OF THE POLITY, ETC., OF THE CHURCH IN GENERAL. S3
Wherefore there is no rule of the church but what is ininisterial, consisting in an authoritative declaration and appUcation of the commands and will of Christ unto the souls of men; wherein those who exei'cise it are servants unto the church for its edification, for Jesus' sake, 2 Cor. iv. 5.
It hence fallows that the introduction of human authority into the rule of the church of Uhrist, in arr7Tund,~destroyeth the nalure of it, and makes his kingdom to be of this world, and some of his disciples to beTm their nieasure, like the princes of the^entilos ; nor is it, ofttimes, from themselves that tliey are not more like them than they are. The church is the house of Christ, his family, his king- dom. To act any power, in its rule, which is not his, which derives not from him, which is not communicated by his legal grant; or to act any power by ways, processes, rules, and laws, not of his appoint- ment,— is an invasion of his right and dominion. It can no otherwise be, if the church be his family, his house, his kingdom; for what father would endure that any power should be exercised in his family, as to the disposal of his children and estate, but his own? what earthly prince will bear with such an intrusion into his rights and dominion ? Foreign papal power is severely excluded here in England, because it intrenches on the rights of the crown, by the exercise of an autho- rity and jurisdiction not derived from the king, according unto the law of the land; and Ave should do well to take care that at the same time we do not encroach upon the dominion of Christ by the exercise of an authority not derived from him, or by laws and rules not enacted by him, but more foreign unto his kingdom than the canon law or the pope's rule is unto the laws of this nation, lest we fall under the statute of prsemiinire, Matt. xx. 25-28. The power of rule in the church, then, is nothing but a right to yield obedience unto the commands of Christ, in such a way, by such rules, and for such ends, as wherein and whereby his authority is to be acted.
The persons concerned in this rule of the church, both those that rule and those that are to be ruled, as unto all their civil and poli- tical concerns in this world, are subject unto the civil government of the kingdoms and places wherein they inhabit, and there are sun- dry things which concern the outward state and condition of the church that are at the disposal of the governors of this world ; but whereas the power to be exercised in the church is merely spiritu al as unto its objects, which are the consciences of men, and as unto its ends, which are the tendency of their souls unto God, their spirikial obed ience in Christ, and eternal life, it is a frenzy to dream of any other power_oi^ authority in this rule but that of Christ alone.
To sum up this discourse: If the rulers of the church, the greatest of them, have only a ministerial power committed unto them, and are precisely limited thereunto ; if in the exercise thereof they are
VOL. XV L • '6
oi TRUE NATUKE OF A GOSPEL CHURCH.^
servants of the church unto its edification; if all lordly domination, in an exaltation above the church or the members of it in dignity and authority of this world, and the exercise of power by external, coercive jurisdiction, be forbidden unto them; if the whole power and rule of the church be spiritual and not carnal, mighty through God and not through the laws of men, and be to be exercised by spiritual means for spiritual ends only, — it is apparent how it hath been lost in or cast out of the world, for the introduction of a lordly domination, a secular, coercive jurisdiction, with laws and powers no way derived from Christ, in the room thereof. Neither is it possible for any man alive to reconcile the present government of some churches, either as unto the officers who have the administration of that rule, or the rules and laws whereby they act and proceed, or the powers which they exercise, or the jurisdiction which they claim, or the manner of their proceeding in its administration, unto any toler- able consistency with the principles, rules, and laws of the govern- ment of the church given by Christ himself And this alone is a sufficient reason why those who endeavour to preserve their lo3'alty entire unto Jesus Christ should, in their own practice, seek after the reduction of the rule of the church unto his commands and appoint- ments. In the public disposals of nations we have no concernment. IV. Whereas, therefore, there isa_]X)wer and authority for its rule unto edificatIon~grven and committed by the Lord Christ unto his]^iurch, I shall proceed to inquire hoiu this poiver is comviuni- cated, what it is, and to whom it is granted"; which shall be declared in the ensuing observations^^
1. There was an extraordinary church-power committed by the Lord Jesus Christ unto his apostles, who in their own persons were the first and only subject of it. It was not granted unto the church, by it to be communicated unto them, according unto any rules pre- scribed thereunto ; for their office, as it was apostolical, was ante- cedent unto the existence of any gospel church-state, properly so c^led, neither had any church the least concurrence or influence into their call or mission. Howbeit, when there was a church-state, the churches being called and gathered by their ministry, they were given imto the church, and placed in the church for the exercise of all. office with power, unto their edification, according to the rules and laws of their constitution, Acts i. 14, 15, etc., vi. 1-4; 1 Cor. iii. 22, xii. 28; Eph. iv. 11-15.