading them you have done nothing at all because you have not done all that ever they would have you do though you can see neither Scripture nor reason for it And for this cause rendring you every where odious to the people Many other things besides do they scramble up and use against you which they conceive may make for your disadvantage and dis-interest in the people because they think they shall never get much higher except they make you a little lower for they must according to the law of Antichrist set their feet on your power to get up to their own Some discoveries of this spirit you might see in Mr. Loves Sermon telling you before your faces and before the people That some call'd you a Mungrel Parliament Indeed the King as I understand call'd the Parliament at Oxford so but Mr. Love was the first for ought I can learn that ever named you so and I wish he may be the last but any Doctrine is orthodox out of a mans mouth of his Order farther threatning you with a discerning people to look into your actions and to spy out your boundless priviledges as if you must do justice not out of the love of Righteousness but out of fear of Mr. Loves discerning people Telling you also The Clergy had done as much service for you in their Pulpits as your Regiments in the Field that by this means he might minde you what they can do against you as well as for you if you be not servants to their designes for they that have heretofore been for you can if they please turn to others against you who shall be more for themselves And in many other things flying out against your worthy Commanders in the Army upon suspitions of his own and against the Articles at Oxford c. For it is no proper Presbyterial Doctrine that does not at least meddle with the affairs of the State which in time they may hopefully come to order In these and divers other things he took his full swing all of them no doubt deeply appertaining to the mystery of the Gospel The other things he spake to the disadvantage of the ignorant and weak and neither to the Truths disadvantage nor mine I shall clear in a short Reply set after the Discourse and so shall trouble you no farther with any such stuffe but only with a smart expression from one it seems of some note in the Assembly who said If the Parliament approved Mr. Dells Sermon it were no blasphemy to say They were no Parliament So that it seems you shall be no longer a Parliament then you approve what the Assembly approves but the Kingdom hopes you are built upon a better foundation And to him who hath been so bold with you I shall only crave leave to Reply in your presence If the Assembly which I hope they will not should condemn that Doctrine of the Gospel for the substance of it delivered then by Mr. Dell it will be no blasphemy to say They are the enemies of the truth of Christ And I hope the last prop of Antichrist in the Kingdom For your selves Honourable and Worthy I beseech you consider that GOD is wonderful in counsel and excellent in working that all power is given to CHRIST in Heaven and in Earth that he might give free passage to the Gospel And therefore take heed after GOD hath blest your Power and Forces in the field and subdued that Malignant power that was against you and hath given you a little peace quietness in the Kingdom you do not now begin your affaires with discountenancing disrelishing much less condemning the faithful and true Word of GOD witnessed in the Scriptures and confest to by the faithful and Martyrs of Christ in all Ages and with the setting off from you that Ministery that hath most of the Spirit in it lest the Lord withdraw his presence from you and your
understood carnally and have apprehended the whole Scriptures not according to Gods mind but according to their own not according to the sense of the Spirit but according to the sense of the flesh And thus was Antichrists kingdom first set up and thus it hath been kept up and continued even by the carnall understanding of the Scriptures For they have understood the Church the kingdom of God in the world carnally the rock on which it is built carnally the door of this Kingdom carnally the Laws of it carnally the Liberties of it carnally the Power Authority Government Glory Officers c. all carnally And to this very day which of the things of God doth not the carnal Church understand carnally Faith hope love it understands carnally Redemption Adoption Justification Sanctification Glorification Union with Christ Communion of the Spirit Access to the Father together with Christ the Head and the Church the Body in their joint union and offices and all other things they understand carnally and have a fleshly sense and apprehension of them And as they understand all other things of Gods kingdom carnally so also the Reformation of it And there are not greater and grosser Mistakes about any of the things of God then about this men imagining the Reformation of the Church which is altogether a spiritual and heavenly kingdom after the manner of the Reformation of Worldly States and Commonwealths which only stands in outward things and is brought to pass by humane Counsels and humane Power Now because this is not only a gross but a generall Error in all Sorts of People both of high and of low degree I shall indeavour at this time according to the good hand of God with me to represent in some Gospel light to this Honorable and Christian Auditory the true Reformation of the Church of the New-Testament And blessed is he who shall not be offended at it For this purpose I made choice of the Words now read Vntill the time of Reformation For the better understanding of which we must read the Context Ver. 9. The first Tabernacle was a figure for the time then present in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices that could not make him that did the service perfect as pertaining to the conscience V. 10. Which stood only in meats and drinks and divers washings and carnal ordinances it should be righteousnesses or justifications of the flesh 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 imposed on them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 untill the time of Reformation In which words the Apostle shews the imperfection of the worship of the old Law because it stood in outward rites ceremonies duties performances and so could not make him that used them and was busied in them perfect as pertaining to his conscience and therefore God did not simply and absolutely impose these things on the Church to continue for ever but only untill the time wherein all things were to be reformed not only evill things but imperfect And then all that outward Religion was to be abolished Now if the Law of Moses could not make men perfect as pertaining to the Conscience much less can any new laws invented now And if any such laws should be imposed on the people of God now the Gospel hath the same strength in it self to make them void as the former and also the same ground from them because all such laws and ordinances devised by men cannot make them that obey and practise them perfect as pertaining to the Conscience and therefore are all to be at an end when the time of Reformation comes Quest Now if you ask me when this time of Reformation was Answ I answer It was when Christ came not a servant as Moses but the Son out of the bosome of the Father the great Prophet of the new Testament whose doctrine was not letter as Moses was but Spirit and life And now when Christ the Minister of the new Testament came with the ministration of the Spirit now was the time of Reformation In the time of the Law there were outward duties and performances and ceremonies and sacrifices and strict laws to injoyn the observation of these things carrying along with them the severity of death and yet notwithstanding all this there was no true Reformation but under all that outward Religion men were inwardly as corrupt and wicked as the very heathen for all their Circumcision in the flesh they were uncircumcised in heart for all their outward washing they were inwardly unclean for all their blood of buls and goats their sins remained in their natures and consciences for all their strict forcing of men to the duties of the outward worship of God the people still remained far from God even in all those duties So that notwithstanding the outward worship of Moses Law the people remained inwardly corrupt filthy and unclean and without any true Reformation before God till Christ who was God in the flesh came with the ministration of the Spirit and then indeed was the time of Reformation Vntil the time of Reformation The thing then the Spirit would have us take notice of in these words is this That the time of the Gospel is the time of Reformation When ever the Gospel is preached in the spirit and power of it that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the time of Reformation For our more orderly proceeding in this point we will observe this Method 1. Show what true Gospel-Reformation is and how it is qualified that so you may the better distinguish it from Political and Ecclesiastical Reformation Now both these I joyn together because the carnal Church hath always interested and mingled it self with the power of the world as being able to doe nothing without it 2. I will indevor to shew to whose hands the work of Gospel-Reformation is committed 3. By what means he to whose hands it is committed brings it about 4. The advantages of such a Reformation where it is wrought 5. The Vse The first General What true Gospel Reformation is and how qualified 1. What it is It is the mortifying destroying and utter abolishing out of the Faithful and Elect all that sin corruption lust evil that did flow in upon them through the Fall of Adam Or It is the taking away and destroying the body of sin out of the Faithfull and Elect by the presence and operation of the righteousness of God dwelling in their hearts by faith This is true Gospel-Reformation and besides this I know no other This the Evangelical Prophet Isaiah describeth Chap. 1. 27. Zion shall be redeemed with judgment and her Converts with righteousness Now Christ dwelling in our hearts by faith as he discovers reproves condemns and destroys sin so he is called Judgement And thus is Judgement to be understood in the Gospel sense and not terribly as in the sense of the Law And this Judgement shall at last break forth into victory that is though Christ in
of the Church is as great a work as the Redemption of it you will acknowledge the work is too great for you and that it belongs only unto Christ seeing the Father hath committed the care of this work only to him and he hath taken this care and charge upon himself and it is onely sutable to him as being the Head of the Church and he only is able for it as being the Son of God and equall to God The third General By what means Christ brings this Reformation about And that is by these two and them onely to wit the Word and the Spirit The first means whereby Christ reforms the Church is the Word By this Christ doth all that ever he doth in his Kingdom by this he cals and rejects by this he binds and looseth by this he comforts and terrifies by this he enlightens and makes blind by this he kils and quickens by this he saves and damns and all that ever he doth in this Kingdom he doth by his word and without this he doth nothing of all that he doth Christ doth all in his Kingdom by the word only but Antichrist doth all things without the word even by the Decrees and Constitutions of men Now as Christ doth all other things in the Church by the word so he reforms too Now are ye clean through the word that I have spoken to you All the powers in the world cannot reform the Church as the word of God can do for this is quick and powerful and sharper then a two-edged sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart and doth change and renew and reform all And therefore Christ when he comes to reform the Church comes with no worldly power or weapons but onely with the word in his mouth yea though God set him King upon his holy hill of Sion yet he reforms not by outward power but by preaching saying I will publish the decree whereof the Lord hath said unto me Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee And again The Spirit of the Lord is upon me for he hath annointed me to preach the Gospel And again The Redeemer shall come to Sion and then follows the Covenant of God with the Redeemer My word shall never depart out of thy mouth Isa 59. 10. and in Psal 45. the Church saith by the Spirit to Christ Ride on prosperously in the word of truth meekness and righteousness which is the word of the Gospel And so Christ when the time of Reformation was come went up and down preaching the word And thus he brought to pass the glorious Reformation of the New Testament by preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom and nothing else And when he was to eave the world he sent his Disciples to carry on the work of Reformation as he himself had begun it as he saith As my Father sent me so send I you not with the power of the world but with the power of the word and so he bid them go teach all Nations and preach the Gospel to every creature and by teaching and preaching to the world to reform the world and so accordingly they did Mark 16. ver 20. They went forth and preached everywhere the Lord working with them So that Christ sent them not forth with any power of swords or guns or prisons to reform the world or with any power of States or Armies but sent forth poor illiterate mechanick men and only armed them with the power of the word and behold what wonders they wrought by that power alone They turned the world upside down they changed the manners customes religion worship lives and natures of men they carryed all oppositions and difficulties before them they won many in most Kingdoms unto Christ and brought them into willing subjection and obedience to him and all this they did I say not with any earthly or secular power but by the ministery of the Gospel alone Christs great and onely Instrument for the conquering subduing and reforming of the Nations And so the power appeared to be Gods onely and not the creatures And thus you see how the word is one means Christ useth for Reformation And this word only works a right Reformation For this reforms truly and indeed all other power reforms but in appearance So that there is no true reformation of any thing but what is wrought by the word but what ever evill is reformed and not by the power of the word it is not truly reformed it is onely reformed in the flesh and not in the spirit it is only suspended in the outward operation of it but the seed and nature of it still remains in the heart to grow up and work again as opportunity serves And therefore what ever evil or corruption is reformed in thee see it be reformed by the power of the word if the word hath killed it in thee it is killed indeed if not it is alive in thee though it seem to be dead The outward power of the world may set up an image of Reformation but it is the word onely can work true Reformation And therefore let us learn to rely on the word for the Reformation of the Church For this is much for the honour of the word which God hath magnified above all his Name when we can neglect the power of the world and leave the whole work of Reformation to the power working and efficacy of the word alone which is Almighty and able to bring off the heart from all things to God As on the contrary it is a great dishonour to God and his word when men dare not relie on the word alone to reform the Church though it be stronger then men and Angels and all the creatures but will needs be calling in the power of the world and rest and rely on that for this work as if the power of the word were not sufficient But let such men know that if the power of the word will not reform men all the power of the world will never do it And therefore well said Luther Praedicare annuntiare scribere volo neminem autem vi adigam I will Preach and Teach and Write but I will constrain no body Oh therefore that our Civil and Ecclesiastical powers would so much honour Christs Word as to trust the reformation of his Kingdom with it and that as it is sufficient to reform the Church so you would be pleased to think it sufficient and thus shall you give Christ and his Word due honour as well as declare your own faith And if you would commit this work to the power of the word to which onely it belongs you should soon see what the Word would do There is no such glorious sight under heaven as to see the Word in the spirit and power of it come in to an unreformed world and to observe the changes and
a spiritual Kingdom and the Reformation of it is answerable and that Christ himself who is the Lord the Spirit is the Reformer of this spiritual Kingdom by his Word and Spirit but little thought that any man would have been so blind or worse as to have affirmed the preaching of this spiritual and glorious Reformation was to preach against all reformation Is the Reformation of Jesus Christ which he works by his Word and Spirit in all the faithful and in all the Churches of the Saints no Reformation at all How durst you affirm this Mr. Love Mr. LOVE As if all were encompassed within the narrow heart of man Reply Yet I said plainly enough When the heart is reformed all is reformed and Gospel Reformation though it begins in the inward man ends in the outward Did you Sir accuse me rightly then or no Mr. LOVE If this be so Race out the first Article of the Covenant Reply I had rather the whole Covenant were raced out then the least truth contained in the word of God Though I like the Covenant well enough according to the true intention of it Again if the thing be truly considered it will appear that you are more against the Covenant then I for the Covenant engages us to reform according to the word of God but you it seems would reform without yea against the Word with outward and secular power which you will not suffer in the Magistrates hands neither but will needs have it in your own Mr. LOVE If this Doctrine be true That Gospel-Reformation be only spiritual then I wonder how Paul was so out who said When I come I will set all things in Order surely that was a Church-Order Reply But pray What outward or secular power had Paul who suffered not onely much from the world but most from the false Apostles to set the Church in order Did Paul think you use any worldly power to set the Church in order or only the power of the word and spirit But these men think if the Church be to be set in order by the word and spirit onely which were sufficient in Pauls time it 's like to be out of order for them Mr. LOVE To cry down all kinde of Government under heart-government and all Reformation as carnal because you have the Civil Magistrates hand to it is against that place of Paul 1 Tim. 2. 2. Pray for Kings and all that are in Authority that we may lead a quiet and a peaceable life in all godliness and honesty Reply Well argu'd now indeed Babes and sucklings you shall come forth and answer this Master in Israel The sense of this place is evidently this That Christians should pray for Kings and Governors that God would so incline their hearts that whilst we live in godliness under them they would suffer us to live in peace and not make us fare the worse in the world for our interest in the Kingdom of God And what one drop can Mr. Love squeeze out of this Scripture to cool the tip of his tongue For the meaning is not That the Magistrate should enforce godliness but portect us in godliness Mr. LOVE To justle out the Magistrates power is to justle out the first Article of the Covenant What again and they that justle out that will justle out you shortly Reply Good Sir Ascribe not your own work to our hands The justling out the Magistrate have you not made it the chief part of your business now for a long while together and are you not still so diligently acting it every day that now you think your work is in some forwardness and you are pretty well able to deal with him And now because you would not be mistrusted your selves you publickly slander us with it We see clearly thorow all your slender disguises Mr. LOVE Ezra was of another mind Ezra 7. 26. Whosoever will not do the Law of thy God and the Law of thy King let Judgement be executed speedily upon him whether it be unto death or unto banishment or to confiscation of goods or to imprisonment Reply Well Sir will you stand to this place and shall this end the Controversie Pray mark then This was part of the Decree of Artaxerxes a King of the Nations touching the Jews for the rebuilding of the material Temple That they should have liberty to do it and not be molested in the doing of it but should have what assistance the State could afford The Decree was this Ezra 7. 13. I make a Decree That all they of the people of Israel and of the Priests and Levites in any Realm which are minded of their own free will to go up to Jerusalem go with thee Forasmuch as thou art sent of the King and his seven Councellors to enquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem according to the Law of thy God that is in thy hand c. And vers 21. I Artaxerxes the King do make a Decree to all the Treasurers beyond the River That whatsoever Ezra the Priest shall require of you it be done speedily unto two hundred Talents of silver And then vers 26 follows Whoever will not do the law of thy God and the law of thy King Let him be so and so punished as you have heard 1. Here then you see That Artaxerxes made no Decree to enforce all the Jews to go build but as the Text saith Those that were minded of their own free will See you not here that even a King of the Nations thought it unreasonable to force any man to go to build Gods material house against his will 2. And secondly you see How he gave them no laws how to build but permitted them to do it according to the law of their God that was in their hands 3. And thirdly you see How he deterred any from hindering them from this work upon pain of death banishment c. Do you not perceive now by this time how you then deceived the people by giving them the letter of the Word without the 〈◊〉 sense of it as Satan dealt with Christ in his temptations Such Sermons bring an Hour of Temptation upon the people This then is the force of the place 1. First That the Magistrate may make a Decree for all that are minded of their own free will to build the Spiritual Temple of Jesus Christ and to gather up into a Communion of Saints 2. Secondly That he ought to permit this to be done according to the law of our God that is in our hands or rather according to the law of the Spirit of life that is in our Hearts and not to enforce upon us any Clergy constitutions 3. And thirdly That he may deter you and the rest of the Kingdom that are of the like minde with you from resisting and hindering this work which hath its Authority from Heaven That so the Saints the Kingdom of Christ may pray for the Magistrate and Christ the King of Saints may bless the Magistrate and make
the Spirit which is the onely true Church and body of Christ he that lives out of this spiritual body though he live in the most excellent society in the world yet he breaks the unity of the Church not living in one body with it And thus many break the Churches unity that never think on it 2. Again they break this bond of the Churches unity that live in this one body but not as members And such are they who having got the advantage of the Magistrates power will needs lift themselves up above their fellow-members and exercise authoritative coercive domineering power over them whereas the very Apostles themselves were not Lords of the Church but fellow-members with the faithful living in one body and under one head with them and so did all by love and perswasion and nothing by force and violence Now those members that exalt themselves above their fellow and equal members what do they else but usurp the place of the Head and so break in sunder the unity of the body which stands in the unity of the Head He that in a single or combined unity sets himself up above other Believers by giving Laws and by prescribing and commanding Forms and Rules to those that are every way his equals he advances himself as another head besides Christ and so Anti-christ is nearer to us then we are aware and many men that are so forward and fierce to make and enforce Rules and Orders colourably to procure the Churches peace they are the first men that do themselves break this first bond of the Churches Vnity to wit Vnity of Body which makes all Believers equal members equally subject to one Head The second bond of the true Churches unity is ONE SPIRIT There is one body and one Spirit saith Paul and through unity of Spirit they become one body Now as the body of man consists of many members and but one soul comprehends quickens moves and governs all these members making the eye to see the hand to work the foot to walk c. So the body of Christ which is the Church consisting of many members hath yet but one and the same HOLY SPIRIT which comprehends quickens moves and governs them all and brings them into a most near and intimate society together and inables each member to its several office according to its place and use in the body of Christ And as a member being cut off from the body the soul doth not follow it to cause it to live out of the unity of the body So he that is divided from the true body of Christ the Spirit doth not follow him to make him live single by himself and so neither is the body of Christ without the Spirit nor the Spirit of Christ without the body And as the same soul in several members acts severally and yet is but one and the same soul in all so the same holy Spirit in several Believers works severally as it pleaseth and yet is but the same holy Spirit in them all So that the whole body of Christ that is all Believers in the world have but one and the same holy Spirit in them and this unity of Spirit in the Church is one strong bond of its peace Among mankinde in general and more nearly among kindred there is unity of flesh but because there is difference of spirit there is much envie hatred strife and variance in that unity of flesh but now the members of the body are not only one flesh but one soul or spirit too and so there is always peace and agreement between them And so the true Church of Christ is not only one body but one Spirit too and this makes it one indeed For as this Spirit is the love and connexion of the Father and the Son so it is also our love and connexion in the Father and the Son and as the Father and the Son live in unity of Spirit so all Believers live the unity of the same Spirit in them Now they on whom the Spirit was first given after Christ was glorified had also with the Spirit the gift of tongues the Spirit given being for the communion of the Church so they spake with the tongues of all the Church having through the communion of the Spirit its society and consociation For he that speaks by the Spirit in the Church where all are one Spirit in Christ he speaks with the tongues of all and when a Believer hears another speak it is as if he himself did speak and when one speaks it is as if all spake for he speaks in the unity of Spirit with them and so speaks the same doctrine of the Gospel and minde of Christ which they all have equally heard and learned from God Hence it is evident that it is nothing to have the outward from of a Church even as our souls could wish except there be inwardly in that Church the Spirit of Christ for it is not unity of form will ever make the Church one but unity of Spirit That Church then that is destitute of the Spirit in its laws orders constitutions forms members officers what true unity can that have in all its uniformity And this is the second bond of the true Churches Vnity Vnity of Spirit Now they break this bond of the Churches unity that live in their own spirits and not in Christs for they that live in a different spirit from the true Church what unity can they possibly have with it They then that live in their own humane reason understanding thoughts councel wils ends they live quite and clean out of the unity of this Church yea in direct enmity against it seeing our own corrupt and earthly spirits are most contrary to the Holy and Heavenly Spirit of Christ in which the Church lives Wherefore we may learn hence what to judge of those men that cry out much for the peace of the Church and yet themselves neither live in nor are led by the Spirit of the Church but either by their own Spirits or Antichrists 2. They that labour to joyn men into one body with the Church that are not one Spirit with it do marr the peace of it For as unity of Spirit in the Church is the bond of peace so diversity of Spirit is the breach of peace and therefore to preserve the peace of the Church none are to joyn themselves to this one body that are not of this one Spirit 3. They that being of the Church do any thing in it by their own Spirits and not by Christs prejudice the peace of the Church for the true Church is such a body which is to have all its communion in the Spirit And therefore when any pray or prophesie or the like in the strength of natural parts or humane studies and invention onely and do not pray and prophesie in the Spirit they break the unity of the Church for the faithful have communion with one another onely so far
ALL WHO IS ABOVE ALL AND THROUGH ALL AND IN YOU ALL. And this though it be last named yet it is the first fountain and original of the Churches unity even One God and Father of all The true Church is a Kingdom of brethren who have all one God and Father from whom all receive alike the divine nature which being one and the same in all without any difference makes them all one and equal that are born of God For among these none have a better Father then another nor none hath a more excellent nature then another but all receive the same nature from the same God and Father and so are brethren in the Lord and this also is another strong bond of unity For they having all one God an Father First all are alike dear to him because all are alike born of him and so he loves not one more or less then another but comprehends all in one and the same love with Jesus Christ And this truly known will restrain believers from wronging one another when they know that such are every whit as dear to God as themselves and that God hath as great and tender love to them and care over them Secondly All are alike near to us because of this one God and Father and so among true Christians there can be no such divisions and factions and sidings as among worldly people because one Christian is not nearer to us then another and so we do not take part with one against another but all are alike near to us and so without any respect of persons we embrace all that are born of God with an equal love and seek the good of each one yea of every one as well as any one Now this God and Father of the Church he farther describes that he is 1. ABOVE ALL The Father is above the children and they are not above one another but he is above them all ruling and over-ruling them and so they are not to live in their own wills which might cause difference but in their Fathers will which causes unity and thus his being above them all keeps them in peace Whereas we see where children live without due subjection having no body above them as it falls out sometimes among Orphans there they are often unquiet and grievous to one another But God is above all his children and so keeps them in due subjection to him and in quietness and love with one another daily composing their differences through his unity 2. He is THROUGH ALL as having communicated to all his own nature and so according to this nature of his which he hath communicated to all alike and all alike possess he is through them all And hereupon they all must needs be one because God never differs from himself but his nature is at unity with it self in all in whom it dwels and brings them all out of the differences of their natures into the unity of Gods 3. He is IN THEM ALL. God is such a Father as hath his presence in all his Children he hath a special presence in them dwelling in them after the maner he dwelt in Christ though not in that measure for God dwels in Christ and Christians otherwise then in the rest of the creatures to wit by communicating his nature to them through his union with them And wherever God communicates his nature there he is present most truly powerfully and gloriously indeed And such a presence of God in his Church as this keeps it in constant and unchangeable unity For how can they who have God thus dwelling in them and who again thus dwell in God be at odds among themselves And this is the seventh bond of the true Churches unity ONE GOD AND FATHER c. Now they break this bond of the Churches unity who have not this one God and Father of the Church to be their God and their Father who will needs call God Father and yet are none of his children who will be of the Church of God and yet are not born of God and so live according to their own natures and not according to Gods all these I say break the unity of the Church seeing we can no longer live in peace then this one God and Father is above us and through us and in us All they then that will needs be members of the Church through outward profession and yet are none of this spiritual brother hood as having no descent from this heavenly Father they break this unity of the Church even all the children that are onely born after the flesh and so still live according to the natures of men and are not born of the Spirit to live after the nature of God These now are the seven bonds of the true Churches true unity and peace and there is no other bond of unity necessary for the Church besides these For if there had the Apostle being guided by the Spirit would never have omitted it And therefore the more are they to blame who making a great noise and lifting up their voyce on high for unity peace and agreement in the Church yet do wholly neglect these seven bonds of the true Churches unity and cry up one instead of them all and that is External Vniformity So that now among them one body and one Spirit and one hope of our calling and one Lord and one Faith and one Baptism and one God and Father of all are nothing at all to the Churches unity but their uniformity is all in all and whoever breaks that which yet they have no Scripture of God to enjoyn no nor once to name he is the man with them that breaks the Churches peace and so Antichrist-like they have exalted their single uniformity above this seven-fold unity of the Church and so have as much as in them lies made the word of the Spirit void through their carnal that I say no more traditions For a man may break all these seven bonds of the Churches unity and yet be a very good member of their Church if he onely observe their uniformity but if he break this he is a Schismatike and an Heretike and not worthy to live in their account though he live in all the bonds of this true and spiritual unity Wherefore to escape these snares let all believers know assuredly that these seven bonds named by the Apostle which are all spiritual and of God and not one of them carnal or of man are the onely bonds of the true Churches true unity and that whoever of their own minds presume to add to these are guilty of adding to the word of God themselves being but wretched creatures and so involve themselves in all the curses written in his Book among which death and hell have their place And let us further know that whoever do combine together to make themselves one out of the fore-named unity though they call themselves the Church never so
from the glory of God but it will make much for the sanctifying of thy name the gathering and encreasing thy Kingdom the propagating the knowledge of thy word and to be brief it is a most excellent and profitable design But God no doubt laughed at this wisdom of mine and said Go to now I know thee to be wise and learned but this was never my manner that either Peter or Martin meaning himself should teach or form or govern or lead me For I am not a passive but an active God who use always to lead govern form Now saith he it is very grievous that our wisdom should be only passive and that we are commanded to mortifie and slay it and therefore many who could not endure this mortification have fallen horribly And thus this kinde of Gods government is wholly according to his own wisdom and councel and wholly without yea contrary to ours And thus we are in some measure acquainted with the government of Gods special providence over his Church 2. The second sort of Gods immediate Government of his Church is the Grvernment of his spiritual Presence or Gods government within us For the right Church is the City of God and hath God in the midst of it being built and framed and that according to every part of it by the Spirit to be the habitation of God this is the temple of the living God as God hath said and God is in it of a truth And if any would know what this Church is called the name of it is THE LORD IS THERE And so the whole guiding and ordering of this Church depends wholly on God who dwels within it For God will not dwell in his own Church and sit still whilst others that are without it shall govern it but the government of the right Church lies on his shoulders who is Immanuel God with us and in us And so this government of the Church is one of the invisible things of God in the Church Christ who fils it governing it by a most present and powerful but invisible influence leading it into truth by the Spirit of truth into patience by the Spirit of patience into love by the Spirit of love into power by the Spirit of power into humility meekness patience heavenly mindedness and into the fulness of all Righteousness by that Spirit which contains all these graces in it self and works them in all those in whom it dwels In this government we hear the voice behind us saying This is the way walk in it when we turn either to the right hand or to the left In this government we have not outward laws to order us as the Kingdoms of the world have but an inward law written in our hearts by the Spirit of God as God hath said I will write my law in their hearts and in their inward parts and this law is the word of life for the living Church or body of Christ can only be governed by a living word which is called the law of the spirit of life And according to this Government also God guides the true Church wonderfully the soul not seeing the ways and councels of God whereby he forms and fashions the Church according to his own minde and good pleasure clean contrary to humane reason and judgement for he brings them to mourning to bring them to comfort brings them to despair to bring them to faith to death to bring them to life yea even to hell to bring them to heaven leading his chosen people after such a manner that nothing would follow but faith which looks not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen And thus when the soul is in the midst of many fears woes agonies temptations till it feel in good earnest the true sorrows of death and pains of hell and in this darkness sees no beam nor the least glimmering of light and wants all counsel and knows not which way to turn it self then Christ comes and manifests himself to the soul and counsels and directs and comforts it and leads it into the path of life and redeems it from all distress subduing the world and the devil and sin and death and hell under it yea and carrying it into all the fulness of God Now these two sorts of Governments to wit the one of his special providence and the other of his spiritual presence the true Church never wanted in any Age And in this present Age when the Prelatical Government hath been dissolved for several years together Can any Christian think that the right Church of Christ hath been without all Government Nay all this while it hath been governed most powerfully by his special providence and most sweetly by his spiritual presence So that neither the world nor the devil have been able to prevail neither against its grace nor comforts And for an outward formal visible enforced Government after the manner of civil Corporations or worldly Kingdoms the true Church can as well want such a Government at all times as at any time yea and it is best without it as being farthest removed from the tyranny of men and more immediately under the Government of Christ its onely King and Law-Giver And therefore they that are so violent for an outward and visible Government of the Church after the manner of the Kingdoms of the World I do heartily wish that if it be the good pleasure of God they might sometime or other be exercised with temptations of despair and with the sence of the wrath of God and everlasting burnings For by this means their idle and vain thoughts and speculations of governing the Church of God by humane power and methods would soon vanish and they would soon give over to trouble themselves and the faithful about things that have neither power in them to free from eternal death nor to procure eternal life And thus much for that two-fold Government of the Church which God himself exercises immediately in and over it whereof we must not be ignorant if we desire to preserve the peace of the Church both in our selves and others Now besides this immediate Government of God there is another sort of Government of the Church which Christ exercises mediately by the Church And this also is Christs Government and not mans and men who have not known nor understood the former Government of Christ have mistaken this also through the same unbelief wherefore they not so much as minding the former Government of Christ which is immediate and by himself have made this mediate Government of the Church by man to be all And this also I say they have understood most grossly and carnally and not according to the Word but according to their own ignorant and seduced hearts I shall not trouble the Reader with their particular mis apprehensions in this matter seeing it is far more profitable to content our selves with the plain and evident truth then
to enquire after variety of errors Wherefore letting alone their darkness I shall onely endeavour that the light of the word may shine unto us in this matter that herein also we may be taught of God if it be the will of God This mediate Government then of Christ in the true Church I conceive to be nothing but this Christs ordering all things by the faithful among the faithful in reference to the communion of Saints Now because many Christians desire instruction and light in this matter I shall be willing to hold forth to them that measure of knowledge which I have received herein being desirous also to learn my self of them that can teach me better by the Word And that I may proceed the more distinctly I shall propound several things to which I shall speak in order and they be these 1. To whom Christ hath committed the power of ordering and managing all things in the true Church in reference to the communion of Saints 2. What kinde of power this is which the true Church hath 3. What is the extent of this power 4. What is the outward instrument of it 5. What the true Church can do by vertue of it And this comprehends these particulars 1. It can gather it self together 2. It can appoint its own order 3. It can choose its own officers and if need be reform them or depose them 4. It can call its own councels 5. It can judge of all Doctrines both of its Officers and Councels And all these things I reckon needful for the true Church to know for the preserving among themselves that peace and unity they have in Christ They first thing then is 1. To whom Christ hath committed the power of ordering and managing all things in the true Church in reference to the communion of Saints I Answer He hath given it to the true Church it self as formerly described even to each and all the members of it for as natural power belongs to all natural men alike so spiritual power which is the true Church power to all spiritual men alike Christ in a Believer is the root of true Church-power and because Christ dwels in all Believers alike through unity of faith therefore all Believers partake alike of spiritual and super-natural power and no one partakes of this power more then another any more then he partakes of Christ more then another but Christ in them all is the self same power of God to do all things that are to be done in the Kingdom of God And according this sense that place in Math. 16. 19. is to be understood where Christ saith to Peter And I will give unto thee the keys of the Kingdom of heaven and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven The Pope and Papal Church under colour of this place have made great merchandise and have exceedingly abused and cheated the Nations for many hundred years together but the light of the Gospel hath shined forth and the days of their traffique are at end And yet since others have been trucking with the world by their false interpretations of this place and have thought to use it to their great advantage but the day hath so far dawned that their shadows also are flying away But not to keep you longer from the words themselves Peter had said to Christ Thou art Christ the Son of the living God And Christ replyed to Peter Blessed art thou for flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee but my Father which is heaven and then adds Vnto thee will I give the keys of the Kingdom of heaven c. that is not to Peter as an Apostle or Minister but as a Believer who had the Revelation of the Father touching the Son and so also they are given equally to each faithful Christian who hath the same Revelation with Peter as also to the whole communion of Saints And so these Keys are not given to any particular person or persons consisting of flesh and blood or imployed in such or such an Office but that man whoever he be that hath the Revelation of the Father he it is to whom these Keys are given and to none else and so they are given to each Believer in particular and to the whole Church of Believers in general But what are these Keys about which there hath been so great a do in the Church I answer They are not any outward Ecclesiastical power whatever that men have devised to serve their own turns withal but to pass by the many false conceits wherewith many former and present Writers have and do still trouble the Church John doth tell us plainly Joh. 20. 22. what Matthew means by the Keys of the Church Christ saith he appearing to his Disciples after his Resurrection breathing on them said Receive the holy Spirit here are the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven and then adds Whose sins ye remit they are remitted and whose sins ye retain they are retained that is when ye have received the Spirit then you have received the Keys to binde and loose to remit and retain sin and that not according to your wils but wholly according to the minde and will and direction of the Spirit And so Christ then before his ascention gave these Keys truly to his Disciples but more solemnly and fully at the day of Pentecost when the Spirit was given by Christ glorified and after the Gentiles who by the preaching of Peter received the Spirit even as the Apostles did they also received these Keys and so all that have received the Spirit have the Keys of the Kingdom equally committed to them and the power of binding and loosing by the ministration of the Spirit And so these Keys appertain not only to greater Congregations of Christians but to the very least communion of Saints as Christ hath promised Where two or three are met together in my name there am I present in the midst of them Where we see that two or three gathered together in Christs name have as much power as Peter and all the Apostles because Christ is equally present with these as with those Again Christ hath commanded that if the offending brother will not hear the admonition of two or three other brethren the offended brother should tell the Church Mat. 18. 17. Now the Church is not the Officers but the Congregation of the faithful seeing men are not of the Church through any Office but only through faith And by all these things it is evident That the power of Church-government that is the power of acting and ordering all things among the faithful belongs to every faithful man alike in the Congregation of the faithful 2. What kinde of power this is which the true Church hath I answer in general that it is a power sutable to the Church or Kingdom whereof it is the power
hath put on to deceive shall after a few years vanish away it shall return into the shape of its first beginning And therefore let us know whatever rules orders or humane inventions men do study and devise to govern their Churches by the true Church of Christ shall ever be known by the scepter and sword of the onely Gospel preached in it which is fully sufficient for the regiment of the Church else Christ were an imperfect Law-giver And all those that do affirm that the votes determinations rules and constitutions of Councels are better for the well ordering and governing the Church then the pure and naked word of the Gospel by the ministration of the Spirit in my judgement they speak blasphemously Let us now hear what Luther saith to this purpose Christians saith he ought to be governed by that word and no other whereby they are made Christians that is free from sin and this is only by the pure Gospel of God without the addition of Councels Doctors Fathers For what is it to govern Christians by that word which though they keep yet neither do they become Christians nor continue such nay they cease to be Christians and lose Christ And of this sort is every word besides the Gospel and salvation reigns in us not by the laws of men but by the power of Christ Farther they that are not Christians are to be restrained other ways then by the traditions of men for these are to be let alone and as Paul saith We are not to mingle with them There is the secular sword there is the Magistrate for these and it belongs to him to restrain those that are evil from evil deeds by the power of the sword But the Bishop or Overseer governs Christians without the sword only by the Word of God seeing it is certain they are not Christians except they be spontaneously good and such they are made by the force of the spirit of faith as Paul saith Rom. 8. As many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the children of God What madness then is it to urge them that are willingly good with the Laws of the evil And yet saith he There are not a few light and vain men that think that the business of the Gospel is to be promoted with weapons and cuffes And the same Luther in his Epistle to the Christians and Preachers of Erphurd saith Consider in your minde with what sword I subdued the Papacy and the whole state of religious men who before were dreadful to all of whom it was said Who shall fight with the Beast that hath power to make war with the Saints and to overcome them And yet saith he I never touched them with so much as one of my fingers but Christ destroyed and overthrew all that detestable Kingdom by discovering their iniquities by the Spirit of his mouth that is by the Word of the Gospel In which passages of his besides what is spoken before it is apparent that there is no other instrument of the true Churches power but the word of the Gospel which is the only scepter and sword of Christs Kingdom 5. What the true Church can do by vertue of this power Now the true Church by the power it hath received from Christ can 1. Gather it self together when and as often as it pleaseth The company of Believers have power to gather themselves togeâ—ther for their mutual good instruction preservation edification and for the avoiding or preventing of evil and that without the consent or authority of any extrinsecal and forraign power whatever else Christ were not a sufficient founder of his Church And if every free Society not subjected to tyranny hath power in it self to congregate and come together as conveniency and necessity shall require as is evident in all civil Corporations and in all Fraternities and meetings of love much more hath the Church of Christ which is the freest Society in the world power to meet together into a communion of Saints though it be without and against the consent and authority of the powers of the world And thus the Disciples immediately after Christs resurrection though the People and Rulers were wholly set against them did often meet together among themselves though privately and Christ himself came and stood in the midst of them and finding them in that way of Communion said Peace be unto them And so by his own presence did both justifie and encourage such meetings And after the Apostles with other Believers to the number of an hundred and twenty met together in an upper room to pray and to choose an Apostle in the stead of Judas Act. 1. And at the day of Pentecost they all met again Act. 2. Though the Elders of the Church and Rulers of the state were utterly against their meetings And again Act. 4. Peter and John after the threatnings of the Rulers and the Jews went and met with their own company which was now mightily encreased by the Ministery of the Gospel and declared to them all things that God had done by them and the Rulers had done against them whereupon all of them joyned together in the praise of God for the success of the Gospel against the power of the world And again Act. 6. the Church of its own accord met together to chuse seven Deacons And a multitude of other instances might be produced By all which it appears that the Church of Believers hath power of it self to appoint its own meetings as conveniency or necessity shall require for the good of the Church And therefore none are to presume to deny the Church this power which it hath received from him that hath all power in heaven and in earth Neither ought the true Church to suffer this power to be taken from them which they have received from so good a hand but still to use their own Christian meetings though the Powers of the world never so much oppose them as the Apostles and Believers in their time began and as Believers after for 300 years continued notwithstanding the barbarous cruelties of the persecuting Emperours 2. As the Church of the faithful hath power from Christ to meet together so secondly to appoint its own outward orders For the Church whilst it dwels in flesh and bloud uses some external Rites by which it is neither sanctified in soul or body but they are things meerly of outward Order and decency And these things each Church or Communion of Saints may order by it self according to the wisedom of the Spirit so it observe these Rules 1. That they do all things in love seeing all Laws without love are tyranny and so whatsoever is not from and for love is not to be appointed and if it be it is again to be abolished seeing no Text of the Scripture it self if it build not up love is rightly interpreted 2. They are to do all things for peace and all
hath power to examine try and judge the doctrine of the Apostles and Angels much more of other men who have not received such an anoynting neither do live in so clear a light of God And thus I have declared the things which seemed to me both convenient and necessary for the true Church to know for the preserving of that peace among themselves which they have in Christ Now as the judgement of the Church is to be rectified in these things so the practice of it is to rectified in other things for the preserving it in peace The things wherein the practice of the Church is to be rectified in the Way of Peace are either 1. More absolute and general Or 2. More special and occasional in case of difference among the faithful Among the things that are more absolute and general which are to be done to procure and preserve the peace of the Church these nine things that follow have not the least place 1. Practical Rule for Peace 1. The true Church is to preserve it self distinct from the world and is neither to mingle it self with the world nor to suffer the world to mingle it self with it For if the Church and the world be mingled together in one Society the same common Laws will no more agree to them who are of such different natures principles and ends then the same common Laws will agree to light and darkness life and death sin and righteousness flesh and spirit For the true Church are a spiritual people being born of god and so they worship God in the Spirit according to the law of the Spirit of life that was in Christ and is in them but the carnal Church is of the world and only savours the world and so will have a worldly Religion Forms Orders Government and all worldly as it self is Now whilst these two are mingled together what peace can there be for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness and light with darkness and Christ with the Devil And so what agreement have Believers with unbelievers or the true Church with the world Wherefore it is not the way of Peace to mingle the Church and the world but to separate them and to keep them distinct that those that are of one nature and spirit may be of one communion among themselves and this way of Peace God himself teacheth us by Paul 2 Cor. 6. 17. saying Come out from among them my people and be ye separate for to separate the Church from the world in its communion of Saints is the only way to preserve peace in both seeing the Church will best agree with it self and the world with it self The second Rule 2. The Church being thus distinct from the world is to be contended with its own power for its own affairs and is not to introduce or entertain any power in it that is not of it Wherefore the true Church being such a Kingdom as is not of this world stands in need of no worldly power and being a spiritual and heavenly Kingdom is only to have and exercise a spiritual and heavenly power seeing this power alone and by it self is able to accomplish the whole good pleasure of God in the Church and to work all the works in it that God hath to do And so it is strongly to be suspected that those men that dare not commit the success of their business to Christs power alone but will call in secular power over and above to help them I say it is more then probable that they have underneath some secular end seeing Christs power alone is fully sufficient to do all things that are necessary and profitable for his Kingdom Besides this worldly power never works peace but always disturbances in the Church putting all things out of Gods way and method into mans and working mans will rather then Gods yea mans will against Gods and it is wholly contrary to the very nature of the Church and how then can it agree with it in any thing If any shall reply that worldly power doth well in the Church because it keeps down many profane persons that would not be kept down by the word I answer That so far as such profane ones are governed by worldly power they are of the world and not of the Church and worldly power had better govern them in the world it s own proper sphear then in the Church which is beyond their line especially seeing the Church hath power enough in it self to govern those that are of it and they that will not be governed willingly in the Church as Christians let them be governed against their wils in the Commonwealth as men For the Government of the Church is over men as Christians as spiritual but the government of the state is over men as men as natural and carnal The first of these governments belongs to Christ and the latter to the Magistrate And if the Magistrate be faithful in his Office and headship there is no doubt to be made of Christs faithfulness in his But now if the Magistrate will not content himself with his own Kingdom and power but will needs intrude on Christs alâ—â— and not reckoning it enough to govern men a men by his world power will also by the same power be tampering with the 〈◊〉 Church this both renders him troublesome to the faithful â—nd the faithful troublesome to him Him troublesome to thâ— faithful in that he uses a power over them that is neither sutable to them nor their affairs and them troublesome to him because in Gods Kingdom as they hear not the voice so neither do they obey the command of a stranger The Pope he arrogates both swords to himself when neither belongs to him and therefore in due time shall perish by both and if the Magistrate shal assume to himself power of bothâ—ingdoms â—ingdoms Christs and the Worlds when of right but one belongs to him to wit the Worlds and not Christs it will be very dangerous lest by encroaching on Christs Kingdom he lose his own Let the Magistrate therefore use his power in the state and let him suffer Christ to use his power in the Church seeing his presence is alwayes there and then there will be quietness in both but else in neither seeing Christ will as assuredly trouble the Magistrates Kingdom as the Magistrate trouble his The third Rule is Not to bring or force men into the Church against their wills The Kingdoms of the world are unquiet because many that are unwilling are under those Regiments but Christs Kingdom is therefore quiet because all the people in it are willing and none of them are forced in but all are perswaded in as it is written God perswade Japhet to dwell in the tents of Shem That is the Gentiles were to be perswaded and not forced into the Church And so Christ commanded his Disciples to go and teach all Nations and not to offer them outward
thoughts of his own heart to speak the Dreams and Visions of his own head But when he knows the Word of God is not come to him only but to others also and that they have wisdom and spirit to speak in the Church as well as he this will both keep down his pride and make him careful what he speaks when he knows there are those present in the Congregation that are able to reprove his darkness by light And this prophesying is a strong bit and bridle in the jaws of Error that it cannot run that race in the Church it doth desire 2. When one man only speaks and the doctrine he preaches proves to be erroneous as it is ordinarily in the common Ministry of the Kingdom it comes to pass that Error is not onely preached but also goes away uncontrouled and no way is left for the restraining Error proportionable to that of propagating it no body being permitted to speak to keep the people from the poison of it And thus whilst the liberty of publike speaking is permitted onely to one man in a Congregation and to onesort of men in the Kingdom any Error may suddenly be spread over the whole Kingdom as we see by daily experience without any sufficient and proportionable remedy to prevent it But now when the right or power of prophesying is allowed to the whole Church the Minister can no sooner vent any Error but there is some believer or other whose heart God shall move ready to convince it by the word of God And so Error is as soon discovered and detected as it is published and as soon destroyed as it is detected the word of God though from a private Christian being more mighty to destroy Error then Error can be to uphold it self against the word 3. Prophesying is a most useful means to keep out Error in this regard because it gives the Church light how to chuse faithful Teachers out of its own children when it stands in need of any supply in this kinde Seeing through the exercise of prophesying the Church knows and discerns which of its members are most spiritual and most clearly taught of God in divine things and who have received the most excellent gifts from Christ and so are most fit and able to hold forth the word of life in most evidence and power of the Spirit that so the Church may be supplied with Pastors of her own Sons and not seek oâ— after unknown persons nor be constrained to use mercenary men who have been brought up to preaching as their trade to live by whereupon but few of them can be expected to be other then hirelings who will make their Ministry serve their own advantage and frame the Scripture to sound such doctrine as may best serve their own turns And in these three regards the use of prophesying helps the Church to keep out Error Now if any shall object against this That it may seem very rash and absurd after an able learned man hath spoken in the Church for an unlearned Mechanick presenly to rise up and speak I return this answer That the true people of God are all taught of God and the true Church is a Kingdom of Prophets through the anointing of the Spirit and so they esteem not that to be learning in the Church which is from man but onely that which is heard and learned from the Father and so they neither reckon him that hath humane learning to be learned here nor him that is destitute of it to be ignorant Yea farther in this society God will have him who is most unlearned according to humane literature to speak that the vertues of Christ may the more evidently appear in the Saints and the knowledge of heavenly and divine truths may not be attributed to gifts parts learning or studies but onely to his Spirit which can even in a moment teach the ignorant and make the simple wise and open the mouthes of babes and sucklings yea and of the very dumb to perfect his praise by Whereas when a man of great parts and learning speaks with wisdom and knowledge in the Church this is commonly attributed to his wit and study and so God loses all or most of his praise but if a plain ignorant man shall speak spiritually and divinely and hold forth the mystery of the Gospel in a clear light then men must needs acknowledge God to be the Author of such grace and say God is in him of a truth and so God is acknowledged the Author of his own giâ—ts and he himself is admired in his Saints It will be again objected Yea but if every one have liberty to speak in the Church will not this breed great confusion and disturbance I answer no not in the true Church which are a people met in the name of Christ and who have Christ himself present in the midst of them and so every one demeans himself answerably to the presence of Christ that is in the wisdom meekness and modesty of the Spirit And there also every one speaks not after the rashness of his own brain but according to the revelation of Gâ—d as it is written If any thing be revealed to another let the first hold his peace So that no man is to speak here but by Revelation or an inward teaching and discovery of God And where men speak thus as the true Church is to speak there can be no confusion but most excellent order and decency Yea God himself who is not the Author of confusion but of peace in all the Churches of the Saints he hath appointed and commanded Prophesying as the way of peace and therefore do not thou dare to say it is the way of confusion seeing God knows better how to order the affairs of his own Church then thou doest Wherefore seeing Prophesying is Gods Ordinance in the Churh for the peace of it if any sort of men shall notwithstanding what hath been said still attribute to themselves a proper and incommunicable Ministry or the onely power to speak in the Church I shall but use the Apostles words to them and so pass on from this thing What came the word of God onely unto you and is it to come out onely from you Nay it is come to every believer as well as to you and it is also to come forth from all them unto whom it is come seeing they cannot but speak what they do believe 5. The last means I shall name whereby the true Church may keep errour out of it self is To exercise its power in judging Doctrines as Paul commandeth 1 Cor. 14. 29. Let the Prophets speak two or three and let the rest judge If they that publish Doctrine should also be judges of it and the people be bound to subscribe to their judgement error would not only by this means have opportunity to be vented but would also be established and confirmed without the least contradiction But now God hath appointed it
the Commonwealth As the Lord of Arras a City of Picardie was wont to say that Flanders would be governed otherwise then France or Burgundy And this consideration saith he rightly understood to wit not to press Uniformity in the Church but to let the Church use its liberty in these things would be an excellent beginning of the Reformation of the Church notwithstanding the contradiction of many of the Court of Rome Luther also that chosen Vessel of Christ did clearly oppose this evil of Vniformity He thus delivers his judgement touching Vniformity of Ceremonies If one Church will not follow another of its own accord in those outward things what need is there that it should be compelled by the Decrees of Councels which presenly are turned into laws and snares of souls And therefore let one Church freely imitate another or let it be suffered to use its own way so that unity of Spirit be preserved in Faith and the Word though there be variety and diversity in the flesh or Elements of the world Again the same Luther after he had set down a Form of Celebrating the Supper for the Church of Christ at Wittingberg concludes thus In quibus omnibus cavendum ne legem ex libertate faciamus c. That is In all which we must take heed that we make not a law of liberty or constrain them to sin who shall either do otherwise or shall omit some things so they permit the words of blessing to remain entire and do all act here in Faith For these ought to be the Rites of CHRISTIANS that is of the children of the FREE-WOMAN who may keep them willingly and of their own accord having power to change them when and as often as they will And therefore there is no cause that any should either desire or establish any necessary Form as a law in this matter whereby he may either ensnare or trouble mens consciences And therefore we read not in the ancient Fathers or Primitive Church any example of any such Rite but onely in the Romane Church And if so be they had established any thing for a law in this matter we ought not to have kept it Quod legibus hic obstringi nec possent nec debent Because these things neither could nor ought to be bound by Laws Moreover if divers men shall use a diverse Rite let none either judge or contemne another but let every one abound in his own sense and let us all savour and judge the same things though for Forms we act diversly and let each Rite please others lest by diversity of Rites follow divesity of opinions and sects as it came to pass in the Church of Rome For outward Rites though we cannot want them as neither meat nor drink yet they commend us not to God but onely Faith and love commend us to him And therefore let that of Paul take place here That the Kingdom of God is not meat and drink but righteousness peace and joy in the Holy Spirit and so no Rite nor Form is the Kingdom of God but faith within us c. And at the end of the same form for the Church of Wittenberg which he writes out for Nicholas Hausmannus a Godly Minister he saith Which Copy either you or others may follow if you please if not we willingly give place to the anointing being our selves to receive from you or any others more profitable things These things he spake like a Christian indeed and we acknowledge the voice of Christ in him as in others that act these things peremptorily and command and inforce them by secular power we are sensible of the voice of strangers and of such strangers as are Theeves and Murtherers Melancton also perswades certain Christians to unity who differed in Vniformity in these words Seeing we do agree among our selves in the chief Articles of Christian Doctrine let us imbrace one another with mutual love and let not unlikeness and variety of Rites and Ceremonies and Bucer quoting this place adds no nor of Ecclesiastical government disjoyn our minds Upon all these Testimonies which these godly men give from the light of the word which we acknowledge in them it is evident that all forms are to be left free to the faithful and Congregations of Saints and when any shall set down any form the Congregations of the faithful may use them so far forth as they please or may add or alter or wholly reject them and no Laws are to be made in this matter which the secular power should inforce to insnare Consciences and to infringe Christian Liberty and to straighten the Spirit in those in whom it dwels and to obscure the vertues of Christ in his people Wherefore it is most evident that they are most horribly mistaken that now urge external Vniformity on the Church as the only means of Vnity who scarce minding I am sure not naming one body one spirit one hope of calling one Lord Faith Baptism c. to make the Church one do earnestly and fiercely labour for one outward Form and Order one Directory one Confession one Catechism one Discipline and to have these things of their own devising inforced on the Church by the power of the State as the onely means their hearts can find out to make the Church one But the Seers are blinde in this matter and the Prophets prophesie false things For if the unity of the Church stand onely or chiefly in Vniformity what woful division will be found in it For the Fathers before the flood lived in one form the Fathers after the flood in another the Believers under the Law in an other the Believers under the Gospel in another yea these being free from all forms used any according to the wisdom of the Spirit Christ himself and John Baptist who both lived in the same time observed no Vniformity between them for John lived retiredly in the wilderness and came neither eating nor drinking and Christ lived in the frequency of the world and did both eat and drink And their Disciples observed no Vniformity for Johns Disciples fasted oft and Christs not at all in those days Besides at first the believing Jews used another form then the believing Gentiles and after among the Gentiles the Greek Church used one form the Latine another and several Churches under both several forms and so the Church on earth according to the infirmity of the flesh still uses some or other form and the Church in Heaven is without all form Now then if we shall have no Vnity but where is Vniformity what an Earthquake of confusion and division will this make through the whole Church of God in all ages and under all Gods own dispensations in the world yea through the whole Church in Earth and Heaven Wherefore I dare be bold to affirm that imposed and inforced Vniformity is one of the greatest enemies to the true Churches unity that Antichrist himself could devise
faith is a work of the Spirit of power and no less power would work faith in us then that which raised up Christ from the dead when he lay under all the sin of man and all the Wrath of God and all the sorrows of death and all the paines of hell it must be a mighty power indeed that must raise Christ then and that power was the power of the Spirit and no less power will work faith So that whoever truely beleeves by this faith of the operation of God is sensible in his own soul of the self same power that raised Christ up from the dead And thus the Holy Spirit is a Spirit of Faith in us and so of Power For unbelief keeps a man in himself but faith carries a a man out to Christ now there is no man weaker then he that rests on himself and there is no man stronger then he that forsakes himself and rests on Christ And so a man through the power of Faith is able both to do and indure the self same things which Christ himself did and indured 1. He is able to do the same things that Christ himself did and therefore saith Christ all things are possible to him that beleeveth so that a beleever hath a kinde of omnipotency and all things are possible to him because by faith he lays hold upon the power of God and all things are possible to the power of God and so all things are possible to a beleever who is partaker of that power of God And hence Paul saith I can do all things through Christ that strengthneth me This Christ that strengthned him was the power of God and this power of God is not a finite power but an infinite nor a particular power but an universal and so can do not some things only but all things and so also can all they who are truly partakers of it by faith Yea Christ himself hath a greater expression then this yea such an one that I never durst have spoken if Christ himself had not first spoken it and that is this John 14. 12. He that beleeveth in me the works that I do shall be do and greater works then these because I go to the Father Where Christ saith a beleever shall not only do the same works with himself which also had been a great thing but also greater works then himself and this indeed is altogether admirable and wonderfull That a beleever shall do greater works then Christ But how is this made good Why thus Christ he overcame the Law and Sin and Death and Hell and the whole power of the Devill in a body and soul free from sin his humane nature being the immediate formation of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary and so had not the least spot of sin in it But now beleevers overcome the same evils even the Law Sin Death Hell and the whole power of the Devil in corrupted and polluted nature in bodies and souls at the first full of sin and afterwards defiled through many corruptions The Devil came to Christ and found nothing in him and so he overcame but he comes to a beleever and findes much in him and yet he overcomes And this truly is a greater work then Christ did And these works we do but not through our own power but through Christs of which we truly partake through faith 2. A Christian through the power of faith is able not only to do but also to suffer the same things that Christ himself sufferd Now the sufferings of Christ were the most grievous and intolerable to nature that ever were For how did Christ for the present as it were lay aside his Divine nature that he might suffer in his humane and how did he suffer in this the whole weight and condemnation of sin to the very utmost and the whole wrath of God to the utmost and all the sorrows of death and the pains of hell to the very utmost And among all the sufferings had not the least drop of comfort either from heaven or earth and yet through the power of the Spirit he indured and overcame all And so each Christian is able to indure and overcome the same evills by the same power and therefore Paul desired to know Christ truly and not onely the power of his resurrection which any one would desire to know but also the fellowship of his sufferings which flesh and blood trembles at yea and to be made conformable to his very death Yea I add yet further that if a Christian should chance to fall down into Hell as we beleeve Christ descended into Hell and so also many of his Saints have done as David and Hezekiah c. Yet a Christian through the power of the Spirit were able to overcome both the sins and the pains of Hell and therefore saith Solomon Love which is the power of the Spirit is too strong for death and too hard or too cruel for Hell As is evident in that Godly woman for I will name but one instance instead of many who thinking of the torments of hell and of the hatred and blasphemy of God which reigned in the damned did earnestly entreat God ut etiamsi damnaretur tamen Deum diligeret that though she were damned yet still she might love God Here love was too hard for Hell indeed And thus a beleever through faith is inabled both to do and indure the self same things which Christ himself did and endured and the Holy Spirit by being a Spirit of faith is a Spirit of Power in us 5. The Holy Spirit is a Spirit of power in us by being in us a Spirit of Righteousness and so he is two waies 1. In regard of mortifying sin For the Spirit of God dwelling in us is not idle in us but continually active and so from day to day mortifies sin And this is the proper work of the Spirit in our flesh to destroy out of us whatsoever is contrary to it self and that is every sin lust and corruption Now our sins are our weakness a mans pride and passion and envy and covetousness and lust and intemperance and every sin is his weakness Now the Holy Spirit by being in us a Spirit of righteousness mortifies and destroyes all our sins and so takes away our weakness 2. Again as the Holy Spirit is a Spirit of righteousness in us in regard of mortifying sin so also in regard of imparting grace to us For all grace is the fruit and operation of the Spirit in our flesh and as all light is from the sun so is all grace from the Spirit Now every grace is so much strength in the soul Faith so much strength Hope so much strength Love so much strength and so humility and patience and temperance and godliness and brotherly Kindness and all other graces are so much strength and according to each mans measure of grace so is his measure of