Concio ad Clerum A SERMON Preach'd to the CLERGY AT THE Arch-Deacon's Visitation Held at Huntington May 19. 1696. Publisht at their Request To which is added a PREFACE to the CLERGY By SAM SAYWELL B. D. and Rector of Bluntsham in Huntingtonshire and sometime Fellow of St. John's College in Cambridge LONDON Printed by Tho. Warren for Walter Kettilby at the Bishop's Head in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1696. To his Reverend Brethren of the Clergy and more especially to those who are under the Jurisdiction of the Arch-Deacon of Huntington and were Auditors of the following Discourse THE Christian Church began and was established in all its Essentials by that Authority which Christ himself gave to his Apostles his first Commission-Officers and 't was by the care and faithfulness of them and their Successors together with the special presence of Christ with them and his undoubted blessing upon their honest Endeavours that it shall last to the end of the World Though therefore we are sure the Church shall never utterly fail or be destroyed so long as the Heavens and the Earth which are now shall endure yet it may ebb and flow decay and flourish loose its strength and comeliness and recover them again and under go innumerable changes and alterations in the several parts and branches of it But I think it may truly be said that no particular Church so well constituted as ours is can turn to decay much less can it die and be extinguished where the Clergy are Learned and Prudent Sincere and Diligent Vnanimous and Zealous in the discharge of their several Offices And this Consideration gives us great reason to hope that the days of the prosperity of this Church may not be so short as too many do wish they may and many others are ready to Prophesie they certainly will be For no Church of the same extent can shew so many Learned Wise and Industrious Clergy-men as ours can do at this day Now if all these were also truly unanimous in their Counsells and firmly united and unfeignedly zealous in their Endeavours for the promoting the common Cause of Christianity amongst us they might so far influence animate and direct the whole Body of the Clergy as to make them the Instruments of Curing the most dangerous distempers of this Church and of bringing of it likewise to great beauty and perfection And that all sorts and degrees of the Clergy whether they be high or low may be truly serviceable to the Church and instrumental towards the healing her breaches and making up of her defects they should take great heed unto themselves that they may have right and clear spirits within them i. e. Neither distorted with Vice nor polluted or sowred with any kind of peccant humour They should not be envious peevish or malignant against any and much less should they be so against one another They should not be of lofty morose covetous or selfish Spirits but of minds really generous loving humble meek tractable and charitable towards all ever rejoicing in truth and in that which is good what ever condition themselves are in And in a word they should above all men look not every man on his own things but every man amongst them especially also on the things of others Phil. 2.4 and as it follows in the next Verse to let this mind be in them which was also in Christ Jesus c. and let me add That was in his most noble heroical and most faithful Servant St. Paul as 't is partly set forth in the following discourse And then they must needs be blessings to the Church let their own stations in it be what they will For if we observe matters narrowly and will judge according to righteous judgment 't will appear that 't is mens seeking their own and not the things of Jesus Christ that makes them they are not always serviceable to the affairs of the Church For if men were of right Spirits they would ever be of pure minds and also peaceable modest and humble in all their behaviour and if they could not serve the cause of true Religion in one kind they would not fail to do it in another and 't is the doing what we can in our Capacities that makes our services acceptable to God and Men. And if any see it necessary to advertise or reprove their Brethren for some dangerous slips they may have made or for some pernicious Errours they may unawares have fallen into they should undoubtedly do it in the most friendly manner and they ought not to exceed the bounds of Charity nor the Laws of the spirit of Meekness in a work of so nice and difficult a nature And if all the sacred Tribe had duly regarded the great Apostles advice Gal. 6.1 we should not have heard of such snarlings and bitings and opening of Mouths amongst them as if they would devour one another For it is not to be told in Gath nor published in the streets of Askalon what bitter Satyrs and invectives some Clergy-men have of late published against their Brethren But if they who should teach all Mankind and be Exemplary to them in every grace of the Spirit shall give themselves the liberty to chasten one another at such a rate we may easily guess what sort of Persons they will make sport for and what the consequences of such kind of doing will be And that we may not help to destroy our selves when we have so many Enemies that are seeking our ruine we should deeply consider that the Spirit which dwelleth in us lusteth to Envy and that the best and wisest of all are but Men subject to many passions failings and infirmities and we should often remember what the Scriptures of truth do witness concerning those who would be accounted the wisest when their Wit and Wisdom proceeds not from the Spirit of Wisdom or descendeth not from above 1 Cor. 3.19 20 21. and Jam. 3.13 14 15 16. And knowing the manifold distempers of the late times and under what different prejudices Persons have been bred up it is great injustice for men to be over-severe in censuring and judging one another and if we can but agree in all the parts of our present Constitution according to our Oaths and Subscriptions that should be enough to make us all Friends and should be accounted the only sure bond of Vnity that is fit and able to hold us together and if all can be brought by gentle methods to be conformable to the Rules of the Church and to submit their Doctrines to the Judgment of their Superiours as every sound Member of a true Church ought to do all Names of distinction amongst our selves should be wholly laid aside And seeing the Sentiments of Men are and ever will be various according to the several prejudices they have imbib'd in a distracted time and finding the nature of Mankind is so frail and touchy 't is greatly to be hoped that the Reverend Fathers of the Church
spiritual concerns and all who have taken Curam Animarum upon them are bound to see that their charges want not means of instruction in all necessary matters and that all convenient opportunity may be offered and all suitable means of serving God acceptably may be provided for them Therefore all that are committed to their Care should be frequently called upon and put in remembrance of the fundamental points of their Christian Duty Every Article of the Faith every one of the Ten Commandments all the Petitions of the Lord's Prayer together with the Doctrine of the Holy Sacraments are to be sufficiently opened and explained No material rule of our own Church should be wholly unregarded every Errour immediately dangerous should be refuted No gross neglect of God's Ordinances or reigning Vice should pass unreproved and I wish I could say no scandalous Offender should escape without being made to undergo the publick Censures of the Church And when we have thus sincerely done all that in reason can be required of us for the discharging of our duty to the benefiting of our Church and to the Salvation of their Souls in particular which are committed to our own care we may safely say we have given the Sinner warning and with St. Paul That we are clear from the blood of all Men and we may then comfortably commit the success and event of our labours and endeavours to the blessing of God And as 't is said of Christ himself by the Prophet so I doubt not but it may be truly affirmed of his faithful Ministers according to their measure viz. That though Jacob be not brought again and Israel be not gathered yet they shall be glorious in the Eyes of the Lord and their God shall be their strength Isai 49.5 For though it can never be hoped that all the outward Members of the Church should be brought in any measure to live according to that exact order and holyness which the Scripture aims at and their duty obligeth them to yet 't is not to be questioned but Almighty God will be a shield and exceeding great reward to them who constantly pray and sincerely endeavour that they may be so If therefore our work may appear extreamly difficult and our discouragements many great and unsupportable let us remember also that the greatness and goodness of the Master whom we serve is beyond all comparison and the reward we may expect from him in another life is above all that can be express'd And if we are not resolved in the first place to seek the Kingdom of God and his righteousness to lay up our treasure in another World and to expect the reward of our labours in Heaven we shall not be fit to be God's Ministers here on Earth nor shall we ever be able to seek the things of Jesus Christ as we ought to do And now I beseech you to bear with me a little and accept a word of admonition from the meanest of your Brethren and he hath done You all know we live in a loose distracted divided and miserably distempered World and we see also the state of the Church to be sadly confounded broken and polluted and that our own Church and Nation in particular have their share in all those evils and calamities which Christendom at present groaneth under We have Enemies many subtle malicious and powerful threatning of us on every side and these are considerations enough I hope to make us all extreamly circumspect watchful and diligent in our several stations and capacities and not to meddle with the state I think the preservation of the best constituted Church in the Christian World depends at this time on the unanimous Zeal steadyness and wisdom of her Clergy I do not speak this or any thing I have said or am about to say as though I doubted whether the Clergy of the Church of England were not generally speaking some of the most learned best and wisest that are this day upon the Earth but only that I think 't was never more necessary that they should be such and because I am extreamly desirous that whatsoever is a miss amongst them might be amended and that they might abound more and more as the Apostle often exhorteth in whatsoever is good and commendable The constitution of our Church hath been abundantly defended against all her adversaries and every cavil that hath been raised against it hath been fully answered by one worthy hand or other I think beyond all possibility of a material reply Our Doctrine hath been proved to be truly found and Catholick our Government undoubtedly Primitive and Apostolical our Worship the purest the most agreeable to the best ancient Liturgies and therefore the most inoffensive of any now used or that has been used in any Age or in any part of the Christian Church Our Discipline though at present sadly fallen to the ground is likewise in the frame of it the most agreeable to Scripture rules and ancient usage the most moderate and upon all accounts the most justifiable of any that can be named So that the whole Fabrick of our Church is made up of the soundest and most tryed Materials and is as well put together as any particular Church in the Christian World And all this has been made to appear if not to the Conviction yet in a manner to the silencing of our Adversaries on every side And they now all choose rather to attack us by wily tricks and politick entriegues than by open force or dint of Argument And the greatest advantage they have against us and the main hopes that any of them have left of gaining their ends upon us lye chiefly in the looseness of our own Members and in that flood of Irreligion and profaneness which hath broken in upon us through the cracks and rents which themselves have made and do still help to keep open For the divisions which have been caused among us have made the goodly Fabrick of our Church to shake and shatter and that want of Discipline and profaneness which have entered in at the clefts do now moulder away the strength utterly deface the outward beauty of it For if a House be never so well built if it be not also well protected and carefully desended from the injuries of the weather and other annoyances it may quickly come to ruine And if any thing can long preserve this Church from further decays and heal the present wounds and breaches of it in some measure it must be the Vnanimity the true Christian Zeal and the prudence of the Clergy For to say the truth this Church hath never been rightly of a piece since the Reformation and they were the different Sentiments among the Clergy that drew on and occasioned by degrees the grievous divisions that we at this time lament and groan under But God be thanked those differences are pretty well worn off and the Clergy are now generally well satisfied with the Constitution and very much disposed to
in its greatest perfection And they who do not consider these and such differences between the circumstances of the Clergy in the Apostles times and ours in these days can never pass an equal judgment either of them or us For we are not bound to undergo many of their difficulties and hardships Neither were they lyable to several of our temptations and inconveniencies We are not tyed to do divers Things which they did nor were they bound to some things which are expected from us And to conclude this point if they who had so great advantages to keep up their Zeal were yet too apt to mind their own things before the things of Jesus Christ it must not be thought strange if too many of us are ready to do the like though it must ever be acknowledged that they then and all we now who have taken the sacred fountain upon us are bound to seek the things of Jesus Christ in the first place and before all other matters which may be called our own which was the third thing I have undertaken to speak unto from the Text. And indeed nothing should raise our thoughts more from Earth to Heaven and fix them upon the business we have in hand than the serious and frequent consideration of the admirable ends of our office and the eternal excellency of the things we are employed about For we are entrusted to carry on that work for which this whole Universe was made and that hath exercised the infinite wisdom of God to contrive All other Sciences Arts and Professions respect only the good of this life whereas ours immediately concerns that Life which is to last to Eternal Ages All the effects and fruits of other mens labours I mean as they are meerly the products of their humane skill and industry shall perish with this World whereas the fruits of our labours and administrations shall continue when time shall be no more We are instruments to put in Execution the resolutions of the Eternal Counsels of Heaven and are set to keep up a lively sense of such truths and to promote such manners amongst men as the Son of God himself came down from Heaven to teach them And the things of Jesus Christ which we are to seek after and set forward all we can do immediately relate to the Honour of the King of Heaven and to the true and only happiness of Mankind And 't is impossible that Man's Care Wit or Faithfulness can be employed in this life about matters of a higher nature or of greater worth than these For as Christ Jesus is deputed by the Father to execute in due time the Eternal Counsels of his Will concerning the Life or Death Happyness or Misery of Mankind so are the Bishops and Pastours of his Church his Commission-officers for the carrying on of that work And therefore in the prospering or miscarrying of it the eternal fates of mens immortal Souls are involved And the Apostle tells us they are to be accounted as Embassadours for Christ and that to them is committed the word of reconciliation and therefore according as men receive or reject those offers of mercy and favour with himself which God tendereth to them by their Ministry so are they like to find peace with him in his Heavenly Kingdom or to be rejected from it Now I say the consideration of the nearness of our relation unto Christ and the infinite concernment of the work we are employed about should quicken and exalt our Zeal far above that of Ordinary Christians For who should be so much concerned for the honour of the King of Heaven as they whom he hath sent forth to be his Embassadours to his People on Earth And if the Shepherds who are set on purpose to watch for the good and security of the Flock be negligent of their Charge it will not be thought strange if it fare ill with the Sheep or if many of them should go astray or be lost And if the Stewards of the Houshold give themselves over to rioting carelessness or any disorderly behaviour it cannot be hoped that the Family should be found according to their Masters liking at his return The Ministers of Christ are termed likewise Watchmen Seers Overseers Bishops Angels c. because of the careful Eye they are always to bear over his Church and for that they should be as it were his Guardian Angels on Earth to watch for the good of his People And all the Names which are given them in God's word do bespeak them not only to be Persons of honour but also Men of business and cares and such as have a great charge upon their hands and so heavy an Onus upon their shoulders as is according to the known saying of St. Jerom even humeris Angelorum formidandum Though therefore they are not debarr'd from any innocent recreations yet they ought not to wrap themselves up in ease and idleness nor to lead careless and useless lives much less are they to give themselves over to the extravagant pleasures or loose divertisements of this World For they should remember that their business and duty is not only to teach Men the will of God and open to them the mind of Christ and the Mysteries of his Gospel but also and especially to be Patterns to their Flocks in every good work and to lead and encourage them by their Examples to all holy Conversation and Godliness They should be burning shining and steady Lights to guide others securely through the dark passage of this Life that their Eyes be not dazled by the many ignes fatui or false Lights which the Devil is ever trimming up and setting forth to the distracting and confounding the weaker Members of the Church And because God's People are commanded to hear to imitate mark obey and follow them therefore they ought to be so wise and prudent in all their Commands and Injunctions and so unblameable charitable and holy in all their behaviour that their Flocks may readily be followers of them as they are of Christ and his Apostles And in order to the performing aright the charge they have taken upon them 't is highly requisite they should have a real concern and genuine care for the good of all those they are to teach and watch over For though it may not be necessary that every Clergy-man should be a constant Preacher yet I think 't is required of all who have entered into holy Orders that they should some way or other be serviceable in the work they have taken in hand and that they should have a true zeal and earnest desire for the good of the Church and for the Salvation of Mens Souls And this is the special Commendation that St. Paul gives unto Timothy above the rest of his Fellow-Labourers in the Verse before the Text That he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. That he was one like unto and suitable to his own Soul and who was genuinely sollicitous for the Philippians
be of one mind bating the most unhappy breach which hath lately happen'd amongst us and we should do all we can to make it up again But 't is their acting together unanimously in all respects their teaching the same things and their keeping strictly to the same rules which the Church hath given them to walk by and which they are all equally bound to observe that can make them strong and impregnable against all the assaults of their Enemies For as the greater differences amongst the Clergy drew after them those most pernicious Schisms and Heresies that are now so flagrant amongst us so the smaller differences in modes and manners of Administration and almost any swerving from our common rules do give some kind of secret wound unto the Church and 't is the perfect Unanimity and Uniformity of the Clergy that must help to cure those evils which have grown I say from the differences that first began among themselves For all men know that what is done by common consent and by a unanimous agreement carries strength and authority with it whereas any thing done of private motion or by following irregular Examples is ever liable to be censur'd and carpt at and 't is a sad thing when the very observing of the rules of the Church must be lookt upon as a singularity and almost most an occasion of offence and that meerly for want of that uniform acting which our common duties oblige us unto And it should be especially taken notice of that we are to do all we can to make men sensible what the Doctrine Worship Government and Discipline of our Church really are for not one in a hundred either of our Dissenters or of our own Members rightly understand our constitution but this can never be done effectually but by a constant and uniform repetition and exercise of them for 't is remarkable to observe how suddenly Papists and the Members of all other Parties among us shall learn to know and give an account of the main points of Doctrine manner of Worship Government and Discipline as they are held and practised in their several ways and yet very few of our common people rightly understand these things as they are better taught and used in our Church I have not time to tell all the reasons of this difference but 't is certainly the reducing the main points of Religion to a narrow compass and the frequent repetition and uniform practice of them that must make common people understand so much of it as 't is necessary for them to know Unless therefore the Reverend Bishops are Unanimous in directing the rest of the Clergy in matters already established and watchful in guiding of them likewise in all Emergencies of moment and they in teaching and directing of the people this Church can never rightly thrive and prosper But the greatest Unity and Uniformity without a true Christian Zeal in the Clergy also can never make us a happy Church and People neither For the holy fire must be always kept alive upon the Altar and be ready to be fetcht from thence or else the Sacrifices of God's People will be crudely and coldly offer'd and they which are to season others must have salt in themselves or else the Body of the Church will quickly prove unsavoury and be ready to turn to Corruption And the truth is a Clergy-man without Zeal for carrying on the work he hath taken on him is really one of the greatest hinderers of it and if they who are Ministers and Officers in the Church look more at the advantages and benefits that are annexed to their places than to the good work that is expected from them it makes the loose World to think their Calling is but a Trade to live by like those of others and not a sacred Function appointed by Christ himself and necessary for the keeping up of true Religion and Virtue among Men and for the winning of Souls to God We should remember what Pastours they are that love the Great Shepherd of the Sheep even those only that are careful to feed every part of his flock as may be gathered from his own words Joh. 21.15 16 17. We are set to profit many to all Eternity and 't will be the worst kind of Robbery in us if we seek only to benefit our selves for a little time in this World We are in the places of those that should be publick Benefactors and Blessings to Gods Church and People and if we are not such we are injurious to God to his Church and perhaps to those that would be so and it must not be thought strange if the People go about to rob God and us too of those dues which God himself and our pious Ancestours gave for our Maintenance if we rob them of that necessary instruction those constant Prayers and good Examples which we owe unto them and if we are not Careful and truly Zealous for the Salvation of their Souls that are committed to our care 't will not be wonder'd at if they run away from us and harken to those who take them chiefly by their Zeal and which is indeed the most commendable quality that is in them and we find by sad experience that all we can do is little enough and too little to keep the Sheep within the fold I do not aim God knows by any thing of this to lay a heavyer burthen on my brethrens shoulders than is there already nor to deprive them of any liberty that 't is fit for Persons of their Profession to enjoy much less to debar them from taking a moderate care of their temporal concerns and for the providing things honest and convenient for themselves and Families for I know it highly behoves them to have an Eye unto these things but it infinitely behoves them also to manage their Worldly matters so that they may be as small a hinderance as 't is possible to their greater Spiritual Concerns And when all is done we should consider that honesty is the best policy in all professions and the faithful discharge of our Offices as we are the Ministers of Christ is the readyest way to win the favour of God and Man and to bring temporal as well as eternal blessings upon us and ours 't was the singular Piety and Devotion of the Clergy that first won so much Wealth unto the Church and 't was the Pride Tyranny Looseness and other defaults and neglects of some of their Successors that occasioned the loss of it again and there is nothing but a true and unfeigned Christian Zeal that God throughly blesseth in all times and Ages and if any thing do generally mend the temporal condition of the Clergy in this Land it must be their Spiritual and more universal Zeal for the benefit fit of those that are committed to their care And 't is this also that must redeem us from that contempt that hath too visibly fallen upon us of late years I fear 'tas been the
want of this divine Spirit of Zeal for God's honour and the Salvation of his Peoples Souls in too many of our Profession that hath occasioned our reputation to sink and our calling to be meanly thought of especially by the viler sort of Men. For we should remember that Christ our Elder Brother dyed and is gone to Heaven and that he hath left the care of his Spouse the Church unto us his Ministers and he expects that we should be zealous in raising up Children unto him and to preserve his name and honour in the World Now if we refuse to do this any of us 't will be but just if she whom we should have espoused do spit in our face and our shooe be loosed and we be marked with disgrace as Moses hath mystically taught us in the Law Deut. 25. and you know Christ himself hath told us in the Gospel what that Salt is fit for that hath lost its savour So that our Interest our Honour and I may say all that should be most near and dear unto us and that concerns either this life or another are bound up in the sincere and consciencious discharge of the seral Offices we have taken upon us And I believe our good Examples in all kind of Christian Practice are every whit as much if not more necessary than our good instructions especially in the Age we live in wherein knowledge abounds and good Books are every where to be met with but truly good and pious Examples are very rare We are bound by our places Men think to speak and teach the best things and if we do not put in practice whatsoever we teach and press upon others all are lookt upon but as words of course And indeed if they come but from the tip of our own Tongues we must never expect they should sink deep down into other Mens Hearts and with what face can we press every Christian duty upon other men and endavour to plant in them every spiritual grace if these are not first exemplified in our own lives and deeply rooted in the bottom of our own Hearts And how can we intercede with God for others if we are not well reconciled to him and do not constantly live in some good Friendship with him our selves And in a word we can perform no office with full acceptance to God true comfort to our selves or any great benefit to the Church if we are not heartily Zealous for our Lord's honour and service And now though I owe much Apology for what I have said already yet I can scarce forbear saying many things more on this Subject but I must remember my time who I am and to whom I speak I shall therefore proceed to say but a very few words more touching the Prudence which is likewise highly requisite in Persons of our Profession I shall thankfully release you and perfectly relieve your injured Patience We are all sensible that Zeal without Knowledge is blind and dangerous that 't is like Fire out of its place and we have seen enough of the mischiefs of it of late years and what havock it has made in the World and Zeal even in the best cause if it be not mixed with Prudence and Discretion is of little or no use neither and it may be questioned whether it doth not do more harm than good And because misinformed Zeal hath done so much harm and indiscreet Zeal doth so little good it hath come to pass that all kind of Zeal though never so wise and Christian is counted by too many as a ridiculous thing and is almost every where quite laughed out of Coun tenance and not only a Zealot in any cause but almost any one that is Zealous in Religious matters signifies now a days little better than either a dangerous or a foolish Person But it should be marked that this hath happen'd to the exceeding great dammage of true Religion and to the no less encouragement of all kind of Schism and Profaneness and by this means the Devil hath gotten an incredible advantage over the Souls of Men. But this distemper which endangers the very life of Christianity amongst us can no otherwise be cured than by a more unanimous truly Christian and prudent Zeal of the Clergy For Prudence is that universal and supereminent Virtue that makes all other Virtues and Graces effectual for the obtaining their ends and it gives reputation and honour to whatsoever is truly good and commendable in our whole behaviour 't is this Cardinal Virtue of Prudence that enable us to judge of things according to their own natures and tendences whether they be like to be good or evil hurtful or prositable to the common cause of true Religion and of their several degrees and measures either way it teacheth us to judge of Persons according to their various prejudices tempers distempers inclinations interests and abilities that we may make the best and wisest use of them we can to the profiting themselves and to the doing the Church of God the greatest service For all men have their several gifts and abilities and there are searce any now a-days without their prejudices defects and failings in one kind or other which must be considered and also be allowed for by every prudent person that knows how to treat with and use all men to the best advantage Prudence likewise teacheth us to guess aright at the most likely events and consequences of things whereby we may avoid many evils and inconveniencies which foolish conceited heedless and obstinate Persons commonly fall into Lastly Prudence teacheth us to discern the fittest and properest times and seasons for the doing of the best things For that which may be easily accomplished at one time cannot be brought to pass without the greatest difficulties and hazards imaginable at another However your over-wary and prudential Men too often omit all opportunities of mending any thing under the notion or pretence rather of its being a very improper time to do it now but this is only when their spiritual Zeal is not equally matched with their Worldly wisdom Hence it is very manifest that both these I mean Zeal and Prudence must meet together where any notable and greatly profitable good works can be expected And as Prudence is to direct in all practical matters whatsoever to the making of them successful so more particularly it should teach us to understand the feveral genius's and prejudices of all the Adverfaries of our Church that we may be sure to give them as little offence as possible may be and that we may be better able to stop their mouths abate their Calumnies and wear off their false Notions of us and to win them over by degrees if it may be to the Peace and Unity of the Church and if that cannot be done however our behaviour should be such that whosoever is of the contrary part may have no evil thing to say of us And to this purpose we should remember the blind