2. _To keep them in purity and holinesse; it is_ Christs _Fan, to
purge his floor; and his Beesom to sweep out of his house every thing
that offends_.
3. _To keep them in verity, it is_ Christs Weeding-hook _to weed out
heresies_; and therefore King _James_ (though no great friend to this
Government) would often say, that it was _Malleus hæreticorum_, a
Hammer to beat down Heresies: And we find, that wheresoever it is set
up in strength, there the Churches are kept in unity, verity, and
purity; and that (which is very observeable) where this Government
hath once got possession, it hath for ever after kept out Popery and
all Popish Innovations. The Prelatical Government with all its
Lordships and Revenues annexed, as it was managed of late years in
_England_, was an in-let to Popery, and it had _tantùmnon_ brought it
in. But _wheresoever the_ Presbyterian-Government _is setled, there
Popery, root and branch, is plucked up and destroyed, and that without
any hope of recovery_.
[Sidenote: _Object._]
But it will be objected, that notwithstanding all that hath been said
to render the Presbyterial Government amiable and acceptable; yet
there are two great Mountains which do lye in the way which do hinder,
and (as some say) will for ever hinder people from submitting unto it:
The one is,
1. _Because it sets up a new officer in the_ Church, _which is a meer
humane_ Creature, having no authority from the Word of God, nor was
ever heard of in the Church of Christ, till _Calvin_'s time, & that is
the LAY-ELDER.
2. _Because it requireth all, of all sorts, to come to the_ Minister
_and these_ Lay-Elders _to be examined, before they can be admitted to
the_ Sacrament _of the_ Lords Supper.
[Sidenote: _Answer._]
We cannot deny, but that these two objections are great _Remora_'s to
the Government, and do hinder the general receiving of it, and
therefore we shall be a little the larger in answering of them.
For the first of them, we do here freely confesse, that if we were of
opinion, as some are, that the Ruling-Elder hath no foundation in the
Word of God, but is a meer humane Ordinance brought into the Church
only in a prudential way; we should heartily desire the utter
abolition of him: For we are not ignorant, that the Ruling Prelate was
brought into the Church upon the same account, for the avoiding of
Schism and Division, and afterwards proved the great Author and
Fomenter of Schism and Division. And if we should decline the Ruling
Prelate, and take in the Ruling Elder upon the same prudential
grounds, it were just with God to make him as mischievous to the
Church, as ever the Ruling Prelate was: And therefore let us consider
what may be said out of the Word of God, for the justification of this
so much _decryed Officer_: Yet first we cannot but take notice that
the name of _Lay-Elder_ was affixed to this Officer by way of reproach
and scorn, by the adversaries of him, and that it ought not to be
continued. For though it be evident by Scripture[45], that there is a
great difference betwixt the Ministry usually called the Clergy, and
the people commonly called the Laity: yet its also as manifest, that
the Scripture[46] distinguisheth them not by the names of Clergy and
Laity; forasmuch as all Gods people are therein stiled the Lords
Clergy, or Inheritance, and the Lord is called their Inheritance. And
when persons are duly chosen from amongst the people to be Governours
in the Church, as such, they are no longer Lay-men, but Ecclesiastical
persons. And therefore we profess a dislike of the name Lay-Elder,
and conceive they ought to be called either governours in the Church,
1 _Cor._ 12.23. or Ruling-Elders, as 1 Tim. 5.17. not because their
Office is to rule alone (for the Teaching-Elder is a Ruler also,
_Heb._ 13.17. 1 _Thess._ 5.12.) but because their Office is only to
rule.[47] Now concerning these Ruling-Elders, we confess, that they
are Officers somewhat new and strange to the Church of _England_; yet
not new nor strange to the Word of God, nor to the Primitive times,
nor (as all know) to the _Reformed Churches_.
First, they are _not new nor strange to the Word of God, neither in
the Old Testament, nor in the New_. The Jews in the _Old Testament_,
had two sorts of _Elders_; _Elders of the Priests_, and _Elders of the
people_, suitable to our _teaching and Ruling-Elders_; as appears,
_Jer._ 19.1. And these _Elders_ of the people did sit and vote with
the Priests and Levites in all their Ecclesiasticall Consistories, and
that by divine appointment. That they were _constituent_ members of
the great _Sanhedrim_, appears, 2 _Chron._ 19.8. where we reade, _That
some of the chief of the Fathers were joyned with the Priests, to
judge in the matters if the Lord_. And howsoever, many things among
the Jews after the captivity, did decline to disorder and confusion;
yet we finde even in the dayes of Christ, and his Apostles, That the
Elders of the people still sate and voyced in the Councell with the
Priests, according to the ancient form, as is clear from _Matth._
26.57, 59. _Matth._ 27.1, 12. _Matth._ 16.21. _Matth._ 21.23. _Mar._
14.43. _Luk._ 22.66. and _Saravia_ himself,[48] who disputeth so much
against _Ruling Elders_, acknowledgeth thus much: _I finde indeed_,
(saith he) _Elders in the Assembly of the Priests of the old
Synagogue, which were not Priests; and their suffrages and authority
in all Judgments, were equal with the suffrages of the Priests_. But
he adds; That these Elders of the people were civill Magistrates;
which is a poor shift, directly against many Scriptures, which
contradistinguish these _Elders_ from the civil _Magistrate_; as
appears; _Act._ 4.5. _Judg._ 8.14. _Deut._ 5.23. _Josh._ 8.33.
2 _King._ 10.15. _Ezra_ 10.14. And though it were possible, that some
of them might be civill Magistrates, as some _Elders_ amongst Us, are
Justices of the Peace: Yet they did not sit under that capacity, in
the Ecclesiastical _Sanhedrim_, but as Ecclesiastical Elders.
And that the Jews also had _Elders of the people_, sitting and voting
in their inferiour Consistories, appears (as we humbly conceive) from
_Act._ 13.15. _Act._ 18.8, 17. _Mar._ 5.22. In which places, we read
of the Rulers of the Synagogue, who were neither Priests nor Levites,
and yet were Rulers in Church-matters, and had power, together with
the Priests, of casting men out of the Synagogue, and of ordering
Synagogue-worship, _Joh._ 12.42. _Act._ 13.15.
Now this _Association_ of the _Elders of the people, with the Priest,
in the Jewish Church-Government, was by divine appointment_; for Moses
first instituted it, and afterwards _Jehosaphat_ restored it,
according as they were directed by God, Num. 11.16. 2 Chron. 19.8. And
it did belong to the _Jewish Church_, not as it was Jewish, but as it
was a Church, and therefore belongeth to the Christian Church, as well
as Jewish. _For whatsoever agreeth to a Church, as a Church; agreeth
to every Church._ There was nothing Judaical or typical in this
institution, but it was founded upon the light of nature, and right
reason, which is alike in all ages.
But leaving the Old Testament, let us consider what may be said for
the divine right of the _Ruling-Elder_, out of the New Testament. For
this purpose, we have already produced three places, which we shall
now briefly open; and shew how the Ruling Elder is proved out of them.
The places are, 1 _Cor._ 12.28. _Rom._ 12.7, 8. 1 _Tim._ 5.17.
The first place is, 1 _Cor._ 12.28. _And God hath set some in the
Church, first, Apostles; secondarily, Prophets; thirdly, Teachers;
After that, Miracles; then gifts of healing, helps, governments,
diversities of tongues_; Where we have an enumeration of sundry
Officers of the Church; and amongst others, there are _Helps_,
_Governments_. By _Helps_, are meant _Deacons_; (as not only our
_Reformed_ Divines, but _Chrysostome_, and _Estius_, and others
observe,[49]) and by _Governments_, are meant the _Ruling-Elder_,
which that it may the better appear, we will propound, and prove these
six things.
1. That by _Governments_, are meant _men exercising Government_, the
_Abstract_ put for the _Concrete_. The intent of the _Apostle_, is not
to speak of _offices_ distinct from _persons_, but of _persons
exercising offices_. This appears first, by the beginning of the
verse, _God hath set some in his Church_; this relates to persons, not
unto offices. Secondly, by the 29. and 30. verses, where the Apostle
speaks _concretively_, of those things which he had spoken before
_abstractively_. _Are all workers of miracles? have all the gifts of
healing? do all speak with tongues_, &c? and so by consequence, _Are
all helpers, are all Governours?_ And therefore it is, that the
Syriack instead of _helps, Governments_, reads it _helpers,
Governours_.[50]
2. That the _Governour_ here meant, must needs be a
_Church-Governour_; for it is expresly said, that he is seated in the
Church, and therefore the civil Magistrate cannot be meant by this
Governour, as some would have it; partly, because this is quite
besides the whole intent and scope of the Chapter, treating meerly
upon _spirituall Church-matters_, not at all of secular civil matters;
and partly, because the Magistrate, as such, is not placed by God in
the _Church_, but in the _Common-Wealth_: and partly, because the
Apostle writes of such Governours, that had at that time actual
existence in the Church; and neither then, nor divers hundred years
after, were there any _Christian Magistrates_.
3. That this _Church-Governour_ is seated by God in his Church; It is
a _plant of Gods own planting_, and therefore shall stand firme,
maugre all opposition. For it is expresly said, _God hath set some in
his Church, first Apostles_, &c. _then helps, then Governments_.
4. That this Church-Governour thus seated by God in his Churches, not
only a _Church-member_, but a _Church-Officer_. For though it be a
question amongst the learned, whether some of the persons here named,
as the _workers of miracles_, and those that had the _gift of healing,
and of tongues_, were seated by God, as officers in the Church, and
not rather, only as eminent members indued with these eminent gifts;
yet it is most certain, that whosoever is seated by God in his Church,
as a _Church Governour_, must needs be a _Church officer_; for the
nature of the gift, doth necessarily imply an office. The Greek
word[51] for Governments, is a metaphor from _Pilots_, or
_Ship-masters_, governing their ships; (hence the Master of a ship is
called Κυβερνητης, a Governour, _Jam._ 3.4.) 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,
which is the direct office of our _Ruling-Elder_.
5. This Church-Governour thus seated by God in his Church as a
Church-officer, is an _ordinary and perpetuall officer in his Church_.
Indeed, here is mention made of Officers extraordinary, as Apostles,
Prophets; and of gifts extraordinary, as the gift of miracles,
healing, and of tongues; but here is also mention made of ordinary
Officers, perpetually to abide, as _Teachers_, _Helpers_, and the
_Church-Governour, or Ruling-Elder_. And that this Officer is ordinary
and perpetual, appears from the perpetual necessity of him in the
Church; for a Church without government, is as a ship without a Pilot,
as a Kingdom without a Magistrate, and a world without a Sun.
6. That this Church-Governour thus seated by God in his Church, as a
perpetual Officer, is an officer _contradistinguished in the Text from
the_ Apostles, Prophets, Teachers, _and all other_ Officers _in the_
Church. This appears; 1. By the Apostles manner of expressing these
officers in an _enumerative_ form; _First, Apostles; Secondarily,
Prophets; Thirdly, Teachers; After that, miracles, then gifts of
healing_, &c. 2. By the recapitulation, vers. 29, 30. _Are all
Apostles? Are all Prophets? Are all Teachers? Are all workers of
miracles?_ &c. 3. By the scope of the whole Chapter, which is to set
down different gifts and offices in different subjects; It is said,
ver. 8, 9. _To one is given by the Spirit, the word of wisdom; to
another the word of knowledg by the same Spirit; to another, faith_,
&c. And for this purpose, the Apostle draweth a simile from the
members of mans body: As there are different members in mans body, and
every member hath its different office, and every member stands in
need one of another; the Eye cannot say to the Hand, I have no need of
thee; nor again, the head to the foot, I have no need of thee, &c. So
it is in the Church ministerial, which is the body of Christ. God hath
set different Officers in his Church; some ordinary and perpetual;
some extraordinary and temporary: And these different Officers have
different Offices, some to teach, others to distribute to the poor
Saints, others to govern. Are all Teachers? are all Deacons? are all
Church-Governours? and these have all need one of another. The Teacher
cannot say to the Deacon, I have no need of thee; nor to the Church
Governour, I have no need of thee: But if all these Offices were in
the Pastor alone, and only, then might he truly say to the Deacon and
Ruling-Elder, I have no need of thee. But now God hath so set the
members in his body which is his Church, that every member stands in
need one of anothers help and support.
[Sidenote: _Object._]
If it be objected, that the Apostles had all these offices and gifts
here mentioned, eminently seated in them, for they were Prophets,
Teachers, Workers of Miracles; and therefore why may not all these be
understood of one and the same person?
[Sidenote: _Answ._]
Though it be true, that the Apostles had eminently all these; yet it
is as true, that there are many here named, which had but one of these
gifts formally seated in them: And it is also apparent, that some of
the persons here named were distinct Officers in the Church, as the
Prophet, and the Teacher. Though the Apostles were Prophets and
Teachers, yet the Prophet & the Teacher were Officers distinct from
the Apostles; and by a parity of Reason, so were the Governors from
the Apostle, Prophet, and Teacher; the scope of the Apostle being (as
hath been said) to set out distinct Offices in distinct Officers: are
all Apostles? are all Prophets? are all Teachers? The sum of what we
have said from this Scripture, then, is this, _That God hath seated
some men in his Church which have a gift and office to govern, which
are neither Apostles, Prophets, Teachers, nor Pastors; and therefore
they are Ruling-Elders_, which is the Officer which we are enquiring
after.
Now this Interpretation which we have given, is not only the
interpretation of Reformed Divines, both _Lutherane_ and _Calvinists_,
but of the ancient Fathers, and even the Papists themselves, as
appears by the quotations in the Margent.[52]
The second text is, _Rom._ 12.6, 7, 8. _Having then gifts differing
according to the grace given, whether Prophesie, let us prophesie
according to the proportion of Faith; or Ministry, let us wait on our
Ministring; 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. He that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness._ In
which words, we have a perfect enumeration of all the ordinary Offices
of the Church. These offices are reduced, first, to two general heads,
_Prophesie_ and _Ministry_, and are therefore set down in the
_Abstract_. By _Prophesie_ is meant the faculty of right
understanding, interpreting, and expounding the Scriptures. Ministry
comprehends all other employments in the Church. Then these generals
are subdivided into the special offices contained under them, and are
therefore put down in the concrete. Under _Prophesie_ are contained,
1. _He that teacheth_, that is, the Doctor or Teacher. 2. _He that
exhorteth, i. e._ the Pastor. Under _Ministry_ are comprized, 1. _He
that giveth_, that is, the Deacon. 2. _He that ruleth_, that is, the
Ruling Elder. 3. _He that sheweth mercy_, which [53]Office pertained
unto them, who in those days had care of the sick: So that in these
words, we have the _Ruling-Elder_ plainly set down, and
_contra_-distinguished from the _teaching_ and _exhorting Elder_ (as
appears by the distributive particles, ειτε ὁ διδασκων, ειτε ὁ
παρακαλων, _Whether he that teacheth_; _Whether he that exhorteth_;
_Whether he that ruleth_, &c.) And here likewise we have the divine
institution of the Ruling-Elder, for so the words hold forth. _Having
then gifts differing according to the grace that is given unto us_;
and thus also in the third verse, _according as God hath dealt to
every man_, &c. This officer is the gift of Gods free grace to the
Church, for the good of it.
Against this Exposition of the Text, it is objected by those that
oppose the divine right of the Ruling-Elder, that the Apostle speaks,
in these words, not of several offices in several persons, but of
severall Gifts in one and the same person; for he saith, _having then
Gifts differing according_, &c. But we answer:
1. That the word _Gift_ is often in Scripture taken for _Office_; as
_Eph._ 4.8, 11. _When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive,
and gave gifts unto men_; and v. 11. _He sheweth what these gifts
were, some to be Apostles, some Evangelists_, &c.
2. That the Apostle in the _Protasis_ speaks not of severall Gifts,
but of severall Offices, and these not in the same, but in several
members, _v._ 4. _As we have many members in one body, and all members
have not the same office._ And therefore the _apodosis_ must also be
understood not only of _severall gifts_, but of _severall Offices_,
and these in _several subjects_. And this further appears by the very
similitude which the Apostle here useth, which is the same he used,
1 _Cor._ 12. from the body natural, wherein there are many distinct
members, and every member hath its distinct Office; and so it is in
the Church of Christ.
3. These gifts here mentioned, and the waiting upon them, do
necessarily imply an Office in whomsoever they are; and therefore they
are set down emphatically with an Article, ειτε ὁ διδασκων ὁ
προισταμενος. He that hath the gift of teaching, and exhorting, and
ruling, and waiteth upon this gift, what is he but a Teacher, Pastor,
and Ruling-Elder? And this must either be granted, or else we must
open a door for all members of the Church, even women, not only to
preach and teach, but to rule also, and to wait upon preaching and
ruling: This truth is so clear, as that the Papists themselves being
convinced of it, do say[54] upon this text, that the Apostle here
first speaks of gifts in general; and secondly, applyeth these gifts
to Ecclesiastical Officers, v. 6. and afterwards directs his
exhortation to all Christians in general.
The third text for the divine right of the _Ruling-Elder_, is,
1 _Tim._ 5.17. _Let the Elders that rule well be counted worthy of
double honour, especially they who labour in the Word and Doctrine._
For the understanding of which words, we will lay down this rule, That
every text of Scripture is to be interpreted according to the literall
and grammatical construction; unless it be contrary to the analogie of
Faith, or the rule of Life, or the circumstances of the Text:
otherwise, we shall make a nose of wax of the Scriptures, and draw
_quidlibet ex quolibet_. Now according to the _Grammatical
construction_, here are plainly held forth _two sorts of Elders_; the
one, _onely ruling_; and the other, _also labouring in Word and
Doctrine_. Give us leave to give you the true analysis of the words.