4. And next such as were justly consecrated by man; as is aforesaid in the degrees of holiness.
II. It is not sacrilege, 1. To cease from the ministry or other holy service, when sickness, disability of body, or violence, utterly disable us.
2. Nor to alienate temples, lands, goods, or utensils, when Providence maketh it needful to the church's good: so the fire in London hath caused a diminution of the number of churches: so some bishops of old, sold the church plate to relieve the poor: and some princes have sold some church lands to save the church and state in the necessities of a lawful war.[464]
3. It is not sacrilege to alienate that which man devoted, but God accepted not, nor owned as appropriate to him (which his prohibition of such a dedication is a proof of). As if a man devote his wife to chastity, or his son to the ministry, against their wills: or if a man vow himself to the ministry that is unable and hath no call: or if so much lands or goods be consecrated, as is superfluous, useless, and injurious to the common welfare and the state. Alienation in these cases is no sin.
[463] Rom. ii. 22; 2 Pet. ii. 20-22; Heb. vi. 6, 7; x. 26-29; 1 Thess. ii. 15, 16; Lev. xix. 8; Heb. xii. 16; Acts v. 5, &c.; Ezek. xxii. 26; xlii. 20; xliv. 23.
[464] Matt. xii. 5.
Quest. CLXXII. Are all religious and private meetings, forbidden by rulers, unlawful conventicles? Or are any such necessary?
Answ. Though both such meetings and our prisons tell us how greatly we now differ about this point, in the application of it to persons and our present case, yet I know no difference in the doctrinal resolution of it among most sober christians at all (which makes our case strange).
For aught I know, we are agreed,
I. 1. That it is more to the honour of the church, and of religion, and of God, and more to our safety and edification, to have God's worship performed solemnly, publicly, and in great assemblies, than in a corner, secretly, and with few.[465]