WE read in the 17 ^th vers. of this chap. that St. Paul sent from Miletas to Ephesus, and called [...] the Elders or Presbyters of the Church. In this vers. which contains a consi­derable part of his Visitation Sermon, he tells them [...], the Holy Ghost hath made you Bishops.

This seeming confusion of Names in this and other places of Scripture, indiscriminately applied to the Pastors and Officers of the Church, was the pretence of Aerius, though Pride and Ambition were the rea­son [Page 2]to inferr a like communion in the dignity of Bishop, and Presbyter, and a total parity in their Office. And though this is surely a very slender argument to any considering men, to violate the unity of Chri­stians, and to cashier that form of Government which ad been received universally in the Church, from the Apostles days unto their own, upon a pre­tence, that Antichrist begun betimes; yet neither is it so slight and despicable, but that it has exercised the greatest Wits in all Ages (even those, in which it cannot be pretended that Truth was twisted with design) in endeavouring a probable solution of it. For, to omit the interpretation of some, that, such as were Presbyters, when St. Paul sent for them, he here consecrates Bishops, by telling them, that the Holy Ghost had made them so, (as being a groundless and arbitrary conjecture,) if we consult those Opinions which carry the greatest vogue and reputation in the World, we shall scarce find one, in which two have consented, when we have excluded those from the number, who do not pretend to deliver their own sense, but professedly transcribe from others. The immediate question, wherein our Authors are divi­ded, is, Whether Bishop, and Presbyter were two distinct Orders at the time of the writing the Books of the New Testament, or in a small space of time after, the one were superadded to the other? Those who defend the latter, are further subdivided as far as the subject will admit. For we are told on the one hand, that the names of Bishop and Presbyter were once promiscuously given to the inferiour Order [Page 3]of the Clergy, which were afterwards used with distinction, when, for the future preventing of Schism, Episcopacy was introduced upon it [...], which seems to be the Judgment of St. Hierome. And with greater probability on the other, that they were indifferent appellations of the higher Order of Church Officers, to whom the name of Bishop be­came then appropriate, when upon the increase of their charge, by the multitude of their Proselites, inferiour Presbyters were universally admitted, in some measure to ease them of the burthen. An opi­nion with infinite accuracy and variety of learning first cleared and defended by the Reverend Dr. Ham­mond. They who have pitcht upon the defence of the former part of the main Question, That both Orders were Coaeval, and distinguished from one another by their Author, at the Primitive institution of them, are yet more divided in their explications. For some tell us, which Dr. Hammond admits for probable, that the world Presbyter is the Scripture appellative of the inferiour Order of the Clergy; whereas both were common to the Bishop, in as much as both Offices designed by them, were eminently vested in him. St. Chrysostom on the contrary, thinks it no inconvenience at all, that the distinction of Offices should remain inviolate, notwithstanding the confusion of names: Whereas a third Opinion suffi­ciently distinguished from the other two, asserts, that Bishop and Presbyter were common denomina­tions of the second Order of Priest-hood; those whom we now stile Bishops, being at that time called [Page 4]Apostles: A Comment first suggested by Theodoret, and since maintained by the Judicious Hooker in the days of our Forefathers, and with a little variation by the learned Thorndike in our own. I have not produced these Opinions to compare them with one another, or to examin the several claims which each of them pretends to truth, but only considering them jointly, to make these few remarques upon them all.

And first our Assertors of the Presbyterian Hierar­chy, may do well to consider whose Cause it is, which is with so great eagerness maintained by them: No the Cause of God, or of his Church, but of a noted Heretick, infamous upon the records of Epithanius, St. Austin, Philastrius, and other Fathers of the Church, for the point in question, and con­sequently branded for the same by the Church it self, whose Judgments those Fathers expressly testifie. He who was notorious in his own time, for the great disturber of the word, is now set up by our pretended Disciplinarians for the great Champion of Truth. Nor do they so much help themselves, by saying, that Arrianism was Aerius his Heresie, (and indeed Epiphanius calls him an Arrian altogether,) as give us occasion further to observe the secret, and mystical connexion between Arrius his Doctrin, and Aerius his Discipline. I do not assert, that St. Ignatius was Prophetical, in affording the Church through­out his Epistles, such signal testimonies against both: Yet surely they ought to have been well weighted by those learned men, who have rejected the works of [Page 5]that renowned Father, before they chose, rather than part with a Creature of their own interest and fancy, to quit the advantages of those pregnant authorities against the Socinians, incomparably clearer than all the Fathers of the Church put together, for the first 300 years. It is not my purpose to lay the Heresie of Arrius to the charge of Aerius his followers, or to inquire into the causal influence of the one upon the other. But methinks this one reflection, how much Socinianism, which is but Arrianism improved, has thriven and prospered, under the influence of the Presbytery in our neighbour Nation, and (as 'tis great­ly to be suspected) in our own, might prove a motive sufficient to our dissenting Brethren to consider, that Heresie and Schism go usually together, and to re­nounce that Schismatical Discipline, which we have seen by woful experience so notoriously to shelter an Heretical Doctrin.

2. We may observe, that however learned men have dissented as to the particular periods of the Com­mencement of either Order, yet in this they all agree, that a superiority of the one above the other, is of Apostolical institution: Which observation, if any man think to elude from the authorities of Ignatius, Irenaeus, Origen, St. Ambrose, or St. Austin, I desire him only to read the learned Spalatensis his Exa­men of their Testimonies, to make him for ever ashamed of obtruding them any more. Nay so evident is this in the ancient Records of the Church, that the Reverend Bishop Bilson, out of Eusebius, He­gesippas, Socrates, St. Jerome, Epiphanius, and others; [Page 6]has given us as exact a Catalogue of the succession of Bishops from the Apostles, in the four Apostolical Sees, till the first Council of Nice, as ever the Roman Archives could at any time give of their Consuls, or our common Chroniclers of our Kings, since the Conquest. From which consideration, we have ground for an answer to a twofold pretence of the Advocates of Presbytery, the one in taking from us the Testimony of Ignatius, the other, in urging against us the Authority of St. Jerome.

As for the first of these, it is Monsieur Dailles's principal argument from the Phrase, that that blessed Martyr always makes a distinction in the names of Bishop and Presbyter, which the Apostolical writings do so confessedly confound with one another: But if this be his highest evidence, as 'tis manifest from his writings, that it is, it is but a small advantage to his Cause, and cannot possibly support it self against any one of those various Hypotheses, which we just now mentioned for a solution of the doubt. For first, those who think that the Christian Priest-hood was originally preserved in one Order, and at length by the Apostles, distinguished into two, though after the writing of their Epistles, will rationally presume that the distinction of names took its date from the distinction of the things, which Salmasius himself has owned against Petavius; and that the ceasing to use the words promiscuously, can never take off from our Author the credit of an Apostolical writer, not­withstanding the pretended inconformity thereof to the writings of the Apostles themselves. But [Page 7]secondly, if we admit their opinion, who conceive the Orders to be distinct even then, when the names were common, yet supposing, that the Scriptures use them promiscuously, there is a visible reason, why Ignatius should distinguish: For though two different things may sometimes indifferently pass under the same names, when either they are used to express some notion or character, that holds in common to them both, or the subject matter determines the sig­nification; yet when in the same proposition they are both to be represented in their proper and distinct Idea, according to all the laws of speaking or writing, they will necessarily require distinct and proper appellations. For how improper had it been to have exprest the peculiarities of several dignities, in the same Stile and Character, and to make a dif­ference without a distinction? How incongruous to common sense, to specify three distinct Ecclesia­stical Orders, under the names of Presbyters, Pres­byters and Deacons? and in inforcing the sub­jection of the one to the other, bid Presbyters be subject to Presbyters? So that upon the whole, the great quarrel of our adversaries against Ignatius is this, that his language is not like their opinion, irra­tional and absurd.

As to their second refuge, to wit, the authority of St. Jerome, I shall not interpose dogmatically in a Controversy, in which the most able School-men, and other learned Writers are so much divided. It is the confident asseveration of Medina, that St. Jerome, and other of the Fathers, agreed in the [Page 8]Heresie of Aerius, but that the Church prudently tolerated that in the one, which for different reasons it condemned in the other. But upon this principle he will hardly be able to secure himself against the force of Bellarmine's reply, How the Church then continued the pillar and ground of truth, while She forsted Hereticks in her Bosom? And how we can produce the Catholick Fathers as testifiers to the Christian Doctrin, who in any one point of it symbolized with Hereticks, deserted the sense of the Church, and turned aside to the Flocks of the Companions? And surely, though St. Jerome might differ from others as a private Divine in some Inter­pretations of Scripture; yet he so long kept himself sound as a Catholick Christian, while he did not ob­trude any of them against the tradition of the Apo­stles, and the unity of the Church. And therefore, though I do not agree in his particular opinion, as holding Church Government settled by our Savour himself, in a clear and manifest subordination; yet I do not desire, among all the Fathers of the Church a more pregnant testimony, than St. Jerome will afford us for a like imparity of Church Officers by Apostolical institution: For 'tis he, who in his Epistle to Evagrius, expressly calls it an Apostolical tradition, and founded in the Old Testament, that whatsoever priviledge Aaron and his Sons, and the Levites enjoyed in the Temple, Bishops, Priests, and Deacons might justly challenge in the Church. 'Tis he who informs us, on the 23 of St. Matthew, of the Apostles practice of ordaining Bishops and Pres­byters [Page 9]in the several Provinces, where they Preach'd the Gospel. 'Tis he who stiles the Governours of the respective Churches, the Contemporaries of the Apostles, by the name of Bishops, as Mark of Alex­andria, Linus, Cletus, and Clemens of Rome, James of Hierusalem, Ignatius of Antioch, and Policarp of Smyr­na. And though his opinion were, that Bishops were postnate to Presbyters, as instituted for the prevention of Schism, yet I appeal to himself for a witness, that the remedy bears date from the di­sease, even from that time when it was said at Corinth, (which was surely in the Apostles days,) I am of Paul, I am of Apollos, I am of Cephas, as appears in his Comment upon Titus. Surely therefore St. Jerome never dreamt that Episcopacy was Antichristian, nor ever designed to effect that from evidence of Scrip­ture, which has been since attempted by the power of the Sword. Ignatius his advice, for the subjection of Presbyters to their Bishop, suited well enough with his Principles, as indeed it did with those of all Christendom besides, till at last mens interest led them on as to urge Presbytery from St. Jerome, so to quote St. Paul for Rebellion.

3. But thirdly, from the consideration of this great variety of Opinions, to salve this confusion of names, it may perhaps be seasonable to enquire, whe­ther there be really found in Scripture such a Com­munion of names, as is pretended. I am conscious, that herein I advance an Hypothesis against many great and justly venerable Names: And therefore, I shall only humbly propose a twofold distinction, [Page 10]for the clearing those places of Scripture, which concern the point in question. The first is, between the Universal Church, and those particular Provin­ces, wherein Churches were planted under their respective Rulers. In the former respect I grant, that the word Presbyter is indifferently applied to the Chief Governours of the Church, and that they are the same persons, who are in one place called [...], and in another, [...]. Which word, whether it were Translated into the Church from the Jewish Synagogue, or else taken from Age, which brings experience, and consequent­ly fits for Government, was in those days rather an appellative of dignity, than a distinctive character of an Office. And therefore generally in the Acts of the Apostles, while Jerusalem and Christendom were in a manner of the same extent, the word Presbyter, which in particular Churches was still a title of Honour, had hear a more ample, and undetermined signification.

But if any of our adversaries take advantage from this concession, I desire him only to consider, that the Apostles are oftner called by the name of Deacons, than the chief Governours of the Church, by the name of Presbyters. As Deacons of God and of Christ, 1 Thess. 3.2. Deacons of the New Testa­ment, 2 Cor. 3.6. Deacons of the Gospel, Ephes. 3.7. Deacons of righteousness, 2 Cor. 11.15. Deacons of the Church, Col. 1.25. I confess that our Tran­slation in these, and other parallel places, always read Ministers in stead of Deacons, (as is observed in [Page 11]thirty places in the vulgar Latin of St. Jerome,) yet it is the very same word, which is rendred Dea­cons in the Epistles of Timothy and Titus. Which containing Apostolical Directions for the manage­ment of Particular Churches, ( de statu Ecclesiastia compositae, as Tertullian speaks) distinguish Church Orders by their Names, and Titles, as well as their Offices, and Powers. And therefore, thought in re­spect of the Universal Church, the principal Rulers are sometimes stiled [...], to signify their Superiority over the Brethren; sometimes [...], to denote their immediate Ministration, and atten­dance upon Christ, the great Bishop of our Souls, and Apostle of our profession: Yet nothing will follow from hence, but that in particular Churches, they might be both limited, and restrained, the one to the second Order of Priests, the other, to the Attendants upon the Bishops: So that this observation gives the same ground for Deacons to contest with Presby­ters, as it does for Presbyters with Bishops. And thence, because the Apostles, and the Brethren, are indifferently called Disciples, they will, by this way of arguing, strengthen the pretence of the Inde­pendents; and (as 'tis worded by a learned Writer) hold the stirrop to the Congregations, to throw themselves out of the Saddle.

But secondly, If this Communion of names be pretended in particular Churches, (as at Philippi, Ephesus, and Creet,) I shall crave leave with Epipha­nius, to make another distinction o particular Chur­ches from one another. For he in his Refutation of [Page 12] Aerius his Argument drawn from the Commu­nion of names, objects to him his not understanding the Histories of the Primitive plantation of Chur­ches, asserting, That at the first forming of them, (which could not be perfected in an instant) there were in some places, Bishops without Presbyters, and in other, Presbyters without Bishops; which could be no inconvenience for a small space of time, since those, who planted them, were sufficiently ena­bled to supply the defect of either. He never ob­served this confusion of names, which has been since pretended, (as neither did any, that went before him) but thought this one consideration to be valid enough, to convince his adversary both of errour in Interpreting Scripture, and of Ignorance in the Monuments of the Church.

But granting all that we have hitherto asserted, and moreover, that the objection from the plurallity of Bishops, mentioned at Ephesus, and Philippi, be fully taken off upon this presumption, that in the Apostles days, there were more Bishops than one in a City, 'till a more perfest Coalescence was at length made between the Jewish, and the Gentile Converts; yet notwithstanding, it may be still de­manded, What is all this to the case before us? For here in a particular Church (the Church of Ephesus) the same persons in the same Speech, are called both Presbyters and Bishops. To which I answer, that if [...] denote the universal Church, my first distinction holds good: But if not, I have the Testimony of Irenaeus, (an authority [Page 13]next to Apostolical,) to extend the word Church, be­yond the City of Ephesus; and Bishops and Presbyters, beyond one Order of the Clergy. For so he writes in his Third Book, and Fourteenth Chapter; In Mi­leto enim Convocatis Episcopis, & presbyteris, qui erant ab Epheso & a reliquis proximis Civitatibus. To which the late Vindicator of Monsieur Daillee, seems to return an answer, by giving Irenaeus the lye; A Divi Lucae narratione seorsim abit. But surely, when St. Paul says, vers. 25 All you, among whom I have gone Preaching the Kingdom of God, he seems to in­timate a greater extent than the single City of Ephe­sus will amount to, and consequently, to give us some ground for a reconcilement between Irenaeus and St. Luke: And therefore, I shall make no other use of our Authors reply, than to observe another instance of the hard fate of the Fathers of the Church, however ancient and Apostolical, when they cross mens Interests and Opinions. For if we urge them with Ignatius, he is spurious, and suppo­sitious, and therefore to be rejected; if with Irenaeus, he is false and fabulous, and so not to be believed.

I have thus far explained the difficulty arising from the phrase of the Text, and therein justified my dissent from our English Translation, in reading Bishops instead of Overseers.

And as the Reverend Fathers of our Church, at His Majesties Restauration, thought fit to change the place, which this passage of Scripture formerly had in the Book of Ordination; so I have here given some reason, why that which was formerly a part [Page 14]of the Epistle for the Ordination of Priests, may now be made the Text of a Sermon, at the Consecration of a Bishop.

In which are comprised all the principal argu­ments, which may enforce a Bishops vigilance and circumspection, in the management of his Pastoral Charge, and urge home the Caution of the Text, Take heed therefore. The Topicks to perswade a more than ordinary Care in any duty, are generally four: All which we meet with in this place.

• 1. The excellency of the thing Cared for, the Church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
• 2. The Person Concernment in it, arising from the peculiar trust reposed in him, the Holy Ghost hath made you Bishops.
• 3. The danger of miscarriage, in the following words, For after my departure shall grievous wolves enter in among you.
• 4. The possibility of preserving the thing Cared for; which though not fully exprest, is suffi­ciently implied in these Phrases, of Taking heed to your selves of feeding the Church.

Of these briefly, and in the their order, as far as the greater business of the day will permit.

And first, of the excellency of the thing Cared for, The Church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

Where we may observe a manifest point of Christian Doctrin, by immediate consequence dedu­cible from the words (to wit) the Divinity of our [Page 15]Savour: A truth, which offers it self to us, with such uncontrollable clearness, that the Socinian fin­ding it staring him directly in the face, to elude the evidence, corrupts the Text, reads Christi in stead of Dei, (which yet in the Syriack Edition, whence he takes it, seems rather an Exposition than a Version) and thereby offers the same violence to the Temporal Word of God, as he had done before to the Eternal. And as some Barbarous Nations are said to have cut out the Tongues of their abused Captives, lest they should disgrace them, by publishing their wrongs and injuries, having first robb'd Christ of his Divi­nity, he finds himself obliged to rob the Church of the Scriptures, which bear witness to the truth of it.

But this is consistent enough with his Principles: For having so loosly settled the notion of a Church, as to make an universal Apostacy commence from the very death of the Apostles, he had no great reason to over-value the Blood of Christ, which had procured such a short lived, and uncertain bene­fit. He might justly presume the price was not very great, where the purchase was so little regarded. But let Socinus go on with as much scorn, as he plea­ses, to slight the one, and trample upon the other; a true Catholick Bishop, that knows it cost more to redeem a Soul, will hence take an argument to infer, that his watchfulness over his Flock, ought to rise in some proportion to that esteem and value, which his Lord and Master hath set upon it. He will not forfeit, or betray his trust, for the sake of silver and gold, and those other corruptible things, [Page 16]which he well knows, were utterly unable to re­deem it: But considering it as purchased by the blood of Christ, he will judge it worthy to be preserved and cared for, though with the expence or hazard of his own: It was for the Churches sake, that the Son of God came down from Heaven, emptyed himself of his Glory, exhausted a richer than all the world could afford besides. For this end, was the great Bishop of our Souls [...] (according to the critical im­portance of the word, Consecrated to his Episcopal Office) by strong crying and tears, by death and blood. So costly and chargeable was his Consecration, that he seems to decline, and deprecate it, with a Nolo Episcopari, Father if it be possible, let this Cup pass from me; And we may justly thinks his Father would have saved him, if a meaner ransom could have saved the World.

This then (Holy Fathers) is that Sacred depositum which is committed to your Charge, so often repea­ted in the Office of the Church for this Solemnity, even the greatest gift that ever was poured forth upon the Sons of Men, the precious blood of the Son of God, the unsearchable riches of Christ. It lies upon you therefore to testify, that the blood of Christ was not spilt in vain, and to accomplish that redemption, which your Lord hath merited: That neither through your miscarriage, may Christ be defeated of his purchase, which are the Souls of men; nor the Church of her price, and priviledge, the merit of her Saviours Blood.

But I pass from the invaluable excellency of the [Page 17]thing cared for, to the second motive of the Text, even your own concernment in it, arising from the consideration of the Person by whom you are in­trusted, The Holy Ghost hath made you Bishops.

As the gift of the Holy Ghost was the signal pre­rogative, whereby the Church of Christ outvyed the luster of the Temple, and which our Saviour at his departure, thought and abundant compensation to his Disciples for the defect of his Corporal pre­sence with them; so amongst all the noble purpo­ses, for which he was then poured forth upon all Flesh, there is no one thing represented in Scripture, which he seems to have a more visible, and imme­diate concern in, than the erecting and authorizing a Ministry, commissioning for Church Offices, and enabling for the discharge.

This is that great Work, which, however meanly esteemed, or scornfully treated in this World, was in the estimation of our Saviour, one of the choicest Largesses, which at his Triumphant ascending far above all Heavens, he thought fit to shed forth upon his Church. And thence we find, Matthew 28.28. that when after his ascension, he tells his Disciples, all power is given to me in Heaven and in Earth; the first and great instance, wherein he imparts it to his Followers, is a Commission for the Ministry, Go ye therefore, and teach all nations: And accordingly, that triumphant Psalm, which the sweet Singer of of Israel prepared to be Sung at the removal of the Ark, whence God did use to deliver his Oracles from between the Cherubins, the adumbration of our [Page 18]Saviours removal from Earth to Heaven, is by the Apostle repeated and accommodated thereto, Ephes. 4.8. and completion verified in this, that he gave some Apostles, some Prophets, some Evangelists, some Pastors and Teachers.

These were the Gifts he then received for men, as a standing Testimony, that, though himself were departed, the Lord God dwelt still among them. No wonder therefore to find in the Text, the Holy Ghost hath made you Bishops; since their very employment, is one of his peculiar donatives, as that of Timothy is expressly called his [...], in each of his Epistles.

It were an easie matter to extend this considera­tion beyond the Church of Ephesus, and to trace the interest of the Holy Ghost, in constituting Church Governors from the first Foundation of Chri­stianity to this day, to find him not only once fitting Bezaleel, and Aholiab with Skill, and Wisdom, for the Building a material Tabernacle; But in every Age, empowering and qualifying serviceable Persons, for the Strength and Beauty of his Church. This was the Commission, which the great Bishop of our Souls produced for himself, at his entrance upon his Pastoral Charge, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, and hath anointed me to Preach the Gospel, Luke 4.18. Nor was this merely personal to our Saviour, as Baronius would have it, who confines that Text to the first year of our Saviours Preaching; but when he comes to Ordain a Succession, we shall find this to be the Rite, and Solemnity of the Consecration: As my Father sent me, so send I you. Where, if the similitude [Page 19]will not infer the Gift of the Holy Ghost, the next words will express it, And he breathed on them, and said, receive ye the Holy Ghost, John 20.21. And after that he bids them tarry at Jerusalem till they were endued with power from above, Luke. 24.49. which is Inter­preted Acts I. endued with the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost must first say separate, before Saul and Barnabas undertake the Charge. Acts 13.2. Nor could the laying on of hands have made Timothy a Bishop, unless Prophecy had gone before: And lest these should seem choice, and peculiar instances of an extraordinary deputation of some persons, to whom God was pleased to vouchsafe extraordinary Reve­lations of himself, (and we know those, who have hence inferred, that Timothy and Titus were Evangelists) not fixed and standing Officers of the Church, (as Walo Messalinus, and others.) We have the full attestation of Clemens Romanus, in his Epistle to the Corinthians, of the Apostles practice of Ordai­ning Bishops, out of those whom they had Conver­ted, [...], after they had first tryed, and approved them by the Revelation of the Holy Ghost, whom Clemens Alexandrinus also calls [...], such as the Holy Spirit had designed, and signified to them: Nay, so clear is this truth of the Spirits, superintendency in these great Solemnities, through the ancient Monuments of the Church, that Cardinal Baronius, however a stiff Asserter of the Popes Incroachments, both upon the right of Bishops, and the Holy Ghosts prerogative in their delegation; yet is forced by [Page 20]the evidence of truth, to confess, that as Christ breathed the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles, in like manner have they transferred the same upon all their Successors to this day, in as much, as they must undoubtedly partake of the Spirit of Christ, who minister in Christs stead, in the Sacred Offices of his Church.

It is an opinion, fastned upon Durandus, that when God made the World, he threw it out of his Hands, and left all things in it ever since to act of themselves, from those several principles of Life and Motion, which he distributed among them at the Creation. A like conceit have some endeavoured to introduce into the Church, that the world Spirit, in Holy Scripture, is to be confined to that plentiful effusion of it upon the Apostles, on the day of Pente­cost, those miraculous Gifts and Graces, which in the infancy of Christianity, accompanied the Preaching of the Gospel. Which Commission being personal to the Apostles, by consequence, ex­pired withy them; so that their Successors in the work of the Ministry, for any concern the Holy Ghost has in them, are left to shift for themselves, or at most, to subsist upon that stock of reputation, which was at first gained in the World, by the mighty Signs and Wonders of their inspired, and gifted Predecessors. But as the Schools, from the common Principles of Reason, have solidly main­tained against the former, that so precarious and dependent is the Creature, as such, both in its being, and operation, that should God subtract his influ­ence [Page 21]and concurse, whereby every moment he makes it, and works with it all its operations, are immedi­ately suspended, the whole Creation falls asunder, and molders into its primitive Confusion; so a like assertion, if the Scripture were silent, would common sense and experience suggest to us, for a Confutation of the latter. For so powerful are the batteries that are daily made by the Lusts of Men, and the Malice of the Devil, and so impotent and unarmed a thing is the Church of God, considered in it self, to withstand the assaults of either, that not only the gates of Hell, but the powers of the World, would long ago have finally prevailed against it; but that it was ever Founded upon the Rock of Ages, and Supported by the Hand of Heaven.

The daily Sacrifice had long since ceased, and the abo­mination of desolation been standing in the Holy Place. And Christs Mystical Body had not so long survived his Natural, did not the same Spirit, which was at first breathed into it, go on continually to actuate, and enliven it. Surely therefore, now, as well as then, there is a heavenly Treasure in earthen Vessels, and the continuance of the Ministration is from God, and not from us. He is God, and not Man, and there­fore the Sons of Jacob are not consumed. Bishops are the Stars in Christ's own right Hand, and from this arises the utter impossibility for the Tayl of the Dragon, to sweep them away, for the force of Men to pluck them thence, or for the powers of Dark­ness to extinguish them. The Apostles then, did not carry their Commissions with them to the other [Page 22]World, which, they knew, were left them for a perpetuity of succession in this, both for them, and their Heirs for ever. 'Twas he told his Disciples, who was never yet taxed with being worse than his word, Behold I am with you to the end of the World, He could not mean it, doubtless, of their persons, who did not long survive him, nor can the [...], notwithstanding some bold Criticisms upon the words, refer to any other period of time, than that, wherein the Fabrick of the World shall be dissolved, when Time it self shall be no more. He is still therefore with their Successors, as he was with them after his Ascension, Vicariâ spiritûs presentiâ, as Tertullian speaks, though not in the various di­stributions, and admirable virtue of their [...], the extent of their Jurisdiction, and extraordinary measure of their revelations; yet in the effectual Administration of all those Ordinances, which were to reside for ever in his Church, in order to the salvation of the World. Such are the Preaching of the Word, Administration of the Sacraments, Or­daining Ministers, Ordering Church-discipline, in­flicting Censures, and the power of the Keys: All which, as long as they are necessary, for the edify­ing of the Body of Christ, so long is the presence of the Holy Ghost necessary, to authorize persons to dispence them. Well therefore may we presume, that our Veni Creator Spiritus, is not said in vain at this great Solemnity, nor can we possibly over­look that visible instance of his peculiar Presence, in the Consecration of this day.

For though we live in an Age, wherein not only the work of the Ministry is become the derision of Fools, but even wise Men pretend to discern the dreadful symptoms of a departing Candlestick, and a tottering Church; yet it hath pleased him, who perfecteth strength in weakness, and is nearest at hand in the greatest exigents, to raise up the Sons of Nobles, to become the Princes of his People, to stop the Mouths of the one, and to refute the Prog­nosticks of the other.

He places over us, in the same persons, both a glory, and a defence; by the one, to take off scandal, by the other, to strengthen the Church. Blessed there­fore be the Name of our great God, in whose Hand are the Hearts of Kings that hath stirred up the heart of Ours, to make this closer connexion between the Civil and Ecclesiastical interests, and in the same choice, effectually to provide for the perpe­tuity of the Church, and for the establishment of his Throne.

We have thus seen, that God has not failed hither­to to make good his promise to his Church, that the Comforter shall abide with it for ever: But since these instances have not proved so successful, as to silence the Contradiction of foolish and unreasonable men, I shall briefly consider some of the most plausible pretences that are made use of, to shake the stability of the Church, and turn the Holy Ghost out of his Office.

First then, the Holy Ghost hath made you Bishops, and therefore not the Civil Magistrate. It is an [Page 24]objection of the Romanists, against the English Refor­mation, that the power of Order hath ceased in our Church, ever since the departure from the Church of Rome, as being now utterly dissolved into the Kings deputation of Commissioners for the Administration of Ecclesiastical Affairs. And though the scandal be abundantly refuted, by the sacred Rites, and Solemnities of this day; yet we have had those among our selves, who in stead of denying the charge, as they justly might, have pre­tended to justifie the Church, by owning the accu­sation. For we are told, by the Disputers of this World, that the Church is nothing else, but a Christian Common-wealth, and that all pretence of Divine authority and obligation upon Consci­ence, abstracted from the power of the Sword, is a meer Imposture, and destructive to the State. Thus, by the old Stratagem of the Enemy of Man-kind, is the Church, as was once its Author, traduced as an enemy to Caesar: Though, I hope, the Case may be so plainly stated between both, as to vindicate the Rights of the one, without incurring the Jealousie of the other.

The contrary assertion, to what we have laid down, can be maintained only upon one of these three Grounds.

First, that there was no right for Christians to associate together for the Worship of God, accor­ding to the profession of Christianity, antecedent to the Command or Allowance of the Civil power.

Or Secondly, supposing a Society of Christians, [Page 25]that there was no right of Rule or Government, vested in the Officers and Pastors of it.

Or thirdly, supposing a Church power, that it escheated to the supream Magistrate, when the Church became incorporate into the Civil state.

The first of these, though perhaps the ultimate resolution of the other two, resolves it self into Blasphemies beyond the confutation of the Pulpit. We must thence pronounce all the Conven­tions of Christians, even those assemblings of themselves together, which the Apostle commands his Hebrews, not to forsake, to be so many unlawful Conventicles, and not exempt the first Council at Jerusalem, from the accusation which we are sure was managed by the presiding of the Holy Ghost. We must affix the blackest note of Infamy upon the Apostles and the Primitive Christians, and ascribe a right to the Heathen Magistrates, which shall justify the persecution of Christianity. We must arraign the Noble Army of Martyrs, whose He­roical Courage we hitherto solemnize of foul self-Murther, as well as folly, in being prodigal of their Blood, to no purpose, running upon the Sword without a warrant, and laying down their lives in the defence of a proposition, when they had no obligation to profess it, and so execute their Names, and Memories, as the Heathen did their persons, by owning, that they suffered deservedly. But surely, if we have not forfeited our Faith, as well as our Charity, we may conclude they had hard measure enough at their Persecutors tribunals, and therefore may be dismist from ours.

The second pretence is somewhat more plausible, That there is such a Society, as a Church, and Officers placed in it, but such, whose only business it is to teach and to declare the will of God, without any rule or authority committed to them, over those who shal1 receive it. Against which we might reason with the Learned Grotius, upon Luke 6.22. that there is no necessity of assigning a positive and express Precept in Holy Scripture for granting the Society of the Church, established by God; all those things are virtually commanded in it, which are absolutely necessary to preserve it in its purity, and its being. Such is the power of Discipline and Government, as is evident, from the common notion of Societies in general, and the peculiar nature of this. But not contenting our selves toargue merely from natural Reason, in a positive Institution of this kind, as transcends the sublimest disquisitions, and closest deductions of it, if we consult the pattern in the Mount, or the settlement of the Church in the New Testament, which contains the Covenant of Grace, whereupon it is founded, we shall find in the Church, as in the Ark, which was the Type of it, the rod of Aaron, as well as the Tables of the Law, and discover in it the manifest traces of a paternal and imperative, though no coercive Jurisdiction. We shall there find the Enacting of Laws, as in the first Council at Jerusalem, a promulgation of the Decrees that were made by the Apostle and Elders, which was done by Paul and Barnabas, through the Cities, Acts 16.4. a Judiciary pro­cess [Page 27]against offenders, I. Tim. 5.19. a punishment of the guilty, as appears in the incestuous Corinthian, and in the same instance, the absolution of the Peni­tent, and relaxation of the Censure. We shall find there the persons with whom the management of these great affairs was intrusted, dignified and distinguished by the Titles of [...]; all which import Rule and Authority, whereto they were solemnly Sanctified and set apart, by a visible and Sacred Rite of Im­position of hands: All which, if they are duly, and impartially considered, will sufficiently evidence, that these things were something more than Page­antry and Show, that there was a Government in the World, subsisting upon a different claim, from that of the Roman Empire, that Christ sent forth his Apostles, not only as Sheep among Wolves, but as Pastors among Sheep; and that he had a King­dom, though not of this World.

Thirdly therefore, that this Spiritual Authority was dissolved, and melted down into the Civil, when the World came into the Church, and the Empire became Christian, must be made out one of these three wayes; either from the original right of the Empire, the revelation of God, or the reason of the thing. The right of the Empire stands upon this basis, that the Power of the Church depended upon the confederation and consent of Christians, which the Supream Magistrate may at his pleasure draw back and resume into himself.

But first, against this pretended agreement of [Page 28]the Primitive Christians, we may argue, from all those instances of the agency of the Holy Ghost; in constituting Church Officers, which we have mentioned already: All which bear evident Testi­mony to a positive Institution, and a Divine Autho­rity.

But secondly, supposing it for the present, I de­mand, Whether the Primitive Christians had a right to enter into those confederacies antecedent to the command or allowance of the Empire, or no? If not, we are brought back again to the Apostate Principles of the Leviathan. And though I should grant Mr. Selden, that Christians, after the death of our Lord, had the allowance of the State, by that Act of the Empire, which tolerated the Jews; Yet to say, that the Society was legally dissolved, when they came more narrowly to be enquired into, is to take off the Glory of Martyrdom from those, who notwithstanding the Edicts of the Empire, kept on the Assemblies of the Church, and the brand of Apostacy from others, who pleaded for them­selves, that they had left them. If it be said, that the Society of the Church, had this right of mu­tual Confederation, the case is just where it was. For whether the Governours of the Church subsist immediately by Divine Right, or no; yet if the Church, as a Society, for the better maintaining of Christianity by Divine Right, be enabled to appoint them, obedience is justly due to them in the Affairs of Christianity, independent upon the Powers of this World. And surely, water will rise [Page 29]no higher than the place from whence it descended; nor can the Empire ever come to challenge the Rights of the Church, which were antecedent to any Act of it, unless it have pleased the Great Soveraign of both, to declare his Pleasure for transferring them. For if the Church be a Society, immediately constituted by God, then can it not be dissolved in time, but by the same Power, which established it at the beginning. But where is there to be found in Scripture, any shadow of an Ordinance for this Temporary condition of the Church? Surely all things there seem to run in another strain. If Timothy be instructed by St. Pauls; how to behave himself in the Church of God, he is forthwith charged to keep the Commandment unblameable, untill the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. If the Angel of Thyatira be repre­hended for the remiss exercise of his Authority, he has likewise a command from our Saviour, to hold it fast and maintain it 'till his coming. Christ did not appoint Pastors in his Church, only 'till the time of Constantine; but 'till we all come in the unity of Faith, and the Knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man. Which woful experience will assure us was not effected in Constantine's dayes, nor will it ever be, 'till the consummation of all things: The darkness which over-spreads our understandings, can never be dispelled, but by the Light of Glory; nor can our hearts be entirely reunited, but by that Charity, which never fails.

There remains therefore only the last way of [Page 30]arguing, and that is from the reason of the thing: For thus it is pleaded, that unless both Powers re­side intirely in the same Persons, they must both expect the same Fate which attends a Kingdom di­vided against it self, by reason of daily and vexa­tious contentions between the Church and Com­mon-wealth, the Sword of Justice and the Shield of Faith; and which is more than this, in the breast of every Christian, between the Christian and the Man.

Thus what we deny to Nature, shall be effected by Grace; the Gospel of Peace shall retrieve a State of War; and this pretended Order and Govern­ment, become but another name for Confusion.

And though I have before barred this Method of Reasoning, by supposing Christianity to be a po­sitive Constitution of Divine Grace, (albeit Religion in general, be a moral Virtue,) yet because the Charge is of so high a Nature, as if the Churches claim of Power from God, rendred it uncapable of the Protection of his Vice-gerent, and Christs coming to fit Inhabitants for another World, were a means to dis-people this; I am obliged, for the removal of suspition, to propose these following considerations.

First therefore, though other Religions may be justly presumed prejudicial to the publick Peace, in as much as the Devil, who is the Inventor of them, is withal the Author of Confusion in the Government of the World; yet such is the peculiar genius of Christianity, that where-event is, either Preached or Received, it can create no Jealousie in [Page 31]in the State. The ground upon which this Asser­tion stands, is this, that it disclaims all title to the Sword, but leave him that takes it, to perish with it, though it be drawn in the defence of Christ himself.

Surely he that had legions of Angels at his com­mand, in stead of sending forth Apostles to Con­vert men to the Faith, might have Commissioned Generals, to destroy the Unbelievers. But this, in the esteem of Infinite Wisdom, was judged more Military than Religious, and the way of Pro­pagating his Gospel had been inconsistent with the design of it.

This therefore being supposed, that Christianity leaves the power of the Sword in those hands, in which it finds it, how can it possibly make any alteration, as to any Temporal Condition, vhich is professedly maintained by it▪ And therefore, that great bugbear of Imperium in Imperio need not be so terrible as men would make it, as long as their Objects, Ends, and Offices , stand as really di­stinguished as their Obligations. And these were the Thoughts that Christians had of their Religion, as long as Christianity was understood. In the Church then, as of old in Israel, there was no Smith to provide Swords and Spears, though against their persecuting Philistins.

And though this intire renunciation of all claim to any thing wherein the Civil Power was con­cerned, proved unable to protect them, either from Slander or Persecution; yet that which exited the [Page 32]rage and fury of their Enemies, was rather an averseness to the Christians Doctrine, than any jealous concern for their own safety. It being abun­dantly evinced by the ancient Apologies of the Church Writers against the Gentiles, that though they did not believe the Christian Faith, they could not in Civil justice persecute a Christian No, their Lives then were a Transcript of their Doctrin, and their Obedience was look'd upon as a tryal of their Faith. To obey Authority, was taught and practised under a Nero, and their Submissions were as unparalelled as their Provocations. And we may truly suppose under the Roman Emperours, that had the Doctrine of Obedience been as throughly recei­ved by their Heathen Subjects, as it was Preached by St. Paul, and practised by his believing Romans, they had effectually provided for the publick tran­quility without any farther need of Forts and Armies to secure it.

But secondly, the supposal of Divine Right in the Governours of the Church, where Christianity is received into the State, abates nothing of the natural Right of the Civil Power, in matters of Re­ligion. This assertion depends upon the foregoing: For if Christianity makes no change at all in any Temporal concern of the World, then a Christian State has the same right of ordering the Affairs of Christianity, so that nothing be done by virtue of it, which may create a prejudice to the State, as any other Kingdoms of the World have in that Religion which they profess. For no Nation ever [Page 33]yet openly pretended that great holdness with their Gods, as to make Religion, at pleasure, become either true or false; but they therefore profess any Reli­gion, because they first suppose it to be true. Religion therefore being first establish'd, whatsoever it be, all that afterwards follows, is a nomination of per­sons to dispence it, giving Laws for the due Admini­stration o it; setting bounds and limits to the exer­cise, calling Assemblies to consult about it, ratifying their Decrees with civil Sanctions, and receiving Appeals, in case of a corrupt Management, and an unjust Sentence. All which, Christianity so entirely devolves upon the Magistrate, that those who have taken the greatest pains to clear the fun­damental Right of the Church, have withal pro­ved the most able, and vigorous Assertors of those inherent Prerogatives of the Crown: And, when­ever they come to be disowned through the Christian World, then, and not before, let the Church lye for ever under that guilt and odium, which men now make it their business to cast upon it. Let Kings cease to be her nursing Fathers, and Queens her nursing Mothers: In the mean time it bears the same notion with Religion in general, in reference to the powers of the World, save only in this, that it addresses it self to them with greater obligations to take it into their protection, that is, with greater evidence of a Divine Authority.

Thirdly, however it has come to pass, through the Debaucheries of Men, and the Malice of the Devil, that Religion (as a Learned man observes) [Page 34]has been a politick Engin in some mens hands, and made use of for the battery, as by others, for the defence of the State; yet the Government of the Church of England, which is the subject of our present debate, stands as clear, and justifiable to the World altogether as our common Christianity.

For as for the Essentials of it, if once Religion be dismist from the Accusation of turning the World upside down, I would fain know, what further latent mischief can be in this, that one man in a certain Precinct, or Diocess, take care, that all, who profess Religion, live in obedience and conformity to the Rules of it. And this is all which we claim, as essentially pertaining to Episco­pal Jurisdiction. As for the Secular advantages of Temporal Priviledges, and Power, since we thank­fully own them to be the meer accessions of Humane bounty, they can cause no jealousie in the Author of them, 'till we see the Streams contend with the Fountain, and the Beams of the Sun, with the Sun it self. Our Church never owned their Religion, who compare the Church to the Sun, and the Empire to the Moon, but Receives all these Tempo­rall favours, as the Arbitrary donatives of the Civil Power, not in any wise her own, but entirely a borrowed lustre. And, which is for the Eternal reputation of our Church, she has learn'd to want them, as well as to abound with them; and can be equally loyal both in the loss, and the enjoyment. Which we need go no further for a proof of, then her Canons, and her Practice: Both which, have [Page 35]given us an evident demonstration, that she was the surest support, during the standing of the English Monarchy, and next to the Royal Family, the greatest sufferer in the fall.

But fourthly, if we take this Principle, that has raised such great clamours against the Divine right of the Church, and view it in those conclusions, which unavoidably flow from it, we shall find it the most con­tumelious and destructive to Government, of any thing that has appeared against it. And though I do not charge the conclusions upon all, who have owned the Principle; yet we may be allowed to take them from one, who well enough understands, and is not ash­med to speak out the just consequence of his premises.

Does not he then, who denies the Obligation of Christianity, upon this ground, that there is no Law antecedent to the Civil Sanction, at the same time take the Law of Nature out of Mens heart, and a God out of the World, who is the Author, and Avenger of it? And does he not thereby put a People that should profess it, out of the protection of the Law of Nations? For what Faith can be expected from him, who does not yet own it to be his Duty? And how can he acknowledge it to be his Duty, who denies a God to revenge and punish the, violation of it? Does not he, who makes the arbitrary pleasure of the Magistrate the sole Rule and Standard of Good and Evil, take away from the Prince, the deserved commendations of Justice, and Wisdom, and all those other Virtues, which are the most sparkling Diamonds in his Crown, [Page 36]making no difference at all between Tiberius and Antoninus, Nero and Titus; the pest, and the darling of Mankind? Is the Prince any thing be­holding to him for this pretended extent of the bounds of the Civil Power, who at the same time places that power in possession, and strength, and the same right in an usurping Tyrant, and the undoubted Soveraign? Does not he, who holds it his duty, to forswear Christianity at the command of the Magistrate, declare himself perfidious to the Government, as well as an Apostate from the Faith? For what trust can be reposed in him, in Civil Matters, who can renounce that solemn Covenant into which he was Baptized, and openly professes, his Oath is not to be believed, when his Religion is called in question? Or what tye can the Magistrate have upon him, who can make so bold with his God.

So fatal and pernicious is this exorbitant right of the Leviathan's Common-wealth: It is a two edged Sword, which he puts into the Magistrates hands, the one merely pretending to protect the People, the other really designed to destroy the Prince. Such are the absurd Paradoxes, which the denyal of Church-power resolves it self into. All which, with a great many others, are so gross and prodigious, that if ever the Church hath show'd her self undutiful to the State, it is in suffering such a pestilent Enemy to Government to enjoy the be­nefit of her Communion.

There is a second pretence, against the interest [Page 37]of the Holy Ghost, in a Bishops Consecration, That Christ gave the fulness of his Spirit only to St. Peter and his Successors, but nothing to the other Apo­stles, who seem to be joyned in Commission with him. So that whatever power and authority is enjoyed by Bishops, who succeed them, they hold it not immediately from Christ, but only as Suffra­gans of his pretended Vicar. But, since this is a point, in which the Roman Schools are divided among themselves, as appears, by the contrary assertions of Soto, Victoria, Alphonsus à Castro, and others; and the Dispute seems at last to be resolved, rather into the exercise of the Power; or, as the Schools love to speak, the application of the mat­ter of it, than the power it self; it is properly the subject of another consideration, and does not so directly contradict, what we have hitherto con­cluded from the Text. And therefore, I shall pro­ceed to raise an inference, or two, from the Holy Ghosts Concerment in the collation of Episcopal Power, which will likewise take in the remaining part of my Division.

First then, if the Holy Ghost has made you Bishops, you may hence infer the weight and burden of your Calling. It is sure no ordinary employment, where the Commission for it comes under the Broad Seal of Heaven. 'Twas God that gave the Law upon Mount Sinai, and therefore Moses, who was to deliver it to the People, exceedingly quakes and trembles. And, if St. Paul be rapt up into the third Heaven, to receive Instructions for the Gospel, [Page 38]we presently hear of his Reproaches, and Di­stresses, and the great trouble coming upon him, from the care of all the Churches. No wonder there­fore, if, when he had acquainted the persons here in the Text, with the derivation of their Au­thority, he forthwith presents them with a prospect of their danger. His own encounter at Ephesus, could not procure that rest, and quiet for the Bishops, he left behind him, but that after his departure, there were beasts to be fought with still. For this I know, that grievous Wolves shall enter in among you.

I shall not here take upon me the work of an Hi­storian, nor give an account, how in all Ages of the Church, the lusts of the Flesh, and the Devils of Hell, have, with their utmost Malice, set them­selves against it. If we do but open our Eyes, and behold the present face of Religion among our selves, we shall find arguments enough to call forth your ut­most circumspection. A great door is open to you , and many adversaries.

For if that turbulent Spirit of Rebellion and Disobedience, which, not long since possest, rent, and tore this Nation, and was, by a Miracle of his Providence, a while since cast out, walks about night and day, seeking to return to the place from whence he came, with seven other Spirits, more wicked than himself, so to make our last estate prove worse than the former: If there are so many Tobiahs, and Sanballats, that envy the remainders of the prosperity of Sion, so many Zebahs, and [Page 39] Zalmunahs, that say to one another, Let us take unto our selves the houses of God in possession, that seek to alienate, or diminish the Churches Rights, robbing God in Tithes and Offerings, and then say, Wherein have we robb'd him? If the fiery Jesuit on the one hand, and the rest­less Fanatick on the other, bend all their wit and power, first to smite the Shepherd, and then to scatter and glean up the Sheep; compassing Sea and Land to make Proselytes, and when they have gained them, making them ten times more the Children of Hell, than themselves: If what St. Paul, Prophe­sied at Ephesus be now fulfilled with us, that of our selves men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away Disciples after them, and stretching the Articles of the Church of England to so much a greater latitude, than the Catholick Church allows, that for as much, as in them lies, Pelagius and Socinus, shall find here both shelter, and encouragement. Lastly, if there be so many Hereticks in the World, that corrupt the Church of Christ, Schismaticks that divide it, and Atheists, that contemn it; It is then surely high time for you to look about you, to contend earnestly for the Faith which was once delivered to the Saints; to joyn your Heads, your Hearts, and your Hands together, to support the tottering Ark, which is now no longer Criminal, and keep it from ever returning into the Tents of the Philistins, which we have seen so miraculously redeemed from them.

But secondly, notwithstanding all these disad­vantages, [Page 40]if the Holy Ghost have called you to your Office, you may rest assured, that he will own, and protect you in the discharge. If you held your Callings from the World, the frowns of the World might discourage you: But since 'tis God that sets his Seal to your Commission, you serve a Master; who, let the World be never so impa­tient, will assuredly make good your Patent, assert and justifie your Authority. When God says con­cerning Cyrus, I have called him, Isa. 48.15. it fol­lows in the Text, and I will make his way prosperous. If God say to Jacob, I have called thee, no wonder to hear the encouragement he forth with gives him, When thou goest through the water, I am with thee; and through the Rivers, they shall not overflow thee.

It seems to be an opinion among the Ancient Fa­thers, that every Bishop hath two Guardian Angels. For besides that, which is common to him with every man, he has another, as he is a Bishop, appointed him at his Consecration.

But the stability of your Function (Holy Fathers) has a surer ground than in these fancies of men. Even the God of Angels vouchsafes to become your pecu­liar Guardian. And if the Church, like Jacob's Ladder, though the foot of it be on Earth, has its head in Heaven, there are not only Angels ascending and descending, but God himself leans upon the top of it, and keeps it firm.

A consideration this of great weight and mo­ment, especially under the apprehensions of pub­lick danger: It being usual with men, in such exi­gents [Page 41]as those, to betake themselves to their own Counsels and Contrivances; and when these fail, to despond, and give over; nay, sometimes with a more preposterous piece of Policy, to make Ship-wrack of a good Conscience, in hopes to escape the storm. But surely, if we own such a thing as Divine Protection, which is never forfeited, but by distrust, we shall ever find it, try it when we will, that the best way to secure our selves from danger, is to be doing our duty. For this infallibly engages God of our side, who will be with us, as long as we are with him. It is safer for the Mariner in a Tempest to ride out the Storm, then to strike to Shore. And we need not fear Drowning, as long as Christ is in the Ship.

And therefore, let the Heathen rage, and the Nations take Counsel together; he that sitteth in the Heavens, shall laugh them to scorn, the Lord shall have them in derision; he can shatter their Councils, blast their Designs, defeat their Purposes, and ruin their Confederacies: And will never fail, openly to de­monstrate, that his Church is founded upon a Rock, too firm to be shaken by the combinations of men; even upon the promise of God, and the Graces of his Spirit, things eternally invincible by the gates of Hell.

Nor has God ever left himself without witness of this peculiar presence in the greatest distresses of his Church. Even at the first founding of it, when in all humane probability, it was so little en­abled to stand out against the machinations of the [Page 42]World; yet, then did the Almighty reveal his arm, and exert his Power, and in spite of all the oppo­sitions both of Earth and Hell, made his own Coun­sel to stand, and flourish. 'Twas he of old, that upheld an Athanasius contra mundum, and effectually rescued his Church from that deluge of Arrianism, which to all appearance, had swallowed it up, and overwhelmed it.

Lastly, to name no more, but this Church of ours, under those signal instances of his afflicting providence, the sinking our gates, destroying our palaces, and slighting the strong holds of Sion, when that dreadful storm had utterly sunk both the Government of our Church, and our hopes of its recovery; yet even then did the Spirit of God move upon the face of the waters, 'till at length the dry land appeared, and again reduced it to that beautiful order, which has made it ever since the object of Malice, and the mark of Envy.

Surely therefore, he who had a favour for Sion, when her Stones were in the dust, has not left off his concern for it, now it stands upon its pillars. But rather on the contrary, if the present methods o his Providence can give us any rule for a con­jecture, he seems to have some further work in hand, for the establishment of his Church, while he sin­gles out persons of such worth and eminence, for the undertaking.

But thirdly, if the Holy Ghost hath made you Bishops, you are entrusted by one, who will assuredly take an account of the Administration. It appears in [Page 43]the Records of the ancient Church, that they never brought a Bishop to publick penance. Of which practice, this seems to be one reason among others, that, since there was no spiritual power on Earth above him, they reserved him to the future Judge­ment, the tribunal of a Lord, who alone was higher than he. And therefore, though a Reli­gious Constantine thinks fit to cover the faults of his Bishops with his own Purple, and the whole Christian World at this day were as forward to hide, as they are on the contrary, to reveal their Fathers nakedness; Yet all these coverings signifie no­thing to him, who looks through them all, to him who pondereth the heart, and weigheth the spirits of men. All things are naked and open be­fore him, with whom you have to do, and will one day appear so before the World, Angels, and Men. Take heed therefore unto your selves and to the flock, as those that must give an account. And do thou (O Lord) give that success to their Labours, that they may give it with joy and not with grief. Let thy Urim and Thummim be still with thy holy ones, that their Doctrine may be no other, than that whereto thy Holy Spirit hath set his Seal, and their Lives and Examples may be as Sacred, as their Callings. Put Courage into their Hearts, and a Terrour upon their Faces, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, and main­tain a constant resolution to withstand the Cor­ruptions of the Times, that so in the last day, when the great Shepherd of the Sheep shall appear, [Page 44]to make his final Visitation, they may receive the Blessing, which belongs to those, whom the Lord when he cometh shall find so doing.

Well done good and faithful servant, thou hast been faithful in a little, enter now into the joy of thy Lord.

Now to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, three Persons and one God, be ascribed, as is most due, by us, and by all the World, all Power, Glory, Might, Majesty, and Dominion, both now, and for evermore, Amen.