OCR Text |
Show Mafler John Cottons A»[wer oFdaincd by impofition ofhands, at all, or no, and if by impofition of hands,by the hands of fellow· E!den of other Churches with the confentof the Church: We neither put fo much waightin fuch a Rite, though Apoflolicall ; nor doe we fo farrc reflraine the Ji. bertie of communion of Churches, that if they (hall communicate fuch enterconrfe of Church-. ttions one to another, then all their callin~s and adminiflratiom to be of none etfca. Wee are not fo mafierly and peremptory in our apprchcnfiom:And yet( with fub.· million) we conceive, the more plainly and cxaa!y all Church· · ao'}ions arc carried on a£cording to the letter of the rule, the more glory wee !hall give unto the Lord Jefus, and procure the more peace to our Conicicnces, and to our Churches, and rcfervc more purity and power to all our Adminiflrations. 3• Thc.ugh we doc beleev~, and profe!fe, that a Church ( by rule) ought to be a Congregation of godly perfons or at leaft of fuch ~s profetfegodline!fe: yet if( t~rough neglell: of the power of dolhtne) few godly perfons be left m a Congregation &(through neg! ell: of difciplinc) few of thofe who profe!fe godlin~!fe be found fo blam~letfe, as the purity of the Sanltuary requireth: yet we doc .not llra~ght way profc!fe that fuch Congregations are no Chur· chcs, o~ that a M!niftery chofen by fuch a Congregation, are none ofChrtfis. It is true, Gods chiefeft regard is of his chofcn Saints, godly pcrfons. To them, and for them, he hath given Church·eftate Church· C~~tnan_r,and feales,Chur~h-Oflicers,with all the powe; of the adnnntftrauons of the holy thlngs,the ordinances ofChrifl, Ephef; 4· 11, 12~ 1.3 • But yet that his holy Saints might be prefer· v.ed, "1'-'Piw,, wuh?ut fcruples and diftratl:ing perplexities in their Church~ Co~mumo n,thc Lord is plea fed for their fakes to tolerate much. hypccnfie,and many aberrations in Church·matters,before he r~jell: C~urches as no Churches, Minitlcry as no Miniftery of Chnfl,calltngs as no callings. To fpcake then a word 10 the inferences, which the Examiner gathereth from the ~wo former miftaken confdlionsofour!. As, _1 . That a CaUmg or Commiffion received/rom the Bijhop1 if nme •fChrijiJ. Reply. '·We doe not beleeve nor profctfe that the 1\Jinifters of F,~land, who received Oc.dination from the Bilhops, d'id receive their to Mafter Roger Williams. their calling from the Bifhops ; their Epifcopall ordination is no part of their vocation to the Miniftcry. Their vocation or calling is from Chrift by the Eleaion or at leaft acceptation of the Con· gregation: The ordination is onely Adjt<naum ConfummanJ of the folemnity of their calling, as hath been !hewed above. fuply. 2 . Epifcopall ordination , though it be an aberration from the inftitation :yet we doe not conceive, that it maketh an abrogation of the c111ing of a Minifieb Extrinl<:call pollutions, though they ddilc the calling, yet they aoe not de_flroy it. Hisfecondinferenccis; That aCaUi,gfrom a Parijh of natwaU and Hnregenerate perfom, if none o(ChrijiJ. . fuply. t . lt is an hard faymg,to fay that all of the Parr(hare na· turall and unregenerate Perfons. Such as are fwift to judge them· felves, arc Oow to judge others. Reply. 2. Suppofe they were all naturall and unregenerate per· fans; yet th<y profeffing Chriftianitie, and meeting together every Lords day, fort he worfbip of the LordJefus, and defiring to h.we a Minitler to intlrull: them therein, their calling is not a nullitie. I cannot fay, that the worfhippcrs of God at Philippi, ( whereof Lydia was one) (who met together for prayer overy Sabbath day) were any oft hem betterthen unregenerate p<rfons,before P Ju! and Syla1 came amoAgfl them. And yet if a man of Macedonia come and call Paul and Sylar, to come and helpe them, th<y a&redly . gather, that the Lord had called them to preach the Gofpel to them, Allr 16. 9, 10. His third infer.nce is ; 1 hat a CaUing from fome few godly per [om, l't remaining in Ch:mh·f ,Oawfhip af ter the Porijh WJj',U nat afChrijl. R,ply. Then it would !ollow, that a re~nant of godly perfon9 is not fuflicient to conflrmtc and denomlllate a Cht~rch, tf the greater part be corrupt and uncleane. But the Prophet If<i .• ~ was of another minde,and hath ta ught us by the Holy G\H)l\ to J'tdge other wife : fuctpt(f•ith h<, lfa i. I. 9·) the Lord of H •frl lwJ left m a very fm:Jll Remnant, wet fhot!l~ have bee11 tM .s~dom, rvee ~~ 'rl bttve. · betn lik!_unto Gamorrah ; In hts judgement, tt ts not a mul titude of hypocrites and prophane perfons, that maketh a Church ( whtre a remnant of godly perfons are found) to become as Sad am or Gamarrah: Euc it is a remnant,a very fmall remnanr,that preferve the Church from becoming as Sodom, or Gamorrah. His. |