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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A45328	An apologie for the ministry and its maintenance wherein is set forth the necessity, dignity and efficacy of a gospel-ministry against the Socinians, Swenckfieldians, Weigelians, Anabaptists, Enthusiasts, Familists, Seekers, Quakers, Levellers, Libertines and the rest of that rout ... / by Tho. Hall.	Hall, Thomas, 1610-1665.; Shaw, Samuel, 1635-1696.	1660 (1660)	Wing H425A; ESTC R28055	88,780	120

erroneous state of our English Church a stranger hath set a black mark England saith he in four years is become a Lerna and sink of all errors and sectaries No Countrey from the foundation of the world hath brought forth and brought up so many monstrous births as it hath done Nay in a word take away the Ministry and you take away faith in in God prayer to God and Salvation given by him Rom. 10. 15. 1 Tim. 4. 16. By this men are turned from darknesse to light and from the power of Sathan to God Ier. 23. 22. Luk 1. 16 17. By this Christ hath propagated his Church overthrown the Kingdom of Sathan and the powers of darknesse viz. paganisme idolatry superstition and ignorance Luk 10. 18 19. This stops the blasphemous mouths and cuts out the very tongues of that pestilent generation of Iesuites and Romish agents Therefore when God will hasten the downfall of Anti-Christ he will not doe it by a secular power but by the spirit of his mouth 2. Thes. 2. 8. that is By the power of the Gospell preacht by Ministers not Magistrates by whom also he hath founded true religion kept it upon its Legs when it was founded and restored it when it was fallen To these he hath given that which he hath denyed to the greatest Monarchs of the world the Keys of the Kingdom of heaven Mat. 16. 19. Ioh. 20. 23. So that what they bind on earth is said to be bound in heaven and what they loose to be loosed also Hence some one not amisse inferrs that a Minister rightly discharging his office hath not only preheminence above all other private persons but even Kings and Princes to which Chrysostome gives his suffrage That the very Angells of God in heaven in this may give place to the Angells of God which are upon earth who although they be themselves in heaven yet have no Keys to open to others Take away this Palladium i. e. come who will and take away our place and nation Behold the disasters and disorders and the omnifarious calamitousnesse of those times wherein Israel was without the knowledg of the true God without a teaching priest and without law 2. Chron. 15. 3. 5. Take away this light ye have nothing but stumbling Ioh. 11. 10. Take away Pastours and ye have men like sheep wandring Take away these guides and ye have all ditches every where filled with the carcasses of the blind that are fallen there Take away this light and let us see what solid comfort innumerable gold uninterrupted prosperity and friendly society will afford Take away this Arke and then shew me the glory of Israel Ignorance and impiety goe together in the Gospell texture Eph. 4. 18 and there is but a letter between Ignorants and Covenant-breakers Rom. 1. 31. If ye would find cruelty search the dark places of the earth for they are full of it Ps. 74. 20. Come see and heare the wise man's whoremonger bewayling himself at last Prov. 5. 13 14. I have not obeyed the voyce of my teachers Behold the root of bitternesse the fountain of his sin Nor inclined mine eare to them that instructed me Hin● illae lacl●ymae her 's the ground of the complaint Wherefore the Lord promiseth faithfull pastors as a great blessing and singular kindnesse I● 30. 20 21. The Lord will give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction Behold the ●ore But thy teachers shall not be removed into Corners any more thine eys shall see thy teachers Behold the salve Although we suffer hunger and thirst and adversity for tryall and purgation yet if God will be present with us in our teachers who may strengthen the weak cheare the sad refresh the faint and teach us the ways of the Lord our hunger will be as good as plenty our adversity will ou●-shine prosperity and our thirst as waged by the waters of the Sanctuary And on the other hand as hunger and thirst are blessings with the word so is a famine of the word the greatest curse on this side hell though in the midst of plenty and prosperity so is it represented Am. 8. 11. Is. 29. 9. 10. what is the body to the soul no more comparable in value then the cloaths are to the body And so consequently what is the sust●ntation and nourishment of the body to that of the soul Wheat is but chaffe to the bread of life Wine is but water to the droppings of the Sanctuary Honey is but Waxe nay very bitternesse to the word of God Ps. 19. 10. And so consequently what is a famine of bread or of water to a famine of the word of God which is the most exce●lent food of the most excellent substance in this world even our precious souls 2. This acquaints us with our miserable condition by nature It gives us to understand that we are altogether destitute of the salt of Mortification and Repentance If we were sound and could so preserve our selves what needed we this salt what unsavory filthy stinking corrupt carcases are men till they be seasoned with this heavenly salt Let us therefore bless God for this Seasoner and that he hath caused us to be brought forth and brought within the sound of the glorious Gospell and pray with all earnestness that as God hath out of his mere goodness ordained a Ministry for us that he would preserve it amongst us as he hath set it up so that he would keep it standing whilest the world it self shall stand 3. This acquaints us with the dignity and efficacy of the sacred Ministry of all that serve and minister to Christ his Ambassadours are his chiefest servants and choisest ministers Their ministry is most excellent because they minister to God Heb. 5. 1. and that not in the things pertaining to this life but in the things that respect the Kingdome of God and the everlasting Salvation of men this ministry is called a thing not small Numb 16. 19. ●ay it is called an honour Heb. 5. 4. nay the Prophet puts a beauty with an admiration upon the very feet of the Gospell-ministers Isa. 52. 7. How beautifull are the feet of them that bring good tydings of good that publish salvation how could the beauty of them be exprest more fully than by such an elegant particle of admiration and yet if the beauty of their feet must have an admiration borrowed to express them by what shall we express the beauty of their faces Learn hence what a glorious treasure the Gospell is what a glorious Office the Preaching of it is what glorious and honourable servants the preachers of it they have been a delight to the very Kings of the earth who in token of honour and reverence have called them fathers 2 Kings 6. 21. nay they have not onely spoken reve●●ntly of them but also comfortably to them 2 Chron. 30. 22. and 35. 2. wicked Saul himself could not but reverence holy Samuel 1 Sam. 15. and graceless Herod

could not but respect the gracious Baptist Marl 6. 20. the Apostle Paul was of so much worth to the Galattan that they received him as an Angel of God even as Chr●st ●esus 〈◊〉 his Ambassadour he was Gal. 4. 14. Behold Corn●lius the Ce●turion falling down before Peter the Apostle and worshipping him Act. 10. 25. Oh stupendious humanity and humility a Roman Captain a Gentleman Souldier stooping to a poor Apostle and offering him honour not onely more than could be exspected but than durst be accepted Lo Alexander the grand Tenant of the Universe whose ranging soul knew no confines whose stately spirit scorn'd to own any Monarch stooping before and doing reverence unto Iaddus the Iewish High-priest Iosephus Antiquit. l. 11. c. 8. It is not much that Aqutla and Priscilla should expose their lives to danger for Paul's sake Rom. 16. 3 4. but yet it spoke their great affection to and estimation of him Observe the reverend carriage of the noble Obadiah Governour of the Kings houshould towards Elijah a poor persecuted Prophet 1 Kings 18. 7. He fell on this face and said Art thou that my Lord Elisah and not only him did he reverence but manifested his great affections towards an hundred of the Lords Prophets even with the danger of his life ver 13. such was the honour sometimes thought due to the men of God Ministers are gifts not carnall and temporall but spirituall they are part of Christs purchase and a singular fruit of his ascension who went up into heaven that they might come down upon the earth Eph. 4. 10. 11. Surely the gift of the Sun and salt are a mere nothing if compared with this heavenly Largess By this Ministry the glory of God is manifested faith is begotten and nourished charity kindled and enflamed by this the Ignorant are instructed the idle are provoked the unconstant are fastened to the truth as it were nailes Eccles 12. 11. the wicked are convinced the weak are confirmed the root of wickedness cast up and the branches cut off This Gospell-ministry in the Apostles minde farre ou●-goes the Ministry of the Law 2 Cor. 3. 7 8 9. and Iohn Baptist who himself was scarce a Gospell-preacher had yet because of his more then ordinary nearness thereunto his preheminence not onely of the silken Courtiers in our Saviours account but of all the Prophets his p●edecessors Matth. 11. 7 8 9 10. And yet the meanest of the faithfull Ministers of Christ in regard of the clearness of the Doctrine taught by him is greater then he The great excellency and dignity of the Sacred Ministry will easily appear if we consider 1. The Authour of it not man but God The commendation of the Scriptures is that they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Tim. 3. 16. The commendation of Believers is that they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Isa. 54 13. The same authority commends the Ministry of the Word Eph. 4. 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Christ gave some Apostles c. He put● his Ministers into Commission Matth. 28. 19 20. And Iesus came and spake unto them saying All power is given to me in heaven and in earth Go ye therefore and teach all Nations baptizing them And S. Paul magnifies his Ministry by this authority 1 Cor. 1. 1. 2 Cor. 1. 1. and Gal 1. 1. Paul an Apostle not of men nor by man but by Iesus Christ and God the father It is not mans appointment but an Ordinance of God not a humane fiction but a Divine Institution 2. The Antiquity of it which also commends the goodness of a good thing The Ministry of the Church is no new Invention but an ancient Ordination for it had been even from the beginning which the Churches of God have not wanted in any age neither before nor under nor since the Law Before the Law were the Patriarchs who instructed their Families in the Worship of God and propagated Religion to their Posterity Under the Law God had his Priests and Levites and Prophets who had their unctions missions and Commissions from him And since the Law 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Christ hath given Apostles Pastors Evangelists Teachers 3. The Ministers of it the Patriarchs the Prophets Christ himself and his Apostles Isaiah was of the blood oyal and yet a Minister of this ministry King Solomon commends himself to the Church of God under the name of Koheleth and amongst other his Titles seems to glory first and most in that of The Preacher Eccles. 1. 1 The words of the Preacher and then it follows the son of David King in Ierusal●m Noah the Monarch of the whole world was a Preacher of righteousness 2 Pet. 2. 5. Nay Christ Iesus himself God blessed for evermore came to minister Mark 10. 45. and to be the Masterpreacher of the Gospel Heb. 1. 2. The Apostles and Teachers that have succeeded him being set up by him 1 Cor. 12. 28. are also honourable For what greater honour can there be in Court then to succeed in that place and employment in which the King's son himself deigned sometime to be 4. The Object about which it is conversant not the body but the soul not humane Laws secular concernments but spirituall things relating to the worship service and glory of God and the salvation of soules Physicians binde up bruised bodies Lawyers patch up broken Estates whilest Christ Ministers bind up broken hearts and salve wounded consciences If therefore the body he unworthier then the soul the earth be content to be below the heavens externalls give place to eternalls parity of reason will prefer this sacred function before and set it above all others 5. The Supernaturall Effects thereof such as the Conversion Sanctification and Salvation of man In all which the dignity of the sacred Ministry does admirably appear and in the dignity of the ministry doth also appear the dignity of the Ministers Neither let any one say they are servants they are but Ministers and therefore not to be honoured for that derogates not awhit from their honour If they be servants they are the servants of the Church of God If they be Ministers they are Ministers of Christ the Lord of heaven earth and hell They are not the servants of Kings but of the King of Kings to whom the glorious Angells do gladly Minister neither are they of the meanest of Christ's servants put in some low place of service but they serve him in the distribution of the most precious treasure even Gospell-grace 2 Cor. 4. 7. now to be the Treasurer of the Lord is a greater honour then to be Lord-Treasurer And if there be honour in the meanest Office performed for God as he wing wood and drawing water for the Sanctuary and keeping the door of the house of God Psal. 84. 10. surely the highest Offices cannot be dishonourable All the things that render any service honourable do concurre to make this great employment truly honourable 1. VVe serve an honourable Master the Lord