The Christian Life Part 2 Volume 2, Section 8

The Christian Life Part 2 Volume 2 · Section 8

p. 275SECT. VIII. Of the Nature and Constitution of Christ's Kingdom.

THE Kingdom of Christ and the Church of Christ are phrases of a promiscuous use in holy Scripture, and do import the same thing. Thus Matth. 16.18, 19. Thou art Peter, and upon this Rock will I build my Church, and I will give unto thee the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, where the Church and the Kingdom of Heaven are the same thing. And thus to be translated into the Kingdom of Christ, Col. 1.13. and called to the Kingdom of Christ, 1 Thess. 2.12. imports no more than to be made a member of the Church of Christ. And thus also by the Kingdom, Matt. 13.38. by the Kingdom of God, Matth. 21.31. by the Kingdom of Heaven, Matt. 11.12. and by the Kingdom of Christ, Rev. 11.15. no other thing can be intended but only the Church of Christ.

I confess the Kingdom of Christ taken in the largest sence extends a great deal farther than the Church of Christ. For under God the Father he is universal Lord and King of the World, his Kingly power being upon his Ascension into Heaven extended, as was shewn before, to the utmost limits of the Vniverse. For so he himself tells us by way of Anticipation, that God hath p. 276given him power over all flesh, John 17.2. i. e. over all mankind. For his Regal power extends as far as his power of judging which is one of the principal Acts of his Regality, and his power of judging is over all mankind; for so we are assured that God hath appointed a day in which he will judge the World by the man Christ Iesus, Acts 17.31. and that Christ is ordained of God to be the Iudge of quick and dead, Acts 10.42. and not only so, but that when he shall sit down upon the throne of his glory all Nations shall be gathered before him, Matth. 25.31, 32. Since therefore by the right of his Royalty he shall judge all Nations, it necessarily follows, that all Nations are under his Empire and Dominion; and accordingly the Apostle tells us, that God hath 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 head over all things to the Church, Eph. 1.20, 21, 22. So that the Kingdom of Christ in a large sence extends to all Nations in the World, even to the Heathens and Infidels that never heard of his name, and upon this account he is stiled, The blessed and only Potentate, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, 1 Tim. 6.15. and so also Rev. 17 14.

But the Church is more peculiarly his Kingdom, as consisting of that part of the World which owns and acknowledges his authority, makes a visible profession of fealty to him, and submission to his Laws and Regulations. As for the other parts p. 277of the World, they are all of right his Subjects, by vertue of that Vniversal Regal Authority wherewith the most High God and Father of all things hath invested him, but de facto they are Slaves to the Prince of darkness, all whose Dominions in this World are nothing but usurpations on the Kingdom of Christ. But the Church is that part of the World that hath thrown off the yoke of this Vsurper, and by a solemn Profession surrendered up it self to the Authority of Christ its rightful Lord and Sovereign; and hence the Members of the Church are said to be translated out of the Kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ, Col. 1.13.

The Church therefore being more peculiarly Christ's Kingdom, as being that part of the World which is actually subjected to him, and under his Government, I shall, with as much brevity as the Argument will admit, inquire into the nature and constitution of it. In general therefore the Church or Kingdom of Christ may be thus defined: It is the one universal society of all Christian People incorporated by the new Covenant in Baptism under Iesus Christ its supreme head, and distributed under lawful Governours and Pastors into particular Churches holding Communion with each other in all the Essentials of Christian Faith, and Worship and Discipline. For our better understanding of which definition it will be necessary to explain the several parts of it.

First Therefore it is the one universal Society of all Christian People.

Secondly, Of all Christian People incorporated by the New Covenant.

p. 278Thirdly, Of all Christian People incorporated by the New Covenant in Baptism.

Fourthly, Of all Christian People incorporated under Iesus Christ its supreme Head and Governour.

Fifthly, It is a Society of all Christian People distributed into particular Churches.

Sixthly, It is distributed into particular Churches under lawful Pastors and Governours.

Seventhly, It is distributed into particular Churches holding Communion with each other.

Eighthly, The Communion which these particular Churches hold with each o…h…r is,

First, In all the Essentials of Christian Faith; and

Secondly, In all the Essentials of Christian Worship.

Thirdly, In all the Essentials of Christian Discipline.

First, The Church or Kingdom of Christ is one universal Society consisting of all Christian People, who, as was shewn before, were at first comprised in one single Congregation at Ierusalem, and then this single Congregation was the whole Church or Kingdom of Christ, which by the continual accession of new Converts, increased and multiplied by degrees, till at length it was spread over the whole Earth. So that the Christian Society as it is now enlarged is nothing but that Primitive Church diffused and dilated. For it was not diffused into separate and independent Societi…s, but into similar parts and members of the same Society, and therefore as a man is one and the same person when he is full grown, as he was when p. 279he was an Infant but of a span long, because his growth consists not in an addition of other persons to him, but only of other parts of the same person; so the Church of Christ is the same individual Church now, since it is grown to this vast Bulk and Proportion, that it was in its infant state, when it extended no farther than one single Cong…egation, because it grew not into other divided Churches, but only into other distinct parts of the same Church; and therefore since its growth consisted only in new accessions of similar parts to the same body, it must be as much one Body or Society now, as it was at first, when it was but one single Congregation. For this Congregation was the root out of which the Catholick Church sprang, or, as our Saviour phrases it, the grain of mustard-seed, which, though a very small seed, shot up into a mighty tree, in whose far-spread branches the Birds of the Air came and lodged; and therefore as the stock and branches grow up from the root in a continued Vnion with it, and all together make but one Tree, so all the Christian People in the World sprang out of this single Congregation, and as they sprang were still incorporated and united to it, so as that all together they make but one Church. And this is that which in our Creeds is called the holy Catholick or universal Church. For so the Apostle tells us, that there is but one body, or Church, as well as one Spirit, one Lord, one Faith, and one Baptism, Eph. 4.5, 6. and our Saviour tells us, Other sheep have I, meaning the Gentiles, which are not of this fold, meaning the Iewish Church, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold p. 280and one shepherd, John 10.16. For so the Gentiles, added to the Christian Iewish Church, are said of twain to make one new man, Eph. 2.13. and both together are compared to a building fitly framed together, growing into an holy Temple in the Lord, Ibid. ver. 21. And indeed since all Christians do enjoy in common, and without any distinction the same priviledges and immunities, they must of necessity be all of the same Community. For it is by thei… pe…uliar Faith, and Laws, and Rights of Worship, and Promises, and Priviledges that the Christian Society is distinguished from the rest of the World; and therefore since these peculiari…ies are by the very institution of Christian Society m…de common to all Christian People, it is nonsense to suppose them distinguished by that institution into separate and independent Communities. For how can they be separate Societies which have nothing to separate and distinguish them, but enjoy all things in common with one another.

Secondly, The Church is one universal Society of all Christian People incorporated by the New Covenant: For this is that which distinguishes r…gular Societies from confused multitudes, that wh…reas the latter are only locally united, so that as soon as …ver their parts are dispersed into distant places they cease to be, and are utterly dissolved; the former are united by Laws and mut…al stipulations, which are the Political Nerves and Ar…ries, by which their several parts, how remote …nd distant soever, are united to one another. Even as it is in our City Companies, which are not only united while their Members p. 281are met together in their Common Halls, but do also continue united after they are dispersed abroad to their several homes, because that which unites them is not their being together in the same place, but their being obliged together under the same Laws and stipulations, and communicating with one another in the duties and priviledges of one and the same Charter; by reason whereof though they suffer a continual defluence of old and access of new parts, yet still they remain the same Societies, (even like natural bodies that are under a perpetual flux of parts) because they still retain the same Laws and Charters which are the s…atique Principles or Forms that individuate them, and keep them still the same. And thus it is with the Church, which partakes of the common nature of all other formed and regular Societies. For hence in Scripture it is called a Kingdom, a City, or Commonwealth, and compared to a natural Organized body, to denote that it is a Regular Society, all whose parts are united together by legal bonds and ligaments. Now the legal bond which unites the Church, and renders all its Members one regular Corporation, is the New Covenant, by which all Christian People are in one body obliged to all the duties it requires, and entitled to all the Priviledges it proposes, and by being all engaged together in this one Covenant, whereby they are all concerned together in the same common duties and priviledges, they are all incorporate together into the same Community. And thus it was that the Iewish People were all united into one Church, by their being all confederated as one party in one and the same Covenant, p. 282whereby they all engaged themselves, as one body, to be God's People, and God engaged himself to them, as to one body, to be their God; which in Deut. 26.17, 18. is thus expressed, Thou hast avouched this day the Lord to be thy God, and to walk in his ways, and to keep his Statutes, and his Commandments, and the Lord hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar People as he hath promised thee. This therefore was that which united them into one Religious Society, that they were all confederated with God in one and the same Covenant. For thus saith God, I entered into Covenant with thee, and thou becamest mine, Ezek. 16.8. and hence God is said to be married to th…t People, I…r. 3.14. and to be their Husband, Isa. 54.5. because by the Covenant, which like a Matrimonial engagement was transacted between God and them, they were all united into one Sp…use, and contracted to one Husband. And in th… same sense the Christian Church is called the Bride and the Spouse of Christ, vid. Rev. 22.17. and Christ is called her Husband, 2 Cor. 11.2. because we by contracting our selves to him in one and the same Covenant, do all become one Party, and are incorporate together into one Spouse, and he by contracting himself to us in one and the same Counterpart unites us in one common Husband, and endows us in common with all his spiritual Goods and Blessings. So that by the New Covenant, which is the Nuptial Contract between Christ and Christians, and in which we are said to be married to Christ, Rom. 7.7. we are not only united to one head and Husband, but are also incorporated into one body and Spouse. And accordingly p. 283as the Iews by vertue of their Covenant with God, were separated from all Nations, and united together into a distinct body, upon which account they are called God's peculiar Treasure, a Kingdom of Priests, and an holy Nation, Exod. 19.5, 6. so we Christians by vertue of our Covenant with God in Christ are separated from all other Societies, and made a distinct Corporation from the World; upon which account we are also called, a chosen Generation, a Royal Priesthood, and holy Nation, and a peculiar people, 1 Pet. 2.9.

Thirdly, The Church or Kingdom of Christ is the universal Society of all Christian People incorporated by the new Covenant in Baptism. For so in humane Contracts it hath been thought meet even by the unanimous consent of all prudent Law-givers, that the mutual engagements of the contracting Parties should not be legally Pleadable, till they have been first mutually sealed and solemnly confirmed before witness. And accordingly God, who is wont to proceed with men in humane Methods, hath always thought meet to strike and ratifie his Covenants with them by some visible sign, or solemnity. For thus he struck his Covenant with the Iews in that visible solemnity of Circumcision, which was the sign by which God and that People sealed and consigned to each other their respective parts of that Covenant, by which he stipulated to be their God, and they to be his People. And till such time as this outward sign was transacted between God and them, the Covenant it sealed was not in force so as to oblige either Party, or give them a mutual claim in one another. And hence it p. 284is called God's Covenant in their flesh for an everlasting Covenant, and they who refused to admit this sign, unless it were under some great necessity (in which case God accepted the sincere desire for the deed) were to be cut off from that People, i. e. to be treated as Aliens from that Church, and that because they had broken or rejected God's Covenant, i. e. by refusing that sign which was the Seal and ratification of it, Gen. 17.13, 14.

But this bloudy sign, as was shewn before, being not so commodious for the state of the Christian Church, which was to be diffused over all the World, our Saviour abolished it, and in its room introduced the sign of Baptism, which was before used by the Iews for the initiation of their Females and Proselytes, and which was much more acceptable to the Gentiles, as not being at all offensive to them, (as Circumcision was) it being one of their own Religious Ceremonies, and much less painful in its own nature. But though this was of a quite different nature from Circumcision, yet it was instituted by our Saviour to supply its room, and to serve its religious ends and purposes, viz. to transact, and seal, and ratifie the new Covenant between God and us. For in Baptism the Party Baptized makes a solemn Vow and Profession, by himself or his Sponsor, of fidelity and Allegiance to God through Jesus Christ; and hence Baptism is called the answer or promise of a good Conscience, 1 Pet. 3.21. For in the Apostolick Age, as Orig…n tells us, in Num. Homil. 5. there were certain questions proposed by the Minister to the Person to be Baptized, which St. Cyprian calls Interrogatio Baptismi, the Interrogation p. 285of Baptism; Now the questions proposed were first, foreign; Wilt thou renounce the Devil? To which the Party answered, foreign, I do renounce; then he was asked again, foreign ▪ Dost thou consent to resign thy self to Christ? To which he answered, foreign, I do consent; and this answer or promise being made with a sincere intention, was that in all Probability which the Apostle here calls the answer of a good Conscience, and if so, it is certain that these words do imply our formal Covenanting with God in Baptism. Of the truth of which we have a large account in Rom. 6.3, 4, 5. Know ye not that so many as were baptized into Iesus Christ were baptized into his death, therefore we are buried with him by Baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life, for if we have been planted together into the likeness of his death, we shall be also into the likeness of his Resurrection; where it is plain that those Phrases, buried with Christ, and risen with Christ are only the sense and signification of that Eastern custom in Baptism, viz. of Plunging the Baptized person under water, and raising him up again, which being Sacramental actions must be supposed to have a peculiar import and significancy, and the significancy of them the Apostle here plainly tells us wholly refers to the Death, and Burial, and Resurrection of Christ; and therefore the plunging under water must necessarily refer to Christ's Death and Burial, and the raising up again, to his Resurrection. The true import therefore of these Baptismal actions p. 286must be, First, a solemn profession of our belief, that as we are buried under water and raised up again, so Christ died, and was buried, and raised up from the dead, which being the principal Articles of Christianity do include all the rest. Secondly, They also import a solemn engagement of the Party baptized to die to, and endeavour utterly to extinguish all his sinful lusts and affections, even as Christ died and was buried, and to rise from the spiritual death of sin into newness of life, even as Christ rose from his natural death to live for ever. Since therefore in their Baptism they did by the same actions signifie their belief of the Death, and Burial, and Resurrection of Christ, together with their own resolution of dying to sin, and rising to righteousness, they might very well be said to dye with Christ in those actions, to be buried with Christ, and to rise with Christ, since what is represented as done together, is representatively done together, and it is usual in Sacraments to call the representing signs by the names of the things which they represent. For so the Paschal Lamb is called the Passover, and the Bread and Wine in the Lord's Supper the Body and Bloud of Christ; and for the same reason the plunging under water and raising up again in Baptism is here called dying with Christ, and rising with Christ, because in the same actions Christ's natural Death and Resurrection and our spiritual Death and Resurrection are represented together. The meaning therefore of the above cited passage is plainly this, You cannot be ignorant that when you were baptized into Jesus Christ you made a solemn Profession p. 287that you would conform your selves to his Death in dying to sin even as he died for it, so that in your Baptismal immersion you were representatively buried with him, that so as Christ was raised from the dead, so you in conformity thereto might live a new regenerate life; for if we conform to his Death in dying to sin, as we promised to do in our immersion, we shall be sure to conform to his Resurrection also in living to Righteousness, as we promised to do in our rising out of the water again. By which it is evident that Baptism is on our part a solemn engagement of our selves to perform the conditions of the New Covenant. And indeed the very phrase Baptized into Iesus Christ can import no less than a solemn resignation of our selves to Christ in Baptism. For so the phrase Baptized into Moses, 1 Cor. 10.2. plainly denotes the Jews giving up themselves to him, to be governed by him, as the Minister of God. And accordingly the Apostle tells us, that so many as have been Baptized into Christ have put on Christ, Gal. 3.27. and putting on Christ is opposed by the Apostle to making no provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof, Rom. 13.14. and therefore must necessarily denote an ingagement of our selves to a strict observance of the Laws of Christian purity; or, which is the same thing, a promise or stipulation, on our part, of universal obedience to his Laws. By all which it is evident that in this solemnity of Baptism we put our selves under Christ, as our Head, and Covenant with him to be ruled by him in our Faith and Manners.

p. 288And as in this Ceremony of Initiation we strike Covenant with him, so doth he with us. For in this sacred Action the Minister is the authorized Proxy of Jesus Christ, and therefore his giving the holy Sign is Christ's own action, and doth to all intents and purposes as much oblige him, as if he did it in his own Person. For since Christ is not upon Earth, and so cannot transact the New Covenant with us in his own Person, it is necessary he should do it by Authorized Proxies, impowered by himself to do it in his Name; which Proxies being thus Authorized by him, do as effectually oblige him by those federal Rites which they perform in his Name, as if he himself had performed them in his own Person. For he doth what they do by his Authority, and is as effectually obliged by what he doth by them mediately, as by what he doth by himself immediately. For thus his Commission runs, by which he Authorized them and their Successors to the end of the World, Go teach all Nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; where that Phrase, in the Name, plainly imports (as it generally doth in other places of Scripture) by the Authority. So that by this Commission Christ's Ministers are authorized and constituted the legal Proxies of the holy Trinity, in the stead of those blessed Persons to seal the New Covenant with the Baptismal sign to those whom they baptize, and thereby legally to oblige the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost to perform the Promises of it to all those Baptized persons who perform the conditions of it. For that the Baptismal sign is a legal ingagement upon God as p. 289well as us to perform the New Covenant, is evident from Mark 16.16. He that believes and is baptized shall be saved; where it is evident, that Baptism as well as Faith doth confer a right to Salvation; and therefore since Faith confers it only as it is the Condition of the Covenant, Baptism must confer it as it is the Seal of the Covenant. And accordingly S. Peter exhorts his Converts to repent and be baptized for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost; from whence it is evident, that Baptism as well as Repentance has a great influence on our remission of sins, and our communication of the Holy Ghost. Since therefore Faith and Repentance are the whole condition of the promise of remission, and of the Holy Ghost, it necessarily follows, that Baptism doth not influence it as it is the Condition, but as it is the Seal of the Promise. And so also in Baptism we are said to wash away our sins, i. e. the guilt of them, Acts 22.16. because the sign of Baptism seals to us on God's part the Promise of Forgiveness. By all which it is evident, that Baptism is a federal Rite in which God and we do seal and ratifie to one another each others part of the New Covenant; and it is this sealing that makes the Covenant obliging to both Parties, and gives to each a legal Claim and Title to each others promise and engagement; to God it gives a legal Title to all that duty which we promise, and to us it gives a legal Title to all those blessings which God promises. So that till such time as we are Baptized, the New Covenant is not struck between God and us, nor have we any right or title to any of the blessings promised in it. And p. 290though we should perform all that duty which the Covenant requires, yet this will not at all intitle us to the blessings it promises. For he who engages to walk a Mile for me upon my promise to give him a thousand pounds, hath upon his performance a just claim and title to the whole Sum; whereas he that walks ten Miles for me without any such promise, hath a right to no more than what in strict justice he deserves. And therefore since what God promises in the New Covenant infinitely exceeds the merit of what he requires, our performance of what he requires doth not at all oblige him to bestow the blessings of his promise on us, unless we perform it upon a Covenant-engagement; and therefore till this engagement is made and sealed in our Baptism, we can have no promise to rely upon; and though we should nev…r so heartily endeavour to repent, we can…t claim the divine grace and assistance, and though we should actually repent, we can plead …o title to remission of sins, and though we should p…rsevere in well-doing to the end, we cannot challenge eternal life. And since our endeavours do not merit God's grace, nor our repentance his Pardon, nor our perseverance eternal life, he is no more obliged to bestow these blessings on us by his Iustice than he is by his Promise. So that in this state all we have to rely upon is the hope of an extraordinary mercy; that God will do for us that which he never promised, and bestow upon us that which he is not obliged to. But when once we have struck Covenant with him in Baptism, we have him fast obliged to us to perform his part of the Covenant, whenever p. 291we perform ours; and our being thus tied together as one party in one and the same Covenant by this federal Rite of Baptism, is that which makes us one Catholick Church or Community. For our admission into this New Covenant, which is the Churches Charter, is our admission into the Church it self; and it is by being intituled to all the blessings that belong to Christians in common, by vertue of the New Covenant, that we become Members of the Christian Community. And hence we are said to be Baptized into the body or Church of Christ, 1 Cor. 12.13. because Baptism, which is our admission into the Christian Covenant, is only in other words our admission into the Christian Church, which is nothing but the Body of Christian People joyned and confederated by the New Covenant.

Fourthly, The Church or Kingdom of Christ is one universal Society of all Christian People incorporated by the New Covenant in Baptism under Iesus Christ its supreme head. And it is this also that makes all Christian People one Body and Society, because they are all united under one and the same supreme head and Governour. For as several neighbouring Congregations are called in Scripture one Church, as I shall shew hereafter; because they were all under the Government of one and the same Bishop; so all the Churches under all the Bishops in the World are in Scripture called one Church, because they are all under one Governour, even Iesus Christ the supreme Bishop of our souls: And accordingly the Apostle tells us, that as there is but one body, i. e. one Church, so there is but one Lord or supreme Governour p. 292of that Church, Eph. 4.4, 5. and in Col. 1.18. he tells us, that Christ is the head of this body the Church; and again, Eph. 5.23. that the Husband is the head of the Wife, even as Christ is the head of the Church. For Christ being Mediator of the Covenant, by which we are incorporated into a Religious Society, it must be under him, as our immediate head and Governour, that we are incorporate by it; because as he is Mediator of it for God, his Office is to govern us for and under God, according to the terms and conditions of it.

Fifthly, The Church or Kingdom of Christ is one universal Society of all Christian People [distributed into particular Churches] which distribution is made for the convenience of divine Worship▪ For the Catholick Church being a vast Body composed of infinite parts which are separated from each other by vast distances of place, it is impossible for it to celebrate the Offices of Divine Worship in any one Assembly or Congregation. At first indeed the whole Catholick Church was only a single Congregation; but this in a little time encreased and multiplied so fast, that they could no longer exercise the Publick Worship of God together in one place or Assembly; and therefore the first distribution of it was into several Congregations which in Scripture are called by the name of Churches, as being similar parts of the Catholick Church, even as every breath of Air is called Air, and every drop of water, water. For thus those Believers who were wont to assemble in any one particular house to worship God together are frequently called Churches: as for instances, p. 293the Church in the house of Priscilla and Aquila, Rom. 16.5. The Church in the house of Nymphas, 1 Cor. 16.19. The Church in the house of Philemon, Col. 4.15. In which houses in all probability there was an upper Room Consecrated and set apart according to the Custom of the Jews for divine Worship, in which upper Rooms not only the Believers of the Family, but several other neighbouring Christians were wont to assemble for the publick exercise of Divine Worship. And so where ever the Scripture speaks of several Churches in the same Country; as for instances, the Churches of Iudea, Gal. 1.22. of Samaria and Galile…, Acts 9.31. it is evident, that by these Churches no more is meant but only the several Congregations of Believers in those several Churches.

But these Congregations growing numerous, there was a second distribution made of them, by which many of those Congregations neighbouring upon one another, were collected into one body, under one head or Bishop, who was the common guide and Pastor of all the Members, whether Lay or Clergy, appertaining to them. And these Collections of several Congregations under their several Bishops or Governours, are in Scripture also frequently called Churches; for thus for instance, the Church of Corinth contained in it several Congregations, and therefore though in the Dedication of his Epistle the Apostle calls it, the Church of God, in the singular number, which is at Corinth, 1 Cor. 1.2. yet in the Epistle he enjoyns, that the women should keep silence in the Churches, 1 Cor. 14.34▪ which is a plain p. 294Evidence, that in that Church there were several Churches or Congregations; and so also we read of the Churches of Asia, and Syria, Cilicia, and Macedonia, all which were large Countries; and did without doubt contain in them several Congregations of Christians; and thus also we read of the Church of Ierusalem in the singular number, and so of Antioch, Eph…sus, &c. which Churches doubtless consisted of several Congregations in and about th…se Populous Cities; which were all united into one body under the care and inspection of one Bishop or Governour.

Now as the first distribution of the Catholick Church into distinct Congregations was made for the convenience of Worship, it being impossible for the whole Church, when it began to encrease and enlarge it self, to celebrate the divine Offices by the Ministry of one and the same Pastor; so this second d…stribution of it into particular Churches, consisting of several Congregations, was made for the convenience of Government and Discipline; it being impossible for the whole Church to maintain its Order, Government, and Discipline, under the single inspection of any one Bishop or Governour: But yet notwithstanding th…se distributions the Churches unity still remains; for as the Empire was but one, notwithstanding that for the convenience of Society and Government it was distributed into several Cities and Regions, and those into several Provinces, because they were all incorporated together under one Civil head, the Emperor; so the Church is but one, though for the convenience of Worship and Government it be distributed into several p. 295Congregations, and those into several particular Churches or Episcopacies; because they are all incorporate under one spiritual Head, even Jesus Christ the supreme Bishop and Pastor of our Souls.

Sixthly, It is the universal Society of all Christian People distributed into particular Churches under lawful Governours and Pastors, and it is this indeed that constitutes them distinct Churches, viz. their being joyned and united together under distinct Pastors and Governours: For thus a single Congregation is a distinct Church, because all the Members of it do locally Communicate together in all the Offices of Divine Worship administred to them by a distinct Pastor; and so also a Collection of several Congregations is a distinct Church, because they all participate together of the direction and conduct of a distinct Governour. For, as I shewed before, the reason of these distributions of the Catholick Church first into single Congregations, was the Convenience of Worship, and then into several Collections of several Congregations was the Convenience of Government; and therefore since that which serves the convenience of Worship is the having distinct Pastors to administer it, and that which serves the convenience of Government is the having distinct Rulers to exercise it, it hence necessarily follows, that that which makes a Congregation a distinct distribution of the Catholick Church, must be its worshipping together under a distinct Pastor; and that which makes a Collection of Congregations a distinct distribution of the Catholick Church, must be its being united together under a distinct Governour; because without their p. 296Pastor or their Governour they want the formal reason of their being distributed into distinct Churches. And indeed there is no Church whatsoever, whether it be a single Congregation or a Collection of Congregations, can act as a Church without a Pastor or Governour. No Congregation can lawfully communicate in the publick Offices of Divine Worship without a lawful Pastor to administer it: no Collection of Congregations can lawfully exert any act of Church-Government without having an authorized Governour to exercise it. For the administration of all Church-Offices is committed by our Saviour into the hands of the Churches Officers; it is to them that he hath given the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, i. e. Authority to admit, or exclude, or readmit men into the Communion of the Church: It is they alone whom he hath made the Keepers of the Seals of the New Covenant, viz. Baptism and the Lord's Supper; they alone whom he hath authorized to teach the Gospel, to bless the People, and to offer up the Publick Prayers of Christian Assemblies. And these are the proper acts of a Church considered as a Church; so that without Pastors or Governours there is no Church can perform any of those acts that are proper to a Church: and therefore since all action proceeds from the Essence of the Agent; Pastors and Governours, without which Churches as such cannot act, must necessarily be essential to Churches: and hence the Apostle tells us, that the great purpose for which Christ ordained Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, and Pastors, and Teachers was, foreign, for the compacting or joyning together the p. 297Saints as one body in Church-Communion and Society, Eph. 4.11, 12. and hence also you find the Churches of Asia following the number of the Angels or Rulers of them; Rev. 1.20. which plainly implies, that therefore they were seven distinct Churches, because they had seven distinct Rulers or Bishops; and therefore though the Ordination of Pastors and Bishops is not consined to the Ministry of any particular Church, but extends to the Ministry of the Church Catholick, for so S. Paul, Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, all are yours, and you are Christ's, that is, they are all Ministers of the Catholick Church in common, of which you are Members, and as such you have all a share in them, 1 Cor. 3.22, 23. yet it is the particular application of this their general capacity to this or that particular number of Christians or Congregations of Christians, that constitutes them particular Churches; and being first authorized Ministers of the Catholick Church, they carry along with them into the particular Church they are sent to, all that Church-Authority and Power by which it acts and operates as a Church: So that without Pastors or Governours particular Churches are nothing but so many Bodies without Souls, to animate and act them; and therefore as in natural Bodies the form that acts them doth also constitute their Kind and Species, so in these Ecclesistical Bodies the Pastors and Governours, that move and act them as Churches, do also constitute them Churches. What these lawful Pastors and Governours are, I shall have occasion to discourse hereafter, when I come to treat of the Ministers of p. 298Christ's Kingdom; it being sufficient at present to shew the necessity of them to the constituting particular Churches.

Seventhly, The Church is one universal Society of all Christian People distributed into particular Churches [holding Communion with each other] by holding Communion with each other, I mean, owning each other as parts of the same body, and admitting each others Members, as occasion serves, into actual Communion with them in all their Religious Offices. It is true, in the Primitive Churches there were sundry prudential acts of Communion pass'd between them, such as their formed and communicatory Letters, by which the holy Bishops gave an account to each other of the state and condition of their respective Churches, and consulted each others judgment about them; but these were not at all essential to that Communion which they were obliged, as true Churches, to maintain with one another. All the Communion which they are obliged to, as they are similar parts and distributions of the Catholick Church, is that they should not divide into separate Churches, so as to exclude each others Members from Communicating in each others Worship, when ever they have occasion to travel from one Church to another. For so long as there is no Rupture between distant Churches, no declared disowning of each other, no express refusal of any act of Communion to each others Members, they may be truly said to maintain all necessary Communion with each other. And that this Communion is absolutely necessary between all those particular Churches p. 299into which the Catholick Church is distributed will evidently appear from these four considerations. First, that by Baptism, as was shewed before, all Christian People are made Members of the Catholick Church, and by being made Members of it they are all obliged to Communicate with it; for how can they act as parts of the whole, that hold no Communication with the whole? They who are Members of any Society have not only a Right to communicate in all the common Benefits of it, but also an Obligation to communicate in all common Offices of it; and therefore since by Baptism we are made Members of the Catholick Church or Society of Christians, we are thereby not only entituled to partake with it in all its Priviledges, but also obliged to joyn with it in all its Offices. But then secondly, it is farther to be considered, that the Catholick Church being all distributed into particular Churches, we can no otherwise communicate with it, than by communicating with some particular Church; for how can we communicate with the whole, that is all distributed into parts, without communicating with some part of the whole? And since the whole is nothing but only a Collection of all the parts, what Communion can they hold with the whole, who hold no Communion with any part of it? So long therefore as there is any such thing as a visible Catholick Church upon Earth, we are obliged by our Baptism, unless necessity hinder us, to maintain a visible Communion with it; and so long as this Catholick Church is all distributed into so many particular visible Churches, we cannot visibly communicate with it, unless we communicate p. 300with some one of those particular Churches. For how can we be in Communion with the whole body, when we are out of Communion with all the parts, unless we can find a body to communicate with without all its parts, or some universal Church without all particular Churches. But then thirdly, it is also to be considered that as we cannot Communicate with the universal Church without Communicating with some particular one, so neither do we Communicate with the universal Church by Communicating with any particular one, unless that particular one be in Communion with the Church Universal. For if I cannot communicate with the whole without being in Communion with some part of the whole, it is impossible I should communicate with the whole unless I communicate with some part that is in Communion with the whole. It is as possible for a Finger to communicate with a body by being joyned to an Arm that is separated from the body; as it is for a Christian to Communicate with the Church Catholick by being joyned to a Church that is separate from the Church Catholick. But then fourthly and lastly, There is no particular Church can be in Communion with the Catholick, that separates it self from the Communion of any particular Church that is in Communion with the Catholick. For they who separate from any part of any whole, must necessarily separate from the whole, because the whole is nothing but all the parts together; and it is a contradiction to say, that they who are separated from any one part are yet united to all. How then is it possible for any Church to separate p. 301it self from the Communion of any other Church, which is a true part of the Church Catholick, without separating it self from the Communion of the Church Catholick it self; since the Church Catholick is nothing but a Collection of all true Churches; and to be at the same time united to all true Churches, and separated from one true Church, is the same absurdity as to be separated from all true Churches, and yet united to one. In short, the Catholick Church is one, by the Communion of all its parts, and therefore they who break Communion with any one part must necessarily disunite themselves from the whole. For when two Churches separate from one another, it must be, either because the one requires such terms of Communion as are not Catholick, or because the other refuses such as are. Now that Church which requires sinful or uncatholick terms of Communion, doth thereby exclude not only one, but all parts of the Catholick Church from its Communion, because they are all equally obliged not to Communicate with any Church upon sinful terms of Communion, and that Church which excludes all parts of the Catholick Church from its Communion, must in so doing separate it self from the Communion of the Catholick Church. And so on the other hand, that Church which refuses the Communion of any other Church upon lawful and Catholick terms, doth thereby separate it self from Communion of all parts of the Church Catholick, because it separates from a part that is in Communion with all the parts of it; for that Church which may be lawfully Communicated with is in Communion with all other p. 302Churches that are in Communion with the Catholick Church; and therefore that Church which separates from its Communion cannot be in the number of those Churches that are in Communion with the Catholick Church; and how then can this separating Church be in the Communion of the Catholick Church, when it is out of the Communion of any one of those Churches of which the Catholick Church consists? All those particular Churches therefore into which the Catholick Church is distributed, must be in Communion with each other, otherwise they are so far from being distributions of the Catholick Church, that they are only so many Schisms and divisions from it. For if every Christian is obliged by his Baptism to Communicate with the Catholick Church; and if he can no otherwise Communicate with it than by Communicating with some particular Church, which is in Communion with the Church Catholick; and lastly, if no particular Church can be in Communion with the Church Catholick which is not in Communion with all the Churches of which the Church Catholick consists; then it is absolutely necessary that all those Churches into which the Church Catholick is distributed should maintain a Catholick Communion with one another.

Eighthly and lastly, The Communion which these particular Churches into which the Catholick Society of Christians is distributed, hold with each other is threefold: 1. In all the Essentials of Christian Faith: 2. In all the Essentials of Christi…n Worship. 3. In all the Ess…ntials of Christian Discipline.

p. 303I. In all the Essentials of Christian Faith; By the Essentials of Christian Faith, I mean those Doctrines, the belief of which is necessary to the very being of Christianity; for as in all Arts and Sciences there are some first Principles upon which the whole Scheme of their Doctrines depends, and the denial of which like the removing the foundations of a building dissolves and ruines the whole structure; so in Christianity there are some Principles so fundamental to it, as that the removal of them shakes the whole Scheme of it in pieces. Now the great Fundamental, as the Apostle tells us, is Jesus Christ, for other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Iesus Christ, 1 Cor. 3.11. so that by removing the belief of Iesus Christ from the Christian Religion, we necessarily sink and dissolve the whole structure; and accordingly the Apostle pronounces those men Apostates from Christianity who hold not the head, which is Jesus Christ, Col. 2.19. but yet the bare belief of Iesus Christ, or of this Proposition, that Christ came from God, and was his Messias and Anointed, is not all that is essential to the Christian Faith, which includes not only his Mission from God, but also the end of his Mission, viz. to be a Mediator between God and Man. For Christianity, as it is distinguished from Natural Religion, is nothing but the Religion of the Mediator, as consisting wholly of the Doctrine of the Mediator, together with the duties thence arising; so that whatsoever Proposition the Mediatorship of Christ necessarily and immediately implies, it is a fundamental Article of the Christian Faith, which no man can deny, without innovating p. 304the whole Religion, and turning it into a quite different Doctrine from true and real Christianity. For this Proposition, that Christ came from God to Mediate between God and Man, includes the whole Doctrine of the Gospel: and therefore whatsoever Proposition is either so necessarily included in it, or so inseparably conjoyned with it, as that the denial of it doth by necessary and immediate consequence overthrow the Mediation of our Saviour, it must be essential to the Christian Faith; and the more necessary Connection there is between any particular Doctrine, and this all-comprehending Doctrine of the Mediation, the more necessary and essential it is to the Christian Faith.

Now whosoever believes not, or at least denies any Essential part of the Christian Faith, is not a Christian, and that not only because he wants a part of that Faith which denominates men Christians, but also because by disbelieving that part he doth by necessary consequence overthrow the whole of Christianity, for so Tertul. de Praescr. c. 37. expresly asserts, Si Haeretici sunt, Christiani esse non possunt, i. e. they who are Hereticks cannot be Christians; and hence it is that Hereticks, who are such as obstinately deny any fundamental Article of Christianity, are in Scripture ranked in the same C…ass with Heathens and Infidels; for all true Christians are required to shun and avoid them as unclean persons, the very touch of whose conversation was enough to defile them, Rom. 16.17. and the Governours of the Church are required to anathematize or exclude them from all Christian Communion, p. 305Gal. 1.8. to reject them, Tit. 3.10. and withdraw themselves from them, 1 Tim. 6.5. that is, to treat them as Heathens and Infidels, who have no right or title to Christian Communion; and if Heretical persons are to be thus treated, then much more are Heretical Churches, and if every single Heretick be condemned of himself, as the Apostle affirms, Tit. 3.11. i. e. excommunicated by his own Sentence or Doctrine, whereby he voluntarily departs from the Church, and so cuts off himself from its Communion, then certainly so is every Heretical Community; and therefore as such must be utterly unqualified for Christian Communion. And if Heresie excommunicates not only Heretical Persons, but Heretical Societies, then a common Agreement in all the Essentials of Christian Faith, which is the opposite of Heresie, is necessarily included in Catholick Communion; and accordingly the Scripture frequently presses all Christian People to this common agreement, as to a most essential part of their Communion with each other: For so they are required to mind or think one and the same thing, Phil. 2.2. to stand fast in one spirit with one mind, 2 Cor. 13.11. to walk by the same rule, and think the same thing, Phil. 1.27. to be joyned together in the same mind, and in the same judgment, 1 Cor. 1.10. To hold fast the form of sound words, 2 Tim. 1.13. to strive together for the faith of the Gospel, Phil. 1.27. and to keep that which is committed to us, 1 Tim. 6.20. which is that one form of Doctrine which was delivered to us, Rom· 6.17. The meaning of all which is not to oblige us to be of one mind and judgment p. 306in all points of Religion; for that is no more in our power than it is to be all of one stature or complexion; but that we should all unanimously consent in all those fundamental Articles of which that one Faith consists, which is the common Creed of Christians: So that it is not the differing of one Church from another in Doctrines that are either remote from or near the foundations of Christianity, that dissolves their Communion in the Christian Faith; but so long as the essential Doctrines of the Gospel are secured on both sides, no corrupt Doctrines on either side can warrant a breach of Communion between them. It is true, if the erring Church imposes the belief of its errors as a Condition of its Communion, no Church or Christian, that believes them to be errors, can lawfully Communicate with it, be those errors never so small or inconsiderable; not that in themselves they are a sufficient cause of separation, but because they who do not believe them cannot profess they do, without telling a lie, which is a condition that is simply unlawful: And so also when the errors are such as do corrupt the vital and essential parts of her Worship, so that there is no communicating with her in her Worship without communicating in her corruptions; all Churches and Christians are obliged to abstain from its Communion, not because of the errors simply considered in themselves, but because they profane and desecrate her Worship with those sinful intermixtures they infuse into it; so that we cannot joyn with her in her Worship, without joyning with her in her sin: so that there is no error can separate any Church or Christian from p. 307the Catholick Communion of Faith, but only Heresie, which is a perverse renunciation of some essential part or fundamental Article of that Faith.

Secondly, The Communion which the particular Churches, of which the Catholick Church consists, hold with each other is in all the Essentials also of Christian Worship. By the Essentials of Christian Worship, I mean the Invocation of the one Eternal God through the one Mediator Jesus Christ, and the participation of the two Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper. Hence the Apostle tells us, that as there is but one common Faith wherein all true Christians communicate with each other, so there is but one Lord, Eph. 4.4. and but one God for us to address to, and one Mediator between God and man for us to address by, 1 Tim. 2.5. and therefore to address to this one God by this one Mediator, is an essential part of Christian Worship. And the same Apostle tells us, that there is but one Baptism, Eph. 4.4. and but one bread of which we are all partakers, 1 Cor. 10 17. and therefore to participate of these Sacraments must also be essential to Christian Worship; so that all those particular Churches that admit each others Members upon lawful terms to communicate with them in worshipping this one God, through this one Mediator, and in this one Baptism, and one Eucharistical Bread and Cup, are so far in Communion with the Church Catholick. For in these acts of Christian Worship consists the principal part of Christian Communion, and therefore that Church which refuses either to admit other Churches to communicate with her p. 308in these acts of Worship, or to communicate with them in them upon lawful terms, doth so far separate it self from the Christian Communion, I say upon lawful terms, because if it either require unlawful, or refuse lawful ones, it utterly excludes all other Churches from its Communion. If on the one hand it hath sophisticated its Worship with any unlawful intermixtures, so that there is no participating with her in the one, without partaking with her in the other; If we cannot pray with her to the one God by the one Mediator, without praying to Creatures too, or praying by other Mediators also: If we cannot partake with her in her Baptism, without partaking with her in some sinful and impure Rites of Baptism: In a word, if we cannot be admitted to receive the Lord's Supper with her, without receiving it by halves, or being obliged to pay divine homage to its Elements; in this case, I say, all Christians and Christian Churches are utterly excluded by her from communicating with her in the Essentials of Christian Worship. And so on the other hand, if a Church forbid its Members to Communicate upon occasion with any other Church in these acts of Christian Worship, upon lawful terms, in so doing it divides it self from the Communion of the Church Catholick; and though that Church it refuses to communicate with, should through the neglect of its Discipline have a great many bad men as well as good in it; though it should require the observation of a great many indifferent Rites, Customs, and Ceremonies, yea, and of contrary Rites and Customs to its own; yet so long as the Essentials of its p. 309Worship are kept pure and entire, and are not so blended with unlawful intermixtures ▪ but that we may safely partake of them, without being at all obliged to partake of any sin; in this case I say to refuse to Communicate with it, is to separate from the Communion of the Catholick Church. For for the same reason that any Church refuses to Communicate with this Church, it must refuse to Communicate with all other Churches in the World, because we cannot to this day, nor ever could Communicate with any Church in the World in which there was not some defect of Discipline, some intermixture of bad men with good, and some indifferent Modes and Ceremonies of Worship.

Thirdly and lastly, Another thing wherein those particular Churches into which the Catholick Church is distributed do communicate with each other, is in the Essentials of Christian Regiment and Discipline; for though the particular Modes and Circumstances of Christian Government and Discipline are not determined by divine Institution, but left for the most part free to the prudent ordering and disposal of the Governours of particular Churches; yet there is a standing form of Government and Discipline in the Church instituted by our Saviour himself, which, as I shall shew hereafter, is this, that there should be an Episcopacy, or Order of men authorized in a continued Succession from the Apostles (who were Authorized by himself) to oversee and govern all those particular Churches into p. 310which the Church Catholick should be hereafter distributed▪ to Ordain inferiour Ministers to teach, and instruct, and administer the holy Offices to particular Congregations; and having Ordained them, to guide and direct them in the discharge of their Functions, to prescribe the particular Rules of outward Order and Decency to the People of the respective Churches committed to their Charge, to confirm the weak, and admonish the disorderly, and correct the obstinate, by excluding them from the Communion of the Church of Christ. These things therefore being all of divine Institution, are the Essentials of Christian Government and Discipline, in which all Christian Churches are obliged to Communicate with each other. And this being the standing Government and Discipline of the Catholick Church, no particular Church or Community of Christians can refuse to communicate in it without dividing it self from the Communion of the Church Catholick; I say, refuse to Communicate in it, because it is possible for a Church to be without this Government and Discipline which yet doth neither refuse it, nor the Communion of any other Church for the sake of it. A Church may be debarred of it by unavoidable necessities in despite of its power, and against its consent, and under this circumstance I can by no means think such a Church to be separated from the Church Catholick; it is indeed an imperfect and defective part of the Catholick Church, and if this defect of it be any way owing to its own negligence, it is a very great fault in it, as well as an unhappiness. But though this instituted Government p. 311is necessary to the perfection of a Church, yet it doth not therefore follow that it is necessary to the being of it. For even in the Jewish Church, wherein all things were determined by divine institution, even to the minutest Circumstances, there were sundry notorious deviations from that Institution, which yet did not un-church them. It was a great deviation in them to offer Sacrifice in their High Places, after God had determined them to Sacrifice only at the Temple at Ierusalem: It was another great deviation in them, to make Priests out of other Families, after God had determined them to the Family of Aaron; and yet it is certain, that neither the one nor the other did un-church them: And if these deviations from divine Institution, which were the effects of their negligence, did not yet un-church them, it is not to be imagined that such deviations from it as are the pure effects of necessity should un-church others. For though no necessity can dispence with the Eternal Laws of good and evil, because the observance of them depends wholly upon our Wills, and there is no such necessity can happen to us, as can put them out of the power of a willing mind, yet as for positive Institutions, there are a thousand necessities may occur, any one of which may render them wholly unpracticable, and then no man can be obliged to do that which is impossible; as for instance, the whole Family of Aaron might have been extinct, and if it had, it is evident that positive institution by which God required the Jews to chuse their Priests out of the Family of Aaron, must have been wholly unpracticable, and consequently the p. 312Obligation of it must have for ever expired; and they must have been obliged, notwithstanding that positive Institution, either wholly to have dropt their Priesthood, and with that their Publick Worship, (which was much more necessary to them than that their Priests should be all of such a Family,) or to have chosen their Priests out of other Families of the Tribe of Levi; and if in this exigence they had done the later, there is no doubt but that the Divine Providence which created the necessity, must thereby have designedly dispensed with its own institution, and so have left them free to make Priests out of other Families. And by the same reason, when ever the divine Providence doth by unavoidable necessity deprive any Church of its Episcopacy, it thereby, for the present at least, and whilst the necessity continues, releases it from the obligation of the Institution of Episcopacy, and allows it to administer its Government and Disscipline by a Parity of Presbyters. And therefore so long as it doth not renounce the Episcopacy, but still continues in Communion with other Churches that enjoy it, it ought to be look'd upon and communicated with as a true Member (though a maimed one) of the Church Catholick; For the Catholick Church never denied her Communion to any Christian or Community of Christians upon any unavoidable deviation from positive Institution. It was without doubt as great a deviation from positive Institution for Lay-men to Baptize, as for a Parity of Presbyters to Govern or Ordain, &c. and yet in cases of necessity the Catholick Church always allowed the Baptism of Laymen, p. 313as deeming Baptism in it self more necessary than the administration of Baptism by persons in Holy Orders, and therefore where such persons could not be had, she thought meet rather to admit that Lay-men should administer it, than to suffer such as were qualified for it to die unbaptized. And why may we not reasonably suppose that the Catholick Church will admit Presbyters to Govern and Ordain, where there are no Bishops to be had, since it hath admitted Lay-men to Baptize, where there are neither Bishops nor Presbyters to be had? Since the later is as great a deflection from positive Institution as the former: And if the Catholick Church may be reasonably presumed to allow it in such necessary cases, we must acknowledge either that she hath not Authority enough to provide against her own necessities, which supposes her to be very defective; or that her allowance is sufficient to authorize such persons to Rule and Ordain, as well as to Baptize, in case of necessity, as are not authorized by positive Institution.

But though a Community of Christians may be a true part of the Catholick Church, and in Communion with it, though it hath no Episcopacy; yet it is plain case, that if it rejects the Episcopacy, and separates from the Communion of it, it thereby wholly divides it self from the Communion of the Catholick Church. For whether Episcopacy be of divine Institution or no, this is matter of fact granted on all hands, that for twelve hundred years at least all those Churches into which the Catholick Church hath been distributed have been subject to the p. 314Episcopal Government and Discipline, and therefore they who now separate themselves from the Episcopal Communion as such, must in so doing separate themselves from the Communion of all Churches for twelve hundred years together, and then either all those Churches must be out of the Communion of the Catholick Church, and consequently during all that time there must be no such thing as a visible Catholick Church upon Earth; or else those Communities of Christians which separate from all those Churches must be Schisms and Separations from the Catholick Church.