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was given what they might speak; fo that the With of Mofes feems rather to have been fulfill'd in them, when he faid, Would God all the Lord's People were Prophets. There was no Spleen, no Envy; the Gifts of God were difpenfed: Every one, as 'tis written, labouring for the Confirmation of the Church that it might abound: And all thefe Things were • done with fuch Love, that they ftrove mutually to honour one another, and every one to prefer another before himself.-The fore that which • remains is, that we wrestle with God, by daily Prayers, that he might grant us the Use of this faving Liberty, and that abundance of Fruit may be reap'd from it.

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WHETHER the Gifts of the Spirit, and that general Liberty of Prophefying this Author fpeaks of, and fo earneftly wifh'd to fee the Restoration of, did continue till Conftantine's Time is not fo easily determin'd, tho' the Learned Henry Dodwel feems to be of that Opinion, for in his Differtations on Irenæus he fays, We have prov'd tha tthe extraordinary Gifts of the Spirit of Prophefie,

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* Dodwel. Differtationes in Irenæum p. 96. Aliis itaque quam Apoftolis data effe extraordinaria Spiritus Prophetici < Dona, jam alibi probavimus, nec in primo modo aut fecundo Seculo, verum etiam in tertio, ufque ad Tempora Conftantini. Habebant quidem Dona illa omnes omnium Ordinum Homines, etiam Mulieres; verum illi præcipuè quipræcipuo aliquo in Ecclefia loco eminebant. Quod certe adeo erat verum, ut in • extraordinario Ecclefie regimine, gradum in Ecclefia affignavit gradus ipfe Donorum. Ita qui gradu Spiritus omnium fupremo Apoftolico fuiffet præditus, eum pro Apoftolo habebant; qui fecundo, eum pro Propheta; qui dono didaxus, cum pró Doctore, qui dono xvBeproews, eum pro Paftore; fic in reliquis. Sic nimirum Deus ipfe, non Homines, Ecclefia im mediate profpiciebat;& Signum beneplaciti Divinj erat, • quem dixi gradus ille Donorum,

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were given to others befides the Apostles; and that not only in the First and Second, but in the • Third Century alfo, even to the Time of Gonftantine. Men of all Sorts and Ranks had thefe Gifts, yea and WOMEN too, but thofe efpecially 'who were most eminent in fome chief Place of the Church. This was fo true, that in † the ex<traordinary

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See Irenaeus

+ That which Dodwel calls the extraordinary Govern ment, when God himself, and not Man, had the immediate Care of the Church, is the Government which ever, more or less, continues in Chrift's Church, and, we believe, had Book3.ch.40 continued flourishing in the Churches from Conftantine's Time till now, if Chriftians, like the Ifraelites of old, had not rejected the Government of God by his Spirit in the Prophets, and fuch as he was pleas'd from Time to Time to raise up as Judges, and chofe Man to rule over them; for which they met with this severe Reproach from God by the Mouth of the Prophet Samuel, Hearken unto the Voice of the People in all that they say unto thee, for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I fhould not reign over them.

When we read what Contentions and Strivings there were in the early Days of the Church, for Preheminence and Rule, by fuch indeed as Lorded it over the Heritage of God, we do not wonder that God withdrew the Gifts of his Holy Spirit from the Churches: For fince they were for fetting up Man in the Place of God, it was but juft in Him to withhold his Gifts from fuch as depended no longer on his Spirit, but on Man's Teaching.

1 Sam. 8.7

The Epiftles of Ignatius, both finall and great, are a flagrant Proof of the Power and Authority which the then Bifhops or Overfeers of the Flock of Chrift were for afluming to themselves. But the Stile of thofe Epiftles is so very different from the Stile of the Apoftles, that we are inclined to think, as fome others have done, that they are not the genuine Epiftles of Ignatius, but the Compofition of a later Hand, with fome Fragments only of his. In the Apoftolical Epistles, the Churches are call'd upon to obey God, Jefus Chrift and the Holy Spirit,and the Apoftles call'd for noObedience to themfelves: All that Paul, that great Apoftle, requir'd of a certain 1 Cor. 11.12 Church, was only that they would be Followers of Him as he follow'd Chrift: But thefe Ignatian Epistles have a more

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traordinary Government of the Church, the ‹ Degree of the Gift always affign'd the Degree ‹ in the Church. Therefore he who was poffefs'd of the highest Gift of the Spirit, which was call'd the Apoftolical Degree, was look'd upon as an Apostle, he who had the Second, which was call'd the Prophetical Degree, was esteem'd a Frophet; he who had the Gift of Instruction, was call'd a Teacher; he who had the Gift of Difcipline, a Paftor, and fo in the reft. So ‹ that it was God himself, and not Men who had the • immediate Care of the Church, and 'twas a Token ⚫ of Divine Favour, when any one had any De6 gree of thefe Gifts I have mention'd.

WHAT this Learned Author has observ'd concerning the Government of the Church, and the Gifts of the Spirit to Men of all Sorts and Ranks, and Women alfo, is very much confirm'd by the following Paffages ftill remaining in the Writings of the Ancients.

EUSEBIUS Lib. iii. ch. 37. Speaking of thofe Preachers of the Gofpel, who were eminent about the Beginning of the fecond Century, fays, 'Among thofe who were Illuftrious in thofe Times, Quadratus was one, who (as 'tis reported) flourish'd • at the fame Time with the Daughters of Philip

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Epift. to Po- fwelling Stile. 'Hearken unto the Bishop, that God allo licarp. may hearken unto you. My Soul be Security for them that fubmit to their Bishop with their Presbyters and Deacons. "Let all reverence the Deacons as Fefus Chrift, and the Bishop as the Father, and the Presbyters as the Sanhedrim of God, and College of the Apostles. What deplorable Confequences enfued this affuming Language in the Churches of Chrift is too notorious to need our Repeating; for manyAges past, 1 both in the Greek and Latin Churches, the poor People in fome Places have hardly dar'd to fay their Souls were their

own.

in the Gift of Prophecy. Many others also befides thefe were famous at that Time, having • obtain❜d the first Place among the Succeffors of C the Apostles, who, because they were the eminent Difciples of fuch Men, built up thofe Churches, the Foundations whereof were every where laid by the Apoftles; promoting greatly the Doctrine of the Gofpel, and scattering the falutary Seed of the Kingdom of Heaven at large over the World. For the Divine Spirit as yet wrought many wonderful Works by. them, infomuch that at the first hearing, innumerable Multitudes of Men did with most ready Minds altogether admit of, and engage themselves in, the Worship of that God who is the Maker of all Things.

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JUSTIN MARTYR, who liv'd about the Middle of the fecond Century, or a few Years after, fays, in his Difcourfe with Trypho the Jew, upon citing these Words of Joel, I will pour out my Spirit upon all Flesh, and your Sons and your Daugh- Joel 2.28, ters fhall prophefie, Now this, fays Justin, is to be seen amongst us, for Women and Men have the Gift of Prophecy.

And Irenæus, who liv'd till near the End of the fecond Century, fays, 'Tis not poffible to • reckon

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* Apud nos videre eft & Foeminas & Mafculos, dona à Spiritu Dei habentes. Καὶ παρ' ἡμῖν ἐςὶν ἰδῶν καὶ θηλείας, καὶ ἄρσενας, χαρίσματα ἀπὸ τὸ πνεύματΘ το Θεῖ ἔχοντας Juftini Martyris cum Tryphone Dialogus. p. 266. Editio. Londini in Octavo.

* Non eft numerum dicere gratiarum, quas per univerum mundum Ecclefia à Deo accipiens, in nomine Chrifti Jefu, crucifixi fub Pontio Pilato, per fingulos dies in opitulationem gentium perficit, neque feducens aliquem, nec pecuniam ei auferens. Quemadmodum enim gratis accepit à Deo, gratis & Miniftrat. Irenæi Liber 2. Cap. 57. Oxe ie Edit, p. 189.

'Acts 20 18-35.

• reckon up the Number of the Gifts which the Church all the World over has received, and ⚫ does exert even every Day in the Name of Jefus Chrift crucified under Pontius Pilate, neither feducing any one, nor taking from him Money, for he that has receiv'd it freely from GOD, does minifter the Gift Gratis unto others.

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THESE are Monuments and lafting Teftimonies to the Freedom and Liberty, which the People call'd Quakers fay, is infeparable from the Churches of Chrift; namely, a free Exercife of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, whether in Man or Woman; and this laft of Irenæus, that Noble and Worthy Martyr of Lions, is a ftrong and irrefragable Teftimony against Hireling Minifters, or fuch as preach for Money.

MAY all who are in a Practice fo oppofite to the Command of Chrift, who faid to his Difciples, Freely ye bave received, Freely give, duly confider and compare their Practice with that of the Primitive Chriftians, and let them read what the Apoftle Paul faid to the Elders of the Church at Ephefus, when he was taking his laft and folemn Leave of them: Ye know from the first Day that I came into Afia, after what Manner I have been with you at all Seafons, ferving the Lord with all Humility of Mind, and with many Tears and Temptations which befel me by the lying in Wait of the Jews. And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have fhewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from Houfe to Houfe. Teftifying both to the Jews, and alfo to the Greeks, Repentance towards God, and Faith toward our Lord Jefus Chrift. And now behold I go bound in the Spirit unto Jerufalem, not knowing the Things that shall befal me there; fave that the Holy Ghost witneffeth in every City, faying, that Bonds and Aflictions abide

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