be reputed the Ministers of Christ who enter by Simony WHAT is here proposed is a Case upon the Resolution whereof dependeth the Satisfaction and Tranquility of the Conscience both of the Priest and People of the Pastor and of his Flock in reference to their respective Concerns in the Administration of the Ministerial Duties For when he who by Simony hath procured an Entrance into the Sacred and Spiritual Office receives Ordination Collation Institution and is invested with the Charge of a Flock he Preacheth the Word he Administrateth the Sacraments he Exerciseth the Power of the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven he bindeth he looseth and in a word dispenseth all things that belong to the Ministery The People see him clothed with Orders and Authority from the Church and set over them as their Pastor from whose Hands they are invited to expect those Spiritual Benefits which God hath promised to convey to Souls by the Ministery of the Gospel in those Divine Ordinances Now if he be the lawful Minister of Jesus Christ all is secure enough on both hands he may confidently Exercise the Acts of the Evangelical Priesthood and by a good Title Administer the Sacred Things belonging thereto and they may confidently promise to themselves the gracious Effects of his Ministration But if he be not then doth he but boldly usurp and intrude himself and hath no right to Dispense these Mysteries and may expect as little Thanks from God for his medling 1 Sam. 13.12 13. as Saul had for presuming upon a Burnt-Offering and as Vzziah 2 Chron. 26.18 19. for attempting to offer Incense in the Temple Nor can the People derive any Spiritual Benefit from his Ministery who never received what he pretends to give and whose Administrations can have no more Vertue than the Exorcisms of the Sons of Sceva Acts 19.14 15 16. For the Resolution of this Doubt it is seriously to be considered What it is that constitutes a Man in the Ministerial Office And I lay it down as a sure Hypothesis uncontroverted amongst the Orthodox That Ordination according to the Divine Rule of Ecclesiastical Oeconomy is the ordinary Way and Means appointed by God for Constituting of Men in any Degree of the Sacred Hierarchy and for Consecrating them to the Priestly Office in the Church and making them the Ministers of Christ and that thereby Authority and Power is conveyed upon the Person thus Consecrated of Dipensing the Mysteries of the Gospel and Administring the Ordinances of God Wherefore we must consider That in Ordination there is a Divine Spiritual Power and Authority and there is a Ministerial Ecclesiastical Seal And howsoever this Power and Authority be conveyed by the hands of Man as the external Agent and Instrument in conferring the Ecclesiastical Seal yet these external Rites of Ordination perform'd by Man do not give the Power but are only Declarative of that Spiritual Power and Grace which is deriv'd from God alone and flows from the influence of his Blessed Spirit as the Internal and Principal Author and Efficient upon the Person call'd by him thereto And therefore Dionysius Areopagita or whosoever else is the Author of The Ecclesiastical Hierarchy says of the Person that confers Orders That he is but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Proclaimer or Declarer of the Divine Election De Eccles Hier. Cap. 9. Who says he by his own Gift doth not advance those who are Consecrated unto the Honour or Power of Ecclesiastical Order This he ascribes only to God whom he calls there 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Prince of Consecration or chief Ordainer and pleads the Authority of Jesus Christ for ascribing this Power to God alone and his Holy Spirit Nor can it be rationally suppos'd to be otherwise for if a Spiritual Power be necessary as is undeniable to the Ministration of Spiritual and Sacred Things then this Power can be derived from no other Fountain than the Divine Spirit And therefore did our Lord and Saviour both by his Words and Actions intimate the same to flow from him upon the Persons of his Apostles whilst at the giving of their Commission he told them That the Authority and Power which he transmitted unto them was but an emanation of that Power which he had received from above saying Matth. 28.18 19. All Power is given unto me in Heaven and in Earth go ye therefore and teach all Nations Baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost And Joh. 20.21 22 23. As my Father hath sent me so send I you And when he had said this he breathed on them and saith unto them Receive ye the Holy Ghost Whosesoever's Sins ye remit they are remitted unto them and whosesoever's Sins ye retain they are retained And telling them Acts 1.8 Ye shall receive Power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you And ye shall be Witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost Parts of the Earth Whereby he meaneth That they have both the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 both the Authority and the Power of their Ministery from the Holy Ghost And not only did our Saviour ascribe this unto him in the Persons of these extraordinary Ministers whom he immediately Ordained and sent forth but the Apostle Paul ascribes it also to him in the Persons of the ordinary Pastors of the Church who were Called and Ordained mediately by the Hands of Men saying unto them Acts 20.28 Take heed unto your selves and unto all the Flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you Overseers Wherefore from so clear Premisses we cannot but conclude That to a right and sufficient Ordination to constitute a Man a true Minister of Jesus Christ and to endow him with a lawful Ministerial Power there must be with the external Instrument a concurrence of the internal Principal Efficient as it was in the Out-sending of Barnabas and Saul who received their Power and Authority from God and the external Seal thereof from the Church the Holy Ghost gives the Command and calls them Acts 13.2 3. and their Brethren gave them Imposition of Hands And therefore Ambrose proposeth the Question Lib. De Dignit Sacerdot Cap. 5. Who gives the Gift or Grace of Ordination And he answered Sine dubio Deus without doubt God Sed tamen says he per hominem dat Deus but notwithstanding God gives it by Man Homo imponit manus Deus largitur gratiam Sacerdos imponit supplicem dextram Deus benedicit potenti dextra Man lays on the Hands God bestows the Grace The Priest lays on the right Hand of Prayer and God blesseth with the right Hand of Power And without this the external Seal Administred by the Hands of Men signifies nothing Hence then the Collection is easie and the Conclusion evident That he who enters by by Simony upon the Sacred
Office is not to be reputed a true and lawful Minister of Jesus Christ because though he have the external Seal from the Hands of Man it is but insignificant in regard he hath not received the internal Grace from the Hands of God For whilst he comes not thereto by any Divine Call or Warrant but inintrudes by Money and Bribes the Holy Ghost gives not his concurrence to confer the Spiritual Power and Authority And therefore of such one says Ambrose Ibid. Per pecuniam acquisivit indebitum Ordinem Deum perdidit in interiori homine By Money he hath acquir'd Orders he had no right to and he hath lost God in the inward Man And he shews at length how no Grace nor Good is conferr'd by such an Ordination But to put the Matter quite out of doubt we have the Testimony of the Holy Ghost himself witnessing That Simoniacal Persons are not to be reckoned amongst the Ministers of Christ for behold what upon this account he saith by Simon Peter to Simon Magus Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter Acts 8.21 And so neither can his Disciples have any share in the Ministery And from out of the number of his Ministers doth our Saviour himself plainly exclude those who come in by Windows or Posterns or oblique Passages and that under a very bad Character saying Verily Joh. 10.1 verily I say unto you he that entereth not in by the door into the Sheep-fold but climbeth up some other way the same is a Thief and a Robber And I 'm sure none dare say That they who climb up by the Ladder of Simony do enter in by the Door And what are they to be reputed then Not the true Pastors or Ministers of Christ but Thieves and Robbers and that justly so since they imitate such in their way of Entrance And therefore have the Canons of the Church been very strict in debarring such from the Ministery of Holy Things because they cannot say with the Apostle 1 Tim. 1.12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord that he hath counted me faithful putting me into the Ministery For Christ hath not put them in but they have thrust in themselves and so are no Ministers of his The Case standing thus it may give just occasion to enquire What Effect then can such a one's Ministery have upon People For seeing God who is the Fountain of Grace hath made his Ordinances the Channels and Conduits whereby the Graces of his Spirit are convey'd if these Ordinances in the hand of such an Instrustrument who is not the lawful Minister of Jesus Christ to whose Ordination the Holy Ghost hath not concurred nor given any Power Authority or Warrant to Administer the same shall produce these Spiritual Effects for which they are design'd then is there no great necessity of a distinct Order of such Persons as Priests or Ministers in the Church upon whom People are to depend or wait for the Dispensation of these Sacred Mysteries since they may reap the same Fruits and Effects thereof from his Ministration who is no Minister of Christ And so they may as well wait for these Blessings from the Performance of every rude Artificer and bold Mechanick who lists to step up into the Pulpit and dip his hand in the Sacred Font and approach to the Holy Altar and to assume the Power of Administring all the Holy Ordinances of the Gospel as well as from his Ministery who is Consecrated and set apart thereto by the Rites of Ordination and Power of the Holy Ghost And upon the other hand If the Simoniacal Entrance of such a one render his Ordination ineffectual so as his Administrations shall have no Efficacy for the production of those Graces and Blessings for which God hath design'd the Ministery of the Gospel to what pitiful Condition and hard Straits are the People over whom he is set reduc'd unto upon his account And what Scruples it may breed in them in reference to his Administrations and what Doubts it may make them wrestle under in reference to their own Spiritual State and Condition and what woful Consequences may follow thereupon what considering Man may not easily apprehend If for determining the Matter of this Enquiry we will take the Opinion of Gregory the Great he is very confident in concluding the absolute ineffectiveness and invalidity of such a one's Ministery saying Quicunque Sacros Ordines vendunt emunt Apud Gratian Caus 1. Qu. 1. Can. Quicunque Sacros Sacerdotes esse non possunt Vnde Scriptum est Anathema Danti Anathema Accipienti c. Whosoever sell and buy Holy Orders cannot be Priests hence it is that it 's written Cursed be the Giver Cursed be the Receiver This is Simoniacal Heresie How then if they be a Curse and not Saints themselves can they sanctifie others And seeing they are not in the Body of Christ how can they either deliver or receive his Body He who is Cursed how can he Bless But how far soever we may go along with him as to the ineffectiveness of such a one's Ministration yet in so far as he builds the same upon Arguments whereby it would follow That the Efficacy of the Ministery should depend upon the Grace or Sanctity of the Instrument we cannot comply with him therein the Consequence being dangerous and such as may seem to savour too much of the Leaven of the Donatists Luciferians and Apostolici c. contrary to the received Doctrine of the Catholick Church and refuted by several of the Antients as Augustine Optatus Milevitanus Jerome and many others shewing That it doth not prejudice the Increase whether he that soweth do it with polluted or with pure hands if so be the Seed be good and the Soil be fertile and the Influence of the Clouds and Heavens not restrained And the House may receive Light by the Taper which shines from an earthen as well as from a golden Candlestick And if there were no good to be reaped by the Ministery of wicked Men but that the Ministrations of unsanctified Persons were altogether ineffectual Christ would never have commanded People to hear the Scribes and Pharisees Matth. 23.2 3. nor would he have sent forth Judas amongst the Twelve Matth. 10.5 6. to gather in the lost Sheep of the House of Israel of whose Ministery we hear no less Effects than of the rest Nay he tells plainly that many Reprobates in the Great Day shall plead the Effects of their Ministery Matth. 7.22 23. saying Lord Lord have we not Prophesied in thy Name and in thy Name cast out Devils and in thy Name done many wonderful Works To whom he will say Depart from me ye that work Iniquity And if the pravity of the Instrument should render the Work ineffectual Philip. 1.15 18. it should have been no matter of rejoicing to Paul that Christ was Preached by such who Preached him out of Envy and Contention and not sincerely But
whilst he says 2 Cor. 4.7 We have this Treasure in earthen Vessels that the excellency of the Power may be of God and not of us he will have us to understand That the Efficacy of the Gospel depends not upon the Instrument but upon the Author who can render a Blessing effectual as well from the Mouth of Balaam as from the Mouth of Aaron and can wash a Soul from Sin as well by the Baptism of Judas as of John For he may have gratiam gratis datam who hath not gratiam gratum facientem he may be endowed with the grace of Edification to save others who hath not the grace of Sanctification to save himself But all this while we speak of those whom we suppose to have Authority by a lawful Minister to dispense the Mysteries of the Gospel But the matter of our present Enquiry concerning the Efficacy of his Ministrations who enters by Simony proceeds upon another Hypothesis to wit That such a one is not the Minister of Jesus Christ and this being already prov'd we cannot but approve of Gregory's Position That Quicunque Sacros Ordines vendunt emunt Sacerdotes esse non possunt Whosoever sell and buy Holy Orders cannot be Priests And upon this ground we must proceed to Determine in this Matter Now upon this account it hath not only been much question'd by some Whether any Spiritual Blessing or Benefit can be deriv'd from the Ministery of such but it hath been confidently asserted not only by Gregory but by many others That the Ministrations of such are altogether ineffectual and can confer no good nor transmit any Spiritual Grace or Blessing Whereupon Gratian hath adopted it amongst the Decrees of the Canon Law Gratia si non gratis datur Caus 1. Qu. 1. Can. Gratia c. vel accipitur gratia non est Simoniaci autem c. Grace if it be not freely given or received is not Grace but Simoniacal Persons receive it not freely therefore they receive not that Grace which principally hath its Operation in Ecclesiastical Orders That is The Ministerial Grace or Power And if they do not receive it they have it not and if they have it not neither freely nor not freely can they give it unto any Man And it seems indeed to be asserted upon good grounds For First If such Persons as is shewed before be not the lawful Ministers of Jesus Christ then have they no Title nor Right to dispense the Ordinances of the Gospel which Christ hath intrusted only to his Ministers Matth. 19.16 Joh. 20.23 2 Cor. 5.18 20. to whom alone he hath consigned the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven and committed the Ministery of Reconciliation as his Ambassadours as says the Apostle So that when they presume to meddle with these Holy Mysteries they do but sacrilegiously usurp without Authority from God and so do dispense them in vain and with an ineffective Hand the bare external Seal of Ordination by the hands of Man without the concurrence of the Divine Power being of no force to work these Effects which are the proper Emanations of the Holy Ghost so that their Administrations can be no more valid than a Remission to a guilty Person from his Hand who had surreptitiously affix'd the King's Seal thereto and without his Royal Consent or Authority had usurped the Office of an Herauld to proclaim it And therefore it was not a groundless Debate wherewith the Church of Rome was troubled for several Years in the time of Leo IX Whether Ordinations conferr'd by such Simoniacal Usurpers were effectual Or Whether they should be Re-Ordain'd who had been Ordain'd by them And howsoever Petrus Damiani wrote his Book call'd Gratissimus against those who pleaded for Re-Ordination And Leo in two several Councils at Rome Concil Tom. 3. p. 2. allowed those who had been Ordained by such to continue in their Office after the doing of Forty days Penance yet this seems to have been but of Indulgence and to have proceeded rather from Necessity than Choice in respect of the Tumult that was raised thereabout and in regard that a more strict Course would have occasion'd the Silencing of an infinite number of the Clergy and the laying waste such a multitude of Churches as many Territories should have been without the sound of the Gospel to the great prejudice of the Christian Religion as may appear by the same Petrus Damiani's Epistle to Henry Arch-Bishop of Ravenna And yet I think Leo did right not to Re-ordain them but rather upon their Repentance to re-invest them with better Authority in the Exercise of their Office since they had once received Orders how ineffective soever through the want of the Divine Concurrence with a Simoniacal Ordainer yet the Church having by the external Seal of Ordination once invested such a one with an Ecclesiastical Authority to transmit the same unto others it had not been convenient that the Church should have call'd the Character of her own Ordination in question Neither needed they who had receiv'd the same from the hand of such but the Church's Approbation for their Administration and devout Addresses to God for the Power of the Holy Ghost to render it effectual And therefore says the Canon Law Apud Grat. Caus 1. Qu. 1. Can. Statuimus Decret Simoniacos non Simoniace à Simoniacis Ordinatos misericorditer per Manûs Impositionem pro temporis necessitate in officio concedimus permanere Those whom we account Simoniacks because of their Ordination by Simoniacal Persons but have not practised Simony themselves we do by the Imposition of Hands graciously give them leave to continue in their Office through the necessity of Time Whereby it appears That it was not thought fit to Re-ordain such but only confirm their former Ordination by Imposition of Hands without more Rites of Consecration of new again Secondly It being undeniable that the whole Efficacy of the Ministery depends upon God and that the Spiritual Effects thereof flow wholly from that Power wherewith he doth indow and inable Men to Administer in the Mysteries of the Gospel and from the Concourse of his Holy Spirit with them therein For 2 Cor. 4.7 The excellency of the Power is of God and not of Man 1 Cor. 3.7 Neither is he that planteth any thing neither he that watereth any thing but God that giveth the Increase It will then undoubtedly follow That the external Rites of Ordination can transmit no Vertue or Efficacy into his Ministery who receives the same without the Call and concurrence of the Holy Ghost and without any promise of Divine Influence upon his Administrations Now that he who enters by Simony upon the Pastoral Office is destitute of these may be evident without much arguing For who can suppose that he is Call'd of God or that the Holy Ghost hath given Authority to his Ordination who hath procur'd the same by sinister means since our Saviour hath told us that such are but
Transactors in this execrable Merchandise the Disciples of Balaam Gehazi and Simon Magus But some have set it forth as more hainous than the Heresie of Macedonius in regard that the Macedonians supposing the Holy Ghost a Creature made him only a Servant to God But the Simoniacks acknowledging the Holy Ghost to be God yet make him a Servant to themselves and to their own covetous or ambitious Designs nay as their very Slave they buy and sell and make Merchandise of him And some again have parallel'd it with the Treachery of Judas in regard that as he sold and made Merchandise of Jesus Christ the Son of God so do they of the Holy Ghost the Spirit of God But I desire neither to be at the pains to set down in writing nor to put others to the pains to read the several Passages in their Works Commentaries Epistles and Homilies wherein they paint it forth as a Sin of the deepest Dye The multiplicity whereof would make this Treatise swell to a greater Bulk than I design But having given this short hint I shall proceed rather to shew how by the Judgment of the Catholick Church and joint Suffrages of many Fathers together Simony hath been accounted a Crime deserving and Laws and Canons have been made for inflicting the highest Censures upon Persons guilty thereof who according to their different Qualities whether Ecclesiasticks or Laicks have been decreed lyable to Deposition or Excommunication and to be stigmatiz'd and branded with a mark of Infamy Let us then look first upon these commonly called The Canons of the Apostles which of how small Authority soever they may seem to be in regard of their supposititious Title yet may in regard of their Antiquity claim some Veneration And thus against Simony do they decree Si quis Episcopus Can. 30. aut Presbyter aut Diaconus c. If any Bishop or Presbyter or Deacon obtain this Dignity by the help of Money let him be Deposed as likewise he who gave him Ordination and be separated from the Communion as Simon Magus was by Peter More also I might thence cite but I proceed to what is of more certain Authority Let us look upon the Sentence of that famous General Council of Chalcedon pronounced by the joint consent of Six hundred and thirty Bishops and there we find Can. 2â— Si quis Episcopus per pecunias c. If any Bishop for Money or for the filthy benefit of Lucre Ordain either Bishop or Presbyter or Deacon or any of these who are numbered amongst the Clergy he shall undergo the danger or punishment of the loss of his own Degree And he who is Ordained shall reap no benefit by his Ordination but let him be driven from that Dignity which he hath acquir'd by Money And if any Man interpose as a Mediator in such vile and wicked Bargains if he be a Clergy-man let him be turned off from that Degree which he holds but if he be a Laick Person or Monk Anathematizetur let him be Excommunicate Behold also what the Second Council of Bracar says Ne aliquo pretio gratia Dei c. Let not the Grace of God and Imposition of Hands be sold for any Price because the Antient Sentence of the Fathers have defin'd saying Anathema Danti Anathema Accipienti Cursed be the Giver Cursed be the Receiver Behold also the Sentence of the Eighth Council of Toledo Decernentes omnino c. Art 3. We altogether decree That if any henceforth be discovered to have offered any Gift for attaining the Dignity of the Priesthood from thenceforth let him know himself to be condemn'd with the Reproach of Anathema or a Curse and to be separated from the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ c. And these who upon this account have received Bribes if they be Clergy-men let them be punished with the loss of that Honour but if Laicks let them be condemned into a perpetual Curse or Excommunication I coud cite more Acts and Canons of later Times whereby it is evident That notwithstanding of the growing Corruptions in the Church yet against Simony She hath still in Her Doctrine kept an Harmony with the more ancient and purer Times But for these the Decrees and Sentences of the Canon-Law may sufficiently serve wherein we find these Determinations Decret Gregor 9. De Simon Cap. 6. Sicut Simonia pestis c. As the Plague of Simony is greater than other Diseases therefore how soon the Signs thereof are made to appear by any Person it is without delay to be banish'd and driven out of the Church And a-again De Simon Cap. 10. Convictus de Simonia c. He that is convict of Simony is to be Deposed The same is to be said of him who is under the Scandal or Defamation thereof and cannot purge himself And again Cap. 23. Si contradicens c. If he who opposeth in an Election be made to forbear by Money given with the Will or Consent of him who is Elected he who is thus Elected or Chosen is holden to Renounce And again Cap. 38. Tam ementes quam vendentes c. Both the Buyers and Sellers of Offices and of the Administration of Spiritual Things are to be condemn'd as Simoniacks and thrust out of the Church Thus it may apappear That Simony in all Ages of the Church hath been judged a most hainous Sin and to deserve no less punishment than Deposition and Excommunication Moreover as if these were scarce sufficient Censures for such a Crime they who should be found guilty thereof have been also judged to deserve to be stigmatiz'd with an indelible Character of Infamy And therefore King Athalaricus by his Confirmation of the Edict of the Marble Table contain'd in that Letter which I have mention'd before decrees Simoniacal Persons to be branded with a Note of Infamy And it is Enacted in the Second Aurelian Council Can. 4. Si quis Sacerdotium per pecuniae nundinum c. If any Man should aspire to the Priesthood by the Merchandise of Money that he be thrust away as a Reprobate And what greater Infamy and Disgrace can be put upon any Man than to pass under the Character of a Reprobate And it was decree'd by that Lateran Council under Innocent the Second Five hundred and forty Years ago which yet is by near half the time later than any I have formerly mention'd Vt emptor venditor c. That the Buyer the Seller and the Medler in these Simoniacal Transactions should be dashed with a Mark of Infamy Now let any serious Man say Whether what hath been here said from Reason Scripture and Authority of the Church be not sufficient to make Simony to be abhorred as a most hainous and execrable Crime And whether it be not a most dangerous Thing to meddle with that which is hateful to all good Men and whereupon God hath put such Marks of his Displeasure CHAP. V. Whether they are to
the Catholick Church which She daily putteth up in the behalf of all Her Members For He who hath said Matth. 18.20 Where two or three are gathered together in my Name there am I in the midst of them And James 5.16 that the effectual fervent Prayer of a righteous Man availeth much And Psal 112.4 that to the Vpright there ariseth Light in Darkness He who hath said so and made these and many other gracious Promises to his Church and to the Prayers of his Saints and to the Devotion of the Upright will not frustrate them of the Fruits of their Religious Performances upon the account of his Administration whose Guilt in intruding upon the same is none of theirs whilst they do not Communicate with him therein either by Knowledge Connivance or Consent And this is all I can warrantably say to this purpose CHAP. VI. A Warning to Young Men in reference to their Entry upon Spiritual Offices in the Church SUCH is commonly the heat of Youth in posting towards Preferment that it out-runs the consideration not only of the proper Ends but also of the disproportion of its own Abilities for the discharge of the great and weighty Duties of the high Office and Imployment to which it aspires For as Calvin says truly Contigit omnes fere juvenes turgidos esse fastuosos tanquam nubes transvolare possent It is incident almost to all Youths to be big of Self-conceit and proudly to raise their Feathers as if they could Mount above the Clouds So that like Phaeton they must needs be set in their Father's Chariot though the Event of their preposterous Undertaking should be to precipitate themselves to their own Ruine and to hazard to set the World on fire And through such preposterous Indiscretion doth it come to pass that many Young Men aspiring to the Holy Calling of the Ministery do both in their Entry thereto and afterwards in the Exercise thereof stumble into those Errours which bewray misplaced and disordered Affections and are suitable neither to the Dignity nor Divine Ends of that Sacred Function Mistake me not Dear Brethren as if it were my design to reproach Young Men or by reflecting upon others to purchase an Opinion of the innocency of mine own past Youth from those Infirmities and Errours which are incident to others nay I desire rather to be humbled in the sight of God for the least Errour or Irregularity whereunto I am sensible that the Folly of my Youthful Affections have betray'd me But what I speak is out of compassion and for precaution that you may the more attentively watch against those Dangers into which the temerarious Fervour of that imprudent Age may drive you headlong For thus it is I fear that many are led into the Snare of Simony And therefore I desire to warn all who are aiming at this Holy Calling that they would take heed how they enter thereupon Wherefore as I have sufficiently shewed before how great and hainous a Crime this sin of Simony is so now I adjure thee in the fear of God whosoever thou art that designest to undertake the Sacred Office of the Ministery in the Church of Christ as thou wouldst wish to avoid the formidable Guilt of that Sin and to enter upon that Holy Function and serve him with a good Conscience therein who fees in secret and searches the Hearts and Reins and will render unto every one according to their ways that thou seriously consider what thou art doing and before thou presume to meddle therewith strictly examine whether thou be Call'd of God thereto For the Lord will have none to serve him in his House but those who are called by himself And therefore the Apostle Paul hath told us Heb. 5.4 That no Man taketh this Honour to himself but he that is called of God as was Aaron And it is this that he so often pleads for the Authority of his own Ministery Rom. 1.1 1 Cor. 1.1 Gal. 1.15 That he was called and set apart of God thereto Whereupon Chrysostom says In Rom. 1. Vbique se vocatum commemorat ostendens quod non ambiendo adeptus sit sed vocatus accesserit He all ways mentions him-himself to be called shewing That he had not courted that Office by indirect Means but that being called he came thereto And without this Call and Commission from God none hath right to Administer the same For Rom. 10.15 How shall they Preach says the same Apostle except they be sent And therefore although God hath been pleased for preventing that confusion which vain pretensions to a Divine Call might introduce into his Church to appoint an Ordinary way for the confirmation of his own Call by the Seal of Ecclesiastical Ordination yet when that Seal is procured from the hands of Men where the Call is wanting from the hands of God it is of small significancy it is but the setting up of a Man in an Office in the House without the Master's consent Therefore again I warn thee strictly to examine before thou presume to enter upon this Office Whether thou be Called thereunto by God For if without his Call by indirect means thou thrust thy self into it what wilt thou Answer in the Day when the Master of the House shall call his Servants to an account and finding thee amongst them shall put home this Question to thee Amice quomodo huc intrasti Friend how camest thou in hither Whatsoever thou may'st devise to say now for thy self before Men I fear then thou shalt be speechless and what the end thereof shall be thou may'st easily presage Now when I warn thee to examine thy Call from God I do not bid thee search after it by any extraordinary Signs or wait upon any immediate Revelation from Heaven to assure thee thereof but I would have thee seriously to consider Whether thou findest a concurrence of these things upon thine own Heart which God worketh by his Spirit as things which he necessarily requireth in those whom he calls and thereby thou may'st come to know whether thou be Call'd of him or not First Consider then the End thou proposest unto thy self in this Holy Function For whom God calls he sets their Eye upon the right End Now the great End of the Ministery of the Gospel is The Glory of God and the Salvation of Man That this was the End of God's sending forth Ministers to preach the Gospel that for his Glory they should make manifest the transcendent Riches of his Grace in Christ and be Instruments by dispensing the Means of Grace for the Conversion of Souls and for advancing them by Faith in the Lord Jesus to the participation of eternal Life and Happiness is clear from the Words of the Apostle Paul who speaking to the Ephesians of his Ministery in the Mystery of the Gospel says whereof I was made a Minister Eph. 3.7 8. that I should Preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable Riches of