oted, and the true religion be cherished and defended:
so that the advancement of the gospel, and of all the ordinances of the
gospel, is indeed the end of the godly magistrate, not of a magistrate
simply: or (if ye will rather) it is not the end of the office itself, but
of him who doth execute the same piously.

70. But the end of ecclesiastical power, yea, the end as well of the
ministry itself as of the godly minister, is, that the kingdom of Christ
may be set forward; that the paths of the Lord be made straight; that his
holy mysteries may be kept pure; that stumblingblocks may be removed out
of the church, lest a little leaven leaven the whole lump, or lest one
sick or scabbed sheep infect the whole flock; that the faithful may so
walk as it becometh the gospel of Christ, and that the wandering sheep of
Christ may be converted and brought back to the sheepfold.

71. And seeing this power is given of the Lord not to destruction but to
edification, therefore this same scope is propounded in excommunication
(which is the greatest and last of ecclesiastical censures), namely, that
the soul of an offending brother may be gained to Christ, and that, being
stricken with fear, and the stubborn sinner filled with shame, may by the
grace of God be humbled, and may (as a brand plucked out of the fire) be
snatched out of the snare of the devil, and may repent unto salvation; at
least the rest may turn away from those which are branded with such a
censure, lest the soul-infection do creep and spread further.

72. _Fifthly_, They are distinguished by the effect. The effect of civil
power is either proper, or by way of redundance. The proper effect is the
safety temporal of the commonwealth, external tranquillity, the fruition
of civil liberty, and of all things which are necessary to the civil
society of men: the effect by way of redundance is the good of the church,
to wit, in so far as, by execution of justice and good laws, some
impediments that usually hinder and disturb the course of the gospel, are
avoided or taken away.

73. For by how much the more faithfully the magistrate executeth his
office in punishing the wicked, and cherishing and encouraging good men,
taking away those things which withstand the gospel, and punishing or
driving away the troublers and subverters of the church,--so much the more
the orthodox faith and godliness are reverenced and had in
estimation,--sins are hated and feared. Finally, All the su