hurch taken indistinctly. For it is such
a church as any brother offended may presently complain to. Therefore no
universal, or provincial, or diocesan church gathered in a council. 2.
It is not any particular church that he doth send all Christians to, for
then all Christians in the world should come to one particular church,
were it possible. He doth therefore presuppose indistinctly the very
particular church where the brother offending and offended are members.
And if they be not both of one church, the plaintiff must make his
denunciation to the church where the defendant is. 3. As Christ doth
speak it of any ordinary particular church indistinctly, so he doth by
the name of church not understand essentially all the congregation. For
then Christ should give not some, but all the members of the church to
be governors of it. 4. Christ speaketh it of such a church to whom we
may ordinarily and orderly complain; now this we cannot to the whole
multitude. 5. This church he speaketh of then doth presuppose it, as the
ordinary executioner of all discipline and censure. But the multitude
have not this execution ordinary, as all but Morelius, and such
democratical spirits, do affirm. And the reason ratifying the sentence
of the church, doth show that often the number of it is but small, "For
where two or three are gathered together in my name;" whereas the church
or congregations essentially taken for teachers and people, are
incomparably great. Neither doth Christ mean by church the chief pastor,
who is virtually as the whole church.--Mr. Bayne's Diocesan's Trial.]

[Footnote 104: Timothy received grace by the laying on of the hands of
the presbytery. For that persons must be understood here, is apparent by
the like place, when it is said, by the laying on of my hands, he noteth
a person, and so here a presbytery. 2. To take presbytery to signify the
order of priesthood, is against all lexicons, and the nature of the
Greek termination. 3. Timothy never received that order of a presbyter,
as before we have proved. 4. It cannot signify, as Greek expositors take
it, a company of bishops; for neither was that canon of three bishops
and the Metropolitan, or all the bishops in a province, in the apostle's
time; neither were these who were now called bishops, then called
presbyters, as they say, but apostles, men that had received apostolic
grace, angels, &c. Finally, it is very absurd to think of companies of
other presbyters in