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<DATE>2010-11-02</DATE>
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<NAME>Megan Marion</NAME>
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<IDG S="marc" R="UM" ID="A90119">
<STC T="W">o159c</STC>
<BIBNO T="oclc">12172492</BIBNO>
<VID>172319</VID>
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<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>A SERMON Preach't at a Publick Ordination IN A <HI>Country Congregation,</HI> ON <HI>ACTS</HI> XIII. 2, 3.</P>
<P>TOGETHER <HI>With an Exhortation to the Minister and Peo|ple,</HI> By another Brother.</P>
<P><HI>LONDON:</HI> Printed for <HI>Iohn Lawrance,</HI> at the <HI>Angel</HI> in the <HI>Poultry.</HI> 1697.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="preface">
<PB REF="2">
<PB REF="2" MS="y">
<HEAD>THE PREFACE.</HEAD>
<P>THAT this plain, home&s;pun Di&s;cour&s;e, wherein there is little but what is ordi|nary and common, &s;hould he pre&s;&s;ed, not to Death, but to Life and Light, in this Critical Learned Age, wherein there is &s;o much Im|provement made in &s;everal Points of Natural Knowledge (I wi&s;h there were an an&s;werable Improvement in point of Morality) is to be at|tributed more to the Favour of its Judges, than either its own De&s;ert, or the Inclination of the Author; for it is not agreeable to his Humour, to have the World troubled with old Matter new vamp'd up, and put into a new Dre&s;s; (ex|cept it may be in &s;uch Practical Points as may have a powerful Influence upon the Affections, which &s;tand in continual need of Excitation) only he would not be guilty of &s;o much Stiff|ne&s;s, or &s;uch an over-weening Conceit of his own
<PB REF="3">Judgment, as to re&s;i&s;t the Joynt-de&s;ires of his Brethren: And &s;ince they were the In&s;tigators to, and Promoters of this Publication, he expects that they &s;hould be re&s;pon&s;ible for tho&s;e <GAP DESC="foreign"> and <GAP DESC="foreign"> it may be chargeable withal.</P>
<P>I know nothing that can be pleaded in its behalf, but that things are laid pretty clo&s;e to|gether: Nor have I &s;een any Sermon printed of late upon this Subject; &s;o that po&s;&s;ibly it may be new to many, and con&s;equently the more ac|ceptable.</P>
<P>If it may conduce to Edification, either in point of Knowledge or Practi&s;e, that will be an abundant Recompence for the no great Pains it co&s;t the Author, who is</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Devoted to the Service of thy Faith.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
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<DIV1 TYPE="sermon">
<PB N="1" REF="3">
<HEAD><Q><BIBL>ACTS XIII. 2, 3.</BIBL> As they mini&s;tred to the Lord and fa&s;ted,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign">. <HI>Sept.</HI> 16-96.</NOTE> the Holy Gho&s;t &s;aid, Separate we Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fa&s;ted and pray'd, and laid their hands on them, they &s;ent them away.</Q></HEAD>
<P>THIS Book of the <HI>Acts,</HI> is an Eccle&s;ia&s;tical Hi&s;tory of the Primitive Church, from Chri&s;t's A&s;cention to the &s;econd Year of <HI>Paul</HI>'s Impri|&s;onment at <HI>Rome,</HI> which is about twenty &s;even Years in all.</P>
<P>It gives an account now the Chri&s;tian Church was fir&s;t planted and water'd, was fir&s;t: gather'd and propagated both among Jews and Gentiles. Among the Jews, chiefly by <HI>Peter</HI>'s Mini&s;try (who&s;e Apo&s;tle he was, <HI>Gal.</HI> 2.8.) This is in the twelve fir&s;t Chapters of the Book: And al&s;o among the Gentiles, by the Mini&s;try of <HI>Paul</HI> (who was their Apo&s;tle, <HI>Rom.</HI> 11.13.) from the beginning of this Chapter to the end of the Book. So that here begins the Hi&s;tory of <HI>Paul</HI>'s Mini&s;try to the Gentiles; and it begins with his <HI>Separation</HI> and <HI>Ordination</HI> for this work, in the words of my Text, which I &s;hall open particularly and di|&s;tinctly.</P>
<P><HI>As they mini&s;tred to the Lord.]</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign">, I &s;hall not lo&s;e time in confuting the Popi&s;h Dream concerning the Sence of this word, as if it &s;ignified <HI>Sacrificing,</HI> or <HI>&s;aying of Ma&s;s;</HI> as tho&s;e two great Cardinals <HI>Baronius</HI> and <HI>Bellar|min</HI> tran&s;late it; the latter of which &s;aith, <HI>When&s;oever it is applied to the Sacred Mini&s;try and u&s;ed ab&s;olutely, it is always taken for the Act of Sacrificing,</HI> De Mi&s;&s;a. l. 1. c. 13. But this Conceit is &s;ufficiently confuted by the Learned <HI>Ca&s;aubon</HI> in his Exercitations again&s;t <HI>Baronius, Exerc.</HI> 16. c. 41.</P>
<P>It &s;ignifies generally, all manner of Publick Service, whether Sacred or Civil, and is applied to Angelical Service, <HI>Heb.</HI> 1.14. <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>mini&s;tring Spirits.</HI></P>
<P>Here it mu&s;t &s;ignifie all Religious Exerci&s;es of the publick Wor&s;hip of God, by Praying, Preaching, Singing, and the like, being joyn'd with <HI>[to the Lord]</HI> and <HI>[fa&s;ted.]</HI> Hence <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tom</HI> expounds it by <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>Preaching,</HI> and the Syriack by <HI>Praying.</HI> Where ob&s;erve,</P>
<P>That the Holy Gho&s;t takes this occa&s;ion, when they were met together in God's pre&s;ence about his Work, to reveal him&s;elf to them, and give them par|ticular In&s;tructions and Directions concerning his Will, and their Duty.</P>
<P><HI>And fa&s;ted.]</HI> Probably this Fa&s;t was undertaken by the Church of <HI>Antioch,</HI> in behalf of their Mother-Church at <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> which at this time was under great Per&s;ecution by <HI>Herod,</HI> as may be &s;een in the former Chapter.</P>
<P><HI>The Holy Gho&s;t &s;aid.]</HI> viz. By an inward In&s;tinct or Motion to the&s;e Prophets here mentioned, <HI>v.</HI> 1. God the Father &s;pake outwardly by his Son Je&s;us Chri&s;t, <HI>Heb.</HI> 1.1. Here he &s;peaks inwardly by the Holy Gho&s;t, and &s;o he does &s;t ill in &s;ome degree.</P>
<PB N="2" REF="4">
<P><HI>Do ye.]</HI> (&s;o 'tis in the Original) Who were the&s;e <HI>[ye?]</HI> The Prophets and Teachers who&s;e names are expre&s;s'd, <HI>v.</HI> 1. The Command is given to them; they are the Per&s;ons imploy'd by the Holy Gho&s;t for this Work, and in this Affair.</P>
<P><HI>Separate me.]</HI> This &s;ome take to be an An&s;wer to their Prayers for the Pre|&s;ervation of the Church, then under Per&s;ecution; as if the Holy Gho&s;t had &s;aid, I have heard your Prayers, the Church &s;hall be pre&s;erved; and as a Te&s;timony thereof, <HI>Barnabas</HI> and <HI>Saul</HI> &s;hall be now &s;ent forth to enlarge its Tents, to pro|pagate its Doctrine, and to beget many Sons and Daughters to it.</P>
<P><HI>Barnabas and Saul.]</HI> Here now ari&s;es a great Difficulty: If <HI>Barnabas</HI> and <HI>Saul</HI> were Apo&s;tles before, What means this new Ordination? They were &s;epa|rated to the Work of the Mini&s;try before, What need it be done again?</P>
<P>To make way for the re&s;olving this Doubt, and removing this Difficulty, I &s;hall lay before you, what things are certain by Scripture in this ca&s;e.</P>
<P N="1">(1) It is certain, that <HI>Paul</HI> was called to be an Apo&s;tle immediately by Chri&s;t, for he affirms this of him&s;elf, That as he did not receive his Apo&s;tle&s;hip <HI>from Man,</HI> &s;o neither <HI>by Man, but by Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> Gal. 1.1. <HI>viz.</HI> at Chri&s;t's appear|ing to him in his Journy to <HI>Dama&s;cus;</HI> for then he tells him, <HI>I have appeared unto thee for this purpo&s;e, to <HI>make the a Mini&s;ter, and a Witne&s;s,</HI></HI> (Mark that) &mdash;<HI>delivering thee from the People, and from the Gentiles, unto whom <HI>now I &s;end thee.</HI></HI> Sure this was plainly his Call to the Apo&s;tle&s;hip. And therefore he &s;eems to date his Birth as an Apo&s;tle, or the beginning of his Apo&s;tle&s;hip from that time, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 15.8. <HI>La&s;t of all he was &s;een of me al&s;o, as of one born out of due time.</HI> Mark it, There was the Time of his <HI>Birth,</HI> viz. as an Apo&s;tle Then he had his general Commi&s;&s;ion.</P>
<P N="2">(2) Immediately after this Call, <HI>Paul</HI> &s;ets upon the work of Preaching, <HI>Acts</HI> 9.20. <HI>Strait way he preached Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P N="3">(3) Both <HI>Barnabas</HI> and <HI>Saul</HI> were Members of the Presbytery, or Bench of Church-Officers at <HI>Antioch,</HI> for they are reckon'd among the Prophets and Teachers there, <HI>v.</HI> 1.</P>
<P N="4">(4) Before this, <HI>Barnabas</HI> was &s;ent by the Church at <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> to confirm the Di&s;ciples at <HI>Antioch,</HI> who, together with <HI>Saul,</HI> preach'd to them a whole Year, <HI>Acts</HI> 11.22-26.</P>
<P N="5">(5) After this, and never before, <HI>Barnabas</HI> is called an Apo&s;tle, <HI>Acts</HI> 14.14. <HI>which when the Apo&s;tles Barnabus and Saul heard of</HI>&mdash;</P>
<P N="6">(6) This <HI>Separation</HI> was performed with the &s;olemn Rites of Ordination, <HI>viz.</HI> Fa&s;ting, Prayer, and Impo&s;ition of hands.</P>
<P>What then &s;hall we &s;ay was the End and De&s;ign of it? Will you give me leave to offer my Conjecture about it? What if we &s;hould &s;ay, That tho' <HI>Paul</HI> was called to be an Apo&s;tle before this, immediately by Chri&s;t, Chap. 9. yet he was never ordain'd and &s;et apart by the Officers of the Church till now? For tho' immediately after Chri&s;t's appearing to him, <HI>Ananias</HI> was &s;ent to lay hands
<PB N="3" REF="4">on him, yet that was only to re&s;tore him to his &s;ight, as the words plainly &s;hew, <HI>Acts</HI> 9.12. <HI>He hath &s;een in a Vi&s;ion a Man coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his &s;ight.</HI> So that he had before no &s;etting apart by Impo&s;ition of hands, that we read of.</P>
<P>Then for <HI>Barnabas,</HI> tho' he was imploy'd in the Work of the Mini&s;try before, yet we read not el&s;ewhere of any Ordination he had; and it is not till after this that he is called an Apo&s;tle, as I ob&s;erv'd afore: So that this &s;eems to be his Admi&s;&s;ion into, and Ordination for that Office. This I humbly propo&s;e to Con&s;ideration; But I grant that the more received Opinion is, That they were ordain'd before, and that this Separation was to give them a more expre&s;s and particular Mi&s;&s;ion to the Gentiles. They were called to the general Office and Work of the Mini&s;try and Apo&s;tle&s;hip before, this now is a &s;etting them apart more peculiarly for this branch of the Work. Therefore &s;aith the Holy Gho&s;t, <HI>Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the Work</HI> (not Office) <HI>whereto I have called them.</HI> The <HI>Office</HI> is one thing, the <HI>Work</HI> of the Office is another. <Q>Called they were before, and de&s;igned by God to be Preachers to the Gentiles, and now they were publickly inaugurated to that great and eminent Service. <BIBL><HI>Jus Div. Min. Evang.</HI> p. 148.</BIBL></Q></P>
<P>Well then, Suppo&s;ing that this was the end of their Separation, from this Example of Ordination upon &s;uch a &s;pecial occa&s;ion, I think I may fairly infer,</P>
<P>That repeating of Impo&s;ition of hands upon an extraordinary occa&s;ion, &s;o it be done by way of Accumulation, and further Confirmation of what went be|fore, and not by way of Derogation, Denial, or Renouncing the former Ordi|nation as invalid, may be admitted without any Irregularity, or breach of Go&s;pel-order.</P>
<P><HI>To the Work.]</HI> Tho' the Office of the Mini&s;try be an honourable Office, yet withal it is a laborious Office: A <HI>Work,</HI> not a Play. 'Tis that that requires <HI>Attendance,</HI> 1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 4.13. <HI>Paul</HI> calls upon <HI>Timothy</HI> to be <HI>in&s;tant</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign">, which properly &s;ignifies &s;tanding to, or over a bu&s;ine&s;s; and imports Earne&s;tne&s;s and Diligence, and that at all times, both <HI>in &s;ea&s;on,</HI> and <HI>out of &s;ea&s;on,</HI> 2 <HI>Tim.</HI> 4.2. and therefore requires a Man's pre&s;ence with his Flock or Charge, and cannot be performed by a Curate or Deputy, <HI>Ezek.</HI> 44.8.</P>
<P>This Work here, was to preach the Go&s;pel to the Gentiles, as was &s;aid: Now this was a great Work, and not to be undertaken without a &s;pecial Call from God; which therefore <HI>Peter</HI> had for one particular occa&s;ion, <HI>Acts</HI> 10. and the&s;e two Apo&s;tles had for a more general purpo&s;e. This, I &s;ay, was a great Work. See after what a lofty rate <HI>Paul</HI> &s;peaks of this My&s;tery of Chri&s;t, as he calls it, <HI>Eph.</HI> 3.5-9. <HI>By Revelation he made known unto me the My&s;tery, which in other Ages was not made known unto the Sons of Men, as it is now revealed to his holy Apo&s;tles and Prophets by the Spirit, that the Gentiles &s;hould be fellow-heirs, and of the &s;ame body, and partakers of his promi&s;e in Chri&s;t by the Go&s;pel, whereof I was made a Mini&s;ter according to the Gift of the Grace of God, given unto me by the effectual
<PB N="4" REF="5">working of his power: &V;nto me, who am the lea&s;t of all Saints is this grace given, that I &s;hould Preach among the Gentiles the un&s;earchable riches of Chri&s;t, and to make all Men &s;ee what is the fellow&s;hip of the my&s;tery which from the beginning of the world has been hid in God who created all things by Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>&mdash; <HI>Whereto I have called them.</HI>] The&s;e words prove both the Deity and Per|&s;onality of the Holy Gho&s;t. He who calls Mini&s;ters, and unto who&s;e Service they are &s;eparated <HI>&s;eparate to me</HI>) is both God, and a di&s;tinct Per&s;on in the God|head.</P>
<P>&mdash; <HI>When they fa&s;ted and Pray'd.</HI>] All Works of Weight and Moment ought to be &s;o undertaken. We &s;hould not &s;et upon 'em ra&s;hly, or pre&s;umptuou&s;ly, tru&s;ting to our own &s;trength, but imploring God's A&s;&s;i&s;tance and Ble&s;&s;ing therein.</P>
<P>&mdash; <HI>They laid their hands on 'em.</HI>] Of this I &s;hall &s;peak anon.</P>
<P>&mdash; <HI>They &s;ent 'em away.</HI>] There being Teachers enow at <HI>Antioch</HI> be&s;ide, they might well be &s;pared there, and go, the Holy Gho&s;t cuts 'em out &s;ome other work: and the other Teachers did not let 'em lye trifling and loitering there, but immediately di&s;mi&s;t 'em with their Benediction, and &s;ent 'em about their Bu&s;ine&s;s.</P>
<P>In the words thus open'd, ob&s;erve two General Parts.</P>
<P>A <HI>Command,</HI> and the <HI>Execution</HI> of it.</P>
<P>In the <HI>Command,</HI> ob&s;erve,</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM>(1.) The <HI>Time,</HI> when it was given; <HI>as they Mini&s;tred to the Lord, and Fa&s;ted.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>(2.) The <HI>Per&s;on by whom</HI> it was given; <HI>The Holy Gho&s;t &s;aid.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>(3.) The <HI>Per&s;ons to whom</HI> it was given; to the Prophets and Teachers men|tion'd, <HI>Ver&s;.</HI> 1. <HI>Ye.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>(4.) The <HI>Matter</HI> of the Command; or Duty enjoyn'd; <HI>Separate me Barnabas and Saul.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>(5.) The <HI>End</HI> of this <HI>Separation;</HI> or to what they were Separated; <HI>for the work whereto I have called them.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
<P>In the <HI>Execution</HI> of this Command, here is both the <HI>Manner</HI> how they executed it; with <HI>Fa&s;ting, Prayer,</HI> and <HI>Impo&s;ition of hands:</HI> and the <HI>Con&s;equent</HI> thereof; <HI>they &s;ent them away.</HI> Hence ob&s;erve.</P>
<P>Doctr. <HI>It is the In&s;titution and Appointment of the Holy Gho&s;t, that they that are Teaches, and Per&s;ons in Office them&s;elves, &s;hould &s;eparate others for the work of the Mini&s;try.</HI></P>
<P>This is directly to the bu&s;ine&s;s in hand, and fits the occa&s;ion of our Meeting together at this time.</P>
<P>In the handling of this I &s;hall not &s;peak to every particular that may be inclu|ded therein, but &s;ingle out the&s;e Four Points, or Heads of Di&s;cour&s;e, as the Prin|cipal to be in&s;i&s;ted on.</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. <HI>The work of the Mini&s;try is a &s;eparate work.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>2. <HI>A Call from God, or the Holy Gho&s;t, is not &s;ufficient to make a Man a Mini&s;ter but he mu&s;t be &s;et apart by Church-Officers al&s;o.</HI></ITEM>
<PB N="5" REF="5">
<ITEM>3. <HI>Officers in the Church have Authority from Chri&s;t to &s;et apart others.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>4. <HI>This mu&s;t be done by Fa&s;ting, Prayer, and Impo&s;ition of hands.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
<P>I begin with the fir&s;t.</P>
<P N="10">10. <HI>The Work of a Mini&s;ter is a &s;eparate Work. Separate me,</HI> &s;aith the Holy Gho&s;t. Now Separation is <HI>From</HI> &s;omething <HI>To</HI> &s;omething: What they are &s;epa|rated <HI>To,</HI> is here expre&s;s'd; <HI>to the Work to which I have called them:</HI> But what they are &s;eparated <HI>From,</HI> mu&s;t be &s;ought for el&s;ewhere.</P>
<P>There is a general Separation common to all Chri&s;tians, <HI>viz.</HI> from Unclean|ne&s;s and Unholine&s;s, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 6.17. <HI>Come out from among them and be ye &s;eparate, &s;aith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing.</HI> But that is not of this Con&s;ide|ration, for this Separation in the Text, is &s;omething that is peculiar to Mini|&s;ters; and that is (1) From all Lordly Dominion. (2) From all Civil, Secular Imployments.</P>
<P N="1">1. From all Lordly Dominion, and Secular Power and Authority. This is expre&s;ly forbidden by Chri&s;t to his Mini&s;ters. <HI>Matt.</HI> 20.25, 26. <HI>The Princes of the Gentiles exerci&s;e Dominion over them,</HI> &mdash;<HI>but it &s;hall not be &s;o among you.</HI> Here they are di&s;charged from meddling with any Temporal Rule and Dominion; &s;uch as they expected in Chri&s;t's Temporal Kingdom. So 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 5.3. &mdash;<HI>not being Lords over God's Heritage.</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign">; the &s;ame word that is u&s;ed by <HI>Matthew.</HI> They mu&s;t be <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>Bi&s;hoping it over the Lord's Flock,</HI> but not <GAP DESC="foreign">, not <HI>Lording it over God's Heritage.</HI> 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 5.2, 3. It is the Ob&s;ervation of <HI>Beza</HI> upon the word <GAP DESC="foreign"> in my Text, that <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>vel</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>nulla fit in Apo&s;tolieis &s;criptis mentio, cum de Eccle&s;iae politia di&s;&s;eritur; imo ne</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>quidem; ut nullus &s;e dominum ac principem cleri, &s;ed unius Principis ac Domini mini&s;trum e&s;&s;e &s;ciat. In the Writings of the Apo&s;tles there is no mention made of Rulers, when the Government of the Church is &s;poken of, no nor &s;o much as of Lords (or Ma&s;ters) that no one &s;hould look upon him&s;elf as a Lord or Prince of God's Heritage.</HI></P>
<P>The Kingdom of Chri&s;t is not of this World, and therefore the Officers of his Kingdom mu&s;t not exerci&s;e Worldly Power. As on the one hand we mu&s;t not <HI>put a&s;under what God has joyn'd together</HI> (Matt. 19.6.) &s;o neither on the other hand mu&s;t we joyn together what Chri&s;t has put a&s;under. Indeed among the Heathen, both Eccle&s;ia&s;tical and Civil Power were united in the &s;ame Per&s;on. The Emperor <HI>Augu&s;tus</HI> a&s;&s;um'd that Power to him&s;elf, and afterwards all the Emperors took this Power upon them: Even <HI>Con&s;tantine</HI> and &s;ome of his Suc|ce&s;&s;ors continued it, tho' they were Chri&s;tians and hated Pagani&s;m, till at la&s;t the Emperor <HI>Gratian</HI> renounc'd it. And therefore the Pope, who pretending to be Chri&s;t's Vicar, is al&s;o a Temporal Monarch, is none of Chri&s;t's Officer but the Devil's: Not Chri&s;t but the Dragon gave him his Authority, <HI>Rev.</HI> 13.2.</P>
<P>But yet it doth not follow from hence, That they have no Power at all. The very nature of an Office, includes &s;omething of Power in it. What Officer has not Power and Authority to perform the Duties of his Office? Be he but a Con|&s;table,
<PB N="6" REF="6">Over&s;eer of the Poor, Surveyor of the High-ways, &s;ome Power is annex'd peculiarly to his Office. So Mini&s;ters, being Church-Officers, mu&s;t have &s;ome Office-power belonging to them, which belongs not to others. True: They have no Civil, Secular, Worldly, Temporal Power over Mens Bodies or E&s;tates, to puni&s;h them in their Per&s;ons or Pur&s;es; to Fine, Impri&s;on, or the like; but they have Spiritual Power: Spiritual (1) In re&s;pect of the <HI>Object,</HI> the Soul and Con&s;cience, or <HI>Spirit,</HI> 1 Cor. 5.5. (2) In re&s;pect of the <HI>Weapons</HI> they make u&s;e of in the exerci&s;e of this Power; not <HI>Carnal</HI> (and therefore Spiritual, and) <HI>mighty thro' God,</HI> 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 10.4. (3) In re&s;pect of the Ends of this Power; which are&punc; Not by way of Dominion over the Peoples Faith (2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 1.24.) nor for De&s;truction (2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 10.8. &amp; 13.10.) <HI>viz.</HI> of the Spirit or Soul; but for the De&s;truction of the Fle&s;h (1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 5.5.) for the demoli&s;hing the <HI>&s;trong-holds of Satan: ca&s;ting down imagi|nations, and every high thing that exalts it &s;elf again&s;t the Knowledge of God, and bring|ing into Captivity every thought to the Obedience of Chri&s;t,</HI> 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 10.4, 5. and on the contrary, for <HI>Edification,</HI> and building up in Faith and Holine&s;s (2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 10.8.) and for the Salvation of the Spirit or Soul, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 5.5.</P>
<P>This is all the Power that we claim.</P>
<P>And this is that which Chri&s;t has confer'd upon us (and therefore cannot of right be denied unto us, or taken away from us.) A Power of <HI>Binding</HI> and <HI>Loo&s;ing;</HI> confer'd fir&s;t upon <HI>Peter, Matt.</HI> 16.19. yet not upon him only (&s;ee <HI>Clark</HI>'s Annot. there) but upon the re&s;t al&s;o, c. 18.18. A Power of <HI>Remitting</HI> and <HI>Retaining Sins,</HI> John 20.23. This is the Power of the Keys, as Chri&s;t calls it there to <HI>Peter;</HI> which are di&s;tingui&s;h'd into the Key of <HI>Doctrine,</HI> and the Key of <HI>Di&s;cipline.</HI></P>
<P N="1">1. The <HI>Key of Doctrine;</HI> of Binding and Loo&s;ing; whereby is meant (in part at lea&s;t) (according to the ordinary u&s;e of that Phra&s;e among the Jews, as is &s;hew'd at large in many In&s;tances by Dr. <HI>Lightfoot,</HI> in <HI>Pool</HI>'s Latin Synop&s;is) teach|ing what is Lawful, and what Unlawful; declaring what is agreeable to the Word and Will of God, and what is contrary thereto. This is called by Chri&s;t <HI>the Key of Knowledge,</HI> Luke 11.52. <HI>i. e.</HI> The means whereby the Sen&s;e of Scri|pture is opened and made known to us; whereby we are let into the meaning of it, and &s;ee into it, as into a Room when the Door is open. Hereby a Mini|&s;ter has Power to open and apply Scripture to the Souls of People, as occa&s;ion requires; to apply Scripture Threatnings to the Impenitent, and Go&s;pel-Pro|mi&s;es to Sen&s;ible Contrite Sinners. This is to u&s;e this Key for Binding and Loo&s;ing, according to this Sen&s;e of that Phra&s;e.</P>
<P N="2">2. There's the <HI>Key of Di&s;cipline;</HI> which is</P>
<P N="1">(1) To Lock or Unlock, to &s;hut or open the Church-doors, &s;o as either to admit, and let &s;uch into the Church as are fit for Member&s;hip and Communion. This is done by Bapti&s;m; whereby &s;olemn Entrance and Admi&s;&s;ion into the Church is confer'd, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 12.13. or, To Shut, and Lock the Doors again&s;t, <HI>i. e.</HI> to keep out &s;uch as are unfit.</P>
<PB N="7" REF="6">
<P N="2">(2) To <HI>Retain Sins,</HI> i. e. Authority to inflict Church-Cen&s;ures, and thereby to exclude or ca&s;t out Scandalous and Impenitent Sinners, who di&s;cover them|&s;elves to be rotten Members, and &s;o &s;uch as are to be cut off; or at lea&s;t labour|ing under &s;ome &s;uch dangerous Di&s;ea&s;e as requires <HI>Sharpne&s;s</HI> (2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 13.10.) and a <HI>Rod</HI> (1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 4.21.) and to be purged out (1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 5.7.) and put away from among them, <HI>v.</HI> 13. 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 10.6.</P>
<P N="3">(3) To <HI>Remit Sins;</HI> that is, In ca&s;e of Repentance, to ab&s;olve from tho&s;e Cen|&s;ures, and re&s;tore to the Communion of the Church again 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 2.7. But in ca&s;e they continue Ob&s;tinate, Impenitent and Incorrigible, then to retain their Sins &s;till, and to deny them this Di&s;charge and Ab&s;olution, but continue them &s;till under the Sentence.</P>
<P>Now, Whether this Power may be called <HI>Juri&s;diction</HI> (which <HI>Grotius</HI> vehe|mently deems, and pleads &s;tiffly again&s;t, <HI>de Imperio Sum. Pote&s;t.</HI> c. 9.) is not ma|terial as to the thing it &s;elf, &s;o long as the forementioned Powers are allow'd.</P>
<P>What is the fir&s;t Subject of this Power; Whether the whole Church, as the<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">See <HI>Dr.</HI> Owen <HI>of the Church,</HI> p. 72.</NOTE> Independents maintain; or only its Officers, as the<NOTE N="&dagger;" PLACE="marg">See Ball<HI>'s Tryal,</HI> p. 234, &amp;c.</NOTE> Presby|terians a&s;&s;ert? And likewi&s;e, Whether all Mini&s;ters have ori|ginally an equal &s;hare of Church-Power? Are weighty and noble Que&s;tions, which I cannot &s;tand to determine now.</P>
<P N="2">2. As the Office of a Mini&s;try is <HI>&s;eparated</HI> from all Lordly Dominion, and Secular Juri&s;diction, &s;o al&s;o from all Secular Affairs and Em|ployments, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. The Office of the Mini&s;try is <HI>&s;eparate</HI> al&s;o from all Civil Secular Affairs and Employments; whether by way of <HI>Office,</HI> as Ju&s;tices of Peace, Mayors, Con|&s;tables; or by way of <HI>Trade,</HI> as Merchants, Shop-keepers, Gra&s;iers, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> or any other Vocation, as Phy&s;icians, School-ma&s;ters, or the like. A Per&s;on that devotes him&s;elf to the Mini&s;try, mu&s;t divide him&s;elf from all the&s;e as his common Imploy|ment and particular Calling. What el&s;e can be the meaning of that Injunction 1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 4.15. <GAP DESC="foreign">. <HI>Give thy &s;elf wholly to them.</HI> (Reading, Exhortation, <HI>&amp;c.</HI>) And &s;uita|ble hereunto was the Practi&s;e of the Twelve, <HI>Acts</HI> 6.4. <HI>We will give our &s;elves conti|nually to Prayer, and to the Mini&s;try of the Word.</HI> And that they might not be hin|dred therein, they appointed a fort of Per&s;ons, commonly called <HI>Deacons</HI> (tho' how properly I cannot tell, for the Text does not call them &s;o) to perform &s;ome of that Work which they them&s;elves performed before. And the Apo&s;tle proves this Point by the ca&s;e of other Callings, or at lea&s;t by an Example taken from Souldiers, 2 <HI>Tim.</HI> 2.4. <HI>No Man that Wars, intangles him&s;elf with the Affairs of this Life, that he may plea&s;e him who has cho&s;en him to be a Souldier.</HI></P>
<P>Thus al&s;o under the Law, the Prie&s;ts were forbidden to defile them&s;elves for the Dead, <HI>Lev.</HI> 21.1. to teach them, <Q>and in them all Succe&s;&s;ive Mini&s;ters of holy things, that they ought &s;o intirely to give them&s;elves to the Service of God, that they ought to renounce all Expre&s;&s;ions of natural Affection, and <HI>all worldly Employments,</HI> &s;o far as they are Impediments to the di&s;charge of their Holy Services. <BIBL>Pool in loc.</BIBL></Q></P>
<PB N="8" REF="7">
<P><HI>Obj.</HI> But may &s;ome &s;ay, notwith&s;tanding this Separation in the Text, <HI>Paul</HI> after this, wrought with his hands in a Mechanick Trade, <HI>Acts</HI> 18.3.</P>
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> To this I have &s;everal things to reply.</P>
<P N="1">1. He puts this into the Catalogue of his Sufferings, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 4.12.</P>
<P N="2">2. It was only in ca&s;e of nece&s;&s;ity; to mini&s;ter unto his Nece&s;&s;ities, <HI>Acts</HI> 20.34.</P>
<P N="3">3. He did not make a common Practi&s;e of it. You never read he did &s;o at any other time.</P>
<P N="4">4. Tho&s;e that have His Gifts and extraordinary Abilities, may do &s;o too, if there be occa&s;ion for it.</P>
<P N="5">5. It was the Cu&s;tom of the Jewi&s;h Nation, to &s;et their Children to learn &s;ome Trade; yea, tho' they were Students, (as I could &s;hew by divers pa&s;&s;ages out of the <HI>Talmud</HI>) and accordingly, tho' <HI>Paul</HI>'s Education was ingenuous, in Learn|ing at the feet of <HI>Gamaliel,</HI> yet it &s;eems he learn'd this Mechanick Trade of Tent|making, and &s;o upon the occa&s;ion fore-mention'd, makes u&s;e of it. But one Swallow makes no Summer: One Exception does rather e&s;tabli&s;h, confirm and &s;trengthen the general Rule, than weaken it. This then is a general Rule, that a Mini&s;ter's Work is a &s;eparate Work from all worldly Affairs and Employments.</P>
<P>And therefore I cannot approve of their Practi&s;e, who joyn other Imploy|ments with the Mini&s;try ordinarily; whether it be any thing that is nearer of kin to it, &s;o has a tendency thereto; as matters of Learning; or more remote. I can't &s;ee how they can con&s;i&s;t together, but that one mu&s;t needs jo&s;le, and be a hindrance to the other. As no Man can &s;erve two Ma&s;ters, becau&s;e he will cleave to the one, and de&s;pi&s;e the other; &s;o neither can any Man be of two Vocations &s;o va&s;tly different; for doubtle&s;s he'll neglect either the one or the other; or at lea&s;t, not be &s;o intirely devoted to the one as he ought to be. How can a Man be &s;aid, <GAP DESC="foreign">, when he plunges him&s;elf over head and ears in other Affairs and Bu&s;ine&s;&s;es. What&s;oever a Man does in any Imployment, he &s;hould do it with all his might, (<HI>Eccl.</HI> 9.10.) but all his might can't be laid out about two things at once &s;o different. The whole Stream can't run in two di&s;tinct Channels. The Work of a Mini&s;ter is compar'd to that of a Plow-man, <HI>Luke</HI> 9.62. and as he that looks back is unfit for the Kingdom of God; &s;o he that looks a&s;ide, or looks off, is like to make but ill-favour'd Work on't. A Plow-man &s;hould not Plow with an Oxe and an A&s;s together, <HI>Deut.</HI> 22.20. nor mingle divers &s;orts of Seed, <HI>Lev.</HI> 19.19.</P>
<P>This is the ordinary &s;tanding Rule. What may be done in ca&s;es of Nece&s;&s;ity, when either the People fail of their Duty, in affording their Mini&s;ter a competent comfortable Livelihood, or in Times of Per&s;ecution, I &s;ay not: Only this I &s;ay, That Nece&s;&s;ity &s;hould not be pretended where there's none, nor in a greater de|gree than is real. Thus much for the fir&s;t General, That the Work of the Mini&s;try is a Separate Work.</P>
<P N="20">20. Secondly, <HI>A Call from God is not &s;ufficient of it &s;elf to inve&s;t a Per&s;on into the Office of the Mini&s;try, but he mu&s;t be &s;olemnly &s;et a-part by Man al&s;o.</HI> Nothing can be
<PB N="9" REF="7">plainer than this out of the&s;e words, <HI>I have called them,</HI> &s;aith the Holy Gho&s;t, <HI>to &s;uch a work,</HI> but <HI>do you &s;eparate them.</HI> What&s;oever a Call from God is, or where|in &s;oever it does con&s;i&s;t, yet that is not &s;ufficient of it &s;elf. Could not the Holy Gho&s;t here as well have &s;eparated them to, and &s;et them about their Work, as call'd them to it? Could not he as well have &s;aid to <HI>Barnabas</HI> and <HI>Saul,</HI> Go about &s;uch a Work; and that in the &s;ame way as he &s;aid to the&s;e Prophets and Teachers, <HI>Separate me Barnabas and Saul?</HI> Yes, certainly he could. But he'll honour his own In&s;titutions, and maintain the Credit and Authority of his Officers; for which rea&s;on he &s;ends <HI>Cornelius</HI> to <HI>Peter</HI> to be in&s;tructed by him, <HI>Acts</HI> 10.5. and he &s;ends <HI>Ananias</HI> to <HI>Saul,</HI> to tell him what he &s;hould do, <HI>Acts</HI> 9.11.</P>
<P>O how Happy would it be for the Church, if all that take upon them this Work of the Mini&s;try, could but &s;hew a good Call from God, tho' they had no <GAP DESC="foreign">, no Separation or Ordination by Man: But in&s;tead of this, &s;ome alledge their Gifts and Abilities; others make u&s;e of the Election or Call of the People for their Warrant; but neither of the&s;e have any Foundation in Scripture, as the next Head will evince: But this Head relates only to the Negative part, That a Call from God alone is not &s;ufficient to make a Man a compleat Mini&s;ter. It was not &s;o then, much le&s;s is it &s;o now, when immediate Revelations and In&s;pirations are cea&s;ed, and therefore none that I know of now-a days do pretend to an immediate Call. This is the Second.</P>
<P N="30">30. Thirdly, <HI>Officers in the Church have Authority from Chri&s;t to &s;et a-part others.</HI> You &s;ee by what &s;teps I proceed: (1) Mini&s;ters mu&s;t be &s;et apart. (2) A Call from God is not &s;ufficient without a Separation by Man. (3) This Separation mu&s;t be performed by Church-Officers, who are authorized by Chri&s;t hereunto. Tho&s;e that the Holy Gho&s;t here gives this Command unto, were the Prophets and Teachers of the Church at <HI>Antioch,</HI> v. 1.</P>
<P>And here I meet with Adver&s;aries on both hands; the Prelati&s;ts on the one hand, and &s;ome Independents and Anabapti&s;ts on the other. The former plead for and in&s;i&s;t upon &s;omething more, <HI>viz.</HI> That Ordination mu&s;t be performed by Officers of a Superior Order or Degree to tho&s;e in the Text: The latter allow of and are content with &s;omething le&s;s.</P>
<P N="1">1. For the fir&s;t of the&s;e, It is one of the grand Controver&s;ies of our Age, be|tween the Presbyterians and Prelati&s;ts, Whether this Separation, or Ordination, mu&s;t be perform'd by Bi&s;hops, or may be perform'd by Presbyters; &s;o as that it &s;hould be of no force, except a Bi&s;hop have a hand in it. That it &s;hould be done by Scripture-bi&s;hops, <HI>i.e.</HI> Presbyters, I willingly grant: But the Nece&s;&s;ity of the Con|currence of a Dioce&s;an Bi&s;hop, is that which we deny: So that the great Que&s;tion is this, Whether it be ab&s;olutely nece&s;&s;ary to the firm and &s;ufficient Ordination of a Mini&s;ter, that it be perform'd by the Concurrence, Con&s;ent, A&s;&s;i&s;tance and Approbation of a Dioce&s;an Bi&s;hop? or, Whether Ordination perform'd by a company of Presbyters, be not Valid, Firm and Sufficient, tho' there be no Dio|ce&s;an Bi&s;hop among them? Some high Church-men hold the former, <HI>That the
<PB N="10" REF="8">Concurrence of a Dioce&s;an Bi&s;hop is ab&s;olutely nece&s;&s;ary; and thereby &V;nchurch mo&s;t of the Reformed Churches to gratifie the Church of</HI> Rome. And hereupon, at that nota|ble Revolution upon the Re&s;tauration of King <HI>Charles</HI> II. our Bi&s;hops would have all tho&s;e to be re-ordain'd, that were ordaia'd by Presbyters, during the ab&s;ence of the Bi&s;hops, or el&s;e not to be owned for Mini&s;ters, nor capable of any Ec|cle&s;ia&s;tical Imployment or Preferment.</P>
<P>But that Ordination, perform'd only by a company of Presbyters, without a Dioce&s;an Bi&s;hop, is firm and &s;ufficient, I &s;hall prove by Scripture, which is the only Rule we profe&s;s to walk by, and therefore &s;ufficient for our purpo&s;e. My Scrip|ture-proof is two-fold, by Example, and by Argument.</P>
<P N="1">(1) We have Scripture-Examples of Ordination perform'd by Presbyters alone <HI>viz.</HI> (1) This of my Text, where you may ob&s;erve, both the <HI>Work</HI> that was done; It was Ordination, perform'd by Fa&s;ting, Prayer, and Impo&s;ition of hands, whereby <HI>Barnabas</HI> and <HI>Saul</HI> were &s;eparated and &s;et a-part for their Mini&s;terial Imployment: And if this be not Ordination, what is? Here is certainly all that is requir'd thereto, if we take our mea&s;ures either from Scripture or all Antiquity, (bating the Preparatives thereto, which are not of this Con&s;ideration&punc;) Tho' &s;ome make Ordination le&s;s (as we &s;hall hear anon) yet none make it more.</P>
<P>Ob&s;erve al&s;o the <HI>Per&s;ons</HI> that did this Work of Ordination; who they were that were commanded by the Holy Gho&s;t to ordain <HI>Barnabas</HI> and <HI>Saul;</HI> why, they were the Prophets and Teachers here at <HI>Antioch,</HI> v. 1. <HI>i.e.</HI> Such as did not only in&s;truct the People, and expound the Scriptures, but had al&s;o the Prophetick Spirit, and were partakers of Revelations, &s;aith Dr. <HI>Lightfoot, Harmony of the New Te&s;tament,</HI> p. 93. The&s;e then, tho' indued with a Spirit of Prophecy, as was both u&s;ual and nece&s;&s;ary in tho&s;e times, were the ordinary Pa&s;tors and Teachers of the Church, as the Apo&s;tle joyns them together, <HI>Eph.</HI> 4.11. which were no other than Presbyters.</P>
<P>Here then Presbyters do perform this Work of Ordination, and that by the particular Direction and Command of the Holy Gho&s;t, and therefore they have power to ordain, and their Ordination is Valid and Sufficient. (2) Another in|&s;tance is of <HI>Timothy,</HI> who was ordain'd by the <HI>Presbytery,</HI> 1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 4.14. <HI>Neglect not the Gift that is in thee, which was given thee by Prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery.</HI> Not of the Office (as &s;ome would &s;hift it off; for the Office has no hands; and be&s;ides the Office is <GAP DESC="foreign">, not <GAP DESC="foreign">) but of Per&s;ons in that Office. What can be more expre&s;s than this? True, <HI>Paul</HI> joyn'd with them (2 <HI>Tim.</HI> 1.6.) as one of the Ordainers, which he'd never have done, if they had not had Authority to do what they did.</P>
<P N="2">2. I prove it by this Scripture-Argument, or Rea&s;on, becau&s;e Presbyters are Scripture-Bi&s;hops: That Scripture-Bi&s;hops may ordain, I think is que&s;tion'd by none: But Presbyters are Scripture-Bi&s;hops. This is generally granted both by Prete&s;tants and Papi&s;ts (except a few high Church-men of late) that the words <HI>[Bi&s;hop]</HI> and <HI>[Presbyter]</HI> are u&s;ed promi&s;cuou&s;ly in Scripture for the &s;ame Per&s;ons,
<PB N="11" REF="8">or Per&s;ons in the &s;ame Office. <HI>Convenit inter omnes in Apo&s;tolorum aetate inter Epi&s;|copos &amp; Presbyteros nullum di&s;crimen fui&s;&s;e,</HI> &s;aith <HI>Ca&s;&s;and. Con&s;ult. Art.</HI> 14. <HI>It is agreed among all, that in the Apo&s;tles times there was no difference between Bi&s;hops and Pres|byters. Apud veteres iidem Epi&s;copi &amp; Presbyteri fuerunt.</HI> &s;aith <HI>P. Lombard. With the Ancients, Bi&s;hops and Presbyters were the &s;ame.</HI> I could add more to the &s;ame purpo&s;e.</P>
<P>But that you may not take it upon tru&s;t, but may &s;ee with your own Eyes, I &s;hall make it plain to you by comparing two or three places of Scripture toge|ther. Look into <HI>Acts</HI> 20.17, 18. <HI>From Miletus he &s;ent to Ephe&s;us and called the Elders</HI> (or Presbyters) <HI>of the Church and when they were come to him, he &s;aid unto them.</HI> The&s;e then are the Per&s;ons to whom he &s;peaks, the Presbyters: Now look into v. 28. and there he tells them, That the Holy Gho&s;t has made them Over-&s;eers, <GAP DESC="foreign"> Bi&s;hops. The&s;e Presbyters were Bi&s;hops. Again, Look into <HI>Tit.</HI> 1.5. <HI>I left thee in Crete to ordain Elders</HI> (Presbyters) <HI>in every City.</HI> Then v. 7. <HI>For a Bi&s;hop mu&s;t he blamele&s;s;</HI><NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Ex hoc loco manife&s;tum, eo&s;dem dici &amp; &s;ui&s;&s;e Epi&s;co|pos, qui dicebantur &amp; erant Presbyteri, alias nulla foret in Textu Apo&s;tolico connectio, quam tamen par|ticula <GAP DESC="foreign"> [<GAP DESC="foreign">] di&s;erte ponit. Quae enim <GAP DESC="foreign"> haec foret, Illi con&s;tituendi &s;unt Fresbyteri qui &s;unt &s;ine crimine, quia Epi&s;copum (cujus Officium, pote&s;tas, Juri&s;dictio &amp; gradus differt a Presbyterio) oportet e&s;&s;e &s;ine crimine? <HI>Ger. de Min. Eccle&s;.</HI> From this place it is manifest, that the &s;ame Per&s;ons were both called and were Bi&s;hops, who were called and were Presbyters: Otherwi&s;e there would be no Connection in the Apo&s;tles Di&s;cour&s;e; which yet the cau&s;al Particle [for] expre&s;ly a&s;&s;erts. For what coherence would this be, They are to be made Presbyters who are blamele&s;s, becau&s;e a Bi&s;hop (who&s;e Office, Power, Juri&s;diction and Degree, is different from that of a Presbyter) ought to be blamele&s;s?</NOTE> whom he calls Presbyters in one place, he calls Bi&s;hops in the other.</P>
<P>Once more, 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 5, 1. <HI>The Elders which are among you. I exhort</HI>&mdash;v. 2. <HI>Feed the Flock of God</HI>&mdash;<HI>taking the over-&s;ight of them.</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>Bi&s;hoping it,</HI> or playing the Bi&s;hops. Presbyters were made Over-&s;eers or Bi&s;hops by the Holy Gho&s;t in the <HI>Acts:</HI> Treating of the Ordination of Presbyters, he lays down the Qualifications of Bi|&s;hops, in <HI>Titus:</HI> the Elders or Presbyters are commanded to exerci&s;e the Office of a Bi&s;hop in <HI>Peter;</HI> Therefore Presbyters are Scripture-Bi&s;hops, and con&s;e|quently may ordain; or, Ordination performed by them is Firm and Sufficient.</P>
<P>And here I might content my &s;elf with this Proof, it being &s;ufficient for us, that we have Scripture-warrant for what we do. But becau&s;e <HI>Antiquity</HI> is &s;o much in&s;i&s;ted upon by &s;ome in this ca&s;e (as King <HI>Charles</HI> the Fir&s;t ask'd Archb. <HI>&V;&s;her</HI> in the I&s;le of <HI>Wight, Where he found in Antiquity, That Presbyters alone ordain'd any?</HI>) therefore I &s;hall not decline dealing with them at this Weapon; but &s;hall joyn I&s;&s;ue with them upon this Point al&s;o; wherein I &s;hall only produce the Judg|ment and Te&s;timony of two famous Bi&s;hops, the mo&s;t Learned of this Age.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t is a Pa&s;&s;age of the renowned Archb.<HI>&V;&s;her,</HI> as it is related by <HI>Mr. Bax|ter,</HI> both in his <HI>Life,</HI> p. 206. and in his <HI>Di&s;put. of Church-Government,</HI> p. 216. The pa&s;&s;age is this, <Q>I ask'd him (Archb. <HI>&V;&s;her</HI>) his Judgment about the Validity of Presbyterian Ordination; which he a&s;&s;erted; and told me, That the King ask'd him at the I&s;le of <HI>Wight,</HI> Where ever he found in Antiquity, that Presbyters alone ordain'd any?</Q> And that he an&s;wered, <Q>I can &s;hew your Maje&s;ty more;
<PB N="4" REF="9">even where Presbyters alone &s;ucce&s;&s;ively ordain'd Bi&s;hops, and in&s;tanc'd in <HI>Jerom</HI>'s words, <HI>Epi&s;t. ad Evagr.</HI> of the Presbyters of <HI>Alexandria,</HI> choo&s;ing and making their own Bi&s;hops, from the days of <HI>Mark</HI> till <HI>Heraclas</HI> and <HI>Diony&s;ius.</HI></Q></P>
<P>The other is of <HI>Bi&s;hop Stillingfleet,</HI> who proves, by &s;everal In&s;tances, that Pres|byters had the intrin&s;ick power of Ordination, but only that it was re&s;train'd by Eccle&s;ia&s;tical Laws: and that after Epi&s;copal Government was &s;etled, yet Ordination by Presbyters was lookt on as valid, <HI>Iren.</HI> p. 379, &amp;c. and then in another place, p. 273. he quotes that very pa&s;&s;age of <HI>Jerom,</HI> which A. Bi&s;h. <HI>&V;&s;her</HI> had done, <HI>Nam &amp; Alexandria a Marco Evangeli&s;ta u&s;que ad Heraclam &amp; Diony|&s;ium Epi&s;copos, Presbyteri &s;emper unum ex &s;e electum in excel&s;iori gradu collocatum, Epi&s;copum nominabant, quomodo &s;i exercitus Imperatorem faciat; aut Diaconi eligant de &s;e quem indu&s;trium noverint, &amp; Archidiaconum vocent. Ep.</HI> 85. <HI>ad Evagr. At Alexandria, from Mark the Evangeli&s;t to Heraclas and Diony&s;ius, Bi&s;hops, the Pres|byters having cho&s;en one of them&s;elves, and &s;et him in a higher &s;tation, called him a Bi&s;hop: as if an Army &s;hould chu&s;e an Emperor; or a Company of Deacons, &s;hould chu&s;e one of them&s;elves, whom they know to be very diligent, and &s;hould call him Arch|deacon.</HI> Which Te&s;timony he vindicates from &s;everal exceptions that were made again&s;t it.</P>
<P>This then may ju&s;tifie our practi&s;e this day again&s;t all Gain&s;ayers; that we who are Presbyters, and have no Dioce&s;an Bi&s;hop among us, yet undertake to perform this work of Ordination; &s;ince, as you have &s;een, we have good ground and warrant for it, both from <HI>Scripture,</HI> and from <HI>Antiquity.</HI> To which might be added the Con&s;ent of all Reformed Churches: but that I mu&s;t ha&s;ten.</P>
<P>Hence al&s;o we may &s;ee the intolerable U&s;urpation of tho&s;e who would not allow the Ordination by Presbyters (even in tho&s;e times, when, either there were no Bi&s;hops, or they dur&s;t not be known) to be lawful and &s;ufficient. But do but ob&s;erve the partiality of the&s;e Men: They that would not allow Ordi|nation by Presbyters in <HI>England,</HI> or any other Reform'd Church, to be valid, yet would allow Ordination in the Church of <HI>Rome</HI> (though their Bi&s;hops be &s;o far from being the true Mini&s;ters of Chri&s;t, that they are the Slaves and Limbs of Antichri&s;t; though their Ordination be attended with &s;o many Fopperies and Super&s;titious Ceremonies, and though the per&s;ons be never &s;o unfit) yet becau&s;e one that has the Title of a Bi&s;hop has a hand in it, therefore that mu&s;t be valid, for&s;ooth, and all others invalid and null. <Q>Let a Per&s;on Ordain'd by Presbyters be never &s;o well qualify'd, never &s;o faithful in the di&s;charge of his Office; let another Per&s;on, Ordain'd by a Bi&s;hop, be never &s;o defective in qualifications, let him be never &s;o prophane in his Life, yet this Man mu&s;t pa&s;s for a true Mini&s;ter, becau&s;e he has the ineffectual Ble&s;&s;ing of a Bi&s;hop, and the other a meer U&s;urper, and all his Admini&s;trations mu&s;t be null and void for want of this Ceremony. <BIBL><HI>Owen of Ordination, p.</HI> 86.</BIBL></Q></P>
<P>This plainly &s;hows what Friends &s;uch are to the Reformation, how highly they value the Church of <HI>Rome,</HI> and what dirt they ca&s;t in the face, and upon the practice of all Reform'd Churches.</P>
<PB N="13" REF="9">
<P>Thus I have, I hope, pretty well acquitted my &s;elf from the&s;e Adver&s;aries. But there are &s;ome others, though not &s;o con&s;iderable, that I mu&s;t &s;peak a word unto; who, in&s;tead of this Ordination by Church-Officers, &s;et up two things in its Room, <HI>Gifts,</HI> and a <HI>Call from the People.</HI> I &s;hall &s;peak briefly to both.</P>
<P N="1">1. Gifts and Abilities are not &s;ufficient to give a Man a Title to the Office of the Mini&s;try; 'tis &s;o in no ca&s;e what&s;oever. There's no in&s;tance in the World that I can think of, from the King on the Throne to a petty Con&s;table, or Surveyor of the High-ways, or any other thing what&s;oever that hath the Nature of an Office in the Commonwealth, that a bare qualification and ability for it doth inable a Man to take upon him the di&s;charge of it. Much le&s;s then &s;hould it be &s;o in the Church, where all things &s;hould be mo&s;t regular and orderly, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 14.40. and where the lea&s;t mi&s;carriage is dangerous, <HI>Levit.</HI> 10.1. 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 11.30. Hence even Chri&s;t him&s;elf, tho' fill'd with Wi&s;dom, when but a Child (<HI>Luke</HI> 2.40.) in whom were hidden all the trea&s;ures of wi&s;dom and knowledge, <HI>Col.</HI> 2.3. yet did not thru&s;t him&s;elf into the Office of a Prie&s;t, till called as <HI>Aaron,</HI> as the Apo&s;tle ob&s;erves, <HI>Heb.</HI> 5.5. Now <HI>Aaron</HI> had not only a particular de&s;ignation and appointment by God to this Office, but was actually put into it, and &s;etled in it by <HI>Mo&s;es, Levit.</HI> 8. and 9. So Chri&s;t was not only call'd by an immediate voice from God the Father, <HI>Matth.</HI> 3.17 but was Anointed, as it were, by <HI>John</HI> the Bapti&s;t in his Bapti&s;m, and thereby Inve&s;ted and In&s;talled into this Office. Wheupon the Apo&s;tle lays down this General Rue, <HI>Heb.</HI> 5.4. <HI>No man takes</HI> (viz. legally and duly) <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>any ho|nour</HI> or office (what&s;oever his parts and abilities be) <HI>but he that is called of God.</HI></P>
<P>And thus much is generally granted by all, except a few &s;elf-conceited per&s;ons that think better of them&s;elves than any body el&s;e doth, and &s;o turn Self-ordain|ers. They can &s;carce be &s;aid to be <GAP DESC="foreign">, becau&s;e they have generally little or no Learning, but however they are <GAP DESC="foreign">; they lay hands (I don't &s;ay, violent hands) upon them&s;elves, and &s;o become guilty of a &s;ort of <GAP DESC="foreign">; tho' not in the wor&s;t &s;en&s;e of that word. But, if every Phaeton that thinks him&s;elf a|ble, may be permitted to drive the Charriot of the Sun, no wonder if the World be &s;et on fire, &s;aith Mr. <HI>Vines.</HI> Well then, Gifts won't &s;erve turn.</P>
<P N="2">2. Neither hath the Election of the People any more power, virtue or efficacy in it to make a Man a Mini&s;ter. No Authority can be deriv'd from them; for <HI>Ni|hil dat quod non habet.</HI> All their Intere&s;t about a Mini&s;ter con&s;i&s;ts only in making choice of &s;uch a Per&s;on for the Exerci&s;e of his Mini&s;try among 'em; which is quite a di&s;tinct thing from Ordination, or making a Man to be a Mini&s;ter in General, or confering the Office of a Mini&s;ter upon him. This appears plainly by that place, <HI>Act.</HI> 6.2, 3. <HI>The Twelve called the multitude of the di&s;ciples to 'em, and &s;aid, Look you out among you &s;even Men of hone&s;t report, whom we my appoint over this bu&s;ine&s;s.</HI> They were only to <HI>look out,</HI> no nominate, to fix upon the Per&s;ons who were fit for &s;uch an Employment, and then the Apo&s;tles were to <HI>appoint</HI> 'em: <GAP DESC="foreign">. The word frequently &s;ignifies to <HI>authorize,</HI> or <HI>inve&s;t with authority;</HI> as <HI>Matth.</HI> 24.45, 47. and 25.23. <HI>Act.</HI> 7.10, 27, 35. and is tran&s;lated to <HI>Ordain, Tit.</HI> 1.5. <HI>I left
<PB N="14" REF="10">thee in Crete, that thou &s;hould&s;t</HI>&mdash;<HI>Ordain Elders in every City.</HI> This the Apo&s;tles re&s;erv'd to them&s;elves, as belonging to them; to appoint, ordain, authorize. On|ly Nomination and Election was the Di&s;ciples work, Ordination was the Apo|&s;tles. And mark it, this work that they were here Ordain'd unto, was a work of an inferior nature to the Mini&s;try, viz. <HI>Serving of Tables,</HI> v. 2. Now if they might not take upon 'em, without the &s;pecial Inve&s;titure and Admi&s;&s;ion of the Apo&s;tles, much le&s;s might they have undertaken the work of the Mini&s;try with|out it. It's without all warrant from Scripture that the People &s;hould make a Mini&s;ter. There's neither <HI>Precept,</HI> nor <HI>Pre&s;ident</HI> for it in all the N. T. We read of Ordination by Apo&s;tles, <HI>Acts</HI> 6.3. and 14.23. by Prophets and Teachers; in my Text, by Evangeli&s;ts, <HI>Tit.</HI> 1.5. 1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 5.22. and by Presbyters, 1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 4.14. but for Ordination by the People, we meet not at all with it: and there|fore it is ob&s;ervable, that all that is written in any of the Epi&s;tles about Ordi|nation, is in tho&s;e to <HI>Timothy</HI> and <HI>Titus,</HI> who were Officers; in the others, which were written to the Churches, there's no mention made of the&s;e things; which is a convincing proof that the work of Ordination is a work belonging to Mini|&s;ters, and not to the People, &s;ay the <HI>London</HI>-Divines.</P>
<P>See this Point largely handled in <HI>Jus Div. Min. Evang. part</HI> 1. <HI>c.</HI> 9.</P>
<P>Thus, I hope, I have kept my ground, and defended my Po&s;ition from all at|tacks made upon it, either on the right hand, or on the left, <HI>That Officers in the Church, and they only, have Authority from Chri&s;t to &s;et apart others for the work of the Mini&s;try.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. Now I proceed to the la&s;t Head of Di&s;cour&s;e, concerning the <HI>Manner</HI> of this <HI>Separation,</HI> or Ordination, that it mu&s;t be done by Fa&s;ting, Prayer, and Im|po&s;ition of Hands.</P>
<P>That Fa&s;ting and Prayer mu&s;t be u&s;ed upon this occa&s;ion, is granted by all. There can be no que&s;tion made of it. The weightine&s;s of the work requires it. All the doubt is concerning Impo&s;ition of hands. Therefore to clear that, I &s;hall &s;hew as briefly as I can, (1) The <HI>Original,</HI> (2) The <HI>Nece&s;&s;ity.</HI> (3) The <HI>&V;&s;e</HI> of it in this ca&s;e, (4.) Who&s;e hands are to be Impos'd.</P>
<P N="1">1. For the Original of this Rite or Ceremony, it was u&s;ed upon &s;everal occa|&s;ions. Tho&s;e that belong not to our pre&s;ent purpo&s;e I &s;hall pa&s;s by.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t place where it was us'd for a &s;etting apart, or Ordaining to an Of|fice, is <HI>Num.</HI> 8.10. <HI>Thou &s;halt bring the Levites before the Lord, and the children of I&s;rael &s;hall put their hands upon the Levites,</HI> and then v. 14. <HI>Thus &s;halt thou &s;epa|rate the Levites from among the children of I&s;rael.</HI> Here was a Separation for a par|ticular Employment: and this was directed to be done by the children of <HI>I&s;rael:</HI> which cannot po&s;&s;ibly be meant of the whole Congregation (that was impractica|ble) and therefore mu&s;t be under&s;tood only of &s;ome of 'em: but then the que&s;ti|on is, Who the&s;e [&s;ome] were that were commanded to impo&s;e their hands on 'em: and here Interpreters are divided. Some under&s;tand 'em of the Princes and Chiefs of each Tribe, who by this Ceremony &s;ignify'd their intire re&s;ignation and dedica|tion
<PB N="15" REF="10">of them to God's Service. This Sen&s;e Mr. <HI>Pool</HI> prefers as the be&s;t: But I rather think it mu&s;t be meant of the Fir&s;t-born (who &s;upplied the place of the Prie&s;ts before) in who&s;e &s;tead the Levites were taken, v. 16-18. <HI>For they</HI> (the Le|vites) <HI>are wholly given unto me from among the Children of I&s;rael: in&s;tead of &s;uch as open every Womb, even in&s;tead of the Fir&s;t-born of all the Children of I&s;rael have I taken them unto me. For all the Fir&s;t-born of the Children of I&s;rael are mine, both of Man and Bea&s;t: on the day that I &s;mote every Fir&s;t-born in the Land of Egypt, I &s;anctified them for my &s;elf. And I have taken the Levites for all the Fir&s;t-born of the Children of I&s;rael.</HI> Whence it &s;eems much more likely to me, that the&s;e were the Per&s;ons that laid their hands on the Heads of the Levites, than the Princes or any other, even as he that brought a Burnt-offering, was to put his hand upon the head of it, <HI>Lv.</HI> 1.4. to note, his laying his Sins upon it, and offering it up in his own &s;tead So here, The Levites being taken in&s;tead of the Fir&s;t-born, To whom did it more properly belong to lay their hands on them, than to the Fir&s;t-born?</P>
<P>This is the fir&s;t Example of this kind; after which it was commonly made u&s;e of in &s;etting apart to any Sacred Function.</P>
<P N="2">2. The <HI>Nece&s;&s;ity</HI> of Impo&s;ition of Hands in Ordination, I prove by the&s;e Arguments.</P>
<P N="1">(1) Becau&s;e all Scripture Examples of Ordination were performed with this Ceremony, and none without it. None is, or can be produced. We have Scripture-warrant for it, but none for the neglect of it: Therefore to tho&s;e that profe&s;s to walk by Scripture-Rule, this &s;hould be &s;ufficient. As we mu&s;t not add to Scripture-In&s;titutions by our own Inventions, &s;o neither mu&s;t we detract, or take from Scripture, by neglecting any thing we have Scripture-warrant for.</P>
<P>Nay more than this,</P>
<P N="2">(2) We have an expre&s;s Command for it, 1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 5.22. <HI>Lay hands &s;uddenly on no Man,</HI> where the Negative includes the Affirmative. As it forbids the denying of it ra&s;hly and unadvi&s;edly, &s;o it enjoyns the doing of it con&s;iderately and deliberately.</P>
<P N="3">(3) Becau&s;e the &s;pecial Nature of Ordination doth con&s;i&s;t in this Ceremony; as appears, Becau&s;e the Spirit of God in Scripture expre&s;&s;es the whole Work of Ordination, by this one Act of Impo&s;ition of Hands; as in the place la&s;t quoted, and 1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 4.14. Yea not only &s;o, but the whole Work of the Mini&s;try is couch'd under this Expre&s;&s;ion, <HI>Heb.</HI> 6.2. as the mo&s;t judicious and &s;olid Interpreters do under&s;tand it.</P>
<P>By all which the <HI>Nece&s;&s;ity</HI> hereof appears in this ca&s;e. And yet it's well known that &s;ome Per&s;ons, tho' &s;ometimes they will admit of it, yet lay no &s;tre&s;s upon it; don't count it a nece&s;&s;ary part of Ordination, but think it may be as valid with|out it as with it; and accordingly do frequently omit it. From whence we may take notice of the unevenne&s;s of &s;ome Mens Con&s;ciences, or of their Practice at lea&s;t; which is like Indentures, &s;ometimes up, &s;ometimes down. They require po&s;itive &s;igns of Grace in tho&s;e they admit to be Members: They in&s;i&s;t upon a Church-Covenant to be ent'red into by them: They admit Ordination by the
<PB N="16" REF="11">People; which things have no Foundation in Scripture. On the other &s;ide, they reject, or at lea&s;t, neglect Impo&s;ition of hands in Ordination, tho' there be &s;uch plain Scripture-warrant for it, as you have &s;een.</P>
<P N="3">3. The next thing to be &s;poken unto, is the <HI>&V;&s;e</HI> of this Ceremony. It &s;erves for divers Ends.</P>
<P N="1">(1) To convey unto, and be&s;tow upon, the Per&s;on receiving it the Office of a Presbyter. This is the principal U&s;e of it. So it was with <HI>Barnabas</HI> and <HI>Saul</HI> in the Text; they were hereby &s;eparated to the Work of the Mini&s;try among the Gentiles. So it was with <HI>Timothy,</HI> 1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 4.14. <HI>Neglect not the Gift that is in thee, which was given thee by Prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery.</HI> By <HI>[Gift]</HI> here, the<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">The Greek word <GAP DESC="foreign"> is often taken, not only for the Grace by which we are fitted for an Office, but for an Office to wich Men thro' Grace are fitted.</NOTE> Office of the Mini&s;try is generally un|der&s;tood: This was <HI>given,</HI> or conveigh'd to him by Impo|&s;ition of hands.</P>
<P N="2">(2) It &s;erves to de&s;ign the particular Per&s;on that is &s;et apart for this Office. While Prayer is only made for this purpo&s;e, po&s;&s;ibly many Per&s;ons in the Congregation may not know who it is particularly that is meant, but when hands come to be laid upon him, or them, then every one &s;ees who it is.</P>
<P N="3">(3) Thereby the Per&s;on is dedicated, con&s;ecrated, and offer'd up to the Lord and his Service; as it was u&s;ed in the Old Te&s;tament for this End, <HI>Numb.</HI> 8.10, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P N="4">(4) It's u&s;ed as an Authoritative and Mini&s;terial Benediction of the Per&s;on ordain'd; as it was u&s;ed by <HI>Jacob, Gen.</HI> 48.14. and by Chri&s;t in his Ble&s;&s;ing and Praying over the little Children, <HI>Matt.</HI> 9.15.</P>
<P N="4">4. Who&s;e Hands are to be impo&s;ed? Not the Hands of any of the People; which &s;ome<NOTE N="&dagger;" PLACE="marg">In &s;uch Churches where there are no El|ders, Impo&s;ition of Hands may be perform'd by &s;ome of the Brethren cho&s;en by the Church thereunto. <HI>Platform of Church-Di&s;cipline,</HI> c. <HI>9.</HI></NOTE> allow of when there are no Elders or Pres|byters to be had: But that is a ca&s;e &s;carce to be &s;uppo&s;ed, and therefore nothing follows upon it. Certainly &s;uch may be had &s;omewhere or other. There is no warrant at all in Scripture, for any to lay on Hands in Ordination, but Church-Officers. Nothing like a Proof is alledg'd, but only that place, <HI>Numb.</HI> 8.10. but that mu&s;t needs be meant of the Fir&s;t-born, who were the Prie&s;ts in each Family; as I &s;hew'd even now. No; the&s;e have no power to do it: It mu&s;t be done by Church-Officers: So it was herein the Text, and &s;o in all other places where it is mention'd; as I proved before.</P>
<P>Thus I have both a&s;&s;erted and maintain'd, the Lawfulne&s;s and Warrantable|ne&s;s, the Validity and Sufficiency of our Practice this day, and al&s;o vindicated it from the Cavils and Exceptions of Adver&s;aries on either hand; &s;o that I hope you are all fully &s;atisfied, that we don't take more upon us, than we have good ground in Scripture for: That we don't remove any ancient Land-marks: That we don't <GAP DESC="foreign">, Intrench upon the Rights of others, but keep within the Bounds God has fixed and pre&s;cribed to us, and &s;o may lawfully proceed to the Work that further remains to be done by us.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="text">
<PB N="17" REF="11">
<HEAD>The Exhortation.</HEAD>
<DIV2 TYPE="address to the minister">
<P>BEloved in our Lord! I begin the concluding part of the Solemn Work of this day, with the words of the Apo&s;tle, <HI>Heb.</HI> 13.22. <HI>I be&s;eech you Brethren, &s;uffer the word of Exhortation;</HI> which I &s;hall direct, fir&s;t to you, who have been &s;o|lemnly &s;et apart to the Office and Work of the Mini&s;try, by the laying on of the Hands of the Presbytery, accompanied with Fa&s;ting, Prayer and Ble&s;&s;ing; and then to you the People.</P>
<P>That which now, Sir, I am to entertain you with, is, That you would &s;eriou&s;ly con&s;ider the Greatne&s;s of your Office and Work: How weighty your Calling is, above all others, which hath &s;o near a relation to the Purpo&s;e of the Father, the Purcha&s;e of his Son, and the Charge of the Holy Spirit. To you is committed <HI>the Word of Reconciliation;</HI> your God hath counted you Faithful, put you into the Mini&s;try, and intru&s;ted you with what highly concerns his own Glory, and the Everla&s;ting Happine&s;s of Precious Souls. <HI>Oh take heed to your &s;elf, and to all the Flock, over which the Holy Gho&s;t hath made you Bi&s;hop, to feed the Church of God, which he hath purcha&s;ed with his own Blood,</HI> Acts 20.28.</P>
<P>Your principal Work is, to <HI>Preach the Go&s;pel,</HI> 1 Cor. 1.17. Mini&s;terially to re|veal the Will of God to his Church, Soundly to Interpret, Expound and Apply the Scriptures to their Edification, and e&s;pecially to <HI>Preach Chri&s;t to them.</HI> This is mo&s;t Profitable both for them and your &s;elf; This is mo&s;t Weelcome and Com|fortable, and the readie&s;t way to break their Hearts, <HI>Eph.</HI> 3.17, 18. <HI>Luther</HI> at his Death thus Pray'd, <HI>Thee, O Chri&s;t, have I known, Thee have I loved, Thee have I taught, Thee have I tru&s;ted, and now into thy hands do I commend my Spirit.</HI> The Name of Chri&s;t in a Sermon, makes the Preaching Sweete&s;t. You are not to be a legal Preacher, to preach Salvation by keeping of the Law; yet you are to preach the Law a <HI>Rule of Obedience,</HI> as a means to di&s;cover Sin, and convince Men of their Mi&s;ery out of Chri&s;t, as a <HI>School-ma&s;ter to draw to Chri&s;t,</HI> Gal. 3.24. Which is God's ordinary way to prepare to the receiving of Chri&s;t. So preach the Law, that you may preach the Go&s;pel, for that Preaching is be&s;t which drives to Chri&s;t; and he is the be&s;t Preacher, not that tickles the Ear, but breaks the Heart to &s;eek after Chri&s;t, the Phy&s;ician of Souls.</P>
<P>Labour to preach with all Plainne&s;s and Per&s;picuity to the meane&s;t, &s;et off your good Notions in the mo&s;t obvious plain Expre&s;&s;ions. The greate&s;t Learning is &s;een in the greate&s;t Plainne&s;s. The Learned Dr. <HI>Pre&s;ton</HI> did &s;pread his Net that he might catch the Fi&s;h. <HI>Non Rhetorice, &s;ed Apo&s;tolice, non quanta Eloquentia, &s;ed Evidentia,</HI> &s;aith <HI>Au&s;tin,</HI> Clearne&s;s and Per&s;picuity is the Grace of Speech; painted Gla&s;s-windows hinder the Light. The <HI>Per&s;ian</HI> Ro&s;es were marr'd with the Sweetne&s;s of Perfumes. An Iron Key will unlock, where a Wedge of Gold will not; the Fooli&s;hne&s;s of Preaching, tho' not Fooli&s;h Preaching Saves. The Walls of <HI>Jericho</HI> were thrown down, not by golden Trumpets, but Rams|horns.
<PB N="18" REF="12"><HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Brazen Serpent cured, when <HI>Aaron</HI>'s golden Calf brought Death. Stars give Light, when Clouds darken. Plate and Silver Spoons in a Country Fair, are only gazed on, and &s;carce cheapen'd, when wooden Spoons are bought. That Gla&s;s is be&s;t, not which is curiou&s;ly wrought, but &s;hews the true&s;t Face; Good Corn is more eligible than gay Weeds. Naked Truth is mo&s;t beautiful, &s;he needs not outward adorning to make her amiable; and if &s;he appears in finer Cloaths, it is more for Mode&s;ty than Gaudine&s;s. Mingle not your Water with God's Wine; &s;tuff not the Sincere Milk with the Mocks and Hairs of your Fancy. Tho&s;e Flowers are be&s;t and &s;weete&s;t that grow in the Garden, not in the Wilderne&s;s. Chri&s;t taught his Di&s;ciples as they were able to hear and bear. Drive according to the Pace of your People. It is the greate&s;t Art to make dark things plain. Study rather <GAP DESC="foreign"> than <GAP DESC="foreign">, to approve your &s;elf a Di|vine, than an Arti&s;t: Soar not aloft to work a vain Admiration in the ignorant Hearers. Prefer a carele&s;s Plainne&s;s before an elaborate affected Quaintne&s;s. Yet let not your Expre&s;&s;ions be undecent, un&s;eemly, or undige&s;ted. <HI>E&s;t aliqua frondium Gloria,</HI> the Leaves give &s;ome beauty to the Trees. <HI>Aaron</HI>'s Bells were golden, &s;ounding plea&s;antly. A na&s;ty Candle&s;tick is un&s;uitable to a bright Ta|per, and unhand&s;ome Cloaths do not become a fair Body. Truth loves to be plain, but not Slutti&s;h. Neither would I have your Sermons to be like empty Tracts, that have a Flood of Words, and a Drop of Matter. <HI>Multa loquantur &amp; nihil dicunt.</HI> Some &s;peak much and &s;ay nothing, becau&s;e little or nothing to the purpo&s;e. I am again&s;t the Abu&s;e, not the u&s;e of Humane Authors, Tongues, Arts and Sciences, the&s;e are Keys to unlock the Scriptures. Competent Learning is requi&s;ite in a Mini&s;ter, a blind Seer is a Soleci&s;m. A Mini&s;ter ought to have Skill in the Originals, that he may not &s;ee only with other Mens Eyes&punc; nor take all upon report and tru&s;t, <HI>John</HI> 4.42. yet Tongues without Arts and Sciences, are but empty Ve&s;&s;els, mere &s;ounds. But e&s;pecially a Mini&s;ter &s;hould be mighty in the Scriptures, 2 <HI>Tim.</HI> 3.15, 16. the&s;e are the Fountains, and the Foundation you mu&s;t build upon. There is more Light in the Sun than in the Stars, more Water in the Fountain than in the Streams, more Honey in a Barrel of Honey, than in a few &s;catter'd Flowers; and it is good digging for Gold in the Mines of Gold. In Preaching, deliver the whole revealed Will of God, <HI>Acts</HI> 20.27. and nothing but his Will, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 11.23. receive what you deliver, and deliver what you receive, e&s;pecially concerning the Way and Means of Salvation by Chri&s;t, and Chri&s;t alone, 1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 6.3. 2 <HI>Tim.</HI> 1.13. <HI>Tit.</HI> 2.7, 8. Affect not No|velty, too many Fal&s;e Opinions have in&s;inuated them&s;elves, by the u&s;e of Su&s;pi|tious Phra&s;es, and the Affectation of new Light and new Language, hath in the&s;e days greatly de&s;troy'd Practical Godline&s;s, and the Power of Religion. Some render 1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 6 20. <GAP DESC="foreign">.</P>
<P>Be <HI>Affectionate</HI> and <HI>Cordial,</HI> let the Truths you deliver, proceed from an Heart experimentally acquainted with them. That Sermon which is feelingly Preach'd is mo&s;t likely to be effectual. <HI>Quod procedit a corde, redit in Cor.</HI> When you
<PB N="19" REF="12">have once affected your &s;elf, you are in a fair way to affect others. Be you, as <HI>John</HI> Bapti&s;t, a Burning and Shining Light, fir&s;t burn inwardly, then &s;hine out|wardly in your Doctrine, and &s;o yon you'll &s;peak in the Evidence and Demon&s;trati|on of the Spirit and Power.</P>
<P>Be <HI>faithful, Jer.</HI> 23.28. Call not evil good, nor good evil, neither make the heart of the righteous &s;ad, nor &s;trengthen the hands of the wicked. Suppre&s;s not, omit not any needful truths, or reproofs, out of fear or favour, Preach not plea&s;ing things out of flattery, or de&s;ire to get favour. This undoes the Souls of people, e&s;pecially at their Deaths, and this &s;in will lye heavy on the Mini&s;ter's Con&s;cience when he lies a dying. Speak the word with boldne&s;s, <HI>Acts</HI> 4.29. Be zealous with intention of affection and &s;peech. Cry aloud, &s;pare not, &amp;c. &s;ave them with fear, pull them out of the fire. Fire &s;ate upon the Tongues of the Di&s;ciples when the Holy Gho&s;t came upon them. And <HI>I&s;aiah</HI>'s Tongue, touch'd by an Angel, was not dipt in water, but tipt with fire, and fire came out of the Mouths of the Two Witne&s;&s;es. Be not the Sugar and Honey, but Salt of the Word. There is need of this Fire to heat, of this Hammar to break, of this Sword to fetch blood, con&s;idering the coldne&s;s, &s;tonine&s;s, and hardne&s;s of peoples hearts. He is the be&s;t Chyrurgion, or Phy&s;itian, not that puts his Patient to lea&s;t pain, but that cures and heals. Yet zeal and love may &s;tand together, for zeal is the blood and &s;pirits of love. Mingle not your own pa&s;|&s;ions with your zeal, vent them not to di&s;grace others, or ea&s;e your own Sto|mach. Mingle not &s;trange fire with God's fire. That <GAP DESC="foreign"> complain|ed of, <HI>James</HI> 3.14. becomes not a Mini&s;ter who &s;hould be gentle among his People, 1 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 2.7, 11. Come with love in your heart, and u&s;e expre&s;&s;ions of love in your &s;pecches. The Bee carries Honey in her mouth, as well as a &s;ting about her. Pa&s;&s;ion may rai&s;e the blood, but compa&s;&s;ion will turn the bowels. Pills wrapt in Sugar go the better down, and Nailes dipt in Oyl drive the ea&s;i|er, <HI>Luke</HI> 19.41, 42. Weeping tears are the blood and &s;pirits of Love, and tho&s;e having glazed his eyes, the bowels of Compa&s;&s;ions that lay at his heart affected with their mi&s;ery were &s;een as in &s;o many Looking-gla&s;&s;es. Every Di&s;h is &s;prinkled with Salt, yet &s;omething el&s;e be&s;ides Salt is &s;et upon the Ta|ble. Wi&s;ely put a difference between per&s;ons and per&s;ons in your Reproofs, as al&s;o between &s;inners and &s;inners; &s;uch as &s;in of weakne&s;s, re&s;tore with a &s;pirit of meekne&s;s; and &s;uch as &s;in of wilfulne&s;s rebuke &s;harply, <GAP DESC="foreign">, cuttingly; &s;ecret &s;ins reprove &s;ecretly, and more open, rebuke more openly; yet &s;o, as (if you can) to hide the Per&s;on, and di&s;cover only his &s;in; aiming not at his De|famation, but Reformation: reprove &s;in in all, but per&s;onate none: &s;hew your zeal again&s;t the &s;in, yet manife&s;t your love to the Per&s;on.</P>
<P>In Preaching, aim not only at your own glory, applau&s;e or credit; as you are a friend of, &s;o you mu&s;t &s;ue for the Bridegroom, not your &s;elf, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 4.5. <HI>John</HI> 3.29, 30. Pride is a &s;in that &s;ticks clo&s;e to the be&s;t. A Ve&s;&s;el is ea&s;ily emptied of Water, but not of Aire; the better parts and gifts are, and performances
<PB N="20" REF="13">come off, the more &s;ubject to be proud of them. The fine&s;t Cloth is mo&s;t &s;ub|ject to Moths, and with &s;weete&s;t Flowers Men are &s;oone&s;t Perfum'd. Remem|ber that Honey, tho' &s;weet, was not offer'd in Sacrifice, becau&s;e it would bub|ble up. The better your Sermons are, and the more pains you take, if you are proud of them, the greater is your &s;in, becau&s;e you rob God of the more Glo|ry, and you take great pains to purcha&s;e great mi&s;ery. Approbation may be the re&s;ult of your work, and with this the Lord crown your Labours, and en|courage your faithfulne&s;s, yet this is not to be your primary intention, or ulti|mate end, which is too often the &s;in of young Divines. Tru&s;t God with your Credit, Name, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and &s;eek his Glory, and carry on the intere&s;t of Souls, and he will honour you here &s;o far as he &s;ees good for you, and eternally in Hea|ven.</P>
<P>You are al&s;o to <HI>Chatechi&s;e</HI> the young among your People diligently, to In&s;truct the Babes, and faithfully to Teach the Simple. It is your duty plainly and briefly to handle the Fundamental Points of Religion by way of Catechi&s;m to the Ignorant, this will much facilitate Religion to them, when they &s;ee the be|ginning and end of Divine Truths. Lay a Foundation before you begin to Build, this is the noble&s;t and harde&s;t work, fit for a Ma&s;ter-builder, and makes a well-grounded People; Ve&s;&s;els &s;ea&s;on'd with the Water of Life, may re|tain the &s;avour thereof till old Age.</P>
<P>Both the <HI>Sacraments</HI> of the New Te&s;tament are to be Admini&s;tred by you. As to the Lord's-Supper, be tender, and walk according to Go&s;pel-rule, that you be not partaker of other Mens &s;ins, nor pollute that Sacred Ordinance, by giving it to the gro&s;ly ignorant, &s;candalous or prophane.</P>
<P>As a faithful Shepherd often vi&s;it your Flock, that you may know their &s;tates, how things &s;tand between God and their Souls, and give them &s;uitable, &s;avoury, and profitable Advices. Wo to all Carele&s;s Non-re&s;idents, by their ab|&s;ence from, or negligence when pre&s;ent among their People.</P>
<P>You have, Sir, given a good account of your Learning and Sufficiency, yet let me tell you, that you are &s;till to <HI>give attendance to Reading, to meditate on the&s;e things, and give your &s;elf wholly to them, that your profiting may appear to all Men,</HI> 1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 4.15. Your Time and Parts are not your own, but, under God, your Peoples, and to be imploy'd for their profit. Believe it, you'l find your lay|ings-out will be con&s;iderable, therefore your layings-in had need be an&s;wera|ble. Make u&s;e of your own Under&s;tanding, neglect not your own Parts, but labour, by Studying, Reading and Praying hard, that you may be throughly fur|ni&s;ht to every good work; content not your &s;elf with a few Baskets full of bro|ken Meat, but &s;trive to be able, on all occa&s;ions, to bring forth out of your Trea&s;ury, things both new and old.</P>
<P>Your head and heart mu&s;t be at work, and both applyed to this Implopment. If you would be Faithful, you mu&s;t mind the Work of the Mini&s;try; and make it appear, that both in your Preparation for, and Execution of your Office,
<PB N="21" REF="13">you labour in the Word and Doctrine. You have gotten a Cure, therefore mu&s;t not live without care, you are God's Seeds-man to &s;ow the Seed of E|ternal Life in the Hearts of your People, and you mu&s;t do it in the Morning, and in the Evening not with-hold your hand. You are God's Husband-man, and this People are your Tillage: <HI>Redit labor actus in orbem.</HI> Your work goes round in a circle, 'tis never at an end, Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, no vacation in any. You are painfully to Labour in your Study for your Publick work, to provide as, <HI>David</HI> did, for the Hou&s;e of God, even with all your might. The Portion allotted to the Prie&s;t under the Law, was the Brea&s;t and Shoulder. God will not ble&s;s your Idlene&s;s, but Endevours, any thing may not &s;erve your turn, wherewith to fill the hour. God wrought &s;ix days for your example, two or three hours on a Saturday-night will not excu&s;e you. Cur&s;ed is he that doth the Work of the Lord negligently. There are &s;ome that are offend|ed, and ca&s;t an evil Eye upon diligent Preachers, becau&s;e their labouriou&s;ne&s;s condemns their lazine&s;s. So great and difficult is your Work, that even <HI>Paul</HI> &s;aith, who is &s;ufficient for the&s;e things; <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;ays, it is <HI>Onus angelicis humeris ormindandum.</HI> How many have &s;pent them&s;elves, wa&s;ted their Lungs, and Lives in this labourious Work, the Labour of the Brain and Mind, far ex|ceeding the greate&s;t bodily Labour; Witne&s;s the large Volums of the Fathers and Moderns, which were &s;o many Monuments of their unwearyed Pains. You mu&s;t Labour for the Pulpit, and in the Pulpit, Labour in the Study before you &s;peak, the Labour of Zeal and Love in &s;peaking; and the Labour of Suffering after &s;peaking, no danger &s;o great as Spiritual, therefore no care mu&s;t be &s;o great as Mini&s;terial. Your care mu&s;t be for them who do not, and with them who do care for them&s;elves. As much as lyes in you, be ready to Preach the Go&s;pel, be glad to &s;pend, and be &s;pent in this Service, Work the Work of him that hath &s;ent you in the Lord. Be in&s;tant, &s;tick clo&s;e to the Work, Preach the Word in Sea&s;on, out of Sea&s;on, <GAP DESC="foreign">, in a good Sea&s;on, on the Lord's-Day, the particular &s;ea&s;on appointed for the Preaching of the Word, and out of Sea&s;on, at other &s;ea&s;onable times, be&s;ides that &s;et-time, as occa&s;ion is offered, taking all opportunities of doing good. <HI>Paul</HI> exhorts <HI>Timothy</HI> to drink a little Wine for his Stomachs &s;ake, but not to Preach but a little for his Healths &s;ake, &s;urely a Mini&s;ter cannot be &s;pent better than thus to wa&s;t him&s;elf to &s;ave the Souls of others. Remember what <HI>Au&s;tin,</HI> Mr. <HI>Calvin,</HI> Bp. <HI>Jewel</HI> and Dr. <HI>John Raynolds</HI> &s;aid of Dying, Praying, or Preaching, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Your work is of Infinite con&s;equence, your time is exceeding &s;hort, and precious, and your Reward is glorious and Eternal. Look, Sir, look on this People, behold the Souls of many wounded, bleeding, dying, and let your eye affect your Heart! Did Chri&s;t die, and weep and bleed for Souls, and will not you &s;weat for Souls? Is it not a fearful thing to be guilty of the Blood of Souls? Will you prefer your idlene&s;s before the Salvation of the Peoples Souls? What pains did <HI>Jacob</HI> take in feeding of his Flock of Sheep? He regarded not the
<PB N="22" REF="14">heat of the day, nor the cold of the night nor want of his &s;leep, <HI>Gen.</HI> 31. Do not the Prophets denounce woes again&s;t idle and Idol Preachers? Doth not <HI>Paul</HI> &s;ay, Wo be to me if I Preach not the Go&s;pel. Was not the &s;lothful &s;ervant that hid his Talent in a Napkin, condemned? What is your labour and conde&s;cen&s;ion to Chri&s;t's, when he deba&s;ed him&s;elf, is it not your honour to be imployed in &s;eeking and laving the&s;e that are lo&s;t? How can you think to be &s;aved by the Blood of Chri&s;t your &s;elf, if you make light of Souls that are the purcha&s;e of his Blood&punc;</P>
<P>Expect, Sir, to meet with many di&s;couragments, and dangers, much hard&s;hip and oppo&s;ition, Bears and Lyons in your way, Storms and Tempe&s;ts in your Voyages. But remember you have this day profe&s;&s;ed a good profe&s;&s;ion before many Witne&s;&s;es, you have Sworn your &s;elf a Soldier, yea, Officer of the Lord of Ho&s;ts, you have li&s;ted your &s;elf in his Mu&s;ter-roll, entred your Name as a Volunteer, and promi&s;ed to Live and Die in his Quarrel: Oh, re&s;olve rather to Die with, than to deny him; fly not from your Colours, for&s;ake not your Captain, go not out of God's Ble&s;&s;ing into the warm Sun, but endure hard&s;hip as a good Soldier of Je&s;us Chri&s;t. Leave not that Service which you have cho&s;en and liked, as in all things the be&s;t; Know that good is your Cau&s;e, better is your Crown and be&s;t of all is your Captain, to whom keep clo&s;e, and he will bring you off with Triumph, either keep you &s;afe on Earth, or take you &s;afe to Heaven.</P>
<P>Like a good Shepherd &s;hew your Flock a good Example, 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 5.3. Lead it as they in the Ea&s;tern Countrys, who drove not their Flocks before, but the Sheep followed them. Let your Life and Doctrine go together, and not cro&s;s each o|ther. Say as <HI>Gideon</HI> to his Soldiers, look on me, and do Likewi&s;e. Be a burn|ing Light in your Sermons, and a &s;hining Light in your Conver&s;ation. Joyn the <HI>Bell</HI> of Preaching, and the <HI>Pomegranate</HI> of Practi&s;ing together. Have your <HI>&V;rim</HI> Purity of Doctrine, and <HI>Thummim</HI> Sanctity of Life, walk in the right way your &s;elf, in which you are <HI>Mercury</HI> to direct others. <HI>Aaron</HI>'s &s;ign of being called to the Prie&s;thood, was a Fruit-bearing Rod. The Cloven Tongues of the Apo&s;tles, had, as it were, Fingers on them to &s;hew and teach them, that their Words &s;hould be their Works. It is the note of a bad Man, but mark of a good Mini&s;ter, <HI>Prov.</HI> 6.13. to <HI>&s;peak with his feet,</HI> hence <HI>Rom.</HI> 10.15. How beautiful are the feet of tho&s;e that Preach the Go&s;pel of Peace, not only their Tongues, their Speaking, but their Feet, their walking? and <HI>teach with his Fingers.</HI> I would not have to be <HI>vox et praeteura nihil,</HI> yet <HI>tota vox,</HI> that your People may &s;ee your Voice acting in your Conver&s;ation, and &s;ay, as we have heard, &s;o we have &s;een. You are an Angel in this re&s;pect, becau&s;e you &s;hould have hands under your wings, and &s;hould be as an Angel in your life, in com|pari&s;on of other Men. But if an Angel falls, he turns a Devil. You are called a Star, and &s;hould be an Ornament in the Heaven of the Church, but if you are Erratick, they that walk by your Guidance, will be apt to wander. Oh, then
<PB N="23" REF="14">let it be your care to be holy as Angels, yea, God him&s;elf is holy in all manner of Conver&s;ation, walk with God in your Clo&s;et, Family, Words and Speeches, be &s;ober and gracious, forgetful of injuries, &s;low to Anger, patient in Afflictions, ready to do good to all, but hurt to none, and a companion of them that fear the Lord. Your conver&s;ation is narrowly looked into, for you are as a City &s;et up|on a Hill; a little &s;pot is &s;oon &s;een, a little hole is &s;oon &s;py'd in your Coat, yea, if there be none, there are tho&s;e that will make one if they can. A Wart a Mole, the lea&s;t blemi&s;h in the face is per&s;picuous and apparent to all.</P>
<P>You are called to draw near unto God, and, with <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> to be with God, as it were, in the Mounts therefore had need be holy, <HI>Lev.</HI> 10.3. <HI>Aaron</HI>'s Forehead had Holine&s;s to the Lord written upon it, when he &s;tood before the Lord, and none could be made a Prie&s;t that had any Blemi&s;h. <HI>Jo&s;hua</HI> the High-Prie&s;t was commanded to put off his filthy Garments before he &s;tood before the Lord. Unclean hands are not fit to carry God's Ark. How holy had he need be that draws near to &s;o Holy a God, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 33.14, 15. Alas, who is he to &s;peak to God, and live? Nay, to &s;peak from God to the People, that they may live?</P>
<P>Would you Preach with Authority, Practice that your &s;elf which you Preach to others. Chri&s;t Taught with Authority, and not as the Scribes, becau&s;e he did and taught, he Taught by Example as well as Precept, <HI>Acts</HI> 1.1. Then there is life in your Doctrine, when there is Doctrine in your life. <HI>Suadet loquentis vita, non oratio.</HI> Life Oratory is mo&s;t powerful. But words have little power, when our lives are contrary. <HI>Dicta factis deficientibus erube&s;cant.</HI> Words blu&s;h when Deeds fail. <HI>Quid verba audiam! cum facta non video.</HI> He that lives contrary to his Preaching, pro&s;titutes his authority, forfeits his own credit, and his hearers belief of what he Preacheth, <HI>Rom.</HI> 2.22, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> He who lives loo&s;ly, hath <HI>Jacobs</HI> Voice, and <HI>E&s;aus</HI> hands, who acts a double part, of a Saint in the Pulpit, of a Sinner out of it, tempts the People thus ju&s;tly to argue, if what he Speaks be true, why doth he not practice it? If he lives aright, why doth he not Preach it? A &s;uitable Living and Conver&s;ation will gain and uphold the Credit and Reputation of a Mini&s;ter and his Preaching. This rai&s;eth even in Wicked Men &s;ometimes, a reverent and high e&s;teem of the work of the Mini&s;try, and of the Per&s;on for the Works &s;ake, as in <HI>Saul</HI> to <HI>Samuel, Ahab</HI> to <HI>Elias, Joa&s;h</HI> to <HI>Jehoiada,</HI> and <HI>Herod</HI> to <HI>John</HI> Bapti&s;t. An exemplary Life is a good pre&s;ervative again&s;t Contempt, or at wor&s;t a ground of Comfort in it. Where|as an un&s;uitable Conver&s;ation expo&s;es a Mini&s;ters Per&s;on and Office to Con|tempt and Scorn. Whol&s;om Meat comming out of a foul Di&s;h is loathed, the wicked Lives of <HI>Eli's</HI> Sons, made the People abhor the Offerings of the Lord. The <HI>Lacedemonians</HI> would not receive good Coun&s;el from a debautch Per&s;on till the &s;ame was given by one of a grave carriage. <HI>Cujus vita de&s;pititur, Ejus pre|dicatio contemnitor,</HI> Gregory. Sins of Teachers are teaching Sins. <HI>Praecepta docent, exempla movent.</HI> Hence under the Law as great a Sacrifice was offered for the Sins of the Mini&s;ter, as of the whole Congregation. <HI>Lev.</HI> 4.3.</P>
<PB N="24" REF="15">
<P>Without this holy exemplary Life, how &s;hall you &s;ave your own Souls, and tho&s;e that hear you? but while you Preach to others, your &s;elf may prove a Ca&s;t-away; and it may be truly &s;aid of you, what was fal&s;ly &s;aid of Chri&s;t, You &s;aved others, your &s;elt you could not &s;ave: So the Carpenters who built an Ark for <HI>Noah,</HI> which &s;aved others, were drowned them&s;elves. So the Sea-mark may rot it &s;elf, which gives others warning to avoid Shipwreck. So <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> brought the People to the Land of <HI>Canaan,</HI> but enter'd not him&s;elf. So <HI>Samp&s;on</HI>'s Lyon had Honey in his Belly, which refre&s;hed others, but not him&s;elf. Such a Mini|&s;ter's Sermon to others will witne&s;s again&s;t him&s;elf, and make his Judgment in|excu&s;able, when his own Mouth &s;hall condemn him, and his own lips bear wit|ne&s;s again&s;t him. Take then the Coun&s;el given, 2 <HI>Tim.</HI> 4.16. I refer you to 1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 3.&mdash;<HI>Tit.</HI> 1. So carry your &s;elf, that you may have a good report of them that are without, that your very Adver&s;aries may &s;ay, This is a fit Man for this Sacred Sanction, and may be converted by your example. Let not your Works give your Words the Lye, but Preach as powerfully by your Life as by your Lips. Do not only, as <HI>Era&s;mus</HI> &s;aith, <HI>magna loqui,</HI> but <HI>magna vivere.</HI> Live as becomes the Go&s;pel which you Preach to others. <HI>Augu&s;tin</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Operum copia egregia e&s;t fandi copia, praeturbeat aliis exemplum, &amp; &s;it ejus qua&s;i copia di|cendi forma vivendi.</HI> He Preacheth be&s;t who lives be&s;t, and exemplifies his Do|ctrine in his Life, and Preaches that as profitably in his Conver&s;ation, as in the Pulpit. Be a daily Preacher, having your Life a &s;tanding Reproof of &s;in, and an Argument of Piety, <HI>Luke</HI> 24.19. We well approve of what you have told, us that your ends in the Mini&s;try are, to exalt the Glorious Name of your God in the Conver&s;ion, Edification, and Salvation of Souls; that you &s;eek not your Peo|ples goods, but good; not your own profit, but the profit of many, that they might be &s;aved; and we hope, pray for, and &s;hall rejoyce in your &s;ucce&s;s: Let the Lord pour out a double portion of his Spirit upon you, and by his Ble&s;&s;ing &s;o pro&s;per your Studies, that you may be an able Mini&s;ter of the New Te&s;tament; not of the fle&s;h, but of the &s;pirit; a Workman that needs not to be a&s;ham'd, rightly dividing the word of Truth. Yet if in the di&s;charge of your duty, your Labour &s;hould be unfruitful, Mourn in &s;ecret for it, water the Word with your Tears. So did Chri&s;t, <HI>Luke</HI> 19.41. And <HI>Peter</HI> wept him&s;elf before he converted others. Pray much for &s;ucce&s;s, the Praying Mini&s;ters, &s;aith <HI>Augu&s;tine,</HI> is more &s;ucce&s;sful than the Eloquent Orator. Reform your &s;elf, perhaps your &s;in may hinder the efficacy of the Word, the Seed may not pro&s;per, becau&s;e &s;own with a Leprous hand, <HI>Luke</HI> 22.32. By no means give over, you are not exempted from yours, becau&s;e the People neglect their duty. Be not di&s;courag'd, your word may thrive afterwards, you are not to limit God, but do your duty. Better be un&s;uc|ce&s;sful then di&s;obedient. The Husbandman doth not Sow and Reap in a day. God, even your God will however accept the &s;incerity of your obedience and endeavour the will for the deed; and tho' you may &s;eem to labour in vain as to the efficacy, yet you &s;hall not, as to the reward of your Mini&s;try; which is &s;ecured by him
<PB N="25" REF="15">who rewards not only Succe&s;s, but Faithfulne&s;s, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 49.4, 5. If you have Succe&s;s, &s;et the Grown of Glory on God's Head alone: Know you are but the In&s;trument, He is the principal Agent; you are but the Pipe, He is the Spring whence the Water of Life flows: You do but Sow the Seed, God gives the Succe&s;s: <HI>Rebecca</HI> Cooks the Meat, but <HI>I&s;aac</HI> gives the Ble&s;&s;ing: <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> hews the Tables, but God writes the Law: Man carries the Bottle, but God gives the Wine: Man may &s;peak words, but God gives Grace. <HI>In coelo Cathedram habet, qui corda movet. Si non &s;it intus qui docet, inanis &s;trepitus no&s;ter. Ve&s;trum e&s;t docere &amp; dare operam Dei flectare &amp; dare operationem. Paul</HI> can but Plant, <HI>Apollos</HI> Waters, it is God that gives the Increa&s;e.</P>
<P>In a word, take heed to your &s;elf, to your Doctrine, to your Life. Be watch|ful in all things, endure Affliction, make full proof of your Mini&s;try, do the Work of a Faithful Pa&s;tor; and the God of all Grace fill you with the Fruits of his Spirit, that you may feed this People with Knowledge and Under&s;tanding, this Flock, of which you have taken the over-&s;ight or Epi&s;copacy. So &s;hall you re|ceive from the chief Sheepherd, when he comes to Judgment, a full Reward, even a never-fading Crown of Glory, 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 5.2, &amp;c. I clo&s;e, with that &s;trict Com|mand, and earne&s;t Adjunction of the Great Apo&s;tle, 2 <HI>Tim.</HI> 4.1, 2. <HI>I charge thee, before God, and the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, who &s;hall Judge the Quick and the Dead at his appearing, and his Kingdom: Preach the Word, be in&s;tant in &s;ea&s;on, out of &s;ea&s;on: Reprove, rebuke, exhort with all Long-&s;uffering and Doctrine.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="address to the people">
<HEAD>Exhortation to the People.</HEAD>
<P>HAving told your Mini&s;ter his Duty, perhaps you may &s;ay, What is this to you: Therefore to make you amends, I &s;hall addre&s;s my &s;elf to you, who by holding up your Hands, have declared your Con&s;ent and Willingne&s;s to re|ceive and acknowledge this our Brother, whom we have ordained, as a Mini&s;ter of Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>As he is to Preach, you are to Hear; his Preaching and your Hearing are Re|latives; there is a Nece&s;&s;ity on him to Preach, and on you to Hear; Chri&s;t hath ordained him by us to Preach, and we in Chri&s;t's Name command you to Hear. Therefore in the Name and Fear of God, I exhort you to attend on this Ordi|nance of God as &s;uch, not as an Ordinance of Man; but an Ordinance of God: Go to the Word, as the Word, and for the Word, &s;o you may comfortably a&s;&s;ure your &s;elves of God's Ble&s;&s;ing. God hath given Preaching and Hearing a &s;pecial Efficacy, as the ordinary means of Knowledge, Grace and Salvation; come then to the Word as a means of Salvation, be throughly convinced that
<PB N="26" REF="16">your Salvation is concerned in the Word; think with your &s;elves, every Sermon you come to near, that you come to further your Salvation, that your Souls are concerned in this Ordinance, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 55.3.</P>
<P>Your Mini&s;ter is confined to one Subject, Chri&s;t, and the Go&s;pel of Chri&s;t; he mu&s;t not know any thing el&s;e among you, and you are not to de&s;ire to know or hear any thing el&s;e from him.</P>
<P>He is to give attendance to Reading, to Exhortation, to Doctrine, 1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 4.13. and you are to be very attentive to hear him, <HI>Luke</HI> 19. <HI>ult. Acts</HI> 8.6. To lay a&s;ide not only Worldly Imployments, but Earthly De&s;ires; yea roving Thoughts, gating Eyes, and unfixed Ears.</P>
<P>He is to propound right ends in his Preaching, and you al&s;o to your &s;elves in your Hearing, even tho&s;e Ends for which God hath appointed his Word to be Preached, as the Inlightning, Convincing, Quickning, Strengthning and Comfort|ing of Souls. Come habitually and actually prepared and di&s;po&s;ed, with Prayer and Meditation, con&s;idering into who&s;e Pre&s;ence and Service you come; put off your Carnal Affections, purge out your Sins and Corruptions, and compo&s;e your outward Man to a decent Becomingne&s;s, and holy Reverence; when you Pray, Sing, or hear. Come in Faith to the Word, with an hi&s;torical Faith, believing the Word of God, to be the Word of God, and clo&s;ing with the Truth of it in your A&s;&s;ent and Judgment, with a particular applying Faith: Have I an In|tere&s;t in this Promi&s;e? Doth this Threatning belong to me? Doth my A&s;&s;ent incline me to Practi&s;e? Your Mini&s;ter is to Pray in Private and Secret for you, and &s;o are you for him: He, for your Spiritual Advantage, as <HI>Paul</HI> bowed his Knees to God for his <HI>Ephe&s;ians, Eph.</HI> 3.14. He is to be your Solicitor at the Throne of Grace, before an Orator in the Pulpit, and fir&s;t to breath the Longings of his Soul in Prayer to God, before he vents the Meditations of it to you. 1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 12.28. You are to Pray for him, to beg a Door of utterance for him; which Prayer is a Key to open, and reveal the Secret Cabinet of God's Will and Word: Knock then by Prayer at the Gate of Heaven, that God would open his Mouth, both for inward Gifts and Abilities, and the outward Expre&s;&s;ion of them, <HI>Eph.</HI> 6.18, 19. <HI>Col.</HI> 4.2, 3. 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 1.11. Beg a Door of entrance for your &s;elves, that God would open your Hearts; and not only give you an Eye to &s;ee, but an Heart to embrace the Word, <HI>Eph.</HI> 1.17, 18. <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 119.18. <HI>Luke</HI> 24.45. Pray that the Word may have a free pa&s;&s;age in his Mouth and your Hearts, God mu&s;t do both, <HI>Acts</HI> 16.14. The Me&s;&s;ages that he brings, and the Ble&s;&s;ing of his Labours, is from God; Pray for his Protection, A&s;&s;i&s;tance, and Succe&s;s in his Work, which is of great Impor|tance, very hazardous to mi&s;carry in, and mo&s;t oppo&s;ed by Earth and Hell: He that is engag'd in this Work, is &s;ubject to the like Infirmities with his Bre|thren; yea, he is at work for you; for the Service of your Faith, and your Profit by him, is not a little furthered by your Prayers for him: Forget not then to commend your Mini&s;ter to God. He hath Authority to reprove Sin in any of you, and that plainly and boldly, as one having Authority, <HI>Tit.</HI> 2.15. <HI>Jer.</HI> 2.17.
<PB N="27" REF="16">It is your Duty to admit and accept of this part of God's Ordinance, even of the word of Reproof, as well as of In&s;truction and Comfort, <HI>James</HI> 1.21. And if you have Grace, you'll take well, and love him the better, that deals Faithfully with you this way, for &s;urely much of Grace is &s;een in giving a Reproof duly, and in taking a Reproof thankfully.</P>
<P>He is to be exemplary in Piety, yet you are not to expect he &s;hould be free from &s;ome Frailties, Weakne&s;&s;es and Infirmities, tho' he may from Enormities. He is &s;ubject to like Pa&s;&s;ions with other Men, &s;o was <HI>Elias, Paul,</HI> &amp;c. The High Prie&s;t him&s;elf, who was only to enter into the Holy of Holies, was fir&s;t to offer for his own, then for the Sins of the People. Dirt may, but Du&s;t can hardly be kept from Cloaths. The mo&s;t Godly Mini&s;ter hath his Pillar of Cloud, as well as of Fire. Is he a Man of God? yet but a Man; yea, none are &s;o clean, but others may ca&s;t Dirt upon them. Cloaths bru&s;h'd and clean, may be da&s;h'd and &s;potted in dirty Ways by pa&s;&s;ers by. Some paint Angels black, becau&s;e they cannot make them &s;o; this was done to Chri&s;t and the Primitive Chri&s;tians. Thus it fared with <HI>Athana&s;ius, Luther, Calvin, Beza,</HI> not to in&s;tance in the more Modern. And alas! hereby the Power of the Mini&s;try is hindred in the Hearts of the Hearers. Look not for Angelical Perfection in your Mini&s;ter, nor Cen&s;ure or De&s;pi&s;e him for the lea&s;t Infirmity you di&s;cern in him, or any that are or may be near to him; yea, be loth and unwilling to &s;ee Infirmities in him, but rather &s;et your Eyes on God's Ordinance, and the good things that are in him, and that you receive by him; and make account that he is a Man as well as you, &s;ubject to the &s;ame Infirmities that you are.</P>
<P>He is not to &s;hew him&s;elf Stately, Au&s;tere, Churli&s;h, or Strange to any of you, that &s;hall be willing to make u&s;e of him about your Doubts, but to encourage you to move your Doubts to him: You are not carele&s;ly to pa&s;s over what you hear and under&s;tand not, but to &s;eek to know the meaning of it, and to be re&s;olved, by conferring among your &s;elves; and if you that way receive not Satisfaction, you are to go to your Mini&s;ter, your Teacher; and if that will not ferve, go to Chri&s;t by Prayer. You are to put your Mini&s;ter forward in his Work and Ser|vice; and with Love, Wi&s;dom and due Re&s;pect to his Place and Calling, put him in mind of his Duty. Say to <HI>Archippus</HI> is <HI>Faul</HI>'s Charge to the <HI>Colo&s;&s;ians.</HI> But withal you are to encourage him, not only verbally, but really, allowing him a Competent and Comfortable Maintenance, honouring and re&s;pecting his Place and Calling; whatever his Per&s;on de&s;erves, his Calling is honourable and chal|lenges re&s;pect. You, Sir, are to u&s;e all good means to gain and maintain the Credit, Reverence, and E&s;timation of your Per&s;on and Mini&s;try in the Hearts of your People; and you, Sirs, are to honour your Mini&s;ter for his Gifts and Works &s;ake, 1 <HI>The&s;&s;.</HI> 5.12, 13. I do not call for the Honour due to the Magi&s;trate, and Great Ones of the World; but in your Minds and Judgments you are rightly to e&s;teem of the need you have of God's Ordinance in his Mini&s;try, and of the in|e&s;timable Benefit you receive by it, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 4.1. In your Affections and Hearts
<PB N="28" REF="17">you are to Reverence him; and in your Practice to yield Obedience to his Do|ctrine, and be directed by him according to the Word of God. Your Mini&s;ter will thankfully re&s;ent your Civility, when you &s;hew Re&s;pect to his Per&s;on. Yet I am to let you know, that this is not all that he looks for, or can be contented with, but you would glad his very Heart with the Joyful News of your Repen|tance, and Acceptation of Je&s;us Chri&s;t. May you accept his Labours, may your Per&s;ons, Ears, Hearts, Lives, entertain the Work of his Mini&s;try, no Encourage|ment like this.</P>
<P>To conclude, Do you, Sir, your utmo&s;t Endeavour to pur&s;ue the De&s;ign of your Office, and the Ends of year Mini&s;terial Gifts and Abilities; as an Em|ba&s;&s;ador to Negotiate this Peoples Reconciliation to God; as an Angel, to be a Mini&s;tring Spirit &s;ent forth to Mini&s;ter for them that &s;hall be Heirs; as a Buil|der, to edifie this People in Faith and Knowledge; as a Steward, to di&s;tribute what you are intru&s;ted with for the Good of God's Family, the Hou&s;hold of Faith; as a Nur&s;e, to give out the Sincere Milk of the Word, whereby the Children of God may grow; as a Star, to &s;hine for the Benefit of others, e&s;pe|cially in this Night of Ignorance and Athei&s;m: This will be your Comfort both here and hereafter, on a Death-bed when your Con&s;cience &s;hall te&s;tifie to the Sincerity of your De&s;ires of Saving Souls, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 1.12. <HI>Acts</HI> 20.24. 2 <HI>Tim.</HI> 4.6, 7. and your Reward will be certain and great, <HI>Dan.</HI> 12.3. you &s;hall have a Pro|phet's Reward, one of tho&s;e three <HI>Aureola's</HI> mention'd by the <HI>School-men,</HI> an ad|ditional Acce&s;&s;ion to the e&s;&s;ential Happine&s;s of the Saints.</P>
<P>O ye People, Do you grow and thrive in Grace, let your Mini&s;ter find the Work of the Lord to pro&s;per in his hands, and &s;ee his Labour, which is not in vain in the Lord, not to be in vain in your Hearts and Lives: This will be a Credit to the Go&s;pel, and proclaim to the World that it is more than a meer Notion, and that there is Power, Virtue and Efficacy in it: This will be the Joy of Angels, the Advantage and Comfort of your Pa&s;tor and Mini&s;ter in Life, and at Death; at once a Credit to the Emba&s;&s;ador and his Me&s;&s;age, the Preacher and his Go&s;pel; and be a Te&s;timony and Evidence of the Power of his Preach|ing: This would &s;ecure and encourage the Increa&s;e of his Gifts, when he &s;ees &s;o happy an I&s;&s;ue of his Prayers and Sermons, of his many re&s;tle&s;s Nights, and weary Days. In a word, This would &s;weeten all his Enjoyments, and be your own Concernment and Intere&s;t.</P>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
