to theE PHE SI A N S. 47l 1 will begin with the Firll, whlt is intended by the Churc"h. -Therein I lhall ~ only open this dillindion to you of the dlffenng acceptauon of the ":ord Church. Sermon In general you mull know this, That. the word Church bath a rel~uon to an Af- XXXV. fembly of ~n uniting mone; that IS properly a Church, apply lt to what you 1../"V'.J will, whether to aChurchof Saints, or a Churth of Men, a civil Alfembly of Men; it is applied to both mScnpmre. . . . ., . Now it being taken her~ of Samts, that are Members of Chnll, Jt hath th1s double acceptation in Scnpture : I ihall menuon no other, 1f any man can find any other, I would fee it. . . . It is taken Firll for the general Company and Alfembly of nil Samts, umted together by feverai bonds to Chrill. their Head, or united by one band. If you {peak of t!•e Church of. Men, umted they .are by a common band unto Jefus Chrill che1r Head. Tins we call the Cathohck Church, wh1ch you have 1n the Creed. IciscalledinthisEpi!\le,Chap. 3·'5· the whole Family of all ~hat are named i11 Heavm a11dEarth, which are .unztedby o11e com"!o" bo11d. In. thap.4; he faith, There is o11e Body, alldo11e Spzrzt, mJdo11e Lord,. It IS all one Wit 1 what is here in theText, He to a Head to hu Church, whzch zs hu Bodf. And, my Brethren, that this generalAifen;bty of all Saints is the Chur h Uni– verfal ; to give you a place forthat, it IS Heo. 12,2 3· Te are come to zh gmerat .Affemb(y, mzd Chttrch of the Firfl-6om, which are writ/m i11 Hea m. T ile general Alfembly of Saints, this is here. in Heaven; take it in Ea th, take it whereever Saints are, (they are either m Heaven or m Earth,) this General .Affembly is the .Clmrcl1 Univerfal. That is the firll accepcation "lf the word. . . But Secondly, we find in the New Tellar_nen~ pmkular Alfemblies and Com– panies of Saints, and that on Earth to be d1gmfied With the name of Churches; and to be dignified with the name of Bodtes to Chrifl; not one Bbdy,but if they be fevcral Churches they are dJilmct Bod1es to Chnll. We read therefore of the Churches of Gal.1tia, Chap. 1. 2. of the Churches of ]ttdea elfewhere, of the Churches of.Afta, Rev. Chap. 1, 2. and 3· of all the Churches of the Gentiles, Rom. I. 5· Now thefe f call as Divines do, particular Churches in a diflindion from the general Church ?fall Saints. I wi_ll give you my warrant for it, for that very phr~fe of a particular Church. It IS I Cor.n. 2 7· Te arefaith he [peak– ing to the Church of Cori11th, the Body of Chrzjl, a!ld every OIJe of ) 'Oil Mem– bers of Chrifl i11partimlar, That fame phrafe, '!1!""''•!'1w. it is,you are a put you are in particular, our Tranllation rendrerh it well, it is the moll genuine reading of the words; The meaning is this, As every one of you are Members of Chrill in particular, fo go take you all together, as you are the Church of Co– ri111h, you are a Body of Chrill in particular too. Here you fee is a particular -- Church mentioned in dillinction from the general alfembly whereof yoLJ heatd out of He6. 12. You mull know this, (for the fcope of this place in 1 Cor. 12.) the Apoflle had ihewn that the Church of Chrill is a Body unto Chtill, he had difcourll uridet that fimilitude throughout the whole Chapter in all the verfes before. Read the whole Chapter from the very fir(\ verfe to the 27th. and you ihall find that he compareth the Church of Chrifl to a Body, and Chrill to the Head ; but he had fo difconrll as he had meant the Univerfal Church all the way in all the former or the chief part of the Chapter. Now becaufe they might fay, How cloth all this d1fcourfe of Chnll and his Body, (when you mean the Church Univerfal,) con– cerne us? And how doth your fimilirude hold of us? It holdeth indeed of the Church in general,but doth it hold of us? Yes faith he, Tor• are the Body of Chnf/, a11dMembers itJ particttlar, and therefore all that I have fa id of the Church Univerfal under the limilicude of a Body holddh good of you, of your Church in particular, el'ery particular Church being the Model and bearing in ir,s proportion the refemblance of the'U~iverfal. . And he cloth it to prevent a!I diforder and fchifm and rent which was among that Church, and he ufeth and mforceth that fitrithtude of a Body. There is the fame reafon of a particular Body that Chri(\ is their Head, and of the whole Bo– dy, as there is the fame reafon of a drop of \'Vater and the whole Ocean are to– tttmhomogeneum, aChurch, aparticularCh~rch; the Church of (arimh is the . Body
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=