The Divine Right of Church Government and Excommunication, Title page – Dedication
THE DIVINE RIGHT OF Church-Government AND Excommunication: OR A peaceable DISPUTE for the perfection of the holy Scripture in point of Ceremonies and Church-Government; IN WHICH The removal of the Service-book is juſtifi'd, The ſix Books of Tho: Eraſtus againſt Excommunication are briefly examin'd; with a Vindication of that eminent Divine Theod: Beza againſt the Aſperſions of Eraſtus, The Arguments of Mr. William Pryn, Rich: Hooker, Dr. Morton, Dr. Jackson, Dr. John Forbes, and The Doctors of Aberdeen; Touching Will-worſhip, Ceremonies, Imagery, Idolatry, Things Indifferent, An Ambulatory Government; The due and juſt Power of the Magiſtrate in matters of Religion, and The Arguments of Mr. Pryn, in ſo far as they ſide with Eraſtus, are modeſtly diſcuſſed.
To which is added, A brief Tractate of SCANDAL; with an Anſwer to the new Doctrine of the Doctors of Aberdeen, touching Scandal.
By SAMUEL RUTHERFURD, Profeſſor of Divinity in the Univerſity of St. Andrews in Scotland.
Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, ſaith the Lord of hoſts,
Zach. 4. 6.
Veritas claudi & ligari poteſt, vinci non poteſt. Hieronymus comment. ad Ierem. in Prefati. ad Euſebium.
Occultari ad tempus poteſt veritas, vinci non poteſt, florere poteſt ad tempus iniquitas, per manere non poteſt.
Auguſtinus ad Pſal. 61.
Publiſhed by AUTHORITY
London▪ Printed by JOHN FIELD for Christopher Meredith at the Crane in Pauls Church yard. MDCXLVI.
TO The Right Honorable and Noble Lord, The EARL of LOVDEN, Chancellor of Scotland; AND Chancellor of the Univerſity of St. Andrews, Grace, Mercy and Peace.
RIGHT HONORABLE,
AS Jeſus Chriſt the wonderful, the Iſa. 9. 6.Counſellor, the mighty God driveth on his great State-deſign in the whole Earth, and now in theſe Kingdoms, to to ſave an afflicted people, to dye his Garments in the blood of his Enemies, and to build the Tabernacle of God amongſt men, and cauſe the wildernes bloſſome as a Roſe, that theIſa. 35 1, 2. glory of Lebanon, and the excellency of Carmel and Sharon may in a spiritual manner be given to Zion; So he ſtill acteth in his own sphere of Righteouſnes, and all inferior wheels in their revolutions move toward his moſt eminent end; for the Courtiers and Royal AttendantsPſal. 97. 1. of his Throne are Righteouſnes and Judgement. And he deſireth that the motions and wayes of his people may be concentrick to his own heart, andVel lubentes, vel vi attracti decreta Dei ſe quamur neceſſe eſt. move in the ſame Orb with himſelf; we muſt either walk, or be drawn to the end of Jeſus Chriſt, his end cannot come down and comply with our policy. When men go with one head, and two faces, and two hearts, Providence can beguil them: we are then ſafe, and do ſail at the Haven of the Sea when we walk with God, and our way draweth a ſtraight line to the heart of Jeſus Chriſt. Theſe two Kingdoms have before them an end▪ the Covenant to be a people to God; this we did Swear with our Hands lifted up to the moſt High; the ſtones of the field ſhall witnes againſt us, and the Sword of the Lord avenge the quarrel of his Covenant, if we dally with the Lord, as if the Vow of God, that the Lord may be one, and his Name one in both Kingdoms had been on us, when we were low only, and our Oath had a date only till the Year 1645. and then our Vow muſt exspire, as did the Law of ſhaddows, when the Body Jeſus Chriſt came. As ſucceſſe is a poor and waxy Kalender for Religion, ſo the low condition of our Kingdom, I hope, ſhall not move us to forſake the Lords cauſe, or to blame God, becauſe good cauſes have ſometimes ſad events; for beſide that Heathens ſaid, that God cannot erre, becauſe Marius ex culpâ gloriam reportavit, Marius was made glorious by ill-doing, and one hath a Croſſe,Ille crucem ſceleris pretium tulit, hic diadema. Iuven. Saty. 10. another a Kings Crown for a reward of wickedneſſe, we know that God, however it be, is good to Iſrael. If that which was intended for Vnion, ſhall by mens wickedneſſe, turn to a ſad Diviſion between the Kingdoms, I ſhall believe, that the truly Godly of either Kingdoms, can ſcarce be capable of ſuch bloody intentions, as ſhall leave a Legacy of perpetuated blood to the Poſterity; and ſure, though for the preſent guiltineſſe, ſtrength prevail, yet habent Deum ultorem, men on Earth cannot long be ſtrong againſt Vengeance from Heaven. As ſucceſſe doth inebriate, ſo extremity of a low condition is a wicked Counſellor; and evil Iealouſie, as Hell, thinketh alwayes evil. All whoſe bowels are moved for the Deſolation, Graves, multiplied Widows and Orphans of both Kingdoms will not dare (Judgement from the Almighty being a terrour to them) to adde affliction to the people of God already afflicted. Bleſſed ſhall they be of the Lord, who mediate for preventing of National ruptures, and for the continuance of the Brotherly Covenant. Chriſt Jeſus is a uniting Saviour, one God, one Faith, one Lord Jeſus, one Religion ſhould be, and I beſeech the God of Peace, they may be Chains of Gold to tie theſe tipo Nations and Churches together in uno tertio, that they may be concentered and united in one Lord Jeſus. O that that precious Dew of Hermon, that ſhowers of Love and Peace may lie all the night upon the Branches of the two Olive Trees, that the warmneſſe, heat, and influence of one Sun of Righteouſneſſe with healing in his wings, may make the Lilly amongſt the Thorns, the Roſe of Sharon, that is planted by the Lord, the Spouſe of Jeſus Chriſt in both Kingdoms to ſpred its Root, and caſt its Smell, as green and flouriſhing to all the Nations round about. The Kingdom of God is Peace. The Lord is about a great work in Britain, why ſhould Diviſions that proceed from the luſts of men▪ and the enemies of the Lord retard the wheels of the Chariot of Chriſt? Let us not water the Lilly with blood again. The Sons of Babel have ſhed our blood in great abundance, for the which doth the Church of God in the three Kingdoms ſtand, and Pray and Prophecy in ſackcloth. The violence Ier. 51. 35.done to me and to my fleſh be upon Babylon, ſhall the Inhabitants of Zion ſay: And my blood upon the Woman arrayed in Purple and Scarlet, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations Rev 17. 3. 5.of the Earth, ſhall Ieruſalem ſay. Happy we, if we could for the ſecond Temple builded, and the Lord repairing the old waſte places, and the Gentiles Iſa. 62. 1, 2▪beholding the Righteouſneſſe of the Elder Sister the Church of the Jews, and both as a Crown of Glory in the hand of the Lord, and as a Royal Diadem in the hand of our God.
I ſhall not need, I hope, either of an Apology for Intituling this Piece, ſuch as it is, (others can, and I hope will adde riper Animadverſions to Eraſtus) to Your Honours Name, or of a word of incitement, that Your Lordſhip co-operate with Your ſerious Endeavours, for a right understanding between both Kingdoms, and for the carrying on the work of the right arm of the Lord, the Lords creating of glory on every Aſſembly on Mount Zion, (for we are witneſſes of Your Honours Travels for both) that glory may dwell in our Land.
Your Honours at all reſpective obſervance in the Lord, S. R.