as are provided against that Sin which is the Subject of the Day Which Statutes together with his Majesties Letter I have formerly sent you And let not only the more gross Sins of the Flesh but the more subtle Sins of the Spirit such as Pride Envy Malice c. be exposed to your People in their odious nature and aggravating Circumstances Acquaint them not only with those Duties to which they are all in common obliged as they are men and Christians but with those special Duties which are incumbent upon them in their different Ages States and Relations In short let that be the drift of your preaching which is the design of the whole Gospel of Christ Tit. 2. 11 12. To teach men to deny all Vngodliness and Worldly Lusts and to live Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present World Secondly As to the Manner of Preaching passing over other particulars I shall mention Three only at present Two of which are here sufficiently implyed Preach the Word sincerely plainly and affectionately 1. Sincerely Which is implyed in these Words That you will teach nothing as required of necessity to eternal Salvation but that which you shall be perswaded may be proved by the Scriptures For Sincerity consists as in teaching all that the Scripture makes necessary so in teaching nothing for necessary that is foreign to the Scripture as the Church of Rome does in her new Creed imposing many Doctrines as necessary to Salvation which are not only Strangers to the Scriptures but plainly contrary to the Doctrines which are there taught 2. Plainly and to the capacity of your Hearers which is implyed in the Word instruct For how can a man be instructed by a Discourse which he knows not the meaning of He defeats the design of his Preaching and betrays his Hypocrisie who renders that obscure which he pretends to reveal To which I add 3. Preach Affectionately with that warmth and earnestness of Spirit which becomes matters of the greatest moment It would grieve a Man to hear matters of the greatest moment so coldly and drowsily delivered as if the Preacher did not himself believe what he said and were afraid lest his Hearers should be brought to believe it O my Brethren let us but seriously consider the inestimable worth of souls the unvaluable price that was paid for them what danger they are in of being eternally lost how dreadful our accounts will shortly be if they be lost through our slightness and laziness Let us but consider what Heaven and Hell mean what it is to be everlastingly saved or damned and we shall then think our greatest zeal and fervency will be little enough for such a Work as this I shall say no more concerning Preaching but proceed to the next way of publick teaching which is Secondly By Catechising or instructing persons in the Principles of Religion Which is indeed but a more familiar way of Preaching This is a Duty laid upon you by the Canon and Statute-Law both The Fifty Ninth Canon under a severe Penalty requires every Rector Vicar and Curate upon every Lord's Day in the Afternoon to examine and instruct the Youth and the more ignorant People of his Parish in the Catechism The same is made your Duty by Act of Parliament in the first Rubrick after the Catechism and because some who are apt enough to censure their Brethren for breaking other Laws can too easily dispense with themselves in this His Majesty hath charged the Bishops to see Let. to the Bish of Lond. That all the Clergy in their respective Diocesses do Catechise the Youth To which if we add the Practice of the Apostles the great Master-Builders of the Church who first taught Men the Principles of the Doctrine of Christ And lastly the voluntary Engagement you lye under to it methinks nothing can be thought wanting to oblige you effectually to this Duty But now should we set aside all these Considerations and consider only how advantagious this Work is to the Welfare of the Souls committed to our care the great Benefits they would reap by it the great Mischiefs they fall into by the Neglect of it one would think we should need no other Motive to put us upon the diligent practice of it What is the Reason that our Sermons are generally of so little effect That our People hear us year after year and many of them are never the wiser are ever learning and never come to the Knowledge of the Truth One main Reason doubtless is because they were never prepared to understand our Sermons and to profit by them by being first more familiarly instructed in the Principles of Religion What 's the Reason That many are so easily seduced to Error and Vice but because they were never well rooted and grounded in the Faith Prov. 22. 6. Train up a Child in the way that he should go and he will not depart from it when he is old As therefore my Brethren you tender the Salvation of your People set your selves without delay to this so advantagious and necessary a Work And that you may do it the more effectually I give it you in Charge to preach constantly in the Afternoon upon some part of the Church Catechism and to Examine some of the Young People of your Parish quite thorow it as oft as you preach upon it And that Parents and Masters may take the greater care to send their Children and Servants to be instructed by you do not only frequently and earnestly exhort them to it but thorowly acquaint them with the great Benefits that will accrue not only to their Children and Servants but likewise to themselves thereby as their Children will by this means be render'd more dutiful and obedient and their Servants more faithful and diligent Having solemnly declared That You are perswaded that the Holy Scriptures contain sufficiently all Doctrine required of necessity to eternal Salvation and that you were determin'd out of the said Scriptures to instruct the People committed to your Charge In the next place you promised To give your faithful diligence always so to minister the Doctrine Sacraments and Discipline of Christ as the Lord hath commanded and as this Church and Realm hath received the same according to the commandment of God that is as God hath prescribed in the Holy Scriptures Of Ministring the Doctrine of Christ I have already spoken in what I have said about Preaching and Catechising As to the Sacrament of Baptism I shall at present only put you in mind of some few things which are either expresly or implicitly required by the Rubricks First Let your People know That Baptism being the solemn Admission of a Person into the publick Society of Christians it is very unbecoming its Nature and Design to have it administer'd in private Rubrick before private Baptism Admonish them therefore to bring their Children to be baptiz'd in the publick Congregation lest by their refusing so to do Christ should reckon them
their Devotion when they are at them I know not how any Minister can dispense with himself in this matter or what Salvo he can have for his Conscience who does otherwise But though publick Prayers be the more excellent yet 2. This cannot excuse you from being diligent in private Prayers and that both for your People and for your selves First Pray much and earnestly for your People Of this St. Paul hath set us an Example as he himself testifies in his Epistles thus he prayed for the Colossians Colos 1. 9 10 11. That they might be filled with the Knowledge of the Will of God in all Wisdom and spiritual Understanding that they might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing being fruitful in every good work Thus he pray'd for the Ephesians Ephes 1. 15 16 17 18. That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of Glory would give unto them the spirit of Wisdom and Revelation in the knowledge of him the eyes of their understanding being enlightened that they might know what is the hope of his Calling c. Ephes 3. 16 17 18 19. That God would grant them according to the riches of his Glory to be strengthen'd with all might by his spirit in the inner Man that Christ might dwell in their hearts by Faith c. Thus he tells the Romans Rom. 1. 9. That without ceasing he made mention of them always in his Prayers In like manner he prayed for the Philipians Phil. 1. 4. Always says he and in every Prayer of mine for you all making request with joy He thought it not enough to pray once or twice but he ceased not still to pray for them It cannot be thought that any Pastor who aims as he ought at the salvation of his People can forbear to pray for them Secondly Pray constantly and earnestly for your selves For such assistances of God's holy spirit as may inable you rightly to discharge the Duties of your holy Calling 2 Cor. 3. 5. We are not sufficient of our selves to think any thing as of our selves but all our sufficiency is of God We made our Ordination Vow in expectation of and dependance upon Gods help I will do so by the help of the Lord I will the Lord being my helper And we need not doubt of God's help if we sincerely and importunately pray for it for he hath promised Luk. 11. 13. his Holy Spirit to them that ask it That is all the Gifts of his Holy Spirit we stand in need of But to proceed 2. You promised To be diligent in reading the Holy Scriptures And 3. In such studies as help to the knowledge of the same I put them both together for brevities sake St. Paul commanded Timothy 1 Tim. 4. 13. to give attendance to reading viz. of the Holy Scriptures and that not only in publick to others but also in private that he himself might be the more thoroughly instructed in them And if this was needful for Timothy who had learn'd the Holy Scriptures from a Child it will I fear be much more needful for many of us The Scriptures were inspired by God to this very end 2 Tim. 3. 17. That the man of God that is the Minister of the Gospel might be throughly furnished to all good Works That he might be instructed in every part of the Duty which belongs to his Office whether it be to teach or to reprove or to correct or to instruct in righteousness Out of this sacred repository and this only we may be supplyed with whatsoever is necessary for us and our People to know and to believe and to do I therefore earnestly press you to the study of the Holy Scriptures day and night to get such parts of them by heart as may be of most frequent and necessary use that you may have them in readiness upon all occasions And in your reading of them to observe those places which are most obscure to compare them with the Originals and with the words coherent to consult some one or more of the best Commentators upon them that you may attain to the true sense of them And for those who have leisure and ability for it to read the Fathers at least of the three first Centuries the History and Antiquities of the Church the Babylonian Persian Greek Roman and Jewish Antiquities and such other parts of Learning without which many places of Scripture cannot be well understood And that you may be thus diligent in Prayer and in reading and studying the Holy Scriptures Fourthly You promised To lay aside the study of the World and the Flesh For the more you study the World the less will you study the Holy Scriptures the more you consult the ease and pleasure of the Flesh the less will you attend to the pleasing of God and the saving of Souls In what degree soever your affections are set upon the things on the Earth in that they will necessarily be taken off from the things above O remember That every Clergy-man is a man of God dedicated to him in a more eminent service than others are and that you rob God of all that time and study which are needlesly spent upon other matters Remember that you are obliged not only by your Baptismal Vow to renounce the World and the Flesh as Lay Christians also are but more closely bound to it than they by this solemn Vow you made at your Ordination Let it appear to all Men that you pay your Vows by your living above this World and having your Conversation in Heaven In the next place you promised these two things This part of the Ordination-Vow was made the Subject of the whole Charge at another place and therefore is here the more briefly spoken to I. That You would be diligent to frame and fashion your own selves and your Families according to the Doctrine of Christ And which is somewhat more II. To make both your selves and them as much as in you lyeth wholesome Examples and Patterns to the Flock of Christ. First You promised to be diligent To frame your own selves according to the Doctrine of Christ to have your Conversation in all things suitable to the Gospel you preach He can never be seriously concerned for other mens souls who has not first a care of his own nor make it his chief study to conduct others in the narrow way that leads to Life who walks himself in the broad way that leads to destruction But suppose he could sincerely endeavour to destroy that sin in others which he cherishes in himself yet what success can he in reason expect Can it be thought that his People should pay any regard to what he says when they see that he does not regard it himself Can they think that he does in good earnest believe what he preaches when he unpreaches the same again in his life And is it then likely that they should believe it especially when it
thwarts their beloved Lusts But if there should be any among us whom this Consideration does not affect yet methinks it should awaken them to consider That a vicious Preacher is in a much more miserable and deplorable Condition than a vicious Hearer because his sins are much more aggravated and consequently his Punishment will be proportionably more intollerable Thou that teachest another Man should not be drunk if thou art a Drunkard Thou that preachest another should not be covetous or proud or contentious if thou art so thy self thy own Sermons will rise up in Judgment against thee out of thy own Mouth shalt thou be condemned to that utter darkness thou hast warned others to make their escape from and shalt have the darkest and most dismal Portion in it But this is not all For 2. That measure of Grace and Holiness which may suffice for a Lay-man will not be enough for those who are to be their Guides You cannot go to Heaven at so cheap a rate as your People can as your Calling is more holy and stands in a nearer Relation to God so also must your Lives be You must be Patterns of all those Graces and Vertues you recommend to them that they by looking upon you may be able to discern wherein they are defective In all things shewing thy self a Pattern of good Works says St. Paul to Titus Tit. 2. 7. which he also gives in charge to Timothy 1 Tim. 4. 12. Be thou an Example to the Believers in word in conversation in charity in spirit in faith in purity Which Commands though given to those who were of the higher yet are in proportion applicable to those of the lower Order of the Clergy For as Bishops ought to be Examples to the inferiour Clergy so the inferiour Clergy ought to be Examples to the Laity It is indeed the Duty of all even the most vulgar Christians if compared with the men of the World to be Patterns to them so our Saviour tells his Disciples Mat. 5. 13 14 15 16. That they were to be the salt of the Earth and the light of the World and commands them to let their light so shine before men that others seeing their good works might glorifie their Father which is in Heaven What then is required of you my Brethren who ought to be Examples to them who are to be Examples to the rest of Mankind What manner of Persons ought you to be in all holy Conversation and Godliness Nor must we only endeavour to frame our selves but our Families too according to the Doctrine of Christ and to make them Examples to other Families to make our Children and Servants as much as in us lyeth Examples to those of others in all those Graces and Duties which are proper to those Relations Which must be done by more fully instructing them in their respective Duties and by frequently pressing their Duties upon them by such Considerations as may be of power to over-awe their Consciences and oblige them to the performance thereof and by hearty Prayers to God to make our endeavours this way successful There is one thing more in your Ordination-Vow which I shall but very briefly recommend to your Consideration and Practice and that is That you will maintain and set forward as much as lieth in you quietness peace and love among all Christian-People especially among them who are or shall be committed to your Charge As to make peace not only between God and Man but also between man and man was one great thing our blessed Saviour had in his eye when he came into the World so in order thereunto he hath enjoyned the Practice of all those Vertues which tend to the begetting and promoting of Peace and hath forbidden all those ill-natur'd qualities that are Enemies to it As he hath commanded Rom. 12. 18. If it be possible as much as lieth in us to live peaceably with all men So he hath pressed us with great variety of the most powerful Arguments Eph. 4. 1 2 3. Phil. 2. 1 2 3. to be at peace among our selves So much was Peace his Design that he is stiled the PRINCE of Peace and his Gospel is called the Gospel of Peace As therefore we are the Ambassadors of this Prince of Peace and intrusted with the dispensation of his Gospel of Peace we are above all other men in the World obliged to the utmost of our power to prevent or reconcile differences and to maintain and promote Peace among our People To that end go to them that you hear are at variance endeavour â—o remove their Prejudices to correct their Mistakes to allay their Passions to perswade them to mutual Condescention and by all other fair means to make them heartily Friends Ever remembring That Blessed are the Peace-makers for they shall be called the Children of God Mat. 5. 9. To the last part of your Ordination-Vow viz. That you will reverently obey your Ordinary and other chief Ministers to whom is committed the Charge and Government over you c. I shall say nothing but leave it to your own Consciences to comment upon it presuming you will be impartial therein and less favourable to your selves than I should be There is one thing still behind that I must give you in Charge and that is Can. 62. The strict observation of the Canon against clandestine Marriages I hope those who practice contrary to it are in comparison but few notwithstanding the many Complaints which have been made to me about it That they are no other than the idle loose and vagrant that is the Scum and Refuse of the Clergy who drive on this scandalous Trade For I cannot perswade my self That any Man who has not very much debauch'd his Conscience and lost all sense of Honour and Reputation can be easily prevailed with to make such Marriages considering how express and severe the Laws of our Church are against them and considering the many sins and mischiefs which are the usual Consequents of them I shall pass over those which are of a more general extent and only mention a few of those Ecclesiastical Constitutions which more particularly relate to our own Church In a Council conven'd at Westminster in the Year 1175 it was Ordain'd That if any Priest shall be found to have joyned any in Marriage clandestinely he shall be suspended from his Office for the space of Three Years In a Council held after this in the Church of St. Pauls in London in the Year 1328 it was decreed Lynw. l. 4. Tit. 3. c. 1. That all Priests who shall presume to be present at any Matrimonial Contracts before the solemn publication of Banns shall be suspended from their Office for three Years And that every Priest whether Secular or Regular who shall without the special leave of the Diocesan presume to Celebrate Marriage in any place but a Church or Chappel which hath Parochial Rights shall be suspended a whole Year