The Divine Right of Church Government by Sundry Ministers Of Christ Within The City Of London eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 431 pages of information about The Divine Right of Church Government by Sundry Ministers Of Christ Within The City Of London.

The Divine Right of Church Government by Sundry Ministers Of Christ Within The City Of London eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 431 pages of information about The Divine Right of Church Government by Sundry Ministers Of Christ Within The City Of London.
gifts abstractly, ver. 8-10, as being all given to profit the Church withal, ver. 7; but here, ver. 28-30, he speaks of these gifts as they are in several distinct subjects, for the benefit of the organical body the church; else what saith he here, more than he said before? 2.  That all these eight here enumerated, one as well as another, do denote, not distinct offices or acts of the same officer, but distinct officers, having distinct administrations, and distinct gifts for those administrations, is evident, partly by the apostle’s form of enumeration, first, secondly, thirdly, afterwards, then or furthermore:  if he had intended only three sorts of officers, he would have stopped at thirdly, but he goes on in an enumerating way, to show us those that follow are distinct officers as well as those that go before; partly, by the apostle’s recapitulation, ver. 29, 30, which plainly points out different officers, persons not gifts, besides those three:  Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? (and here he stops not, but reckons on) are all workers of miracles? have all the gifts of healing? &c.  If it should be replied, But he doth not add, Are all helps? are all governments? therefore these are not to be accounted distinct officers from the rest; otherwise why should the apostle thus have omitted them, had there been any such distinct officers in the Church in his time?  It may be replied, These two officers, helps and governments, are omitted in the recapitulation, ver. 29, 30, not that the Church then had no such officers, for why then should they have been distinctly mentioned in the enumeration of church officers, ver. 28?  But either, 1.  For that helps and governments were more inferior ordinary officers, and not furnished with such extraordinary, or at least, eminent gifts, as the other had, (which they abused greatly to pride, contention, schism, and contempt of one another, the evils which the apostle here labors so much to cure,) and so there was no such danger that these helps and governments should run into the same distempers that the other did.  Or, 2.  For that he would instruct these helps and governments to be content with their own stations and offices, (without strife and emulation,) though they be neither apostles, nor prophets, nor teachers, nor any of the other enumerated, which were so ambitiously coveted after; and the last verse seems much to favor this consideration, but covet earnestly the best gifts, viz. which made most for edification, not for ostentation.[60]

Except. 3.  But helps here are placed before governments, therefore it is not likely that governments were the ruling elders; Helps, i.e. deacons, which is an inferior office, seeming here to be preferred before them.[61]

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The Divine Right of Church Government by Sundry Ministers Of Christ Within The City Of London from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.