Imprimatur Z. Isham R.P.P. Henrico Episc. Lond. à sacris Apr. 4. 1689. A SERMON PREACHED AT FULHAM IN THE Chappel of the Palace Upon Easter-day MDCLXXXIX AT THE CONSECRATION OF THE Right Reverend Father in God GILBERT Lord Bishop of SARVM By ANTHONY HORNECK D.D. LONDON Printed for Ric. Chiswell at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Church-Yard MDCLXXXIX To the Right Reverend Father in God GILBERT Lord Bishop of SARVM My Lord AFter your Lordship had desired me to Print this Sermon I met with a Discourse upon the very same Subject and upon an occasion of the same nature by an abler Hand which made me look upon the printing of mine as needless and had almost prevailed with me to lay aside all thoughts of Publishing what I deliver'd in your Lordship's presence but considering that Obedience would be better resented than Excuses and a man had better see himself out-shined by persons of greater parts and abilities which is a comfort to an humble mind than be guilty of disrespect to those whom we look upon both as our Friends and Superiors Not to mention that our matter and method are different I was resolved to venture And tho these courser Meditations may not give that satisfaction that more elaborate Orations do yet since there must be Vnder-workmen as well as Master-builders and both may be useful in their several stations I was willing to appear before your Lordship with this Present in which I must beseech you to regard the heart with which it is offer'd more than the gift it self which if you do you will not only let the World see how great your Charity is in over-looking Defects and Blemishes but increase the Obligations you have already laid on My Lord Your Lordships most affectionate and most humble Servant A. HORNECK 2 TIM i. 6 Wherefore I put thee in remembrance That thou stir up the gift of God which is in thee by the putting on of my hands THEY that think that every Christian may be a Preacher and that the Ministry considered as a distinct Calling or Employ is nothing but usurpation and some ambitious mens affecting a Superiority over their Brethren like the Cynick of old trampling upon Plato's Cloak make themselves guilty of greater Pride than that which they pretend to condemn They not only contradict the universal Sense of Mankind which from immemorial times have had their distinct Officers of Religion but set up their Conceits against the Wisdom of God himself who did no sooner plant a Church in the World but took care the Priesthood should be in a certain Order of Men and as before the Law the First-born was to have that Priviledge as all the ancient Jewish Records do witness so under the Law the Family of Aaron was pâ—…ched upon to attend the Altar And tho the whole Jewish Nation was a Royal Priesthood or a Kingdom of Priests in a metaphorical sense yet properly speaking none could officiate in publick either in the Tabernacle or Temple but the Levites and the Sons of Aaron And under the New Testament tho the Spirit was poured out upon all flesh yet even then men were separated and set apart for preaching the Word administring the Holy Sacraments and exercising Church-Censures and to invade the Office was counted Presumption and Sacriledge and no less than resisting the Holy Ghost The Church is called a Building and we know that every Flint or Pebble is not fit to be a Foundation or Corner-stone much less to be set into the Ephod and there to shine in Oracles and Responses It 's call'd a Body too and this hath various Members and these various Offices which cannot be all Eyes and Overseers if they were where would be the hearing It was therefore that the Apostles in the places where they preach'd the Gospel before they left them or took their final leave of the People ordain'd them Bishops and Elders to succeed them in the Ministerial Function such a Bishop was Timothy the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the President and Overseer of the Church of Ephesus and not only of the Church in the City but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Diocess of Ephesus saith Eusebius and if we may believe St. Chrysostom of all Asia whose Office was besides his other Ministerial Labours to inspect the Clergy under his charge and other Officers belonging to the House of God whereof the Fifth Chapter of the First Epistle to Timothy seems to me a very clear Evidence for it speaks of an Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction lodged in Timothy an Overseer constituted and appointed by St. Paul even by the laying on of his hands whereof he puts him in mind in the Text and of the Gift that was bestow'd upon him by that imposition of hands and of his duty to exercise it Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God which is in thee by the laying on of my hands And here before I enter upon the Apostle's Exhortation or the Duty contain'd in it I cannot but take notice of the softness and gentleness of his Address I put thee in remembrance Practical Discourses and salutary Admonitions to men of Learning and good Education are a refreshing of their Memories rather than teaching or illuminating their Understandings Timothy could not be ignorant of the Duty recommended to him here by his spiritual Father for from a child he had known the holy Scriptures which made him wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus perfect and throughly furnish'd unto all good works yet the Apostle preaches to him a very familiar Duty and this preaching he calls putting him in remembrance The same may be said almost of all Sermons deliver'd in mixt Auditories where judicious and intelligent persons are mingled with vulgar capacities The Morals and common Principles explain'd and taught and inculcated there may be as useful to those of a higher as well as to those of a lower Form for tho they came not attended with new Notions to instruct them yet they may serve to put them in mind of the solid Truths they know and give them opportunity to enlarge and ruminate upon them to their spiritual profit and edification The things which tend to make us eternally happy are the plainest the most known and the most familiar Doctrines improv'd into practice of godliness and he that makes the Articles of the Catholick Faith Motives and Engagements to Self-denial and strictness of life is more likely to arrive in the Harbour of a blessed Immortality than the greatest Literati who think it below them to employ their Parts and Understandings about things which every Ploughman knows as well as they It was the custom of a very learned Prelate of our Church when he had talk'd with his friends of some nicer Points of Divinity or History or Chronology to close his Discourse with this friendly Exhortation Come let us now talk a little of Jesus Christ being
sensible that however Learning may enlighten or refine the Understanding the Doctrine of the Cross and Christ crucified and such plain Notions of Christianity are the things which being affectionately ponder'd will conduct the Soul to eternal Life and Glory And therefore how impertinent soever it may be to make an Oration of War before Hannibal it cannot be improper to discourse of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Common things which accompany Salvation before the learnedest of you all not to make you more knowing and intelligent that were to hold a Taper to the Sun but to give you opportunities to be better Discourses of this nature may put you in remembrance of a Duty which multiplicity of business would not suffer you to think of or contemplations of other matters tempted you to overlook The learneder you are the fitter you are to improve the meaner performances of the Orator and while you apply your larger Understandings to the Common Truths deliver'd by the inconsiderabâ—… Speaker and make Comments upon them in your minds by richer Meditations your Edification is signal being hereby put in a capacity of saving both your selves and others And having premised this Observation I may now with greater chearfulness and courage exhort you who are here present not only those of the Third and Second Degree or Order of Priesthood as Optatus Milevitanus calls Deacons and Priests but even you the very Apices the Principes the Chiefs and Heads of the Church of God to stir up the Gift of God which is in you by the imposition of hands for this is no more than putting you in remembrance of the things you have learn'd and known and are eminently vers'd in And that I may proceed orderly I shall enquire I. What the Gift is which was in Timothy and may still be suppos'd to be in all those whom God calls to the same Office. II. How that Gift was anciently and is still bestow'd and convey'd or communicated III. How this Gift is to be stirr'd up and what are the most proper means and ways to do it I. What the Gift is which was in Timothy and may still be suppos'd to be in all those whom God calls to the same Office. This Gift is the Holy Ghost a Gift known already before and under the Law but which by the Confession of the Jews themselves ceased in the Synagogue after the Death of Haggai Zachary and Malachy as well as the fire from Heaven the Ark of God the Urim and Thummim and the Shekinah or Divine Presence a Gift which revived and rose again and with greater lustre and splendor too when Christ Jesus came into the World himself being the Anointed of the Lord to whom God gave the Spirit without measure that of his fulness we should all receive grace for grace a Gift poured out in those glorious days according to Joel's Prophecy upon all flesh i. e. on all sorts of men even some times by drops at least upon Christ's Enemies for it was by this Spirit that Caiaphas prophesied that Christ should die for the People a Gift most visibly and most eminently conferr'd on the Apostles Christ's Friends and Domesticks and who were to preach the Gospel to every Creature under Heaven and therefore consecrated by Miracles and such a descent of the Holy Ghost upon them as put not only the Spectators but the Apostles themselves that felt the Inspiration into Extasie a Gift which in the Primitive Times wonderfully illuminated those who were baptiz'd sometimes before their baptism as in the Case of Cornelius that famous 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Proselyte of the gate a Gift bestow'd more particularly on persons who were chosen out of the People to exercise the Ministerial Function whether as Apostles or Bishops who succeeded those Stewards of the House of God or as Priests or as Deacons In a word men separated to holy Offices and this is the Gift to which the Text hath relation When Christ ordained his Apostles or rather confirmed their former Ordination John xx 22 he ordained them with this Motto Receive ye the Holy Ghost with an intent no doubt that after his Decease and before their leaving the World they should ordain Elders in every City whether Bishops or inferior Ministers of the Word and entitle them to the same Gift so far at least as it was conducive to the effectual exercise of their Ministry for it was not necessary that this Gift as it brake out in Miracles and Prophecies and speaking in unknown Tongues raising the dead and opening the eyes of the blind and healing the sick c. should be propagated or continued in those who were to succeed the Apostles in their Ministry that demonstration of the Spirit by Signs and Wonders being proper only for those days when the new Law was to be established and Jews were to be called away from Moses to Jesus from an External to a Spiritual Service and the Heathens from their Gods and Idolatries It was enough that the substantial part of the Gift was to be continued in the Church and in its Officers to bring People in the Unity of the Faith unto a perfect man in Christ Jesus and this Gift is said here to be in Timothy This Phrase the Holy Ghost being of a large Extent standing sometime for the Person sometime for the miraculous Gifts sometime for the saving Graces of the Holy Ghost and even these Gifts and Graces are different for there are diversities of Gifts but the same Spirit saith St. Paul 1 Cor. xii 4 I shall therefore particularize the Gift communicated to Timothy and if we take St. Paul for our Guide we shall find this Gift was a Divine Power vouchsafed to this man of God which enabled and disposed him to teach and live and act and do answerably to the Duties incumbent upon him as a Governour of the House of God. The Apostle in the following Verse calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Spirit of Power of Love and of a sound Mind the Spirit of Christian Fortitude of Charity and of Sedateness and Tranquillity of Temper 1. The Spirit of Fortitude which consists in being undaunted at danger fearless of the Frowns of men while we do no more than our Duty and a steddy Freedom to vindicate the Truth of the Gospel and the Honour of Christ Jesus whatever may be the Effect or Consequence of it In a word an humble boldness such as Hosius St. Ambrose St. Athanasius St. Hilary St. Chrysostome St. Basil and others were famous for who talk'd to Kings and Emperors when God's Cause was concern'd like Persons who feared nothing but the Anger of the King of Heaven and tho Pride and Passion do sometimes shelter themselves under the Name of Christian Fortitude yet the counterfeit Ware may soon be distinguish'd from the true and genuine by examining the Cause and Principle from which the boldness rises which if it be Contempt of the World and a pure Sense
Spirit and are filled with it and that the weapons of your warfare are not carnal but spiritual mighty through God to the pulling down of the strong holds of iniquity Feeding implyes giving Food convenient to your Masters Family Ruling the House of God according to the dictates of Reason the Word of God and the best examples and making your selves paterns of Meekness Humility Charity Self-denial and of all good Works The external Honours Providence bestows upon you and the respect Men pay you are to encourage you to a chearful performance of your Work and intended not to swell you not to puff you up not to tempt you to please and tickle your selves with your Grandeur but to infuse greater alacrity into you to Fight the good Fight and to shed Blessed Influences on all that are round about you Ye are the Captains the Generals in Christ's Army while you bear the Heat and Burthen of the day detrect no Labour spare no pains live like Faithful Stewards of the Mystery of God Vindicate your Masters Honour act like persons who have renounc'd the hidden things of dishonesty and by manifestation of the Truth commend your selves to every mans Conscience in the sight of God you make good the glorious Titles and the lofty Names which are given you such as Angels and Stars and Lights of the World and the Salt of the Earth and a City set on a Hill c. Titles of a proud sound but which are intended to make you Humble and to tell you you are only exalted that you may with greater facility take your people by the hand and lift them up to Heaven This is the way to do good and to make Religion glorious and well spoken of This will even convince Infidels that Religion is something more than a Name something more than Policy and interest that it is able to transform Tempers to change hearts and to make Men act contrary to their natural inclination and that instead of debasing humane Nature it exalts and polishes and refines it and leads it to solid Bliss and Happiness and this as well as your Learning will make you as it was once said of the English Clergy stupor Mundi the Wonder of the World. 2. Labouring and making it your business to reform abuses Thus did the Primitive Prelates the Men whose Names we rise up to and whose Memories we admire and in whom the Spirit of Power of Love and of a sound mind did shine Indeed we have some later Examples of magnanimous persons within the Kingdoms to which we belong who finding the Field over which they were set over run with Bryars and Thorns with abuses which peace and plenty and connivance and love to an easie quiet life and the corruption of the Age and the covetousness and partiality of worldly Men and a slavish fear of Superiours had brought in have resolutely set themselves to weed the deformed and dismal Field and to pull out the Tares that incommoded and annoy'd the Wheat This is a Work which requires more than ordinary Courage and therefore fit for you whom Providence places at the Stern and constitutes chief Watchmen over the House of Israel and who are in credit with God and with your Prince Your Commission like Jeremy's reaches to destroying and pulling up as well as to planting and building not such a destroying as he who pretends to be the Vicar of Christ hath made in Kingdoms and Nations but tearing up those obstructions and impediments which put a stop to the chearful progress of Religion amongst us Here the Zeal of Phinâ—es will be necessary especially when the Evil is grown so dangerous that it s come to an Ense rescindendum Fear of displeasing Men or of being ill spoken of or of being contradicted by Equals or Superiors must here be banish'd as a thing that renders you unfit for the Kingdom of God and great Enterprises Had Christ and his Apostles insisted upon such excuses Judaism had triumph'd to this day and Idolatry maintain'd its post and station I need not name here the particular abuses which require your Cognisance and Censures they are too obvious and a holy mind that judges by the Word of God and the Rules of Primitive Discipline will soon perceive where the Sword of the Spirit even this Reformation is to be made use of I know its easier to spy faults than to mend them and what seems intollerable to one man appears harmless in anothers eye but such evasions will not do with a Person whose Soul is touch'd with a sense of God's Glory whose delight is to do good who examines impartially what is required of him in the Station he is in whom the love of God constrains to do great things for the honour of the Gospel and I may add who knows the terrours of the Lord and believes the threatning of Christ pronounced against the unfaithful Steward Matth. XXIV 50 The Lord of that Servant shall come in a day when he looks not for him and in an hour that he is not aware of and shall cut him asunder and appoint him his portion with the Hypocrites there shall be weeping and gnashing of Teeth 3. Enduring hardness as good Souldiers of Jesus Christ a duty very warmly recommended to our Bishop 2 Tim. II. 3 In discharging your duty faithfully you must expect obloquy and slanders and reproaches and other inconveniences troubles and adversities but to bear them patiently to maintain your integrity in the midst of all such Storms your sweetness in the midst of all the salt waters not to flinch from your good Profession not to sink under your Burthen to hold out to the End to continue with Christ in his Temptations and to be faithful unto death upon a prospect of the Crown of Righteousness this is Masculine and Heroick and a certain Argument that the Spirit of God is sent into your hearts which is the earnest of your future inheritance Thus the Apostles baffled the Temptations of the World and vanquished the Stratagems of Hell and Devils and thus the World must be taught that neither Death nor Life neither Superiorities nor Powers neither Things present nor Things to come can separate you from the love of God which is in Christ Christ Jesus our Lord. Were the future Glory saith One believ'd as firmly as the things which are seen it would be a kind of Martyrdom to live here To be sure the more lively our Faith and our Apprehensions are of that future Bliss the more cheerfully we shall stir up the Gift of God that is in us to our great Redeemers Glory and the more patiently we shall bear the crosses that befal us in our good and great attempts Crosses which must turn into Crowns at last Crowns that wither not that tarnish not Crowns which time doth not change and Ages do not alter for so we read 1 Pet. V. 4 When the Chief Shepherd shall appear ye shall receive a Crown of Glory which fades not away And now O Timothy whom God hath called and the King hath called and the Church doth call God by extraordinary parts and abilities the King who understands the merit of those who are near and dear to him the Church which considers who are like to be most useful to the edifying of the body of Christ O Timothy I say upon whom the sacred unction is to be poured forth and the hands of blessing to be laid Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to the Gospel an argument I make use of not only because of its relation to the day but because St. Paul makes it an incentive to a Bishops duty 2. Tim. II. 8 Remember therefore how our Great Master laboured for the good of Mankind for the salvation of Souls how he suffered and how he died and then rose to an immortal glorious life the emblem of thy Office and reward for when thou shalt have gone about doing good and healing those that are possess'd of sin and of the Devil and hast born and hast had patience thy mortal part which hath been tired and worn out with labour must fall indeed but then after the example of Christ's body a Creature must rise at last glorious and Angelical and triumphing over hell and Devils seeing We all look for a Saviour who shall change our vile body that it may be like unto his glorious body according to the mighty Working whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself FINIS Mr. Y. in the year 1685. Exod. 20.6 L. 3. c. 4. Hom. 15. in 1. Tim 3. v. Joh. xi 49. Morin in Ordin Maron Lib. 2. contr Donatist c. 16