Power, all Power relating to his Spiritual Body the Church, as S. Paul explains it, who tells us, (x) That God put all things under his Feet, and gave him to be the Head over all things to the Church. For as to Temporal Power, our Saviour exprefly disclaim'd it, when he faid, (y) Who made me a Judge or a Divider over you? Though he had before declared (2) all things to have been deliver'd to him of the Father. And again, a little before his Death, he denied all Pretenfions to Temporal Power, faying to Pilate, (a) My King dom is not of this World. He did not fay, My Kingdom is not in this World: For his Church which is here on Earth, is his Kingdom, but not of this World, because it is govern'd in another Manner than the Kingdoms of the World are, and its Rewards and Panicaments are to be diftributed in another Place. Therefore, as he is a King, and in this World too, with regard to his Church, and as all Power in that refpect is committed to him, therefore all Spiritual or Church-Power must be derived from him: For if any one can have a Spiritual Power not derived from him, then has not Chrift All Spiritual Power. But he has all; therefore whoever has any, must have it from him. We have then nothing more to do, but to enquire to whom he committed this Power. § VIII. It is certain, he committed it not to the Magiftrate: For there was no Magiftrate at that time, that would or did receive and acknowledge Chrift, but all generally oppofed him. Neither did he commit it to the People, or to his Difciples in general; for though (b) as many as received him, ta them gave he Power to become the Sons of God, yet he did not make all (c) his Ministers and Stewards of his Myfteries. (d) But he fet only fome in the Church to be firft Apostles, fecondarily Prophets, thirdly Teachers,&c. whereas had he equally commiffion'd all his Difciples, then all would have been Apostles, all Prophets, &c. That is, as S. Paul obferves, (e) All would have been one Member: And where then were the Body? Now,our Saviour had a great Multitude of Difcipies in his own Life-time; fo that the Pharifees complain'd of it, and faid, (f) Behold, the World is gone after him; yet out of all thefe he at firft (g) ordained but Twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might fend them forth to preach. (h) And afterwards he appointed other feventy alfo. He did not authorize all his Difciples promifcuously to go out and preach in his Name, but only fuch as he himself chofe and fent. And when he was about to afcend into Heaven, then he delegated this and all other Spiritual Powers to his Apoftles, faying, (i) As my Father hath fent me, even fo fend 1 you. And accordingly we find the Apostles did choose and fend in like manner, (k) and ordained them Elders in every Church: And alfo committed the fame Power of choofing and fending Presbyters, Priefts, or Elders to others: As S. Paul tells Titus, faying, (1) For this caufe left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldft set in Order the Things that are wanting, and ordain Elders in every City, as I appointed thee. And no Inftance can be given throughout the whole new Testament, of any Perfons being fent to preach the Gospel, or to perform any Functions belonging to the Miniftry of the Gospel, that is, to exercife any Spiritual Powers, who was not commiffioned to do fo by Chrift or his Apostles, or by fome Perfon, fuch as (d) 1 Cor. xii. 28. I Timothy or Titus, vested by the Apostles, with Apoftolical or Epifcopal Authority. Nay, the whole History of the Church will not afford an Inftance of any Perfons being allowed to be a Bishop or Prieft in the Church of God, but fuch as have received their Ordination from Bishops deriving their Succeffion from Chrift and his Apoftles, till Luther, Zuinglius, Calvin, and their Followers, (who have met with too many Difciples in this Realm) taught new and Strange Doctrines, and would derive all ChurchPower either from the Prince or People, just as it fitted their Purpose beft. But whence could the Prince or People derive this Power? It is certain, All Spiritual Power is vested in Chrift. He gave it to his Apoftles and their Succeffors the Bishops, as the Scripture plainly teaches, and to no others, neither Prince nor People: How then can either Prince or People come by this Power? SIX. They tell us, that it must be in the Prince, because all Power is in him, and therefore he must have a Spiritual as well as a Temporal Power; and it is a Contradiction to fay, That any Supreme Power should have another Power within his Dominions, independent on him. This is their main Argument, and all they have faid on this occafion depends on this. But this is contradictory to Scripture, and therefore falfe. For our Saviour (who utterly disclaim'd all Temporal Power, as has been thewed) yet claim'd this Spiritual Power, and exercised it here on Earth as long as he continued with us,independent on the Civil Magiftrate; for he claimed it as (m) delivered to him of the Father. The Apostles alfo claimed it as (n) committed to them by God, and therefore to be exercised by them, (m) Mat. xi. 27. (n) Mas iv. 19. not notwithstanding any Prohibition from the Civil Magiftrate; therefore to fay, That no Power, and particularly this Spiritual Power, can be exercised independent on the Supreme Civil Magiftrate, is directly to contradict the Scriptures: And muft be falfe. It is evident, from the Scriptures and Ecclehaftical Hiftory, that Chrift, his Apoftles, and their Succeffors the Bishops of the Primitive Church, exercised this Authority which is now claimed as belonging to the prefent Bishops of the Church at this Day: And it is as evident,that they did not receive it, or any Part of it, from the Civil Magiftrate, who was fo far from allowing them any fuch Authority, that he perfecuted them for exercifing it. Now, if they had not a Divine Right to this Authority independent on the Magiftrate, then that which they called a Perfecution, was but a due and legal Execution of the Laws upon them, and (0) they fuffer'd not as Martyrs for Chriftianity, for they had no Commillion from the Emperor to preach, baptize, con fecrate the Eucharift, ordain, or excommunicate; but were exprefly forbidden to do any of thofe Things by many Emperors, particularly by Nero, Domitian, Decius, and Dioclefian; confequently, if they would do these things, and fuffer for it, having no independent Authority with relation to fuch Matters, they all fuffer'd justly, and as BufyBodies in other Mens Matters. But if we believe that Chrift, and his Apostles, and their Succellors, were Martyrs, (p) and bore Witness to the Truthj then must we believe that they all held this Spiri tual Power I have been treating of, Independent on the Civil Magiftrate; fince it is fo evident, from the Scriptures and Ecclefiaftical Hiftory, that they (0) Pet. iv. 15, 15. (1.) Foh, xviii. 37, all all both claimed and exercised it, even though the Civil Magistrate not only gave them no Commiffion for that purpose, but directly prohibited and hindred them in the Exercife of it, as much as he was able. § X. But at the Beginning of the Reformation, a new and before unheard-of Title was invented for the Civil Magistrate, and our King Henry VIII. would be called Supreme Head in Earth of the Church of England, and forced all Perfons (q) by his Acts of Parliament, under the feverest Penalties to acknowledge him to be fo. And from this ftrange and before unknown Title, which the Chriftian Church never heard of till that time, are derived all the Pretences to Spiritual Power, which fome fuppofe to be lodged in the King or Supreme Magistrate. And indeed, if the King had a juft Right to this Title, it might imply that the Church cannot be in any refpect independent on him. For if he be the only Supreme Head in Earth of the Church of England, as the Statute (but God be praised it is a Statute long fince repealed) declares him to be, then all that have any Authority in the Church of England, muft derive it from him: The Word of God cannot be preached, the Sacraments adminiftred, or any Perfons authorized to minifter thofe Ordinances, but by him: Becaufe, if they can derive an Authority from any one elfe, independent on him, to preach, and minifter the Sacraments, then is he not the only Supreme Head. According to this Doctrine, there was no occafion for Ordination of a Priest, or Confecration of a Bishop, for any Spiritual Purposes; the King's Commiffion alone (9) 26 H. VIII. c. 1. & 28 Hen. VIII. 6. 7. & 10. was |