aside his Crosier Miter and Lawn-sleeves and to invest the Royal Robes and take to himself the Crown the Sword and the Scepter But such an extraordinary Case falls not out in many Ages Wherefore seeing this Stewardship is for Term of Life it is a more excellent one then those that are but for a few Months and Years and at the Bene placitum of an inconstant Lord and Master 4. If we consider the Subject Matter of their Stewardship or the Things they are intrusted with to keep and dispense In the Text they are called the Mysteries of God and these are 1. The Word of God whereof they are the Preservers and Dispensers the Preachers the Expounders and the Appliers So St. Paul in that forementioned place tells us 2 Cor. 9.16 17. that a Dispensation was committed to him which he calls the Preaching of the Gospel and so again he tells us Col. 1.25 That the Dispensation which was given him or his Stewardship was to fulfil the Word of God not to fulfil it in itself for 't is compleat and perfect in itself and so it s own end and design even the Glory of God in our Salvation for whoever truly believes the Doctrines and conscienciously obeys the Commands of our Bible shall certainly be blessed of God on Earth and saved by him in Heaven But the meaning is to fulfil it as a Minister of Christ toward them in a due full plain manner revealing preaching or writing it to them and pressing it upon them and their Commission runs thus Matth. 28.19 20. Go and disciple all nations teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you And so Christ said unto them Mark 16.15 Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature The Dispensation of the whole Word is committed to them Of the Promises to declare their Riches their Certainty and their Condition and suitably to apply them Of the Threats to shew their Dreadfulness their Infallibility and their Terms and suitably to apply them Of the Doctrines to shew their Truth their Harmony their Natures their Tendency to God's Glory and Man's Salvation to expound them and prove and confute all Errors by them Of the Commands to teach their Spirituality their Latitude their Perfection and to press them upon the People for their Obedience and Observance 2. The Ordinances and Sacred Rites of Christ's Institutions I mean the Sacraments which are only two Baptism and the LORD's Supper both which are intrusted to Ministers and as Stewards they only have the Administration of them So is Baptism Go and disciple all nations Matth. 28.19 baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Those same Persons that are authorized to Teach are authorized to Baptize and none other and therefore we say that if the Form and Matter of Baptism be used by any prophane Person that is not a Minister that is Null and 't is no Baptism So is the LORD's Supper and therefore St. Paul saith 1 Cor. 11.23 I have received of the Lord that which I also delivered unto you that the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread and when he had given thanks he brake it and said Take eat this is my body which is broken for you this do in remembrance of me After the same manner also he took the cup when he had supped saying This cup is the new testament in my blood this do ye as oft as ye drink it in remembrance of me Where he tells us that he deliver'd to them the Eucharist after the same manner that Christ instituted as he had received Authority from him And whoever has a Right as a Steward of God's Mysteries to Administer one Sacrament has as great a Right and Authority to Administer both 3. The Discipline and Censures of the Church are committed to their Dispensation Suspension Excommunication Re-admission Matth. 16.19 So I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven Which is not singularly and personally appropriated to Peter as the Pope would have it and so to himself his pretended Successors but was committed to all the Apostles and in them to all Ministers their Successors in the Ministry and Stewardship of the Gospel John 10.23 Whosoever sins ye remit they are remitted unto them and whosoever sins ye retain they are retained From which Passages we may gather that Ministers only have Authority to exclude from and reduce unto discriminating Ordinancers though in particular and well-govern'd Churches the People ought to be consulted with and the Reasonableness of the Minister's Proceedings herein toward any particular Member ought to be evinced and this is according to Scripture and so their Approbation required which seems to be taught us in that Passage of our Saviour's in which our Saviour enjoyns upon the stuborn Impenitency of a Delinquent Matth. 1 15 18. upon a secret Address of the wronged Party to him and upon his taking one or two more with him that then he should tell it to the Church and if he refused to hear the Church and for his Obstinacy be sentenced by the Church that then he should count him as a Heathen and a Publican Which Sentence of the Church seems to be implyed in as antecedent the words following Verily I say unto you Whatsoever ye the Church shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven And that there should be this Harmony between the Ministers and the People and that their Consent be had in the Censures seems to be very expedient yea necessary to the Ends of Censures of Suspension or Excommunication which are the Humbling and Spiritual Profit of the Delinquent the Warning and the Security of the Congregation the Reputation of Religion and the Glory of God by all Now except there be a Concurrence between Pastor and People these will not be produced for if a Minister should deny the Ordinances to a Person and excommunicate him and yet the People own him as a Brother he 'll little regard his Minister's Exclusion of him and be apt to be more proud and headstrong against him the People will be no way secured but be in greater Danger to be infected and by such Divisions and Animosities Religion will be disgraced God dishonour'd and the Devil's Interest exalted The like will be if the People should separate from a Member and the Minister own him the same if not worse Consequences will issue therefrom wherefore St. Paul expresly enjoyns the Concurrence of the whole Church in Excommunication Having greatly blamed and sharply reproved them for owning the Incestuous Person as a Member of their Society he commands them in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ
1 Cor. 1. begin When ye are gathered together and my spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ to deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus So he also enjoyns them joyntly to concur in the Re-admission of that excommunicated Person 2 Cor. 2 8. when he had given sufficient Evidence of his unfeign'd Repentance sufficient to such a Man is this Punishment which was inflicted of many many not the Minister alone but with his People so that contrariwise ye the same many ought to forgive him and comfort him lest perhaps such a one should be swallow'd up with overmuch Sorrow Wherefore I beseech you that you would confirm your love towards him Wherefore supposing that a Minister should know a Person to be most unworthy of Fellowship and most worthy of Excommunication yet if his Crime be such as he ought not to reveal and his People being ignorant of it and contending for his continuance with them he may probably suspend his own Act but 't would be no way adviseable to proceed to a formal Censure and authoritative Excommunication because so more hurt would redound to the Church then good and Ministers ought not only not to do those things which are unlawful but also they ought not to do those things which are imprudent and inexpedient Wherefore seeing the things that are committed to Ministers are these spiritual heavenly evangelical Things infinitely more excellent rich and glorious then all the Riches and Mines and Concerns of this Life which are nothing in comparison of them therefore their Stewardship is more noble and excellent more useful and profitable then any other 5. It will also appear if we consider the Ratification of all the Acts of this Stewardship by God and Christ in Heaven all that they duely perform in their Stewardship according to God's Word Clare non erante either in Word or Deed is confirmed by God in Heaven and shall be made good for ever and ever The Threats that they pronounce against Sinners and Hypocrites in their Preaching how presumptuous or secure soever they be shall certainly be inflicted by God if they persevere to be so and all the Promises and Blessings that they proclaim to the Godly and Sincere what sad hard dismal next door to dispairing Thoughts they may have of themselves shall certainly be made good by God and so whoever they exclude from the Priviledges of the Militant Church here on Earth shall be excluded from those of the Triumphant Church in Heaven according to those Scriptures already quoted Whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven Whosoever sins ye remit they are remitted and whosoever sins ye retain they are retained And thus we have proved that Ministers are Stewards and have shewn the Excellency of their Stewardship and proceed to the Application 1. Vse of Information It serves to inform us 1. In the great Usefulness and Profitableness of the Ministry in and to the Church of God I had almost said the Necessity thereof thereunto if it be not absolutely necessary to the Bene-esse the well-being of the Church What Confusion what Waste what Want and Ruine must the Absence of a Steward cause to a great and numerous Family wherein are too many unwise and headstrong Persons too many proud and self-conceited ones too many slavish and prodigal ones c. his Absence would soon dissolve the Houshold In the Church of God are too many weak and peevish ones too many proud and self-conceited ones too many unruly and extravagant ones c. who without the Rule and Guidance of a Minister would soon dissolve and ruine Churches This Metaphor therefore shews the Utility and Benefit of Ministers in the Church of God as do also those others of Fathers Nurses Pastors Shepherds Guides Watchmen and Embassadors c. To shew that as these are useful and necessary to Children to Flocks to blind Ones to Cities and Armies in time of War and between dissenting Nations so useful and necessary are Ministers to the Church of Christ Vse 2. It informs us in the Error of those who judge Ministers to be the most useless contemptible and burdensome Persons of the Humane Society and especially if they be plain powerful Heart-searching and Conscience-startling Ministers These profane and ungodly Wretches are grosly mistaken and under dangerous Delusions Exhor 1. This Stewardship of the Ministers is serviceable for Exhortation and the Object hereof is threefold 1. To the Stewards themselves 2. To those who intend to be so And 3. To the Houshold over whom they are so 1. To the Ministers and Stewards themselves And here I will only briefly premise that though I am very unfit and unworthy to advise or excite you to those things which you know better and are more forward to do than myself yet God's Providence and your Call bringing me hither I must be your Monitor and Remembrancer wherefore I crave your Patience and Condescention toward me but require your Reverence and Subjection to our supream Lord while I exhort to some few particulars As 1. That you would still consider and walk constantly under the due Apprehension of the Greatness the Honour the Weight the Consequence of this your Function and Stewardship a profound and clear Perswasion hereof would be a good and is a necessary Preparatory to what follows 2. To be in Abilities and Qualities and Practice and Behaviour what their Function and Stewardship require and exacts from them To be such and to act and do as their Office does call for in all as much as possible excelling all other Servants to the Family and Houshold And here I shall take leave to mind you of some particulars As 1. Such must be learned not to mention those Scholastical Sciences which all hold useful and necessary for understanding analifing and handling the Word of God and all others are educated in before they pretend to be Candidates for this Function I would here recommend the Ecclesiastical History and the knowledge of the Original Languagues at least some competent skill in them if we can't arrive to a critical exact one Every Steward should have the Key of his Store-house at his own Girdle if not when his Duty requires his Distribution of the Family's Provision he may be to seek or else may have a Key with false Wards put into his hand You are wise to adapt the Simile To be able to go immediately to the Fountain-head ourselves must be more contenting satisfactory and delightful then to receive the streams through Pipes by which we know not what may have been contracted to allay its Purity And withal by such a Knowledge we shall be qualified the more easily to vindicate the Scripture from false Glosses and Interpretations which the Unlearned and Heretical are apt to impose upon it
Particulars I shall take leave to hint some few very briefly because a word to the wise is sufficient Motives 1. Because of our Lord whose Stewards we are there is nothing in him as there may be in Humane Lords and Masters that can give us the least Incouragement to omit to be remiss in or to contradict our Duty but all to the contrary God is not ignorant but knows us and all we do he is not careless or heedless but strictly and exactly observes us and all our Behaviours he is not unconcerned about his Family or no way touched with our Misdemeanors and its Wrongs but very jealous of his own Glory and his Family 's Good he is not impotent or unable to Avenge himself or execute his Displeasure but Almighty c. 2. Because of the Houshold over which we are 't is the Church of God his Flock and Heritage his peculiar Treasure the Apple of his Eye and the Darling of his Soul c. 3. Because of the great and glorious things that are intrusted with us Word Ordinances Discipline Spiritual Heavenly and Divine Things subserviated to God's greatest Glory and to Man's supream and eternal Good 4. Because of the great and glorious Reward they shall receive that duely discharge their Stewardship 'T is said concerning the good wife faithful and perseveringly diligent Servant and Steward Maith 24 46 47. i Luke 12. 43 44. 1 Pet. 5. 1 4. that he is blessed and his Lord will make him Ruler over all that he hath And that the Elders who feed the Flock and take the Oversight of it willingly and of a ready Mind and are Ensamples thereto when the chief Shepherd shall appear Dan. 12.3 they shall receive a Crown of Glory that fadeth not away Ministers good ones shall shine like Stars while others shall be but as the Firmament We shall be rewarded not according to our Success but according to our Labour and Faithfulness in our Ministry for Success is God's but Labour and Industry is ours by God's assistance and therefore if there be a Minister more faithful laborious zealous c. in his Function tho' he convert no Souls yet he shall receive a greater Reward then another who is less so and converts many Souls 5. Because of the dreadful Punishment which those Stewards must endure Matth. 21 48 51. which are nor which do not so as we have been exhorted to Luke 12.45 46. In those so frequently quoted Passages 't is threatned against the Lazy the Secure the Rude and the Fighting Servant and Steward That his Lord will come in a day that he looketh not for him 1 Cor. 9.16 and at an hour that he is not aware and will cut him in sunder and will appoint him his portion with the hypocrites and the unbelievers and Sr. Paul denounceth a Woe against himself if he preached not the Gospel and so to us if we do not preach it and practice it as we ought As good Ministers are ordinarily the best Men and do God most service and the Church most benefit on Earth and so receive the greatest degrees of Glory in Heaven so bad and profane Ministers are usually the very worst of Men bring to God greatest Dishonour to the Church greatest Detriment and shall lie down deepest in the bottomless Pit 6. I would add one more to Ministers of our Perswasions and that is Because in these days God hath given us so wonderfully our Liberty hath opened our Mouths given us Freedom to preach boldly and publickly to Congregations without fear of Fines or Bonds and has hitherto to this day so graciously prolonged it to us and given us a Meeting of so many in Peace Ingenuity and Gratitude should constrain us to do all that possibly we can for God and his Glory for Christ and his Church We proceed to the second Object of Exhortation 2. This serves to exhort those who intend for the Ministry to consider well and wisely what they are about what the greatness the weight the charge of this Stewardship are and what they ought to be and do that are of this Function and so not to dare to enter rashly thereon without the due Qualifications at least in some good measure of Head Heart and Life of Learning and Orthodoxy of Grace and Experience of Manners and Praise-worthiness of Conversation St. Paul enjoyns that a Minister must not be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Tim. 3.6 a Novice or a Novel Graft just now grafted in he must not be a Novice in the Faith nor a Novice in Grace nor a Novice in Manners Persons must not take the Charge of the Mysteries of God to themselves when they are but little better qualified then the meanest Servants not so well as most yea perhaps really not of the Family of God themselves of the Invisible Church by Grace I would not here be thought to discourage all young Men from entring upon the Ministry especially now that the Church of God is in so great need of Pastors for I well know that a young Timothy may be as well qualified for it and demean himself as well in it as a more aged Apollos But then I am sure such qualified young Men will be the least forward and the most backward to undertake it because they know the Naughtiness of their own Hearts the strength and working of their own Corruptions they know they have a hard task to look after and to keep their own Souls and therefore they tremble to take upon them the Charge of others Souls to be put upon keeping others Vine-yards when they cannot keep their own and so must be thrust out as it were with Violence into the Lord's Harvest Whereas they who are least prepared and most unfit are the most forward to undertake the Ministry and will not be restrained by any Cautions from rushing upon that Function for which they have no Fitness nor Preparation I proceed to the third Object of this Use 3. This serves to exhort the Family and Houshold over which Ministers are Stewards that in the words of the Text They would so account of them duly carry it toward them in Mind Heart and Practice I shall mention a few Particulars very briefly 1. Do you Honour and Reverence your Ministers as in such a Function for tho' they be your Fellow-servants toward God yet they are your Superiors in the Family having the highest Office therein and none above them as they are Stewards of God's Mysteries for tho' we acknowledge the Magistrate to have an Authority about sacred Things and Persons yet he has nothing to do in them and so are said in Scripture 1 Thess 5.12 to be over you to have the Rule over you and in those forementioned Texts the Lord Christ is said to make his Servants and his Stewards Rulers over all his Houshold Heb. 13.27 and that which the Apostle calls Dispensation or Stewardship in one Verse 1 Cor. 9.17