persons be expedient for this reason the Apostle declin'd the taking of Maintenance from the Church of Corinth v. 15. I have used none of these things neither have I written these things that it should be so done unto me for it were better for me to die than that any man should make my glorying void meaning that the success of his Ministry which he calls his glory was dearer to him than his Right to a Maintenance And yet the Apostle would not be mistaken as if because he was free from all men by Preaching Gratis that therefore he thought himself at liberty to Preach or not to Preach the Gospel no necessity is laid upon me Wo is unto me if I Preach not the Gospel v. 16. Now the Apostle having considered the necessity of his duty doth in these words consider that disposition of mind that is necessary to the acceptance of his Duty shewing that 't is not the bare performance but the willing performance that God would reward If I do this willingly c. So that there is an Antithesis in the words though both parts of it are not expresly mentioned and in this Antithesis there is a twofold Supposition and a twofold Inference 1. From the willing and chearful performance of his duty the Apostle infers the certainty of his Reward he doth not say I shall have but I have a Reward He speaks de presenti not that he expected the Reward here but because of its certainty in which case we use to say Sure pay is as good as ready Money 2. From the unwilling performance of his duty he infers but 't is by Implication the Loss of the Reward adding that notwithstanding his unwilling mind if such a frame should return upon him he would check it with the sense of his duty A dispensation of the Gospel is committed to me as if he had said I must Preach the Gospel 't is committed to me were I not therefore better do it willingly and be rewarded than with an unwilling mind and so lose or lessen the future Reward 'T is true as some observed the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is translated willingly signifies Injussus to which the word of my own accord better answers and yet I do not think that the Apostle did reckon that in so doing Preaching without a Maintenance gratis he did more than his duty was absolutely considered This the Papists would have to be the sense of the place telling us that this and some other Scriptures establisheth their Doctrine of Divine Counsels which we are at liberty to refuse or observe for they make neither duty nor sin And yet if we observe them we do supererrogate and attain a state of Perfection highly meritorious Now I do not see how this place favours them in the least for if the unwilling mind be a loss of the Reward then it must needs follow that the Apostle did no more than his duty all things considered was to do For the scope of the Apostle's Discourse seems to amount but to this that though Ministers in the general have a Right to Maintenance as much as ever the Priests and Levites had to live by the Temple and Altar upon Tythes and Offerings I say as much though not in the same manner the Apostle doth not prove it from the Letter of the Law but from the equitable part of the Law and therefore doth not prove the same sort of Maintenance yet notwithstanding this that 't was in the general his Right for some particular Reasons it was his duty not to insist upon his own Right for as one observes in another case there is a great difference between an Universal Law and a Man's Personal Obligations for some other Law not opposing but explaining that Universal Law as is very evident in the case before us In the general 't is the duty of the People to maintain them that Preach to them for ordinarily if the People do not perform their duty the Minister can't perform his and yet notwithstanding this a particular Minister may fall under a Personal Obligation not to expect this from the People either when the People cannot do it or when the Minister needs it not but above all when the taking of Maintenance is apparently an hinderance of the success of his Ministry which was the Apostle's case Now in doing this no man supererrogates or doth more than his duty I shall not determine absolutely that what was the Apostle's practice is any Minister's duty at present but am of Opinion that to say the Apostle did more than his duty is to favour the Popish Doctrine of Counsels and to say that though it was the Apostle's duty to do this it can't be ours is to prescribe to Almighty God what our Circumstances shall be of which no Man is Master And 't is easie to prove that notwithstanding the Universal Law of God which determines our duty in the general our Personal Obligations do arise from our Personal Circumstances This therefore is the Apostle's Argument he doth not determine directly any other Man's duty but for himself he could not see how he could lawfully do otherwise to stop the mouths of his Adversaries to promote the success of his Ministry and to obtain the future Reward in relation to which he considers in the next verse What then is my Reward that is what is the way to obtain the Reward viz. making the Gospel of Christ without charge But if against my will a Dispensation of the Gospel is committed to me the Translators have put in a word which they thought to be the sense of the Apostle which is not in the Greek for 't is only thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with an Accusative Case I have received a Stewardship or a Dispensation is committed to me And you must not imagine that this Trust is committed to him upon the condition of his unwilling mind no but rather the conditional hath the force of an Exceptive which is not unusual with the Apostle Rom. 8.10 And if Christ be in you the body is dead because of sin i. e. though Christ be in you so here If against my will though against my will that is I am still under a necessity of doing my duty willing or unwilling I may lose my own Reward but not destroy the Obligation to my duty It is the former part of the words that I shall limit the Discourse unto in which I shall not so much consider the Apostle's Circumstances as the disposition of mind which he makes so necessary to his acceptance under this Proposition Doct. That a willing mind in the performance of our duty is highly necessary to our Acceptance and Reward Or thus Whoever would receive the Reward of well doing had need to do it with a willing mind I am speaking to Ministers but I would discourse of that which concerns others as well as them and shall shew you 1. What that disposition of mind is which
THE Necessity and Reward OF A Willing Mind A SERMON Preach'd at EXON before An Assembly of Ministers Of the Counties of Devon and Somerset April 16. 1693. By JOHN BUSH LONDON Printed for Mich. Hyde Bookseller in Exon. 1693. To my Brethren the Ministers of the Counties of Devon and Somerset allowed by Act of Parliament and others that read this Discourse Reverend Brethren THough in the ensuing discourse I treat of the necessity of a Willing Mind to the acceptable performance of our Duty I must confess I was not if I could have handsomly avoided it very willing to Preach to such an Assembly much less to Print the Discourse I have done both at your request because I took it as a Command which I could not but Obey and yet knowing how unfit I was to do either I thought that an excuse for my Unwillingness notwithstanding which I resolved to give a due submission to your Judgment without that I should declin'd both the one and the other the true Reason why I chose to speak to this subject was because I found in my self a great defect of this disposition and I considered it might be so with other Ministers as well as my self and in stirring up you to the Willing and Chearful Performance of your Duty I hoped to warm my self by the same Fire which I was to make for others if in what I have done I may but serve as the small Wood to kindle the Fire 't is as much as I designed I am afrayd we are not enough thankful to God and the Government for the peaceable exercise of our Ministry which is not given us upon a design as formerly by a Prince that did what he did in this matter to exalt his own prerogative aad to trample upon the laws in order to bring in Popery but by a Prince that hath adventured to shew kindness to an afflicted depressed party in the Face of those that seem to envy us this kindness as much as ever the Patriarchs did their Father Jacobs to their Brother Joseph Surely all things considered our Liberty to attend our Duty in Peace and Quietness is one of the greatest Instances of a Divine project baffling the Counsels of Men that hath hapned in our days in this Nation for hereby that is given by Law which some Men never Intended to suffer much less to Establish behold in this the Wisdom of God that hath so circumstantiated our Liberty that now it seems to be interwoven with the Interest of the Government so that who ever declares himself an Enemy to the former will hardly be thought a hearty Friend to the latter And We shall never express a grateful sense of this Mercy of God to us without a more chearful performance of our Duty in submission to our present Circumstances Discouragements will never excuse us in the worst of times much less now whilst we have what the Apostles never liv'd to see for they only had the future reward but we with that the allowance of the Law and by that means a freedom from trouble a mercy which whilst we wanted we valued more than now we seem to do The Discourse as 't is Printed varieth not from what was delivered at least from what I designed to deliver I have added nothing to nor omitted any material passage that I found in my Notes The Lord give us all more of the Apostles Willing Mind that we may have the same Reward So Prayeth Your unworthy Brother in the Ministry John Bush Middleney May 13th 1693. 1 Corinthians 9.17 For if I do this willingly I have a Reward but if against my will a Dispensation of the Gospel is committed to me THE Defence that the Apostle makes for himself throughout the Epistle and particularly in this Chapter argues that there were some persons if not Ministers in the Church of Corinth that did question his Apostolical Power besides the reflection that they made upon his gifts and practice but the uncertainty as to matter of fact wherein the accusation lay maketh some places in this Chapter and throughout the whole Epistle the more difficult to be understood 't is probable that part of the accusation lay in this that the Apostle laboured with his hands as a secular person and did not live as a person devoted to the Ministry which ordinarily requires a man's whole time and thoughts and consequently that being a poor Mechanick he disparag'd his Office for the present and must at last be maintain'd by the Charity of the Churches and that in pressing them to such a liberal Contribution for the Saints at Jerusalem he design'd to have a share of it to his own use Baxter in locum something of this nature was laid to his charge besides the reflection that they made upon his gifts as being one that could make a shift to write but not readily to expose his own thoughts for so I understand the meaning of those words his bodily presence is weak As to the first of these his Apostolical Power he asserts it in the first Verse of this Chapter Am I not an Apostle am I not free have I not seen the Lord Jesus Shewing that though he had not convers'd with our Saviour whilst on Earth which was the ground of the Obiection and seems to have some weight in it For when the Apostles would supply the room of Judas to make up the number twelve according to the number of the twelve Tribes they chose one that had companied with them Acts 1.21 22. yet notwithstanding this he was as much an Apostle as they and that he had seen Christ in the way to Damascus when he receiv'd his Commission to be an Apostle and that he was free i. e. not oblig'd to one Person or Church more than to another upon a civil account so as to bestow his pains upon them for nought and that the Corinthians had less cause than other men to question his Apostleship for their Conversion was the Seal of his Office viz. If I be not Apostle to others yet doubtless I am to you But the great case upon which the Apostle insists for his Justification is about Maintenance which the Apostle did not only not Receive but Refuse and yet lest his Refusal should be drawn into a president for the time to come to the prejudice of a Settled Ministry he takes the matter into consideration shewing and that from the equitable part of the Law of Moses which though a Law to Israel doth not oblige us Christians yet from the equity of that Law he proves that ordinarily it is the duty of the People to maintain them that Preach to them As they that ministred about the Temple and Altar Levites and Priests did live of the Temple and Altar so they that Preach the Gospel have a Right to live of the Gospel v. 13 14. And yet because that which in the general may be lawful may not at all times and to some particular
his Duty will seek an advantage one time or other to be at liberty from his fears for he is as a man in Prison that cannot go and do as he would but an heart made Willing by the Grace of God and making us Willing is enlarg'd to its Duty were there more of this disposition of mind in us there would be less need of the Restraints or Constraints of Conscience 't is to be observ'd in the Children of Israel at the first setting up of the Tabernacle their own hearts stirring them up they did so forward the work that Moses made a Proclamation throughout the Camp let no Man make any more work for the Tabernacle and so the People were restrained Exod. 36.6 7. For want of this there is no need in any Publick work to restrain men from over doing It were well if by any means men would be constrained to their Duty 2. This willing mind consists in a chearfull performance of our Duty he that can live under a sense of his Duty and can attain to a Resolvedness to stick to its Performance and in the performance can find in himself a chearfullness of mind hath attain'd a good measure of that diposition of Spirit which the Apostle makes so necessary to our acceptance and Reward for where the Will is subdued it doth carry with it the subordinate affections and so where the Will is Love is and where Love is delight will be The great Promise of God is to write his Laws upon our hearts now this writing the Law in the heart signifieth an act of Grace upon the Will towards Gods Law rather than upon the understanding to know it for the misery of man lyeth not so much in an Ignorance of Gods Will as in an enmity to it now when God takes away this enmity and puts a new byas into our Souls Love and delight will not only constrain us to Obedience but will make it more or less Easy and Delightfull Most things are to us as we stand affected to them and therefore that is a delight to one that to another is a burden but now God in order to Reduce us to our Duty doth give us disposition suitable to it and therefore when this Will of God meets with a disposition suitable to it 't is this makes obedience Easie and us chearfull in it thy Law is in my heart I delight to do thy Will O God Psal 40.8 So that he that cannot delight himself in the Almighty nor in his Duty is never like to persist in it Psal 37.4 I do not extend this so far as to exclude all those from the Grace of God that have not the Swavitys of Religion those sensitive Joys and Affections which are rather the Evidences of the full assurance of understanding than of Grace in its lower degrees but I speak it in this sense that what we do in obedience to Gods Will must not be a burden to us for what is a burden though for a time we may bear it one time or other we shall lay it down at least we must be so far Reconciled to our Duty that we had rather do it than Neglect for what we Do grudgingly and had rather do otherwise though for some reasons we do it 't is in the sight of God as if we did it not 2. The necessity of this disposition will appear if you consider two things 1. No good in an Ordinary way will be done without it to do is more than to Will in some respect Rom. 7.18 The Apostle found it so the Apostle doth not absolutely deny a Power Imparted to him for the doing Good for I beleive he speaks of himself as renewed by the Grace of God but he compares doing and Willing and tells us he found it easier to Will than to perform now if where the Willing mind is a Power to do may be wanting It will be much more so where the Willing Mind is not I know where the Willing Mind which is first in order of nature is vouchsafed the Tower to Perform shall be given in some measure yet It must needs be that where that which is first in order of Nature and not obtain'd that which depends upon it cannot be expected for as in going up the Ladder you must begin at the lowest range so in order to acceptable Obedience we must begin at the Willing Mind the reason why the Stony ground brought not forth any thing to perfection was this it had no depth of Earth to cherish the Seed so is all Obedience without an heart made Willing either it will not be at all or it Will wither as the Grass upon the house top wherewith the Mower filleth not his hands 2. This Willing Mind doth so forward men to that which tends to Gods Glory and the Good of others that this may convince us of its necessity thus then the person pleads not excuses layes aside his delays is exalted above Discouragments and ordinarily we may expect assisting Grace to perform when by the grace of God we are Inclin'd to our Duty 1. We are apt to excuse our selves out of our Duty and the general excuse of wicked Men is they Cannot but the True Reason is our want of a Will if men were really willing as Mr. Fenner observes they would do what they can but when men can do something at least frame their doings that they may turn to the Lord consider that they may Repent hear that they may consider and attend the word of God and the places of his Worship where they may hear their Duty and know their danger 't is evident that men can do this what should hinder them Now when men can do this and yet will not and then pretend excuses how Justly may God Condemn such persons an heart made Willing layes aside excuses there is no Lion in that Mans way pleading excuses argues that there is at the present a contest within as to our Duty whither we shall or no and so far as we Cleave to our excuses so far we take part with Sin against Conscience and Conviction for the design of Conviction is to put us forward but the design of excuses is to draw us out of the hands of Mercy An heart made willing as far as 't is really willing lays aside its excuses Peter had an Excuse in appearance a good one we have toiled all Night and taken nothing nevertheless at thy word I will cast in the Net 2. This Willing Mind will not be put off with delays 't is said that he that believeth will not make haste but 't is meant of the thing Promised and Expected in relation to which he that Believeth will wait and not precipitate the Counsell of God nor the accomplishment of the Promise either before its time or in an unlawfull manner but in Relation to our Duty the sooner generaly the better for we may set about it too late but seldom or never too soon So that he
bless God that hath not only put us into the Ministry but into our present Circumstances and we have reason to be so disposed to our duty and circumstances not only from the presence of Christ with us as being workers together with him but also from that great change that Almighty God hath made in our Circumstances which although they are not such as perhaps some could desire yet they are not such as formerly they were when the Civil Magistrate pinch'd so hard upon us as being Instigated doubtless by such Men as should rather have Rejoyced that Christ was Preach'd than have stir'd up adversaries against Us. But now 't is otherwise and let us bless God for it and it being otherwise let us endeavour to forget what is past and together with them do our part to Raise up the Tabernacle of God and to bring back the People from that Debauchery and Profaneness which hath Spread it self among them and to Establish them against Atheism and Popery If any of our Brethren have done any thing towards the casting us out as unfit builders if they have done more than became them as Ministers or Christians in adding to our affliction let us endeavour to forget it and Watch over our own Spirits that the Remembrance of what is past do not Imbitter our own Spirits towards them as theirs seem'd to be towards us good Men in their heats do not enough consider what manner of Spirit they are of Though they some of them esteemed us the Pests of the Nation unfit not only to Preach but to live let us consider it was but some of them for as to many of them we ought to Rejoyce that the same Christ the same Gospel is Preach'd to the People that attend their Ministry as is Preach'd by us to the People that attend Ours and whilst the Contention is whose way is best who do Preach most suitably to the design of the Gospel let us Remember that that Minister doth most answer the design of the Gospel who doth most Preach Love and Charity and truly that Ministers Charity is not very large that limits the Catholick Church to his own party to Men of his own Mind and way nor on the other side do I esteem that Ministers Charity to be very large that can see Idolatry in every thing that is not expresly commanded in the Worship of God as if every fault that we commit in worshiping God were of one sort and kind and that the most Detestable and Abominable for so is Idolatry Consider we what a Mercy 't is to have Liberty to do our Duty in Peace and quietness all of us can 't travel to find places to Preach in all are not Fitted to endure noise and clamour but all of us if we can get this Willing Mind that was in the Apostle may find time and place to do some good to the People Discontent at our own condition generally springeth from the reflections that we make upon the condition of those that are above us now if such thoughts should arise they that can Conform have the advantage over us and perhaps many of them do less if their way be by Establishment and ours only by Allowance let us consider we have more than the Apostles and Disciples of our Saviour liv'd to see for they were never free from Persecution any longer than their Persecutors were wearied with their own Persecutions or diverted by other intervening occasions or Restrained by Gods Providence some other way nay we have as much Liberty as we are Capable of at Present And if they that Conform live in greater plenty let us watch against Repining thoughts at that and see to it that whilst they some of them Melt away in the midst of their Plenty we don't Pine away under our Discouragements As to what is past 't is to be considered that the hard usage which some Ministers met with was not so much if at all from them that are now esteemed the leading Men of the Church of England Whether they did in this their Duty that they did no more I cannot say but they did declare their dislike of those Severities and were allways Men of Moderation and do now declare their readiness to abate somethings that the Law requires of us to the more Publick exercise of our Ministry in the Parish Churches but these Severities were set on Foot by Men that called themselves the Church of England and yet designed an accommodation with the Church of Rome and therefore 't is no marvel if on that score they had so little respect to dissenting Ministers or taking them to be a Party that might be crash'd by Severity rather than made Pliable to such a design Dr. Heylin that doth not only confess but Justify such a design gives a full account of this matter But now to allay all heats we may do well to consider that we have to do with such Men that had rather abate of what is Establish'd than add to it that have owned the Reformation to be Imperfect that would not have us go backward towards Rome to please the Papists but Forward now who knoweth what such a temper may produce In the mean time let us with all chearfullness attend our calling and perform our Duty and this will carry us against our Discouragements discouragements there will be not only from them that are against us but from them that are with us and for us But this disposition of mind will help us to weather them out and persist in our Duty and to do what we may and whilst we may I say whilst we may for I am perswaded that that Door of Liberty to do our Duty in quietness and Peace which Divine Providence hath now of late opened shall not be shut again but by our own negligence or the Peoples unprofitableness There are two things that Ministers above other Men should fear viz. the loss of the opportunity for doing their Duty and the loss of that disposition of Mind that is necessary to its acceptable performance as for the former the opportunity of doing our Duty and the quiet excercise of our Ministry 't is God that gave it nay wrench'd it out of the hands of those men that never Intended it and without his leave none shall shut this Door as to the latter a disposition of Mind towards the performance of our Duty the preservation of this is more especially our concern and to see that we do not neglect Gods gift in us God hath been pleased of late years espcially to enlarge our opportunities and we shall have no need to fear the loss of those whilst we diligently attend our Duty and God to prevent our fears that they may not distract us in our Duty hath as it were secured our Liberty not only by a Law but by twisting it with the Interest of the Nation So that those very Men or Men of the Same Mind that before argued for Severity and for a restraint from the Interest of the Nation do begin to argue for Liberty for Moderation from the same Topick I do not say that the argument was well applyed or that it was ever or ever will be the real Interest of the Nation or of any other Nation to be Severe towards all that differ from the Establish'd way God in giving Nations Christian Princes doth not give those Princes for this Reason because they are Christians a Power to do Evil no by being Christians they have an advantage to do the more Good but they have never the more Power to persecute or do Evil but if wise Men do sometimes argue for Severity and Restraint and in a little time after against Severity from the Interest of the Nation then it follows that either the Interest of Nations may Vary and so Indeed it may or else Wise Men do change their Minds and are not allways wise and therefore neither by the one or the other have we any great security and it being so there is nothing that we can with more safety trust to under God than the diligent performance of our Duty that will secure our Liberty if any thing shall do it for if we Willingly diligently and painfully Preach as we are able and as we have an Opportunity and a call and yet should happen to be restrain'd as before than it will appear that God took it from us but 't is to be hoped that God will not for ordinarily he doth not punish as a Soveraign but as a Just Judge provoked by our Sins The way therefore to preserve our Liberty is to do our Duty Besides the losing the opportunity we should fear to lose the Disposition of Mind to perform our Duty this by Neligence will be lost or abated as tools not used will Rust and Instruments of Musick laid aside will grow out of Tune but if we persist in our Duty that will dispose us to it and by this means our work will be the more easy and delightfull to us and this is the way to profit the People and to be Successfull in our labours for the more we stand affected to our Duty the more we shall be in earnest with the People without which the Ministry seldom succeeds and then when we can discern that some Good is done that will again put Life into us a Willing Mind in the Minister is most likely to beget a Willing Mind in the People and by this means the one will mutually assist the other However if success do not attend as alas it doth not in some places yet there is that which may relieve us in that case our reward is with the Lord to whom whatever the Issue be we shall be a sweet savour this is our last relief the eying the Reward the Ministerial Reward which if we believe and consider will help us to be Stedfast and unmoveable and to abound in the Work of the Lord whilst we know that though as to men it may be much Fruitless yet it shall not be in vain in the Lord. FINIS ERATA PAge 1. line ult for Expose read Express p. 4 l. 30. for For r. From. p. 8. l. 9. after stick add but. p. 12. l. 16. after He add that l. 18. after singular add or p. 13 l. 7. for When r. which p. 14. l. 25 for Swavitys r. Suavitys l. 32. after Neglect add is p. 15. l. 17. for And. r. is