from him to treat with their fellow-Creatures in the business of Religion and to communicate the Mysteries of the Gospel to them which by a just Analogy may also be attributed to all succeeding Ministers who are legally appointed to serve at the Altar of Christ and to Minister to his People in Sacred things Which is the second part of the Proposition and respects the Office and employment of the Persons spoken of in the Text They are the Stewards of the Mysteries of God that the Gospel of Christ or the Doctrine of Christianity is intended under this Phrase will most evidently appear if we compare this Expression of the Apostle with others of the like Nature and then consider the most genuine import and signification of them in Col. 2.2 the Apostle professing his ardent Zeal and Sollicitude for the Church of God at Colossi and Laodicea inserteth this very expression into his prayer for them that they might be united with one accord into the the knowledge and profession of the Mysteries of God of which he affirms in the next Verse That all Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge are contained in them the same he calls their Faith in Christ Vers 5. And receiving Christ Jesus the Lord Vers 6. Which Phrases can admit of no other Exposition to explicate their sence and meaning than to signifie the Christian Doctrine which at the first was delivered by the Lord and afterwards confirmed and perfected by them that heard him Parallel to which is that Illustrious Aphorism of St. Paul 1 Tim. 3.16 Great is the Mystery of Godliness that is the Religion of Christ which prescribes the most excellent and perfect Rules of Piety and that this notion requires so general a signification appears by the several branches enumerated by the Apostle as a Basis or Foundation to support the Church of God which were the common received Articles of the Christian Religion For that men might not wander eternall◠in the dark and an everlasting blindness possess their Souls it hath pleased the infinitely Wise and Gracious God to communicate to the World by Divine Revelation many sublime and mysterious points and whatever else is necessary to be believed and observed in order to Mens Salvation and that these things might be perpetuated to the World and secured from the corruptions or invasions of Enemies it seemed good to the Holy Ghost to commit them to writing in the Sacred Records of Holy Scripture which by an especiall providence are preserved entire to this very day in the Canonical Books of the Old and New Testament which latter was the only Foundation laid by the Apostles and therefore the Catalogue of Books contained therein the sum and substance of the Christian Faith which St. Paul saith was made manifest and known to the Saints and so certainly could not remain in unwritten Traditions for then it would have been hid from the World Rom. 16.26 And another Apostle calls it the Faith once or at once delivered Jude 3. Which directly opposeth any Innovation or Introduction of Doctrines into the Gospel after its consummation by the Apostles which is an assertion of such Catholick verity that all the Writers in the Church of Christ have constantly acknowledged it till those few persons in the late Councel of Trent durst venture to reject the universal Tradition of the Church and run counter with the best Antiquity which is plainly demonstrated by the incomparable industry and elaborate inquiry of the late Reverend Bishop of Durham in his Scholastical History of the Canon of Holy Scripture So that though the Writings of Apocryphical Authors may be Read in the Church of God for example of life and instruction of manners yet the Governours of our Church in Compiling her publick Liturgy have appointed no part of those Books to be Read but what is agreeable to Canonical Scripture and always accounted their Authority too weak to lay any Foundation for or to establish any necessary Doctrine upon Which was the Judgment of Saint Jerome concerning this matter who was also the most strenuous Assertor of the certain and indubitate Catalogue of Holy Writers for speaking of the Writings of Apocrypha he saith Legit quidem Ecclesia sed eas inter Canonicas non recipit and though we receive the Name and Number of Canonical Books from the Authority of humane Tradition and upon the same credit believe those Copies which now we enjoy to be Authentick and in all material parts agreeable to the most Primitive Writings of the Evangelists and Apostles yet we dare not receive the Traditions of men as the Doctrine of God nay we utterly reject such Impositions as presumptuous and impudent and are afraid of the Curse of God if we should receive them as Articles of Faith because the Holy Ghost in the Comsummation of the Gospel hath consign'd and Sealed it up with an Anathema Rev. 22.18 19. Itestifie c. Therefore the Church of England according to the practice of the Catholick Church in all Ages since the time of the Apostles hath prescribed the same Canon of Scripture and utterly disclaimed all pretence of Adition to or Detraction from it as 't is recited in the Sixth Article of our Religion So that the written Word of God the Sacred Records of the Gospel the several Contents therein the various parts thereof and no other Writings or Traditions whatsoever are that depositum committed to the charge of all Ministerial Officers whose duty it is to preserve and improve the same according to the pleasure of their Lord and Master for this purpose they are constituted Stewards of God and Dispensers of Holy Mysteries thus St. Paul affirms in general 2 Cor. 5.18 19 20. God hath given Us the Ministry of Reconciliation and committed to Us the Word of Peace that we are Ambassadours for Christ to pray men in Christs stead to be reconciled unto God and in particular proclaims of himself that he was appointed a Preacher of the Gospel and an Apostle and a Teacher of the Gentiles 2 Tim. 1.11 And for this reason he exhorts Timothy to stir up the gift of God which was in him by the putting on of his hands to hold fast the form of sound words which he had heard of him and to keep by the Holy Ghost the good thing which was committed to him Vers 6 13 14. To which agrees that description of a Minister or President in Sacred affairs delivered by that Mystical Divine that he is the proper Interpreter of Divine Theology 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Angel of Almighty God being to learn from those Divinely inspired Oracles and then to teach and explain them to the Church And if the Commission of those Apostolical Persons be restrained within the prescription of certain bounds that they durst not go beyond the command of the Lord to do either good or bad of their own mind had power to say nothing in the name of Christ but what he communicated to them
AD CLERUM A VISITATION SERMON PREACHED At Beckonsfield in the County of Bucks April the 9 th 1678. By JOHN JAMES A. M. Rector of Latimers in the County of Bucks LONDON Printed by T.H. for R. Chiswel at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Church-yard 1678. Imprimatur Geo. Thorp R mo in C.P.D. Domino Gulielmo Archiep. Cant. a Sacris Domesticis May 31. 1678. 1 Cor. 4.1 2. Let a man so account of us as of the Ministers of Christ and Stewards of the Mysteries of God Moreover it is required in Stewards that a man be found faithful SAint Paul having planted Christianity among the Corinthians by preaching the Gospel of Christ in the City of Corinth and other adjacent Provinces in the Countrey of Greece after the space of Eighteen Months he departed from those Regions and took his Journey into Asia where he alsodelivered what he had received from the Lord and instructed the People both publickly in the Synagogues and privately in their Houses in the Mysteries of the Kingdom of God Immediately after his departure Apollos being by Priscilla and Aquila sufficiently instructed in the Doctrine of the Gospel upon his coming to Ephesus is by them recommended and sent to the Brethren at Achaia where he boldly delivered and diligently taught the things of the Lord confirming those who were converted by the Ministry of St. Paul in the grounds and principles of the Christian faith and by arguments unanswerable confuting the most obstinate Jews and putting to silence publickly in the Synagogues the most subtle and shrewdest Disputants among them Acts 18. vers 24 c. But though Paul had planted the Christian Religion in converting many by the preaching of the Gospel to be Proselytes to it and Apollos after him had watered those Converts in contributing his utmost assistance to settle and establish them on the Foundation which Paul had laid though God himself had given increase in making their labours effectual by the blessed influence of his Spirit to obtain those great ends he designed in the promulgation of the Gospel to wit the Conversion and Edification of Souls in the faith of Christ yet in a short time the heat of their Devotion began to be abated or rather to be misimployed upon improper objects For those which had enrolled themselves into the same Society professed and were Baptized into the same faith and so became members of the same mystical body broke forth into furious contentions animosities against each other rendring most miserably and most cruelly tearing the Church of Christ to pieces in its very Infancy for through the enmity of those impure Gnosticks against the Rules and Precepts of Christianity and the malice of the Judaizing Christians against many points of Doctrine contained therein most lamentable Schisms and Factions broke forth in the Church of Corinth which like flames of Fire were ready to consume and burn it down to the ground Errors and Heresies were scattered abroad and greedily received by too many among them which like ill Weeds soon grew up and brought forth most unwholsom fruit in their lives and manners This sad news no sooner came to the Ears of our Apostle but it sunk heavily down upon his Soul and made a deep impression of sorrow upon his minde therefore to redress these mischiefs and if possible to settle the distractions and divisions of Corinth he presently composeth and directs this Epistle to the Church there and to all other Christians both Jews and Gentiles inhabiting the Regions of Achaia in which after a Religious and most affectionate Salutation to procure from them a favourable Audience and a candid entertainment of what he delivered from v. 1. to v. 9. He most earnestly exhorts them to an Unity in Doctrine and brotherly Communion one among another vers 10 11. And then laying open before their eyes the grievousness of their Schism he charges them boldly with it to their very faces vers 11 12 13. Telling them plainly that the Christian Religion is but one and Christ Jesus the only Author of it That the excellency of its is such that though it be not ushered into the World with sublimity of speech and the Ornaments of humane wisdom and therefore is styled the foolishness of Preaching and by the learned Scribes and wise Disputers of the World was rejected with pride and insolence yet it consisteth in the power of God and so far excelleth the wisdom of this World that it destroys the understanding of the Wise and Prudent and confounds the things that are Mighty and Noble Chap. 1.2 That as Christ is the Author of this Divine Institution so he is the only proper Foundation for men to lay the Superstructure of their Faith and Salvation upon and according to the expression of St. Peter Acts 4.12 The only Name under Heaven given among Men whereby they should be called And consequently that thoso who labour in the Church of Christ have no dominion over the Faith of men or authority to command their Consciences notwithstanding they are Ministers of Christ and fellow-labourers together with God Stewards in the Houshold of Faith and Dispensers of the Mysteries of the Gospel and therefore as men are obliged to shew them their respective and just esteem but not to transcend its prescribed limits and bounds so 't is required these be faithful in their Office and Conscientious in the discharge of so Sacred a Function which as 't is a prevalent means to repair the breaches and cure the divisions in the Church of Christ so 't is the advice of the Apostles to the Corinthians and the immediate design of the words in my Text. Let a man so account of us c. That my discourse may be full and comprehensive proportionable to the just design and import of these words and serviceable in some measure to the present occasion and future necessities of this Assembly Three things necessarily require our consideration First The Subjects of the Apostles discourse implyed under the Pronoun Us. Secondly The matter predicated of or attributed to these Persons The Ministers of Christ and Stewards of the Mysteries both which Particulars joyned together make up an entire Proposition that the Persons intended by the Apostle are the Ministers of Christ and Stewards of the Mysteries of God Thirdly Practical Inferences deduced from the truth of the Apostles assertion one respecting the men to whom these persons are employed as Ministers and Stewards Let a man so account of us as of The other relating to the Persons themselves to whom their Office is committed Moreover 't is required in Stewards that a man be found faithful First We shall consider the subjects of the Apostles discourse implyed under the Pronoun Us The Persons here intended being the very Foundation of the Apostles Argument and a just determination of this Particular the most regular and orderly Method to assist us in the undertaking and progress of our present employment 'T is certain that the
Persons spoken of whom St. Paul did directly and immediately respect are those mentioned Chap. 3. vers 22. Paul Apollos and Cephas who were separated by the Lord for the work of the Ministry and appointed as subservient to the Faith and Salvation of the Corinthians but that this particular direction to the Church of Corinth may be of larger use and service to the Church of Christ in general 't is most rational and consentaneous to the whole scope and tenure of the Gospel to affirm that all those who according to the Canons of Christ and the Apostles are consecrated to the same imployment are invested with the same Authority and Office implicitely included in the expression of the Apostle and therefore as justly styled Ministers of Christ and Stewards of the Gospel as Paul or Apollos or Cephas were And if particular Commission be necessary to constitute the Offices of the holy Order the Negative holds as infallibly true as the Affirmative that no person may presume to administer any Office appropriate to this sacred Function but those who are Legally called to and Canonically invested with it for the Gospel almost as oft as occasion is offered to make mention of the Ministers and dispensers of it plainly intimates that the Master of our Religion designs a separation of persons from secular employments to officiate in the Ministry and Preaching of the Gospel as in 1 Cor. 12. The Apostle resembles the Church to a Body which is constituted of several Members and every one designed to serve in its proper place for the benefit and advantage of the whole that the foot cannot usurp the Office of the Head nor the Arm exercise the Authority of the Brain but every one discharge its proper Function that there be no Schism nor Division in the body in proportion to which similitude the state of Christ's mystical body is to be understood in which every the meanest Christian is a Member in particular but every Member cannot dispose and regulate the affairs of the whole For are all Apostles are all Prophets are all Teachers do all speak with Tongues do all Interpret Vers 29.30 Shall the foot say Unless I am head I will not be of the Body Or the ear say Because I am not the eye I am not sufficiently honored If the whole Body were an eye where were the hearing And if every Member were the Head where were the Body But God hath set the Members every one in the Body as it hath pleased him Vers 16 17 18. First Apostles Secondarily Prophets Thirdly Teachers Vers 28. And that this distinction should remain in the Church to the end of the World is confidently conffirmed by the Apostle Ephes 4.11 12 13. Wherein he declares that the Officers of the Church therein mentioned to be given for the perfecting of the Saints for the edifying of the Body of Christ c. Which Phrases must of necessity denote their continuance in the Church till the number of Gods Elect are accomplished and the state of Christs mystical Body perfectly compleated and for this reason St. Paul justifies his special designation to the Apostleship 1 Tim. 2.7 And St. Peter exhorts his Presbyters to continual diligence in their imployment as their proper and necessary duty 1 Pet. 5.1 2. And inded if we search into the ancient Records of the World or consider the account which Modern Historians have privately collected and publickly presented to us the most learned and faithfull among them do confidently assure us that never any Nation in the World made a publick profession of Religion but the Governours thereof solemnly appointed a separation of Persons whose constant employment it should be to Solemnize and Celebrate the Mysteries thereof and Moses in transcribing the History of the Church of God both before and after the Floud and under the admistration of the Law hath recorded the observation of the same custom in those several forms of Church-government thus Enoch and Noah were Preachers of Righteousness to the old World Abraham and the succeeding Patriarchs were Kings and Priests in their respective Families and duly administred the affairs of Religion to their several charges And when God erected his Theocratical Government over the Jews whom he had chosen for his own People he commanded Aaron and his Sons to be set apart for the Priests Office that they might wait at the Altar of the Lord and Minister to the People in Holy things which was appointed a Statute unto him and to his Seed after him for evermore Exod. 28.1 43. And if the Christian Religion must be denyed this honour and no such Custom observed in the Church of Christ this strange innovation must be grounded upon one or both of these reasons either that it contains matters of less value and concernment to Christians than the Religion of other Nations to the Proselytes of it Or else that they are so plain easie in all and every particular Doctrine that the meanest understanding can comprehend their most intimous sence and meaning and 't is impossible for the most illiterate to be deceived in his judgment concerning them These are the fairest pretences that can be alledged against the necessary distinction of the Ministerial Office yet their weakness is apparent at the first view and their absurdity so gross that it may palpably be felt For the Gospel of Christ is so far from deserving this reproach and contempt that it contains matters of the greatest moment and importance for Man to know such as are the excellency of the Divine Nature the state and condition of mans Soul and that incomparable Method contrived by the Divine Wisdom for mans eternal happiness comprehends matters of the most universal Satisfaction to the minds of men and propounds the duties of a Practical Religion which are most agreeable to the Divine Nature to require and most reasonable for Mankind to observe in all which respects it infinitely transcends all the Platforms of Religion entertain'd in the World and even the worship of the Jews themselves and though those Practical points which are essentially necessary to mans Salvation are extremely suitable to the dictates of right reason and delivered with the greatest perspicuity and clearness imaginable yet it discourseth concerning points of Faith of the greatest depth and mysteriousness which are altogether inconceiveable and incomprehensible and do exceed the apprehensions of any created Being such are the Eternal purposes and decrees of God the Doctrine of the Trinity the Incarnation of the Son of God with other Doctrines of like affinity scattered up and down the Gospel for so St. Peter tell us That in the Epistles of St. Paul are some things hard to be understood which they that are unlearned and unstable so wrest as they do also the other Scriptures to their own destruction 2 Pet. 3.16 What can be spoken of such infinite importance What can be delivered of so tremendous consequence as the Christian Religion And shall not the
reverence Peter yet will not I be called a Petrian I honour Paul yet will not I be called a Paulian But the Assertion of Lactantius though very severe Instit L. 4. C. 30. is undoubtedly true Christiani esse desièrunt qui Christi nomine amisso humana and externa vocabula induerunt And indeed 't is such a reproach to Christianity for its Professors to assume those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 De Consc Prael P. 3. that as the Reverend Bishop Sanderson sadly complained Non est dignus qui sit Christi qui non est Unius Christi discipulus But if men did seriously design the Peace of their own Consciences or the prosperity of the Church and State in which they live they would rejoyce exceedingly in the Name of Christians alone would reverently observe the lawfull Constitutions of a well settled National Church and embrace Christianity in its purity and simplicity without any sinister respect to Parties and Divisions I heartily wish that the Sons of the Church of England do neither by their flattery or pusillanimity their connivance or lukewarmness contribute any thing to these sad distractions in this Nation and I humbly beg that they will most seriously declaim against and sincerely endeavour to suppress such extravagant vanities in the Religion of their Auditors and that the People of this Kingdom would once be persuaded into this necessary piece of Christian Prudence not to think of their Teachers more than they ought but whatever Reverence they bear to their Persons however fair and plausible their reasonings may seem to their weak understandings to let none of their Stratagems deceive their Souls nor a Multitude of Words to sway their Judgments to make unjust separations in the body of Christs Church to affront the Authority of the lawful Powers by which under God they are protected much less to be perverted from any one Article in the Christian Faith or to receive any Doctrine that overthrows it for this is the Command of him who is the only Potentate and Lord over Heaven and Earth Mat. 23.6 7 9. Though your Patriots love the uppermost Rooms at Feasts and the chief seats in the Synagogues and to be called of men Rabbi Rabbi yet call no man your Father upon the Earth for one is your Father which is in Heaven 2. The Exhortation of the Apostles admits of this Exposition that men account so worthily of these Persons As the Ministers of Christ and Stewards of God as those denominations are applied to Ministers which denote their servitude and subjection to Christ so the same and other Titles of honour are attributed to them which import some Power and Authority inherent in them thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 denotes their Dignity and Commission in the Government of the Church for as in Temporal Kingdoms when Rulers or Procurators are sent into any Province they receive Authority to regulate the affairs thereof as Deputies or Vicegerents to their Soveraign Lord so Christ sent forth his Apostles with Commission to Succeed him in the Administration of the Government of his Spiritual Kingdom to execu in his Name several Offices in the Church which he in Person performed when he was conversant with it thereof they are called by the Holy Ghost 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Tim. 5.17 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 13.17 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Cor. 12.28 Of like signification is that honourable Appellation of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which respects the eminent Dignity of the Ministerial Officers who are employed by the Prince of Heaven as his Ambassadors to Treat and Negotiate with the Sons of of Men concerning the Mysterious affairs of his glorious Kingdom For so the Romans gave the Title of Legates to those Persons who were invested with Dignity to represent their Masters Person and with Authority to manage their Commission with Foreign States which employment as it highly advanceth the Dignity of these Officers so it justly requires from men an honourable respect to their Message and a Reverend estimation of their Persons and for this St. Paul commends his beloved Corinthians because of their kindness and obedience to Titus that out of respect to his Spiritual Function with fear and trembling they had received him 2 Cor. 7.15 In conformity to which practice the Apostle frequently inserts an Exhortation of the same Nature as a necessary injunction to the Church 1 Thes 5.12 13. We beseech you Brethren to know them which labour among you and are over you in the Lord and to esteem them very highly in love for their works sake and Heb. 13.17 Obey them that have the Rule over you and submit your selves for they watch for your Souls as they that must give account and from hence St. Ignatius Exhorting the Church of Smyrna to Unity and Order presents them with that repect 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Epist ad Smyrn p. 6. which is due to the Officers of the Church as a proper expedient thereto Let the Bishop be obeyed as your Spiritual Father the Presbytery as the Apostles of Christ and the Deacons rever'd in obedience to the Command of God let nothing be done without the Bishops appointment I must confess that the best of us are but men of like Passions and infirmities with others and consequently many imperfections through the degeneracy of humane Nature are in us unavoidable and perhaps there may be some in sacred Orders very disorderly in their lives and profane in their Manners such as should adorn the soundness of their Doctrines by the holiness of their Conversations but bring it into contempt and derision by their unholy and vitious course yet so long as their Doctrines are sound and Orthodox and till they are suspended from their Office by lawfull Authority which is heartily to be wisht they stand in Christs stead who hath extended his Precept concerning this very purpose to the vilest of men that People should follow the good Doctrine of their Teachers not the evil example of their Lives and Actions Mat. 23.2 3. So that though the Person for his immoralities deserve to be degraded into the lowest Rank of Christians according to the Twenty Fifth of the Apostles Canons and upon continued disobedience after sufficient admonition to be expelled the Christian Church Mat. 18.17 Yet 't is easie to distinguish his Office and Employment from his personal vices and necessary to respect him for his Works sake But I may return from this digression and take up a just reprehension against an impudent Generation of Men who are not afraid to abuse the Messengers of Christ and to confront the Message delivered by them such as deride and affront their Persons as if they were the refuse and off-scouring of the World and indeavour by Sacrilege and injustice to deprive them of their competent and necessary Allowance which the Laws of God have commanded in general and the contribution of charitable friends with the just Authority of the
civil Powers have prescribed in Particular most contrary to the Canon of the Apostle 1 Tim. 5.17.18 That those who labour in the Word and Doctrine be counted worthy of double honour for the labourer is worthy of his reward And an Ordinance of Christ himself 1 Cor. 9.14 That they which preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel Such as refuse to attend to his Ambassage though of Divine Authority and neglect to consider the grand importance of it though he speak the very Oracles of God and discourse to them of the Kingdom of Heaven Such as scorn to endure the reproof of their Minister though never so just and necessary and are inraged at his reprehensions though ushered with meekness wisdom and gravity whose affections are so corrupt and their Spirits so haughty that they become his enemies because he tells them the Truth and if the Power of their hand were equal to the Passion of their hearts would Parallel the Oppression of Ahab the Impiety of Jehoiakim or the Cruelty of Herod Et alia insunt stolida vana vel si molliùs acciperes miseranda sed non ad invidiam ista verum conciliandae misericordiae refero Which Epiphonema of the Historian may be expouned by the words of the Apostle in the Language of the Holy Ghost we are made a Spectacle unto the World to Angels and to men we are fools for Christs sake being despised and reviled I speak not these things to shame our enemies but as a faithful Minister of Christ to warn and remember them 1 Cor. 4. â—9 c. Father forgive them they know not what they do they consider not what reproach and affront they cast upon thy Son our Master when they contemn and dishonour us his immediate Servants which yet our Lord hath expresly signified Luk. 10.16 He that despiseth you despiseth me and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me But that we may be perswaded better things of the People in our several charges may this Petition be inserted into our daily Litany that they will cheerfully ascend to the House of God to recieve instruction will attend with reverence and devotion to our Words of Exhortation will impartially examine and seriously consider the rational importance of our Doctrines and Admonitions and either friendlily inform us if any Error or Corruption fall from us or if we speak the truth in Christ and lie not faithfully believe and sincerely obey us But whether Men will hear or whether they will forbear let us remember the Vocation whereto we are called that arming our selves with the resolution of St. Paul Acts. 20.24 That ther Bonds nor afflictions shall move us neither will we count our life dear unto us so that we may finish our Course with joy and the Ministry we have received of the Lord Jesus 2 Cor. 6.4 c. We may attain the Christian simplicity and courage of that blessed Apostle And approve our selves the faithful Ministers of Christ and good Stewards of the Mysteries of God Which is the Second Inference delivered in the Text and respects the Persons who are the Ministers and Stewards of the Gospel that they be faithfull in discharge of their Office commited to them Moreover 't is required in Stewards that a man be found faithfull the just design of which Exhortation will be fully answered by them if they be endowed with these two qualifications First A good understanding of their Office and Employment Secondly A good Conscience in the discharge and performance of it First A good understanding of their Office and Employment is necessary in the Stewards of God that they be found faithfull for 't is impossible that men be faithfull in their Stewardship whose intellectuals are Naturally defective or their understanding though capable of improvement yet rude and ignorant in the knowledge of their duty How can they discharge the Office of Teachers that have need to be taught the first Principles of the Oracles of God Or how can those Persons instruct their People in the Mysteries of Religion that are Novices in the Faith of Christ and know not those Canons by which the House of God is to be ruled and how shall they then take care of the Church to preserve it pure and undefiled or be able by so und Doctrine to exhort and convince the gainsayer 'T is our Saviours observation if the blind lead the blind they shall both fall into the Ditch So necessary 't is that the Ministers of Religion be themselves sufficiently instructed that they may communicate to others in all Spiritual knowledge And as the Lacedaemonians called the Governours of their City 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because they framed the dispositions and fashioned the manners of their Subjects according to the Laws of their repective Communities and the Wise Athenians for the same reason gave their Rulers the same denomination and styled them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because they constituted good and wholesom Laws for the direction of the People and used most prevalent means to have them observed So God that Soveraign Lord of his People hath given the like Appellations to the Deputies in his Church the Ministers of Spiritual affairs as Seers Prophets Overseers and Stewards that from the signification of their Name they may be put in remembrance of their duty that the Preists lips should preserve knowledge and the People should seek the Law at their mouths What the Office of a Minister in general is hath been already discoursed when we considered that depositum committed to his charge and for whole service it should be employed the substance of which is that the whole will of God concerning mans Salvation be faithfully delivered and explain'd as 't is contained in the Gospel of Christ the particular Offices wherein this general duty is to be performed are briefly comprehended in those short instructions recommended to the Ministers of Christ in their Ordinations to them are committed the blessed Sacraments of the Christian Religion that as opportunity serves and necessity requireth they Administer those Sacred Rites in the Church of God Mat. 28.19 1. Cor. 11.24 25. by Baptizing such as are duly disposed for that Solemn Ordinance and distributing the Holy Communion to those pious and humble Souls that are Religiously disposed to celebrate the honour of God in that Sacred Institution and into their hands me S. Sc are put who are Commanded to Solemnize the worship of God is publick either as Priests to wait at the Altar of Lord to intercede with his Majesty in the behalf of the People and to present in their stead Prayers and supplications and thanksgivings to him this St. Paul gave in charge to Timothy 1 Tim. 2.1 2. And for this reason that great Apostle so frequently inserts his Petitions in his Epistles to his beloved Converts protesting that he should sin against God if he neglected to pray for them and resolving never to omit so necessary a duty and upon
but little Conscience in prescribing Rules and Directions to others or if we do employ our knowledge and our strength to explain the Mysteries of Salvation to the Souls committed to our charge we cannot challenge a Blessing from God upon our endeavours nor rationally expect that our labours should be successful for God himself hath taken up a quarrel against such men Psal 50.16 17 Unto the wicked saith God What hast thou to do to declare my Statutes or to take my Covenant in thy mouth seeing thou hatest instruction and castest my words behind thee therefore I will reprove thee and set thy sins in order before thy eyes And the Apostle assures us that such men are inexcusable before God and that his Sacred Name is blasphemed by them Rom. 2.1 17 --- 24. And as our People may justly upbraid the Indecency and absurdity of our Lives when our Actions confront our Doctrines and our Manners give our Preaching the Lye as St. Jerome hath observed Perdit Authoritatem docendi cujus Sermo opere destruitur so they may be provoked to reproach and contemn the Gospel it self as an unholy Institution or a fabulous Legend like those in Salvian's time Si Christus Sancta docuisset Christiani Sanctè vixissent Of what great concernment is it then that we demonstrate our knowledge in the sound Mysteries of Religion by our Reverent apprehensions of them and a Religious deportment in the whole course and frame of our actions correspondent to them That every Article of the Christian Faith of whose truth we labour to persuade our People be influential upon our Practices in such proportion 1 Cor. 14.24 25. that if there come in one that believeth not or one that is unlearned into our Assemblies he may be convinced and falling down on his face worship God and report that God is in us of a truth And every Precept in the Body of Christianity which we binde upon the Consciences of men and exhort them to practice may be delineated so fairly in our Lives and Conversations that others seeing our good works may glorifie our Father which is in Heaven Such was the faithfulness of our Apostle in this particular that without any remorse he could take the Philippians by the hand and lead them to the Practice of every good work by the conduct of his own Example Brethren be ye followers together of me and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an example Phil. 3.17 And in his Epistle to these he appeals to their own Consciences to judge in what manner of Conversation he walked among them 1 Thes 2.1.10 Your selves Brethren know our entrance unto you and ye are Witnesses and God also how justly and holily and unblameably we behaved our selves among you Lib. 3. de Jub Dei P. 78. for which reason Salvian so highly and deservedly commends him Boni Domini bonus famulus singularis Magistri praeclarus imitator And now Brethren we see our Calling and are we Conscientious in the management of it We have heard our Profession and are our Practices answerable to it We cannot I am sure be ignorant of those Arguments that oblige our Faithfulness and do they preswade us to a constant Universal Obedience Or are not the best of us too little serious in the work of the Ministry and therefore our labours the less successful Do we persuade our People in the Mysteries of Godliness and press them to unfeigned Repentance and uniform Obedience to the Laws of Heaven as men that know the terrors of the Lord and believe without these things our Auditors shall perish Eternally Do we intreat exhort and beseech them as it were for their Lives and Salvation Or do we count our Office a burden and substituting others into our Stewardship are indifferent what Persons labour in the Vineyard so we may eat the Fruit thereof and receive the Profits in their appointed Season Do none of us by our scandalous lives disgrace the Gospel we Preach and so offend our weaker Brethren by laying a stumbling Block in their way to Heaven and scandalizing them by our licentious Courses I come not into this place to Caluminate any much less to accuse my Fathers and my Brethren this work I refer to the scrutiny of every mans Conscience and the Inquisition of our Spiritual Governours And I heartily wish that every Minister in this Assembly after the strictest Examination will be found to have approved himself a faithfull and wise Steward in the House of God that our care is to rertench the sins and impieties and to repair the Schisms and Divisions in the places were we live that we are obedient to the voice of our exact Conformity to her Laws and Canons and Brotherly kindness to one another that in our Instructions and Exhortations we display the odious Nature of sin in its proper colours that sinners may blush and be ashamed at their prophane and vicious courses And use the most prevalent Rhetorick to set forth Vertue to the life to represent it with our utmost skill in the most amiable and lovely attire that men may be drawn as with Cords of love to Court and embrace her and above all these things that we keep our selves unspotted from the sins of the World for hereunto are we called to be blameless and harmless as the Sons of God without rebuke that our Conversations may be living Sermons and our Sermons the lively Oracles of God These are the qualifications to make us faithfull Stewards in the Church of God We must be Wise to understand the Mysteries of Religion lest we be deceived by the Stratagems and Sophistry of Imposters and Faithfull lest we seduce and delude others We must be Learned in the word of God that in our Doctrines we may shew Incorruptness Gravity Sincerity and found speech that cannot be condemned and Conscientious in Preaching the same that he who is of the contrary part may be ashamed and those that gainsay the faithfull Word of God by the soundness of our Doctrines and faithfulness of our Labours may be convinc'd Who then is a faithful and wise Servant whom his Lord hath made Ruler over his Houshold to give them meat in due Season Blessed is that Servant whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing For he shall say unto him Well done thou good and faithfull Servant thou hast been faithfull over a few things I will make thee Ruler over many things enter thou into the Joy of thy Lord. FINIS