in the xiiith chapter, that the moft exalted, fpiritual, or even miraculous gifts, could not only not excufe any schifm to be made in the body, that is, the church; but that if any who had fuch gifts did not employ them for the preservation of the unity of the church, which is very properly expreffed by charity, i. e. love for the whole body, fuch gifts would profit him nothing, lose all their virtue and efficacy as to the poffeffor, and be rather an aggravation against him, than any excufe for him, to withdraw his obedience from his lawful fuperiors, and ufurp the office of the head, and fo make a schism in the body upon the account of his gifts; which though they were as great as to speak with the tongues of men and angels, to understand all myfteries and all knowledge, to have all faith, even to remove mountains, and fuch a zeal as to give all his goods to the poor, and his very body to be burned; yet, if it be done in fchifm, out of that love and charity which is due to the body, and to its unity, all is nothing, will profit him nothing at all.

And no wonder; when all that heavenly glory in which Lucifer was created could avail him nothing, when he kept not his first principality, but aspired higher, and made a schism in the hierarchy of heaven, Jude 6.

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How then shall they who have (as St. Jude exp their own habitation," or ftation in the church," themselves above their Bishops, their lawful fuperiors, the heads and principles of unity, next and immediately under Christ in their refpective churches, upon pretence of their own perfonal gifts and qualifications, and thereby make a schism in the terreftrial hierarchy of the church, which is the body of Chrift, the "full"nefs of him who filleth all in all," Eph. 1. 23. how fhall they be excufed for this, whofe pretended gifts are in nothing extraordinary, except in a furious zeal without knowledge, and a volubility of tongue, which proceeds from a habit of speaking without thinking, and an affurance that is never out of countenance for ten thousand blunders, which would dafh and confound any man of sense or modefty, or that confidered the prefence of God in which he spoke?

If thofe truly miraculous gifts, which were made a pretence for the fchifin at Corinth, were not fufficient to justify that fchifm; how ridiculous and much more wicked is the pretence of our modern gifted men, who have pleaded their delicate gifts as a fuffi

cient ground for all that schifm and rebellion which they have raised up amongst us?

If the real gifts and inspirations of the Holy Spirit were stinted and limited by the governors of the church to avoid fchifm and confufion in the church, 1 Cor. xiv. from v. 26. If the profits were confined as to their number to two, or at the most three at a time; fome ordered to hold their peace, to give place to others; others to keep filence for want of an interpreter; and the women, (though gifted or inspired, as many of them were) totally filenced in the church or public affemblies, 1 Tim. xi. 12. what Spirit has poffeffed our modern pretenders to gifts, that will not be fubject to the prophets, nor to the church, nor to any institutions whether divine or human? But if their fuperiors pretend to direct them in any thing, they cry out, What! will you ftint the Spirit! and think this a fufficient cause to break quite loose from their authority, and fet up an open fchifm against them upon pretence of their wonderful gifts forfooth!

That first schism in the church of thefe Corinthians was vigoroully opposed by the Apostles and Bishops of the church at that time: they like good watchmen would not give way to it, knowing the fatal confequences of it.

This proced two epiftles from St. Paul to the Corinthians, and two to them from St. Clement then Bishop of Rome, which are preserved and handed down to us. It was this fame occafion of fchifm which so early began to corrupt the church, that led the holy Ignatius (who flourished in that fame age) to press so earnestly in all his epistles to the several churches to whom he wrote, the indifpenfable obligation of a strict obedience to their respective bishops; that the laity fhould fubmit themfelves to the Presbyters and Deacons, as to the apoftolical college under Christ; and that the Presbyters and Deacons, as well as the laity, should obey their Bishop as Chrift himself, whose perfon he did represent: that therefore whoever kept not outward communion with his Bishop did forfeit his inward communion with Chrift; that no facraments were valid or acceptable to God which were not celebrated in communion with the Bishop; that nothing in the church fhould be done, nor any marriage contracted without the Bishop's confent, &c. as you will fee hereafter.

These clear teftimonies forced the Prefbyterians (because they were not in a temper to be convinced) to deny thefe episties of Saint Ignatius to be genuine; but they have been fo fully vindi

cated, particularly by the most learned Bishop of Chester, Dr. Pearson, as to filence that cavil, and leave no pretence remaining against episcopacy in that primitive and apostolical age.

Objection from the times of Popery in this kingdom, as if that did unchurch, and confequently break the fucceffion of our Bishops..

I must now account for an objection, which with some seems a mighty one, even enough to overthrow all that I have faid concerning the fucceffion of our Bishops, and that is the long midnight of popery which has in old time darkened thefe nations.

Well: the fucceffion of which I have been fpeaking was no part of that darkness, and we have, by God's bleffing, recovered ourfelves in a great measure from that darkness: but that darkness was fuch as, with fome, to deftroy the epifcopal fucceffion; because, as they say, fuch great errors, especially that of idolatry, does quite unchurch a people, and confequently must break their fucceffion.

1. This, by the way, is a popish argument, though they that now make it are not aware of it: for the church of Rome argues thus, that idolatry does unchurch, and therefore if fhe was idolatrous for so long a time as we charge upon her, it will follow that, for fo many ages, there was no vifible church, a raft in thefe western parts of the world: and Arianifm (which is idolatry) having broke in feveral times upon the church, if idolatry did quite unchurch and break the fucceffion, there would not be a Chriftian church hardly left in the world: the confequence of which would be as fatal to the church of Rome as to us; therefore let her look to that pofition, which, fhe has advanced against us, that idolatry does unchurch.

2. But that it does not unchurch, I have this to offer against thofe Papifts, Quakers, and others who make the objection.

1. If it does quite unchurch, then could no Christian be an idolater, because by that he would, ipfo facto, cease to be a member of the Chriftian church: but the fcripture does fuppofe that a Chriftian may be an idolater, therefore idolatry does not unchurch. The minor is proved, 1 Cor. v. II. " If any man that is called a brother (that is, a Chriftian) be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater." Nay, Eph. v. 5, a covetous man is called " an "idolater;" and Col. iii. 5. "Covetousness is idolatry:" fo that, by this argument, covetoufnefs does unchurch. If it be faid that covetoufnefs is called idolatry only by allufion, but that it is

not formal idolatry, I know no ground for that distinction; the fcripture calls it idolatry, and makes no diftinction.

But in the first text quoted, 1 Cor. v. 11. both covetousness and idolatry are named; fo that you have both material and formal, or what other fort of idolatry you please to fancy.

I grant that in one fenfe idolatry does unchurch, that is, while we continue in it, it renders us obnoxious to the wrath of God, and forfeits our title to the promises which are made to the church in the Gospel but so does fornication, covetousness, and every other fin, till we repent and return from it. But none of these fins do fo unchurch us as to exclude our returning to the fold by fincere repentance, or to need a fecond baptifm or admiffion into the church; neither does idolatry. Do I then put idolatry upon the level with other common fins? No, far from it. Every scab is not a leprofy, yet a leper is a man, and may recover his health. Idolatry is a fearful leprofy, but it does not therefore quite unchurch, nor throw us out of the covenant; for, if it did, then would not repentance heal it, becaufe repentance is a great part of the covenant; and therefore, fince none can deny repentance to an idolater, it follows that he is not yet quite out of the covenant. Some of the ancients have denied repentance to apoftacy, yet granted it to idolatry; which fhews that they did not look upon idolatry to be an abfolute apoftacy; for every fin is an apostacy in a limited fenfe.

2. Let us in this difquifition follow the example before-mentioned of the Apostles and most primitive fathers, to measure the Chriftian church with its exact type, the church under the law; which are not two churches, but two ftates of the fame church; for it is the fame Chriftian church from the first promife of Chrift, Gen. iii. 15, to the end of the world: and therefore it is faid, Heb. iv. 2, that the Gospel was preached unto them, as well as unto us. And these two states of the church before and after Chrift do answer like a pair of indentures to one another, the one being to an iota fulfilled in the other, Matt. v. 18.

Now we find frequent lapfes to idolatry in the church of the Jews; yet did not this unchurch them, no, nor deprive them of a competent measure of God's holy fpirit, as it is written, Neh. ix. 18, 20. "Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and "faid, This is thy God-yet thou, in thy manifold mercies, "forfookeft them not-Thou gaveft thy good fpirit to inftruct them, &c."

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And let it be here obferved, that though God fent many prophets to reprove the great wickednefs and idolatry, as well of their priests as people, yet none of these holy prophets did separate communion from the wicked priests; they would not join in their idolatrous worship, but in all other parts they joined with them, and set up no oppofite priesthood to them. So little did the prophets think that their idolatry had either unchurched them, or broke the fucceffion of the priests; or that it was lawful for any, how holy foever, to usurp upon their priesthood, and supply the deficiencies of it to the people. And apply to this, what I have before fhewn in the words of St. Clement, whofe name is written in the book of life, that the evangelical priesthood is as furely fixed in the Bishops of the church, and its fucceffion continued in those ordained by them, as the Levitical priesthood was confirmed by the budding of Aaron's rod, and to be continued in that tribe.

3. And here let our Korahites, of feveral fizes, take a view of the heinoufnefs of their fchifm; and let them not think their crime to be nothing, because they have been taught with their nurfes milk to have the utmost abhorrence to the very name of a Bishop, though they could not tell why: let them rather confider ferioufly the misfortune of their education, which should make them ftrangers to all the rest of the Chriftian world but themselves in a corner, and to all the former ages of Chrif tianity.

They have been told that episcopacy is popery, because the Papists have Bishops.

So have they Prefbyters too, that is, Parish priests: they have the Creed likewife, and the Holy Scriptures; and all these must be Popifh, if this be a good argument.

But are they willing to be undeceived? Then they must know that epifcopacy has none fo great an enemy as the papacy, which would engross the whole epifcopal power into the single see of Rome, by making all other Bifhops abfolutely depending upon that, which only they call the Apostolical chair. And no longer fince than the council of Trent, the Pope endeavoured, with all his intereft, to have episcopacy, except only that of the Bishops of Rome, to be declared not to be fure Divino; by which no other Bishops could claim any other power but what they had from him. But that council was not quite fo degenerated as to fuffer this to pafs.