indispensible Necessity to all._] And _First_, I freely acknowledge
that it is good for all to be humble, and in this Respect not over
confident, so as to lean to this, to foster themselves in Iniquity, or
lie down in Security, as if they had attained this Condition, seeing
_Watchfulness_ and _Diligence_ is of _indispensible Necessity_ to all
mortal Men, so long as they breathe in this World; for God will have
this to be the constant Practice of a _Christian_, that thereby he
may be the more fit to serve him, and better armed against all the
Temptations of the Enemy. For since _the Wages of Sin is Death_, there
is no Man, while he sinneth, and is subject thereunto, but may lawfully
suppose himself capable of perishing. Hence the Apostle _Paul_ himself
saith, 1 _Cor._ ix. 27. _But I keep under my Body, and bring it into
Subjection, lest that by any Means, when I have preached to others, I
myself should be a Cast-away._ Here the Apostle supposes it possible
for him to be a _Cast-away_; and yet it may be judged he was far more
advanced in the inward Work of _Regeneration_, when he wrote that
_Epistle_, than many who now-a-days too presumptuously suppose they
cannot _fall away_, because they feel themselves to have attained
some small Degree of true _Grace_. But the Apostle makes Use of this
Supposition or Possibility of his being a _Cast-away_, as I before
observed, as an Inducement to them to be watchful; _I keep under my
Body, lest_, &c. Nevertheless the same Apostle, at another Time, in the
Sense and Feeling of _God’s holy Power_, and in the _Dominion_ thereof,
finding himself a Conqueror therethrough over Sin and his Soul’s
Enemies, maketh no Difficulty to affirm, _Rom._ viii. 38. _For I am
persuaded that neither Death nor Life_, &c. which clearly sheweth that
he had attained a Condition from which he knew he could not _fall away_.
[Sidenote: II.] [Sidenote: _A Condition attainable in this Life, from
which there is no _Falling away.] But _Secondly_, It appears such
a Condition is attainable, because we are exhorted to it; and, as
hath been proved before, the Scripture never proposeth to us Things
impossible. Such an Exhortation we have from the Apostle, 2 _Pet._
i. 10. _Wherefore the rather, Brethren, give Diligence to make your
Calling and Election sure._ And though there be a Condition here
proposed, yet since we have already proved that it is possible to
fulfil this Condition, then also the Promise annexed thereunto may
be attained. And since, where Assurance is wanting, there is still a
Place left for Doubtings and Despairs, if we should affirm it never
attainable, then should there never be a Place known by the Saints in
this World, wherein they might be free of Doubting and Despair; which
as it is most absurd in itself, so it is contrary to the manifest
Experience of Thousands.
[Sidenote: III. _A certain Assurance and Establishment given of God to
many of his Saints and Children._] _Thirdly_, God hath given to many
of his Saints and Children, and is ready to give unto _all_, a _full_
and _certain Assurance_ that they are his, and that no Power shall be
able to pluck them out of his Hand. But this Assurance would be no
Assurance, if those who are so _assured_ were not _established_ and
_confirmed_ beyond all Doubt and Hesitation: If so, then surely there
is no Possibility for such to miss of that which God hath assured them
of. And that there is such _Assurance_ attainable in this Life, the
Scripture abundantly declareth, both in general and as to particular
Persons. As _first_, _Rev._ iii. 12. _Him that overcometh will I make a
Pillar in the Temple of my God, and he shall go no more out_, &c. which
containeth a general Promise unto all. Hence the Apostle speaks of some
that are _sealed_, 2 Cor. i. 22. _Who hath also sealed us, and given
the Earnest of the Spirit in our Hearts_: Wherefore the _Spirit _so_
sealing _is called the_ Earnest _or_ Pledge of our Inheritance_, Ephes.
i. 13. _In whom ye were sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise_. And
therefore the Apostle _Paul_, not only in that of the _Romans_ above
noted, declareth himself to have attained that Condition, but 2 _Tim._
iv. 7. he affirmeth in these Words, _I have fought a good Fight_, &c.
which also many good Men have and do witness. And therefore as there
can be nothing more evident than that which the _manifest Experience_
of this Time sheweth, and therein is found agreeable to the Experience
of former Times, so we see there have been both of _old_ and of _late_
that have _turned the Grace of God into Wantonness_, and have _fallen
from their Faith and Integrity_; thence we may safely conclude such a
_Falling away possible_. We also see that some of _old_ and of _late_
have attained a certain Assurance, some Time before they departed, that
they should _inherit eternal Life_, and have accordingly died in that
_good Hope_, of and concerning whom the Spirit of God testified _that
they are saved_. Wherefore we all see such a State is attainable in
this Life, from which there is not a _Falling away_: For seeing the
Spirit of God did so testify, it was not possible that they should
perish, concerning whom _he who cannot lie_ thus bare Witness.
PROPOSITION X.
Concerning the MINISTRY.
_As by the _Light_ or _Gift_ of God all true Knowledge in Things
spiritual is received and revealed, so by the same, as it is
manifested and received in the Heart, by the Strength and Power
thereof, every true _Minister_ of the _Gospel_ is ordained,
prepared, and supplied in the Work of the _Ministry_; and by the
Leading, Moving, and Drawing hereof ought every _Evangelist_ and
_Christian Pastor_ to be led and ordered in his Labour and Work of
the Gospel, both as to the Place _where_, as to the Persons _to
whom_, and as to the Time _wherein_ he is to _minister_. Moreover
they who have this Authority may and ought to preach the _Gospel_,
though without _human Commission_ or _Literature_; as on the other
Hand, they who want the Authority of this _divine Gift_, however
learned, or authorized by the _Commission_ of _Men_ and _Churches_,
are to be esteemed but as _Deceivers_, and not _true Ministers_ of
the _Gospel. [Sidenote: The Gospel to be preached freely. Mat.
10. 8.] _Also they who have received this holy and unspotted Gift,
_as they have freely received it, so are they freely to give it,_
without Hire or Bargaining, far less to use it as a _Trade_ to get
Money by: Yet God hath called any one from their Employment or
Trades, by which they acquire their Livelihood, it may be lawful
for such, according to the Liberty which they feel given them in
the Lord, to receive such Temporals (to wit, what may be needful
for them for Meat and Clothing) as are given them freely and
cordially by those to whom they have communicated Spirituals._
§. I. Hitherto I have treated of those Things which relate to the
_Christian Faith_ and _Christians_, as they stand each in his private
and particular Condition, and how and by what Means every Man may be
a _Christian_ indeed, and so abide. Now I come in order to speak
of those Things that relate to _Christians_, as they are stated in
a _joint Fellowship_ and _Communion_, and come under a visible and
outward _Society_, which _Society_ is called the _Church of God_,
and in Scripture compared to a _Body_, and therefore named the _Body
of Christ_. [Sidenote: _The Church of God is the spiritual Body of
Christ._] As then in the natural Body there be divers Members, all
concurring to the common End of preserving and confirming the whole
Body, so in this _spiritual_ and _mystical Body_ there are also
divers Members, according to the different Measures of _Grace_ and
of the _Spirit_ diversly administered unto _each Member_; and from
this _Diversity_ ariseth that Distinction of Persons in the _visible
Society_ of _Christians_, as of _Apostles_, _Pastors_, _Evangelists_,
_Ministers_, &c. That which in this Proposition is proposed, is,
_What makes or constitutes any a Minister of the Church, what his
Qualifications ought to be, and how he ought to behave himself?_ But
because it may seem somewhat preposterous to speak of the _distinct
Offices_ of the _Church_ until something be said of the _Church_ in
general, though nothing positively be said of it in the Proposition;
yet, as here implied, I shall briefly premise something thereof, and
then proceed to the particular Members of it.
§. II. It is not in the least my Design to meddle with those tedious
and many Controversies wherewith the _Papists_ and _Protestants_ do
tear one another concerning this Thing; but only according to the Truth
manifested to me, and revealed in me by the Testimony of the Spirit,
according to that Proportion of Wisdom given me, briefly to hold forth
as a necessary Introduction both to this Matter of the _Ministry_ and
of _Worship_, which followeth those Things which I, together with my
_Brethren_, do believe concerning the _Church_.
[Sidenote: I.] [Sidenote: _The _Etymology_ of the Word _[Greek:
ekklêsia: εκκλησια]_ (the Church) and Signification of it._] The
_Church_ then, according to the grammatical Signification of the
Word, as it is used in the holy Scripture, signifies an _Assembly_
or _Gathering of many into one Place_; for the Substantive [Greek:
ekklêsia: εκκλησια] comes from the Word [Greek: ekkaleô: εκκαλεω] _I
call out of_, and originally from [Greek: kaleô: καλεω] _I call_; and
indeed, as this is the grammatical Sense of the Word, so also it is
the real and proper Signification of the Thing, the _Church_ being no
other Thing but the _Society_, _Gathering_, or _Company of such as
God hath called out of the World, and worldly Spirit, to walk in his
LIGHT and LIFE._ The _Church_ then so defined is to be considered as
it comprehends all that are thus _called_ and _gathered_ truly by God,
both such as are yet in this inferior World, and such as having already
laid down the earthly Tabernacle, are passed into their heavenly
Mansions, which together do make up the one _Catholick Church_,
concerning which there is so much Controversy. [Sidenote: _No Salvation
without the_ Church.] Out of which _Church_ we freely acknowledge there
can be no Salvation; because under this _Church_ and its Denomination
are comprehended all, and as many, of whatsoever _Nation_, _Kindred_,
_Tongue_, or _People_ they be, though outwardly Strangers, and remote
from those who profess _Christ_ and _Christianity_ in Words, and have
the Benefit of the Scriptures, as become obedient to the _holy Light_
and _Testimony of God_ in their Hearts, so as to become sanctified
by it, and cleansed from the Evils of their Ways. [Sidenote: _What
the_ Church _is_.] For this is the _Universal_ or _Catholick Spirit_,
by which many are called from all the _four Corners of the Earth,
and shall sit down with_ Abraham, Isaac, _and_ Jacob: By this the
_secret Life and Virtue_ of Jesus is conveyed into many that are afar
off, even as by the Blood that runs into the Veins and Arteries of
the natural Body the Life is conveyed from the Head and Heart unto
the extreme Parts. [Sidenote: Turks _and_ Jews _may become Members
of this_ Church.] There may be Members therefore of this _Catholick
Church_ both among _Heathens_, _Turks_, _Jews_, and all the several
Sorts of _Christians_, Men and Women of Integrity and Simplicity of
Heart, who though blinded in some Things in their Understanding, and
perhaps burdened with the Superstitions and Formality of the several
Sects in which they are ingrossed, yet being upright in their Hearts
before the Lord, chiefly aiming and labouring to be delivered from
Iniquity, and loving to follow Righteousness, are by the secret Touches
of this _holy Light_ in their Souls enlivened and quickened, thereby
secretly united to God, and therethrough become true Members of this
_Catholick Church_. Now the _Church_ in this Respect hath been in Being
in all Generations; for God never wanted some such Witnesses for him,
though many Times slighted, and not much observed by this World; and
therefore this _Church_, though still in Being, hath been oftentimes as
it were invisible, in that it hath not come under the Observations of
the Men of this World, being, as saith the Scripture, _Jer._ iii. 14.
_One of a City, and two of a Family._ And yet though the _Church_ thus
considered may be as it were hid from wicked Men, as not then gathered
into a _visible Fellowship_, yea, and not observed even by some that
are Members of it, yet may there notwithstanding many belong to it;
as when _Elias_ complained he was _left alone_, 1 Kings xix. 18. God
answered unto him, _I have reserved to myself seven thousand Men, who
have not bowed their Knees to the Image of_ Baal; whence the Apostle
argues, _Rom._ xi. the Being of a _Remnant_ in his Day.
§. III. [Sidenote: II.] [Sidenote: _The Definition of the _Church_
of _God_, as gathered into a _visible Fellowship.] _Secondly_,
The _Church_ is to be considered as it signifies a certain Number
of Persons gathered by God’s Spirit, and by the Testimony of some
of his Servants raised up for that End, unto the Belief of the true
Principles and Doctrines of the Christian Faith, who through their
Hearts being united by the same Love, and their Understandings informed
in the same Truths, gather, meet, and assemble together to wait upon
God, to worship him, and to bear a joint Testimony for the _Truth_
against _Error_, suffering for the same, and so becoming through this
Fellowship as one Family and Houshold in certain Respects, do each of
them watch over, teach, instruct, and care for one another, according
to their several Measures and Attainments: Such were the _Churches_ of
the primitive Times gathered by the Apostles; whereof we have divers
mentioned in the holy Scriptures. And as to the _Visibility_ of the
_Church_ in this Respect, there hath been a great Interruption since
the Apostles Days, by Reason of the _Apostasy_, as will hereafter
appear.
§. IV. [Sidenote: _How to become a Member of that_ Church.] To be a
_Member_ then of the _Catholick Church_, there is Need of the _Inward
Calling of God_ by his _Light in the Heart_, and a being leavened into
the Nature and Spirit of it, so as to forsake Unrighteousness, and
be turned to Righteousness, and in the Inwardness of the Mind to be
cut out of the _wild Olive Tree_ of our own first fallen Nature, and
ingrafted into _Christ_ by his _Word_ and _Spirit in the Heart_. And
this may be done in those who are Strangers to the History, (God not
having pleased to make them Partakers thereof) as in the _fifth_ and
_sixth Propositions_ hath already been proved.
[Sidenote: _The _outward Profession_ of the Members of the _true
Church.] To be a _Member_ of a particular _Church of Christ_, as
this inward Work is indispensibly necessary, so is also the outward
Profession of, and Belief in, Jesus Christ, and those holy Truths
delivered by his Spirit in the Scriptures; seeing the Testimony of the
Spirit recorded in the Scriptures, doth answer the Testimony of the
same Spirit in the Heart, even as _Face answereth Face in a Glass_.
Hence it follows, that the inward Work of Holiness, and forsaking
Iniquity, is necessary in every Respect to the being a Member in the
_Church of Christ_; and that the outward Profession is necessary to
be a Member of a particular gathered _Church_, but not to the being a
Member of the _Catholick Church_; yet it is absolutely necessary, where
God affords the Opportunity of knowing it: And the outward Testimony
is to be believed, where it is presented and revealed; the Sum whereof
hath upon other Occasions been already proved.
§. V. [Sidenote: _The Members of the Antichristian Church in the
Apostasy, their empty Profession._] But contrary hereunto, the Devil,
that worketh and hath wrought in the _Mystery of Iniquity_, hath
taught his Followers to affirm, _That no Man, however holy, is a
Member of the Church of Christ without the outward Profession; and
unless he be initiated thereinto by some outward Ceremonies_. And
again, _That Men who have this outward Profession, though inwardly
unholy, may be Members of the true Church of Christ, yea, and ought to
be so esteemed_. This is plainly to put _Light_ for _Darkness_, and
_Darkness_ for _Light_; as if God had a greater Regard to Words than
Actions, and were more pleased with vain Professions than with real
Holiness: But these Things I have sufficiently refuted heretofore.
Only from hence let it be observed, that upon this false and rotten
Foundation _Antichrist_ hath built his _Babylonish Structure_, and the
_Antichristian Church_ in the _Apostasy_ hath hereby reared herself up
to that Height and Grandeur she hath attained; so as to exalt herself
above _all that is called God, and sit in the Temple of God as God_.
[Sidenote: _The Decay of the _Church.] For the particular _Churches_
of _Christ_, gathered in the Apostles Days, soon after beginning to
decay as to the _inward Life_, came to be overgrown with several
Errors, and the Hearts of the Professors of _Christianity_ to be
leavened with the old Spirit and Conversation of the World. Yet it
pleased God for some _Centuries_ to preserve that _Life_ in many, whom
he emboldened with Zeal to stand and suffer for his Name through the
_ten Persecutions_: But these being over, the Meekness, Gentleness,
Love, Long-suffering, Goodness, and Temperance of _Christianity_
began to be lost. [Sidenote: _When Men became Christians by _Birth_,
and not by _Conversion_, Christianity came to be lost._] For after
that the Princes of the Earth came to take upon them that Profession,
and that it ceased to be a Reproach to be a _Christian_, but rather
became a Means to Preferment; Men became such by Birth and Education,
and not by Conversion and Renovation of Spirit: Then there was none
so vile, none so wicked, none so profane, who became not a Member of
the _Church_. And the _Teachers_ and _Pastors_ thereof becoming the
Companions of Princes, and so being enriched by their Benevolence, and
getting vast Treasures and Estates, became puffed up, and as it were
drunken with the vain Pomp and Glory of this World: And so marshalled
themselves in manifold Orders and Degrees; not without innumerable
Contests and Altercations who should have the [79]Precedency. So the
Virtue, Life, Substance, and Kernel of _Christian Religion_ came to
be lost, and nothing remained but a Shadow and Image; which dead
Image, or Carcase of _Christianity_ (to make it take the better with
the superstitious Multitude of _Heathens_ that were engrossed in it,
not by any inward Conversion of their Hearts, or by becoming less
wicked or superstitious, but by a little Change in the Object of their
Superstition) not having the inward Ornament and Life of the Spirit,
became decked with many outward and visible Orders, and beautified with
the Gold, Silver, precious Stones, and the other splendid Ornaments
of this perishing World: So that this was no more to be accounted the
_Christian Religion_, and _Christian Church_, notwithstanding the
outward Profession, than the _dead Body_ of a Man is to be accounted a
_living Man_; which, however cunningly embalmed, and adorned with ever
so much Gold or Silver, or most precious Stones, or sweet Ointments,
is but a dead Body still, without Sense, Life, or Motion. [Sidenote:
_In the Church of _Rome_ are no less Superstitions and Ceremonies
introduced, than were either among _Jews_ or _Heathens.] For that
_Apostate Church_ of _Rome_ has introduced no fewer Ceremonies and
Superstitions into the _Christian Profession_, than were either among
_Jews_ or _Heathens_; and that there is and hath been as much, yea, and
more Pride, Covetousness, Uncleanness, Luxury, Fornication, Profaneness
and Atheism among her Teachers and chief Bishops, than ever was among
any Sort of People, none need doubt, that have read their own Authors,
to wit, _Platina_ and others.
[79] As was between the Bishop of _Rome_ and the Bishop of
_Constantinople_.
[Sidenote: _Whether, and what Difference there is betwixt the
_Protestants_ and _Papists_ in Superstitions._] Now, though
_Protestants_ have reformed from her in some of the most gross Points
and absurd Doctrines relating to the _Church_ and _Ministry_, yet
(which is to be regretted) they have only lopt off the Branches,
but retain and plead earnestly for the same Root, from which these
Abuses have sprung. So that even among them, though all that Mass of
Superstition, Ceremonies, and Orders be not again established, yet the
same Pride, Covetousness and Sensuality is found to have overspread
and leavened their _Churches_ and _Ministry_, and the Life, Power
and Virtue of _true Religion_ is lost among them; and the very same
Death, Barrenness, Dryness and Emptiness, is found in their _Ministry_.
So that in Effect they differ from _Papists_ but in Form and some
Ceremonies; being with them apostatised from the Life and Power the
true _Primitive Church_ and her _Pastors_ were in: So that of both it
may be said truly (without Breach of Charity) that having only a _Form
of Godliness_ (and many of them not so much as that) they are _Deniers_
of, yea, _Enemies_ to, the Power of it. And this proceeds not simply
from their not walking answerably to their own Principles, and so
degenerating that Way, which also is true; but, which is worse, their
laying down to themselves, and adhering to certain Principles, which
naturally, as a cursed Root, bring forth these bitter Fruits: These
therefore shall afterwards be examined and refuted, as the contrary
Positions of Truth in the Proposition are explained and proved.
For as to the Nature and Constitution of a Church[80] (abstract from
their Disputes concerning its constant Visibility, Infallibility, and
the Primacy of the Church of Rome) the Protestants, as in Practice, so
in Principles, differ not from _Papists_; [Sidenote: _The _Protestant_
Church how they become Members thereof._] for they engross within the
Compass of their _Church_ whole Nations, making their Infants Members
of it, by sprinkling a little Water upon them; so that there is none
so wicked or profane who is not a Fellow-member; no Evidence of
Holiness being required to constitute a Member of the _Church_. Nay,
look through the _Protestant Nations_, and there will no Difference
appear in the Lives of the Generality of the One, more than of the
Other; he, who _ruleth in the Children of Disobedience_, reigning
in both: [Sidenote: Christianity _chiefly consists in the Renewing
of the_ Heart.] So that the _Reformation_, through this Defect, is
only in holding some less gross Errors in the Notion, but not in
having the Heart reformed and renewed, in which mainly the _Life_ of
_Christianity_ consisteth.
[80] i. e. _National._
§. VI. [Sidenote: _A _Popish, corrupt Ministry_ all Evils follow._]
But the _Popish Errors_ concerning the _Ministry_, which they have
retained, are most of all to be regretted, by which chiefly the Life
and Power of _Christianity_ is barred out among them, and they kept in
Death, Barrenness and Dryness: There being nothing more hurtful than an
Error in this Respect. [Sidenote: _Like People, like Priest._ Hosea 4.
9.] For where a false and corrupt _Ministry_ entereth, all Manner of
other Evils follow upon it, according to that Scripture Adage, _Like
People, like Priest_: For by their Influence, instead of ministering
Life and Righteousness, they minister Death and Iniquity. The whole
_Backslidings_ of the _Jewish Congregation_ of old are hereto ascribed:
_The Leaders of my People have caused them to err_. The whole Writings
of the Prophets are full of such Complaints; and for this Cause, under
the _New Testament_, we are so often warned and guarded to _beware of
false Prophets, and false Teachers_, &c. What may be thought then,
where all, as to this, is out of Order; where both the Foundation,
Call, Qualifications, Maintenance, and whole Discipline are different
from and opposite to the _Ministry_ of the _Primitive Church_; yea, and
necessarily tend to the Shutting out of a _Spiritual Ministry_, and the
bringing in and establishing of a _Carnal_? This shall appear by Parts.
§. VII. [Sidenote: Quest. 1.] That then which comes first to be
questioned in this Matter, is concerning the _Call of a Minister_; to
wit, _What maketh, or how cometh a Man to be, a Minister, Pastor, or
Teacher in the Church of Christ?_
[Sidenote: _Answ._] [Sidenote: _The Call of a _Minister_ and wherein
it consisteth._] We _answer_; By the _inward Power and Virtue of the
Spirit of God_. For, as saith our Proposition, _Having received the
true Knowledge of Things spiritual by the Spirit of God, without which
they cannot be known, and being by the same in Measure purified and
sanctified, he comes thereby to be called and moved to minister to
others_; being able to speak, from a living Experience, of what he
himself is a Witness; and therefore _knowing the Terror of the Lord, he
is fit to persuade Men_, &c. 2 Cor. v. 11. and his Words and Ministry,
proceeding from the inward Power and Virtue, reach to the Heart of
his Hearers, and make them approve of him, and be subject unto him.
[Sidenote: Object.] Our Adversaries are forced to confess, that this
were indeed desirable and best; but this they will not have to be
absolutely necessary. I shall first prove the Necessity of it, and then
shew how much they err in that which they make more necessary than this
divine and heavenly Call.