are 2. A City hath Towers and the Towers of this City the Church are the Prophets for as from the Towers Darts are shot against all enemies so from the bookes of the Prophets examples of truth are set forth against the vain fables of the Heathen and against the wild and unsound disputes of Hereticks 3. A City hath gates And these gates of the Church are the Apostles because as by the gates men enter into the Cities so ' by the ministery of the Apostles the whole people namely of Jewes and Gentiles enters into the faith of Christ 4. A City hath Wals and these Wals are the Doctors of the Church of which the Prophet saies The Sons of strangers shall build thy Wals because being called from among the Gentiles they were made Priests or ministers and Governours of the Church for as the Wals of a City so these undergo the violence of Heathens and Hereticks who by frequent presecutions as by so many battering-rams batter the Clergy these Walls of this City the Church To which add 5. A City hath Priviledges and Immunities which are common to all and belong onely to them that are free of the City And no lesse hath the Church her Priviledges and Immunities which equally and alike belong to all the members of the Church Act. 10.34 be they Jewes or Gentiles high or low rich or poor male or female bond or free for God is no accepter of persons and are proper and peculiar to them If any be strangers from the Church they have nothing to do with any of these Priviledges Would any know what these Priviledges are Let him consult with the Apostles Creed and there shall he finde these recorded 1. Communion of Saints of holy men and Angels with God and of holy men and Angels mutually among themselves by vertue of our Communion with God we have liberty to Pray to God and by prayer to receive from God all needful blessings for soul and body in this life and no less by this Communion with God have we hope to live for ever with God in glory and happiness everlasting By vertue of our Communion with the Angels we share in the benefits of their ministration in all kindes in this life and hereafter we shall be like the Angels sharing with them in the glory of Heaven By vertue of our Communion with holy men we have an interest in their prayers and in all the abilities with which God hath furnisht them and shall live together with them in Heaven A rare priviledge 2. Remission of sins by which upon our unfeigned repentance we are freelie for Christs sake absolved and acquitted from the guilt and punishment of all our sins though never so many though never so great A rare Priviledge happy is he that hath it for so saies the Psalmist blessed is he Psal 32.1 whose iniquity is forgiven c. 3. Resurrection of the body and Life Everlasting Resurrection to Life Everlasting though the body falls in death yet it shall be raised again though in death the soul takes leave of the body for a time yet they shall meet again and be reunited And not onely so for this shall be common to all men the bodies of all shall be raised and in all there shall be a reunion of soul and body but whereas to some there shall be a Resurrection of Damnation Joh. 5.29 to the Church it shall be a Resurrection to Life whereas some shall rise to shame and everlasting contempt all the true members of the Church shall awake to everlasting Life Dan. 12.2 Lastly it s observed here by the forenamed Author that this Citie is set upon an hill that is the Apostles Prophets and all other Doctors of and Faithful in the Church are built upon Christ who is the onely Foundation for Christ is that Mountain of which the Prophet saies Dan. 2.35 That it filled the whole Earth And this sense is pious But yet I conceive another thing rather to be intended by our blessed Saviour in this place namely that as a City built upon an Hill cannot be hid but is conspicuous and seen a farre off so neither can the Conversation and Actions of the Church and the members of it be so secretly carried but that it will come to the cognizance and knowledge of others so that if it be pious God shall be honoured by it and from any sinful and scandalous behaviour of the members of the Church it cannot be but that God shall be dishonoured by it as Saint Paul saies Through you is the name of God blasphemed among the Gentiles Rom. 2.24 See the high preferment of all Godly Christians in that they are made members of the Church and so free Denizons of this great City of God who counts it not a great matter to be a Freeman of some great City in the World so it was counted to be a Citizen of Rome they that were so gloried not a little in it they that were not so thought it not much to purchase it with a great summe of mony much more is it an honour to be members of the Church for what City in the World hath Priviledges and Immunities comparable to the Priviledges of the Church named before Blesse God for this high Honour and Preferment and as he hath honoured you so be ye careful to honour him and fearful to do any thing that may tend to His dishonour avoid all scandalous sins especially Phil 1.27 and Let your conversation be such as becomes the Gospel and as our Saviour enjoynes us Let your Lights so shine before men that they seeing your good Works Matth. 5.16 may glorifie your Father that is in Heaven CHAP. VII The Church and a Dove SO our Saviour speaks to his Church Open to me Cant. 5.2 my sister my love my Dove my undefiled So he speaks of her My Dove my undefiled is but one Cant. 6 9 she is the onely one of her Mother Saint Bernard observes two particulars in which the Church resembles a Dove The Church saies he Ecclesia columba est quia innocens est quia gemens est In Cant. ser 62. is a Dove 1. Because the Dove is innocent and harmless and indeed this to be eminent in the Dove appears by that passage of our Saviour Be innocent as Doves Matth. 10.16 which implies that the Dove is eminently innocent as the Serpent is the wisest of the beasts of the field Gen. 3.1 whom our Saviour wills his hearers to be like in wisdome so is the Church so are all godly Christians the members of the Church innocent and harmlesse they can finde in their hearts to suffer wrongs to put up injuries but they cannot with patience think of wronging others This is one thing by which David describes a member of the Church the question being Lord who shall enter into thy Tabernacle Psal 15.1 Vers 3. c. the answer is in
appeares not to our eyes and yet its certain that the Church hath alway a being and is alway enlightened by Christ her Sun So saies Whitaker against Campian Thinkest thou that thou canst perswade us An tu te posse putes nobis persuadere eum esse Ecclesiae statum ut obscurari nequeat ut nil perfidia nil hostes nil Antichristus valeat Delere hi quidem Ecclesiam nunquam possunt in angustias compingere compellere in latebras possunt Ecclesiam Augustinus lunae similem esse dixit quae nunc tota lucet solis incensa radiis nunc luminis magna parte privatur nunc lumen omnino nullum ostendit Ita Ecclesia interdum lumine clarissimo illustratur interdum obscurior apparet interdum vix apparet quidem Ad Campian ra◠3. that the state of the Church is such that it cannot be obscured so that the perfidiousness of enemies and Antichrist can do nothing against it They cannot indeed destroy the Church but they can bring it into a narrow compass and drive it into holes Augustine saies the Church is like the Moon which sometimes shines wholely being enlightened with the Sun-beams sometimes is deprived of a great part of her light and sometimes shewes no light at all So the Church shines sometimes more gloriously sometimes it s more obscured and sometime it hardly appears at all He proceeds to make it manifest by example The face of the Jewish Church saies he was glorious under David and Solomon Si Ecclesiae illius tanta vastitas esse potuit ut ex omni illo piorum numero nullus omnino reliquus esse videretur etsi reliqui erant re permulti mirum esse non potest in regno Antichristi qui omnes Achabos Jezabelas immanitate superat ita fuisse direptam Ecclesiam ut mira esset fidelium solitudo Nec tamen in ista Ecclesiae vastatione efficere potuit Antichristus quin multae 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sanctorum remanserint qui genua nunquam bestiae flexerint nec signum ejus inuri permiserint Ibid. but under Ahab it was so obscured that Eliah complained that besides himself there was none left And thence he infers ' If that Church could be so wasted that of all that number of godly men none seemed to be left though indeed many were left seven thousand saies God it is no wonder if in the Kingdome of Antichrist who exceeds all Ahabs and Jezabels in cruelty the Church was so laid waste that there was so great a solitude of the faithful Yet neither was Antichrist able in that devastation of the Church to prevail but that there remained thousands of Saints which bowed not the knee to the Beast nor received his mark Hence we may frame an answer to the Romanists frequently assailing us with that question Where was your Church before Luther for this is the confident assertion of Campian the Jesuit of us That for fifteen Ages we cannot finde any one Town or Village or House Quindecim seculis non oppidum non villam non domum reperire possumus imbutum doctrina nostra rat 3. holding our Religion namely till the time of Luther Zuinglius and Calvin But learned Whitaker doth justly deny it Id falsissimum est Campiane Temporibus enim Apostolicis omnes Ecclesiae omnes urbes omnia oppida familiae omnes eandem fidem religionem coluerunt quam nos profitemur Ibid. This is most false saies he for in the times of the Apostles all Churches all Cities all Towns all Families held the same faith which we professe he means all Cities Townes and Families in which the Church was planted by the Apostles And the truth of this may with ease be manifested by comparing the particulars of our Religion professed by the Reformed Churches with the Religion of those Apostolical Churches but that would take up too much time It s true that sometimes the Church hath been much obscured and kept under the hatches yet still there hath been a Church that hath maintained the faith of Christ against heresies springing up When Arianisme prevailed most under the Emperors Constantius and Valens there wanted not those that maintained the faith of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the consubstantiality of the Son with the Father And when Heathenisme had the upper hand under the Emperors that were before Constantine the great and under Julian that infamous Apostate who succeeded Constantius still there were such as professed the Christian faith and defended it against the heathen resisting for it even unto blood And so in the times when as the Church lay under the greatest darkness by reason of the Apostasy and Tyranny of the Romane Synagogue even in all Ages there have been such as have professed and defended even unto death the faith of Christ received from the Apostles against the Heresies and abominable Superstitions of Rome witness the glorious Martyrs that have suffered death for the cause of Religion in all those times both at home and abroad So that to this question of the Romanists we may justly answer that our Church was before Luther though not alway equally appearing but sometimes as some grains of corn covered over with chaff in the floor and as fire on the hearth in the night-time covered over with ashes CHAP. XI The Church and a Mother SAint Paul makes use of this resemblance while he saies That Jerusalem Gal. 4.16 which is above is the mother of us all on which place hear Luther This Jerusalem saies he which is above is the Church Est illa Hierusalem coelestis quae sursum est Ecclesia id est credentes per totum orbem qui idem evangelium eandem fidem in Christum eundem Spiritum Sanctum eadem Sacramenta habent Ideo sursum non intellige de Ecclesia triumphante in coelis sed de militante in terris In loc that is believers dispersed through the whole World which have the same Gospel the same faith in Christ the same holy Ghost and the same Sacraments Understand this therefore that it s here said above not of the Church-triumphant in Heaven but of the Church Militant on Earth And this Church is the mother of us all that is of all believers both Jewes and Gentiles both high and low both rich and poor for towards us all she doth perform all the offices of a mother as Saint Austin speakes excellently The mother Mater Ecclesia mater est Patris tui matrisque tuae haec nos ex Christo concepit haec martyrum sanguine parturivit haec in sempiternam lucem peperit haec fidei lacte nutrivit nutrit Ep. 38. ad Laetum the Church saies he is the mother of thy Father and of thy Mother she hath conceived thee of Christ she hath travelled of thee by the blood of the Martyrs she hath brought thee forth to the everlasting light she hath nourished and doth nourish thee with the milk
example let us not cast a stumbling-block in the way of others by the excessive use of our Christian Liberty Rom. 14.15 Destroy not him with thy meat saies the Apostle for whom Christ died Its St. Pauls profession If meat make my brother to offend 1 Cor. ◠13 I will eat no flesh while the world stands least I make my brother to offend In indifferent things that are absolutely in our own power let us not so stand upon our termes as to say The thing is lawful I may do it therefore I will do it but remember that of the Apostle All things are lawful 1 Cor. 10.23 but all things are not expedient All things are lawful but all things edifie not Thus let us be careful not to do any thing whereby we may hazzard the welfare of others But be we also careful not to be wanting in any thing whereby we may further their welfare hearken to Saint Judes advise Edifie one another in your most holy Faith Jude ver 20 1 Thes 5.14 Heb. 10.24 and Saint Pauls warn them that are unruly comfort the feeble-hearted support the weak And again Consider one another to provoke to love and good works And also the light of a good example shining forth to others Shun the sins from which ye would dehort others practise the duty to which ye would exhort others It s a true saying of St. Gregory Nyssen Thou shalt be found guilty of Tyranny 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Saevae Tyrannidis reus deprehensus fueris si hanc tibi-ipsi potestatem vendices ut quae in aliis prohibes haec facere tibi soli licere existimes quae ipse pro licentia audes ab his alios arcere Contr. Eunom l. 12. if thou doest challenge such power to thy self as to think that lawful for thy self alone which thou forbiddest to others and to drive others from those things which thou takest licence to thy self to commit And how shalt thou not hinder others from accepting of thy counsel while they shall finde thee thus to Tyrannize over them Add also thy prayers to God that he would speak that to the hearts of men which you speak to the ear for upon his blessing depends the issue of all our endeavours for the spiritual and Eternal good of others It was the confession of St. Paul 1 Cor. 3.6 I have planted APollos watered but God gives the increase So then neither is he that planteth Vers 7. any thing nor he that watereth but God that gives the increase So that its most true that St. Austin saies Cathedram in coelo habet qui corda docet To. 9. in 1 Epist Joan. tract 3. 2 Tim. 4.2 He hath his chair in Heaven that teaches the hearts And though we presently see not the fruit of our endeavours yet go on still in our endeavours Exhort with all long suffering how have we seen the Hen oft continuing long to clock for her chickens though they make no great haste to come to her not giving over till they come And in all that we do for the furtherance of the spiritual and eternal good of others let us be affected with a spirit of pitty and compassion towards them 2 Cor. 11.29 who is weak saies the Apostle and I am not weak who is offended and I burn not So let it be with us would we comfort any under distresses bodily or spiritual See we them hardly receiving comfort Would we reclaim others whom we see going astray and see we them hardly reclaimed Let us not be hardened against them but pitty and bemoan their condition CHAP. VIII Christ and an Husband THis resemblance is cleerly intimated in that argument with which the Apostle strengthens his exhortation to wives to be subject to their husbands Eph. 5 22 24 because the Church is subject to Christ which plainly implies that the Church is the Wife and Spouse of Christ And not lesse by the argument by which he enforces his exhortation to Husbands to love their Wives Eph. 5.25 because Christ loves his Church which plainly implies that Christ is an Husband to the Church else the argument on both sides were inconsequent and therefore invalid and weak which God forbid that we should once imagine St. Paul in making this consequence being immediately guided by that unerring spirit But this resemblance between Christ and an Husband and consequently between the Church and a Spouse is frequently express't in Scripture Hear our Saviour owning the Church as his Spouse and consequently professing himself as an Husband to her Cant. 4.8 Vers 9. Vers 10 11 Come with me saies he from Lebanon my Spouse Thou hast ravish't my heart my Sister my Spouse How fair is thy love my Sister my Spouse Thy lips O my Spouse drop as the hony-comb I am come into my garden my Sister Cant. 5.1 Isa 54.5 my Spouse Hear that Evangelical Prophet The Lord saies he thy maker is thine Husband And again As the Bridegroom rejoyces over his Bride Isa 62.5 so thy God rejoyces over thee I will betroth thee unto me for ever Hos 2.19 20 saies God by the Prophet I will betroth thee unto me in righteousnesse c I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulnesse Hear our Saviour in his defence of his disciples for not fasting Matth 9.15 How can the children of the Bride-chamber fast while the Bridegroom is with them c In which place it is manifest that he speaks of himself Hear the confession of that holy Baptist concerning Christ Joh. 3.29 He that hath the Bride is the Bridegroom but the friend of the Bridegroom which stands and heareth rejoyces greatly because of the Bridegrooms voice this my joy therefore is fulfilled Rev. 21.2 I John saies the holy Apostle saw the holy City coming down from God out of Heaven as a bride prepared for her Husband And come hither saies the Angel Rev. 21.9 I will shew thee the Bride the Lambes wife The marriage indeed is not fully consummated till after death but the contract is made and Christ and his Church are betrothed each to other and among men we know that after the contract the parties affianced one to the other are Husband and Wife in the account of God And for the further clearing of this we are to know that though in some things there is a difference yet in many things there is a great similitude between the marriage of man and wife and that of Christ and the Church I. I say there is a difference between them in two particulars in which the marriage between Christ and the Church hath the pre-eminency 1. The marriage between man and wife stands in a carnal and bodily conjunction but this between Christ and his Church is mystical and spiritual 2. Death breaks the bond between Husband and Wife but it breaks not the marriage knot between Christ and the Church nay it s
yet but one Christ And to come lower there are many Sun-beames yet but one Sun one Light many branches and arms of a tree yet but one tree so in the Church there are many members yet but one body 2. In the multitude and variety of members though the body be but one yet it hath many members the body is not all eye nor all ear but there be eyes ears hands feet c. And these are greatly different each from other some are more honourable others lesse some stronger others weaker some have more excellent abilities and serve for more noble uses then others So is it in the Church the body of the Church is but one but the particular members of it are many and they greatly different some are set in higher place neerer to Christ the head others lower at a greater distance and more remote from him Accordingly some are furnisht with more excellent gifts and laid out for more noble employments then others As in a great Family there are divers members greatly different some neerer to the Master of the Family some more remote there are Children nearer then any Servant and among the Servants one is Steward and another is a Scullion in the Kitchin And in an Army the Army is one yet there are Multitudes and several Companies of Souldiers and they different in Use and Honour one from another there are Captaines Lievtenants Sergeants and common Souldiers some neerer in place to the General of the Army and some more remote So in the Church it is according to the wise disposition of God hear Saint Paul Rom. 12.6 Having gifts different according to the grace that is given to us And again 1 Cor. 7.7 Every man hath his proper gift of God one after this manner and another after that Yea hear him largely disputing of this subject 1 Cor. 12.4 Vers 5. Vers 6 Vers 8 9 10 11. There are diversities of gifts There are diversities of Administrations There are diversities of operations To one is given the word of wisedome to another the word of knowledge to another faith c. All this concernes the variety of gifts which arises from and is according to the variety of members of which he adds Vers 17.18 If the whole body were an eye where were the hearing and if all were hearing where were the smelling But now God hath placed the members every one of them in the body as it hath pleased him And finally in the application of the comparison he speakes more plainly Now ye saies he to the Christians at Corinth are the body of Christ and members in particular Vers 27.28 29. And God hath set some in the Church First Apostles secondarily prophets c. Are all Apostles c. 3. The resemblance holds in the usefulness of the members There is not any the least member of the natural body Natura nil facit frustra which hath not its use it s made for some purpose or other Nature doth nothing in vain much lesse the God of Nature To say nothing of the eyes and ears the very feet are useful to the body and so is any other member that may be least of all set by hear we the Apostle confessing as much The eye cannot say to the hand Vers 21.22 I have no need of you nor the head to the foot I have no need of you Nay much more those members of the body that are more feeble are necessary In the Commonwealth the greatest cannot miss the meanest there is not the Noblest Personage to whom the meanest day-labourer or Artificer is not useful In the Army the Common Souldier is of use to the General so in the Church the meanest Christian is of use to the Church and to the most eminent members of it he is useful not as the eye or ear yet at least as the foot to the natural body the poorest member of the Church hath received some ability or other in some measure or other by which in some way or other he may be useful not by Preaching not by Ruling yet by his pious Examples or fervent Prayers for the Church and the principal members of it the poor Mouse may be useful to the Lion being bound with cords by gnawing the cords asunder and setting him at liberty so may the Christian of least account in the Church be beneficial to them of highest Note and Place by his prayers procuring at the hands of God his enlargement from distresses into which he may be brought as did those Christians assembled for Saint Peter Act 12. Rom. 15.30.31 Eph 6 19 1 Thess 5.25 2 Thess 3.1 2 or fitnesse for and blessing and success in his great and important affaires St. Paul acknowledging this doth frequently and earnestly desire the help of the Churches in their prayers to God for him 4. The Resemblance holds further in the point of sympathizing The Members of the natural Body sympathize each with other both in good and evil Of this the Apostle says Whether one member suffers 1 Cor. 12.26 all the members suffer with it or whether one member be honored all the members rejoyce with it If the Foot be foul the Hand wipes it if one treads on the Toe not the Toe but the Tongue cries out Why do you tread on me but if any notorious wrong be offered to the Body or any Member of it ye shall have the Voyce lamenting the Eye weeping the Heart sighing the Hands pleading the Head hanging down and every part compassionate No less is there a sympathizing between the Members of the Body in respect of any good betiding the whole Body or any Member of it Hath any sick man obtained health ye shall have every Member expressing joy in it's own way for the health of the Body so restored No less is it so in the Church of God The prosperity of the Church or of any Member of it affects every true and living Member of the Church and puts joy into him as if it were his own prosperity The dejected and afflicted estate of the Church doth no less fill them with sorrow and heaviness This we see required by the Apostle Rejoyce with them that rejoyce Rom. 12 1â— mourn with them that mourn And so we see it often practised Look upon Nehemiah that godly Courtier it fared well with him he was Cup-bearer to the great King Artaxerxes he wanted no conveniency for his own particular and yet Neh. 1.3 4 When report was made to him of the distresses of Jerusalem he sat down and wept and mourned certain days and fasted and prayed before the God of Heaven And when the King asked him Why is thy countenance sad 2 2â— 3 seeing thou art not sick mark his Answer Why should not my countenance be sad when the City the place of my Fathers sepulchres lies waste and the gates thereof are consumed with fire This was the affection of the godly Jews
By the Rivers of Babylon we sat down yea we wept when we remembered Sion Psalm 137.1 2 3 we hanged our Harps upon the Willows and when they that led us Captives required of us to sing one of the Songs of Sion we answered How shall we sing the Lords Songs in a strange Land And then they add Verse 5 6 If I forget thee O Jerusalem let my right hand forget her cunning If I do not remember thee let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy Acts 7.58 59 and 8. 2 Acts 12.5 Saint Steven is stoned and the whole Church made lamentation Saint Peter is imprisoned and the Church prays On the other side the Gentiles obtained mercy Acts 11.18 and the Saints at Jerusalem glorified God saying Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted Repentance unto Life So they were affected with Saint Pauls Conversion They heard says the Apostle that he which persecuted us in times past Gâ—l 1.22 23 now preaches the Faith which once he destroyed and they glorified God in me Let us then learn to carry our selves towards our Fellow-Christians as to our Fellow-Members 1. We all make one Body under one Head Christ therefore let us take heed of Schism and Disunion and endeavor to keep Unity The Apostle urges it upon this ground Endeavoring says he to keep the Vnity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace Eph. 4 3 4 for there is one Body and the sequel is good We are all of us one Body and shall we rend our selves one from another God forbid Harken we rather to Saint Paul Beseeching us in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ That there be no Divisions among us 1 Gen 1.10 but that we be perfectly joyned together in the same minde and in the same judgment The counsel is good for us to take which Joseph gave to his Brethren Gen. 45.24 See that ye fall not out by the way It 's good for every one of us to say one to another as Abraham to Lot Gen. 13.8 Let there be no contention between me and thee c. for we are Brethren yea for we are all of us one Body of Christ and every one of us Members one of another Remember we That God whom we call Father 2 Cor. 13.11 is the God of Love and Peace and Christ whose Members we profess our selves to be is the Prince of Peace Isai 9.6 Heb. 7.1 and the King of Salem the King of Peace and the Gospel which we profess the Gospel of Peace Eph. 6.15 Col. 3.15 and that we are called unto Peace in one Body What then will better become us then the study of Peace Remember that our mutual Jars will make our Enemies sport and our concord will not a little vex them for by it we shall put them out of hope of prevailing against us Insuperabiles si inseparabiles we shall be invincible if we be inseparable A single Arrow is soon broken not so a bunch of Arrows fast bound together and onely our mutual disagreements will put them in hope to spoil and mischieve us one after another Let Moab Edom 2 Chron. 20 and Ammon rise each against other and they overthrow one another Jehosaphat shall not need to strike a stroke It 's a received Maxim of Enemies Divide them Divide impera and so get the upper hand of them Let us not then give them so great advantage against us but rather as the Apostle advises us Let us minde the things that make for Peace Rom. 14.19 Let us not be ready to do wrong but be ready to put up wrongs and for peace sake part with our Rights in apparent injuries forgive in doubtful things make the fairest constructions and listen not to Tale-bearers Rom. 16.17 and as the Apostle advises Mark them that cause Divisions and avoyd them Thus let us do 2 Cor. 13 1â— and the God of Love and Peace shall be with us 2. Let us be profitable and serviceable one to another in the faithful employment of the Talents which we have received So are the Members of the natural Body so let us be Having the Wealth of the World let us be ready to distribute Having Wisdom be we ready to give advice and counsel to others that need and crave our help this way So according to our abilities let us warn them that are unruly 1 Thess 5.14 comfort the feeble-hearted and support the weak Let us consider one another to provoke to Love and good Works Heb. 10.24 Can we do no more yet at least having the Spirit of Prayer let us employ it for the behoof of the whole Church and of one another Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem Psal 122.6 Remember That as the Eye hath a faculty of Seeing the Ear of Hearing the Hand of Working the Tongue of Speaking the Feet of Walking not for themselves alone but for the good of the whole Body and each of other So the Gifts that God hath bestowed on us he hath given not for ostentation nor for our own private use onely 1 Cor. 12.7 but to profit withall therefore so let us use them Thus shall we honor Christ our Head and God our Father We hear what the Apostle says of Alms-deeds The Ministration of this Service abounds by many Thanksgivings to God and this holds equally true of the employment of our several Abilities for the profit of others And so we shall provide for our own Comfort for as to that unprofitable Servant that hid his Talent in a Napkin Mat. 25.28 30 it 's said Take the Talent from him and Cast him into outer darkness so to any one that is faithful in the employment of his Talent for the good of others it shall be said Well done good and faithful Servant Verse 23 Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. 3. Let those Members of the Church that are of highest note learn not to despise but to have in good esteem their Brethren and Fellow-Christians though they be not so richly gifted or laid out to so noble employments as themselves for there is not the meanest but hath his Gift in his measure and so not the meanest but is profitable in his way It 's so in the natural Body It is so much more in the Church Hear the Apostle The Eye cannot say to the Hand I have no need of thee 1 Cor. 12.21 22 nor the Head to the Foot I have no need of thee Nay much more those Members of the Body that seem to be more feeble are necessary Therefore let not the rich despise the poor nor the strong the weak nor the ablest Minister the meanest Hearer but if we see in them the Evidences of Faith and Holiness whatsoever they are in other respects let us embrace them and give them the right Hand of Fellowship God