by Divine Inspiration and none to diminish ought of what he bid them speak for though they enjoyed under Christ the greatest preheminence imaginable in Relious affairs yet they durst not detract from or add to the will of God by Preaching up their own fancies and the imaginations of their own Brains this St. Paul professeth of himself 1 Cor. 2.1 to 7. And both the Evangelists and Apostles do seriously protest that whatever they delivered to the World as to all the main and necessary parts of Doctrine they received it from Christ in Person or by Revelation from the Holy Ghost as we may well believe considering those miraculous gifts and graces which were communicated to them which was an irrefragable demonstration of the Spirit and Power of God by which they spake 't is highly absurd to imagine that their Successors should have greater liberty in the Church of Christ and especially at such a vast distance of time from the propagation of the Gospel and the cessation of Miracles indeed it might be deservedly accounted a Miracle not the least if we should be Soveraign Lords over mens Consciences or have absolute dominion in matters of Faith if our Ambassage should be of an unlimited Nature like the command which Tiberius gave Drusus upon a certain expedition Nullis certis mandatis exre consulturum that every man might have the power of a Plenipotentiary and deliver what seems good in his own eyes when every tittle of our Errand is comprized by God ratiâ—ed and confirmed fâ—om Heaven and explicitely contained in the grand Charter of our Commission the Records of the Gospel So that as the Civil Law adjudgeth those Ambassadors guilty of High Treason who transcend the bounds and limits of their Commission and both Modern and Ancient Histories Record that such presumption hath received a just recompence of reward the Apostles always accounted it a Sacrilege most horrid and inexcusable in the sight of their Master and loaded that Person with a most dreadful Anathema who should presume to broach his own Inventions and to intermingle them with the Doctrine of the Gospel Gal. 1.8 9. If we or an Angel from Heaven Preach any other Doctrine then that ye have already received let him be accursed which Apâ—stoâ—ical Constitution is of equal Authority in the Church to this very day for in reference to that Text is that gloss of St. Austin Maledictus est qui quidpiam praedicat praeterquam quod in Scripturis Legis and Evangelii recepimus And if these things be true what just indignation may the Master of our Religion conceive against the presumption and boldness of the Church of Rome which advanceth the Pope into His Tribunal and ascribes a like power might and dominion to him as to the eternal Son of God! For though Christ alone can instruct us in the Laws and Ordinances of his Kingdom and by the influence of his Spirit direct us in the way of life though that pretended Vicar of Christ be styled the Minister of our Lord and in his Canons and Decrees subscribe himself Episcopus servus Servorum Dei yet dares he proudly usurp the most proper Offices of his Master and boldly assume the Title of Head of the Church For he as they confidently boast hath received full Authority from Christ to deliver the whole will of God to the World and to decide all Controversies in Religion who according to them is certainly infallible when he acts as Head of the Church whom the Holy Ghost doth continually attend in Council lawfully Summon'd and in his Consistory assists him to Judge infallibly of Spiritual affairs he hath Supremacy over the Souls of Men can dispense with Divine Laws dissolve mens Obligation of obedience to them and secure their Persons from the wrath of God which for their disobedience they justly deserve he can constitute new Articles of Faith and impose his definitions on the whole World as Credentials necessary to mans Salvation the Keys of Heaven are delivered to him for though Chritst alone opens and no man shuts and shuts and no man opens Rev. 3.7 Yet by Succession to St. Peter he dares Sit and Reign as Universal Soveraign by his Papal Authority determining the Conditions of Life and Death and according to mens observation of them adjudging them to the one or other as if he that Reigns in Heaven above and Rules on Earth beneath had ceased to execute his Kingly Office over the Church and had derived it to St. Peter as his immediate Successor and to the Pope as Universal Vicar That these are indeed the Principles of the Church of Rome and not the slanderous suggestion of Protestants is apparently manifest not only from the Writings of their private Doctors but from the decretals of their general Councils and the most solemn Bulls of several Popes in which they have acted so directly opposite to the Ministers of Christ and Stewards of the Gospel that they have exercised Authority over Christ himself and by their Traditions made the Gospel of Christ of no effect Witness that Decree concerning the Canon of Scripture in the Fourth Session of the Council of Trent Celebrated under Paul the Third wherein it was declared that the Books of Apocrypha and all their unwritten Traditions are equally the Dictates of Gods Spirit with the most Canonical Scripture Synodus Libros Scriptos sine sc traditiones tanquam velore tenus a Christo vel a Spiritu Sancto dictatas pari Pietatis affectu ac reverentiâ suscipit ac veneratur Si quis autem sciens prudens contempscrit Anathema sit and as necessary to confirm any Article of Faith and to prescribe Rules for the regulating of manners and therefore to be embraced with the like affection of Piety and received with the same religious Reverence under peril of the most dreadfull Anathema And now I appeal to the judgment of and sober considerate man whether such Doctrines as these are agreeable to the Tenor of the Gospel and becoming the Ministers of Christ or not rather highly derogatory to the dignity and honour of his Majesty as being palpably erroneous and horridly blasphemous if tried by the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament which are the only Canon of Faith and good manners We have hitherto considered the Doctrine of the Text which was naturally contained in the two former Particulars that the Apostles and all other Persons lawfully Consecrated into their Spiritual Office are the Ministers of Christ and the Stewards of the Mysteries of God Now both the Nature of the precedeing Discourse and the Order of the Method propounded require our consideration concerning the last Particular which contains Two practical Inferences deduced from the truth of the Apostles Assertion One respecting the men to whom these Persons are employed as Ministers and Stewards Let a man so account of Us The other relating to the Persons themselves to whom this Office is committed Moreover 't is required in Stewards
AD CLERUM A VISITATION SERMON PREACHED At Beckonsfield in the County of Bucks April the 9 th 1678. By JOHN JAMES A. M. Rector of Latimers in the County of Bucks LONDON Printed by T.H. for R. Chiswel at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Church-yard 1678. Imprimatur Geo. Thorp R mo in C.P.D. Domino Gulielmo Archiep. Cant. a Sacris Domesticis May 31. 1678. 1 Cor. 4.1 2. Let a man so account of us as of the Ministers of Christ and Stewards of the Mysteries of God Moreover it is required in Stewards that a man be found faithful SAint Paul having planted Christianity among the Corinthians by preaching the Gospel of Christ in the City of Corinth and other adjacent Provinces in the Countrey of Greece after the space of Eighteen Months he departed from those Regions and took his Journey into Asia where he alsodelivered what he had received from the Lord and instructed the People both publickly in the Synagogues and privately in their Houses in the Mysteries of the Kingdom of God Immediately after his departure Apollos being by Priscilla and Aquila sufficiently instructed in the Doctrine of the Gospel upon his coming to Ephesus is by them recommended and sent to the Brethren at Achaia where he boldly delivered and diligently taught the things of the Lord confirming those who were converted by the Ministry of St. Paul in the grounds and principles of the Christian faith and by arguments unanswerable confuting the most obstinate Jews and putting to silence publickly in the Synagogues the most subtle and shrewdest Disputants among them Acts 18. vers 24 c. But though Paul had planted the Christian Religion in converting many by the preaching of the Gospel to be Proselytes to it and Apollos after him had watered those Converts in contributing his utmost assistance to settle and establish them on the Foundation which Paul had laid though God himself had given increase in making their labours effectual by the blessed influence of his Spirit to obtain those great ends he designed in the promulgation of the Gospel to wit the Conversion and Edification of Souls in the faith of Christ yet in a short time the heat of their Devotion began to be abated or rather to be misimployed upon improper objects For those which had enrolled themselves into the same Society professed and were Baptized into the same faith and so became members of the same mystical body broke forth into furious contentions animosities against each other rendring most miserably and most cruelly tearing the Church of Christ to pieces in its very Infancy for through the enmity of those impure Gnosticks against the Rules and Precepts of Christianity and the malice of the Judaizing Christians against many points of Doctrine contained therein most lamentable Schisms and Factions broke forth in the Church of Corinth which like flames of Fire were ready to consume and burn it down to the ground Errors and Heresies were scattered abroad and greedily received by too many among them which like ill Weeds soon grew up and brought forth most unwholsom fruit in their lives and manners This sad news no sooner came to the Ears of our Apostle but it sunk heavily down upon his Soul and made a deep impression of sorrow upon his minde therefore to redress these mischiefs and if possible to settle the distractions and divisions of Corinth he presently composeth and directs this Epistle to the Church there and to all other Christians both Jews and Gentiles inhabiting the Regions of Achaia in which after a Religious and most affectionate Salutation to procure from them a favourable Audience and a candid entertainment of what he delivered from v. 1. to v. 9. He most earnestly exhorts them to an Unity in Doctrine and brotherly Communion one among another vers 10 11. And then laying open before their eyes the grievousness of their Schism he charges them boldly with it to their very faces vers 11 12 13. Telling them plainly that the Christian Religion is but one and Christ Jesus the only Author of it That the excellency of its is such that though it be not ushered into the World with sublimity of speech and the Ornaments of humane wisdom and therefore is styled the foolishness of Preaching and by the learned Scribes and wise Disputers of the World was rejected with pride and insolence yet it consisteth in the power of God and so far excelleth the wisdom of this World that it destroys the understanding of the Wise and Prudent and confounds the things that are Mighty and Noble Chap. 1.2 That as Christ is the Author of this Divine Institution so he is the only proper Foundation for men to lay the Superstructure of their Faith and Salvation upon and according to the expression of St. Peter Acts 4.12 The only Name under Heaven given among Men whereby they should be called And consequently that thoso who labour in the Church of Christ have no dominion over the Faith of men or authority to command their Consciences notwithstanding they are Ministers of Christ and fellow-labourers together with God Stewards in the Houshold of Faith and Dispensers of the Mysteries of the Gospel and therefore as men are obliged to shew them their respective and just esteem but not to transcend its prescribed limits and bounds so 't is required these be faithful in their Office and Conscientious in the discharge of so Sacred a Function which as 't is a prevalent means to repair the breaches and cure the divisions in the Church of Christ so 't is the advice of the Apostles to the Corinthians and the immediate design of the words in my Text. Let a man so account of us c. That my discourse may be full and comprehensive proportionable to the just design and import of these words and serviceable in some measure to the present occasion and future necessities of this Assembly Three things necessarily require our consideration First The Subjects of the Apostles discourse implyed under the Pronoun Us. Secondly The matter predicated of or attributed to these Persons The Ministers of Christ and Stewards of the Mysteries both which Particulars joyned together make up an entire Proposition that the Persons intended by the Apostle are the Ministers of Christ and Stewards of the Mysteries of God Thirdly Practical Inferences deduced from the truth of the Apostles assertion one respecting the men to whom these persons are employed as Ministers and Stewards Let a man so account of us as of The other relating to the Persons themselves to whom their Office is committed Moreover 't is required in Stewards that a man be found faithful First We shall consider the subjects of the Apostles discourse implyed under the Pronoun Us The Persons here intended being the very Foundation of the Apostles Argument and a just determination of this Particular the most regular and orderly Method to assist us in the undertaking and progress of our present employment 'T is certain that the
reverence Peter yet will not I be called a Petrian I honour Paul yet will not I be called a Paulian But the Assertion of Lactantius though very severe Instit L. 4. C. 30. is undoubtedly true Christiani esse desièrunt qui Christi nomine amisso humana and externa vocabula induerunt And indeed 't is such a reproach to Christianity for its Professors to assume those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 De Consc Prael P. 3. that as the Reverend Bishop Sanderson sadly complained Non est dignus qui sit Christi qui non est Unius Christi discipulus But if men did seriously design the Peace of their own Consciences or the prosperity of the Church and State in which they live they would rejoyce exceedingly in the Name of Christians alone would reverently observe the lawfull Constitutions of a well settled National Church and embrace Christianity in its purity and simplicity without any sinister respect to Parties and Divisions I heartily wish that the Sons of the Church of England do neither by their flattery or pusillanimity their connivance or lukewarmness contribute any thing to these sad distractions in this Nation and I humbly beg that they will most seriously declaim against and sincerely endeavour to suppress such extravagant vanities in the Religion of their Auditors and that the People of this Kingdom would once be persuaded into this necessary piece of Christian Prudence not to think of their Teachers more than they ought but whatever Reverence they bear to their Persons however fair and plausible their reasonings may seem to their weak understandings to let none of their Stratagems deceive their Souls nor a Multitude of Words to sway their Judgments to make unjust separations in the body of Christs Church to affront the Authority of the lawful Powers by which under God they are protected much less to be perverted from any one Article in the Christian Faith or to receive any Doctrine that overthrows it for this is the Command of him who is the only Potentate and Lord over Heaven and Earth Mat. 23.6 7 9. Though your Patriots love the uppermost Rooms at Feasts and the chief seats in the Synagogues and to be called of men Rabbi Rabbi yet call no man your Father upon the Earth for one is your Father which is in Heaven 2. The Exhortation of the Apostles admits of this Exposition that men account so worthily of these Persons As the Ministers of Christ and Stewards of God as those denominations are applied to Ministers which denote their servitude and subjection to Christ so the same and other Titles of honour are attributed to them which import some Power and Authority inherent in them thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 denotes their Dignity and Commission in the Government of the Church for as in Temporal Kingdoms when Rulers or Procurators are sent into any Province they receive Authority to regulate the affairs thereof as Deputies or Vicegerents to their Soveraign Lord so Christ sent forth his Apostles with Commission to Succeed him in the Administration of the Government of his Spiritual Kingdom to execu in his Name several Offices in the Church which he in Person performed when he was conversant with it thereof they are called by the Holy Ghost 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Tim. 5.17 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 13.17 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Cor. 12.28 Of like signification is that honourable Appellation of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which respects the eminent Dignity of the Ministerial Officers who are employed by the Prince of Heaven as his Ambassadors to Treat and Negotiate with the Sons of of Men concerning the Mysterious affairs of his glorious Kingdom For so the Romans gave the Title of Legates to those Persons who were invested with Dignity to represent their Masters Person and with Authority to manage their Commission with Foreign States which employment as it highly advanceth the Dignity of these Officers so it justly requires from men an honourable respect to their Message and a Reverend estimation of their Persons and for this St. Paul commends his beloved Corinthians because of their kindness and obedience to Titus that out of respect to his Spiritual Function with fear and trembling they had received him 2 Cor. 7.15 In conformity to which practice the Apostle frequently inserts an Exhortation of the same Nature as a necessary injunction to the Church 1 Thes 5.12 13. We beseech you Brethren to know them which labour among you and are over you in the Lord and to esteem them very highly in love for their works sake and Heb. 13.17 Obey them that have the Rule over you and submit your selves for they watch for your Souls as they that must give account and from hence St. Ignatius Exhorting the Church of Smyrna to Unity and Order presents them with that repect 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Epist ad Smyrn p. 6. which is due to the Officers of the Church as a proper expedient thereto Let the Bishop be obeyed as your Spiritual Father the Presbytery as the Apostles of Christ and the Deacons rever'd in obedience to the Command of God let nothing be done without the Bishops appointment I must confess that the best of us are but men of like Passions and infirmities with others and consequently many imperfections through the degeneracy of humane Nature are in us unavoidable and perhaps there may be some in sacred Orders very disorderly in their lives and profane in their Manners such as should adorn the soundness of their Doctrines by the holiness of their Conversations but bring it into contempt and derision by their unholy and vitious course yet so long as their Doctrines are sound and Orthodox and till they are suspended from their Office by lawfull Authority which is heartily to be wisht they stand in Christs stead who hath extended his Precept concerning this very purpose to the vilest of men that People should follow the good Doctrine of their Teachers not the evil example of their Lives and Actions Mat. 23.2 3. So that though the Person for his immoralities deserve to be degraded into the lowest Rank of Christians according to the Twenty Fifth of the Apostles Canons and upon continued disobedience after sufficient admonition to be expelled the Christian Church Mat. 18.17 Yet 't is easie to distinguish his Office and Employment from his personal vices and necessary to respect him for his Works sake But I may return from this digression and take up a just reprehension against an impudent Generation of Men who are not afraid to abuse the Messengers of Christ and to confront the Message delivered by them such as deride and affront their Persons as if they were the refuse and off-scouring of the World and indeavour by Sacrilege and injustice to deprive them of their competent and necessary Allowance which the Laws of God have commanded in general and the contribution of charitable friends with the just Authority of the