poured out upon him which none but the Omnipotent could stand under And then how affectionately doth he recommend them to his Father Chap. 17. Leaves his written Word his sealing Ordinances and his Ordained Ministers whom he strictly charges with them yea gives his holy Angels a charge concerning them sends his Holy Spirit as a Sanctifier and a Comforter to them goes before to prepare a Place for them Negotiates all their Affairs as a Faithful Powerful and Prevalent Intercessor with the Father in their Names and Nature and assures them that he will come again and in due time receive them into the Eternal Possession of his own Glory and Joy with Himself and the Father in Heaven and in the mean time will in an invisible manner be with them alway even unto the end of the Word LORD what is * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Homo mortalis Miser Rad. secundum Euseb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 oblivisci Enosh wretched worthless guilty sin-sinful Man that so forgets Thee and deserves to be for ever forgotten of thee that thou art so very mindful of him 3. That the Ministers of the Gospel i. e. Those that are duly qualify'd and commissioned are the LORD 's deputed Shepherds They have both their ability and authority originally and fundamentally from him the only truly Catholick Infallible and Supream Shepherd and Head of his Church And in this sense we may without vanity say with the Apostle Gal. 1.1 That we are the Ministers not of men nor by man but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead We are appointed of him to be in his stead to the Flock and he hath promised to be with us to direct us in and to conduct us through both the Duties and the difficulties of our Work to the end of the World Suffer me now my dear Brethren to make a few short Remarks on this Head both for my own Admonition and yours 1. These only are Shepherds that are duly qualify'd and call'd I sent them not saith the Lord yet they prophecy a lye in my name that I might drive you out and that ye might perish ye and the Prophets that prophecy unto you Jer. 27.15 God never sends a Messenger without his Errand Whatever the Qualification seem to be if the Call be not of God be sure there is a lye of one kind or other in the Prophecy for if God have no Errand in it the Devil hath 2. 'T is no contradiction nor Solocism in this case for the same person to be both a Shepherd and a Sheep nay nothing is more congruous He that is a Captain had need to be a Souldier yea one of the best of Souldiers Our great Shepherd is the Lamb of God and his deputed Shepherds should not be Goats nor Wolves For a man to be a Teacher of others and himself a Cast away What is there more shameful or more dreadful 3. Those that are Shepherds but by deputation be sure must give an account The great Proprietor will not be defrauded Of my hand didst thou require it whether stolen by day or stolen by night Gen. 31 38. What miscarries through the Shepherds neglect the Shepherd must account for If thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way that wicked man shall die in his iniquity but his blood will I require at thy hand Ezek 33.8 And of the greater value the Flock is the more severe will the account be 4. Shepherds must cum Ovibus pernoctare excubias agere be the LORD's Watch-men While the Shepherd is sleeping the Fox and the Wolf are waking and walking O let not a night of security so soon eclipse our dawning from the night of our late adversity Morning naps are sweet but in this case most dangerous Our Enemy knows that we are apter to slumber in a calm than in a storm and 't is easy though sad to see what advantage he begins already to make of it How can we forget what an Emphasis our dear LORD hath set on that Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Watch therefore Mat. 24.41 Chap. 25.13 Chap. 26.41 Mark 13.35 and 37. Luke 21.36 alibi On that miraculous Deliverance at the Read Sea it is said then believed they his words they sang his praise they soon forgat his works they waited not for his counsel Psal 106.12 13. Are not the Songs of our deliverance yet in our mouths and a deliverance but begun as was that of theirs O let us not sing our selves asleep 4. It informs us how necessary the Ministery of the Gospel is What becomes of a Flock without a Shepherd of a Family without a Steward Of the Blind without a Guide Of the Infant without a Nurse Of the Sick without a Physician Of an Army without an Officer Of a City without a Governor and a Watch man In a worse condition than any of these is a Church were it proper to call it a Church without a Teacher and a Ruler The Devil is aware of this and very well knows where the stress of his Interest lies If he can but effectually smite the Shepherd the Sheep are his own Therefore like the King of Syria he commands his Captains and Legions To fight neither with small nor great save only with the King of Israel 1 Kings 22.31 And hence are all his Intrigues and Attempts by force and fraud to disgrace discourage divide or corrupt and any way to destroy the purity and the power and were it possible the being of the Ministry of the Gospel in the World Were it not for that promise and that power and faithfulness that hath and will alway make it good Matt. 16.18 The gates of hell shall not prevail It might have been written long ago on the universal ruins of God's Zion THIS WAS ONCE THE CHURCH OF GOD. If it had not been the LORD who was on our side now may Israel say Then they had swallowed us up quick Psal 124. beg But O how sottishly unsensible are the most of men even of those that are call'd Christians What a blessing and priviledge the Gospel Ministry is yea is it not a burthen with too many Thou hast been weary of me O Israel Isa 43.22 some on one account and some on another are ready to look on the Ministry of the Gospel as an incumbrance an unnecessary charge which might better be spar'd and to say in their hearts from the principles of Judas's frugality To what purpose is this waste Had I not many other things yet to speak to how readily would my Pen run beyond the bounds assigned it in commenting on the inestimable usefulness of this glorious blessing of the Gospel and the shameful Atheistical Heaven-tempting ingratitude of those that are weary of it O that a wanton wrangling self-will'd Gospel-glutted Generation may not after all that the God of patience hath done for us provoke him to testify against us that he is as weary of us as
know not how to restore the old to their Original rectitude as befel the Theocracy of God's own appointment 1 Sam. 8.5 and 7. But were the Argument good from the abuse of a thing against the use of it 't were easy to argue our selves into the grossest Absurdities in Nature Now if we would rightly understand what that Form of Government is that Christ hath chosen for his Churches under the Gospel we must consider what the Subject of the Government is or the matter which is to be inform'd by it 'T is not enough to say the Church which is vox ambigua but we must distinguish Nor is it necessary for me to take notice here of all the Distinctions the Word is capable of or that have been by some others imposed on it As 1. The Church Oecumenical to which the Pope so arrogantly and fasly lays a claim of Supremacy Or 2dly The Church National of which that Eminent Servant of Christ Mr. Baxter hath given so Rational and Scriptural an account and which that I know is not by any one as yet answered Or 3dly The Church Provincial which is the Constitution and Union of the particular Churches within the limits of the Province into one distinct Political Body or Sacred Polity under the general inspection and Authority of one Ecclesiastical Head either single or collective Or 4ly The Presbyterial Classical Collegiate Diocesan c. which I take as Synonimous and includes all the particular Congregations within the bounds of such a Division Or 5ly The Congregational made up of one Pastor with his people and necessary Officers These are the Distinctions given according to the Common Division that hath for Order sake been made of the Church But the only Distinction which I shall now a little animadvert upon is this The Rulers of the Church and the Ruled and shall speak to the Last first The Ruled And herein shall answer these three Questions 1. Who they are they must be ruled 2. By whom they must be ruled 3. By What Laws they must be ruled Q. 1. Who they are that must be ruled S. The Answer in general is what Paul gives loco cit Rom. 13.1 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 every Soul He that is not subject to the good Government of that Political Body civil or sacred whereunto he stands related as a Member and by which he ought to be comprehended is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lawless and Disobedient for whom the Bridle and the Rod of the Law is made and so both Rulers and Ruled are equally subject to the Laws though not the same Laws of Government but according to the different capacities orders and Relation wherein they are placed in the Oeconomy of the Church Though the Rulers and the Ruled cannot be the same sub codem respectu yet in divers respects they may and ought Those that are Rulers of some must be ruled by others So then the Ruled part of which I am first to speak is twofold the Clergy and the Laity or the Ministers and the People according to the duplicity of the Government to which as Church-Members they stand related which is either general and common or special and proper The Rulers and Officers of the Church as those of Armies and Common-wealths or Kingdoms are or ought to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 men under Authority and the Laws of a Polity that is proper to them as such as well as the people whom they govern by the Laws that are fitted for them I say under Authority and that not only and immediately unto Christ but also unto men even such as Christ the Supream Legislator and Lord hath Commissioned to rule for and under him in his Church This seems to me to have been one great mistake and the ground of a thousand more That the Ministers of the Gospel have and hold their Authority in the Church only from Christ in capite so as to conclude an equality and co-ordination of Pastors 'T is true the general Patent and Grant of the Office is originally and immediately from Christ but the particular distribution of Commission is not so but from such hands as are entrusted and authorized by him to bestow it on others and unto whom they that receive it ought to be accountable for their well or male-administration of it All those that are duly qualify'd and call'd to the Ministry are equally Ministers of Christ i. e. one is not more a Minister than another nor meerly as such have they greater power one than another as all men in the World are equally men God's Creatures and partakers of Human Nature But from hence to deny a subordination of one to another in point of Government is to pluck up all Government in the World by the roots and turn the whole Creation into Anarchy and worse than its first Tohn vebohu which is one of the maddest Principles that ever was suggested to the Rational Nature by that grand Author of confusion Let it be considered that the Officers of the Church of Christ or the Clergy as for distinction they are commonly call'd are a particular distinct Company and Society of men as the People or Layity are another and so they ever were and were to be accounted by God's own appointment both under the Old and New-Testament And as it is in all regulated Armies and other secular Governments in the world the Officers are a separate Political Body and Community of themselves distinct from the rest and if so then they ought to have their proper Polity and Government as such a Government peculiar and distinct from that of the common people and which is call'd Hierarchy only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And that it ever hath been and always must be so is not hard to prove 1. That it hath been ever so since Christ hath had a Church upon the Earth I say a Church organically constituted and politically govern'd Such was the Jews under that of the hands of Moses and Aaron That the Ministers under the Old Testament the Priests and Levites were a distinct Body yea and to avoid confusion a distinct Tribe purposely so chosen of God and that they had their distinct Polity and Government of God's own appointing and that with a great deal of caution and particularity even to very minute circumstances in all the Orders Degrees and Courses of their Consecration and Ministration I would think it needless for me to spend time to demonstrate Those that have any acquaintance with the Sacred History of that Church cannot be ignorant of this And this was both the beauty and the strength and security of that Church the Hedge that God made about his Vineyard And as they were a distinct Body as Clergy separate from all the other Tribes so they had their proper Government and Oeconomy the Priests of the House of Aaron the Rulers and the rest of the Levites the Ruled And that it was so under the Gospel too from the
beginning is very evident Our blessed LORD when he began with his Ministry to lay the Foundations of the new Jerusalem the Gospel Church what could be more plainly distinguishing than his chusing the select number of Twelve as one Superiour Order of Ministers and of Seventy whom he sent forth to Preach the Gospel as an Order inferiour to the Twelve Tho' their general Office and Commission as Preachers were both the same which made them of one Body and Society as such but of a different Order and Degree and these as plainly and politically distinguished from the Body of the common Disciples as any one political Society or Company of Men in the World is from another And thus they have been ever since with all the reason in the World taken as a particular Company and Body of Men on the account of their Holy Calling separate and distinct from the Common People and as such have a Government of Christs own Institution proper and peculiar to them I do not think that the exact number of Twelve or of Seventy doth at all concern us Gentiles but that which is in it common both to Jews and Gentiles concerns us as well as them What the Priests were to the Levites that the Twelve were to the Seventy Yea and among the Twelve there seems to be a difference both of Order and Degree Tho' Peter was not the Princeps Apostolorum he was the Primus Discipulorum the Seniour of that School or Collegium Presbyterorum and next in Dignity under Christ his LORD and Master for we find that Peter was the Person unto whom Christ did immediately direct all his Speeches that concerned them in common that when the Twelve or any part of them are mention'd if Peter were one he was always named first Yea and Matthew in his Catalogue does not only name him first but gives him the Title of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which for ought I know is as much as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Praeses Neither tho' this be granted will it at all strengthen or favour the arrogant claim of the Bishop of Rome to be Peter's Successor For Peter himself was call'd the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not with relation to the Church Universal of which Christ alone is the Head but with relation to that particular Society or Collegium of which he was then a Member For when the frame and Oeconomy of that particular Society was dissolved as it was by the Death of Christ Peter was no more a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Primate or President than any of the other Eleven were 2. That it must be always so And great reason there is for this 1. Because Christ hath instituted it by his own practice and example as appears by what hath been now said and what Christ hath once instituted may not by man be abrogated or altered 2. Because there is perpetual need of it I need not descant upon this Doleful Experience tells us to our shame that there is no Society or Body of men in the World that have more need of the Reins of Government than the Ministry Hath every Company of Physicians Chirurgeons Merchants Apothecaries Taylors Drapers Shoemakers Victuallers Vintners Bakers Brick-layers c. need of a Government peculiar to their respective Companies and Professions in the best governed Towns and Corporations I would I could say that Ministers have not much more whose Errours and Miscarriages are of sadder consequence than any of theirs aforementioned If every Minister as such be immediately under Christ as to Government which cannot be unless they had their Commission immediately from him as the Apostles had then is he accountable to none else but is absolute and independent in his Office What grosser principle of Tyranny can there be than this What wider Gate can there be opened to the most Licentious Arbitrariness And in what a case then are the poor Churches This is to pull down one Tyrant and to set up many thousands and to make every Novice a Lord over Gods Heritage Quest 2. By whom must they be ruled Sol. Not by themselves sure that 's plain Anarchy and utterly inconsistent with any Form of Political Government which the Quakers themselves would soon be weary of as in Pensilvania they say they begin to be were they not in despight of their irrational Principles preserv'd from the mischievous consequences of them by the common benefit of the Government they here live under but they must be rul'd by the Authority which God hath set over them and every one both Pastors and People by their own immediate Officers Obey them that have the rule over you and submit your selves Heb. 13.17 And who are they whom Christ hath set to Rule and to Govern in his House but those whom he calls his Stewards his Ministers into whose hands he hath committed the Keys of Government Neither hath he shared the Ruling Power or any part of it between them and the People nor could it have been consistent with the honour of his Wisdom or the Interest and Peace of his Churches to have done it I will give unto Thee not one but both the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven Mat. 16.19 That these are the Keys of Doctrine and Discipline appears by the explication of it in the next words Whatsoever thou shalt bind on Earth shall be bound in Heaven which is the exercise of the Authority given him Neither is this Power of Government given to Peter exclusively nor as a private Disciple but as a publick Minister and publick Officer in the Church of Christ and with him to all the rest of his Brethren in the same Office for them and for their Successors Mat. 18.18 Who is it that Christ means by the faithful and wise Steward Lu. 12.42 Is it not the same that the Apostle means 1 Cor. 4.1 The Ministers of Christ and Tit. 1.7 A Bishop must be blameless as the Steward of God And this is the Steward whom his Lord shall make Ruler over his Houshold to give them their portion of meat in due season So that the Government of his Church is established by Christ in the hands of his Ministers on whom he breathed the Holy-Ghost to qualifie them for and carry them thro' all the work both ordinary and extraordinary whereto he sent them Joh. 20.22 By this it appears in the general in whose hands immediately under Christ the governing power doth lye not in the People but in the Ministers of the Gospel who alone are his Stewards and unto whom at his departure he delivered the Keys of his House and of all the Provisions and Treasures in it And who are sometimes in the New Testament call'd his Ambassadors or Messengers sometimes Bishops or Overseers sometimes Presbyters or Elders sometimes Proestotes or Rulers which are but several Names and Titles given to one and the same sort of men I know no point in Scripture more plainly asserted than this viz. That Christ hath join'd
labour in the Word and Doctrine Much use hath been made of this Text to little purpose I shall not now mention any of all that I have seen and read of it but give you as God hath enabled me the true sense of this Scripture and let the unprejudiced Reader judge And that we may understand the mind of Christ in it we will consider 1. By whom and to whom this Direction was given It was by the Apostle Paul the great planter of the Churches of the Gentiles and who as an Apostle had Power and Authority to order and determine all the affairs that concern'd the Discipline and Government of the Churches of his own planting Both this and the other Epistle was written by him to Timothy whom he left as his Substitute or Surrogate with Apostolical Power under him in the Church of Ephesus to ordain Presbyters as there should be occasion and to dispose of the Dignities and Revenues of the Church to such as were most worthy of them and would best improve them to the Glory of Christ and the Churches benefit And for the same end it was that he left Titus in Crete as his Substitute or Overseer in that Island as appears Tit. 1.5 So that this advice was not sent to the people nor to the Inferior Presbyters who were to be ordered by it but to one in a higher Sphear of Authority and by whom they were to be ordered whether for distinction sake he be called Evangelist or Bishop or President or Moderator the difference is but verbal 2. What doth the Apostle mean by the double honour here There are two things that seem to bid fair for the Sense which will both come to one in the issue 1. The Honour of Maintenance and so we find the word sometimes used in Scripture as ver 3. of this Chap. Matt. 15.6 Acts 28 10. and the following words of the Apostle in this Scripture seem to look this way and then the Sense must be this Let those Officers of the Church that best discharge the Duties of their Office in ruling but especially in Preaching which is the more noble and necessary part of their Work have the greatest encouragement on this kind i e. Let not the Revenues of the Church which were then but small and uncertain be bestowed promiscuously much less partially 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but so as may best subserve the Churches good Government and the grand Design of preaching the Gospel 2. The Honour of Authority and Obedience And this is the prime sense of the Word as it is used in the Fifth Commandment Honour thy Father and thy Mother Exod. 20.12 is the same with Obey your Parents Eph. 6.1 And obey them that have the rule over you Heb. 13.17 and so is the word used Heb. 5.4 No man taketh this Honour unto himself i. e. this Office this Dignity this power and authority And this indeed is much more worthily and properly call'd Honour than a rich worldly Revenue or a fat Benefice or Bishoprick things unborn in those days which men too often abuse both to God's dishonour and their own Now if this be the Double Honour here intended as to me seems most probable at least that it is included as the most eminent part of it then the sense will be this Let those Presbyters or Ministers that appear on experience and tryal to have a Spirit of Government but especially with it an eminency of ability and diligence in preaching the Word be made Rulers and Superintendents over the inferior part of the Clergy let such be taken into the Collegium Presbyterorum regens the Regency of the Church So that it is not the distinction of Office but the qualification of the Officer that the Apostle gives this direction for 3. We must consider the persons on whom this double honour is to be conferr'd or who are thus to be dignified as the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 properly signifies and these are Elders describ'd 1. In genere by their Office 2. In specie by their Qualifications 1. By their general Office 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is a word always us'd to denote the Ministers of the Word in the Gospel-Church as Act. 11.30 ch 14.23 ch 15.2 6 22 23. ch 16.4 ch 20.17 ch 21.18 Tit. 1.5 Jam. 5.14 1 Pet. 5.1 2 Ep. John 1. and Epist 3.1 2. By their special Qualification which is double 1. They much be such as Rule well 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is another Title peculiarly given in the New Testament to the Ministers of the Word whose Office it is to Rule as well as to Preach 2. They must be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such as labour in the Word and Doctrine So that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth not distinguish as I have said between two Offices but between the twofold Qualifications of one and the same Office There were in the Church of Ephesus which was a Collegiate or Presbyterial Church many Presbyters the Talent of whose Gifts lay diversly as we find it doth in all other Churches some were fitter for Government others for Preaching some excelled in one Gift others in another Now the Apostle advises Timothy how to make his choice of Persons for Government in the Presbytery whom to prefer to and entrust with a double honour or higher degree of Dignity and Power in this kind and sphere of Government and tells him they must be such as have behav'd themselves well in the Pastoral Government of their particular Flocks and Congregations and especially such of them as are most eminent and laborious in Preaching the Word whereby they purchase to themselves a good Degree as it is said of the Deacons 1 Tim 3.13 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a place of higher Honour and Trust from a Deacon to a Presbyter from a Presbyter to a President Preferments ought to be dispensed according to every ones Qualifications and Merits Whence it appears that there are Degrees in the Ministerial Office And this is that the Apostle here gives this Direction about not at all countenancing a Non-Preaching Ruling Lay-Elder but discountenancing a Lordly Lazy Non-Preaching Bishop or Superintendent That the Preaching Elder or Minister of the Gospel is to Rule as well as to Preach the Word is so plainly asserted in Scripture that I think cannot by any be denied But if this Ruling Power were divided by Christ or his Apostles between Them and the People or any part of the People can any one give us a reason why neither Christ nor his Apostles should ever speak a word to direct us how the Division of this Ruling Power must be made What must be their part and what ours How they must be qualified as well as we and the Deacons for which they were careful to give the necessary Rules Yea and how they must be maintain'd too For to lay the burden of an Office on a Man and to make no provision for his Maintenance seems hard and not
we are of him 5. It informs us what an honourable work the work of the Gospel is 'T is so both in its self and with relation to its Author its Object and its Ends How contemptible soever it be in the eyes of some and how unworthy and vile soever some of those are that are admitted or thrust themselves into it to the reproach of it 'T is not only a Work but an Office and an Office of the highest dignity on the account of its Author the LORD Jesus Christ who is exalted above all Principalities and Powers and hath a Name above every Name The LORD of Lords the King Eternal Immortal Invisible the only wise God and unto whom every Knee shall bow No man taketh this honour unto himself but he that is called of God 'T is an Honour too great for any but God to bestow an Honour more immediately deriv'd from the Everlasting Fountain of Honour than any other Office in the World On the account of its Object the Mystical Flock and spiritual Kingdom of Christ the Noble Family and Houshold of God Ministers are Christ's Embassadors not Pages nor Porters though that were an honour but his Embassadors and Representatives 2 Cor. 5.20 The Stewards of his House 1 Cor. 4.1 The Angels of the Churches Rev. 1.20 He hath put his own Honour upon them and hath told the Word That what is done to them he takes as done to himself and hath required his Churches to honour them for his and for their Work sake 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let them be accounted worthy or let them be dignified with double honour The honour of respect and maintenance is due to all that are faithful but a double or greater degree of honour and authority to those that are best qualify'd for and most laborious in their Work Where by the way you may take notice that Ministers do not live as perhaps some are ready to think and to upbraid them too on the Peoples Alms. Their maintenance is of God's allowance and precept Non Eleemosinae sed Honoraria not Alms but Rewards by Divine Right due to them I say Divine Right in genere though not in specie But of this I would not now have once opened my lips but for your sakes who are the people that no guilt of this kind may rest on any of you and that you may not have any unbecoming thoughts of us on this account Lastly it is honourable too on the account of its ends The conversion edification and salvation of Immortal souls The destroying the Works of the Devil in the World and the pulling down his strong holds the repairing the ruins of mankind by the Fall and the restoring the Image of their Maker upon them the negotiating the grand Affairs of a Peace between God and man and of all the concerns of the Kingdom of the Mediator upon Earth the highest trust that ever was committed to meer Creatures The great Work and Design which the God of Heaven hath espoused to glorify all his Attributes in and which the Son of God was sent into this lower World for What are Earthly Kingdoms and Dominions and Interests to this this is that swallows up all Sirs 'T is not without regret that we should be compell'd as Paul once was To magnify our Office and to become fools in glorying 2 Cor 12.11 'T is an honour that we acknowledge our selves infinitely unworthy of yet it is the honour that our God hath put upon us both for his own and for your sakes 6. It informs us what a Burthensom Work the Ministry is Burthensom not only in respect of the Labour of it wherein if that faithfulness and diligence be used as is necessary and required it is the heaviest of all Employments in the World and that which spends the strength both of Body and Spirit more than any other 'T is true there are too many that live idly and work easily enough in this Laborious Calling whose praise is not great in the Churches and whose comfort is not like to abound in the day of account but those that love their Master and their Work and are duly sensible of their Charge can find little time to be Idle Alas Sirs what you see and hear of our Pulpit Work is or should be the least part of our Labour Besides it is a burthensom Work in respect of the many Temptations Oppositions and Discouragements that attend it both from the World the Flesh and the Devil God knows we are the best of us men and but men subject to like Passions as others are We that teach others must teach our selves We that carry the Light before you have as much need of the Light as you Not as though we had already attained or were already perfect Phil. 3.12 The boldest Officer is in himself no more shot-free than the Common Soldier though his dangers may be greater Pity us then and pray for us when you see a Temptation too strong for us We are more the Butt of the Dragon's Envy and the Mark that his Rage aims at than you which makes our Post by so much the more difficult Again It is a burthensom Work in respect of the unsuccessfulness of it neither is this the least part of our Burthen How very gladly would we spend and be spent in the Service of our dear Flocks We would not think the labour of our Brains or Breasts our Studies or Watchings our Travels or Cares our Reproaches or Sufferings no nor our blood too much for them could we but be comforted by them with the good success of all this But when after all our pains and adventures and Prayers and Tears we see so little of the good Fruit we long for so little Humility so little Charity so little Self-denyal so little Mortification to the World so little regular and discreet Zeal for God this is that breaks our hearts and makes us to walk heavily Lastly It is a burthensom Work in respect of the consequence of it both to our hearers and to our selves To our hearers Their Souls and Eternal Happiness and what have they dearer what have they more is bound up in this burthen To our selves O the tremendous Charge not only of our own but of our Peoples souls and the Account that will shortly be required of us when the time is come that is at hand that we may be no longer Stewards The serious consideration of this is astonishing O that it may now be awakning Well might the Apostle cry out 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Who is sufficient for these things 7. It shews us the Sin and danger of intruders into this Office 'T is dangerous both to themselves and to the Flock To themselves in respect of their Usurpation which is highly Sacrilegious in respect of their Ends which are wont to be base vain-glorious and selfish and in respect of the Account they must at last give for the blood of souls which will be dreadful and
their conditions in the World Though all that looks like partiality be not so Prudence directing and that with warrant from Scripture to make a difference and not to use the same Measures with one as with another yet the selfish Spirit of Envy Censoriousness and Ignorance that is in the World is always ready to take offence where there is none given It concerns us therefore that with holy watchfulness and unbyassed resolution abandoning all base Respects and private Interests we so comport our selves in all cases and towards all persons as that our hearts may have no cause to reproach us so long as we live 2. Experimentally and Practically Thou that teachest another teachest thou not thy self Our Sermons in their most pressing and practical Applications should be first and especially Preacht to our own hearts that from the heart they may warmly reach the hearts of our Hearers Like good Nurses we should first taste and chew the Meats that we feed our Children with 'T is shameful and dreadful for one that is called a Minister of Christ to be able to speak of Spiritual things only by hear-say or by Books Every Scribe which is instructed unto the Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a man that is an housholder which bringeth forth out of his Treasure things new and old Matth. 13.52 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the good Treasure or Treasury of the heart as cap. 12.35 A Jewel in the head and Poison in the heart is worse than a Toad in God's Eye Turpe est doctori c. The Ministers of Christ must be Ensamples to the Flock 1 Pet. 5.3 And wherein In Word in Conversation in Charity in Spirit in Faith in Purity 1 Tim. 4.12 Their Lives must teach as well as their Lips They must Lead as well as give the Word of Command that they may be able to say Be ye followers of us as we are also of Christ 3. Prudently The imprudent management of a Trust is one way of betraying it Those that live in a Subtil and Serpentine Age had need to be wise as Serpents Who then is a faithful and wise Servant 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Matth. 24.45 Where these Qualifications are well met they make the happiest conjunction in the Heavens of the Church A Man may be learned and yet not prudent witty and yet not wise honest and yet not discreet good Scholars and yet no good Pilots zealous but not according to knowledge 'T is pity that Christian Prudence should be abused that so noble and generous a Virtue should be enslav'd and degenerate into Vice or that which is so eminently useful and absolutely necessary should get an ill name But tho' it do indeed too often deserve to be so censured yet it is apparent enough that those that have the least share of it are the most forward and the most unreasonable in their uncharitable Censures 'T is as natural and common for the weak who are worst able and have least reason to Judge as it is for the strong to Despise It concerns us then to be very wary that we steer aright between the two Extreams in this case Let our Prudence be founded in an holy Integrity and exercised with due regard to the Rules of Charity and then we need not value the Censures of Men nor fear any just Censures of Conscience 4. Diligently An Office of great Trust and Importance requires great diligence Where there are many Enemies there must be the more watching No Office in the World is of like importance to this Are Princes God's Vicegerents upon Earth the Representatives and Upholders of his Authority amongst Men It is but in Temporalibus circa Sacra The Faithful Ministers of Christ are his Ambassadors represent his Person and execute his Office in the concerns of an higher nature Better there were neither Princes nor People nor Sun nor Moon nor Stars nor Visible Heavens nor Earth than that there should be no Gospel Preacht to fallen Man no way of Salvation opened by and thro' a Saviour and no Means discovered of escaping the Miseries and obtaining the Happiness of that Eternal State in the next Life Better no Temporal Kingdom of Men than no Spiritual Kingdom of Christ in the World Nor is there any other Office or Interest in the World that hath such and so many Enemies That Spirit of Malignity which was breathed from Hell thro' that crooked Serpent in Paradise hath leavened the whole Mass of Mankind and is still working in the Children of Disobedience The Dragon and his Angels are engaged in this War Enemies that never slumber nor sleep that never tire nor desert The Earth is full and the Air is full yea not only the Heathen World but the Church it self is full of these Enemies And more ways they have to make their Assaults and to prosecute their Destructive Counsels visibly and invisibly by force and by fraud than it is easie to enumerate or to discover And alas what are we in opposition to such an Enemy but as Israel before the Syrians like two little Flocks of Kids but the Syrians filled the Countrey 1 King 20.27 How many ways might I easily enlarge on the greatness of this Importance But I will not pretend to instruct my Instructers Where the Enemies are mighty and many and vigilant the strength or stratagems to oppose them small the time short the consequence everlasting and the loss irrepairable there is need of Diligence 5. Couragiously The Ministry is a Warfare a Service of hardships and hazards Courage becomes a Souldier much more an Officer The Coward is not far from a Traitor They are commonly principl'd alike and there is but the odds of a Temptation between the one and the other Courage is the Life of a Souldier and one of the surest Pledges of Victory When God sent forth his Servant Joshua and gave him a Commission to lead his People over Jordan to their promised Possession though he had assured him of his special Presence with him yet knowing what is in the heart of the best of Men he saw it needful to inculcate this Charge on him no less than three times in one short Speech Josh 1.6 Be strong and of a good Courage Only be thou strong and very couragious Vers 7. Have not I commanded thee Be strong and of a good Courage be not afraid Vers 9. This may serve to caution us both of giving way to our own fears and of presuming on our own strength Bold Peter was as easily overcome as one of a more dastardly spirit could have been My Dear Brethren I know I need not read you a Lecture of Christians Courage You have seen the high and terrible hand wherewith our God hath led us these thirty years thro' many Temptations and Tryals of Affliction that have befallen us in this Wilderness We will not spit on God's Rod now nor aggravate our past Sufferings to the reproach of the guiltiest of Instruments but will here