is not lawfull to eate but for the Priests onely They that are driuen to this Calling for bread onely and haue no other testimony of an inward calling nisi quod inanitate intestina murmurant Plaui Cas for the most part they will transgresse for bread in the execution of their offices frusto panis conduci possunt vel vri taceant vel vti loquantur they will speake good of euill or euill of good as they shall finde to make best for their owne priuate aduantage It is the Apostles sentence Act. 6. It is not meete to leaue the word of God and serue tables we may inuert the sentence and say It is not meet that men should leaue seruing of tables to become dispensers of Gods word It is not meete that Ministers should turne Seruing men nor that Seruing-men and such like mercenary and mechanicall men voide of learning and gifts enabling should turne Ministers If euer God open the eyes of these men to let them see the danger they are in and feele the weight of the burden that is on their shoulders and how vnable they are to beare it they wil thē come in fulfilling the prophecie of Zacharie and say I am no Prophet but an husbandman Zach 13.5 for man taught me to be an-herd-man from my youth Though they haue now high places in the Church and are great in their parochiall purchases though they sit vpon pinnacles of the Temple yet if they consider that the Tempter set them there to cast them downe headlong to breake their necks they will be glad to get downe the fairest way Though they haue now the honour of Prophets yet if they consider that they are but the diuels workmen in Gods house and that it may be said of them as of Saul Inuasit eum spiritus malus 1. Sam. 18.10 prophetabat the euill spirit comes on them and they prophecie the euill spirit comes on them and they turne Priests When they well weigh these things they will be glad for the peace of their consciences to betake themselues to their old trades againe and leaue this Calling to those that can better execute it and that can deriue their pedigrees from Aaron Nehem. 7.64 If you aske the cause why in a well gouerned Church such Locusts can so swarme One is sacrilegious Patrons giue their liuings vpon such dishonest termes that no man of gifts or grace can accept of them and therefore they are faine to find out such as will accept of them vpon any termes euen for Michaes wages Iudg. 17.10 ten shekels of siluer by the yeare a suite of apparell and meate and drinke But others say if no such Ministers were made the Church should not be pestered with such vnworthy creatures It is true indeed and if any that haue power to ordaine admit such wittingly and willingly it will be heauie for him to answer for it before the great Bishop of our soules But to speake truly in the iust defence of those reuerend Fathers quos vtinam omnes possem liberare the cause for the most part is amongst our selues for it is not possible that any Bishop should know the life and conuersation and education of euery one that is to be admitted into the ministery but by the testimony of those that know them Ministers and Gentlemen for fauour or for by-respects are too liberall of their hands in giuing testimony to them whom either they know not or know not to be deseruing Et hinc illae lachrimae They that thus commend vnworthy ones to the worke of the ministery let them consider though they be no Bishops whether in so doing they haue not transgressed the Apostles precept 1. Tim. 5.22 Ne cui cito manus imponas Lay hands suddenly vpon no man neither be partaker of other mens sinnes There is another sort that out-run their calling too which being called to follow straightwayes runne to this fishing before they be furnished being called to be Disciples straightwayes they run to the Apostolik function contrary to the Apostles precept Neophitus ne sit 1. Tim. 3.6 Let him not be a yong Scholler Before yeares and experience reading and other helps bring them to maturitie of iudgement they take vpon them to diuide the word of God to his people Let it be granted that these be some of them of the Tribe of Leui I meane yong men trained vp in the Schooles for the Ministery yet for their forwardnesse it may be said of them truly as the factious company to Moses mutinously Numb 16 You take too much vpon you yee sonnes of Leui. Vnder the Law the Leuites had their appointed times for their ages Numb 4. before which they might haue no admittance to the seruice in the Tabernacle though they were neuer so ripe and pregnant It was not well with the sacrifices when Priests boyes were permitted to intermeddle they neuer came to do any good seruice either to God or to his Church 1. Sam. 2.13 but they came with their flesh-hookes to fetch sweet morsels from the Altar and these caused the sacrifices of the Lord to be despised When the yong sonnes of the Prophets shall be set to gather herbes to make pottage for the food of Gods houshold they may happely in stead of wholesome pot-herbes bring in Colloquintida that when the broth is serued in they that taste of it may say Mors in olla 2 King 4.40 O man of God death is in the pot I doubt not but God may enable some as he did yong Timothy with rare gifts for his worke though they haue not many yeares but it is not common it is not ordinary Et da mihi talem Timotheum saith Bernard Bernard ego illum cibabo auro potabo balsamo Thus farre the order and disposition of the parts Now followeth the parts of tne Text in order 1. Calling Follow me 2. Qualifying I will make you Fishers of men To follow Christ Iesus is not to follow him on foote onely Augustinus de bono virginali but to follow his precepts and example of life Hunc in eo quisque sequitur in quo imitatur saith Saint Augustine To follow Christ is to be a Disciple of Christ Math. 28.19 to be a Disciple is to be a Christian For they that at the first were called Disciples Act. 11.26 afterwards at Antioch began to be called Christians Then to follow Christ is to become good Christians by the imitation of Christ And this is the first step to the office of the ministery he must first be a good man that will be a good Minister And this first step you beloued of the Laitie must tread with vs. For though to follow Christ be here propounded as the first staire to the office of preaching the word yet else where our Sauiour Christ and his Apostles make it a common dutie belonging to all that beare the name of Christ
THE FISHER-MAN A Sermon preached at a Synode held at Southwell in Nottinghamshire Shewing 1. The necessitie of calling and gifts enabling in a Minister 2. The danger intruders are in 3. Whose fault it is that such are in the Church 4. A good life requisite in all that professe Christianitie but especially in Ministers 5. Wisedome and learning absolutely necessary in Preachers 6. Vnlearned frothy preaching doth much hurt 7. Gods worke goeth best forward when his workmen agree well amongst themselues 8. Contempt of Gods Ministers shall not be vnpunished With other points of moment By Ierom Phillips Bachelour in Diuinitie LONDON Printed for W. I. for Robert Bird and are to be sold in Ivie Lane 1623. TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE LORD AND REVEREND FATHER in God IOHN by diuine prouidence Bishop of Lincolne Lord Keeper of the great Seale of England Right Honorable I Present vnto your Lordships view this short Discourse of the trade of Fishing Fishing for Men the best trade that mortall men can spend their time in though all come not to it with the best mindes for some are fishers of Saint Peters trade for this hope onely that they may haply speed as once Saint Peter did Math. 17. vlt. to cast an angle into the sea and pull vp a fish with mony in the mouth of it Such seeke their owne and not the things of Iesus Christ Phil. 2.21 But howsoeuer they that come with good affection to the work and perform it with good effect cannot be free from the poison of Aspes that lieth vnder the lips of some men For if any exorbitancie be sound in any of our coate and calling it is strange to see how our aduersaries insult thereupon and exclaime against all of the Clergie from the highest to the lowest as if thereby there were cause enough giuen to pull downe the whole fabrik of our Church and for themselues to take vp that crie of the cursed Edomites Downe with it downe with it Psal 137.7 euen with the ground VVe all haue our faults and too many of vs too many but what then shall the innocent beare the reproach with the nocent Or shall the reuerend Fathers of the Church be taxable for the crimes of some Church-men which they cannot mend Shall the Maister beare the blame because some of his Disciples eate with vnwashen hands I doubt not but many a thousand in the Land Prelates and other good Pastors that stand in peaceable conformitie with the Church can as ill brooke scandalous life and vnsound doctrine in a Minister as any of those fiery spirited declamors The Gouerners of the Church cannot be so circumspect but through the craft and malice of man and Satan some such may craftily creep in that shall dishonor God and defile the priesthood Nehem. 13.20 Since by the prouidence of God and his Maiesties most iudicious choice you are called to so high a place of honour and weightie emploiment for the Church and Kingdome it is the hope of good men that the Church shall haue cause to reioyce much in your Honours aduancement and that goodnesse in you shall receiue no losse by the accesse of greatnesse but rather much gaine In te factam esse hanc mutationem confido Bernard ad Eugen non de te nec priori statui tuo successisse hanc promotionem sed accessisse It is the confidēce of them that conuersed with your Lordship whilest you liued in these parts and in this confidence haue I bin bold to present your Honor with this little Treatise I can say nothing for my selfe why I should be so bold sauing that the subiect requireth such a Patron and my selfe am yours in the seruice of the Church hauing pastorall charge in your Lordships Diocesse It was first made publike I confesse by deliuery in the Prouince and Diocesse of that most reuerend Archbishop of Yorke to whom I am much obliged for many courtesies according to his accustomed benignity towards all euen of the least deseruings in the cause of the Church yet herein I thought to make somewhat an equall diuision betwixt his Grace and your Honour since you both haue interest in me that as it was preached by his Graces appointment so now it may be published vnder your Honours protection Thus humbly crauing your Lordships acceptance I commend you to the God of grace and glorie From Althorpe in the Isle of Axholme Your Lordships in all humble and dutifull obseruance Ierom Phillips THE FISHER-MAN MARK 1.17 Follow me and I will make you Fishers of Men. FRom the ninth verse of this Chapter the Euangelist doth record the Baptisme Fasting Temptation and preaching of Christ The next thing is his calling of others to the same worke of preaching He calleth here two paire of brethren Simon and Andrew his brother Iames and Iohn his brother They were but men yet he will make them workers together with God 1. Cor. 3.9 they were but simple fisher-men yet he will make them Fishers of men Follow me and I will make you Fishers of men Consider in the Text two parts 1. Calling Follow me 2. Qualifying I will make you Fishers of men Before I speake of the parts let me consider the order and disposition of the parts First Calling then Qualifying First Follow then be made fishers This first calling of the Apostles is not to the worke of Apostleship but rather to the schoole of Discipleship It is not Follow me and straightwayes be fishers but Follow and I will make you Fishers Neither did these fishers vpon this call immediatly leaue their nets and preach the Gospell but they left their nets and followed Christ Iesus and expected another calling and deputation to that great worke they were not as yet gifted for so high a calling They must learne before they can teach First be Disciples before they can be Apostles Followers before Fishers Many ouer-skip this degree and make themselues Apostles that neuer knew what it was to be Disciples of Christ Iesus Prophets they are made that neuer knew the Schoole of the Prophets nor what it is to be among the sonnes of the Prophets hauing got a place in the Church if you aske them whence they came thither if they will answer truly Iob 1.7 they must say as Satan did From compassing the earth and from walking to and fro in it as wanderers that could neuer settle in any good course of liuing their indowments of body and mind are so meane as that no Calling in the world could affoord them bread for their paines and therefore are faine to say as it was Gods curie vpon Elies wicked sons Appoint me 1. Sam 2. vlt. I pray thee to one of the Priests offices that I may eate a morsell of bread Prou. 6.11 Thus necessitie pursuing them like an armed man as Salomon saith they flie from their enemie and take hold on the hornes of the Altar there they eate the Shew-bread which
the Pastor but rather stirre him vp to greater paines Crat. â—iguri habitae Impostoris est non probi viri stupidos ignaros quaerere auditores quos possit fallere saith Peter Martyr Some there are that presuming vpon their owne extemporall facultie and their peoples simplicitie bid faire for that curse that almightie God denounceth against those that do the worke of the Lord negligently Ier. 48.10 In the 34 of Ezekiel amongst many other curses which almightie God threatneth against idle Pastors this is one that they shall be depriued of their gifts A talent hid in a napkin shall be taken away Excellent gifts are lost many times because they are not vsed Wherefore let the heart indite a good matter and then the tongue will be the pen of a ready writer but if the heart wax fat with idlenesse no maruell then though the tongue cleaue to the roofe of the mouth and the right hand forget her cunning And this is not the onely punishment of idlenesse to be depriued of goodnesse A field if it lie vntilled is not onely barren of good fruits but also fertile of weeds so is it with our mindes if they be not busied with good they set themselues on worke to mischiefe for God hath giuen to man a working mind Eccles 3.11 that cannot rest The world is in mans heart saith Salomon The mind in this may be compared to a Mill which if the wind carry about emptie it setteth it selfe on fire when mans wit ceaseth to work good and profitable things it sets it selfe on fire to mischiefe and then the more wit and learning the man hath the more pernicious an enginer he proues of wicked attempts Magna etenim ingenia nil efferunt mediocre And hence comes Sects and Schismes in the Church whilest that some for their stomack against their superiors and other misdemeanours might not without dangers to the Church be permitted to go on in their factious preaching but must rather be enioyned silence haue now leisure enough to vse their tongues and their pens for railing and raising vp tumults against the Church As soone as euer they left feeding straight wayes they began to destroy as soone as they left building they began to pull downe euen that themselues had built Thus much for the second qualitie of Gods Fisher-men Painfulnesse The third is Concord and agreement which is most needfull for without it no good can be done For as the fishers in the Sea being to lay their nets if they stirre and trouble the waters they frustrate their worke that they can catch no fishes so Gods fisher-men if there be disturbance and contentions amongst them they thereby so alienate the minds of men that they can win none Therefore our Sauiour Christ here makes choice of such as the bond of nature firmly bindes to concord and amitie brethren and kinsfolks Simon and Andrew his brother Iames and Iohn his brother And let the Prophet Dauid tell them how good and how comely a thing it is brethren to dwell together in vnitie Saint Peters Barke is a fisher-boate not a man of warre it is not furnished with mortall engines and warlike munition but with nets onely to take fish withall If there be amongst the Apostles a sword or two they must take heed how they vnsheath them If Peter deserued to be reprehended for drawing vpon Malchus what reprehension thinke you had he bin worthy of had he drawne vpon any of his felowes Saint Matthew distinguisheth the whole companie in the ship in this order there is the father the brethren and the hired seruants and these are all names and relatiues of loue the father must needs loue his children the children must loue and honour their father and loue one another the seruants that labour together must loue one another and loue honour and obey their maister and their maisters children The father sits at the sterne to rule and direct the ship for age hath made him lesse able to take corporall paines but experience hath made him fitter for gouernment The reuerend Fathers of the Church guide the sterne of Gods ship they are set ouer Gods Church Praesunt vt prosint If the Church be a ship floting vpon the seas they are the pilots if she be a flocke wandring vpon the mountaines they are the Pastors they rule the sheep of Gods pasture they rule non tanquam suas sed tanquam Christi oues not as Lords of Gods heritage but as Stewards and such as must giue an account for them If there be debate betweene Pastor and Pastor or betweene flock and flocke these interpose themselues in the controuersie and with their grauitie and wisedome take vp the matter sometimes but with a fatherly admonition like Abraham to Lot Let there be no strife I pray thee between thee and me neither between thy herd-men and my herd-men for we be brethren sometimes with a more strict hand and compulsory sentence as the cause shall require veniunt cum virga with the staffe of discipline They wil always know to put a difference betwixt the iarres of brethren which may sometimes fall out in the best gouerned families and the warres that are raised by enemies and in their censures they will distinguish these like Moses when the strife was betwixt two brethren two Israelites in Egypt he takes vp the matter with a friendly checke Sirs saith he ye are brethren why then do you wrong one to another But when the strife was betwixt a brother and an enemy an Israelite and an Egyptian he kils the Egyptian and defends the Israelite Our Sauiour Christ well knew that concord and amitie is best maintained amongst the fewest in number therfore when he sends forth his Disciples to preach the Gospell to the world he ioynes two and two in a commission together When two and two are ioyned together and beare the yoke equally betwixt them then the worke goeth well forward but if they be ioyned at the tailes that one drawes one way and another another way like Samsons foxes two and two to a fire-brand Iudg. 15 4. then their waiwardnesse tends to nothing else but to combustion Beloued brethren Isa 57.19 the best fruite of our lips is peace let vs pray for the peace of Ierusalem Psal 122. Peace be within her walls and plenteousnesse within her pallaces If we shall set vp altar against altar doctrine against doctrine discipline against discipline ceremonie against ceremonie or rather as the maner of some is no ceremonie against lawfull and profitable ceremonies what do we else but breake downe the walls of Ierusalem we cause our friends to be sad and our enemies to reioyce It was the argument of Dion to his contentious souldiers In vita eius â—â—ud â—atarch pointing to the Castle of their enemies Sirs saith he your enemies see your mutinous behauiour All the enemies that the Church hath do see and are glad to see and make vse of