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 Presented by Mr. Samuel Agnew of Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
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 BX 9190 .D5 C.2 
 
 The divine right of churcri 
 government "urcri 
 
 LIBRARY OF PRINCETON 
 
 MAR 2 I 2005 
 
 THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 
 
THE 
 
 DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 CHURCH GOVERIMEIT: 
 
 WHEREIN IT IS PROVED 
 
 THAT THE PRESBYTERIAN GOVERNMENT, BY PREACHING AND RULING 
 ELDERS, IN SESSIONAL, PRESBYTERIAL, AND SYNODICAL ASSEM- 
 BLIES, MAY LAY THE ONLY LAWFUL CLAIM TO A DIVINE 
 RIGHT, ACCORDING TO THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 
 
 A NEW EDITION, CORRECTED AND AMENDED. 
 
 BY SUNDRY MINISTERS OF CHRIST WITHIN THE 
 CITY OF LONDON. 
 
 TO WHICH IS ADDED 
 
 AN APPENDIX, 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 EXTRACTS FKOM SOME OF THE BEST AUTHORS WHO HAVE WRITTEN 
 ON CHURCH GOVERNMENT, 
 
 CONCERNING THE SCRIPTURAL QUALIFICATIOIfS AND DUTIES OF CHURCH MEMBERS; 
 
 THE SOLE RIGHT OF GOSPEL MINISTERS TO PREACH THE GOSPEL ; THE 
 
 people's divine RIGHT TO CHOOSE THEIR OWN PASTORS J 
 
 TOGETHER WITH 
 
 AN ABSTRACT OF THE ARGUMENTS OF THE GREAT DR. OWEN 
 
 (THOUGH A PROFESSED INDEPENDENT) 
 
 IN FAVOUR OF THET DIVINE RIGHT OP THE OFFICE OF THE RULING ELDER. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 R. MARTIN & CO., 26 JOHN-STREET. 
 
 M.DCCC.XLIV. 
 
THE EDITOR TO 
 
 After what the authors of the following Treatise have 
 said in their preface, the Editor judges it unnecessary for 
 him to detain the reader long with any observations of 
 his upon the subject. He, however, could sincerely wish 
 that the friends of Christ v/ould pay that attention to the 
 government and discipline of his Church which it justly 
 deserves. Although this subject should not be placed 
 among the things essential to the being of a Christian ; 
 yet if it be found among the things that Christ has com- 
 manded, it is at our peril if we continue wilfully ignorant 
 of, or despise it. He has expressly declared, that he who 
 breaks one of the least of his commandments, and teacheth 
 men to do so, shall be called least in the kingdom of 
 heaven. It is an opinion too common, that if we believe 
 the essentials of religion, there is no occasion for so much 
 preciseness about the forms of church government, which 
 are only circumstantials, as there will be no inquiry made 
 about these at the tribunal of Christ. But whatever rela- 
 tive importance the things of religion may have, when 
 compared with one another, we ought to reckon nothing 
 which God hath appointed, nothing which Jesus hath 
 ratified with his blood, nothing which the Holy Spirit 
 hath indited, so circumstantial, as to be unworthy of our 
 serious regard. .It is at least very rash, if not presump- 
 tuous, to say, that nothing about the circumstantials of 
 religion will be inquired into at the tribunal of Christ. 
 God has expressly said, that every work, good or evil, 
 
4 THE EDITOR TO THE READER. 
 
 every idle word, and every deed done in the body, shall 
 be brouglit into judgn:ient; and false vi^orshippers w^ill, 
 perhaps, find that their form of worship consisted in some- 
 thing worse than idle words, or sinful words either, even 
 in sinful deeds, for which they will be accountable at the 
 judgment. As Christ laid down his life for his people, 
 has instructed them, and has set a hedge about all that 
 they have, it would be most ungrateful to requite him 
 with pouring the highest contempt on his kingly honor 
 and authority; and when his worship is polluted, his truth 
 perverted, and the walls of his New Testament Zion 
 broken down, to care for none of those things. Govern- 
 ment and discipline are the hedge of his garden, the 
 Church ; and how will what men call the essentials of 
 religion remain in their glory, when this is broken down, 
 the present state of affairs can sufficiently attest, when 
 the most damnable errors are propagated with impunity. 
 
 In our times the enemies of the scriptural order of the 
 house of God are very numerous and very active, exerting 
 all their power to break down the carved work of God^s 
 sanctuary. The present spirit for novelty and innovation, 
 together with the rage for infidelity so prevalent, strongly 
 favors the opposition made to every thing which has a 
 tendency to bind men closely to God, to his truths, to the 
 purity of his worship and ordinances, or to one another 
 by a holy profession. The design, Ihercfore, of republish- 
 ing this Treatise is to assist Presbyterians of all denomi- 
 nations in the understanding of those passages of Scripture 
 upon which their wall is built, that they be not led aside 
 by the cunning speeches of false teachers, whereby they 
 deceive and draw aside the hearts of the simple. 
 
 This work was first published at London, at the time 
 when the controversy between the Presbyterians and an- 
 cient Independents ran very high, and every intelligent 
 
THE EDITOR TO THE READER. 5 
 
 and unprejudiced reader will see, that the Holy Scriptures 
 have been carefully perused, accurately compared, wisely 
 collected, and judiciously explained, in order to evince 
 that the Presbyterian government has the only lawful 
 claim to a divine right, and is the only form appointed by 
 Christ in his Church. It is, therefore, to be wished, that 
 all his people Vvould endeavor, in the strength of Divine 
 grace, to observe the laws of his house, and to walk in 
 all his ordinances and commandments blameless. 
 
 Considerable pains have been taken to make this edi- 
 tion more easily understood by common readers than the 
 former, and yet several difficult and hard words have 
 passed unnoticed. The Latin quotations from the Fathers 
 have been omitted, because they contain nothing materi- 
 ally different from what is in the body of the work, and 
 modern Independents pay little regard to any human 
 authorities but their own. It was proposed to have 
 added a few extracts from Messrs. Rutherford and Gilles- 
 pie, but upon looking into their works nothing of conse- 
 quence was observed, that tended to cast any new light 
 upon the subject. It is hoped, however, that the Appen- 
 dix is filled up with extracts from other authors upon 
 subjects of considerable importance, and very necessary 
 for these times, concerning the scriptural qualifications 
 and duties of church members ; the divine right of the 
 gospel ministry ; the people's divine right to choose their 
 own pastors ; with an abstract of Dr. Owen's arguments 
 in favor of the divine right of the ruling elder: and as 
 there are many serious Christians v>'ho have not a capa- 
 city to take up and retain a long chain of reasoning, a 
 summary of the whole Treatise is given by way of ques- 
 tion and answer as a conclusion. 
 
 The Editor is not to be understood as approving of, or 
 vindicating every single sentiment, or mode of expression, 
 
 1* 
 
(J THE EDITOR TO TIJE READER. 
 
 used in this Treatise : at the same time, next to the Holy 
 Scriptures, he recommends it as one of the best defences 
 of presbytery which he has seen. 
 
 That it may be blessed of God for informing the igno- 
 rant, settling the wavering, and establishing the believers 
 oi the present truth, is the earnest desire of, 
 Christian reader, 
 
 Your humble servant in the Gospel, 
 
 T. II. 
 
 rai»ley, 2btk February, 1100. 
 
.REC.JUN( 1881 I 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 TO THE PIOUS AND JUDICIOUS READER. 
 
 Christian Reader: 
 
 Thou hast in the ensuing treatise, 1st, a brief delineation of 
 the nature of a divine right, wherein it consists, and how many 
 ways a thing may be accounted of divine right, according to the 
 Scriptures ; as also, 2d, a plain and familiar description of that 
 church government whiph seems to have the clearest divine right 
 for it, and (of all other contended for) to be the most consonant 
 and agreeable to the word of Christ ; which description (compre- 
 hending in itself the whole frame and system of the government) 
 is in the several branches thereof explained and confirmed by 
 testimonies or arguments from Scripture ; more briefly, in par- 
 ticulars which are easily granted ; more largely, in particulars 
 which are commonly controverted ; yet as perspicuously and 
 concisely in both as the nature of this unusual and comprehensive 
 subject insisted upon would permit. Things are handled rather 
 by way of positive assertion, than of polemical dissertation, (which 
 too commonly degenerates into verbal strifes, 1 Tim. vi. 3, 4 ; 
 2 Tim. ii. 23 ; and vain-jangling, 1 Tim. i. 6,) and where any 
 dissenting opinions or objections are refuted, we hope it is with 
 that sobriety, meekness, and moderation of spirit, that any unpre- 
 judiced judgment may perceive, that we had rather gain than 
 grieve those who dissent from us ; that we endeavor rather to 
 heal up than to tear open the rent ; and that we contend more for 
 truth than for victory. 
 
 To the publication hereof we have been inclinable (after much 
 importunity) principally upon deliberate and serious consideration 
 of, 1st, the necessity of a treatise of this kind ; 2d, the advantage 
 likely to accrue thereupon ; and, 3d, the seasonable opportunity 
 of sending it abroad at such a time as this is. 
 
 I. The necessity of a treatise of this nature, is evident and 
 urgent. For, 
 
 1. We hold ourselves obliged, not only by the common duty of 
 our ministerial calling, but also by the special bond of our solemn 
 
8 PREFACE. 
 
 covenant with God, especially in Art. 1, to bend all our best en- 
 deavors to help forward a reformation of religion according to the 
 word of God, which can never be effected without a due establish- 
 ment of the scripture-government and discipline in the Church of 
 God. And to make known what this government is from the law 
 and testimony, by preaching or writing, comes properly and pe- 
 culiarly within the sphere of our place and vocation. 
 
 2. A cloud of darkness and prejudice, in reference to this mat- 
 ter of church government, too generally rests upon the judgments 
 and apprehensions of men (yea of God's own people) among us, 
 either, 1st, through the difficulty or uncommonness of this matter 
 of church government, (though ancient and familiar in other re- 
 formed churches, yet new and strange to us ;) or, 2d, through the 
 strange misrepresentations that are made hereof, by those that are 
 small friends to the true presbyterial government, or that are ene- 
 mies to all church government what-soever; or, 3d, through the 
 different opinions about church government, which are to be found 
 among pious people and ministers : by all which the weak and 
 unstable minds of many are cast into a maze of many confused 
 thoughts and irresolutions. 
 
 3. Though many learned treatises have been published, some 
 whereof have positively asserted, others have polemically vindi- 
 cated divers parts of church government, and the divine right 
 thereof, yet hitherto no treatise of this nature is extant, posi- 
 tively laying open the nature of a divine right, what it is, and a 
 syslem of that government, which is .so, and proving both by the 
 Scriptures; without which, how shall the judgments and con- 
 sciences of men be satisfied, that this is that church government, 
 according to the word of God, which they have covenanted to en- 
 deavor to promote, and whereto they are obliged to submit ? And 
 since it is our lot to travel in an unbeaten path, we, therefore, 
 promise to ourselves, from all sober and judicious readers, the 
 greater candor and ingenuity in their measuring of our steps and 
 progress herein. 
 
 II. The advantage which may probably accrue hereupon, we 
 hope shall be manifold : For, 1. Who can tell but that .some of 
 them, that in some things are misled and contrary-minded, may 
 be convinced and regained ? and it will be no small reward of 
 our labors if but one erring brother may be brought back. 
 2. Some satisfaction may redound to such as are of doubtful, un- 
 resolved minds, by removing of their doubts and scruples, and 
 ripening of their resolutions, to settle more safely in point of 
 church government. 3. Those that as yet arc unseen in the 
 matter of church government, or that want money to buy, or 
 leisure to read many books upon this subject, may here have much 
 
PKEFACE. 9 
 
 in a little, and competently inform themselves of the whole body 
 of the government. 4. Consequently upon the attaining of the 
 former ends, the work of reformation will be nruch facilitated and 
 smoothed, the hearts of tlie people being prepared for the Lord 
 and his ordinances. 5. The present attempt (if it reach not to 
 that completeness and satisfactoriness which is desired) may yet 
 incite some of our brethren of more acute and polished judgments 
 to embark themselves in some further discoveries for the public 
 benefit of the Church. 6. But though it should fall out that in 
 all tiie former we should be utterly disappointed, we shall have 
 this peace and comfort upon our own spirits, that we have not 
 hid our talent in the earth, nor neglected to bear witness to this 
 part of Christ's truth, touching the government of his Church, by 
 his kingly power, wherein Christ was opposed so much in all 
 ages. Psalm ii. 1, 2, 3; Luke xix. 14, 27; Acts iv., and for 
 which Christ did suffer so much in a special and immediate man- 
 ner, as* some have observed. For this end Christ came into the 
 world, (and for this end we came into the ministerial calling.) to 
 bear witness to the truth. 
 
 III. Finally, the present opportunity of publishing a treatise on 
 this subject doth much incite and encourage us therein. For at 
 this time we are beginning, in this province of London, (and wc 
 hope the whole kingdom will, with all convenient speed, and due 
 caution, second us.) to put tliat covenanted church government 
 into actual execution, which we have a long time intended in our 
 deliberate resolutions. So that generally wc shall be engaged in 
 the government one way or other, either as acting in it as the 
 churcli ofhcers, or as submitting to it as church members : now, 
 how shall any truly conscientious person, either act in it, or con- 
 form and submit unto it with faith, judgment, and alacrity, till he 
 be in some competent measure satisfied of the divine right there- 
 
 * This truth, that Jesus Christ is a king, and hath a kingdom and govern- 
 ment in his Church distinct from the kingdoms of this world, and from the 
 civil government, hath this commendation and character above all other 
 truths, that Christ himself sutiercd tc the death for it, and sealed it with his 
 blood. For it may be observed from the story of his passion, this v.'lis the 
 only point cf his accusation, which was confessed and avouched by himself, 
 Luke xxiii. .3; John xviii. 33, 36, 37 ; was most aggravated, prosecuted, and 
 driven home by the Jews, Luke xxiii. 12 ; John xix. 22, 23 ; was prevalent 
 with Pilate as the cause of condemnuig him to die, John xix. 12, 13, and was 
 mentioned also in his superscription upon his cross, John xix. 19 ; and al- 
 though in reference to God, and in respect of satisfaction to the Divine 
 justice for our sins, his death was Xvrpov, a price of redemption ; yet in refer- 
 ence to men who did persecute, accuse, and condemn him, his death 
 was naprvpiov, a martyr's testimony to seal such a truth. — Mr. G. Gillcsiiic, 
 in his Aarori's Rod Blossoming, tf-c, Epist. to the Kcader. 
 
10 rilEFACE. 
 
 of? Will mere prudence, without a divine right, be a sufficient 
 basis to erect the whole frame of church government upon, a« 
 some conceive ? Prudentials, according to general rules of 
 Scripture, may be of use in circumstantials, but will bare pru- 
 dentials in substantials also satisfy either our God, our covenant, 
 our consciences, or our end in this great work of reformation ? 
 Whalconficientious person durst have a hand in acting as a rulin;: 
 elder, did he not apprehend the word of God holds forth a divine 
 right for the ruling elder ? Who durst have a hand in the cen- 
 sures of admonishing the unruly, excommunicating the scandal- 
 ous and obstinate, and of restoring the penitent, were there not a 
 divine right hereof revealed in the Scripture, &c. Now, there- 
 fore, that ruling elders, and the rest of the people, may begin this 
 happy work conscientiously, judiciously, cheerfully, in some 
 measure perceiving the divine right of the whole government, 
 v.iierein they engage themselves, cleared by Scripture, we hopr-, 
 by God's blessing, that this small tract will afford some season- 
 able assistance, v. hich will be unto us a very acceptable recom- 
 pense. 
 
 Thus far of the nature of this treatise, and the grounds of our 
 publishing thereof. In the next place, a few doubts or scruples 
 touching church government here asserted, being succinctly re- 
 solved, we shall preface no further. 
 
 Douht 1. Many scruple, and much question the divine right of 
 the whole frame of church government ; as, 1. Whether there b^ 
 any particular church government of divine right ? 2. What thai 
 government is ? 3. What church officers or members of elder- 
 ships are of divine right ? 4. Whether parochial or congrega- 
 tional elderships be of divine right? 5. Whether classical pres- 
 byteries be of divine right ? G. Whether provincial, national, 
 and oecumenical assemblies be of divine right ? 7. Whether 
 appeals from congregational to classical, provincial, national, and 
 oecumenical assemblies, and their power to determine upon such 
 appeals, be of divine right ? 8. Whether the power of censures 
 in the congregational , eldership, or any other assembly, be of 
 divine right ? 9. Whether there be any particular rules in the 
 Scripture directing persons or assemblies in the exercise of their 
 power ? 10. Whether the civil magistrates, or their committees' 
 and commissioners' execution of church censures l>e contrary to 
 that wav of government which Christ hath appointed in hLi 
 Church ? 
 
 Resol. To all or most of these doubts some competent satisfac- 
 tion may be had from this treatise ensuing, if seriously considered. 
 For, 1. That there is a church government of divine right, now 
 under the New Testament, declared in Scripture, is proved, 
 
PREFACE. 11 
 
 Part I. 2. What that government is in particular, is evidenced 
 both by the description of church government, and the confirma- 
 tion of the parts thereof by Scripture, Part. II. chap. 1, and so 
 to the end of the book : whereby it is cleared that the presbyterial 
 government is that particular government which is of divine right, 
 according to the word of God. 3. What ordinary church officers, 
 (members of the several elderships,) are of divine right, is proved, 
 Part II, chap. 11, sect. 1, viz. pastors and teachers, with ruling 
 elders. 4. That parochial or congregational elderships, consisting 
 of preaching and ruling elders, are of divine right, is manifested, 
 Part II. chap. 12. 5. That classical presbyteries, or assemblies, 
 and their power in church government, are of divine right, is de- 
 monstrated, Part II. chap. 13. 6. That synodical assemblies, or 
 councils in general, (consequently provincial, national, or oecu- 
 menical councils in particular,) and their power in church govern- 
 ment, are of divine right, is cleared. Part 11. chap. 14. 7. That 
 appeals from congregational elderships, to classical and synodical 
 assemblies, from lesser to greater assemblies associated, and 
 power in those assemblies to determine authoritatively in such 
 appeals, are of divine right, is proved, Part II. chap. 15. 8. That 
 the power of church censures is in Christ's own church officers 
 only as the first subject and proper receptacle there of divine 
 right, is cleared. Part II. chap. 11, sect. 2, which officers of Christ 
 have and execute the said power respectively, in all the ruling 
 assemblies, congregational, classical, or synodical. See sections, 
 and chap. 12, 13, 14, 15. 9. That the Scriptures hold forth, 
 touching church government, not only general, but also many 
 particular rules, sufficiently directing both persons and assemblies 
 how they should duly put in execution their power of church 
 government. This is made good. Part II. chap. 4 ; and those 
 that desire to know which are these rules in particular, may con- 
 sult those learned* centuriators of Magdeburg, who have col- 
 lected and methodically digested, in the very words of the 
 Scripture, a system of canons or rules, touching church govern- 
 ment, as in the preface to those rules they do profess, saying, 
 touching things pertaining to the government of tlie Church, the 
 apostles delivered certain canons, which we will add in order, 
 &LC., the very heads of which w^ould be too prolix to recite. 
 10. Finally, that neither the supreme civil magistrate, as such, 
 nor consequently any commissioner or committees whatsoever, 
 devised and erected by his authority, are the proper subject of 
 
 * Cent. I. lib. 2, cap. 7, p. 407 ad AW, Edit. Basil An. 1G24. De rebus 
 ad Gubernationom Ecclesioe pcrtinentibus, Apostoli ccrtos quosdam, Canoncs 
 Iradiderunt : qiios ordinc subjicicmns, Alc. 
 
12 PREFACE. 
 
 the formal power of church government, nor may lawfully, by 
 any virtue of the magistratical ofl'ice, dispense any ecclesiastical 
 censures or ordinances : but that such undertakings are inconsis- 
 tent with that way of government which Christ hath appointed in 
 his Church, is evidenced, Part II. chap. 9, well compared with 
 chap. 11. 
 
 DouU 2. But this presbyterial government is likely to be an 
 arbitrary and tyrannical government, forasmuch as the presby- 
 ters of the assembly of divines and others (who, Diotrephes-likc, 
 generally affect domineering) have desired an unlimited power, 
 according to their own judgments and prudence, in excommuni- 
 cating men from the ordinances in cases of scandal. 
 
 Resol. A heinous charge, could it be proved against the pres- 
 byterial government. Now for wiping off this black aspersion, 
 consider two things, viz : I. The imputation itself, which is unjust 
 and groundless ; II. The pretended ground hereof, which is false 
 or frivolous. 
 
 I. The imputation itself is, that the presbyterial government is 
 likely to be an arbitrary and tyrannical government. Ans. How 
 unjust this aspersion ! i. What likelihood of arbitrary conduct 
 in this government, that is, that it should be managed and carried 
 on according to men's mere will and pleasure? For, 1. The 
 presbyterial government (truly so called) is not in the nature of 
 it any invention of man, but an ordinance of Christ; nor in the 
 execution of it to be stated by the will of man, but only by the 
 sure word of prophecy, the sacred Scriptures. This government 
 allows not of one church officer at all ; nor of one ruling assem- 
 bly made up of those officers ; nor of one censure or act of 
 power to be done by any officer or assembly ; nor of one ordi- 
 nance to be managed in the Church of God, but what are ground- 
 ed upon, and warranted by the word of God. This government 
 allows no execution of any part thereof, neither in substantials, 
 nor circumstantials, but according to the particular, or at least, 
 the general rules of Scripture respectively. And can that be 
 arbitrary, which is not at all according to man's will, but only 
 according to Christ's rule, limiting and ordering man's will ? Or 
 is not the Scripture a better and safer provision against all arbi- 
 trary government in the Church, than all the ordinances, decrees, 
 statutes, or whatsoever municipal laws in the world of man's de- 
 vising, can be against all arbitrary government in the common- 
 wealth ? Let not men put out their own eyes, though others 
 would cast a mist before them. 2. Who can justly challenge 
 the reformed presbyterial churches for arbitrary proceedings in 
 matters of church government, practised in some of them for 
 above these fourscore years ? Or where are their accusers ? 
 
PKEFACE. 13 
 
 3. ^Vhy should the presbyterial government, to be erected in 
 England, be prejudged as arbitrary, before the government be 
 put in execution ? When arbitrary conduct appears, let the ad- 
 versaries complain. 4. If any arbitrary conduct hath been 
 discovered in any reformed church, or shall fall out in ours, it 
 is or shall be more justly reputed the infirmity and fault of the 
 governors, than of the government itself. 
 
 II. What probability or possibility of tyranny in the presbyte- 
 rial government? For, 1. Who should tyrannize, what persons, 
 what ruling assemblies ■? Not the ministers; for, hitherto they 
 have given no just cause of any suspicion, since this government 
 was in hand : and they are counterpoised in all assemblies with 
 a plurality of ruling elders, it beincf already studiously* provided 
 that there be always two ruling elders to one minister : if there 
 be still two to one, how should they tyrannize if they would ? 
 Neither ministers nor ruling elders are likely to tyrannize, if due 
 care be taken by them, whom it doth concern, to elect, place, and 
 appoint, conscientious, prudent, and gracious ministers and ruling 
 elders over all congregations. Nor yet the ruling assemblies, 
 lesser or greater ; for in the presbyterial government all lesser 
 ruling assemblies (though now at first, perhaps, some of them 
 consisting of more weak and less experienced members) are sub- 
 ordinate to the greater authoritatively ; and persons aggrieved by 
 any mal-administrations have liberty to appeal from inferior to 
 superior : and the very national assembly itself, though not pro- 
 perly subordinate, yet is it to be responsible to the supreme politi- 
 cal magistracy in all their proceedings so far as subjects and 
 members of the commonwealth. 
 
 III. How can they tyrannize over any ? Or in what respects ? 
 Not over their estates : for they claim no secular power at all 
 over men's estates, by fines, penalties, forfeitures, or confiscations. 
 Not over their bodies, for they inflict no corporal punishment, by 
 banishment, imprisonment, branding, slitting, cropping, striking, 
 whipping, dismembering, or killing. Not over their souls ; for, 
 them they desire by this government to gain, ]\Iatfh. xviii. 15 ; to 
 edify, 2 Cor. x. 8, and xiii. 10 ; and to save, 1 Cor. v. 5. Only 
 this government ought to be impartial and severe against sin, that 
 the flesh may be destroyed. 1 Cor. v. 5. It is only destructive 
 to corruption, which is deadly and destructive to the soul. Thus 
 the imputation itself of arbitrary conduct and tyranny to tiie pres- 
 byterial government is unjust and groundless. 
 
 II. The pretended ground of this aspersion is false and frivo- 
 lous. The presbyters of the Assembly of Divines, and others 
 
 * Directions of llic Lords and Commons, &.c,, Aug. 19, 16-15, p. 10 
 
 o 
 
14 PREFACE. 
 
 {Diotrephes-Yike, affecting pre-eminence) have desired an unlimited 
 power, according to their own prudence and judgment, in keeping 
 men from the ordinances in cases of scandal not enumerated. 
 A/is. 1. The presbyters of the Assembly and others, are so far 
 from the domineering humor of Diotrephcs, that they could gladly 
 and heartily have quitted all intermeddling in church govern- 
 ment, if Jesus Christ had not by office engaged them thereto; 
 only to have dispensed the word and sacraments would have pro- 
 cured thf-m less hatred, and more ease. 2. They desired liberty 
 to keep from liie ordinances, not only persons guilty of the scan- 
 dals enumerated, but of all such like scandals, (and to judge 
 which are those scandals, not according to their minds unlimit- 
 edly, but according lo the mind of Christ in his word, more sure 
 than all ordinances or acts of Parliament in the world.) And was 
 this so liideous a desire? This liberty was desired, not for them- 
 selves, but for well-constituted elderships. As great pov/er was 
 granted by tljo very service-book to every single curate ; (see the 
 Rubric before the communion.) A perfect enumeration and dc- 
 .scription of scandals can be made in no book but in the Scriptures ; 
 and when all is done, must we not refer thither? All scandals 
 are punishable, as well as any, and to inflict penalties on some, 
 and not on others as bad or worse, is mexcusable partiality. Why 
 should not presbyteries duly constituted, especially the greater, 
 be accounted, at least^ as failliful, intelligent, prudent, and every 
 way as competent judges of what is scandal, and what not, ac- 
 cording to the Scriptures, and that without arbitrary conduct and 
 tyranny, as any civil court, committees, or commissioners what- 
 soever ? Ruling church assemblies are intrusted with the whole 
 government in the church, consequently with this, and every part. 
 The best reformed churches allow to their presbyteries power to 
 keep from the ordinances scandalous persons, not only for scan- 
 dais enumerated, but for scandals of like nature not enumerated, 
 with some general clause or other, as may appear in eiglit several 
 churches, according to the allegations here in the foot-note ;* and, 
 
 * (I) The ancient discipline of tJie Bohemian Brethren, published in Latin, 
 in octavo, Anno 16.'J3, pajjcs i)'J, 100. 
 
 (2; 1'he discipline of Geneva, Anno 1576, in Art. 1, 22, 57, 8G, and 87. 
 ('i'j The discipline of the French church at Frankfort, Edit. 2, in octavo, 
 Anno 1555, in cap. de DisrApLina et Excom., p. 75, and the Ecclesiast. 
 Discipline of the reformed churches of P'rancc, printed at London, Anno 
 H;J2, Art. 15, IC, and 24, p. 41. (4) The Synodal Constitution of the 
 Dutch churciies in Enjrland, chap. 4, Art. 1.3, and Tit. 1, Art. 2; and the 
 Dutch churches in iieljjia, (see JLirmonia Synodorum Belgicarum,) cap. 14, 
 Art. 7, 11, and 15, p. 160. (5) The reformed churches at Nassau, in Ger- 
 many, as Zeoper testifies, De PolitrA Eccles., printed Hrrhorne, Anno 
 1607, in octavo, Tit. dc Ceneuris Ecclesiast., Fart 4, Art. 64, p. 843. 
 
TKEFACE. 15 
 
 therefore, no new thing is desired, but what is commonly prac- 
 tised in the reformed churches, whom we should imitate so far as 
 they lead us on towards purity and perfection. 
 
 bouht 3. But the independent government seems to be a far 
 more excellent way, and it is embraced by many godly and pre- 
 cious people and ministers. 
 
 Ans. 1. What true excellency is there at all in the whole in- 
 dependent government, save only in those particulars wherein it 
 agrees with the presbyterial government ; and only so far as it 
 is presbyterial ? Therefore, the presbyterial government is equally, 
 yea, primarily and principally excellent. Wherein is the excel- 
 lency of the independent way of government ? 1st. Have they 
 only those officers which Christ himself hath appointed, pastors 
 and teachers, ruling elders and deacons ? So the Presbyterians. 
 2d. Have they those spiritual censures, of admonishing, excom- 
 municating, and receiving again into communion, which Christ 
 ordained in his Church, for guarding his ordinances, and well 
 guiding of the flock ? So the Presbyterians. 3d. Have they 
 congregational presbyteries duly elected, and constituted for the 
 exercise of all acts of government, proper and necessary for 
 their respective congregations ? So the Presbyterians. 4th. Have 
 they liberty of electing their own* officers, pastors, elders, and 
 deacons? So the Presbyterians. 5th. Have they power to keep 
 the whole lump of the Church from being leavened, and purely 
 to preserve the ordinances of Christ from pollution and pro- 
 fanation, &c. ? So the Presbyterians, &c. So that wherein- 
 soever the independent government is truly excellent, the 
 presbyterial government stands in a full equipage and equality 
 of excellence. 
 
 II. What one true excellence is there in the whole indepen- 
 dent government in any one point, wherein it really differs from 
 the presbyterial government ? Take for instance a few points 
 of difference. 
 
 (6) The discipline in the churches constituted by the labor of Joannes d 
 Lasco, entitled Forma ac ratio tota Ecclesiasiici Miniierii, tf-r., author Jo- 
 annes a Losco PolonicB Barone, Aniio 1555, p. i294. (7) The discipline 
 agreed upon by the English exiles that fled from the Marian persecution to 
 Frankfort, thence to Geneva, allowed by Calvin ; entitled Ratio ac forma 
 publict orandi Dcum, tj-c, Genevce, 1556, Tit. de Discipliua, p. 68. (8) The 
 Order of Excommunication and Public Repentance used in the Church of 
 Scotland, Anno 1571, Tit. The offences that deserve public repentance, »Scc., 
 pp. 87, 88. 
 
 * See more in chap. 10, scot. 1. 
 
16 
 
 rilEFACE. 
 
 Ill the independent government. 
 
 No olhor visiblo Church of 
 Christ is aci<nowlndgod, but only 
 a siii;^lo con;i;rofTatiotial meolinj^ 
 in ono place to partake of all 
 onlinanccs. 
 
 The matter of their visible 
 Church must be to their utmost 
 judgment of discerninir such as 
 have true grace, real saints. 
 
 Their churclics are cjathored 
 out of other true visible church- 
 es of Christ, without any leave 
 or consf^nt of pastor or flock ; 
 yea, against their wills, receiv- 
 ing such as tender themselves, 
 yea, too often by themselves 
 or others, directly or indirectly 
 seducing disciples after them. 
 
 Preaching elders are only 
 elected, not ordained. 
 
 Iluling elders also preach. 
 
 The subject of church gov- 
 ernment is the conmiunity of 
 the faithful. 
 
 The church oO'icers act im- 
 mediately as the servants of the 
 church, and deputed thereby. 
 
 All censures and acts of 
 government are dispensed in 
 single congregations ultimately, 
 independently, without all lib- 
 erty of appeal from them to any 
 suj)erior church assembly; so 
 the j)arties grieved arc left with- 
 out remedy. 
 
 In the preslijtericd government. 
 
 Ono general visible Church 
 of Christ on earth is acknow- 
 ledged, and all particular 
 churches; and single congre- 
 gations are but as similar parts 
 of that whole. 
 
 The matter of the Church 
 invisible are only true believers, 
 but of the Church visible per- 
 sons professing true faith in 
 • Christ, and obedience to him 
 according to the rules of the 
 Gospel. 
 
 Parochial churches are re- 
 ceived as true visible churches 
 of (/hrist, and most convenient 
 for mutual edilication. Gather- 
 ing churches out of churches, 
 hath no footsteps in Scripture ; 
 is contrary to apostolical prac- 
 tice ; is the scattering of church- 
 C'^, the daughter of schism, the 
 iTiother of confusion, but the 
 stepmother to edification. 
 
 Preaching elders are both 
 elected and ordained. 
 
 Ruling ciders only rale, 
 preach not, 1 Tim. v. 17. 
 
 The subject of church gov- 
 ernment is only Christ's own 
 church ofllcers. 
 
 The church governors act 
 immediately as the servants of 
 Christ, and as appointed by 
 him. 
 
 All censures and acts of gov- 
 ernment are dispensed in con- 
 gregational presbyteries subor- 
 dinately, dependently, with 
 liberty of appeal in all cases to 
 presbyterial or synodal assem- 
 blies ; where parties grieved 
 have suflicient remedy. 
 
PREFACE. 17 
 
 Independent. PrcshyieriaJ. 
 
 There are acknowledged no There are acknowledged, and 
 authoritative classes or synods, with happy success used, not 
 in common, great, difficult cases, only suasive and consultative, 
 and in matters of appeals, but but also authoritative classes 
 only suasive and consultative ; and synods, in cases of great 
 and in case advice be not foi- importance, difficulty, common 
 lowed, they proceed only to a concernment, or appeals ; which 
 non-communion. have power to dispense all 
 
 church censures, as need shall 
 
 require. 
 
 Let these and such like particulars in the independent way, 
 differing from the presbyterial, be duly pondered, and then let the 
 impartial and indifferent reader judge, whether they be not the 
 deformities, at least the infirmities of that way. 
 
 III. How many true excellences are there in the way of the 
 presbyterial government, wherein it utterly surpasses the inde- 
 pendent government ! Read but the particulars of the former 
 parallel in the presbyterial government, and then consider how 
 far this transcends, yea, how the independent government is 
 indeed no government at all, to the presbyterial government ; 
 wherein is to be found such ample provision, and that according 
 to the word of God, for comely order against confusion ; for 
 peace and unity of the Church against schism and division ; for 
 truth of the faith against all error and heresy ; for piety and un- 
 blamableness against all impiety and scandal of cx)nversation ; 
 for equity and right against all maladministrations, Avhether 
 ignorant, arbitrary, or tyrannical ; for the honor and purity of 
 all Christ's ordinances against all contempt, pollution, and pro- 
 fanation ; for comfort, quickening, and encouragement of the 
 saints in all the ways of Christ ; and consequently for the honor 
 of God and our Lord Jesus Christ in all the mysterious services 
 of his spiritual sanctuary : all which rich advantages, how im- 
 possible is it they should ever be found in the independent govern- 
 ment so long as it continues independent? And what though 
 some pious minister and people embrace the independent way ! 
 This dazzles not the eyes of the intelligent, but of the infirm ; 
 we are to be regulated by Scripture warrant, not by human ex- 
 amples. The best of saints have failed in the ecclesiastical 
 affairs ; what a sharp contention was there between Paul and 
 Barnabas, Actsxv. 39, &c. ; what a dangerous dissimulation was 
 there in Peter, the Jews, and Barnabas ! Gal. ii. 11, 1^, 13, &c. ; 
 and, therefore, it is not safe, prudent, or conscientious, to imitate 
 all the examples of the best, and vet how few arc those that have 
 
 2* 
 
18 PREFACE. 
 
 engaged themselves in the independent ^^•ay, in comparison to 
 the multitude of precious ministers and people, inferior to them 
 neither in parts, learning, piety, nor any other spiritual gift, who 
 are for the presbyterial way of church government ! Notwith- 
 standing, let all the true Israel of God constantly follow, not the 
 doubtful practices of unglorified saints, but the written pleasure 
 of the most glorious King of saints ; and as many as walk ac- 
 cording to this rule, peace shall be on them, and upon the Israel 
 of God. 
 
THE 
 
 DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 OF 
 
 CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 OF THE NATURE OF A DIVINE RIGHT : AND HOW MANY WAYS 
 A THING MAY BE OF DIVINE RIGHT. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Thai there is a Government in the Church of Divine Right now 
 under the New Testament. 
 
 Jesus Christ our Mediator hath the government (both of the 
 Church, and of all things for the Church) laid xifon his shoulder, 
 Isa. ix. 6, and to that end hath all power in heaven and earth given 
 to him, Matth. xxviii. 18, John v. 22, Ephes. i. 22. But lapsed 
 man (being full of pride, Psal. x. 2, 4, and enmity against the 
 law of God, Pi,om. viii. 7) is most impatient of all government of 
 God and of Christ, Ps. ii. 1, 2, 3, with Luke xix. 14, 27 ; whence 
 it comes to pass, that the governing and Mnghj poiver of Christ 
 hath been opposed in all ages, and especially in this of ours, by 
 quarrelsome queries, wrangling disputes, plausible pretences, sub- 
 tle policies, strong self-interests, and mere violent wilfulness of 
 many in England, even after they are brought under the oath of 
 God to reform church government according to the icord of God. 
 Yet it will be easily granted that there should he a government in 
 the Church of God, otherwise the Church would become a mere 
 Bahel and c/mo5 of confusion, and be in a far worse condition than 
 all human societies in the wliole world : and that some one church 
 government is much to he preferred hcfore another, yea, before all 
 other ; as being most desirable in itself, and most suitable to this 
 state ; otherwise, why is the Prclatical government rejected, tliat 
 another and a better mav be erected instead thereof? But the 
 
20 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 pincli lies in tliis, Whether there be any gox'^crnvicnt in the Church 
 visible nf divine right ? And, if so, njhich of those church govern- 
 ments (which lay claim to a divine ri<j^ht for their foundation) may 
 be most clearly evinced by the Scriptures to be of divine right in- 
 deed ? If the former bo convinciriirly afiirmcd, the fancy of the 
 Erastians and Se?ui- Eras tif ins of these thini^s will vanisl), that 
 deny all government to the Church distinct from that of the civil 
 mufristrate. If the latter be solidly proved by Scripture, it will 
 appear, whether the monarchical government of the pope and pre- 
 lates ; or the mere dcmocratical government of all the peoj)le in an 
 equal level of authority, as arnonnr the Brownists ; or the mixed 
 democratical government of both elders and people within their own 
 ii\n^}G. confrregation only, without all subordination of Assemblies, 
 and benefit of appeals, as among tiie Independents ; or rather the 
 pure representative government of the presbytery or church rulers 
 only, chosen by the people, in subordination to superior synodical 
 assemblies, and with appeals thereto, as it is among the Presbyte- 
 rians, bo that peculiar government which Jesus Christ hath left 
 unto his church, by divine right, and in comparison of which nil 
 others arc to be rejected. 
 
 To draw things therefore to a clear and speedy issue about the 
 divine right of church government, let this general proposition bo 
 laid down — 
 
 The Scriptures declare,, That there is a government of Divine 
 Right in the visible Church of Christ now under the New Testament. 
 
 This is evident, 1 (Jor. xii. 28, God hath set some in the Church, 
 first, Apostles, secondly, Prophets, thirdly, Teachers Helps, Gov- 
 ernments ; in which place these things are plain : 1. That liere the 
 Apostle speaks of the visible Church : for he had formerly spoken 
 of visible gifts and manifestations of the Spirit given to jrrofit this 
 Church vrithal, ver. 7 to 12. lie also compares this Church of 
 God to a visible organical body, consisting of many visible mem. 
 bers, ver. 12, 13, d:c. And in this 28th verse he enumerates the 
 visible officers of this Church. 2. That here the Apostle speaks 
 of one general visible Church ; for he saith not churches, but 
 church, in the singular number, that is, of one ; besides, he speaks 
 here of the Church in such a latitude as to comprehend in itself 
 all gifts of the Spirit, all members, and all officers, both extraor- 
 dinary and ordinary, which cannot be meant of the clmrch of 
 Corinth, or any one particular church, but only of that one gm- 
 eral Church on earth. 3. That this general visible Church here 
 meant, is tlio Church of Christ now under the New Testament, 
 and not under the Old Testament; for he mentions here the New- 
 Testament officers ordy, ver. 28. 4. That in tlie visible Chujch 
 now under tiic New Testament, there is a government settled; 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERiSMEXT. 21 
 
 for besides Apostles, Prophets, and Teachers, here is mention ot 
 another sort of officer distinct from them all, called, in the ab- 
 stract, Goi'crnmenis, a metaphor from pilots, mariners, or ship- 
 masters, Mho by their helm, card, or compass, cables, and other 
 tacklings, guide, and order, turn and twine the ship as necessity 
 shall require ; so these officers called Governments, have a power 
 of governing and steering the spiritual vessel of the Church ; 
 thus, Beza on this place, says he declares the order of Presbyters, 
 who are keepers of discipline and church polity. For how impro- 
 perly should these, or any officers be styled Governments in the 
 Church, if they had not a power of government in the Church set- 
 tled upon them ? Nor can this be interpreted of the civil magis- 
 trate ; for, when the Apostle wrote this, the Church had her gov- 
 ernment, when yet she had no civil magistrate to protect her ; 
 and when did God ever take this power from the Church and set- 
 tle it upon the civil magistrate ? Besides, all the other officers 
 liere enumerated are purely ecclesiastical officers ; how ground- 
 less then and inconsistent is it under this name of Govermnents to 
 introduce a foreign power, viz. the political magistrate, into the 
 list and roll of mere church officers ? Finally, the civil magis- 
 trate, as a magistrate, is not so much as a member of the visible 
 Church, (for then all Pagan magistrates should be members of the 
 Church,) much less a governor in the Church of Christ. 5. That 
 this government settled in the Church is of divine right ; for, of 
 those Governments, as well as of Apostles, Prophets, and Teach- 
 ers, it is said, God hath set them in the Church. God hath set them, 
 hath put, set — Tremcllius out of the Syriac. Hath constituted, 
 ordained — Beza out of the Greek. Now, if they be set in the 
 Church and God hath set them there, here is a plain divine light 
 for government in the Church. 
 
 Add hereto, 2 Cor. x. 8, " Of our autliority, which the Lord 
 hath given to us for the edification, and not for the destruction of 
 you." Here are mentioned — 1. Church power or authority for 
 government in the Church. 2. The end of this power — positively, 
 for the edification ; negativel}'', not for the destruction of the 
 Church. 3. The Author or Fountain of this authority — the Lord 
 Christ hath given it, dispensed it ; there is the divine right. 4. 
 The proper subjects intrusted with this authority, viz : the church 
 guides, our authority, which he hath given to us. They are the 
 receptacle of power for the Church, and the government thereof. 
 Compare also 1 Thes. v. 12, Matth. xvi. 19, 20, with xviii. 11, 
 and John xx. 21, 22, 23. In which and divers like places the 
 divine right of church government is apparently vouched by the 
 Scripture, as will hereafter more fully appear ; but this may suf- 
 fice in general for the confirmation of tliis general proposition. 
 
22 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Of the Nature of a Divii^e Right in general. 
 
 Now touching this diyine right of church government, two 
 things are yet more particularly to be opened and proved, for the 
 more satisfactory clearing thereof unto sober minds, to unpreju- 
 diced and unpre-engaged judgments, viz: — 1. What the nature 
 of a divine right is, and how many ways a thing may be safd to 
 be of divine right, and that by warrant of Scripture. 2. What 
 the nature of the government of the Church under the New Tes- 
 tament is, which is vouched by the Scripture to be of divine right. 
 
 For the first — viz. What the nature of a divine right is — con- 
 sider both what a divine right is in general, and how many ways 
 a thing may be said by Scripture warrant to be of divine right 
 in particular. 
 
 Right is that which is most proper, just, or equal ; or that 
 which is prescribed or commanded by some statute law, and is 
 just to be received in virtue of said law. 
 
 Divine sometimes points out a divine warrant or authority from 
 God, engraven or enstamped upon any thing, whereby it is exalted 
 above all human or created authority and power. And thus, all 
 Scripture is styled divinely breathed or inspired of GkxI. Hence 
 is the divine authority of Scripture asserted, 2 Tim. iii. 16, 17; 
 and in this sense divine right is here spoken of, in reference to 
 church government, as it signifies a divine warrant and authority 
 from God himself, engraven upon that church government and 
 discipline, (hereafter to be handled.) and revealed to us in his 
 holy Scriptures, the infallible and perfect oracles. So that divine 
 right, according to this interpretation of the terms, is that which 
 is either just, meet, and equal; or commanded and enjoined by 
 any divine warrant or authority. And generally, a thing may be 
 said to be of divine right, which is any way divinely just, equal, 
 &c. ; or divinely commanded by any law of God, or by that 
 which is equivalent to a divine law. And whatsoever matters in 
 church government can be proved by Scripture to have this stamp 
 of divine warrant and authority set upon them, they may proper- 
 ly be said to be of divine right, and that by the will and appoint- 
 ment of Jesus Christ, to whom God hath delegated all power and 
 authority for the government of his Church, Matth. xxviii. 18, 19, 
 20, Isa.'ix. 6, John v. 22, Eph. i. 22. In this sense, if church 
 government, or any part of it, be found to be of divine right, 
 then consequently — 1. It is above all mere human power and 
 created authority in the v.orld whatsoever, and that superemi- 
 
OF cnrRCH GOVERNMENT. 23 
 
 nently. A divine right is the highest and best tenure whereby 
 the Church can hold of Christ any doctrine, worship, or govern- 
 ment ; only God can stamp such a divine right upon any of these 
 things, whereby conscience shall be obliged. All human inven- 
 tions herein, whether devised of our own hearts, or derived as tra- 
 ditions from others, are incompatible and inconsistent herewith ; 
 vain in themselves, and to all that use them, and condemned of 
 God. See 1 Kings xii. 32, 33, Isa. xxix. 4, Matth. xv. 6, 7, 8, 
 9. 2. It is beyond all just, human, or created power, to abolish 
 or oppose the same, or the due execution thereof in the Church of 
 Christ ; for what is of divine right, is held of God, and not of 
 man; and to oppose that, were to fight against God. The su- 
 preme magistrates in such cases should be nurse-fathers, Isa. xlix. 
 23, not step-fathers to the Church ; their power being cumulative 
 and perfective, not privative and destructive unto her ; for she 
 both had and exercised a power in church government, long be- 
 fore there was any Christian magistrate in the world ; and it can- 
 not be proved that ever Christ took away that power from his 
 Church, or translated it to the poUtical magistrate, when he be- 
 came Christian. 3. It is so obligatory upon all churches in the 
 whole Christian world, that they ought uniformly to submit them- 
 selves unto it ; for a divine right i§ equally obligatory on one 
 church as well as on another. And it is so obligatory on all per- 
 sons, states, and degrees, that none ought to be exempted from 
 that church government which is of divine right, nor to be tolera- 
 ted in another church government, which is but of human inven- 
 tion ; nor ought any Christian to seek after, or content himself 
 with any such exemption or toleration ; for in so doing, the inven- 
 lions of men should be preferred before the ordinances of God ; 
 our own wisdom, will, and authority, before the wisdom, will, and 
 authority of Christ : and we should in effect say, We will not 
 have this man to reign over us, Luke xix. 27. Let us hreak their 
 hands asunder, and cast their cords awoyfrom us, Psalm ii. 3. 
 
THE DIVIXE RIGHT 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Of the Nature of a Divine Right m particular. How many ways 
 n thing may he of Divine Right. And first, of a Divine Right 
 by the true light of nature. 
 
 Thus we see in general what a divine right is : now in partic- 
 ular let us come to consider how many ways a thing may be said 
 to he of divine right by scripture- warrant, keeping still our eye 
 upon this subject of church government, at which all particulars 
 are to be levelled for the clearing of it. 
 
 A thing may be said to be of divine right, or (which is the 
 same for substance) of divine institution, divers ways. 1. By 
 the true light of nature. 2. By obligatory scripture examples. 3. 
 By divine approbation. 4. By divine acts. 5. By divine pre- 
 cepts or mandates. All may be reduced to these five heads, as- 
 cending by degrees from the lowest to the highest divine right. 
 
 I. By light of nature. That which is evident by, and conso- 
 nant to the true liglit of nature, or natural reason, is to be ac- 
 counted of divine right in matters of religion. Hence two things 
 are to be made out by Scripture. 1. What is meant by the true 
 light of nature. 2. Ilow it may be proved, that what things in 
 religion are evident by, or consonant to this true ligiit of nature, 
 are of divine right. 
 
 I. For the first, What is meant by the true light of nature, or 
 natural reason ? Thus conceive. Tiie light of nature may be 
 considered two ways. 1. As it was in man before the fall, and 
 so it was that image and similitude of God, in which man M-as at 
 first created. Gen. i. 20, 27, or at least part of that image ; 
 which imago of (lod, and light of nature, was con-created with 
 man, and was perfect : viz. so perfect as the sphere of humanity 
 and state of innoeency did require ; there was no sinful darkness, 
 crookedness, or imperfection in it ; and whatsoever was evident 
 by, or consonant to this pure and perfect light of nature, in re- 
 spect either of theory or practice, was doubtless of divine right, 
 because correspondent to that divine law of God's image naturally 
 engraved in Adam's heart. But man being lapsed, this will not 
 be now our question, as it is not our case. 2. As it is now in 
 jiian after the fall. The light of nature and image of God in 
 man is not totally abolished and utterly razed by the fall ; there 
 remain still some relics and fragments thereof, some glimmer- 
 ings, dawnings, and common principles of light, both touching 
 piety to God, equity to man, and sobriety to a man's self, &c., as 
 is evident by comparing tlicsc places, Psal. xix. 1, 2, Arc, Acts 
 
DF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 05 
 
 Xlv. 17, and xvii. 27, 28; Rom. i. 18-21, and ii. 12, 14, 15; 
 2 Cor. V. 1 : in which places it is plain, 1. That the book of the 
 creature is able (without the scriptures, or divine revelations) to 
 make known to man much of God, his invisible Godhead and at- 
 tributes. Psalm xix. 1, 2, &c. ; Acts xiv. 17, and xvii. 27, 28 ; 
 yea, so far as to leave them without excuse, Rom. i. 18-21. 
 
 2. That there remained so much natural light in the minds even 
 of tllfe heathens, as to render them capable of instruction by the 
 creature in the invisible things of God ; yea, and that they actu- 
 ally in some measure did know God, and because they walked 
 not up to this knowledge, were plagued, Rom. i. 18-21, 24, &c. 
 
 3. That the work of the law (though not the right ground, man- 
 ner, and end of that work, which is the blessing of the new cove- 
 nant, Jer. xxxi. 33 ; Heb. viii. 10) was materially written in 
 some measure in their hearts. Partly because they did by nature 
 without the law the things contained in the law, so being a law to 
 themselves, Rom. ii. 14, 15; partly, because they by nature forbore 
 some of those sins which were forbidden in the law, and were 
 practised by some that had the law, as 2 Cor. v. 1 ; and partly, 
 because according to the good and bad they did, &:c., their con- 
 science did accuse or excuse, Rom. ii. 15. Now conscience doth 
 not accuse or excuse but according to some rule, principle, or 
 law of God, (which is above the conscience,) or at least so sup- 
 posed to be. And they had no law but the imperfect characters 
 thereof in their own hearts, which were not quite obliterated by 
 the fall. Now so far as this light of nature after the fall, is a 
 true relic of the light of nature before the fall, that which is ac- 
 cording to this light may be counted of divine right in matters of 
 religion, which is the next thing to be proved. 
 
 For the second, how it may be proved that what things in reli- 
 gion are evident by, or consonant to this true liglit of nature, are 
 of divine right. Thus briefly, 
 
 1. Because that knowledge which by the light of nature Gen- 
 tiles have of the invisible things of God, is a beam of divine light, 
 as the apostle, speaking of the Gentiles' light of nature, saith, 
 That which may be known of God is manifest in them — for God 
 hath showed it to them. For the invisible things, &c., Rom. i. 
 19, 20. God himself is the Fountain and Author of the true 
 light of nature ; hence some not unfitly call it the divine light of 
 nature, not only because it hath God for its object, but also God 
 for its principle ; now that which is according to God's manifest- 
 ation, must needs be of divine right. 
 
 . 2. Because the Spirit of God and of Christ in the New Testa- 
 ment is pleased often to argue from the light of nature in con- 
 demning of sin, in commending and urging of duty, as in the cage 
 3 
 
20 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 of the incostuous Corinthian ; " It is reportotl commonly, that ther«^ 
 is fornication among you, and sucli fornication as is not so much 
 as named among the Gentiles," (who had only the light of nature 
 to guide them,) 1 Cor. v. 1 . In case of the habits of men and 
 women in their public church assemblies, that women's heads 
 should be covered, men's uncovered in praying or prophesying. 
 " Judge in yourselves, is it comely that a woman pray untc^God 
 uncovered ? Doth not even nature itself leaoh you, that if a man 
 hath long hair, it is a shame to him ? but if a woman have long 
 hair it is a glory to her," &c., 1 Cor. xi. 13-15. Here the apos- 
 tle appeals plainly to the very light of nature for the regulating 
 and directing of their habits in church assemblies; and thus, in 
 case of praying or prophesying in the congregation in an unknown 
 tongue, (unless some do interpret,) he strongly argues against it 
 from the light of nature, 1 Cor. xiv. 7-11, and afterwards urges 
 that women be silent in their churches, from the natural uncome- 
 lincss of their speaking there, for it is a shame for women to speak 
 in the church, 1 Cor. xiv. 34, 35. 
 
 Now, if the Spirit of God condemn things as vicious, and com- 
 mend things as virtuous from the ligiit of nature, is there not divine 
 rigiit in the light of nature ? May we not say, thai which is re- 
 pugnant to the light of Ucature in matters of religion, is condemned 
 by divine right ; and what is correspondent to tlie light of nature, 
 is prescribed by divine riglit ? And if not, where is tiie strength or 
 force of this kind of arguing from the light of nature? 
 
 Conse{|uently, in the i)resent case of chtirch government, that 
 which is agreeable to tiie true liglit of jiature, must needs be con- 
 fessed to be of divine right. Though the light of nature be but 
 dim, yet it will lend some help in tiiis particular: e. g. the light 
 of nature teaches, 1. That as every society in the world hath a 
 distinct government of its own within itself, without which it could 
 not subsist, so must the Cluirch, which is a society, have its own 
 distinct government within itself, without which it cannot subsist 
 more than any other society. 2. That in all matters of differ- 
 ence the lesser number in every society should give way to, and 
 the matters controverted be determined and concluded by the 
 major part ; else there would never be an end : and why not so 
 in the Church? 3. Tiiat in every ill administration in inferior 
 societies the parties aggrieved should have liberty to appeal from 
 them to superior societies, that equity may take place ; and why 
 not from inferior to superior church asse^nblies? 
 
OF CHURCH COVER N:\IE NT. 27 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 II. Of a Divine Right hij ohligatory Scripture Examples. 
 
 II. By obligatory scripture examples (which God's people are 
 bound to follow and imitate) matters of religion become of divine 
 right, and by the will and appointment of Jesus Christ, by whose 
 Spirit those examples were recorded in Scripture, and propounded 
 for imitation to the saints. The light of nature in this case helps 
 something ; but the light of obligatory scripture examples helps 
 much more, as being more clear, distinct, and particular. We 
 say scripture examples ; for only these examples are held forth 
 to us by an infallible, impartial, divine hand, and those scripture 
 exanlplcs obligatory, or binding ; for there are many sorts of 
 scripture examples that oblige not us to imitation of them, being 
 written for other uses and purposes. 
 
 Great use is to be made of such examples in matters of reli- 
 gion, and particularly in matters of church government, for the 
 clearing of the divine right thereof; and great opposition is made 
 by some against the binding force of examples, especially by men 
 of perverse spirits, (as too many of the Erastian party are ;) 
 therefore it will be of great consequence to unfold and clear this 
 matter of scripture examples, and the obliging power thereof, that 
 we may see how far examples are to be a law and rule for us by 
 divine right. In general, this proposition seems to be unques- 
 tionable, that whatsoever matter or act of religion Jesus Christ 
 makes known to his Church and people, by or under any binding 
 scripture example, that matter or act of religion so made known, 
 is of divine right, and by the v>-ill and appointment of Jesus 
 Chrtst. But to evince this more satisfactorily, these several par- 
 ticulars are to be distinctly made good and manifested : 1. That 
 some scripture examples are obligatory and binding on Christians 
 in matters of religion. 2. Which are those obligatory scripture 
 examples ? These things being made out, we shall see with 
 what strength scripture examples hold forth a divine right to us 
 in the mysteries of religion, and particularly in church govern- 
 ment. 
 
 I. That some scripture examples in matters of religion are 
 obligatory on Christians, as paltcrns and rules, which they are 
 bound in conscience to follow and imitate, is evident, 
 
 1. By the divine intention of the Spirit of God, in recording 
 and propounding of examples in Scripture : for he records and 
 propounds them for this very end, that they may be imitated. 
 
29 THE riVINE RIGHT 
 
 Thus Christ's humility, in washing the feet of his disciples, was 
 intentionally propounded as an obligatory example, binding both 
 the disciples, and us after ihem, to perform the meanest offices of 
 love in humility to one another. " If I then, your Lord and 
 Master, have washed your feet, ye ought also to wash one an- 
 other's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should 
 do as I have done to you," John xiii. 4, &:c., 13-15. Thus 
 Christ's suffering with innocence and unprovoked patience, not 
 revilinor again, &c., is purposely propounded for all Chri.stians to 
 imitate, and they are bound in conscience as well as they can to 
 follow it — " Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example, that 
 ye should follow his steps," &c., 1 Pet. ii. 21-23. Hence, the 
 apostle so urges the example of Christ for the Corinthians to fol- 
 low in their bounty to the poor saints, yea, though to their own 
 impoverishing, " For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakcs he became 
 poor, that 3-e through his poverty might be rich," 2 Cor. viii. 0. 
 Nor was the example of Christ only written for our imitation ; 
 but the examples of the apostles also in the primitive churches 
 were intentionally left upon record for this end, that they might 
 be binding patterns for us to follow in like cases in after ages. 
 And in particular, this seems to be one singular ground, scope, 
 and intention of Christ's Spirit in writing the history of the Act« 
 of the Apostles, that the apostles' acts in the primitive churches 
 might be our rules in successive churches. For, 1. Though thi« 
 book contain in it many things dogmatical, that is, divers doctrines 
 of the apostles, yet it is not styled the book of the doctrine, but 
 of the Acts of the Apostles, that we may learn to act as they 
 acted. This being one main difference between profane and sa- 
 cred histories ; those are for speculation, these also for admonition 
 and imitation, 1 Cor. x. 11. The history, therefore, of the Acts 
 propounds examples admonitory and obligatory upon us, that we 
 should express like acts in like cases. 2. Luke (the penman of 
 the Acts) makes such a transition from liis history of Christ, to 
 this history of Christ's apostles, as to unite and knit them into 
 one volume, Acts i. 1 ; whence we are given to understand, that 
 if the Church wanted this history of the apostles, she should want 
 that perfect direction which the Spirit intended for her : as also 
 that this book is useful and needful to her as well as the other. 
 3. In the very front of the Acts it is said, that Christ after his 
 resurrection (and before his ascension) gave commandments io the 
 apostles — and spake of the things pertaining to tfie kingdom of 
 God, Acts i. 2, 3 ; viz. of the polity of the Church, say some.* 
 
 * R. Park, de Polit Eccl. 1. 2, cap. 45. 
 
OF CHURCH GOVEKN.MEXT. 
 
 29 
 
 Of the kingdom of grace, say others.* Judicious Calvinf inter- 
 prets it partly of churcli i^'overnment. saying, Luke admonisheth 
 us, that Clirist did not so depart out of tlie world, as to cast off all 
 care of us : for by tliis doctrine he shows that he hath constituted 
 a perpetual government in his Church. Therefore Luke signifies, 
 tiiat Christ departed not, before he had provided for his Church's 
 government. Now those expressions are set in the frontispiece, 
 to stamp the greater authority and obligatory power upon the acts 
 after recorded, being done according to Christ's commandments ; 
 Christ intending their acts in the first founding of his kingdom 
 and polity ecclesiastic to be the rule for after churches. "^ For 
 what Christ spoke of his kingdom to the apostles is like that, 
 " What I say to you, I say to all," Matt. xiii. 37, as what was 
 said to the apostles touching preaching and baptizing, remitting 
 and retaining of sins, was said to all the apostles' successors, 
 "to the end of the world," John xx. 21, 23, with Matt, xxviii. 
 18-20. 
 
 2. By God's approving and commending such as were follow. 
 ers not only of the doctrine, but also of the examples of the Lord, 
 his apostles, and primitive churches ; *' And ye became followers" 
 (or imitators) "of us and of the Lord," 1 Thess. i. 6, 7 ; and 
 again, " Ye, brethren, became followers" (or imitators) "of the 
 churches of God, which in Judea are in Christ Jesus : for ve 
 also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as 
 they have of the Jews," 1 Thess. ii. 14. In which places the 
 Holy Ghost recites the Thessalonians imitating of the Lord, of 
 the apostles, and of the churches, to the praise of the Thessalo- 
 nians, by which they are given to understand that they did well, 
 and discharged their duty in such imitations : for God's con- 
 demning or commending any thing, is virtually a prohibiting- or 
 ])rcscribing thereof. 
 
 3. By the Lord's commanding some examples to be imitated. 
 Commands of this nature are frequent. In general, " Beloved, 
 imitate not that which is evil, but that which is good," 3 John 11. 
 In particular, 1. Imitating of God and Christ ; " Be ye, therefore, 
 followers of God as dear children : and walk in love, as Christ 
 also hath loved us," Eph. v. 1, 2, witii Eph. iv. 32. " He that 
 saith he abidetii in him, ought himself also to walk, even as he 
 walked," 1 John ii. 6. 2. Imitating the apostles and other saints 
 of God. " 1 beseech you, be ye imitators of me: for this cause 
 have I sent unto you Timothy — who shall bring you into remem- 
 brance of my ways which be in Christ," 1 Cor. iv. 16, 17. "Be 
 ye imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ," 1 Cor. xi. 1. 
 
 * Malcolm, Com, iji loco. t Calvin in loco, 
 
 3* 
 
'6() 
 
 THE DIVINE KIGHT 
 
 *' Those things which you have Ixjth JearnecJ, and received, and 
 heard, and seen in rne, do: and the God of peace fihall be with 
 you," Phil. iv. 9. " Be not slothful, but imitators of them who 
 through faith and patience inherit the promises," fleb. vi. 12. 
 *' Whose faith imitate, c<jn.sidering the end of their conversation,'* 
 Heb. xiii. 7. " Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have 
 spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example" (or pattern) "of 
 suffering aflliction, and of patience," James v. 10. These and 
 like divine commands infallibly evidence that many scripture ex- 
 amples are obligatory, and do bind our cotisciencc* to the imitation 
 of them. 
 
 4. By consent of orthodox and learned writers, both ancient 
 and modern, acknowledging an obligatory force in some scripture 
 examples, as being left upon record for our imitation. As among 
 others Chrysostom,* and Greg. Nyssen,f well observe. 
 
 Among modern writers, Mr. Perkins excellently observes, 
 This is a rule in divinity, that the ordinary examples of the godly 
 approvefl in Scripture, being against no general precept, have the 
 ibrce of a general rule, and are to be followed. See also Pet. 
 Martyr, Calvin, and others. :|: 
 
 II. Thus, it is clear that some scripture examples are obliga- 
 tory. Now (to come closer to the matter) consider which scrip- 
 ture examples are obligatory. 1. How many sorts of binding 
 
 * Chrys. wl«I»cth — " But, O that there had not want^vJ one that would 
 have delivered diligently unto us the history of the afKw^lleH, not only what 
 they wrote, or what Ihcy Hpake, but Ijow they behaved llmnnclveH throu}(h- 
 out their wlicle life, both what they did eat, and wlien they did cat, when 
 they Bat, and whither they went, and what they did every day, in what partH 
 they lived, and into what house they entered, and whither ihey Hailed, and 
 that would accurately have ex;>ounded all thinjf** ; t>o full of manifold utility 
 are all Ihinj^s of theirti." — Chrys,, Arj^um. in Epiht. ad Philein, And tltse- 
 where he alfirrneth, — " Nor bath the grace of the Holy Ghost without cauT 
 left unto Wi these histories written, but that he may htir us up to the iinilf) 
 tion and emulation of tiucU unspeakable rnen. For when we hear of thin 
 man's patience, of that man's solK^rness, of another man's readhieeM to en- 
 tertain strangers, and the ntanifold virtue of every one, and how every one 
 of them did shine and becouic ilIu«itfiouB, we arc stirred up to the like zeal," 
 Chrya.in G'su.xxi. tii). Ilomil. 57, in initio. 
 
 t " For this cause, therefore, the conversation of these nio«t excellent 
 men iu accurately related, that by imitation of them our life may h<; rightly 
 led on to that which is good."--4jreg. Nysscu, lib. de Vita Mots'm, toin. L. 
 p. 170, vid- tot. lib. 
 
 } Perkins on Matth. vi, JO, 8ee him also on Heh. r.i. G, p, 28, in fol, col. 
 2, 13, C, &.C., and on Heb. xl '22, p. l.'il , col. U, ]), and notably on lith. xii. I, 
 p. 200, col. 2, C, D, &.e., and on Uev. ii, I'J, p. Hl'.i, col J, H, and his Art of 
 Frophei-ying, p, (jf'tii, rjA. 1 and 2. Vide Pel. Martyr in lib. .lud. p. 2, vol, J, 
 and in (Ojul iv, '23, 2-1, And Calvin in IJeb, xii. i ; and in Hem. iv. 2U, 24, 
 and in 1 Pet, i, 21, (JLc. 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 31 
 
 examples are propounded to us in Scripture. 2. What rules 
 we may walk by for finding out the obligatory force of such ex- 
 amples. • 
 
 How many sorts of binding examples ai'e propounded unto us 
 in Scripture, and which are those examples ? Ans. Tiiere are 
 principally three sorts, viz : Examples of God, of Christ, of 
 Christians. 
 
 I. Of God. The example of God is propounded in Scripture as 
 obligatory on us in all moral excellencies and actions: e. g. Matt. 
 V. 44, 45, 43 ; Eph. v. 1 ; 1 Pet. i. 14-16 ; 1 John iv. 10, 11. 
 
 II. Of Christ. That the example of Christ is obligatory, and 
 a binding rule to us for imitation, is evident by these and like 
 testimonies of Scripture, JMatt. xi. 29; 1 Cor. xi. 11 ; Eph. v. 2, 
 3, 25, &c. ; 1 John ii. 6 ; 1 Pet. ii. 21-23. " If I then, your 
 Lord and Master, have washed your feet, ye ought also to wash 
 one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that 
 ye should do as I have done to you," John xiii. 14, 15. In this 
 place we must follow the reason of the example, rather than the 
 individual act, viz: after Christ's example, we must be ready to 
 perform tlie lowest and meanest offices of love and service to one 
 another. 
 
 But which of Christ's examples are obligatory on Christians, 
 will better appear, by distinguishing the several sorts of Christ's 
 actions. Christ's actions were of several kinds ; and to imitate 
 them all is neither needful, nor possible, nor warrantable. Or- 
 thodox writers thus rank Christ's actions : 
 
 1. Some of Christ's actions were of divine power and virtue ; 
 as his miracles, turning water into wine, John ii. 7, &c. ; walk- 
 ing on the sea, Mark vi. 48, 49 ; dispossessing of devils by his 
 word, Mark i. 27 ; Luke iv. 36 ; curing one born blind with 
 clay and spittle, John ix. ; healing the sick by his word or touch, 
 John iv. 50 ; Mark vi. 56 ; raising the dead to life again, as John 
 xii. 1 ; Matt. xi. 5 ; Luke vii. 22. 
 
 2. Some were acts of divine prerogative, as sending for the 
 ass and colt, without first asking the owner's leave, Matt. xxi. 2, 
 
 3. Some mediatory, done by him as Mediator, Prophet, Priest, 
 and King of his Church: e. g. inditing the Scripture, called there- 
 fore the word of Christ, Col. iii. 16 ; laying down his lifeybr tJie 
 sheep, John x. 15, &c. ; giving of the Spirit, John xx. 22 ; Acts 
 ii. ; appointing of his own officers, and giving them commissions, 
 Eph. iv. 7, 10, 11 ; Matt. x. and xxviii. 18-20 ; instituting of 
 new, and thereby abrogating of old ordinances, Matt, xxviii. 18, 
 19 ; 1 Cor. xi. 23, &c. 
 
 4. Some accidental, occasional, incidental, or circumstantial, 
 
32 THE DIVISE EIGHT 
 
 as in the case of his celebrating his supper, that it wa» at oight, 
 
 not in the morning ; after supper not before ; with none but men, 
 Dor» but ministers ; with unleavened, not with leavened bread, 
 &c. ; these circumstantials were accidentally occasioned by the 
 passover, nature of his family, &c. 
 
 5. Some acts of Christ were moral, as Matt. xi. 29 ; Eph. v. 
 2, 3, 25, &c. ; or at least founded upon a nrionil reason and foun- 
 dation, as John xiii. 14, 15. 
 
 To imitate Christ in his three first sort of acts, is utterly unlaw. 
 ful, and in part impossible. To imitate him in his circumstantial 
 acts from necessity, were to make accidentals necessary, and hap- 
 pily to border upon superstition ; for, to urge any thing above 
 what is appointed, as absolutely necessary, is to urge superstition; 
 and to yield to any thing above what is appointed, as simply ne- 
 cessary, were to yield to superstition. But to imitate CTirist in 
 his moral acts, or acts grounded upon a moral reason, is our 
 duty : such acts of Christ ought to be the Christian's rules. 
 
 III. Of prophets, apostles, saints, or primitive churches. That 
 their examples are obligatory, is evident by these places, 1 Cor. 
 xi. 1 ; Phil. iv. 8, 9 ; 1 Pet. lii. 4, 5, 6 ; 1 fhess. i. 6, and U. 14 ; 
 Heb. xiii. 7 ; James v. 10, 11 ; 3 John 11. 
 
 Which of their examples are obligatory, may be thus resolved, 
 by distinguishing of their actions. 
 
 1. Some were sinful ; written for our caution and admonition, 
 not for our imitation : as 1 Cor. x. 5, 6, 10, 12. That neither 
 the just be lifted up into pride by security, nor the unjust be 
 hardened against the medicine through despair. See the fourth 
 rule following. 
 
 2. Some were heroical ; done by singular instinct and instiga- 
 tion of the Spirit of God ; as divers acts may be presumed to be, 
 (though we read not the instinct clearly recorded:) as, Elias's 
 calling for fire from heaven, 2 Kings i. 10 ; which the very apos- 
 tles might not imitate, not having his spirit, Luke ix. 54, 55; 
 Phinehas's killing the adulterer and adulteress. Numb. xxv. 
 7, 8 ; Samson's avenging himself upon his enemies by bis own 
 death, Judges xvi. 30, of which, saith Bernard, if it be defended 
 not to have been his sin, it is undoubtedly to be believed he had 
 private counsel, viz. from God, for his fact ; David's fighting with 
 Goliath of Gath the giant, hand to hand, 1 Sam. xvii. 32, dec., 
 which is no warrant for private duels and quarrels. Such heroic 
 acts are not imitable but by men furnished with like heroic spirit, 
 and instinct divine. 
 
 3. Some were by special calling, and singular extraordinary 
 dispensation : as Abraham's call to leave his own country for 
 pilgrimage in Canaan, Gen. xii. 1, 4, which is no warrant for 
 
OF CHURCH GOVER^'MExNT. 3;j 
 
 popish pilgrimages to the holy land, &c. ; Abraham's attempts, 
 upon God's special trying commands, to kill and sacrifice his son, 
 Gen. xxii. 10, no warrant for parents to kill or sacrifice their 
 children ; the Israelites borrowing of, and robbing the Egyptians, 
 Exod. xii. 35, no warrant for cozenage, stealing, or for borrowing 
 with intent not to pay again : compare Rom. xiii. 8 ; 1 Thess. 
 iv. 6; Psal. xxxvii. 21 ; the Israelites taking usury of the Ca- 
 naanilish strangers, (who were destined to ruin both in their states 
 and persons, Deut. xx. 15-17,) Deut. xxiii. 20, which justi- 
 fies neither their nor our taking usury of our brethren, Lev. xxv. 
 36, 37 ; Deut. xxiii. 19, 20 ; Neh. v. 7, 10 ; Psal. xv. 5 ; Prov. 
 xxviii. 8 ; Ezek. xviii. 8, 13, 17, and xxii. 12; John Baptist's 
 living in the desert. Mat. iii., no protection for popish hermitage, 
 or proof that it is a state of greater perfection, &c. 
 
 4. Some were only accidental or occasional, occasioned by 
 special necessity of times and seasons, or some present appearance 
 of scandal, or some such accidental emergency. Thus primitive 
 Christians had all things common, Acts iv. 32, but that is no 
 ground for anabaptistical community. Paul wrought at his trade 
 of tent-making, made his hands minister to his necessities, Acts 
 XX. 34 ; would not take wages for preaching to the church of 
 Corinth, 2 Cor. xi. 7-9 ; but this lays no necessity on ministers to 
 preach the gospel gratis, and maintain themselves by their own 
 manual labors, except when cases and seasons are alike, Gal. vi. 
 6-8 ; 1 Cor. ix. 6-13 ; 1 Tim. v. 17, 18. 
 
 5. Some were of a moral nature, and upon moral grounds, 
 wherein they followed Christ, and we are to follow them, 1 Cor. 
 xi. 1; Phil. iv. 8, 9, and other places forementioned ; for, what- 
 soever actions were done then, upon sucfi grounds as are of a 
 moral, perpetual, and common concernment to one person as well 
 as another, to one church as well as another, in one age as well 
 as another, those actions are obligatory on all, and a rule to after 
 generations. Thus the baptizing of women in the primitive 
 churches. Acts viii. 12, and xvi. 15, though only the males 
 were circumcised under the Old Testament, is a rule for our 
 baptizing of women as well as men, they being all one in Christ, 
 Gal. iii. 28. So the admitting of infants to the first initiating 
 sacrament of the Old Testament, circumcision, because they with 
 their parents were accounted within the covenant of grace by 
 -(Tod, Gen. xvii., is a rule for us now to admit infants to the first 
 initiating sacrament of the New Testament, baptism, because 
 infants are federally holy, and within the covenant with their be- 
 lieving parents now, as well as then, Rom. xi. 16 ; 1 Cor. vii. 14; 
 Col. ii. 11, 12. Thus the baptizing of divers persons formerly, 
 though into no particular congregation, nor as members of any 
 
31 
 
 TiiL UIVISE iUGUT 
 
 particular congregation, as the eunuch, Acts viii. ; Lydia, Acts 
 xvi. ; the jailer, Acts x\ i. ; because it was sufficient they were 
 baptized into that one general visible Ixxiy of Christ, 1 Ojr. xii. 
 12, 13, is a rule for us wliat to do in like cases upon the same 
 common ground. Thus the Church's practice of preaching the 
 word, and breaking bread on the first day of the week, Acts xx. 
 7, 6ic., is our rule for sanctifying the Lord's day, by cel<;bratijjg 
 the word, sacraments, and other holy ordinances, at tl>ese times. 
 And in like manner, the primitive practices of ordaining preach- 
 ing presbyters, by laying on of hands, 1 Tim. iv. 14 ; 2 Tim. i. 
 fi ; Acts xiii. J3 ; of governing all the congregations of a city by 
 one common presbytery, in which respect they are all called by 
 the name of one church, as the church of Jerusalem. Acts vlii. 1, 
 and XV. 4; the church of Antioch, Acts xiii. 1, and xi. 25, 20; 
 the church of Corinth, 1 Cor. i. 2, 2 Cor. i. 1 ; which had churches 
 in it, 1 Cor. xiv. 34. Of healing common scandals and errpr«, 
 troubling divers presbyterial churches by the authoritative decrees 
 of a synod, maJe up of members from divers presbyterial churchcK, 
 as Acts XV., and such like, are our rules in like particulars, 
 which the Lord hath left for our direction, the same grounds of 
 such actions reaching us as well as them. 
 
 No'A this last kind of examples are those which we are, by 
 divers divine commands, especially enjoined to follow ; and there- 
 fore such examples amount to a divine right or institution ; and 
 what we ought to do by virtue of such binding examples is of 
 divine right, and by the will and appointment of Jesus Christ. 
 
 What discriminatory notes or rules may we walk by, for find- 
 ing out the obligatory force of scripture examples; and what 
 manner of examples th^se be ? For discovery hereof, take these 
 ensuing general rules : 
 
 1. Those example*; in Scripture, which the Spirit of Christ 
 commands us to imitate, are undoubtedly obligatory. Such are 
 the moral examples of God, Christ, a{>o«tles, prophets, saints, and 
 churches, recorded in Scripture, with command to follow them, 
 JCpli. iv. 32, and v. 1, 2 ; 1 John ii. ; 1 Cor. xi. 1 ; Phil. iv. 6 ; 
 Heb. vi. 12, and xiii. 7 ; James v. 10 ; 3 John 11. 
 
 2. Those examples in Scripture, which the Spirit of Chri*t 
 commends and praises, are obligatory ; his commendings are 
 virtual commandings ; and we ought to follow whatsoever is 
 praiseworthy, especially in Clod's account, Phil. iv. 8. 9 ; 2 Cor.« 
 X. 18. Now the Spirit of Christ commends many examples to 
 us : as, Enoch's imlkliig with God, Gen. v. 24 ; Noah's uprigh/- 
 ness, Gen. vi. ; Abraliam's fa/th, Rom. iv., and obedience, Gen. 
 xxii. ; Lot's znal ogainsl Sodom's sins, 2 Pet. ii. 9 ; Job's patience^ 
 James v. 10, 11. And in a word, all the examples of the saints, 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNiMENT. 35 
 
 which the Lord approves and speaks well of; as Heb. xi. ; 1 Pet. 
 jii. 5, 6 : together with all such examples, whose imitation by 
 others is commended in Scripture ; as, 1 Thess. i. G, 7, and 
 ii. 14. 
 
 3. Those examples in Scripture are obligatory, whose ground, 
 reason, scope, or end, are obligatory, and of a moral nature, and 
 as much concern one Christian as another, one church as another, 
 one time as another, &c., whether they be the examples under 
 the Old or New Testament. Thus the example of the church of 
 Corinth, in excommunicating the incestuous person, because he 
 was a wicked person — and lest ho should leaven ike tvhole lump ; 
 and that they might keep the evangelical passover sincerely, and 
 for that tliey had power to judge I hem ici/hin ; and that his " flesh 
 miglit be destroyed, and his spirit saved in the day of the Lord 
 Jesus," 1 Cor. v. 5-8, 11-13: whicii grounds and ends being 
 moral, oblige us to use the like remedy against all wicked and 
 scandalous persons. 
 
 4. Tiiose acts which are propounded in Scripture as patterns 
 or examples, that we should act the like good, or avoid the like 
 ill, are an obligatory law to us. There is an example of caution, 
 and an example of imitation. 
 
 Thus in reference to well-doing, or suffering for well-doino-, the 
 examples of Christ, his apostles, and other saints, are propounded 
 as patterns to write after, as John xiii. 14, 15 ; Heb. xi. tot. with 
 Ileb. xii. 1, with such a cloud of wilnesses. This verse is as the 
 epilogue of the former chapter, (saith the learned Calvin,) show- 
 ing to what end the cataloirue of saints was reckoned up, who 
 under the law excelled in faith, viz : that every one may fit him- 
 self to imitate them. Anotlier adds,* He calls them a cloud, 
 whereby we may be directed ; in allusion to that cloud that went 
 before Israel in the wilderness, to conduct them to the land of 
 Canaan. See also 1 Pet. ii. 21-23; James v. 10. 
 
 Thus also, in reference to ill-doing, that it may be avoided by 
 us, the bad examples of saints and others are laid before us as 
 warnings and cautions to us, binding us to eschew like evils, 
 1 Cor. x. 5, 6, 11. "Now these things were our examples, to 
 the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. 
 Now all these tilings happened unto them for examples," <S:c., 
 Jude 7. 
 
 5. Those acts of saints or Christians, which were done by 
 them as saints and Christians, are obligatory upon, and to be 
 followed by all Christians; but those acts which are done by 
 magistrates, prophets, apostles, ministers, &c., only as such, are 
 
 * Park, de Pol. Eccl. I 2, c. 42. 
 
36 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 only obligatory on such as have like offices, not on all ; accord- 
 ing to the maxim, that which agrees to any thing as such, agrees 
 to every thing that is such. Thus James urges the example of 
 Ellas in praying, James v. 17. Paul presses the example of 
 Abraham in being justified by believing, Rom. iv. 23, 24, Peter 
 prescribes, as a pattern to wives, the example of Sarah, and 
 other holy women of old, for " adorning themselves with a meek 
 and quiet spirit, — being in subjection to their own husbands," 
 1 Pet. iii. 4-6. 
 
 6. Those acts that were commonly and ordinarily done, are 
 ordinarily to be imitated ; as, baptizing in jvater onJy, and not in 
 any other element, was the ordinary practice of the New Testa 
 ment, Matt. iii. 11, 16 ; Mark i. 6, 10 ; Luke iii. 16 ; John i. 
 26, 31, 33 ; Acts i. 5, and viii. 36, 38, and x. 47, and xi. 16 ; 
 and by that practice we are obliged to baptize in water only. 
 Joining of many Christians together in receiving the Lord's sup- 
 per was an ordinary practice, Matt. xxvi. 20, 26, 27 ; Acts ii. 42, 
 and XX. 7, &:c. ; 1 Cor. xi. 20, and by us ordinarily to be imita- 
 ted ; how else is it a communion ? 1 Cor. x. 16, 17. 
 
 But such acts as were done only upon special causes or sin- 
 gular reasons, are only to be imitated in like cases. Thus Christ 
 argues from a like special cause, that he was not to do miracles 
 at Nazareth without a call, as he did in other places where he 
 had a call of God ; from the particular example of Elijah and 
 Elisha, who only went to them to whom God called them, Luke 
 ix. 25-27 ; so he proves that in like case of necessity it was law- 
 ful for his disciples on the sabbath-day to rub ears of corn and 
 eat them, &c., from David's example of eating show-bread when 
 he had need. Matt. xii. 1-5. 
 
 7. Those acts that were done from extraordinary calling and 
 gifts, are to be imitated (in regard of their special way of acting) 
 only by those that have such extraordinary calling and gifts. 
 Christ therefore blames his apostles for desiring to imitate Eli- 
 jah's extraordinary act in calling for fire from heaven, &c., 
 when they had not his spirit, Luke ix. 54, 55. Papists are 
 blameworthy for imitating the extraordinary forty days' and 
 nights' fast of Moses, Elijah, and Christ, in their Lent fast. Pre- 
 lates argue corruptly for bishops' prelacy over their brethren the 
 ministers, from the superiority of the apostles over presbyters. 
 
OF CHURCH GOVEKNxMENT. 37 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Of a Divine Right hy Divine Approbation. 
 
 III. By divine approbation of the Spirit of Jesus Christ in his 
 word. Whatsoever in matters of religion hath the divine appro- 
 bation of the Spirit of Christ in the Scriptures, that is of divine 
 right, and by the will and appointment of Jesus Christ. God's 
 approving or allowing of any thing, plainly implies that it is ac- 
 cording to his will and pleasure, and so is equivalent to a divine 
 institution or appointment ; for what is a divine institution or law 
 but the publishing of the divine will of the legislator, touching 
 things to be acted or omitted ? and God cannot approve any thing 
 that is against his will. Contrariwise, God's disallowing of any 
 thing, plainly implies that it is against his will, and so of divine 
 right prohibited, and unlawful. God allows or disallows things 
 not because they are good or evil ; but things are, therefore, good 
 or evil, because he approves or disallows them. 
 
 Now God approves or disallows things divers ways: 
 1. By commending or discommending. God commended king 
 Josiah for his zeal and impartiality in completing of the reforma- 
 tion of religion, 1 Kings xiii. 25. This is a rule for all princes 
 and magistrates how they should reform. The angel of the church 
 of Ephesus is commended, for not bearing of those that were evil, 
 for trying and detecting the false apostles, and for hating the 
 works of the Nicolailans, Rev. ii. 2, 3, 6. The angel of the 
 church of Pergamus is praised, for holding fast Christ's name, 
 and not denying his faith in places of danger, and days of deepest 
 persecution. Rev. ii. 13 : a rule for all pastors and churches, 
 how in all such cases they should carry themselves. God's 
 commendings are divine commandings. On the contrary, God 
 dispraises Ephesus., for falling from her first love, Rev. ii. 4. 
 Pergamus, for holding the doctrine of Balaam, and the doctrine 
 of the Nicolaitans, Rev. ii. 14, 15. Thyatira, for tolerating the 
 false prophetess Jezebel, to teach and seduce his servants, &;c., 
 Rev. ii. 20. Laodicea, because she was neither hot nor cold, but 
 lukewarm. Rev. iii. 15. The church of Corinth, for coming to- 
 gether in public assemblies, not for better but for worse, by reason 
 of schisms, scandals, and other disorders about the Lord's sup- 
 per, 1 Cor. xi. 17, &c. In these and all such divine discom- 
 mendings of the churches for their corruptions, all succeeding 
 churches are strongly forbidden the like corruptions: God's dis- 
 praises are divine prohibitions. Thus good church ciders are 
 4 
 
53 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 comnienflcd in this notion, that thoy arc ciders ruling well, 1 Tim. 
 V. 17 ; therefore, that ciders in tlic clmrcii should rule, and rule 
 well, is hy this coiiimondation of divine riirjit. 
 
 'i. Hy promising and ihrcatcning. What promise did God ever 
 make to any act or performance, wJiich was not a duty ? or what 
 Ihrcatcniris]; ajjainst any act wiiich was not a sin ? He promises 
 to thom that forsake all tor Christ, a " hundred-fold now in this 
 time, and in the world to come eternal life," Mark x. 29, 80 j 
 therefore it is our duty to forsake all lor Christ. He promised 
 to ratify in heaven liis disciples' sentences of building or loowig 
 on earth ; and io he. with thevi whensoever tico or three of them 
 were met together for that end. Matt, xvi, 19, and xviii. 18-20, 
 and John x.\. 23. Therefore hindin^ and loosing, remitting and 
 retaining of sins, and meeting together for that end, belong to 
 them by divine right. Ih; j)romised to be with them that 
 baptize, preach, remit, and retain sins in his name, &c., 
 alwaijSy to the cud of the loor/d, John xx. 23 ; with Matt, xxviii. 
 18-20, whicii promise shows, that these works and employ- 
 ments belong to all succeeding ministers to the world's end, 
 as well as to the apostles hy divine right. On the contrary, 
 the Lord threatens I''.phosns for decay of fust love. Rev. ii. 
 4, 5; Perganms, for holding false doctrine, Rev. ii. 14, 15; 
 Thyatira, for tolerating of Je/ebel and her false teaching, (fee, 
 Rev. ii. 20, 21, 23; and Laodicea, for lukewarmness. Rev. iii. 
 15, 16. Therefore, all these were their sins, and we are bound, 
 even by this divine tiiroatcning, to avoid the like by a divine 
 warrant. 
 
 3. By remunerating or rewarding ; whether he reward with 
 blessings or with judgments. With blessings God rewarded the 
 Hebrew mid wives, because they j)reserved the male children of 
 Israel, contrary to Pharaoh's bloody command ; God made them 
 housefi, Exod. i. 17, 20, 21. Jlc will have the elders that rule 
 well eounted worthii of double honor, &c. ; i. e. rewarded with a 
 bountiful, plentiful maintenance, 1 Tim. v. 17. Therefore, their 
 ruling in the church is of divine right, for which God appoints 
 such a good reward. Contrariwise, with judgments God re- 
 warded king Saul, for oflering a burnt-ollering himself, 1 Sam. 
 xiii. 12-14 ; Uzzah, for touching the ark, though it was ready to 
 fall, 2 Sam. vi. 6, 7 ; and king U/.ziah, for going into tlie temple 
 to burn incense, 2 Chron. xxvi. 10. None of these being 
 priests, yet presuming to meddle with the priest's oflice. A 
 rule for all persons, being not church ollicers, yea, though they 
 be princes or supreme magistrates, that they are hereby warned 
 l)y the divine law, not to usurp church authority or ollices to 
 themselves. God rewarded the Corinthians with the judgments 
 
OF CIIUKCH GOVEllNMEx\T. 39 
 
 C)f weakness, sickness, and death, for unworthy receiving of the 
 Lord's supper, 1 Cor. xi. 30. So that this is a divine warning for 
 all after churches against unworthy comrnunicatino-. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 IV. Of a Divine Right hy Dimne Acts. 
 
 IV. By divine acts. Whatsoever matters of religion were 
 erected in, or conferred upon the Churcli of God, by God, or any 
 person of the blessed Trinity, and are left recorded in tiie Scrip- 
 ture, they are of divine ri-ht, by the will and appointment of .losus 
 Christ. Shall divine approbation, yea, shall the saints' bindincr 
 example hold forth to us a divine right, and shall not the divine 
 actions of God, Christ, and the Spirit, do it muclfmore ? Take 
 some instances : the Lord's-day sabbath, under the New Testa- 
 ment, was It not instituted (the seventh day being changed to tho 
 first day of the week) by the acts of Christ, having^'now per- 
 fected the si)intual creation of the new world ? viz: by his resur- 
 rection and apparitions to his disciples on that day, and miracu- 
 lous blessing and sanctifying of that dav, by pouring forth the 
 gifts of the Holy Ghost, Acts ii., all which were secTonded with 
 the apostolical practice in tho primitive churches. Acts xx. 7, 
 &c. ; 1 Cor. xvi. 1, 2. And do not the churches of Christ gen' 
 erally conclude upon these grounds, that the Lord's-day sabbath 
 IS of divine warrant ? Thus circumcision is abrogated of divine 
 right, by Christ's act, instituting baptism instead thereof, Col. ii. 
 11, 12.^ The passover is abolished of divine right, by Christ 
 himself, our true passover, helng mcrijiccd for us, 1 Cor. v. 7; 
 and the Lord's supper being instituted a memorial of Christ's 
 death instead of it. Matt, xxvi., Mark xiv., Luke xxii. And the 
 whole ceremonial law is antiquated and made void by Christ's 
 death, accomplishing all those dark types ; therefore Christ, im- 
 mediately before his yielding up the ghost, cried, Tt is finished, 
 John XIX. 30. See Col. ii. 14; Eph. ii. 14, 15; aMi'shing the 
 km of commandments in ordinances, Heb. viii. 13, and x. 4, 5, &c. 
 Thus by Christ's act of giving the keys of the kingdom of heaven 
 to Peter and the apostles, Matt. xvi. 19, and xviii. 18, 19, the 
 keys belong to the officers of the church by divine right. By 
 God's act of setting in tlie Church some, first apostles, &c., 1 Cor. 
 xii. 28, all those officers belong to the general visible Church by 
 divine right. By Christ's act of bounty upon his triumphant 
 
TilE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 ascension into l,eaven, m ghinggifis lo m.n, fph- jv- ^; 1 1 . 12 ; 
 »1I those <;hurch officers being Christ s gifts, are ot dnme rigni. 
 F inallv bv he Holv Ghost^s act, in setting elders, overseen 
 over the flock, Acts xx. 29, elders are such overseers by 
 
 divine right 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 V. Of a Diane Bight iy Divine Precepts. 
 
 V Finally, and primarily, by divine precepts, whatsoever in 
 matters of religion is commanded or forbidden by God m his 
 wo d hat is accordingly a duty or sin, by divme right: as the 
 duties of the whole moral law, the ten words, commanded of 
 r^T Exod XX • Deut. v. Believing in Christ, commanded of 
 S,fjliii.'23. The plentiful and hono-.le —n^nanc* 
 of ministers, commanded of God, 1 Tim. v. 17, 18 ,1 Cor. ix. 
 ot ministers esteeming, loving, and 
 
 obevinl t'hefr'pasts and teachers' commanded of God 1 Thcss. 
 V iV^Heb. xiii. 7, 17. Ministers' diligence and fa.thfuln^, 
 in feeding and watching over their flocks, commanded of God, 
 "cts xx!28 ; 2 Tim. iv. 1-3 ; 1 Pet. iv. 1-3 ; with mnumerable 
 corlnands a^d precepts of all sorts : now all thmgs so command- 
 ed arevidentlv- of d vine right, and without gam.ay.ng, granted 
 on all hands, even by Erastians themselves. But the question 
 wiUbe, how far we shall extend this head o( d,a,^ commands. 
 For clearness' sake, thus distinguish, thus resolve : 
 
 God's commands are either immediate or mediate^ „,„^„n,1, 
 
 1 . Immediate divine commands : as those which G«d p^f^ 
 
 and urges ; as the ten commandments, E.xod. xx Deut^v., and 
 
 a 1 other iiiunctions of his in his word positively laid down. Of 
 
 "commands, the apostle saith, " I command, yet not L but 
 
 '^N'^owlLl'imVediale'commands of God, in regard of their 
 manner of publishing and propounding, are either explicit or im- 
 
 ''"l!' Explicit : which are expressly and in plain terms laid down, 
 as the letter of the commandments of '^e decalogue Exodxx^ 
 The commands of Christ, " Feed mv lambs, feed my h^^^^^ 
 xxi. ; " Go, disciple ye all nations, &c., Matt. "''Y" • ^ "' "' 
 'his in rem;mbra'nce of me," -Matt, xxvi ; 1 Cor,x, 23 24, ic 
 Now whatsoever is expressly commanded of God m pUm, e».. 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMEInT. 4X 
 
 dent terms, that is of divine right, without all color of controversy. 
 Only take this caution, the divine right of things enjoined by 
 God's express command, is to be interpreted according to the 
 nature of the thing commanded, and the end or scope of the 
 Lord in commanding: e, g. 1. Some things God commands mor- 
 ally, to be of perpetual use; as to honor father and mother, &c. : 
 these are of divine right forever. 2. Somethings he commands 
 but positively, to be of use for a certain season ; as the ceremo- 
 nial administrations till Christ should come, for the Jewish 
 church, and the judicial observances for their Jewish polity; and 
 all these positive laws were of divine right till Christ abrogated 
 them. 3. Some things he commands only by way of trial, not 
 with intention that the things commanded should be done, but that 
 his people's fear, love, and obedience may be proved, tried, &c. 
 Thus God commanded Abraham to oifcr up his son Isaac for a 
 burnt-offering. Gen. xxii. : such things are of divine right only 
 in such cases of special infallible command. 4. Some things he 
 commands extraordinarily in certain select and special cases : as, 
 Israel to horroio jewels of the Egyptians to roh them, without inten- 
 tion ever to restore them, Exod. xi. 2, &c. The disciples to go 
 preach — yet to provide neither gold nor silver, &;c. Matt. x. 7-10. 
 The elders of the church (while miracles were of use in tlie 
 church) to anoint the sick with oil in the name of the Lord, for 
 their recovery, James v. 14. These and like extraordinary com- 
 mands were only offeree by divine right, in these extraordinary 
 select cases, when they were propounded. 
 
 1. Implicit, or implied: which are either comprehensively 
 contained in or under the express terms and letter of the 
 command ; or, consequentially, are deducible from the express 
 command. 
 
 Comprehensively, many things are contained in a command, 
 that are not expressed in the very letter of the command, 'i'hus 
 sound interpreters of the decalogue generally confess, that all 
 precepts thereof include the whole parts under the general term, 
 and God wills many things by them more than the bare words 
 signify : e. g. in negative commands, forbidding sin, we are to 
 understand the positive precepts prescribing the contrary duties; 
 and so, on the contrary, under affirmative commands, we are to 
 understand the negative thereof: thus Christ expounds the sixth 
 commandment. Matt. v. 21-27, and ver. 43, to the end of the 
 chapter. So when any evil is forbidden, not only the outward 
 gross acts, but all inward acts and degrees thereof, with all 
 causes and occasions, all fruits and effects thereof, are forbidden 
 likewise : as, under killing, provoking terms, rash anger, Matt. 
 V. 21, 22; under adultery, wanton looks, lustful thoughts, «^c., 
 4* 
 
42 TIIEM\i:\E KIGIIT 
 
 Matt. V. 27-30. Now all things comprelicnded in a command 
 (though not expressed) are of divine right. 
 
 Consequentially, many things arc clearly deduciblc from e:^- 
 press commands in Scripture, by clear, unforced, infallible, and 
 undeniable consequence. Now what things are commanded by 
 necessary consequence, they arc of divine right, as well as things 
 in express terms prescribed : c. g. in the case of baptism, liave 
 the ordinary ministers of the New Testament any punctual ex- 
 press command to baptize? yet, by consequence, it is evident 
 infallibly, the apostles are commanded to baptize, and the promise 
 is made to them by Christ, that he will he vuth them always to the 
 end of the world, Matt, xxviii. 18-20, which cannot be interpreted 
 of the apostles' persons only ; for they were not to live till the 
 world's end, but are dead and gone long ago ; but of the apostles 
 and their successors, the ministers of the gospel to the world's 
 end ; now to whom the promise of Ciirist's presence is iiere to be 
 applied, to them the precept of baptizing and teaching is intended 
 by clear consequence and deduction. »So, infants of Christian 
 parents under the New Testament arc commanded to be baptized 
 by consefjuence ; for tliat the infants of God's people under the 
 Old Testament were commanded to be circumcised, Gen. xvii. ; 
 for, the privileges of believers under the New Testament are as 
 large as the privileges of believers under the Old Testament: 
 and the children of believers under the New Testament are fede- 
 rally holy, and within the covenant of God, as well as the chil- 
 dren of believers under the Old Testament, Gen. xvii., compared 
 with Rom. xi. 16 ; 1 Cor. vii. 14 : and what objections can be 
 made from infants' incapacity now, against their baptism, might 
 as well tiien have been made against their being circumcised : 
 and why children should once be admitted to the initiating sacra- 
 ment, and not still be admitted to the like initiating sacrament, (the 
 Lord of the covenant and sacrament nowhere forbidding them,) 
 there can be no just ground. And baptism succeeds in the room 
 of circumcision, Col. ii. 11, 12. Thus in case of the Lord^s svp- 
 pcr, apostles were commanded to dispense it, and men commanded 
 to receive it. "Do ye this in remembrance of me," Malt, xxvi., 
 1 Cor. xi. 24, 25 ; yet by consequence, the ministers of the gospel 
 succeeding the apostles, being stewards of the mysteries of God, 
 have the same charge laid upon them ; and women as well as 
 men are enjoined to keep that sacrament, whole families commu- 
 iiicatmg in the jmssover, the forerunner of the Lord's supper, 
 Exod. xiv., and male and female being all one in Christy G4I, iii. 
 28. Thus in case of the ntaintcnance of iniiiislers under the New 
 Testament : the apostle proves it by conse(iucncc to be conunand- 
 ed, God hath ordained, d:c., from God's command of not vuizzling 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 43 
 
 the ox tint treads out the corn, and of maintaining the priests un- 
 der the Old Testament, 1 Cor. ix. 14, &c. ; 1 Tim. v. 17, 18. 
 And thus, in case of church polity, the Hebrews are commanded 
 to obey and be subordinate to their rulers in the Lord, Meb. xiii. 
 17 ; consequently, other churches are commanded not only to 
 have ruiers, but to obey and submit to their rule and government. 
 Timothy is commanded to lay hands suddenly on none, &c., in 
 ordaining of preaching elders, 1 Tim. v. 21, 22 ; consequently, 
 such as succeed Timothy in ordaining of preaching elders are 
 enjoined therein to do nothing suddenly, hastily, &c., but upon 
 mature deliberation. The apostle commands, that men must Jirst 
 be. proved, mid found hiameless, before they execute the deacon's 
 office, 1 Tim. iii. 10; by consequence, it is much more necessa- 
 rily commanded, that ruling elders should first be proved, and be 
 found blameless, before they exorcise rule ; and that ministers 
 be examined, and found blameless, before they be ordained to or 
 execute the ministerial function, for these offices are of greater 
 and higher concernment than the deacon's office. 
 
 2. Mediate divine commands, which are rnediately from God, 
 but immediately from men ; and these come under a double con- 
 sideration, being either, 
 
 1. Such commands whose general principles are immediately 
 the Lord's, yet accommodations and determinations of particulai's 
 are from men, by apparent deductions from those grounds. Of 
 such the apostle saith, '• But to the rest speak I, not the Lord," 
 1 Cor. vii. 12 ; not that Paul delivered any commands merely 
 of his own head, (for he had "obtained mercy of the Lord to be 
 faithful," ver. 25, and did think thai he had the Spirit of the Lord, 
 ver. 40,) but grounded his commands upon the word of God, 
 whereof the apostle was the interpreter. The case is concerning 
 divorce when it fell out that believer and unbeliever were 
 married together: the Lord had given general rules about divorce, 
 but no particular rule about this case, (it being not incident to the 
 .Tews:) tlie apostle, therefore, accommodates the general rule fo 
 the particular case; he, not the Lord, determined the particular. 
 This sound interpreters conceive to be the apostle's meaning : 
 Thus the apostle, treating of order in public assemblies, saitii, 
 '• The prophet and the spiritual man must acknowledge tlie things 
 which I write, to be the commandments of the Lord," 1 Cor. xiv. 
 37. Understand it mediately, as being agreeable to the Lord's 
 principles revealed : for otherwise iiow should the prophet know 
 what the Lord immediately revealed to the apostle ? or why 
 should we think it probable that what Paul here speaks of order 
 and decency in cliurch assomblios, was immediately and expressly 
 delivered him by speech or revelation from the Lord, seeing these 
 
44 
 
 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 particulars have such easy and apparent deduction from general 
 principles, and revelations are not unnecessarily multiplied ? Yet 
 these particular deductions and determinations are here styled 
 the commandments of the Lord. 
 
 2. Such commands, which are accidental and occasional, whovse 
 grounds and general principles are also the Lord's ; yet determi- 
 nation or deduction of particulars can hardly be made, but in 
 such emergent cases and occasions accidentally falling out, as 
 necessitate thereunto. As in that case, Acts xv,, when the synod 
 commandri abstinence from blood, and things strangled, and that 
 necessarily, (though the Levitical law was now abrogated,) be- 
 cause the common use thei'eof by accident grew very scandalous: 
 therefore, by the law of charity, the use of Christian liberty is to 
 be suspended, when otherwise the scandal of my brother is en- 
 dangered ; yet from any ground of equity to have provided such 
 a particular rule as this, without such a case occurring, would 
 scarce have been possible. Now the synod saith of this determi- 
 nation, " It seemed good unto the Iloly Ghost, and unto us," 
 Acts XV. And another synod, walking by the like light and rule 
 of the Scripture as they did, may say of themselves as the apostles 
 said. 
 
OP CHURCH GOVERXMENT. 45 
 
 PART II. 
 
 OF THE NATURE OF THAT CHURCH GOVERNMENT ^VHICH IS 
 OF DIVINE RIGHT, ACCORDING TO SCRIPTURE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The Description of Church Government. 
 
 The nature of that church government which is of divine right 
 according to Scripture, comes next to be considered ; (having so 
 fully seen what the nature of a divine right is, and how many 
 several ways matters in religion may be said to be of divine right.) 
 For the fuller and clearer unfolding whereof, let us first see how 
 church government may be described ; and then how that de- 
 scription may be explained and justified by the word of God, in 
 the branches of it. 
 
 Church government may be thus described : 
 
 Church government is a power* or authority spiritual, f re- 
 vealed in the holy Scriptures,:}: derived from Jesus Christ^ our 
 Mediator, II only to his own officers, and by them exercised in 
 dispensing of the word, IT seals,** censures, ff and all other ordi- 
 nances of Christ,:}:'^ for the edifying of the Church of Christ. §§ 
 
 This description of church government may be thus explained 
 and proved. Three things are principally considerable herein, 
 viz: 1. The thing defined, or described, viz. church govern- 
 ment. 2. The general nature of this government which it hath 
 in common with all other governments, viz. power or authority. 
 
 * 2 Cor. X. 8, and xiii. 10. 
 
 t Matt. xvi. 19, and xviii. 15-18 ; 1 Cor. v. 4, 5 ; 2 Cor. x. 8, and xiii. 10. 
 
 I 2 Tim. iii. 16, 17; 1 Tim. iii. 14, 15, with all places that mcutiou any 
 thing of government. 
 
 § Epli. iv. 8, 1 1, 12 ; 1 Cor. xii. 28 ; Matt, xxviii. 18-20 ; John xx. 21-2.3 ; 
 Matt. xvi. 19 ; 2 Cor. x. 8. 
 
 II Matt. xvi. 19, and xxviii. 19 ; John xx. 21, 23 ; 2 Cor. x. 8, and xiii. 10. 
 H Matt, xxviii. 18-20 ; Acts vi. 4 ; 2 Tim. iv. 2. 
 
 ** Matt, xxviii. 18-20 ; 1 Cor. xi. 24. 
 
 t+ Matt, xviii. 15-17 ; Tit. iii. 19 ; 1 Tim. v. 20 ; 1 Cor. v. 4, 5, 13 ; 2 Cor. 
 ii. 6 : 1 Tim. i. 20 ; 2 Cor. ii 7, 8, «fcc. 
 tt 1 Cor. iv. 1. 
 §§ 2 Cor. X. 8, and xiii. 10. 
 
46 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 3. TIic special diflerence whereby it is distinguished from all 
 other governments whatsoever. Herein six things are observable. 
 1. The special rule, wherein it is revealed, and whereby it is to 
 be measured, viz. the holy Scriptures. 2. The proper author, 
 or fountain, wiience this power is derived, viz. from Jesus Chris>t 
 our Mediator, peculiarly. 3. The special kind of this power or 
 authority, viz. it is a spiritual power, it is a derived power. 4. 
 The several parts or acts wliercin this power sets forth itself, viz. 
 in dispensing the word, seals, censures, and all other ordinances 
 of Christ. 5. The special end or scope of this power, viz. the 
 edifying of the Church of Christ. 6. The proper and distinct 
 subject or receptacle wherein Christ hatli placed and intrusted 
 all this power, viz. only his own officers. All these things are, 
 comprehended in this description, and unto these several heads the 
 whole nature of church government may be reduced. So that, 
 these being explained and confirmed by the Scriptures, it will 
 easily and fully be discovered, what that church government i§ 
 which is of divine right, and by the v/ill and appointment of 
 Jesus Christ, our Mediator. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Of the Subject Described, viz. Church Government, the terms 
 being briejly opened. 
 
 Touching the thing defined or described, it is church govern- 
 ment. Here two terms are to be a little explained : 1. What is 
 meant by church ? 2. What is meant by government ? 
 
 1. Church is originally derived from a Greek word,* which 
 signifies to call forth. Hence church properly signifies a com- 
 pany or multitude, called forth ; and so in this notation of the 
 word, three things are implied: 1. The term from which they 
 are called. 2. The term to which they are called. 3. The 
 medium or mean by which they are brought from one term to 
 another, viz. by calling. And these things thus generally laid 
 down, do agree to every company that may properly be called a 
 church. Now, this word translated church, never signifies one 
 particular person, but many congregated, gathered, or called to- 
 gether ; and it hath several acceptations or uses in the New 
 Testament: 1. It is used in a common and civil sense, for any 
 
 * EkkMtiu, Acts xix. 32, 39, 40 ; Eph. v. 23 ; 1 Cor. xii. 28. 
 
CF CHURCH GOVLKNMEXT. 47 
 
 civil meeting, or concourse of people together : thus tliat tumult- 
 uous and riotous assembly is called a church, Acts xix. 32, 89, 
 40. 2. It is -used in a special religious sense, for a sacred meet- 
 ing or assembly of God's people together : and thus it signifies 
 the Church of God, either, 1. Invisible, comprehending only the 
 elect of God, as Heb. xii. 23, "and Church of the first-born," 
 Eph. V. 23, &c., -'Even as Christ is the head of the Church." 
 2. Or, visible, comprehending the company of those that, are 
 called to the visible profession of the faith in Christ, and obedi- 
 ence unto Christ, according to the gospel, as x\cts ii. 47, and v. 11, 
 and viii. 3, and xii. 1, 5 ; 1 Cor. xii. 23, and often elsewhere. 
 Now in this description, church is not understood of a civil assem- 
 bly ; for such assemblies are governed by civil power. Nor of 
 the invisible Church of Christ ; for, as the Church is invisible, (to 
 speak properly,) it is invisibly governed by Christ and his Spirit, 
 Rom. viii. 14 ; Gal. ii. 20. Biit of the visible Church of Christ, 
 for which Christ hath provided a visible polity, a visible govern- 
 ment, by visible ofScers and ordinances, for the good both of the 
 visible and invisible members thereof, which is that church gov- 
 ernment here spoken of. 
 
 2. Government is the translation of a Greek word, which pro^ 
 perly signifies the government of a ship with chart, &:c., by the 
 pilot or mariner, and thence metaphorically is used to signify any 
 government, political or ecclesiastical. But "the word is only once 
 used in all the New Testament, viz. 1 Cor. xii. 28 : Governments, 
 h. e. ruling elders in the church ; the abstract being put for the 
 concrete, governments for governors. But whatever be the terms 
 or names whereby government is expressed, government gene- 
 rally considered seems still to signify a superiority of office, 
 power, and authority, which one hath and exerciseth over an- 
 other. This is the notion of government in general. So that 
 church government, in general, notes that pre-eminence or supe- 
 riority of office, power, and authority, which some have and ex- 
 ercise over others in spiritual matters, in church afTairs. And 
 here we are further to consider, that church government is either, 
 1. Magisterial, lordly, and supreme; and so it is primitively and 
 absolutely in God, ]Matt. xxviii. 18. Dispensatorily and media- 
 torily in Jesus Christ our I\Iediator only, whom God iiath made 
 botli' Lord and Christ, Acts ii. 3G ; Matt, xxiii. 8, 10 ; 1 Cor. 
 viii. 6, and to whom God alone hath dispensed all authority and 
 power, r\iatt. xxviii. 18, 19; John v. 22. Nosv church govern- 
 ment, as settled on Christ only, is monarchical. 2. I\Iinisterial, 
 stewardly, and subordinate ; and this power Jesus Christ our 
 Mediator hath committed to his church guides and officers in his 
 Church, 2 Cor. x. 8, and xiii. 10 ; and church government, as 
 
48 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 intrusted in the hands of church guides, is representative. 
 This ministerial church government, committed by Christ to his 
 officers, may be considered either, 1. As it was dispensed under 
 the Old Testament, in a Mosaical, Levitical polity ; in which 
 sense we here speak not of church government; (that polity being 
 dissolved and antiquated.) 2. Or, as it is to be dispensed now 
 under the New Testament, in an evangelical Christian polity, by 
 Christ's New Testament officers ; and this is that church govern, 
 ment which is here described, viz. not the supreme magisterial 
 government of Christ, but the subordinate ministerial government 
 of Christ's officers ; and this not as it was under the Old Testa- 
 ment, but as it ought to be now under the New Testament. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Of the general Nature of Church Government, viz. Power or 
 Authority. 
 
 Touching the general nature of this government, which it 
 participates in common with all other governments, it is power 
 or authority. Here divers particulars are to be cleared and 
 proved, viz : 
 
 1. What is meant by power or authority ? Tiie word chiefly 
 used in the New Testament for power or authority is used not 
 only to denote Christ's supreme power, as Luke iv. 36; Mark i. 
 17, with Luke vi. 10 ; but also his officers' derived power, as with 
 2 Cor. X. 8, and xiii. 10. It is used to signify divers things: as, 
 1. Dignity, privilege, prerogative. " To them he gave preroga- 
 tive to be the sons of God," .lohn i. 12. 2. Liberty, leave, license ; 
 as, 1 Cor. viii. 0, " But so that your liberty become not an offence 
 to the weak ;" and 1 Cor. ix. 4, 5, " Have not we liberty to eat 
 and drink ? Have not we liberty to lead about a sister, a wife ?" 
 3. But most usually right and authority ; as, Matt. xxi. 23, 9fl, 
 27, and xxviii. 18 ; so 2 Cor. x. 8, and xiii. 10 : in this last sense 
 especially it is here to be taken in this description of church gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 Power or authority in general is by some* thus described : that 
 whereby one may claim or challenge any thing to one's self, 
 without* the injury of any other. Power is exercised either about 
 things, or actions, or persons. 1. About things, as when a man 
 
 * Cameron. Praelect de Ecclea. in fol. pp. 296-298. 
 
OF CHURCH govern:ment. 
 
 49 
 
 disposes of his own goods, which he may do without wrong to 
 any. 2. About actions, as when a man acts that which offends 
 no law. 3. About persons, as when a man commands his chil- 
 dren or servants that are under his own power. — Proportionably, 
 the power of the Church in government is exercised, 1. About 
 things, as when it is to be determined by the word, what the 
 Church may call her own of right ; as, that all the officers are 
 hers, Eph. iv. 7, 8, 10, 11 ; 1 Cor. xii. 28 : that all the promises 
 are hers, 2 Pet. i. 4 ; 1 Tim. iv. 8 : that Jesus Christ, and with 
 Christ all things, are hers, 1 Cor. iii. 21, 22. The keys of the 
 kingdom of heaven are hers, Matt. xvi. 19, and xviii. 18, &c. ; 
 John XX. 21, 23, &c. : these things the Church may challenge 
 without wrong to any. 2. About actions. As when it is to be 
 determined by the word, what the Church of divine right may do, 
 or not do : as, the Church may not hear icitli them that are evil, 
 Rev. ii. 2 ; nor tolerate women to teach, or false doctrine to be 
 broached. Rev. ii. 20, &c. The Church may warn the unruly, 
 1 Thess. V. 14 : exoommunicate the obstinate and incorrigible, 
 Matt, xviii. 17, 18 ; 1 Cor. v. 4, 5, 13 : receive again penitent 
 persons to the communion of the faithful, 2 Cor. ii. 7, 8 : make 
 binding decrees in synods, even to the restraining of the outward 
 exercise of due Christian liberty for a time, for prevention of 
 scandal. Acts xv. 3. About persons. The Church also hath a 
 power to be exercised, for calling them to their duty, and keeping 
 them in their duty according to the word of God : as, to rebuke 
 them before all, that sin before all, 1 Tim. v. 20 : to prove dea- 
 cons, Acts vi. 2, 3, &:c. ; 1 Tim. iii. 10 : to ordain elders, Tit. 
 i. 5 ; Acts xiv. 23 : to use the keys of the kingdom of heaven, in 
 the dispensing of all ordinances. Matt, xviii. 18-20, and John xx. 
 21, 23, with Matt, xxviii. 18-20 : and, in a word, (as the cause 
 shall require,) to judge of all them that are within the Church, 
 1 Cor. v. 12. 
 
 This is the power and authority wherein the nature of church 
 government generally doth consist. 
 
 2. That all governments in Scripture are styled by the com- 
 r. on names of power or authority : e. g. the absolute govern- 
 ment of God over all things, is power. Acts i. 7: the supreme 
 government of Jesus Christ, is power, Matt, xxviii. 18 ; Rev. xii. 
 10 : the political government of the magistrate in commonwealths, 
 is power, as John xix. 10 ; Rom. xiii. 1-3 ; Luke xxiii. 7 : the 
 military government of soldiers under superior commanders, is 
 power, &c.. Matt. viii. 9: the family government that the master 
 of a family hath over his household, is power, 1 Tim. iii. 5, "If 
 any man know not how to rule his own house." Yea, the very 
 tyrannical rule that sin and Satan exercise over carnal men, 
 
50 THE DIVINE KlGllT 
 
 is Styled power, Acts xxvi. 18 ; Col. i. 13. Thus, general!}'', 
 all sorts of <Tovornmcnt are commonly called power or authority. 
 
 3. That thus the Scripture also styles church government, viz. 
 power or authority, as 2 Cor. x. 8, " Of our authority" (or power) 
 *' whicii the Lord hath given us for your edification.*' Paul speaks 
 it of this power of cliurch government. And again, speaking of 
 the same suhject, he saith, " Lest being present, I should use 
 sharpness, according to tlie power which the Lord iiath given me 
 to edification, and not to destruction," 2 Cor. xiii. 10. 
 
 For further clearing hereof, consider the several sorts or kinds 
 of ecclesiastical power, according to this type or scheme of eccle- 
 siastical power and authority here subjoined. 
 
 Ecclesiastical power is either supreme and magisterial ; or 
 subordinate and ministerial. 
 
 L Supreme magisterial power, consisting in a lordly dominion 
 and sovereignty over the Church ; and may come under a double 
 consideration, viz : 
 
 1. As it is justly attributed to God alone. Thus the absolute 
 sovereignty and supreme power (to speak properly) is Only his 
 over the Ciiurcii, and all creatures in the Whole universe: now 
 this supreme divine power is either essential or mediatorial. 
 
 1. Essential, viz. that power which belongs to the essence of 
 God, and to every person of the Trinity in common, as God. 
 " His kingdom ruletli over all," Psal. ciii. 19. " (xod ruleth in 
 .Tacob to the ends of the earth," Psal. lix. 13. '' The kingdom 
 is the Lord's, and he is tiie Governor among the nations," Psal. 
 xxii. 28. 
 
 2. Mediatorial, viz. that magisterial, .lordly, and sovereign 
 power or dominion, which God hath dispensed, delegated, or com- 
 mitted to Christ as Mediator, being both head of the Church, and 
 over all things to the Church. Tiiis power is peculiar only to 
 Jesus Christ our Mediator. " All power is given to nie both in 
 heaven and in earth," Matt, xxviii. 18. " The Father loveth the 
 Son, and hath given all things into his hand," John iii. 35. " The 
 Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment to the 
 Son," John v. 22. *' One is your Master, even Clirist," Matt, 
 xxiii. 8, 10. " God hath put all things under his feet, and gave 
 him to he head over all things to the Church," Eph. i. 20-23. — 
 This power of Clirist is the only proper fountain whence all ec- 
 clesiastical power flows to the Church. 
 
 11. As it is unjustly arrogated and usurped by man; whether, 
 1. By the pope to himself; who arrogates to himself to be Christ's 
 vicar, the supreme visible head on earth of the visible catholic 
 Church of Christ ; who exalts himself above all that is called God 
 on earth, over magistrates, princes, kings, yea, over the souls and 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 51 
 
 co*.ifciences of men, and the lioly Scriptures of God themselves, 
 &c., 2 Thess. ii. 4 ; Rev. xviii."l0-13. 
 
 2. By earthly princes to themselves : as, King Henry VIII., 
 who, casting otT the papal power and primacy, was vested witli 
 it himself within his own dominions, over the Church, accounting 
 himself the fountain of all ecclesiastical power, (it being by stat- 
 ute law annexed to the crown.) and assuming to himself that papal 
 title of supreme head of the Church, &c., wliich is sharply taxed 
 by orthodox divines of foreign churches. Thus, that most learn- 
 ed Rivet, taxing Bishop Gardiner for extolling the king's primacy, 
 saitli, " For, he that did as yet nourish the doctrine of the papa- 
 cy, as after it appeared, did erect a new papacy in the person of 
 the king." — Andrew Rivet, ExpU. Dccalog. Edii. ii. page 203. 
 Judicious Calvin saith thus : " And to this day how many are 
 there in the papacy that heap upon kings wiiatsoever right and 
 power they can possibly, so that there may not be any dis- 
 pute of religion ; but should this power be in one king, to decree 
 according to his own pleasure whatsoever he pleaseth, and that 
 should remain fixed witiiout controversy ? They that at first so 
 much extolled Flenry, king of England, (certainly they were 
 inconsiderate men,) gave unto him supreme po^^■er of all things, 
 and this grievously wounded me always ; for they were blas- 
 phemers, when they called him the supreme head of the Church 
 under Christ : certainly this was too much. But let tliis remain 
 buried, because they sinned by an inconsiderate zeal. But when 
 that impostor, (he means Bishop Gardiner, as Rivet notes,) which 
 after was chancellor of this Proserpina, which there at this day 
 overcometh all the devils, he when he was at Ratisbon did not 
 contend with reasons, (I speak of this last chancellor, who was 
 Bishop of Wincliester,) but as I now began to say, he much re- 
 garded not scripture testimonies ; but said, it was at the pleasure 
 of the kina: to abrogate the statutes, and institute new rites. 
 Touching fasting, there the king can enjoin and command tljs 
 people, that this or that day the people may eat flesh: yea, that 
 it is lawful for the king to forbid priests to marry ; yea, that it is 
 lawful for the king to forbid to the people the use of the cup in 
 the Lord's supper ; that it is lawful for the king to decree this 
 or that in his kingdom. Wliy ? Because the king hath the su- 
 preme power. It is certain, if kings do their duty, they are both 
 patrons of religion, and nurse-fathers of the Church, as Isaiah 
 calls them, Isa. xlix. 23. This, therefore, is principally required 
 of kings, that they use the sword wherewith tfiey arc furnished, 
 for the maintaining of God's worship. But in the mean time there 
 are inconsiderate men, that make them too spiritual ; and this 
 fault reigns up and down Germany ; yea, spreads too much in 
 
52 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 these countries. And now we perceive what fruits spring from 
 this root, viz: that princes, and all that are in place of govern- 
 ment, think themselves to be so spiritual, that there is no other 
 ecclesiastical government. And this sacrilege creeps among us, 
 because they cannot measure their ofTice with certain and lawful 
 bounds, but are of opinion they cannot reign, unless they abolish 
 all the authority of the Church, and become the chief judges both 
 in doctrine, and in the whole spiritual government. At the be- 
 ginning they pretend some zeal ; but mere ambition drives them, 
 that so solicitously they snatch all things to themselves. There- 
 fore there ought to be a temper kept ; for this disease hath always 
 reigned in princes, to desire to bend religion according to their 
 own pleasure and lust, and for their own profits in the mean 
 time. For they have respect to their profit, because for the most 
 part they are not acted by the Spirit of God, but their ambition 
 carries them." Thus Calvin in Amos vii. 13. Oh what excla- 
 mations would this holy man have poured out, had he lived to 
 see the passages of our days ! Quis talia fando lemperel, a laclinj- 
 mis f* 
 
 II. Subordinate ministerial power, which is either, 
 
 1. Indirectly, improperly, and only objectively ecclesiastical 
 or spiritual, (so called, because it is exercised about spiritual or 
 ecclesiastical objects, though formally in its own nature it be pro- 
 perly a mere civil or political power.) This is that power which 
 is allowed to the civil magistrate about religion ; he is an overseer 
 of things without the Church, having an external care of religion 
 as a nurse-father, Isa. xlix. 23 ; as had Hezekiah, .Tosiah, Asa, 
 Jehoshaphat, &c. ; so as, by the law, to restore religion decayed, 
 reform the Church corrupted, protect the Church reformed, &c. 
 
 2. Directly, properly, and formally ecclesiastical or spiritual, 
 having respect properly to matters within the Church. This 
 power only belongs to church officers, who are overseers of things 
 within, 1 Cor. iv. 20, 21 ; 2 Cor. x. 8, and xiii. 10 ; and this is 
 either, 1. More special and peculiar to the office of some church 
 governors only, as the power of preaching the gospel, dispensing 
 the sacraments, &ic., which is only committed to the ministers 
 of the gospel, and which they, as ministers, may execute, in 
 virtue of their office. This is called by some the key of doctrine, 
 or key of knowledfje ; by others, the power of order, or of spe- 
 cial office. See Matt, xxviii. 18-20 ; Rom. x. 15 ; 1 Tim. v. 17. 
 2. More general and common to the office of all church govern- 
 ors, as the powef of censures, cfec, wherein ruling elders act 
 with ministers, admonishing the unruly, excommunicating the in- 
 
 * Who in relating such things can refrain from weeping? 
 
OF CHURCH G0VEll^3IEXT. 53 
 
 corrigible, remitting and receiving again of the penitent into 
 church communion. Compare JMatt. xviii. 17, 18; 1 Cor. v. 2, 
 4, 5, 7, 11-13 ; 2 Cor. ii. 6-12, with Rom. xii. 8 ; 1 Cor. xii. 28 ; 
 and I Tim. v. 17. This is called the key of discipline, or power 
 of jurisdiction. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Of the special difference of Church Government from other Govern- 
 ments. And first of the Special Rule of Church Government, 
 viz. the Holy Scrijjturcs. 
 
 Touching the special ditference, whereby church government 
 is in this description distinguished from all other governments 
 whatsoever, it consists of many branches, which will require 
 more large explication and confirmation ; and shall be handled, 
 not according to that order, as they are first named in the descrip- 
 lion, but according to the order of nature, as they most conduce 
 to the clearing of one another, every branch being distinctly laid 
 down, as folio weth : 
 
 The rule or standard of church government is only the holy 
 Scriptures. Thus in the description, church government is 
 styled a power or authority revealed in the holy Scriptures, ^or 
 clearing hereof, take this proposition, viz : 
 
 Jesus Christ our Mediator hath laid down in his word a perfect 
 and sufficient rule for the government of his visible Church un- 
 der the New Testament, which all the members of his Church 
 ought to observe and submit unto until the end of the world. For 
 clearing this, weigh these considerations : 
 
 1. The government of the visible Church under the New Tes- 
 tament is as needful as ever it was under the Old Testament. 
 What necessity of government could be pleaded then, which mav 
 not as strongly be pleaded now ? Is not the visible Church of 
 Christ a mixed body of sound and unsound members, of fruitful 
 and barren branches, of tares and wheat, of good and bad, of 
 sincere believers and hypocrites, of sheep and goats, &;c., now 
 as well as it was then ? Is there not as great cause to separate 
 and distinguish by church power, between the precious and the 
 vile, the clean and the unclean, (who are apt to defile, infect, and 
 leaven one another,) now as well as then ? Ought there not to 
 be as great care over the holy ordinances of God, to preserve 
 and guard them from contempt and pollution, by a hedge and 
 
^ THE DIVIXE UIGHT 
 
 fence of governrxjent, now as well as then ? Is U not as necev- 
 sary that by government sin \je suppressed, piety promoted, and 
 the Church edified, now as well as then ? But under the Old 
 Testament the Cliurch visible had a perfect rule of church gov- 
 ernment, (as is granted on all sides :) and hath Jesus Chritst 
 left his Church now under the New Testament in a worse con- 
 dition ? 
 
 2. The Lord Jesus Christ (upon whose shoulder God hath 
 laid the government, Isa. ix. G, and unto whom a/l power holh in 
 heaven and in earth is given by the Father to that end, Matt. 
 xxviii. 18) is most faithful in all his house, the Church, fully to 
 discharge all the trust committed to hirn, and completely to feop- 
 ply his Church with all necessaries both to her being, and well- 
 being ecclesiastical. Moses was faithful in the Old Testament ; 
 for, as God gave him a pattern of church government in the cere- 
 monial law, iso he did all things according to the pattern ; and 
 shall the Lord Jesus be less faithful as a son crcer hi^ own hovse, 
 than was Moses as a servant over another's house ? " Consider 
 the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus, who 
 was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faith- 
 ful in all his house— and Moses verily was faithful in all his 
 house as a servant — but Christ as a son over his own house, 
 whose house are we,' Heb. iii. 1. 2, 5, d. Yea, "Jesus Christ, 
 the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever," Heb. xiii. 8, giv- 
 ing a pattern of church government to Moses, and the church 
 oftifcers of the Old Testament, (the Church being then as a child 
 in nonage and minority. Gal. iv. 1, &;c.,) can we imagine he hath 
 not as carefully left a pattern of church government to his afK)s. 
 ties, and the church officers of the New Testament, the Church 
 being now as a man come to full age and maturity ? 
 
 3. The holy Scriptures are now completely and unalterably 
 perfect, containing such exact rules for the churches of God in 
 all states and ages, botli under the Old and New Testament, that 
 not only the people of God, of all sorts and degrees, but also the 
 men of God, and officers of the Church, of all sorts and ages, 
 may thereby be made perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good 
 ■works. " The law of the Lord is perfect," Psal. xix. 7. *' All 
 Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for 
 doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteoun- 
 ness, that the man of God may be [>erfect, thoroughly furnished 
 to every good work," 2 Tim. iii. 16, 17. And in his first epistle 
 to Timothy, (which is the Church's directory for divine worship, 
 discipline, and government.) he saith, " These things write } unto 
 thee — that thou mightest know how thou oughtest to liehave thy- 
 self in the housf^ of GoJ, which is the Church of the living God," 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 55 
 
 (this is spoken in reference to matters of church government pe- 
 culiarly,) 1 Tim. iii. 14, 15. And the apostle, having respect 
 to the former matters in his epistle, saith to Timothy, and to all 
 Timothies after him, " I give thee charge in the sight of God — 
 that thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukable, 
 until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ," (therefore, this 
 charge is intended for all ministers after Timothy to the world's 
 end,) 1 Tim. vi. 13, 14, compared with 1 Tim. v. 21, observe 
 these things. And the perfection of the whole scripture canon is 
 sealed up with that testimony in the close of the last book, " If 
 any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the 
 plagues that are written in this book : and if any man shall take 
 away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall 
 take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy 
 city, and from the things which are written in this book," Rev. 
 xxii. 18, 19. Now, if the Scriptures be thus accurately perfect 
 and complete, they must needs contain a sufficient pattern, and 
 rules of church government now under the New Testament ; 
 which rules are scattered here and there in several books of the 
 word, (as flowers grow scattered in the field, as silver is mingled 
 in the mine, or as gold is mixed with the sand,) that so God may 
 exercise his Church, in sifting and searching them out. 
 
 4. All the substantials of church government under the New 
 Testament are laid down in the word in particular rules, whether 
 they be touching officers, ordinances, censures, assemblies, and 
 the compass of their power, as after will appear; and all the 
 circumstantials are laid doM'n in the word, under general rules of 
 order, decency, and edification, 1 Cor. xiv. 40, and ver. 5, 12, 26. 
 
 Consequently, there is a perfect and sufficient rule for church 
 government laid down in the Scriptures, which is obligatory 
 upon all. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Of the Proper Author or Fountain, whence Church Government 
 and the authority thereof is derived hy Divine Right, viz. Jesus 
 Christ our Mediator. 
 
 As the Scripture is the rule of church government, so Christ 
 is the sole root and fountain whence it originally flows ; there- 
 fore, it is said in the description, church government is a power 
 or authority, derived from Jesus Christ our Mediator. Take it 
 in this proposition, viz : 
 
56 TliL LIVINE RIGHT 
 
 Jesus Christ our Mediator hath all authority and power in 
 heaven and in earth, for the government of his Church, commit- 
 ted unto him from God the Father. This is clearly evideut, 
 
 1. By plain testimonies of Scripture, declaring that the gov- 
 ernment of the Church is laid upon his shoulder, to which end 
 the Father hath invested liim with all authority and power. 
 " The government shall he upon his shoulder," &c., Isa. ix. 6, 1, 
 " All pcnver is given nrie in heaven and in earth : go, disciple ye 
 all nations," &c.. Matt, xxviii. 18, 10. " He shall be great, and 
 shall bo called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord God shall 
 give unto him the tlironc of his father David ; and he shall reiga 
 over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall 
 be no end," Luke i. 32, 133. " The Father judgeth no man, but 
 hath committed all judgment to the Son ; and hath given him 
 authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of 
 man," John v. 22, 27. " The Father loveth the S^m, and hath 
 given all things into his hand," John iii. 35. " It is he that hath 
 the key of David, that openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth 
 and no man openeth," Rev. iii. 7. " God raised him from the 
 dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, 
 far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, 
 and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in 
 that which is to come : and hath put all things under his feet, 
 and gave him to be the head over all things to the Church, which 
 is his body," Eph. i. 20-23. 
 
 2. By eminent princely titles, attributed unto Jesus Christ 
 our Mediator, having such authority, power, rule, and govern- 
 ment legibly engraven upon their foreheads, i^ reference to his 
 Church. 
 
 " A Governor which shall feed" (or rule) ''my people Israel," 
 Matt. ii. 6. " That great Shepherd of the sheep," Heb. xiii. 20. 
 " That Shepherd and Bishop of our souls," 1 Pet. ii. ult. " One 
 is your master, Christ," Matt, xxiii. 8, 10. " Christ as a son 
 over his own house," fleb. iii. G. " The Head of the body the 
 Church," Col. i. 18 ; Eph. v. 23. " Head over all things to the 
 Church," Eph. i. 22. " To us but one Lord Jesus Christ," 1 Cor. 
 viii. 6. " Made of God both Lord and Christ," Acts ii. 36. 
 " Lord of lords," Rev. xix. 16. " He is Lord of all," Acts x. 
 36. " God's King set on his holy hill of Zion," Psal. ii. 6. 
 " David their king," Jer. xxx. 9 ; Ezek. xxxiv. 23, and xxxvii. 
 24 ; Hos. iii. 5. " King of kings," Rev. xix. 16. 
 
 3. By those primitive, fundamental, imperial acts of power,- 
 and supreme authority in the government of the Church, which 
 are peculiarly ascribed to Jesus Christ our Mediator, as appro 
 priate to him alone, aUjve all creatures, e, g. 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 57 
 
 1. The giving of laws to his Church. " The law of Christ," 
 Gal. vi. 2. " Gave commandments to the apostles," Acts i. 2. 
 " There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy,"' 
 James iv. 12. "The Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lavr- 
 giver," (or statute-maker,) '•' the Lord is our king," Isa. xxxiii. 22. 
 
 2. The constituting of ordinances, whereby his Church shall 
 be edified : as preaching the word, Matt. x. 7 ; 1 Cor. i. 17 ; 
 Matt, xxviii. 18-20; Mark xvi. 15. Advihiistering of ihe sacra- 
 ments. Baptism, Johni. 33, with Matt. iii. 13, &c.,and xxviii. 18, 
 19. The Lord's supper, 1 Cor. xi. 20, 23, &c. ; Matt. xxvi. 26, 
 &:c. ; Mark xiv. 22, &c. ; Luke xxii. 19, 20. Dispensing of 
 censures, Matt. xvi. 10, with xviii. 15-18, &c. 
 
 3. The ordaining and appointing of his own church officers, 
 by whom his ordinances shall be dispensed and managed in his 
 Church. " He gave gifts to men ; and he gave some, apostles ; 
 and some, prophets ; and some, evangelists ; and some, pastors 
 and leachers," Eph. iv. 7, 8, 11 ; compare 1 Cor. xii. 28 ; 
 1 Thess. V. r2 ; Acts xx. 28. 
 
 4. The dispensing of Christ's ordinances, not in the name of 
 magistrates, ministers, churches, councils, &c., but in Christ's 
 own name. The apostles did " speak and teach in the name of 
 Jesus," Acts iv. 17, 18. " Whatsoever ye ask in my name," 
 John xiv. 13, 14, and xvi. 23. " Baptizing them in the name of 
 the Father, and of the Son," Matt, xxviii. 18, 19. '• They were 
 baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus," Acts xix. 5. " In the 
 name — with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, to deliver such 
 a one to Satan," 1 Cor. v. 4. Yea, assemblies of the Church are 
 to be in Christ's name : " Where two or three are gathered together 
 in my name," Matt, xviii. 20. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Of the Special Kind, or Peculiar Nature of this Poicer oiul 
 Authority. 
 
 Having viewed what is the rule of this authoiity, viz. the holy 
 Scriptures, and what is the fountain of this authority, viz. Jesus 
 Christ our Mediator ; now consider the special kind or peculiar 
 nature of this authority, which the description lays down in two 
 several expressions, viz: 1. It is a sj)iritual power or authority. 
 2. It is a derived power, &c. 
 
 1. The power or authority of church government is a spiritual 
 
59 THE DIVINE KIGHT 
 
 power. Spiritual, not so perfectly and completely as Christ's 
 supreme government is spiritual, who alone hath absolute and 
 immediate power and authority over the very spirits and con- 
 sciences of men ; ruling them by the invisible influence of his 
 Spirit and grace as he pleaseth. John iii. 8 ; Rom. viii. 14 ; Gal. 
 ii. 20 : but so purely, properly, and merely spiritual is this 
 power, that it really, essentially, and specifically differs, and is 
 contradistinct from that power which is properly civil, worldly, 
 and political, in the hand of the political n^agistrate. Now, that 
 this power of church government is in this sense properly, purel_v, 
 merely spiritual : and that by divine right may be evidenced 
 many ways according to Scripture ; forasmuch as the rule, foun- 
 tain, matter, form, subject, object, end, and the all of this power, 
 is only spiritual. 
 
 1. Spiritual in the rule, revealing and regulating it. viz. not 
 any principles of stAte policy, parliament roJls, any human sta- 
 tutes, laws, ordinances, edicts, decrees, traditions, or precepts of 
 men whatsoever, according to which cities, provinces, kingdoms, 
 empires, may be happily governed : but the holy Scriptures, that 
 perfect divine canon, wherein the Lord Christ hath revealed suf- 
 ficiently how his own house, his Church, shall be ruled, 1 Tim. 
 iii. 14, 15 ; and all his ordinances, word, sacraments, censures, 
 &c., shall therein be dispensed, 2 Tim. iii. 16, 17. (See chap. 
 IV.) Now this Scripture is divinely breathed, or inspired of God 
 — holy men writing not according to the fallible will of man, but 
 the infallible acting of theHolv Ghost, 2 Tim. iii. 16, with 2 Pet. 
 i. 20,21. 
 
 2. Spiritual in the fountain or author of this power, whence it 
 originally flows ; it being derived, not from any magistrate, prince, 
 or potentate in the world, not from any man on earth, or the will 
 of man ; but only from Jesus Christ our Mediator, himself being 
 the sole or first receptacle of all power from the Father, Matt. 
 xxviii. 18 ; John v. 22 : and consequently, the very fountain of 
 all power and authority to his Church, Matt, xxviii. 18-20, with 
 .Tohn XX. 21, 23 ; Matt. xvi. 19, and xvili. lS-20; 2 Cor. x. «. 
 See this formerly cleared, chap. III. and V. 
 
 3. Spiritual in the matter of it, and the several parts of this 
 jwwer : therefore called the keys of the kingdom of heaven, not 
 the keys of the kingdoms of earth, Matt. xvi. 19, (as Christ pro- 
 fessed his kingdom was -not of this world, John xviii. 36 ; and when 
 one requested of Christ, that by his authority he would speak to 
 his brother to divide the inheritance with him, Christ disclaimed 
 utterly all such worldly, earthly power, saying, " Man, who 
 made me a judge or a divider over you?" Luke xii. 13, 14.) 
 Consider these heavenly s])iritual keys in the kinds of tiiem, 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 59 
 
 whether of doctrine or discipline ; or in the acts of them, wliether 
 of binding wr loosing, in all which they are spiritual: e. g. the 
 doctrine which is preached is not human but divine, revealed in 
 the Scriptures by the Spirit of God, and handling most sublime 
 spiritual mysteries of religion, 2 Pet. i. ; 2 Tim. iii. 16, 17. The 
 seals administered are not worldly seals, confirming and ratifying 
 any carnal privileges, liberties, interests, authority, &c., but spi- 
 ritual, sealing the righteousness of faith, Rom. iv. 11 ; the death 
 and blood of Jesus Christ, with all the spiritual virtue and effica- 
 cy thereof unto his members, Rom. v. 6 ; Gal. iii. ; 1 Cor. x. 16, 
 17, and xi. 23, 24, &c. The censures dispensed are not pecuni- 
 ary, corporal, or capital, by fines, confiscations, imprisonments, 
 whippings, stocking, stigmatizing, or taking away of limb or life, 
 (all such things this government meddles not withal, but leaves 
 them to such as bear the civil sword,) but spiritual, that only 
 concern the soul and conscience ; as admonishivg of the unruly 
 and disorderly, Matt, xviii. 18, 19 ; casting out the incorrigible 
 and obstinate from the spiritual fellowship of the saints. Matt, 
 xviii. 18, 19; 2 Cor. v. ult. : receiving again into spiritual com- 
 munion of the faithful, such as are penitent, 2 Cor. ii. 6. Thus 
 the binding and loosing, which are counted the chief acts of the 
 keys, are spiritually by our Saviour interpreted to be the remit- 
 ting and retaining of sins ; compare Matt, xviii. 18, 19, with John 
 XX. 21, 23. 
 
 4. Spiritual in the form and manner, as well as in the matter. 
 For this power is to be exercised, not in a natural manner, or in 
 any carnal name, of earthly magistrate, court, parliament, prince, 
 or potentate whatsoever, as all secular civil power is ; no, nor in 
 the name of saints, ministers, or the churches : but in a spiritual 
 manner, in the name of the Lord Jesus, from whom alone all his 
 officers receive their commissions. The word is to be preached 
 in his name, Acts xvii. 18 : seals dispensed in his name. Matt, 
 xxviii. 19; Acts xix. 5: censures inflicted in his name, 1 Cor. 
 V. 4, &c. (See chap. V.) 
 
 5. Spiritual in the subject intrusted witli this power ; which is 
 not any civil, political, or secular magistrate, (as after will more 
 fully appear, in chap. IX.) but spiritual officers, which Christ 
 himself hath instituted and bestowed upon his Church, apostles, 
 &;c., pastors, teachers, elders, Eph. iv. 7, 8, 10, 11. To these 
 only he hath given the keys of the kiiigdom of heaven, Matt. xvi. 
 19, and xviii."l8, 19, and xxviii. 18, 19; John xx. 21-23 ; 2 Cor. 
 X. 8, authority which the Lord hath given 7is. These he ha^h made 
 governments in his Church, 1 Cor. xii. 28. To these he will have 
 obedience and subjection performed, Heb. xiii. 17, and double honor 
 allowed, 1 Tim. v. 17. 
 
00 TIIE DIVINE RIGUT 
 
 6. Spiritual in respect of the object about which this power is 
 to be put forth and exercised, viz. not about things actions, or 
 persons civil, as such ; but spiritual and ecclesiastical, as such. 
 Thus injurious actions, not as trespasses against any statute or 
 law political ; but as scandalous to our brethren, or the Church 
 of God, Matt, xviii. 18, 19; are considered and punished by this 
 power. Thus the incestuous person was cast out, because a 
 wicked person in hinnself, and likely to leaven others by hw baH 
 example, 1 Cor. v. 6. Thus the persons whom the Church rnay 
 judge are not the men of the world without the Church, but 
 those that are in some sense spiritual, and within the Church, 
 
 1 Cor. V. 12. 
 
 7. Spiritual also is this power in the scope and end of it. This 
 the Scripture frequently inculcates : e. g. a brother is to be ad- 
 monished privately, publicly, &c., not for the gaining of our 
 private interests, advantages, &c., but for the gaming of our 
 brotlier, that his soul and conscience may be gained to God and 
 to his duty, and he be ref:>rmcd, Matt, xviii. lo. The incestuous 
 person is to be " delivered to Satan, for the destruction of the Hesh, 
 that the spirit may be saved in the day of our Lord Jesus," 1 Cor. 
 v. 5 ; yea, the whole authority given to church guides from the 
 Lord was given to this end, for the edifwMtuM, not the deslructixm 
 of the Church, 2 Cor. x. 8, and xiii. 10 ; all which, and such 
 like, are spiritual ends. Thus the power of church government 
 here described is wholly and entirely a spiritual power, whether' 
 we respect the rule, root, matter, form, subject, object, or end 
 thereof. So that in this respect it is really and specifically dis- 
 tinct from all civil power, and in no respect encroacheth ufion, or 
 can be prejudicial unto the magistrate's authority, which is pro- 
 perly and only political. 
 
 2. The power or authority of church government is a derived 
 power. For clearing this, observe, there is a magisterial primi- 
 tive supreme power, which is peculiar to Jesus Christ our Media- 
 tor, (as hath been proved, chap. III. and V :) and there is a 
 ministerial, derivative, subordinate power, which the Scripture 
 declares to be in church guides. Matt. xvi. 19, and xviii. 18 ; 
 John XX. 21, 23 ; Matt, xxviii. 19, 20 ; 2 Cor. x. 8, and xiii. 10, 
 and often elsewhere this Is abundantly testified. But whence is 
 this power originally derived to them ? Here we are carefully 
 to consider and distinguish three things, touching this power or 
 authority from one another, viz: 1st. The donation of the author- 
 ity itself^ and of the offices whereunto this power doth prof>eriy 
 belong. 2d. The designation of particular persons to such offices 
 as are vested with such power. 3d. The public protection, couU' 
 tenancing, autlxorizing, defending, and maintaining of such officers 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. fil 
 
 in the public exercise of such power within such and such realms 
 or dominions. This being premised, we may clearly thus re- 
 solve, according to scripture warrant, viz. the designation or set- 
 ting apart of particular individual persons to those ofiices in the 
 Church that have power and authority engraven upon them, is 
 from the church nominating, electing, and ordaining of such per- 
 sons thereunto, see Acts iii. 1-3 ; 1 Tim. iv. 14, and v. 22 ; Tit. 
 i. 5 ; Acts iv. 22. The public protection, defence, maintenance, 
 &c., of such officers in the public exercise of the power and au- 
 thority of their office in such or such dominions, is from the civil 
 magistrate, as the jiursing-fathcr of the Church, Isa. xlix. 23 ; for 
 it is by his authority and sanction that such public places shall 
 be set apart for the public ministry, that such maintenance and 
 reward shall be legally performed for such a ministry, that all 
 such persons of such and such congregations shall be (in case 
 they neglect fheir duty to such a ministry) punished with such 
 political penalties, &;c. But the donation of the office and spirit- 
 ual authority annexed thereunto, is only derived from Jesus Christ 
 our Mediator. He alone gives all church officers, and therefore 
 none may devise or superadd any new officers, Eph. iv. 7, 8, 10, 
 11 ; 1 Cor. xii. 28. And lie alone commits all authority and 
 power spiritual to those officers, for dispensing of word, sacra- 
 ments, censures, and all ordinances, Matt. xvi. 19, and xxviii. 
 18-20; John xx. 21-23; 2 Cor. x. 8, and xiii. 10: and there- 
 fore it is not safe for any creature to intrude upon this prerogative 
 royal of Christ to give any power to any officer of the Church. 
 None can give what he has not. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Of the several Paris or Ads of this power of Church Government, 
 wherein it puts forth itself in the Church. 
 
 Thus far of the special kind or peculiar nature of this author, 
 ity ; now to the several parts or acts of this power wliich tlie de- 
 scription comprehends in these expressions, (in dispensing the 
 word, seals, censures, and all other ordinances of Christ.) The 
 evangelical ordinances which Christ has set up in his cliurch are 
 many ; and all of them by divine right that Christ sets up. Take 
 both the enumeration of ordinances and the divine rigiit thereof 
 severally, as followeth. 
 
 Jesus Christ our Mediator hath instituted and appointed these 
 6 
 
52 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 ensuing administrations to be standing and perpetual ordinances 
 in his church : which ordinances for method sake may be reduced 
 into two heads, according to the distribution of the keys formerly 
 laid down, (chap. III.,) viz., ordinances appertaining, 1st, To the 
 key of order or of doctrine ; 2d5 To the key of jurisdiction or of 
 discipline. 
 
 I. Ordinances appertaining to the key of order or doctrine, viz : 
 
 1. Public prayer and thanksgiving are divine ordinances : lor 
 1st, Paul writing his first epistle to Timothy, "that he might know 
 how to behave himself in the house of God," 1 Tim. iii. 14, 15, 
 among other directions in that epistle, gives this for one, " I exhort 
 thereibre that first of all supplications, prayers, intercessions, and 
 giving of thauks be made for all men," 1 Tim. ii. 1, 2, "for thiii 
 is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour," verse 3. 
 2. The apostle, regulating public prayers in the congregation, di- 
 recting that they should be performed with the understanding, 
 takes it for granted that public prayer was an ordinance of Christ. 
 " If I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my un- 
 derstanding is unfruitful. What is it then ? I will pray with the 
 spirit, and will pray with the understanding also. Else when thou 
 shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room 
 of the unlearned, say amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he un- 
 derstandeth not what thou STiyest ? for thou verily givest thanks 
 well, but the other is not edified." 1 Cor. xiv. 14-17. 3. Fur- 
 ther, the apostles did account public prayer to be of more concern 
 than serving of tables, and providing for the necessities of the poor, 
 yea, to be a principal part of their ministerial office, and there- 
 fore resolve to addict and "give themselves to the ministry of the 
 word and to prayer," Acts vi. 4 ; and this was the church's prac- 
 tice in the purest times. Acts i. 13, 14, whose pious action is for 
 our imitation. 4. And Jesus Christ hath made gracious promises to 
 public prayer, viz., of his presence with those who assemble in his 
 name ; and of audience of their prayers, Matt, xviii. 19, 20. Would 
 Christ so crown public prayer were it not his own ordinance? 
 
 2. Singing of psalms is a divine ordinance, being, 
 
 1. Prescribed; "be filled with the spirit: speaking to your- 
 selves in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs," Eph. v. 18, 
 19. " Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, 
 teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, and hymns, and 
 spiritual songs," Col. iii. 10. 
 
 2. Regulated ; the right performance thereof being laid down, 
 " I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understand- 
 ing also," 1 Cor. xiv. 15, 10. " Singing with grace in your hearts 
 to the Lord," Col. iii. 10. "Singing and making melody in your 
 liearls to the Lord," Eph. v. 19. 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 63 
 
 3. The public ministry of the word of God in the congregation 
 is a divine ordinance. " We will give ourselves," said the apos- 
 tles, "to the ministry of the word and prayer," Acts vi. 4. The 
 ministry of the word is a sacred ordinance, whether read, preach- 
 ed, or catechetically propounded. 
 
 1. The public reading of the word is a divine ordinance, (thougii 
 exposition of what is read do not always immediately Ibllow.) 
 For, 1. God commanded the reading of the word publicly, and 
 never since repealed that command, Deut. xxxi. 11-13 ; .ler. 
 xxxvi. 6 ; Col. iii. 16. 2. Public reading of the scriptures hath 
 been the practice of God's church, both before Christ, Exod. xxiv. 
 7 ; Neh. viii. 18, and ix. 3, and xiii. 1 ; and after Christ, Acts 
 xiii. 15, 27, and xv. 21 ; 2 Cor. iii. 14. 3. Public reading of 
 the scriptures is as necessary and profitable now as ever it was. 
 See Deut. xxxi. 11-13. 
 
 2. The public preaching of the word is an eminent ordinance 
 of Christ. This is evident many ways, viz : 
 
 1. Christ hath commanded that the word shall be preached. 
 " Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every crea- 
 ture," Mark xvi. 15. ^' Go ye, therefore, and disciple ye all na- 
 tions ; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have com- 
 manded you," Matt, xxviii. 19, 20. " As ye go, preach, saying, 
 The kingdom of heaven is at hand," Matt. x. 7. See also Mark 
 iii. 14. " I charge thee," &;c. " Preach the word," 2 Tim. iv. 1, 
 2. " Necessity is laid upon me, yea, wo is unto me if I preach 
 not the gospel," 1 Cor. ix. 16, 17. " Christ sent me — to preach 
 the gospel," 1 Cor. i. 17 ; with which compare also Acts xx. 28, 
 and 1 Pet. v. 1-4. 
 
 2. Christ hath appointed who shall preach the word. " How 
 shall they preach except they be sent ?" Rom. x. 15. The qual- 
 ifications of preaching elders see in 1 Tim. iii. 2-8, and Tit. i. 
 5-9. 
 
 3. Christ hath appointed how the word shall be preached. 
 *' Be instant, in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort 
 with all long-suffering and doctrine," 2 Tim. iv. 2. ' " That he 
 may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and convince gain- 
 sayers," Tit. i. 9. " He that hath my word, let him speak my 
 word faithfully : what is the chaff to the wheat, saith the Lord?" 
 Jer. xxiii. 28. 
 
 4. Christ hath made many encouraging promises to the preach- 
 ing of his word, which he would not have done, were it not his 
 own ordinance. " Teaching them to observe all things wiiatso- 
 ever I have commanded you, and lo 1 am with you every day to 
 the end of the world," Matt, xxviii. 20. " Whatsoever ye shall 
 bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven ; and whatsoever ye shall 
 
64 THE DIVLNK RIGHT 
 
 loose on eartli shall be loosed in heaven," Matt. xvi. 19, andxviii. 
 18. " Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them : 
 and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained," John xx.2n. 
 JJoth these are partly meant of doctrinal binding and loosing, re- 
 mitting and retaining. " Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not 
 thy peace : for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to 
 hurt thee, for I have much people in this city," Acts xviii. 
 9, 10. 
 
 3. The catechetical propounding or expounding of the word, 
 viz. a plain, familiar laying down of the first principles of the 
 oracles of God, is an ordinance of Christ also. For, 1. This was 
 the apostolical way of teaching the churches at the first planta- 
 tion thereof. " When for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye 
 have need that one teach you again which be the first princij)]es 
 of the oracles of God, and are become such as have need of milk 
 and not of strong meat," Ileb. v. 12. " Therefore, leaving the 
 word of the beginning of Christ, let us go on unto perfection, not 
 laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and 
 of faith towards God," &c., Ileb. vi. 1, 2. " And I, brethren, 
 could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, as 
 unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with 
 meat, for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now 
 are ye able," 1 Cor. iii. 1, 2. 2. And this is the sense of pas- 
 tor and people which the Holy Ghost useth, setting forth the 
 reciprocal relation and oflicc between them, with his own appro- 
 bation. " Let him that is catcchi/ed in the word, communicate 
 to him that catechizeth him, in all good things," Gal. vi. G. 
 
 4. The administration of the sacranients is of divine insti- 
 tution. 
 
 1. Of l^aptism. "lie that sent me to baptize with water," 
 John i. 33. "Go ye tiierefbre, disciple ye all nations, baptizing 
 them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
 Ghost," Matt, xxviii. 18-20. 
 
 2. Of the Lord's supper, which Christ ordained ike same nigliL 
 in which he was hcAraijcd : which institution is at large described, 
 1 Cor. xi. 20, 23, &c. ; Matt. xxvi. 26-31 ; Mark xiv. 22-27; 
 Luke xxii. 19, 20. 
 
 2. Ordinances appertaining to the key of jurisdiction or of dis- 
 cipline, viz : 
 
 1. The ordination of presbyters with imposition of the hands 
 of the presbytery, after praying and fasting, is a divine ordinance. 
 " Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by 
 prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery," 
 1 Tim. iv. 14. Titus was left in Crete lor this end, " To set in 
 order things that were wanting, and ordain presbyters" (or 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 65 
 
 elders) '^ in every city, as Paul had appointed him,'' Tit. i. 5. 
 Timothy is charged, " Lay hajids suddenly on no man, neither 
 be partaker of other men's sins ; keep thyself pure," 1 Tim. v. 
 22. Paul and Barnabas came to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, 
 and " when they had ordained them presbyters in every church, 
 and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord," 
 &c., Acts XIV. 21, 23. 
 
 2. Authoritative discerning, and judging of doctrine according 
 to the word of God, is a divine ordinance. As that council at 
 Jerusalem, authoritatively (viz. by ministerial authority) judged 
 of both the false doctrine and manners of false teachers, brand- 
 ing them for " troublers of the Church, subverters of souls," &c. 
 " Forasmuch as we have heard that certain, coming forth from 
 us, have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, 
 ye ought to be circumcised, and keep the law, to whom we gave 
 no such commandment," Acts xv. 24 ; " it seemed good to the 
 Holy Ghost, and to us, to impose upon you no greater burden 
 than these necessary things," v. 28 ; and this was done upon 
 debates from scripture grounds, " and to this the words of the 
 prophets agree," Acts xv. 15 : and afterwards their results and 
 determinations are called '• decrees ordained by the apostles and 
 elders," Acts xvi. 4. 
 
 3. Admonition and public rebuke of sinners is a divine ordi- 
 nance of Christ. " If thy brother trespass against thee, go and 
 tell him his fault between thee and him alone : if he will not hear 
 thee, then take with thee one or two more- — and if he shall 
 neglect to hear them, tell it unto the Church," Matt, xviii. 
 15-17. " Whose soever sins ye bind on earth shall be bound 
 in heaven," John xx. 23. One way and degree of binding is by 
 authoritative, convincing reproof. " Admonish the unruly," 
 
 1 Thess. V. 14. "An heretic, after the first and second admoni- 
 tion, reject," Tit. iii. 1. " Them that sin, convincingly reprove 
 before all, that the rest also may fear," 1 Tim. v. 20. " Rebuke 
 them sharply,'' (or convince them cuttingly,) Tit. iii. 13. "Suf- 
 ficient to such an one is that rebuke, which was from many," 
 
 2 Cor. ii. 6. 
 
 4. Rejecting, and purging out, or putting away from the com- 
 munion of the Church, wicked and incorrigible persons, is an 
 ordinance of Christ. " And if he will not hear them, tell the 
 Church ; but if he will not hear the Church, let him be unto 
 thee even as a heathen and a publican." " Verily, I say unto you, 
 what things soever ye shall bind on earth, they shall be bound in 
 heaven," Matt, xviii. 17, 18, compared with Matt. xvi. 19, and 
 John XX. 21, 23. " An heretic, after once or twice admonition, 
 reject," Tit. iii. 10 ; i. e. excommunicate, till he repent — Fisc. 
 
 6* 
 
GO THE 1)1 VIM:: RICllT 
 
 in loc. IJy Iho lawful judgment of the Churcli, to deliver tlie 
 impenitent to Satan. — Bcza in loc. " Of whom is Hymeneus and 
 Alexander, whom I have delivered to Satan, that they may learn 
 not to blaspheme," 1 Tim. i. 20. The apostle's scope in 1 Cor. 
 V. is to press the church of Corinth to excommunicate the incest- 
 uous person. " Ye arc pufibd up, and have not rather mourned, 
 that he that hath douc this deed may be taken from the rnidst of 
 you. For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spii'it, have 
 already as presenf judged him that thus wrought this thing. In 
 the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, you being gathered together, 
 and my spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, to deliver 
 such an one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit 
 may be saved in the day of our Lord .Tcsus," 1 Cor. v. 2-5. 
 " Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump ? 
 Purge out therefore the old leaven," ver. 7. " I wrote to you 
 in an epistle, not to be mingled together with fornicators," ver. 
 9, 11 ; and explaining what he meant by not being mingled to- 
 gether, saith, " If any named a brother be a fornicator, or covet- 
 ous, or an idolater, or a' reviler, or drunkard, or rapacious, with 
 such an one not to cat together," ver. 11. "Therefore take 
 away from among yourselves that wricked person," ver. 13. 
 
 5. Seasonable remitting, receiving, comforting, and authorita- 
 tive confirming again in the communion of the Church those that 
 are penitent. " What things soever ye shall loose on earth shall 
 be loosed in heaven," Matt. xvi. 19, and xviii. iS. " Whose so- 
 ever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them," John xx. 23. 
 This loosing and remitting is not only doctrinal and declarative 
 in the preacliing of the word, but also juridical and authoritative 
 in the administration of censures. Tiiis is called, for distinction's 
 sake, absolution. After the church of Corinth had excommuni- 
 cated the incestuous person, and he thereupon had given suffi- 
 cient testimony of his repentance, the apostle directs them to 
 receive him into church communion again, saying, " Sufficient to 
 such an one is that rebuke inflicted of niany ; so that contrari- 
 wise you should rather forgive and comfort him, lest such an one 
 should be swallowed up of abundant sorrow. Wherefore I be- 
 seech autiioritatively to confirm love unto him : for to this pur- 
 pose also I have written unto you, that I may know the proof of 
 you, if yc be obedient in all things," 2 Cor. ii. G-9. 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 67 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Of the End and Scope of this Government of the Church. 
 
 The end or scope intended by Christ in instituting, and to be 
 aimed at by Christ's officers in executing of churcli government 
 in dispensing the word, sacrament, censures, and all ordinances 
 of Christ, is (as tlie description expresseth) hha edifying of the 
 Church of Christ. This end is very comprehensive. For the 
 fuller evidencing whereof these two things are to be proved : 1st. 
 That Jesus Christ our Mediator hath under the New Testament 
 one general visible Church on earth. 2d. That the edification of 
 this Church of Christ is that eminent scope and end why Christ 
 gave the power of church government and other ordinances unto 
 the Church. 
 
 I. For the first, that Jesus Christ our Mediator hath under the 
 New Testament a general visible Church on earth, made up of 
 all particular churches, may be cleared by considering well these 
 particulars. 
 
 1st. That it is evident by the Scriptures that Jesus Christ hath 
 on earth many particular visible churches : (whether churches 
 congregational, presbyterial, provincial, or national, needs not 
 here be determined.) " Unto the churches of Galatia," Gal. i. 2. 
 '' The churches of Judea," Gal. i. 22. " Through Syria and 
 Cilicia, confirming the churches," Acts xv. 41. "To tlie seven 
 churches in Asia," Rev. i. 4, 20. " The church of Ephesus," 
 Rev. ii. 1. " The church in Smyrna," ver. 8. " The church 
 in Pergamus," ver. 12. "The church in Thyatira," ver. 18. 
 "The church in Sardis," Rev. iii. 1. "The church in Phila- 
 delphia," ver. 7. And "the church in Laodicea," ver. 14. 
 " The church that is in their house," Rom. xvi. 5 ; and Philem. 
 2. " Let your women keep "silence in the church," 1 Gor. xiv. 
 84. "All the churches of the Gentiles," 'Rom. xvi. 4. "So 
 ordain I in all churches," 1 Cor. vii. 17. "As in all churches 
 of the saints," 1 Gor. xiv. 33. " The care of all the churches," 
 2 Cor. xi. 28. The New Testament hath many such like ex- 
 pressions. 
 
 2d. That how many particular visible cliurches soever Christ 
 hath on earth, yet Scripture counts them all to be but one general 
 visible Church of Christ. This is manifest, 
 
 1. By divers Scriptures, using the word church in such a full 
 latitude and extensive completeness, as properly to signify, not 
 any one single congregation, or particular church, hut one gene- 
 ral visible Church : as, " Upon this rock I v.'tll uuild my Church," 
 
68 
 
 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 Matt. xvi. 18. "Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to 
 the Greeks, nor to the Church of God," 1 Cor. x. 32. " Gori 
 hath «et some in the Church, first, apostles ; secondarily, prophets ; 
 thirdly, teachers," &c., 1 Cor. xii. 28. " I persecuted the Church 
 of Go^J," 1 Cor. XV. 9 ; Gal. i. 13. ." The Church of the living,' 
 God, the pillar and ground of the truth," 1 Tim. iii. 15. '' Might 
 be known by the Church the manifold wis^Jom of God," Eph. iii. 
 10. " In the midst of the Church will I sing praise unto thee," 
 Hob. ii. 12. In which, and such like places, we must needs un- 
 derstand, that one general visible Church of Christ. 
 
 2. By such passages of scripture as evidently compare all vis- 
 ible proYessors and mernl>ers of Christ throughout the world to one 
 organical lx>dy, having eyes, ears, hands, feet, &c., viz., several 
 organs, instruments, officers, &c., in it, for the benefit of the whole 
 body; as, " He gave some af^ostles, and some prophets, and some 
 evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of 
 the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the bo. 
 dy of Christ," Eph. iv. 11, 12. " There is one body," Eph. iv. 4. 
 " As we have many members in one body, and all members have 
 not the same office ; so we being many are one body in Christ, 
 and every one members one of another," &c., Rom. xii. 4-9. 
 " As the IxjfJy is one, and hath many members, and all the mem- 
 bers of that one bwjy l>eing many, are one bof]y ; so also is Christ," 
 (i. e., Christ considered mystically, not personally,) " for by one 
 Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be .Tews or. 
 Gentiles, whether we be lx)nd or free," &c., 1 Cor. xii. 12, to the. 
 end of the chapter, which context plainly demonstrates all Christ's 
 visible members in the world, Jews or Gentiles, &sc., to be mem- 
 bers of one and the same organical l^KxJy of Christ, which organi- 
 cal body of Christ is the general visible Church of Christ ; for the 
 invisible church is not organical. 
 
 II. That the edification of the Church of Christ is that eminent 
 Kcope and end, why Christ gave church government and all other 
 ordinances of the New Testament to his Church. This is fre- 
 quently testified in scripture. 1. The apostle, speaking of this 
 j>ower generally, saith, " Our authority which the Lord hath given 
 to us for edification, and not for the destruction of you," 2 Cor. x. 8. 
 The like passage he hath again, saying, " according to the authority," 
 or power, " which the Lord hath given to rne for edification, and 
 not for destruction," 2 Cor. xiii. 10; in both which places he 
 speaks of the authority of church government in a general com- 
 prehensive way, declaring the grand and general immediate end 
 thereof to he, affirmatively, edification of the church ; negatively, 
 not the subversion or destruction thereof. 2. In like manner, 
 when particular acts of government, and particular ordinances 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNIMENT. qq 
 
 are mentionoJ, the edification of the Church, at least in her mem- 
 bers, is propounded as the great end of all : e. g. 1. Admonition 
 is for edification, that an erring brother may he gained, Matt, xviii. 
 15, 16, that wavering minds may be sound in the faith. " Re- 
 buke them cuttingly, that they may be sound in the faith,*^' Tit. i. 
 13, that beholders and bystanders may fear to fall into like sins. 
 "Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear," 1 
 Tim. V. 20. 2. Excommunication is for edification; particular- 
 ly of the delinquent member himself ; thus the incestuous person 
 was " delivered to Satan for the destruction of th.e flesh, that the 
 spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus," 1 Cor. v. 4, 5. 
 "Hymeneus and Alexander were delivered to Satan, that they 
 might learn not to blaspheme," 1 Tim. i. 20 : more irenerally of 
 the Church ; thus the incestuous person was to be pu? awav from 
 among them lest the whole lump of the church should be leavened 
 by hmi, 1 Cor. v. 3. Absolution also is for edification, lest the 
 penitent party ''should be swallowed up of too much sorrow," 2 
 ^T'\ "'J* ^' ^'^ ^*^® officers of his Church are for edification 
 of the Church, (Eph. iv. 7, 8, 11, 12, 16,) together with all the 
 gifts and endowments in these officers, whether of prayer, pro- 
 phecy, tongues, &c., all must be managed to edification. This is 
 the scope of the whole chapter. 1 Cor. xii. 7, &c., and 1 Cor. 
 XIV. 3-5, 9, 12, &c., 26 ; read the whole chapter. That pas. 
 sage of Paul is remarkable, " I thank my God, I speak with 
 tongues more than you all ; yet in the church I had rather speak 
 five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach 
 others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown "tongue," 
 verses 18, 19. Thus church government, and all sorts of^ordi- 
 nances, with the particular acts thereof, are to be levelled at this 
 mark of edification. Edification is an elegant metaphor from ma- 
 terial buildings (perhaps of the materiarand typical temple) to 
 the spiritual ; for explanation's sake briefly thus take the accom- 
 modation : The architects, or builders, are the ministers, 1 Cor. iii. 
 10. The. foundation and corner-stone that bears up, binds together, 
 and gives strength to the building, is Jesus Christ, 1 Cor. in. 11 • 
 
 1 Pet. ii. 4, 6. The stones or materials are the faithful or saints, 
 
 2 Cor 1. 1. The huiMing, or house itself, is the Church, that spir- 
 itual house, and temyle of the living God, Eph. ii. 21, and iv. 12 ; 
 1 Cor. iii. 9, 16, 17. The edification of this house is gradually 
 to be perfected more and more till the coming of Christ, by lay- 
 ing the foundation ofChristianity, in bringing men still unto Christ, 
 and carrying on the superstruction in perfecting them in Christ in 
 all spiritual growth, till at last the top-stone be laid on, the Church 
 completed, and translated to the house not 7nade icith haiids, eternal 
 in the heavens. 
 
70 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Of the pro2)er receptacle and distinct subject of all tJiis power and 
 (lutliority of Church Government, which Christ hath peculiarly in- 
 trusted with the execution tJiereof according to the Scriptures. And 
 1. Negatively, That the political magistrate is not the proper suh- 
 jficl of this power. 
 
 Thus wc have taken a brief survey of church government, both 
 in the rule, root, kind, branches, and end thereof, all which are 
 comprised in tlie former description, and being less controverted, 
 liave been more briefly handled. Now, the last thing in the descrip- 
 tion which comes under our consideration, is the proper receptacle 
 of all this power from Christ, or the peculiar subject intrusted by 
 Christ with this power and the execution thereof, viz. only Christ's 
 own officers. For church government is a spiritual power or au- 
 thority, derived from Jesus Christ our Mediator, only to his own 
 officers, and by them exercised in dispensing of the word, &c. 
 Now about this subject of the power will be the great knot of the 
 controversy, forasmuch as there are many diflerent claims thereof 
 made, and urged with vehement importunity : (to omit the Romish 
 claim for the pope, and the prelatical claim for the bishop,) the 
 politic Erastian pretends that the only proper subject of all church 
 government is the political or civil magistrate ; the gross Brown- 
 isls or rigid Separatists, that it is the body of the people, or com- 
 munity of the faithful in an equal even level ; they that are more 
 refined, (who style themselves for distinction's sake* Independ- 
 ents,) that it is the single congregation, or the company of the 
 faithful with their presbytery, or church officers ; the Presbyte- 
 rians hold that the proper subject wherein Christ hath seated 
 and intrusted all church power, and the exercise thereof, is only 
 his own church officers, (as is in the description expressed.) 
 Here, therefore, the way will be deeper, and the travelling slow, 
 er ; the opposition is much, and therefore the disquisition of this 
 matter will unavoidably be the more. 
 
 For perspicuity lierein, seeing it is said that this power is de- 
 rived from Christ only to his own officers ; and by this word (only) 
 all other subjects are excluded; the subject of church power may 
 
 »See Mr. Edwards's Antapolop;ia, page 201, printed in anno 1644, prov- 
 ing this out of their own books. Especially see a little book in l2mo. printed 
 in anno 1(54(5, styled a collection of certain matters, whicli almost in every 
 page pleads for Independency and Independents by name : from wliic-h most 
 of the Independent principles seem to be derived. 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMEXT. 71 
 
 be considered, 1 . Negatively, what it is not. 2. Afnrmativclv, 
 what it is. 
 
 Negatively, the proper subject unto whom Christ hath commit- 
 ted the power of church government, and the exercise thereof, is 
 not, 1. The political magistrate, as the Erastians imagine. 2. 
 Nor the body of the people, either with their presbytery or with- 
 out it, as the Separatists and Independents pretend. Let these 
 negatives first be evinced, and then the affirmative will be more 
 clearly evidenced. 
 
 Touching the first of these — that the political magistrate is not 
 the proper subject unto m horn Jesus Christ our Mediator hath com- 
 mitted the power of church government, and the exercise of that 
 power; it will be cleared by declaring these two things distinctly 
 and severally, viz : 1. "What power about ecclesiasticals is grant- 
 ed to the civil magistrate. 2. Wliat power therein is denied unto 
 him, and why. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 Such power is granted by the reformed churches and orthodox 
 writers to the political magistrate, in reference to church afiairs. 
 Take it in these particulars. 
 
 A defensive, protecting, patronizing power to the church, and all 
 the members thereof " Kings shall be thy nursing- fathers,'' &;c., 
 Isa. xlix. 93. '-The magistrate is the minister of God for good 
 to well-doers, as well as the avenger, executing v»rath upon evil- 
 doers ; a terror not to good works, but to the evil,'"'" Rom. xiii. 3, 
 4; he is called an heir, or, possessor of restraint, to put men- to 
 shame, Judges xviii. 7. And as the church ought to pray for kings 
 and all in authority, so consequently all in authority should en- 
 deavor to defend it, that the church and people of God should lead 
 a quiet and peaceable life, (under tiie wing of their protection,) 
 " in all godliness and honesty," 1 Tim. ii. 2 ; and this is evident 
 from the end and scope of these prayers here prescribed, as in- 
 terpreters unanimously agree. And hereupon are those promises 
 to the church, "The sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, 
 and their kings shall minister unto thee," Isa. Ix. 10 ; " and thou 
 shalt suck the breast of kings," Isa. Ix. 16. Now, this nursing, 
 protecting care of magistrates towards the church, puts forth itself 
 in these or like acts, viz : He, 
 
 1. Removes all external mipediments of true religion, vvorship 
 of God, &c., by his civil power, whether persons or things, whe- 
 ther persecutions, profaneness, heresy, idolatry, superstition, &;c., 
 that truth and godliness may purely flourish : as did Jehoshaphat, 
 Asa, Hezekiah, Josiah. And hereupon it is that God so oft con- 
 demns the not removing and demolishing of the high places and 
 
72 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 monuments of idolatry, 1 Kings xv. 14, with 2 Chron. xv. 17; 
 
 1 Kings xxii. 44 ; 2 Kings xii. 3: and highly commends the con- 
 trary in Asa, 2 Chron. xv. 8, 16 : in Jchoshaphat, 2 Chron. xvii. 
 3, 4, 6-10: in Hezekiah, 2 Chron. xxxi. 1; 2 Kings xviii. 4: 
 in Manasseh, 2 Chron. xxxiii. 15: in Josiah, 2 Kings xxiii. 8, 
 13, 19, 20, 24 : whereupon the Holy Ghost gives him that super: 
 lative commendation above all kings before and after him, ver. 25. 
 
 2. Countenanceth, advanceth, and encourageth by his author- 
 ity and example the public exercise of all God's ordinances, and 
 duties of religion within his dominions, whether in matter of di- 
 vine worship, discipline, and government, maintaining for the 
 Church the fulness of spiritual liberties and privileges communi- 
 cated to her from Christ: as did Asa, 2 Chron. xv. 9-16 : Jeho- 
 shaphat, 2 Chron. xx. 7-9 : Hezekiah, 2 Chron. xxix., xxx., and 
 xxxi. chapters throughout : Josiah, 2 Chron. xxxiv. and xxxv. 
 chapters. And to this end God prescribed in the law that the 
 king should still have a copy of the law of God by him, therein 
 to read continually, Deut. xvii. 18-20 ; because he was to be 
 not only a practiscr, but also a protector thereof, a keeper of both 
 tables. 
 
 3. Supplies the Church with all external necessaries, provis- 
 ions, means, and worldly helps in matters of religion: as con- 
 venient public places to worship in, sufficient maintenance for 
 ministers, (as the Scripture requireth, 1 Tim. v. 17, 18 ; 1 Cor. 
 ix. 6-15; Gal. vi. 6:) schools and colleges, for promoting of 
 literature, as nurseries to the prophets, (Stc. ; together with the 
 peaceable and effectual enjoyment of all these worldly necessa- 
 ries, for comfortably carrying on of all public ordinances of 
 Christ. Thus David prepared materials, but Solomon built the 
 temple, 1 Chron. xxii. Hezekiah commanded the people that 
 dwelt in Jerusalem, to give the portion of the priests and the Le- 
 vites, that they might be encouraged in the law of the Lord ; and 
 Hezekiah himself and his princes came and saw it performed, 
 
 2 Chron. xxxi. 4, &c., 8: Josiah repaired the house of God, 
 2 Chron. xxxiv. 
 
 Nor need the magistrate think scorn, but rather count it his 
 honor to be an earthly protector of the Church, which is the lody 
 of Christ, the LamVs vnfe, for redeeming of which Christ died, 
 and for gathering and perfecting of which the very world is con- 
 tinued. 
 
 An ordering, regulating power is also allowed to the magis- 
 trate about ecclesiastical matters in a political way, so that he 
 warrantably, 
 
 1. R-eforms the Church, when corrupted in divine worship, 
 discipline, or government : as did Moses, Exod. xxxii. ; Joshua, 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 73 
 
 Josh. xxiv. ; Asa, 2 Chron. xv. ; Jehoshaphat, 2 Chron. xvii. ; 
 Hezekiah; 2 Kings xviii. ; Josiah, 2 Kings xxiii. ; 2 Chron. 
 xxxiv. 
 
 2. Convenes or convocates synods and councils, made up of 
 ecclesiastical persons, to consult, advise, and conclude determina- 
 tively, according to the word, how the church is to be reformed 
 and refined from corruptions, and how to be guided and governed 
 when reformed, &c. For, 1. Pious magistrates under the Old 
 Testament called the Church together, convened councils. Da- 
 vid, about bringing back the ark, 1 Chron. xiii. 1, 2, and another 
 council when he was old, 1 Chron. xiii. 1 ; Solomon, 1 Kings viii. 
 1 ; Hezekiah, 2 Chron. xxix. 4; and Josiah, 2 Kings xxiii. 1, 2. 
 2. All ought to be subject to superior powerSj who ought to pro- 
 cure the public peace and prosperity of the Church, Rom. xiii. 
 1, 2, &c. ; 1 Pet. ii. 13, &c., 17 ; 1 Tim. ii. 2. Therefore su- 
 perior powers may convocate councils. 3. Christian magistrates 
 called the four general councils : Constantine the first Nicene 
 council ; Theodosius, senior, the first council of Constantinople ; 
 Theodosius, junior, the first Ephesian council ; Marcian Empe- 
 ror, the Chalcedon council; and, 4. Hereunto antiquity sub- 
 scribes, as Dr. Whitaker observes. 
 
 3. Supports the laws of God with his secular authority, as a 
 keeper of the tables, enjoining and commanding, under civil 
 penalties, all under his dominion, strictly and inviolably to ob- 
 serve the same : as " Josiah made all that were present in Israel 
 to serve the Lord their God," 2 Chron. xxxiv. 33. Nehemiah 
 made the sabbath to be sanctified, and strange wives to be put 
 away, Neh. xii. 13, &c. Yea, Nebuchadnezzar, a heathen king, 
 decreed, that " Whosoever should speak amiss of the God of Sha- 
 drach," &c., " should be cut in pieces, and their houses made a 
 dunghill," Dan. iii. 28, 29. And Darius decreed, '-That in 
 every dominion of his kingdom men tremble and fear before the 
 God of Daniel," &c., Dan. vi. 26, 27. 
 
 And as he strengthens the laws and ordinances of God by his 
 civil authority, so he ratifies and establishes within his dominions 
 the just and necessary decrees of the Church in synods and 
 councils (which are agreeable to God's word) by his civil 
 sanction. 
 
 4. Judges and determines definitively whh a consequent polit- 
 ical judgment, or judgment of political discretion, concerning the 
 things judged and determined antecedently by the Church, in 
 reference to his own act. Whether he will approve such eccle- 
 siasticals or not ; and in what manner he will so approve, or do 
 otherwise by his public authority ; for he is not a brutish agent, 
 (as papists would have him,) to do whatsoever the Church enjoins 
 
 7 
 
74 THE DtViNE RIGHT 
 
 him unto blind obedience, biit is to act prudently and knowingly 
 in all his office; and therefore the judgment of discerning 
 (which belongs to every Christian, for the well-ordering of his 
 own act) cannot be denied to the Christian magistrate, in respect 
 of his office. 
 
 5. Takes care politically, that even matters and ordinances 
 merely and formally ecclesiastical, be duly managed by ecclesi- 
 astical persons orderly called thereto. Thus Hezekiah command- 
 ed the priests and Levites to do their duties, 2 Chron. xxix. 5, 24, 
 and the people to do theirs, 2 Chron. xxx. 1 ; and for this he is 
 commended, that therein he did cleave uritb the Lord, and oh- 
 served ]}is precepts which he had commanded Moses, 2 Kings 
 xviii. 6. Thus when the king is commanded to observis and do 
 all the precepts of the law, the Lord (as orthodox divines do 
 judge) intended that he should keep them, not only as a private 
 man, but as a king, by using all care and endeavor that all his 
 subjects with him perform all duties to God ahd rrtan, Deut. xvii. 
 18-20. 
 
 6. A compulsive, coactive, punitive, or correctfve power, for^ 
 mally political, is also granted to the political magistrate in mat- 
 ters of religion, in reference to all sorts of persons and things 
 under his jurisdiction. He may politically compel the outward 
 man of all persons, church officers, or others under his domin- 
 ions, unto external performance of their respective duties, and 
 offices in matters of religion, punishing them, if either they ne- 
 glect to do their duty at all, or do it corruptly, not only against 
 equity and sobriety, contrary to the second table, but against 
 truth and piety, contrary to the first table of the decalogue. We 
 have sufficient intimation of the magistrate's punitive power in 
 cases against the second table ; as the stubborn and rebellious, in- 
 corrigible son, that was a glutton and a drunkard, sinning against 
 the fifth commandment, was to be stoned to death, Deut. xxi. 
 18-2L The murderer, sinning against the sixth commandment, 
 was to be punished with death, Gen. ix. 6 ; Numb. xxxv. 30-34 ; 
 Deut. X. 11-13. The unclean person, sinning against the sev- 
 enth commandment, was to be punished with death. Lev. xx. 11, 
 12, 14, 17, 19-2.5; and before that, see Gen. xxxviii. 24. Yea, 
 Job, who is thought to live before Moses, and before this law was 
 made, intimates that adultery is a heinous crime, yea, it is an 
 iniquity to be punished by the judges, Job xxxi. 9, 11. The thief, 
 sinning against the eighth commandment, was to be punished by 
 restitution, Exod. xxii. 1, 15, (Sec. The false witness, sinning 
 against the ninth commandment, was to be dealt withal as he 
 would have had his brother dealt with, by the law of retaliation, 
 Deut. xix. 16, to the end of the chapter, &c. Yea, the magis- 
 
OF CHURCH GOVEEXMEXT. 75 
 
 trate's punitive power is extended also to offences against the 
 first table ; whether these offences be against the first command- 
 ment, by false prophets teaching lies, errors, and heresies in the 
 name of the Lord, endeavoring to seduce people from the true 
 God. '• If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of 
 dreams, that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to 
 death, because he hath spoken to turn you away from the Lord 
 your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt," &c., 
 Deut. xiii. 1-6. From which place Calvin notably asserts the 
 punitive power of magistrates against false prophets and impos- 
 tors that would draw God's people to a defection from the true 
 God, showing that this power also belongs to the Christian magis- 
 trate in like cases now under the gospel. 
 
 Yea, in case of such seducement from God, though by nearest 
 allies, severe punishment was to be inflicted upon the seducer, 
 Deut. xiii. 6-12. See also ver. 12, to the end of the chapter, how 
 a city is to be punished in the like case. And Mr. Burroughs,* 
 in his Irenicum, shows that this place of Deut. xiii. 6, &c., be- 
 longs even to us under the gospel. 
 
 Or whether these offences be against the second commandment, 
 the magistrate's punitive power reaches them, Deut. xvii. 1-8 ; 
 Lev. xvii. 2-8; 2 Chron. xvi. 13, 16. " Maachah, the mother 
 of Asa the king, he removed from being queen, because she had 
 made an idol in a grove." Job xxxi. 26—28, herewith compare 
 Exod. viii. 25, 26. Or whether the offences be against the third 
 commandment, " And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, 
 saying. Whosoever curseth God shall bear his sin : and he that 
 blasphemeth the name of the Lord he shall surely be put to death, 
 and all the congregation shall certainly stone him, as well the 
 stranger as he that is born in the land, w^hen he blasphemeth the 
 
 * Let not any man put off this Scripture, saying', This is in the Old Tes- 
 tament, but we find no such thing in the gospel ; for we find the same 
 tlnng, almost the same words used in a prophecy of the times of the gospel, 
 Zech. xiii. 3. In the latter end of the xii. ch,apter, it is prophesied that those 
 who pierced Christ, should look upon him and mourn. Sec, having a spirit of 
 grace and supplication poured upon them, chap. xiii. 1. " There shall now 
 be opened a fountain for sin, and for uncleanness," ver. 3. " It shall come 
 to pass that he that takes upon him to prophesy, that his father and mother 
 that begat him, shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live, for thou speakest 
 lies in the name of the Lord : and his father and his mother that begat him, 
 shall thrust him through, when he prophesieth." You must understand this 
 by that in Deuteronomy. The meaning is not that his father or mother shoilld 
 presently run a knife into him, but that though they begat him, yet they 
 should be the means to bring him to condign punishment, even the taking 
 away his life; these who were the instruments of his life, should now be the 
 instruments of his death. — l\Ir. Jer. Burroughs in his Irenicum, chap, v., 
 pages 19, 20, printed 1646. 
 
76 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 name of the Lord shall be put to death," Lev. xxiv. 15, 16. Yea^ 
 the heathen king Nebuchadnezzar made a notable decree to this 
 purpose, against blaspheming God, saying, " I make a decree, 
 that every people, nation, and language, who speak any thing 
 amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego, shall 
 be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill," 
 Dan. iii. 29 : and tlie pagan magistrate, king Artaxerxes, made 
 a more full decree against all contemptof the lawof God : " And 
 "whosoever will not do the law of thy God," saith he to Ezra, 
 " and the law of the king, let judgment be executed speedily upon 
 him, whether it be unto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation 
 of goods, or to imprisonment :" and Ezra blesses God for this, 
 Ezra vii. 26, 27. 
 
 Besides all this light of nature, and evidence of the Old Testa- 
 ment, for the ruler's political punitive power for offences against 
 God, there are divers places in the New Testament showing that 
 a civil punitive power rests still in the civil magistrate : witness 
 those general expressions in those texts — Rom. xiii. 3, 4 : " Rulers 
 are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. If thou do that 
 which is evil, be afraid, for he beareth not the sword in vain : for 
 he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him 
 that doeth evil." 1 Pet. ii. 13, 14 : " Submit yourselves unto every 
 ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether it be to the king 
 as to the supreme, or unto governors which are sent for the 
 punishment of evil-doers,* and the praise of them that do well." 
 Now, (as Mr. Burroughsf notes,) seeing the Scripture speaks thus 
 generally, except the nature of the thing require, why should we 
 distinguish where the Scripture doth not ? so that these expressions 
 may be extended to those sorts of evil-doing against the first as 
 well as against the second table ; against murdering of, souls by 
 heresy, as well as murdering of men's bodies with the sword ; 
 against the blaspheming of the God of heaven, as well as against 
 blaspheming of kings and rulers, that are counted gods on earth. 
 That place seems to have much force in it to this purpose, Heb. 
 X. 28, 29 : " He that despised Moses' law, died without mercy 
 under two or three witnesses. Of how much sorer punishment, 
 suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden under 
 foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the cove- 
 nant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done 
 despite unto the Spirit of grace ?" Yea, what deserve such as de- 
 ny the Spirit to be of God ? Papists exempt their clergy from the 
 judgment of the civil power, though they be delinquents against 
 
 * But schismatics and heretics are called evil- workers, Phil. iii. 2 ; and 
 heresy is classed among the works of the flesh, Gal. v. 20. 
 
 t Mr. Burroughs in his Irerdcum, c. v. page 25 ; printed 1646. 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERXME.NT. 77 
 
 it ; and their states, both civil and spiritual, from civil taxes, tri- 
 butes, and penalties, both which we deny to ours : lor, 1st, This 
 is repugnant to the law of nature, that church officers and mem- 
 bers, as parts and members of the commonwealth, should not be 
 subject to the government of that commonwealth whereof they are 
 parts. 2d, Repugnant to the laws and practices of the Old Tes- 
 tament, under which we read of no such exemptions. Yea, we 
 have instance of Abiathar the high-priest, who, for liis partnership 
 with Adonijah in his rebellion, was exiled by king Solomon, and 
 so consequently deprived of the exercise of his office, 1 Kings ii. 
 26, 27. 3d, Inconsistent with our Saviour's example, who, as 
 subject to the law, held himself obliged to pay tribute to avoid of- 
 fence, (Matt. xvii. 26,) which was an active scandal ; and he con- 
 fesses Pilate's power to condemn or release him was given him 
 from ahove, John xix. 11. 4th, And finally, contrary to the apos- 
 tolical precepts, enjoinincr all to he subject to superior poioers, Rom. 
 xiii. 1-4; 1 Pet. i'i. 13-15. 
 
 Now, all the former power that is granted, or may be granted 
 to the magistrate about religion, is only cumulative and objective, 
 as divines used to express it ; thus understand them : — 
 
 Cumulative, not privative; adding to, not detracting from any 
 liberties or privileges granted her from Christ. The heathen ma- 
 gistrate may be a nurse-father, Isa. xlix. 23 ; 1 Tim. ii. 2, may 
 not be a step-father : may protect the Church, religion, &;c., and 
 order many things in a political way about religion ; may not ex- 
 tirpate or persecute the Church; may help her in reformation; 
 may not hinder her in reforming herself, convening synods in her- 
 self, as in Acts xv., &;c., if he will not help her therein ; other- 
 wise her condition were better without than with a magistrate. 
 The Christian magistrate much less ought to hinder lier therein, 
 otherwise her state were worse under the Christian than under 
 the pagan magistrate. 
 
 Objective or- objectively ecclesiastical, as being exercised about 
 objects ecclesiastical, but politically, not ecclesiastically. His 
 proper power is ahoiit, not in religious matters. He may politically, 
 outwardly exercise his power about objects or matters spiritual ; 
 but not spiritually, inwardly, formally act any power in the 
 Church. He may act in church affairs as did Asa, .Tehoshaphat, 
 Hezekiah, Josiah : not as did Corah, Saul, Uzzah, or Uzziah. He 
 is an overseer of things without, not of things within. And in a 
 word, his whole pov.-er about church offices and religion is mere- 
 ly, properly, and formally civil or political.* 
 
 Nor is this only our private judgment, or the opinion of some 
 
 * See this evidenced upon divers grounds in AppoUon. jm^ Majest., pp. 25, 2G. 
 7* 
 
78 TliJ'J DIVINI-: UKJHT 
 
 few particular persons louohinjr the fjranting or bounding of the 
 rnagistralo's power about matters of relij^ion ; but with us we 
 have tbe suffrage of many reformed churches, wiio, in their Con- 
 fessions of J^'ailh publisbed to the world, do fully and clearly ex- 
 press themselves to the same effect. 
 
 The Helvetian church thus : Since every magistrate is of God, 
 it is (unless he would exercise tyranny) his chi(;f duty, all blas- 
 phemy being repressed, to defend and provide for religion, and to 
 execute this to his utmost strength, as tbe [)rophet teacbeth out of 
 the word ; in which respect the f)ure and free preaching of God's 
 word, a right, diligent, and well-instituted discipline of youth, citi- 
 zens and scholars ; a just and liberal maintenance of the minis- 
 ters of the church, and a solicitous care of the poor, (whereunto 
 all ecclesiastical means belong,) have the first place. After 
 this, &c. 
 
 The French churches thus: lie also therefore committed the 
 sword into the magistrates' hapds, that they nn'ght repress faults 
 committed not only against the second tabh;, but also against the 
 first ; therefore wo affirm, that their laws and statutes ought to 
 be obeyed, tribute to be paid, and other burdens to be borne, the 
 yoke of subjection voluntarily to be undergone, yea, though the 
 magistrates should be infidels, so long as the supremo government 
 of God remains perfect and untouched. Matt. xxiv. ; Acts iv. 17, 
 and v. 10; Judo verse 8. 
 
 The church of Scotland thus: Moreover we affirm, that the 
 purging and conserving of religion is the first and most especial 
 duty of kings, princes, governors, and magistrates. So that they 
 are ordained of (iod not only for civil polity, but also for the con- 
 servation of true religion, and that all idolatry and superstition 
 may be su[)pressed : as is evident in David, Jehoshaphat, .losiah, 
 llezekiah, and others, adorned with high praises for their singular 
 zeal. 
 
 The I^dgic church thus : Therefore he hath aaned ihe magis- 
 trates with a sword, tliat they may punish the bad and defend the 
 good. Furthermore, it is iho.ir duty not only to be solicitous about 
 preserving of civil polity, but also to give diligence tliat llie sa- 
 cred ministry may l)C preserved, all idolatry and adulterate wor- 
 ship of God may be taken out of the way, the kingdom of anti- 
 christ may be pulled down, but Chri.st's kingdom propagated. 
 Finally, it is th(Mr part to take course, tliat the holy word of the 
 gospel be preached on every side, tliat all may freely and purely 
 •serve and worship God according to tlu; prescript of his word. 
 And all men, of whatsoever dignity, condition, or state they be, 
 ought to be subject to lawful magistrates, to j)ay them tribute and 
 subsidies, to obey them in all things which are not repugnant to 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 79 
 
 the word of God ; to pour out prayers for them, that God would 
 vouchsafe to direct them in all their actions, and that we may un- 
 der them lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godFrness and hon- 
 esty. Wherefore we detest the Anabaptists and all turbulent 
 men who cast off superior dominions and magistrates, pervert laws 
 and judgments, make all goods common, and finally abolish or 
 confound all orders and degrees which God hath constituted for 
 honesty's sake among men. 
 
 The church in Bohemia thus : They teach also that it is com- 
 manded in the word of God that all should he subject to the higher 
 powers in all things, yet in those things only which are not repug- 
 nant to God and his word. But as touching those things which 
 concern men's souls, faith, and salvation, they teach that men 
 should hearken only to God's word, &c., his ministers, as Christ 
 himself saith. Render to Ccesar the things that are CcEsar^s, and to 
 God those things that are God\s. But if any would compel them 
 to those things which are against God, and fight and strive against 
 his word, which abideth forever ; they teach them to make use 
 of the apostle's example, who thus answered the magistrate at Je- 
 rusalem : It is meet (say they) to obey God rather than men. 
 
 Finally, the church in Saxony hath expressed herself notably 
 in this point, saying, among rnany other passages, God will have 
 all men, yea, even unregenerate men, to be ruled and restrained 
 by political government. And in this government the wisdom, 
 justice, and goodness of God to mankind do shine forth. His wis- 
 dom, order declares, which is the difference of virtues and vices, 
 and the consociation of men by lawful governments and contracts 
 ordained in wonderful wisdom. God's justice also is seen in po- 
 litical government, who will have manifest wickednesses to be 
 punishe4 by magistrates ; and when they that rule punish not 
 the guilty, God himsplf wonderfully draws them to punishment, 
 and regularly punishes heinous faults with heinous penalties in 
 this life, as it is said, He that takes the sward shall perish by the 
 sword ; and. Whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. God 
 will have in these punishments the difference of vices and virtues 
 to be seen ; and will have us learn that God is wise, just, true, 
 chaste. God's goodness also to mankind is beheld, because by this 
 means he preserves the gociety of men, and therefore he preserves 
 it that thence the Church may be gathered, and will have polities 
 to be the Church's inns. Of these divine and immoveable laws, 
 which are testimonies of God, and the chief rule of manners, the 
 magistrate is to be keeper in punishing all that violate them. For 
 the voice of the law, without punishment and execution, is of small 
 avail to bridle and restrain men ; therefore it is said by Paul, 
 The pQwer shpuld he a terror to evil ivorks, and an honor to the 
 
80 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 good. And antiquity rightly said, The inagislrale is the keeper of 
 the lav), both of the first and second table, so fur as appertains to 
 good order. And though many in their governments neglect the 
 glory of God, yet this ougljt to be their chief care, to hear and 
 embrace the true doctrine touching the Son of God, and to foster 
 the churches, as tlu; psalm sailh. And now understand, ye kings, 
 and be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Again, Open your gates, 
 ye princes, \. e.. Open your empires to the gospel, and aflbrd harbor 
 to the Son of God. And Isa. xlix. : And kings shall he thy nursing- 
 fathers, and queens, i. e., commonwealths, skall he thy nursing-mo- 
 Ihers, i. e., of the Church, they shall afford lodgings to churches and 
 pious studies. And kings and princes themselves shall be mem- 
 bers of the Church, and shall rightly understand doctrine, shall 
 not help those that establish false doctrine, and exercise unjust 
 cruelty, hut shall be mindful of this saying, " I will glorify them 
 that glorify me." And ])anicl exhortelh the king of Habylon unto 
 the acknowledgment of God's wrath, and to clemency towards the 
 exiled Church, when he saith, " Break off thy sins by righteousness, 
 and thine iniquities by showing mercy to the poor." And since they 
 are among the chief members of the Church, they should see that 
 judgment be rightly exercised in the Church, as Constantine, The- 
 odosius, Arcadius, Marcianus, Charles the Great, and many pious 
 kings, took care that the judgments of the Church should be rightly 
 exercised, &c. 
 
 Tlius those of the prcsbyterian judgment are willing to give to 
 CaDsar those things that are Caesar's, even about matters of reli- 
 gion, that the magistrate may sec, it is far from their intention in 
 the least degree to intrench upon his just power, by asserting the 
 spiritual power, which Christ hath seated in his church officers, 
 distinct from the magistral ical power : but as for them of the in- 
 dependent judgment, and their adherents, they divest the magis- 
 trate of such power.* 
 
 .SKCTION 11. 
 
 II. Some power on the other hand touching religion and church 
 affairs, is utterly denied to the civil magistrate, as no way be- 
 longing to liim at all by virtue of his oflice of magistracy. Take 
 it thus : 
 
 Jesus Christ, our Mediator, now under the New Testament, 
 hath committed no spiritual power at all, magisterial or ministe- 
 rial, properly, internally, formally, or virtually ecclesiastical, nor 
 any exercise thereof, for the government of his Church, to the po- 
 litical magistrate, heathen or Christian, as the subject or receptacle 
 thereof by virtue of his magistratical office. 
 
 » Sec M. S. to A. H., pages 55-60. 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. ^1 
 
 For explication hereof briefly thus : 1. What is ir.eant by spir- 
 itual power, magisterial and ministerial, is laid down in tiie gen- 
 eral nature of the government. Chap. III. And, That all magis- 
 terial lordly power over the Church, belongs peculiarly and only 
 to Jesus Christ our Mediator, Lord of all, is proved, Chap. V. 
 Consequently, the civil magistrate can challenge no such power, 
 without usurpation upon Christ's prerogative. We hence con- 
 demn the Pope as Antichrist, while he claims to be Christ's vicar- 
 general over Christ's visible Church on earth. So that all tiie 
 question here will be about the ministerial power, whether any 
 such belong to the civil magistrate. 2. What is meant by pow- 
 er, properly, internally, formally, or virtually ecclesiastical ? Thus 
 conceive : These several terms are purposely used, the more 
 clearly and fully to distinguish power purely ecclesiastical, which' 
 is denied to the magistrate, from power purely political about ec- 
 clesiastical objects, which is granted to him ; which is called 
 ecclesiastical; not properly, but improperly ; not internally, but 
 externally; not formally, but only objectively, as conversant 
 about ecclesiastical objects. Nor hath he any such ecclesiastical 
 power in him virtually, i. e. so as to convey and give it to any 
 other under him. He may grant and protect the public exercise 
 of that power within his dominions ; but designation of particular 
 persons to the office and power, is from the Church ; the donation 
 of the office and power only from Christ himself. So that magis- 
 tracy doth not formally nor virtually comprehend in it ecclesias- 
 tical power for church government ; for a magistrate, as a magis- 
 trate, hath no inward ecclesiastical power at all belonging to him. 
 
 For confirmation of this proposition, consider these ensuing ar- 
 guments. 
 
 Argum. 1st. The keys of the kingdom of heaven were never 
 given by Christ to the civil magistrate, as such : therefore he 
 cannot be the proper subject of church government as a magis- 
 trate. We may thus reason : 
 
 Major. No power of the keys of the kingdom of heaven was 
 ever given by Christ to the civil magistrate, as a magistrate. 
 
 Minor. But all formal power of church government is at least 
 part of the power of the keys of the kingdom of heaven. 
 
 Conclusion. Therefore no formal power of church government 
 was ever given by Christ to the civil magistrate, as a magistrate. 
 
 The major proposition is evident. 
 
 1. Because when Christ gave the keys of the kingdom of 
 heaven, he makes no mention at all of the civil magistrate direct- 
 ly or indirectly, expressly or implicitly, as the recipient subject 
 thereof. Compare Matt. xvi. 19, and xviii. 18, John ii. 21-2;J, 
 with Matt, xxvii. 18-20. 
 
82 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 2. Because, in Christ's giving the keys of the kingdom of hea- 
 ven, he makes express mention of church officers,* which are 
 really and essentially different from the civil magistrate, viz. of 
 Peter, in name of all the rest, Matt. xvi. 18, 19, and of the rest 
 of the apostles as the receptacle of the keys with him, Malt, 
 xviii. 18, all the disciples save Thomas being together, he gave 
 them the same commission in other words, John xx. 20-24, 
 and Matt, xxviii. 18-20. Now if Christ should- have given 
 the keys, or any power thereof to the magistrate, as a magis- 
 trate, he must consequently have given them only to the ma- 
 gistrate, and then how could he have given them to his apos- 
 tles, being officers in the Church really distinct from the magis- 
 trate ? 
 
 8. Because Jesus Christ, in giving the keys of the kingdom, 
 gave not any one sort, act, part, or piece of the keys severally, 
 but the whole power of the keys, all the sorts and acts thereof 
 jointly. Therefore it is said, I give the keys of the kingdom — and 
 whatsoever thou shalt hind — whatsoever thou, shall loose — whose 
 soever sins ye remit — whose soever sins ye retain — Matt. xvi. 19, 
 John xx. 23. So that here is not only key, but keys given at 
 once, viz. key of doctrine, and the key of discipline ; or the key 
 of order, and the key of jurisdiction ; not only binding or retain- 
 ing, but loosing or remitting of sins, viz. all acts together confer, 
 red in the keys. Now if Christ gave the keys to the magistrate, 
 then he gave all the sorts of keys and all the acts thereof to him : 
 if so, the^ magistrate may as well preach the word, and dispense 
 the sacraments, &c., (as Erastus would have him.) as dispense 
 the censures, &c., (for Christ joined all together in the same 
 commission, and by what warrant are they disjoined ?) and if so, 
 what need of pastors, teachers. &c., in the Church ? Let the civil 
 magistrate do all. it is true, the ruling elder (which was after 
 added) is limited only to one of the keys, viz. the key of disci- 
 pline, 1 Tim. V. 17 ; but this limitation is by tiie same authority 
 that ordained his office. 
 
 4. Because if Christ gave the keys to the civil magistrate as 
 such, then to every magistrate, whether Jewish, heathenish, or 
 Christian : but not to the Jewish magistrate ; for the sceptre was 
 to depart from him, and the Jewish polity to be dissolved, and 
 even then was almost extinct. Not to the heathenish magistrate, 
 for then thoso might be properly and formally church governors 
 which were not church members; and if the heathen magistrate 
 refused to govern the Church, (when there was no other magis- 
 
 * The civil magistrate is no proper cliurch officer, as was intimated, Part [ 
 c. 1., and will be further evidenced in this chapter. 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 63 
 
 trate on earth,) she must be utterly destitute of all government, 
 which are grossly absurd. Nor, finally, to the Christian magis- 
 trate, for Christ gave the keys to officers then in being ; but at 
 that time no Christian magistrate was in being in the world. 
 Therefore the keys were given by Christ to no civil magistrate, 
 as such, at all. 
 
 The minor, viz. But all formal power of church government 
 is at least part of the power of the keys of the kingdom of heaven 
 is clear. If we take church government largely, as containing 
 both doctrine, worship, and discipline, it is the whole power of the 
 keys ; if strictly, as restrained only to discipline, it is at least part 
 of the power. For, 1st, Not only the power of order, but also the 
 power of jurisdiction, is contained under the word keys ; other- 
 wise it should have been said key, not keys ; church government 
 therefore is at least part of the power of the keys. 2d, The 
 word key, noting a stewardly power, as appears, Isa. xxii. 22, 
 (as Erastians themselves will easily grant,) may as justly be ex- 
 tended in the nature of it to signify the ruling power by jurisdic- 
 tion, as the teaching power by doctrine ; in that the office of a 
 steward in the household, who bears the keys, consists in govern- 
 ing, ordering, and ruling the household, as well as in feeding it, 
 as that passage in Luke xii. 41-49, being well considered, 
 doth very notably evidence. For, Christ applying his speech to 
 his disciples, saith, " Who then is that faithful and wise steward, 
 whom his Lord shall make ruler of his household ? — he will make 
 him ruler over all that he hath," &;c. 3d, Nothing in the text 
 or context appears why we should limit keys and the acts thereof 
 only to doctrine, and exclude discipline ; and where the text re- 
 strains not, we are not to restrain. 4th, The most of sound inter- 
 preters extend the keys and the acts thereof as well to discipline 
 as to doctrine ; to matters of jurisdiction, as well as to matters of 
 order. From all we may conclude, 
 
 Therefore no formal power of church government was ever 
 given by Christ to the civil magistrate, as a magistrate. 
 
 Argum. 2d. There was full power of church government in the 
 church when no magistrate was Christian, yea, when all magis- 
 trates were persecutors of the Church, so far from being her yiurs- 
 ing-f cithers, that they were her cruel butchers ; therefore the magis- 
 trate is not the proper subject of this power. Thus we may 
 argue : 
 
 Major. No proper poAver of church government, which was 
 fully exercised in the Church of Christ, before any magistrate be- 
 came Christian, yea, when magistrates were persecutors of the 
 Church, was derived from Christ to the magistrate as a magistrate. 
 
 Minor. But all proper power of church government was fully 
 
84 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 exercised in the Church before any magistrate became Christian, 
 yea, when magistrates were cruel persecutors of the Church of 
 Christ. 
 
 Conclusion. Therefore no proper power of church government 
 was derived from Christ to the civil magistrate as a magistrate. 
 
 The uMJor proposition must be granted. For, 1st, Either then 
 the Church, in exercising such full penver of church government, 
 should have usurped that power which belonged not at all to her, 
 but only to the magistrate ; for what power belongs to a magis- 
 trate, as a magistrate, belongs to him only ; but dare we think 
 that the apostles, or the primitive purest apostolical churches did 
 or durst exercise all their j)ower of church government which 
 they exercised, merely by usurpation without any right thereunto 
 themselves ? 2d, Or if the Church usurped not, &c., but exer- 
 cised the power which Christ gave her, let the magistrate show 
 wherein Christ made void the Church's charter, retracted thi« 
 power, and gave it unto him. 
 
 The minor profx^sition cannot be denied. For, 
 
 1st. It was about 300 years after Christ before any of the Ro- 
 man emperors (who had subdued the whole world, Luke ii. 1, 
 under their sole dominion) became Christian. For Constantine 
 the Great was the first emperor that received the faith, procured 
 peace to the Church, and gave fier respite from her cruel perse- 
 cutions, which was in Anno 309 Cor thereabouts) after Christ; 
 before which time the Church was miserably wasted and butcher- 
 ed with those ten bloody persecutions, by the tyranny of xVero, 
 and other cruel emperors before Constantine. 
 
 2d. Yet within the space of this first 309 or 311 years, all 
 proper power of church government was fully exercised in the 
 Church of Christ; not only the word preached, Acts iv. 2; 1 
 Tim. iii. IG ; and sacraments dispensed. Acts xx. 7; 1 Cor. xi. 
 17, &c. ; Acts ii. 4, and viii. 12 : but also dcacoivi set apart for 
 that office oi' deaconship, Acts vi. : elders ordained and sent forth, 
 Acts xiii. 1-3, and xiv. 23 ; 1 Tim. iv. ; Tit. i. 5 : public adrno- 
 nition in use, Tit. iii. 10 ; 1 Tim. v. 20 : excornrnunicali.on, 1 Cor. 
 V. ; and 1 Tim. i. 20: ahsolution of the penitent, 2 Cor. ii. 6, 7, 
 &c. : synodical conventions and decrees, Acts xv. with xvi. 4. 
 So that we may conclude. 
 
 Therefore no proper power of church government was derived 
 from Christ to the civil magistrate, as a magistrate. 
 
 Argum. 3d. The rnagistratical power really, specifically, and 
 essentially differs from the ecclesiastical power ; therefore the 
 civil magistrate, as a magistrate, cannot be the proper subject of 
 this ecclesiastical power. Hence we may thus argue : 
 
 Major. No power essentially, specifically, and really diff*ering 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 85 
 
 from magistratical power, was ever given by Christ to tlie magis- 
 trate as a magistrate. 
 
 Minor. But all proper ecclesiastical power essentially, speci- 
 fically, and really differs from the magistratical power. 
 
 Conclusion. Therefore no proper ecclesiastical power was ever 
 given by Jesus Christ to the civil magistrate as a magistrate. 
 
 The major is evident : for how can the magistrate, as a magis- 
 trate, receive such a power as is really and essentially distinct 
 and different from magistracy ? Were not that to make the ma- 
 gistratical power both really the same with itself, and yet really 
 and essentially dilFerent from itself? A flat contradiction. 
 
 The minor may be clearly evinced many ways : as, 1st, From 
 the real and formal distinction between the two societies, viz. the 
 Church and commonwealth, wherein ecclesiastical and i)olitical 
 power are peculiarly seated. 2d. From the co-ordination of the 
 power ecclesiastical and political, in reference to one another. 
 3d. From the different causes of these two powers, viz. efficient, 
 material, formal, and final; in all which they are truly distin- 
 guished from one another. 
 
 1st. From the real and formal distinction between the two so- 
 cieties, viz. church and commonwealth : for, 1. The society of 
 the Church is only Christ's, and not the civil magistrate's : it is 
 his house, his spouse, his hody, &;c., and Christ hath no vicar* 
 under him. 2. The officers ecclesiastical are Christ's officers, 
 not the magistrate's, 1 Cor. iv. 1 : Christ gave them, Eph. iv. 8, 10, 
 11 : God set them in the Church, 1 Cor. xii. 28. 3. These eccle- 
 siastical officers are both elected and ordained by the Church, 
 without commission from the civil magistrate, by virtue of Christ's 
 ordinance, and in his name. Thus the apostles appointed officers : 
 Whom we may appoint, Acts vi. 3, 4. The power of ordination 
 and mission is in the hands of Christ's officers ; compare Acts xiv. 
 23 ; 1 Tim. iv. 14, with Acts xiii. 1-4 : and this is confessed by 
 the parliament to be an ordinance of Jesus Christ, in their ordi- 
 nance for ordaining of preaching presbyters. 4. The Church, 
 and the several presbyteries ecclesiastical, meet not as civil judi- 
 catories, for civil acts of government, as making civil statutes, 
 inflicting civil punishments, &c., but as spiritual assemblies, for 
 spiritual acts of government and discipline : as preaching, bapti- 
 zing, receiving the Lord's supper, prayer, admonition of the dis- 
 orderly, &c. 5. What gross absurdities would follow, should 
 not these two societies, viz. church and commonwealth, be ac- 
 
 * That the civil magistrate is not the vicar of Christ our Mediator, see 
 abundantly proved by Mr. S. Rutherford, in his Divine Right of Church Gov- 
 ernment, &c., Ch. 27, Quest. 23, pages 595 to fa' 17. 
 
 8 
 
96 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 knowledged to be really and essentially distinct from one another ! 
 For then, 1. There can be no commonwealth where there is not 
 a Church ; but this is contrary to all experience. Heathens have 
 commonwealths, vet no Church. 2. Then there may be church 
 officers elected where there is no church, seeing there are magis- 
 trates where there is no church. 3. Then those magistrates, 
 wjiere there is no church, are no magistrates ; but that is repug- 
 nant to Scripture, which accounts heathen rulers the servants of 
 God, Isa. xlv. 1 ; Jer. xxv. 9 : and calls them kings, Exod. vi. 
 13 ; Isa. xxxi. 35. And further, if there be no magistrates 
 where there is no church, then the church is the formal constitu- 
 ting cause of magistrates. 4. Then the commonwealth, as the 
 commonwealth, is the church; and the church, as the church, is 
 the commonwealth : then the church and the commonwealth are 
 the same. 5. Then all that are members of the commonwealth 
 are, on that account, because members of the commonwealth, mem- 
 bers of the church. 6. Then the commonwealth, being formally 
 the same with the church, is. as a commonwealth, the mystical 
 body of Christ. 7. Then the officers of the church are the officers 
 of the commonwealth ; the power of the keys gives them right to 
 the civil sword : and consequently, the ministers of the gospel, as 
 ministers, are justices of the peace, judges, parliament-men, &c., 
 all which how absurd, let the world judge. 
 
 2d. From the co-ordination of the power ecclesiastical and po- 
 litical, in reference to one another : (this being a received max- 
 im, that subordinate powers are of the same kind ; co-ordinate 
 powers are of distinct kinds.) Now, that the power of the 
 Church is co-ordinate with the civil power, may be evidenced as 
 foUowelh: 1. The officers of Christ, as officers, are not directly 
 and properly subordinate to the civil power, though in their per- 
 sons they are subject thereto : the apostles and pastors may 
 preach, and cast out of the church, against the will of the magis- 
 trate, and yet not truly offend magistracy; thus, in doing the 
 duty they have immediately received from God, they must "obey 
 God rather than men," Acts iv. 19, 20. And the apostles and 
 pastors must exercise their office (having received a command 
 from Christ) without attending to the command or consent of the 
 civil magistrate for the same ; as in casting out the incestuous per- 
 son, 1 Cor. V. .5: telling the Church, Matt, xviii. 17: rejecting a 
 heretic. Tit. iii. 10. And, 2. Those acts of power are not directly 
 and formally subordinate to the magistrate, N^hich he himself can- 
 not do, or which belong not to him. Thus the kings of Israel 
 could not burn incense : '• It appertaineth not unto thee," 2 Chron. 
 xxvi. 18, 19. Likewise, none have the power of the keys, but 
 they to whom Christ sailh, " Go ye into all the world and preach 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. g7 
 
 the gospel," Matt, xxviii. 19 : but Christ spake not this to magis- 
 trates : so only those that are sent, Rom. x. 15, and those that 
 are governors, are by Christ placed in the Church. 3. The offi- 
 cers of the Church can ecclesiastically censure the officers of 
 the state, though not as such, as well as the officers of the stale 
 can punish civilly the officers of the Church, though not as such: 
 the church guides may admonish, excommunicate, &c., the offi- 
 cers of the state as members of the Church, and the officers of 
 the state may punish the officers of the Church as the members 
 of the state. 4. Those that are not sent of the magistrate as his 
 deputies, they are not subordinate in their mission to his power, 
 but the ministers are not sent as the magistrate's deputies, but are 
 set over thejlock by the Holy Ghost, Acts xx. 28 : they are like- 
 wise the ministry of Christ, 1 Cor. iv. 1, 2 : they are over you in 
 the Lord, 1 Thess. v. 12 : and in his name they exercise their 
 jurisdiction, 1 Cor. v. 4, 5. 5. If the last appeal in matters 
 purely ecclesiastical be not to the civil power, then there is no 
 subordination ; but the last appeal properly so taken is not to the 
 magistrate. This appears from these considerations : 1. Nothing 
 is appealable to the magistrate but what is under the power of the 
 sword ; but admonition, excommunication, &c., are not under the 
 power of the sword : they are neither matters of dominion nor 
 coercion. 2. If it were so, then it follows that the having of the 
 sword gives a man a power to the keys. 3. Then it follows that 
 the officers of the kingdom of heaven are to be judged as such 
 by the officers of the kingdom of this world as such, and then 
 there is no difference between the things of Cccsar and the things 
 of God. 4. The church of Antioch sent to Jerusalem, Acts xv. 
 2, and the synod there, without the magistrate, came together, 
 ver. 6 ; and determined the controversy, ver. 28, 29. And we 
 read, " The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets," 
 1 Cor. xiv. 32 ; not to the civil power as prophets. So we must 
 seek knowledge at the priest's lips, not at the civil magistrate's, 
 Mai. ii. 7. And we read, that the people came to the priests in 
 hard controversies, but never that the priests went to the civil 
 power, Deut. xvii. 8-10. 5. It makes the magistrate Christ's 
 vicar, and so Christ to have a visible head on earth, and so to be 
 an ecclesiastico-civil pope, and consequently there should be as 
 many visible heads of Christ's Church as there are magistrates. 
 6. These powers are both immediate ; one from God the Father, 
 as Creator, Rom. xiii. 1,2; the other from Jesus Christ, as Me- 
 diator, Matt, xxviii. 18. Now lay all these together, and there 
 cannot be a subordination of powers ; and therefore there must 
 be a real distinction. 
 
 3d. From the different causes of these two powers, viz. effi- 
 
g8 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 cient, material, formal, and final ; in all which they are truly 
 distinguished from one another, as may plainly appear by this 
 ensuing parallel : 
 
 1. They differ in their efficient cause or author, whence they 
 are derived. Magistratical power is from God, the Creator and 
 Governor of the world, Rom. .\iii. 1,2, 4 ; and so belongs to all 
 mankind, heathen or Christian ; ecclesiastical power is peculiarly 
 from Jesus Christ our Mediator, Lord of the Church, (who hath 
 all power given him, and the government of the Church laid upon 
 his shoulder, as Eph. i. 22 ; Matt, xxviii, IS, compared with Isa. 
 ix. 16.) See Matt. vi. 19, and xviii. 18, and xxviii. 19, 20; 
 John XX. 21-23 ; 2 Cor. x. 8 : and consequently belongs properly 
 to the Church, and to them that are within the Church, 1 Cor. v. 
 12, 13. Magistratical power in general is the ordinance of Grod, 
 Rom. xiii. 1, 2, 4 ; but magistratical power in particular, whether 
 it should be monarchical in a king, aristocratical in states, demo- 
 cratical in the people, &:c., is of men, called, therefore, a human 
 creature, or creation, 1 Pet. ii. 13 ; but ecclesiastical power, and 
 officers in particular, as well as general, are from Christ, Matt. 
 xvi. 19, and xxviii. 18-20; Tit. iii. 10; 1 Cor. v. 13; 2 Cor. 
 ii. For officers, see Eph. iv. 11, 12 ; 1 Cor, xii. 28. 
 
 2. They differ in their material cause ; whether it be the mat- 
 ter of which they consist, in which they are seated, or about which 
 they are exercised. 1. In respect of the matter of which they 
 consist, they much differ. Ecclesiasiical power consists of the 
 keys of the kingdom of heaven, which are exercised in the preach- 
 ing of the word, dispensing the sacraments, executing the cen- 
 sures, admonition, excommunication, absolution, ordination of 
 presbyters, &c. ; but magistratical power consists in the secular 
 sword, which puts forth itself in making statutes, inflicting fines, 
 imprisonments, confiscations, banishments, torments, death. 2. In 
 respect of the matter or object about which they are exercised, 
 they much differ : for, the magistratical power is exercised po- 
 litically, about persons and things without the Church, as well as 
 within the church ; but the ecclesiastical power is exercised only 
 upon them that are within the Church, 1 Cor. v, 13. The magis- 
 tratical power in some cases of treason, &c.. banishes or other- 
 wise punishes even penitent persons : ecclesiastical power punishes 
 no penitent persons. The magistratical power punishes not all sorUi 
 of scandal, but some : the ecclesiastical power punishes (if rightly 
 managed) all sorts of scandal. 
 
 3. They differ in their formal cause, as doth clearly appear by 
 their way or manner of acting : magistratical power takes cogni- 
 zance of crimes, and passes sentence thereupon according to 
 statutes and laws made by man : ecclesiasiical [wv/er takes cog- 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. gg 
 
 nizance of, and passes judgment upon crimes according to the 
 word of God, the Holy Scriptures. Magistratical power punishes 
 merely with political punishments, as fines, imprisonments, &c. 
 Ecclesiastical merely with spiritual punishments, as church cen- 
 sures. Magistratical power makes all decrees anfl laws, and 
 executes all authority, commanding or punishing only in its own 
 name, in name of the supreme magistrate, as of the king, &;c., 
 but ecclesiastical power is wholly exercised, not in the name of 
 churches, or officers, but only in Christ's name, Matt, xxviii. 19 ; 
 Acts iv. 17 ; 1 Gor. v. 4. The magistrate can delegate his power 
 to another : church-governors cannot delegate their power to 
 others, but must exercise it by themselves. The magistrate about 
 ecclesiasticals hath power to command and compel politically the 
 church officers to do their duty, as formerl}' was evidenced ; but 
 cannot discharge lawfully those duties themselves, but in atten)pt- 
 ing the same, procure divine Avraih upon themselves : as Korah, 
 Numb. xvi. ; King Saul, 1 Sam. xiii. 9-15 ; King Uzziah, 2 
 Ghron. xxvi. 16-22 : but church-guides can properly discharge 
 the duties of doctrine, worship, and discipline themselves, and 
 ecclesiastically command and compel others to do their duty 
 also. 
 
 4. Lastly, They differ in their final cause or ends. The 
 magistratical power levels at the temporal, corporal, external, 
 political peace, tranquillity, order, and good of human society, 
 and of all persons within his jurisdiction, &c. The ecclesiastical 
 power intends properly the spiritual good and edification of the 
 Church and all the members thereof, Matt, xviii. 15 ; 1 Cor. v. 
 5, &c. ; 2 Cor. x. 8, and xiii. 10.* May we not from all clearly 
 conclude, 
 
 * The formal difference or distinction betwixt these two powers, is fully 
 and clearly asserted by that learned bishop, Usher, in these words : " God, 
 for the better settling of piety and honesty among men, and the repressing 
 of prolaneness and other vices, hath establisiied two distinct powers upon 
 earth: the one of the keys, committed to the Church; the other of the 
 sword, committed to the civil magistrate. That of the keys, is ordained to 
 work upon the inward man ; having immediate relation to the remitting or 
 retaining of sin's, John xx. 23. That of the Sivord is appointed to work upon 
 the outward man ; yielding protection to the obedient, and inflicting exter- 
 nal punishment upon the rebellious and disobedient. By the former, the 
 spiritual officers of the Church of Christ are inclinable to govern well, 1 Tim. 
 V. 17. To speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Tit. ii. 15. To 
 loose such as are penitent, Matt. xvi. 19, and xviii. 18. To commit otiiera 
 to the Lord's prison, until their amendment, or to bind them over to the 
 judgment of the great day, if they shall persist in their wilfulness and ob- 
 stinacy. By the other, princes have an imperious power assigned by God 
 unto thera, jbr the defence of such as do well, and executing revenge and 
 wrath, Rom. xiii. 4, upon such as do evil, whether by death, or banishment, 
 8* 
 
00 THE DP/IXE RIGHT 
 
 Therefore no proper ecclesiastical power was ever given by 
 Jesus Christ to the magistrate as a magistrate ? 
 
 Argum. 4th. The civil magistrate is no proper church officer, 
 and therefore cannot be the proper subject of church powe\\ 
 Hence we rrrny argue : 
 
 Major. All formal power of church government was derived 
 from Jesus Christ to his own proper church officers only. To 
 them he gave the keys of the kingdom of heaven, Matt. xvi. 19, and 
 xviii. 18 ; John xx. 21, 23 : to them he gave the authority for edi- 
 fication of the church, 2 Cor. x. 8, and xiii. 10 : but this will after 
 more fully appear in Chap. XI. following. 
 
 Minor. But no civil magistrate, as a magistrate, is any of 
 Christ's proper church officers. For, 1. The civil magistrate is 
 never reckoned up in the catalogue, list, or roll of Christ's church 
 officers in Scripture, Eph. iv. 10-12 ; 1 Cor. xii. 28, &c. ; Rom. 
 xii. 6-8 ; if here, or anywhere else, let the magistrate or the 
 Erastians show it. 2. A magistrate, as a magistrate, is not a 
 church member, (much less a church governor ;) for then all 
 magistrates, heathen as well as Christian, should be church mem- 
 bers and church officers, but this is contrary to the very nature 
 of Christ's kingdom, which admits no heathen into it. 
 
 Conclusion. Therefore no formal power of church government 
 was derived from Jesus Christ to the magistrate as a magistrate. 
 
 Argum. 5th. The civil magistrate, as such, is not properly 
 subordinate to Christ's mediatory kingdom ; therefore is not the 
 receptacle of church power from Christ. Ilence thus : 
 
 Major. Whatsoever formal p^wer of church government Christ 
 committed to any, he committed it only to those that were proper- 
 ly subordinate to his mediatory kingdom. For whatsoever eccle- 
 siastical ordinance, office, power, or authority, Christ gave to men, 
 he gave it as Mediator and Head of the Church, by virtue of his 
 
 or confiscation of goods, or imprisonment, Ezra vii. 26, according to the 
 quality of the offence, 
 
 " When .St. Peter, that had the keys committed unto him, made bold to 
 draw the sword, he was commanded to put it up, Matt. xj£vi. 52, as a weapon 
 that he had no authority to meddle withal. And on the other side, when Uzziah 
 the king would venture upon the execution of the priest's office, it was said 
 unto him, ' It pcrtaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the 
 Lord, but to the priests, the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn in- 
 cense,' 2 Chron. xxvi. 18. Let this therefore be our second conclusion : 
 That the power of the sword, and of the keys, are two distinct ordinances 
 of God ; and that the prince hath no more authority to enter upon the exe- 
 cution of any part of the priest's function, than the priest hath to intrude 
 upfjn any part of the office of the prince." In his sp^jcch delivered in the 
 Castle-chamber at Dublin, «itc., concerning the oath of supremacy, pages 3, 
 4, .5. Further diffijrences betwixt these two powers, see in Gillespie's Auron's 
 Rod, Book 2, Chap. 4. 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMExXT. 91 
 
 mediatory office ; and for the gathering, edifying, and perfecting 
 of his mediatory kingdom, which is his Church, Eph. iv. 7, 10-12. 
 Therefore such as are not properly subordinate to Christ in this 
 his office, and for this end, can have no formal church power from 
 Christ. 
 
 Minor. But no magistrate, as a m.agistratc, is subordinate pro- 
 perly to Christ's mediatory kingdom. For, 1. Not Christ the 
 Mediator, but God the Creator authorizeth the magistrate's office, 
 Rom. xiii. 1, 2, 6. 2. Magistracy is never styled a ministry of 
 Christ in Scripture, nor dispensed in his name. 3. Christ's king- 
 dom is not of this world, John xviii. 36 ; the magistrate's is. 
 
 Conclusion. Therefore no formal power of Church government 
 is committed by Christ to the magistrate as a magistrate. 
 
 6th. Finally, divers absurdities unavoidably follow upon the 
 jgranting of a proper formal power of Church government to the 
 civil magistrate : therefore he cannot be the proper subject of 
 such power. Hence it may be thus argued : 
 
 Major. No grant of ecclesiastical power, which plainly introdu- 
 ceth many absurdities, can be allowed to the political magistrate, 
 as the proper subject thereof. For though in matters of religion 
 there be many things mysterious, sublime, and above the reach 
 of reason ; yet there is nothing to be found that is absurd, irra- 
 tional, &c. 
 
 Minor. But to grant to the political magistrate, as a magistrate, 
 a proper formal power of church government, introduceth plain- 
 ly many absurdities, e. g. : 1. This brings confusion betwixt the 
 office of the magistracy and ministry. 2. Confounds the church 
 and commonwealth together. 3. Church government may be 
 monarchical in one man ; and so, not only prelatical but papal ; 
 and consequently, antichristian. Which absurdities, with many- 
 others, were formerly intimated, and neither by religion nor rea- 
 son can be endured. We conclude : 
 
 Conclusion. Therefore the grant of a proper formal power of 
 church government cannot be allowed to the political magistrate 
 as the proper subject thereof, because he is a magistrate, 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 That the community of the faithful, or hody of the people, are not 
 the immediate subject of the power of Church government. 
 
 Thus we see, that Jesus Christ our Mediator did not commit 
 any proper formal ecclesiastical power for church government to 
 
92 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 the political magistrate, as such, as the Erastians conceive. Now, 
 in ihe next place (to come more close) let us consider that Jesus 
 Christ our Mfidiator hath not conunitted the spiritual power ot* 
 church government to the hody of the people, preshyterated, or 
 unpreshyterated (to use tlieir own terms) as the first suhjoct there- 
 of, accordit)g to the ojjinion of the Separatists or Independents. 
 'J'ake it in tiiis j)roposition : 
 
 Jesus Christ our IMcnliator hath not committed the proper for- 
 mal {)ower or autiiority spiritual, for frovermnent of his Church,* 
 unto tlie cormnunily of the fuilhfiil, whok^ church, or hody of the 
 people, as the proper iirimediatu receptacle, or lirst subject thereof. 
 
 SIX'TION I. 
 
 Some thinjjjs heniin need a little explanation, before we come 
 to the confirmation. 
 
 1. Hy f'ratcrnih/, cmnmiinili; of the faithful., whole church or ho- 
 dy of t lie people, understand a particular company of people, meet- 
 ing tog(!ther in one assembly or single congregation, to partake of 
 Christ's onhnances. This single congregation may l)e consider- 
 ed us preshyterated, i. e., furnished with an elder^jhip ; or as un- 
 preshyterated, i. e., d(>stitute of an eldership, having yet no elders 
 or oflicers erected among them. Rigid Hrownists or Separatists 
 say, that the fraternity or community of the faithful unpreshyte- 
 rated is the first receptacle of proper ecclesiastical power from 
 Christ: unto whom some of ind(^j)endent judgment subscribe. In- 
 depfiudents thus resolve: First, Tiiat the apostles of Christ are the 
 first subject of apostolical {)Ower. Secondly, That a particular 
 congregation of saints, professing the faith, taken indefinitely for 
 any church, (one as well as anotiier,) is the first subject of all 
 (;hur(di oflicf^s with all their si)iritual gifts and power. Thirdly, 
 That wiien iho, church of a particular congregation walketii to- 
 gether in the truth and peace, the bretiiren of the church are the 
 first subjects of cliurch liberty ; the eldery thereof of church au- 
 thority ; and both of them together are the first subject of all church 
 power, I Which assertions of Hrownists and Independents (except 
 the first) are denied by them of presbyterian judgment, as being 
 obvious to divers material and just exceptions. :j: 
 
 2. By praper formal power or authority spintualj for church 
 
 * Sco tills propoHilioi) for Kul)Ktaiice fully uml clearly asserted by that 
 acute and i)i<)iiH author, Mr. I'. Itains, in his Diocesan's Trial, quest. 3, pages 
 83, H4, «'()ncUis. :{. 
 
 I S.!(; Cotton's Keys, &c., pp. .'il-*)3, and Mr. Thomas Goodwin, and Mr. 
 riiilip Nye, in their episth^ preHxcd thereunto, do own this hook as being for 
 Hubstanrie lln'ir own jiul;rinent. 
 
 J See (hat judicious treatise, Vindicia: Clavium, chap. III. IV. V., pp. 
 23-hlJ. 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 98 
 
 government, thus conceive. To omit what hath been already laid 
 down about the natures and sorts of spiritual power and authority, 
 (part 2, chap. III. and YI.,) which are to be remembered, here it 
 may be further observed, that there is a proper public, official, 
 authoritative power, though but stewardly and ministerial, which 
 is derived from Jesus Christ to his church officers, Matt. xvi. 19, 
 and xviii. 18; John xx. 21-23; Matt, xxviii. 18-20; of which 
 power the apostle speaking, saith, " If I should somewhat boast of 
 our power which the Lord hath given us to edification," 2 Cor. x. 
 8; so 2 Cor. xiii. 10. The people are indeed allowed certain 
 liberties or privileges ; as. To try the spirits, &c., 1 John iv. 1. 
 To prove all doctrines by the word, 1 Thess. v. 21. To nomi- 
 nate and elect their own church officers, as their deacons, which 
 they did, Acts vi. 3, 5, 6 ; but this is not a proper power of the 
 keys. But the proper, public, official, authoritative power, is quite 
 denied to the body of the people, furnished with an eldership or 
 destitute thereof. 
 
 3. By proper immediate receptacle, or first svhject of power, un- 
 derstand, that subject, seat, or receptacle of power, which first and 
 immediately received this power from Jesus Christ ; and conse- 
 quently was intrusted and authorized by him, to put forth and ex- 
 ercise that power in his Church for the government thereof. And 
 here two things must be carefully remembered : 1. That we dis- 
 tinguish betwixt the object and subject of this power. The ob- 
 ject for which, for whose good and benefit all this power is given, 
 is primarily the general visible Church, Ephes. iv. 7, 10-12 ; 
 1 Cor. xii. 28 ; Rom. xii. 5, 6, &c. Secondarily, particular 
 churches, as they are parts and members of the general. But the 
 subject receiving to which the power is derived, is not the Church 
 general or particular, but the officers or governors of the Church. 
 2. That we distinguish also betwixt the donation of the power, 
 and the designation of particular persons to offices ecclesiastical. 
 This designation of persons to the offices of key bearing or ruling 
 may be done first and immediately by the Church, in nominating 
 or electing her individual officers which is allowed to her; yet is 
 no proper authoritative act of power. But the donation of the 
 power itself is not from the Church as the fountain, but immedi- 
 ately from Christ himself, 2 Cor. xi. 8, and xiii. 10. Nor is it to 
 the Church as the subject, but immediately to the individual 
 church officers themselves, who consequently, in all the exercise 
 of their power, act as the ministers and steicards of Christ, 1 Cor. 
 iv. 1, putting forth their power immediately received from Christ, 
 not as the substitutes or delegates of the Church putting forth her 
 power, which from Christ she mediately conveys to them, as Inde- 
 pendents do imagine, but by us is utterly denied. 
 
94 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 For confirmation of this proposition thus explained and stated, 
 consider these few arguments : 
 
 Argum. I. The community of the faithful, or body of the peo- 
 ple, have no authentic commission or grant of proper spiritual 
 power for church government ; and therefore they cannot possi- 
 bly be the first subject or the proper immediate receptacle of such 
 power from Christ. We may thus argue : 
 
 Major. Whomsoever Jesus Christ hath made the immediate re- 
 ceptacle or first subject of proper formal power for governing of 
 his Church, to them this power is conveyed by some authentic 
 grant or commission. 
 
 Minor. But the community of the faithful, or body of the peo- 
 ple, have not this power conveyed unto them by any authentic 
 grant or commission. 
 
 Conclusion. Therefore Jesus Christ our Mediator hath not made 
 the community of the faithful, or body of the people, the immedi- 
 ate receptacle or first subject of proper formal power for govern- 
 ing of his Church. 
 
 The major proposition is evident in itself: For, 1. The power 
 of church government in this or that subject is not natural, but 
 positive ; and cast upon man, not by natural, but by positive law, 
 positive grant: men are not bred, but made the first subject of 
 such power ; therefore all such power claimed or exercised, with- 
 out such positive grant, is merely without any due title, imagina- 
 ry, usurped, unwarrantable, in very fact null and void. 2. All 
 power of church government is radically and fundamentally in 
 Christ, Isa. ix. 6 ; Matt, xxviii. 18 ; John v. 22. And how shall 
 any part of it be derived from Christ to man, but by some fit in- 
 tervening mean betwixt Christ and man ? And what mean of con- 
 veyance betwixt Christ and man can suffice, if it do not amount 
 to an authentic grant or commission for such power? 3. This is 
 evidently Christ's way to confer power by authentic commission 
 immediately upon his church officers, the apostles and their suc- 
 cessors, to the world's end. " Thou art Peter ; and I give to thee 
 the keys of the kingdom of heaven," &c., Matt. xvi. 18, 19. 
 "Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth," &c., Matt, xviii. 19, 20. 
 " As my Father sent me, so send I you ; go, disciple ye all na- 
 tions ; whose sins ye remit, they are remitted — and lo, I am with 
 you always to the end of the world," John xx. 21, 23; Matt, 
 xxviii. 19, 20. "Our power, which the Lord hath given us for 
 edification," 2 Cor. x. 8, and xiii. 10: so that we may conclude 
 them that have such commission to be the first subject and imme- 
 diate receptacle of power from Christ, as will after more fully ap- 
 
OF CHURCH GOVEENMEXT. 95 
 
 pear. 4. If no such commission be needful to distinguish those 
 that have such power from those that have none, why may not 
 all without exception, young and old, wise and foolish, men and 
 women, Christian and heatlien, &c., equally lay claim to this 
 power of church government? If not, what hinders? If so, how 
 absurd ! 
 
 The minor proposition, viz : But the community of the faithful, 
 or body of the people, have not this power conveyed to them by 
 any authentic grant or commission, is firm. For whence had 
 they it ? When was it given to them ? What is the power com- 
 mitted to them ? Or in what sense is such power committed to 
 them ? 
 
 1. Whence had they it ? From heaven or of men? If from men, 
 then it is a human ordinance and invention ; a plant zchich the 
 heavenly Father hath not planted ; and therefore shall he plucked 
 up, Matt. XV. 13. If from heaven, then from Christ ; for all pow- 
 er is given to him, Matt, xxviii. 18, &c. ; Isa. ix. 6. If it be de- 
 rived from Christ, then it is derived from him by some positive 
 law of Christ as his grant or charter. A positive grant of such 
 power to select persons, viz. church officers, the Scripture men- 
 tions, as was evidenced in the proof of the major proposition. But 
 touching any such grant or commission to the community of the 
 faithful, the Scripture is silent. And let those tiiat are for the 
 popular power produce, if they can, any clear scripture that ex- 
 pressly, or by infallible consequence, contains any such com- 
 mission. 
 
 2. When was any such power committed by Christ to the mul- 
 titude of the faithful, either in the first planting and beginning of 
 the Church, or in the after establishment and growth of the Church 
 under the apostles' ministry ? Not the first ; for then the apostles 
 themselves should have derived their power from the community 
 of the faithful : now this is palpably inconsistent with the Scrip- 
 tures, which tell us that the apostles had both their apostleship 
 itself, and their qualifications with gifts and graces for it, yea, and 
 the very designation of all their particular persons unto that call- 
 ing, all of them immediately from Christ himself. For the first, 
 see Gal. i. 1 : " Paul, an apostle, not of men, nor by man, but by 
 Jesus Christ," Matt, xxviii. 18-20. For the second, see John 
 XX. 22, 23: "And when he had said this, he breathed on them, 
 and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost ; whose soever 
 sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them," &c. For the third, 
 see Luke vi. 13, &c. : " And when it was day he called to him 
 his disciples : and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named 
 apostles ; Simon — " Matt. x. 5-7, &c. : " These twelve Jesus sent 
 forth, and commanded them, saving." And after his resurrection he 
 
90 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 enlarges their commission, Mark xvi. 15, 16 : " Go ye into all the 
 world ;"anci, "As my P'ather hath sent me, so send I you," John xx. 
 21. See also how the Lord cast the lot upon Matthias, Acts i. 24-26. 
 Nor the second ; for if such power he committed to the community 
 of the faithful after the apostles had established the churches, then 
 let those that so think show where Christ committed this power 
 first to the apostles, and after to the community of the faithful, 
 and by them or with them to their ordinary officers, for execu- 
 tion thereof. But no such thing hath any foundation in Scrip- 
 ture ; for the ordinary Church guides, though they may have a 
 designation to their office by the church, yet they have the dona- 
 tion, or derivation of their office and its authority only from 
 Christ: their office is from Christ, Ephes. iv. 8, 11; 1 Cor. xii. 
 28 ; Acts xx. 28, 29. Their power from Christ, Matt. xvi. 19, 
 and xxviii. 18, 19; John xx. 21, 23. "Our power which the 
 Lord hath given us," 2 Cor. viii. 10. They are Christ's minis- 
 ters, stewards, amhassadors, 1 Cor. iv. 1 ; 2 Cor. v. 19, 20. They 
 are to act and officiate in his name, Matt, xviii. 19 ; 1 Cor. v. 4, 
 5; and to Christ they mw*/ give an account, Heb. xiii. 17, 18; 
 Jiuke xii. 41, 42. Now if tiie ordinary officers have (as well as 
 the apostles their apostleship) their offices of pastor, teacher, &c., 
 from Christ, and are therein the successors of the apostles to con- 
 tinue to the world's end, (Matt, xxviii. 18-20,) then they have 
 their power and authority in their offices immediately from 
 Christ, as the first receptacles thereof themselves, and not from 
 the Church as the first receptacle of it herself. A successor hath 
 jurisdiction from him from whom the predecessor had his; otherwise 
 he doth not truly succeed him. Consequently the Church or com- 
 munity of the faithful cannot possibly be the first receptacle of 
 the power of church government from Christ. 
 
 .'3. What power is it that is committed to the body of the Church 
 or multitude of the faithful ? Either it must be the power of 
 order, or the power of jurisdiction. But neither of these is 
 allowed to the multitude of the faithful by the Scriptures, (but 
 appointed and appropriated to select persons.) Not the power of 
 order ; for the whole multitude, and every one therein, neither 
 can nor ought to intermeddle with any branches of that power. 
 1. Not with preaching; all are not apt to teach, 1 Tim. iii. 2, 
 nor able to exhort and convince gainsayers, Tit. i. 9; all are 
 not gifted and duly qualified. Some are expressly prohibited 
 speaking in the church, 1 Cor. xiv. 34, 35, 1 Tim. ii. 12, Rev. ii. 
 20, and none are to preach, unless they he sent, Rom. x. 15, nor 
 to take such honor unto themselves unless they he called, &;c., Heb. 
 v. 4, 5. Are all and every one of the multitude of the faithful 
 able to leach, exhort, and convince ? are they all sent to preach ? 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 97 
 
 are they all called of God ? &c. Nay, hath not Christ laid this 
 task of authoritative preaching only upon his own officers ? Matt, 
 xxviii. 18, 19. 2. Not with administration of the sacraments; 
 this and preaching are by one and the same commission given to 
 officers only, Ma«. xxviii. 18-20 : 1 Cor. xi. 23. 3. "Nor to 
 ordain presbyters, or other officers. They may choose ; but extra- 
 ordinary officers, or the presbytery of ordinary officers, ordain. 
 Acts vi. 3, 5, 6 : "Look ye out men — :whom we may appoint." 
 Compare also Acts xiv. 23 ; 1 Tim. iv. 14; and v. 22 ; Tit. iii. 5. 
 So that the people's bare election and approbation is no sufficient 
 Scripture ordination of officers. Nor is there one often thousand 
 among the people that is in all points able to try and judge of the 
 sufficiency of preaching presbyters, for tongues, arts, and sound- 
 ness of judgment in divinity. Nor is the power of jurisdiction in 
 public admonition, excommunication, and absolution, &c., allowed 
 to the multitude. For all and every one of the multitude of the 
 faithful, 1. Never had any such power given to them from Christ ; 
 this key as well as the key of knowledge being given to the offi- 
 cers of the Church only,\Matt. xvi. 19, and xviii. 18-20. Tell 
 the church, there, must needs be meant of the ruling church only,* 
 2 Cor. viii. 10 ; John xx. 21-23. 2. Never acted or executed 
 any such power, that we can find in Scripture. As for that 
 which is primarily urged of the church of Corinth, that the whole 
 church did excommunicate the incestuous person, 1 Cor. v. 4, &c., 
 many things may be answered to evince the contrary. 1st, The 
 whole multitude could not do it ; for children could not judge, 
 and women must not speak in the Church. 2d, It is not said, 
 Sujficient to such an one is the rehike inflicted of all ; but of man]/, 
 2 Cor. ii. 6, viz. of the presbytery, which consisted of many 
 officers. ' 3d. The church of Corinth, wherein this censure was 
 inflicted, was not a congregational, but a presbj^terial church, 
 liaving divers particular congregations in it, (as is hereafter cleared 
 in Chap. XXIII.,) and therefore the whole multitude of the church 
 of Corinth could not meet together in one place for this censure, but 
 only the presbytery of that great church. Again, never did the 
 whole multitude receive from Christ due gifts and qualifications 
 for the exercise of church government and jurisdiction ; nor any 
 promise from Christ to be with them therein, as officers have, 
 Matt, xxviii. 18-20. And the absurdities of such popular gov- 
 ernment are intolerable, as after will appear. 
 
 4. Finally, in what sense can it be imagined that any such 
 
 * John Cameron, Praelect. in Matt, xviii. 15, p. 149-151, in foL, and Baine's 
 Diocesan's Trial, the third quest, pp. 79, 80, and D. Parens in Matt, xviii. 15. 
 This is fully discussed and proved by Mr. Rutherford in his Peaceable Plea, 
 Chap. viii. p. 85, &c. 
 9 
 
98 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 power should be committed from Christ to the community of the 
 faithful, the whole IxxJy of the Church ? For this power is given 
 them equally with the church-guides, or une<^ually. If equally, 
 then, 1. The church-guides have power and authority, as prima- 
 rily and immediately committed to them, as the Church herself 
 hath ; and then they need not derive or borrow any power from 
 the Ijody of the faithful, having a powec equal to theirs. 2. How 
 vainly is that power equally given as to the officers, so to the 
 whole multitude, when the whole multitude have no equal gifts 
 and abilities to execute the same ! If unequally, then this power 
 is derived to the church-guides, either more or less than to the 
 multitude of the faithful. If less, then how improperly were all 
 those names of rule and government imposed upon officers, which 
 nowhere are given by Scripture to the multitude ! as PfjudorSf 
 Eph. iv. 8, 11. EMers, 1 Tim. v. 17. Overseers, Acts xx. 
 28. Gw/les, Heb. xiii. 7, 17, 22. In thb last verse they are 
 contradistinguished from the saints ; church- guides, and saints 
 guided, make up a visible organical church. TiuUrs in the hard, 
 1 Thes. V. 12 ; Rom. xii. 8 : and well-ruling Ehkrs, 1 Tim. v. 
 17. Governments, 1 Cor. xii. 28. S^leieards, 1 Cor. iv. 1, 2 ; 
 Luke xii. 42, &c. And all these titles have power and rule 
 engraven in their very foreheads ; and they of right belonged 
 rather to the multitude than to the officers, if the officers derive 
 their power from the multitude of the people. If more, then 
 church-guides, having more power than the Church, need 
 not derive any from the Church, being themselves better fur- 
 nished. 
 
 Thus, what way soever we look, it cannot be evinced, that the 
 multitude and \x)dy of the people, with or without eldership, are 
 the first subject of power, or have any authoritative public omcial 
 power at all, from any grant, mandate, or commission of Christ. 
 From all which We may strongly conclude. 
 
 Therefore Jesus Christ our MerJiator hath not made the com- 
 munity of the faithful, or lyxJy of the people, the immc-rliate recep- 
 tacle, or first subject of pro[>er formal [iower for governing of his 
 church. 
 
 Argurn. 11. As the multitude of the faithful have no authentic 
 grant or commission of such power of the keys in the Church ; 
 so they have no divine warrant for the actual execution of the 
 power of the said keys therein : and therefore cannot be the first 
 receptacle of the power of the keys from Christ. For thus we 
 may reason : 
 
 Major. Whosoever are the first subject, or immediate recepta- 
 cle of the power of the keys from Christ, they have divine war- 
 rant actually to exercise and put in execution the said power. 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 99 
 
 Minor. But the multitude or community of the faithful have no 
 divine warrant actually to exercise and put in execution the 
 power of the keys. 
 
 Conclusion. Therefore the community of the faithful are not 
 the first suhject, or immediate receptacle of the power of the keys 
 from Jesus, Christ. 
 
 The major proposition must necessarily be yielded. For, 
 1. The power of the keys contains both authority and exercise; 
 power being given to that end that it may be exercised for the 
 benefit of the Church. It is called the power given us for edifica- 
 llou. 2 Cor. viii. 10. Where there is no exercise of power there 
 can be no edificatioli by power. 2. Both the authority and com- 
 plete exercise of all that authority, were at once and together 
 communicated from Christ to the receptacle of power. *' I give 
 unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven ; and whatsoever 
 thou shalt bind on earth," &c., Matt. xvi. 19, and xviii. 18. " As 
 my Father sent me, so send I you — whose soever sins ye remit, 
 they are remitted," John xx. 21, 23. Here is both power and the 
 exercise thereof joined together in the same commission. Yea, 
 so individual and inseparable are power and exercise, that under 
 exercise, power and authority is derived : as, " Go, disciple ye 
 all nations, baptizing them," &c.. Matt, xxviii. 18, 19. 3. How 
 vain, idle, impertinent, and ridiculous is it to fancy and dream of 
 such a power as shall never be drawn into act by them that have 
 it ! 
 
 The minor proposition, viz. But the multitude or communion of 
 the faithful have no divine warrant, actually to exercise and put 
 in execution the power of the keys, is clear also : 
 
 1. By reason : for, the actual execution of this power belongs 
 to them by divine warrant, either when they have church officers, 
 or when they w^ant church officers. Not while they have offi- 
 cers ; for, that were to slight Christ's officers : that were to take 
 officers' work out of their hands by them that are no officers, and 
 when there were no urgent necessity ; contrary whereunto, see 
 the proofs. Chap. X[. Section 2, that were to prejudice the church, 
 in depriving her of the greater gifts, and undoubtedly authorized 
 labors of her officers, &c. Not when they want officers in a 
 constituted church: as in case where there are three or four 
 elders, the pastor dies, two of the ruling elders fall sick, or the 
 like ; in such cases the community cannot by divine warrant 
 supply the defects of these officers themselves, by exercising their 
 power, or executing their offices. For where doth Scripture 
 allow such power to the community in such cases ? What one 
 cliurch without its eldership can be instanced in the New Testament, 
 that in such cases once presumed to exercise slicii power, which 
 
100 ^E DtVINE RIGHT 
 
 might be precedent or example for it to other churches ? How 
 needless are church officers, if the multitude of the faithful may, 
 as members of the church, take up their office, and actually dis- 
 charge it in all the parts of it ? 
 
 2. By induction of particulars, it is evident, that the commu- 
 nity cannot execute the power of the keys by any divine warrant. 
 
 1. They may not preach: for, "how shall they preach, except 
 they be sent ?" R,om. x. 15 ; but the community cannot be sent, 
 many of them being incapable of the office, either by reason of 
 their sex, 1 Cor. xiv. 34, 35 ; 1 Tim. ii. 11, 12: or by reason of 
 their age ; as children, and all or most of them by reason of their 
 deficiency in gifts and in scripture qualifications. Tit. i. and 
 1 Tim. iii. For not one member of a thousand is so completely 
 furnished, as to be " apt to teach, able to convince gainsayers, 
 and to divide the word of truth aright.'* Besides, 4hey may not 
 send themselves, were they capable, for, no man takes this honfrr 
 to himself — Yea. Jesus Christ himself did not glorify himself to he 
 made an high-priest— ^lleh. v. 4, 5. Now only officers are sent 
 to preach, Matt. xvi. 19, and xviii, 19, 20; Mark xvi. 15. 
 
 2. They may not administer the seals, the sacraments, baptize, dec. 
 under the New Testament ; for who gave the people any such 
 authority ? hath not Christ conjoined preaching and dispensing of 
 the sacraments in the same commission, that the same persons 
 only that do the one, may do the other ? Matt. xXviri. 18, 19. 
 
 3. They may not ordain officers in the church, and authoritatively 
 send them abroad : for, ordinarily the community have not suffi. 
 cient qualifications and abilities for proving and examining of 
 men's gifts for (he ministry. The community are nowhere com- 
 manded or allowed so to do in the whole New Testament, but 
 other persons distinct from them, 1 Tim. v. 22 ; 2 Tim. ii. 2 ; , 
 Tit. i. 5, d:c. Nor did the community ever exercise or assume 
 to themselves any such power of ordination or mission, but only 
 officers both in the first sending of men to preach, as 1 Tim. iv. 
 14 ; 2 Tim. i. 6 : and to be deacons. Acts vi. 6, and also in aftrr 
 missions, as Acts xiii. 1-3. 4. The community, without offi- 
 cers, may not exerciise any act of jurisdiction authoritatively and 
 properly ; may not admonish, excommunicate, or absolve. For 
 we have no precept that they should do it ; we have no example 
 in all the New Testament that they ever did do it ; we have both 
 precept and example, that select officers both did and ought to do 
 it. " Whatsoever ye bind on earth*' (saith Christ to his officers) 
 "shall be bound in heaven," &c. Matt, xviii. 18, and xvi. 19. 
 " Whose soever sins ye remit," 6ie., John xx. 21, 23. " An 
 heretic, after once or twice admonition, reject," Tit. i. 10. " I 
 have decreed — to deliver such an one to Satan," 1 Cor. v, 4. 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERXMEXT. 
 
 101 
 
 *^The rebuke inflicted by many," not all, 2 Cor. ii. " Whom I 
 have delivered to Satan," 1 Tim. i. ult. And the Scriptures no- 
 where set the community over themselves to be their own church- 
 guides and governors ; but appoint over them in the Lord rulers 
 and officers distinct from the community. Compare these places, 
 1 Thes. V. 12 ; Acts xx. 23, 29 ; Heb. xiii. 7, 17, 22. - " Salute 
 all tliem that have the rule over you, and all the saints." From 
 the premises we conclude, 
 
 Therefore the community of the faithful are not the first sub- 
 ject, or immediate receptacle of the power of the keys from Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 Argum. III. Jesus Christ hath not a^iven nor promised to the 
 community of the faithful a spirit of ministry, nor those gifts 
 which are necessary for the govermment of the church : therefore 
 the community was never intended to be the first subject of 
 church government. 
 
 Major. Whomsoever Christ makes the first subject of the power 
 of church government, to them he promises and gives a spirit of 
 ministry, and gifts necessary for that government. For, 1. As there 
 is diversity of ecclesiastical administrations (which is the foundation 
 of diversity of officers) and diversity of miraculous operations, and 
 l)oth for the profit of the Church ; so there is conveyed from the 
 Spirit of Christ diversity of gifts, h^^e endowments, enabling and 
 qualifying for the actual discharge of those administrations and 
 operations. See 1 Cor. xii. 4-7, &c. 2. What instance can be 
 given throughout the whole New Testament of any persons, 
 whom Christ made the receptacle of church government, but 
 withal he gifted them, and made his promises to them, to qualify 
 them for sujch government ? As the apostles and their successors : 
 " As my Father sent me, even so send I you. And when he had 
 said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them. Receive ye 
 the Holy Ghost : whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted 
 unto them ; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained," 
 John XX. 21-23. And, " Go ye therefore, and disciple ye all 
 nations, &c. — And lo, I am with you ahvay," (or every day,) 
 "even to the end of the world," Matt. xxviii.*19, 20. 3. Christ 
 being the icisdom of the Father, Col. ii. 3, John i. 18, and faithful 
 as was Moses in all his house ; yea, more faithful — Moses as a 
 servant over another's, he as a son over his own house, Heb. iii. 2, 
 5, 6 — it cannot stand with his most exact wisdom and fidelity, to 
 commit the grand affairs of church government to such as are not 
 duly gifted, and sufficiently qualified by himself for the due dis- 
 charge thereof. 
 
 Minor. But Christ neither promises, nor gives a spirit of minis- 
 try, nor necessary gifts for church government to the community 
 9*' 
 
102 
 
 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 of the faithful. For, 1. The Scriptures teach, that gifts tor min- 
 istry and government are promised and bestowed not on all, but 
 upon some particular persons only in the visible body of Christ. 
 " To one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom, to another the 
 word of knowledge," &;c., not to all, 1 Cor. xii. 8, 9, &c. "If a 
 man know not how to rule his own house, bow shall he take care 
 of the church of God ?" 1 Tim. iii. 5. The hypothesis insin- 
 uates that all men have not gifts and skill rightly to rule their 
 own houses, much less to govern the church. 2. Experience 
 tells us, that the multitude of the people are generally destitute of 
 such knowledge, wisdom, prudence, learning, and other neces- 
 sary qualifications for the right carrying on of church govern- 
 ment. 
 
 Conclusion. Therefore Christ makes not the community of the 
 fahhful the first subject of the power of church government. 
 
 Argum. IV. The community of the faithful are nowhere in the 
 word called or acknowledged to be church governors : therefore 
 they are not the first subject of church government. 
 
 Major. Those persons, who are the first subject and receptacle 
 of proper power for church government from Christ, are in the 
 word called and acknowledged to be church governors. This is 
 evident, 1. By Scripture, which is wont to give to them whom 
 Christ intrusts with his government, such names and titles as have 
 rule, authority, and government engraven upon them : as overseers, 
 Acts XX. 28 ; governments, 1 Cor. xii. 28 ; rulers, 1 Tim. v. 17, 
 and Rom. xii. 8; with divers others, as after will appear in Chap. 
 XI. 2. By reason, which tells us that government and governors 
 are relative terms ; and therefore to whom government belongs, 
 to them also the denominations of governors, rulers, &c., do be- 
 long, and not contrariwise. 
 
 Minor. But the community of the faithful are nowhere in the 
 word either called or acknowledged to be church governors. This 
 is clear. For, 1. No titles or names are given them by Scripture 
 which imply any rule or government in the visible Church of 
 Christ. 2. They are plainly set in opposition against, and dis- 
 tinction from, church governors : they are called xhe Jlock ; these, 
 overseers set over them by the Holy Ghost, Acts xx. 28 : they, 
 the saints ; these their riders, Heb. xiii. 22 : these are oiier them in 
 the Lord; and consequently they are under them in the Lord, 
 1 Thes. V. 12. 3. The community of the faithful are so far from 
 being the subject of church government themselves, that they are 
 expressly charged by the word of Christ to ^-710?^', honor, obey, and 
 submit^ to other governors set over them, and distinct from them- 
 selves. " Know them who are over you in the Lord," 1 Thes. 
 V. 12. " Let the well-ruling elders be counted worthy of double 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. IO3 
 
 honor ; especially," &;c., 1 Tim. v. 17. " Obey ye your rulers, 
 and submit, for they watch for your souls," Heb. xiii. 17. 
 
 Conclusion. Therefore the community of the faithful are not the 
 first subject and receptacle of proper power for church govern- 
 ment.. 
 
 Argum. V. This opinion of making the body of the Church, or 
 community of the faithful, the first subject and immediate recepta- 
 cle of the keys for the government of the Church, doth inevitably 
 bring along with it many intolerable absurdities. Therefore it is 
 not to be granted. Thus we may argue : 
 
 Major. That doctrine or opinion which draws after it unavoid- 
 ably divers intolerable absurdities, is an unsound and unwarrant- 
 able opinion. 
 
 Minor. But this doctrine or opinion that makes the whole com- 
 munity or body of the Church to be the first subject and immedi- 
 ate receptacle of the keys, (Jraws after it unavoidable divers in- 
 tolerable absurdities. 
 
 Conclusion. Therefore this doctrine or opinion that makes the 
 whole community or body of the Church to be the first subject, 
 and immediate receptacle of the keys, is an unsound and unwar- 
 rantable opinion. 
 
 The Major is plain. For, 1. Though matters of religion be 
 above reason, yet are they not unreasonable, absurd, and directly 
 contrary to right reason. 2. The Scriptures condemn it as a 
 great brand upon men, that they are absurd or unreasonable ; 
 " Brethren, pray for us — that we may be delivered from absurd 
 3,nd evil men," 2 Thes. iii. 2 ; and therefore if absurd men be so 
 culpable, absurdity, and unreasonableness itself, which make 
 them such, are much more culpable. 
 
 The Minor, viz. But this doctrine or opinion that makes the 
 whole community or body of the Church to be the first subject 
 and immediate receptacle of the keys, draws after it unavoidably 
 divers intolerable absurdities, will notably appear by an induc- 
 tion of particulars. 
 
 1. Hereby a clear foundation is laid for the rigid Brownist's 
 confused democracy, and abhorred anarchy. For, if the whole 
 body of the people be the first receptacle of the keys, then all 
 church government and every act thereof is in the whole body, 
 and every member of that body a governor, consequently every 
 member of that body an officer. But this is absurd ; for if all be 
 officers, where is the organical body ? and if all be governors, 
 where are the governed ? if all be eyes, where are the feet? and 
 if there be none governed, where is the government? it is wholly 
 resolved at last into mere democratical anarchy and confusion, 
 *=' but God is not the author of confusion," 1 Cor. xiv. 33. What 
 
1Q4 THE DIVINE EIGHT 
 
 an absurdity were it, if in the body natural all were an euif or 
 hand ! for where then were the hearing, smelUng, &c. ; or Q' aU 
 were one mtmher, where were the body ? 1 Cor. xii. 17, 19. So if 
 in the family all were masters, where were the household ? 
 where were the family government ? If in a city all were, alder. 
 men, where were the citi^enus ? where were the city government ? 
 If in a kingdom all were kings, where were the subjects, the 
 people, the commonalty, the commonwealth, or the political gov- 
 ernment? 
 
 2. Hereby the community or whole body of the faithful, even 
 to the meanest member, are vested frorn Christ with full power 
 and authority actually to diiicharge and execute all acts of order 
 and jurisdiction without exception : e. g. To preach the word au- 
 thoritatively, dispense the sacraments^ ordain their officers, ad- 
 monish offenders, excommunicate the obstinate and incorrigible, 
 and absolve the |>enitent. For the keys of the kingdom of heaven 
 comprehend all these acts jointly, Malt. xvi. 19, andxviii. l~-20, 
 with John x%. 21, 23 : and to whom Christ in the New Testament 
 gives power to execute one of these acts, to thern he gives power 
 to execute all ; they are joined together, Matt, xviii. 19, Cexcept 
 in such cases where himself gives a limitation of the power, as in 
 the case of the ruling elder, who is limited to ruling as contradis- 
 tinct to laboring in the word and doctrine, 1 Tim. v. 17.) Now 
 what gross absurdities easue hereupon ! For, 1. Then the wea^ 
 as well as the strong, the ignorant as well as the intelligent- the 
 children as well as the parents, yea, and the verj' women as well 
 as the men, may preach, dispense seals, ordain, admonish, excom- 
 municate, absolve authoritatively; (for they are all equally 
 members of the body, one as well as another, and therefore, as 
 such, have all alike equal share in the keys and exercise thereof:) 
 viz. they that are not gifted for these offices, shall discharge these 
 offices ; they that are not called nor sent oi' God to officiate, (for 
 God sends not all,) shall yet officiate in the name of Christ witb- 
 out calling or sending, contrary to Rom. x.. Heb. v. 4. They 
 that want the common use of reason and discretion (as children) 
 shall have power to join in the highest acts of order and jurisdic- 
 tion : yea, they that are expressly prohibited >q>eakiMg in the 
 churches, as the women, 1 Cor. xiv., 1 Tim. ii., shall yet have 
 the keys of the kingdom of heaven hung at their girdles. 2. Then 
 the Church shall be the steward of Christ, and dispenser of the 
 mysteries of God authoritatively and properly. But if the whole 
 Church be the dispenser of the mysteries of God, what shsjl be 
 the object of this dispensation ? Not the Church, for according to 
 this opinion she is the first subject dispensing ; therefore it must 
 be something distinct from the Church, unto which the Church 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 105 
 
 dispenseth ; what shall this be? shall it be another collateral 
 church? then particular churches collateral may take pastoral 
 care one of another reciprocally, and the same churches be both 
 over and under one another ; or shall it be those that are without 
 all churches ? then the ordinances of the gospel, and the dispen- 
 sation of them, were not principally bestowed upon the Church 
 and body of Christ for the good thereof, (which is directly repuij- 
 nant to the Scriptures, Eph. iv. 8, 11-13;) but rather for theni 
 that are without. How shall the men, who maintain the princi- 
 ples of the Independents, clearly help themselves out of these 
 perplexing absurdities ? 
 
 3. Hereby the body of the people (as Mr. Bayly well observes 
 in his Dissuasive, chap. ix. page 187) will be extremely unfit- 
 ted for, and unwarrantably taken ofl* from the several duties that 
 lie upon them in point of conscience to discharge in their general 
 and particular callings, in spiritual and secular matters, on the 
 Lord's days and on their own days. For, if the ecclesiastical 
 power be in all the people, then all the people are judges, and at 
 least have a negative voice in all church matters. They cannot 
 judge in any cause prudently and conscientiously, till they have 
 complete knowledge and information of both the substantials and 
 circumstantials of all those cases that are brought before them ; 
 they must not judge blindly, or by an implicit faith, &c., but by 
 their own light. For all the people to have such full informa- 
 tion and knowledge of every cause, cannot but take up abun- 
 dance of time, (many of the people being slow of understanding 
 and extremely disposed to puzzle, distract, and confound one anoth- 
 er in any business to be transacted in common by them all.) If 
 these matters of discipline be managed by them on the sabbath 
 day after the dispatch of other public ordinances, ministry of the 
 word, prayer, sacraments, &c., what time can remain for family 
 duties privately, as repeating sermons, and meditating upon the 
 word, searching tlic Scriptures, whether things preached be so in- 
 deed, reading the Scriptures, catechizing their children and ser- 
 vants, &c.? and how will the life of religion in families, yea, and 
 in churclies also, languish, if these family exercises be not con- 
 scientiously upheld ? If they be managed on the week days, 
 how can all the people spare so much time, as still to be present, 
 when perhaps many of them have much ado all the week long 
 to provide food and raiment, and other necessaries for their fami- 
 lies ? and " if any provide not for his own, and specially for those 
 of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an 
 infidel," 1 Tim. v. 8. Let the case of the church of Arnheim* 
 
 * A fliffcrencc arose betwixt two j:enlleineu in that church about singing 
 of liynins : the second gentleman was complained of to the church by the 
 
106 '-THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 witness the mischief and absurdity of this popular government 
 once for all. 
 
 4. Hereby, finally, the community of the faithful (being ac- 
 counted the proper subject of the power of the keys) have au- 
 thority and power not only to elect, but also to ordain their own 
 officers, their pastors and teachers. And this they of the inde- 
 pendent judgment plainly confess in these words :* Though the 
 office of a pastor in general be immediately from Christ, and the 
 authority from him also, yet the application of this office, and of 
 this authority to this elect person, is by the church ; and therefore 
 the church hath sufficient and just warrant, as to elect and call a 
 presbyter unto an office, so to ordain him to it by imposition of 
 hands. They that have power to elect a king, have power also 
 to depute some ia their name to set the crown upon his head. But 
 for the whole church or community to ordain presbyters by impo- 
 sition of hands, is very absurd. For, 1. Their women and chil- 
 dren, being members of the church and of the community, may 
 join in ordaining presbyters by imposing of hands, and have as 
 great an influence in appointing them that shall actually impose 
 hands, as the rest of the church members have, being as proper- 
 ly members as they. 2. Then the community, that generally are 
 unable to judge of the fitness and sufficiency of presbyters for the 
 pastoral office, in point of necessary gifts of learning, &c., shall, 
 withoutjudicious satisfaction herein by previous examination, ordain 
 men notwithstanding to the highest ordinary office in the church. 
 How ignorantly, how doubtfully, how irregularly, how unwar- 
 rantably, let the reader judge. 3. Then the community of the 
 
 first, and upon hearing of the whole business, and all the words that passed 
 between them, this second gentleman was censured by the church, and Mr. 
 Nye charged sin upon lihn (that was the phrase) in many particulars, and 
 btill at the end of every churge Mr. Nye repeated, " this was your sin." 
 After this censure, so solemnly done, the gentleman censured brings in accu- 
 Bations against Mr. Nye, in several articles, charging him with pride, want 
 of charity, &c., in the manner of the censure ; and this being brought be- 
 fore the church, continued in debate about half a year, three or four days in 
 a week, and sometimes more, before all the congregation. Divers of the 
 members having callings to follow, they desired to have leave to be absent. 
 Mr. Goodwui oft professed publicly upon these diftcrences. If this were their 
 church fellowship, he would lay down his elderphip ; and nothing was more 
 commonly spoke among the members, than that certainly for matter of dis- 
 cipline they were not in the right way, for that there was no way of bring- 
 ing things to an end. At last, after more than half a year's debate, not be- 
 ing able to bring these differences to an end, and being come into Eng- 
 land, they had their last meeting about it, to agree not to publish it abroad 
 when they came into England, &c. Mr. Edwards's Antapolog., pp. 36, 37. 
 * Mr. J. Cotton, in his Way of the Churclies of Christ in New England, 
 chap. ii. sect. 7, p. 43. 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 107 
 
 faithful may assume to themselves power to execute this ordinary 
 act of ordination of officers, without all precept of Christ or his 
 apostles, and without all warrant of the apostolical churches." 
 But how absurd these things be, each moderate capacity may 
 conceive. Further absurdities" hereupon are declared by Mr. 
 Bain,* and after him by Mr. Ball.f 
 
 Whence we may justly conclude, 
 
 Therefore this doctrine or opinion, that makes the whole com- 
 munity or body of the church to be the first subject and imme- 
 diate receptacle of the keys, is an unsound andi unwarrantable 
 opinion. 
 
 The middle-way men, (that profess to go between the authori- 
 tative presbyterial, and the rigid Brownistical way,) seeing these 
 and such like absurdities, upon which the Brovvnists inevitably 
 dash themselves, think to salve all by their new-coined distinc- 
 tion of the keys; viz. 1. There is a key of faith or knowledge, 
 
 * Were the power in the church, the church should not only call them, 
 but make them out of virtue and power received into herself ; then should 
 the church have a true lordlike power in regard of her ministers. Besides, 
 tliere are many in the community of Christians incapable of this power 
 regularly, as women and children. Mr. P. Bain in his Diocesan's Trial, 
 quest. 3, conclus. 3, page 84, printed 1621. 
 
 t If spiritual and ecclesiastical power be in the church or community of 
 the faithful, the church doth not only call, but make officers out of virtue and 
 power received into herself, and then should the church have a true lordlike 
 power in regard of her ministers. For, as he that will derive authority to 
 the church, maketh himself lord of the church, so, if the church derive au- 
 thority to the ministers of Christ, she maketh herself lady or mistress over 
 them, in the exercise of that lordlike authority ; for, as all men know, it is 
 the property of the lord and master to impart authority. Did the church 
 give power to the pastors and teachers, she might make the sacrament and 
 preaching which one dotli in order, no sacrament, no preaching ; for it is the 
 order instituted of God that giveth being and eificacy to these ordinances ; 
 and if the power of ruling, feeding, and dispensing the holy things of God 
 do reside in the faithful, the word and sacrament, in respect of dispensation 
 and efficacy, shall depend upon the order and institution of the society. If 
 the power of the keys be derived from the community of the faithful, then 
 are all officers immediately and formally servants to the church, and must 
 do every thing in the name of the church, rule, feed, bind, loose, remit, and 
 retain sins, preach and administer the sacraments ; then they must perform 
 their office according to the direction of the church, more or less, seldom or 
 frequent, remiss or diligent ; for from whom are they to receive direction 
 how to carry themselves in their offices, but from him or them of whom 
 they receive their office, whose work they are to do, and from whom they 
 must expect reward ? If their office and power be of God innnediately, they 
 must do the duties of their place according to his designment, and unto Imn 
 they must give account ; but if their power and function be from the church, 
 the church must give account to God, and the officers to' the church, whom 
 she doth take to be her helpers, &-c. Mr. John Ball, in his Trial of th© 
 grounds tending to separation, cliap. xii. pages 252, 253, &.c. 
 
108 THE DrVX\E RIGHT 
 
 Luke xi. 52. The first subject of this key is every believer, 
 whether joined to any particular church or not. 2. There is a 
 .key of order, Col. ii. 5, which is either, 1. A key of interest, 
 power, or liberty, Gal. v. 13, which key is of a more large na- 
 ture ; 2. A key of rule and authority, which is of more strict na- 
 ture. Matt. xvi. 19, John xx. 23. Hence, upon this distinction 
 premised, they thus infer, 1. A particular congregation of saints 
 is the first subject of all the church offices with all their spiritual 
 gifts and power, 1 Cor. iii. 22. 2. The apostles of Christ were 
 the first subject of apostolical power. 3. The brethren of a par- 
 ticular congregation are the first subjects of church liberty. 
 4. The elders of a particular church are the first subjects of church 
 authority. 5. Both the elders and brethren, walking and joining 
 together in truth and peace, are the first subjects of all church 
 power needful to be exercised in their own body. 
 
 Answer. A rotten foundation, and a tottering superstructioo, 
 which tumbles down upon the builders' own heads : for, 
 
 1. This distribution of the keys is infirm in divers respects: 
 e. g. 1. In that the key of knowledge (as it stands here distinguish- 
 ed from the key of order, comprehending the key of power and 
 authority) is left utterly devoid of all power. Now no key of 
 the kingdom of heaven is to be left without all power. Indepen- 
 dents themselves being judges. 2. In that the key of power Is 
 left as utterly void of all authority, (being contradistinguLshed 
 from the key of authority,) as the key of knowledge is left void 
 of power. Now, power and authority, in matters of government, 
 seem to be both one ; and the word in the original signifies the 
 one as well as the other. 3. The key of liberty or interest Ls a 
 new key, lately forged by some new locksmiths in Separation- 
 shop, to be a pick-lock of the power of church officers, and to 
 open the door for popular government ; no ordinance of Christ, 
 but a mere human invention, (as will after appear upon examina- 
 tion of that scripture upon which it is grounded,) and therefore 
 this limb of the distribution is redundant, a superfluous excres- 
 cence. 4. The texts of Scripture upon which this distribution 
 of the keys is grounded; are divers of them abused, or at least 
 grossly mistaken ; for, Luke xi. .52, key of knowledge is inter- 
 preted only the key of saving faith. But knowledge, in strict 
 speaking, is one thing, and faith another ; there may be knowl- 
 edge where there is no faith ; and knowledore, in a sort, is a key 
 to faith, as the inlet thereof. And the key of knowledge, viz. 
 true doctrine and pure preaching of the word, is a distinct thing 
 from knowledge itself. This key the lawyers had taken away 
 by not interpreting, or misinterpreting of the law ; but they could 
 not take away the people's faith, or knowledge itself. Touching 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 109 
 
 Col. ii. 5, 6, your order, it will be hard to prove this was only or 
 chiefly intended of the keys delivered to Peter : doth it not rather 
 denote the people's moral orderly walking, according to the rule 
 of faith and life, as in other duties, so in submitting themselves to 
 Christ's order of government, as is elsewhere required, FJeb. xiii. 
 17 ? And as for Gal. v. 13, produced to prove the key of liber- 
 ty, Brethren, you have been called unto Uherty, there is too much 
 liberty taken in wresting this text ; for the apostle here speaks 
 not of liberty as a church power, of choosing officers, joining in 
 censures, &c., but as a gospel privilege, consisting in freedom 
 from the ceremonial law, that yoke of bondage, which false 
 teachers would have imposed upon them, after Christ had broken 
 it off; as will further appear, if you please witli this text to 
 compare Gal. v. 1, 11, 15, 16, and \yell consider the current of 
 tlie whole context. 
 
 2. The inferences upon this distribution of the keys premised, 
 are very strange and untheological. For it may be accepted in 
 general, that it is a groundless fancy to make several first sub- 
 jects of the keys, according to the several distributions of the 
 keys ; for, had all the members of the distribution been good, yet 
 this inference thereupon is naught, inasmuch as the Scripture 
 tells us plainly, that all the keys together and at once were prom- 
 ised to Peter, Matt. xvi. 19, and given to the apostles, Matt, xviii. 
 18, 19, with xxviii. 18-20, and John xx. 21-23 ; so that origi- 
 nally the apostles and their successors were the only first subject 
 and immediate receptacle of all the keys from Christ. And though 
 since, for assistance and ease of the pastor, they are divided into 
 more hands — viz. of the ruling elder, Rom. xii. 8 ; 1 Cor. xii. 28 ; 
 1 Tim. v. 17 — yet originally the subject was but one. Further, 
 here is just ground for many particular exceptions : as, 1. That 
 every believer, whether joined to any particular church or not, is 
 made the first subject of the key of knowledge, which seems to 
 be extremely absurd : for then every particular believer, gifted 
 or ungifted, strong or weak, man, woman, or child, hath power to 
 preach, (taking the key of knowledge here for the key of doctrine, 
 as it ought to be taken, or else it is no ecclesiastical key at all,) 
 which is one of the highest offices, and which the great apostle 
 said, " Who is sufficient for these things ?" 2 Cor. ii, 16. How 
 unscriptural and irrational this is, all may judge. Then also 
 some of the keys may be committed to such as are without the 
 Church. Then finally, it is possible to be a believer, and yet in 
 no visible church ; (for Independents hold there is no church but 
 a particular congregation, which is their only church :) but a 
 man is no sooner a true believer, but he is a member of the invis- 
 ible Church ; he is no sooner a professed believer, but he is a 
 10 
 
X 10 THE DIVINE EIGHT 
 
 member of the general visible Church, though he be joined to no 
 particular congregation. 2. That a particular congregation of 
 saints is made the first subject of all the church offices, with all 
 their spiritual gifts and power, 1 Cor. iii. 22. But is the word 
 subject used here properly, for the first subject recipient of all 
 church offices, with all their gifts and power ? Then the congre- 
 gation of saints are either officers themselves formally, and can 
 execute the function of all sorts of officers, and have all gifts to 
 that end ; what need then is there of any select officers ? for 
 they can make officers virtually, and furnish those officers with 
 gifts and power to that end ; but who gave them any such author- 
 ity ? Or what apostolical church ever assumed to themselves any 
 such thing ? Officers, not churches, are the flrat subject of such 
 gifts and power. Is the word subject here used improperly, for 
 object, whose good all offices with their gifts and power are given? 
 Then not any particular congregation, but the whole general 
 visible Church is the object for which all offices and officers with 
 their gifts and power are primarily given, 1 Cor. xii. 28 ; Eph. 
 iv. 8, 11, 12. As for that place, 1 Cor. iii. 22, '< All is yours," 
 &c., it points not out the particular privilege of any one single 
 congregation, (nor was the church of Corinth such, but presbyte- 
 rial, see chap. XIII.,) but the general privilege of all true saints, 
 and of the invisible mystical Church : for were Paul and Cephas 
 apostles given peculiarly to the church of Corinth only? Or was 
 the world, life., death, things present and to come, given to the 
 wicked in the church of Corinth ? 3. That the apostles are made 
 the first subject of all apostolical power. But then, how doth this 
 contradict the former assertion, that a particular congregation in 
 the first subject of all offices with their gifts and power ? Are 
 there two first subjects of the same adjuncts ? Or is apostleship 
 no office ? Are apostolical gifts no gifts, or power no power ? or 
 have apostles all from the Church ? Doubtless apostles were be- 
 fore all Christian churches, and had the keys given them before 
 the churches had their being. 4. That the brethren of a partic- 
 ular congregation are made the first subjects of church liberty. 
 But, if that liberty be power and authority, then this evidently 
 contradicts the former, that a particular congregation is the first 
 subject of all offices and [iower ; for brethren here are distinct 
 from elders, and lx)th do but make up a particular congregation. 
 If liberty here be not power, then it is none of Christ's keys, but 
 a new forged pick-lock. 5. That the elders of a particular church 
 are made the first subject of church authority ; but then here is a 
 contradiction to the former position, that made the particular con- 
 gregation the first subject of all power. And though apostles 
 and elders be the first subject of authority, yet, when the keys 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. HI 
 
 were first committed to them, they were not in relation to any- 
 particular church, but to the general. 6. Finally, that both el- 
 ders and brethren, walking and joining together in truth and 
 j)eace, are the first subjects of all church power, is liable also 
 to exception. For this joins the brethren (who indeed have no 
 authoritative power at all) with the elders, ag the joint subject 
 of all power. And this but allowed to them walking and joining 
 together in truth and peace : but what if the major part of the 
 Church prove heretical, and so walk not in truth ; or schismati- 
 cal, and so walk not in peace, shall the elders and the non- 
 offending party lose all their power ? Where then shall that inde- 
 pendent church find healing ? for appeals to presbyteries and 
 synods are counted apocryphal by them. But enough hath been 
 said to detect the vanity of these new dreams and notions ; it is 
 a bad sore that must be wrapped in so many clouts.* 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Of the proper Receptacle, or immediate subject of the Power of 
 Church Government : affirmatively, what it is, viz. Christ's own 
 Officers. 
 
 Thus the proper receptacle or subject of ecclesiastical power 
 liath been considered negatively, what it is not, viz : not the po- 
 litical magistrate, nor yet the community of the faithful, or body 
 of the people, with or without their eldership. Now this recep- 
 tacle of power comes to be evidenced affirmatively, what it is, viz. 
 (according to the express words of the description of government,) 
 Christ's own officers. This is the last branch of the description, 
 the divine right whereof remains to be cleared ; which may most 
 satisfactorily be done by evidencing these three things, viz: 1. 
 That Jesus Christ our Mediator hath certain peculiar churcii 
 guides and ofiicers which he hath erected in his Church. 2. That 
 Jesus Christ our Mediator hath especially intrusted his own offi- 
 cers with the government of his Church. 3. How, or in what 
 sense the ruling officers are intrusted with this government, seve- 
 rally or jointly ? 
 
 * See VindicioD Clavium, judiciously unmasking these new notions. 
 
 I 
 
112 THE DIVIXE RIGHT 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 1. Of the Divine Ri^ht of Christ's Church Officers^ viz. Pastors 
 and Teachers, with Ruling Elders. 
 
 Touching the first, that Christ hath certain peculiar church 
 guides and officers, which he hath erected in his Church. Take 
 it thus : 
 
 Jesus Christ our Mediator hath ordained and set in his Church 
 (besides the apostles and other extraordinary- officers that are now 
 ceased) pastors and teachers, as also ruling elders, as the sub- 
 ject of the keys for all ordinary ecclesiastical administrations. 
 The divine right of these ordinary church officers may appear 
 as followeth : 
 
 I. Pastors and teachers are the ordinance of Jesus Christ. 
 This is generally granted on all sides; and therefore these few 
 particulars may suffice for the demonstration of it, viz : 
 
 1. They are enumerated in the list or catalogue of those 
 church officers which are of divine institution. "God hath set" 
 (or put, constituted) *• some in the Church, first, apostles; second- 
 arily, prophets ; thirdly, teachers." 1 Cor. xii. 2B. These are 
 some of the triumphant gifts and trophies of Christ's ascension : 
 " Ascending up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts 
 to men : and he gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some 
 evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,'' Eph. iv. 8, 11. 
 Thus in that exact roll of ordinan,' officers : " Having, therefore, 
 gifts different according to the grace given unto us ; whether 
 prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith ; or 
 ministr\', let us wait on our ministry ;" (here is the general 
 distribution of all ordinary officers under two heads, prophecy and 
 ministry :) " or he that teacheth, on teaching ; or he that exhorl- 
 eth, on exhortation,'' (here is the teacher and the pastor, that 
 come under the first head of prophecy.) Rom. xii. 6—8. '* Take 
 heed to yourselves, and to all the flock, over which the Holy 
 Ghost hath made'' (or set) " you overseers," Acts xx. 28. Note — 
 God hath set in the Church ; Christ hath given for his body ; the 
 Holy Ghost hath made overseers over the flock, these pastors and 
 teachers : and are not pastors and teachers church officers by 
 divine right, having the authority of God, Christ, and of the Holv 
 Ghost ? 
 
 2. They are to be thus and thus qualified according lo divine 
 direction. The qualifications of these pastors and teachers, (called 
 picesbyters and overseers.) see in 1 Tim. iii. 2—8, *' An overseer,'* 
 or bishop, " must be blameless," &c. ; and Tit. i. 5-10, " To or- 
 dain presbyters," or elders, " in every city — If any be blameless," 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERInMENT. ji3 
 
 &c. Now, where God lays down qualifications for pastors and 
 teachers, there he approves such officers to be his own ordinance. 
 
 3. They have manifold church employments committed to them 
 from Christ, as ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries 
 of God, (1 Cor. iv. 1, 2,) they being intrusted in whole or in part 
 with the managing of most if not all the ordinances forementioned 
 in part ?, chap. VII., as there by the texts alleged is evident. 
 Matters of order and special office are committed to them only di- 
 visivi : matters of jurisdiction are committed to them with ruling 
 elders conjunctim. If Christ hath intrusted them thus with church 
 ordinances, and the dispensing of them, sure they are Christ's 
 church officers. 
 
 4. The very names and titles given them in Scripture proclaim 
 them to be Christ's own ordinance ; among many take these : 
 "Ministers of Christ," 1 Cor. iv. 1; "Stewards of the mysteries 
 of God," 1 Cor. iv. 1 ; " Ambassadors for Christ," 2 Cor. v. 20 ; 
 " Laborers thrust forth into his harvest by the Lord of the har- 
 vest," Matt. ix. 38; "Ruling oyer you in the Lord,"* 1 Thess. 
 V. 12. 
 
 5. The Lord Christ charges their flock and people with many 
 duties to be performed to their pastors and teachers, because of 
 their office ; as to know them, love them, obey them, submit un- 
 to them, honor them, maintain them, &c., which he would not do 
 were they not his own ordinance. " But we beseech you, brethren, 
 to know them that labor among you, and rule over you in the 
 Lord, and esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake," 
 1 Thess. v. 12, 13. "Obey your rulers, and submit; for they 
 watch for your souls as those that must give an account," Heb. 
 xiii. 17. "The elders that rule well count worthy of double 
 honor ; especially them that labor in the word and doctrine ; for 
 the Scripture saitli, Thou shalt not. muzzle the mouth of the ox 
 that treadeth out the corn, and the laborer is worthy of his hire," 
 1 Tim. V. 17, 18 ; compared with 1 Cor. ix. 6-15. " Let liim 
 that is catechized, communicate to him thatcatechizeth him in all 
 good things," Gal. vi. 6-8. 
 
 Thus much for the present may suffice to have been spoken 
 touching the divine right of pastors and teachers, tiie ordinary 
 standing ministers of Christ under the New Testament. But for- 
 asmuch as we observe that in these days some rigid Erastiansanji 
 Seekers oppose and deny the very office of the ministry now un- 
 der the gospel, and others profess that the ministrj^of the church 
 
 * Here understand by this phrase, {over you in the Lord,) viz : Not only 
 in the fear of the Lord, nor only in those things that appertain to God's 
 worship, but also according to the will, and by the authority of the Lord 
 Christ derived to them. 
 10* 
 
114 THE DIVINE KlGllT 
 
 of England is false and antichristian ; we intend, (by God*s assist- 
 ance.) as soon as we can rid our hands from other pressing em- 
 ployments, to endeavor the asserting and vindicating of the divine 
 right of the ministers of the New Testament in general, and of the 
 truth of tlie ministry of the church of England in particular. 
 
 II. Ruling elders, distinct from all preaching elders and dea- 
 cons, are a divine ordinance in the Church of God now under the 
 New Testament. 
 
 The divine right of this church officer, the mere ruling elder, 
 is much questioned and doubted by some, because they find not 
 the Scriptures speaking so fully and clearly of the ruling elder 
 as of the preaching elder and of the deacon. By others it is flatly 
 denied and opposed, as by divers that adhere too tenaciously to the 
 Era.stian and prelatical principles : who yet are willing to account 
 the assistance of the ruling elder in matter of church government 
 to be a very prudential way. But if mere prudence be counted 
 once a sufficient foundation for a distinct kind of church officer, 
 we shall open a door for invention of church officers at pleasure ; 
 then w elcome commissioners and committee men, 6cc. ; yea, then 
 let us return to the vomit, and resume prelates, deans, archdea- 
 cons, chancellors, officials, (Sec, for church officers. And where 
 shall we stop ? who but Christ Jesus himself can establish new 
 officers in his church ? Is it not the fruit of his ascension, &c. ? 
 Eph. iv. 7, 11, 12. Certainly if the Scriptures lay not before us 
 grounds more than prudential for the ruling elder, it were better 
 never to have mere ruling elders in the church. Both the Pres- 
 byterians and Independents* acknowledge the divine right of the 
 ruling elder. For satisfaction of doubting unprejudiced minds, 
 (to omit divers considerations that might be produced,) the divine 
 right of the ruling elder may be evinced by these ensuing argu- 
 ments. . 
 
 Argurn. I. The first argument for the divine right of the ruling 
 elder in the Church of Christ, shall be drawn from Rom. xii. 6-8: 
 " Having, then, gifts diflfering according to the grace that is given 
 to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the propor- 
 tion of faith ; or ministry, let us wait on our ministering ; or he 
 that teacheth, on teaching; or he that exhorteth, on exhortation ; 
 he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity ; he that ruleth, with 
 diligence," &c. Let the scope and context of this chapter be a 
 little viewed, and it will make way for the more clear arguing 
 from this pla<^. Briefly thus : The apostle having finished the 
 
 » See the Apologetical narration by the five Independents, page 8 ; and 
 Mr. Jo. Cotton, at large, asserts the divine institution of the mJing elder. 
 Way of the Churches of Christ, Slc^ chap. 2, sect. 2, page 13-35. 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 
 
 115 
 
 principal part of his epistle, which was problematical, wherein lie 
 disputed — 1. About justification, chap, i.-vi.; 2. Sanctification, 
 chap. vi. 7, 8 ; and, 3. Predestination, chap. ix. 10, 11, he comes 
 to the next branch, which is more practical, about good works, 
 chap, xii.-xvi. This twelfth chapter is wholly in the" way of ex- 
 hortation, and he herein exhorts to divers duties. 1. More gener- 
 ally that we should even consecrate ourselves wholly to the ser- 
 vice of God, ver. 1 ; that we should not conform to the world, ver. 
 2. More specially he descends to particular duties, which are of 
 two sorts, viz : 1. Such as concern ecclesiastical officers as offi- 
 cers, ver. 3-9 ; 2. Such as concern all Christians in common as 
 Christians, both towards one another and towards their very ene- 
 mies, verse 9, to the end of the chapter. Touching ecclesiastical 
 officers, the apostle's evident scope is to urge them not to be proud 
 of their spiritual gifts, (which in those days abounded,) but to 
 think soberly, self-denyingly of themselves,' and to use all their 
 gifts well. This he presseth upon them, 1. From the nature of the 
 Church, which is as a natural organical body, wherein are many 
 members, having their several offices for the good of the Avhole 
 body ; so the members of Christ's body being many, have their 
 several gifts and offices for the good of the whole, that the superi- 
 or should not despise the inferior, nor the inferior envy their supe- 
 rior, ver. 3-5. 2. From the distribution or enumeration of the 
 several kinds of ordinary standing officers in this organical body, 
 the Church, who are severally exhorted duly to discharge those 
 duties that are specially required of them in their several func- 
 tions, ver. 6-8. These officers are reduced first to two general 
 heads, viz : Prophecy (understand not the extraordinary gift of 
 foretelling future things, &c., but the ordinary, in the right un- 
 derstanding and interpreting of Scripture) and ministry ; and the 
 general duties thereof are annexed, ver. 6, 7. Then these gen- 
 erals are subdivided into the special offices contained under them, 
 the special duty of every officer being severally pressed upon 
 them. Under prophecy are contained, 1. He that teacheih, i. e., 
 the doctor or teg,cher ; 2. He that exhorieth, i. e., the pastor, ver. 
 7, 8. Under ministry are comprised, 1. He tkat giveth, i. e., the 
 deacon ; 2. He that rn/eth, i. e., the ruling elder. The current 
 of our best interpreters to this effect resolve this context. So that 
 here we have a very excellent and perfect enumeration of all the 
 ordinary standing officers in the Church of Christ distinctly laid 
 do\yn. This premised, the argument for the divine right of the 
 ruling elder may be thus propounded : 
 
 Major. Whatsoever members of Christ's organical body have 
 an ordinary office of ruling therein given them of God, distinct 
 from all other ordinary standing officers in the church, toirether 
 
115 THE DIVINE RIG|IT 
 
 with directions from God how they are to rule ; they are the ruling 
 
 elders we seek, and that by divine right. 
 
 Minor, liijt lui thai ruklh, mentioned in Rom. xii. 8, is a mem- 
 ber of Christ's organical Ixjdy, having an ordinary oflice of ruling 
 therein given him of G^xl, distinct from all other standing oflTicera 
 in the church, together with direction how he is to rule. 
 
 Conclwri/m. Therefore he that ruleth, mentioned in Rom. xii. 8, 
 is the ruling elder we seek, and that hy divine right. 
 
 The major proposition is clear. For in the particulars of it, 
 well compared together, are observable both a plain delineation 
 or description of the ruling elder's office ; and al.so a firm founda- 
 tion for the divine right of that office. The ruling elder's office 
 is described and delineated by these several clauses, which set out 
 so many requisit^iS for the making up of a ruling elder, viz: 1, 
 He must be a member of Christ's organical Ixxjy. Such as are 
 without, pagana, heathens, infidels, &c., out of the Church, they 
 are not fit objects for church government, to have it exercised by 
 the Church upon them; the Church only judges ihern that are 
 within, (1 Cor. v. 1^, 13,) much less can they be fit subjects of 
 church government to exercise it themselves within the Church. 
 How shall they be officers in the Church that are not so much as 
 members of the Church ? liesides, such as are only meml>ers of 
 the invisible borjy of Christ, as the glorified saints in heaven, they 
 cannot be officers in the Church ; for not the Church invisible, 
 hut only the Church or WJy of Christ visible is organical. So 
 that every church officer must first be a Church member, a mem- 
 ber of the visible organical UAy : consequently a ruling elder 
 must be such a member. 2. He must have an office of ruling in 
 this lx;dy of Christ. Membership is n6t enough, unless that power 
 of rule be superadded thereto ; for the whole office of the ruling 
 elder is contained in the matter of rule ; take away rule, you de- 
 stroy the very office. Now, rule belongs not to every member: 
 "Salute all them that have the rule over you, and all tlie saints," 
 Heb. xiii. 24, where rulers and saintij are made contradislinct to 
 one another. In the Ijody natural all the members are not eyes, 
 hands, &c., governing the body, some are rather governed] ; so in 
 the body of Christ, 1 Cor. xii. 3. This his office of ruling must 
 be an ordinary office ; apr>stles had some jiower that was extra- 
 ordinary, as their apostleship was extraordinary ; but when we 
 seek for this ruling elder, we seek for a fixed, standing, ordinary 
 officer ruling in the church. 4. All tliat is not enough, that he 
 be a member of the church, that he have an office of rule in the 
 church, and that office also be ordinary ; but besides all these it 
 is necessary that he be alsf> distinct from all other standing offi- 
 cers in the church, viz. from pastors, teachers, deacons; else all 
 
OF CHURCH COVERNJlENT. j,. 
 
 nntnfTf n" ""' "'^h "P ^ P'^'^""^'- ^'""i "f Officer, if in all 
 points he fully agree vvuh any of the said three. But if there ca 
 b found such an officer in whon, all these four requisites TomTel 
 VIZ 1 hat 1 Is a member of Christ's organical body; 2 Hatl 
 an office of rule therein ; 3. That office is ordinary ; and 4 Tha 
 odmary office IS distinct from all other ordinary sLdi"'office,n 
 the church ; th,s must unavoidably be that verv ruling elder whcK 
 
 Z'eTZlt.J] ''". ',' " '■''"'"'' ">^' '" 'his pro olh n 
 neie is a plain and clear dehneation of the rulino- elder's office 
 
 hZ'o" tl^rj "'ri' '"-'-g ;'- fo-da-ion- for The dt,^" 
 light ot ths office ; it also is notably expressed in the same nm 
 position whie it presupposeth, 1. That God is tlVgler of ^hh 
 office ; 2. That God is the guider of this office. Fo? whatsoerer 
 office or officer God gives for his Church, and having gh en ft 
 guides and directs ,0 the right discharge thereof, that mu^'st needs 
 
 s firmT„"d%"! 'n^^??' '']' -"'-''-'-"• '^^u's this proposition 
 IS nrni and cogent. Now let us assume : 
 
 l,e, ofPh ^'^' '" """■ "'!"''' mentioned in Rom. xii. 8, is a mem- 
 be. of Christ's organical body, having an ordinary office of r^ 
 ■ng therein given him of God, distinct from all other ordnarv 
 ltvti°fo ^fe!" ''^ ''""''' '"'''''' """^ direCioii'f^lnrS 
 
 of '!i!e?''""''"'T u',"\"°'" P™P»si'io" (wbereon the main stress 
 "his con'ir' '^ '"^ ""^ "" "'"^ ''"'""'^ ''y P"'«' fr°" 
 
 1 ^'hf% "''f' l"n, """?''",'■ °^ ^'"■'^''« '"■g''"i'=«l body. For, 
 1. The Church of Christ is here compared to a body. We lei,^ 
 many are me body in Christ, ver. 5. 2. This body is^declared"^ 
 be organical, i. e. consisting of several members, that have the r 
 several offices in the body, some of teaching, some of e.xhor n7 
 and some of ruling, &c. " For as fl-e havl many members fi 
 one body, and all members have not the same offic'e, so we bein" 
 3er"' r' ''"'^y '" Ch™'' ""d every one members ™e of 
 another, &c. ver. 4-6, &c. 3. Among the rest of the mem 
 
 this'ifn " n ''^' "', """ "''^"' '^ '•^^''°"^'' "P <■" °"«. • '• 5-8 
 
 Inis IS palpably evident. ' 
 
 Pof't 'tI ^"''"'Y"" "" «ffi<=e of ™ling in this body of Christ. 
 For 1. This word (translated he that ruhth, in the proper sign 
 
 I'm or^S ih"'"^"' ''°'^'" "^^ Scriptures'and in'^^thlr G leL 
 authors, doth signify one that ruleth authoritatively over another 
 as hereafter is manifested in the 3d argumem, & 2.) 2 Our 
 best interpreters and commentators do render and expound the 
 word generally to this effi^ct : e. g . He that is over-'-one se! 
 
 • Calvin, Beza, Pareus, Fagniii. 
 
Ji9 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 over* — he that stands in the head or frontf — as a captain or 
 commander in the army, to which this phrase seems to allude — 
 he that ruleth. 3. This word, wherever it is used in a genuine 
 proper sense, in all the New Testament, notes rule, or govern- 
 ment. Jt is used metaphorically for taking care (as one set over 
 any business) of good works, only in two places. Tit. iii. 8, and 
 iii. 14. Properly for government which superiors have over in- 
 feriors ; and that either domestical, in private families, so it is 
 used in 1 Tim. iii. 4, 5, 12, or ecclesiastical, in the church, which 
 is the public family of God ; in this sense it is used, 1 Thes. v. 
 12, 1 Tim. v. 17, and here, Rom. xii. 8, and these are all the 
 places where this word is found used in all the New Testament. 
 
 3. He that ruleth here, hath an ordinary, not an extraordinary 
 odice of rule in the church. For he is ranked and reckoned up 
 in the list of Christ's ordinary standing officers, that are constant- 
 ly to continue in the church, viz. pastors, teachers, deacons. Com- 
 monly this place is interpreted to speak of the ordinary church of- 
 ficers, and none other ; consequently he that ruleth is such a one. 
 
 4. He that ruleth here, is an officer. distinct from all other or- 
 dinary officers in the Church of Christ. For in this place we 
 have a full enumeration of all Christ's ordinary officers, and he 
 that ruleth is a distinct officer among them all. 1. Distinct in 
 name, he only is called he that ruleth, the rest have every one of 
 them their several distinct name, ver. 7, 8. 2. Distinct in his 
 work here appropriated to him ; the doctor teacheth ; the pastor 
 exhorteth ; the deacon giveth ; this elder ruleth, as the very name 
 signifieth, ver. 8. Compare 1 Tim. v. 17, 1 Cor. xii. 28. As 
 the elder ruleth, so he is distinct from the deacon that hath no 
 rule in the church ; and as he only rules, so he is distinct from 
 both pastor and teacher, that both teach, exhort, and rule ; they 
 both have power of order and jurisdiction, the ruling elder halh 
 only power of jurisdiction. 3. Finally, he is distinct among and 
 from them all in the particular direction here given these officers 
 about the right discharge of their functions. The teacher must 
 be exercised in teaching; the pastor m exhortation; the deacon 
 must give with singleness ; and the elder, he must rule with dili- 
 gence, studiousness, <Scc. Now what other solid reason can be 
 imagined, why he that ruleth should here have a distinct name, 
 distinct work and employment, and distinct direction how to man- 
 age this work, than this, that the Holy Ghost might set him out 
 unto us as an ordinary officer in the church, distinct from all the 
 other standing officers here enumerated ? 
 
 * Arias Montan. 
 
 t Tremel. ont of the Syriac ; so the old Geneva translation, and our new 
 translation. 
 
OF ClI URCII Ci O VERNMENT. j j (j 
 
 iJ: ^;'^.^^^'^«^^f,;« the author and giver of this, office of hi.^i 
 that rule h, as well as of all the other offices here mentioned, 
 t^oi, 1. All gifts and endowments in the church in xroneral and 
 in every member in particular, they are from God, it is he that 
 gives and divides them as he will, as God hath dealt to even, one 
 the measure oj fcuth, Rom. xii. 3. 2. All the special offices, and 
 gifts for these offices in special, are also from the same Cod, ive 
 hamng therefore gifts according to the grace given unto us, differing • 
 zoheiher prophecy &c., Rom. xii. 6, 7, &c. Here it is plain tlVt 
 he distinguished betwixt grace and gifts. By grace here we are 
 to understand that holy office or charge in the church, which is 
 given to any man by the grace and favor of God. And in this 
 sense the apostle in this very chapter, ver. 3, useth the word 
 grace .• J^or I say through the grace given to me, i. e. throu^.h the 
 authority of my apostleship, which by grace I have received, &c 
 l^y gifts, we are to understand those endowments wherewith God 
 hath freely furnished his officers in the church for their several 
 
 Zlt\ ^7^. m '^'''' ^'^^' ^'"^ *'^^^ g^"^^^' b^^h the endow, 
 mens and the office, are ongmally from God, his grace is the 
 fountain of them; and both the grace of each oflfee, and the 
 gifts for such office, relate to all these ordinary offices here enu- 
 merated, as is evident by the current and connection of the whole 
 contex , see ver 6-8 -, consequently the grace, i. e. the office of rul- 
 ing, vvhich IS of divine grace, and the gifts for that office, arise 
 from the same fountain, God himself. 
 
 rnf ;i.^["^"^' God himself is the guidcr and director of him that 
 ruleth, here prescribing to him how he is to rule, viz. with dili^ 
 gence, with siudwusness, &c., ver. 8. Now we may receive this 
 as a maxim. That of divine right may be done, for which God 
 gives his divme rule how it is to be done : and that office must 
 needs be of divine right which God himself so far approves as to 
 direct in his word how it shall be dischar^red 
 
 Now, to sum up all, he that ruleth here, 1. Is a member of 
 
 Sji %Trf- '"^^'- ^' ^^^'^ ^" '^'^ ^^^-"^^"^ i» this 
 body. 3. J his his office is not extraordinary but ordinary, stand- 
 inc., and perpetual. 4. He is an officer distinct from all other 
 ordinary officers in the Church. 5. God himself is the giver 
 and author of this office. 6. And God himself is the guider aiKJ di- 
 rector of this office : and then see if we may not clearly conclude, 
 Conclusion. Therefore, he that ruleth, mentioned in Rom. xii. 
 ' ^r^^ r"^'"S elder we seek, and that by divine right. 
 Ihe adversaries of ruling elders muster up divers exceptions 
 ^gainst the alleging of Rom. xii. 8, for proof of the divine ri^ht 
 of their office, the weakness of which is to be discovered ere we 
 pass to another argument. 
 
120 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 Except. 1. This is an arguing from a general to a special af- 
 firmatively. It doth hbt follow, because the apostle here in gen- 
 eral mentioneth him that ruleth, therefore in special it must be 
 the ruling elder.* 
 
 Ans. This exception is the same with first exception against the 
 second argument hereafter laid down. There see. For the same 
 answer appositely and satisfactorily is applicable to both. 
 
 Except. 2. But the apostle here speaks of them that rule, but 
 we have nowhere received that such elder;^ have rule over the 
 church-^and he speaks of all that rule in the church, who there- 
 fore would wrest this place only to elders ? One cannot rightly 
 attribute that word translated he that ruleth to elders only, 
 which is common unto more. If these elders be here meant, nei- 
 ther pastors nor teachers ought to rule, for this \vord agrees no 
 otherwise to him that ruleth, than the word of exhorting to him 
 that exhorteth.f 
 
 Ans. 1. That such elders rule in the church is evident, both 
 by Rom. xii. 8, where tiiis word implies rule as hath been show- 
 ed, and he that ruleth is reckoned up amongst ordinary church 
 officers, as hath been said, therefore he rules in the church : these 
 the apostle also calls ruling elders, 1 Tim. v. 17, viz. officers in 
 the church, and distinct from them that labor in the word and 
 doctrine; as in the third argument will appear: yea, they are 
 governments set of God in.the church, distinct from other officers, 
 i Cor. xii. 28, as in the second argument shall be evidenced : 
 there see ; therefore these elders have rule. 
 
 2. Though in this term the apostle speaks of him that ruleth, 
 yet he speaks not of every one that ruleth. For, 1. He speaks 
 singularly, he that ruleth, as of one kind of ruling officer; not 
 plurally, they that rule, as if he had indefinitely or universally 
 nieant all the ruling officers in the church. 2. He recTons up 
 here distinct kinds of ordinary officers, pastors, teachers, elders, 
 and deacons ; and pastors and teachers, besides laboring in the 
 word, have power of rule, 1 Thes. v. 12, Heb. xiii. 7-17, and 
 he that ruleth, here, is distinct from them both ; and therefore 
 this term cannot mean all church rulers, but oidy one kind, viz. 
 the ruling elder. ' 
 
 3. Though this name, he that ruleth, be common unto more 
 rulers in the church, than to tiie mere ruling elder; yet it dolli 
 not therefore necessarily follow, that it cannot here particularly 
 point out only the mere ruling elder, inasmuch, as he tliat ruleth, 
 
 * Field, of the Church, book 5, chap. 26. 
 
 t SutHve, who afterwards declared, that he was sorry with all his heart, 
 that ever he put pen to paper to write against Beza as he had done, in behalf 
 of the proud domineering prelates ; and he spoke this with great indignation. 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 121 
 
 is not here set alone, (for then this objection might have had 
 some color,) but is enumerated with other officers as distinct from 
 them. 
 
 4. Though the ruling elder here be called he that ruleih, yet 
 this doth not exclude the pastor from ruling, no more than when 
 the ordinary ministers are called pastors and teachers, the apos- 
 ties and evangelists are excluded from feeding and teaching, in 
 Eph IV. 11, 12; 1 Cor. xii. 28. Tliis elder is called, h?ihat 
 ruleih, not that there is no other ruler than he, but because he 
 doth no other thing but rule, others rule and preach also. 
 
 Except. 3. If this w^ere meant of such elders, then these elders 
 were as necessary to the church as pastors, being given to the 
 church by the like reason. Consequently where these elders are 
 not, there is no church ; as there is no church where the word 
 and sacraments are not.* 
 
 Ans. 1. According to this argument deacons are as necessary 
 as either pastors, teachers, or elders, and without deacons there 
 should be no church; for they are all enumerated here alike, 
 Kom. xii. 7, 8, and in 1 Cor. xii. 28 ; but this would be absurd, 
 and against experience. 2. Though both pastors and ruling 
 elders belong to the church by divine right, yet doth it not follow 
 that the ruling elder is equally as necessary as tlie pastor. The 
 ruling elder only rules, the pastor both rules and preaches, there- 
 lore he is more necessary to the church. There are degrees of 
 necessity ; some things are absolutely necessary to the being of a 
 church, as matter and form, viz. visible saints, and a due profes- 
 sion of faith, and obedience to Christ, according to the gospel. 
 Thus it is possible a church may be, and yet want both deacons* 
 elders, and pastors too, yea, and word and sacraments for a time • 
 some things are only respectively necessary to the well-bein^ of 
 a church ; thus officers are necessary, yet some more than others, 
 without which the church is lame, defective, and miserably im' 
 perfect. 
 
 Except. 4. Should ruling elders here be meant, then deacons 
 that obey, should be preferred before the elders that rule.f 
 
 Ans. Priority of order is no infallible argument of priority of 
 worth and dignity ; as is evidenced in answer to the third excep- 
 tion against Arg. Il.-^there see; we find Priscilla a woman named 
 before Aquila a man, and her husband. Acts xviii. 18 ; Rom. 
 xvi. 3; 1 Tim. iv. 19; is therefore the woman preferred before 
 the man ? the wife before the husband ? And again, Aquila is 
 set before Priscilla, Acts xviii. 2, 26, 1 Cor. xvi. 19, to let us 
 
 * Mat. Sutliv. de Presbyterio, cap. 12, p. 87, edit. 1591. 
 t Ibid, pages 72 and 87, edit. 1591. 
 11 
 
J22 TEE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 see that the Holy Ghost indiflTerently speakg of superior and in. 
 ferior Ijefore one another. , i. r j- -a -«j 
 
 JExc^pf. o. But here the apostle speaketh of divers gifts and 
 craces, for so differing ^ift* do import, not of divers offices : for 
 then they might not concur in one man, and consequently neither 
 might the prophet teach, nor exhort, nor the deacon distnbute, 
 nor show mercy. Many gifts may be common m one man, many 
 offices cannot;— which of' these gifts in the apostles' times was 
 not common as well to the people as to the pastors ; and to women 
 as well as to rnen ? &c.* i j j- *u 
 
 Ans. Divers considerations may be propounded to discover the 
 vanity of this exception : chiefly take these three. 
 
 1 There is no sufficient reason in this exception, proving the 
 apostle here to ppeak only of divers gifts and graces, and not ot 
 divers offices also. For, 1 . Tiiis is not proved by that expression, 
 differing gifts, ver. 6, for these differing gifts are not here spoken 
 of abstract! V and absolutely, without reference t^ their subjects, 
 but relatively with reference to their subjects wherein they are, 
 viz. in the several officers, ver. 7, 8, and therefore, as the apos- 
 tie mentions the differing gifU, so here he tells us in the same 
 sixth verse, that we have these " different gifts, according to the 
 grace given unto us," i. e. according to the office given unto us 
 of God's grace, (as hath been manifested.) after which immedi- 
 ately is subjoined an enumeration of offices. 2. Nor is this 
 proved by the inference made, upon the granting that divers 
 offices are here meant, viz. [Then they might not concur in 
 one man, the prophet might not teach nor exhort, &;c. ; many gifts 
 may be common in one man, many offices cannot,] For who is 
 so little versed in the Scriptures, but he knows that apostles, pas- 
 tors, elders, deacons, are distinct officers one from another ; yet 
 all the inferior offices are virtually comprehended in the superior, 
 and may be discharj?ed by them : elders may distribute as well 
 a« dr^acons; and bevond them, rule: pastors may distnbute and 
 rule as well as deacons and elders, and l,»eyond both preach, dus- 
 pense sacraments, and ordain ministers. Apostles may do them 
 all, and many things besides extraordinary. Much more may 
 the prophet teach and exhort, and the deacon distribute and show 
 mercy; these beinr? the proper acts of their office. 3. Nor, 
 finally, is this proved by that suggestion, that all these gifts in 
 the apostles' times were common to all sorts and sexes, women as 
 well as men ; as he after takes much pains to prove, but to very 
 little purpose. For not only in the apostles' times, but in our 
 
 • Bili^jn'B perpetual Government of Chriet's Church, c. 10, p. 1.36, 137, 
 1.36, printed in Ann. 1610. 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 123 
 
 times also, all Christians ma}^ teach, exhort, distribute, show 
 mercy, &c., privately, occasionally, by bond of charity, and law 
 of fraternity towards one another mutually : but may not teach, 
 exhort, rule, distribute, &c., authoritatively by virtue of their 
 office, so as to give themselves wholly to such employments, 
 wiiich is the thing here intended ; yet it is worth observing how 
 far Bilson was transported against ruling elders, that rather than 
 yield to their office, he will make all these gifts common to all 
 sorts and sexes, men and women. This is new divinity ; all sorts 
 and sexes may both preach and rule. Let Bilson have the credit 
 of symbolizing with the Separatists, if not of transcending them. 
 
 2. Here is good ground in the context to make us think that 
 the apostle here spoke of distinct church officers, and not only 
 of distinct gifts. For, 1. In the similitude of a natural bodv 
 (whereunto here the church is compared) he speaks of distinct 
 members, having distinct offices, ver. 4. " For as we have manv 
 members in one body, and all members have not the same office." 
 2. In his accommodation of this similitude, he speaks not only of 
 gifts, but also of offices according to which these gifts are given, 
 which he calls ^racc, ver. 6, (as was noted.) This grace given, 
 or this office given of grace, is branciied out, first, into two gene- 
 ral heads, viz. lyrophccy and ministry, ver. 6, 7. Then these 
 generals are subdivided into the special offices contained under 
 them, viz. : Under prophecy the teacher, he that teacheth ; and 
 the pastor, he that exhorteth ; under ministry the deacon, he that 
 distrihuteth ; and the ruling elder, 7?^ that ruJeth. Now there is 
 in the text just ground for this resolution of the text, in making 
 prophecy and ministry generals, and all the rest special kinds of 
 officers ; forasmuch as prophecy and miiiistry are expressed 
 abstractly, whether prophecij, (not, whether we are prophets;) 
 whether ministry, (not, whether we are deacons, ministers :) and 
 both prophecy and ministry are put in the accusative case ; and 
 both of them iiave relation, and are joined unto the participle of 
 the plural number having, intimating that divers do share in pro- 
 phecy, pastor and teacher ; divers ill ministry, deacon and ruling 
 elder. But all the other arc expressed concretely, and in the 
 nominative case, and in the singular number, and to every of 
 them the single article is prefixed, translated He — He that teach- 
 eth — He that exhorteth — He that giveth — He that ruleth. Hence 
 we have great cause to count prophecy and ministry as generals ; 
 all the rest as special offices under them. 
 
 Argum. II. The second argument for the divine right of the 
 ruling elder shall be grounded upon 1 Cor. xii. 28: "And God 
 liath set some in the church, first, apostles, secondly, prophets, 
 thirdly, teachers, afterwards powers, then gifts of healing) helps, 
 
J24 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 governments, kinds of tongue." God, in the first founding of 
 Christianity and of the primitive churches, bestowed many enni- 
 nent gifts upon divers Christians ; the church of Corinth greatly 
 excelled in such gifts, 1 Cor. i. 5, 7. Hence their memberg 
 gifted, grew spiritually proud, and despised their brethren; to 
 correct which abuse of gifts, and direct them to the right use 
 thereof for the common profit of all, is the chief scope of this 
 chapter, see verse 7, " The manifestation of the Spirit is given 
 to every man to- profit withal." For, 1. All their gifts flow from 
 one and the same fountain, the Spirit of God, therefore should be 
 improved for the common good of all, especially considering no 
 one man hath all gifts, but several men have several gifts, that 
 all miufht be beholden to one another, ver. 8-11. 2. The 
 whole Church of Christ throughout all the world is but one body, 
 and that body organical, having several members therein placed 
 for several u^s, as eyes, hands, &c., wherein the meanest mem- 
 bers are useful and necessary to the highest : therefore all mem- 
 bers should harmoniously lay out their gifts for the good of the 
 whole body, without jars or divisions, ver. 12-28. 3. All the 
 several officers, whether extraordinary or ordinary, though fur- 
 nished with several gifts and several adm.inistrations, yet are 
 placed by one and tlie same God, in one and the same general 
 Church ; and therefore should all level at the benefit of the whole 
 church, without pride, animosities, divisions, &c., ver. 28, to the 
 end. These things being briefly premised for the clearing the con- 
 text and scope of the chapter, we may thus argue from ver. 28 : 
 Major. Whatsoever officers God himself, now under the New 
 Testament, hatli set in the Church as governors therein, distinct 
 from all other church governors, whether extraordinary or ordi- 
 nary ; they are the ruling elders we inquire after, and that by 
 divine right. 
 
 This proposition is so clear and evident of itself, that much 
 needs not to be said for any further demonstration of it. For 
 what can be further desired for proof that there are such distinct 
 officers as ruling elders in the Church of Christ, and that of di- 
 vine right, than to evince, 1. That there are certain officers set 
 of God^ in the Church as governors therein. 2. That those offi- 
 cers so set of God in the Church, are set in the Church under the 
 New Testament, which immediately concerns us, and not under 
 the Old Testament. 3. That these officers set of God as gover- 
 nors in the Church of the New Testament, are distinct from all 
 other church governors, whether extraordinary or ordinary ? 
 For, by the third of these, we have a distinct church officer de- 
 lineated and particularized : by the second we have this di-stinct 
 church officer limited to the tirne and state of the Church only 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERN^iEXT. 125 
 
 under tlie New Testament, which is our case : and by the first 
 of these, we have this distinct New Testament officer's ruling 
 power in the Church, and the divine right thereof evidently de- 
 monstrated, by God's act in setting him there in this capacity ; (see 
 Part 1. Chap. VI. ;) so that by all put together, the consequence 
 of this major proposition seems to be strong and unquestionable. 
 
 Miliar. But the governments named in 1 Cor. xii. 28, are 
 officers which God himself now under the New Testament hath 
 set in the Church as governors therein, distinct from all other 
 church governors, whether extraordinary or ordinary. 
 
 This minor or assumption is wholly grounded upon, and plainly 
 contained in this text, and may thus be evidenced by parts. 
 
 1. The church here spoken of [m the church] is the Church of 
 Christ now under the New Testament : for, 1. The church here 
 mentioned, ver. 28, is the same with that one body mentioned, 
 ver. 12, 13, of this chapter, as the whole context and coherence 
 of the chapter evinceth ; but that one body denotes not the Church 
 of God under the Old Testament, but only the Church of Christ 
 under the New Testament; partly, inasmuch as it is counted the 
 Church of Christ, yea, (so intimate is the union between head and 
 members,) it is called Christ, 50 also Z5 Christ, ver. 12, (viz. not 
 Christ personally considered, but Christ mystically considered, 
 as comprehending head and body ;) now this denomination of the 
 Church, viz. Christ, or the Church of Christ, &c., is peculiar to 
 the Church under the New Testament : for where in all the 
 Scripture is the Church of God under the Old Testament called 
 the Church of Christ, &c. ? and partly, inasmuch as all, both 
 Jews and Gentiles, are incorporated jointly into this one body, 
 and coalesce into one Church : " For by one Spirit are we all 
 baptized into one body, whether Jews or Gentiles, whether bond 
 or free," 1 Cor. xii. 13. Now this union or conjunction of Jews 
 and Gentiles into one body, one Church, is only done under the 
 New Testament; see Eph. ii. 11, to the end of the chapter. 2. 
 The officers here mentioned to be set in this Church, are only the 
 New Testament officers, ver. 28. 3. The scope of the whole 
 chapter is to redress abuses of spiritual gifts in the church of Co- 
 rinth, which was a church under the New Testament; and there- 
 fore it would have been too remote for the apostle to have argued 
 from the several distributions of gifts peculiar to the officers or 
 members of the Church under the Old Testament. 
 
 2. The governments here mentioned are officers set in this 
 church as governors, or rulers therein : " Hath set some in 
 the Church, first, apostles — governments." For clearing of this, 
 consider the enumeration here made; the denomination of these 
 officers, governments ; and the constitution or placing of these 
 
 11* 
 
126 ^'"t: DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 governments in the Church. 1. The enumeration here made 
 is evidently an enumeration of several sorts of church officers, 
 some extraordinary, to endure but for a time, some ordinary, to 
 continue constantly in the Church ; to this the current of inter- 
 preters doth easily subscribe : and this the text itself plainly 
 speaks ; partly, if we look at the matter, viz. the several officers 
 enumerated, which are either extraordinary, these me, viz. apos- 
 tles, prophets, powers, or miracles, gifts of healing, and kinds 
 of tongues : these continued but for a season, during the first 
 founding of Christian churches : (the proper and peculiar work 
 of these extraordinary officers, what it was, is not here to be dis- 
 puted.) Or ordinary, these three, viz. teachers, (there is the 
 preaching elder,) governments, (there is the ruling elder,) helps, 
 (there is the deacon ;) these are the officers enumerated; and 
 however there be some other officers elsewhere mentioned, wjience 
 some conceive this enumeration not to be so absolutely perfect, 
 yet this is undoubtedly evident, that it is an enumeration of officers 
 in the church : partly, this is evident, if we look at the manner 
 of the apostle's speech, which is in an enumerating form, viz. 
 first, secondly, thirdly, afterwards, then : and partly, it is evident 
 that he intended to reckon up those officers that were distinct from 
 all other parts of the mystical body of Christ, by his recapitula- 
 tion, "Are all apostles, are all prophets?" &c., ver. 29, 30, i.e. 
 not all, but only some members of the body are set apart by God 
 to bear these offices in the church. Now, if there be here a dis- 
 tinct enumeration of distinct officers in the church, as is evident ; 
 then consequently governments must needs be one of these distinct 
 church officers, being reckoned up among the rest ; and this is 
 one step, that governments are in the roll of church officers enu- 
 merated. 2. The denomination of these officers, governments, 
 evidenceth that they are governing officers, vested with rule in 
 the Church. This word (as hath been noted in chap. II.) is a 
 metaphor from pilots or shipmasters governing of their ships by 
 their compass, helm, &c., James iii. 4, (who is hence called gov. 
 ernor, viz. of the ship, Acts xxvii. 11 ; Rev. xviii. 17,) and it 
 notes such officers as sit at the stern of the vessel of the Church, 
 to govern and guide it in spirituals according to the will and 
 mind of Christ : governments — the abstract is put for governors, 
 the concrete : this name of governments hath engraven upon it an 
 evident character of power Tor governing. But this will be easily 
 granted by all. All the doubt will be, whom the apostle intended 
 by these governments ? Thus conceive, negatively, these cannot 
 be meant, viz. not governors in general, for, besides that a 
 general exists not but in the particular kinds or individuals 
 thereof, a member of a body in general exists not but in this or 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 127 
 
 that particular member, eye, hand, foot, &c. : besides this, it is 
 evident that Christ hath not only in general appointed governors 
 in his Church, and left particulars to the church or magistrate's 
 determination, but hath himself descended to the particular deter- 
 mination of the several kinds of officers which he will have in 
 his Church ; compare these places together, Eph. iv. 7, 11, 12; 
 1 Cor. xii. 28 ; Rom. xii. 7, 8 : though in the ordinance of ma- 
 gistracy God hath only settled the general, but for the particular 
 kinds of it,- whether it should be monarchical, d:c., that is left to 
 the prudence of the several commonwealths to determine what is 
 fittest for themselves. (See Part 2, chap. IX.) 2. Not masters of 
 families : for all families are not in the Church, pagan families 
 are without. No family as a family is either a church or any 
 part of a church, (in the notion that church is here spoken of;) 
 and though masters of families be governors in their own houses, 
 yet their power is not ecclesiaslicarbut economical or domestical, 
 common to heathens as well as Christians. Not the political ma- 
 gistrate,* for the reasons hinted, (Part 1, chap. I. ; see also Part 
 2, chap. IX.,) and for divers other arguments that might be pro- 
 pounded. 4. Not the prelatical bishops, pretending to be an 
 order above preaching presbyters, and to have the reins of all 
 church government in their hands only ; for, in Scripture lan- 
 guage, bishop and presbyter are all one order, (these words being 
 only names of the same officer;) this is evident by comparing 
 Tit. i. 5, with ver. 7. Hereunto also the judgment of antiquity 
 evidently subscribeth, accounting a bishop and a presbyter to be 
 one and the same officer in the church ; as appears particularly 
 in Ambrose, Theodoret, Hierom, and others. Now, if there be 
 no such order as prelatical bishops, consequently they cannot be 
 governments in the church. 5. Not the same with helps, as the 
 former corrupt impressions of our Bibles seemed to intimate, 
 which had it thus, helps in governments, which some moderns 
 seem. to favor ; but this is contrary to the original Greek, which 
 signifies helps, governments ; contrary to the ancient Syriac ver- 
 sion, which hath it thus, (as Tremel. renders it,) and helpers, and 
 governments : and therefore this gross corruption is well amended 
 in our late printed Bible. Helps, governments, are here generally 
 taken by interpreters for two distinct officers. 6. Nor, finally, 
 can the teaching elder here be meant ; for that were to make a 
 needless and absurd tautology, the teacher being formerly men- 
 tioned in this same verse. Consequently, by governments here, 
 
 * That the magistrate cannot be here meant, see fully evidenced in Mr. 
 Gillespie's Aaron's Rod, «Scc., book ii. chap. 6, pages :2l8-:224, and also 
 chap. 9, p. 064. 
 
128 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 what can be intended, but such a kind of officer in the churcb 
 as hath rule and government therein, distinct from all soventovH 
 ferrenr>entioned ? And doth not this lead us plainly to the rali{^ 
 elder ? 
 
 3. Tliese governn>ents thus set in the Churcb, as rulers there- 
 in, are set therein by God him^lf ; God hath set some in the 
 Church, first, apostles — gorernmenUt — God hath set^ put, madey 
 constituted, <S«;., (as the word irn[x>rts,) in tiie Church. What 
 hath God set in the Church ? viz. aposiles and — govemnDents, as 
 well as apostles themselves. The verb, hath set, equally relates 
 to all the sorts of officers enumerated. And is not that officer in 
 the Church of divine right, which Gofj himself, by his own act 
 and authority, sets therein ? Then doubtless these goTemmeots 
 are of divine right. 
 
 4. Finally, these governments set in the Church uinJer the 
 New Testament as governors therein, and that by God himself^ 
 are distinct from not only all governing officers without the 
 Church, (as hath been showed.) but also from all other governing 
 officers within the church. For here the apostles make a notable 
 enumeration of the several sorts of church officers, both extraor- 
 dinary and ordinary, viz. eight in all. Fiveof thef>e Ijeing extra- 
 ordinary, and to continue but for a season, for the more effectual 
 spreading and propagating of the gosf>el of Christ at first, and 
 planting of Christian churches, vi^. apostles, propliets, powers, 
 gifts of healings, kinds of tongues : three of these Ijeing ordinary, 
 and to be perpetuated in the Church, as of continual use and ne- 
 cessity therein, viz. teachers, governments, [i. e. ruling elders,] 
 and helps, [i. e. deacoixs, wlio are to help and relieve the poor 
 and afllicted.] Tliis is the enumeration. It is not contended, 
 that it is absolutely and completely perfect, for that some officers 
 seem to be omitted and left out. which elsewhere are reckoned 
 up, Eph. iv. 11 ; Rom. xii. 7, h. Evangelists are omitted in the 
 list of extraordinary officers, and pastors are left out of the roll 
 of the ordinary officers ; and yet some conceive that pastors and 
 teachers point not out two distinct sorts of officers, but rather two 
 distinct acts of the same officers ; and if this will hold, then pas- 
 tors are sufficiently comprised under the word teachers; yea, 
 some think that both evangelists and pastors are comprehended 
 under the word teacher.* But, liowever, be that as it will, these 
 two things are evident, 1. That this enumeration (though evan- 
 gelists and pastors be left out) is the fullest and completest enu- 
 meration of church officers which in any place is to be found 
 throughout all the New Testament. 2. That though we should 
 
 * Pareas in 1 Cor. xii. 28. 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. I09 
 
 grant this defect in the enunneration, yet this is no way prejudicial 
 to the present argument, that governments here mentioned are 
 ruling officers in the Church, distinct from all other church offi- 
 cers that have rule ; for they are plainly and distinctly recited 
 as distinct kinds of officers, distinct from apostles, from prophets, 
 from teachers, from all here mentioned. And thus interpreters'^ 
 commonly expound this place, taking governments for a distinct 
 kind of church officer from all the rest here enumerated. 
 
 Now to sum up all that hath been said for the proof of the 
 assumption ; it is evident, 1. That the church here spoken of is 
 the Church of Christ now under the New Testament. 2. That 
 the governments here mentioned, are officers set in this church, 
 (not out of the church,) as rulers governing therein. 3. That 
 these governments set as rulers or governors in this church, are 
 set there not by man, but by God himself; God hath set in the 
 Church — governments. 4. And, finally, That these governments 
 thus set in the Church, are distinct, not only from all governors 
 out of the Church, but also from all governing officers within the 
 Church. And if all this laid together will not clearly evince the 
 divine right of the ruling elder, what will ? Hence we may 
 strongly conclude, 
 
 Conclusion. Therefore these governments in 1 Cor. xii. 28, are 
 the ruling elders we inquire after, and that of divine right. 
 
 Now against the urging of 1 Cor. xii. 28, for the proof of the 
 divine right of the ruling elders, divers exceptions are made, 
 which are to be answered before we pass to the ahird argu- 
 ment. 
 
 Except. 1. The allegation of this place is too weak to prove 
 the thing in question. For will any man that knoweth what it is 
 to reason, reason from the general to the particular and special 
 allirmatively ? or will ever any man of common sense be persuaded 
 that this consequence is good : There were governors in the pri- 
 mitive church mentioned by the Apostles — therefore they were 
 lay governors ? Surely I think not.f 
 
 Ans. This exception halh a confident flourish of words, but 
 tiiey are but words. It may be replied, 1. By way of concession, 
 that to argue indeed from a general to a special, is no solid rea- 
 soning ; as, This is a kingdom, therefore it is England ; this is a 
 city, therefore it is London ; the apostle mentions government 
 in the primitive Church, therefore they are ruling elders : this 
 were an absurd kind of reasoning. 2. By way of negation. Our 
 reasoning from this text for the ruling elder, is not from the gen- 
 
 t Peter Martyr, Beza, Piscator, and Calvin. 
 * D. Field, Of the Chureh, book v. ehap. xxvi. 
 
130 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 eral to a special affirmatively — there are governments in the 
 Church, therefore ruling elders : but this is our arguing— -these 
 governments here mentioned in 1 Cor. xii. 28, are a special kind 
 of governinij officers, set of God in the Church of Christ now under 
 tlie New Testament, and distinct from all other church officers, 
 "whether extraordinary or ordinary : and therefore they are the 
 ruling elders which we seek after, and that by divine right. 
 So that we argue from the enumeration of several kinds of church 
 officers affirmatively : here is an enumeration or roll of divers 
 kinds of church officers of divine right ; governments are one kind 
 in the roll,; distinct from the rest; therefore governments are of 
 divine right, consequently ruling elders ; for none but they can 
 be these governments, as hath been proved in the assumption. If 
 the apostle had here mentioned governments only, and none other 
 kind of officers with them, there had been some color for this 
 exception, and some probability that the apostle had meant gov- 
 ernors in general and not in special : but when the apostle sets 
 himself to enumerate so many special kinds of officers, apostles, 
 prophets, teachers, &c., how far from reason is it to think that in 
 the midst of all these specials, governments only should be a 
 general. 3. As for Dr. Field's scoffing term of lay governors or 
 lay elders, Avhich he seems in scorn to give to ruling elders; it 
 seems to be grounded upon that groundless distinction of the 
 ministry and people into clergy and laity ; which is justly reject- 
 ed by sound orthodox writers,* as not only without but against 
 the warrant of Scripture, clergy being nowhere appropriated to 
 the ministry only, but connnonly attributed to the whole church, 
 1 Pet. V. 2, 3. The Scripture term given to these officers is 
 ruling elders^ 1 Tim. v. 17 ; and so far as such, (though they be 
 elected from among the people.) they are ecclesiastical officers. 
 
 Except. 2. But it is not said here governors in the concrete, as 
 a|)ostles, prophets, teachers are mentioned concretely, which arc 
 distinct officers : but it is said governments, in the abstract, to 
 note faculties, not persons. The text may be thus resolved : The 
 apostle first sets down three distinct orders, a[>ostles, prophets, 
 and teachers : then he reckons up those common gifts of the Holy 
 Ghost (and among the rest the gift of governing) which were 
 common to all three. So that we need not here make di.stinct 
 orders in the Church, but only distinct gifts which might be in 
 one man.f 
 
 * Calvin in 1 Pet. v. 2, 3. Vid. etiam Jacob. Laurent. Comment, in 1 
 Pet. V. "2, 3, ttl/i fusit/s de hac distinctiont disherit, p. 3'2'2, atl. 325. 
 
 t Mat. Sutliv. De Prcsbytcrio, cap. 12, pagre 72 and 87 : edit. Lond., an. 
 1591. Brtson's Pcr)Klual Government of Clirist's Cliurch, chap. 10, page 
 
 141 ; ill lio. printed in anno IGIO. 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 131 
 
 Alls. 1. As the apostles, prophets, and teachers are here set 
 down concretely, and not abstractly, and are confessed to be three 
 distinct orders enumerated : so all the other five, though set down 
 abstractly, are (by a metonymy of the adjunct for the subject) to 
 be understood concretely, helps for helpers ; governments for 
 governors, &c.; otherwise we shall here charge the apostle with a 
 needless impertinent tautology in this chapter, for he had formerly 
 spoken of these gifts abstractly, ver. 8-10, as being all given to 
 profit the Church withal, ver. 7 ; but here, ver. 28-30, he speaks 
 of these gifts as they are in several distinct subjects, for the ben- 
 efit of the organical body the church ; else what saith he here, 
 more than he said before ? 2. That all these eight here enume- 
 rated, one as well as another, do denote, not distinct offices or acts 
 of the same officer, but distinct officers, having distinct administra- 
 tions, and distinct gifts for those administrations, is evident, partly 
 by the apostle's form of enumeration, ^r^^, secondly, thirdly, after- 
 leards, then oy furthermore : if he had intended only three sorts of 
 officers, he would have stopped at thirdly, but he goes on in an 
 enumerating way, to show us those that follow are distinct officers 
 as well as those that go before ; partly, by the apostle's recapitu- 
 lation, ver. 29, 30, M-hich plainly points out different officers, per- 
 sons not gifts, besides those three : Are all apostles ? are all pro- 
 phets ? are all teachers ? (and here he stops not, but reckons on) 
 are all icorkers of miracles ? have all the gifts of healing ? &c. If 
 it should be replied, But he doth not add, Are all helps ? are all 
 governments ? therefore these are not to be accounted distinct 
 officers from the rest ; otherwise why should the apostle thus 
 have omitted them, had there been any such distinct officers in 
 the Church in his time ? It may be replied. These two officers, 
 helps and governments, are omitted in the recapitulation, ver. 29, 
 30, not that the Church then had no such officers, for why then 
 should they have been distinctly mentioned in the enumeration of 
 church officers, ver. 28 ? But either, 1. For that helps and gov- 
 ernments were more inferior ordinary officers, and not furnished 
 with such extraordinary, or at least, eminent gifts, as the other 
 had, (which they abused greatly to pride, contention, schism, and 
 contempt of one another, the evils which the apostle here labors 
 so much to cure,) and so there was no such danger that these 
 helps and governments should run into the same distempers that 
 the other did. Or, 2. For that he would instruct these helps and 
 governments to be content with their own stations and offices, 
 (without strife and emulation,) though they be neither apostles, 
 nor prophets, nor teachers, nor any of the other enumerated, 
 which were so ambitiously coveted after ; and the last verse 
 seems much to favor this consideration, but covet earnestly the 
 
182 THE DIVIXE RIGHT 
 
 hest gifts, viz. which made most for edification, no! for ostenta- 
 tion.* 
 
 Except. 3. But helps lierc are placed before govenmients, 
 therefore it is not likely that governments were the ruling elders ; 
 Helps, i. e. deacons, wjiich is an inferior office, seeming here to 
 be preferred before ihem.j" 
 
 Ans. This follows not. Priority of order is not always an 
 argument of priority of worth, dignity, or authority. Scripture 
 doth not always observe exactness of order, to put that first which 
 is of most excellency : sometimes the pastor is put before the 
 teacher, as l^iphes. iv. 11, sometimes the teacher before the pas- 
 tor, as Rom. xii. 7, 8. Peter is first named of all the apostles, 
 both in Matt. x. 2, and in Acts i. 13, but we shall hardly grant 
 the Papist's arguing thence to be solid — Peter is first named, there- 
 fore he is the chief and head of all the apostles ; no more can 
 we account this any good consequence — helps are set before gov- 
 ernments, therefore governments are officers inferior to helps, 
 consetjuently Ihoy cannot be ruling ciders : this were bad logic. 
 
 Except. 4. But the word governments is general, and may sig- 
 nify either Christian magistrates, or ecclesiastical othcers, as 
 archbishops, bishops, or whatsoever other by lawful authority are 
 appointed in the Church. :j: And some of the semi-Erastians of 
 our times, by governments understand the Christian magistracy, 
 holding the Christian magistracy to bo an ecclesiastical adminis- 
 tration. § 
 
 Ans. 1. Covernments, i. e. governors, (though in itself and 
 singly mentioned, it be a general, yet) here being enumerated 
 among so many specials, is special, and notes the special kind of 
 ruling elders, as hath been proved. '2. As for archbishops and 
 diocesan bishops, they are notoriously known to be, as such, no 
 ofiicers set in the Church by God, but merely by the invention of 
 ujan ; therefore they have no part nor lot in this business, nor 
 can here be meant. And if by others, by lawful authority ap- 
 point(Hl in the ('hurch, tiiey mean tiiosc officers that Clod appoints 
 well : if those whom inan sets there without God, as chancellors, 
 commissioners, &c., such have as much power of government in 
 the Church, as they are such, as archbishops and bishops, viz. 
 just none at all by any divine warrant. 3. Nor can the civil 
 Christian magistrate here be implied. 1. Partly, because this is 
 (juite beside the whole intent and scope of this chapter, treating 
 merely upon spiritual church-matters, not at all of secular civil 
 matters, viz : of spiritual gifts for the Church's profit, ver. 1 to 12 ; 
 of the Church herself as one organical body, ver. 12 to 28 ; and 
 
 » Vide Calv. in loc. t Sutlivc. X Whitgift. fj Coleman. 
 
OF CHURCH GOYERNIMENT. 133 
 
 of the officers which God hath set in this organical body, ver. 28, 
 &c. Now here to crowd in the Christian magistrate, which is a 
 mere political governor, into the midst of these spiritual matters, 
 and into the roll of these merely ecclesiastical officers, how absurd 
 is it ! 2. Partly, because the magistrate, as such, is not set of 
 God in the Church either as a church officer, or as a church 
 member, (as hath been demonstrated formerly, chap. IX. ;) and 
 though he become a Christian, that adds nothing to the authority 
 of his magistracy, being the privilege only of his person, not of 
 his office. 3. Partly, because when this was written to the Co- 
 rinthians, the apostle writes of such governments as had at that 
 time their present actual being and existence in the Church : and 
 neither then, nor divers hundreds of years after, were there any 
 magistrates Christian, as hath been evidenced, chap. IX.* 
 
 Except. 5. Teachers are here expressed, but pastors omitted ; 
 and therefore well might governors be mentioned instead of pas- 
 te rs.f 
 
 Ansiu. 1. Then, according to his judgment, pastors were a dis- 
 tinct kind of officers from teachers ; otherwise the naming of 
 teachers would have sufficiently implied pastors, without the ad- 
 dition of the word governors, one act or function of the office be- 
 ing put for the whole office. But prelates did not love to hear of 
 such a distinction. However, it is the judgment of many others 
 no less learned or pious than they, that in the same congregation 
 where there are several ministers, he that excels in exposition of 
 scriptures, teaching sound doctrine, and convincing gainsayers, 
 may be designed hereunto, and called a teacher or doctor : he 
 that excels in application, and designed thereunto, may be called 
 a pastor; but where there is only one minister in one particular 
 congregation, he is to perform, as far as he is able, the whole 
 work of the ministry. 2. If pastors are to be understood by this 
 term governors, as contradistinct from teachers, formerly enu- 
 merated in the text ; doth not this seem to devolve the matter of 
 government so wholly upon the pastor, as that the teacher hath 
 nothing to do with it ? and hereby both pastor and teacher are 
 wronged at once : the teacher, while power of governing is de- 
 nied him, which belongs to him as well as to the pastor ; the 
 teacher being a minister of the word, hath power of administra- 
 tion of the sacraments and discipline, as well as the pastor : the 
 pastor, while he consequently is deprived of the necessary and 
 
 * Who desire more full satisfaction touching this poor and empty gloss, that 
 the civil magistrate should be meant by these governments, let them consult 
 Mr. Gillespie's elaborate treatise, called Aaron's Rod Blossoming, book 2, 
 chap. 6, pp. 218 to 224. 
 
 t Bilson. 
 
 12 
 
134 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 comfortable assistance of the teacher in point of government. 
 Therefore the pastor cannot here be intended by governors. 
 3. Bilson himself was not very confident of this gloss, and there- 
 fore he iinmediately adds, " If this content you not, I then deny 
 they are all ecclesiastical functions that are there specified," &c. 
 What then doth he make them ? viz. he makes divers of tliem, 
 and governments among the rest, to be but several gifts, whereof 
 one and the same officer might be capable. And a little after he 
 ingenuously confesses he cannot tell what these governors were, 
 saying, " I could easily presume, 1 cannot easily prove what 
 they were. The manner and order of those wonderful gifts of 
 God's Spirit, after so many hundreds may be conjectured, cannot 
 be demonstrated — governors they were, or rather governments, 
 (for so the apostle speaketh,) i. e. gifts of wisdom, discretion, and 
 judgment, to direct and govern the whole church, and every par- 
 ticular member thereof, in tiie manifold dangers and distresses 
 which those days did not want, (iovcrnors also they might be 
 called, that were appointed in every congregation to hear and ap- 
 pease the private strifes and quarrels that grew betwixt man and 
 man, lest the Christians, to the shame of themselves, and slander 
 of the gospel, should pursue each other for things of this life be- 
 fore the magistrates, who then were infidels ; of these St. Paul 
 speaketh, 1 Cor. vi. 1-7. These governors and moderators of 
 their brethren's quarrels and contentions I find, others I find not 
 in the apostle's writings, but such as withal were watchmen and 
 feeders of the fiock." Thus inconsistent he is with himself: one 
 while these governors must be pastors ; another while arbitrators 
 or daysmen about private diflerences ; another while gifts, not 
 officers ; another while he cannot easily prove what they were. 
 But they have been proved to be ruling elders, and the proof still 
 stands good, notwithstanding all his or others' exceptions. 
 
 Argum. III. The third argument for the divine right of the 
 mere ruling elder shall be drawn from 1 Tim. v. 17, "Let the 
 ciders that rule well, be counted worthy of double honor, especial- 
 ly they that labor in the word and doctrine." From which words 
 we may thus argue for the divine right of the ruling elder : 
 
 Major. Whatsoever officers in the Church are, according to the 
 word of Christ, styled elders, invested with rule in the Church, 
 approved of God in their rule, and yet distinct from all them that 
 labor in the word and doctrine ; they are the ruling elders in the 
 Church which we inquire after, and that by divine right. 
 
 This proposition seems clear and unque^ionable. For, 1. If 
 there be a certain kind of church officer which Christ in his word 
 calls an elder, 2. Declares to have rule in his ciiurch, .3. Ap- 
 proves in this his rule, and, 4. Distinguisheth from him that la- 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. I35 
 
 bors in the word and doctrine ; this is plainly the ruling elder, 
 and here is evidently the divine right of his office. Such a divine 
 approbation of his office, testified in Scripture, implies no less than 
 a divine institution thereof. 
 
 Minor. But the officers mentioned in 1 Tim. v. 17, are, accord- 
 ing to the word of Christ, styled elders, invested with rule in the 
 church : approved of God in their rule, and yet distinct from all 
 them that labor in the word and doctrine. This assumption may 
 be thus evidenced by parts. 
 
 1. The officers mentioned here in this word of Christ, are styled 
 elders. This Greek word translated elder, is used in the New 
 Testament chiefly in three several senses : 1. For men of ancient 
 time, not now living ; and so it is opposed to modern : Tradition 
 of elders, Matt. xv. 2, i. e. of them of old time, see Matt. v. 21. 
 2. For elders in age now living ; so it is opposed to younger, 
 1 Tim. v. 1 ; 1 Pet. v. 5. 3. For elders in function or office, 
 opposed to private men not in office, as Acts xiv. 23 ; and in this 
 last sense it is to be taken in this place, an office of ruling being 
 here ascribed, to these elders. They are called elders, say some, 
 because for the most part they were chosen out of the elder sort 
 of men : others better, from the maturity of knowledge, wisdom, 
 gifts, gravity, piety, &c., which ought to be in them. This name 
 elder seems to have rule and authority written upon it, when ap- 
 plied to any church officer ; and it is by the Septuagint often as- 
 cribed to rulers political, elders in the gate, Jmlges viii. 14 ; Ruth 
 iv. 2, 3 ; 1 Sam. v. 3 ; 1 Chron. xi. 3. In this place (as it is 
 well noted by some*) the word elders is a genus, a general attri- 
 bute, agreeing both to them that rule well, and also to those that 
 labor in the word and doctrine: the one sort only rule ; the other 
 sort both rule and preach ; but both sorts are elders. 
 
 2. The officers here mentioned are not only styled elders, but 
 invested with rule in the church. For it is plain both by the 
 text and context duly considered, and the apostle's scope in writ- 
 ing of this epistle, 1 Tim. iii. 15, that these elders are officers in 
 the Church. And that in the church they are vested with rule 
 appears not only by their name of elders, which when applied to 
 officers, imports rule, authority, &c., as hath been said ; but also 
 by the adjunct participle that rule, or ruling, annexed to elders — 
 Lei the elders ruling well. So that here we have not only the of- 
 fice, the thing, but the very name of ruling elders. The word 
 seems to be a military term, for captains and commanders in an 
 •drmy, foremost standers, (as the word imports,) that lead on and 
 command all the rest that follow them: hence metaphorically 
 
 * Mr. Rutlierford in his Due Right of Presbyteries, p. 1-15. 
 
136 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 used for the foremost-standers, rulers, governors in the church. 
 It noteth not only those that go before others by doctrine, or good 
 example : but that govern and rule others by authority. For, 
 1. Thus the word is used in Scripture: "One that ruleth well 
 his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity," 
 1 Tim. iii. 4 : where it plainly notes an authoritative ruling. 
 Again, "If a man know not how to rule his own house," 1 Tim. 
 iii. 5. And again, " Ruling their children and their own houses 
 well," 1 Tim. iii. 12. And can any man be so absurd as to think 
 that a master of a family hath not a proper authoritative rule 
 over his own children and family, but rules them only by doctrine 
 and example ? 
 
 2. Thus learned divines* and accurate Greciansf use the word 
 to denote authority : so that the Holy Ghost here calling them 
 ruling elders, implies they are vested with rule : and those that 
 deny this place to hold out two sorts of elders, yet confess it 
 holds out two sorts of acts, ruling and preaching. 
 
 3. These ruling elders are here approved of God in their rule ; 
 and that two ways, viz: 1. In that God's Spirit here commends 
 their ruling, being duly discharged, ruling ivell, excellently, &c. 
 Did no rule in the Church belong to them for matter, God would 
 never command or approve them for the manner. He cannot be 
 accounted with God to do any thing well, that hath no right to do 
 it at all. 2. In that God's Spirit here commands their well ruling 
 to be honorably rewarded. Let them he counted worthy of double 
 honor : or. Let them be dignified with double honor. Here is not 
 only reward, but an eminent reward appointed them, and that 
 urged from Scripture, ver. 18. Where God thus appoints re- 
 wards, he approves that for which he rev/ards ; and what God 
 thus approves is of divine right. See part 1, ciiap. V. 
 
 4. Yet, finally. These elders, vested with rule in the Church, 
 and divinely approved in their rule, are distinct from all them 
 that labor in tiie word and doctrine. This may thus be evidenced 
 from the text, as some:|: have well observed: For, 1. Here is a 
 general, under which the several kinds of officers here spoken of 
 are comprehended, elders; all here mentioned are elders. 2. Here 
 are two distinct kinds of elders, viz : those that rule well, there is 
 one kind ; and they that labor in the word (as the pastors) and doc- 
 trine, (as the doctors and teachers,) here is the other kind. 3. Here 
 are two participles expressing these two species or kinds of elders — 
 ruling, and laboring : those only rule, that is all their work, and 
 
 * Calvin, Beza, &-c. on this place. 
 t See Gillespie's Aaron's Rod, book 2, chap. 9. 
 
 i Mr. Rutherford in his Due Rights of Presbyteries, chap. 7, sec. 7, pages 
 145-147. 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. I37 
 
 therefore here are called ruling elders ; not because they alone rule, 
 but because their only work is to rule : but these not only rule, 
 but, over and besides, //lei/ labor in the word and doctrine. 4. Here 
 are two distinct articles distinctly annexed to these two participles 
 — they that rule ; they that labor. 5. Finally, here is an eminent 
 disjunctive particle set betwixt these two kinds of elders, these 
 two participles, these two articles, evidently distinguishing one 
 from the other, viz. especially they that labor in the word, &c., 
 intimating, that as there were some ruling elders that did labor 
 in the word and doctrine, so there were others that did rule, and 
 not labor in the word : both were worthy of double honor, but 
 especially they that both ruled and labored in the word also. And 
 wheresoever this word, here translated especially, is used in all 
 the New Testament, it is used to distinguish thing from thing, 
 person from person, that are spoken of; as, *' Let us do good to 
 all, but especially to those of the household of faith," Gal. vi. 10 : 
 therefore there were some of the household of faith, and some that 
 were not ; and accordingly we must put a difference in doing good 
 to them. -"AH the saints salute you, especially those of Caesar's 
 household ;" some saints not of his household : all saluted them, but 
 especially those of Cccsar's houseliold. " He that provides not 
 for his own, especially tor them of his own house, he hath denied 
 the faith," 1 Tim. v. 8. A believer is to provide for his friends 
 and kindred, but especially for those of his own house, wife and 
 children. See also 1 Tim. iv. 10; fit. i. 11 ; 2 Tim. iv. 13 ; 
 2 Pet. ii. 10 ; Acts xx. 38, and xxvi. 3 ; in all which places the 
 word especially is used as a disjunctive particle, to distinguish 
 one thing from another, without which distinction we shall but 
 make nonsense in interpreting those places. And generally the 
 best interpreters* do from this text conclude, that there were two 
 sorts of elders, viz : the ruling elder, that only ruled ; the preach- 
 ing elder, that besides his ruling, labored in the word and doctrine 
 also. 
 
 Now, therefore, seeing the officers here mentioned are, 1. Ac- 
 cording to the word of Christ, (for this is the word of Christ,) 
 styled elders ; 2. Vested with rule ; 3. Approved of God in their 
 rule; and yet, 4. Distinct fi'om all that labor in the word and doc- 
 trine, as hath been particularly proved ; we may conclude, that, 
 
 Conclusion. Therefore the officers here mentioned are tiie ruling 
 elders in the Church which we inquire after, and that by divine 
 right. 
 
 But against this place of 1 Tim. i. 17, and the argument from 
 it, divers cavils and exceptions are made ; let them have a brief 
 solution. 
 
 * Beza, Piscata, Calvin, 011 this verse. 
 12* 
 
138 TUE hlVlSE IlIGIIT 
 
 Except. 1. There were two sorts of elders, some laboring in the 
 word and doctrine, some taking care of tlie fXK)r, viz. deacons ; 
 both were worthy of double honor, especially they that labored in 
 the word, &c.* 
 
 Am. 1. This is a new distinction of elders without warrant of 
 Scripture. Deacons are nowhere in all the New Testament styled 
 elders ;f nay, they are contradistinguished from elders, both 
 teaching and ruling. " He that giveth let him flo it with simplici- 
 ty : he that ruleth, with diligence," Rom. xii. 8. " Helps, gov- 
 crnrnenU," 1 Cor. xii. 28. Compare also Tit. i. 5, 6, &c., 1 Tim. 
 iii. 2, &c., with 1 Tim. iii. 8, &c. 2. As deacons are not elders, 
 so deacons have no rule in the church. It is true, they are to 
 " rule their children and their own houses well," 1 Tirn. iii. 12 ; 
 this is only family rule : but as for the church, their office the/ein 
 is to be hel'pH, 1 Cor. xii. 28 ; to diMrtl/ule, Ilom. xii. 8 ; to serve 
 tahks, Acts vi. 2, 3 ; but no rule is ascribed to them. 
 
 Except. 2. But by ruling well, some understand living well, 
 leading a holy, exemplary life. The apostle would have minis- 
 ters not only to live well themselves, but also to feed others by the 
 word and doctrine ; they that live well are to be double honored, 
 especially they who lalx)r in the v/ord, &c., as 1 Thess. v. 
 12, 134 
 
 Ana. l.-The apostle here speaks rather of officers than of acts 
 of of?ice : of persons rather than of duties, if his phrase be ob- 
 served. 2. Living well is not ruling well here in the apostle'-s 
 sense, who intends the rule of elders over others; he that lives 
 well rules well over himself; not over others: else all that live 
 well were church rulers ; they conduct by example, do not govern 
 by authority. Altar. Damasc. c. xii. 3. If well ruling be well 
 living, then double honor, double maintenance from the churcli 
 is due for well living, (1 Tim. v. 17, 18.) conserjuently all that 
 live well deserve this double honor. 4. This seems to intimate 
 that mini?>ters deserve double honor for living well, though they 
 preach not. How absurd ! 5. D. Downham, once pleased with 
 this gloss, after confessed it was not safe. 
 
 Except. 3. Those that rule well may be meant of aged, infirm, 
 superannuated bishops, who cannot labor in the word and doc- 
 trine. § 
 
 Aris. 1. Here is no speech of prelatical bishops, but o{ ruling 
 
 * Bibon'H Pcrpetaal Government of Chmt's Church, chap. x. pages 130, 
 131. 
 
 + Altar. Damas. cap. xii., page 918 and page 920. 
 
 X ii. Kinjr, in hiti Scrraori on Cant, viii., Bibion in liiu Pcrpetaal Gavemmpiut 
 of Christ's Church, c. x. page l.'i2, &,c. 
 
 /y 13. King, in hiu Bcrmon on Cant viii., page 40. 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERXMEXT. yyj 
 
 and preaching elders in this text. 2. Mow shall old, decrepit hi- 
 shops rule well, when they cannot labor in the word and doc 
 trine? 3. By this gloss, the preaching elders that labor in the 
 word and doctrine, should be preferred before the most ancient 
 bishop in double honor; such doctrine would not loner since have 
 been very odious and apocryphal to our late prelates. 4 Thos- 
 preachers that have faithfully and constantly spent their stren^th^ 
 and worn out themselves with ministeriariabor, that thev c°an.' 
 
 , .„wv^., mui LijtTv v;aij- 
 
 rule nor preach any longer, are yet worthy of double 
 bonor for all their former travels in the service of Christ and his 
 
 not 
 hor 
 Church 
 
 Except. 4:. Among ministers some did preach, others only ad- 
 ministered the sacraments ; so Paul showeth that he preached and 
 labored more than all the apostles,'^ 1 Cor. xv. 10- but ban 
 tized few or none, 1 Cor i. 14, leaving that to be performed by 
 others ; and when Paul and Barnabas were companions, and their 
 trave s were equal, yet Paul is noted to have been the chief speak- 
 er, (Acts xiv 12:) all were worthy of double honor, but espe- 
 cially they who labored in the word and doctrine.* 
 _ Ans. 1 This gloss imagineth such a ministry in the apostles' 
 times as the prelates had erected of late in their days, viz • many 
 dumb dogs that could not bark nor preach at all, yet could ad 
 minister the sacraments by the old service-book. But the apos 
 ties, as Cartwrightf observes, allowed no such ministers, will have 
 every bishop or preaching elder to be both " apt to teach, and able 
 to convince, 1 Tim. iii. 2; Tit. i. 9. So that it was far from 
 Jraul to countenance a non-preaching or seldom-preachincr minis- 
 try, by allowing any lionor at all, much less a double honor, to 
 such. Sure, preaching is one part, yea, a most principal part or 
 duty of the minister's office, (as hath been evidenced before. Part 
 2 Chap \JI.,) and shall he be counted worthy of double honor 
 that neglects a principal duty of his office? NaV, he deserves not 
 the very name of such an officer in the church : why should he 
 be called a pastor that doth not feed ? or a teacher, that doth not 
 teach his flock ? &c., sailh Chrysost. Hom. xv. in 1 Timothy '> 
 Why should Paul's laboring be restrained here to his preaching 
 only? when Paul speaks of his own labor elsewhere, he speaks 
 ot It in another sense, 2 Cor. xi. 17, -in labor and weariness"— 
 compare it with the context; and in this place judicious Calvin 
 
 Df n^FiJiH'^fh^ "' ^,'' ^^^''"^^ ^^'^^"''' Cart Wright's first Reply. This is one 
 of D. Field s hree glosses. Field, Of the Church, lib. v., chap: 26 
 
 ,r Lthr.Tnffl^' r "' 't''^^:^^ ^'''^ "^ teaching, are like idols, their cases, 
 n 1 Tun V 17 ' "^ '" '^'" '^'"''^^'^ '^^"^''- ^^^-^^^^-^'S'^t Testuin. Annot, 
 
140 '^'JIE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 seems ratlier to interpret it of other manner of labor, and Parens 
 extends it, besides preaching, to divers otlier labors which Paul 
 did undergo. 3. What warrant doth this exception hold out for 
 two sorts of ministers here pretended, some preaching, others on/y 
 administering the sacraments ? Thus, Paul preached much, hap- 
 tized butj'cw : thorelbre, there were some that only administered the 
 itacramenls : well concluded. Yet Paul baptized some, 1 Cor. i. 
 14, 16, distributed the Lord's supper to some, Acts xx. 7, 11 ; so 
 that he both preached and dispensed the sacraments. Let any 
 ^how where any person dispensed the sacraments that was not a 
 preacher. Again, Paul and Barnabas equally travelled together., 
 hut Paul was chief speaker : what then? therefore some labored 
 in the word, others in the sacraments only. Tliis is woful logic. 
 4. To whomsoever the power of dispensing the sacraments was 
 given by Christ, to them also the power of preaching was given ; 
 dispensing the word and sacraments are joined in the same com- 
 mission, Matt, xxviii. 18-20 : what Christ joins together let not 
 man put asunder. 5, Touching the preaching elder there is men- 
 tioned only one act peculiar to his office, viz. laboring in thewordf 
 &c. ; but, taking a part lor the whole, we may understand his dis- 
 pensing the sacraments also, and what else is peculiar to the 
 preaching elder's oflice, though for brevity's sake it be not here 
 named.* 
 
 Except. 5. By elders that rule well may be meant certain gov- 
 ernors, or inferior magistrates, chosen to compose controversies or 
 civil strifes. Suitable hereunto is the late Erastian gloss, that 
 by elders ruling well may be meant kings, parliament-men, and 
 all civil governors. f 
 
 Ans. 1. it is well known that in the primitive times there was 
 no Christian magistrate in the Church, and for the Church to 
 choose heathen judges or magistrates to be arbitrators or daysmen 
 in civil controversies, is a tiling utterly condemned by the apostle, 
 1 Cor. vi. 1, 6i.c. 2. Tiie apostle speaks here of ecclesiastical, 
 not of civil olHcers, as the latter j)hrase intimates. The main 
 scope of this epistle was to instruct Timothy how to behave him- 
 self, not in the commonwealth, but in the Church of God, (1 Tim. 
 iii. 15,) and here bespeaks of such ollicers as were in being in 
 the Church at that time. 3. If kings, parliament-men, and all 
 civil governors be these ruling elders, then ministers have not on- 
 ly an equal share with them in government by this text, which the 
 Erastians will not like well ; but also are to have a superior hon- 
 or or maintenance to kings, parliament-men, and all civil gov- 
 ernors. Certainly the magistrates will never triumph in this 
 
 * Allur. l)aiuu«c. chap, xii., page 91!). t Bridge, Ilusscy. 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. l4l 
 
 gloss, nor thank them that devised it. 4. Sutlive seems to be 
 against this opinion, (though no great friend to ruling elders,) say- 
 ing Beza bestows many words to prove that the judges in 1 Cor. 
 vi. were not of the number of presbyters: which truly I myself 
 should easily grant him. For there were none such ever consti- 
 tuted. 5. This is a novel interpretation, as some observe,* un- 
 known among ancient writers. 
 
 Except. 6. Tiiose words {especialhj iliey who lahor in the word 
 and doctrine^ are added to the former explanativcly, to teach us 
 who they are that rule well, viz. they w'ho laboj' much in the word 
 and doctrine^ and not to distinguish them that labor in the word, 
 from elders ruling well ; as if Paul had said, " Let the elders 
 that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, greatly labor- 
 ing in the word," &c. For the word translated especialhj here 
 more aptly signifies much, greatly, than especially. For though 
 with the adversative hut along with it, it signifieth especially, yet 
 alone (as it is here) it signifies much, greatJy.-f 
 
 Ans. 1. If this sentence [especially they who labor, &c.] were 
 added only to explain who are well-ruling elders, viz. such as 
 greatly labor in the word, &:c., then few of the prelatical bishops 
 were to be counted well-ruling elders, for very few, if any of them, 
 were guilty of laboring greatly in the word and doctrine. 2. Then 
 also the apostle would have said, either who especially labor, or 
 simply without the article, especially laboring ; then especially, 
 they who labor, as here he doth, carrying his speech rather to 
 distinct persons and officers, than to distinct duties or actions. 
 3. This word translated especially, hath been already in the minor 
 proposition proved to be rather disjunctive, than explanatory ; a 
 term of distinction to point out a several sort of elders from only 
 ruling elders, rather than a term of explication, signifying who 
 are to be reputed these well-ruling elders. 4. The word espe- 
 cially is used for a term of distinction, even in those places where 
 the adversative hut is not joined to it, as in Tit. i. 10, " For there 
 are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, especially they 
 of the circumcision :" where especially distinguishes the7n of the 
 -circumcision, from all other vain talkers, and deceivers ; and in 
 1 Tim. iv. 10, " Who is the Saviour of all men, especially of them 
 that believe ;" here especially without hut distinguishes them that 
 believe from all other men, as capable of a special salvation from 
 ^God ; if here it were not a note of distinction, according to this 
 gloss, we should thus read the place, " Who is the Saviour of all 
 men, greatly believing ;" but this were cold comfort to weak 
 Christians of little faith. So here esjJecially, though but be want- 
 
 * Altar. Damasc. chap, xii., page 919. t Sutlive. 
 
142 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 ing, distinguisheth them that labor in th6 word and doctrine, from 
 them that labor not therein, and yet rule well. 
 
 Except, 7. It is one thing to preach, another thing to labor in 
 the word and doctrine. If there be here any distinction of elders 
 it is between those that labor more abundantly and painfully, and 
 between those that labor not so much. This objection takes much 
 with some.* B. Bilson much presses this objection from the em- 
 phasis of the word laboring; signifying endeavoring anything 
 with greater striving and contention, &c., to this sense, " Let the 
 elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, espe- 
 cially they who labor and sweat, &:c.. in the word — who give 
 themselves even to be tired and broken with labors ;" and this, 
 saith he, is the genuine signification of the xvord translated lafx)r- 
 ing, when it is borrowed from the labor of the body, to denote the 
 contention or striving of the mind, &c."|" 
 
 Ans. 1. This gloss takes it for granted, that this text speaks 
 only of preaching, or the ministry of the word, and therein of the 
 lesser or greater pains taken : which (besides that it begs the 
 thing in question) makes the ministry of the word common to 
 both sorts here distinctly spoken of, whereas rather, the plain cur- 
 rent of the text makes ruling common to both, over and beyond 
 which the preaching elder labors in the word. 2. Doth not this 
 interpretation allow a double honor to ministers that labor not so 
 much as others in the word ? And can we think that the labo- 
 rious Paul intended to dignify, patronize, or encourage idle drones, 
 lazy, sluggish, seldom preachers? Ministers must be exceeding 
 instant and laborious in their ministry, 2 Tim. iv. 1-3. If this 
 were the sense only to prefer the greater before the less labor in 
 the ministry, the apostle would have used this order of words, 
 " Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, 
 especially they who labor," &:c., take upon themselves more 
 weighty cares. For those words (in the word and doctrine) 
 should either have been quite omitted, as now was expressed, or 
 should have been inserted immediately after them that rule well, 
 and before the word especially, to this effect, " Let the elders iha* 
 rule well and preach the word and doctrine well, be counte'i 
 worthy of double honor; but especially those who labor much in 
 well ruling and in well preaching :" in such an expression th': 
 case had been very clear and evident. 4. Should this commen' 
 stand, that they who labor more in the ministry than others should 
 have more honor, more maintenance, than others, how many em- 
 ulations and contentions were this likely to procure ? Who 
 
 * Sullive, De Prfsbyterio, cap. 12, pages 72, 7.3. 
 t Bilson's Government of the Church, page 133. 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. I43 
 
 shall undertake to proportion the lionor and reward, according to 
 the proportion of every minister's labor ? 5. As for llic criticism 
 of the word laboring, which Bilson lays so. mucii stress upon, these 
 things are evident, 1. That here lahoring, signifies emphatically 
 nothing else but that labor, care, diligence, solicitude, &c., which 
 the nature of the pastoral office requires in every faithful pastor; 
 as is implied 1 Tiicss. v. 12, 13, " Know them which labor 
 among you, and are over you in the Lord ;" and the apostle 
 saith that every minister " shall receive a reward according to 
 his own labor," 1 Cor. iii. 8. Such labor and diligence also is 
 required in them that rule, whilst they are chai'ged to rule ivitli 
 diligence, Rom. xii. 8, which is as much as ivith labor : yea, the 
 common charity of Christians hath its labor ; and this very word 
 labor is ascribed thereunto, labor of love, 1 Thess. i. 3 ; Hcb. vi. 
 10. 2. That if the apostle had here intended the extraordinary 
 labor of some ministers above others, not ordinarily required of 
 all, he would have taken a more emphatical word to have set it 
 out, as he is wont to do in some other cases, as in 2 Cor. xi. 27, 
 " In labor and weariness." 1 Thess. ii. 9, " For ye remembered, 
 brethren, our labor and weariness." 6. Finally, " If there be 
 but one kind of church officers here designed, then," as saith the 
 learned Cartwright, " the words {csjpecially those that labor) do 
 not cause the apostle's speech to rise, but to fall ; not to go for- 
 ward, but to go backward ; for to teach worthily and singularly 
 is more than to teach painfully ; for the first doth set forth all that 
 which may be required in a worthy teacher, where the latter no- 
 teth one virtue only of pains taking." 
 
 Except. 8. Though it could be evinced, that here the apostle 
 speaks of some other elders, besides the ministers of the word, 
 yet what advantage can this be for the proof of ruling elders ? 
 For the apostle being to prove that the ministers of the word 
 ought to be honored, i. e. maintained ; why might he not use this 
 general proposition, that all rulers, whether public or domestic, 
 whether civil or ecclesiastical, are to be honored ? And when 
 the apostle speaketh of the qualifications of deacons, he requires 
 them to be such as have ruled their own houses well.* 
 
 Ans. 1. This slight gloss might have appeared more tolerable 
 and plausible, were it not, partly, that the grand scope of the 
 apostle in this chapter and epistle is to direct about church officers 
 and church affairs, as both the context, and 1 Tim. iii. 14, 15, 
 clearly evidence ; and partly, had the word rulers been express- 
 ed alone in the text, and the word elders left out : but seeing that 
 the apostle speaks not generally of them that rule well, but par- 
 
 * Sutlivo, De Presbyterio, c. 12, pages 72, 73. 
 
144 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 ticularly of the elders that rule well in the Church, here is nd 
 place for this poor faint gloss. 2. Had the apostle here intended 
 sucli a lax and general proposition for all sorts of rulers, then 
 had he also nneant that an honorable maintenance is due from 
 the Church to domestic as well as public, yea, to civil as well as 
 ecclesiastical rulers : then the Church should have charge enough : 
 yea, and then should ministers of the word (according to this 
 interpretation) have more honor and maintenance than any other 
 rulers, domestic or public, civil or ecclesiastical. Magistrates 
 will never thank him for this gloss. 3. Though some kind of 
 skill to rule and govern be reqdired in deacons, yet that is no 
 public rule in the Church, but a private rule in their own houses 
 only, which the apostle mentions, 1 Tim. iii. 12. 
 
 Except. 9. But these well-ruling presbyters may be referred 
 to these pastors and teachers which were resident in every church, 
 who therefore are properly said to have care and inspection of 
 the faithful, as being affixed to that place for that end ; but the 
 word laboring, or they that labor, may be referred to them who 
 travelled up and down for the visiting and confirming of the 
 churches.* " There were some that remained in some certain 
 places, for the guiding and governing of such as were already 
 won by the preaching of the gospel : others that travelled whh 
 great labor and pains from place to place to spread the know- 
 ledge of God into all parts, and to preach Christ crucified to 
 such as never heard of him before. Both these were worthy 
 of double honor, but the latter that builded not upon another 
 man's foundation, more especially than the former, that did but 
 keep that which others had gotten, and govern those that others 
 have gained. "f 
 
 Ans. 1. If this be the sense, that there were some ministers 
 fixed, and limited to particular places and churches ; others un- 
 fixed, having an unlimited commission, and these are to be espe- 
 cially honored : then the meaning is, that the apostles and evan- 
 gelists who were unfixed, and had unlimited commissions, and 
 laid the foundation, were to be especially honored above pastors 
 and teachers that were fixed and limited, and only built upon 
 their foundation. But how should this be the meaning ? For 
 this seems a needless exhortation ; what church would not readily 
 yield an especial honor to apostles and evangelists above pastors 
 and teachers ? This would savor too much of self-seeking in 
 the apostle, and providing for his own honor. This implies that 
 the text hath reference to apostles and evangelists, whereas it evi- 
 dently speaks only of ordinary ruling and preaching presbyters. 
 
 * Bilson, page 135. t Field, Book v. 
 
OF CHUPXH GOVERNMENT. ^^^ 
 
 ^ere ordinary presby/ers 't; ordiinM':. I^ oved t„ 't' 
 Church wuhout limitation of eonimission, where can -it be Mf 
 oenced in all the Scriptures ? M-anderingpresbv'ers are nowhere 
 contended: wandering star, are condemnea Jude ver 13 
 3. To refer tlie word laborhiff to them thif u-^LuJa F ^"- Z^" 
 .0 place for visiting and confirming oHhc't ve°" fveal 
 and unjusttfiable in this place ; for this clashes wi^hDr-pWd's 
 
 fmr (T"'T'' ^-^^^P'- ■*' limiting fefo^Vo preach! 
 ing.) But anv thin^ for a pre*?ent shiff Thi^ «-^,.^ • F'^.^^"- 
 
 given to the apostlefas 1 Cor iv 7o 2 Cor J 27'- ITT'^ 
 
 are apostles and evangelists called'/'iolj ^„e"e,f in e" pl^ rJF 
 
 ther travellmg from place to place, to lay the foundation of 
 
 Chr. ttanuy. thereby to distinguish them from ordinary Zors 
 
 and teachers? A ay the apostle himself makes rtm L^rlT 
 
 and rt«« timt laior, the same, 1 Thess. v. 12, 13. So here in 
 
 . e. both of them ordinary presbyters, both of them rulinl oi^lv 
 to one of tliem the office of /^boring in the word and dooSne k 
 superadded; yea, the very women that were godlv were lid tl 
 labor m tbe Lord Rom. xvi. 6, 12, not for their i'avet up 
 and down several countries to propagate the gospel, for where are " 
 Mary and Persis reported to have done this ? Yet doubUess such 
 good women privately labored much to bring in others, epec^Hv 
 and inhe'r '"'' '" ''"Y "" ^P°^"^^'' ""d-entertain he gospe f 
 
 a-cl I 'Pk™" ^"'''•«™''^'. how much more may kbor b^ 
 
 ascribed to presbyters in respect of both their private and oublie 
 I employments I So that this word hbori,,^, w-Wch is applfed n 
 
 Scripture not only ,0 ordinary presbyters, but also to »-omel " 
 i cannot (without violence) be drawn peculiarly ,0 siVnify apoTtles 
 land evangelists, as this exception intends. " ' ^ ^ 
 
 ^hxcepl 10. Seeing in every minister of the word three things 
 
 are requisite unblamableness of life, dexterity of govern' n. and 
 
 pelll^'the iT'"' '. ""^ '"^ ?"' "■' -™--ded' here ^ Ts- 
 pecialh the labor m doctrine above them both ; therefore here are 
 set down not a two.fold order of presbyters, bu only two par's of 
 .he pastoral otfice, preaching a^id governing; b4 which the 
 
j^g THE DIVINE KIGIIT 
 
 apostle joins in the office of pastots, 1 Thes. v. 2-13.* "The 
 nuides of Iho ciiurch are wortliy of double honor, both in respect 
 of Kovernin- and teaching, hut especially for their pains in teach- 
 h«g ; so noling two parts or duties of presbyterial offices, not two 
 
 sorts of presbyters. "t , x .. c ^• ^ ^»a 
 
 Am. 1. Jt is true, pastors have the power both of ruling and 
 preaching belonging to their office, as is intimated, 1 Ihes. v. 12, 
 la, and ll.b. xiii. 7, and in other placns ; but doth it therefore 
 follow, tliat none have the power of ruling, but those that have 
 the power of preaching? or that this text, or 1 lim. v. 17, in- 
 tends only those rulers that preach ? 2. Bilson, in this excep- 
 tion, confesseth that laborm^ belongs to ordinary fixed pastors, 
 and therefore contradicts himself in his former objection, where- 
 in he wouhl have appropriated it to unfixed apostles and evangel- 
 ists ; yea, by this gloss it is granted, that preaching presbyters 
 are to be more lionored than non-preaching ruling prelates. 
 These are miserable shifts and evasions, whereby they are neces- 
 sitatod thus to wound their own friends, and to cross their own 
 principles. 3. According to this gloss, this should be the sense, 
 "Let the ministers that rule well by good life, and skilful gov- 
 crnmcnt, be counted worthy of double iionor, especially they 
 who labor in tlie word and doctrine." Now dolh not this tacitly 
 insinuate, that some ministers may rule well, and be worthy ot 
 double honor, though they labor not in the word and doctrine? 
 and how absurd were this ? But if the text be interpreted riot of 
 several acts of the same office, but of several sorts of onicers, 
 tliis absurdity is prev(,'nted, Ui rullnir elders he doubly honored, 
 espedally tho.ethal. hoik ruk and preach. 4. The text evidently 
 speaks not of duties, but of persons ; not of acts, but of agents j 
 not of offices, but of officers ; for it is not said, - Let the elders 
 be counted worthy of double honor, for well ruling; especia ly 
 for laboring"— but, Lei the elders that rule well, espeaallij they 
 that Inhor in the word, <^c. So that this gloss is vain, and against 
 the plain letter of the text. .7.77 
 
 Evrept 11. Though the emphasis of the word, they that labor, 
 be not to be neglected, yet the diflerence betwixt presbyters is 
 not put l^y that word, but by those {in the leord and doctrine.) 1 his 
 docs not signify two kinds of presbyters, but two offices of minis- 
 ters and pastors ; one general, to rule well ; another special, to la- 
 lor in the word and doctrine. To rule well, sailli 1 lerom is to 
 fulfil his office : or, as the Syriac interpreter expounds it, to be- 
 liave themselves well in their place ;" or as the Scripture speaks, 
 To go in and out before God's people as becomes them, going be- 
 
 Bilson, page l.'i3. 
 
 i Field, book v. 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. I47 
 
 fore ihem in good ivorks in Iheir 'private conversations, and also in 
 their public administrations ; whence the apostle makes here a 
 comparison betwixt the duties of ministers thus, " All presbyters 
 that generally discharge their ofilce well are worthy of double 
 honor ; especially they who labor in the word, which is a prima- 
 ry part of their office."* 
 
 Ans. 1. For substance this objection is the same with objection 
 10, already answered, therefore much miore needs not to be added. 
 2. It is to be noted, that the apostle saith not, " Let the presbyters 
 that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially be- 
 cause they labor in the word — for then he should have pointed at 
 the distinct offices of ministers;" but he saith, es'peci ally they that 
 labor, which clearly carries the sense to the distinction of elders 
 themselves, who have distinct employments. 3. If preaching 
 presbyters only should here be meant, and under that phrase 
 \that rule well) their whole office in general, and the right man- 
 aging thereof, should be contained, whereas laboring in the word 
 and doctrine (as this exception implies) is but one part thereof, 
 then hence it would inevitably follow, that a minister deserves 
 more honor for the v/ell administration of one part of his oflice 
 only, than for the well managing of the whole, which is absurd ! 
 Here therefore the apostle doth not compare one primary part of 
 the pastor's office, with the whole office and all the parts thereof ; 
 but one sort of presbyters with another, distinguishing the mere 
 ruling presbyter from the ruling and preaching presbyter, as the 
 acute and learned Whitaker hath well observed. 
 
 Except. 12. It is evident in the text itself, that all these elders 
 here meant were worthy of double honor, whether they labored 
 or governed ; which by St. Paul's proofs, presently following, 
 and by the consent of all old and new writers, is meant of their 
 maintenance at the charges of the Church. f Now that lay- 
 judges and censors of manners were in the apostle's time found 
 at tlje expense of the Church, or by God's law ought to have their 
 maintenance at the people's hands, till I see it justly proved, I 
 cannot believe it : which yet must be proved before this construc- 
 tion can be admitted.:}: 
 
 Ans. 1. This word honor signifies (after the custom of the 
 Hebrews, Exod. xx. 12) all pious oflices and relief. This 
 phrase {double honor) interpreters expound either absolutely or 
 comparatively. Absolutely thus : double honor, i. e. great hon- 
 
 * D. Downham. See Altar. Damasc. c. xii. page 924. 
 
 t Chrysost. Homil. 15, in 1 Tim. 5, Hier. in 1 Tim. cap. 5, Ambr. in 
 1 Tim. cap., Calv. in 1 Tim. cap. 5, Bullinger in 1 Tim. cap. 5, Beza in 
 1 Tim. 5. 
 
 t Bilson, Sutlive, and Downham. 
 
148 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 or, so some ; maintenance in this life, happiness in the life to 
 come, so others ; honor of reverence to their persons, and of 
 maintenance for their labors, so Chrysostom, of wliich saith Cal- 
 vin, " That Chrysostom interprets double honor to be maintenance 
 and reverence, I impugn not." Comparatively thus : double lion - 
 or here seems to relate to what was before spoken, ver. 3, 
 " Honor widows that are widows indeed." Now here he inti- 
 mates, that though widows are to be honored, yet these should be 
 much more honored ; they should have single, these double hon- 
 or. In this last sense, which seems most genuine, it seems most 
 likely that the apostle here intended principally, if not only, the 
 honor of maintenance ; partly because the honor appointed for 
 widows, ver. 3, dsc, was only maintenance; partly because the 
 reason of this charge to honor, &c., refers only to maintenance, 
 ver. 18. Thus far we grant, that the text speaks of mainte- 
 nance. 2. It may be further yielded that all the presbyters here 
 spoken of are to be counted worthy of double honor, of honora- 
 ble, liberal maintenance; even they that rule well (if need re- 
 quire) are to be thus honored, but the principal care of mainte- 
 nance ought to be of them that labor in the word and doctrine, 
 because the apostle saith especially they that labor, &c. : the like 
 injunction, see Gal. vi. 6, " Let him that is catechized, commu- 
 nicate to him that catechizeth him in all good things;" and thus 
 much this text plainly evidenceth. 3. What then can be infer- 
 red hereupon by the adversaries of ruling elders ? " Therefore 
 the ruling elders (in the reformed churches) that take no main- 
 tenance of the church, are not the elders that rule well here men- 
 tioned ?" This follows not : the apostle Paul took no wages of 
 the church of Corinth, 2 Cor. xi. 7-9, and xii. 12, 13, &:c., was he 
 therefore not an apostle to them, as to other churches of whom 
 he took maintenance ? Divers among us in these days labor in 
 the word and doctrine, and are not sufficiently maintained by 
 their churches, but forced to spend of their own estates to do oth- 
 ers service ; are they therefore no ministers ? Forgive them 
 this wrong. Most churches are not able (or at least not willing) 
 to maintain their very preaching presbyters and their families 
 comfortably and sutficiently, as the gospel requireth : if therefore 
 in prudence, that the Church be not needlessly burdened, those 
 ruling elders are chosen generally that need no maintenance, 
 doth their not taking maintenance of the church make their office 
 null and void ? Or if the church do not give them maintenance 
 (when they neither need it, nor desire it, nor is the church able 
 to do it) is the church therefore defective in her duty, or an ill 
 observer of the apostolical precepts ? Sure maintenance is not 
 essentially and inseparably necessary to the calling of either rul- 
 
OF CHURCH (JOVEllNMENT. 
 
 149 
 
 ing or preaching elder. There may he cases when not only the 
 preaching, hut the ruling elders ought to be maintained, and there 
 may be cases when not only the ruling hut also the preaching 
 presbyter (as it was with Paul) should not expect to be maintain- 
 ed by the church. 4. It is as observable that the apostle here 
 saith, let them be counted worthy of double honor, though the 
 reformed churches do not actually give double maintenance to 
 elders that rule well, yet they count them wonhy of double 
 maintenance, though the elders do not take it, though the churches 
 cannot give it. 
 
 Finally, unto these testimonies and arguments from Scripture, 
 many testimonies of ancient and modern writers (of no small 
 repute in the Church of God) may be usefully annexed, speaking 
 for ruling elders in the Church of Christ from time to time : some 
 speaking of such sort of elders, presbyters, or church-governors, 
 as that ruling elders may very well be implied in their expres- 
 sions ; some plainly declaring that the Church of Christ in fact 
 had such officers for government thereof; and some testifying 
 that of right such officers ought to be in the Church of Christ 
 now under the New Testament for the well guiding thereof; by 
 which it may notably appear, that in asserting the office of the 
 ruling elder in the Church, we take not upon us to maintain any 
 singular paradox of our own devising, or to hold forth some new 
 light in this old opinionative age : and that the ruling elder is not 
 a church officer first coined at Geneva, and a stranger to the 
 Church of Christ for the first 1500 years, (as the adversaries 
 of ruling elders scornfully pretend,) but hath been owned by the 
 Church of Christ as well in former as in later times.* 
 
 All Appc7idix touching the Divine Right of Deacons. 
 
 Though we cannot find in Scripture that the power of the keys 
 is committed by Christ unto deacons, with the other church gov- 
 ernors, but conceive that deacons, as other members of the church, 
 are to be governed, and are not to govern ; jot forasmuch as 
 deacons are ordinary officers in the Church of God, of which she 
 will have constant use in all ages, and which at first were di- 
 
 * The London ministers have here inserled the testimonies of these an- 
 cient writers in favor of the divine right of the office of the ruling elder, vi/. 
 Ignatius, Purpurius, Tcrtuliian, Origen, C'yjjrian, Optatus, Amhrose, Augus- 
 tine, and Isidorus ; and of these three late ones, viz. Whitaker, Thorndike, 
 and Rivet. The amount of their testimony, vi^hen taken together, appears 
 to be simply this, that there have been ruling elders, as distinct from preach- 
 ing elders, in the CImrch of Christ from the beginning. It is therefore judged 
 unnecessary to give the quotations from these authors at large. — Editor. 
 13* 
 
150 THE DIVINE KkUlT 
 
 vincly appointed, and after frequently mentioned in the New 
 Testament ; it will not be thought unfit, before we conclude this 
 section, touching the divine right of Christ's church-officers, 
 briefly to assert the divine right of deacons, as followcth. 
 
 Deacons in the church are an ordinance of Jesus Christ. For, 
 
 1. They are found in Christ's catalogue of church officers, 
 distinct from all other officers, both extraordinary and ordinary. 
 He/ps, 1 Cor. xii. 28. The Greek word in the natural accepta- 
 tion properly signifies, to lift over against one in taking up some 
 burden or weight ; metaphorically, it here is used for deacons, 
 whose office it is to help and succor the poor and sick, to lend 
 thctn a hand to lift them up, &c., and this office is here distinctly 
 laid down from all other ordinary and extraordinary offices in the 
 text. So they are distinguished from all ordinary officers reck- 
 oned up, Rom. xii. 7, 8 : under prophecy^ there is the teacher and 
 pastor ; under ministry, the ruling elder, and the deacon, verse 8. 
 This officer was so well known, and usual in the primitive 
 churches, that when the apostle writes to the church at Philippi, 
 he directs his epistle not only to the saints, but to the officers, 
 viz. to the overseers, and deacons, Philip, i. 1. The occasion of 
 the first institution of this office, see in Acts vi. 1, 2, &c. At 
 the first planting of the Christian Church, the apostles themselves 
 took care to receive the churches' goods, and to distribute to every 
 one of their members as they had need, Acts iv. 34, 35; but in 
 the increase of the church, the burden of this care of distributing 
 alms increasing also, upon some complaints of the Greeks, th-at 
 their ivido7vs were neglected, the office of deacons was erected, for 
 better provision for the poor. Acts vi. 1-7 ; and because the 
 churches are never like to want poor and afllicted persons, there 
 ■will be constant need of this officer. The pastor and deacon un- 
 der the New Testament seem to answer the priests and Levites 
 under the Old Testament. 
 
 2. The (jualifications of deacons are laid down by Christ in 
 the New Testament, at large: 1 Tim. iii. 8-14, Deacons also 
 must be grave, not douhle-tongucd, &ic., and Acts vi. 3, 5. 
 
 3. The manner also of deacons' vocation or calling unto their 
 office is delineated, viz : 1. They must be chosen by the church ; 
 ** Look ye out among you seven men of honest report," &:c., 
 " and they chose Stephen," &c., Acts vi. 3, 5. 2. They must first 
 be proved and tried by the officers of the church, before they may 
 officiate as deacons ; " and let these also first be proved, then let 
 them use the office of a deacon, being blameless," 1 Tim. iii. 10. 
 3. They must be appointed by the officers of the church to their 
 office, and set apart with prayer. Acts vi. 3, 6 : " Look ye out 
 men — whom we may appoint over this business — whom they set 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. ]51 
 
 before the apostles, and when they had prayed, tlioy laid their 
 hands on them." 
 
 4. Deacons have by Scripture their work and employment ap- 
 pointed them. Their work is, to serve tables, (hence the name 
 deacon seems derived.) Acts vi. 2, 3. To be an help, no hin- 
 derance in the church ; called helps, 1 Cor. xii. 18. 
 
 5. Deacons have a divine approbation and commendation in 
 Scripture, if they execute their office well. " For they that have 
 used the office of a deacon well, purchase to themselves a good 
 dejrree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus," 
 1 Tim. iii. 13. Here the well administration of deaconship is 
 commended as producing two good effects to such deacons, viz: 
 
 1. A good degree, i. e. great honor, dignity, and reputation, both 
 to themselves and to their office ; they adorn, grace, and credit 
 their office in the church ; not that they purchase to themselves 
 by desert a higher office in the church, that from deacons they 
 should be advanced to be presbyters, as some would interpret 
 this text. 2. Much boldness in the faith ichich is in Christ Jesus. 
 For nothing makes a man more bold than a good conscience in 
 the upright and faithful discharge of our duties in our callings; 
 innocency and integrity make brave spirits ; such with great 
 confidence and boldness serve Christ and the church, being men 
 that may be trusted to the uttermost. Now where God thus ap- 
 proves or commiinds the well managing of an office, he also di- 
 vinely approves and allows the office itself, and the officer that 
 executes the same.* 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 2. Of the first receptacle, or subject of the poivcr of church gov- 
 
 ernment from Christ, viz. Christ's own officers. 
 
 Touching the second, that Jesus Christ our Mediator hath pe- 
 culiarly intrusted his own officers with the power of church gov- 
 ernment : take it thus — 
 
 Jesus Christ our Mediator did immediately commit the proper, 
 formal, ministerial, or stewardly authority and power for govern- 
 ing of his church to his own church guides as the proper imme- 
 diate receptacle or first subject thereof. 
 
 For explication of this proposition, four things arc to bo opened. 
 
 1. What is meant by proper, formal, ministerial or stewardly 
 authority and power for church government ? See this already 
 
 * Against the office of deacons, and the divine right thereof, fourteen ob- 
 jections are answered by Mr. S. Rutherford in his Due Right of Presbyteries, 
 chap. 7, pages 159 to 175. To which tlie reader that sliall make any scruple 
 about the deacon's office, is referred for his furtlicr satisfaction. 
 
152 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 discussed, Part 2, chapters III., V., ^/id IX., in the hegisming 
 of Section 2, so that here there needs no further addition, as to 
 this point. 
 
 2. What is meant by church guides ? By church guides here 
 understand, nejratively, 1. Not the political magistrate. For 
 though lie be the nurse-father of the church, Isa. xlix. 23, tfie 
 keeper and avenger of hoQi ilte tahlea ; and have an outward care 
 of religion, and may exercue a political j}fjwer about mcred things^ 
 as did Asa, Jehoshaphat, Hczekiah, Josiah, &c., yet hath he no 
 proper, inward, formal power in sacred things, nor Is it lawful 
 for him to exercise the same ; as Korah, Num. xvi. ; King Saul, 
 1 Sam. xiii. 9-15 ; Uzzah, 2 Sam. vi. 6-8, 1 Chron. xiii. 9, 10 ; 
 and King Uzziah, 2 Chron. xxvi. 16-22, did to the provoking of 
 God, and to their own destruction. (But see what power is 
 granted, and what df?nied to the civil magistrate in matters of 
 religion, and why. Part 2, Chap. IX. Sect. 1.) 2. Not any 
 officer of man's mere invention and setting up in the church, 
 whether papal, as cardinals, &c., prelatical, as deans, arch- 
 deacons, chancellors, officials, &c., or political, as committees, 
 commissioners, &c. For who can create and institute a new 
 kind of offices in the church, but Jesus Christ only, who alone 
 hath the lordly magisterial power as Me^Jiator appropriated to 
 him ? Eph. iv. 8, iT; Rom. xii. 5-8 ; 1 Cor. xii. 28 ; and there- 
 fore how can such acts be sufficiently excused from bold usurpa* 
 tion upon Christ*s own prerogative ? 3. Nor the deacons them. 
 selves, (though officers of Christ's appointment, as was formerly 
 proved :) for their office is not to rule and govern, but to serve 
 tables, &;c., Acts vi. 2. 3. None of these are the church guides 
 which Christ hath committed his prof>er f/ower unto. But affirma- 
 tively understand all these church guides extraordinary and ordi- 
 nary, which Christ hath erected in his Church, vesting them with 
 power and authority therein, viz. apostles, prophets, evangelists, 
 pastors and teachers, governments, or ruling elders, mentioned 
 together in Eph. iv. 8, 11 ; 1 Cor. xii. 28 ; 1 Tim. v. 17 ; Rom. 
 xii. 6-8. These are Christ's own church officers, these Christ 
 hath made the immediate receptacle and first subject of the keys^ 
 or of ecclesiastical power derived from himself. 
 
 3. What is meant by Christ's commiltinjir this stewardly power 
 first and immediately to the church guides? Ans. There is, 
 1. A priority and immediateness of the donation of the power of 
 the keys : thus Christ first and immediately gave keys to his own 
 officers, whom Scripture, therefore, calls t}u> ministers of Christy 
 (not of the Church.) 1 Cor. iv. 1, not first and imme<Jiately to the 
 community of the faithful, or Church, and then by the Church 
 secondarily and mediately to the officers, as her substitutes and 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. I53 
 
 delegates, acting for her, and not in virtue of their own power 
 from Christ. 2. A priority and immediateness of designation of 
 particular individual persons to the office of key-bearing, and this 
 is done by the mediate intervening act of the church officers in 
 separating of particular persons to the office which Christ institu- 
 ted; though it is not denied but that the church or company of 
 the faithful may lawfully nominate or elect individual persons to 
 be officers in the congregation, which yet is no act of authority 
 or power. 
 
 4. How hath Christ committed this power of the keys to his 
 church guides, that thereby they become the most proper recep- 
 tacle thereof? Ans. Thus briefly. All absolute lordly power 
 is in God originally : all lordly magisterial mediatory power is 
 in Christ dispensatorily : all official, stewardly power is by dele- 
 gation from Christ only in the church guides* ministerially, as 
 the only proper subject thereof that may exercise the same law- 
 fully in Christ's name : yet all power, both magisterial in Christ, 
 and ministerial in Clirist's officers, is for the Church of Christ and 
 her edification objectively and finally. 
 
 These things thus explained and stated, we come now to the 
 confirmation of the proposition. Consider these arguments : 
 
 .1. Jesus Christ committed immediately ecclesiastical power 
 and the' exercise thereof to his church guides. Thus we may 
 argue : 
 
 Major. All those that have ecclesiastical power, and the exer- 
 cise thereof, immediately committed to them from Jesus Christ, 
 are the immediate subject or receptacle of that power. 
 
 For what makes any persons the immediate subject of power, 
 but the immediate derivation and commission of power to them 
 from Jesus Christ, who is the fountain of all power ? 
 
 Minor. But the church guides have the ecclesiastical power 
 and the exercise thereof immediately committed to them from 
 Jesus Christ. This may be evinced many ways by Scriptures. 
 For, 
 
 * Some of our brethren in New England, observing what confusion neces- 
 sarily depends upon the government which hath been practised there, have 
 been forced much to search into it vi^ithin this four years, and incline to 
 acknowledge the presbyters to be the subject of the power without dependence 
 upon the people. " VVe judge, upon mature deliberation, that the ordinary 
 e.Kcrcise of government must be so in the presbyters, as not to depend upon 
 the express votes and suffrages of the people. There hath been a convent or 
 meeting of the ministers of these parts, about this question at Cambridge in 
 the Bay, and there we have proposed our arguments, and answered theirs, 
 and they proposed theirs, and answered ours ; and so the point is left to con. 
 sideration." Mr. Thomas Parker in his letter written from Newbury in New 
 England, December 17, 16-13, printed 1644. 
 
154 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 1. It is said expressly, "Of our authority whicli tlio Lord hath 
 f^i^en us for your edification," 2 O^r. 10, 8: by us here we are 
 to understand church guides, for here they are set in op[Kjsition 
 to the church members {for rjlijicaticm,) not destruction of (you.) 
 Here are edifiers and edified. Now these church guides have 
 autijority given them, and that from the I^ord, i. e. Christ ; here 
 is their commission or power, not from the Church or any crea- 
 ture, but from Christ ; hence the apostle calls church guidfs, 
 " Your rulers or guides in tfie Lord," 1 Thes. v. 12 ; in Ihc Lord, 
 i. e. by the Lord's authority and commission. So that church 
 officers are ru/ers in Lhe Lord, and the churches ruled by them ; 
 yea, ruling elders being one sort of church guides, have such an 
 undoubted power of governing in the Church divinely comnfittfd 
 to them, that of them it is said, " God hath set in the church gov- 
 ernments," 1 Cor. xii. 28, i. e. governors, the abstract being put 
 for the concrete. If God have hcA frovfrnorfs in the Church, then 
 God vested th''>se governors with a power of governing, whence 
 they have their name of governments. 
 
 2. The keys of the kingdom of heaven, with all their acts, 
 were immediately committed to the church guides, viz. to the 
 apostles and their successors to the end of the world ; compare 
 these testimonies, Matt. xvi. 10, 10, and xviii. 18-20 ; John xx. 
 21-2.3; with Matt, xxviii. 18-20: therefore conserpjently eccle- 
 siastical power was committed irrimediately unto thern as the sub- 
 ject thereof For, By the kin<rdom of heaven here we are to un- 
 derstand (according to the full latitude of the phras<;) both the 
 kingdom of grace in this world, and of glory in the world to 
 come ; binding and looninfr both in earth and in lifaven, upon the 
 right use of the keys, being here the privileges promised to church 
 guides; and hi/ kingdom of heaven — on earth, understand the 
 whole visible Church of Christ in the earth, not only some single 
 congregation. I5y hey.s of the kingdom of hca.ven, thus apprehend, 
 Christ promiseth and giveth not the sword of the kingdom, any 
 secular power ; nor the sceptre of the kingdom,, any sovereign, 
 lordly, magisterial power over the Church. P>ut the kejj.s, &c. 
 i. e. a steward ly, ministerial power, and their acts, binding and, 
 loosing, i. e. retaining and, remitting sins on earth, (as in John it is 
 explained ;) opening and shuttinff are proper acts of kf;ys ; bind- 
 ing and loosing but metaphorical, viz, a speech borrowed from 
 bonds or chains wherewith men's bodies are bound in prison or 
 in captivity, or from which the body is loosed : wc are naturally 
 all under sin, Rom. v. 12, and therefore liable to death, Rom. vi. 
 23. Now sins are to the soul as bonds and cords, Prov. v. 22. 
 The bond of iniquity. Acts viii. 23 ; and death witii the pains 
 thereof, are as chains, 2 Pet. ii. 4, Jude ; in hell as in a prison, 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERX^IEXT. 155 
 
 1 Pet. iii. 10 : the remission or retainiog of these sins, is the loos- 
 ing or the binding of the soul under these cords and chains. So 
 that the keys themselves are not material but metaphorical ; a met- 
 aphor from stewards in great men's houses, kings' houses, dec, 
 into whose hands the whole trust and ordering of household affairs 
 is committed, who take in and cast out servants, open and shut 
 doors, &;c., do all without control of any in the family save the 
 master of the family. Such, in the Hebrew phrase, are said to 
 be over the house, Gen. xliii. 18 ; Isa. xxii. 15 ; 2 Kings xviii. 
 18 : and the keys of the house are committed to them as a badge 
 of their power. So that when God threatens to put Shebna out 
 of his office in the king's house, and to place Eliakim, son of 
 Hilkiah, in his room, he saith, " I will commit thy government 
 into his hand — and the key of the house of David will I lay upon 
 his shoulder," Isa. xxii. 21, 22, parallel of that phrase, " and the 
 government shall be upon his shoulder," Isa. ix. 6. Hence, as 
 key is in the Old Testament used for stewardly power and gov- 
 ernment, Isa. xxii. 21, 22 ; (only twice properly. Judges iii. 25; 
 1 Chron. ix. 27;) so in the New Testament, key is always used 
 metaphorically, to denote power, and that about ecclesiasticals or 
 spirituals, viz. in IMatt. xvi. 19 ; Luke xi. 52 ; Rev. i. 18, and 
 iii. 7, and ix. 1, and xx. 1. So that keys, &c., are metaphori- 
 cally the ordinances which Christ hath instituted, to be dispensed 
 in his church, preaching the word, administrations of the seals 
 and censures : for it is not said key, but keys, which comprehend- 
 eth them all : by the right use of which both the gates of the 
 Church here, and of heaven hereafter, are opened or shut to be- 
 lievers or unbelievers ; and Christ promising or giving these 
 keys to Peter and the apostles, and their successors to the end of 
 the world, Matt, xxvili. 20, doth intrust and invest them with power 
 and authority of dispensing these ordinances for this end, and so 
 makes them stewards in his house of the mysteries of God, 1 Cor. 
 iv. 1, so that we may conclude : 
 
 Conclusion. Therefore the church guides are the immediate 
 subject and receptacle of that ecclesiastical power, and of the 
 exercise thereof. 
 
 Argiim. II. Jesus Christ our Mediator did institute ecclesiastical 
 offices for church government under the New Testament before 
 any Christian Church under the New Testament was gathered or 
 constituted. Therefore those persons that were intrusted with 
 those offices must needs be the first and immediate receptacle or 
 subject of the power of the keys. Thus we may argue : 
 
 Major. All those whose ecclesiastical offices for church gov- 
 ernment, under the New Testament, were instituted by Christ, 
 before any formal visible Christian Church was gathered or con- 
 
150 '-I'lii^ DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 stitutcd, are the firHt and immediato receptacle or subject of the 
 powfr of tho keys from Josus Christ. 
 
 Minor, liut the ecclesiastical ofliccs of C[irist's own ofTiccrs for 
 govertiinf^ of the Church, now under the New Testament, were 
 institutfid by Christ before any formal visible Christian Church 
 was ^alhorr;d or constituted. 
 
 (Jojir/u.sion. Therefore Christ's own officers for governing of 
 the Cfiurch now under the New Testament are the first and 
 immediate receptacle or subject of the keys from .Jesus Christ. 
 
 Tiie major proposition cannot reasonably be denied, and may be 
 further cleared by these considerations, viz: 1. Tliat the Church 
 offices for chureh government undor the New Testament are in 
 their own nature intrinsically offices of power. The apostle 
 styles h power, or authorifi/, which i^frivcrito these officers by the 
 Lord, 2 Cor. x. 8, and xiii. 10. T/ta keys of the kinf^dom of hea- 
 ven are committed to them. Matt. xvi. 19, and keys import a 
 stewardly power : compare Malt. xvi. 19, and xviii. 18, .John 
 XX. 21, 23, with Jsa. xxii. 21, 22. Materially, the acts and ex- 
 ercise of these officers are acts of powc-r, os hindhig, loosing, &c., 
 Matt, xviii. 18 ; not only preaching, ^c, l)ut excommunicating, is 
 an act of power, 1 (yor. v. 4. Absolving the penitent, and con- 
 firming him again in the Church's love, is an act of power: — to 
 confina love unto him, i. e. authoritatively to confirm, &c., as tiie 
 word signifies, 2 Cor. ii. 8. Formally, those acts are to be done 
 as acts of power, in Christ's name, and by his authority, Matt, 
 xxviii. 19; 1 Cor. v. 4. Now if these ofiices be in their own 
 nature offices of power, consequently they that have such ofiices 
 conferred upon them by Christ, b(dbre the Christian Church had 
 being or existence, they nnjst needs be the first and immediate 
 recipient subject of the power of the keys from ("iirist. 2. Either 
 those church officers, whose officos were instituted before the 
 Christian Church was constituted, must be the first subject of the 
 power, cVc, or some others. W any other, then, 1. I'^illier liea- 
 ihcns, or heathen magistrates, vvIjo are out of the Church : but 
 both these were absurd to grant ; for then they that are not so 
 much as church members should be church governors, and the 
 Church be ecclesiastically judged by them that are without. 
 2. Or the first subject of this power was the Christian Church 
 itself before it had existence; but that were notoriously absurd ; 
 and besides these, no other can be imagined, but the church offi- 
 cers ; therefore they must needs be liie first subject of the power 
 of the keys. 
 
 The minor proposition (viz. Ikit the ecclesiastical offices of 
 (yhrist's own officers for governing of the (Jhurch now under the 
 Now Testament, were instituted by Christ before any formal visible 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNxAiENT. 157 
 
 Christian Church was gathered or constituted) is so evident in 
 the current of the New Testament, that it needs little confirma- 
 tion. For, 1. The church offices under the New Testament, as 
 apostleship, pastorship, &c., were instituted by Christ either be- 
 fore his death — compare these places together, Mark iii. 13, 14, 
 <fec. ; Luke ix. 1, &c., and x. 1, 2, ^c. ; John xx. 21-23 ; 
 Matt, jjxviii. 18-20 — or presently upon his ascension, Eph. iv. 
 8, 11, 12, &c. ; Acts ii. ; 1 Cor. xiii. 28. Now no formal Chris- 
 tian Church was constituted and gathered till the feast of Pente- 
 cost and afterwards. Then, after the apostles had received the 
 gifts of the Holy Ghost, &c.. Acts ii., great multitudes of Jews 
 and Gentiles were converted to Christ, and being converted, in- 
 corporated and associated themselves into churches, as the history 
 of the Acts, chap, ii., and forward, evidenceth abundantly. 
 2. Church officers, under the New Testament, are for tiie calling 
 and gathering men unto Christ, and to his body mystical ; and 
 for admitting of those that believe into that one body, Matt, xxviii. 
 18, 19; 1 Cor. xii. 28. And is not he that calleth, before them 
 that are called by them ; they that baptize, before the bap- 
 tized ; and they that gather the churches, before those church- 
 es which they gather ? May we not hence conclude, Therefore, 
 &c. 
 
 Argum. III. The names, titles, and other denominations pur- 
 posely and peculiarly given to the church guides in Scripture, 
 generally do bear power and authority engraven upon their fore- 
 heads. Therefore, they are the proper, immediate, and only sub- 
 jects of ecclesiastical power. Thus we may argue : 
 
 Major. All those persons in the Church, that have such names, 
 titles, or denominations given to them peculiarly in the Scriptures 
 by the Spirit of Christ, as generally have authority and power en- 
 graven upon them in reference to the Church, are the immediate 
 and only proper subjects of ecclesiastical power. 
 
 Minor. But Christ's officers in the Church have such names, 
 titles, or denominations given to them peculiarly in the Scriptures 
 by the Spirit of Christ, as generally have authority and power 
 engraven upon them in reference to the Church. 
 
 Conclusion. Therefore Christ's own officers in the Church are 
 the proper, immediate, and only subjects or receptacles of eccle- 
 siastical power. 
 
 This major proposition must be granted. For, 1. Is not this 
 the Holy Ghost's familiar and ordinary manner in Scripture, to 
 give titles and denominations, which are apt, pertinent, significa- 
 tive and instructing both to others and themselves that have such 
 denominations conferred upon them ? As in the family, the hus- 
 band is called the head of the wife, 1 Cor. xi., because he is to 
 14 
 
15Q THE DIVINE RIGUT 
 
 govern, she is to bo subjnct : tho wifo is called an help-meet, 6lc., 
 Gen. ii. : to tooch tho wif(! iicr duty, to ludp his good and comfort 
 every way, to hinder it no way. So in tho corninonwealth, magis- 
 trates are called hn/rs of rrsfrai/it, to jml. men l.o shame, .Judges 
 xviii. 7, because lhc;y are to restrain disorders, shame evil-doers : 
 higher powers, to teach others subjection to ihfun, Rom. xiii. 1. 
 "An ordinance of man or human creation," 1 Pet. ii. 13: be- 
 cause, though magistracy in general b(^ an ordinance of God, yet 
 this or that special kind of magistracy, whether monarchical, 
 aristocratical, Aic, is of man. Thus in the Church : the Church 
 is calhid Christ's ho f 1 1/, Mphes. iv. 12, to show Christ's headship, 
 the Churcii's suhjrction to Christ, and their near union to one 
 another. Christians are called members, Ilom. xii. ; 1 Cor. xii., 
 to teach them mutual love, care, and serviceahleness to one an- 
 other. Ministers are called ambassadors of Christ, 2 Cor. v. 
 Angels of the churehes, Rev. ii., to teach them to be faithful in 
 their offices, and others to respect them for tiieir offices. Sail of 
 the earth,, Matt. v. 13, because they are to season others spiritu- 
 ally. Stars, Rev. i., because they are to shine forth for the en- 
 lightening and guiding of others, (Sic. 2. if this proposition be 
 denied, then to what end are such names and denominations, im- 
 porting authority, generally given by the Spirit of God to some 
 sort of persons only, and not to others ? Is it for no end ? That 
 ■would he a dangerous charge upon the Spirit of Christ. Is it for 
 any end ? 'J'hen what other can be imagined, than to signify, 
 hold forth, and instruct both themselves and others in their duties, 
 and fo distinguish them that are vested with authority in the 
 Church, from them that an^ not ? 
 
 The major proposition (viz. liut Clirist's own officers in tiio 
 Church have such n;»rnes, titles, or denominations given to them 
 peculiarly in \\n\ Scriptures by tiie Spirit of Christ, as generally 
 have authority and power cngrnven upon them in reference to the 
 Church) may be evinced, 1. IJy induction of particular names 
 attributed to (Jlirist's oll'icers. 2. \\y a denial of them, or the like, 
 to any other members of the Church. 
 
 1. By induction of particular titles or denominations attributed 
 to Christ's oflicws, wliich generally liave power and authority 
 palpably engraven upon them : (yea, the selfsame names are 
 given to them, by which not only heathen writers, but also the 
 Greek version of th(! Old 'IVstament by the Septuagint, and the 
 very original of the New Testament are wont to give to political 
 oflicers, to exj)ress their political authority, power, and govern- 
 ment,) as, for instance : 
 
 1. Presbjiter or elder, \^Q.?,cx\hQA o^Von to Christ's church ofli- 
 ccrs, as in Acts xiv. 23, and xv. 2, 4, and xx. 17 ; 1 Tim. v. 17 ; 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. I59 
 
 Tit. V. ; 1 Pet. V. 1. This same word is ascribed to riiJers iio- 
 Meal, to elders in the gate, by the Septuairint, in Judaes viii 14 • 
 Ruth iv. 2, 3 ; 2 Sam. v. 3 ; 1 Chron. vi. 3. 
 
 2. Overseer or bishop, noting authority and power in havino- 
 the charge and oversight of the flock, is ascribed to church ofii! 
 cers m Acts xx. 28 ; Phil. i. 1 ; 1 Tim. iii. 2 ; Tit. i. 7. This 
 same word is used by the Septuagint, to denote the power of the 
 civil magistrate, to whom the care and oversight of the common, 
 wealth IS committed, Numb. xxxi. 14; Judges ix. 28 ; 2 Kincrg 
 XI. 15. o ^ & 
 
 3. Guide, leader, conductor, captain, governor, signifies them 
 all, and is given to church officers, as contradistinct from the 
 church and saints, Heb. xiii. 1, 17, 24. It is also attributed to 
 civil rulers to set forth their power, in Deut. i. 13; Micah iii 9 
 11 ; 2 Chron. v. 1 ; Ezek. xliv. 3, and xlv. 7 ; Dan. iii. 2; Acts 
 vii. 10. This very word governor, is attributed to Christ himself, 
 out of thee shall come forth a governor, that shall rule (or feed) mv 
 people Israel, Matt. ii. 6. \ j / ^ 
 
 ^ 4. Steward, dispenser. '' Stewards of the mysteries of God," is the 
 title given to ministers, 1 Cor. iv. 1, 2. " Steward of God," Tit. 
 1.7. ''That faithful and wise steward, whom his Lord shall 
 make ruler over his household," 6,c., Luke xii. 42. This also 
 is a title of power given to them that are set over families, as Gal. 
 IV. L, " he IS under tutors and stewards." And to them that are 
 set over cities— as Rom. xvi. 23, " Erastus the steward" (or as 
 we^ render it, the chamberlain) " of the city saluteth you." 
 
 5. Pastor is ascribed to Christ's officers; Eph. iv. 11, "and 
 some pastors and teachers." They govern the Church as the 
 shepherd his flock, feeding, ruling them as well with the shep- 
 herd s stafr, as with food. This term is sometimes given to civil 
 magistrates, Isa. xliv. 28 ; Micah v. 5 : sometimes to Christ the 
 ^reat shepherd of the sheep, 1 Pet. v. 4 ; noting his authority, 
 Matt. xxvi. 31 ; John x. 2, 11, 14, 16; Heb. xiii. 20; 1 Pet. ii. 
 25: sometimes to God himself the supreme Ruler of the world, 
 
 J o* iXXX • X • 
 
 6. Governments, a. denommsition given to ruling elders, 1 Cor. 
 xii. 28, as hath been proved Sect. 1 of this Chapter. A metaphor 
 from mariners or pilots, that steer and govern the ship : trans- 
 lated thence, to signify the power and authority of church gov- 
 ernors, spiritual pilots, steering the ship or ark of Christ's ChuVch. 
 1 his word IS used also by heathen authors, to signify political 
 governors.* o j t- 
 
 Ruler. 1 Tim. v. 17, " Let the elders that rule well"— and, 
 * Vid. Hen. Stepji. Tlies. L. Grtec. in verb. 
 
100 THE DIVlxNE IIICHT 
 
 " He that rulfith," Rom. xii. 8, and "Your rulers in the Lord," 
 1 ThcH. V. 12, viz. not only in the fear of ihe Lord,* nor only in 
 those things that appertain to God's worship,! hut also in the 
 I^ord ; i. o. who are over you, to rule according to the will of 
 the Lord,:}: even hy the Lord Christ's power and authority derived 
 to them. Now these names are among heathen authors ascribed 
 to rulers of cities, armies, and kingdoms. § 
 
 By these among other titles given to Christ's oflicers in Scrip- 
 ture, he that runs may read a plain authority and |)Ovver enstamp- 
 ed on them in reference to the Ciiurcli ; and conse(|uently on them 
 that are thus denominated, unless they he applied to them im- 
 properly, unfitly, ahusively ; which we suppose no sober intelli- 
 gent reader dare afHrm. 
 
 2. IJy a denial of these and like titles to the whole Church of 
 Christ, or to any other members of the Cjjurch whatsoever, be- 
 sides churcli oflicers. For where can it bo showed in all the book 
 of (aod, that in this sense, either the whole Church or any mem- 
 hers thereof besides oflicers, are ever styled preshi/lerSf bishops^ 
 governors, stewards of God, or of the myslcrics of God, pastors, 
 governments, or rulers ? The greatest factors for popular govern- 
 ment must let this alone forever. Tiius,. from all that hath been 
 said, we need not fear to conclude: 
 
 Conclusion. Therefore Christ's own ofljcers in the Church are 
 the j)roper, innncdiate. and only subjects or receptacles of eccle- 
 siastical powf'.r. 
 
 Arguni. IV. The relations which Christ's officers have unto 
 liis Ciiurch, imply and comprehend in themselves authority and 
 power in reference to the Cimrch, and therefore they are the pro- 
 per subjects of ecclesiastical power. Thus we reason: 
 
 Major. Whosoever they are that peculiarly stand in such rela- 
 tions to the Church of Christ, as imj)ly and comprehend in them- 
 selves authority and power for governing of the Church, they 
 are the only subject of ecclesiastical power. 
 
 This proposition is evident ; lor, otherwise, to what end are 
 those j)eculiar relations to the Church which con)prehend govern, 
 ment in them, unless such as arc so peculiarly related be the only 
 subjects of government ? Shall all tiiose reflations be mere names 
 and shadows? or sliall others iji the church be counted the sub- 
 ject of tiiis authority and [)ower for church governnjent, that have 
 no such relations to the Cluirch at all imj)lying any such power? 
 
 Minor. IJut the oflicers of Christ peculiarly stand in such rela- 
 tions to the (JImrch of Christ as im|)ly and comprehend in them- 
 .selvcs authority and power for the government of the church.* 
 
 • Piucator. t Beza. X Zanch. in loco, fj Vid. Hen. Stepli. Thos. ad verb. 
 
OF CHUllCH GOVERNMENT. lOl 
 
 This assumption or minor proposition will be evident by a due 
 induction of some of their particular relations that iiave such 
 power enstamped on them ; as for instance, Christ's officers stand 
 in these relations of power to the Church and people of God. 
 
 1. They are pastors, Eph. iv. 11. The church is the Hock, 
 John X. 16 ; 1 Cor. ix. 7 ; jlock, Acts xx. 28, 29 ; 1 Pet. v.' 2, a. 
 Hath not the pastor power to rule and irovern his jlock ? 
 
 2. They are stewards. " Who is that faithful and wise stew- 
 ard ?" Luke xii. 42. " Stewards of the mysteries of God," 1 Cor. 
 iv. 1, 2. " Stewards of God," Tit. i. 7. the Church and people 
 of God are the Lord's houseJioJd, over- which these stewards are 
 set, &;c., Luke xii. 42. God's house, 1 Tim. iii. 15 ; Heb. iii. 
 6. Have not stewards power to govern and order those families 
 over which they are set, and wherewith they are intrusted ? Gal. 
 iv. 1. 
 
 3. They are bishops or overseers, Phil. i. 1 ; 1 Tim. iii. 2 ; 
 Tit. i. 7. The Church and people of God are that charge which 
 the Lord hath committed to their inspection. " Over which the 
 Holy Ghost hath made you overseers," Acts xx. 28. Have not 
 overseers power over that which is committed to their inspection? 
 
 4. They are catechizers and teachers, Rom. xii. 7, 8 ; Eph. iv. 
 11. The Church and people are catechized, Gal. vi. 6; taught. 
 Hath not he that caiechizeth power for government of him that is 
 catechized ? He that teacheth of him that is taught ? 
 
 5. They are co-uwrkers with God, 1 Cor. iii. 9 ; 2 Cor. vi. 1. 
 Architects, huilders, dec, 1 Cor. iii. 10 ; some of them laying the 
 foundation, others huilding thereupon. The Church and people of 
 God are God's building. "Ye are God's building," 1 Cor. iii. 9. 
 Have not huilders power of disposing and ordering affairs apper- 
 taining to the huilding ? 
 
 6. Finally, to add no more, the officers of Christ in the Cliurch 
 are not only as nurses ; " We were gentle among you, even as a 
 nurse cherisheth her children," 1 Thess. ii. 7 : and as mothers ; 
 " My little children, of whom I travail in birth again," Gal. iv. 
 19: but also asfathe?'s, 1 Thess. ii. 11 ; 1 Cor. iv. 15, spiritual 
 fathers in Christ : and the Church and people of God, they are the 
 son^ and daughters, the spiritual babes and children, begotten, 
 brought forth, and nursed up by them, 1 Thess. ii. 7, 11 ; Gal. iv. 
 19 : and have fathers no authority nor power of government over 
 their children ? See Eph. vi. 1-3 ; 1 Tim. iii. 4. 
 
 Thus Christ's officers stand in such relation to the Church as 
 do evidently carry power of government along with them ; but 
 where are any other members of the church besides officers, sta- 
 ted in such relation of pastors, steurtrds, overseers, catechizers, 
 builders, husbandmen, nurses, mothers, and fathers to the Church 
 14* 
 
102 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 of God and mombers of Christ, that can be evidenced by iho 
 Scriptures ? Why may we not then clearly conclude, 
 
 Conclusion. Thoroforc the oflicors of Christ arc the only sub- 
 jects of ecclesiastical power. 
 
 Ar^um. V. The many divine commands and impositions of du- 
 ties of obedience, submission, subjection, &c., upon the Church 
 and people of God, to be performed by them to Christ's oflicers, 
 and that in reference to their office, do plainly j)roclaim the ofli- 
 cers of Christ to be the proper rcceptacb; and subject of authority 
 and power from Christ for the government of his Church. Thus 
 it may bo arf^uod : 
 
 Major. Whatsoever persons they are to whom the Church and 
 people of God are peculiarly bound by the commands of Christ, 
 to perform duties of obedience and subjection, and that in refer- 
 ence to thoir office in the church, they are the only subjects of 
 autliority from Christ for the frovernment of his Church. 
 
 'J'his proposition needs no proof, unless we will be so absurd as 
 to say that the Church and people of (iod are peculiarly obliged 
 by Christ's command to obey and be subject to tliem, that yet have 
 no peculiar authority nor power over then), and that in refcrenco 
 totiieir office in the church. 
 
 Minor. But the oflicers of Christ are those to whom the Church 
 and people of (iod are peculiarly bound by the conimands of 
 Christ to perform duties of obedicmco and subjection, and that in 
 reference to their office in the church. 
 
 This assumption or minor proposition may be evidenced, 1. 
 Partly by induction of some particular instances of Ciirist's com- 
 mands, whereby the Church and peo|)le of (jlod are bound to per- 
 form duties of obedience and subjection to the officers of Christ, in 
 reference to their office in the church, 2. Partly by a denial of 
 the like commands in reference to all others in the church, excejit 
 the officers of the church only. 
 
 Touching the first, viz. the instances of such commands, con- 
 sider these following. Tin; Church and people of God are com- 
 manded, 
 
 1. To know their rulers. " We beseech you, brethren, to know 
 them that labor among you, and are over you in l\u\ liOrd," 
 1 Thess. V. 12. To know, i. c., not simply and merely to know, but 
 to acknowledge, accept, and approve of them as such rulers over 
 you in the TiOrd. This teaches subjection to the office of juling. 
 
 2. To loA^e them exceedingly for their work's sake. *' Esteem 
 them superabundantly in love for their work's sake," 1 Thess. v. 
 13. For what work? viz. both laboring and ruling, mentioned 
 verse 12. If they must love them so exceedingly for ruling over 
 them, must they not much more be obedient to this rule ? 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMEXT. IQ3 
 
 3. To count them worthy of double honor in reference to their 
 well-ruling. " Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy 
 of double honor, especially — ,*' 1 Tim. v. 17 : whether we take 
 dmihJe honor here for reverence or maintenance, or both ; yet how 
 can we esteem the elders ruling well worlhy of double honor witli- 
 out some submission to their rule ? 
 
 4. To obey them that are their rulers and governors. Obey ye 
 your rulers, or governors, Heb. xiii. 17 ; where the words obei} 
 ye doth not (as some dream) signify a persuasion, but obedience, 
 and in this sense it is commonly used, not only in profane authors, 
 but also in the Holy Scriptures, as James iii.'s, Gal. iii. 1. 
 
 5. Finally, to submit and be subordinate unto them. The 
 Church and people of God are charged to submit unto them. 
 *• Obey your governors and submit ye,"' Heb. xiii. 17. The word 
 properly notes a submissive yielding without opposition or resist- 
 ance ; yea, it signifies intense obedience. They must not only 
 yield, but yield with subjection and submission, which relates to 
 authority. They are also charged to be subordinate to them. 
 "Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves to the elders," 1 Pet. 
 V. 5 ; i. e., be ye subordinate, (it is a military term,) viz: be or- 
 dered, ranked, guided, governed, disciplined by them, as soldiers 
 are by their commanders. The word elders here is by some taken 
 only for elders in age, and not in office. But it seems better to 
 interpret it of elders in office; and the context well agrees with 
 this ; for the apostle having immediately before charged the rulino- 
 preaching presbyters with their duties towards their flock, ver. 
 1-4, here he seems to enjoin the ruled flock (which commonly 
 were younger in age and gifts) to look to their duties of subjection 
 to their elders in office. 
 
 Touching the second, viz. the denial of like commands, and 
 upon like grounds to all others in the church, except to the church 
 officers only : where can it be evidenced in all tiie Scriptures that 
 the people of God are commanded to know, to esteem very highly 
 in love, to count worthy of double honor, to obey, and submit them- 
 selves to any persons in the church but to' the ruling officers 
 thereof in reference to their office, and the due execution'^thereof ? 
 
 Now, seeing the Church and people of God are peculiarly 
 obliged, by so many commands of Christ, to perform such duties 
 of subjection and obedience to the officers of Christ, may it not be 
 concluded. 
 
 Therefore the officers of Christ are the only subjects of author. 
 ity from Christ for the government of his Church ? 
 
 Argu?n. YL Finally, the directions touching rule and govern, 
 ment in the Church ; the encouragements to well-ruling by com. 
 niendations, promises, rewards, together with the contrary deter- 
 
JQ4 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 ringdiscouragements from ill-ruling, by discommendations, threats, 
 &c., being specially applied and appropriated by the word of 
 Christ unto Christ's officers, very notably discover to us that 
 Christ's officers are the only subjects of power from Christ for the 
 covernment of his Church. Thus it may be argued : 
 
 Major. Whatsoever persons in the Church have directions for 
 church government, encouragements to well-ruling, and discour- 
 a^ements from ill-ruling, particularly and peculiarly applied un- 
 to'' them by the word of Christ ; they are the only subjects of power 
 from Christ for the government of his Church : 
 
 Tills proposition is evident: For, 1. How should it be consist- 
 ent with the infinite wisdom of God peculiarly to apply unto them 
 directions aJjout ruling and governing the church that are not the 
 only subjects in whom the power of government is intrusted by 
 Jesus Christ ? 2. How can it stand with the justice of God to en- 
 couraf^e them only unto well-ruling, by commendations, promises, 
 rewards, &c., or to deter them from ill-governing by dispraises, 
 threats, &c., &c., to whom the power of government doth notap- 
 pertain, as to the only subjects thereof? 3. What strange appre- 
 hensions and distractions would this breed in the hearts of Christ's 
 officers and others, should those that have not the power of church 
 government committed to them by Christ, be yet directed by his 
 word how to govern, encouraged in governing well, and deterred 
 from governing ill ? , ,. • 
 
 Minor. But^he officers of Christ in the church have directions 
 for church government, encouragements to well-ruling, and dis- 
 couragements from ill-ruling, particularly and peculiarly applied 
 unto them by the word of God. , t r 
 
 This assumption or minor proposition may be cleared by divers 
 Scriptures according to the particular branches thereof, viz : 
 
 1. Directions for church government are particularly applied 
 by the word of Christ to his own officers: as for instance, they 
 are directed to bind and loose— io remit and retain sins on earth, 
 Matt. xvi. 10, and xviii. 18; John xx. 21, 23. To judge them 
 that are within the Church, not without, 1 Cor. v. 12. Not to lord 
 it, domineer, or overrule the flock of Christ, 1 Pet. v. To rule well, 
 1 Tim. V. 17. To rule with diligence, Rom. xu, 8. To lay hands 
 suddenly on no man, neither to he partakers of other men's sins, hid 
 to keep themselves pure, 1 Tim. v. 22. Not to prefer one before 
 another, nor do anything hy partiality, 1 Tim. v. 21. To rebuke 
 them, that sin before all, that others also may fear, 1 Tim. v. 20. 
 To reject a heretic after once or twice admonition, Tit. in. 10. To 
 use the authority that is given them from the Lord to the edification, 
 not to the destruction of the Church, 2 Cor. x. 8, and xiu. 10; 
 with divers such like rules specially directed to Christ's officers. 
 
 ! 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERN^iE^'T. 165 
 
 2. Encouragements to well-ruling are peculiarly directed to 
 Christ's officers. For, 1. They are the persons specially com- 
 mended in that respect ; we/l-ruling, 1 Tim. v. 17. Good and 
 faithful steward, Luke xii. 42. The angels of the churches are 
 praised for their good government, Rev. ii. 2, 3, 6, and ver. 18, 
 19. 2. They are the persons to whom the promises, in reference 
 to good government, are directed, as Matt. xvi. 19, and xviii. 18- 
 20 ; John xx. 21, 23 ; Matt, xxviii. 19, 20 ; Luke xii. 42-44 ; 
 1 Pet. V. 4. 3. They are the persons whom the Lord will have 
 peculiarly rewarded, now with double honor, 1 Tim. v. 17 ; here- 
 after with endless ghry, 1 Pet. v. 4. 
 
 3. Discouragements, deterring from ill-governing, are also spe- 
 cially applied to Christ's officers, whether by way of dispraise or 
 threats, <kc., Rev. ii. 12, 14-16, and ver. 18, 20. 
 
 Now if, 1. Rules for church government, 2. Encouragements 
 in reference to well ruling, and, 3. Discouragements in refer- 
 ence to ill-ruling, be so peculiarly directed by the word of Christ 
 to his own officers, we may conclude, 
 
 Therefore the officers of Christ in the Church are the only 
 subjects of power from Christ for the government of his Church. 
 
 Object. But the church* of a particular congregation fully 
 furnished with officers, and rightly walking in judgmenf and 
 peace, is the first subject of all church authority, as appears from 
 the example of the church of Corinth in the excommunication of 
 the incestuous Corinthian, 1 Cor. v. 1-5 ; wherein it appears that 
 the presbytery alone did not put forth this power, but the breth- 
 ren also concurred in this sentence with some act of power, (viz. 
 a negative power:) for, 1. The reproof, for not proceeding to 
 sentence sooner, is directed to the whole Church, as well as to 
 the presbytery. They are all blamed for not mourning, &c., 1 
 Cor. V. 2. 2. The command is directed to them all, when they 
 are gathered together, {and what is that but to a church meeting?) 
 to proceed against him, 1 Cor. v. 4, 13. 3. He declareth this 
 act of theirs, m putting him out, to be a judicial act, ver. 12. 4. 
 Upon his repentance the apostle speaketh to the brethren, as 
 well as to their elders, to forgive him, 2 Cor. ii. 4-10. Conse- 
 quently, Christ's church officers are not the peculiar, immediate, 
 or only subject of the power of the keys, as hath been asserted. 
 
 Ans. I. As for the main proposition asserted in this objection, 
 something hath been formerly laid down to show the unsoundness 
 of it. (See chap. X. near the end.) Whereunto thus much may 
 be superadded. 1. What necessity is there that a particular 
 
 * Mr. Jo. Cotton's Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, chap. vii. in propos. 
 3, pages 44-^16. 
 
IQQ THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 congrogation should be fully furnished with officers, to make it 
 the subject of all church authority ? For deacons are one sort 
 of oflicers, yet what authority is added to the Church by the ad- 
 dition of deacons, whose office it is only to serve tables, Acts vi., 
 not to rule tiie Cliurch ? or if the Churcii have no deacons, as 
 once it had not. Acts i. 2, and before that, all the time from 
 Christ, wherein is she maimed or defective in her authority ? 2. 
 If the Church, fully furnished with officers, yet walk not in judg- 
 ment and peace, tlien in such case it is granted, that a particular 
 congregation is not the first subject of all church authority. Then 
 a congregation that waliis in error or heresy, or passion, or pro- 
 faneness, all which are contrary to judgment; and that walks in 
 divisions, schisms, contentions, &c., which are contrary to peace, 
 loseth iu'V authority. Slick but close to this principle, and you 
 will quickly lay the church autiiority of most independent con- 
 gregations in the dust. But who shall determine whether they 
 walk in judgment and peace, or not ? Not themselves ; for that 
 were to make parties judges in their own case, and would produce 
 a very partial sentence. Not sister churches ; for all particular 
 churches, according to them, have equal authority, and none may 
 usurp one over another. Not a presbyterial church, for such 
 they do not acknowledge. Then it must be left undetermined, 
 yea undeterminable, (according to their principles;) consequent- 
 ly, who can tell when they have any authority at all ? 3. Sup- 
 pose the congregation had all her officers, and walked in judgment 
 and peace also, yet is she not the first subject of all authority ; 
 for there is a synodal authority, beyond a congregational author- 
 ity, as confessed by Mr. Cotton.* 
 
 II. As for the proofs of this proposition asserted here, they 
 snem extremely invalid and unsatisfying. For, 
 
 The instance of the church of Corinth excommunicating the 
 incestuous person, will not prove the congregation to be the first 
 subject of all church authority: 1. Partly, because the church of 
 Corinth was a presbyterial church, having several congregations 
 in it, (as heroaiier is evidenced, chap. XIII. ;) now to argue from 
 the authority of a presbyterial church, to the authority of a con- 
 gregational, affirmatively, is not cogent. 2. Parfly, because here 
 were but two acts of power mentioned in this instance, viz. casting 
 out and receiving again of the incestuous person : suppose the 
 comnmnity had joined the presbyterj' in these two acts, (which 
 yet is not proved,) will it follow therefore they are the first sub- 
 ject of all church authority ? Are not ordination of presbyters, 
 determination in case of appeals, of schism, of iieresy, &c., acts 
 
 * See Mr. Cotton's own words in chap. XIV. at the end, in the margin. 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 167 
 
 of authority above the sphere of a single congregation ? Wiiat 
 one congregation can be instanced in the New Testament that 
 did ever execute any of these acts of authority ? 
 
 The reasons brought, prove not that the brethren did concur 
 with the presbytery in this sentence with some act of power, as 
 will appear plainly, if they be considered severally. 
 
 1. Not the reproof, 1 Cor. v. 2, "And ye are puffed up, and 
 have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might 
 be taken away from among you." Here they are blamed, that 
 they no more laid to heart so vile a scandal, which should have 
 been matter of mourning to the whole congregation ; that they 
 instead of mourning were puffed up, gloried in their shame ; and 
 that they sluggishly neglected to endeavor, in their sphere, his 
 casting out. And all this blame might justly be charged upon 
 the whole church, the fraternity as well as the presbytery : the 
 scandal of one member should be the grief of the whole body of 
 the church. What then ? Hath therefore the fraternity, as well 
 as the presbytery, power to cast him out ? That were a misera- 
 ble consequence indeed : the people should not only have mourn- 
 ed for the sin, but have urged the presbytery to have proceeded 
 to sentence, and after sentence have withdrawn from him, in 
 obedience to the sentence ; but none of all these can amount to 
 a proper act of church authority in them. 
 
 2. Nor doth the apostle's command prove the people's concur- 
 rence in any act of power with the presbytery, 1 Cor. v. 4, 5, 
 " In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered 
 together, to deliver such an one unto Satan," &c. : ver. 7, 
 " Purge out therefore the old leaven," &c. : and ver. 13, "There- 
 fore put away from among yourselves that wicked person." In 
 which passages it is supposed the apostle directs his injunction to 
 them all (as well as to their presbytery) when they come together 
 in their church meeting to proceed to sentence. 
 
 But against this reason, well ponder upon these considerations, 
 viz : 1. It is certain beyond all controversy, that the apostle did 
 not direct these commands to the whole church of Corinth abso- 
 lutely, and universally, without all exception and limitation to 
 any members at all : for by his own rule, '• Women must be si- 
 lent in their churches, it being a shame for a woman to speak in 
 the church," 1 Cor. xiv. 34, 35, and children or fools were not 
 able to judge. Hence it is evident that a church absolutely and 
 universally taken, cannot possibly be the ministerial ruling church 
 which hath the authority. 2. It is evident to any man that is 
 but moderately acquainted with the Scriptures, that God useth to 
 direct his commands, reproofs, and other speeches to a people in- 
 differently, and as it were collectively and generally, which yet 
 
168 THE mVTSE RIGHT 
 
 he intends should be particularly applied and appropriated ; not 
 to all, but to this or that person or persons, only an)ong such a 
 people distributively and respectively^ according: to thei r respect- 
 ive callings, interests, relations, &c., as in the Old Testament God 
 directs a command to the people of Israel indefinitely, and as it 
 were collectively, to kill enlicers to idolatry, false prophets, 
 Deut. xiii. 9 ; but intended that the judge should sentence him, 
 findinfj him guilty by witnesses. The Lord also directs his com- 
 mand to all the people, as it were collectively, to put out of the 
 camp " every one that was a leper, and had an issue, or was 
 defiled by the dead," Numb. v. 2 ; but intended that the priest 
 should peculiarly take and apply this command to himself, who 
 was to judge in these cases. See Lev. xiii. and elsewhere. So 
 in the New Testament the apostle praised the Corinthians indefi- 
 nitely, and as it were collectively, for " remembering him in all 
 things, and keeping the ordinances as he delivered them to them," 
 1 Cor. xi. 2 ; wherein he intended only to commend the virtuous; 
 and after he discommends them indefinitely for " coming together 
 not for better, but for worse," 1 Cor, xi. 17 ; intending only their 
 dispraise that were herein particularly delinquent anKjng them. 
 Again, he speaks indefinitely, and as it were collectively and 
 generally, "Ye may all prophesy one by one," 1 Cor. xiv. 31 ; 
 but he intended it only to the prophets respectively, not to all the 
 members ; for he saith elsewhere, " Are all prophets ?" 1 Cor. 
 xii. 29. And writing to the churches of Galatia, Gal. i. 2, 
 acfainst false teachers he speaks thus to all those churches col- 
 lectively, " A little leaven leavenelh the whole lump," Gal. v. 
 9. And, " I would they were even cut off who trouble you," 
 ver. 12. Now every one of these churches were to apply this 
 to themselves respectively, Independents themselves being judges. 
 So here in this present case of the church of Corinth, the apostle 
 directs his commands to them, as it were collectively, about put- 
 ting away the incestuous person, which commands were particu- 
 larly to Ije put in execution by the presbytery in that church in 
 whose hands the church authority was.* 
 
 Thus taking these commands, 1 Cor. v. 4, 7, 13, though direct- 
 ed indefinitely, and as it were collectively to the whole church, 
 yet intended respectively to be put in execution by the presbytery 
 in that church, they hold forth no concurrence of the f)eople in 
 any act of power at all with the church officers or presbytery. 
 And it is a good note which Cameronf hath upon this place, 
 " These things that are written in this epistle are so to be taken 
 of the presbytery and of the people, that every one both of the 
 
 * See John Calvin, in 1 Cor. v. 4. + Cameron, in Matt, xvitL 15. 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. jgg 
 
 presbyters and of the people, should interpret the command ac 
 cording to the reason of his office." 3. When the apostle recite^h 
 the proceedmgs of the church in this very case of the incestuous 
 person, m his 2d epistle, he saith, " Suifi'cient to such a manis 
 th^ pumshmem" (or censure) "which was inflicted of many," 
 2 Lor. 11. 6. It IS very observable, he saith not, of all ■ nor of 
 many, but of the chief ones, viz. the church olTicer.^ who had the 
 ru e and government of the church committed to th'em (the ar! 
 tide Ae being emphatical ; for this word translated mly may 
 as well be translated chief, denoting worth, &c., as many d^no^ 
 ing number. And in this sense the Holy Gho t ofttime^ useth 
 h.s wora in the New Testament; as for instance, "Is not the 
 life be ter than meat ?" Alatt. vi. 25. " Behold, a greater than 
 Jonah IS here, 'Matt. xii. 41. " And behold, a greater than Sol 
 omon IS here," Matt. xii. 41. " To love him wiU, all the heart?" 
 
 M rk xH T^'" a'"? '"■ "'"'''' ""■■"'■"fl'-ings and sacrifice " 
 Mark xii. 3.3 And again, ver. 43, " This poor widow hath cast 
 more than all they " &c. And thus it is frequently used to sf' 
 nify quality, worth greatness, dignity, eminency, &c., and so it 
 may be conveniently interpreted in this of the Corinthians 4 
 Though al proper acts of authority appertain only to the church 
 
 ^l^^ewi'tir r '? "°* ''•'?'""^' 'I"' P^°P'^'' '''■'"«™^' concurrence 
 office tonl^'"'' r^ '""•' 'he presbytery to the acts of their 
 office people may be present at the administration of censures 
 &e., by the elders, as Cyprian of old would dispatch all public 
 acts the people being present; people may judge with a iud... 
 ment of discretion, acclamation, and approbation, &c., as the 
 eiders judge with a judgment of power; and people afterwards 
 may, yea must, withdraw from delinquents sentenced, that the 
 sentence may attain its proposed end. But none of hese are 
 properly any acts of power. 
 
 3. Nor doth the apostle's expression, verse 12, "Do you not 
 judge them that are within ?" prove that tlie people concm with 
 any authontative act in the elders' sentence. For, 1. This beincr 
 spoken to them indefinitely, was to be applied distributively and 
 respectively, only to them to whom it properly appertained, viz. 
 he elders, as hath been showed. They only havl authority to 
 judge. 2. Such a judgment is allowed to the saints in church 
 censures as shall be allowed to them when the saints shall md^e 
 the world, yea angels, 1 Cor. vi. 1-3, viz. in both a judgment ot 
 acclamation, approbation, &e., as assessors, as people mdge at 
 
 ,,dr"''S''' ""' '," "J"'"' "" J"''g"ent of authority, which the 
 judge and jury only do pronounce. 
 
 4. Nor, finally, doth the apostle's direction to fortrive the in- 
 
 cestuous, being penitent, 2 Cor. ii. 4-10, which seems to be 
 
170 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 given to all, prove the people's concurrence with the elders in 
 any act of power. For the authoritative forgiving and receiving 
 him again, belonged only to the elders ; the charitable forgiving, 
 receiving, and conf)forting of him, belonged also to the people. As 
 the judge and jury at an assizes, acquit by judgment of authority, 
 the people only by judgment of discretion and acclamation. 
 
 Thus it appears how little strength is in this instance of the 
 church of Corinth, (though supposed to be the strongest ground 
 the Independents have,) for the propping up of their popular gov- 
 ernment, and authoritative suffrage of the people. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 III. Having thus considered the subject of authority and pow- 
 er for church government: 1. Negatively, what it is not, viz. 
 neither the political magistrate, nor yet the community of the 
 faithful, or whole body of the people, Chap. IX. and X. 2. Posi- 
 tively, what it is, viz. Christ's own officers in his church, as hath 
 been explained and evidenced, Sect. 2, of this Chap. 3. Now, 
 in the third and last place, we are to insist a little further upon 
 this subject of the power, by way of explanatiQn : and to inquire, 
 seeing Christ's officers are found to be the subject of this power, 
 in what sense or notion they are the subject and receptacle of 
 this authority and power from Christ, whether jointly or sever- 
 ally ; as solitarily and single from one another, or associated 
 and incorporated into assemblies with one another ; or in both 
 respects ? 
 
 For resolution herein we must remember that distribution of 
 the keys, or of proper ecclesiastical power, (which was briefly 
 mentioned before in Part 2, Chap. III.) into that which is, 
 
 1. More special and peculiar to the office of some church gov- 
 ernors, which by virtue of their office they are to execute and 
 discharge : thus it is peculiar to the minister's office, 1. To preach 
 the word ; compare these places together. Matt, xxviii. 18-20, 
 John XX. 21-23, Rom. x. 15, 1 Tim. v. 17, Heb. xiii. 7, 2 Tim. 
 iv. 1, 2, &c. 2. To dispense the sacramenis, Matt, xxviii. 
 18-20, 1 Cor. xi, 24, 25. The word and sacraments were 
 joined together in the same commission to the same officers, 
 viz. the preaching presbyters, &c., as is evident in that of Matt. 
 xxviii. 19. 
 
 2. More general and common to the office of all church gov- 
 ernors, as the power of censures, viz. admonishing, excommuni- 
 cating, and absolving, and of such other acts as necessarily de- 
 pend thereupon ; wherein not only the preaching, but also the 
 ruling elders are to join and contribute their best assistance ; as 
 may be collected from these several testimonies of Scripture, 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 17^ 
 
 Matt, xviii. 17, 18, Tdl the Church;-^ 1 Cor. v. 2-13, 2 Cor. ii. 
 6-12, compared with Rom. xii. 8, 1 Cor. xii. 28, and 1 Tim. v. 
 17. 
 
 Now these officers of Christ, viz. they that labor in the word 
 and doctrine, and the ruling elders, are the subject of this power 
 of jurisdiction as they are united in one body, hence called a 
 Church, Matth. xviii. 18, viz. the governinfr or ruling church ; 
 for no other can there be meant ; and presbytery, f i. e. a society 
 or assembly of presbyters together, 1 Tim. iv. 14. 
 
 The presbyters, elderships, or assemblies wherein these officers 
 are united and associated, are of two sorts, viz: 1. The lesser 
 assemblies, consisting of the ministers and ruling elders in each 
 single congregation ; which, for distinction's sake, is styled the 
 
 * Thus Mr. Bayiie remarkably expounds this text, Matt, xviii., saying : 
 Where first mark, that Christ doth presuppose the authority of every partic- 
 ular church taken indistinctly. For it is such a church as any brother 
 oftendcd may presently complain to. Therefore no universal, or provincial, 
 or diocesan church jrathered in a council. 2. It is not any particular church 
 tl)at he doth send all Christians to, for then all Christians in the world should 
 come to one particular church, were it possible. lie dotJi therefore presup- 
 pose indistinctly the very particular church where the brother offending and 
 offeuded are members. And if they be not both of one church, the plaintiff 
 must make his denunciation to the church where the defendant is. 3. As 
 Christ doth .speak it of any ordinary jiarticular church indistinctly, so he 
 doth by the name of church not understand essentially all the congregation. 
 For then Christ should give not some, but all the members of the church to 
 be governors of it. 4. Christ speaketh it of such a church to whom we 
 may ordinarily and orderly complain ; now this we cannot to the whole mul- 
 titude. 5. This church he speaketh of then doth presuppose it, as the ordi- 
 nary executioner of all discipline and censure. IJut the multitude have not 
 this execution ordinary, as all but Morelius, and such democratical spirits, 
 do affirm. And the reason ratifying the sentence of the church., doth show 
 that often the number of it is but small, " For where two or three are gath- 
 cred together in my name ;" whereas the church or congregations essentially 
 taken for teachers and people, are incomparably great. Neither doth Christ 
 mean by church the chief pastor, who is virtually as the whole church. — 
 Mr. Bayne's Diocesan's Trial. 
 
 t Timothy received grace by the laying on of the hands of the presby- 
 tery. For that persons must be understood here, is apparent by the like 
 place, when it is said, by the laying on of my hands, he noieth a person, and 
 so here a presbytery. 2. To take presbytery to signify the order ol' priest- 
 hood, is against all lexicons, and the nature of the Greek termination. 3. Tim- 
 othy never received that order of a presbyter, as before we have proved. 
 4. It cannot signify, as Greek expositors take it, a company of bishops ; Ibr 
 neither was that canon of three bishops and the Metropolitan, or all the 
 bishops in a province, in the apostle's time ; neither were these who were 
 now called bishops, then called presbyters, as they say, but apostles, men 
 that had received apostolic grace, angels, &-c. Finally, it is very absurd to 
 think of companies of other presbyters in churches tliat Paul planted, but 
 presbyteries of such presbyters as are now distinguished from bishops, which 
 is the grant of our adversaries. — Bayne's Diocesan's Trial, page 82. 
 
172 THE DHTXE RIGHT 
 
 congregational eldership. 2. The greater assennblies. coosisting 
 of church governors sent from several churches and united into 
 one body, for governing of all these churches within their own 
 bounds, whence their nnembers were sent. These greater as^m- 
 blies are either presbyterial or synodal. 1. Presbyterial, con- 
 sisting of the nriinisters and elders of several adjacent or neigh- 
 boring single congregations, or parish churches, ruling those sev- 
 eral congregations in common ; this kind of assembly is common. 
 ly called the presbytery, or, for diistinction's sake, the classical 
 presbytery, i. e. the presbytery of such a rank of churches. 2. 
 Synodal, consisting of ministers and elders, sent from presbyte- 
 rial assemblies, to consult and conclude about matters of common 
 and great concernment to the church within their limits: Such 
 was that assembly mentioned, Acts xv. These synodal assem- 
 blies are either, 1. Of ministers and elders from several presby- 
 teries within one province, called provincial. 2. Or of ministers 
 and elders from several provinces within one nation, called therefore 
 national. Or, 3. Of ministers and elders from the several nations 
 within the whole Christian world, therefore called oecumenical : 
 for all which assemblies, congregational, presbyterial, and synod- 
 al, and the sulwrdination of the lesser to the greater a«semblies 
 respectively, there seems to be goo'J ground and divine warrant 
 in the word of God, as (God willing) shall be evinced in the xii., 
 xiii., xiv., and xv. chapters following. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Of the Divine Right of Congrrgatiorwl Rburfshps or Kirk SestrirmSf 
 for the government of tlie Church. 
 
 Touching congregational elderships, consisting of the ministers 
 and ruling elders of the several single congregations, which are 
 called the lesser assemblies, or smaller presbyteries, and which 
 are to manage and order all ecclesiastical matters within them- 
 selves, which are of more immediate, private, particular conc*^;m. 
 ment to their own congregations respectively ; and consequently, 
 of more easy dispatch, and of more daily use and necessity. Con- 
 cerning these congregational presbyteries, we shall not now take 
 into consideration either, 1. What are the memljers constituting 
 and making up these elderships; whether ruling elders by divine 
 warrant may be superadded to the pastors and teachers, and so 
 be associated for the government of the congrr gation. For the 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 173 
 
 divine right of the ruling elders, distinct from the preaching elder 
 for the government of the church, hath been evidenced at large, 
 Chapter XL, Section 1, foregoing. And if any acts of govern, 
 ment in the church belong to the ruling elder at all, sure those 
 acts of common jurisdiction, to be dispatched in these least assem- 
 blies, cannot of all other be denied unto him. 2. Nor shall it 
 here be discussed, what the power of congregational elderships 
 is, whether it be universally extensive to all acts of government 
 ecclesiastical whatsoever, without exception or limitation ; and 
 that independently, without subordination to the greater assem- 
 blies, and without all liberty of appeal thereunto in any cases 
 whatsoever, though of greatest and most common concernnient. 
 Which things are well stated and handled by others ;* and will 
 in some measure be considered afterwards in Chapter XV. 
 
 3. But the thing for the present to be insisted upon, against 
 the Erastian and prelatical party, is, the divine right of authority 
 and power for church government, which is in congregational 
 presbyteries or elderships, in reference to their respective congre- 
 gations. Take it thus : 
 
 Elderships of single congregations vested and furnished with 
 ecclesiastical authority and power to exercise and dispense acts 
 of government in and over those respective congregations where- 
 unto they do belong, are by divine right warrantable. 
 
 For confirmation hereof the light of nature, the institution of 
 Christ, the apostolical practice, and the law of necessity, seem to 
 speak sufficiently unto us. 
 
 1. The common light of nature thus far directeth all sorts of 
 smaller societies, whether political or ecclesiastical, to compose 
 all particular and more private differences and offences within 
 themselves; and to decide and determine small, common, easy 
 causes and matters, by smaller courts and judicatories appointed 
 for that end : a vain thing to trouble more and greater assemblies 
 with those matters, that may as well be determined by the lesser. 
 It was wise and grave counsel which Jethro, Moses' father-in- 
 law, gave to Moses, that he should set up over the people certain 
 judges inferior to himself, who themselves iriight judge all smaller 
 matters, but all great and hard matters to he brovght to Moses, 
 Exod. xviii. 22, 26. And our Saviour seems to insinuate, that 
 the Jews had their inferior courts for inferior causes, superior 
 judicatories for greater, in that gradation of his. Matt. v. 22. 
 Likewise they had lesser and greater ecclesiastical assemblies, 
 (as after will appear.) Now, to what use are greater and lesser 
 
 * See Assertion of the Government of the Church of Scotland, Part I. 
 Chap. 2, p. 122, &c. 
 15* 
 
174 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 judicatories, civil or ecclesiastical, but that the lesser and lighter 
 causes rnay Ixj judged in the inferior, harder and greater in the 
 Buperior ? 
 
 2. The institution of Christ recorded Matt, xviii. 15-21, seems 
 to hold forth notably l>oth single congregational elderships, and 
 their power. And this, whether we consider the Jewish form, 
 unto which our Saviour seems to refer; or whether we observe 
 the matter of his discourse. 
 
 1. As for the Jewish form of church government (unto which 
 our Saviour here seems to allude) we may observe it was man- 
 aged by two, if not three sorts of ecclesiastical courts, viz: By 
 the Sanhedrin, presbytery, and synagogue, (much like to the 
 evangelical 8yno<J, presbytery, and congregational eldership since 
 Christ.) 1. They had their ecclesias-tical,* as well as their civil 
 Sanhedrin, for high and difficult affairs of the church ; which 
 seems first to be constituted, Exo^J. xxiv. 1, and after decay 
 thereof, it was restored by King Jehr^haphat, 2 Chron. xix. 8 ; 
 and from this court that national church's reformation proceeded, 
 Neh. vi. 13. 2. Again, it is very probable they had l^etween 
 their Sanhedrin and their synagogue a middle ecclesiastical 
 court called The PreHhylery, Luke xxii. 66, and Acts xxii. 5, 
 and the v:ho/e j/reshy/cry. Let such as are expert in Jewish anti- 
 fjuiiies and their polity, cf^nsider and judge. 3. Finally, they 
 had their lesser judicatories in their synagogues, or congrega- 
 tional meetings: for, their synagogues were not only for prayer, 
 and the ministry of the word, in reading and expounding the 
 Scriptures, but also for public censures, correcting of offences, 
 &c., as that phrase seems to import, '• And I punislied them oft 
 in every synagogue," Acts xxvi. 11. His facts and proceedings, 
 it is true, were cruel, unjust, impious. I3ut why inflicted in 
 every ^ynfjgogue, rather than in other places, and that by virtue 
 of the hi^h j/riesCff letters, Acts ix. 1, 2 ; but there the Jews bad 
 judicatories, that inflicted public punishments upon persons eccle- 
 siastically offending ? Besides, we read oftf-n in the New Tes- 
 tament of the Tulern of the /fynagofru/'. as Afark v. 35, 30, 38 ; 
 Luke viii. 41, and xiii. 14; and of Crispus and Sosthenes the 
 chief ru1ern of the synagoffue, Acts xviii, 8, 17 ; whence is inti- 
 mated to us, that thes*; synagogues had their rule and govern- 
 ment in themselves; and that this rule was not in one person, 
 but in divers together; for if there were chief rulers, there were 
 also inferiors sulx^rdinate unto them : but this is put out of doubt, 
 in Acts xiii. 15, where after ihe lecture of the law and the pro- 
 phets, tJie rulers of tfie syjuigogue sent unto them — synagogue in the 
 
 • Mr. Gille«pic'8 Aaron's Rod BloMoming, book I chap. iiL pa^es S-38, 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. I75 
 
 singular number, and rulers in the plural. Thus analogically 
 there should be ecclesiastical rulers and governors in every sin- 
 gle congregation, for the well guiding thereof. But if this satisfy 
 not, add hereunto the material passages in our Saviour's speech. 
 2. Now touching the matter of our Saviour's discourse, it 
 makes this very clear to us ; for by a gradation he leadeth us 
 from admonition private and personal, to admonition before two 
 or three witnesses, and from admonition before two or tliree wit- 
 nesses, to the representative body of one church, (as the phrase 
 iell the church must here necessarily be interpreted,) if there the 
 difference can be composed, the offence removed, or the cause 
 ended ; rather than unnecessarily render the offence, and so our 
 brother's shame, more public and notorious. And that the pres- 
 bytery or eldership of a particular congregation, vested with 
 power to hear and determine such cases as shall be brought before 
 them, is partly, though not only here intended, seems evident in 
 the words following, which are added for the strengthening and 
 confirming of what went before in ver. 17 : " Verily, I say unto 
 you, whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven ; 
 and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 
 Again, I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on eartli as 
 touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them 
 of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are 
 gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them," 
 Matt, xviii. 18-20. In which passages these things are to be 
 noted : 1. That this church to which the complaint is to be made, 
 is invested with power of hinding and loosing, and that so authori- 
 tatively that what by this church shall be bound or loosed on 
 earth shall also be bound or loosed in heaven, according to 
 Christ's promise. 2. That these acts of hinding or loosing, may 
 be the acts but of two or three, and therefore consequently of the 
 eldership of a particular congregation ; for where such a juridical 
 act was dispatched by a classical presbytery, it is said to be done 
 of many, 2 Cor. ii. 6, because that in such greater presbyteries 
 there are always more than tico or thr&c. And though some do 
 pretend, that the faults here spoken of by our Saviour in this 
 place, were injuries, not scandals; and that the church here 
 mentioned was not any ecclesiastical consistory, or court, but 
 the civil Sanhedrin, a court of civil judicature ; and yet most 
 absurdly they interpret the binding and loosing here spoken of, 
 to be doctrinal and declarative ; not juridical and authoritative ; 
 as if the doctrinal binding and loosing were in the power of the 
 civil Sanhedrin :* yet all these are but vain, groundless pretences 
 
 * Vid Joannis Seldeni de Anno Civili, and Calendario, &:c. Dissertatiouem 
 
176 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 and subterfuges, without substance or solidity, as the learned and 
 diligent reader may easily find demonstrated by consulting these 
 judicious authors mentioned in the foot note,* to whom for 
 brevity's sake he is referred for satisfaction in these and divers 
 such like particulars. 
 
 3. The consideration of the apostolical practice, and state of 
 the Church of God in those times, may serve further to clear this 
 matter to us. For, 1. We sometimes road of single congrega- 
 tions ; and as the Holy Ghost doth call the whole body of Christ 
 the Church, Matt. xvi. 18, 1 Cor. xii. 2B, and often elsewhere; 
 and the larger particular members of that body of Christ (par- 
 taking the nature of the whole, as a drop of water is as true 
 water as the whole ocean) churches ; as, the church of Jerusa- 
 lem, Acts viii. 1 ; the church of Antioch, Acts xiii. 1 ; the church 
 of Ephesus, Rev. ii. 1 ; the church of Corinth, 2 Cor. i. 1 ; (these 
 being the greater presbyterial churches, as after will appear, 
 Chap. XIII. ;) so the same holy Spirit of Christ is pleased to style 
 single congregations, churches, " Let women keep silence in the 
 churches," 1 Cor. xiv. 34, i. e. in the single congregations of 
 this one church of Corinth: and often mention is made of the 
 church that is in such or such an house, as Rom. xvi. 5 ; 1 Cor. 
 xvi. 19; Col.iv. 15; Philem. 2; whether this be interpreted of the 
 church made up only of the members of that family, or of the 
 church that ordinarily did meet in such houses, it implies a single 
 congregation. Now shall single congregations have the name 
 and nature of churches, and shall we imagine they had not in 
 them the ordinary standing church officers, viz. pastors and 
 teachers, governments, or elders ruUng well, and helps or dea- 
 cons ? or is it probable they were furnished with these officers, 
 and yet the officers furnished with no power for the government 
 of these single congregations at all ? 2. We find that the apos- 
 tles being crowned with such success in their ministry, as to be 
 instruments of converting such multitudes to the faith as were 
 sufficient to make up many several churches from time to time, 
 did diligently take care to ordain them presbyters, or elders in 
 every church, Acts xiv. 23 ; Tit. i. 5. Now can it be clearly 
 evidenced by any, that these were not ruling as well as preach- 
 ing presbyters ; especially when it appears by other places that 
 the primitive churches had both ? Rom. xii. 8 ; 1 Cor. xii. 28; 
 
 in Prspfat., page 8. See also Mr. John Lightfoot's Commentary upon the 
 Acts, c. X. 28, pages 235-239. 
 
 * John Cameron, Prajlect. in Matt, xviii. 15, page 143 ad 162, and Mr. 
 G. Gillespie's Aaron's Rod Blossoming, &c., book i., chap. 3, page 8, &c., 
 and book ii., chap. 9, page 294-297 ; and book iii., chapters 2-6, handling 
 this elaborately, pages 350-423. 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 177 
 
 1 Tim. V. 17. Or can we tliink that the apostles were not as 
 careful to erect elderships in several congregations, as to appoint 
 elders ? otherwise how could tlie apostles have answered it to 
 their Lord and Master Jesus Christ, in leaving them without that 
 necessary provision of government, which Christ himself had 
 allowed to them, at least, in some cases, as hath been evidenced ? 
 4. Finally, necessity (which is a strong and cogent law) plain- 
 ly and forcibly pleads for elderships in particular congregations 
 endowed with authority and power from Christ for government 
 witiiin themselves. For, 1. How wearisome a thing would it be 
 to all congregations, should every one of their members be bound 
 to attend upon synods and greater presbyteries, (which in the 
 country are at a great distance from them,) in all ecclesiastical 
 matters of judicature, if they had no relief in their own congre- 
 gations ? How impossible would it be for the greater presbyte- 
 ries, not only to hear and determine all hard and weighty, but 
 also all small and easy causes that would be brought before 
 them ? And what should become of such a congregation as either 
 voluntarily transplants itself, or is accidentally cast among hea- 
 thens or pagans in far countries, where there are no Christians or 
 churches to join and associate withal, if they be denied an author, 
 itative presbytery within themselves, for preventing and healing 
 of scandals, and preserving themselves from destruction and ruin, 
 which anarchy would unavoidably bring upon them ? 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Of the Divine Ri^ht of Preshi/teries, (for distinction's sake called 
 Classical Preshyieries,) for the government of the Church. 
 
 Having spoken of the lesser, viz. congregational elderships, 
 we come now to the greater ruling assemblies, which are either 
 presbyterial or synodal. And first, of the presbyterial assembly, 
 or classical presbytery, viz. an assembly made up of the presby- 
 ters of divers neighboring single congregations, for governing of 
 all those respective congregations in common, where unto they be- 
 long, in all matters of common concernment and greater difficulty 
 in the Church. The divine warrant and right of this presbytery, 
 and of the power thereof for church government, may principal- 
 ly be evidenced, 1. By the light of nature. 2. By the light of 
 Scripture, which light of Scripture was followed by the Church 
 in the ages after the apostolical times. 
 
178 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 I. The light of nature and right reason may discover to U3 
 (though more dimly) the divine warrant of the greater presbyte- 
 ries, and of their power for the governing of the church. For, 
 
 1. There are many ecclesiastical matters which are of common 
 concernment to many single congregations, as trial of church 
 ofllcers, ordination and deposition of ministers, dispensation of 
 censures, judicial determination of controversies, resolution in dif- 
 ficult cases of conscience, ordering of things indifferent, &;c. ; 
 here the rule holds well, that which concerns many congrega- 
 tions, is not to be considered and determined upon only by one, 
 but those many concerned and interested therein. 
 
 2. Single congregational elderships stand in need of all mutual 
 help and assistance one of another in the iiord, being, 1. Inward- 
 ly weak in themselves; too prone to be turned out of the way, 
 Ileb. xii. 153, (Jul. v. 15, and too feeble for (hvcrs great tasks: 
 as examination and ordination of ministers, (fee, which weakness 
 is healed by association with others assisting them. 2. Outward- 
 ly opposed by many dangerous and subtle adversaries: men as 
 grievous wolves, (fee, Acts xx. 28-IM) ; 2 Pet. ii. J; Phil. iii. 2 ; 
 1 Tim. iv. 1-7; Eph. iv. 14; devils, 1 Pet. v. 8. In such cases 
 two are better than one : " Wo to them that are alone ; if they 
 fall, who shall take them up ?" 
 
 3. Such intricate cases may fall out as cannot be determined 
 and settled by the eldership of a single congregation. As for in- 
 stance, some member in the congregation may conceive himself 
 so wronged by the eldership thereof, that he cannot submit to 
 their unjust sentence; shall he not in such case have liberty of 
 appeal from them? If not, then he is left without a remedy, 
 (which is the calarrn'ty of the Independent government.) If he 
 may, whether shall he appeal regularly but to an associated 
 presbytery ? therefore there tnust be such a presbytery to appeal 
 unto. Again, there may be a controversy betwixt the whole con- 
 gregation, and their presbytery ; yea, the presbytery itself may 
 be equally divided against itself; yea, one single congregation 
 may have a great and weighty contest with another sister con- 
 gregation, (all single congregations being equal in power and 
 authority, none superior, none it)ferior to others.) Now, in these 
 and sijcli like cases, suppose both parties be resolute and wilful, 
 and will not yield to any bar(5 moral suasion or advice without 
 soirie superior authority, what healitig is left in such cases, with- 
 out the assistance of an authoritative prcisbylery, wherein the 
 whole hath power to regulate all the parts ? 
 
 4. Single congregations, joined in vicinity and neighborhood to 
 one another, should avoid divisions, (which are destructive to all 
 societies, as well ecclesiastical as civil,) and maintain peace and 
 
OF CtlURCH GOVERNMENT. I79 
 
 unity among themselves, (which is conservative to all societies;) 
 neither of which, without associated presbyteries, can be firmly and 
 durably effected. Both which ou^ht with all diligence to be endea- 
 vored. For, 1. Peace and unity in the Church are in themselves 
 amiable, and ought to be promoted, Psal. cxxxiii. 1, &c.; Eph. iv. 'S, 
 13 ; 1 Cor. i. 10. 2. Schisms and divisions are simply evil, and all 
 appearance, cause, and occasion thereof, ought carefully to be avoid- 
 ed, 1 Cor. xii. 25 ; Rom. xvi. 17; 1 Thes. iv. 22. 3. All congrega- 
 tions are but as so many branches, members, parts of that one 
 church, one body, one family, one commonwealth, one kingdom, 
 whereof Christ is Head, Lord, and King ; and therefore they 
 should communicate together, and harmoniously incorporate and 
 associate with one another, (so far as may be,) for the common 
 good, peace, unity, and edification of all. See 1 Cor. xii. 12-29 ; 
 Eph. ii. 12-16, and iv. 12-14, and v. 23-25. 
 
 II. The light of Scripture will hold forth the divine warrant 
 of greater presbyteries and their power for church government, 
 far more clearly than the light of nature. Forasmuch as we 
 find in the Scriptures a pattern of these greater presbyteries, and 
 of their presbyterial government over divers single congregations 
 in common in the primitive apostolical churches. For the greater 
 evidence and perspicuity hereof, take this proposition : 
 
 Jesus Christ our Mediator hath laid down in his word a pattern 
 of presbyterial government in common over divers single congre- 
 gations in one Church, for a rule to his Church in all after ages. 
 For confirmation hereof, there are chiefly these three positions to 
 make good, which are comprised in this proposition, viz: 1. That 
 there is in the word a pattern of divers single congregations in 
 one church. 2. That there is in the word a pattern of one pres- 
 byterial government in common over divers single congregations 
 in one church. 3. Finally, that the pattern of the said presby- 
 terial government, is for a rule to the churches of Christ in all 
 after ages. 
 
 POSITION I. 
 
 That there is in the word a pattern of divers single congrega- 
 tions in one church, may be plentifully evinced by four instances 
 of churches, (to mention no more,) viz. the churches of Jerusa- 
 lem, Antioch, Ephesus, and Corinth. Touching which four these 
 two things are clear in the Scripture, viz : 1. That eveiy of them 
 was one church. 2. That in every one of these churches there 
 were more congregations than one. Both which will fully evince 
 a pattern of divers single congregations in one church held forth 
 in the word. 
 
 1. The former of these, viz. That every one of these was one 
 
ISO THE DIVINE EIGHT 
 
 church, may be proved by induction of particulars. 1. All the 
 believers in Jerusalem were one church ; hence they are often 
 comprised under the word church, of the singular number: — 
 " Against the church which wajs at Jerusalem," Acts viii. 1. 
 " Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church 
 which was in Jerusalem," Acts ii. 22. " And when they were 
 corae to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the 
 apostles and elders,'' Acts xv. 4. 2. All the Ijelievers in Anti- 
 och were one church. *' Now there were in the church that was 
 at Antioch, certain prophets," Acts xiii. 1. *• And wlien he had 
 found him, he brought him to Antioch. And it came to pass, that 
 a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and 
 taught much people, and the disciples were first called Christians 
 in Antioch," Acts xi. 26. 3. All the believers in Ephesus were 
 one church : " And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called 
 the elders of the church," Acts xx. 17. And after he gives them 
 this charge, " Take heed therefore to yourselves, and to all the 
 flock, over which the Holy GhoKt hath made you overseers, to 
 feed the church of GkkI," ver. 28 ; all were but onejlock, one church. 
 " Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus, write," Rev. ii. 1. 
 4. All the believers in Corinth were one church, and comprised 
 under that singular word, church : " Unto the church of God 
 which is at Corinth," 1 Cor. i. 2. ^'' Paul, an apostle of Jesus 
 Christ, by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, unto the 
 church of God which is at Corinth," 2 Cor. i. 1. Thus in all 
 these four instances it is clear l>eyond all contradiction, that they 
 were every of them respectively one church. 
 
 The latter of these, viz. that these primitive af)Ostolical churches 
 of Jerusalem, Antioch, Ephesus, and Ojrinth, wer^ not every of 
 them severally and respectively only one single congregation, 
 (as some imagine,) but consisted e\ary of them of more congre- 
 gations than one. This shall be manifested in these four churches 
 severally, as follovveth: 
 
 The church of Jerusalem in Judea contained in it more con- 
 gregations than one. This may be convincingly evidenced divers 
 ways, particularly from, I. The multitude of believers in that 
 church. 2. The multitude of church officers there. 3. The 
 variety of languages there. 4. The manner of the Christians' 
 public meetings in those primitive times, both in the church of 
 Jerusalem, and in other churches. 
 
 1. From the multitude of believers in the church of JerussL' 
 lem. For it is palpably evident to any impartial reader that will 
 not wilfully shut his eyes, and subject his reason unto the ground- 
 less dictates of men, against the clear light of the Scripture, that 
 there were more believers in the church of Jerusalem, tlian could 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 181 
 
 ordinarily meet in one congregation, to partake of all the ordi- 
 nances of Christ. 
 
 And this may fully appear by these many instances following. 
 
 1. Christ after his resurrection, and before his ascension, "was 
 seen of above five hundred brethren at once," 1 Cor. xv. 6. 
 
 2. "After that of James, then of all the apostles," ver. 7. 3. At 
 the election of Matthias, and before Christ's ascension, there were 
 disciples together, the " company of their names together was as 
 it were one hundred and twenty," Acts i. 15. 4. At Peter's ser- 
 mon, " they that gladly received his word, were baptized. And 
 that day were added about three thousand souls," Acts ii. 1, 4. 
 5. And " The Lord added to the Church daily such as should be 
 saved," ver. 27. 6. Afterwards at another of Peter's sermons, 
 " Many of them that heard the word believed ; and the number 
 of the men was about five tiftusand," Acts iv. 4. 7. After that, 
 " Believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of 
 men and women," Acts v. 14. 8. Furthermore, the disciples 
 multiplying, and the work of the ministry thereupon much in- 
 creasing, the apostles were necessitated to appoint seven deacons 
 for serving of tables, that they might wholly "give themselves to 
 the ministry of the word and prayer," Acts vi. 1 to 7 ; whence 
 some have thought, that there were seven congregations in Jeru- 
 salem, a deacon for every one. Certainly there were rather 
 more than fewer, (saith the author of the Assertion of the Gov- 
 ernment of the Cliurch of Scotland,*) though we cannot determine 
 how many. However this, the Holy Ghost clearly testifieth that 
 "The word of God increased, and the number of the disciples in 
 Jerusalem multiplied greatly." 9. " And a great company of the 
 priests became obedient to the faith," Acts vi. 7 ; and probably 
 the example of the priests drew on multitudes to the Gospel. All 
 these forementioncd were in a short time converted, and became 
 members of this one church of Jerusalem, and that before the dis- 
 persion occasioned by the persecution of the Church, Acts viii. 1. 
 Now should we put all these together, viz. both the number of 
 believers expressed in particular, which is 8,620, and the multi- 
 tudes so often expressed in the general, (which, for aught we 
 know, might be many more than the former,) what a vast multi- 
 tude of believers was there in Jerusalem ! and how impossible 
 was it for them to meet all together in one congregation, to par- 
 take of all the ordinances of Jesus Christ! 10. In like manner, 
 after the dispersion forementioned, the word so prospered, and the 
 disciples brought into the faith by it, so multiplied, that it was 
 still far more impossible for all the believers in the church of Je- 
 
 * Assertion, &.c., part 2, chap. 3, p. 139. 
 16 
 
182 THE DmXE RIGHT 
 
 rusalem to meet in one congregation to partake of all the ordi- 
 nances of Christ, than before. For it is said, "Then had the 
 churches rest throughout all Judea" (and the church of Jerusa- 
 lem in Judea was doubtless one of those churches) "and Galilee 
 and Samaria, and were edified ; and walking in the fear of 
 the Lord, and comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied." 
 11. Again, "the word of the Lord increased and multiplied," 
 Acts xii. 24. 12. Furthermore, when Paul, with other disciples, 
 his fellow-travellers, came to Jerusalem, and "declared to James 
 and the elders, what things God had wrought by his ministry 
 among the Gentiles — They glorified the Lord, and said unto him, 
 Thou seest, brother, how many'' myriads (or ten thousands) " of 
 believing Jews there are, and they are all zealous of the law" — 
 Acts xxi. 20. Our translation seejjs herein very defective, ren- 
 dering it how many thousands ; whereas it should be, according 
 to the Greek, how many ten thousands : and these myriads seem 
 to be in the church of Jerusalem, seeing it is said of them, ver. 
 22, " The multitude must needs come together, for they will 
 hear that thou art come." Now considering this emphatical ex- 
 pression, not only thousands, but ten thousand : not only ten 
 thousand in the singular number, but ten thousands, myriads, in 
 the plural number : nor only myriads, ten thousands, in the plural 
 number, hui hoiv many -ten thousands; we cannot in reason im- 
 agine but there were at least three ten thousands, viz : thirty 
 thousand believers, and how all they should meet together in one 
 congregation for all ordinances, let the reader judge. Thus far 
 of the proof, from the multitude of believers in the church of Je- 
 rusalem. 
 
 Except. But the five thousand mentioned Acts iv. 4, are no 
 new number added to the three thousand, but the three thousand 
 included in the five thousand, as Calvin and Beza think. 
 
 A71S. 1. Then it is granted that five thousand one hundred and 
 twenty, besides an innumerable addition of converts, were in Jeru- 
 salem ; which if such a number, and multitudes besides, could 
 for edification meet in one place, to partake of all the ordinances, 
 let the reader judge. 
 
 2. Though Calvin and Beza think the three thousand formerly 
 converted to be included in this number of five thousand, Acts iv. 
 4, yet divers both ancient and modern interpreters are of another 
 mind, as Augustine. There came unto the body of the Lord in 
 number three thousand faithful men ; also by another miracle 
 wrouf^ht, there came other five thousand.* These five thousand 
 
 * Basilius in Psal. cxv. CEcumcniiw in loc. Jerom. Chrjsostome, horn. 
 33, in Matt. Irenaeup, lib. 1, chap. 11. Salmeron. 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 183 
 
 are altogether diverse from the three thousand converted at the 
 first sermon : so Lorinus, Aretius, and divers others. 
 
 3. Besides a great number of testimonies, there are reasons to 
 induce us to believe, that the three thousand are not included in 
 the five thousand, viz : 1. As the three thousand mentioned in 
 Acts ii. 41, did not comprehend the one hundred and twenty 
 mentioned Acts i. 15, so it holds in proportion that the tliree 
 thousand mentioned there, are not comprehended here in Acts 
 iv. 4. Besides, 2. Tliis sermon was not by intention to the 
 church, or numbers already converted, but by occasion of the 
 multitude flocking together to behold the miracle Peter and John 
 wrought on the " man that was lame from his motlier's womb ;" 
 as Acts iii. 10-12; so that 'tis more than probable that the five 
 thousand mentioned Acts iv. 4, are a number superadded besides 
 the three thousand already converted. 
 
 Except. But suppose such a number as three thousand, and 
 afterwards five thousand were converted in Jerusalem, yet these 
 remained not constant members of that Church, for the three 
 thousand were not dwellers at Jerusalem, but strangers who came 
 out of all countries to keep the feast of Pentecost : yea, Acts ii. 
 9, they are said expressly to be " dwellers of Mesopotamia, Cap- 
 padocia," &c., and so might erect churches where they came. 
 
 Ans. 1. 'Tis said, Acts ii. 14, " Peter standing" (when he be- 
 gan to preach this sermon wherein the three thousand were con- 
 verted) " said. Ye men of Judea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusa- 
 lem, hearken to my voice;" intimating that these he preached 
 to dwelt at Jerusalem. 
 
 But grant that some of these men that heard Peter's sermon 
 were formerly dwellers in Mesopotamia and Cappadocia, what 
 hinders but that they might be now dwellers at Jerusalem ? 
 
 3. The occasion of their coming up to Jerusalem at this lime 
 was not only the observation of the feast of Pentecost, (which 
 lasted but a day,) but also the great expectation that the people of 
 the Jews then had of the appearance of the Messiah in his king- 
 dom, as we may collect from Luke xix. 11, where it is said, 
 " They thought the kingdom of God should immediately appear ;" 
 so that now they might choose to take up their dwellings at Jeru- 
 salem, and not return, as they had been wont, at the end of their 
 usual feasts. 
 
 4. The Holy Ghost makes mention that in the particular pla- 
 ces mentioned, ver. 9, 10, that of all those nations there were 
 some that dwelt at Jerusalem ; read Acts ii. 5, " There were 
 dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men out of every nation un- 
 der heaven ;" if out of every nation, then out of those nations 
 there specified ; and even there dwelling at Jerusalem. 
 
184 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 5. Those who were scattered by reason of persecution into 
 Judea and Samaria, and other parts of the world, did not erect 
 new churches, but were still members of that one church in Je- 
 rusalem ; so saith the Scripture expressly, that " they" (of the 
 church of Jerusalem) " were all scattered abroad throughout the 
 re<,'ion of Judea and Samaria," Acts viii. 1. 
 
 Except. Although it sliould be granted that before the disper- 
 sion mentioned Acts viii. 1, 2, the number was so great that they 
 could not meet together in one place, yet the persecution so wast- 
 ed and scattered them all, that there were no more left than 
 might meet in one congregation ? 
 
 Ans. After the dispersion there were more believers in Jeru- 
 salem than could meet together in one place for all acts of wor- 
 ship, as appears by Acts ix. 31, " The churches had rest through- 
 out all Judea," &c., " and were multiplied ;" Acts xii. 24, " The 
 word of God grew and multiplied;" and Acts xxi. 20, James 
 saith of the believers of this church, " how many thousands of the 
 Jews there are which believe, and are zealous of the law;" or, 
 as it is in tiie Greek, thou scest how many ten thousands there are 
 of the Jews which believe; this text will evince, that there were 
 many thousands in the church of Jerusalem after the dispersion, 
 as hath been observed : and if this number were not more after 
 the dispersion than could meet together to partake of all ordi- 
 nances, let the reader judge. 
 
 Except. But the text saith expressly, all were scattered except 
 the apostles. 
 
 Ans. All must be understood either of all the believers, or all 
 the teachers and church oflicers in the church of Jerusalem, ex- 
 cept believers; but it cannot be understood of all the believers 
 that they were scattered : and therefore it must be understood 
 that all the teachers and church officers were scattered, except 
 the apostles. That all the believers were not scattered will easily 
 appear: For, 1. 'Tis said that Paul broke into houses, "haling 
 men and women, committed them to prison," ver. 3, and this he 
 did in Jerusalem, Acts xxvi. 10 ; therefore all could not be scat- 
 tered. 2. " They that were scattered, preached the word," ver. 4, 
 which all the members, men and women, could not do ; therefore 
 by all tliat were scattered must of necessity be meant, not the 
 body of believers in the church, but only the officers of the 
 church. 3. If all the believers were scattered, to what end did 
 the apostles tarry at Jerusalem — to preach to the walls ? this we 
 cannot imagine. 
 
 Except. But can any think the teachers were scattered, and 
 the ordinary believers were not, except we suppose the people 
 more courageous to stay by it than their teachers ? 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 185 
 
 Arts. It is hard to say, that those that are scattered in a per- 
 secution, are less courageous than those that stay and suffer. In 
 the time of the bishops' tyranny, many of the Independent 
 ministers did leave this kingdom, while others of their breth- 
 ren did abide by it, endured the heat and burden of the day, 
 " had trial of cruel mockings, bonds and imprisonments :" now 
 the Independent ministers that left us, would think we did 
 them wrong, should we say that they were less courageous 
 than those that stayed behind, enduring the hot brunt of persecu- 
 tion. 
 
 II. From the multitude of church officers in Jerusalem, it may 
 further appear, that there were more congregations than one in 
 the church of Jerusalem. For there were many apostles, pro- 
 phets, and elders in this church of Jerusalem, as is plain, if we 
 consider these following passages in the Acts of the Apostles. 
 After Christ's ascension, " the eleven apostles returned to Jerusa- 
 lem, and continued in prayer and supplication," Acts i. 12-14. 
 Matthias chosen by lot, was also " numbered with the eleven 
 apostles," Acts i. 26. " And when the day of Pentecost was fully 
 come, they were all with one accord in one place," Acts ii. 1. 
 " Peter standing up with the eleven, lift up his voice and said," 
 Acts ii. 14. " They were pricked in their heart, and said to 
 Peter and to the rest of the apostles. Men and brethren, what shall 
 we do ?" Acts ii. 37. " And the same day there were added 
 about three thousand souls, and they continued steadfastly in the 
 apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in 
 prayers," Acts ii. 42. " And with great power gave the apostles 
 witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus," Acts iv. 33. "As 
 many as were possessors of lands or houses, sold them, and brought 
 the prices of the things that were sold, and laid them down at the 
 apostles' feet," Acts iv. 34, 35, 37. "Then the twelve called 
 the multitude of the disciples to them," Acts vi. 2. " Now, when 
 the apostles which were at Jerusalem," Acts viii. 14. " They 
 determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain other of them 
 should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this 
 question. And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were 
 received of the church, and of the apostles and elders ; and the 
 apostles and elders came together," Acts xv. 2, 4, 6, 22, 
 23 ; xi. 30. And " in those days came prophets from Jerusalem 
 unto Antioch," Acts xi. 27. In all which places, the multitude of 
 apostles, elders, and prophets in this church of Jerusalem is evi- 
 dent. And it is further observable, that the apostles devolved the 
 serving of tables upon the seven deacons, that they might wholly 
 *' give themselves to prayer and the ministry of the word," Acts 
 vi. 2 J which needed not, nor would there have been full cmploy- 
 IG* 
 
186 
 
 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 ment for the apostles, if there had not been clivers congregations 
 in tliat one church of Jerusalem. 
 
 Except. 'Tis true, the apostles were for a time in Jerusalem, 
 yet when in Judea or elsewhere any received the gospel, the 
 apostles went abroad to erect other churches. 
 
 Ans. Touching the apostles going abroad, there can be given 
 but one instance, Acts viii. 14, where the whole twelve went not 
 forth, but only two were sent, viz. Peter and John : but suppose 
 it were granted, that upon some special occasions the apostles 
 went out from Jerusalem, can it be imagined that the apostles' 
 ordinary abode would be at Jerusalem, to attend only one 
 single congregation, as if that would fill all their hands with 
 work ? 
 
 Except. The apostles were well employed when they met in an 
 upper room, and had but one hundred and twenty for their flock, 
 and this for forty days together ; now if they stayed in Jerusalem 
 when they had but one hundred and twenty, and yet had their 
 hands filled with work, the presence of the apostles argues not 
 more congregations in Jerusalem than could meet in one place 
 for all acts of worship. 
 
 Ans. 1. From Christ's ascension (immediately after which they 
 went up to the upper chamber) to the feast of Pentecost, there 
 were but ten days, not forty ; so that there is one mistake. 
 
 2. During that time betwixt Christ's ascension and the feast of 
 Pentecost, (whether ten or forty days is not very material,) the 
 apostles were especially taken up in prayer and supplication, 
 waiting for the promise of the Spirit to qualify them for the work 
 of the ministry : now, because the twelve apostles, before they 
 had received the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, did continue 
 for a short time in Jerusalem with a small number in prayer, 
 will it therefore follow that after they had received these extra- 
 ordinary gifts, that they were bound up within the limits of one 
 single congregation ? 
 
 Except. The argument that there were many teachers in Jeru- 
 salem, proves not that there were more congregations in Jerusa- 
 lem than one, because there were then many gifted men, which 
 were not officers, wjiich yet occasionally instructed others, as 
 Aquila did Apollos; therefore it seems they were only gifted per- 
 sons, not officers. 
 
 Ans. 1. Grant that in those times there were many gifted men, 
 not in otTice, which might occasionally instruct others, as Aquila 
 did Apollos ; yet it is further to be noted, that, 
 
 2. This instructing must be either private, or public ; if pri- 
 vate only, then the objection is of no force, (because these teach- 
 ers instructed publicly ;) if in public, then if this objection were 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 187 
 
 of force, it would follow, that women might instruct publicly, 
 because Priscilla, as well as Aquila, instructed Apollos. 
 
 3- The current of expositors say, that the seventy disciples were 
 at Jerusalem among the one hundred and twenty, Acts i. 16, who 
 were teachers by office. 
 
 III. From the variety of languages among the disciples at 
 Jerusalem, it is evident there were more congregations than one 
 in that one church : the diversity of languages among them is 
 plainly mentioned in divers places, " And there were dwelling at 
 Jerusalem, Jews, devout men out of every nation under heaven. 
 Now every man heard them speak in In's own language," &c., 
 Acts ii. 5, 8-12. Now, of those that heard this variety of lan- 
 guages, and Peter's sermon thereupon, " They that gladly receiv- 
 ed his word, were baptized, and the same day there were added 
 about three thousand souls," Acts ii. 41, which diversity of lan- 
 guages necessitated those members of the church of Jerusalem to 
 enjoy the ordinances in divers distinct congregations in their own 
 language. And that they might so do, the Spirit furnished the 
 apostles, &LC., with diversity of languages, which diversity of 
 languages were as well for edification of them within the Church, 
 as for a sign to them that were without. 
 
 Except. Though the Jews being dispersed were come in from 
 other countries, yet they were all generally learned, and under- 
 stood the Hebrew tongue, the language of their own nation, so 
 that diversity of tongues proves not, that of necessity there must 
 be distinct places to meet in. 
 
 Ans. 1. It is easier said than proved, that the Jews were so 
 generally skilled in the ITcbrcw tongue, when, while they were 
 scattered in Media and Parthia, and other places, they had no 
 universities or schools of learning. Besides, it is not to be for- 
 gotten, that the proper language or dialect in those days in use 
 among the Jews was Syriac ; as appears by divers instances of 
 Syriac words in the New Testament, as of the Jews' own terms: 
 Acts i. 19, which "in their proper tongue, is called Aceldama;" 
 John xix. 13, 17, Gabhutha, Golgollm, &c. ; Mark xv. 34, Efoi^ 
 Eloi, lama-sabachihani ; with divers other pure Syriac terms. Grant 
 they did ; yet, 
 
 2. There were in Jerusalem proselytes also, Romans, Cappado- 
 cians, Cretians, and Arabians, Acts ii. 10, 11; how could they 
 be edified in the faith, if only one congregation, where nothing 
 but Hebrew was spoken, met in Jerusalem ; if so be there were 
 not other congregations for men of other languages, that under- 
 stood not the Hebrew tongue ? 
 
 IV. From the manner of Christians' public meetings in those 
 primitive times, both in the chureli of Jerusalem and in other 
 
188 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 churches. It is plain that the multitudes of Christians in Jeru- 
 salem, and otlier churches, could not possibly meet all together 
 in one single congregation, inasmuch as they i)ad no public tem- 
 ples, or capacious places for worship and partaking of all ordi- 
 nances, (as we now have.) but private places, houses, chambers, or 
 upper roojus, {as the unsettled state of the Church and troublesome- 
 ness of those times would permit,) which in all probability were 
 of no great extent, nor any way able to contain in them so many 
 thousand believers at once, as there were : " They met from house 
 to house, to break bread," Acts ii. 40. "In an upper room the 
 apostles with the women and brethren continued in prayer and 
 supplication," Acts i. 12-14. We read of their meetings in the 
 house of Mary, Acts xii. 12. In the school of one Tyrajinus, 
 Acts xix. 9. In an upper chamber at Troas, Acts xx. 8. In 
 PauFs own hired house at Rome, Acts xxviii. 30, 31. In the 
 house of AquiJa and PrisciUa, where the church met, therefore 
 called the church in his house, Rom, xvi. 5 ; 1 Cor. xvi. 19. In 
 the house of Nimphas, Col. iv. 15, and in the hou^e of Archippus, 
 Philem. 2. This was their manner of public meetings in the 
 apostles' times : which also continued in the next ages, as saith 
 Eusebius,* till, by indulgence of succeeding emperors? they had 
 large churches, houses of public meeting erected for them. 
 
 To sum up all : 1. There were in the church at Jerusalem 
 greater numbers of believers than could possibly meet at once to 
 partake of all Christ's ordinances. 2. There were more church 
 officers than one single congregation could need, or than could be 
 fully employed therein, unless we will say, that they preached 
 but seldom. 3. There was such diversity of languages among 
 them, that they must needs rank themselves into several congre- 
 gations, according to their languages, else he that spoke in one 
 language to hearers of many several languages, would be a bar- 
 barian to them, and they to him. 4. Finally, their places of or- 
 dinary meeting were private, of small extent, incapable of con- 
 taining so many thousands at once as there were believers ; and 
 by all these, how evident is it, that there must needs be granted 
 that there were more congregations than one in this one church 
 of Jerusalem ! 
 
 II. The church of Antioch, in Syria., consisted also of more 
 congregations than one. This appears, 
 
 1. From the multitude of believers at Antioch. For, 1. After 
 the dispersion upon Saul's persecution, the Lord Jesus was preach- 
 ed at Antioch, and a great number believed, d:c., Acts xi. 21. 
 2. Upon Barnabas's preaching there, much people was added to 
 
 • Euseb. Hist. Eccles. I. 8. c. 1. 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 189 
 
 the Lord, Acts xi. 24. 3. Barnahas and Saul for a year together 
 taught much people there, and disciples there so mightily multi- 
 plied, that there Christ's disciples first received the eminent and 
 famous denomination of Christians, and so were and still are 
 called throughout the whole world, Acts xi. 25, 26. 
 
 2. From the multitudes of prophets and preachers that minis- 
 tered at Antioch. For, 1. Upon the dispersion of the Jews at 
 Jerusalem, divers of them (being men of Cyprus and Cijrene) 
 preached the Lord Jesus at Antioch, Acts xi. 20 ; here must be 
 three or four preachers at least, otherwise they would not be men 
 of Cyprus and Cyrene. 2. After this Barnahas was sent to preach 
 at Antioch ; there is a fifth, Acts xi. 22-24. 8. Barnahas finds 
 so much work at Antioch, that he goes to Tarsus to bring Saul 
 thither to help him ; there is a sixth, ver. 25, 20. 4. Besides 
 these, there came prophets from Jerusalem to Antioch in those days ; 
 there are at least two more, viz. eight in all, Acts xi. 27, 28. 
 4. Further, besides Barnahas and Saul, three more teachers are 
 named, viz. Simon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, 
 Acts xii. 1-3. 6. Yea, " Paul and Barnabas continued in Anti- 
 och, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many 
 others also," Acts xv. 35. Now sum up all, what a multitude 
 of believers, and what a college of preachers were here at Anti- 
 och ! How is it possible that all these preachers should bustle 
 themselves about one congregation (and doubtless they abhorred 
 idleness) in dispensing the ordinances of Christ to them only ? or 
 how could so many members meet in one single congregation at 
 once, ordinarily to partake of all ordinances? 
 
 III. The church of Ephesus {in Asia Minor, Acts xix. 22) had 
 in it more congregations than one: For, 
 
 1. The number of prophets and preachers at Ephesus were ma- 
 ny. Paul continued there two years and three months, Acts xix. 
 8, 10 ; and Paul settled there about twelve disciples who prophe- 
 sied, Acts xix. 1, 6, 7. And how should these thirteen ministers 
 be employed, if there were not many congregations ? Compare 
 also Acts XX. 17, 28, 36, 37, where it is said of the bishops of 
 Ephesus, that " Paul kneeled down and prayed with them all, and 
 they all wept sore." Here is a good number implied. 
 
 2. The gift of tongues also was given unto all these twelve 
 prophets. Acts xix. 6, 7. To what end, if they had not several 
 congregations of several languages, to speak in these several 
 tongues unto them ? 
 
 3. The multitude of believers must needs be great at Ephesus: 
 For, 1. Why should Paul, who had universal commission to plant 
 churches in all the world, stay above two years together at Ephe- 
 sus if no more had been converted there than to make up one sin- 
 
190 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 gle congregation ? Acts xix. 8, 10. 2. During this space, "all 
 that dwelt in Asia," usually meeting at Ephesus for worship, 
 " heard the word of tlie Lord, both Jews and Greeks," Acts xix. 
 10. 3. At the knowledge o? PauVs miracles, " fear fell upon all 
 the Jews and Greeks dwelling at Ephesus, and the name of the 
 Lord Jesus was magnified," Acts xix. 17. 4. Many of the be- 
 lievers came and confessed, and shoioed their deeds, ver. 18, where- 
 by is intimated that more did believe than did thus. 5. " Many 
 also of them that used curious arts brought their books together, 
 and burned them before all men, and they counted the price of 
 them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver," (this they 
 would never have done publicly if the major part, or at least a 
 very great and considerable part of the city, had not embraced 
 the faith, that city being so furiously zealous in their superstition 
 and idolatry,) " so mightily grew the word of God, and prevailed," 
 Acts xix. 19, 20. 6. Paul testifies that at Ephesus a^rea/ door and 
 effectual was open unto him, viz. a most advantageous opportunity 
 of bringing in a mighty harvest of souls to Christ, 1 Cor. xvi. 8, 
 9. Put all together, 1. The number of prophets and preachers; 
 2. The gifts of tongues conferred upon those prophets ; and, 3. 
 The multitude of believers which so abounded at Ephesus : how 
 is it possible to imagine, upon any solid ground, that there was no 
 more but one single congregation in the church of Ephesus? 
 
 IV. The church of Corinth in Grcecia comprised in it also more 
 congregations than one, as may be justly concluded from, 1. The 
 multitude of believers. 2. The plenty of ministers. 3. The 
 diversity of tongues and languages. 4. And the plurality of 
 ciiurches at Corinth. Let all these be well compared together. 
 
 1. From the multitude of believers. There appears to be a 
 greater number of believers at Corinth than could all at once meet 
 together to partake of all the ordinances of Christ: For, 1. At 
 Paul's first coming to Corinth, and at his first sermon preached in 
 the house of Justus, it is said, " And Crispus, the chief ruler of 
 the synagogue, believed on the Lord, and all his house, and many 
 of the Corinthians hearing, believed and were baptized," Acts 
 xviii. 1, 7, 8. Here is Crispus and all his house, (which probably 
 was very great, he being the chief ruler of the synagogue,) and 
 many of the Corinthians, believing; an excellent first-fruits; for 
 who can justly say but Paul at his first sermon converted so many 
 as might be sufficient to make up one single congregation ? 2. 
 Immediately after this (Paul having shook his raiment against 
 the Jews, who, contrary to his doctrine, opposed themselves and 
 blasphemed; and having said unto them, " Your blood be upon 
 your own heads, I am clean : from henceforth I will go unto the 
 Gentiles," Acts xviii. 6) the Lord comforts Paul against the ob- 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 191 
 
 slinacy of the Jews by the success his ministry should have among 
 the Gentiles in the city of Corinth : " Then spake tiie Lord to 
 Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold 
 not thy peace : for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee 
 to hurt thee : for I have much people in this city," Acts xviii. 9, 
 
 10. Much people belonging to God, according to his secret pre- 
 destination, over and besides those that already were actually his 
 by effectual vocation. And much people, in respect of the Jews 
 that opposed and blasphenhed, (who were exceeding many,) oth- 
 erwise it would have been but small comfort to Paul if by much 
 people should be meant no more than could meet at once in one 
 small single congregation. 3. Paul himself continued at Corinth 
 "a year and six months teaching the word of God among them," 
 Actsxviii. 11. To what end should Paul the apostle of the (jen- 
 tiles stay so long in one place, if he had not seen the Lord's bless- 
 ing upon his ministry, to bring into the faith many more souls 
 than woulcl make up one congregation, having so much work to 
 do far and near ? 4. " They that believed at Corinth were bap- 
 tized," Actsxviii. 8. (Baptism admitted them into that one body 
 of the Church, 1 Cor. xii. 13.) Some were baptized by Paul, 
 (though but few in comparison of the number of believers among 
 them: compare Acts xviii. 8, with 1 Cor. 14-17,) the generality 
 consequently were baptized by other ministers there, and that in 
 other congregations wherein Paul preached not, as well as in such 
 wherein Paul preached ; it being unreasonable to deny the being 
 of divers congregations for the word and sacraments to be dis- 
 pensed in, himself dispensing the sacrament of baptism to so few. 
 
 2. From the plenty of ministers and preachers in the church of 
 Corinth, it is evident it was a presbyterial churcii, and not only a 
 single congregation ; for to what end should there be many labor- 
 ers in a little harvest, many teachers over one single congrega- 
 tion ? &c. That there were many preachers at Corinth is plain : 
 For, 1. Paul hiqnself was the master-builder there that laid the 
 foundation of that church, 1 Cor. iii. 10, their spiritual father; 
 " In Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel," 1 Cor. 
 iv. 1.5. And he stayed with them one year and a half, Acts xviii. 
 
 11. 2. Wiiile the apostle sharply taxeth thorn as guilty of schism 
 and division for their carnal crying up of their several teachers: 
 some doting upon one, some upon another, some upon a third, &;c. 
 " Everyone of you saith, I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of 
 Cephas, and I of Christ," 1 Cor. i. 12. Doth not this intimate that 
 they had plenty of preachers, and these preachers had their sever- 
 al followers, so prizing some of them as to undervalue the rest? 
 and was this likely to be without several congregations into which 
 they were divided? 3. When the apostle saith, ''Though ye 
 
192 THE DJVISE EIGHT 
 
 have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fa- 
 thers," 1 Cor. V. 15; though his words be hyperbolical, yet they 
 imply that they had great store of teachers and preachers. 4. We 
 have mention of many prophets in the church of Corinth : *■ Let 
 the propiiets speak two or three, and let the other judge — And the 
 spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets," 1 Cor. xiv. 20, 
 31. Here are prophels speaking two or three : and propheti5 judg- 
 ing of their doctrine, which sure were more than they that were 
 judged ; it being unreasionable for the minor part to pass judg- 
 ment upon the major part. And though these prophets had extra- 
 ordinary gifts, (as the church of Corinth excelled all other churches 
 in gifts, 1 Cor. i. 7.) and were able to preach in an extraordinary 
 singular way ; yet were they the ordinary pastors and ministers 
 of that church cf Corinth, as the whole current of this fourteenth 
 chapter evidencelh, wherein so many rules and directions, aptly 
 agreeing to ordinary pastors, are imposed upon them for the well- 
 ordering of their ministerial exercises. Now, where there were 
 so many pastors, were there not several congregations for them to 
 feed ? Or were they idle, neglecting the exercise and improve- 
 ment of their talents? 
 
 3. From the diversity of tongues and languages, wherein the 
 church did eminently excel. " In everything ye are enriched by 
 him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge — So that you come 
 behind in no gift," &c., i. e., ye excel in every gift, more being 
 intended than is expressed, 1 Cor. i. 5, 7. Among other gifts some 
 oC them excelled in tongues which they spake, the right use of 
 which gift of tongues the apostle doth at large lav down, 1 Cor. 
 xiv. 2, 4-6, 13, 14, 18, 19, 23, 26, 27. '•' If any speak in an uru 
 known tongue let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that 
 by course, and let one interpret." So that there were many en- 
 dued with gifts of tongues in that church. To what end ? Not 
 only for a sign to unbelievers, ver. 22, but also for edification of 
 divers congregations, of divers tongues and languages within that 
 church of Corinth. 
 
 4. From the plurality of churches mentioned in reference to 
 this church of Corinth. For the apostle regulating their public 
 assemblies and their worship there, saith to the church of Corinth, 
 " Let your women keep .silence in the churches." It is not said, 
 in the church, in the singular number ; but in the churches, in the 
 plural ; and this of the churches in Corinth, for it is said. Let 
 your women, &c., not indefinitely. Let women, &c. So that ac- 
 cording to the plain letter of the words, here are churches in 
 the church of Corinth, viz. a plurality of single congregations 
 in this one presbyterial church. And this plurality of churches 
 in the church of Corinth is the more confirmed if we take the 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. jgg 
 
 church of Cenchrea (which is a harbor or seaport to Corinth) to 
 be comprised within the church of Corinth, as some learned au- 
 thors do conceive it may.* 
 
 POSITION II. 
 
 That there is in the word of Christ a pattern of one presbyte- 
 rial government in common over divers single congregations in 
 one church. This may be evidenced by these followimr consid- 
 erations : For, ° 
 
 1. Divers single congregations are called one church, as hath 
 at large been proved in the second position immediately foregoing; 
 inasmuch as all the believers in Jerusalem are counted one cliurch : 
 yet those believers are more in number than could meet for all 
 ordinances in any one single congregation. And why are divers 
 congregations styled one church '? 1. Not in regard of that one- 
 ness of heart and soul which was among them, "having all thino-s 
 common," &c.. Acts iv. 32. For these affections and^actions of 
 kindness belonged to them by the law of brotherhood and Chris- 
 tian charity to one another, (especially considering the then pres- 
 ent condition of believers,) rather than by any special ecclesiastical 
 obligation, because they were membersof such a church. 2. Not 
 in regard of any explicit church covenant, knitting them in one 
 body. For we find neither name nor thing, print nor footstep of 
 any such thing as a church covenant in the church of Jerusalem, 
 nor in any other primitive apostolical church in all the New Tes- 
 lament ; and to impose an explicit church covenant upon the saints 
 as a necessary constituting form of a true visible Church of Christ, 
 and witliout which it is no Church, is a mere human invention' 
 without all solid warrant from the word of God. 3. Not in rerrard 
 of the ministration of the word, sacraments, prayers, &c. ^For 
 these ordinances were dispensed in their single congreirations sev- 
 orally, it being impossible that such multitudes of believers should 
 meet all in one congregation, to partake of them jointly, (as hath 
 been evidenced.) 4. But in regard of one joint administration of 
 church government among tliem, by one common presbytery, or 
 college of ciders, associated for that end. From this one way of 
 church government, by one presbytery in common, all the be- 
 lievers in Jerusalem, and so in other cities respectively, were 
 counted but one church. 
 
 * If Cenchrea be comprehended under the church of Corinth in this epis- 
 tle, and the apostle writinpr to the Corinthians, wrote also to this church, 
 culled, Rom. xvi. 1, ihe church of Cenchrea, then have we more congrega- 
 tions than one at Corinth. Now, Cenchrea was a seaport or harhor of Tho 
 (.\)rinthians. It was a place near to Corintii, on the east of the Eirean Sea. 
 liutherlbrd, in his Due Right of Presbj'tcries, page 4G2. 
 17 
 
194 
 
 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 2. In every such presbyterial church made up of divers single 
 congregations, there were ecclesiastical ruling olFicers, which are 
 counted or called the officers of that church, but never counted 
 or called governors, elders, &c., of any one single congregation 
 therein ; as in the church of Jerusalem, Acts xi. 27, 30, and xv. 
 2 : of Antioch, compare Acts xiii. 1-3, with xv. 35 : of Ephe- 
 sus, Acts XX. 17, 28 : and of the church of Corinth, 1 Cor. i. 12, 
 and iv. 15, and xiv. 29. 
 
 3. The officers of such presbyterial churches met together for 
 acts of church government : as, to take charge of the church's 
 goods, and of the due distribution thereof, Acts iv. 35, 37, and 
 xi. 30 : to ordain, appoint, and send forth church officers, Acts 
 vi. 2, 3, 6, and xiii. 1, 3 : to excommunicate notorious offend- 
 ers, 1 Cor. V. 4, 5, 7, 13, compared with 2 Cor. ii. 6 : and to 
 restore again penitent persons to church communion, 2 Cor. 
 ii. 7-9. 
 
 Except. Receiving of alms is no act of government. 
 
 Ans. True, the bare receiving of alms is no act of govern- 
 ment, but the ordering and appointing how it shall be best im- 
 proved and disposed of, cannot be denied to be an act of govern- 
 ment, and for this did the elders meet together. Acts xi. 30. 
 
 4. The apostles themselves, in their joint acts of government 
 in such churches, acted as ordinary officers, viz. as presbyters or 
 elders. This is much to be observed, and may be evidenced -as 
 followeth : for, 1. None of their acts of church government 
 can at all be exemplary or obligatory upon us, if they were not 
 presbyterial, but merely apostolical ; if they acted therein not as 
 ordinary presbyters, but as extraordinary apostles. For what 
 acts they dispatched merely as apostles, none may meddle withal 
 but only apostles. 2. As they were apostles, so they were pres- 
 byters, and so they style themselves, " The elder to the elect 
 lady," 2 John i. " The elders which are among you I exhort,'* 
 saith Peter, " who am also an elder," (i. e. who am a fellow- 
 elder, or co-presbyter,) 1 Pet. v. 1 ; wherein he ranks himself 
 among ordinary presbyters, which had been improper, unless he 
 had discharged the offices and acts of an ordinary presbyter. 
 3. Their acts were such, for substance, as ordinary presbyters do 
 perform, as preaching and prayer. Acts vi. 4 : ordaining of offi- 
 cers, Acts vi. G, and xiv. 23 : dispensing of the sacraments, 
 1 Cor. i. 14 ; Acts ii. 42, and xx. 7 : and of church censures, 1 Cor. 
 v. 4, 5, compared with 1 Tim. v. ver. 1, ult. : which acts of gov- 
 ernment, and such like, were committed by Christ to them, and 
 to ordinary presbyters (their successors) to the end of the world ; 
 compare Matt. xvi. 19, and xviii. 17, 18, to the end, and John xx. 
 21, 23, with Matt, xxviii. 18-20. 4. They acted not only as 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 
 
 195 
 
 ordinary elders, but also they acted jointly with other elders, be- 
 ing associated with them in the same assembly, as in that eminent 
 synod at Jerusalem, Acts xv. 6, 22, 23, andxvi. 4, "And as they 
 went through cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep, 
 that were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Je- 
 rusalem." 5. And, finally, they took in the church's consent 
 with themselves, wherein it was needful, as in the election and 
 appointment of deacons. Acts vi. 2, 3. 6. The deacons being 
 specially to be trusted with the church's goods, and the disposal 
 thereof, according to the direction of the presbytery, for the good 
 of the church, &c. 
 
 Let all these considerations be impartially balanced in the 
 scales of indifferent unprejudiced judgments; and how plainly 
 do they delineate in the word, a pattern of one presbyterial gov- 
 ernment in common over divers single congregations within one 
 church ! 
 
 Except. The apostles' power over many congregations was 
 founded upon their power over all churches ; and so "cannot be a 
 pay;ern for the power of elders over many. 
 
 Ans. 1. The apostles' power over many congregations as one 
 church, to govern them all as one church jointly and in com- 
 mon, was not founded upon their power over all churches, but 
 upon the union of those congregations into one church ; which 
 union lays a foundation for the power of elders governino- many 
 congregations. 
 
 2. Besides, the apostles, though extraordinary officers, are 
 called elders, 1 Pet. v. 1, to intimate to us, that in ordinary acts 
 of church government, they did act as elders for a pattern to us 
 in like administrations. 
 
 Except. The apostles, it is true, were elders virtually, that is, 
 their apostleship contained all offices in it, but they were not el- 
 ders formally. 
 
 Ans. 1. If by formally be meant, that they were not elders 
 really, then it is false ; for the Scripture saith Peter was an elder, 
 1 Peter v. 1. If by formally be meant that they were not elders 
 only, that is granted ; they were so elders, as they were still 
 apostles, and so apostles as they were yet elders : their eldership 
 did not exclude their apostleship, nor their apostleship swallow up 
 their eldership. 
 
 2. Besides, two distinct offices may be formally in one and 
 the same person ; as Melchisedec was formally a king and 
 priest, and David formally a king and prophet ; and why° then 
 might not Peter or John, or any of the twelve, be formally apos- 
 tles and elders ? And ministers are formally pastors and ruling 
 elders. 
 
196 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 Except. 'Tis true, the apostles acted together with elders, be- 
 cause it so foil out they met together ; but that they should meet 
 jointly to give a pattern for an eldership, is not easy to prove; 
 one apostle might have done that alone, which all here did. 
 
 An-f. 1. 'Tis true, tl»e apostles as apostles had , power to act 
 singly what they did jointly ; yet, when they acted jointly, their 
 acts might have more authority in the Church : ujxjn which 
 ground they of Antioch may be conceived to have sent to the 
 whole college of apostles and elders at Jerusalem, (rather than to 
 any one singly ;) why was this, but to add more authority to their 
 acts and determinations ? 
 
 2. Why should not their meeting together be a pattern of a 
 presbytery, as well as their meeting together when they torjk 
 in the consent of the people, Acts vi., in the choice of the dea- 
 cons, to be a pattern or warrant that the people have a power in 
 the choice of their officers? (as those of contrary judgment 
 argue :) if one be taken in as an inimitable practice, why not the 
 other ? 
 
 .3. If the apostles joining with elders, acted nothing as elcjers, 
 then we can bring nothing of theirs irjto imitation ; and by this 
 we should cut the sinews, and raze the foundation of church 
 government, as if there were no footsteps thereof in the holy 
 Scriptures. 
 
 POSITION in. 
 
 Finally, That the pattern of the said presbytery and presbyte- 
 rial government is for a rule to the churches of Christ in all after 
 ages, njay appear as followeth : 
 
 1. The first churches were immediately planted and governed 
 by Christ's own apostles and disciples ; 1. Who immediately re- 
 ceived the keys of the kingdom of heaven from Christ himself in 
 person, Matt. xvi. 19, and xviii. 17, 18 ; John xx. 21, 23. 2. Who 
 immediately had the promise of Christ's perpetual presence with 
 them in their ministry. Matt, xxviii. 18-20 ; and of the plentiful 
 donation of the Spirit of Christ to lead them iiito all truth, John 
 xiv. 16, and xvi. 1.3-15; Acts i. 4, 0, 8. .3. Who immediately 
 received from Christ, after his resurrection and before his ascen- 
 sion, " commandments by the Holy Ghost," — " Christ being seen 
 of tliem forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the 
 kingdom of God," Acts i. 2, .3 ; and, 4. Wi)0 were first and im- 
 mediately hapLizeAhylhe Holy Ghost, extraordinarily, Acts ii. 1-5. 
 Now, who can imagine that the apostles and disciples were not 
 actuated by the Spirit of Christ bestowerl upon them 1 or did not 
 discharge Christ's commandments, touching his kingdom imposed 
 upon them? or did not duly use those keys of Christ's kingdom 
 
OF CHURCH GOVEllNMEXT. I97 
 
 committed to them in the ordering; and governing of the primi- 
 tive churches? And if so, then the pattern of their practices 
 must be a rule for all the succeeding churches, 1 Cor. xi. 1 ; Phil, 
 iv. 9. 
 
 2. To what end hath the Holy Ghost so carefully recorded a 
 pattern of the state and government of the primitive churches in 
 the first and purest times, but for the imitation of successive 
 churches in after tim.cs ? "For whatsoever things wore written 
 aforetime, were written for our learning,'"' or instruction. But 
 what do such records instruct us ? Only in fact, that such things 
 were done by the first churches ? or of right also, that such things 
 should be done by the after churches ? Surely, this is more pro- 
 per and profitable for us. 
 
 3. If such patterns of Christ's apostles, disciples, and primi- 
 ti^ve churches in matters of the government will not amount to 
 an obligatory rule for all following churches, how shall we jus- 
 tify sundry other acts of religion commonly received in the best 
 reformed churches, and founded only or chiefly upon the foun- 
 dation of the practice of Christ's apostles and the apostolical 
 churches? As the receiving of the Lord's supper on the Lord's 
 days, Acts xx. 7, &c. ; which notwithstanding are generally em- 
 braced without any considerable opposition or contradiction, and 
 that most deservedly. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Of the Divine Right of Synods, or Sxjnodal Assemhlies. 
 
 Thus far of the ruling assemblies, v/hich are styled presb}'- 
 terial ; next come into consideration those greater assemblies, 
 which are usually called synodal, or synods, or councils. They 
 are so called from their convening, or coming together: or rather 
 from their calling together. Both names, viz. synod and council, 
 are of such latitude of signification, as that they may be applied 
 to any public convention of people : but in the common ordinary 
 use of these words, they are appropriated to large ecclesiastical 
 assemblies, above classical presbyteries in number and power. 
 These synodal assemblies are made up, (as occasion and the ne- 
 cessity of the church shall require.) 1. Either of presbyters, sent 
 from the several classical presbyteries within a province, hence 
 called provincial synods : 2. Or of presbyters, sent from the sev- 
 eral provincial synods within a nation, hence called national 
 synods : 3. Or of presbyters, delegated or sent from the several 
 17^ 
 
198 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 national churches throughout the Christian world, hence called 
 CECumenical synods, or universal and general councils- 
 Touching the divine warrant of synods, and their power in 
 church affairs, much need not be said, seeing divers learned 
 authors have so fully stated and handled this matter.* Yet, 
 that the reader may have a short view hereof, and not be left 
 wholly unsatisfied, these two things shall briefly be opened and 
 insisted upon, viz: 1. Certain considerations shall be propounded, 
 tending to clear the state of the question about the divine right of 
 synods, and their power, ti. The proposition itself, with some 
 few arguments adduced, for the proof thereof. 
 
 For the former, viz : The true stating of this question about 
 the divine right of synods, and of their fxjwer, well weigh these 
 few considerations. 
 
 1. Synods differ in some respects from classical presbyteries, 
 handled in Chap. XIII., though the nature and kind of their 
 power be the same for substance. For, 1. Synods are more large 
 extensive assemblies than classical presbyteries, the members of 
 presbyteries being sent only from several single congregations, 
 the members of syno(Js being delegated from several presbyteries, 
 and proportionably their power is extended also. 2. The exer- 
 cise of government by presbyteries, is the common ordinary 
 way of government held forth in Scripture. By synods it is nwre 
 rare and extraordinary, at least in great part, as in case of ex- 
 traordinary causes that fall out : as, for choosing an apostle, Acts 
 i., healing of scandals, d:c.. Acts xv. 
 
 2. All synods are of the same nature and kind, whether pro- 
 vincial, national, or oecumenical, though they differ as lesser 
 and greater, in respect of extent, from one another, (the pro- 
 vincial having as full power within their bounds, as the national 
 or CBCumenical within theirs.) So that the proving of the divine 
 right of synods indefinitely and in general, doth prove also the 
 divine right of provincial, national, and 0L*cumenical synods in 
 particular : for, greater and lesser do not vary the species or 
 kind. What is true of ecclesiastical synods in general, agrees 
 to every such synod in particular. 
 
 Object. But why hath not the Scripture determined these assenv 
 blies in particular ? 
 
 Alls. 1. It is not necessary the Scripture should in every case 
 descend to particulars. In things of one and the same kind, 
 general rules may serve for all particulars; especially seeing 
 
 * Paget, Gillespie, and tbe four Leyden professors, unto whose jadkions 
 and elaborate treatises, the reader is referred for more full satisfaction against 
 the usual cavils and exceptions that are made against synods, and their 
 power. 
 
OF CHURCH GOVErvN:Nn:XT. 199 
 
 particulars are so innumerable, what volumes would have con- 
 tained all particulars? 2. All churches and seasons are not 
 capable of synods provincial or national : for, in an island there 
 may be no more Christians than to make up one single congre- 
 gation, or one classical presbytery. Or in a nation, the Chris- 
 tian congregations may be so few, or so dispersed, or so involved 
 in persecution, that they cannot convene in synods, 6zc. 
 
 3. The power of synods contended for, is, 1. Not civil ; they 
 have no power to take cognizance of civil causes, as such ; not 
 to inflict any civil punishments; as fines, imprisonments, confis- 
 cations, banishments, death, (these being proper to the civil ma- 
 gistrate :) but merely spiritual ; they judge only in ecclesiastical 
 causes, in a spiritual manner, by spiritual censures, to spiritual 
 ends, as did that synod. Acts xv. 2. Not corruptive, privative, 
 or destructive to the power of classical presbyteries, or single 
 congregations ; but rather perfective and conservative thereunto. 
 As suppose a single congregation should elect a minister unsound 
 in judgment, or scandalous in conversation, the synod may annul 
 and make void that election, and direct them to make a better 
 choice, or appoint them a minister themselves ; hereby this liberty 
 of election is not at all infringed or violated, but for their own 
 advantage regulated, &;c. 3. Not absolute, and infallible; but 
 limited and fallible : any synod or council may err, being con- 
 stituted of men that are weak, frail, ignorant in part, &c., and 
 therefore all their decrees and determinations are to be examined 
 by the touchstone of the Scriptures, nor are they further to be 
 embraced, or counted obligatory, than they are consonant there- 
 unto, Isa. viii. 20. Hence there is liberty of appeal, as from 
 congregational elderships to the classical presbytery, and from 
 thence to the provincial synod, so from the provincial to the na- 
 tional assembly, &c. 4. Finally, the power of synods is not only 
 persuasive and consultative, (as some think.) able to give grave 
 advice, and to use forcible persuasions in any case, which if ac- 
 cepted and followed, well ; if rejected and declined, there is no 
 further remedy, but a new non-communion instead of a divine 
 church censure : but it is a proper authoritative juridical power, 
 which all within their bounds are obliged reverently to esteem, 
 and dutifully to submit unto, so far as agreeable to the word of 
 Christ. 
 
 4. Finally, this authoritative juridical power of synods is three- 
 fold, viz. doctrinal, regulating, and censuring. 1. Doctrinal, m 
 reference to matters of faith, and divine worship ; not to coin 
 new articles of faith, or devise new acts of divine worsliip : but 
 to explain and apply those articles of faith and rules of worship 
 which ai'e laid down in the word, and declare the contrary errors, 
 
200 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 heresies, corraptions- Hence the Church is styled, the pillar and 
 ground of truth, 1 Tim. iii. 15. Thus to the Jewish Church 
 were commiitcd of trust the oracks of God, Rrjin. iii. 2. 2. Regu- 
 laiing, in reference to external order and polity, in matters pru- 
 dcntlal and circumstantial, which are deterniinahle according to 
 the true light of nature, and the general rules of Scripture, »uch 
 as are in 1 Cor. x. .31, 32 ; Pwom. xiv. ; 1 Cor. xiv. 26, 40, &e. ; 
 not according to any arbitrary power of men. 3. Cewniring 
 power, in rcf2rcnce to error, heresy, schism, obstinacy, contempt, 
 or scandal, and the repressing thereof; which f>ower is put forth 
 merely in spiritual censures, as admonition, excommunication, 
 deposition, <kc. And these censures exerciseij, not in a lordly, 
 domineering, prelatical way: but in an humble, sober, grave, 
 yet authoritative way, necessary both for preservation of sound- 
 ness of doctrine, and incorrufrtness of conversation ; and for ex- 
 tirpation of the contrary. This is the power which belongs to 
 synods. Thus much for clearing the right state of this question. 
 11. For the second thing, viz. the proposition itself, and the 
 confir»nation thereof, take it briefly in these terms. 
 
 Jesus Christ our Mediator hath laid down in his word sufficient 
 ground and warrant for juridical syriwJs, and their authority, for 
 governing of his Church now under the New Testament. Many 
 arguments might be produced for pro^jf of this proposition : as, 
 1. From the light of nature. 2. From the words of the law, Deut. 
 xvii. 8, 12, compared with 2 Chron. xix. 6, 11 ; Ps. cxxii. 4, 5, 
 holding forth an ecclesiastical Sanhedrin in the Church of the 
 Jews, superior to other courts. .3. From the words of Christ, 
 IMatt. xviii. 15-21. 4. From the unity of the visible Church of 
 Christ now under the New Testament. 5. From the primitive 
 apostolical pattern laid down. Acts xv., (fee, and from divers 
 other considerations; but for brevity's sake, only the two last 
 arguments shall be a little insisted upon. 
 
 Argum. I. The unity or oneness of the visible Church of Christ 
 now under the New Testament, laid down in Scripture, gives us 
 a notable foundation for church government by juridical synofJs. 
 For, 1. That Jesus Christ our Me^Jiator hath one general, visible 
 Church on earth now under the New Testament, hath been al- 
 ready proved, Part 2, Chap. VIII. 2. That in thisChurch there 
 is a government settled by divine right, is evidenced, Part 1, 
 Chap. I. 3. That all Christ's ordinances, and particularly 
 church government, primarily belong to the whole general Church 
 visible, for her edification, (secondarily to particular churches 
 and single congregations, as parts or members of the whole,) hath 
 been manifested, Part 2, Chap. VIII. Now, there being one gene- 
 ral visible Church, having a government set in it of divine right, 
 
OF CI-IURCH GOVERN^^IEXT. 201 
 
 and that government belonging primarily to the whole body of 
 Christ; secondarily, to the parts or members thereof; must it 
 not necessarily follow, that the more generally and extensively 
 Christ s ordinance of church government is manao-ed in o-reater 
 and more general assemblies, the more fully the >erfcctiSn and 
 end of the government, viz. the edification of the whole body of 
 Christ, IS attained ; and on the contrary, the more particularly 
 and Singly church government is exercised, as in presbyteries 
 or single congregational elderships, the more imperfect it is, and 
 the less it attains to the principal end : consequently, if there be 
 a divine warrant for church government by single cono-reo-ational 
 elderships, is it not much more for church governmentV'presby. 
 teries, and synods, or councils, wherein more complete provision is 
 made for the edification of the general Church or body of Jesus 
 Christ ? -^ 
 
 Argum. II. The primitive apostolical practice in the first and 
 purest ages of the Church after Christ, may further evidence with 
 great strength the divine warrant for church government by juri- 
 dical synods or councils. Let this be the position : 
 
 Jesus Christ our Mediator hath laid down in his word a pattern 
 of a juridical synod, consisting of governing ofi^cers of divers 
 presbyterial churches, for a rule to tlie Church of Christ in all 
 succeeding ages. 
 
 For proof hereof take these two assertions: 1. That Jesus 
 Chnst hath laid down in his word a pattern of a juridical synod. 
 y. J hat this juridical synod is for a rule to the churches of Christ 
 in all succeeding ages. 
 
 ASSERTION I. 
 
 That Jesus Christ hath laid down in his word a pattern of a 
 synod, yea, of a juridical synod, consistincr of governinn- oflicers 
 of divers presbyterial churches, is manifest. Acts xv. and xvi 
 where are plainly set forth: 1. The occasion of the synod' 
 2. 1 he proper members of the synod. 3. The equal power and 
 authority exercised by all those members. 4. The way and 
 method of ordinary synodal proceeding. 5. The juridical acts 
 of power put forth by the synod ; with the issue and consequent 
 of all upon the churches. 
 
 First, Here was a proper ground and occasion for a juridical 
 s>-iiod. For thus the text expressly declareth, that " certain men 
 which came down from Judea, taught the brethren, and said. Ex- 
 ceptye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be 
 saved ; when therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissen- 
 sion and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and 
 liarnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem 
 
202 
 
 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 to the apostles and elders about this question," Acts xv. 1, 2, 
 compared with ver. 5 — " But there rose up certain of the sect of 
 the Pharisees, which believed, saying, that it was needful to cir- 
 cumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses;" 
 and Willi ver. 23, 24 — " The apostles, and elders, and brethren 
 send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles, in 
 I Antioch, and Syria, and Cilicia: Forasmuch as we have heard, 
 that certain which went out from us, have troubled you with 
 words, subverting your souls, saying. Ye must be circumcised 
 and keep the law." In which passages these things are evi- 
 dent: 
 
 1. That false doctrine, destructive to the doctrine of Christ in 
 his gospel, did arise in the Church, viz: That circumcision ^nd 
 keeping of the ceremonial law of Moses was necessary to salva- 
 tion, ver. 1, Ti, 24 ; and this false doctrine promoted with lying, 
 as if the apostles and elders of Jerusalem had sent forth the false 
 teachers with directions to preach so, as their apology ("to whom 
 we gave no such commandment," ver. 24) seems to import. 
 Here is corruption both in doctrine and manners lit for a synod 
 to take cognizance of. 
 
 2. That this corrupt doctrine was vented by certain that came 
 down from Judea. It is evident, it was by certain of the sect of 
 the Pharisees that believed ; as Paul and Barnabas make the nar- 
 rative to the ciiurch at Jerusalem, ver. .5, therefore the false 
 teachers coming from Judea (where the Churches of Christ were 
 first pf all planted, and whence the church plantation spread) 
 published their doctrines with more credit to their errors and dan- 
 ger to the churches ; and so both the churches of Judea whence 
 they came, and of Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia, whither they came, 
 were interested in the business. 
 
 3. That the said false teachers by the leaven of their doctrine 
 troubled them with words, subverting the souls of the brethren, 
 both at Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia, ver. 23, 24 ; here was the 
 disturbance and scandal of divers churches: compare ver. 39 
 with 41. 
 
 4. That Paul and Barnabas at Antioch had no small dissen- 
 sion and dispute against the false teachers, ver. 1, 2, that so (if 
 possible) they might be convinced, and the Church's peace pre- 
 served, without craving further assistance in a solemn synod. 
 
 o. That after these disputes, and for the better settling of all 
 the churches about this matter, (which tliese disputes could not 
 effect,) they decreed (or ordained) thai Paul and Barnabas, and 
 some others of themselves, should go up to the apostles and elders at 
 Jerusalem about this question, ver. 2. Here was an authoritative 
 mission of delegated officers from the presbyterial church at 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 203 
 
 Antioch, and from other churches of Syria and Cilicia also, 
 ver. 23, 41, to a synodal assembly with the presbyterial church 
 at Jerusalem. 
 
 Secondly, Here were proper members of a synod convened to 
 consider of this question, viz. the officers and delegates of divers 
 presbyterial churches : of the presbyterial church at Jerusalem, 
 the apostles and elders, Acts xv. 6 : of the presbyterial church at 
 Antioch, Paul, Barnabas, and others ; compare verse 2 and 12. 
 And besides these, there were brethren from other churches, 
 present as members of the synod ; as may appear by these two 
 considerations, viz : 
 
 1. Partly, because it is called "The whole multitude," ver. 12; 
 "The apostles and elders with the whole church," ver. 22; "The 
 apostles, and elders, and brethren," ver. 23. This whole multi- 
 tude, whole church, and brethren, distinct from the apostles and 
 elders which were at Jerusalem, cannot be the co?npany of all the 
 faiiliful at Jerusalem^ for (as hath been evidenced. Chap. XIV., 
 Position 2,) thoy were too many to meet in one house. But it was 
 the synodal multitude, the synodal church, consisting of apostles, 
 and elders, and brethren ; which brethren seem to be such as 
 were sent from several churches, as Judas and Silas, ver. 24, 
 who were assistants to the apostles and evangelists — Judas, Acts 
 XV. 22, 32 ; Silas, Acts xv. 32, 40, and xvi. 19, and xvii. 4, 14, 
 •15, and xviii. 5. Some think Titus was of this synod also. 
 
 2. Partly because the brethren of Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia, 
 were troubled with this question, ver. 23, 24. Therefore it can- 
 not be reasonably imagined, but all those places sought out for 
 a remedy ; and to that end, severally and respectively sent 
 their delegates to the synod at Jerusalem : else they had been 
 very regardless of their own church peace and welfare. And 
 the epistle of the synod was directed to them all by name, ver. 
 23; and so did formally bind them all, having men of their own 
 members of the synod, which decrees did but materially, and 
 from the nature of the thing, bind the other churches at Lystra 
 and Iconium, Acts xvi. 4. Now, if there were delegates but 
 from two presbyterial churches, they were sufficient to constitute 
 a synod; and this justifies delegates from ten or twenty church. 
 OS, proportionably, when there shall be like just and necessary 
 occasion. 
 
 Thirdly, Here all the mcml*rs of the synod, as they were 
 convened by like ordinary authority, so they acted by like or- 
 dinary and equal power in the whole business laid before them; 
 which sliows it was an ordinary, not an extraordinary synod. 
 For though apostles and evangelists, who had power over all 
 churches, were members of the synod, as well as ordinary elders; 
 
204 THE DIVLS'E RIGHT 
 
 yet they acted not in this synod hy a transcendent, infallible, 
 apostolical power, but by an ordinary power, as elders. This is 
 evident, 
 
 1. Because the Apostle Paul, and BarnabaB his collea^e, 
 (called a prophet and teacher. Acts xiii. 1, 2, and an apostle, 
 Acts xiv. 14.) were sent as members to this synod, by order and 
 determination of the church of Antioch, and they submitted them- 
 selves to that determination, Acts xv. 2, 3 ; which they could not 
 have submitted unto as apostles, but as ordinary elders and mem- 
 bers of the presbytery at Antioch: they that send, Ixjing greater 
 than those that are sent by them. Upon which ground it is a 
 good argument which is urged against Peter's primacy over the 
 rest of the afxjstles, because the college of ajwstles at Jerusalem 
 sent Peter and John to Samaria, having received the faith, Acts 
 viii. 14. 
 
 2. Because the manner of proceeding in this synod convened, 
 was not extraordinary and apostolical, as when they acted by an 
 immediate infallible inspiration of the Spirit, in penning the Holy 
 Scriptures, (without all disputing, examining, or judging of the 
 matter that they wrote, so far as we can read,) 2 Tim. iii. 16, 17 ; 
 2 Pet. i. 20, 21 ; but ordinary, presbyterial, and synodal ; by 
 ordinary helps and means, (as afterwards shall appear mors 
 fully ;) stating the question, proving and evidencing from Scripture 
 what was the good ami accepUihle v;ill. iff God concerning the pre- 
 sent controversy, and upon evidence of So/ipture concluding, 
 // seemed good to the Holy Ghoul, aii/l to us, Acts xv. 28 ; which 
 words, any assembly, having like clear evidence of Scripture for 
 their determination, may without presumption use, as well as this 
 synod did.'* 
 
 3. Because the elders and hrethren (who are as authoritatively 
 members of the synod as the aj:K>sties) did in all points as au- 
 thoritatively act as the aj:K>stles themselves. For, 1. Certain other 
 of the church of Antioch, as well as Paul and Barnabas, were 
 sent as delegates from the church of Antioch, Acts xv. 2. 2. They 
 were all sent as well to the elders, as to the apostles at Jerusalem, 
 about this matter, ver. 2. 3. They were received at Jerusalem, 
 as well by the elders, as the apostles, and reported their case to 
 
 * This i« the judgment of the learned Whitaker up«^>n thcHe words: other 
 lawful councils rnay in like manner aswirt " Uieir decrees to \x'. the decnea 
 of the Holy Ghost, if they shall be like to tljis council, and shall keep the 
 eame riile, which in this council the apostles did keej* and follow. I'or if 
 they Bhall decree and determine nothinfr hut from Scripture, (which was done 
 in this council, y and if they shall examine all questions hy the Hcriplure, and 
 shall follow the voice of the Scriptures in all their decree**, then they rnay 
 assert, that the Holy Ghost so decreed," &.c. Whitaker, Cont. page ^JIO. 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 205 
 
 them both, ver. 4. 4. The elders, as well as the apostles, met 
 together to consider thereof, ver. 6. 5. The letters containing 
 the synodal decrees and determinations, were written in the name 
 of the elders and brethren, as well as in the name of the apost/es, 
 ver. 23. 6. The elders and brethren, as well as the apostles, 
 blame the false teachers for troubling of the Church, sulverling 
 of souls; declaring, that they gave the false teachers no such com- 
 mandment to preach any such doctrine, ver. 24. 7. The elders 
 and brethren, as well as the apostles, sa)^ " It seemed good to the 
 Holy Ghost, and to us," ver. 28. 8. The elders and brethren, as 
 well as the ajjostles, did impose upon the churches " no other bur- 
 den than these necessary things," ver. 28. 9. The elders, as 
 well as the apostles, being assembled," thought good to send chosen 
 men of themselves," viz. Judas and Silas, with Paul and Barna- 
 bas, to Antioch, to deliver the synodal decrees to them, and to tell 
 them the same things by mouth, ver. 22, 25, 27. 10. And the 
 decrees are said to be ordained as well by the elders, as by the 
 apostles at Jerusalem, Acts xvi. 4. So that through this whole 
 synodal transaction, the elders are declared in the text to go on 
 in a full authoritative course of judgment with the apostles, from 
 point to point. And therefore in this synod, the apostles acted 
 as ordinary elders, not as extraordinary officers. 
 
 Fourthly. Here was the ordinary way and method of synodal 
 proceedings by the apostles, elders, and brethren, when they were 
 convened unanimously, ver. 25. For, 
 
 1. They proceeded deliberatively, by discourses and disputes, 
 deliberating about the true state of the question, and the remedy 
 of tiie scandal. This is laid down, 1. More generally, " and 
 when there had been much disputing," ver. 7. 2. More particu- 
 larly, how they proceeded when they drew towards a synodal de-. 
 termination, Peter speaks of the Gentiles' conversion, and clears 
 the doctrine of justification •• by faith without the works of the 
 law," ver. 7-12. Then Barnabas and Paul confirm the conver- 
 sion of the Gentiles, " declaring the signs and wonders wrought 
 by them among the Gentiles," ver. 12. After them James speaks, 
 approving Avhat Peter had spoken touching the conversion of the . 
 Gentiles, confirming it by Scripture ; and further adds (which 
 Peter did but hint, ver. 10, and Paul and Barnabas did not so 
 much as touch upon) a remedy against the present scandal, ver. 
 13-22. Here is now an ordinary way of proceeding by debates, 
 disputes, allegations of Scripture, and mutual suflTrages. What 
 needed all this, if this had been a transcendent, extraordinary, 
 and not an ordinary synod ? 
 
 2. Tiiey proceeded after all their deliberative inquiries and 
 disputes decisively to conclude and determine the matter, ver. 
 
 18 
 
206 THE DH^INE RIGHT 
 
 20-30. The result of the synod (as there is evident) is three- 
 fold. 1. To set down in writing their decrees and determina- 
 tions. 2. To signify those decrees in an epistle to the brethren 
 at Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia. 3. To send these letters by some 
 from among themselves, viz. Judas and Silas, together with Paul 
 and Barnabas, to all the churches that were offended or endan- 
 gered, that both by written decrees and word of mouth, the 
 churches might be established in faith and peace. 
 
 Fifthly, Here were several authoritative and juridical acts of 
 power, put forth in this synod, according to the exigency of the 
 present distempers of the churches. This appears plainly, 
 
 1. By the proceedings of the synod in accommodating a suit- 
 able and proportionable remedy to every malady at that time 
 distempering the Church, viz. a triple medicine for a threefold 
 disease. 
 
 1. Against the heresy broached, viz. that they must be circum- 
 cised and keep the ceremonial " law of Moses, or else they could 
 not be saved," Acts xv.' 2. The synod put forth a doctrinal 
 power, in confutation of the heresy, and clear vindication of the 
 truth, about tJie great point of "justification by faith without the 
 works of the law," Acts xv. 7-23 ; and (Independents them- 
 selves being judges) a doctrinal decision of matters of faith by a 
 lawful synod, far surpasseth the doctrinal determination of any 
 single teacher, or of the presbytery of any single congregation ; 
 and is to be reverently received of the churches as a binding or- 
 dinance of Christ. 
 
 2. Against the schism, occasioned by the doctrine of the false 
 teachers that troubled the Church, Acts xv. 1, 2, the synod put 
 forth a censuring power, stigmatizing the false teachers with the 
 infamous brands of troubling the Church with words, subverting 
 of souls, and (tacitly, as some conceive from that expression, 
 " Unto whom we gave no such commandment," ver. 24) of bely- 
 ing the apostles and elders of Jerusalem, as if they had sent them 
 abroad to preach this doctrine. 
 
 Object. But the synod proceeded not properly to censure the 
 false teachers by any ecclesiastical admonition, or excommunica- 
 tion ; therefore the power exercised in the synod was only doctri- 
 nal, arid not properly juridical. 
 
 ^715. 1. They censured them in some degree, and that with a 
 mark of infamy, ver. 24, as was manifested. And this was not 
 only a warning and hint to the churches, to note such false teach- 
 ers, avoid them, and withdraw from them, compare Rom. xvL 17, 
 18, with 1 Tim. vi. 3-5 ; but also was a virtual admonition to the 
 false teachers themselves, while their doctrines and ways were 
 so expressly condemned. 2. They proceeded not to present ex- 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 207 
 
 communication, it is granted ; nor was it at first dash seasonable, 
 prudent, or needful. But the synod knew well, that if these false 
 teachers, after this synodal mark of disgrace set upon them, should 
 still persist in their course, incurably and incorrigibly obstinate, 
 they might in due time be excommunicated by course; it being 
 a clear case in itself that such heretics or schismatics, as other- 
 wise cannot be reduced, are not to be suffered, but to be cast out 
 of the churches. " An heretic, after once or twice admonition, 
 reject," Tit. iii. 10, 11 ; see Rev. ii. 2, 14, 20. 
 
 3. Against the scandal of the weak .Tews, and their heart- 
 estrangement from the Gentiles, who neglected their ceremonial 
 observances, as also against the scandal of the Gentiles, who were 
 much troubled and offended at the urging of circumcision, and 
 the keeping of the law as necessary to salvation, ver. 1, 2, 19, 
 24, the synod put forth an ordering or regulating power, framing 
 practical rules or constitutions for the healing of the scandal, and 
 for prevention of the spreading of it, commanding the brethren of 
 the several churches to abstain from divers things that might any 
 way occasion the same : " It seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and 
 to us, to impose" (or lay) " upon you no further burden than 
 these necessary things," Acts xv. 28, 29. Here is burden and 
 necessary things, (so judged to be necessary for those times, and 
 that state of the Church,) and imposing of these upon the church- 
 es : will not this amount to a plain ordering power and authority? 
 Especially considering that the word to impose, or lay on, when it 
 is used of the judgment, act, or sentence of an assembly, ordina- 
 rily signifies an authoritative judgment, or decree, as, " Why 
 tempt ye God, to lay, or impose, a yoke upon the neck of the dis- 
 ciples ?" Acts XV. 10. Thus some in the synod endeavored to 
 carry the synod with themselves, authoritatively to have imposed 
 the ceremonies upon the churches ; whom Peter thus withstands. 
 So, " They bind heavy burdens, and hard to be borne, and impose 
 them upon men's shoulders'" Matt, xxiii. 4 : and this laying on 
 of burdens by the Pharisees, was not by a bare doctrinal declaring, 
 but by an authoritative commanding, as seems by that, " teaching 
 for doctrines the commandments of men," Matt. xv. 9. 
 
 2. By the title or denomination given to the synodal results 
 contained in their letters sent to the brethren. They are styled, 
 " The decrees ordained, or judged," Acts xvi. 4. Here are plain- 
 ly juridical authoritative constitutions. For it is very observable, 
 
 That wheresoever the words translated decree or decrees are 
 found in the New Testament, thereby are denoted, laws, statutes, 
 or decrees: as " Decrees of Caesar," Acts xvii. 7 : " A decree from 
 Caesar," Luke ii. 1 : Moses' ceremonial law, " The hand-writing 
 in ordinances," Col. ii. 14: "The law of commandments in ordi- 
 
208 THE DIVINE EIGHT 
 
 nanc^," Eph. ii. 15 : and this word is found used only in these 
 five places in the whole New Testament : and the Septua/rint in- 
 terpreters often use the word in the Old Testament to this pur- 
 fKise ; for Jaws, Dan. vi. 8 ; for decrees, Dan. ii. 13, and iii. 10, 
 29, and iv. .3, and vi. 0. 
 
 And the other word translated ordained, when applied to an 
 assembly by the .Septuagint, is used for a judgment of autliority, 
 as, " And what was decreed against her," Esth. ii. 1 ; and so a 
 word derived from it, signifies a decree, Dan. iv. 14, 21. 
 
 In this sense also the word is sometimes used in the New Tes- 
 lament, when applied to assemblies; as, "Take ye him, and 
 judge him according to your law,'' John xviii. 31 ; " Whom we 
 laid hold ufK)n, and would have judged according to our law," 
 Acts xxiv. 6. 
 
 Now, if there be so much jyjwer and authority engraven upon 
 these two words severally, how strongly do they hold forth au- 
 thority, when they are applied to any thing jointly, as here to 
 the synodal decisions ! 
 
 3. By the consequent of these synofJal proceedings, viz. the 
 cl»eerful submission of the churches thereunto. This appears 
 both in the church of Antioch, where the troubles first were 
 raised by the false teachers ; where, " when the epistle" of the 
 Bynod " was read, they rejoicf.d for the consolation," Acts xv. 30, 
 31 ; and Judas and Silas exhorted and confirmed the brethren by 
 word of mouih, according to the synod's direction, ver. 32 ; and 
 in other churches, to which Paul and Timothy delivered the "de- 
 crees ordained by the apostles and elders whicii were at Jerusa- 
 lem ; and so were the churches confirmed in the faith, and 
 abounded in number daily," Acts xvi. 4, 5 ; whence we have 
 these evidences of the churches' submission to the synodal de- 
 crees : 1. The decrees are counted by the churches a consolation. 
 2. They were so welcome to them, that they rejoiced for the con- 
 solation. 3. They were hereby notably confirmed in the faith, 
 against the false doctrines broached among them. 4. The 
 churches abounded in number daily, the scandal and stumbling- 
 blocks that troubled the Church being removed out of the way. 
 How should such effects so quickly have followed upon the pub- 
 lication of the synrxlal decrees, in the several churches, had not 
 the churches looked upon that synod as vested with juridical 
 power and autliority for composing and imposing of these their 
 determinations ? 
 
 ASSERTION II. 
 
 That this juridical synod is fOr a rule to the churches of 
 Christ in all succeeding ages, there need no new considerations 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 209 
 
 for proof hereof; only let the reader please to look hack to Po- 
 sition iv. of the last chapter, where the suhstance of tliose con- 
 siderations which urge the pattern of presnyterles and presbyterial 
 government for a rule to succeeding churches, is applicable (by 
 change of terms) to the pattern of juridical synods.* 
 
 * That there is an authoritative, juridical synod; and that this synod, 
 Acts XV., was such a one ; and (hat this synod is a pattern to us ; — all this 
 is most ingenuously acknowledged and asserted by that learned Independent, 
 Mr. John Cotton, in tliese words, viz: 
 
 " IV. Proposition, in case a particular church be disturbed with en'ors of 
 scandal, and the same maintained by a faction among them. Now a synod 
 of churches, or of their messengers, is the first subject of that power and 
 authority, whereby error is judicially convinced and condemned, the truth 
 searched out and determined ; and the way of truth and peace declared and 
 imposed upon the churches. 
 
 " The truth of this proposition may appear by two arguments 
 
 " Argum. 1. From tlie want of power in such a particular church, to pass 
 a binding sentence v/here error or scandal is maintained by a faction ; for 
 the promise of binding and loosing which is made to a particular church, 
 Matt, xviii. 18, is not given to the church when it is leavened with error 
 
 and variance. And the ground If tlien the church, or a consideralde part 
 
 of it, fall into error through ignorance, or into faction ; by variance, Ihcy 
 cannot expect the presence of Christ wi(h them according to his promise, to 
 pass a blind sentence. And Iheu as they fall under the conviction and ad- 
 monition of any other sister church, in a way of brotherly love, by virtue of 
 communion of churches ; so their errors and variance, and whatsoever scan- 
 dals else do accompany the same, they arc justly subject to the condemna- 
 tion of a synod of churches. 
 
 " 2. A second argument to prove that a synod is the first subject of power, 
 to determine and judge errors and variances in particular churches, is taken 
 from the pattern set before us in that case. Acts xv. 1-28 : when certain 
 false teachers having taught in the church of Antioch a necessity of circum- 
 cision to salvation, and having gotten a faction to lake part with them, (as 
 appcareth by the dissension and disputation of Paul and Barnabas against 
 them,) the church did not determine the case themselves, but referred the 
 whole matter to the apostles and elders at Jernsalctn, Acts xv. 1, 2. Not 
 to the apostles alone, but to the apostles and elders. The apostles were as 
 the elders and rulers of all churches ; and the ciders there were not a few, 
 the believers in Jerusalem !)eing many thousands. Nc-ither did the apostles 
 determine the matter (as hath been said) by apostolical authority from im- 
 mediate revelation : but tliey assembled together witii the elders, to consider 
 of the matter, ver. 6, and a multitude of hrethren together with them, ver. 
 12, 22, 23 ; and after searching out the cause by an ordinary means of 
 disputation, ver. 7, Peter cleared it by the witness of the Spirit to his 
 ministry in Cornelius's family ; Paul and Barnabas by the like effect of 
 their ministry' among the Gentiles: James confirmed tiie same by tlic testi- 
 mony of the prophets, wherewith the whole synod being satisfied, they de- 
 termine of a JUDICIAL SENTENCK, and of a way to publish it by letters and 
 messengers ; in whicli they censure the false teachers as troublers of their 
 church, and subverters of their souls ; they reject the imposition of circum- 
 cision as a yoke which neither they nor their fathers were able to bear ; 
 thev IMPOSE upon the Church none but some necessary observations, and 
 18* 
 
210 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Of the suhord'inaiion of particular churches to greater assemhb'es 
 for their authoritative and judicial determination of causes eccle- 
 siastical j and the divine right thereof 
 
 The divine right of ecclesiastical assemblies, congregational, 
 classical, and synodal, and of their power for church government, 
 being thus evidenced by the Scriptures, now in the last place take 
 a few words briefly touching the subordination of the lesser to the 
 greater assemblies, and the divine warrant thereof. In asserting 
 the subordination of particular churches to higher assemblies, 
 whether classical or synodal, 
 
 1. It is not denied, but particular churches have within them- 
 selves power of discipline entirely, so far as any cause in de- 
 bate particularly and peculiarly concerneth themselves, and not 
 others. 
 
 2. It is granted, that where there is no consociation, or neigh- 
 borhood of single churches, whereby they may mutually aid one 
 another, there a single congregation must not be denied entire ju- 
 risdiction ; but this falls not within the compass of ordinary rules 
 of church government left us by Christ. If there be but one 
 congregation in a kingdom or province, that particular congrega- 
 tion may do much by itself alone, which it ought not to do where 
 there are neighboring and adjacent churches that might associate 
 therewith for mutual assistance. 
 
 3. It is granted, that every single congregation hath equal pow- 
 er, one as much as another, and that there is no subordination of 
 one to another ; according to that common and known axiom. An 
 equal hath no power or rule over an equal. Subordination pre- 
 latical, which is of one or more parishes to the prelate and his 
 cathedral, is denied ; all particular churches being collateral, 
 and of the same authority. 
 
 4. It is granted, that classical or synodal authority cannot be 
 
 them by way of that ai'thority which the Lord had given them, ver. 28 : 
 which PATTERN clcarly showeth us to whom the key of authority is commit- 
 ted, when there groweth offence and difference in a church. Look as in 
 the case of the offence of a faithful brother persisted in, the matter is at 
 last judged and determined in a church : so in the offence of the church or 
 congregation, the matter is at last judged in a congregation of churches, 
 a church of churches; for what is a synod else but a church of churches?" 
 — Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, pages 47-49. 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 211 
 
 by Scripture introduced over a particular cliurcli in a privative 
 or destructive way to that power which God hath bestowed upon 
 it ; but contrarily it is affirmed, that all the power of assemblies, 
 which are above particular congregations, is cumulative and per- 
 fective to the power of those inferior congregations. 
 
 5. It is granted, that the highest ecclesiastical assembly in the 
 world cannot require from the lowest a subordination absolute, 
 and at their own mere will and pleasure, but only in some re- 
 spect ; subordination absolute being only to the law of God laid 
 down in Scripture. We detest popish tyranny, which claims a 
 power of giving their will for a law. 'Tis subjection in the Lord 
 that is pleaded for : the straightest rule in the world, unless 
 the holy Scripture, we affirm to be a rule to be regulated ; peace 
 being only in walking according to Scripture canon, Gal. vi. 
 ver. 16. 
 
 6. Nor is it the question whether friendly, consultative, frater- 
 nal. Christian advice or direction, be either to be desired or be- 
 stowed by neighboring churches, either apart or in their synodal 
 nneetings, for the mutual benefit of one another, by reason of that 
 holy profession in which they are all conjoined and knit together: 
 for this will be granted on all hands, though when it is obtained, 
 it will not amount to a sufficient remedy in many cases. 
 
 But this is that which we maintain, viz. that the law of God 
 holdeth forth a subordination of a particular church to greater 
 assemblies, consisting of divers choice members, taken out of 
 several single congregations : which assemblies have authoritative 
 power and ecclesiastical jurisdiction over that particular church, 
 by way of giving sentence in and deciding of causes ecclesiasti- 
 cal. For confirmation of this assertion, thus: 
 
 Argum. I. The light of nature may be alleged to prove, that 
 there ought to be this subordination : this is warranted not only 
 by God's positive law, but even by nature's law. The church is a 
 company of people who are not outlawed by nature. The visi- 
 ble church being an ecclesiastical polity, and the perfection of 
 all polity, doth comprehend in it whatsoever is excellent in all 
 other bodies political. The church must resemble the common- 
 wealth's government in things common to both, and which have 
 the same use in both. The law of nature directs unto diversities 
 of courts in the commonwealth, and the greater to have authority 
 over the lesser. The church is not only to be considered as em- 
 ployed in holy services, or as having assemblies exercised in spir- 
 itual things, and after a spiritual manner, but it is also to be con- 
 sidered as consisting of companies and societies of men to be 
 regularly ordered, and so far nature agreeth to it, that it should 
 have divers sorts of assemblies, and the lower subordinate to the 
 
212 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 higher. That particular parts should be subject to the whole for 
 the good of the whole, is found necessary lx)lh in bodies natural 
 and politic. Is the foot to be lanced ! though it have a particular 
 use of its own, and a peculiar employment, yet it is to be ordered 
 by the eye, the hand, and the rest. Kingdoms have their several 
 cities and towns, which all have their governments apart by tbem- 
 selvcs ; yet for the preservation of the whole, all join together 
 in the Parliament. Armies and navies have their several companies 
 and ships, yet in any danger every particular company and siiip 
 is ordered by tiie counsels and directions of the officers and guides 
 of the whole army or navy. The Church is spiritual, but yet a 
 kingdom, a body, an army, &c. D. Ames himself affirms that 
 the light of nature requires that particular churches ou^ht to 
 combine in synods for things of greater moment. The God of 
 nature and reason hath not left in his word a government against 
 the light of nature and right reason. Appeals are of divine and 
 natural right, and certainly very necessary in every society, be- 
 cause of the iniquity and ignorance of judges. That they are 
 so, the practices of all ages and nations sufficiently testify. 
 
 Argum. II. The Jewish church government affords a second 
 argument. If in that they had synagogues in every city, which 
 were subordinate to the supreme ecclesiastical court at Jerusalem, 
 then there ought to be a subordination of particular churches 
 among us to higher assemblies ; but so it was among them : there- 
 fore. 
 
 That the subordination was among them of the particular 
 synagogues to the assembly at Jerusalem, is clear — ^Deut. xvii. 8, 
 12 ; 2 Chron. xix. 8, 11; Exod. xviii. 22, 26. 
 
 That therefore it ought to be so among us, is as plain : for the 
 dangers and difficulties that they were involved in without a gov- 
 crnmcnt, and for which God caused that government to be set up 
 among them, are as great if not greater among us, and therefore 
 why should we want the same means of prevention and cure? 
 Are not we in greater danger of heresies now in the time of the 
 New Testament, liie churches therein being thereby to be exer- 
 cised by way of trial, as the apostle foretells, 1 Cor. xi. 19 ? Doth 
 not ungodliness in these last times abound, according to the same 
 apostle's prediction ? Is there not now a more free and permit- 
 ted intercourse of society with infidels than in those times ? 
 
 'Nor are the exceptions against this argument of any strength : 
 as, 1. That arguments for the form of church government must 
 yet be fetched from the Jewish Church ; the governm.ent of the 
 Jews was ceremonial and typical, and Christians must not Judaize, 
 nor use tliat Judaical compound of subordination of churches : 
 the Mosaical polity is abrogated now under the New Testament. 
 
OF CHUUCH GOVERIsMENT. 213 
 
 Not to tell those that make this exception, 1. That none argue so 
 much from the Jewish government as themselves tor the power 
 of congregations, both in ordination and excommunication, because 
 the people of Israel laid hands on the Levites, and all Israel were 
 to remove the unclean ; 2. We answer, the laws of the Jewish 
 church, whether ceremonial or judicial, so far are in force, even 
 at this day, as they were grounded upon common equity, the 
 principles of reason and nature, and were serving to the mainte- 
 nance of the moral law. 'Tis of especial right, that the party 
 unjustly aggrieved should have redress, that the adverse party 
 should not be sole judge and party too, that judgment ought not 
 to be rashly or partially passed upon any. The Jewish polity is 
 only abrogated in regard of what w^as in it of particular right, 
 not of common right : so far as there was in their laws either a 
 typicalness proper to their church, or a peculiarness of respect to 
 their state in that land of promise given unto them. Whatsoever 
 was in their laws of moral concernment or general equity, is still 
 obliging; whatsoever the Jewish Church had not as Jewish, but 
 as it was a political church, or an ecclesiastical republic, (among 
 which is the subordination of ecclesiastical courts to be reckoned,) 
 doth belong to the Christian Church : that all judgments were to 
 be determined by an high-priest, was typical of Christ's suprem- 
 acy in judicature; but that there were gradual judicatories for 
 the ease of an oppressed or grieved party, there can be no cere- 
 mony or type in this. This was not learned by Moses in the 
 pattern of the Mount, but was taught by the light of nature to 
 Jethro, Exod. xviii. 22, and by him given in advice to Moses. 
 This did not belong unto the peculiar dispensation of the Jews, 
 but unto the good order of the church. 
 
 To conclude our answer to this exception, if the benefit of ap- 
 peals be not as free to us as to the Jews, the yoke of the gospel 
 should be more intolerable than the yoke of the law ; the poor 
 afflicted Christian might groan and cry under an unjust and ty- 
 rannical eldership, and no ecclesiastical judicatory to relieve him ; 
 whereas the poor oppressed Jew might appeal to the Sanhedrin : 
 certainly this is contrary to that prophecy of Christ, Psal. Ixxii. 
 12, 14. 
 
 Argum, III. A third argument to prove the subordination of par- 
 ticular congregations, is taken from the institution of our Saviour 
 Christ, of gradual appeals, Matt, xviii. 17, 18, where our Saviour 
 hath appointed a particular member of a church (if scandalous) 
 to be gradually dealt withal ; first to be reproved in private, then 
 to be admonished before two or three witnesses, and last of all to 
 be complained of to the church : whence we thus argue : 
 
 If Christ hath instituted that the offence of an obstinate brother 
 
214 THE DIVINE RIGHT 
 
 should be complained of to the church ; then much more is it in- 
 tended that the obstinacy of a great number, suppose of a whole 
 church, sliould be brought before a higher assembly : but the for- 
 mer is true, therefore tiie latter. The consequence, wherein the 
 strength of the argument lies, is proved several ways. 
 
 1. From the rule of proportion : by what proportion one or two 
 are subject to a particular church, by the same proportion is that 
 church subject to a provincial or a national assembly ; and by the 
 same proportion that one congregation is governed by the partic- 
 ular eldership representing it, by the same proportion are ten or 
 twelve congregations governed by a classical presbytery repre- 
 senting them all. 
 
 2. From tlie sufficiency of that remedy that Christ here pre- 
 scribes for those emergent exigencies under which the Church 
 may lie; since, therefore, offences may as well arise between two 
 persons in the same congregation, Christ hath appointed that par- 
 ticular congregations, as well as members, shall have liberty to 
 complain and appeal to a more general judgment for redress : the 
 salve here prescribed by Christ is equal to the sore ; if the sore of 
 scandal may overspread whole churches, as well as particular per- 
 sons, then certainly the salve of appeals and subordination is here 
 also appointed. If a man be scandalrzed by the neighbor-church, 
 to whom shall he complain ? Tlie church offending must not be 
 both judge and party. 
 
 3. From that ecclesiastical communion that is between churches 
 and churches in one and the same province or nation, whereby 
 churches are joined and united together in doctrine and disci- 
 pline into one body, as well as divers particular persons in a 
 particular congregation; since, therefore, scandals may be com- 
 mitted among them that are in that holy communion one with 
 another, most unworthy of and destructive to that sacred league, 
 certainly tijose scandals should be redressed by a superior judica- 
 tory, as well as oflences between brother and brother. 
 
 4. He that careth for a part of a church must much more 
 care for the whole ; he whose love extends itself to regard the con- 
 version of one, is certainly very careful of the spiritual welfare of 
 many, the edification of a whole church ; the influence ofChrist's 
 love being poured upon the whole body, bride and spouse, by or- 
 der of nature, before it redound to the benefit of a finger or toe, 
 viz. some one single person or other. Nor are the ex-ceptions 
 against this institution of gradual appeals of any moment. 
 
 The grand one, and that makes directly against our position 
 is, that our Saviour would have the controversy between brother 
 and brother to be terminated in a peculiar church, and that its 
 judgment should be ultimately requested, he sailh, Tell the churchy 
 
 I 
 i 
 
OF CHURCH GOVEliNMLNT. 215 
 
 not churches. The subordination here appointed by Christ is of 
 fewer to more, but still within the same church, not without it. To 
 which we answer, our Saviour means not by church only one 
 single particular congregation, but also several, combined in their 
 officers, as appears by these following reasons. 
 
 1. A particular church in sundry cases cannot decide the dif- 
 ference, or heal the distemper our Saviour prescribes against ; as 
 when a particular church is divided into two parts, both in op- 
 position one to the other; or when one church is at variance with 
 another ; if Christ here limits only to a particular church, how 
 shall such distempers be remedied ? 
 
 2. When Christ bids tell the church, he speaks in allusion to the 
 Jewish Church, which was represented not only by parts in the 
 single synagogue or congregation, but wholly in their sanhedrin, 
 consisting of select persons, appointed by God, for deciding con- 
 troversies incident to their particular congregations, and their 
 members. So that we may thus reason : the subordination here 
 established by Christ is so far to be extended in the Christian 
 Church, as in the Church of the .Tews, for Christ alludcth to the 
 Jewish practice; but in the Jewish Church there was a subordina- 
 tion of fewer to more, not only within the same synagogue or con- 
 gregation, but within the whole nation, for all synagogues were 
 under the great council at Jerusalem. Now that Christ gives 
 here the same rule that was of old given to the Jews for church 
 government, is clear, 1. From the censure of the obstinate, who 
 was to be reputed a heathen and a publican ; wherein is a manifest 
 allusion to the present estate of the Church of the Jews ; and, 
 2. From the familiarity and plainness of Christ's speech, Tell Ihe 
 church, which church could not have been understood by the dis- 
 ciples had not Christ spoken of the Jewish judicatory ; besides 
 which they knew none for such offences asChristspake of to tiiem, 
 there being no particular church which had given its name to 
 Christ : as also, 3. From his citing the words of that text, Deut. 
 xix. 15, where the witnesses and offenders were, by w^ay of fur- 
 ther appeal, to stand before the I^ord, before the priests for judg- 
 ment, ver. 17. 
 
 3. It is plain that our Saviour intended a liberty of going be- 
 yond a particular congregation for determining cases of contro- 
 versy, from the reason of that subordination which Christ enjoins, 
 
 I of one to two or three, and of them to the church. The reason of 
 that gradual progress there set down, was because in the increase 
 of numbers and greatness of assemblies, more wisdom, judgment, 
 and gravity is supposed to be, than in the admonitions of a few and 
 
 I smaller number ; now, then, this power of right admonition in- 
 creaseth with the number of admonishers, as well without as with- 
 
216 THE DIVINE IIIGHT 
 
 in the same congregation ; if ten go beyond two in wisdom and 
 gravity, forty will go beyond ten, and be more likely to win upon 
 the ofiender, and regain him. 
 
 Argum. IV. A fourth argument is taken from the pattern of the 
 apostolical churches, Acts xv. 
 
 Tlic church of Antioch (though presbyterial, as was proved 
 Chapter XIII., Position II.) was subordinate to the synod at Jeru- 
 salem ; therefore a particular church is subordinate to higher as- 
 semblies, &c. 
 
 If a synodal decree did bind them in those times, then may it 
 bind particular churches now, and these ought even still to be 
 subject to synods. 
 
 The consequence is undeniable, unless we hold that what the 
 synod there imposed was unjust, or that we have now less need of 
 those remedies than they had ; nay, since the apostles (who were 
 assisted with an extraordinary spirit of inspiration) would never- 
 theless in a doubtful business have synodal conventions for deter- 
 mining of controversies, much more ought we to do so whose gifts 
 are far inferior to theirs ; and unless it had been in their deter- 
 mination to leave us their example of a synodal way of church 
 government for our pattern, they had not wanted the meeting 
 together of so many with them for decision of the doubt, whose 
 doctrine was infallible, and of itself, without an assembly, to be 
 believed. 
 
 The exceptions against this pattern of church polity are of no 
 validity, e. g. 
 
 1. This was no synod. First, that it was no synod appears, in i 
 that we read of no word of a synod. Secondly, no commissioners 
 from Syria and Cilicia, which churches should have sent their 
 delegates, had they been a synod, and had iheir decrees been to 
 have bound in a synodal way. Thirdly, all the believers had 
 voices here. 
 
 2. If it were a synod, yet it is no pattern for us, in regard it 
 was consisting of members guided by an infallible and apostolical 
 spirit. 
 
 We answer, 1. Here is the thing synod, though not the word, 
 which is a meeting consisting of the deputies of many single 
 churches. 
 
 2. That Jerusalem and Antioch had their commissioners there, 
 is evident; and by consequence many single churches had their 
 commissioners, for there were many single congregations at Jeru- 
 salem and Antioch, as hath been proved, Chapter XIII., Position 
 II. ; that these met together, the word used, verse 6, ilicy came to- 
 getJier, evidenceth, and verse 25. For the churches of Syria and 
 Cilicia not sending their commissioners, it follows not that be- 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERXMENT 
 i , 217 
 
 and the decrees bound them whfch ,h I T, ^' ''''" "' °"«='-^' 
 Scripture; for the words ^v'.^^.M '^Z?"^'^ ""' ''<' ^^ '''"■'»='l 
 ting the m'atter to dis^u.^t on arJi^rht " "f' '"^ "'^'^ ^""""i'- 
 synodal decrees, which inasmucTa, thevr'TV "'"^''"^ ^^ 
 
 ' .h{.,i:jixfi:rLi :t: T'l'-^oin-i.^ ''- ™^^^^ 
 
 I i^efTdr:i^r:-ir,ra^:,X" '^--/p^^^-ar he. 
 
 : -f? -:i:::ur:^r;i^-s^^^^^^ ^^ -f 
 I rr s:tdeT:fd ::r^rer{dt'^r ?F-'^'^'^ 
 
 ; terwas in debate: yet we shall nntr ^*"^"'' *''"« "'« "i""- 
 Ihe liberty of theicott em andaDo oh!?-^ "''".'? ""'" '"^'"''^'•^ 
 ine all determination by he rulf of God™,' w"VT''°'" '°^-^«™- 
 ing and forming these decrees is here evin ? '\^"t "'^ °'-''^i"- 
 
 , .^s a„„ elders: when as th:; are^Tal^dT^l'-.^ " t:^. 
 
 'cany It^siSf^thetS-TuTthTt'' '"'' 'T'^' ^--°^'-- 
 and elders, Acts xv. 6^ Tl at ,L " Js Zr'' °"'^ '^ ^P°^"«^ 
 all, is granted; because it was sent bf '" "'*' "^""^ "'^ 
 
 byth'ariu^h;;;?;^' uT'-Ho?cr]xr^^ '- '"r-™"^' 
 
 on, and command decrees unTo b» w , ' ?r'' " *'"■*" "P- 
 and other churches, X accordl. ,n ' °?^r ^"^ C"'«''' 
 were not only absen in thetr com J °" >«""■«" ^ opinion, 
 their power? commissioners, but independent in 
 
 oriwCsT£%!:;:l tl?™'^ ™^^."°' P-'™d '° 'he 
 
 P^-s:i^;t=&-S;;fj^:-^ 
 
 p.^td-St^r^'{-^=^!^/r:^-;^ay 
 
 19 
 
 * Junius, Beza, Calvin, and Piscat 
 
 or. 
 
218 THE DIVINE RIGHT OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 
 
 used in dictating of Scripluro, and publishin.2j divine truths ; tlieir 
 decrees were brought forth by much disputation, human disqui- 
 sition, but divine oracles are published without iiuman reason- 
 in^^s, from the immediate inditing of the Spirit, 2 Pet. i. 2. 
 
 "2. Besides the apostles, there were here commissioned elders 
 and other brethren, men of ordinary rank, not divinely and infal- 
 libly inspired. The apostles in the penning of Scripture consult 
 not with elders and brethren, (as ouropposites here say they did :) 
 our brethren make mandates of ordinary believers divine and 
 canonical Scripture. 
 
 3. Divine writ is published only in the name of the Lord ; but 
 these in the name of nmn also, " It seemed good to the Holy 
 Ghost and to us," Acts xv. 28. 
 
 4. Canonical and apostolical writing of new Scripture shall 
 not continue till Christ's coming, because the canon is complete, 
 Rev. xxii. 18, 19, &lc. ; but thus to decree through the assistance 
 of the -Holy Ghost, who rcmaineth with the Church to the end, 
 and to be directed by Scripture, shall still continue. Therefore 
 this decreeing is not as the inditing of the Holy Scripture. The 
 minor is clear both from Christ's promise, " Where two or three 
 are met together," Matt. xvii. 18-20 ; Matt. viii. 20 ; as also by 
 the Spirit's inspiring those councils of Nice of old, and Dort of 
 late : Therefore the apostles here laid aside their apostolical ex- 
 traordinary power, descending to the places of ordinary pastors, 
 to give them examples in future ages. 
 
 To conclude, it is plain, that all the essentials in this a.ssembly 
 were synodal, as whether we consider: 1. The occasion of the 
 meotina, a controversy ; 2. The deputation of commissioners 
 from particular churches, for the deciding of that controversy ; 
 or 3. The convention of those tiiat were deputed ; or 4- The dis- 
 cussion of the question, they being so convened ; or 5. The deter- 
 mination of the question so discussed ; or 6. The imposition of 
 the thing so determined ; or 7. The subjection to the thing so 
 imposed. 
 
 1 Tim. i. IT: 
 
 To THE IMMORTAL GoD AI.ONE BE GLORY FOR 
 EVER AND EVER. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 NO. r.* 
 
 Of the Scriptural Qualificatimu and Duties of Chureh Members. 
 ^^^.y. Only regenerated and converted persons such as arP 
 
 im, and received him upon h,s own terms :t such only as are 
 reconcled unto and are in favor with God ;«; a o juUfiedbv 
 ft...h, sanctified by the Spirit, and set apart for hoHnesi amj unto 
 a iving to God and no more un(o thetnselves: such as a e the 
 beloved of God called eftectually to be saints, and have rea v 
 and smeerely taken upon them the yoke of Christ Jesus I sav 
 such persons, and only such, dolh Jesus Christ accoun w^r, v of 
 
 those tha aie such, and by reason of their darkness and fallible 
 
 'ten '7 ™'^ ""^- '^° "''"" ""'^'•^ '"'° "'« Church and 
 unto her privileges, yet in truth these have no right unto them 
 and ought not to be there; for these spiritual holy Hi„"s arc fo' 
 and on,y for, spiritual and holy person's. Chris, p^repa ? men by 
 h.3 g ace word, and Spirit to make them fit materials, and then 
 he calls them to .|om together and become a .spiritual house for 
 l.^s delight, service and glory.|| An,I therefore holy persons 
 an such only, ought to be full members of ihe Churchof'^Ch?rs 
 1 his will appear by these following particulars : 
 
 of others'!"'" ".?' °'"'™ ,''"=''"■*' '"-^ <letes(alion and abhorrence 
 ot othe s being there, and manifests his indignation again.st them. 
 
 din,^ „lr ™? 'J;«'<==''™..'°'l"' marriage supper without tiie wed- 
 ci mg.garment. M att, xxii. 11-13; and the five fooli.sh virgins, 
 
 pritlldiwt'""" "'"'" ''"""'" " o-'i-tcd f,o,„ Ford-. Gospel Cluii^ 
 t Jolu, xvi. 8, 9 ; 2 c„r. v. 5; Eph. ii. I, .",. 
 tUl. n. C;lC<,r. vi 13,yu. 9 Col. i. la. II 1 Pet. ii. 5. 
 
220 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 chap. XXV. ; and the dreadful end of the tares, chap. xiii. 38-44, 
 which were llie hypocrites, ll)at hy the devil's instigation had 
 crept into the Church. It is true that such were, and will be, in 
 the best of churches, although their guides may do all they can 
 to prevent it, because ihey cannot make an infallible judgment 
 of persons' states ; yet it is as certain tiiese are usurpers and ought 
 not to be there. For, although they are in God's providence 
 permitted to creep in, yet we may he sure they are not there with 
 his approbation : — thry are not all Israel tiuit are of Israel ; for, 
 saith (jlod to all uncircumcised, VViiat have you to do to take my 
 covenant into your niouth, seeing you hate instruction and cast 
 my words behind your back, (as all hypocrites do,) Ps. 1. IG, 17. 
 And Christ says, that such as will not have him to reign over him 
 (and to be sure hypocrites will not) shall be destroyed, Luke xix. 
 27. Now, as hypocrites are most loathsome and abominable per- 
 sons in the sight of God, as may be seen at large in Matt, xxiii. 
 13-85, they liave no right unto the spiritual privileges of the 
 Church of Christ, because,*in the sight of God, the gospel Church 
 should consist only of new creatures and real members of Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 II. That all church members ought to be sincere-hearted be- 
 lievers appears by the high titles which the Lord Jesus gives un- 
 to them in Scripture: they are described to be like the king's 
 daughter, all glorious within. They are called saints, holy breth- 
 ren, and beloved, elect, dear children of God, the spouse of Christ, 
 a holy temple of God, lively stones, built up a spiritual house, a 
 holy priesthood, and the Lord's sealed ones. Now such honorable 
 titles belong not unto mere formal professors, but only unto the 
 real members of Christ : not unto those that have a name only ; 
 but to such as are so indeed and in truth. 
 
 III. A third reason is taken from the ends of God in instituting 
 and appointing churches. They are said to be built by the Spirit 
 for God, i. e. for God to dwell and walk in them, to repose him- 
 self in them, as in his holy garden, hou.se, and temple. They are 
 designed for promoting his glory in the world, to distinguish his 
 people from others ; that they should be to the praise of his glo- 
 rious gratje, and be the living witnesses to his name, truths, and 
 ways ; that they should bo the habitations of beauty and glory, 
 of fame and renown in the world, and be the light thereof; and 
 that with one heart and mouth they should glorify God. Believers 
 are united into a church capacity for tiieir sj)iritual profit and ad- 
 vantage, that (jiod may there give them his love, and communi- 
 cate his grace, truths, and coun.sels to them, as to his avowed 
 hou.sehold and family : Christ walks there, and God the Father 
 dwells there, and the Holy Spirit speaks to liicm in a special and 
 
APPENDIX. 221 
 
 frequent manner to distribute liberally of their love and fulness. 
 They are formed and set up by Jesus Christ to be the only seats 
 and subjects of his laws, ordinances, power, and autiiority, that 
 they might receive, obey, and observe his laws, declare before 
 the world their owning of him for their Lord, by their open and 
 public profession of, and subjection unto him, as such ; and that, 
 by their regular and distinct following of him in their united 
 church state, they might manifest to all men, that they are his 
 subjects and disciples, that they have chosen him for their Lord 
 and King, and his law for the rule of their faith and obedience; 
 that they are not their own, but his ; and that they have reposed 
 themselves in him, as their happiness and eternal blessedness; 
 that they are called out of the world and set apart by his grace 
 for himself, to live unto him ; and that they have taken upon 
 themselves his holy yoke, and the observation of all his laws. 
 God has united believers into churches, that by his Spirit and 
 ministers he may feed and nourish them there as his flock, water 
 them as his garden, support them as his house, and order and 
 govern them as his family and household. 
 
 IV. The Church of Christ should consist of new creatures and 
 sincere-hearted believers, because they only can and will answer 
 and prosecute the foresaid, and such like holy ends of God, in 
 and by his Church. They are fitted and framed, moulded and 
 polished, by the Holy Ghost, for their growing up into a holy 
 temple in the Lord ; and so, by the constant and promised guid- 
 ance and conduct of their living head Jesus Christ, with their 
 spiritual qualifications, they are enabled to answer and perform 
 the great ends of God, in erecting and building them up in a 
 church state. But unregenerate persons cannot do this, because 
 they are strangers in heart to Jesus Christ, and to the power of 
 godliness; nor would they if they could, because they have not 
 the saving knowledge of Christ in them, but are full of obstinacy 
 against God. 
 
 V. Because all the laws, ordinances, and works of church 
 members are holy, spiritual, and heavenly. They are such as 
 the natural man understands not, and cannot discern what they 
 are, because they are spiritual and holy ; and therefore they that 
 are not taught of God savingly to form a proper judgment of 
 them, do think and judge of them carnally and vainly. But be- 
 lievers have them written in their hearts beforehand. Yet they 
 have them not without book, I mean they have the same laws of 
 Christ written in the books of their hearts which they lind in the 
 Bible, by which they are in some measure enabled to understand, 
 receive, love, and rightly to obey, the laws and ordinances of 
 Christ without. Their laws are holv and spiritual, and their 
 
 19* 
 
222 AITEMJIX. 
 
 works in a church slate arc so likewise. They have a holy God, 
 wiio is a Spirit, to serve and worship ; a spiritual Mead to believe 
 in and obey; holy and spiritual work to do; and therefore they 
 need to be holy and spiritual persons, not only externally in pro- 
 fcssion, but also internally, in truth. Alnjost all the laws and 
 ordinances of Christ arc connrniUcd unto them, and God expects 
 his principal and choicest worship from his Church ; and these 
 are all above and beyond the reach of carnal minds, 
 
 YI. Tlie Church ouj/ht to be composed of believers and rep^en- 
 crated persons, because they are called to continue and stand fast 
 in all storms and tempests ; and to hold out unto tlie end, as beinj; 
 built upon the rock Jesus Christ. For whatever church is built 
 Uj)on the sand, and not upon the Lord Jesus, and by the authority 
 of his word and Spirit, will not stand lon«^, because it wants a 
 foundation to bear up its weight. They must all be built upon the 
 rock and chief corner-stone, the sure foundation that God hath laid. 
 The Lord Jesus tells us, Matt. xvi. 18, that upon this rock (i. e. 
 himself and the truths that Peter had confessed) will I build my 
 Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail aj^ainst it. But it 
 is certain that Jiypocritcs are not built upon Christ by faith, but 
 fix their vain hopes on a sandy foundation. Therefore, if their 
 persons arc not built upon Christ, their church state cannot; but 
 upon the sand. Hence then it follows that only true believers 
 are built on Christ, and so they are the only persons that Christ 
 wishes to have built up into holy lem|)les ; because the churches 
 that Christ builds sh^ll be built upon himself, that they may stand 
 impregnable against all opposition : and therefore they should 
 only be composed of such as are united to him by faith, and have 
 chosen him for their only rock and foundation, and not of such as 
 do secretly reject him. 
 
 Quest. What qualifications should believers find in themselves 
 for their own satisfaction, before they enter into full communion 
 with the visible Cimrch of Christ? 
 
 Ans. They should be able to answer the followit)g cjucstions 
 in the affirmative. 
 
 L Can you say indeed that you do seriously and heartily de- 
 sire to see, and to be more deeply and powerfully convinced of 
 your own vileness and sinfulness, of your own weakness and 
 wretchedness, and of your wants and unworlhiness ? and that, in 
 order to your deep and spiritual humiliation and self-debasing, 
 that you may be more vile in your own eyes, and Jesus Christ 
 and free grace more precious and excellent, more high and hon- 
 orable, and more sweet and desirable, that your hearts may be 
 melted into godly sorrow, and that you may be moved thereby to 
 abhor yourselves, and to rejient in dust and ashes? Job xlii. H, 6. 
 
APPENDIX. 223 
 
 II. Can you say that you do seriously and heartily desire and 
 endeavor to believe in Christ, and to receive and accept of him in 
 the gaspel way, such as you find in Mark viii. 34 ; Luke xiv. 
 26-28, and elsewhere ? Do you thus desire and choose to have 
 him with his yoke and cross? Matt. xi. 28, 29. And do you so 
 deny yourselves, and your sinful self, righteous self, worldly self, 
 supposed able, powerful self, and every other carnal and spiritual 
 self, that Christ only may be exalted, that you may be nothing 
 in your justification and salvation, but that Jesus Christ and free 
 ^n-ace may be all, and in all things ? Col. iii. 11 ; Phil. iii. 7, 8. 
 Do you desire, choose, and endeavor to have Christ on the hardest 
 terms; and do you desire, that all may go for Christ's person, 
 blood, and righteousness, his grace, love, life, and Spirit, for the 
 pardon of your sins, and the justification of your persons, that 
 you may be found in him, not having your own righteousness, 
 but the righteousness of Christ by faith? Phil. iii. 9. And do 
 you go and present yourselves as destitute condemned sinners to 
 him, and to God the Father in and by him, that you may bo 
 clothed with the righteousness of Christ, and that God may par- 
 don, justify, and accept you, for his sake only ? 
 
 III. Do you seriously and heartily desire and choose to have 
 Christ Jesus for your Lord and Ruler too, Col. ii. 6 ; that he 
 may rule in you, and over you, and that your lusts and your- 
 selves, your interests, and your all, may be subject unto him, and 
 be wholly at his command and disposal continually ? Is Christ 
 the Lord as acceptable to you as Christ Jesus the Sai'iour ? and 
 are you willing to obey him, and to be subject to his authority 
 and dominion, as well as to be saved by him ? Would you have 
 him to destroy your lusts, to make an end of sin, and to bring all 
 under his obedience ? 
 
 IV. Do you seriously and heartily desire and endeavor never 
 to sin more ; but to walk with God unto all well-pleasing con- 
 tinually ? Col. i. 10. And do you pray earnestly that God would 
 work in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, Ileb. xiii. 
 21, that you may in all your ways honor and glorify him, as the 
 end of your living in this world ? 2 Cor. v. 15. Would you in- 
 deed live to the praise of his glorious grace, be an ornament unto 
 his name and gospel, and be fruitful in every good word and 
 work? Are these things the scope, aim, and intent of your hearts 
 and souls (in some good measure and degree) daily, in duties and 
 ordinances, and at other times ? 
 
 V. Do you seriously and heartily choose and desire communion 
 with Christ, and in truth endeavor to obtain and keep it? Do 
 you so seek for it in the way of gospel obedience, and in observing 
 your duty in keeping Christ's commandments ? And do you pre- 
 
224 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 for it to all earthly, carnal things ? Do your hoarts breathe and 
 pant after it, and are you willing to deny self, and all self-inte- 
 rests to get it? Are you glad wlien you find it, and sad when 
 by your own carelessness you lose it? Doth it when obtained 
 quicken your love to and zeal for Christ ? Doth it warm your 
 hearts, and cause them for a time to run your race in gospel obe- 
 dience cheerfully ? Doth it lead you unto, and cause your hearts 
 to centre in Christ? and doth it oblige and bind them faster unto 
 hitn and stir you up to thaniduhiess ? 
 
 VI. Do you sincerely and heartily desire, seriously choose, 
 and earnestly endeavor, to be filh-d with gospel sincerity towards 
 God and inan, and would you rather be true-hearted towards God 
 than seem to bo so towards man ? Would you much rather have 
 the praise of God, and be approved of by him, than the praise of 
 men, and be extolled by them ? Is it the great thing you aim 
 at, in your [)rofession and practice, to attain sincerity and upright- 
 ness in heart ? Is all hypocrisy hateful and abominable unto you ? 
 Are you afraid of it, and do you watch and strive against it, as 
 against an enemy to (Jod andyourown souls, and are you grieved 
 indcf'd when you find it in you ? 
 
 VII. Do you desire and choose Jesus Christ for the great ob- 
 ject of your love, delight, and joy ? and do you find him to be so 
 in some measure ? Do you desire and endeavor to make him the 
 object of your warmest alTections, and to love him sincerely, 
 heartily, s|)iritnally, fervently, and constantly ; and do you ex- 
 press your love to him by keeping his comnjandments ? Are you 
 grieved in spirit, because you can love him no more ? and do you 
 earnestly pray unto him to shed abroad his love into your hearts 
 by the Holy (iJKJst, that you may love him as ye ought? Rom. 
 V. 5. Doth his love and lovelitiess attract your hearts to him, 
 and cause you to yield the obedience of faith to his holy laws? 
 
 Vlil. Is it the desire, choice, and endeavor of your souls to 
 have all sins purged out of tiiem, and to have them filled with 
 Christ's grace, truth, and holiness; and do you hate your sin, 
 watch and fight against it, and endeavor to keep it under? Do 
 you indeed aim at, desire, labor, and strive, to be holy in heart 
 and life, and conformable unto Jesus Christ in all things possible ? 
 Arc your lusts your heaviest burdens and your greatest afflic- 
 tions, and do you intend and endeavor their utter ruin and de- 
 struction ? Will no degree of grace satisfy you until you be 
 perfect to the utmost as Christ is ? Are you so nmch concerned 
 for Christ's honor, and your soul's iioliness and happiness, that 
 you dare not knowingly sin against them for a world ; or do, in 
 word or deed, by omission or commission, that which may dis- 
 honor, grieve, or wound them ? Are these things so indeed ? 
 
APPENDIX. 225 
 
 IX. Have you a measure of spiritual knowledge and discern- 
 ing of spiritual things'? Do you understand the nature and con- 
 cerns of the house of God, and the work and duties, the privi- 
 leges and enjoyments thereof, and what you have to do there ; 
 together with the ends of God in instituting and erecting orospel 
 churches f 
 
 X. Do you intend and resolve, in the light, life, and power of 
 Christ, to seek for, and endeavor un feigned ly to obtain, and pros- 
 ecute the ends of church fellowship, when you shall be accepted 
 among them ? and do you desire and aim at the holy ends ap- 
 pointed by God in desiring communion with them? as, 1. To 
 enjoy God and communion with him in all his ordinances. 2. To 
 worship God there in spirit and truth, and to give him your ho- 
 mage and service in his house. 3. To show your subjection and 
 obedience to him, and to make a public and open profession of 
 him, and of his truths before men. 4. To receive of his grace, 
 to enrich your souls with his fulness, and to be sealed by his 
 Spirit unto the day of your redemption. 5. That you may walk 
 orderly and beautifully, and shine as lights in the Church, and 
 in the world, before saints and sinners. 6. That you may be 
 established in the truth, live under the watch and care of Christ's 
 ministers, and of fellow-members ; that by their inspection and 
 faithful dealings with you you may be kept, or brought back from 
 sin to God, by their wise reproofs and holy instructions. 7. That 
 you may yield up yourselves in holy obedience to Christ, and do 
 all things whatsoever he commands you, that you may have the 
 right use and enjoyment of all your purchased privileges, and 
 be secured against the gates of hell. Are these and such like 
 ends in your hearts and minds, in your walk and in church fel- 
 lowship, and can you find the forementioned signs of grace in 
 you in some suitable measure, though not so clearly and fully as 
 you would wish? Then I may venture to assure you, that you 
 are qualified for being actual members of the Church of Christ, 
 that you are called and invited into his house, and that you are 
 indispensably bound to answer to the call of God, and to enter 
 into his holy temple. 
 
 I say that church privileges are yours, the doors of God's house 
 stand open for you, Christ stands at the door and waits for you, 
 he invites you to come in and to sit down at his table, and you 
 shall be most freely and heartily welcome to your Lord, and to 
 his people. 
 
 Quest. What are those qualifications, which the rulers of a 
 church, for their own satisfaction, should look for, and find in 
 such persons, as they admit into full communion with the Church 
 of Christ? 
 
226 A1^PLM>L\. 
 
 Ans. It is certain that all that profess the name of Christ and 
 his ways, ought not, and may not be admitted into the Lord's 
 holy temple, hecause many, if not the most of them, are very 
 ignorant of Christ and his ways, and notoriously scandalous in 
 their lives, as sad and woful experience shows. If church rulers 
 should admit known hypocrites, they betray their trust, and defile 
 Christ's holy temple, by taking in such persons as they know, or 
 ought to know, he would not have there : and that they ought to 
 try and prove persons, that they may know their fitness, before 
 they admit them in, is clear in Acts ix. 26, 27, and Ijecause 
 Christ haih committed the keys of his house to take in and ex- 
 clude according to his will and appointment. 
 
 As to satisfying qualifications in persons desiring admission Into 
 the church, wiien they appear to \je real socmd-hearted l>eliever«, 
 according to the judgment of charity, by the rules of tfie word, 
 the church ought to receive them in the Lord. 
 
 I. If they can satisfy the church, by giving Scripture evidence 
 of their regeneration, conversion, repentance, and faith in Christ ; 
 of their knowledge of Christ, his laws and ordinances; of their 
 lost and perishing state by reason of sin. and of their sincere de- 
 sires and resolutions to become the Lord's, and to walk with him 
 unto all well-pleasing in all his ways. 
 
 II. If they are sound in the faith of the gospel ; I mean in the 
 chief and principal doctrines thereof, although they may l>e 
 ignorant of, or mistaken in matters of less importance. If they 
 have some distinct knowledge and faith concerning these, and 
 other such truths and matters contained in the word of God ; 
 as of the state and condition in which man was at first created ; 
 how he lost that holy and blessed estate, an! the misery into 
 which he brought himself and all his posterity thereby. Con- 
 cerning themselves, that they are by nature children of wrath, 
 dead in trespasses and sins, and condemned to eternal death ; 
 that they are enemies to, and at enmity with, God ; that they 
 have neither will nor power by nature to will and to do that 
 which they ought, and which is well-pleasing to God ; that they 
 have forsaken God, and are underthe curse of the law ; and 
 that they are the children, subjects, and servants of the devil, 
 the world, and their own lusts ; that G^xi left not all men in this 
 lost state and condition, but provided an all-sufficient remedy, 
 namely, Jesus Christ, and that by an everlasting covenant, en- 
 tered into with him, in the l>ehalf of men, Ijcfore the foundation 
 of t!)e world, Tit. i. 2 : 2 Tim. i. 9 ; Prov. viii. : and that, in 
 pursuance thereof, he elected and gave some to Chri-st, that he 
 might save them out of his mere grace and love. John vi. 37, 40 : 
 — That God the Father gave and sent his Son, t!»e second person 
 
APPENDIX. 227 
 
 of the Trinity, to mediate peace between God and man, and to 
 reconcile them to God, by his active and passive obedience ; — 
 that Jesus Christ gave himself, and became a propitiation for 
 their sins ;— that he assumed our nature into a personal union 
 with himself, whereby there are two natures in one person, by 
 which he was made capable of his mediatorship ; — that he, being 
 God and man in one person, took upon himself our guilt and pun- 
 ishment, obeyed the whole law of God, that men had broke, and 
 did always the things that pleased God; — that, when lie had fin- 
 islied his active obedience, he became obedient unto the death of 
 the cross, to the wrath of God, and to the curse of the law, Gal. 
 iii. 13; Phil. ii. 8; — that he really died and was buried, lay in 
 the grave, and rose again the third day ; and after forty days be 
 ascended into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God ; 
 and that he will come again to judge the quick and the dead ; — 
 that he is king, priest, and prophet ; a king to give laws unto 
 men, and to command their ol3edience to him, to rule and govern 
 his subjects, and to reward the obedient, and to punish the dis- 
 obedient ; — that all power in heaven and earth is committed unto 
 him ; and that he is coequally and coeternally God with the 
 Father and Holy Spirit ; — that as a High Priest he died and 
 made atonement for the sins of his people, and sits in heaven to 
 make intercession, and to appear in the presence of God for them, 
 Heb. vii. 25, and ix. 24 ; — that there are three persons in the 
 Godhead, yet but one God ; — that the Holy Ghost is eternally 
 God, was sent into the world, and came from the Father and Son, 
 for the elect's sake ; — that it is he that regenerates persons, works 
 effectually in their liearts, applies Jesus Christ and all his benefits 
 to men, and savingly convinces his elect of sin, righteousness, and 
 judgment. That all that rightly believe in Christ shall be saved, 
 but those that believe not shall be damned ; and that all that believe 
 in him must be careful to perform good works. That believers 
 are made righteous, through the righteousness of Jesus Christ, and 
 that they have none of their own to commend them unto God. 
 That God hath made Jesus Christ unto his chosen, wisdom, right- 
 eousness, sanctification, and redemption ; and that they are made 
 the righteousness of God in him. That God imputed their sins 
 to Christ, and imputes the blood and righteousness of Christ to 
 them ; and that they are justified thereby, and not by inherent 
 holiness and righteousness. That God loves, pardons, justifies, 
 and saves men freely, without any respect unto their good works, 
 as any cause thereof; but that all the moving cause (without 
 himself) is Jesus Christ in his mediation. That the ground and 
 reason of their obedience, in performing good works, is the re- 
 vealed will and pleasure of Christ commanding them, and the 
 
228 APPENDIX. 
 
 ends of them are to express their thankfulness to God for his 
 grace and love, to please and honor him, to meet with God, and 
 to enjoy communion with him, to receive of his grace and the 
 good of many promises ; to shine as lights in the world, and to 
 be useful unto men ; to declare whose and what they are, and 
 to lay up a reward in another world; to keep their lusts under, 
 and their graces in use and exercise; and to manifest their re- 
 spect and subjection to Jesus Christ, his authority, and law. 
 That the law, for the matter of it, as in the hand of Christ, is 
 the rule of all obedience ; and that all are bound to yield sub- 
 jection to it. That there shall be a resurrection of the just and 
 unjust. That regeneration is absolutely necessary to salvation, 
 and that without it none can enter into the kingdom of heaven. 
 That the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments contain, and 
 exhibit unto men, the whole revealed will of God, and are suffi- 
 cient to make the man of God perfect, thoroughly furnished unto 
 every good work ; and that whatsoever they are to believe and 
 do is contained therein ; and that it is the ground of their faith, 
 hope, and practice. That Jesus Christ hath instituted and ap- 
 pointed many ordinances of worship, for bis own glory and his 
 people's good, and that all are bound to observe and to wait on 
 God in them. That all persons are indispensably bound to mind, 
 and carefully to observe the principal manner and end of all 
 their duties, and to see that they be right, holy, and spiritual in- 
 deed, and not to please themselves with the matter of them alone. 
 That no man can serve God, or do any work acceptable unto 
 him, until he be regenerated, and brought into a state of grace. 
 
 These are some of the matters of faith that they should in some 
 measure be acquainted with and believe, that are admitted into 
 full communion with the Church of Christ. And these and other 
 truths must not be known and believed in a general, notional, 
 light, and speculative manner; hut heartily, powerfully, and 
 particularly: not for others, but for themselves ; otherwise their 
 faith and knowledge will no way profit their souls to salvation. 
 
 III. They must be qualified also with a blameless conversation. 
 Their conversation must be as becometh the gospel, otherwise 
 they are not meet for communion with the gospel church. Car- 
 nal walking will not suit spiritual temples: for they will greatly 
 pollute and defile them, and stain and obscure their beauty and 
 glory. Therefore they must not be brawlers and contentious 
 persons, covetous and worldly-minded, vain and frothy. They 
 must not be froward and peevish, nor defraud others of their right. 
 Nor must they neglect the worship of God in their families, nor 
 be careless in governing and educating them in good manners, 
 and in the things of God. They must not be such as are known 
 
APPENDIX. 229 
 
 to omit the duties and ordinances of religion in their proper sea- 
 sons, or to have vicious families through their neglect: nor to 
 have any other kind of conversation hateful to God and to his 
 people. And therefore, whatever their profession be, they may 
 not be admitted into the Church of God, until they have repented 
 of these, or any other scandal in their life and conduct. 
 
 IV. They ought to be such as have chosen the Lord Jesus 
 Christ for their king and head, and dedicated and devoted them- 
 selves to him, to live in him and for him : such as have singled 
 him out, and set him apart, (as it were,) to be the object of their 
 love, trust, and delight, of their service and obedience. They 
 must have chosen and closed with him upon his own terms, (i. e. 
 freely,) renouncing and rejecting all their own righteousness, 
 worthiness, interest, and sufficiency, and choosing and appro- 
 priating him to themselves, for their righteousness, worthiness, 
 portion, and sufficiency, under a sight and conviction of their own 
 emptiness and deformity ; and with a heart-satisfied persuasion 
 of the loveliness and fulness of Christ. 
 
 y. All this must be done seriously, humbly, and heartily, so 
 far as men can judge. If persons declare their knowledge of God 
 and failh in Christ in such a manner, and apparently by such a 
 spirit as evidences some sense and feeling of what they do declare, 
 church rulers may be much helped in forming a right judgment 
 of them, that they are fitted by God for church-membership. If 
 they do seriously profess, that what they do is in obedience to the 
 will, and, as they judge, to the call of Christ as their indispensa- 
 ble duty ; — that they join in church fellowship to meet w^ith and 
 enjoy God, to receive out of his fulness to enable them to per- 
 form all duties, and to conform their hearts and lives in his will 
 to all things ; — such persons may undoubtedly be accounted wor- 
 thy members, and admitted as suc4i. 
 
 Quest. What are the duties of church members towards one 
 another ? 
 
 Ans. I. The greatest is love ; love and spiritual affections are 
 the holy cords which tie the hearts, souls, and judgments of be- 
 lievers together. This is that which, together with the fear of 
 God, makes them avoid all things that may give just offence or 
 grief to one another, and that which provokes tbcm to follow after 
 the things that make for peace and edification. Love is tlie bond 
 of peace. It is that which, together with divine light and truth, 
 causes church members to draw together as in one yoke, and 
 unanimously as with one heart and soul to design, aim at, and 
 carry on mutual and common good in the church. Without this 
 they cannot, they will not cement, nor long abide and live to- 
 gether as a church, in peace and unity, nor promote any good 
 20 
 
21^0 ArPEXLIX. 
 
 work among themselves. Without heart-uniting love they vvill 
 receive and entertain jealousies and suspicions one of another, 
 and put the worst construction on whatever is said or done ; and 
 they cannot walk together comfortahly and profitahly when these 
 are entertained. Therefore it is absolutely necessary for all 
 church members to be firmly united in cordial love and charity, 
 which is the bond of perfectness to and in all other duties. God 
 highly commends and strictly commands this love one to another, 
 and puts it into the heart of his peculiar people, that they may 
 do what he commands. 
 
 1. (iod highly commends it wherever he finds it in act and ex- 
 ercise ; 1 The.ss. iv. 10, " and indeed," says he, " ye do it to- 
 wards all the brethren." To this duty, and to manifest his high 
 approbation of it, God hath promised a great reward, Hob. 
 vi. 10. 
 
 2. God commands it and vehemently exhorts to it often in the 
 gospel. Oh how importunately did the Lord Jesus enjoin it, and 
 frequently press it on his disciples when he was on earth ! John 
 xiii. 34, " A new commandment give I unto you." What is that 
 new commandment? Why, " Tliat ye love one another; as I 
 have loved you, that ye also love one another." And in John 
 XV. 12, 17, *' This is my commandment, that ye love one another, 
 as I have loved you ;" i.e. Take the pattern of my love to you 
 for your pattern in loving one another. I have loved and will 
 love you — 1. With ^rcat love, John xv. 13: so do you likewise. 
 2. My love to you is free, without any desert in you : let yours 
 be free, without carnal respects one to another also. 3. My love lo 
 you is rfAil., hearty, and unfeigned : so let yours be one to another, 
 1 Pet. i. 22. 4. My love to you is an exceeding fruiful love. I 
 loved you so, as to labor, toil, sweat, and die for you : so must you 
 love one another with a fruitful, profiting love. Cy. My love to you 
 is a pUi/ing, sparing, and forgiving love ; a forbearing and ten- 
 der-hearted love : so must you be to one another, Col. iii. 12, 13. 
 0. I love you with a warm and fervent love : so do you love one 
 another. 7. I love with a holy, sjn'ritifal love, as new men who 
 have my image stamped on, and my holy nature in you, and as 
 you are made perfect by the comeliness and beauty I have put on 
 you : so do you love one another, because you are a lovely and 
 holy people unto me. 8. I love you with a constant and unchange- 
 able love ; notwithstanding of all your weaknesses, yea, unkind- 
 ness too, and unworthy walkings before me: thus you are bound 
 to love one another. 
 
 O that church members and all other Christians would serious- 
 ly, sincerely, diligently, and constantly mind and practise this 
 grand and indispensable duty to one another, in all their ways 
 
APPENDIX. 231 
 
 and actions, and not lay it aside as a little, useless, or indifferent 
 matter, wliich they may neglect at their own will and pleasure. 
 
 2. As we are indispensably bound to love one another ; so we 
 are as absolutely and perfectly bound to walk in a loving and en- 
 couraging manner towards one another. Our behavior ought to 
 be such in all things, as to invite all to love us, as holy, humble, 
 afid blameless saints, and brethren in Christ. The Lord Jesus 
 expects church members to walk lovingly towards one another, as 
 well as to love one another. They ought, therefore, as much as 
 possible, to provoke and encourage each other, and to remove out 
 of the way of love all such stumbling-blocks as may any way 
 hinder it, as we cannot love a sour, peevish, contentious, and 
 cross-grained professor, with as much complacency as a meek, 
 quiet, humble, afiable, and courteous one. 
 
 3. Christ hath charged and strictly commanded all church 
 members to live in peace: to be at peace among themselves ; to 
 follow peace with all men, and as much as in them lieth to 
 live peaceably with all men. O how often, and with what ve- 
 hemency doth the Holy Ghost press and enjoin this duty, especially 
 among church members, in the Holv Scriptures ! See Psal. xxxiv. 
 14; 1 Pet. iii. 11 ; Rom xiv. 19/ 2 Cor. xiii. 11; 1 Thess. v. 
 13 ; Heb. xii. 14 ; Eph. v. 3. The apostle Paul earnestly warns 
 church members against all debates, strifes, and contentions one 
 with another, especially in their church meetings, Phil. ii. 3. 
 David tells us, that it is a most pleasant and lovely thing for breth- 
 ren to dwell together in unity, Psal. cxxxiii. 1, 2. Then how 
 much more pleasant and lovely is it for spiritual brethren to love 
 and worship God in this manner together ! Christ came into the 
 world and lived here a peace-maker, and pronounces them bless- 
 ed that are so. Matt. v. 9. He is a lover of peace and concord, 
 especially in his Church ; but he is an implacable hater of strife 
 and discord, and will not endure it therein: much less will he 
 wink at such as are the firsts owers of tliese seeds. The truth 
 is, strivers and disputers in a church are the devil's agents, do a 
 great deal of mischief to it, and are real plagues in it. They 
 greatly hinder edification, and spoil the order, beauty, and har- 
 mony there : they are the proud, self-conceited men, who are 
 vainly puffed up with high thoughts of themselves, and their own 
 abilities, because they have got somf; speculative knowledge into 
 their heads, with a volubility of speech, while they are destitute 
 of spiritual wisdom and humility in their hearts ; and therefore 
 they conceive that they are wiser than the church, and more able 
 to manage and order churcli affairs than their rulers. Their pride 
 and self-conceit make them slight and contemn their teachers, and 
 rise up in a rebellious contention with, and opposition unto them ; 
 
232 APPEXDIX. 
 
 as the prophet complains, Hos. iv. 4, This people are they thai 
 strive with the priests. Take heed then of strife and contention, 
 and follow peace one with another, especially in your assembling 
 together about the work of the church. Endeavor to get humble 
 hearts, and then you will not be contentious, but quiet and peace- 
 able. 
 
 4. Church members ought to sympathize with, and to help to 
 bear one another's burdens as need requires, Rom. xii. 15, 10 ; 
 Gal. vi. 2. They ought to make their brethren's crosses, losses, 
 temptations, and alllictions their own. And, when they need the 
 helping hand of fellow-members to support or lift them up, when 
 fallen, they must give it to them freely, readily, and cheerfully, 
 and not turn a deaf car to, nor hide their eyes from, them and 
 their cries. And, if they are cruel to, or careless of, one another 
 in affliction, our Lord Jesus will require it at their hands, and take 
 it as done to himself. Therefore, seeing it is the will of God, 
 and our indispensable duty to one another, who are members of 
 the church, let us put on bowels of mercies and kindness, Col. iii. 
 12, and be tender-hearted, pitiful, and courteous to each other, 
 Eph. iv. 32 ; 1 Pet. iii. 8. 
 
 .0. Church members ought to exhort and comfort one another, 
 for so is the will of God concerning them. This is not only their 
 teacher's duty and work, but theirs also to each other, Heb. x. 
 24, 25 ; Heb. iii. 13 ; 1 Thess. v. 14. Christians stand in con- 
 tinual need of one another's exhortations and consolations ; and 
 if they manage this work well tliey may be very useful and pro- 
 fitable to one another, and may help to awaken, quicken, and 
 provoke one another, to the love and practice of holiness. 
 
 6. It is the will of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Church's head, 
 that her members should be each other's keepers; that they should 
 watch over one another, and admonish and reprove one another, 
 as need requires. It is not meant, that they should pry into one 
 another's secrets, or be busybodies in other men's matters, but 
 that they should watch over one another's life and conversation, 
 that if they do well they may be encouraged ; if ill, that they 
 may, by counsel, reproof, instruction, and exiiortation, be brought 
 to a real sight and sense of their misconduct, and to unfeigned re- 
 pentance. By which good work, you will do them, the church, 
 yea, Christ himself, good and, acceptable service. Church mem- 
 bers should carefully observe, if all do keep close to their duty in 
 the church, or are remiss and negligent ; — if they conduct them- 
 selves in a holy, righteous, and sober way ; or if, on the contrary, 
 they are frothy, vain, proud, extravagant, unjust, idle, careless, 
 or any way scandalous. They sliould strictly observe if there 
 be any tattlers, backbiters, or sowers of discord ; or such as speak 
 
APPENDIX. 233 
 
 contemptibly of their brethren, especially of their elders, (ruling 
 or preaching,) and of their administrations : as also, if there be 
 any such as combine together, and make parties in the cliurch, or 
 endeavor to obstruct any good work which their elders are car- 
 rying on, for promoting the glory of Christ and the good of his 
 people, and deal with them accordingly. They ought carefully 
 to observe if any be fallen under sin or temptation in any case, 
 and presently to set their hands to help, to relieve, and to restore 
 them, Rev. vi. 1. They must watch, and endeavor to gain a 
 sinning member, 1. By their private admonition, in case the of- 
 fence be private ; and if that will not do, to take one or two more 
 to see what effect that will have. 2. But if that will not answer 
 the end, then they are bound to bring it to the church represent- 
 ative, that they may deal with the offending brother, and proceed 
 against him as commanded. This is another great and indispen- 
 sable duty required of church members, that they be not partakers 
 of other men's sins. 
 
 7. Church members ought to forbear and forgive one another; 
 for this is another commanded duty, Eph. iv. 2, 32 ; Col. iii. 
 13. When a brother offends or does another any injury, the 
 offended brother should tell him of it, examine the matter and 
 search out the circumstances of it, and see whether he did it un- 
 advisedly, through weakness or ignorance ; or whether he did it 
 wilfully and knowingly. If upon an impartial search he is found 
 to have wronged his brother through ignorance or weakness, he 
 must judge charitably of him, and not be harsli and severe to- 
 wards him, in his carriage or censure. But if it clearly appear, 
 upon impartial inquiry, that he did the injury knowingly and 
 wilfully, then the offended brother must deal with him as a wil- 
 ful transgressor. He must lay his sin before him, and show him 
 what laws he hath transgressed ; what evil he hath done him, 
 what wrong to his own soul, and what offence he hath done to 
 Christ, by breaking his holy laws. He must admonish him again 
 and again of his sin, and reprove him, but not too severely, until 
 he find him obstinate and stubborn. And if God convince him 
 of his sin, and give him repentance unto life, he must readily 
 forgive him. And, if he be once truly convinced of, and hum- 
 bled for, his sin, he will most fully confess it to his brother, as 
 well as to God, and endeavor to make him amends, and give 
 him all possible satisfaction for the injury he hath done him, most 
 freely and willingly : for it is a certain sign that a person is not 
 powerfully and savingly convinced of, and humbled for, his sin, 
 while he bears off, and must be sought after to make satisfaction 
 to such as he hath wronged ; because were his heart really melted 
 into, the will of God, be could not be quiet, until he have given 
 20* 
 
o^i APPi:xDi:v 
 
 all possible salisfaclloii to his brother whom he has injurcci, Luke 
 xix. H. I>ut in case he remain obstinate, and will not hearken to 
 reproof, then the offended brother should take one or two more, 
 and deal with him ; and if that will not do, he oufjjht to bring it 
 to the church representative, i. e. the elders of the church, that 
 thf y may sec what they can do with him. lint if they cannot 
 prevail on him to repent and to make satisfaction, then he ought 
 to be cast out of the communion of the church, Malt, xviii. 17. 
 
 8. [t is the indispensable duly of church members to hearken 
 to and receive instruction, admorjition, and reproof from one 
 another. For if some are indispensably bound at certain times to 
 give them, surely others who need them are as much bound to 
 receive them, Prov. viii. J}3, x. 17, and xxix. 1. These arc bound 
 to hearken to their brethren's re])roofs, counsels, an<l admonitions, 
 with all humility, patience, and freedom of spirit, with all love, 
 meekness, and thankfulness to (jod, and to the givers of them : 
 for they arc great mercies to such as need them, and they are 
 their real and profitable friends, who seek their good, and en- 
 deavor to prevent their destruction. Jjct it therefore never be 
 said justly of any of you that are church members, that you were 
 reproved and admonished of any known sin by a brother, and that 
 you refused and slighted their counsel or reproof, justified your- 
 selves in your sins, and were dis[)leased with or angry at such 
 as admonished you, and did their indispensable duty to you, under 
 your sin, for your salvation. 
 
 9. Church members ought to pray for one another, and that 
 with a real love, fervency, and importunity, as they do for them- 
 selves, James v. 10. O with what serious minds and strong af- 
 fections shoulrl all church members pray for one anoliier ! They 
 should be much in building up one another, and praying in the 
 Holy Ghost one for another, Jude 20. They should carry one 
 another in their hearts at the tlirone of grace, jcspecially such as 
 are under aflliction, the whole Church in general, and her teachers 
 in particular, IJeb. xiii. 18, and wrestle with (Jod for them ; for 
 they have the spirit of prayer given tiiem, and audience and in- 
 terest in heaven, for others, as well as for themselves. 
 
 10. Church members should often meet together for prayer and 
 holy conversation, by two or three or more, as they may have op- 
 portunity. Tin's was wont to be the conmienduble practice of 
 our forefathers, when Christ, duty, heaven, and religion lay warm- 
 er on their hearts than now they do ; and this is still the practice 
 of some that arc now alive. God hath promised his glorious 
 teaching, and his warming, strengthening, sanctifying, and com- 
 forting presence to such as do so, Matt, xviii. 20. Church mem- 
 bers find timf! enough to visit one another, and meet together to 
 
APPENDIX. 235 
 
 tell some idle stories, to tattle about otlier men's matters, which 
 do not concern them, and perhaps to hackh'de some of their bretli- 
 ren, and to prejudice the minds of persons against their teachers 
 and their work, if they do not please them. And will not sucli 
 meetings have bitterness in the end ? Is it not great iniquity for 
 Christians to tempt one another to sin, and to wrong their own 
 souls, by misspending that precious time which they might have 
 employed in the service of God, and one another's spiritual pro- 
 fit. Men and women were wont to discourse often of the tilings 
 of God and their experiences one to another, Mai. iii. 16. But, 
 alas ! few persons are now to be found, who can find time and in- 
 clination for such an exercise. And the reason seems to be, that 
 most are great strangers to God and to themselves, and are so 
 much intoxicated with the things of this world, that they will not 
 attend with any pleasure unto the spiritual duties of religion. 
 
 11. Church members ought to encourage one another by their 
 example, to attend regularly on the public ordinances of God's 
 worship in his church. Whenever the church meets for the cele- 
 bration of the worship of God, all her members are bound to meet 
 together at the appointed time, except in extraordinary cases; 
 otherwise good order cannot be kept, and the public duties per- 
 formed, for the glory of God, and the edification of the church. 
 By church members wilfully or carelessly absenting themselves 
 at the time of meeting, they give an evil example to others, tempt 
 them to do the like, and cast a stumbling-block in the way of their 
 duty, Heb. x. 25. 
 
 1*2. Church members must be charitable to the poor that are 
 among them, and freely contribute to them according to their 
 ability and their necessity. They are indispensably bound to im- 
 part their help and assistance to the poor, and to give them a lit- 
 tle of their estates. It is a debt which they owe to God, and a 
 duty to them. They will comfort them thereby ; but they will 
 much more profit themselves than them. It is a more blessed 
 thing to give than to receive. Wealthy persons are stewards for 
 the poor, and a part of what God hath given those was designed 
 for these, 1 Pet. iv. 10, and theref:)re, says God, Deut. xv. 7, 8, 
 " Thou shalt not shut thine hand from thy poor brother, but shalt 
 open it wide unto him." The rich must not only give to keep the 
 poor alive in misery, but make comfortable provisions for them, 
 that they may have enough to keep them from the temptations of 
 poverty and pressing wants, and to fit them for, and encourage 
 them in, their work and duty, to God and man. 
 
 13. Church members ought carefully, watchfully, diliirently, 
 and conscientiously to beware of and avoid whatever may give 
 any just offence or scandal to one anotiier. For we arc charged 
 
236 APPENDIX- 
 
 to " give none offence neither to Jew nor Gentile, nor to the Church 
 of God," 1 Cor. X. 32. And our Saviour tells us, that *' wo to 
 thern by whom the ofTence cornelh," Matt, xviii. 7. 
 
 You must take heed of such evils as the following, and avoid 
 them, because they all carry scandal in thf-ir nature to your own 
 and others' souls: as, 1. Proud, disdainful, and haujjhty words, 
 conduct, and conversation ; for these are grievous and provoking 
 evils, which will justly offend all the observers of ihem. 2. Sul- 
 len, sour, and churlish language and behavior, which is ofTen- 
 sive unto all sorts of persons ; for this is an evil altogether unbe- 
 coming the followers of Jesus Christ. 3. A cross, captious, and 
 contrariictive spirit and conduct, delighting in op[>osition to the 
 judgment of the church and her rulers. This is very .scan- 
 dalous to the brethren, and very reproachful unto themselves. 
 4. Speaking evil of one another behind their backs ; backbiting or 
 publishing their real or supposed evils, l>efbre they have been 
 spoken to in secret. 5. Speaking lightly or contemptibly of one 
 another, either to themselves or to others in their absence, as few 
 men can fx^ar patiently to be despised by the slighting carriages 
 of their brethren. 6. Vain, foolish, and frothy discourses, which 
 are very oflTensive to gracious saints. 7. Earthly-mindedness 
 and greedy pursuits after worldly things ; for as these are offen- 
 sive to God, and hurtful to the soul, so they are offensive to saints. 
 8. Strife and contention among brethren, and grudging or envy- 
 ing one another's prosperity ; as these produce many evil and 
 wicked fruits, and cast blame upon the providence of God, who 
 bestows his mercies as he will. 9. Defrauding and breaking 
 promises. Contracting debts and unduly delaying or refusing to 
 pay them, and disapfxjinting men of their just expectations in vir- 
 tue of promises made to them. These also are scandalous, and 
 cause the name of God to be evil spoken of. 10. Entering into 
 a marriage relation with such as are apparently in an unbelieving, 
 carnal, and unconverted state and condition ; for this also is very 
 offensive to holy serious men, although many make very light of 
 it. 11. Idleness and slothfulness in your external calling, neg- 
 lecting to provide for your own house, as that will prove a scan- 
 dalous sin to others and to yourselves too. 12. Taking up a re- 
 port rashly against one another of a scandalous nature, giving 
 ear unto tattlers, and busybrxlies ; or being busybodies in other 
 men's matters yourselves, as this will give great offence. 
 
APPENDIX. 237 
 
 NO. II.* 
 
 Quest. Who have a right to preach the gospel and dispense the 
 public ordinances of religion ? 
 
 Ans. Without some proper furniture, it is absurd to imagine 
 any should be sent of God to the ministerial work. When the 
 ascended Jesus gave to the church apostles, evangelists, pastors 
 and teachers, he gave gifts to men. Who, saith he, goeth at any 
 time a loarfare on his own charges ? What is the furniture, the 
 qualifications prerequisite, according to the Holy Scriptures? A 
 blameless conversation, a good report ; experience of the self- 
 debasing work of the Spirit of God ; compassion to the souls of 
 men ; a fixedness in the Christian doctrines ; a disposition faith- 
 fully to perform his vows ; an aptness to teach the ignorant, and 
 convince gainsayers. Knowledge of languages, knowledge of 
 the history and sciences of this world, are useful handmaids to 
 assist us in the study of divine things. To preach from the oracles 
 of God, without capacity to peruse the original, especially if ver- 
 sant in romances and plays, we abhor and detest. This aptness 
 to teach, however, consists not chiefly in any of these, but in a 
 capacity to conceive spiritual things, and with some distinctness 
 to express their conceptions to the edification of others, in that en- 
 ergy and life, whereby one, as affected himself, declares the 
 truths of God, in a simple, serious, bold, and conscience-touching 
 manner. The difference of this, from human eloquence, loud 
 bawling, and theatrical action, is evident. These may touch the 
 passions, and not affect the conscience : they may procure esteem 
 to the preacher, none to Christ. These are the product of natural 
 art : this the distinguished gift of God, without which, in a cer- 
 tain degree, none can have evidence that he was divinely sent to 
 minister the gospel of Christ. 
 
 No appearance of furniture, real or pretended, can warrant a 
 man's exercising of the ministry, unless he have a regular call. 
 That all may prophesy one hy one is indeed hinted in the sacred 
 records : but there it is evident inspiration treats of what pertains 
 to extraordinary officers in the church ; hence there is mentioned 
 the gift of tongues, extraordinary psalms, revelations : the all that 
 might prophesy are, therefore, not a// the members of the church ; 
 not women, who are forbid to speak in the church ; but all the ex- 
 traordinary officers called prophets, 1 Cor. xiv. 31. The aZZthat 
 were scattered abroad from Jerusalem, and went about preaching 
 
 * From Brown's Letters. 
 
23S APPENDIX. 
 
 the gospel, Acts viii. 2, could not be all the believers ; for there 
 remained at Jerusalem a church of believers for Saul to make 
 havoc of It must therefore have been all the preachers, besides 
 the apostles. To strengthen this, let it be observed, that the word 
 here rendered preaching is nowhere in Scripture referred to one 
 out of office : that every one of this dispersion, we afterward hear 
 of, are represented as evangelists, pastors, or teachers, Acts ix. 1, 
 11, 19, and xiii. 1. Parents and masters convey the same in- 
 struction that ministers do ; but with a different authority : not 
 as ministers of Christ, or officers in his Cliurch. If other gifts or 
 saintship entitled to preach the gospel, wo would be unto every 
 gifted person, every saint, that did not preach it. If our adored 
 Redeemer refused the work of a civil judge because not human- 
 ly vested with such power, will he allow his followers to exercise 
 an office far more important, without any regular call ? His 
 oracles distinguish between the mission of persons, and their gifts, 
 sometimes called a receiving of the Holy Ghost, John xx. 21, 23. 
 
 To render the point incontestably evident, he demands, how 
 men shall preach excej)t they he sent? declares, that no man right- 
 ly takcth this honor to himself hut he that is called of God, as icas 
 Aaron. " I sent them not, therefore they shall not profit this people 
 at all, saith the Lord ," The characters divinely affixed to ministers, 
 preachers, or heralds, ambassadors, stewards, watchmen, angels, 
 messengers, brightly mark their call and commission to their 
 work. The inspired rules for the qualifications, the election, the 
 ordination of ministers, are divinely charged to be kept till the 
 day, the second coming of Jesus Christ. For intermeddling with 
 the sacred business without a regular call, has the Almighty 
 severely punished numbers of men. Witness the destruction of 
 Korah and his company ; the rejection of Saul ; and the death of 
 Uzza ; the leprosy of Uriah ; the disaster of the sons of Sceva, 
 &c.. Num. xvi. ; 1 Sam. xiii. ; 1 Chron. xiii. ; 2 Chron. xxvi. ; 
 Acts xix. 
 
 To rush into it, if gifted, or to imagine we are so, at our own 
 hand, introduces the wildest disorder, and the most shocking er- 
 rors : it did so at Antioch, and tlie places adjacent, where some 
 falsely pretended a mission from the apostles. This, too, was its 
 effect with the German anabaptists, and with the sectaries of 
 England. Aversion at manual work, pride of abilities, a dis- 
 turbed imagination, a carnal project to promote self, prompts the 
 man to be preacher. Such ultroneous rushing is inconsistent 
 with the deep impression of the charge, and the care to manifest 
 their mission, everywhere in Scripture obvious in the ministers 
 of Christ. However sound his doctrine, great his abilities, warm 
 his address, where is the promise of God's especial presence, pro- 
 
APPENDIX. 239 
 
 tection, or success, to the ultroneous preacher ? Where is his 
 conduct commanded, commended, or unmarked with wrath, exem- 
 plified in the sacred words ? How then can the preaching, or 
 our hearing, of such, be in faith ? How can it be acceptable to 
 God, or profitable to ourselves ? For ivhatsoever is not of faith is 
 sin. Falsely this preacher pretends a mission from Christ: 
 wickedly, he usurps an authority over his Church : rebelliously 
 he deserts his own calling, and attempts to make void the office 
 his Saviour has appointed ; to frustrate the dispensation of the 
 gospel committed to his faithful ambassadors. For how can they 
 fulfil their ministry, if others take the work out of their hand? 
 How can they commit it to faithful men, if, not v/aiting their com- 
 mission, men rush into it at pleasure ? 
 
 In vain pleads the ultroneous preacher, that a particular mis- 
 sion to the office of preaching and dispensing the sacraments was 
 only necessary, when the gospel was preached to the heathen. 
 From age to age, it is as new, to children as new, to such as never 
 heard it. Nor, when hinting the necessity of a mission, does the 
 inspiring Spirit make any distinction, whether the gospel be newiy 
 dispensed or not. What therefore God hath joined together, let no 
 man jnit asunder. In vain he pleads an immediate commission 
 from God : in his infallible statutes, having fixed standing rules 
 of vocation to the ministry, by the mediation of men, God gives 
 us no command, no encouragement, to hope for an immediate call, 
 till the end of time. Absurdly then we allow any to have such 
 a call, till we see the signs of an apostle wrought in him. It is 
 not sufficient he be sound in his doctrine, exemplarily holy in 
 his life, active in his labors, disinterested in liis aims, seeking not 
 his own, but the honor of Christ, not his own carnal profit, but the 
 spiritual welfare of men : every ordinary preacher is, or ought to 
 be so. But, to this claimant of a mission uncommon, working of 
 miracles, or such extraordinary credentials, must demonstrate he 
 hath not run unsent. 
 
 In vain the ultroneous preacher boasts of his feelings ; his suc- 
 cess ; his moving his audience ] his reforming their lives ; as if 
 these demonstrated his call from God. On earth, was ever delu- 
 sion carried on without pretence to, or without appearances of 
 these 1 Let them, who know the history of Popery, of Mahometan- 
 ism, Quakerism, &c., say if they w^ere. Who knows not, that 
 the Pharisaic sect pretended far more strictness, far more de- 
 votion, than the family of Christ ? Who knows not, that Satan 
 may, and has oft transformed himself into an angel of light ; his 
 ministers into the form of inspired apostles ; and his influences, 
 almost indiscernibly similar to those of the Spirit of Jesus Christ ? 
 \\'ho knows not, how oft vain-glory, proud and falsely extolling 
 
240 APPENDIX. 
 
 of himself and party, in tlieir number, their spiritual experience 
 and hip;li advances in holiness, mark the distinguished impostor ? 
 IIow oft his sermons are larded with these! 
 
 No more tell us, if the sermon be good, you do not regard who 
 preach it. If God has prescribed a method of call, has stated the 
 cjualifications of the candidate, has warned against preachers un- 
 Bent, has oft marked their guilt with visible strokes of his wralh, 
 be ashamed to talk at so arrogant, so careless a rate. Lay it 
 not in the power of the Mesopotamian w izard ! Lies it not in 
 the power of a Romish Jesuit, nay, if permitted, of Beelzebub, for 
 a time to preach to you many truths of the gospel, in the warmest 
 strain, the loftiest language ? Would you acknowledge the three 
 for honored ambassadors of Christ? Tell us not your preacher 
 is wonderfully pious and good : perhaps you have only his own 
 attestation ; when better known he may be a drunkard, a swear- 
 er, a villain, for you. Suppose he were pious, so was Uzziah ; 
 yet it pertained not to him to execute the priest's office. Say not 
 he is wonderfully gifted — speaks \[ke7icvcr 7imn : perhaps so was 
 Korah, a man famous and of renown : such perhaps were the 
 vagabond sons of Seeva. Say not his earnestness in his work 
 marks his heavenly call : no, such were the Satanic exorcists just 
 mentioned ; such was Mahomet, the vilest impostor. To abolish 
 the idolatry, and various other abominations of his country, he 
 exposed iiimself to cruel reproach, to manifold hardship and haz- 
 ard of life ; about fourteen years almost unsuccessful he perse- 
 vered in this difficult, but delusive attempt. What hunger, what 
 cold, what torment and death have some Jesuitic and other anti- 
 christian missionaries undergone, to propagate the most ruining 
 delusions of hell ; all under the pretence of earnestness to gain 
 sinners to Christ and his church. The Scripture, however, no- 
 where saith, how shall they preach except they be gracious? ex- 
 cept they be gifted ? except they be in earnest ? But, how shall 
 they preach except they he sent ? 
 
 NO. III.* 
 
 On the same subject — Who have a right to preach the gospel 1 
 
 It is expressly enjoined in the word of God that we should ear- 
 nestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints. This 
 
 * Extracted from the Christian Magazine for Sept. 1797 — a periodical pub- 
 lication well worth the perusal of the friends of evangelical doctrine. 
 
APPEjSDIX- 2^ J 
 
 faith includes all the ordinances, as well as all the doctrines of 
 Christ ; and it is no less our duty to contend for the former than 
 tor the latter, fhey have been equally opposed, and there is the 
 same necessity why we should contend for both.' Amono- the or- 
 dinances of Christ, the preaching of the gospel holds a principal 
 place, and it hath accordingly, in all ages, met with considerable 
 opposition. Like other ordinances, it hath been often grievously 
 abused, and perverted to the most unworthy purposes. By many 
 who would be esteemed the wise of the world, it is counted un- 
 worthy the attention of any but the vulgar: it has been called 
 the foolishness of preaching. The infidels of our time, and some 
 who, by attachment to the Arian and Socinian system, are in a 
 progress to infidelity, cry it down as a human device or piece af 
 cratt. Ihis need not, however, occasion any great surprise- 
 the spirit of the world savoreth not the things that be of God, 
 and the enemies of the truth naturally wish to have^ull scope to 
 propagate their delusions. But it is matter of regret that the 
 preaching of the gospel is, by many who attend upon it, too little 
 regarded as an ordinance of Christ. And some of the professed 
 friends of gospel doctrine so far mistake the nature and institu- 
 tion of preaching, as to engage in it without any other call than 
 their own abundant zeal, and even to plead that all should do so 
 who find themselves qualified. To show that such a sentiment 
 and practice have no warrant from the word of God, the following 
 observations are offered. '° 
 
 I. The preaching of the gospel is an ordinance that Christ hath 
 appointed for the gathering and edification of his Church ; and 
 being a matter of positive institution, all that belongs* to the ad' 
 ministration of it can be learned only from the rules and approved 
 examples recorded in the New Testament. It is not like those 
 duties that are incumbent upon all, according to the opportunities 
 they have in providence for the performance of them, and which, 
 without any express commandment, could be urged upon Chris! 
 tians by the common principles of moral obligation, such as to 
 teach and admonish one another. And because the obligation to 
 such moral duties depends not upon positive institutIon,''it must 
 equally extend to all, and no person whatever can be free from 
 it. But it is otherwise as to the preaching of the gospel, which 
 is a positive institution of Christ; for it is a duty enjoined upon 
 some only; yea, some are even absolutely prohibited from inter- 
 meddling in it, 1 Cor. xiv. 34 ; 1 Tim. ii. 12 : and this could 
 not be the case if it were a matter of common moral obligation. 
 All arguments therefore taken from general principles, to prove 
 the obligation that Christians are under to exert themselves for 
 promoting the cause of religion, are to no pur]>ose here, as they 
 
242 APPENDIX. 
 
 do not prove that the preaching of the gospel is one of those 
 mPHns that all are warranted to use. rr^u • * 
 
 H Tl^ere is an instituted ministry of the ordinances of Chrtst 
 un o his Church, by such ministers and olhccbearers as he hath 
 ^p oi„tc<K And tlfe preaching of the gospel is f-q-"");,-;- 
 red to as a principal part of that m.n.stry. We 'f^ of a mm,s ry 
 
 of the word. Acts vi. 4; a "^••"^'■T I^^/'"'' °f. ft,^°;'^J^f„Ts! 
 to testify the gospel of the grace of God, Acts xx. 24 , a mmis- 
 tryo Loncilialion, 2 Cor%'. 18; and a ministry mto wh.ch 
 some are nut bv the Lord Christ, 1 Tim. i. 12. Th,s mm.stry is 
 rU open to all the members of the church, .n such a manner 
 as that everyone who finds himself disposed, or supposes himself 
 fo b qoalified, may engage in it as he finds oi^Portun.y ; bu. 
 office-bearers are appointed for it by the Lord Christ, Eph.iv. 
 U T' "And he gave some apostles, and some prophets, and 
 some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers for the perfect- 
 frof tlesaints for the work of the ministry, and for the ed.fy.np 
 of'the body of Christ." Some of these oftjeers were ex ao,d^ 
 nary and temporary ; they had an extraordinary <=»"'/"'' ^^"^ 
 endued with miraculous powers, which are "°^\7J^^'^/,,';"Vos 
 work of the ministry, and particularly the preaching of the gos- 
 Del is 10 continue to the end of the world, as appears from the 
 Dromise given for the encouragement of those that are employed 
 Lit Man xxviii. 20. There%re accordingly ordinary officers 
 pasters, and teachers, appointed for the continued exercise of that 
 
 ""'tTL^ instituted office-bearers is this ministry e.-cclusively 
 coinmitte.^ Mark xvi.. Matt, xxviii. The gospel of Christ, m 
 re peet of the public ministry .hereof by preaching is frequemly 
 mentioned as a special and peculiar /n«( commit ed unto them, 
 '. Cor V. 18-20 ; 1 Tim. i. 11, and vi. 20. In all the passages 
 of Scripture where we have any mention of ^^^^S" °'''.°"l- 
 mission to preach the gospel, it would be ^^'^y '°/^j;'^"' ", ^ 
 directed only to persons in office ; and a variety of names are 
 given to those that are employed in a ministry of the «'ord, all 
 of which are expressive of their peculiar office. They are called 
 ministers, 1 Cor. iii. 6 ; officers and stewards, 1 Cor. iv. 1 ; am- 
 bassadors for Christ, 2 Cor. v. 20 ; heralds (so the word preacher 
 signifies) and teachers, 2 Tim. i. 11. •„;„„ 
 
 There is no room to plead here, that though a constant min^try 
 of the word, in a pastoral charge, belongs only to persons in othce, 
 vet all may occasionally exercise their gilts in preachuig the 
 cospcl. The word of God acknowledges no such distinction as 
 timt between a constant and an occasional ministry of the gospel. 
 It enjoins upon those who are called to the work of the ministry, 
 
APPENDIX 243 
 
 not an occasional, but a constant exercise of that ministry ; so that 
 whether they be paid pastors, or itinerant preachers, they are not 
 to entangle themselves with the atlairs of this life, but must be 
 devoted wholly to the work of the gospel, 1 Tim. iv. 13-16 ; 
 2 Tim. ii. 4, and iv. 2. And because they must thus devote their 
 time and attention to this work, the word of God also enjoins that 
 a maintenance be given them by those to whom they exercise 
 their ministry, 1 Cor. ix. 7-14 ; Gal. vi. ; 1 Tim. v. 17. This 
 is a farther evidence that the ministry of the word is restricted to 
 persons in office, and that they are to devote their time and atten- 
 tion to it, not entangling themselves in the prosecution of a secu- 
 lar business. 
 
 III. Those only can be warrantably employed in a ministry 
 of the ordinances of Christ, and particularly" in preachin^r the 
 gospel, who are thereunto called by him, and admitted acco^din/r 
 to the rule laid down in the word. And none can be warrantably 
 acknowledged and received as office-bearers, to whom that minis- 
 try is committed without some proper evidence of their being 
 called and sent by Christ. " How shall they preach except they 
 be sent ?" Rom. x. 15. How, without this, can they do it warrant- 
 ably or profitably ? And, without some evidence of this, what 
 ground have we to expect a blessing in waiting upon their minis- 
 try ? It is not a mere providential sending that is here meant, as 
 if there were no more necessity than abilities, and an opportunity 
 of exercising thom ; for so the ministers of Satan may be sent, 
 and a lying spirit was thus sent among the prophets of Ahab! 
 But this sending means the call of Christ, intimated in such a way 
 as to warrant the preacher, and with such evidence as may satis- 
 fy the conscience of the hearers, in receiving his ministry as the 
 ordmance of Christ. A zeal f;)r God, a strong desire of being 
 useful to souls, and even a persuasion of having the call of Christ, 
 cannot be sufficient warrant to the preacher'; far less can the- 
 hearers, in receiving him, proceed upon grounds so uncertain. 
 
 The apostles, and some other ministers in the beginning of the 
 Christian dispensation, had an extraordinary call and immediate 
 mission by Christ, and this was evidenced to all by the miraculous 
 powers bestowed on them. These powers are now ceased, and it 
 IS vain to plead any such immediate call. The ordinary call of 
 Christ to the work of the ministry is intimated by or through the 
 church, judging thereof by the rules laid down in the worcT; and 
 according to these rules, they that are found qualified and called, 
 are to be admitted to the ministry by them who are already invest- 
 ed with it. The charge is given to the office-bearers of the 
 church, to commit that ministry which they have received "to 
 faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also," 2 Tim. ii. 2 • 
 
^AA APPENDIX. 
 
 Tit i 5 And for their direction in this matter, the qualifi- 
 cations necessary, both as to character and abilities, are laid down 
 in the word, particularly in 1 Tim. iii. ; of these qua .fica- 
 tions they arc rc-riuired to make an impartial and deli Ix. rate ex. 
 amination, so as U> lay haruU suMenly on ru) rmn, 1 lim. iv. ZZ, 
 but to admit to the office of the ministry thos^j only, who by this 
 trial, they have reason to jud^e are called and sent by Christ. 
 
 It is vain to distinjruihh h<:re between a pastor of a con^^rega- 
 tion and an itinerant' preacher; as if the call of the church was 
 necessary only to the former and not to the latter. If by the call 
 of the church is meant only the choice and call of the people, it 
 is admitted, that this is only necessary to fix a pastoral relation 
 to that part of the flock ; but a regular admission to the work ot 
 the ministry, by the ofF.ce-l>earers of the church, is equally neces- 
 sary in the case of all that are employed in it, whether they have 
 a fixed charjre or not. Timothy, who had no fixed charge, and 
 though pr.inted out by prophecy as designed for the ministry^wa^ 
 ordained and admitted to it by the presbytery. And though 
 Paul and Barnabas had an extraordinary call, yet the prophets 
 and teachers of the church at Antioch are directed to separate 
 and send them out, accr.rding to the call of the Holy Ghost, to 
 preach the gospel unto the Gentiles, Acts xiii. A principal design 
 of this sf^ems to have been, to set an example of procedure to the 
 church in after times. 
 
 It appears, then, that the preaching of the gospel is an ordi- 
 nance or institution of Christ— that the ministry of that and other 
 ordinances belongs only to those office-bearers whom he hath ap- 
 pointed and commissioned for that end— and that in ordinary 
 cases, none can Ut acknowledged as sent by him, but such as are 
 admitted to the ministry in the way alx.ve mentioned. 1 hese ob- 
 servations would have admitted a much larger illustration ; but 
 as thr-y are, they may assist an attentive reader to consult his 
 Bible for further satisfaction. It is necessary, however, to take 
 gome notice of the arguments urged in support of the opposite sen- 
 timent, and of the attempt to prove that every man who is quali- 
 fied has a right to preach the gosp^, without any regular call and 
 admission by the church. And, 
 
 1st. It is pretended that this is enjoined upon all that are quali- 
 fif^d for it, because Christians are called to teach, exhort, and ad- 
 monish one another. But even supi>osing that this were to be 
 undcrstrxid of preaching, or a public ministry of the word such 
 directions, though expressed generally, would not apply to all, but 
 to thosfi only who are called to the ministry, according to the lim- 
 itation and restriction that is laid down in other places of Scrip- 
 ture. There is, however, no necessity of understanding these 
 
APPENDIX. 245 
 
 directions in that sense. The Scripture evidently distinguishes 
 the preaching of the gospel, or that public teaching which be- 
 longs to an instituted ministry, from that private teaching which 
 is competent to, and obligatory on, all Christians by the law of 
 love ; the latter is enjoined upon some to whom the former is ab- 
 solutely prohibited : compare 1 Tim. ii. 12, with Tit. ii. 3, 4. 
 Christians in a private station have abundant opportunity, and or- 
 dinarily much more than they improve, to exercise their talents 
 in teaching their families, friends, and neighbors, without inter- 
 fering with that public ministry of the word which is committed 
 to those who are especially called thereto. 
 
 2d. Some passages of Scripture are urged, wherein it is sup- 
 posed all Christians are enjoined to exercise their qualifications 
 in public teaching or preaching: particularly Rom. xii. 6-8; 
 1 Pet. iv. 10, 11. These Scriptures, on the contrary, restrict the 
 public ministry of the word to those invested with an office, and 
 it is that ministry which belongs to their office that is spoken of. 
 In Rom. xii. persons in office are exhorted to apply themselves 
 faithfully and diligently to that ministry to which they are called, 
 whether it be a ministry of the word, and of spiritual things, or 
 a ministry of temporal things, and that without envying others 
 who have a different office and ministry. And, to enforce this 
 exhortation, the apostle compares the Church to the natural body, 
 ver. 4, in which all members have not the same office, but one 
 member is appointed to one office, and another member to a dif- 
 ferent office : and so it is in the Church of Christ, ver. .5. The 
 same allusion is applied more largely, 1 Cor. xii. 27, 28, to illus- 
 trate this very point. The other passage, 1 Pet. iv. 10, 11, is of 
 the very same import : those in office are called to exercise their 
 ministry faithfully, whether it be in spiritual or temporal things, 
 and are addressed as stewards, ver. 10 : 'v^s every man hath re- 
 ceived the gift, even so minister the same one to another as good 
 stewards of the manifold grace of God." Some are led to mistake 
 the meaning of these Scriptures, by misunderstanding the word 
 gift, as if it meant only talents or qualifications ; whereas, in these 
 and many other passages, it means a certain office and ministry 
 to which one is appointed. Eph. iv. 8, 11 : He gave gifts unto 
 men ; he gave some apostles, some prophets, &;c. 1 Tim. iv. 14 : 
 " Neglect not the gift that is in thee, w hich was given thee by pro- 
 phecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.'' Timo- 
 thy was ordained to the office of the ministry in consequence of 
 special direction of the spirit of prophecy. See 1 Tim. i. 18. 
 
 3d. It is also supposed and much insisted on by some, that both 
 precept and example for the preaching of the gospel, by what 
 they call every gifted brother, mav be found in. 1 Cor. xiv, 31, which 
 21'^ 
 
246 APPENDIX 
 
 is particularly urged in support of their opinion : " For ye msLV all 
 prophesy, one by one, that all may learn, and a// may be comfort- 
 ed." But universal terms, such as are here used, are limited or 
 extended according to the subjpct ; and that even in the same 
 verse, as in chap. xv. 22. In liice manner here, the all that may 
 prophesy are not the same all that may learn and be comforted. 
 The latter may extend to all the members of the church, and 
 even to strangers who might come into their assemblies ; the for- 
 mer could apply only to a few. Some members of the church 
 are expressly prohibited from public teaching, ver. 34. Besides, 
 all were not prophets, chap. xii. 29, and therefore all could nei- 
 ther prophesy, nor could warrantably attempt it. The state of 
 matters referred to in that chapter seems to have been this : The 
 church at Corinth was numerous, and had many ministers, of 
 whom the most, if not all, were endowed with some miraculous 
 power, such as that of prophecy, of speaking strange languages, 
 and the like ; they were proud of these gifts, and forward to show 
 them, ver. 26, which occasioned disorder in their assemblies for 
 worship ; those that had the gift of tongues prevented the proph- 
 ets, and did not modestly give place to one another. These dis- 
 orders the apostle reproves, and exhorts them to exercise their 
 gifts in a more regular and decent manner, for the edification of 
 the church. This being the case, it is strange to plead this pas- 
 sage as a warrant for the preaching of the gospel by those who 
 are in no office, and who neither have any miraculous power to 
 prove their immediate call by Christ to the work of the ministry, 
 nor are admitted thereto by the call of the church. 
 
 4th. Further, we are referred to Acts viii. 1-4, for an exam- 
 pie of the preaching of the gospel by persons not in office. We 
 are told, ver. 1, that "there was a great persecution against the 
 church which was at Jerusalem, and they were all scattered 
 abroad — except the apostles." And it is said, ver. 4, " they, that 
 were scattered abroad, went everywhere preaching the icord.'' 
 From this it is argued, that the Church in general proclaimed the 
 gospel of the Lord .lesus. But why mention the Church in gene- 
 ral, when the method of reasoning used would equally prove that 
 the Church universally did so; and the absurdity of such reason- 
 ing must be evident upon a very little consideration of the subject. 
 How absurd to suppose that all mentioned in ver. 1, refers to and 
 comprehends all tlie members of that church, and that all the 
 thousands and ten thousands belonging to it were all scattered 
 abroad, or that they all, men, women, and children, went every, 
 where preaching the word ! Are we not told, ver. 3, that some 
 of them, probably many of them, both men and women, were 
 haled and committed to prison ? Or. had all the members of the 
 
APPENDIX. 247 
 
 cliurch been driven from Jerusalem, how were the apostles to be 
 employed? Did they only tarry to gather a new church ? When 
 it is said, ver. 3, that Saul entered into every house, how absurd 
 would it be to suppose that it is meant every house in Jerusalem, 
 or even every house in which there was a Christian ! The ex- 
 pression, also, everywhere., ver. 4, must be limited. It would 
 therefore be unreasonable to object against a proper limitation of 
 the word all, ver. 1. And about the just limitation of it we need 
 be at no loss. They were all scattered abroad — except the apos- 
 tles. What reason can there be for mentioning only the apostles 
 as excepted, while there were so many other members of that 
 church still remaining at Jerusalem, but this, that the persons re- 
 ferred to were of the same description in general with the apos- 
 tles, persons in office, ministers of the church ? Others might also 
 be scattered, but these are here spoken of; and Philip, an evan- 
 gelist, and endowed with miraculous powers, is mentioned as one 
 of them. 
 
 5th. As to the case of Apollos, which some urge as affording 
 irresistible evidence to prove that all who are qualified may 
 preach the gospel, a few words may suffice. He spoke boldly 
 in the synagogue, the practice of which is no rule to the Chris- 
 tian Church. He was not yet acquainted with some important 
 doctrines of the New Testament Church, much less could he be 
 acquainted with the ordinances of it. Two intelligent Christians 
 instructed him more perfectly in the way of God. He was re- 
 commended by the brethren to the church at Corinth, and tliere 
 he labored successfully in the work of the ministry. And what 
 is all this to the purpose for which his example is urged '? We 
 have no information, indeed, of what time, nor in what manner, 
 he was called and admitted to the work of the ministry, more 
 than we have about many others mentioned in Scripture : but he 
 is expressly called a minister, and is, once and again, classed 
 with the chiefest of the apostles, 1 Cor. i. 12, iii. 5, 22. 
 
 Lest these and the like arguments should be found insufficient, 
 recourse is had by some to the plea of pure motives and good 
 designs, with a kind of appeal to the judgment of the great day, 
 and profession of trust, that they are such as will not then be 
 condemned. It is a great satisfaction to have the testimony of 
 conscience to the purity of motives in every part of conduct that 
 is warranted by the word of God, and also to know that the judg- 
 ment of the saints at the great day will be a judgment of mercy. 
 But every part of the truth of Christ will be determined at that 
 day in exact conformity to what is now declared in the word. 
 And the purest motives and most noble designs are no rule of 
 conduct to any ; much less can they give satisfaction to others. 
 
248 APPENDIX- 
 
 These obsen'ations concerning the in^itutJon of a gospel min- 
 istry, the writer is persuaded, are agreeable to the word of Gofi : 
 if they be not, it would be idle to appeal to Ijis motives in supp<')rt 
 of thenn. But he can freely say that they are here offered to the 
 public, not fronn a desire of controversy, but from a conviction, 
 that at this time it is necessary, on different accounts, to call 
 people's attention to the ff>ind and will of Christ, as revealed in the 
 word concerning this subject. Let not sucfi of the friends of reli- 
 gion, as may be of different sentiments from what are here ex- 
 pressed, be offf^nded at an attempt, in the spirit of meekness, to 
 remove their mistakes: nor let them impute it to envy, pride, or 
 selfish principles. In a perfect Cf>ns)s1ency with all that he liath 
 advanced, the writer can say, " Would to Go<i that all the Lord's 
 people were prophets." 
 
 It is a necessary consequence of what is advanced on thi« sub- 
 ject, that all should be careful that the ministry of the ordinances 
 they attend u])on be such as is warranted in the word. If none 
 can warrantably preach except they be sent, we cannot warranta- 
 bly attend on the ministry of any but those who we have reason 
 to believe have Christ's call and mission. And if it Ui an objec- 
 tion against a pastor of a congregation, that he is imfxjsed ufxin 
 the flock without their choice, it is no less an objection against a 
 preacher, if he be not admitted to the ministry of the word by 
 those whose office it is to examine his rjualifioations, and judge 
 of his call. It rnus-t, however, be acknowjfidged, that to have 
 gone through the ordinary ihrrriH of admission is no sufficient 
 evidence of one's having the call of Christ. The outward forms 
 may be observed, while the spirit and design of them is neglected, 
 and the rule of the word transgressed. Xor can any l>e acknow- 
 ledged as sent by Christ, unless their character corresp^jnd with 
 that pinted out and requirefJ in the word, and unless the doctrine 
 they teach be the gos|r>el of Christ. None can l>e supf>osed to 
 have a mission from Christ, who do not bring his message, 2 John 
 ver. 10 : '* If there c-ome any unto you and bring n^/t this doctrine, 
 receive him not into your housfi, neither bid him Cod speed." 
 But when we are favored with the pure gospel, and an adminis- 
 tration of it agreeable to the word, let us wait upon it diligently ; 
 regarding the preaching of the gospel as an ordinance of Christ, 
 and depending on his promised blessing to make it effectual : for 
 when " the world by wis^Jom knew not God, it pleased God, by 
 the foolishness of preaching, to save them that believe," 1 Cor. 
 i. 21. 
 
 Both parts of this number are recommended to the scrioas con- 
 sideration of what are called lay-preachers, and of such as favor 
 that scheme. And let all intruders uprm the office of the holy 
 
APPENDIX. 249 
 
 ministry, with their deluded votaries, beware lest it should be said 
 to them, Who hath required this at your hands ? 
 
 NO. IV. 
 
 Quest. Have not the people a divine right to choose their own 
 pastors and other church officers ? 
 
 Ans. In those divinely qualified for the ministry, there are di- 
 versities of gifts, though but one spirit. As the same food, though 
 abundantly wholesome and nourishing, is not equally suited to the 
 taste, appetite, and constitutions of different persons and nations ; 
 so the same gifts in a candidate for the gospel ministry are not 
 equally adapted to every person and place. To secure edifica- 
 tion there must therefore be a choice of the gifts most suitable. 
 And who fitter to make it than those who are to enjoy the use 
 thereof, if their senses be exercised to discern good and evil ? 
 Can any man pretend to know better what gifts suit the case of 
 my soul than I do myself? 
 
 Those ignorant of the fundamental truths of Christianity ; those 
 scandalous, profane deniers of the divine original of the Old and 
 New Testaments, or of any trutii therein plainly revealed ; those 
 neglecters of the public, private, and secret worship of God ; 
 those given to cursing, swearing, Sabbath profanation, drunken- 
 ness, whoredom, or other scandalous courses, are destitute of ca- 
 pacity and right to choose a gospel minister. The ignorant are 
 utterly incapable to judge of either the preachers matter or 
 method. The openly wicked have their hatred of Christ, and a 
 faithful minister, marked in their forehead ; neither are such 
 qualified to be visible members of the Christian Church. To ad- 
 mit them therefore to choose a Christian pastor would be a 
 method, introducing ruin and wo; a method equally absurd as 
 for unfreemen to choose the magistrates of a burgh : rather, 
 equally absurd as if ignorant babes, and our enemies the French, 
 should be sustained electors of our members of parliament and 
 privy council. 
 
 Whether visible believers, adults, and having a life and conver- 
 sation becoming the gospel, have a right from God to choose their 
 pastors and other church officers, must now be examined. 
 
 All along from the Reformation it has been the avowed princi- 
 ple of Scotch Presbyterians, that tiiey have a divine warrant to 
 choose tiieir own pastors and other ecclesiastic officers. The 
 first book of discipline, published A. D. 1560, declares the lawful 
 calling of the ministry to consist in the election of the people, the 
 
250 APPENDIX. 
 
 examination of the ministry, and administration by both, and that 
 no pastor should be intruded on any particular kirk without their 
 consent. Their second book of discipline declares that the people's 
 liberty of choosing church officers continued till the Church was 
 corrupted by antichrist : that patronage flowed from the Pope's 
 canon law, and is inconsistent with the order prescribed in God's 
 word. From various documents the assembly of 173G declared 
 it obvious, that from the Reformation it had been the fixed princi- 
 ple of this church that no minister ought to be intruded into any 
 church contrary to the will of the congregation. They seriously 
 recommended a due regard hereunto in planting the vacancies, 
 as judicatories would study the glory of God, the honor of God, 
 and the edification of men. It is the law of heaven, however, the 
 book of the Lord, that here and everywhere we intend to build 
 our faith upon. 
 
 That of Matthias is the first instance of an election of an offi- 
 cer in the Christian Church. No doubt, then, it is marked in the 
 sacred history as a pattern for the ages to come. Being an offi- 
 cer extraordinary, his call was in part immediately divine, by the 
 determination of the lot. Being a church officer, he was chosen 
 by the Church as far as consistent with his extraordinary office. 
 The disciples about Jerusalem (J 20) were gathered together. 
 Peter represented the necessity of filling up Judas's place in the 
 apostolate with one who could be a meet witness of Jesus' doc- 
 trines, miracles, death, and resurrection. The one hundred and 
 twenty disciples chose, appointed, or presented to whom they 
 judged proper for that work. The office being extraordinary, and 
 perhaps the votes equal, the decision which of tiiese two was re- 
 ferred to the divine determination of the lot. After prayer for a 
 perfect one, it fell upon Matthias, and he was, by suflfrages, or 
 votes, added to the number of the apostles. 
 
 Had the next election of a church officer entirely excluded tlie 
 Christian people, one had been tempted to suspect that Matthias's 
 extraordinary case was never designed for a pattern. Instead 
 hereof, the choice being of an ordinary officer, is entirely deposit- 
 ed in their hands. Never were men better qualified for such an 
 election than the inspired, the spirit-discerning apostles ; yet 
 when restrained by laborious attendance to their principal work, 
 the ministry of the word and of prayer, from suflScient leisure to 
 distribute their multiplied alms to their now numerous poor, and 
 directed by the Holy Ghost, they ordered the Christian people to 
 lookout., choose seven of their number, men of honest report, full 
 of the Holy Ghost and of wisdom, who might be ordained to the 
 office of deacons. Judging of the mentioned qualifications, the 
 Christian multitude; entirely of their own accord, chose Stephen, 
 
APPENDIX. 251 
 
 Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas. 
 These they presented to the apostles, who immediately ordained 
 them by prayer, and imposition of hands. Acts vi. 1-6. Here, 
 by inspired appointment, the people had the whole power of elect- 
 ing their deacons. If they have the power of electing one ordi- 
 nary officer, why not of all ? If in the case of deacons they can 
 judge of the qualifications of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost 
 and ofivisdom, what hinders them to judge of these and the like 
 of ministers ? If Jesus and his apostles argued from the less to 
 the greater. Matt. vi. 30, 1 Cor. ix. 10, who can forbid us to argue 
 so ? If it be right and equal for the Christian people to choose 
 deacons who take care of their sacred alms, is it not much more 
 right and equal that they have the choice of their pastors, who 
 take the oversight of their souls ? 
 
 A third instance of the Christian people electing their ecclesi- 
 astical officers, relates to the joint travels of Paul and Barnabas 
 at Lystra and places around, Acts xiv. 23. These two divinely 
 directed messengers of Christ, having ordained (or, as properly 
 translated from the Greek, through suffrages or votes constituted) 
 them elders (presbyters) in every city, and prayed with fasting, com- 
 mended them to the Lord. Here it is plainly marked that these 
 elders, presbyters, were chosen by suffrages (votes) in order to 
 ordination. This the Greek word in our version, by tlie fraud 
 of the English bishops rendered had ordained, plainly imports. 
 The root of this word is borrowed from the custom of giving 
 votes at Athens and elsewhere in Greece, by lifting up of the 
 hand. Wherever it is used in the Greek Testament, and for any 
 thing we know in every Greek author, not posterior to Luke, the 
 writer of the Acts, it constantly implies to give vote or suffrage. 
 In the text before us it agrees with Paul and Barnabas ; because 
 they presided in the choice, and finished the design of it by ordi- 
 nation. Here, moreover, it is evident that the persons chosen for 
 elders (presbyters) were set apart to their office, not by a hurried 
 prayer and riotous banquet, but by prayer and fasting : and this 
 manner of choice and ordination was used in every church. The 
 very performance of the work of ordination in public conjunction 
 with the church tacitly infers their consent. 
 
 Christ's commanding his people to try the spirits, to try false 
 prophets, and to flee from them, 1 John iv. 1, 2, necessarily im- 
 ports a right to choose the worthy, and reject the vile ; to choose 
 what suits our edification, and to reject what doth not ; for, if 
 we must receive whoever is imposed, there is no occasion ibr trial, 
 we can have no other. The privilege of trial here allowed to 
 Iiis people by Christ plainly supposes their having some ability 
 for it ; and, by a diligent perusal of his word, and consulting his 
 
252 APPENDIX. 
 
 ministers, they may become more capable. Has our adored Re- 
 deemer thuR intrusted to his adult members the election of their 
 pastors ? at wliut peril or p;uilt do any ministers or laics concur 
 to boreavft them thereof, thrustinjr men into tiio evangelic office by 
 anotlicr way ; thus constituting th(!m spiritual thieves and robbers ? 
 h)ijU"di\ of being gentle to church members, as a nurse cherisheth 
 her children ; instead of condescendinir to mcn'of low degree, and 
 doing all things to the glory of God. and the edification of souls, is 
 not this to s(it ut naught their brethren ; exercise lordly dominion 
 over the members of (Jhrist ; and rule them with rigor? 
 
 In the oracles of (iod, where is tiie hint, tliat the choice of 
 pastors for the Christian people is lodged in any but themselves? 
 — Since men apostolic and inspired j)ut the choice from them- 
 selves to tlie Cluistian people ; who can believe that it belongs to 
 the clergy ? Acts i. and vi. When Christ avers his kingdom is 
 not of this world ; when he threatens judgment without mercy 
 to such as in his worshipping assemblies more readily give a seat 
 to the rici), with his gold ring and gay clothing, than to the poor ; 
 can it be imagined tliat he has intrusted the choice of his ambas- 
 sadors to men, for their greatness ? 
 
 There is indeed a haughty objection often stated against the 
 people's choice : Shall a cottager, poor and unlearned, who pays 
 not one farthing of the stipend, and at next term will perhaps 
 remove from the congregation, have an espial choice of a minister 
 with his master, a gentleman, a nobleman, of liberal education, 
 of distinguished abilities, who is head of a large family, has a 
 fixed property and residence in the parish, and furnishes almost 
 the whole benefice? Will you (ly in tiie face of our civil law ? 
 Will you [)lead for the method of choosing church ofheers, which 
 already has produced so nmch strife, bloody squabbling, or riot? 
 If Christ's kingdom, as himself when dying attested, is not of this 
 world, how can outward learning, riches, settled abode, or any 
 worldly thing, constitute one a member thereof? These do not 
 make one a hoXU'.r Christian. No. Not many wise men after the 
 flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called with a holy 
 calling. How ordinarily do rich men oppress tiie saints, draw 
 them before judgment-seats, and blaspheme Jesus' worthy name, 
 by which they are called ! If worldly privileges and endowments 
 cannot make one a subject of the Mediator's spiritual kingdom, 
 liow can they entitle any to, or raise him above his brethren in, 
 the privileges thereof? If by the Son of Cod the poor cottager 
 has been made free indeed ; has been taught to profit ; is rich in 
 faith ; is a king and priest unto Cod ; and hath received a king- 
 dom that cannot be moved ; in the view of the Omniscient and 
 his angels, and every man wise to salvation, how little is he in- 
 
APPENDIX. 053 
 
 ferior to his rich, perhaps his graceless, master ? Your rich man 
 has college education, understands philosophy, history, law, 
 agriculture ; but will that infer that he understands his Bible, 
 understands Christian principles, spiritual experiences, and what 
 spiritual gifts best correspond therewith, better than his cottager, 
 who daily searches the Scriptures, and has heard and learned of 
 the Father ? How oft are the great things of God hid from the 
 wise and prudent, and revealed unto babes ! Christ crucified was 
 to the learned Greeks foolishness ; but to the poorest believer the 
 power of God and the wisdom of God. '• The natural man," 
 however learned, " receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, 
 neither can he know them ; for they are spiritually discerned," 
 I Cor. ii. 14. How easy to find the herdman, or the silly wo- 
 man, who will endure a trial on Christian principles to far better 
 purpose than many of your rich, your great men ! — Your great 
 man is the head of a numerous family, and has great influence 
 in the corner. That, no doubt, is a strong motive for him, if he 
 is a Christian, to be exceeding wary in his choice : if he is so, no 
 doubt his Christian judgment, as far as is consistent with spiritual 
 liberty, is to have its own weight. But while Christ's ^'m^o^^om is 
 not of this world ; while in him there is neither male nor female^ 
 bond nor free ; headship over a family can found no claim to a 
 spiritual privilege. Thousands of heads of families are plainly 
 aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, without God, and without 
 hope in the world. Many are heads of families who, by neglect 
 of the daily worship of God, of religious instruction, and by other 
 unchristian conduct, ruin the same. 
 
 Boast not of the great man's settled abode, boast not of to- 
 morrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth ; how 
 suddenly may disaster and death pluck him up by the roots! The 
 rich fathers, where are they ? Do the nobles live forever ? Shall 
 their dwelling continue to all generations ? How often, in a kw 
 years, the rich inheritance changes its master, while the race of 
 the poor hovers about the same spot for many generations ! What 
 if the cottager attend more to gospel ministrations, in one year, 
 than the rich in forty ! what if, removing at next term, he carry 
 his beloved pastor in his heart, and by effectual fervent prayers, 
 availing much, by multiplied groanings that cannot be uttered, 
 he bring manifold blessings on the parish and ministry which he 
 leaves ; while your rich man, if wicked, if of the too common 
 stamp, continues in it, for no better purpose than to distress the 
 faithful pastor, corrupt the people, bring down a curse, and cum- 
 ber the ground ! The great man bears the load of the stipend no 
 more than the poorest cottager. He purchased his estate with 
 this burden upon it, and on that account had its price proportion- 
 
254 APPENDIX. 
 
 ally abated. Suppose it were otherwise, might not a poor wid- 
 ow's two mites be more in Jesus' account than all he gives ? 
 Will we, with the Samaritan sorcerer, indulge the thought that 
 the gifts of God, the spiritual privileges of his Church, are to be 
 purchased with money ? For money to erect the church or defray 
 the benefice we must not, with the infamous traitor, betray the 
 Son of God in his church — his ordinance, his ministry, into the 
 liands of sinners to be crucified. 
 
 It is in vain to mention the civil law : the very worst statute 
 thereof, relative to the point in hand, indirectly supposes the con- 
 sent of the congregation. It leaves to the presbytery the full 
 power to judge whether the presentee is fit for that charge. If 
 the congregation generally oppose, with what candor do the 
 presbytery, in Jesus' name, determine that he is fit ? The last 
 statute relative hereto declared the presentation. void, unless ac- 
 cepted. Nor is there in being any, but the law of sin and death 
 within them, the law of itch after worldly gain, that obliges can- 
 didates to accept. How unmanly, how disingenuous, to blame 
 the civil law with the present course of intrusions ! — Since the 
 resurrection of Christ, we think we may almost defy any to pro- 
 duce an instance of bloody squabbling, or like outrageous con- 
 tention, in the choice of a pastor, where none but the visible 
 members of Christ's mystical body, adult, and blameless in their 
 lives, were admitted to act in the choice. But if at any called 
 popular elections, the power was sinfully betrayed into the hands 
 of such baptized persons, as in ignorance and loose practice equal- 
 led, if not transcended, heathen men and publicans ; into the hand 
 of those who, to please a superior, to obtain a paltry bribe, or a 
 flagon of wine, were readily determined in their vote for a minis- 
 ter ; lot the prostitutes of Jesus' ordinance answer for the unhappy 
 consequences of their conduct. If they so enormously broke 
 through the hedge of the divine law, no wonder a serpent bit 
 them. But who has forgot what angry contentions, what neces- 
 sity of a military guard at ordinations, the lodging of the power 
 of elections in patrons or heritors, as such, has of late occasioned ? 
 
 To deprive the Christian people of their privilege in choosing 
 their pastor, and give it to others upon w^orldly accounts, is the 
 grossest absurdity. It overturns the nature of Christ's spiritual 
 kingdom, founding a claim to her privileges on worldly charac- 
 ter and property. It gives those blessed lips the lie, which said, 
 " My kingdom is not of this world.'^ It counteracts the nature of 
 the church, as a voluntary society ; thrusting men into a momen- 
 tous relation to her, without, nay contrary to, her consent. It 
 settles the ministerial office upon a very rotten foundation : for 
 how hard is it to believe the man is a minister of a Christian con- 
 
APPENDIX. 266 
 
 gregation, who never consented to his being such ! to believe he 
 has a pastoral mission from Christ, for whom providence would 
 never open a regular door of entrance to the office ; but he was 
 obliged to be thrust in by the window, as a thief and a robber f If 
 he comes unsent, how can I expect edification by his ministry, 
 when God has declared, such shall not profit his people at all? It 
 implies the most unnatural cruelty. If the law of nature allow 
 me the choice of my physician, my servant, my guide, my master, 
 how absurd to deny me the choice of a physician, a servant, a 
 guide, to my soul ; and to give it to another, merely because he 
 has some more money, has a certain piece of ground, which I have 
 not ! How do these qualify him, or entitle him to provide, what 
 the eternal salvation of my soul is so nearly connected with, bet- 
 ter than myself, if taught of God ? 
 
 By patronage how oft the honor of Christ and the souls of men 
 are betrayed into the hands of their declared enemies ! If the 
 patron is unholy, profane, liow readily the candidate he prefers is 
 too like himself! If a candidate be faithful, be holy, how readily, 
 like Ahab in the case of M icaiah, he hates, he sends not for him ! 
 The complaisant chaplain, who almost never disturbed the family 
 with the worship of God ; who along with the children or others 
 took off his cheerful glass ; sung his wanton song ; attended the 
 licentious ball, or play-house ; connived at, or swore a profane 
 oath ; took a hand at cards ; or ridiculed the mysteries, the ex- 
 periences, the circumspect professor of the Christian faith, is almost 
 certain to have the presentation : perhaps he covenanted for it as 
 part of his wages. For what simony, sacrilege, and deceitful 
 perjury, with respect to ordination vows, patronage opens a door, 
 he that runs may read. Shocked with the view, let us forbear ! 
 
 N. B. The London ministers in the preceding treatise have a 
 large note respecting the election of ministers, which does not 
 fully invest this right in the people. The editor, therefore, omit- 
 ted that note altogether, and has inserted this number, extracted 
 from Brown's Letters, in the place of it, as better adapted to the 
 nature of the gospel church, and to that liberty wherewith Christ 
 has made his people free. 
 
256 APPENDIX. 
 
 NO. v.* 
 Of the Ordination and Duty of Ministers. 
 
 That the ordination of pastors is an ordinance of Christ, the 
 sacred volumes clearly prove. Through election by suffrages 
 (or votes) Paul and Barnabas ordained elders (presbyters) in 
 every church, Acts xiv. 23. By Paul's inspired orders Titus was 
 left at Crete to ordain elders (presbyters) in every city, Tit. i. 5. 
 By the laying on of the hands of the presbytery was Timothy 
 himself ordained : he was apostolically authorized and directed to 
 ordain others ; and informed that these directions are to be ob- 
 served, till the day of Jesus Christ, 1 Tim. iv. 14, 15. 
 
 That not election, but ordination, confers the sacred office is 
 no less evident. Election marks out the person to be ordained ; 
 ordination fixes the relation of a candidate to a particular congre- 
 gation, upon receiving a regular call ; wliile at the same time it 
 constitutes him a minister of the whole catholic Church. Ordi- 
 nation made men presbyters and deacons, which were not so be- 
 fore. If a person be destitute of tiie distinguishing ministerial 
 gift, or any other essential qualification, ten thousand elections or 
 ordinations cannot render him a minister of Christ. But solemn- 
 ly tried and found qualified, he is to be set apart to the ministry, 
 by prayer, fasting, and laying on of tlie hands of the presbytery. 
 
 Nowhere in the heavenly volume do we find either precept or 
 example that Christian people have a whit more right to ordain 
 their pastor, than mid wives have to baptize the children they as- 
 sist to bring forth. Ordination appears to have been performed 
 by apostles, by evangelists, and by a presbytery, Acts vi. G, and 
 xiv. 23 ; Tit. i. 5 ; 1 Tim. v. 22, and iv. 14 : but never by pri- 
 vate Christians. Could these ordain their pastors or other eccle- 
 siastic officers, to what purpose did Paul leave Titus at Crete to 
 ordain elders in every city? or why did he write never a word 
 about ordination to the people, in any of his epistles, but to their 
 rulers ? 
 
 Thus regularly ordained, the Christian pastor must enter upon 
 his important work. Endowed with spiritual wisdom and under- 
 standing ; possessed of inward experience of the power of divine 
 truth ; inflamed with zeal for the glory of God, love to his work, 
 and compassion to the perishing souls of men, he is to endeavor 
 to acquaint himself with the spiritual state of his flock ; and to 
 
 * From Brown's Letters. 
 
APPENDIX. 257 
 
 feed them, not with heathenish and Arminian harangues, but with 
 the gospel of Christ, the sincere milk of the word, diligently 
 preaching and rightly dividing it, according to their diversified 
 state and condition, 1 Pet. v. 3 ; 2 Cor. v. 11 ; 1 Cor. ix. 16. 
 Assiduously growing in the knowledge and love of divine things, 
 he is to instruct and confirm his hearers therein. Etery divine 
 truth he is to publish and apply, as opportunity calls for : chiefly 
 such as are most important, or, though once openly confessed, are 
 in his time attacked and denied, 1 Tim. vi. 20, iii. 15. Pain- 
 fully is he to catechize his people, and in Jesus' name to visit 
 and teach them from house to house. To awaken their con- 
 science, to promote the conversion of sinners, to direct and com- 
 fort the cast down, perplexed, tempted, and deserted ; to ponder 
 the Scripture, and his own and others' experience, to qualify him 
 for this work, must be his earnest care. Faithfully is he to ad- 
 minister the sacraments to such (only) as are duly prepared ; 
 and in the simple manner prescribed by Christ. Tenderly is he 
 to take care of the poor ; to sympathize with the afflicted ; im- 
 partially to visit the sick ; to deal plainly with their consciences, 
 and to exhort and pray over them in the name of the Lord. With 
 impartiality, zeal, meekness, and prudence, he is to rule and 
 govern the church, to admonish the unruly, to rebuke offend- 
 ers, to excommunicate the incorrigible, and to absolve the peni- 
 tent. Habitually is he to give himself to effectual fervent prayer, 
 for his flock, and for the Church of God, travailing as in birth 
 till Jesus be formed in the souls of men. Be a man's parts, dili- 
 gence, and apparent piety what they will, negligence in this will 
 blast his ministrations, and too clearly mark, that he is therein 
 chiefly influenced by some carnal motive of honor or gain. Fi- 
 nally, he is constantly to walk before his flock a distinguished 
 pattern of sobriety, righteousness, holiness, humility, heavenliness, 
 temperance, charity, brotherly kindness, and every good word 
 and work. Without this his ministrations appear but a solemn 
 farce of deceit, 2 Tim. ii. 4 ; 1 Tim. iv. 15 ; 2 Tim. iv. 2. 
 
 Can ministers' reading of sermons consist with the dignity of 
 their office ? Did Jesus or his apostles ever show them an exam- 
 , pie of this? No. At Nazareth, when he read his text in the 
 ' book of Esaias, he closed his hook, and discoursed to the people. 
 : On the mount he opened his mouth, and taught : we hear not that 
 \ he took out his papers and read. Peter, in his sermon at Pente- 
 i. cost, lifted up his voice, and said : his papers and reading we hear 
 I nothing of. After reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers 
 of the synagogue of Antioch in Pisidia, desired Paul and Barna- 
 bas, not to read, but to say on. Our adored Saviour knew well 
 enough how to direct his ambassadors ; yet he ordered them to 
 22* 
 
25g APPENDIX. 
 
 Ro and preach, not read, the gospel to every creature, Luke iv. 
 20, 21 ; Matt. v. 2 ; Acts ii. 14, and xiii. 15. How hard to be- 
 Tieve, that he who gives gifts to men, for the edifying of his body, 
 would send the sermonist, whose memory and judgment are so 
 insufficient, that from neither he can produce an half hour s dis- 
 course without reading it! How dull and insipid the manner! 
 How absurdly it hinders the Spirit's assistance, as to matter dur. 
 m<r the discourse ! How shameful ! Shall the bookless lawyer 
 warmly and sensibly plead almost insignificant trifles, and shall 
 the ambassador of Christ, deprived of his papers, be incapable to 
 plead so short a space in favor of his Master, and of the souls 
 of men ? 
 
 NO. VI.* 
 
 Of Ruling Elders. 
 
 The rule and government of the Church, or the execution of 
 the authority of Christ therein, is in the hand of the elders. All 
 elders in office have rule, and none have rule in the church but 
 elders: as such, rule doth belong unto them. The apostles by 
 virtue of their special office were intrusted with all church power ; 
 but therefore thev were elders also, 1 Pet. v. 1 ; 3 John i. : see 
 Acts xxi. 17; iTim. i. 17. They are some of them on other 
 accounts called bishops, pastors, teachers, ministers, guides; but 
 what belongs to any of them in point of rule, or what interest they 
 have therein, it belongs unto them as elders, and not otherwise. 
 Acts XX. 17, 18. The Scriptures affirm, 1st, That there is a 
 work and duty of rule in the Church, distinct from the work and 
 duty of pastoral feeding, bv the preaching of the word and ad- 
 ministration of the sacraments, Acts xx. 28 ; Rom. xii. 8; 1 Cor. 
 xii. 28 ; 1 Tim. v. 17 ; 2 Tim. iv. 5 ; Heb. xiii. 7, 17 ; Rev. u. 3. 
 
 • This number is a summarv of Dr. Owen's argruments i" favor of the 
 divine right of the ruHng elder, With an abstract of the duties wh.ch he ought 
 to perform. Although the Doctor was a professed Independent, yet he waa 
 cntirelv different, both in doctrine and church government, from any m 
 Scotlaiid that bear that name, as all who are acquainted with his works 
 will easily observe. The writer of his life asserts that he heard h.m say. 
 .'He could readily join with presbytery as it was exercised m ^colland. 
 And indeed it appears very probable that the difference between the consul, 
 tative synod which he allows, and the authoritative synod contended for by 
 true Presbyterians, i.«i not so far different as many apprehend, bee a t^ the 
 decisions of either bind the conscience only as they arc agreeable to the Holy 
 Ghost speaking in the Scriptures. 
 
APPENDIX. 250 
 
 2(1. Different and distinct gifts are required unlo the discharge 
 of these distinct works and duties. This belongs unto the har- 
 mony of the dispensation of the gospel. Oifts are bestowed to 
 answer all duties prescribed. Hence they arc the first foundation 
 of all power, work, and duty in the church. Unto every one of 
 us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ, 
 that is, ability for duty, according to the measure wherein Christ 
 is pleased to grant it ; Eph. iv. 7 : see also 1 Cor. xii. 4, 7, 
 8-10 ; Roin. xii. 6-8 ; 1 Pet. iv. 10 : wherefore different gifts 
 are the first foundation of different offices and duties. 
 
 3d. That different gifts are required unto the different works 
 of pastoral teaching on the one hand, and practical rule on the 
 other, is evident, 1st, From the light of reason, and the nature 
 of the works themselves being so different. And, 2d, From ex- 
 perience ; some men are fitted by gifts for the dispensation of the 
 word and doctrine in a way of pastoral feeding, who have no use- 
 ful ability in the work of rule ; and some are fitted for rule, who 
 have no gifts for the discharge of the pastoral work in preaching. 
 Yea, it is very seldom that both these sort of gifts do concur in 
 any eminent degree in the same persons, or without some notable 
 defect. 
 
 4th. The work of rule, as distinct from teaching, is in general 
 to watch over the walk or conversation of the members of the 
 church with authority, exhorting, comforting, admonishing, re- 
 proving, encouraging, and directing of them, as occasion shall 
 require. The gifts necessary hereunto are diligence, wisdom, 
 courage, and gravity ; as we shall see afterwards. The pastoral 
 work is principally to reveal the whole counsel of God, to divide 
 the word ariglit, or to labor in the word and doctrine, both as 
 unto the general dispensation and particular application of it, in 
 all seasons and on all occasions. Hereunto spiritual wisdom, 
 knowledge, sound judgment, experience, and utterance are re- 
 quired ; all to be improved by continual study of the word and 
 prayer. But this difference of gifts unto these distinct works doth 
 not of itself constitute distinct offices, because the same persons 
 may be suitably furnished with those of both sorts. 
 
 5th. Yet distinct works and duties, though some were furnished 
 with gifts for both, were a ground in the wisdom of the Holy 
 Ghost, for distinct offices in the church, where one sort of them 
 I were as much as those of one office could ordinarily attend unto, 
 I Acts vi. 2-4. Ministration unto the poor of the church, for the 
 supply of their temporal necessities, is an ordinance of Christ, 
 instituted that the apostles might give a more diligent attendance 
 unto the word and prayer. 
 
 6th. The work of the ministry in prayer, and preaching of the 
 
2G0 APPENDIX. 
 
 word, or labor in the word and doctrine, whereunto the adminis- 
 tration of the seals of the covenant is annexed, with all the duties 
 that belonjj unto the special application of these things before in- 
 sisted on unto the flock, are ordinarily sufficient to take up the 
 whole man, and the utmost of their endowments who are called 
 unto the pastoral office in the church. The very nature of the 
 work in itself is such, as that the apostle giving a short descrip- 
 tion of it adds, as an intimation of its greatness and excellency, 
 " Who is sufficient for these things ?"' 2 Cor. ii. 16. And the 
 manner of its performance adds unto its weight. For not to men- 
 tion that intenseness of mind in the exercise of faith, love, zeal, 
 and compassion, which is required of them in the discharge of 
 their whole office ; the diligent consideration of the state of the 
 flock, so as to provide spiritual food for them ; with a constant at- 
 tendance unto the issues and effects of the word in the coasciences 
 and lives of men ; is enough for the most part to take up their 
 whole time and strength. It is gross ignorance or negligence that 
 causeth any to be otherwise minded. As the work of the ministry 
 is generally discharged, consisting only in a weekly provision of 
 sermons, and the performance of some stated offices by reading, 
 men have time and liberty enough to attend unto other occasions. 
 But in such persons we are not at present concerned. Our rule 
 is plain, 1 Tim. iv. 12-17. 
 
 7th. It doth not hence follow, that those who are called unto 
 the ministry of the word, as pastors and teachers, who are elders 
 also, are divested of their right to rule in the church, or discharg- 
 ed from the exercise of it, because others, not called unto their 
 office, are appointed to be assistant unto them, that is, help* in the 
 government. For the right and duty of rule is inseparable from 
 the office of elders, which all bishops and pastors are. The right 
 is still in them, and the exercise of it, consistent with their more 
 excellent work, is required of them. The apostles in the con- 
 stitution of elders in every church derogated nothing from their 
 own authority, nor discharged themselves of their care. So when 
 they appointed deacons to take care of supplies for the poor, they 
 did not forego their own right, nor the exercise of their duty as 
 their other work would permit them. Gal. ii. 9, 10. And in 
 particular the apostle Paul manifested his concernment herein, 
 in the care he took about collection for the poor in all churches. 
 
 8lh. As we observed at the entrance of this chapter, the whole 
 work of the church, as unto authoritative leaching and rule, is 
 committed unto the elders. For authoritative teaching and ruling, 
 is teaching and ruling by virtue of office : and this office where- 
 unto they do belong is that of elders, as is undeniably attested. 
 Acts XX. 17, (Sec. All that belongs unto the care, inspection. 
 
APPENDIX. 261 
 
 oversight, rule, and instruction of the church, is committed unto 
 the elders of it expressly. For elders is a name derived from 
 the Jews, denoting them that have aulhorUy in the church. 
 
 9th. To the complete constitution of any church, or to the per- 
 fection of its organical state, it is required that there be many el- 
 ders in it; at least more than one. I do not determine what their 
 number ought to be ; but it is to be proportioned to the work and 
 end designed. Where the churches are small, the number of el- 
 ders must be so also. So many are necessary in each office as 
 are able to discharge the work which is allotted unto them. But 
 that church, be it small or great, is defective, which hath not 
 more elders than one ; so many as are sufficient for their work. 
 The pattern of the first churches constituted by the apostles, 
 which it is our duty to imitate and follow as our rule, plainly de- 
 clares, that many elders were appointed by them in every church, 
 Acts xi. 30, xiv. 23, xv. 2, 4, 6, 22, xvi. 4, xx. 17 ; 1 Tim. v. 
 17; Phil. i. 1; Tit. i. 5 ; 1 Pet. v. 1. 
 
 10th. We shall now make application of these things unto our 
 present purpose. I say then, 1st, Whereas there is a work of 
 rule in the Church, distinct from that of pastoral feeding: 2d, 
 Whereas this work is to be attended unto with diligence, which 
 includes the whole duty of him that attends unto it : 3d, That 
 the ministry of the word and prayer, with all those duties that 
 accompany it, is a full employment for any man, and so conse- 
 quently his principal and proper work, which it is unlawful for 
 him to be remiss in, by attending on another with diligence : 
 4th, That, in the wisdom of the Holy Ghost, distinct works did 
 require distinct offices for their discharge : and, 5th, Whereas 
 there ought to be many elders in every church, that both the 
 works of teaching and ruling may be constantly attended unto ; 
 all which we have proved already : our inquiry herein is, whether 
 the same Holy Spirit hath not distinguished this office of elders 
 into those two sorts, namely, those who are called unto teaching 
 and rule also, and those who are called unto rule only, which we 
 affirm. 
 
 The testimonies whereby the truth of this assertion is confirm- 
 ed are generally known and pleaded. I shall insist on some of 
 them only, beginning with that which is of uncontrollable evi- 
 dence, if it had any thing to conflict with but prejudices and in- 
 terest, and this is 1 Tim. v. 17, the meaning of which is, the el- 
 ders or presbyters in office, elders of the church that rule well or 
 discharge their presidency for rule in due manner, are worthy, 
 Drought to be reputed worthy, of double honor; especially those 
 of them who labor, or are engaged in the great labor and travail 
 of the word and doctrine. 
 
262 APPENDIX. 
 
 According to this sense the words of the text have a plain and 
 obvious signification, which at first view presents itself unto the 
 common sense and understanding of all men. On the first pro- 
 posal of this text, that the elders that rule well are worthy of 
 double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doc- 
 trine, a rational man, who is unprejudiced, and never heard of 
 the controversy about ruling elders, can hardly avoid an appre- 
 hension that tiiere are two sorts of elders, some that labor in the 
 word and doctrine, and some who do not. This is the substance 
 of the truth in the text. There are elders in the Church ; there 
 are or ought to be so in every church. With these elders the 
 whole rule of the Church is intrusted ; all these, and only these, 
 do rule in it. Of these elders there are two sorts ; for a descrip- 
 tion is given of one sort distinct from the other, and comparative 
 with it. The first sort doth rule, and also labor in the word and 
 doctrine. That these works are distinct and diflferent was before 
 declared : yet by the institution of Christ the right of rule is in- 
 separable from the office of pastors or teachers. For all that are 
 rightly called thereunto are elders also, which gives them an in- 
 terest in rule. But there are elders which are not pastors or 
 teachers. For there are some who rule well, but labor not in 
 the word and doctrine ; that is, who are not pastors or teachers. 
 
 Elders which rule well, but labor not in the word and doctrine, 
 are ruling elders only ; for he who says, The elders who rule well 
 are worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in the word 
 and doctrine, saith that there are, or may be elders who rule well, 
 who do not labor in the word and doctrine ; that is, who are not 
 obliged to do so. 
 
 The argument from these words may be otherwise framed, but 
 this contains the plain sense of this testimony. 
 
 Our next testimony is from the same apostle, Rom. xii. 6, 7, 
 He that ruleth icith diligence. Our argument from hence is this : 
 there is in the Church one that ruleth with authority by virtue of 
 his office. For the discharge of this office there is a differing 
 peculiar gift bestowed on some, ver. 7, and there is the special 
 manner prescribed for the discharge of this special office, by vir- 
 tue of that special gift ; it is to be done with peculiar diligence. 
 And this ruler js distinguished from him that exhorteth, and him 
 that teacheth, with whose special work, as such, he hath nothing 
 to do ; even as they are distinguished from those who give and 
 show mercy ; that is, there is an elder by office in the Church, 
 whose work and duty it is to rule, not to exhort or teach minis- 
 terially, which is our ruling elder. He that ruleth is a distinct 
 officer, and is expressly distinguished from all others. Rule is 
 the principal part of him that ruleth ; for he is to attend unto it 
 
APPENDIX. 263 
 
 with diligence; that is, such as is peculiar unto rule, in contra- 
 distinction unto what is principally required in other administra- 
 tions. 
 
 There is the same evidence given unto the truth argued for in 
 another testimony of the same apostle, 1 Cor. xii. 28 : that there is 
 here an enumeration of offices and officers in the Church, both 
 extraordinary for that season, and ordinary for continuance, is 
 beyond exception. Unto them is added the present exercise of 
 some extraordinary gifts, as miracles, healing, tongues. That by 
 helps the deacons of the Church are intended most do agree, be- 
 cause their original institution was as helpers in the affiairs of 
 the Church. Governments are governors or rulers ; that is, such 
 as are distinct from teachers ; such hath God placed in the 
 Church, and such there ought to be. It is said that gifls^ not offi. 
 ces, are intended ; the gift of government, or the gift for govern- 
 ment. If God hath given gifts for government to abide in the 
 Church, distinct from those given unto teachers, and unto other 
 persons than the teachers, then there is a distinct office of rule or 
 government in the Church, which is all we plead for. 
 
 Of the Duties of Ruling Elders. 
 
 1st. To watch diligently over the ways, walk, and conversation 
 of all the members of the church, to see that it be blameless, 
 without offence, useful, exemplary, and in all things answering 
 the holiness of the commands of Christ, the honor of the gospel, 
 and the profession thereof which they make in the world. And 
 upon the observation which they make in the watch wherein they 
 are placed, to instruct, admonish, charge, exhort, encourage, or 
 comfort as they see cause. And this they are to attend unto, 
 with courage and diligence. 
 
 2d. To endeavor to prevent every thing that is contrary unto 
 that love which the Lord Christ requireth in a peculiar and emi- 
 nent manner to be found among his disciples. This he calls his 
 own new command, with respect unto his authority requiring it, 
 his example first illustrating it in the world, and the peculiar 
 fruits and effects of it which he revealed and taught. Wherefore, 
 the due observance of this law of love in itself and all its fruits, 
 with the prevention, removal, or condemnation of all that is con. 
 trary unto it, is that in which the rule of the church doth in a 
 great measure consist. And considering the weakness, the pas- 
 sions, the temptations of men, the mutual provocations and differ- 
 ences that are apt to fall out even among the best, the influence 
 that earthly objects are apt to have upon their minds, the fro- 
 wardness sometimes of men's natural tempers ; the attendance 
 
264 APPEXDLX. 
 
 unto this one duty, or part of rule, requires the utmost diligence 
 of them that are called unto it. 
 
 3d. To warn all the members of the church of their special 
 church duties, that they be not found negligent or wanting in 
 them. These are special duties required respectively of all 
 church members, according unto the distinct talents which they 
 have received, whether in things spiritual or temporal. Some 
 are rich and some are poor ; some old and some young ; some in 
 peace and some in trouble ; some have received more spiritual 
 gifts than others, and have more opportunity for their exercise : 
 therefore it belongs unto the rule of the church, that all be ad- 
 monished, instructed, and exhorted to attend unto their respective 
 duties, by those in rule, according to the obsenation which they 
 make of people*s diligence or negligence in them. 
 
 4lh. To watch against the beginning of any church disorders, 
 such as those that infested the church of Corinth, or any of the 
 like sort; and to see that the members of the church attend regu- 
 larly upon the ordinances of the gospel, as by slothfulness in this, 
 decays in faith, love, and order have insensibly prevailed in many, 
 to the dishonor of Christ, and the danger of their own souls. 
 
 5th. It belongs unto them also to visit the sick, and especially 
 such as their inward or outward conditions do expose them 
 unto more than ordinary trials in their sickness ; that is, the poor, 
 the afflicted, the tempted in any kind. This in general is a 
 moral duty, a work of mercy ; but it is moreover a peculiar 
 church duty by virtue of divine institution, ordaining, that the 
 disciples of Christ may have all that spiritual and temporal re- 
 lief, which is necessary for them, and useful to them, in tlieir 
 troubles and distresses. 
 
 6th. To assist the pastor in watching over and directing the flock, 
 and to advise with the deacons concerning the relief of the poor. 
 According to the advantage which they have by their peculiar 
 inspection of the conversation of all the members of the church, 
 they ought to acquaint the teaching elders with the state of the 
 flock, as to tlieir knowledge, conditions, and temptations, which 
 may be of singular use unto them, for their direction in the ex- 
 ercise of their ministry. The liberal contributions at Antioch for 
 tiie brethren wliich dwelt in Judea, were sent by the hands of 
 Barnabas and Saul unto the elders in Judea, Acts xi. 27, 30. 
 
 7th. To unite with teaching elders in admitting members into 
 the fellowship of the church, upon a visible evidence of their 
 being qualified as the Scriptures direct. Unto them G^ hath 
 given the keys of the kingdom of heaven, to open the door 
 of admission unto those whom God hath received. Matt. xvi. 19. 
 
 6th. To meet and consult with the teaching elders about such 
 
APPENDIX. 265 
 
 things of importance as are to be proposed to the members of the 
 church for their consent. Flence nothing rash or indigested, 
 nothing unsuited to the duty of the church, will at any time 
 be proposed therein, so as to give occasion for contests, jang- 
 lings, or disputes, contrary to order or decency, but all things 
 may be preserved in a due regard unto the gravity and authority 
 of the rulers. 
 
 9th. To sit in judgment upon offenders, to take the proof, to 
 weigh the evidence and determine accordingly, justifying the in- 
 nocent, and ordaining censure to be inflicted on the convicted 
 brother, according to the nature of the offence, Matt, xviii. 15, 
 17, 18. 
 
 10th. Whereas there is generally but one teaching elder in a 
 church, upon his death or removal, it is the work and duty of the 
 ruling elders to preserve the church in peace and unity, to take 
 care of the continuation of its public ordinances, to prevent irregu- 
 larities in any persons or parties among them, and to give all 
 necessary aid and advice in the choice and call of some other 
 meet person to be their pastor, in the room of the deceased or 
 removed. 
 
 23 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 A Summary of the preceding Treatise on Church Government, 
 BY QUESTION AND ANSWER. 
 
 Quest. What is meant by church government ? 
 
 Ans. That particular form and order, which Christ has fixed 
 in his Church, for the proper management thereof. 
 
 Quest. How does it appear that there is a particular form of 
 government appointed in the New Testament Church ? 
 
 Ans. As there is as great, if not greater, need of a government, 
 in the New Testament Church, than there was in the Old, all the 
 ordinances of which were most minutely described. Satan Is now 
 more experienced in deceiving, and his agents are still alive, and 
 very actively employed, in attempting to waste and destroy this 
 sacred vineyard, if without its proper hedge. Her members are 
 still a mixture of tares and wheat ; of sheep and goats : so that 
 there is still a necessity of discerning between the precious and 
 the vile ; of trying and censuring false teachers ; and of guard- 
 ing divine ordinances from contempt and pollution. As Jesus 
 gives the New Testament Church the peculiar title of the kingdom 
 of heaven, he could not, in a consistency with his wisdom, leave 
 it without any particular laws or form of government, except the 
 changeable inclinations of men. As he was faithful in his New 
 Testament house, he must fix a particular form of goverament 
 for her, such as tends to her peace, order, and spiritual edification. 
 And, amidst the prophet's vision of the New Testament Church, 
 he is directed to teach his people the form of the house, the laies 
 of the house, 6cc., Ezek. xliii. 11. 
 
 Quest. When may a particular form of church government be 
 said to be of divine right ? 
 
 Ans. W^hen all the parts thereof are agreeable to Scripture 
 precepts ; to approved Scripture examples ; or are deducible by 
 fair Scripture consequences. 
 
 Quest. How does it appear, that Scripture consequences are to 
 be admitted to prove any particular truth or doctrine ? 
 
 Ans. Because God has formed man a rational intelligent crea- 
 ture, capable of searching out the plain meaning and import, and 
 also the necessary consequences of his express declarations. We 
 
CONCLUSION. 267 
 
 find Christ reasoning by a deduction of consequences, when he show- 
 ed that the doctrine of the resurrection was revealed to Moses at the 
 burning bush ; that the sixth commandment forbids angry words; 
 and the seventh lascivious looks, Luke xx. 37, 38 ; Matt. v. 21, 
 28. And a great part of the inspired epistles to the Romans, Ga- 
 latians, and Hebrews consists in such a deduction of consequences. 
 And as all Scripture is said to be profitable " for doctrine, for re- 
 proof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness," 2 Tim. 
 iii. 16, without a rational deduction of consequences, every por- 
 tion of Scripture cannot answer each of these valuable ends. 
 
 Quest. What particular form of church government may lay 
 the only proper claim to a divine right, according to the Holy 
 Scriptures ? 
 
 Ans. The true presbyterian form , without that lordly domin- 
 ion and tyrannical power, which has too often been exercised by 
 courts, bearing this name. This government claimeth no power 
 over men's bodies or estates. It does not inflict civil pains or 
 corporal punishments. But it is a government purely spiritual, 
 dealing with the consciences of men, and exercising the keys of the 
 kingdom of heaven, doing all things according to the word of God. 
 
 Quest. What are the parts of presbyterial church government ? 
 
 Ans. It consists of a people, liaving the qualifications which 
 the Scriptures require ; of certain rulers, who are to perform the 
 duties of their respective offices ; and of certain courts, in which 
 these rulers sit and act in matters of judgment. 
 
 Quest. Wiiat are the qualifications of persons who constitute 
 the private members of the visible church ? 
 
 Ans. They ought to be true believers in Christ, to have a com- 
 petent knowledge of the doctrines of the gospel, to make a sound 
 profession of their faith, and to maintain a holy conversation. 
 
 Quest. What rulers are there in the presbyterian church ? 
 
 Ans. Preaching elders, ruling elders, and deacons. 
 
 Quest. Where is the divine warrant for the preaching elder ? 
 
 Ans. In the Holy Scriptures we find that God hath set some in 
 the Church, teachers : that our ascended Redeemer hath given 
 her PASTORS and teachers : that the Holy Ghost had made some 
 BISHOPS, OVERSEERS, to feed her ; and qualifies some for propheci/, 
 tninistry, teaching, exhortation, 1 Cor. xii. 28; Eph. iv. 11 ; Acts 
 XX. 28^; Rom. xii. 6-8. 
 
 Quest. What are the duties of preaching elders? 
 
 Ans. To preach the word ; to dispense the ordinances of bap- 
 tism and the Lord's Supper ; to administer church discipline ; and 
 to rule and govern the church, 2 Tim. iv. 2; Matt, xxviii. 19; 
 1 Cor. xi. 23-29 ; 1 Tim. v. 20 ; Tit. ii. 15, and iii. 10 ; Heb. 
 xiii. 17 ; 1 Pet. v. 2, 3. 
 
268 CONCLUSION. 
 
 Quest. Is llie ofTiue of the gospel minister instituted by God to 
 continue to tho end of time ? 
 
 Ans. Yes ; the ends of it arc of a permanent nature, tiie con- 
 verting and confirming of the elect, and the silencing of gain- 
 sayers, Acts xxvi. 18 ; Tit. i. 9, 11. 
 
 Quest. Wiiere is the divine warrant for the oflice of the ruling 
 elder ? 
 
 Ans. From the three following passages of sacred Scripture: 
 1. From Rom. xii. 5 to 8 : '• We being many are one body in 
 Christ, and members one of another. Having then gifts, dilfer- 
 ing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, 
 let us prophesy according to the j)roportion of faitli ; or ministry, 
 let us wait on our ministering ; or he that tcacheth, on teaching ; 
 or he that oxhorteth, on exhortation ; he that giveth, let him do it 
 with simplicity ; he that rulcth, witjj diligence," &c. Here we 
 have a list of the ordinary officers of Ciirist, one body, the church. 
 Here is the teacher : he that teachcth. Here is the pastor : he that 
 exhorleth. Here is the deacon : he that giveth. And here is 
 another officer distinct from all them, he that ruleth- His de- 
 scription attests, that ruling is, if not his only, yet his principal 
 work. He that rulelh is liere marked by a distinct character, as 
 having a different gift, and a distinct work from his fellovv-oflicers. 
 Tiiis office th(!refbre must he distinct. 2. From 1 Cor. xii. 28, 
 where tiie tipirit of God informs us, tiiat God hath set some in 
 the Churci), govkiinmknts. These must be understood of gover- 
 nors, as miracles are afterwards exj)lained of workers of miracles. 
 These governments and governors are said to be at/ in the church, 
 not in the state ; by (iod, not by men : they are declared to be 
 distinct officers by themselves. Their title, governmenf, implies, 
 that ruling is their principal work. 3. From 1 Tim. v. 17, where 
 the divine warrant for ruling eldi^rs shines with more peculiar 
 briglilnoss than anywiiere in tho hook of God : " Let the elders 
 that rule well be counted worthy of double honor ; especially 
 they who labor in tiie word and doctrine." Tiie ruling elders here 
 mentioned necessarily pertain to the churcii. Two sorts of ruling 
 ciders are here plainly distinguished : some that only rule well ; 
 others that also laljor in word and doctrine. There is not one 
 place in the New Testament, nor perhaps in any Greek author, 
 where the word here translated especially does not distinguish 
 between difleront persons or things, Gal. vi. 10; Phil. iv. 22; 
 1 Tim, iv. 10 ; 2 Tim. iv. 13 ; and it would be absurd to suppose, 
 that it does not distinguisli here also. Therefore this single text 
 shows the divine right of both the teaching and ruling elder. 
 
 Quest. What are the duties of ruling elders? 
 
 Ans. To exercise ecclesiastical rule in church courts with tho 
 
CONCLUSION. 269 
 
 same authority as the preaching elder; to watch over the flock ; 
 impartially to receive or exclude members ; to warn and censure 
 the unruly^ and to visit and pray with the sick. 
 
 Quest. Where is the divine warrant for deacons ? 
 
 Ans. From Acts vi., where we are informed of the original 
 and design of their office ; and from 1 Tim. iii. 8-12, where the 
 inspired apostle describes their necessary qualifications. 
 
 Quest. Wjiat are the duties of deacons? 
 
 Ans. To look into the state and to serve the tables of the poor, 
 by distributing the funds of the church, according to the respect- 
 ive necessities of the saints, 1 Tim. iii. 12. 
 
 Quest. What are the courts in which presbyterian rulers meet ? 
 
 Ans. Congregational sessions, presbyteries, and synods. 
 
 Quest. Where is the divine warrant for congregational ses- 
 sions ? 
 
 Ans. From Matt, xviii. 15-18, where, in the Christian form of 
 church discipline prescribed by the Church's Head, the concluding 
 expression, " Let him be unto thee as a heathen man and publi- 
 can," plainly alludes to the Jewish form of procedure in scandals. 
 They had rulers, and consequently courts in every synagogue, 
 or worshipping congregation, Mark v. 35-39. By virtue of let- 
 ters from the high-priest to these, Saul had free access to punish 
 the Christians in every synagogue, Acts ix. 1,2. To these con- 
 gregational courts it pertained to cast out of the synagogue, and 
 to order transgressors to be held for heathen men and publicans, 
 John ix. 22. Now Jesus, in alluding to these, intimates that 
 similar courts should be in every Christian congregation. In this 
 form of discipline our divine Saviour shows his utmost aversion 
 against private offences being unnecessarily published abroad : 
 and therefore the church, to which the ofience is to be told, after 
 private admonition is fruitless, must be understood in the most 
 private sense of the word. The following context evidences that 
 it is a church, which may consist only o{ two or three met together 
 in Christ's name ; yet, notwithstanding, a church having power to 
 bind and loose from censure ; that is, a church having the keys 
 of the kingdom of heaven. It cannot then be the whole congre- 
 gation or body of the people, as they are in general far too nu^ 
 merous to conceal offences, and to them Christ has given no 
 formal judicial power. Matt, xviii. 18-21. 
 
 Quest. Where is the divine warrant for a presbytery ? 
 Ans. Timothy is expressly said to be ordained by the laying 
 on of the hands of the presbytery, 1 Tim. iv. 14. And the num- 
 ber of different Christian congregations governed by one presby- 
 tery, as at Jerusalem, Antioch, Ephesus, and Corinth, proves the 
 divine right of this court. It is shown in the xiii. chapter of the 
 
270 
 
 CONCLUfilON. 
 
 precedinj; treatise, that in each of these places there were more 
 Christians than could meet in one worshipping congrej^ation, for 
 the enjoying of public ordinances : and yet all these difFerent con- 
 gregations, at Jerusalem, are expressly said to have been one 
 church, Acts viii. 1 ; so those at Antioch, Acts xiii. 1 : so those 
 at Kphcsus, Acts xx. 17 : and those also at Corinth, 1 Cor. i. 2. 
 Now the question is, How were the different congregations in each 
 of these places one chuiich ? Not merely in union to Christ and 
 mutual affection one to another ; for in this respect all the saints 
 are one, whether in heaven or in earth. And therefore they are 
 one church in virtue of conjunct government under one presby- 
 tery. And in difficult cases, or where a single congregation is 
 HO divided into parlies tliat it cannot act impartially ; where the 
 difference is between the pastor and the people, a superior court 
 is necessary to obtain material justice. 
 
 Quest. Where is the divine warrant for an ecclesiastical 
 synod ? 
 
 Ans. In Acts xv. and xvi,, where we have a cause referred ; 
 the proper members of a synod convened ; the ordinary and equal 
 ])ower exercised by all those members ; the ordinary method of 
 procedure in such courts ; and the judicial decrees given by the 
 synod ; together with the effect which their judgment, in this mat- 
 ter, had upon the churches. 
 
 Quest. Wfiat was the cause referred to this synod ? 
 
 Ans. False doctrine propagated by some Judaizing teachers, 
 v^ho had gone down from Jerusalem to Antioch, and maintained 
 that circumcision and the observance of other branches of the 
 ceremonial law continued necessary for salvation, whereby they 
 subverted some, and troubled other members of the churches 
 there. After much unsuccessful disputing, Paul, Barnabas, and 
 others were delegated to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and 
 elders alxjut this matter. 
 
 Quest. Who were the proper members of the synod convened 
 here ? 
 
 Ans. The apostles and elders at Jerusalem ; Paul, Barnabas, 
 and others, from Antioch ; and other commissioners from the 
 troubled churches to whom the decrees were sent. 
 
 Quest. Are not the brethren, the church, the whole church, 
 mentioned here as well as the apostles and elders ? 
 
 Ans. But none of these expressions can mean, that all the 
 members of the church of Jerusalem either were present or judged 
 in that synod ; for woirien, real members of the cliurch, of the 
 whole churcf), are expressly forbid to speak in the church, 1 Cor. 
 xiv. 34. Church s^jmetimes signifies only a small part of the 
 c; urch, either as delegates or commissioners, and in this sense it 
 
CONCLUSION. 271 
 
 is used in verse 3, where the commissioners from Antioch are 
 said to be brought on their way by the church; and in chap, xviii. 
 22, it is said that Paul saluted the church at Jerusalem. Now, 
 it is not credible that all the Christian professors at Antioch would 
 attend their commissioners a part of the way to Jerusalem ; or 
 that Paul saluted the many ten thousand Christians at Jerusalem, 
 Acts xxi. 20. And the tchole church does not necessarily mean 
 the whole individual members of the church, more than the u'hole 
 world mentioned, 1 John ii. 2, means every individual in the 
 world. If any, to support a favorite opinion, will still insist that 
 the whole members of the church actually met and judged of 
 this affair equally with the apostles and elders, they may inform 
 us where they obtained a proper place for so many judges to 
 reason and determine with distinctness or order. That the breth- 
 ren who joined in judgment with the apostles and elders were not 
 private persons, but rather delegates from the troubled churches 
 around, appears from Judas and Silas, two of them being preach- 
 ers, V. 22. 
 
 Quest. How does it appear that the power of all the members 
 was ordinary and equal ? 
 
 Ans. As every member, inspired or not, acted equally in the 
 whole business laid before them. Paul and Barnabas were dele- 
 gated by the church of Antioch : and the elders, who convened, 
 had the same power as the apostles. To the elders, teaching or 
 ruling, as well as to the apostles, was the matter referred : both 
 met to consider of it: both were equally concerned in the deci- 
 sion, saying. It seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us. Elders, 
 as well as apostles, imposed the necessary things upon the 
 churches, and authoritatively determined the decrees. In the 
 name of the elders, as well as of the apostles, the letters of the 
 meeting, containing their decision, were written to the churches. 
 And the only reason why the inspired members put themselves on 
 an equality with others was to exhibit a pattern to after ages. 
 
 Quest. How does it appear, that this synod followed the ordinary 
 method of procedure in such courts? 
 
 Ajis. As they examined i^ie cause by much reasoning and dis- 
 pute. In consequence of mature deliberation they determined 
 the question, and sent letters, containing their decrees, by proper 
 messengers, to the churches concerned. In their disputation 
 they reasoned from the oracles of God : on these they founded 
 their decision ; and hence therein they say. It seemed good to the 
 Holy Ghost, and to us. And if this had not been to have given a 
 pattern to succeeding ages, all this was unnecessary : how absurd 
 for inspired men to reason and dispute on the sul3Ject, when the 
 sentence of one inspired was sufficient for decision ! 
 
272 CONCLUSION. 
 
 Quest. How does it appear that there were judicial decrees given 
 by this synod ? 
 
 Ans. In opposition to the false doctrine taught, they, by a judi- 
 cial decision, plainly declared, that obedience to the ceremonies 
 of the law of Moses was no longer necessary : and by a decree 
 for promoting decency and good order, they enacted, that to avoid 
 offence, the believing Gentiles should abstain from fornication, 
 from things strangled, and from blood, verse 24-29. 
 
 Quest. What effect had the decision of this synod upon the 
 churches ? 
 
 Ans. They cheerfully submitted to these decrees, and were by 
 them conformed in the faith, comforted in heart, and increased in 
 number daily. Acts xv. 31, and xvi. 4, 5. 
 
 Quest. But might not this be a meeting merely for consultation, 
 and their decision a mere advice ? 
 
 Ans. No : for every word here used imports authority. The 
 word translated laij upon, commonly signifies an authoritative 
 imposition, Matt, xxiii. 4. The decision is expressly called a 
 necessary burden, and decrees ordained, which imply power and 
 authority, Acts xv. 16, xvii. 7. 
 
 Quest. How does it appear that inferior courts are subordinate 
 to those that are superior ; sessions to presbyteries, and presby- 
 teries to synods ? 
 
 An^. The true light of nature (which is proved, chap, iii., to 
 be one of those ways, whereby a thing is of divine right) teach- 
 eth us, that, if we be injured by an inferior court, we may appeal 
 to a higher court for redress, if there be one. As in the Jewish 
 church there was evidently a subordination of judicatories, so that 
 those injured in the synagogue might appeal to the Sanhedrin, 
 Deut. xvii. 8, 12; 2 Chron. xix. 8, 11; Exod. xviii. 22, 26; 
 Ps. cxxii. 5 : therefore as our dangers, difficulties, and necessities 
 are as great as theirs, by reason of false teachers and corrupt 
 doctrines, which Were foretold should appear in the last times, 
 1 Tim. iv. 1 ; 2 Pet. ii. 1 ; we cannot, without dishonor to Christ, 
 suppose that he would deprive us of a proper remedy for redress- 
 ing our grievances, which was afforded unto them : — the gradual 
 advance in managing offences prescribed by Christ iiimself. Matt, 
 xviii. 19, as his cure for the whole church cannot be less than for 
 a single member. If then an inferior judicatory offend or injure 
 us, we ought to carry the matter to another that has more influ- 
 ence and authority. If the offending judicatory neglect to hear 
 this, we ought to tell the offence to the church in the highest 
 sense, that redress may be obtained — the apostle Paul declaring, 
 that the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. But the 
 right of reference or appeal from an inferior to a superior court 
 
CONCLUSION. 273 
 
 is most clearly evinced from the case of the presbyter\' of An- 
 tioch, respecting circumcision, being referred for decision to the 
 synod of Jerusalem, and their readily submitting to its determina- 
 tidn, Acts XV. 
 
 Quest. How does it appear that no power of authority is lodged 
 in the body of the people, the private members of the church ? 
 
 Ans. Although every church member has a right to all the spirit- 
 ual privileges purchased with the Saviour's blood, and given to 
 the church, as need requires; although he has a right to try the 
 spirits, and to prove all things by the word of God ; a power to 
 choose the church officers who are imn)ediately to rule over him ; 
 yet the Holy Scriptures allow the exercise of no official power to 
 the private members of the church. Not the Christian people, 
 but their pastors have power to preach the gospel, Rom. x. 15 ; 
 and to administer the sacraments, those mysteries of God, which 
 are connected with preaching, 1 Cor. iv. 1 ; Matt, xxviii. 19. 
 Not the people, but their rulers, are divinely warranted. Timo- 
 thy was ordained, not by the people, but by the presbytery : 
 elders, not by the people, but by Paul and Barnabas : and dea- 
 cons, not by the people, but by the apostles, 1 Tim. iv. 14 ; Acts 
 xiv. 23, and vi. 3, 6. Not the people, but their rulers are to cen- 
 sure the scandalous, and to absolve the penitent. Matt, xviii. 18 ; 
 1 Cor. v. The Scripture nowhere ascribes to the people any 
 such characters as imply authority lodged in them ; but the con- 
 trary. Instead of being styled pastors, they are called the Jlockj 
 watched over and fed ; instead of overseers, the family overseen ; 
 instead of rulers, guides, governors, they are called the hody gov- 
 erned, the persons subject in the Lord, and they are solemnly 
 charged to know, honor, obey, and submit to those that are over 
 them. 
 
 Quest. What is the proper method of dealing with persons that 
 fall into scandal ? 
 
 Ans. If the offence be known only to one or to a few, the of- 
 fender is to be told his fault secretly, with Christian meekness, 
 plainness, and love. If he profess his sorrow and resolution to 
 amend, the whole matter ought to be carefully concealed ; and 
 those offended ought to be well pleased that their offending brother 
 is gained. If, after one or more secret reproofs, he continue im- 
 penitent, defending his fault, one or two more Christian brethren, 
 grave, judicious, and meek, are to be taken along, and the offender 
 to be dealt with by them, and in their presence. If now he ap- 
 pear to repent, the several persons concerned in his reproof are, 
 with care and in love, to conceal his offence, lest, by divulging it, 
 they be reproached as wicked calumniators. If the offender con- 
 temn one or more such private admonitions or reproofs, or if his 
 
274 CONCLUSION. 
 
 scandal be of such a nature that it will necessarily become public, 
 the affair is to bo told to the church court, to which he is most 
 immediately subject. And, to brinf^ him to a due sense of his 
 fault, ho is to be there dealt with in a prudent, airectionate, plain, 
 and convincing manner. If this prove a means of bringing him to 
 a sense of his olfence, the censures of the church are to be ex- 
 ecuted upon liim according to the laws of Christ's house, and the 
 nature of his crime, and he is to be restored to the privileges of the 
 church. liut if, after due pains taken by the judicatories, he 
 remain obstinate, he is then to be cast out of the church, and 
 held as a hcatiien man and publican, Matt, xviii. 15 to 18. 
 
 THE END. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Paok. 
 Preface . 7 
 
 PART I. 
 
 Chap. I. — That there is a Government in the Church of divine right 
 
 now under the New Testament . * 19 
 
 Chap. II. — Of the nature of a divine ri^ht in general 22 
 
 Chap. III. — Of a divine right in particular, which is five ways ; first, 
 
 by the true light of Nature 24 
 
 Chap. IV. — Of a divine right, second, by obligatory Scripture exam- 
 ples 27 
 
 Chap. V. — Of a divine right, third, by God's approbation . . . . . 37 
 
 Chap. VI. — Of a divine right, fourth, by divine acts 39 
 
 Chap. VII. — Of a divine right, fifth, by divine precepts 40 
 
 PART II. 
 
 Chap. I. — A description of church government . . , 45 
 
 Chap. II. — The subject described, and the terms church government 
 
 briefly defined 46 
 
 Chap. III. — The general nature of church government, viz., power or 
 
 authority 48 
 
 Chap. IV. — The special difference of church government from other 
 
 governments, as to the special rule of it, viz., the Holy Scriptures 53 
 Chap. V. — The proper fountain from which church government is de- 
 rived, so as to constitute it of divine authority, viz., Jesus Christ 
 
 our Mediator 55 
 
 Chap. VI. — The peculiar nature of this power and authority .... 57 
 Chap. VII. — The several acts about which this power and authority is 
 
 exercised, viz., doctrine and discipline 61 
 
 Chap. VIII. — The end and design of this government of the church . 67 
 Chap. IX. — The pecuhar subject intrusted by Christ with this power, 
 
 and the execution thereof according to the Scriptures .... 70 
 Sect. I. — The power granted to the civil magistrate about the Church 92 
 Sect. II. — The power utterly refused him in church affairs .... 94 
 Chap. X. — That the community of the faithful, or body of the people, 
 are not the immediate subject of the power of church govern- 
 ment 91 
 
 Chap. XI. — That Christ's own officers are the immediate subject of it ; 
 
 pastors and ruling elders Ill 
 
 The divine right of the ruling elder at large 114 
 
 The divine right of the deacon 149 
 
 Chap. XII. — The divine right of congregational elderships, or kirk ses- 
 
 sions, for tlie government of the Church ... , ... 172 
 
276 
 
 COISTRNTS. 
 
 Paoi. 
 Chap. XIII. — The divine right of presbyteries, consisting of rulers from 
 
 different neighboring congregations 177 
 
 Chap. XIV.— The divine right of synods 197 
 
 Chap. XV. — The subordination of particular congregations to greater 
 assemblies, for their judicial determination of ecclesiastical causes, 
 proved to be of divine right 210 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. I. — Of the qualifications and duties of church members .... 219 
 
 No. II. — Who have a right to preach the Gospel 237 
 
 No. III. — On the same subject 240 
 
 No. IV. — On the people's right to choose their owm pastors .... 249 
 
 No. V. — On the ordination and duty of ministers 256 
 
 No. VI.— Of ruling elders, from Dr. Owen 258 
 
 Conclusion 266 
 
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