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A36889 The great efficacy and necessity of good example especially in the clergy recommended in a visitation sermon preached at Guilford / by Tho. Duncumb ... Duncumb, Thomas, d. 1714? 1671 (1671) Wing D2610; ESTC R22681 23,511 37

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THE GREAT EFFICACY and NECESSITY OF GOOD EXAMPLE Especially in the CLERGY Recommended in a Visitation Sermon Preached at GUILFORD By THO. DVNCVMB Master of Arts Sometimes Fellow of Corpus Christi Colledge in Oxford and now Rector of Shere in Surrey 2 Tit. 7 8. In all things shewing thy self a pattern of good Works in Doctrine shewing uncorruptness gravity sincerity sound speech that cannot be condemned that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed having no evil thing to say of you S. Hieronymus Vehementer Ecclesiam Dei destruit meliores Laicos esse quam Clericos LONDON Printed by John Winter for William Cad●an at the Pope's Head in the New-Exchange in the Strand 1671. TO THE Right Honourable and Reverend Father in God GEORGE Lord Bishop of WINCHESTER AND Prelate of the most Noble Order of the GARTER My Lord THis Discourse which I have presum'd more at large to venture in the world under your Lordships Patronage I must freely acknowledge I first fetch 't it more compendiously from your self under your Lordships own Roof where ●is well as in the Pulpit and in Publ●ck it cannot easily escape the Notice of any who will not wilfull shut their eyes how much your vigorous Discourses your important Counsels your active Endeavours and constant Encouragements all concur to make and keep an Exemplary Clergie such I mean as may be a more visible grace to the Gospel a greater Credit to the Church a Blessing to the King and Kingdom and a more lively Representation of the life of Christ the foundation of all And indeed the present Age we live in seems to out-do all before it in its louder Calls for such a Clergie whose L●ves may be observ'd to keep some better pace with their Doctrines and not so much to fail and lurch the but just and reasonable expectations of the People whilst they discover some amongst us whose Lives too too often prove as it were the death of that they seem to press with more than ordinary zeal and concernedness upon others My Lord It s now become no hard matter to find many of our Hearers as it were dead under the weight of our numerous Sermons and there being nothing so probably effectual to fetch them back to life again as the more kindly quickning influence they may all fe●l from our own walking more as burning and shining lights amongst them I soon concluded this subject very answerable to so important a design a Subject indeed which gave me the greater pleasure and satisfaction in my own reflection upon it because whilst it but Teaches and Instructs many of us the meaner Servants of the Altar it seems only to be a fairer Description of your Self I know not what reception this plain Sermon may meet withal from some in the world but if any shall please themselves in making me an example of their Contempt and Derision for being so dull in my Endeavours for the awakening others to their being better examples in their Lives I shall take the same liberty again to please my self in my own private sense and Reflections with what sober and sincere ends I first gave this Discourse such as it is from the Pulpit and now have not without your Lordships own signal approbation given it to the Press which indeed I have done next to the honour of God and the hopes at least of some small additions to the publick good from no greater motive or inclination than to profess and acknowledge my self not only within the sphere of your Lordships own Diocess but to the whole world how much I really am Your Lordships most humbly devoted Servant in all Dutiful Observance Tho. Duncumb October 14th 1670. 1 TIM 4.12 Let no man despise thy youth but be thou an example of the Believers in Word in Conversation in Charity in Spirit in Faith in Purity SAint Paul having in his earlier years prov'd a most severe and cruel Adversary to Christianity of a bloody Persecutor afterwards becomes a blessed Promoter of its opposed Interest and Reputation in the World He had not been of old so zealous in his alarms and repeated animations of the Jews against Christ and his Cross but afterwards he is as indefatigably sollicitous to calm and allay all those Storms and Tempests all those Popular Furies and Estuations he had formerly rais'd against them Hence over and above all his own publick personal and most painful preaching he dispatches so many pious Epistles and endeavours the Disciplining of so many selected Persons as we finde he hath done that so what service he could not do immediately in his own person for Christ and the Christian profession that might be done by such Proxies and Epistolary preparations as he thought most expedient and conducing to so excellent an end and purpose The Epistle and Person wherein my Text is concern'd are both the designed Instruments of this great Christian Convert St. Paul for the more effectual carrying on and accomplishing of this so great and important an Enterprize Now that he may not lose his Labour nor have his Expectations fail him in an Affair of so great a Value and Consideration like a wise Agent he first solidly consults the true and timely Adaptation of his Medium for the more sure and successful accomplishment of this his propounded End And therefore in this Epistle as well as in that other to Timothy at that time Bishop of Ephesus he gives him many solid and sound Instructions relating both to the Doctrine and Discipline of this his greater Charge and Diocess But now because neither the one nor the other neither the choicest Doctrine nor yet the strictest Discipline were like to benefit or advantage others Effice probis moribus incu●p●ta vita ut ne quis Te contemplationem tuae adolescentiae contemnat saith Clarius Fac ut morum gravitate tan tum reverentia tibi concilies ne quid at as tua jnvenilis qua alioqui contemptui obnoxia ess● solet tua authoritate minuat Calv. unless Timothy who was to actuate and enforce them were a good Example himself St. Paul in the first place sees himself concern'd to counsel and advise Timothy to such an exemplary Carriage and Comportment in this his Place and more sacred Employment as that the World's Reflection upon him in that otherwise undervalued circumstance of youth may give the greater cause to look upon him as worthy of double Honour and to esteem him too very highly for his Works sake 1 Tim. 5.17 1 Thess 5.13 Some Vegetables the younger and tenderer they are the greater sweetness and fragrancy they commonly breathe forth and transmit into all the respective parts of that place where they are 〈…〉 which then smells sweetest when 〈…〉 And thus it seems St. Paul would have his young 〈…〉 like a Rose of Sharon by him planted in the Ephesian soil to have so great a flavor in the bud at that he may even then appear and approve himself to
for those very eyes to be undenyable weekly witnesses of the Petitioners repeated Impieties it must needs something lessen if not altogether stiffle and extinguish as the devotion of the people so too the power and efficacy of the prayers themselves upon them I leave it for all such vain Votaries to consider 'twixt God and their own Consciences whether they appear not if I may so say rather devoutly impudent than really pious and devout in the eyes of their more judicious and considering Hearers I shall leave it I say with such persons to consider too whether they are not a very great if not the only cause why our Liturgy they pretend so much to love and reverence having now served England as Jacob did Laban one seven years more and upward yet at last it 's put off but with blear-ey'd Leah few looking so right upon it as otherwise probably they would do I have once met with an old anonymous Greek Author who tells his Reader That if any one were to be chosen to pray for the people he had need to be a very pious vertuous person himself because sayes he (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the God's would take more heed to such a man's prayers But it 's the known assertion of a far better man than he and I heartily wish it were more seriously thought on Psal 66.18 That if I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me And I think this was the worm that lay at the root of the Pharisees long prayers Oh! let it never lie at ours that they secretly devoured widows houses Though they had the prayers of Saints yet it seems they had the drifts and designs of devouring Devils No wonder then if such supplicants have so little regard from God and so much reproach and controll from men Guilt you know is that which quells the courage of the bold that tyes the tongue of the eloquent and that makes greatness it self to sneak like Judas and behave it self but poorly in the eyes of the people The sense therefore and apprehension which St Paul had of the ill consequence to the people of an ill conscience in the Preacher seems to put him into a holy passion against the guilty 2 Rom. 21. Thou that teachest another teachest thou not thy self Thou that preachest a man should not steal dost thou steal You know too 't was the sense of the of a meer Ethnick Turpe est doctors c And indeed who can as a most ●xcellent Modern pen hath exprest it ready to my hand with patience hear an incestuous Herod preaching up Chastity a Judas zealously condemning covetousness an hollow-hearted Pharisee reproving hypocrisie or a greedy-stuft Glutton who can make his belly his God perswading his people affectionatly to fasting even with the Quails in his mouth Every word must needs recoil upon the Preacher with disgrace and infamy giving new Teeth to that old taunt and sarcasme 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Physitian heal thy self That plain but pithy passage therefore of the Father seems to suit my purpose here Non est speciosa laus in ore peccatoris It ill becomes Leapers sayes he to hand the purer bread of life to others And this possibly might be one reason why Christ himself Mark 1.25 rebuked the unclean spirit and commanded him to hold his peace even then when he proclaim'd him to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the holy one of God And I am told one reason why St Paul with his holy Companions being vexed with the praise of the Pythonist Acts 16 crying out 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 These men are the Servants of the most high God even then commanded the spirit to come forth of her Quasi nolens sanctus ab immundo ore commendari As though as Tertullian tells us he abhor'd praise coming from so impure a person And the truth is as Epictetus hath it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Good things lose much of their grace goodness and flavour when they are not done by good men as well as after a good manner Hence Tacitus informs us of Tiberius and Galba as being men though well spoken persons of excellent pretences and expressions yet distasted by the people Non enim ad hanc for●am catera erant Because their works kept not touch with their words It seems they trod too much inward looking secretly upon themselves what e're they pretended for the peoples profit to others You have all read I doubt not as well as my meaner self That it was Pythagoras his confirming his excellent precepts with his own personal practice of them himself it was I say that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the agreement of his life with his language that made all Italy become 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all the Country his School and all that ever heard him his resolved Disciples Lactantius therefore taught to purpose the preachers of his dayes when he tells them Oportet Concionatorem non solum virtutis doctorem se praebere sed ducem That it 's the high concern of all Preachers not only to shew themselves good Teachers in the Pulpit but they are as well to shew themselves as good Leaders too out of it Like the Star which led the Wise men unto Christ and the Pillar of Fire which led the Israelites unto Canaan they did not only shine but go before them too It 's not enough then for us to fall in with the truth as the manner of many is to do and barely to hold the mystery of faith but we must do it in a pure Conscience The learned Aretius therefore glossing upon that aptly suggests Non solum peritus in religione sed Gastus in moribus That a Minister should not only be skilful in his Profession but very careful too of his Conversation He is oblig'd above all others to grace his Calling and Profession with a gracious Life and Conversation For that will never have the credit of being pure and undefiled till we who dispense i● keep our selves more pure and unspotted from the world If then we do not this We above all affront our God and dishonour our King We above all stain our Calling and strangle our Consciences and then too We above all do crucifie as much as in us lies the Bishop of our Souls as well as the Bishop of the Diocess and after all whilst we preach to others may well suspect to prove but cast awaies our selves Oh then let not this be the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or infamous Character 〈…〉 our sacred Order That we are famous Preachers but in famous Livers That we are in holy Orders but still in the gall of bitterness and in the bends of iniquity But let us all rather often seriously consider with our selves to what circumspection to what strictness and innocency of Conversation to what Sanctity and 〈◊〉 then worldly industry our sacred Office and Profession calls us all unto bearing alwaies steadily upon our hearts