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
not gather wild Gourds instead of wholesome Herbs for the Pot Mistakes in matters of Doctrine wherein the Life of Souls is concerned are of very evil consequence 2. They must be fed with plain Food The plainest food so that it be wholesome clean and duely prepar'd is the most healthy and nourishing The true Substantial Houshold-bread is fittest for the Houshold of God Not Airy Notions nor doubtful Questions of Polemical or State Divinity which foment Factions and vain janglings and fill our Auditors with Wind and Ashes How jealous was the Apostle of the Churches which he had planted in the plainness and simplicity of the Gospel lest any should spoil them thro' Philosophy Col. 2.8 The Churches of Christ have been but little beholden to School Divinity which hath proved but as a Garment of Linnen and Woollen or as an Ox and an Ass in Gods Plough Alas my Brethren our poor Auditors for the most part of them can't digest these quaint Terms and critical distinctions they are Husks and Stones to them and not Bread that which may nourish or at least please us will choak them what may be Orthodox in it self and in our sublimer sense may be Heterodox and worse to them because they can't reach it and this may be one reason among others why our LORD chose not his Apostles out of the Schools of the Learned but from among the Fisher Boats and poor Mechanicks that the simplicity of the Gospel might not be lost in the Airy Clouds of vain Philosophy Neither doth the affected curiosity of floâ—id enticing words of man's Wisdom become our Sacred Function These are things too carnal to be blest with the demonstration of the Spirit and of Power 'T is true a genuine elegance of Speech and readiness of utterance is a gift that deserves not to be despised but the more it is or seems to be affected or studied the more it looks like a vain Pomp of Words and loses both its value and efficacy 3. Their Food must be suitable and seasonable else it will breed a Nauseam flatulent Crudities and Surfeits Herein is seen very much of the Wisdom and Faithfulness of a Steward to give to the Houshold their meat in due season Mat. 24.45 With what strength of Argument doth Paul cloath this advice of his to Timothy 2 Tim. 2.15 Study to shew thy self approved unto God a Workman that needeth not to be ashamed rightly dividing the word of Truth aptly and seasonably applying to every one his Portion A word fitly spoken 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 super rotis suis rotunde rempestive quibus modis dici debet with the prudent observation of present circumstances is like Apples of Gold in Pictures of Silver Nothing can be more lovely or acceptable This is spoken of Christ as one eminent part of the glory and excellency of his Gospel Ministry Isa 50.4 The LORD GOD hath given me the Tongue of the learned that I know how to speak a word in Season to him that is weak A healing word to the broken in Heart a word of Instruction to the Ingnorant of Conviction to the Secure of Confutation to Seducers of Reduction and Confirmation to the Seduced and Weak and of Terrour to the Obstinate and Impenitent and to all these so seasonably suitably and prudently that it may not be the casting of Pearl before Swine To this end a Pastor must study Men and Things as well as Books and Notions Must know and observe and sute himself to the state of his Flock and the particular tempers of those whom he hath to do Of some have compassion making a difference And others save with fear pulling them out of the fire hating even the Garments spotted by the Flesh Jud. 22.23 What will heal one will but exasperate another and what will inflame one will but awaken another and what will be hearkened to at one time will be rejected at another Herein is need of your Wisdom Fidelity Patience and indefatigable Industry 4. Their Food must be gently cleansing and healing like the Leaves of the Tree of Life which were for the healing of the Nations Rev. 22.2 The LORD knows the Flock is feeble and sickly daily liable to a thousand diseases and disasters When-ever we walk among them we hear their complaints or which is worse we see to our grief the evident symptoms of the foul and dangerous diseases they lye under and hardly sense enough to complain Their Food must be Medicinal as well as Nourishing We had need to be Physicians as well as Shepherds Yea all the Shepherds of Christ's sending are so Men will not commit the Care of their Flocks to such as can only drive them and fleece them but to such as understand what is healthy and best for them and what their common Maladies are and how to cure them And is not Christ as tender of his Flock as Men are of theirs See Ezek. 34. per totum There you may read what God says in this case both of his Shepherds and of his Sheep The diseased have ye not strengthened neither have ye healed that which was sick neither have ye bound up that which was broken but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them v. 4. Therefore I am against the Shepherds and I will require my Flock at their hand and cause them to cease from feeding the Flock v. 10. O my Brethren the Charge of our LORD's Flock is tremendously great and weighty Immortal Souls are of an inestimable value And if we consider the present State of the Churches the lamentable Breaches and Spiritual Diseases of all kinds that are upon them and the great Displeasure that is signified from Heaven against them how can it but kindle our Compassions and quicken our Zeal not only to bewail the hurt of the Daughter of Zion but to apply all those proper Remedies that lye within our respective capacities and humbly to implore the Divine Assistance to make all our Medicines and Methods succesful But in dangerous and complicated Cases how wary and very watchful must that Physician be that makes Conscience of shedding Blood Healing without cleansing will but make them the more rotten and cleansing without healing will exasperate the ill humours and cast them out of one Disease into another and perhaps worse But I design not and hope I need not to multiply words to you my Brethren who are fitter to give than to receive Advice in this case from such a one as I. And all this must be done 1. Impartially both as to Persons and Things An allowed partiality is inconsistent with sincerity and as great a stubling block in some cases as we can lay before the feet of those that are apt to stumble I know 't is hard to Flesh and Blood to walk upright on so uneven a ground as we have now a long time been treading and cannot but dolefully resent the Temptations that too many are exposed to thro' the hard circumstances of
To Ministers and that on a double account 1. In that God hath accounted us faithful and put us into the Ministry and called us unto this Heavenly work than which there is none greater none sweeter in the World That he hath taken us so near to him and entrusted us with the Bread of his Family the care of his Children and all the precious Jewels of his House the unsearchable Riches of Christ O what an honour is this that poor despised unworthy we should be called not the Sons of God only but the Stewards the Ambassadours the Angels of the Most High that we should be taken into so near a relation to him made the keepers of his Counsels his Treasurers his Oratours and Intercessours the deputed Governours of his Spiritual Kingdom in the World Behold what manner of love is this what a happiness what a Priviledge is it There are some of us who for ought we know had never been sincerely and savingly serious had not our Holy Calling given us the blessed occasion How had we been buried in the dirty business and cares and snares of the World had not the LORD set his merciful eye upon us and chosen us to walk with him What were we better than the rest of Mankind what hath he foreseen in any of us that he should make this difference Blessed be Christ Jesus our dear LORD for this Be it hard yet 't is happy work I had rather be a Door-Keeper in the House of my God than to dwell in the Tents of wickedness rather a Porter there than a Potentate in the Earth The Church is Gods lower Heaven as contemptible as it is in the eyes of blind and prejudiced Men and the lowest place in this Heaven is on many accounts preferrable to the highest Worldly Seats among the Children of Men. 2. Hath our LORD and Master taken care for his Lambs and for his Sheep and will he not also care for us Must we feed his Flock and will not He feed us Hath he not done it for these 30 years more and that beyond what we had any visible grounds to have hoped When I sent you without Purse and Scrip and Shoes lacked ye any thing Luke 22.35 When there were so few that would adventure to know us and fewer that could relieve us did we want our daily Bread Tho' our Tables were not spread as once they had been yet were they ever sweeter to us than then In our Exilements in our Prisons was not our God with us still When we were walking thro' the valley of the Shadow of death did not his Rod and his Staff comfort us yea when was it better with us than when we had least of the World and after all this sensible experience shall we not trust him Fear not he that will have his Sheep fed will not have his Shepherds starved The World hath seen the effect of our Water and Pulse let them still see that we can be content with a little that we have not taught the Doctrine of contentment to others further than we are willing to practice it our selves And O that nothing that hath the appearance of a covetous or ambitious humour may ever be found any more in any of us Let our Masters work be our grand concern and then we know we have reason to trust him for all these little things 3. To the People With what confidence of Faith and gladness of heart may you even in this Wilderness sing David's Psal 23. The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want The Charge here given in my Text was and is intended to run parallel with all succeeding ages As long as Christ hath a Flock in the World he will find or make those that shall feed it Let the Enemy show his skill and the gates of hell do their worst there 's never a soul of Christ's purchasing shall perish He would not have bid you to pray the Lord of the Harvest to send forth Labourers into his Harvest had he not a mind to answer those Prayers Only remember he that hath taught and encourag'd you so to pray expects that you shall second your Prayers with your best Endeavours You may not hope that God shall send you Labourers our of Heaven at free cost but your hands must evidence the good agreement between your hearts and lips in these your Prayers 'T is for the Elects sake that the World continues to this day and while God hath a world here he will have a people in it and unto whom he will always provide those that shall break the bread of Life tho he may and somtimes sees it good to distress yet will he never desert them He may free 'em but will never forsake them never forget them Comfort ye one another with these words FINIS