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<DATE>2010-12-01</DATE>
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<NAME>Megan Marion</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<IDG S="marc" R="UM" ID="A81533">
<STC T="W">D1648</STC>
<STC T="T">E1878_2</STC>
<BIBNO T="umi">99868694</BIBNO>
<VID>170512</VID>
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<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>A DISCOVERY Of &s;ome Sins of the MINISTRY, made in a Confe&s;&s;ion, Publi&s;hed &s;ome years &s;ince by divers Mini&s;ters, and now made publick again, for its u&s;efulne&s;&s;e, As briefly Comprehending the chief Duties of that Great and Weighty Work of the Mini&s;try.</P>
<Q><P>Primus felicitatis gradus est non delinquere, &s;ecundus, de|licta cogno&s;cere,</P> <BIBL><HI>Cyprian</HI> Ep. <HI>55.</HI></BIBL></Q>
<Q><P>Di&s;cernendi a Plebe &amp; caeteris &s;umus, doctrina non veste, conver&s;atione non habitu, mentis Puritate non Cultu,</P> <BIBL><HI>Cael.</HI> ep. 2. ad Epi&s;c. Gal. Tom. primo Concil.</BIBL></Q>
<Q><P>Haec &s;it Propo&s;iti nostri &s;umma, quod &s;entimus loqu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">mur, quod loquimur &s;entiamus, concordet &s;ermo cum vita,</P> <BIBL><HI>Seneca,</HI> Ep. <HI>75.</HI></BIBL></Q>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed in the Year, 1660.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="text">
<PB REF="2">
<P>Nihil &s;ane turpius, nihil perniciou&s;ius, nihil coram ip&s;o Deo abominabilius, quam in omnium gravi&s;&s;imis Eccle&s;iae rebus, nempe in docendo Ecebolum aut Vertumnum age|re; arundinis in&s;tar levi aura nunc huc nunc illuc impelli ac vacillare, ne&s;cire &s;tare loco, attemperare religionem five no&s;tris, five aliorum &s;ecularibus, caducis, fluxi&s;&s;imis commodis; pro voluntate potentiorum laxare &amp; re&s;trin|gere omnia, <HI>Magdeburgen&s;es</HI> in vita Lucae Evangel.</P>
<P>Pulcherrrimus ordo e&s;t &amp; &s;aluberrimus, ut onus quod portandum imponis, tu portes prior, &amp; exte di&s;cas qua|liter oporteat aliis moderari&mdash;Sermoquidem vivus &amp; efficax exemplum e&s;t operis, &s;acile faciens &s;uadibile quod dicitur, dum mon&s;trat factibile quod &s;uadetur, <HI>Bern.</HI> Epi&s;t. 201.</P>
<P><HI>That dreadful charge of</HI> Paul <HI>to</HI> Timothy, 2 <HI>Tim.</HI> 4. 1, 2. I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, who &s;hall judge the quick and the dead at his appearance, and at his Kingdome; preach the Word, be in&s;tant in &s;ea&s;on and out of &s;ea&s;on, reprove, rebuke, ex|hort, with all long &s;uffering and Doctrine, <HI>is able to af|fright even a</HI> Chry&s;o&s;tome, <HI>a Calvin, who preached every day. when I &s;eriou&s;ly ponder the &s;everal effectual enforce|ments of this terrible Obte&s;tation, methinks Ministers &s;hould do nothing but study, preach and pray,</HI> Rob. Bolton, <HI>A&s;&s;ize Sermon,</HI> P. 97.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="to the reader">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>To the Reader.</HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>Reader,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>_IT concerns thee not to know who were the fir&s;t Authors of this Confe&s;&s;ion, if thou knowe&s;t not already; for I have not publi&s;hed it either to dispa|rage them, by di&s;covering their In|firmities, or gain them any applau&s;e, by fuch a free ingenuous acknowledgment of them, which would be as ab&s;urd as <HI>contradictio in termi|nis,</HI> being intended by them&s;elves for their humiliation, and may &s;erve as a Directory, not only for &s;uch who have little el&s;e left them to do, but as the <HI>Frier</HI> coun|&s;elled <HI>Luther, abire in cellam &amp; dicere mi&s;erere mei Deus;</HI> but for all who are employed in that work, which none ever undertook, but might &s;adly reflect upon his own failings in the management of it: For who is &s;ufficient for the&s;e things? as <HI>Quintilian</HI> &s;aith of an <HI>Orator,</HI> he mu&s;t be <HI>bonus vir &amp; dicendi peri|tus;</HI> &s;o a Mini&s;ter mu&s;t be not only <HI>apt to teach,</HI> but a <HI>good man, he mu&s;t take heed both to him&s;elf and to his Doctrine, if he would &s;we both him|&s;elf and tho&s;e that hear him;</HI> otherwi&s;e he will not
<PB REF="3">
know how to deal plainly and froely with others: For, <HI>dicta factis deficientibus erube&s;cunt,</HI> Tertul. <HI>de patientia.</HI> Or as <HI>Aelfric,</HI> many hundred years &s;ince complained of the Engli&s;h Clergy, <HI>non audent de ju|&s;titia loqui, qui ju&s;titiam nec faciunt nec diligunt,</HI> U&s;&s;er. <HI>de &s;ucce&s;&s;ione,</HI> c. 2. &s;. 35. Or if they preach &s;uch things as they do not them&s;elves practi&s;e, how ea&s;ily do the people put them off, as he that read <HI>Tully, docet officum, non facit officium. He that win|neth &s;ouls is wi&s;e,</HI> and he had need maintain in others a repute of his own integrity, though he &s;hould not affect popularity for his own advantage, yet he mu&s;t have <HI>a good report of tho&s;e that are without, 1</HI> Tim. <HI>3. 7. Qui&s;quis vitam cu&s;todit &s;ibi benefacit, qui&s;|quis autem famam, &amp; in alios mi&s;ericors e&s;t, nobis enim nece&s;&s;aria e&s;t vita no&s;tra, aliis fama no&s;tra,</HI> Aug. <HI>de bono vid. 22.</HI> And if the people look upon a Mini&s;ter either as a <HI>Diotrephes,</HI> that &s;eeks for pre|heminence, or a <HI>Demas,</HI> that makes a Trade of the Mini&s;try, for gaining the world, or an <HI>Ecebolus,</HI> that builds up the things which he hath formerly de|&s;troyed, he &s;hall be as &s;alt that hath lo&s;t its &s;avour, or as the wood of the Vine that is good for nothing, of no u&s;e, and another &s;hall by his good conver&s;ation with|out the word, gain more than he &s;hall by his preaching gain without &s;uch a conver&s;ation: And it is as vain a thing for a man to continue his Mini&s;try, by letting go his integrity, as <HI>propter vitam vivendi perdere cou&s;us.</HI> If any despi&s;e the&s;e Confe&s;&s;ions, as &s;uppo|&s;ing an unnece&s;&s;ary &s;trictne&s;s in Mini&s;ters, I &s;hall ac|count
<PB REF="3">
them &s;uch as had rather &s;leight their duty, than faithfully perform it; as a bad Di&s;putant, that finds it a more ea&s;ie way to neglect his Adver&s;aries Argument than to an&s;er it, <HI>quanto expeditius e&s;t dicere fa|bula &amp; mendacium e&s;t?</HI> But &s;uch do not per&s;wade men as knowing the terrour of the Lord, or con&s;idering the account which they mu&s;t ere long give before the Judgment-Seat of Chri&s;t. Let &s;uch read the Epi&s;tle of <HI>John Fi&s;her</HI> Bi&s;hop of <HI>Roche&s;ter,</HI> to the Bi&s;hop of <HI>Winche&s;ter,</HI> before his works: He had the Bi&s;hop|rick of <HI>Ely</HI> or <HI>Lincolne</HI> offered to him, but he con|tented him&s;elf with that which he had already, becau&s;e though he had le&s;s Revenues belonging to his Bi&s;hop|rick, &s;o he had fewer &s;ouls, and he &s;hould be able to make up his accounts better, which he expected &s;hortly to be called to, than tho&s;e who had more &s;ouls and the expence of greater Revenues to an&s;wer for. Let me &s;ubjoyn hereto a story or two of like nature, and I have done: There was a good man who having brought up his Son at the Univer&s;ity and being asked why he did not prefer him to a Benefice (which he had advan|tage ea&s;ily to do, being in great favour with &s;uch as li|ved at the upper end of the world, and if I remember well, one of the Chaplains in Ordinary to King <HI>James)</HI> he replied that he had &s;ouls enough to an&s;wer for in his own Pari&s;h, he would not bring upon him&s;elf the guilt of more, by putting his Son into a Living, before he knew him to be fit for it. The other is, of Dr. <HI>Wil|liams,</HI> Late Archbi&s;hop of <HI>York,</HI> who told a Mini|&s;ter
<PB REF="4">
that came to him for In&s;titution not long before his death, that he had pa&s;&s;ed through many places of ho|nour and tru&s;t both in Church and State, more than any of his Order in <HI>England,</HI> but if he were a&s;&s;ured, that by his Preaching he had converted but one &s;oul to God, he &s;hould take more spiritual joy and comfort therein, than in all the Honours and Offices that had been conferred upon him. <HI>Let tho&s;e that rule over others, &s;o watch for their &s;ouls, as tho&s;e who mu&s;t give an account,</HI> Heb. 13. 17.</P>
<P><HI>Longe tamen graviori &amp; pericuio&s;iori debito tenentur ad&s;tricti, qui pro multis animabus reddi|turi &s;unt rationem. Quid ego infoelix? Quo me vertam, &s;i tantum the&s;aurum, &s;i pretio&s;um depo&s;i|tum i&s;tud quod &s;ibi Chri&s;tus &s;anguine proprio pre|tio&s;ius indicavit, contigerit negligentius cu&s;todire?</HI> Bern. <HI>Serm. 3. de advent. Dom.</HI></P>
<P>I &s;hall only add, that if any think &s;omthings in the following Di&s;covery, having particular re&s;pect to the Authors might have been omitted, other things added, the &s;everal Heads enlarged. They are the words of o|thers, which I would neither add to nor dimini&s;h from, I would not put any to much charge, nor abu&s;e any mans lei&s;ure, nor wa&s;t peri&s;hing Paper; e&s;pecially intending it for the u&s;e of &s;uch as know how to take, or leave, or en|large any thing, as the matter requires.</P>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="text">
<PB N="1" REF="4">
<HEAD>A Di&s;covery after &s;ome &s;earch, of the &s;ins of the Mini&s;try, becau&s;e of which, as we conceive, the Lord is angry, and hath almo&s;t made his Mini&s;ters and Ordinances contemptible.</HEAD>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="sect">
<HEAD><HI>Sect. I.</HI> In Relation to our Calling to the Mini&s;try.</HEAD>
<P N="1">1. _ENtring to the Mini&s;try without the knowledge of Gods Send|ing.</P>
<P N="2">2. Not &s;eeking Confirma|tion and Seals of our Mi&s;&s;ion in the Con&s;ciences of the people, or in our own further growth and fitting for the Mini&s;try.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="sect">
<HEAD><HI>Sect. II.</HI> In Relation to Preaching.</HEAD>
<P N="1">1. Going out with little Preparation, tru&s;t|ing in Gifts and Parts, and growing lazy in pre|paring to &s;peak to edification.</P>
<P N="2">2. Where Pains are taken for preparation, tru&s;ting to it, whereby God is provoked to bla&s;t good matter well ordered and worded.</P>
<P N="3">3. Neglect of Prayer. 1. In &s;tudies and pre|paration, the matter we bring forth is not &s;eriou&s;ly recommended to God to be quickned to his peo|ple. 2. In our Prayers for a&s;&s;i&s;tance, being &s;et more upon a&s;&s;i&s;tance to the Me&s;&s;enger than to the
<PB N="2" REF="5">
Me&s;&s;age which we carry, not caring what becoms of the Word, if we be with &s;ome mea&s;ure of a&s;|&s;i&s;tance and liberty carried on in the Duty. 3. Neg|lect of Prayer for the fruit and ble&s;&s;ing of the Word which we have preached, that it may re|ceive the early and latter rain. 4. Neglect of application to God for the knowledge of his mind in debateable matters.</P>
<P N="4">4. Not meaning and aiming every word in re|&s;pect to edification, but bringing forth many things in the Name of the Lord, which are not aimed at profit.</P>
<P N="5">5. Speaking ra&s;hly and by gue&s;s in the Name of the Lord things that are plau&s;ible, and in ma|ny things not bringing from the Lord that which we &s;peak; a &s;in pointed at by the Lord, in his di&s;|appointing that which &s;o many &s;pake confidently of the &s;ucce&s;s of our Army again&s;t tho&s;e which have invaded us.</P>
<P N="6">6. Too much frequent and unnece&s;&s;ary &s;peak|ing of publick Tran&s;actions in Sermons, neglect|ing to &s;et forth the excellency of Chri&s;t, the new Covenant, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P N="7">7. Preaching again&s;t publick &s;ins, neither in &s;uch a way nor for &s;uch an end as we ought, for the gaining of &s;ouls, and drawing men out of their &s;in; but rather becau&s;e it is our concernment to &s;ay &s;omthing, and have a by-blow and wipe at them, reproving the evils of the time to plea&s;e men.</P>
<PB N="3" REF="5">
<P N="8">8. Want of Bowels in Preaching, towards them that are in hazard of peri&s;hing.</P>
<P N="9">9. We preach not as before God, but as to men; as doth appear by our different pains in preparation to &s;peak to our ordinary Hearers, and to others to whom we would approve our &s;elves.</P>
<P N="10">10. Too much eying our own credit and ap|plau&s;e, and being rickled with it when we get it, or un&s;atisfied when it is wanting.</P>
<P N="11">11. Neglect of endeavours to have our own hearts affected with the power, either in prepara|tion or delivery of the Word which we preach on ordinary or extraordinary occa&s;ions, but for the mo&s;t part preaching, as if we our &s;elves were not concerned in the Me&s;&s;age which we carry to the People.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="sect">
<HEAD><HI>Sect. III.</HI> In Relation to the Judicatories of the Church and their Con&s;titutions.</HEAD>
<P N="1">1. Idolizing the authority of A&s;&s;emblies, &s;o that no difference from their Conclu&s;ions hath been ac|counted tolerable; becau&s;e of which God hath &s;potted our A&s;&s;emblies.</P>
<P N="2">2. Not making con&s;cience of keeping and waiting the Meetings of the Church Judicatories, but wearying of the expence and attendance, be|cau&s;e of which, diver&s;e things therein treated of, have mi&s;carried.</P>
<PB N="4" REF="6">
<P N="3">3. Ha&s;tily concluding of Acts, and pre&s;&s;ing obedience thereto without convincing grounds held forth from the Scripture for &s;atisfying the Con&s;ciences of the Lords People.</P>
<P N="4">4. Neglect of making application unto God, for the knowledge of his mind in debateable things, before they pa&s;s into Conclu&s;ions.</P>
<P N="5">5. Wearying to hear men fully which pre&s;ent doubts, and to weigh all Arguments which may be pre&s;ented for the Negative, before the Affir|mative be taken into con&s;ideration.</P>
<P N="6">6. Impatience to wait for a clear and deliberate bringing matters to a conclu&s;ion, with pa&s;&s;ion ha&s;tning to carry things by plurality.</P>
<P N="7">7. Binding the people of God with &s;trait and binding Acts in things unnece&s;&s;ary.</P>
<P N="8">8. Blind following of leading men in Judica|tories without per&s;wa&s;ion of the matter, and of|tentimes with hints and doubtings of Con&s;cience &s;mothered.</P>
<P N="9">9. Want of Faithfulne&s;s and tenderne&s;s both in bringing and holding in per&s;ons in the Mini&s;try, not trying the reality of the work of God in tho&s;e that enter into the Mini&s;try.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="4" TYPE="sect">
<HEAD><HI>Sect. IV.</HI> In Relation to the exerci&s;e of Di&s;cipline and drawing forth the Cen&s;ures of the Church.</HEAD>
<PB N="5" REF="6">
<P N="1">1. Partiality in admini&s;tration of Cen&s;ures, with re&s;pect of Per&s;ons, not u&s;ing the like faith|fulne&s;s and zeal towards the high and low.</P>
<P N="2">2. Not making u&s;e of the Ordinances of Di&s;ci|pline for the gaining of Souls, but turning it into a civil puni&s;hment, and in the admini&s;tration thereof, either becoming lukewarm, or without a &s;pirit of meekne&s;s.</P>
<P N="3">3. Mocking of repentance, by teaching forma|lities therein to Offenders, hardning them in their &s;ins, by accepting bare Forms without evi|dences of repentance, and loo&s;ning when we were per&s;waded that Chri&s;t did not loo&s;e, turning the profe&s;&s;ion of repentance to a &s;tate-Engine to &s;tep to employment and preferment.</P>
<P N="4">4. Want of tenderne&s;s in te&s;tifying of the con|ver&s;ation and repentance of Mini&s;ters and Peo|ple, giving Te&s;timonials to Great men, or to &s;hift our Congregations of Factious Per&s;ons.</P>
<P N="5">5. Want of exact carefulne&s;s and faithfulne&s;s in debarring from the Lords Table the ignorant and &s;candalous.</P>
<P N="6">6. Unequal dealing with the poor and rich in admitting to; or debarring and &s;u&s;pending from the Lords Table.</P>
<P N="7">7. Want of bowels and compa&s;&s;ion to the Par|ties on whom Di&s;cipline is exerci&s;ed, and an impe|rious kind of boa&s;ting over them.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="5" TYPE="sect">
<PB N="6" REF="7">
<HEAD><HI>Sect. V.</HI> In Relation to our way of performing Mini&s;terial Duties.</HEAD>
<P N="1">1. Lazine&s;s in going about duties, not improving out time and talents to do all the good we might among the people of God.</P>
<P N="2">2. Want of delight in going about the duties of our Callings, doing them not for Chri&s;ts &s;ake, and love to the Flock, looking on them as bur|dens.</P>
<P N="3">3. Satisfying our &s;elves with publick reproving of publick &s;ins, and neglecting the gaining way of private dealing with the Con&s;ciences of &s;inners.</P>
<P N="4">4. A gro&s;s carnal way of handling the matters of Chri&s;t.</P>
<P N="5">5. Carrying on &s;ome Ordinances, and neg|lecting others, equally warranted, and being di|ligent in no duty but preaching.</P>
<P N="6">6. Not &s;tudying to be acquainted with the con|dition of the people, that we may apply our &s;elves to the variety of their e&s;tates.</P>
<P N="7">7. Turning all Duties and Religion into a forwardne&s;s in the cau&s;e of God, and under colour of that, neglecting duties, and the life and pow|er of Godline&s;s.</P>
<P N="8">8. Neglect of pains to fit us more for our cal|lings after we have acquired an habit of preaching, as if we need not grow in fitne&s;s for all the duties of our Callings.</P>
<PB N="7" REF="7">
<P N="9">9. Partiality in vi&s;iting the &s;ick; if they be poor, we go once, and when &s;ent for, if rich, and of better rank, ofter, and un&s;ent for, and in ex|aminations often pa&s;&s;ing by great folkes.</P>
<P N="10">10. Performing the publick Duties of preach ing and Prayer, as parts of trial, and not as du|ties done to God.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="6" TYPE="sect">
<HEAD><HI>Sect. VI.</HI> In Relation to our walk and conver&s;ation, per|&s;onal faults.</HEAD>
<P N="1">1. Worldly-mindedne&s;s, caring immoderatly for the things of this life, and following too ea|gerly the bettering of &s;tipends.</P>
<P N="2">2. Want of ho&s;pitality and charity to the Members of Chri&s;t.</P>
<P N="3">3. VVant of Sobriety in all things &s;uitable to the times.</P>
<P N="4">4. Sleighting of the Hearing of the Lords VVord, hearing the VVord from others only to cen&s;ure and try their Gifts, and not as Chri&s;tians that &s;hould hear and make u&s;e of it.</P>
<P N="5">5. Envying the gifts and graces of God in o|thers, or di&s;couragement in our duties, becau&s;e of our &s;hort up-coming to others in whom Gifts and Graces &s;hine, undervaluing and &s;leighting the &s;in|cerity of Grace in others, becau&s;e they be Inferi|or to our &s;elves in Gifts.</P>
<P N="6">6. Pride &s;hewing it &s;elf, in not &s;tooping and
<PB N="8" REF="8">
conde&s;cending to the infirmities of the weak, but di&s;daining Chri&s;ts work in them, becau&s;e of &s;ome infirmities that we can ob&s;erve in them.</P>
<P N="7">7. Not enduring admonition or reproof from Mini&s;ters or &s;uch of the People of God as ob&s;erve &s;ome things in us that are contrary to tenderne&s;s, and give offence.</P>
<P N="8">8. Lo&s;s of Tenderne&s;s and diligence after we are Mini&s;ters, to which &s;ome had attained before.</P>
<P N="9">9. Being very little in &s;ecret Prayer and con|ver&s;e with God, and excu&s;ing this in our &s;elves, with being much taken up in other duties.</P>
<P N="10">10. Neglect of accurate &s;tudying the Scri|ptures.</P>
<P N="11">11. Vain imitation of other men.</P>
<P N="12">12. Neglect of frequent reflecting upon our own &s;tate and walk with God.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="7" TYPE="sect">
<HEAD><HI>Sect. VII.</HI> In our walk in our Families.</HEAD>
<P N="1">1. Not being Patterns to the Flock in holine&s;s and diligence, but rather ill examples in lightne&s;s in our conver&s;ations, and &s;leighting of Duties, by &s;uperficial performance of duties by &s;tarts, not &s;et|ting apart time for the deliberate going about them.</P>
<P N="2">2. Reading the Scriptures ra&s;hly and incon&s;i|derately, and not as men that &s;hould be acquaint|ed with the mind of God in all his Word.</P>
<PB N="9" REF="8">
<P N="3">3. Neglect of the In&s;truction and Edification of our Families, &s;o that none more than our own are wor&s;e looked to.</P>
<P N="4">4. Little or no time &s;et apart in our Families, to mourn for the guiltine&s;s of the Land, and the back&s;lidings of the times.</P>
<P N="5">5. Deep Hypocri&s;ie in pre&s;&s;ing upon others to do that in their Families which is utterly &s;leight|ed by our &s;elves.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="8" TYPE="sect">
<HEAD><HI>Sect. VIII.</HI> In our walk among&s;t the people of our charge.</HEAD>
<P N="1">1. Unfruitfulne&s;s, not &s;tudying to conver&s;e with the people of God for their Edification.</P>
<P N="2">2. Carnal familiarity with wicked and natural People out of the duties of our Calling, whereby they are hardned in their &s;in, finding the Mini&s;ter like them&s;elves, however he &s;peaks to them in publick.</P>
<P N="3">3. Strangene&s;s and up-keeping of our &s;elves from &s;uch as fear the Lord, whereby they are made to keep back profitable freedom from us.</P>
<P N="4">4. Neglect of &s;piritual fellow&s;hip with the peo|ple of God, and not putting them to pray with us.</P>
<P N="5">5. Unwillingne&s;s to entertain &s;piritual di&s;cour&s;e, yea, many times &s;leighting and &s;hifting it out when it is ca&s;t in by others.</P>
<P N="6">6. Speaking our own words on the Sabbath day, and countenancing the &s;ame in others.</P>
<P N="7">7. Not daring to reprove &s;in, and appear zeal|ous
<PB N="10" REF="9">
and tender before the wicked.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="9" TYPE="sect">
<HEAD><HI>Sect. IX.</HI> In our Walk in the Company of Mini&s;ters, very unprofitable, and oft hurtful one to another, and being an offence to the Lords people.</HEAD>
<P N="1">1. By neglect of Prayer, and every thing that may edifie.</P>
<P N="2">2. Shifting off Prayer and other duties when we are called thereto.</P>
<P N="3">3. Ordinary driving away our time in carnal re|joycing and lightne&s;s, &s;porting and je&s;ting one with another, and cen&s;uring, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P N="4">4. VVant of freedom and love, to admoni&s;h one another in &s;erious tenderne&s;s, and if any freedom be u&s;ed, it is in je&s;t, and an upca&s;t which cau&s;es an alienation, when things ob&s;erved in ano|ther, do &s;tick with us, and are kept up, or told in &s;uch a way.</P>
<P N="5">5. Ordinarily we Conver&s;e together, as Mini|&s;ters, and not as Chri&s;tians, &s;peaking only of things pertaining to our calling, and of nothing per|taining to our &s;ouls and their condition.</P>
<P N="6">6. Turning all Chri&s;tian duties into Mini&s;terial duties, we &s;peak them as things that are without us, and as if they did not concern our &s;elves; in a word, we are not good Mini&s;ters, becau&s;e we are not good Chri&s;tians, this is the root of all the Corruption of our Calling.</P>
</DIV2>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
