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A55880
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A sermon preached at Exon, in the Cathedral of St. Peter, at the visitation of the Right Reverend Father in God, Anthony, by divine permission, Lord Bishop of Exon by John Prince ...
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Prince, John, 1643-1723.
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1674
(1674)
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Wing P3478; ESTC R23297
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20,654
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52
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to be admitted to so weighty a Trust Though from the great Piety and Providence of the Reverend Bishops there can be found no just ground of complaint in this particular And that there are now and then illiterate and unworthy Persons prefer'd to the sacred Function is often very much from the facility of the Inferiour Clergy who are so easily perswaded whether out of kindness or interest to pass Testimonials and confer Titles on such as no way deserve them Which if 't were consider'd what Detriment it brings the Church and what Scandal it reflects upon the Reverend Fathers of it can't but prevail with all who wish the welfare of either to be exceeding cautious in this particular But then 2. If be taken for obtaining or bestowing unlawfully Ecclesiastick Promotions as commonly 't is 'T is what every one should take special heed to himself in I had thought I needed not have spoken much on this Theam in this place 'till I observ'd it so publickly mutter'd that in point of Disposing the Clergy are but little less corrupt than the Laity but in obtaining a great deal worse For if there were no Buyers there could be no Sellers and he that buys Souls at the rate of Money no wonder if he sells them for the same Coyn. Whereas 't is much that Persons of so ingenuous Education should prove such Fools and Knaves For what other than folly is it to purchase that at a dear rate which must otherwise necessarily descend gratis And is' t not the highth of Knavery to obtain Promotion by Perjury and Baseness If all Persons would consent but to be honest this cursed Trade would soon fall to the ground Now With what Conscience will such discharge the Offices of that Church into which they come by perjury and corruption With what comfort or satisfaction can any administer the Blessed Eucharist or indeed celebrate any other Religious Office with the guilt of such gross sins upon their Souls and in which they resolve still to persist They are serious words of a most pious Prelate Bishop Taylor in his right Evan. p. 10. I beseech you consider them If a Priest be Simoniacal he can't be esteemed righteous before God by Preaching well and taking care of his Charge Better far were any to live a Curate all his days at the stipend of a Groom or Shepherd than purchase the best Temporal preferment at the ruine of his Soul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Beware Take heed to your selves here But then 2. 'T is not enough to refrain from evil but from things too of evil Report As Caesar said of his Pompeia That 't was not enough that Caesar 's Wife be free from guilt but she should be from suspicion too There are many things in themselves innocent and lawful enough which prejudiced by custom and raising as ill opinion in the minds of Spectators as if they were really evil ought carefully to be avoided Such an Action such a Game or Recreation may not be in its own nature sinful but yet because 't is ill interpreted and gives offence and depretiates the holy Function it ought rather to be abstained from And 't is a less evil to abridg my Priviledg in so indifferent a matter than expose my Person or Profession to obloquie or Censure All things says the Apostle are lawful for me but all things are not expedient and what may be Genter and a piece of Gallantry in another shall be interpreted a Crime inexpiable in a Minister of the Gospel Concil Trid. ses 22. I shall conclude this with that serious advice whoever was the Author Levia etiam delicta quae in ipsis maxima essent effugiant eorum actiones cunctis asserant venerationem Even light offences which in them would be the greatest delinquencies let them carefully avoid and let their actions strike all into a reverence This is that earnest Heed and Care which all Curates of Souls have great Reason to take always unto themselves Which leads me on to the Second thing proposed Why we should take such earnest Heed 1. It must be consider'd that we have many eyes upon us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says the Apostle We are become a Spectacle a Theater to the World to Angels and to Men. And among those many whose eyes are upon us some observe us with fear others with envy and ill-will some are concern'd at our failings and others triumph We are like a City set upon an hill as our Blessed Saviour's comparison is which cannot be hid There is a great deal of malice and curiosity which make many pry into the actions of a Clergy-man And the Schismatick the Prophane the Recusants of all perswasions think to excuse their greater by putting them in view with the lesser Failures of a Man in Orders And the very truth of it is Sins receive a mighty aggravation from the Quality of the Person by whom committed Tanto conspectius in se crimen habet We are still upon the Stage and had need look well to our selves 2. Be pleased to consider farther that we are set to be a Pattern and an Example unto others Ye are the Light of the World says Christ and if the light be darkness how great is that darkness Ye are the Salt of the earth and if the Salt hath lost its savour for what is' t good How sad is it when those Examples which should invite to Heaven precipitate the speedier way to Hell How deplorable when they shall have their People Suorum Criminum Testes Socios Consocios Not only Witnesses of but Associates in Villany whom they ought to shew a better Example 'T is a most undoubted Truth whatever the Author were Causa sunt ruinae populi sacerdotes mali Clich Wicked Priests are a peoples ruine We are sate upon a Tribunal says a Learned Forreigner and if we Live well and Preach well we judg others If we Preach well and Live ill we condemn our selves By living well and preaching well we instruct others how to live but by preaching well and living ill we shew God how to damn us With what confidence can a Minister reprove his Flock for that which he himself at the next turn may be dash'd in the teeth withal 3. There is yet a farther Inducement In that the effect of their Doctrine depends much on the Credit of their Persons and Conversations If the Mans Person once fall into contempt let his Parts and Accomplishments be never so great his Doctrine will lose its Edg and Pungency he has lost his Authority in their Consciences and is looked upon but as one of them And among all other things 't is Sin and Vice this neglect of himself that sets a person so very low in the repute of others 'T is true an indiscreet familiarity with the Vulgar vain discourse light and trifling actions is what often sets a person very low in the esteem of those he shall converse with De
Ye are not of this World and therefore the world hates you Now how consonant this is to the Interest of true Religion let any sober person judg Religion is observed to flourish or fade always as the Priests and Ministers of it do Insomuch 't was said of Julian when he rob'd the Church of her Revenue that he did not only occidere Presbyteros sed Presbyterium kill the Ministers but what was a prodigious flight of witty Malice the Ministry it self And 't was a grave Observation I have met with to this purpose That as long as the Gentile Priests had any maintenance and respect left them so long their Superstitions continued even under Christian Emperors but as soon as Theodosius deprived them of that Gentilism presently vanished and expired like a Lamp whose Oyl was consumed And truly whatever some invidiously pretend of the Ignorance of some and the Scandal of others of the Clergy 't is undoubtedly the uncertain slender maintenance in Cities and Corporations that has been the true cause of so much Schism and Fanaticism as is now among us A Remedy for which can never be expected till there be some setled Provision in this particular So then this is not the meaning of the words Thou shalt save thy self No we may too truly say with the Apostle If in this life only we had hope Miserabiliores sumus omnibus filiis hominis so Tremelius But then this saving our selves must be understood of saving our Consciences here whole and entire feasting them with the most excellent Banquet of Peace and Tranquillity and a sence of having done our Duty and the saving our Souls in the other World a securing a most glorious and blessed Eternity to our selves with our great Master in Heaven And truly this is a very high and a very great Encouragement And how should the Apostles care be ours 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to beat down our bodies lest that by any means while we preach to others we our selves become cast-aways Faithfulness to his Person and to his Doctrine is the only way for a Minister to secure his Salvation in which if he miscarries he is undone for ever And I should humbly conceive That Interest especially in so weighty an affair should be more powerful than the most melting Oratory to engage you to your Duty and that intreaties in this matter would be altogether needless and impertinent You shall save your selves But not only so In the Second place You shall save others too Them that hear thee Where you see that the Salvation of your Flocks depends very much upon your Faithfulness to them and to your selves And would it not be a dreadful thing if to your own intolerable guilt the Damnation of an whole Parish should be charg'd too upon your Consciences for ever 'T is no mean thing certainly to be a Minister of the Gospel the consideration of which made many of the holy Fathers to tremble St. Chrysostom calls it Onus Angelicis humeris formidandum Holy Court And Causinus tells us It made St. Ambrose hide himself when they were about to Consecrate him a Bishop and three times fly from Milane and after he had travelled hard all night miraculously found himself the next morning at the very Gate of that City he endeavoured to avoid Did he seriously consider what it is he undertakes he could hardly sleep quietly one night all his Life after there is so strict and severe an Account at last to be required at his hands Not that Success is a Ministers Duty We may not sin if our People won't be better'd and improved i. e. If we faithfully warn them 't is their fault and we can't help that 2 Tim. 2.24 25. The servant of the Lord says the Apostle must be gentle to all men apt to teach in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves If peradventure God will give them repentance to the acknowledgment of the truth Where you see after a Minister has done his best 't is yet but a peradventure if God will give them repentance Though I must crave leave to mind you that these words seem to be a certain Promise of success to a Ministers faithful discharge of his Duty He shall save both himself and them that hear him Which last words intimate what a peoples Duty is in order to this great End Attendance and Submission Of which briefly 1. A constant Attendance on their Ministry They are to hear them And how can they hear them but by frequenting those lawful publick places Consecrated to that purpose Not creeping into Chambers or Barns or Stables places destin'd to the vilest Offices 'T is strange to observe the fluctuation of the humours of the giddy Multitude who shall sometimes turn Churches into Stables and Stables back again into Chambers A Practice that does not a little disparage Religion and sink it low in the opinion of the Profane and Debauch'd giving them occasion to account that a low sordid thing which they shall see celebrated in so beastly a place Truly 't is not the least Indignity our Brethren of the Non-Conformity reflect upon the Church and King both thus to seduce silly people into Parlours and Halls and Barns as if they lived in the times of some Nero or Dioclesian and suggest that the true Christian Religion were no-where purely profest but among themselves not considering how great a sin Schism and unjust Separations have been by all holy men most justly accounted Bakon's Resus Non servatur unitas in credendo nisi eadem sit in colendo was the observation of a grave and wise Man So that 't is the peoples Duty to attend their Minister their own Minister that God and the Laws have set over them The Apostle rebukes it as an ill custom among some in his time The peoples heaping to themselves Teachers having itching ears Give your own lawful Ministers then the encouragement of your constant Attendance lest you incur the guilt of weakning their hands in the Work of the Lord. But then 2. There is farther incumbent on the People Submission and Obedience Hearing is often taken for Obeying and unless you obey and follow what you hear your hearing will but aggravate your condemnation You should submit to them as such as are over you in the Lord and yield up your selves to the conduct of their better Judgments in Religious Affairs whose Profession those things more immediately are and who have had greater advantages of being better acquainted with them than you have 'T is sad to see how confidently illiterate ignorant people will often contend with their Minister A great sin 't was among the Jews to strive with their Priests though nothing more common with such as would be thought the best of Christians when spiritual pride and conceitedness this crying sin of the Times is not a little dangerous and requires no small watchfulness against it You should therefore be docil and tractable yielding a submissive Ear to your faithful and lawful Pastors and Curates which I shall endeavour to enforce upon your Consciences in the words of the Apostle Obey them who have the Rule over you and submit your selves for they watch for your Souls as they that must give account that they may do it with joy and not with grief for that is unprofitable for you All that I have now more to add is only this short Paraenesis to my Brethren of the Inferiour Clergy First of all That you would be perswaded into a conscientious practice of your Duty Consider what most weighty moments depend upon it what great encouragement attends your Fidelity Osor Concion Tom. 3. 'T was the Opinion of some of the Ancients That there was an Additional Coronet of Glory that shall be bestowed on three sorts of Persons among which Doctors are one such as Labour in Word and Doctrine However from a surer word of Prophecy this we are certain of That They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever Next of all I crave pardon to add one word to our Right Reverend Visitor That he make it his business to see the Inferiour Clergy do their Duty and to take all earnest heed unto themselves and Doctrine Sessi 14. 'T is serious Advice proposed by the Council or as a Great Man stiles it Fas est ab hoste doceri The Conventicle of Trent whose greatest excellency was observed to consist in those good Rules it prescribed the Clergy Monchunt Episcopi suos Clericos in quocunque ordine fuerint ut conversatione sermone scientia commisso sibi Dei Populo praeeant ne illud Prophetae impleatur in illis Sacerdotes Dei contaminant sancta reprobant legem And one thing farther deserves your Lordships no less strict inspection that there be no abuses creep into the Ecclesiastical Courts of this Diocess to the shame and ruine of the Church that it mayn't be so frequently heard That what must be presented in haste shall be reformed by leisure I shall now ease your well-approved Patience in that serious Obtestation of our great Apostle to his Son Timothy 2 Ep. 4. c. 1.2 v. which you may believe I dare not in my own name or person do but in the name of the great Master of us all I charge you before God and our Lord Jesus Christ who shall judge the quick and dead at his appearing and his Kingdom Preach the Word be instant in season out of season Reprove rebuke exhort with all long-suffering and Doctrine Which God of his Mercy grant we all do through Jesus Christ our Lord To whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be all Honour and Glory World without end Amen FINIS