mens sinnes to promise life and to rebuke and giue ouer to execration bee taken from Christ or the Church of Christ what remaineth but an Idoll or counterfait Christ an Idol or counterfait Church Here both he proceedeth in his double faced fallation last noted conueying him-selfe by the word power from Christes office to his deuine essence whereby he accomplisheth all thinges in his gouernement whether by the meane and ministerie of men or otherwise as I obserued before in the distribution of his gouernement and also heapeth vppon it an impudent petition of the principle as if the discipline being remooued from the Church foorth-with the woorde shoulde bee without Christes power to bind and loose to remitte or retaine mens sinnes which is not so much to extoll the worthy discipline as he pretended as it is eyther to clogge and chaine vp Christes diuine power thereunto or else to make discipline the diuine force and efficacious power of Christ himselfe which is his essence Whether soeuer of which as one must needes bee graunted not Master Cart-wright but Browne shall bee found the absurd blasphemer in this case The bulwarke of his cause is beaten downe there is not a weapon left him of any strength vnbroken if this be well weyed which is by me deliuered And if the reader consider that although the discipline bee a kind of the authoritie of Christ yet is it not all nor the principall of his authoritie and that although hee vse it many times as a chariot for his holy worde to ride vppon to subdue rebellious spirites yet hee vseth it neither most chiefely nor most ordinarily but the simple preaching of the worde is his continuall scepter and sword wherby hee saueth his people and conquereth his enemies beateth downe euery strong holde pearseth to the diuision of the soule and Spirite and of the ioyntes and marrowe and iudgeth the very cogitations and conceiptes of the heart This I say if the reader consider seeing there are no greater effectes in the whole kingdome of Christ then these which hee executeth by his worde yea when it is not assisted by the discipline for the woorde may stande without the discipline so cannot the discipline without the woorde hee will not only stay him-selfe as in a refreshing shadowe of Christes gracious gouernement where hee seeth the worde deliuered and taught but also acknowledge and testifie that it is a most malicious deuise of Satan practised by such instruments as Browne vnder a quarell for the holy discipline to drawe thousandes of soules from the most ordinary and mighty meanes of Christes gouernment and administration of his kingdome that so lying scattered from the folde they might bee out of all hope of ordinary rescue when the deuourer shoulde find them Let not Browne nowe hence-foorth aske what part of discipline may bee wanting and the Church notwithstanding haue the essence and name of a Church For although Mast Cart. not framing him-selfe to Brownes sense and writings as with whome hee medled not in his letter vseth the woorde discipline in a larger sense as comprehending all the behauiour concerning a Church in outward dueties and so amongest the rest the dayly planting and building by the calling and offering of the woorde by the ministers and the hearing receiuing and obeying of a people yet Browne can-not thinke to vse the worde in that sense sith his owne writings haue bounded him and set him in a scanter compasse namely within the politicall guiding of a Church which I haue lately before spoken of as generally all his writinges and namely his most vnlearned definitions and diuisions Numb 48. doe testifie Where defining the kingdome of Christ to bee his office of gouernement whereby hee vseth the obedience of his people to keepe his lawes and commaundementes to their saluation and well-fare hee deuideth the same in ouerseeing and trying out of wickednesse rebuke and suparation By which place vnlesse we will imagine of a discipline that hath larger limittes then the kingdome of Christ wee see what Browne vnderstandeth by discipline Within the polliticall guiding of a Church therefore must he bee contented to bee restrained in all this disputation of discipline And as for his busie hunting after Contradiction in M.C. his woordes in saying discipline is not of the essence of a Church and yet for want of all discipline to take away the essence and name of a Church his labour is vtterly lost as I haue prooued before in speaking of proper accidents And though in wordes hee vrge the shewe of a contradiction without discipline there may bee a Church and without discipline there can bee no Church Yet is it an empty barrell without liquour For when the reader shall haue added the word some to the former and the worde all to the latter that the first may bee read thus without some discipline there may bee a Church and the other thus without al discipline there can be no Church he shal plainly discerne that Browne did but dreame of a contradictiō After those his shiftings turnings to auoid the euidence of M C. reasons to hoodewinke his reader from the sight of thē hee setteth on as though hee would proue the contrary of M.C. conclusion namely that discipline is of the essence of a Church Wherein when he hath spent three or foure pages with many vaine and abused quotations of scripture after his wonted manner the whole course of his arguing comes all to this that the woorde of God giues the Church authoritie to obserue the behauiours of the seuerall members and to binde and loose remitte and retaine sinnes by ecclesiasticall censures and so exercise the keyes of the kingdome of heauen Therefore such iurisdiction is of the essence of a Church A worthy Captaine of so vnworthy a schisme Set this in a due fourme and I thinke him-selfe if it were possible woulde blush for shame to see it It is thus Whatsoeuer the worde of God commandeth to bee vsed of the Church that same is of the essence of the Church But the woord commandeth the discipline to bee vsed of the Church Therefore is the discipline of the essence of the Church If this bee the good reasoning let vs see whither it will bring vs. Whatsoeuer the word of God cōmandeth to be vsed of the Church the same is of the essence of the Church But the word commandeth good works to bee vsed of the Church Therfore good works are of the essence of the Church Likewise Whatsoeuer the word of God commandeth faith to bring forth the same is of the essence of faith But the word of God commaundeth that faith bring forth good workes Therfore good works are all of the essence of faith And thus it will come to passe that euery commaundement being made of the essence of a Church and of a particular Christian as a member euery transgression likewise shall ouerthrowe the Church and the state of a Christian His
beseech you by the mercies of God to haue a due consideration A seconde Answere or Reioynder to Brownes replie for the doubts and obiections of his Disciple WHat desire I haue W. F. to withdrawe you from errour and to bring you to the trueth as the Lorde who searcheth the heart knoweth at full so no man that seeeth these my willing labours taken in the behalfe thereof can with any charitie doubt of it And though I haue nowe lesse hope than I had seeing you without all iudgement to discerne the spirit of error and arrogancie which is so nakedly seene in the framer of your replie yet as by the testimonie of two or three witnesses so shal my loue of your saluation be made manifest by this my comming againe vnto you So much therefore at the least through the goodnesse of God I shall gaine if there come more I shall receyue it as aduantage praise his most holy name for all Beare with mee if I followe not your teachers humour in aunswering for if there were nothing else my time is more precious vnto me 1 Vpon my grant that in our Churches we cannot redresse faults so fully as is to be wished he gathereth six heresies for errours soundeth not full inough in his lauish mouth but because they are without all demonstration no man is bound to beleeue him 2 Whereas you saide The lawe compelleth all to communicate that are aboue sixtene yeeres olde I answered The lawe intendeth a worthines yelded this reason because it prouideth censures for the vnworthie Your leader saith I falsifie the question the lawes For the question let that be iudged by others And in that he chargeth the lawes to enforce a confuse mingling with what face can he do it If hee remember the 2.3.4 pages of that brainlesse answere to master Cartwrights letter where amongest others of like nature are these wordes Wee knowe that the lawes doe punish all outward grosse wickednesse or suffer it to be punished as namely idolatrie c. and if there bee any vice vnpunishable by the law yet the lawes doe suffer either the Church or euerie householder or gouernour to correct so it be not against lawe such as are vnder their charge Againe Also for the discipline in gathering the worthie from the vnworthie the lawe appointeth it and giueth leaue to make exception both in publique iudgement and in Churches against vnworthie persons as against drunkennesse fightings murther adulteries stealth slanders c. and yet also doe giue libertie to the Church to vse their owne discipline Let him nowe looke who is his aduersarie in this Whereas I bid you informe vs of inordinate walkers that we may remoue them he sayth We must first haue an order of discipline established If hee meane by an order of discipline some kinde of order of discipline to debarre the vnworthie then it cannot be denied but we haue an order for it as the answerer to maister Cartwright in the wordes afore rehearsed in behalfe of the lawes acknowledgeth if he would not bee so shortly taken but haue his wordes vnderstood of that onely ordering of discipline which the worde of God setteth out then as I reuerence that for the onely and vnchangeable ordinance of the almightie so finde I none a greater aduersarie thereunto than he nay than you all if you all be of that iudgement hee is that wrote your replye For besides other thinges that I will not nowe enter into whereas I acknowledge that in our Church though wee haue some abilitie to withstand open prophanations yet that the gouerning by an Eldership is far to be preferred for the expectation of a happie successe he openeth his mouth as an enemie but with much falshoode and folly First hee sayth I make an Eldershippe a part of your seconde point leauing out discipline I sayde before wee haue vse of the discipline to remooue the inordinate onely this I graunted withall that if you should obiect that wee haue not so good vse of it as if it were ordered by an Eldershippe my selfe woulde ioyne with you in that poynt Nowe if hee had but so good vse of his vnderstanding as wee haue of this discipline he would haue discerned that I added this only to preuent such an obiection from you and not that I thrust it into your second poynt as to make it a part thereof Secondly hee sayth by Elders we meane Aldermen as that we seeke no other but by ciuill power and authoritie to force the vnruly Whereunto if I shoulde answere hee was madde I should fauour him much in mouing pitie for him and if it be not taken so both friends and enemies must needes set a harder sentence vppon him Againe he taketh it not necessary but superstitious to stand vppon the choosing of Elders as the state of our Church nowe standeth and in stead thereof hee supplyeth that the forward of euery Parish put forth themselues by visiting counsailing withdrawing comforting c. to performe the busines Wherin he gratifieth the enemies of discipline with this that the fourme of Church gouernement is changeable Besides let the wise consider whither that bee not apparantly a confused course wherein euery one that lusteth may gouerne Hee supposeth considering the times that an agreement were better than a choise As though there can bee obedience and so agreement where those that gouerne are not chosen His consideration of the times warranteth no man to runne before hee bee called Hee giueth another reason that rather God may haue the praise in prouoking and calling them then man in choosing them This I perceiue is Brownes Anarchie and thus I ouerthrowe it Whatsoeuer course of obedience tendeth more or rather to the praise of God then another that same is alwayes to bee preferred before the other But hee saith that for men to put forth themselues to execute discipline tendeth rather to the praise of God then if they be chosen Therefore we must conclude if hee say true that to offer our selues is alwaies to bee preferred in this case before choosing and so it shall follow by consequence that the order of ordayning set downe by the spirit of God is not the best course of all others Also when as it is hereby intended that the forwarde professors vppon their owne inward motions and feelings shall thus take vpon them to bee Elders and the others must so acknowledge them it followeth thereuppon connexiuely that these inward motions and feelings must be holden warrant inough both for them-selues to take vppon them Church-callings as also to bind other mens consciences to obey them For if this testimonie of their feeling bee not an authenticall warrant to the conscience how shall either parties walke in faith So then if this bee not to leade vs into the lake of Anabaptisticall reuelations I knowe not what can bee But hee proceedeth saying As for the names of Elders and other ceremonies in ordeyning seeing they
of stopping that violent streame of seducing wherein daily such numbers of the yonger and weaker sorte of Christians are caryed out of our assemblies principally because the zeale of such being greater then their knowledge becommeth an apt pray and bootie for the instruments of deceit to practise vpon And this agreeth with the exhortation of the Church when she sayeth Take vs the foxes the litle foxes corrupting the vines whilest our vines bring foorth the first grape the other benefite is that hereby those impure mouthes shall be dashed that hertofore in their malitious defence of corruptions haue made no conscience to clothe all those that haue duetifully vrged the proceeding of our church vnto perfection in one liuerie with these schismaticall spirites that so they might purchase vnto them both from magistrate and common people equall hatred and auoydance This booke shal by the grace of God testifie vnto all that make any conscience to discerne truth from lyes that there is as much difference betwixt those whō they in their bitternesse woulde thus match together as is betweene that childe that in tender affection reprooueth and laboureth the refourming of his mother whome hee seeth by her vndiscreete behauiour to become a reproche among women and him that vnder pretence of the hate of her vncomely behauiour shoulde plucke out her bowels and forsake her In this my trauaile I haue cared as much as I could to husbande the time vnto the reader and therfore haue both cut off many idle discourses which the aduersarie woulde haue drawne mee into and also haue so sounded the matters that I haue delt with by al the writings printed or otherwise that are probably vouched theirs as that I hope the godly spirit shall find me no trifler but such a serious and sincere disputer as the weight of the cause hath required I was I graunt in comparison of others as a woman of too weake a constitution to conceiue and bring forth any such child but the Lord hath had his way purpose herein And as I protest before the Lord his holy angels with much feare and trembling I haue from the beginning applied my selfe vnto this worke so yet in the doing thereof through the mercifulnesse of my God I haue bin assisted with much cōfort and great assurance euen in some things that seemed at the first so in wrapped by Satan with so many intricate folds knittings as could hardly or neuer by me for I shame not to acknowledge my weaknesse herein bee brought to any cleare triall and expedite dissolution Of mine aduersaries I rather knowe the nature then the number Although as it hath beene obserued sundrie among them from time to time haue laboured to be leaders and so vpon the spurre of emulation haue gallopped as hard as they could yet without all question there is none among them that can iustly take the garland from Rob. Browne His writings doe foreiudge the cause agaynst all his competitors And albeit newe maisters are risen among them that nowe in a fresh hote moode condemne his coldnesse and colourable dealing and that worthily yet they must euen Barow and Greenwood with the rest acknowledge him the shop of their store and the steele of their strength for arguments obiections and shiftes to colour and if it were possible to vphold their crasie cause withall Let them not disdaine therefore that he should beare the name as the father of that familie and brood which of late yeares in a quarell for the Discipline haue made that rende in the assemblies of Englande But some will obiect that these that I name agree not among themselues and therefore cannot be accounted of one familie I am not ignorant that they are at oddes betweene themselues but yet so as that neither partie will ioyne member-like with our Churches in the woorde and Sacraments In doctrine I knowe they differ but diuersitie of practise was cause thereof Barow and Greenewood nakedly discouered their profession and are prisoners Browne cunningly counterfeiteth conformitie dissembleth with his owne soule for libertie They fullie beleeuing the Church of England to be no Church of God but vtterly to be auoyded in al things as his writings haue taught them made conscience to separate themselues at all poynts accordingly He though hee haue contriued that cup whereby he hath thus transformed them as into beasts yet himselfe taking better delite in humane shapes liketh not to enter with them into their lot Hence cōmeth that grudge quarrell and heartburning among them They expostulate with him as a coward and one that shrinketh in the wetting He againe nippeth them for their egernesse in running before their olde maister and thereby obscuring his light as though the truth forsooth had first bin reuealed by them It seemeth they would not heare a sermon to gaine their libertie But it is manifest that he to redeeme trouble hath learned to apply himselfe to all times places and persons Nowe in this their iarre manie strange paradoxes and grosse absurdities haue passed betweene them arguing both sides to haue trusted in their strength and therefore to haue beene destitute of the spirit of truth to guide their pennes Barow and Greenwood denie that our preachers doe preach the woorde and that they doe or can beget fayth They say The wicked haue no woorde of God no graces of GOD no spirituall or sanctifyed graces that they doe no good that they may not teach testifie preach or counsaile anie woorde of GOD anie religion or dutie of religion That they haue no kinde of promise nor blessing and that there is no Communion to bee had with them in spirituall graces They denie fayth to come necessarily by the woorde of GOD and say It may bee begotten without anie promise of the woorde Beeing demaunded what faith doeth beleeue They aunswere God without anie consideration of his woorde and promise Likewise beeing asked howe they came by their fayth it seemeth they aunswered as it pleased God namely by his spirite but not acknowledging the outwarde meanes Some of them graunt our preachers beget fayth or beleefe of the woorde but not the fayth of Christ Hee prooueth it not the fayth of Christ because it hath not good woorkes And that also he prooueth full wisely forsooth because they haue euill woorkes Which hee specifieth to be Idolatrie Rebellion and Bondage They say our ministers bring a newe Gospell That the lawe in their mouthes and the sacrifices or presumptuous ministerie of Korah Dathan and Abiram are alike And they make no better account of our Parish meetings than of the meetings at the groaues and hill altars O wofull men and drunken with the wine of their owne headie conceites Browne againe for feare all these reproches shoulde light vppon him because hee commeth into our Churches minseth the matter euerie where with these ill stampt distinctions Of the better and woorser sort of our preachers wherein hee leaues his meaning doubtfull still
places to bee restrained within due regards of circumstances and conferences of other scriptures as within the naturall intended listes and necessarie described compasse of the holy Ghost that vttered them For example the Lord saide vnto Iacob Thy name shal not from henceforth be called Iacob but Israel Againe speaking by his Prophet he sayth For I spake not to your fathers nor commanded them when I brought them out of the land of Egypt concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices And Paule sayeth likewise in another place Christ sent me not to baptise but to preach the Gospel Let these three suffice for the rest Now we knowe that Iacob was called Iacob afterwarde but not onely by that name The Israelites were commaunded burnt offerings and sacrifices but so as chiefly to beholde in them the Messias to come Also we knowe Paule did baptize therefore when hee sayeth I was not sent to baptize hee giueth vs to vnderstande that the chiefe dutie and charge of his Apostleship was to preach the Gospel in comparison whereof the baptising hee vsed was not to be spoken off Nowe seeing the holy Ghost thus in other places vseth the like generall negation which must bee so limitted as I speake of maruaile not though in this place also he denie that to be done by the Corinthians which was not done as it should be by many or perhaps by the most of them Now for the arguments which he forceth vpon the Apostle I say he is too bold to snatch that which the Apostle neuer meant to giue him and that in two points For neither doth the Apostle affirme that the essentiall fourme of the institution was violated nor yet that the foule abuses committed were done by them all The first I prooue thus When Paule had said VVhen you come together in one this is not to eate the Lords Supper immediatly he sheweth them the reason why For saith he Euerie one in eating taketh first his owne Supper and so one is hungrie but another druncken Heere is nothing controlled touching the substantiall fourme of the institution which consisteth in the consecration and distribution of the bread and wine but onely the disorder that was among them in disposing of themselues and vsing it against which he opposeth the repetition of the institution as he had deliuered the same vnto them before and that being done in the 23.24.25 verses he therehence deducteth that thing in the 26. verse which he would afterwards and doth apply to their reproofe euen to the verie ende of the cause Now neither is that same thing any whit of the fourme of the institution but onely touching the vse and end wherevnto they should haue prepared and applied themselues in that action Like as the most cleere stroke of that sentence plainely and onely soundeth in these words For as often as you shall eate this bread and drinke this cup you shall declare the Lords death vntill he come The things in them disagreeable to this and therefore to be blamed he declareth to be that there was of the riche of them which respected chiefely to feast and feede their bellies in that comming together and made no difference by their behauiour betweene the holie Supper of our Lord and ciuill banquettings Now seeing the Apostle thus particularizeth these offences of the Corinthian communicants and withall specifieth nothing to be reprooued in the Ministers touching the fourme of the institution who is he that dares beleeue this presumptuous spirit who careth not what he faceth vpon the word of God to mainteine whatsoeuer his corrupt braine hath once conceiued The second point which I sayd he snatcheth is that he auoucheth these abuses among the Corinthian Communicants to haue beene committed by them all Which thus I refell To retaine all the Apostle his traditions euen as he had deliuered them to the Corinthians and yet all those same Corinth to transgresse them in no lesse matter then in celebrating the Lords Supper are two things directly contrary But the Apostle testifieth for them in the first therefore he chargeth them not with the latter That he testifieth the first appeareth where he beginneth with this exhortation Be yee followers of me euen as I am of Christ and immediatly subioyneth I praise you brethren that you remember all my things and retaine the traditions as I deliuered them vnto you Wherby it is manifest that the Apostle addressing himselfe to those points whereof he was informed touching the vnseemely behauiour that was among them at Praier and at the Lords Supper first confirmeth the minds and approueth the iudgemēts of such brethren as had soundly vpheld the truth in those things and afterwards deliuereth that which the guilty should find themselues reproued in 2. That some withstood that prophane disorder polluted not themselues with the rest in their behauiour at the Lords Supper it is necessarily inferred vpō that Paule saith There were dissentions among them euen at their cōming together at the Lords Supper This is the first thing in that matter whereof he sheweth his dislike but withall confirmeth such as held the truth affirming that greater matters then those yea euen heresies should grow among thē by which they should be so far frō being damnified that contrariwise they should become more manifest famous by thē And as the Apostle in this verse voydeth these of the feare of that conclusion he had set down before to wit that they came together not with profit but with hurt pointing the same now directly to be applied to that part which gaue the occasion of dissention So likewise doth he therby as manifestly declare that he includeth not all the Corinth in the reprehēsiōs that follow 3. If they were all alike in this offence then were they all a disordered wicked cōpany and so in all mens eyes ten times worse in euery point of celebrating the Lords Supper then the assemblies of England are from which notwithstāding he laboureth thus with all his strength to draw hold you Now if the Corinthiā church was fallen wholy to be a grosse disordered cōpany and your leader holdeth plainly that open grosse wickednes breaketh the couenant it followeth that they had also broken the couenāt so by flat cōsequence could not be a Church of God whē Paul thus wrote vnto thē which me think should be clearer then any candell to make you see your leaders impudēcy who blusheth not by this meanes to giue the Apostle the lye to his teeth Hence as by the way this may be deducted which I aduise you well to consider Either the Corinth Church was now no Church of God nor brotherhood for faithfull men to resort and keepe thē to or else a Church of far greater disorder in cōming together to the Lords Table then ours of England particularly of this congregation is ought yet to be holden a Church of God brotherhod for faithful mē
to resort keepe vnto But the first is false saith the same Apostle in the place last quoted therefore the latter standeth firme cannot be denied of any that with the least indifferency cōpareth our cōmunicating with theirs For if you wil obiect they had the right order of discipline so haue not we that maketh them the greatlier in fault aboue vs as hauing more meanes in their hands yet came shorter of a holy profession in outward behauior then we and so sealeth vp my conclusion more surely to conuince you But I returne againe to my former purpose I hope I haue made it manifest that neither the forme of the institution was violated by the Corinthians nor yet the abuses committed were done by them all And now I suppose it will not be hard to prooue that the most vnworthie among them did also eate the outward sacrament First if those had not eaten the sacrament at all they could not haue beene charged with eating the bread and drinking the cup of the Lord vnwoorthelie without discerning his bodie and so to their condemnation But they are charged so therefore we must needes graunt they did eate it The assumption is prooued in the 30. verse saying For this cause many among you are weake and sick and many sleepe Wherein the Apostle by these effectes leadeth them to acknowledge the cause namely their sinne such and so as he had propounded it in the 27. 29. verses Whereby behold and if you will suffer the point of truth to pearce into your heart cast out that furious spirit that saith The Communion can not be good to one partie and bad to another and acknowledge by this case of the Corinthians that manifest indignities may be committed by some and apparant vnworthie ones may communicate with others when they cannot be remoued and neither disanull the sacrament nor yet infect or make guilty all the Communicants with their sinne Neither doth this place alone affoord this instruction for you but euen that place of Iude also where inueying against such filthy professors as whose grosse sinnes could not be altogether secrete in any Church wheresoeuer they liued yet doth he graunt it might come to passe that they should impudently thrust themselues into the Church feastes of charitie wherein also the Lords Supper then vsed to be celebrated though so also they should be but as spots and staines therein In the which place neither doth the Apostle once insinuate that the action should thereby be disanulled vnto them nor all to be made wicked by their meanes in communicating yea contrarywise implyeth to the comfort of the godly that they might by prayer through the holie Ghost in the circumspect obseruing one another keepe both themselues and others from the contagion of all such Now I woulde wishe you W. F. and all of your learning to fixe your eyes heere a little in the meditating of these two places and amongst other things bethinke you what was the cause that neither Paule in consideration of that great disorder in the Church at Corinth nor yet Iude in respect of those wicked ones which he calleth spots in the Church feastes no nor Iohn that I may touch you vtterly to the quick in testifying that Church to be ambitiously vsurped vpon ouerweyed and therefore corrupted in the discipline do yet in the least syllable directly or indirectly account those assemblies thoroughly leauened or the couenant broken or yet perswade any of them to withdrawe from the rest and to gather a part And after you haue diligently sought and considered it may be you shall finde no cause but this namely that the Apostles were as farre from your leaders minde and iudgement in this matter as Heauen and Hell are distant and deuided asunder Now against his odious repetitions and senselesse collections I oppose the plainenes and simplicitie of mine answeres but where I call our dealings by admonition and labouring for the Church censures a kind of protesting against the sinne of the vnworthy he mistaketh me as though I meant an open excepting against thē at the Lords table 12 I say there is no further power giuen to a particular member in proceeding against the vnworthy than by processe of admonition Your replier vrgeth me with diuers Scriptures which he supposeth warrant me some further proceeding The first is Giue not that which is holy vnto dogs Inasmuch as this may be brought to Church assemblies it belongeth to the practise of the whole ioyntly not to a particular member seuerally and alone like as other precepts also of Church gouernement The second is Let him be vnto thee as an heathen and publican that is to say when the Church hath for his sinne separated him for so his binding by the Church is set down in the next verse with the efficacy therof to bridle the obstinate and stiff-necked The third is If an Angell from heauen or Paule preach otherwise hold him accursed I hold him for a cursed instrument of Sathan and not a blessed seruant of God whosoeuer bringeth vs another doctrine then the Lord hath left vs in his word but what is this to the purpose in hand His fourth and fifth places Be not thou partaker of other mens sinne and follow not a multitude to do euill I haue answered before where I haue shewed how far and in what sort we may partake with the vnworthy in the Sacrament and haue proued it to be without guilt of their sin The like I answere to his other two places out of Timothy He quoteth Ierem. 1.17.18 If he meant that euery priuate man should take vpō him as with Ieremies cōmission either for the parts of his duty towards the Church or the manner of carying himselfe in his place he seduceth you dangerously for so euery priuate man may publikely denounce the iudgemēts of God against Princes Ministers people contend with them all if they faile in their duty yea if they but iudge them to faile in their duty for I trow he wil not ascribe to them such sure reuelations as had the Prophet and so what should an Eldership do in the Church yea or any other gouernors whē as if they proceed not according to my expectation in any thing I so any priuate man may disanull their doings If otherwise he cite the place but for the generall doctrine that may therehence be deriued vnto all namely whatsoeuer the Lord cōmandeth any of vs to do be it a matter that seeme neuer so dangerous fearefull to vs that we obserue to do it to the vttermost without fearing the faces of any if I say he quote the place for this let him know that whē he shall proue particular members of a Church to haue receiued such a commandement frō the Lord as is heere in question then this place of the Prophet Iere. shal make for his cause in the meane time I cannot but iudge