Church Concord, Question 2
II. Q. 1. We speak only of Visible Christians in this second Question also (of Church Communion.)
2. [A Particular Church] signifieth either, 1. A Community of Christians agreed to live under Pastora… Guidance, before they have a Pastor, or have practised that agreement. This is not the Church here mean…. 2. Or a Political Society of Christian Pastor and People professedly associated for Personal Communion, Exercise of these Relations as such in the publick worshipping of God, and for the furtherance of Love and Obedience in each other.
The Ends difference it from all Civil Societies of Christians; and from the associations of many Churches for Communion by delegates.
The necessary Terms of this Church Communion are these.
1. The Pastor (whether one or more) must have all things essential to his Office. 1. As to his Qualifications, that is, 1. That he understand at least the Essential Points of Christianity and Church Communion. 2. That he be able to teach them to others in some competent degree. 3. That he be willing to do it; and this for Gods Honour, the Churches Good, and Mens Salvation. 2. As to his Call, that he have a true notification of the will of God, that he should undertake this Office; which is ordinarily done. 1. By the Ordination, (that is, the Approbation and Investiture) of Bishops or Pastors. 2. And (in this case of his relation to a particular Church) by the peoples consent: All this in truth is needful before God, and in Appearance and Profession before the Church.
2. The People must be Baptized persons, Sacramentally engaged into Covenant with God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; and such as have not professedly deserted that Covenant by Apostasie; nor are proved before a lawful Judicature to be deserters of any Essential part thereof. (Whether open professed Covenanting may not serve without Baptism in cases of Necessity, where Baptism cannot be had, is a case so extraordinary that we need not here meddle with it.)
3. He that was Baptized in Infancy, and yet having opportunity at full age doth make no Profession of Christianity, nor own his Baptismal Covenant openly by word or deed, is to be numbered with Deserters.
4. Though the most plain and open profession is usually best, where it may be …ad; yet a profession less explicite may serve to the being of Church-members; such as is their actual joyning with those Churches, who purposely assemble to make publick profession of the Christian Religion (Faith, Love and Obedience.)
5. There must be also a signification of consent to their particular Church-Relation: either more express and plain, or at least by such actions which may be reasonably presumed to signifie it. (As ordinary joining in Church-worship with that particular Church, and submitting to the necessary guidance of the Pastors.)
6. He that thus consenteth to his Relation to the Pastor and that Church, is a Member, though he consent not to the Membership or Presence of many particular Members thereof: Because they are but Integral and not Essential parts of the Church.
7. But if a usual mixture (in the Assemblies) of Hereticks or Strangers which are not Members of that Church, or any other confounding cause do give the Pastors sufficient reason to call all or part of the people to an express signification of their consent to their Relation, to put it out of doubt; they that causelesly refuse such signification, do seem to deny their consent, and allow the Pastor and Church to judge of them accordingly.
8. The office of the Bishops or Pastors is subordinate to the Teaching, and Interceeding and Ruling office of Christ; And their work is to Teach the people the Word of God; to be their Mouth and Guide in publick Worship, in Prayer, and in Thanksgiving and Praise to God, and to administer his holy Sacraments, and to exercise that Power of the Keys which Christ hath committed to their trust, in the Prudent and cautelous use of Church-Discipline: And all this according to the Laws of Christ, recorded in the holy Scriptures. These therefore must be the Works and Ends, for which these Churches must (professedly) assemble: Especially on the Lord's Days, which are separated to these holy Uses.
9. The General Command (in Nature and Scripture) that all be done to Edification, decently and in order, do require the Church with Prudence to determine of such undetermined Circumstances, Modes and Orders, as fall under those Generals: As what Translation of the Scriptures to use; what Metre of the Psalms; what Tunes; whether to divide the Scriptures into Chapters and Verses; what Chapters to read; what Psalms to Sing, and when and how many: what particular Method to use in Preaching; and what words: what helps for Memory? whether written Notes? in length or briefly? At what Hour to begin: How long to Preach and Pray: In what words to Pray. In what decent habit, and in what gesture to Preach or Sing God's Praises, &c. what Utensils to use, as Pulpit, Font, Table, Cloth, Cups, &c. In what Place, &c. In all which the Pastors are the Guides by Office, and in many the Agents: And it is no sinful Will-worship or adding to the Word of God, to determine in such cases: And they that will not stand to such Determinations cannot be Members of their Flocks: As if any will not meet at that time, or place where the Church doth meet, or will not use the same Psalms, or Translations, or hear the Pastor in such a Method, or with such Notes, &c. he thereby refuseth the Communion of that Church; which must have some determinate time and place, &c. But yet the Pastors Power being for Edification, and not for Destruction, he must take the Peoples consent in all, so far as the Churches good requireth it, to their Edification and Peace, and guide them as a Father by Love, and in Humility as the Servant of all, and not as Lording it over the Flock: And if his Determination should be so perverse as to be destructive of the Church or of the Worship of God, the people must seek the due Remedy (of which more anon).
10. As the Keys of the Church are committed by Christ to the Pastors, for intromission, Guidance and Sentential Excommunication, that is, for the Government of the Church; so the People must not usurp any part of their office: They are not obliged to try the Faith or Holiness of such as are to be Baptized, or such as are to be received into their Publick Communion; but may rest in the Pastors Judgment, whose office it is to try them: supposing still that they have their due remedy, in case of corrupting or destructive Male▪administration. And that their needful assistance in their Places should be used.
11. If any Member of the Church do live in any Heresie or other great Sin, contrary to his Covenant with God, those who are acquainted with it, must admonish him and seek to bring him to Repentance, in the order appointed by Christ; And if he repent not, they must tell the Church; And if being duely admonished by the Pastors, he yet repent not, the Pastors as the Church Guides, must pronounce him unfit for the Communion of the Church, and require him to forbear it, and the people to avoid him; which the people must obey. Yet so, as that if the people have sufficient cause to doubt whether a censure be not contrary to the Word of God, they may enquire into the cause; And if they find it contrary indeed, they must not execute that Sentence, by any of those private Acts of alienation, which are in their own Power: And they may seek due reparation of the publick breach.
12. If one Pastor of a Church where there are many do perniciously and notably corrupt the Faith or the Worship, or the Discipline of the Church, the other Pastors must admonish him, and both they and the people disown him, if after a first and second Admonition, he repent not. And the same must the people do by all the Pastors, if all be guilty in the same kind; and must trust their Souls with more faithful Pastors. But this must not be done mistakingly, headily or rashly, nor as an Act of Government over the Pastors or the Church; but as an Act of Obedience to God, for the preservation of their Souls, and of the interest of Christ: Nor must it be done without such consultation with, and assistance of the Neighbour Churches, or the Magistrates, as their case shall make necessary or profitable to their right Ends. Nor by a violation of any lawful Orders of the Magistrates.
13. If a Pastor preach some unsound Doctrines, or faultily perform the publick Worship, or neglect just Discipline, and receive the unworthy to the Communion of the Church, or reject the worthy, the presence of the innocent Members, (who make not the fault their own by consent, or by neglecting their Duties to reform it) maketh none of this to be their Sin, nor is to be taken for a sign of their consent: Nor will the presence of the unworthy deprive the Godly of the Blessing or Comfort of God's Ordinance: Nor are they bound to separate from that Church, because of these Corruptions, unless they are so great as to unchurch that Church, or make their Worship and Communion such, as God himself rejecteth and will not accept: or unless by imposing Sin upon them, or some other way, the Church expel them; or they have accidentally some other reason to remove.
14. The Members of the same Church must live so near to one another, as that they may be capable of the Communion and Duties of their relation. But whether Parish-bounds shall be Church-bounds, and whether there shall be one Church only, or more in the same Parish, is a thing which God hath not directly determined, but only by general Rules to direct our Prudence, as cases are by Circumstances varied.
Where the Magistrates Laws thus bound the Churches, and the conveniences of Numbers, Maintenance, Place, and common Expectation require it; And where it is commonly taken for scandalous Disobedience, or Disorder or Schism, to do otherwise, Prudence forbiddeth us to violate these Bounds and Orders, without true necessity. Not taking all for Church-Members who are Parishioners, but taking none but Parishioners into that Church, nor setting up other Churches in that Parish. But when there are no such Laws and Reasons for it, and where there are plainly greater Reasons or necessity to do otherwise; we should not make such a Law to our selves.
15. When true sound Churches are first settled, all unneoessary and causeless Separation from them, or setting up of new Churches in the same Towns or Parishes, by way of disclaiming them, or in opposition to them, should be avoided by all Christians. Because, 1. We find not in Scripture times, that any one City had many such Churches, approved of God: (The numbers of Christians being but enow for one). 2. Because it taketh up more Ministers than the interest of the Universal Church can allow to so few. 3. Because it proceedeth from a sinful want of Love and Unity; and tendeth to the further decrease of both: Long and sad Experlence having shewed, that each of those Churches think it to be their Duty to stablish their several perswasions, and oppose the contrary; whereby they are carried as for the interest of the truth, to make their Adversaries be thought to be ignorant, erroneous, or bad, and so to make one another seem less amiable; to the ruine of Love and the division and danger of the Churches. And because Love and Unity are so frequently and vehemently pressed in the Scriptures: and Divisions or Schism so much forbidden.
16. All these are sinful Schismatical Separations, but in very different degrees. 1. When the interest of some Heresie, or lesser Errour, and the disclaiming of some truth, doth cause men to separate. 2. When they slander a true Ministry as no true Ministry, and so separate. 3. When they slander a true Church as no true Church. 4. When they separate because they accuse true worship to be Idolatry, or lawful worship to be unlawful. 5. When they falsly accuse the Churches Faith, Worship or Order to be defective, and to want some necessary part (As the Papists do by the Protestants, who take up with the Scripture-Religion alone.) 6. When they accuse some tolerable failing in the Church, to be intolerable, and such as maketh their Communion unlawful. 7. When they separate from the Church because of the Holiness and Strictness of its Doctrine and just Discipline, which crosseth them in their Sin; or because they hate the Purity of its Worship and Obedience. 8. When they separate because that they have not a part in the Government of the Church themselves, in receiving Members, or censuring them; or because they may not be Teachers of the Church, or otherwise invade the Pastoral Office. 9. When Pride or Coveteousness maketh them separate, through personal distaste at the Pastors or any Members, for want of respect or honour, or gain, or upon supposed injuries. 10. When the Minor part separate, because they have not their own will against the Major part, in the choice of Ministers, or in other Church-Affairs, in which they have just cause to acquiesce. 11. When they over-value their own Conceits and doubtful Opinions, and their own indifferent Modes or words of Circumstances of Worship or Order, so that they think it needful to separate to enjoy them. 12. When they expect that the Pastors should Excommunicate, or deny the Communion of the Church, to such as they account unfit, without any accusation and proof, or true Church-justice; And do separate from the Communion where such are received; as unlawful for themselves. 13. When they separate upon this false Supposition, that their presence maketh them guilty as Consenters, of all the Ministers Errours in the Doctrine or Method or words of his Preaching, Praying or other Administrations. 14. When they separate because the Church will not forbear the Singing of David's Psalms, the Baptizing of Infants, or some other such part or order of God's Worship. 15. When they separate because they will not consent to the lawful Circumstances of Time, Place, Translation, Metre, Tunes, Utensils, or Methods which the Church doth use. These all are unlawful Separations. But the great aggravations are, when they separate to set up Heretical Doctrine, and Teachers, or false Church-Orders and Worship corrupted in the Essentials; or to promote ungodliness, or to rail at others from whom they separate, and to cherish Divisions to the injury of the common Christian Cause.
17. These following are lawful Causes of Separation. 1. When the Pastors are really no Ministers of Christ, but uncapable, or uncalled Usurpers, or Hereticks or Infidels; or open Enemies to Piety, who do more harm than good, and set themselves to destroy the Church of God, and the ends of their Ministry 2. When the Church maketh not Profession of the Christian Faith, or are not baptized or visible Christians. 3. When the worship of the Church is Idolatry, or such for the Substance as God will not accept, nor it is not lawful to joyn in. 4. When the Church renounceth, or omitteth any Ordinance of God, which the whole Church must ordinarily perform, and which all things considered, it is not lawful to omit. 5. When (after due admonition) the Church is turned into a Theatre of Contention, and a School of Malignity and reviling the Brethren, and of destroying Christian Love to others; or of promoting Schism to the intolerable wrong of the people, and of others, and of the Cause and Churches of Christ. 6. When (after due Admonition and Patience) the Church so far renounceth Discipline, as openly to own and justifie such wickedness or heinous Sins, as are inconsistent with the true Profession of Christianity and Godliness.
18. And if the unsoundness, badness or weakness of the Pastors, and the faultiness of the Worship, Order or Discipline, be not so great as to make Communion with the Church sunply unlawful; yet any free man whose Edification is greatly hindered by it, and can elsewhere have far greater helps for his Salvation, and joyn with a Church which walketh more conformably to the Christian Rule, may lawfully remove himself to such a Ministry and Church; when it is not to the greater hurt of others, than his own good. Especially such whose ignorance, weakness and deadness, maketh a lively and convincing Ministry more needful to their safety and welfare, than it is to others: For it is a Sin, Caeteris paribus, to prefer the worse before the better; and a sin to neglect the best means for our Souls which we can lawfully enjoy: And the Soul is more precious than to be hazarded or left in sin and darkness for an unnecessary Circumstance.
Nor is it any sinful Separation, or Disorder, for the Members of one Church to communicate occasionally with other Churches of Christ; seeing our relation to the Universal Church is more strict and inviolable than to any particular Church as such.
Also in case of removal of our Habitations, or change of our Family Relations, or other the like Reasons, it is lawful to remove from one Church to another (without any unjust censuring of that which we remove from:) And if the first Church will not consent (after due means for their satisfaction) we may remove without their consent.
19. He that is denied Communion with the Church, unless he will speak or subscribe some falshood, or take any false Oath, or make any unlawful promise, or commit any other sin, is sinfully cast out or repulsed by the Imposer, and is not guilty of Schism or sinful Separation, by denying to commit such imposed sin.
And he that only removeth from the place of meeting, with the Pastor and Church when they remove, and doth not withdraw from the Church it self; or that adhereth to his lawful Pastor and part of the Church, when the rest of the Church adhere to an Usurper, is not to be judged guilty of Schism; for such avoiding of Schism.
20. The principal care for the avoiding of Schism, and for maintaining Unity and Love, is incumbent on the Pastors of the Church; whose first work must be to preserve this Love and Unity in their particular Churches, to prevent withdrawing into separating Churches. To which end, their first care must be to give no just cause, by corrupting of Doctrine, Worship or Discipline, to any to withdraw; and not to impose any unnecessary thing as necessary to Communion; but to unite in things necessary, and to give liberty in things unnecessary▪ (A means approved in all Ages by Peacemakers:) And to guide the Church by the paternal Government of Reason and Love, and not by Tyranny to make themselves hateful: And to be much in preaching Love and Concord, that the people may know the sin and danger of Factions and Divisions; and to avoid all Factiousness and Contentiousness themselves. And their next care must be to labour after a laudable (if they cannot reach an eminent) degree, of ability in teaching, and exemplariness in a holy and charitable Life, that they may win the esteem and love of the Flock, and may give them no occasion to think that the necessity of their Souls, requireth them to seek for better helps.
But if differing (though tolerable) Opinions, do so possess any of the peoples minds, that no means can satisfie them, to continue in the same Assemblies; and their presence will be more hurtful than their absence; or if the Pastor or Church be so over-rigid as not to tolerate their dissent; the next thing to be done, is to permit them to Worship in other Assemblies, (though their withdrawing may not be justifiable;) and to take care that Love and Peace be maintained with them, as with Neighbour Churches; though perhaps weak and faulty; which bringeth us up to the next Question.