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A55489
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The life of Mr. John Hieron with the characters and memorials of ten other worthy ministers of Jesus Christ / written by Mr. Robert Porter ...
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Porter, Robert, d. 1690.
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1691
(1691)
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Wing P2987; ESTC R33944
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94,309
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99
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is taking away spiritual food As the Soul is more excellent than the Body so much worse is it to take away the bread of life far worse than to take away corporal food Pray consider how in consistent this is with love to God and Christ which all Christians profess Joh. 21. 15 17. Peter lovest thou me feed my lambs feed my sheep A Minister can no way better testify his love to Christ than by diligent and faithful feeding the flock with sincere milk of the word nor a Magistrate than by incouraging the faithful dispensers of the word whom to discourage and punish for doing their duty how highly displeasing and provoking to the Lord is such an act who rebuked even Kings for their sakes saying do my Prophets no harm Psal 105 14 Nor can you alledge justly that you punish them not for preaching and hearing but for transgressing the law when you know they have authority both to preach and hear by his Majesty's Declaration and License under his hand and Seal yea and a Bill of ease is under consideration of this present Parliment to justify their proceedings And doth it become inferiour Magistrates to interpose or rather to oppose that Indulgence which both King and Parliament have thought meet to grant Nor need you to fear the loss of an hundred pounds in case you had refused to act For men of judgment are of Opinion that the forfeiture is not at all reoverable in Law And if it were what Informer dare contend with you for it But suppose the worst read 2 Chron. 25. 9. What shall we do for the hundred Talents The Lord is able to give thee much more than this Oh how vile a thing is the love of money 1. Tim. 6. 9. If any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him 1 Joh. 2. 15. I will not be so uncharitable towards you as not to hope and believe that you love Jesus Christ really yet if you love the world i. e. money esteem credit or any thing in the world above Christ you love him not sincerely Mat. 10. 37. He that loveth Father or Mother c. more than me is not worthy of me is no good Christian Give me leave to cite one passage out of Mr. Baxter In Q. Mary's days when Martyrs were condemned to the fire there were many great men who really loved them and wished them well and their hearts grieved in pity for them as knowing them to be in the right But they loved their honour wealth and safety so much better that they would sit on the Bench yea and give Sentence for their burning for fear of hazarding their worldly happiness was this sincere love c. Mr. Baxter Saints rest p. 3. pag. 238. Say not these men under conviction are Dissenters Phanaticks c. I will not hazard my reputation to be esteemed a favourer of such You know Christianity hath ever been reproached and hath suffered under black names Christ himself was blasted with the odious name of Samaritane His Apostles and the first Christians were termed the sect of the Nazarenes of which Paul himself was counted the Ringleader Acts. 24. 5. an Heretick v. 14. The Christians of former ages in England were called Lollards Hereticks c. and in our age Puritans Phanaticks But what if Christ own them for his people and members whom the world prosecutes with odious titles What a case are they in then that vex and spoil them of their goods What if you had been ill thought of by some vile persons for wicked men are vile Psal 15. 4. Dan. 11. 21. you should the more be had in reputation of wise and good men To be dispraised and disparaged by lewd men is no disgrace but a commendation yea God himself will honour them that honour him 1 Sam. 2. 30. But Christ will be ashamed of them that are ashamed of him Mark 8. 38. Oh! how fearful is their case who fear men more then God who will rather deny the truth or act against a good cause or a good conscience than they will displease an Informer Rev. 21. 8. The fearful are set in the forefront of the damned crew Now good Sir consider your ways look them in the glass of the word not in the glass of this world say what have I done It had been better wisdom to have done so before the act to have viewed the obliquity of it the consequences with all the circumstances of it and to have resolved with Joseph how shall I do this c. Gen. 39. 9. to have said with Nehemiah shall such a man as I do this I whom God hath blessed with so great an Estate invested with authority to sit in the Seat of Justice should not I honour God with my substance with my authority Should I be instrumental in vexing good people for righteousness sake Should I hinder the inlarging of Christs kingdom by surppressing the Gospel What evil hath the Gospel of Christ done That the preacher of it the professors of it should be thus despightfully used by the world by professing Christians What account can I render to the Lord of this when it shall be said give account of thy Stewardship for thou maist be no longer Steward Should I that was looked upon with much respect by all sober Christians be the first of all those of my rank and the leading Man in that action which tends directly to the pulling down the walls of Gods Jerusalem and make the builders thereof to cease by force and power which was the work of Heathens and enemies to Religion Ezra 4. 23. 24. Then ceased the work of the house of God Think how many sighs and tears you wring from the mourners in Sion how many prayers and cryes are sent up to Heaven for the enlargment of the Gospel and Gospel Ministers by your means silenced Acts 12. 5. And will not God avenge his own Elect Luk. 18. 7. which cryed day and night though he bear long Is it good that you do to incourage the Vipers and Caterpillars of the land who thirst after the spoil and prey that they may inrich themselves with the labours of innocent men For which cause even for filthy lucre they act the Devils part the grand enemy of mans salvation They as he go about seeking to devour To draw a conclusion wherefore O Sir to use Daniels words Chap. 4. 27. Let my counsel be acceptable break off your sin by righteousness and your iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor if it may be a lengthening of your Tranquillity Do what lyes in you to deliver the oppressed from violence and spoill let the Informers be checked and discouraged by Missing their expected pray Let reparation be made to the Sufferers by causing that every man have his goods taken from him restored again In cases of wrong and offences done to our Neigbours repentance to God is not sufficient without satisfaction to man if there be ability as
Many thinking men judge a plurality of Minister's needful in most places and know not how any Minister of Conscience can accept plurality of places but it seems you thought there is such plenty of Ministers as to disband so many good Souldiers was no loss When in Queen Elizabeths time she was instigated by some ill affected to the Ministry very probably the disguised Papists that the Reverend Dr Burnet suggests to abridge the number of Preachers E. G. then Arch-Bishop of Canterbury was much troubled at it and wrote a serious zealous learned strenuous sinewy Letter to her urgeth the many hands used about Solomons Temple and many very pertinent Scriptures to prove that the Gospel should be very plentifully preached and that plenty of Labourers should be sent into Gods Harvest so great and large as that it requires not few but many Labourers Oh cast your eyes upon that Letter it may make you mourn for what you have done and melt you into great tenderness Furthermore perceive you not how unprosperous your method hath been see you not how you prevail nothing If you thought to rip up the womb of Puritanism you have but made it more fruitful There is ten of the Puritan perswasion for one formerly I wish though that one of the ten were the true old Puritan See you not since this Liberty what flocking there are to the Ministry And if People were freely and fully at liberty to act according to their Judgments and Inclinations you would soon see a very great encrease of these numbers See you not how many young men God hath raised How he hath blessed their private Education And what gifts they are enriched with See you not that Providence hath been instead of Livings to those whom you cast out of Livings drove from Corporations from their kind Neighbours entred Cautions against them in all wayes of Livelyhood that they were capable off left many no way unless they could dig in the Town-ditch Ye dealt worse with us then Josiah did with the Priests of high places 2 Kings 23. 9. They did eat of the unleavened bread with their brethren but for us we must neither have Altar nor Bread The Priests of the high places had broken a positive Law of God yet Josiah moderated their punishment though he shut them out from Spiritual Services yet he allowed them Natural and Necessary Provisions I do not know that our crime was so great but our punishment was greater We found no such moderation yet we have found Mercy from God we have turned no stones into bread View our faces we are fair liking Mr. Hieron had an Estate and God gave him an heart to live on it and no need nor mind to be burdensome and for others in meaner circumstances yet God hath abundantly blessed their provision and hath satisfied his poor with Bread Nay let me close this Corollary with that which may most convince and melt you and make you smite upon your thigh hath not God been near them Hath not God met with them whom you have cast out of the Synagogues Have not their parts been increased Have not their Graces flourished hath not God spoken peace and lift up the light of his countenance upon them See you not in Mr. Hierons Life an intercourse betwixt God and him How did his beloved Jesus show himself yea flourish thro' the lattess COROLLARY 4. Sect. 5. O you that are the Ministers of God let me call your eyes to behold Mr. John Hieron Mr. Bowles hath written an excellent Book for Ministers called Pastor Evangelicus lo here I present you with a Ministers Life that wrote after that Copy and his Life is a praxis upon the Book His Preaching was the praxis upon Bishops Chappels Methodus concionandi an accurate Ramist Mr. Hieron was and his management of his Ministry was a Transcript of Reverend Mr. Bowles his Pastor Evangelicus and those few hints that we have of his converse with his heart and God give us some resemblances of great and good Mr. Corbets Self-imployment Brethren I do not ostentare virum sed ostendere I do not make a proud ostentation of Mr. Hieron but I do shew him as a good pattern to Ministers I presume not to teach you but I may be allowed to be your Remembrancer I may stir up your minds and I do beseech you mind his Qualifications for the Ministry and labour you to be so qualified this will make your inward call clear and without that your outward call will afford your minds little satisfaction nor can you with that confidence expect a Blessing You have the same Father of Lights to go to All his Gifts and Graces were borrowed Where he borrowed his you must borrow yours If good men much more a good God is ever merciful and lendeth he gives Wisdom liberally and upbraids not You may light your candle fetch fire to warm your heart from him whose fire is in Zion and furnace in Jerusalem Isa 31. 9. The better qualified the more hopes of success Qualifications beget us a Reverence in People The Sanctuary Weights and Measures were bigger Ministers should out-part their People else they are disdained Qualifications approve the Minister a workman in his Services God ordinarily works according to the aptness of means good men full of the Spirit of God have the presence of God ordinarily most with them I further exhort you to have an outward Call the People have a right to choice the Ministry a right to examine judge and separate The Magistrate may claim confirming And oh that the Spirit of this Worthy Man was in us that though he doubted not of his own Episcopal Ordination so he questioned not Presbyterial Ordination I wish moderation in this point The Younger Clergy are very intemperate But I pray you if you do read what I write consider that they that are much Elder than you are convinced by their Bibles that a Bishop and a Presbyter are the same Office And let me add they that have searched into true Antiquity and have perhaps read more Books then either you or I have ever heard of dare assert that they find no evidence of Diocesan Episcopacy I should much question Episcopal Ordination if Bishops were not Presbyters But above all I desire all Ministers to mind and follow his Exercise of his Ministry I have laid before you his Diligence his Faithfulness his Laboriousness I have shewed you how instant he was at home and abroad Preaching in season and out of season When he was fixt he setled to his work when tossed he was fixed for his work throw him as men would he fell upon his square he run all hazards endured hardship as a good Souldier of Jesus Christ O follow him You find in his Life that when he heard of Grace eminent in a Minister or read of their Graces he bespoke himself to go and do likewise So let Ministers that read his Life charge themselves to Preach as he