A53701:40
A guide to church-fellowship and order according to the gospel-institution
A guide to church-fellowship and order according to the gospel-institution wherein these following particulars are distinctly handled, I. The necessity of believers to join themselves in church-order, II. The subject matter of the church, III. The continuation of a church-state, and of the administration of evangelical ordinances of worship, briefly vindicated, IV. What sort of churches the disciples of Christ may and ought to join themselves unto as unto entire communion / by ... John Owen ...A guide to church-fellowship and order according to the gospel-institution wherein these following particulars are distinctly handled, I. The necessity of believers to joyn themselves in church-order, II. The subject matter of the church, III. The continuation of a church-state, and of the administration of evangelical ordinances of worship, briefly vindicated, IV. What sort of churches the disciples of Christ may and ought to joyn themselves unto as unto entire communion / by ... John Owen ...
London: printed for William Marshall, 1692
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
THE Church may be considered either as unto his Essence, Constitution and Being; or as unto its Power and Order, when it is Organized. As unto its Essence and Being, its constituent parts are its Matter and Form. These we must enquire into.
THE Church may be considered eith•r as unto his Essence, Constitution and Being; or as unto its Power and Order, when it is Organized. As unto its Essence and Being, its constituent parts are its Matter and Form. These we must enquire into.
By the Matter of the Church, we understand the persons whereof the Church doth consist, with their Qualifications: And by its Form, the reason, cause and way of that kind of Relation among them, which gives them the Being of a Church, and therewithal an Interest in all that belongs unto a Church, either privilege, or pow•r, as such.
By the Matter of the Church, we understand the persons whereof the Church doth consist, with their Qualifications: And by its Form, the reason, cause and way of that kind of Relation among them, which gives them the Being of a Church, and the•ewithal an Interest in all that belongs unto a Church, either privilege, or pow•r, as such.
Our first Enquiry being concerning what sort of Persons our Lord Jesus Christ requireth and admitteth to be the visible Subjects of his Kingdom, we are to be regulated in our Determination by respect unto his Honour, Glory, and the Holiness ⟨p. 22⟩of his Rule. To reckon such persons to be Subject of Christ, Members of his Body, such as he requires and owns, (for others are not so) who would not be tolerated, at least not approved, in a well governed Kingdom or Commonwealth of the World,