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conscience_n good_a peace_n quiet_a 5,023 5 9.5882 5 true
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ID Title Author Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) STC Words Pages
A55978 The rights and liberties of the church asserted and vindicated, against the pretended right and usurpation of patronage. Park, Robert, d. 1689? 1689 (1689) Wing P363; ESTC R22377 75,800 180

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hand there is no stratageme that ever Satan devised that has had worse and more effectual influence for destroying that reverence and free submission which people owe the Sent Servants of the Lord than this device of Patronage hath had XVIII And it is morally impossible it should be otherwise for when people see themselves disappointed of a person more worthy and acceptable on whom they had set their Eye for a Pastor and another obtruded upon them in his place meerly by the Patron 's Election to whom they never consented and a Legal Force put upon both them and the Presbitry to receive the Person Presented and to give him the Maintenance due to their lawful Pastor How is it possible so long as men are men and subject to passion and weakness but that the effect of such untoward methods should be to produce a very cold backward and unchearful Submission and Obedience to such Pastors There being nothing that more alienates men's minds and affections than such courses and Love being the main ingredient in Reverence and that the great Ground of a chearful and hearty Submission is it any wonder to see this a mising where there is so much pains taken to destroy that which breeds it or how is it possible that a People can be perswaded that a Pastor is sent of God for their good when they see that he hath stept out of God's way and hath not entered by the right door of Christ's apointment XX. Beside all this the whole Nation can witness that this method of forcing Ministers upon People without or against their consent and inclinations hath had very sad and scandalous effects by raising of Riots and Tumults to the great hazard of both parties as well at the time of the entry as afterwards besides the loss and trouble the People sustained by subsequent prosecutions at Law upon that account Many other instances might be given of the gross abuses and scandals occasioned by this corrupt and useless priviledge but these may suffice And the truth is It is no savory imployment to rake into such a Dunghil of Corruption XX. Only I cannot omit to observe that which is the most Natural Effect of the unwarrantable mixture that appears in such a Call to the Ministry For beside the bad influence this may have on People to raise a just distaste and prejudice in their minds against such ministers It cannot but also be very hurtful to a Minister himselfe in marring his confidence and obstructing his comfort in performing the duties of his function when he sees himselfe disabled especialy in times of trial and persecution to behave in the discharge of his trust with that vigor and confidence that becomes a Sent Servant of Jesus Christ and a Workman that needs not be ashamed To this purpose 2 Tim 2 15. 2● Cor. 4.1 there is a passage of the Apostle Paul in the second Epistle to the Corinthians very remarkable where he founds the cause of his not fainting in the Work of the Lord in the midst of difficulties upon the assurance he had of his having received the Call of his Ministry from no other hand but that which had been the Fountain of Mercy to him Having received this Ministry says he as we have received Mercy therefore we faint not And hence it is that generally in all the Epistles directed to the several Churches The Writer still begins with his Title of Apostle Servant of Christ Elder c. thereby intimating that their great ground of Confidence and Comfort in delivering the Message of the Gospel was founded on the assurance they had of their Lawful Call to the Ministry XXI This is a Truth that hath been confirmed by the experience of several Ministers in this Church For tho' some of them were both faithful and diligent in their duty to the intire satisfaction of their People yet when they came to discover the sinfulness of their entry by this unwarrantable method of Patronage they have been kept under long and sad exercise of Spirit and put to serious and deep humiliation before the Lord e're they could attain to any measure of confidence that they were authorized of God to deliver a Message in his Name or could get their Conscience brought to any calm and quiet from the fears of being under the guilt of such as run unsent or could think they had a good right to that Peace which our blessed Lord left as his last and farewell token to his Disciples and in them to all his Sent Servants John 20.21 as the natural and kindly Effect of their Lawful Call to the Ministry Peace be unto you says our Blessed Lord as my Father hath sent me so send I you XXII And many Ministers who have sitten down with too much satisfaction as to such a Call and way of Entry have been made to see that such of their Brethren and People as had skill to discern the Spirits and know the Voice of Christ in his Sent Servants had thoughts of them very different from their own These being able to discover in such Pastors but very little of that assistance and support which the Lord ordinarly vouchsafes to bestow on his own Ambassadors sent upon such a weighty and important Errand as the delivery of a Message of Reconciliation with God to a People in his Name XXIII Others have but too much endeavoured to stiffle and bear down the checks of their Conscience in this matter but have found themselves very much straitned to own avow as a Faithful Pastor should that they had a Warrand and Commission to speak to their People in the Name of Christ And if at any time they ventured upon it their Conscience would stare them in the face and tell them that their people did with too much reason suspect their sincerity in it seing their entry was not by the right Door but that in some one or moe steps they had clumb up another way XXIV And as in times of trial and difficulty the checks of a man's Conscience do ordinarly turn more sharp and uneasy so at such times especially the comfort of such Ministers as entered by Patrons have proven very faint and cold and the truth is it is but little wonder That such as have no sparks to warm them at in this case but these of mens kindling have this from the Lord's hand that they shall lye down in sorrow Esay 50.11 Confidence and Comfort in these matters especially are mutual Supports and Strengthners of each other and there is no such ground in the World for both as that calm serenity of Mind and peace of Conscience which flowes from the assurance a man hath of having regulate his Actions especially when they relate to the matters of God and his Church by the Divine and Unerring Rules of the Scripture XXV And tho' many pious and worthy Persons have entered to the Ministry in this method yet it is to be considered that