to be otherwise but to take notice what impression of this truth they received from the places alledged And you shall find the same Authours to let passe others expounding the Apostles words Rom. xii 3 6. no otherwise According as God hath dealt to every man the measure of Faith and whether Prophesying according to the proportion of Faith S. Ambrose Haec ergò datur pro modo accipientis hoc est quantum causa exigit propter quam datur This therefore that is Prophesie is given according to the measure of him that receiveth that is as much as the cause requireth in respect whereof it is bestowed And S. Chrysostome 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For though it be a Grace it is not indifferently poured forth But taking the measure from them which receive it floweth upon them in measure as it findeth the vessel of faith offered understanding that faith which moveth men to sue to God for such Graces as he saith pray that he may Interpret And this is it which the Apostle writeth to Timothy 1. Tim. iv 13 14. Till I come give attendance to reading to exhortation to doctrine neglect not the Gift that is in thee which was given thee by Prophesie with the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery And 2. Tim. 1. 6. Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stirre up the Gift of God that is in thee by the putting on of my hands For in calling it a Gift he signifieth an extraordinary Grace of that time but in willing him to stirre it up and not to neglect it he sheweth that it was in him to procure it at Gods hands by reading and teaching and praying and the like means which he nameth or nameth not The true meaning then of the Apostle when he saith vers 14 15 16 17. For if I pray in an unknown tongue my spirit prayeth but my understanding is unfruitfull What is it then I will pray with the spirit but I will pray with the understanding also I will sing with the spirit but I will sing with the understanding also Else when thou shalt blesse with the spirit how shall he that possesseth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest For thou verily givest thanks well but the other is not edified I say the meaning of this whole passage supposeth that which we began to prove of the Prophets under the Old Testament that it was part of their Office to compose the praises of God and the prayers of their Congregations For if we take not our marks amisse we shall see that the strength of our advantage upon these words against the Church of Rome lieth in this because the Apostle argueth expressely against them that to shew their Gift of Languages took vpon them not onely to utter the mysteries of God in strange Tongues but also in them to conceive Prayers and Psalmes of Gods praises in the name and behalf of the Church This they are desirous to decline if the Apostle would give leave For that which he saith vers 17. ANOTHER is not edified is as much as we find vers v. and vers xii that the CHURCH may be edified and vers xix In the Church I had rather speak five words to teach OTHERS and the Apostle afterwards vers 16. What is it then my brethren when you come TOGETHER every one of you hath a Psalme And to this purpose it will be very effectuall to observe That as in the Old Testament Saul and his servant are said to meet a whole Quire of Prophets Prophesying and the sonnes of Asaph Heman and Jeduthun are said to Prophesie in singing the praises of God which the spirits of Prophets had indited so in the New Testament for the same cause it seemeth that singing the praises of God is called Prophesying by the Apostle For let me ask what the Apostle meaneth when he saith 1. Cor. xi 5. Every woman praying or PROPHESYING with her head uncovered his speech concerning Christian Assemblies wherein he forbiddeth a woman to speak 1. Cor. xiiii 34 Is it that which the Italian Glosse of Diodati after Beza hath expounded It seemeth saith he this word is to be taken here not onely for handling or expounding the Mysteries of the word of God as Rom. xii 6. but also for hearing them marking them meditating upon them while they are proposed of those that have the Charge This cannot be allowed Praying is the parties own act why not PROPHESYING that standeth in rank with it The Commentaries under S. Ambrose his name Prophetari autem est adventum fore Domini voce Symboli post Orationem effari To Prophesie is to pronounce in the words of the Creed that the Lord shall come The Creed was pronounced by the whole Congregation this he thinketh was called Prophesying because it speaketh of the coming of Christ which shall be I bring not this because I allow it for it is somewhat strange to make all people Prophets that say their Creed because one Article of it speaketh of things to come besides I do not find that the Creed was from the beginning any part of the Church-Service But because he saw the true point of the difficulty that hearing Prophesies was no Prophesying but it must be something that the Congregation uttereth as well as in Praying which the Apostle calleth Prophesying And what doth the whole Congregation send forth but Prayers and Psalmes In both these as near as can be the people bear their part the whole pack of Prophets Prophesied together when Saul and his servant and his messengers came because they all joyned in the Praises of God Samuel guiding the Quire when the Spirit of God came on them they uttered the Praises of God which the Spirit of God suggested the rest bearing part in their sense Isidore Pelusiota lib. ii Epist 90. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Apostles of our Lord and Teachers of our Orders desirous to suppresse idle talking in Churches understandingly permitted women to sing in them I know there are other Texts of the Apostle where he speaketh in generall to all persons to sing Psalmes Ephes v. 18 19. Be filled with the spirit speaking to your selves in Psalmes Hymnes spirituall songs singing making melody in your hearts unto God And Coloss iii. 6. Teaching and admonishing one another in Psalmes Hymnes and spirituall songs singing with grace in pure hearts unto God yet with good right are these words referred to no place but this because expresse mention of women singing in Assemblies we find none but here If any man thinketh that Isidore in those words reflecteth not upon any thing delivered in writing by the Apostles but of the custome which the Church received at their hands It must needs neverthelesse seem the most probable sense of S. Pauls words which maketh them agree with that custome which he saith the Church received from the Apostles Tertullian de Virg.
because the speech of the Apostle proceedeth concerning the use of spirituall Graces which he directeth to that purpose As you see vers 3. it is expressely differenced from matter of exhortation and comfort when he saith He that Prophesieth speaketh to men to EDIFICATION and exhortation and comfort Neverthelesse it must be something else that he meaneth there vers 17. For thou verily givest thanks well but the other is not edified that is because he understandeth not what thou sayest he is not guided and directed to go along with the Thanksgiving wherein thou goest afore in an unknown Language And in this Epistle afore viii 10. Shall not the conscience of him that is weak be edified to eat those things which be offered to Idoles Where you see a man is said to be EDIFIED by whatsoever it is that advanceth his intentions towards any work And therefore though the reason of EDIFYING may sometimes tend to the particular sense of Teaching yet it is not so to be confined but that whatsoever is a fit means to train and guide us in the wayes of godlinesse must be said to tend towards the edification of Gods people And thus the Rules which the Apostle afterwards qualifieth all that is to be done in the Church with when he saith Let all things be done decently and in order are clearly subordinate to this main reason of the Edification of the Church and derived from it For without doubt there is nothing so powerfull to Edification that is to guide and train the body of the Church in the exercise of godlinesse as a good Order for the particular practice of those Offices thereof which are generally commanded in the Scriptures Well might the Apostles say here vers 33. God is not the Authour of confusion but of Order as in all Churches of the Saints Whosoever withdraweth himself from the publick Order of the Church out of opinion that a better might be established will hinder the Edification thereof more in that neglect of the course in force which he procureth then it is possible he should advance it in the practice of those whom he thinketh to direct in a better course For on the one side his own followers out of heat of contention shall alwayes spend their zeal upon matters of small consequence which ought to be conversant about the great things of the Gospel On the other side those that are not affected with his singularities are disquieted in their own course of Gods Service The other part of the Apostles Rule seemeth to extend further then the term of Decencie in which it is translated containeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith the Apostle honestè saith the Old Latine and in S. Pauls Epistles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is rendered there honestè ambulare and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Acts honestae mulieres all these expresse more then Decencie For that is seen in the least matters where all things are fit and sutable but that which in Latine is called honestas in none but those that carry an appearance that deserveth respect Which if the property of the word will not inforce as to them that rellish it right without fail it will do the nature and kind of that whereof the Apostle speaketh will constrain it to import no lesse then that which beareth an appearance of respect and account Because in matter of so high a nature as the exercise of Religion nothing can be decent nothing can become but that which preserveth the respect which actions of that rank are to be performed with So much common sense telleth us that the outward appearance of all kind of proceedings is a means to maintain the inward esteem which men ought to hold of those things that are done there Let no man blame me that appeal to common sense to judge what becometh in matters of Religion which must neither stand nor fall by the judgement of common sense being so farre beyond it The Apostle here hath done it afore me vers 23. If the Church be met and all speak with tongues and there come in those that are unlearned or unbelievers will they not say that ye are mad For what is this but to condemne that which they did in the exercise of Religion by the verdict of common sense which though unable to judge of the Religion of Christians neverthelesse is able to discern what is sutable to the end which the Assemblies of Christians professe And do we not all see with what kind of reasons in another place 1. Cor. xi 13. he argueth another point of this nature to settle a custome for men to be bare women to be veiled at their Assemblies It is first to be known that the women of those times and of the Jews in particular as Tertullian in one place witnesseth were carefull to keep their faces veiled from the sight of men when they came in publick which was in them a profession of bashfulnesse and that modesty which they desired to preserve On the other side in men it was a mark of confusion and disgrace to have the face covered the custome was to go bare in publick and that in token of the freedome and boldnesse which they professed And it is plain that the Covering whereof the Apostle speaketh was such an one as the face was veiled with for therefore he saith vers 4. The man dishonoureth his head in covering it when he prayeth or prophesieth disclaiming the freedome and dignity of his sexe The woman in discovering her head not professing the modesty and subjection of her sexe therefore he saith afterwards that the womans hair is given her for a veil that is to cover the face with which if it be not done she had as good be shaven saith he vers 5. In Tertullians time those that professed Virginity took upon them to sit with their faces unveiled in the Church taking it for a priviledge of their rank to disclaim the subjection of the sexe and professe freedome This is the occasion of his book De Virginibus velandis What opinion it was upon which the custome which the Apostle writeth against at Corinth proceeded is not known How the Apostle argueth we see 1. Cor. xi 13. Judge in your selves saith he is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered doth not even nature it self teach you c To shew us the reason whereupon he proceedeth that the custome then practised for men to go bare-head in signe of freedome and profession of boldnesse and chearfulnesse of heart women veiled in signe of modesty and bashfulnesse as it was agreeable to revealed truth as the Apostle disputeth before vers 3 7. which teacheth that the woman was created of the man and must not forget the subjection she oweth him from whom she first came so is it to the light of nature that teacheth women to keep their hair to veil themselves with if there be nothing else to do it with men to part with theirs that
practising the Service of God in an orderly and reverent form make in the minds of men that cannot receive it from their reason but from their senses This effect in things of slight consequence in particular which neverthelesse altogether amount to a considerable summe is better seen by the grosse in practice then convinced by retail in dispute yet since the importunities of men have caused false reasons to prevail with weak people it is requisite the true reasons be pleaded lest it be thought there are none such because not so fit to be pleaded The Circumstances and Ceremonies of Publick Service is indeed a kind of Discipline and Paedagogie whereby men subject to sense are guided in the exercise of godlinesse It is as it were the apparell of Religion at the heart which some think like the Sunne most beautifull when it is most naked and so it were indeed did men consist of minds alone without bodies but as long as our bodily senses are manageable to our souls advantage the heat within will starve without this apparell without And therefore under better judgement I hold it requisite that the observance of Rites and Ceremonies in the Publick Service of God should increase and become more solemn after the world was come into the Church then under the persecuting times of it Persecution was like Antiperistasis in nature in preserving Order and reverence in the Publick Offices of the Church with the respect of those Guides that ruled it But since the Net of the Gospel hath been cast in the Ocean and caught good and bad it is more requisite that all should passe as under rule and observance so in the most reverent form that the coldnesse and indifference of the worser part appear not to debauch the good disposition of others Though from the beginning as early as the records of the Church are able to inform us we are sure it was never without such outward observances as according to the state of the time tended to maintain to witnesse the disposition of the heart answerable The Apostles ordinance of Praying and Singing Psalmes men with heads bare women with heads covered the Salutation of Peace so long practised in the Primitive Church from the time of the Apostles Imposition of hands in divers Acts of Publick Service signifying the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost and Gods hand stretched out to give the blessing for which Prayer was made and without question derived from the times of the Apostles are of this nature And it is thought that when the Apostles speak of putting off the old man and putting on the new Col. iii. 9 10. ii 11. of burying in Baptisme Col. ii 12. Rom. vi 4. of the unction of grace 1. John ii 20 27. 1. Cor. ii 21. allusion is made to some Rites of Ecclesiasticall Offices used even at that time As for Ecclesiasticall Writers it will be hard to name any of them so Ancient in whom are not to be found divers particulars of this nature But the generall reason hitherto declared hath been better sifted by the chief Reformers Philip. loco de Caerem in Eccl. p. 651. Paulus gravissimè dicit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Non ordinem tantùm sed etiam singularem curam ornandi ordinis requirit quare addit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ut videamus quid personas loca tempora deceat Paul saith with much gravity LET ALL THINGS BE DONE VVITH DECENCIE AND IN ORDER He requireth not Order alone but a singular care of setting that Order forth therefore he addeth DECENTLY that we consider what becometh persons times and places This is it that I am now about That the Order of things done at Publick Service be such as may set forth and insinuate the respect which those times those places those persons require Which Calvine still setteth down in fuller terms 4. Instit x. 28. Vt in sacro fidelium caetu decor è peragantur omnia quâ convenit dignitate That in the holy Assembly of the faithfull all things be done decently and in that worth and respect as befitteth Afterwards he setteth down as much as I have done when he saith Ac decori quidem finis est partim ut dum adhibentur ritus qui venerationem rebus sacris conciliant talibus adminiculis ad pietatem excitemur partim etiam ut modestia gravitas quae in omnibus honestis actionibus spectari debet illic maximè eluceat And indeed the end of comelinesse is partly that using such rites as procure reverence to sacred things we may be by such helps excited to godlinesse partly that the modesty and gravity which in all actions of respect ought to be attended may there especially appear Again n. 29. Sed illud nobis decorum erit quod ità sit ad sacrorum Mysteriorum reverentiam aptum ut sit idoneum ad pietatem exercitium vel saltem quod ad ornatum faciat actioni congruentem neque idipsum sine fructu sed ut fideles admoneat quantâ modestiâ religione observantiâ sacra tractare debeant But that shall be counted decent with us that shall so fit the reverence of holy Mysteries as may be a competent exercise unto godlinesse or which at least may conduce to ornament suitable to the action and that not without benefit but to put the faithfull in mind with how much modesty and religious observance they ought to be conversant in sacred actions What this in generall importeth is that which I desire in the particular heads Times and Places are no way sanctified otherwise then as they are deputed to the Service of God The words of our Lord in the Gospel Matth. xxiii 18. Which is the greater the Sacrifice or the Altar that sanctifieth it point out to us a difference betwixt the Law and the Gospel in this particular For as S. Hierome said afore That the Service of God in Spirit and Truth proper to the DISPENSATION of the Gospel is acceptable to God at all times that all dayes are equall of themselves no difference between them but in respect to the Assemblies of Christians upon them and the work of those Assemblies so is it to be said with truth concerning Places to make it a generall observation and a true one That under the Law the Time and the Place sanctified the Service confined to it but under the Gospel the Service required sanctifieth the Time and Place of it For example The Passeover on the due time was holy on another time had been abominable Dwelling in Tabernacles commanded on such a day of such a moneth used otherwise no part of Gods Service but sacriledge in usurping it The Sacrifices whereof our Lord speaketh holy upon the Altar otherwhere abominable On the other side the Service of Christians being good by nature and acceptable to God at all Times and in all Places hath a speciall promise of God from the unity of the Church and the Assemblies in it Which because they cannot
men and women vailing or uncovering their heads in those Assemblies and concerning celebrating the Eucharist with the Feasts of Love used then at common meetings with the grounds whereupon they proceed adding to both such passages of Scripture as fall in with the meaning of these speaking home to what was done or prescribed to be done at their religious Assemblies perhaps by this means we shall be furnished of such principles and such rules derived thence as the Scriptures afford the Church to proceed upon as well in the substance of that which is to be done in the Publick Service of God as in the form and course and circumstances of it And this upon the by will minister just occasion to inquire further into the condition of those Graces and Ministeries by which the severall parts of this work were exercised at that time according to the Apostle or intended to be exercised in after ages To which point having said something of late in a little tract of the Primitive government of Churches and finding it too much slighted there because the particular discourse of it suted not with the modell of that Treatise my desire is to take it in hand upon this occasion once more and inquire what further satisfaction the consideration of Publick Service at their religious Assemblies will yield them that desire the truth as concerning the nature and condition of ministeries first instituted for that purpose CHAP. II. Dayes of Assemblies appointed by the Law The Morall Service of God not specified in it but collected from it How the Jews are taxed for spending the Sabbath in pastime Places of such Assemblies not provided in it The Priests charged to teach the Law by deciding controversies of it The Chair of Moses the Chair of Prophets High places to what purpose Beginning of Synagogues Disciples of Prophets studied to be Prophets They ministred the Morall Service of God in High places and Synagogues OF the Figurative Service proper to the Law of Moses and that people which received it of the kinds and times and place for offering sacrifices there is particular appointment in it but of serving God by Prayer or hearing his Word you have there so much the lesse remembrance In Leviticus xxiii we find the particular of all their Solemnities that are called holy Assemblies For thus the generall is propounded vers 2. The Assemblies of the Lord which ye shall proclaim for holy Convocations these are my Assemblies The first of these is the Sabbath then the Passeover Pentecost the beginning of the New year the day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles And with leave I rather use the word Assemblies then Feasts in this place because the name of Feasts is proper to those Solemnities which are to be celebrated with joy and chearfulnesse whereas in this number the day of Atonement was to be observed with the greatest humiliation that could be expressed The Originall word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 conteining all Assemblies such as all these are commanded to be and as I take it none else For that which is read Psal lxxxi 3. Blow up the Trumpet in the new Moon in the time appointed against the day of our Feasts dependeth upon the Law Numb x. 10. Also in the day of your gladnesse and in your solemn Feast dayes or rather dayes of Assemblies for the word is the same that I translated so afore and in the beginning of your Moneths you shall blow with your Trumpets over the burnt-offerings and over the sacrifice of your peace-offerings that they may be to you for a memoriall before your God Where we see three sorts of Solemnities distinguished First the day of your gladnesse conteining Solemnities to be celebrated with chearfulnesse of heart that is Feasts Then the solemn dayes of Assemblies as the word signifieth conteining besides those Assemblies for humiliation as the day of Atonement And last the beginnings of your Moneths wherein peculiar sacrifices are injoyned Numb xxviii 11. And here it is provided that Trumpets should be sounded over those sacrifices by the Priests in the Tabernacle but that no Assembly is appointed to be upon them the difference here made between them and their dayes of Assemblies is presumption enough But in particular the first and last dayes of the Passeover and Feast of Tabernacles the one whereof was kept for seven dayes the other for eight were to be solemn Assemblies which the rest were not and therefore in the Greek of the Septuagint are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or great dayes to wit of those Feasts in comparison of the lesse Esay i. 13. The New Moons and Sabbaths the calling of Assemblies I cannot away with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The calling of Assemblies is here translated Great dayes as in the Gospel John vii 37. In the last day the GREAT DAY of that Feast By which Translation that which is generall in the Originall is restrained to the first and last dayes of those two Festivals Now the Sabbath was the greatest of all Solemnities appointed for Assemblies For they were commanded so to rest from bodily labour as not to kindle fire to dresse the meat they eat upon it For as in Exod. xvi 5 16 29. God contesteth that he gave them a double measure of Manna the day before that they might dresse it against the Sabbath So we have again Exod. xxx 3. You shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the Sabbath The same Levit. xxiii 3. where Abenezra IN ALL YOUR HABITATIONS that is in your land and out of your land at home and upon the way To teach us that it was not for the time that they lived upon Manna in the wildernesse that they were forbidden to kindle fire upon the Sabbath but through ALL THEIR HABITATIONS wheresoever they dwelt afterwards And many have observed that in Levit. xxiii it is not said of any other day but of the Sabbath and the day of Atonement Thou shalt do no work upon it but of the other dayes of Assemblies Thou shalt do no Servile work upon them to shew us the difference between them that upon the Sabbath and day of Atonement it was prohibited to dresse the meat of the day but upon other Solemnities that was permitted but to do any work that men were wont to put their slaves to was prohibited which is the received practice of the Jews and hath a just ground in the Scripture Exod. xii 16. where of the first and last day of the Passeover is said No manner of work shall be done in them save that which every man must eat that onely may be done or dressed of you Abenezra upon that place 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Of none of the solemn Assemblies beside the Sabbath and day of Atonement it is said NOMANNER OF VVORK Onely of the Passeover he saith it and addeth an exception of the meat of the soul that is requisite for the sustenance of nature Here is a strict command of bodily
which were converted and the conversion of those which were not Thus were Timotheus and Titus placed over the Churches of Asia and Crete just upon the time when he made account to see them no more Thus was Mark attendant on Peter at writing his first Epistle v. 13. who was afterward as all agree seated by him at Alexandria and did the office of an Evangelist there Clemens and Linus companions of the Apostles All Antiquity agreeth were placed by them over the Church at Rome though in what rank and condition it agreeth not The words of Theodoret are remarkable where he answereth the question Why S. Paul writ Epistles to Timotheus and Titus none to Silas or the rest of his fellows 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And we say saith he that he had already pâ—â— Churches in the hands of these the rest he had with him What meaneth the Apostles instructions concerning the perpetuall government of those Churches if they had nothing to do but to plant Presbyteries there and away S. Paul sendeth for Timotheus to Rome 2. Tim. iiii 9. as for Titus to Nicopolis iii. 12. who was also with him at Rome and went thence to Dalmatia 2. Tim. iiii 10. But did he mean that his instructions should be void thenceforth or be practiced at Ephesus and in Crete afterwards We cannot discredit Antiquity that maketh them Bishops there without offering violence to the tenour of the Scriptures that inforceth it But how is Titus counted Bishop of a Church that is instructed to plant Presbyteries through the cities of Crete i. 3. all under his own government and oversight or how is Timotheus Bishop of one Church of Ephesus that is instructed to govern as well as to plant all the Presbyteries whereof the Apostle writeth for all those Presbyteries import Episcopall Churches No otherwise then the Apostle had his Chair in all the Churches of his planting according to Tertullian The Apostles could not settle all things in the intended form at the beginning So farre there is no fault in Epiphanius his words Not because they knew not what to do but for reasons best known to themselves because perhaps they might find it more to the purpose to put into the hands of their own Disciples those Churches on which depended the planting and government of many more then to set men untried over the Presbyteries of particular Churches Is S. Mark Bishop of Alexandria the lesse because he preached the Gospel through the Countrey under it because he planted the government of Churches perhaps under his own oversight for the time Or what inconvenience is it that S. James an Apostle should be deputed by consent of the Apostles to exercise that office in the parts of Palestine and Arabia alwayes with resort to his residence at the Mother Church of Jerusalem or that he should therefore be counted Bishop of it In due time even during the age of the Apostles severall Churches had their severall Bishops as appeareth by the Angels of the seven Churches of Asia which from the beginning were in the compasse of Timothies charge At first all Presbyters were Angels of Churches according to the Apostle 1. Cor. xi For this cause ought a woman to have power upon her head because of the Angels That seemeth the most naturall meaning of his words for Tertullian in divers places of his book De Velandis Virginibus intimateth one reason of vailing womens faces in the Church from the scandall of their countenances when Bishops came over them no marvel if they alone were called the Angels of those Churches For it is acknowledged that all Presbyters are called Bishops under the Apostles But when severall Heads were set over severall Churches then Heads of Presbyteries were onely Bishops thenceforth Those that would have us take those Angels of Churches for the Churches of those Angels rather then believe that Epistles concerning those Churches were fit to be addressed to their Bishops might have corrected their mistake out of the Scripture that saith Revel i. 20. The seven Starres are the Angels of the seven Churches and the seven Candlesticks are the seven Churches S. Ambrose or whosoever writ those Commentaries upon 1. Cor. xii 28. saith two things First the Apostles spoken of there are Bishops to wit in the then state of the Church Then having compared the Apostles with Prophets he concludeth Et quia ab uno Deo Patre sunt omnia idcirco singulos Episcopos singulis Ecclesiis praeesse decrevit And because all things are from one Father God therefore he decreed that severall Bishops should be over severall Churches In these two particulars he speaketh my whole meaning The Apostles were Bishops but not severall ones of severall Churches But as there is one God over all so he decreed saith he that afterwards severall Bishops should be over severall Churches In the mean time the rights reserved to great Churches over the lesse which now we see derived with so much learning from the times of the Apostles is the print which remaineth of that Government and oversight of them which at the first rested in those great Churches from which they were propagated by the Apostles or by their companions Walo Messalinus standeth stiff upon S. Hieromes opinion that there were no Bishops till they were appointed by the Church to extinguish the schismes of Presbyteries But Tertullians words inforce more That the Bishops of his time sate in those Chairs which the Apostles possessed for theirs And afore C. xxxii Sicut Smyrnaeorum Ecclesia Polycarpum ab Joanne CONLOCATUM refert As the Church at Smyrna relateth that John PLACED Polycarpus or Installed him to wit in the Bishops Chair there He thinketh that all this importeth that Polycarpus took place of the rest of the Presbyters and no more But indifferent reason will require him to grant no more superiority of Bishops then the Chair of the Apostles importeth However S. Hierome reconcile his opinion with his own words concerning the Presbyters of Alexandria that from S. Marks time were wont to take one of their number and place him on a higher step and call him Bishop of Alexandria common sense will inforce the high rank in which he sate to import the superiority and eminence of his office even during the Apostles time The consideration of this Order or this Bench of the Church shall give me further occasion to resume and averre two particulars of good consequence in this businesse The first the Extent of the Office common to the Bishop and Presbyters as for preaching and celebrating the Sacraments so for the oversight and government of the Church in those Spirituall matters wherein as members of the Church men communicate expressed in all places of the Scripture wherein there is any remembrance of their Charge Survaying those passages of the Acts and Epistles of the Apostles in which the office of Presbyters is remembred we find it every where described as well by the oversight or