or Members of Christ's Church, are united and made one diverse waies; viz. by partaking of the fame Water-baptifm, the influences of the fame Spirit, the fame Faith, the fame Hope of their Calling, the fame Euchariftical Bread, &c. And each of these is really a Band of Union between all those who do partake thereof, for that very reafon, because they partake of the fame thing; as St. Paul declares particularly with refpect to the Euchariftical Bread in this very Epiftle.

But tho' a Man is united to the Church, or made a Member thereof, by each of these Ties or Bands of Union; yet there may be an order in these Ties and Bands; and God may fo ordain, that the one may not be had before the other. Now I do not at prefent difpute, which is that Tie or Band of Union, which must be first made use of to unite a Man to the Church, or make him a Member of it; nor do I difpute which is the principal Tie, which Effential, which may be fpared, &c. All that I affert is this, that the Participation of the fame thing with others, docs in the Apostle's judgment unite a Man to others, and make him a Member of one and the fame Body with them; and that tho' he was a Member before that particular Tie, yet when that particular Tie is added, 'tis a real Band of Union, and he is joined to the Body by a new Obligation, and is thereby made (not a new Member, but) a Member upon a new Account, viz. because a new Tię is fuperadded to the reft that were before. And thus a Man who is actually a Member of the Church, is joined to it afresh by being endued with the Extraordinary Gifts of one and the fame Spirit, which Chrift and other Members of the Church partook of,

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I hope,

I hope, that what has been faid will be judged a fufficient anfwer to this Objection, as fuppofed to be made by fuch as are not Quakers. And as for the Quakers themselves, the fame Answer may (in the Main) be applied to them alfo; tho' they will not allow, that the Bread mentioned, 1 Cor. 10. 17. is what we call the Lord's-Supper. For tho' they differ as to that particular, yet 'tis plain, as I have already obferved, that the Participation of that one Bread, whatever it be, makes Men one Body in the Apoftle's judgment. And confequently, when the fame Apoftle faies, there is one Body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one Hope of your calling, one Lord, one Faith, one Baptifm, one "God and Father of all, &c. Eph. 4. 4, 5, 6. it follows, that the perfons there spoken to are one Body, not only because the Apostle exprefly calls 'em fo upon the account of their vifible Communion, but also because they participate of one Spirit, one Hope, &c. the Participation of each of which particulars makes Chriftians one, by that fame way of arguing which the Apoftle ufes exprefly with relation to the Bread, 1 Cor. 10. 17. Now as it will not follow, that Men are not made Members of the Church, or united to each other as Chriftians, by partaking of one and the fame Hope of their Calling, because they must be Members of the Church, before they can partake thereof; fo neither will it follow, that Men could not be united to Chrift and to thofe perfons who enjoyed the Extraordinary Gifts of the Holy Ghoft, because they muft have been Members of the Church, before they could be endued therewith. Wherefore, tho' I am not now to determine, which is ordinarily the first thing, which unites Men to the Church, and makes them Members thereof; yet I affers,

that

1

that the Participation of one thing in Common with others of the Church, is in the Apostle's judgment a Band of Union, and makes Men (not new Members, but) Members upon a new Account.

But it may be replyed (which is the fecond difficulty) that thofe perfons whom the Apostle fpeaks of, were, by being endued with the Extraordinary Gifts of the Holy Ghoft, united, (not to the whole Church, every Member whereof did not, as has been granted, enjoy thefe Extraordinary Gifts, but) to fome particular perfons only, who were endued with the fame; and confequently those who were endued with the Extraordinary Gifts of the Holy Ghoft, were not thereby made Members of the Church. Now 'tis true, that the Participation of the Extraordinary Gifts of the Holy Ghoft was not a Band of Union common to all the Members of the Church; becaufe all the Members of the Church did not partake thereof even in the primitive Times: but yet all thofe that did partake thereof, were thereby united to Chrift the Head, and to all fuch as partook of the fame. And he that is by the Participation of the very fame Gifts united to fome Members, is thereby mediately united to all the reft, who upon other accounts are of the fame Body. Even as the Fingers, tho' immediately united only to the Hands, are notwithstanding mediately united to the Legs, which make a part of the whole Body.

For it is not by any means neceffary, that every particular Member fhould be united with the fame fort of Tie or Band of Union, wherewith others are united to the Body. 'Tis fufficient to make it a Member, if it be united at all. Thus the Arms and Legs are immediately united to the Body by Bones, as well as other Ligaments; but the Ears

and

and Eyes (tho' joined to Bones) are not united by Bones. Some particulars may be united more waies than one, others by one only; fome by three, others by an hundred Ties. Thus, to refume my former Suppofition of a Bundle of Sticks, one way or other all the Sticks must be tied together; and the whole may be tied by an hundred different Bands. But befides that, one parcel may receive a diftinct Tie, which unites them again in particular, and confequently joins them again to the Bundle, becaufe each of 'em is thereby joined to others, which are already parts of the Bundle. Thus alfo in the Body of Chrift the Church, the Clergy have a particular Tie to each other, arifing from the Participation of the fame Office and Miffion, which Tie the Layety have not: and yet both the Clergy and Layety have in other refpects the fame common Ties to each other. And as he that is by this particular Tie peculiar to the Clergy, immediately united to the Clergy (and confequently mediately to the Church, of which every ClergyMan must be a Member) and by that fresh Band of Union made a Member of the Church, tho' he was (as a Chriftian) a Member thereof before; even fo he that enjoyed the Extraordinary Gifts of the Holy Ghoft, was immediately united to Chrift and thofe others who partook of the fame (and confequently mediately to the Church, of which Christ is the Head, and every one that partook of the Extraordinary Gifts was a Member) and by that fresh Band of Union made a Member of the Church, tho' he was (as a Chriftian) a Member thereof before.

The next thing objected is, that if Men may become Members of the Church by being endued with the Extraordinary Gifts of the Holy Ghoft

then

then there is no neceffity of Water-baptifm upon my own Principles; because Men may be Members of the Church without it. But to this I Anfwer, 1. That the Participation of the Extraor dinary Gifts of the Holy Ghoft never used to be granted even in the primitive Times, but to fuch as had been baptized with Water. For the intance of Cornelius and his Friends is the only exception that I know of. And confequently the Neceflity of Water-baptifm is not deftroyed, but rather confirmed by what has been faid. 2. There may be many Bands of Union to the fame Body, as has been fhewn. Water-baptifm I affirm to be one, and the Participation of the Extraordinary Gifts of the Holy Ghoft I have proved to be another. Now a Man's being made a Member by the Par ticipation of the Extraordinary Gifts of the Holy Ghoft, does not fuperfede the Neceffity of his being baptized with Water, even tho' he were endued therewith before he was baptized with Water. Because, as I fhall afterwards prove, Water-baptifm is injoined by God; and God may oblige thofe who are actually Members of his Church, to receive as many new Ties and different Bands of Union, as he pleases.

As to the pretence, that we are now made Members of the Church after the fame manner as heretofore; and confequently the Extraordinary Gifts of the Holy Ghoft are now neceffary to make us Members of the Church, which Gifts notwithstanding are ceased; I fay, the vanity of this pretence will eafily appear, if we diftinguish between fuch Ties as are effential and accidental, neceflary and unneceffary. Thofe Ties or Bands of Union to the Church are effential and neceffary, without which a Man cannot be a Member of it. But I

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