Works of Joseph Hall, Section 18 – Section 19
SECTION XVIII.
CAn you thinke this hangs well together?The want of pretended Ordinances of God, whether ſinfull to vsus: and whether they are to bee ſet vp without Princes. foreign, &c. foreign. N…m per exteriorem vi…l…tiā cor…pitur, ſi interior innocentia cuſtodiat…r. cap. 114. 3. Cuſtodi, &c. Ad docendum populum Iſrael… ticum, omnipotens Deus Prophetis praeconium dedit, non Regibus imperauit. Aug. l. 2. contra Gau. c. 11. Barr. cauſes of ſeparat. def. p. 6. Barr. Reformation without tarrying. Aug. contra Petilian. l. 2. Optatus Mileuit. lib. 30. Bar. ſecond Examination before the Lord Archbiſhop and Lord Chiefe-Iuſtice compar. with his reply to M. Gyff. Art. 5. You ſhould here want many of Gods Ordinances: why ſhould you want them? Becauſe you are not ſuffered to enioy them: who hinders it? Superior powers: Did euer man wilfully and hainouſly offend, for wanting of that which he could not hauehave? What hath conſcience to doe with that which is out of our power? Is neceſſity with you become a ſinne, and that hainous? Dauid is driuen to lurke in the wilderneſſe, and forced to want the vſe of many diuine Ordinances: It was his ſorrow, not his tranſgreſſion: Hee complaines of this, but doth he accuſe himſelfe of ſinne? Not to deſire them had beene ſinne, no ſinne to be debarred them: Well might this be Sauls ſinne, but not his. HaueHave you not ſinnes enow of your owne, that you muſt needs borrow of others? But I ſee your ground: You are bound to hauehave theſe Ordinances; and therefore without Princes, yea againſt them: ſo it is your tranſgreſſion to want them in ſpight of Magiſtrates: Gaudentius the Donatiſt taught you this of old; And this is one of the Hebrew Songs which Maſter Barrow ſings to vsus in Babylon, that we care not to make Chriſt attend vponupon Princes, and to be ſubiect to their Lawes and Gouernment: and his Predeceſſor (the root of your Sect) tels vsus in this ſenſe the Kingdome of Heauen muſt ſuffer violence, and that it comes not with obſeruation; that men may ſay, Loe, the Parliament, or loe, the Biſhops decrees: and in the ſame Treatiſe; The Lords Kingdome muſt wait on your policy, forſooth; and his Church muſt be framed your ciuill State, &c. Iuſt as that Donatiſt of old, in Auguſtine, Quid vobis, &c. What hauehave you to doe with worldly Emperours? and as that other in Optatus: Quid Imperatoricum Eccleſia? What hath the Emperor to doe with the Church? Yea, your Martyr feares not to teach vsus, that Gods ſeruants being as yet priuate men, may and muſt together build his Church, though all the Princes of the World ſhould prohibit the ſame vponupon paine of death: Belike then you ſhould ſinne hainouſly, if you ſhould not be Rebels. The queſtion is not, whether we ſhould aske leaue of Princes to be Chriſtians; but whether of Chriſtian Princes we ſhould aske leaue to eſtabliſh circumſtances of Gouernment: God muſt be ſerued though we ſuffer; our bloud is well beſtowed vponupon our Maker: but in patience, not in violence. Priuate profeſſion is one thing; Publike Reformation and Iniunction is another; EueryEvery man muſt doe that in the maine: none may doe this, but they of whom God ſaies, I hauehave ſaid, Ye are Gods: and of them, There is difference betwixt Chriſtian and Heathen Princes: If (at leaſt) all Princes were not to you Heathen: If theſe ſhould hauehave beene altogether ſtayed for, Religion had come late: If the other ſhould not be ſtayed for, Religion would ſoone bee ouerlayd with confuſion: Laſtly, the body of Religion is one thing, the skirts of outward Gouernment another: that may not depend on men to be embraced, or (with loyaltie) proſecuted: theſe (vponupon thoſe generall rules Chriſt) both may, and doe, and muſt: If you cut off but one lap of theſe with Dauid, you ſhall bee touched: To deny this power to Gods Deputies on Earth, what is it, but Ye take too much vponupon you, Moſes and Aaron, 1 Sam. 24.6. Numb. 16.3.all the Congregation is holy: wherefore lift ye your ſelues aboue the Congregation of the Lord? See, if herein you come not too neere the wals of that Rome, which yee ſo abhorre and accurſe, in aſcribing ſuch power to the Church, none to Princes.Counterpoyſ. pag. 2.30. Let your Doctor tell you,2 Chron. 13. 2 Chr. 14. & 15. 2 Chron. 29. 2 Chron. 30. 2 Chron. 34. whether the beſt Iſraelites in the times of Abiſah, Aſa, Iehoſaphat, Ezekiah, Ioſiah, tooke vponupon them to reforme without, or before, or againſt their Princes? Yea, did Nehemiah himſelfe without Ar…hſhat (though an Heathen King) ſet vponupon the wals of Gods City▪ Or what did …erubbabel▪ and Ieſhua without Cyrus? In whoſe time Hagg… and Zechariah propheſied indeed, but built not: And when contrary Letters came from aboue, they …id by both Trowels and Swords: They would be Iewes ſtill, they would not be Rebels for God:Ezr. 4.23, 24. Had thoſe letters inioyned Swines fleſh, or Idolatry, or forbidden the vſe of the Law, thoſe which now yeelded, had ſuffered, and at once teſtified their obedience to authority, and piety to him that ſits in the Aſſembly of theſe earthen gods. I vrge no more: Perhaps you are more wiſe, or leſſe mutinous: you might eaſily therefore purge your conſcience from this ſinne, of wanting what you might not perforce enioy.
Say that your Church ſhould imploy you backe to this our Babylon, for the calling out of more proſelytes: you are intercepted, impriſoned: Shall it bee ſinne in you not to heare the Propheſies at Amſterdam? The Clinke is a lawfull excuſe: If your feet bee bound, your conſcience is not bound. In theſe Negatiues, outward force takes away both ſinne and blame, and alters them from the patient to the actor: ſo that now you ſee your ſtraight bonds (if they were ſuch) looſed by obedience, and ouer-ruling power.
SECTION XIX.
The bonds of Gods Word vniuſtly pleaded by the Separ.BVT what bonds were theſe ſtraight ones? Gods Word and your owne neceſſitie: Both ſtrong and indiſſoluble.
Where God hath bidden, God forbid that we ſhould care for the forbiddance of men: I reuerence from my ſoule (ſo doth our Church, their deare ſiſter) thoſe worthy forraine Churches which hauehave choſen and followed thoſe formes of outward Gouernment that are eueryevery way fitteſt for their own condition. It is enough for your Sect to cenſure them: I touch nothing common to them with you:*Aug. Epiſt. 58. Paſtores autem & Doctores qu… maxime vt diſcerner…m voluiſti, eoſdem puto eſſe ſicut. & …ibi viſum eſt, vt non alios Paſtores, alios Doctores intelligeremus, ſed ideo cùm praedixiſſet Paſtores, ſubi…xiſſe Doctores, vt intelligerent Paſtores ad officium ſuum pertinere doctrinam. Barr. againſt Gyff. inueighs for this cauſe againſt the Conſiſtorie of Geneua. Fr. Iohnſ. complaints of the Dutch. and Fr. Churches. Deſcription of a viſible Church cannot make a Diſtinct. in the Definition of their Offices. State of Chriſtians 119. Deſcription of viſible Church. H. Clap. Epiſt. before his Treatiſe of Sinne againſt the Holy Ghoſt. Browniſts 4. Poſition. Trouble and Excom. at Amſter. Fr. Iohnſ. in a Letter to M. Smith. While the world ſtandeth, where will it euer be ſhewed out of the Sacred Booke of God, that hee hath charged, Let there be perpetuall Lay-Elders in eueryevery Congregation: Let eueryevery Aſſembly hauehave a Paſtor and Doctor, diſtinct in their charge and offices: Let all Deciſions, Excommunications, Ordinations, bee performed by the whole multitude: Let priuate Chriſtians (aboue the firſt turne, in extremitie) agree to ſet ouer themſelues a Paſtor, choſen from amongſt them, and receiue him with Prayer, and (vnleſſe that Ceremony be turned to pompe and Superſtition) by impoſition of hands. Let there bee Widowers (which you call Releeuers) appointed eueryevery where to the Church-Seruice. Let certaine diſcreet and able men which are not Miniſters, bee appointed to preach the Goſpell, and whole truth of God to the people.
All the learned Diuines of other Churches are in theſe left, yea, in the moſt of them cenſured by you: Hath God ſpoken theſe things to you alone? Plead not Reuelations, and we feare you not. Pardon ſo homely an example: As ſoone, and by the ſame illumination ſhall G. Iohnſ. proue to your Conſiſtory the lace of the Paſtors wiues ſleeue, or rings, or Whalebones, or others amongſt you (as your Paſtor confeſſeth) knit-ſtockings, or corke-ſhooes forbidden flatly by Scriptures, as theſe commanded. Wee ſee the letter of the Scriptures with you: you ſhall fetch bloud of them with ſtraining, ere you ſhall wring out this ſenſe: No, no, (M.R.) neuer make God your ſtale: Many of your ordinances came from no higher than your owne braine: Others of them though God acknowledges, yet he impoſed not: Pretend what you will: Theſe are but the cords of your owne conceit, not bonds of Chriſtian obedience.