of him, some such human device,—to be it virtually always to exist, visibly, for the performance of such duties as Christ hath enjoined his churches to perform upon all occasions of offence' or otherwise and yet that will not serve, neither; except courts and officers be allowed, even to the apparitors, as hands, in all places, to supply defects in this way! I add, under the Gospel,' because the constitution, under the Law, was national; the officers, ordinances, and places of worship, all fitted to such a frame, and typical: which, under the Gospel, was changed, as appeareth both by Christ's institution, Matt. xviii., and all the apostles' practice, throughout, in all places, who best understood our Saviour's intention and meaning...

66

Secondly: The matter of this church, is a company of saints; such, of whom, as the apostle, so the church that admits them or joins with them, ought to think it meet to judge of every one of them, that Christ hath begun a good work' in them, and will finish it.' The apostles always style them saints,' and faithful brethren; or the church,' of such a place, which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ;' saints by calling; sanctified in Christ Jesus; the church elected together with them; and such like titles, applicable only unto men sanctified that they ought to be such in profession, will not be denied; that they ought to be what they profess, is as evident. The power of the church, and the exercise of that power commanded by our Saviour, is for this end, that 'offences' may be taken away when men shall appear to be other than they make profession to be; and that they [offences'] may be prevented, so far as man can judge, by keeping out false brethren,' that they creep not in 'privily.' The unruly are to be admonished; and if upon admonition they will not reform, Christ directeth what course shall be taken with them; and he who is to be cast out, when he is known, ought not to be admitted, could he be known to be other than a saint by the church, before he was received.

"Thirdly: The form of such a visible church, I conceive to be the relation which, by their mutual consent, is raised between them for spiritual ends; by which it is that they have power of jurisdiction, and may and ought to 'judge' those that are within :' which jurisdiction, no man can, lawfully, be subjected unto but by his own agreement. The superiority of jurisdiction, either in things spiritual or temporal,if it be not natural, as the paternal,-must be voluntarily subjected unto, or it is usurped and tyrannical: therefore, to raise this relation, which gives a power of judging, there must be a voluntary submission of themselves one to another testified by some act, whether you will call it a covenant, or consent, or agreement, between fit members for such ends.

"This consent and agreement, ought to be explicit, for the wellbeing, but not necessarily to the being, of a true church; for it may be implied by such constant and frequent acts of communion performed by a company of saints, joined together by cohabitation in towns and villages, as that the falling in of their spirits into this brotherly fellow

ship and communion in things spiritual, is acted unto the true being of it but for the draught of the clear and full expression thereof among themselves; the relation it raises, the power it gives them one over another; the duty it obligeth them unto in the exercise of that power, is obscurely and little apprehended, and less practised. This, I conceive to be the present state of most of the churches in this kingdom, which, although they be true churches,—I do not mean it of the whole towns,-yet being too ignorant wherein that [relation] consisteth, and what power and privilege they have and ought to exercise by it, they suffer themselves, by usurpers, to be deprived of the exercise of this power; and, thereby, a mixed multitude press in among them, to their own hardening; to the churches' leavening, contracting guilt through neglect of their duty to separate the vile from the precious, suffering sin to fret like a gangrene; and to the great dishonour of Christ, who, hereby, is held forth, through the negligence of the church, to be a Head unto such members, in the eye of the world! There is, besides, through the same usurpation, a yoke of bondage cast upon the churches by the imposition of many human devices both upon officers and members, full of tyranny and superstition; the suffering whereof, will cause the Lord to have many things against them, but doth not unchurch them, since many wants and many corruptions may stand with the being of a true church; as all experience showeth.

"I expect, hereupon, to be demanded, What reasons I can give, why Separation should be made from such churches which are acknowledged to be true churches, although with many wants and corruptions? In answering whereof, I shall give you an account of that [which] I undertook.

a

"And, first; I say this word 'Separation' is no such bugbear as many would make the world and themselves believe; who,-hand over head, without differencing things or persons, or understanding that whereof they affirm,-take it up and cast it abroad with as little charity as learning! Separation,' whereof we speak, is either from the communion of the invisible church, the general assembly and church of the first-born, which are written in heaven,' or from this or that particular visible church's communion: The first, cannot be made but by denying the faith; for the requisites unto that communion are faith and love and this is a 'separation' as fearful and terrible as they would or can make 'separation' to be. The second, consisteth in refusing to join in the external communion of this or that particular church; as in their liturgies, public prayers, participation of sacraments: and this 'separation,' upon due cause, may be made without any more danger or ill consequences than there is in keeping ourselves free from partaking with other men in their sins; and being made, it neither separates those men who made it, from the communion of the catholic church, nor from internal communion with the saints of that particular visible church, as they are saints and members of the catholic church, but only from the corruptions of their external communion, which they hold in that visible church whereof they are. Luther made a 'separa

a Heb. xii. 23.

b

Eph. v. 7.

tion' from the external communion of all the churches in the world; and he, with those that adhered to his doctrine in that 'separation,' did constitute churches more pure, both in regard of their constitution and exercise of external communion; yet none but Papists, or such in our times as linger after Popery, and would be glad of a captain to lead them back again into Egypt, will accuse him to have made a schism, and brand him with the odious name of a schismatic: for he separated not from believers as believers, but from those corruptions which were universally spread over all in the external communion that then was held in the Christian world. And this he was bound to do, and others with him who believed his doctrine, if they would keep themselves pure from the guilt of those common corruptions.

"In the second place, I answer, that there is a necessity laid upon many, and it is, as I conceive, the duty of all that have light to see it, to separate themselves from holding external communion with many churches, here in England, although acknowledged true churches; and that, for these reasons. First, because such things are required of them to be performed, if they will hold external communion, as they cannot practise without sin: Secondly, if they might be free for their own practice, yet they cannot perform that duty which, by Christ's command, lieth upon them, as members of a visible church, to perform and fulfil, that they may not contract guilt and be leavened by the sinful practises of fellow members. For the first, I will instance in those things which, being retained in these churches and enjoined upon all, have been, ever since the Reformation of religion, opposed and witnessed against by the greatest lights of this later age, both strangers and of our own nation; yea, and cast out by the purest, if not by all other Reformed churches; abjured as antichristian, by some; only these, which hang between heaven and earth, and are still moving downward towards the centre of their old superstitions, do not only retain them, but will suffer none to join in external communion with them, except they will approve and practise what they do! These are the usurping Hierarchy, and the Popish ceremonies, the devices of men; the ornaments and dress of the Romish Whore, thought decent and fittest for to adorn God's worship; not, in my judgment, at any time, tolerabiles ineptiæ, in their use here, as one calls the [English] ceremonies, a but at this time much less tolerable,' as they are maintained and pressed; the one, not by commission from the magistrate, but as a superior degree of ministry by Divine institution, not esteemed to be jure humano; the other, not as idle, empty ceremonies, but serving to teach, and express the inward affections of the heart: the white linen;' what can that express, but angelical purity! the cross,' hath its expression; and what it teacheth is given unto it, constancy in confession of the faith! kneeling,' in the act of receiving, urged as a gesture of more reverence, and fitter for that ordinance, than that which our Saviour used and thought congruous to it! Unto these, I will add that composition of a Divine public worship, by men, which they call the public prayers of the Church; the Service Book,' containing the Divine service! White, in his Epistle to the a Calvin, in Epist., Jan. 18, 1555; Works, ed. 1667. Fol. vol. viii. p. 98. And see Erasmus, Annot. in cp. i. ad Corinth. xiv. 19.

Archbishop of Canterbury, before his book against the Sabbath, styles. it the universal sacrifice which, amongst the Jews, was the daily offering, the morning and evening sacrifice... Now, this consecrate thing, more holy than the singular and affected devotions of private spirits, because devoted to God, by the Church and State, for His public service; what is it, but a device of man? a new cart,' a taken up from the papists, as the Israelites in imitation of the Philistines heretofore did, to ease the Levites, who ought to have carried the Ark upon their own shoulders, and not suffered to be carried by beasts instead of men! The same thing is done here; Christ hath given gifts to men,' that those 'gifts' may be the foundation of offices for the edification of his 'body.' He hath given pastors and teachers,' and, therefore, the gift of teaching, the word of wisdom, and the word of knowledge; by the exercise of these gifts, in the several administrations whereto they serve, He will be honoured, and by an effectual operation, edify his body:! those who are fitted for such offices, and called to them, must therefore, to these ends, give themselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word. In place hereof, is brought in, and enjoined to be used, this 'new cart' which a boy of twelve years old may drive. Even the meanest of the people, if he will draw near and fill his hand with this Service-book, may be a scribe instructed sufficiently, and furnished to bring forth what is here required! So that instead of Christ's way for his own honour, and his churches' edification, here is man's way brought in instead of the 'gifts' which He giveth and furnisheth men withal to be exercised in the ministry; here is a composure and frame of Divine Service, pieced up together into a body by some men, which must serve instead of 'gifts' to all men and for all times, and be enjoined to be used without variation as coming from the public spirit of the church and thereby devoted. Hereby, they do not only set their posts by God's 'posts,' but they lay aside his, and enjoin theirs only to be used, as fitter for the building!

"If it be said, men are not prohibited to exercise the gift of prayer, nor preaching, in their public ministry: I answer, they are expressly enjoined to use no prayers but these consecrated Prayers of the Church in their public ministry; and this is de jure, whatever, in some places, is done de facto. And again; if we yield that they have authority to consecrate and enjoin one form which must not in a tittle be receded from, for sanctifying of some ordinances, as in the administration of the sacraments; they may, with a good authority, enjoin a set form for other ordinances, as the preaching of the Word: and they have done

so.

For preaching, I never yet saw substantial reason given that might show a difference between these two, The taking authority to make a Book of Common Public Prayer to read, which all shall be tied to in the exercise of the function of pastor and teacher, instead of praying: and, The taking authority to make a book of common public Sermons, and enjoining all pastors and teachers to read those, instead of preaching. But if it be unlawful to introduce and enjoin a public Homily book in place of the gift of teaching; it will be no less unlawful to bring in a

a 1 Sam. vi. 7. d Ver. 11.

b Eph. iv. 8.

e Matt. xiii. 52.

c Ver. 12. Ezek. xliii. 8.

Book of Common and Public Prayers, and enjoin the same upon all pastors and teachers, in place of the gift of prayer. Therefore, as they have done the one, they may with as good reason and authority do the other. For if the reading of Homilies, commanded in place of preaching, and all other preaching prohibited, do appear unto us unlawful,— and in that case, we should apprehend God's ordinance thrust out and man's device brought in place of it,—I would see a reason given, why we should not have the same apprehension of the other also, but that use and custom have reconciled us to the one and not to the other! Here, to fall into a dispute of Set-Forms of Prayers, in general, and endeavour, as Master Ball and others do, to prove that some Set-Forms of Prayer may, in some cases, by some persons, be used; or to ask, whether all directory Liturgies, appointed in some other churches, by way of direction only, not of injunction,-the officers being left at liberty, and the churches, to make use of them or not as they see occasion, and as their own gifts may be excited ard helped thereby,-be altogether unlawful? is altogether besides the question; and rather changeth the state of the question than answereth the objection that is made against this,—to use king James, his words,-ʻill translated Mass-book,' wherein some gross things only are pared off; and that, as being enjoined upon all churches, and thus pressed for such reasons, and with such respects, and circumstances for if this may not be used, the parties whom they seek to satisfy, receive no satisfaction by all that can be spoken of the other, to induce them to use this.

"In the second place; if men for their own practice, could be free and dispensed withal for these particulars, yet there lieth a duty upon every member of a visible church which he is obliged to perform, or else he will partake of the guilt of other men's sins; 'b and this duty, he shall not be suffered to perform. This obligation, lying upon every member in communion with a visible church, ariseth from the power of the Keys wherewith every visible church, and every member thereof, for his part, is entrusted by Christ; and, for the exercise of church trust, as the whole body, so every particular member shall be accountable, according to the neglect of duty therein. For this end, the Lord, by the apostles, hath cast Evangelical churches into such bodies as might, conveniently meet together in one place,' upon all occasions to exercise this power... Other frames, of universal, national, provincial, and such like visible churches, are men's devices and constitutions, serving for and tending to a universal vicar; being either the same, or the image thereof [] standing upon the same grounds and reasons of human policy; and cannot be always existent for the remedy of offences and scandals to be brought to them, as Christ commandeth; but in a way of antichristian usurpation, by courts, chancellors, commissaries, officials, and such like officers of the kingdom of Antichrist; in imitation of earthly kingdoms: whereof there is no footstep in apostolical direction or practice; but the clean contrary... But, after their times, the

a See back, p. 46. This reference fixes the date of this piece to not earlier than 1640 see infra, p. 236, note b.

b 1 Tim. v. 22.

< Gal. i. 22; 2 Cor. viii. 1; Gal. i. 2; 1 Cor. xiv. 23; with 1 Cor. v. 4., &c.