399 A CONFUTATION OF THE CHIEF DOCTRINES OF POPERY. [BISHOP LLOYD.] ACTS, ii. 42. And they continued stedfastly in the Apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayer. THEY of whom this is said, were that multitude of people whom the Apostles first converted to the Christian faith. All together, in one word, they are called "the Church," in the last verse of this chapter; which being observed, it will soon appear what we are to learn from these words. They teach us, first, what the Church of Christ was in the Apostles' days. Secondly, what church is now a true member or branch of it. Thirdly, that having such a church, it is our duty to continue in it. Accordingly, in my discourse on these words, I shall endeavour to show you First, a description of that original church by all its tokens and characters, which are described in my text First, "the Apostles' doctrine." Secondly, their "fellowship." Thirdly, their sacraments, "breaking of bread.” Fourthly, their worship of God, "and prayers." Secondly, I shall consider what church in our days hath those characters of the original Church. I shall show they are very confused in that church which will own them in no other. They are, through God's blessing, in great purity and perfection in our church. Lastly, I shall show that it is the duty of every Christian to continue steadfastly, first, in the church that hath these characters; and, secondly, in these things that are the characters of the Church; and thirdly, to live suitably to them in his whole conversation. First, before I speak of the characters of a true church, I ought to show in few words what it is that is to be known by them. The Church, Ecclesia, among Christians, in the largest use of the word, is the whole multitude of believers joined together in one body, or society, under one head, Jesus Christ. In the Nicene Creed it is called the Catholic Apostolic Church: Apostolic, because it was planted at first by the Apostles, and still retains the characters of their original church; Catholic, that is, universal, (for that is the plainer English word,) because it is made up all those particular churches, of which every one hath these characters in my text, and is therefore a true part of the catholic or universal. of For the word catholic, as fond of it as they are now in the Roman Church, if any Christian of Rome, for I am a some ages after Christ, had heard any one say, Catholic, he would not have been able to have guessed what religion he had meant. But when the Greeks had used the word kaloλn in their language, first to distinguish the Christian Church, as extending to all nations, from the Jewish, which was confined to one nation in particular, afterwards to distinguish the common Christianity, which was in all parts of the world, from that of a sect which sprang up in some particular country, after this the word catholic was taken up by them of the Roman Church, and in process of time they came to distinguish themselves by it, from the Greeks, and from those of the other eastern churches that first used it. It could not but seem very strange to the Greeks to see them of the Roman Church, whose communion extended no farther at that time than only to the west part of Europe, that they should call the Roman Church the catholic, or universal, in opposition to the Greeks, and to all other Christians, that then possessed not only all the rest of this Europe, but all that was Christian in Africa and Asia besides. But this is not strange to any one that considers how natural it is for men of any sect to make a great business about words. As they are apt to bestow the worst words they can find upon their adversaries, so with the same partiality they are ready to appropriate the good ones to themselves. Thus the Jews will have none but themselves to be "the children of Abraham." The Turks will have |