true Worship and Service of Almighty God: He was to be look'd on as an Enemy of Chrift, an Alien to the Common-wealth of Ifrael, and a Stranger to the Covenant of Grace; and he having incurr'd the Cenfure of the Church by his own Stubbornefs and Obftinacy, our Saviour in giving the Keys to his Difciples, fays what amounts to this, "Verily, Verily I fay unto you, "that whomsoever you fhall caft out of the "Communion of the Church for his Offences "and Trefpaffes, that Perfon, unless He fub"mits to your Cenfure, and repents of his Sins, " and endeavours to amend his Life; and un"less he defires fincerely to reconcile and approve himself to you; that Perfon fhall be ex"cluded from Heaven for ever by me. Thofe "Cenfures, which you, by Virtue of the Com"miffion I have given you, inflict upon any Of"fender,'I my felf will fecond and confirm. And "whomfoever, upon a fufficient Evidence of "their Repentance and Reformation, you fhall "think fit to restore to the Communion of "the Church, I alfo will pardon them, and un"lefs they relapfe, their Faults fhall never be "remembred against them any more. Yet after all, that Chrift, who conferr'd this Authori ty upon his Apoftles out of the Plenitude of his own Power, refus'd to be a Judge or a Divider between Brethren contending with one another about a temporal Matter; and He forbad St. Peter the Ufe of a Sword against thofe, who were appointed by fuch as had a lawful Authority to apprehend his own Perfon: And all this only to fatisfy us the more throughly, that as our Master's Kingdom is not of this World; fo neither ought any of his Officers to engage them

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felves in any fuch Temporal Concerns, as might any way interfere with their proper Care of Souls, and the Intereft and Affairs of the Civil Magiftrate; that the Weapons which the Minifters of Chrift ought to ufe, are not carnal, but Spiritual; that God can propagate, fettle, maintain and defend his Church and Truth among Men, without thofe outward violent Means, which Men commonly make use of to fubdue and enflave one another; thatHe can bring his own Refolutions to effect, in fpite of all Oppofition; and that He can punish thofe, who live in Sin against his Laws, and who create Offences and Scandals in his Church, as well without as with the Affiftance of the Secular Arm and Power.

From thefe Things premis'd, it will be evident beyond Contradiction, that there is a juft and regular Authority fettled by Chrift Himself, in the Bishops and Paftors of the Church, to inftru&t, reprove and correct all the Members of the Chriftian Flock,as Occafion offers: All which infers the Superiority of fuch Bishops and Pastors to those with the Care of whofe Souls they are entrusted, in all Matters of a purely Spiritual Nature, which feveral Branches of their Spiritual Power we shall diftinctly confider.

The Paftors and Governors, or the Bifhops and Presbyters of the Church, are to inftruct or teach the Flock of Chrift, and that with the Spirit of Meeknefs, Patience and Sobriety; they are to study the Things of God, and to give themselves up wholly to Meditation upon them, fo as while they teach others, they may improve themselves in all Manner of Divine Wisdom and Knowledge. It is not their particu

lar

lar Bufinefs to inftru&t Christians in the Affairs of this World, any farther than where Justice and Mercy,and Truth, and Fidelity,and any Relative Duties are concern'd, but their peculiar Work is to inftru&t them in Spiritual Matters, and fuch as tend to the Salvation of their Souls: Hence they are faid by the Apostle, to watch over Heb. 13. their Souls, as those who must give an Account for 17. them. If we look impartially into our felves, and reflect with ferious Humility upon that Blindness of Mind, that Ignorance and Stupidity which attends our corrupted Nature; we may find, that at our firft Entrance upon religious Thoughts, the very plaineft Principles of Truth are as obfcure and unintelligible, as if they were fo many dark and unheard of Myfteries, and all this even to fuch as have been brought up with, and converfant among Chriftians: Nay, many of their Capacities are fo very mean, that the whole Book of God appears as a Book feal'd to them, fo as they cannot come to the Knowledge of any thing in it; or like Ifaiah's Prophecy to the pious Eunuch, not to be understood without the Affiftance of fome proper Person to explain it. Not but that God has exprefs'd his Will to Men in the plaineft Words, and in the clearest Methods poffible; not but that he has beftow'd upon Men, Souls capable of Confideration and Difcourfe; capable of comprehending all fuch Things as are abfolutely and indifpenfably neceffary to Salvation; provided they may but have Opportunities of reading that Word of God, or of hearing it read, with a due Application of Mind to what they are about. But Sin, which is grown habitual to us, has made a prodigious

Alte

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Alteration in our mental Faculties and Capacities: The Disorders of Intemperance, Gluttony, Luft, and irregular Paffion, have made the Organs of our Bodies unfit to ferve or follow the Motions of our Souls; and that Carelefnefs, Envy, Malice and Hypocrify, which have gotten Poffeffion of these Souls, have made them' unapt to employ the Body upon fuch Subjects, as would be agreeable to the Nature of a Spirit, which had its Original from God.

The very best among us, and at the beft, Rom. 7. are in St. Paul's Condition; and we find a Law in our Members rebelling against the Law of our Minds, and leading us captive to the Law of Sin and Death. The Vanities of the World, and the Temptations of the Devil follow us fo close, and are fo unhappily fuccefsful in their Purfuit; that we can scarce get Leifure to enquire about or deliberate upon what we ought to do to be faved. Those Prejudices we are generally infected with, make us dull and heavy, and ready to misinterpret and mifapply the most intelligible and neceffary Truths: And what infinite Num'bers of Men are there, even in the Chriftian World, who fit down contentedly in this miferable fottish Condition? God knows our prefent Frailties and Defects, and on that Reason has provided for us fuch as fhould put us in Mind of, and teach us our Duties, who fhould impartially lay before us the Ways of Life and Death. God first endow'd Men with fupernatural and miraculous Gifts, and in an extraordinary Manner, that they might be able to dif fipate thofe Clouds of univerfal Ignorance, which overfpread the World. The Obftinacy and Inconfideratenefs of corrupt Nature

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Nature being once master'd by the Influence of those extraordinary Gifts; fince that Time Divine Providence in its ordinary Courfe, has, in all Ages, rais'd up Men of a particularly ftudious and inquifitive Temper, who by well improving the Principles of Natural Reason, examining antient Traditions and the Writings of fuch learned Men as had gone before them, grew fenfible of the great Wants they labour'd under. These Men, in their Search after Help for the wretched Condition they were in, fell in with the written Word of God, or the Holy Scriptures, and examining them carefully, and comparing Things with Things, they made Use of Human Learning, as the Handmaid of Religion and Piety, without which it is ordinarily impoffible to make any confiderable Progrefs in the Converfion of Hereticks, Idolaters, Heathens and Infidels, unless the Want of it be made good by indifputable Miracles. By thefe Means fuch inquifitive Perfons have been convinced of the Neceffity of the continual Affiftances of God's Holy Spirit, to make them understand the Myfteries of Chriftianity, to enable them to live devout and innocent Lives, as being very ac ceptable to God, who is the Giver of every good and perfect Gift; and being convinced of these Things, they have been conftantly earnest and importunate to beg for themselves the Affiftance of the Divine Spirit, that by his Help and InAuence they might be able to teach themselves and others.

Such Perfons as I have been defcribing were those Succeffors, whom the Apofties left behind them to inftruct and govern the Church VOL. II.

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