Christ's Church is Christ's Garden

"The first is, That the Church of Christ, are believers in Christ. Secondly, That the Church of Christ are such as are sweetly overcome, or fetch'd in to Christ, by the comings in of Christ. Thirdly, That the Church of Christ, must worship Christ. Fourthly, That the word of Christ, is the Rule of the worship of Christ."


Hobson further develops these four points, but it is the last that I want for us to hear. "Every king must, and doth rule by a Law suitable to himself: kings that govern, and rule in civil things, are to govern and rule by a civil Law; but Christ who is a king spiritual, ruleth and regulateth his Church by a spiritual Law; civil Laws cannot reach Christ's government; Neither hath Christ centered any power in the civil authority, to regulate mens spirits in the worship of Christ; though that was formerly in the Church of the Jews, which was a type of Christ; it is now ended by Christ; and all power in matter of worship is called home to him, and resided in him . . ."

Paul Hobson, A Garden Inclosed and Wisdom Justified only of Her Children (London: James and Joseph Moxon, 1647), 13, 22-23.

Two Covenants in Abraham

"I answer, that Abraham had the promises of both Covenants, and had also the types of both; to wit, Agar and Sarah, and so virtually he had both; but always the types go before the thing typified, and the promises before the things promised; and God saith expressly he made the first Covenant with that people, when he took them by the hand, to lead them out of the Land of Egypt: The second, or New Covenant was actually made out at the death of the Testator, Heb.9:16-17."

James Pope, The Unveiling of Antichrist (Printed by Jane Coe, for Henry Overton, 1646), 3.

Baptism says, "Keep the Law of Christ."

"Circumcision was to be a Bond and Obligation to keep the whole Law of Moses's; but Baptism witnessed that Moses Law was made void, and that only Christ's Law was to be kept."

Henry Danvers, A Treatise of Baptism (London, Printed for Francis Smith, at the Elephant and Castle near the Royal Exchange in Cornhil, 1673), 222.

Exercise the Heart and Mind in Christ Jesus

"It may be easy to get the mind fraughted with noise, news, notions; but to get the heart established with grace, drawn into a more substantial and experimental communion with Jesus Christ, according to the tenor of the New-Covenant, and in the Grace and Truth thereof; this is not so easy to be found and maintained, without extraordinary watch and diligence . . . Soul-searching, Heart-preparing, Sin-mortifying work, may have more advantage from the retirement of a nasty Prison, then (unless abundance of Grace be ministered) from being left to walk in a large place, especially if with a large principle of Liberty to touch withal, but being laid in Gospel-bonds under the Instituted charge of none."

Abraham Cheare, Words in Season (London, Printed for Nathan Brookes, in Bartholomew-Close, 1668), 252

Christ our Covenant & our Sabbath

Robert Garner addressing Isaiah 56:4 & 6 says, "Why may we not say, without wrong to this or any other Scripture, that by taking hold of the Covenant here, may be understood in part, believers obedience to Christ in baptism? For whatsoever Christ commandeth to his servants, may in a true sense, according to the Scripture, be called his Covenant. But if we come up to the spiritualness of this Scripture, I conceive, that by Covenant in this place, we are to understand Christ himself. For as I said, this Scripture is a Gospel-scripture. Therefore by Sabbath here, we are to understand the Lord Jesus only, who alone is the Sabbath or Rest of Believers under the Gospel. And to keep this Sabbath from polluting it, is to believe in him only unto righteousness. For to do any work, I mean to seek righteousness, or peace, or reconciliation with God by any works, is to pollute this Sabbath or this Rest; by whom alone, such as believe in him, do and shall enjoy a glorious, and everlasting rest."

Robert Garner, A Treatise of Baptisme (Print location & printer unknown, 1645), 16.

A Weighty Responsibility

William Allen in dealing with the pastor's responsibility to know the Word of God beyond that of his people says, "For while this way of a studious laboring in the Word, is omitted or neglected, whether through any wry opinion in the teacher, as if there were no necessity of such a thing; or through his idleness and laziness, as the bottom of it; or through the fault of the Church in with-holding that outward supply and support, without which few have the opportunity, though they should have the will; I say where this omission or neglect is, however it comes about, this usually is among the rest, one evil naughty consequence of it, viz. the little and low esteem which the people have of their Pastors, to their own great detriment and spiritual loss. For while the Elders shall but observe the common course of daily meditation in the Word, which is every common Christians duty, they will be able to speak but little more to the edification of the people, than other common Christians which are in no such office, can do. And if the Elders preaching, prove little more to the edification of the people than the common exhortations of Brethren do, which cost them little or no study, (not to mention the mischief of such brethrens being sometimes puffed up hereby, to their fall,) it will be a hard matter to raise an extraordinary building upon a common foundation; it will be hard for the people in this case to vouchsafe those extraordinary respects of singular love & double honor, which the Scripture with a loud voice calls for from them towards those that are over them in the Lord, and which labor in the Word and Doctrine, 1Thes.5:13, 1Tim.5:17. For it is not to be imagined that that extraordinary debt of love and honor which the Lord hath imposed upon the people as due from them towards those that feed the Flock of God, above what is due from them to other of their fellow brethren, should be founded upon anything less, then the extraordinary benefit they may or do receive by their Ministry."

William Allen, A Glass of Justification or the Working of Faith with Power (London: G. Dawson, 1658), Preface Dedicatory. (emphasis mine)

A Peculiar People

That all believers are a holy and sanctified people, and that sanctification is a spiritual grace of the new Covenant, and effect of the love of God, manifested to the soul, whereby the believer is in truth and reality separated, both in soul and body, from all sin and dead works, through the blood of the everlasting Covenant, whereby he also presses after a heavenly and Evangelical perfection, in obedience to all the Commands, which Christ as head and King in this new Covenant has prescribed to him.

The Confession of Faith, Of those Churches which are commonly (though falsely) called Anabaptists, Section XXIX (London), 1644.