OCR Text |
Show 10 Mafter John Cottons ARfwer --- wbofo~wn thefhetpeare ""'he feeth the Wolfo coming, and leaveth the jherpe, and jle;th,and the Wolfi cat<het!J them,and fcatteretb the fberpe, Job. 10. 12· • , Or will it goe for currant DoE!nne before the L0rd, that 1f the J!:reater part of a Church fall ( through feare, or otherwife) into linne,and fuch a finne, which they mourne under-with fighes,and groanes,and which in it felfc is not hainous, that then thev doe ipfo jaao, ceafc to be a Church, and utterly to be call out? Why then let the Covenant between the Lord and his Church be no more reputed any branch of the Covenant of Grace, but let it fiand and fall as a Covenant of wotkes. But furely if the greater part of the Chur~h were gone afiray, I fhould think it would well become the faithfulneffe of a Church· Elder, to hallen to them, ( fpecially when he is lovingly and rc· fpeai_vely fent for ) and to' convince thein of the errour of their way before the Lord, and to feek to bring them back againe·to ~ Bifhop and Shepheard of their Coules. Sure I·am, that in a cafe of greater. defeaion of the Churches of Galatia , then M•. WiYiamt imagioed. was found io the Church of Salem. Paul did not rejell them, but profeffed ; I d. fire (faith he) to be-prefent with you ·now, and to change my VO)Ce,for I j!Jnd in doubt ofyoli, Gal. 4· zo .. M'. WiYiaml acknowledgeth in the next Paragraph, That tbe Churcp ofColoffe might fay to Archippm; Ta~ heed to thy Minifitry, •pd th•t ArcbJpp114 might negligently, and proud!J refufe to hear~n to them : btit for hi! cafe, hu faithftilnejfe,anti l<prightnef[e to God,and the foulel Q{the peop/1 will witnq{e for him; when hu {out. fb.•Y come to. Hezekiahs caft ou hu death-bed,.:md in the great d.y •pproaching. l do not know. but that .Archipput -mir,ht as juf\ly refufe to hw· ken to ,the Church of Coloffi, as M', William! to the Chui'Ch of Sa~em. What though ColDJJe. was more eminent in--gifts then Sa· lem, yet the mutuall power, and fubjeaion of Pallor and people, dependeth not upon eminency of gifts, but upon the lnflitution of· Chrifi, and their mutuall Covenant, and Relation. I fit had been a negligent and proud part in Archipput (as M'. WiWanu confef· feth) co refufe to hea~ken to the lawfull voyce of the Church of Colojfe, admonifhing him of his ilacknelfe in his Mini fiery: I knol'l not but it might befuch a like part in M'.WiUianu to refufeto hearken to the voyce of the Church ofSalem,admonilbing him t(} take ro Mafler Roger WH!iams. take. h_eed of defeninr,_ his Minillery. Whether is a greater Iinne In a ~uul!er, not to fulhll h1s Minillery, or to defert his Minillery? lNle uherf i doe I k· nho w ,b u.t .t h.a t Archi•rp u< might ha ve preten de d t he I e ev.1 tons Wit M . WzOzam1, if not fairer. For he might plead there were ~mongll. them, fuch as fpoyled them through Philofophy, and vame decett,after the ~radicions of men,and Rudiments of t~e world, and not after Chnft, (Col. z. 8.) that beguiled them alfo m a voluntary humilitie, and worfhip of Angeh, not holding the He~d, ( v•;· t8, 19.) Yea fo farre that themfelves come to be d~matlzed Wtth the Traditions of men, 'IJCr. zc,zt, 22· And why m1ght not t~en _A_rchippu< as julliy refufe to heare the Church of Colo[fe, as M . Wz~tam1 refule to hea re the Church of S ,/em ? Let n;>t M'; WiHi4mt pl~afe himfelfe in ~uiting hisfaithfulueffe, •.nd upr1ghtneffe to Hezek.!.~hl cafe. Hezefi•h faithfully, and up'! gbtly endeavoured, and ( th~ough grace) procured the reformation of the Apo!late Church o~ Hierl!falem in the dayes of his Fa-' ther Ahaz :. Bnt M•: William~ in .llead of reforming one Churc11 renounceth a H. · , ,> For hi! neglelJ ofhe~r4ening to t!Jt [econd vnyc,,tb~ vnyce and iejlimn• J•ffo many Eldcf!,and Bmbrm of other Clmrclm.; He ftitb (becaufe bw"!b ejlee't_J~th tbe P"fo•u) he will ml· anfwer -t/;e Argu~mt of num_herJ,JJnd multitude/ a~ainfi .one, M. our men arl! wnnt to anfwer Jbe P•p•fb un~r{zlitie, tb ll God frirreth ~tp.fometimel om Elij~h againjf t~ght hundred of Baals Priej!1, &;. -Btit tbi! he j:zith t!w David-bimfo/ fe, ,a,ld the PrirmJ of lfi·ael,. and 30000. oJ.Ifrael c.r1)ing up the ~r4t, were not to be /p~r4!_rzed. unto ir1 their hilly" imemiolu of rcjny< mgs, aod triumpbs, whentb• due order of the Lord wal n~<nting to t!Nm, In which cafo one Scripttirt in the moutb of-a MeciHnick, u'to be f>t•[trred be fare a ·~»hot. GoHnceO. vf_nfw. I will not here obferve (as M'. WdliJmt rlotnin a like cafe,m Ch•p- 38. of his Bloudy 'tment') his hall and, light ~hentibu to the Scriptum which himfdte alledgeth : The Tox~fpeake\h ' U~ of 4)o.of RuiJ Priefls, 1 KL11gl 18. 19. Now for him to mul( PnY th'm to 8oo, is to fetch in alia the Prophets of the Groves fi~ e ~roph-ets of Jcrob,,_zmi Calves) whom the Text exprtfly di: mBgu tfh-eIth frohm che Prophm of Baal. - I ., • Utto et-t at palfe, as not materiaU to the Argument ' (no lllO~ then the mifqttotation,which he obferveth of'{itm for' Tim•·' 0 _., th.J) , .21 |