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A30576 Four usefull discourses viz. ... / by Jer. Burroughs ... Burroughs, Jeremiah, 1599-1646. 1675 (1675) Wing B6073; ESTC R36309 190,879 294

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threaten sometimes in the Name of God Now therefore That they might convince people that they aim onely at good unto them in this therefore they must be of as loving and gentle and quiet and patient Spirits as possible may be especially in their own cause and that 's the tryal You sometimes prehaps hear a Minister preach hard things and you think they come with much harshness to you and your hearts are ready to rise against them But examine whether in all their dealings else and in things concerning themselves whether they be not of loving and gentle Spirits and full of Bowels of Compassion And they must be of such dispositions that they might win upon people and draw their hearts as in Hos 11. 4. I drew them with Cords of a Man and with the Bands of love And indeed this is one special reason why God sends Men to be the Ministers of the Gospel rather then Angels that there might not be any terror strook into the hearts of people If Angels should appear they would be exceeding dreadful and terrible but God doth rather choose Man to be a Minister that so he might sute himself to the dispositions of Men and draw with the Cords of Man And what 's that That 's with the Bands of love Mans Nature will rather be drawn then driven And my Brethren As it ought to be in Ministers to be of such dispositions so you that are the people should shew your selves to be of the like dispositions towards them again of Sweet and Loving and Gentle and Fair Dispositions towards them not of rugged and ridged tempers We read of the building of the Temple that there was not one whit of Iron us'd in it which is observable We do not read I say of Iron that was brought to the Building they made their Pinns of Wood and other things and Plates of Gold and Silver but brought no Iron God when he is about to build a Church and call a People home to himself he will call such as are of gentle Spirits or make them such God doth either refuse such ridged Spirits or else he doth change their natures that 's the First Note Say Peace be to this House The Second is this That Ministers ought to bless their People for so these words are to be considered not onely as to manifest their dispositions to give them a taste of their Spirits but as a Benediction to them Peace be to this place We in the Name of the Lord Bless you with Peace And this is more than to pray for them Ministers are to pray for People God forb●d saith Samuel That I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you But Ministers should do more They are in the Name of the Lord to Bless them Prayer it is a Speaking unto God but Blessing it is to Speak from God to Man and that with some kind of Authority Therefore we find in Scripture that The Lesser is Blessed of the Greater And That the Ministers were appointed to Bless the People in the Old Law Numb 6. 23. Speak unto Aaron and to his Sons saying On this wise ye shall bless the Children of Israel saying unto them The Lord bless thee and keep thee the Lord make His Face to shine upon thee and be Gracious unto thee the Lord lift up His Countenance upon thee and give thee Peace Here was Blessing in the Old Law And they retain'd some part of it in coming to any place when they said Peace be to this Place We read of Men of great Esteem among the People of the Jews that were wont to Bless those that they came unto As you find that of Boaz in Ruth 2. 4. He Prays for them and they Bless him Here was a sweet Salutation of a Man that did set other Men on work Boaz came into the Field and said unto the Keepers The Lord be with you And they answered him The Lord bless thee Many Men when they go among their Work-men they go with Raging and Cursing if things be not done according to their Mind Now what an unseemly thing is this among those who profess themselves Christians But on the other side this is Gracious-like to come among their Servants and Work-men and thus to Bless them The Lord be with you And they to pray for them And the Lord bless thee And so we read of pure Parents to Bless their Children And it hath been the Use of the Church to Bless the People Therefore in all Congregations where you meet with the Exercises of Religion you use to have a Blessing before you go and you are not to flight it And except God call you out by extraordinary Occasion you are to abide and stay the Blessing We read of some that were appointed by God to stand upon Mount Gerisim in Deut. 27. and their work was only to bless to Bless the People and there were some who stood upon Mount Ebal and they were to Curse But now Mark If we search who they are that are appointed to Bless you shall find them to be more Honourable than those that were appointed to Curse For those that were appointed to Curse there was Reuben he had lost his Birth-right and Gad and Ashur and Dan and Napthali they were Children of the Hand-Maid they were not begotten in the way of Marriage but only by the Hand-Maid or by a Concubine Most of these that were to stand upon Mount Ebal for Cursing they were of the meaner sort of the Tribes This notes thus much That Blessing is the chief work that Ministers should Rejoyce and Delight in Therefore though they do sometimes pronounce the Threats of God against you to awaken Secure Drowsie Sinners which is their work likewise yet certainly there is nothing more sutable unto the Heart of a Godly Minister than to be alwayes Blessing of his People and to be bringing of the Message of Blessing unto them And if this be so then certainly the Ministers of the Gospel they are a great Blessing in the World And you that are People you should Encourage your Ministers to Bless you and to Bless God for you your Carriage towards them should be such as they may with Chearfulness in the Name of God Bless you and they may in secret when they are between God and themselves Bless God for you O when as the Minister shall first look upon the People and Bless them in the Name of God and Bless God for them and the People shall look again upon the Minister and pray to God for a Blessing upon him and Bless God that ever they knew him I say happy is the Minister that thus Blesses and Blesses God for a People and happy likewise the People that do thus pray for a Blessing upon and Bless God for a Minister But more Blessed is that God that shall joyn such Ministers and People together And that 's the Second Note That Ministers are to bless People when they
God Intends them If you water your Gardens in these dry times you aim at the Herbs but yet the Water will fall among the Weeds So the Lord He Aims at His Herbs and Flowers though the Gospel be dispensed to others Thirdly Though God sees there be none for the present yet God layes in for time to come God will send His Gospel to a place though He sees this Generation will get no good by it and God may Intend the good of the Generation that is to come by sending His Ministry in this particular Generation though He sees that they will not Entertain it yet some that may come after them may Entertain it As they say in China they prepare Work for many Hundred years before The Parents they are preparing Work for their Children to enjoy And so the Lord layes In in one Generation for the Children that are coming after and therefore whether you Entertain it or no God notwithstanding will have His End accomplisht Fourthly Another Reason why God sends His Gospel where He knows it will not be Entertain'd by the Generallity it is this To leave Men wholly without Excuse I may put these two together To discover the Abominable sinfulness of the Hearts of Men and to leave them wholly without Excuse There is nothing in the World that doth discover the sinfulness of Mans Heart more than this That when the Lord sends this Gospel among them yet it is rejected The Preaching of any Moral Truths do nothing so much argue the sinfulness of Mans Heart in the rejection of them as when the Gospel is Preached and that is rejected That argues the Abominable wickedness of Mans Heart yea for ought we know more than is in the very Devil We do not know that there is so much Perversness in any of the Devils in Hell as there is in the Heart of that Man that doth reject the Ministry of the Gospel And why Because God never tried them God never put it to trial to offer any Terms of Peace to them and never told them that He would be Reconcil'd to them upon any Terms And therefore whether they have such perverseness of heart or no it is not discovered so as thine is But if thou Livest where the Ministry of the Gospel is Preached and yet continuest wicked and ungodly thou art discovered to have that wickedness in thy Heart that for ought thou knowest it is beyond the wickedness of any Devil in Hell The Devils might say Lord hadst thou offered Terms of Peace to us we would not have so rejected it And then it doth leave Men utterly without Excuse I do not say that this is Gods primary Intention but this comes in Why the Lord doth suffer the Gospel to be Preached to leave them wholly without Excuse And for that you have that Text in the fore-named place John 15. 22. If I had not come and spoken unto them they had not had sin But now have they no Cloak for their sin Sin Why are there any Men in the World that have no sin Why did Christ coming bring sin to them It did not add sin but it did Discover their sin and it took away their Cloak for their sin Now upon my coming to them and when they shall reject me and the offer of Grace that I bring from my Father now they have sin to purpose now their sin is of a Scarlet Colour now they have no Plea they cannot say Lord if thou hadst sent to us to Reveal to us thy Mercy and the danger of our sin The danger of your sin may God say Did not I send those to you that did Preach that nothing but the Heart Blood of my Son could pacifie for your sin Could there have been any thing more to reveal the evil of your sin than this was O now you have no Excuse at all for your sin Fifthly Another Reason is this which is one of the chief That the Lord might cause all those hereby that do not entertain the Gospel to see the Freeness of His Grace towards them A poor Soul that the Lord is pleased to work upon by the Gospel hath no cause to attribute any thing to himself There are others and such a Multitude of People more Learned than I and Men and Women that had greater parts than I they had the Gospel preached to them and they do not see those things that the Lord hath Revealed to me I can tell no Reason of this Difference only Free-grace And certainly Those People whom God is pleased to make the Gospel effectual upon the hearing of this Point and seeing how it is Verified in the Examples of others O they have cause to Cry out Grace Grace to the Lord. What is there in me rather than others as Proud and Stout and Vile Hearts as any and we see the Gospel is rejected by them and what reason is it that it is not so with me John 14. 22. It 's a speech of Judas not of him that betrayed Christ Lord How is it that thou Revealest thy Self unto us and not unto the World Lord We cannot devise how it should be that thou shouldst Manifest thy Self to us and not unto the World We see that the World rejects Thee O this is that we may have the more Cause to Bless the Name of God here and to Magnifie His Free-grace to all Eternity afterwards Sermon V. Luke 10. 6. Your Peace shall rest upon it c. APPLICATION First IS it so that even the Blessed Ministry of the Gospel the Opening of Jesus Christ and the Riches of Gods Grace may be Rejected by People and is often The Consideration on of this First should Teach us to bewail the horrible Wickedness of Mans Heart and the Dishonour that is done to God in this When those Riches of Gods Grace that glorious Work of God in Christ the Blessed Son of God coming to Ransom Souls and to Deliver them out of the neathermost Hell yet he Rejected There 's no Object that ever was in the World that is such an Object of Lamentation as this is When Christ came to Jerusalem He falls a Weeping Upon what ground O if thou hadst known saith He at least in this thy day those things that concern thy Peace Thou didst not know those things that did concern thy Peace Perhaps it may be meant outward Peace In great part it is But if that be such an Object of Lamentation as to draw Tears from Christ what an Object of Lamentation is it to Rend indeed the Hearts of those that understand what Christ is what the Offer of Christ means That Christ should be Preached in any place and yet rejected When Jeremiah went to Preach though not such a Message as this is that now we are Speaking of yet when he saw the People would not hear Chap. 13. ver 15. Hear ye and give ear be not Proud for the Lord hath Spoken But in ver 17. But if ye will not
Therefore surely it 's Gain to die for a Godly Man 7ly Further It 's Gain in this respect When they receive immediately they shall receive all United in one and all together They shall have such Influence from Christ as hath all Good united in one Beam of Excellency and so receive it all together As now a Man may take the Quintesence of several Herbs there 's this Herb hath this Virtue another another and a third a third but now if you Still all these Herbs together you will have the Virtue and Quintesence of all in one Drop So Christ here scatters His Excellencies one in one Creature another in another but when we come to enjoy Him immediately then we shall have all in one because all His Excellencies whatsoever is united in one in Him Eighthly Further all our Good shall be in continal Act. Here we have a great deal of Good in the Habit but now when we come to have this Immediate communion with Christ there all our Graces shall be Acted continually The Sun you know how it doth Act the Earth whatsoever there is in the Earth it draws it forth and makes it flourish So the Presence of the Sun of Righteousness Oh how Gloriously will it Act all our Graces In Numb 17. 7. We read of Aarons Rod it Blossom'd And the Text saith It Blossom'd before the Lord. When the Souls of the Saints shall be before the Lord and be in the Presence of the Lord Christ O they shall Blossom and Flourish and all their Graces shall Flourish in a most Glorious manner Ninthly And then lastly We shall enjoy what is in Christ without any Intermission What 's the reason of any Intermission here But something that comes between Christ and our Souls But now when there shall be nothing between Christ and the Soul then there will be no Intermission That Sweetness and Comfort thou hast in communion with Christ at any time thou shalt have it at all times And how good is that O saith many a Soul could I have but the communion with Christ at all times as I have at some times O that would be comfortable Now when the Soul hath Immediate communion with Christ it shall have it at all times What 's the reason of Ecclipses It is the Interposition between the Moon and the Sun or some Interposition between the Sun and us So our Ecclipses of the Light that we have from Christ it is some Interposition Take away the Interposition and then there will be no Intermission Now put all these together and is it not Gain to Die and to be with Christ Now by way of Use It is Gain thus to be with Christ Hence then If it be Gain for one that doth so much Service for Christ as Paul did surely than those that are Believers and are made little Use of in any Service for Christ they will get by their Death Paul was a Man that one would wonder how the Churches could spare him he did so much for Christ and yet Paul would get by Death If thou beest a Believer thou shalt have thy Immediate communion with Christ as Paul had Alas here while thou Livest thou hast but little communion between Christ and thee and doest Him but little Service in the World Then why should you so much desire to Live in the World that have nothing to Countervail the Trouble that you have and the Sin that is committed in the World O surely it will be gain for you Secondly Hence it follows That it is a Self-denial to a Believer to be willing to Live here in the World You will say If it be so much Gain why should any be so desirous to Live It 's this first Nature will have its work though in their Judgments they are convinc't that it 's better to be with Christ yet the Body will be working and the Affections will follow the Body very much Further Though they be convinc't that it is Gain yet God lays a Tie upon them to preserve their Lives as long as they can here in this World in Obedience to God They do desire to avoid Dangers and Preserve their Lives It is not for them to be where it is best for them to be but to be where God would have them to be and therefore God doth charge them to seek to Preserve their Lives and to go on till He Himself shall Dissolve the Body and Soul It 's God that is the Lord of our Life and as God gave us our Lives so it is He that must take them away and not any Body else But yet I say there is some Self-denial in it We must look upon our selves here as in a very Low and Mean condition in comparison of what we hope to be within a while after Therefore observe this one Note Those that do believe the Gain of Death they had need Labour what they can to countervail the Forbearance of the Gain by somewhat or other If a Man hath a great Gain and it comes not in his present Possession he thinks What shall I have for my Forbearance You will say What is it that any Believer can have in lieu of his Forbearance of that Gain Truly the most Excellent thing is this that he may do Christ Service while he Lives Now then Is that the main thing O learn from hence to be of as much use in your Lives as possibly you can for you have nothing else to speak of in Forbearance of that great Gain Why Lord I expect to enjoy Thee for ever before long but thou art pleased to Prolong my Life here for a while in the mean time I meet with many Temptations and Troubles and Vexations and much Sin I have But yet Lord thou knowest it 's my desire to Honour Thee and Serve Thee and through Thy Mercy I am some way or other Serviceable to Thee in the Place where Thou hast set me and Lord this is the thing contents me while I am absent from Thee Thirdly Hence we see the great Difference that there is between the death of a Believer and the death of a Wicked Man I shewed you I remember in the death of an Ungodly Man when the siery Serpent comes with his Sting and takes him in his Natural Estate Death is not Gain to such a one O no death takes away all his Gain But now death is the greatest Gain to the Saints That 's an excellent Scripture you have in 1 Cor. 3. the latter end Whether Paul or Appollos or Cephas or the World or Life or Death or Things present or Things to come all is yours In Christ Death comes to be made yours Death is part of the Possession of the Saints O the difference between the death of the Saints and the death of Wicked and Ungodly Men Do but put two Men a Wicked Man and a Godly Man lying both together upon their Death-Beds you must take a wicked Man that hath an enlightned
such an Esteem of Ministers of the Gospel And what do they do It is only Preaching peace to the Souls of Men. But Lastly If this be so That the Errand is to bring Peace to your Souls Then hence you Learn what you are to come for when you come to hear Sermons you hear that at such a time there is such a Sermon or a new Man there is come among you and you come to hear what he can say or you hear that in such or such a place there is a very witty Man and of Excellent parts and you come to hear what he can say But alass you deceive your own Souls all this while You should come with a Disposition of Spirit I am now going to hear the Doctrine of Peace between God and my Soul to attend upon the Ministry of Reconciliation this day And though the very word be not spoken of Peace yet the Word that doth tend to the making peace between God and my Soul And indeed when you feel the Ministry of the Gospel working of your Hearts into peace with God then hath it had the true genuine proper Effect upon your Hearts that God hath appointed it for But if you only shall sit under the Ministry of the Word and it may be only Gain some further knowledge in the things of Religion that you never knew before or be inabled to Discourse of something in Divinity more than you could before What 's this to the Fruit of the Ministry of the Gospel No But can you say Blessed be God the Lord hath made known to my Soul what my Estate was by Nature The Lord hath opened to me the Doctrine of Reconciliation The Lord hath shewn to my Soul how I am to make peace with God and that in another manner of way than ever I thought of I come now to see it to be another manner of Mistery of Godliness than ever I imagined before Can you say so now Hath the Gospel had this end of it upon your Hearts O then it hath had the Effect that the Lord doth send it for And thus much for the Third Note of Observation That the Work of Ministers is to bring Peace the Message of Peace to People Observ 4. The Fourth Point is this That the Ministers of the Gospel are to offer Peace unto every one For so you have it Into whatsoever House ye enter say Peace be to it Offer terms of Peace to it If you come to a place where there are the most Notorious sinners of all yet offer peace to them Though they be the most Prophane and Ungodly people that should Live yet offer peace to them Though they be Old sinners that have Liv'd a long time in most vile sins yet offer peace to them Into whatsoever House you come you have a Command to offer peace in the Name of God even to them For my Brethren the Merit of Christ it is of such infinite value that we may if we knew what the meaning of that is comfortably offer peace to the most Notorious vile sinners that do Live upon the Face of the Earth We read of Christ that He would have His Disciples to go and Preach in the High-wayes Mat. 22. Saith Christ unto His Servants Go your wayes into the High-way and as many as you shall find bid to the Marriage Into the High-wayes to Note those that were the most Unlikely the most Vile and Wicked Go unto them and bid them to the Marriage And in the last of Mat. 15. Go saith Christ into all the World and Preach the Gospel to every Creature They might say Lord perhaps we shall meet with some that are most Notorious Villains and Blasphemers and Prophane and Ungodly Creatures Must we Preach the Gospel to them I Go and Preach the Gospel to every Creature Into any place whatsoever you come you shall offer Peace unto them I but you will say This may harden many in their prophaneness If God would have His Ministers offer Peace to the most prophane People that are Then may some prophane one say I hope we shall do well enough then To that I answer The Lord will venture this The Lord is so desirous of Magnifying His Grace to offer it to those that belong to His Election as that He will venter the Hardning of other men If they will be Hardned saith God let them be Hardened And so Though a Minister ought to be as Careful as he can to prevent all Stumbling Blocks yet certainly he is to Venter the Hardning of many Hundreds rather than not to Preach the Gospel of God to any one Soul He should more regard the Offering of the Gospel of Peace in hope that there are some few that belong to Gods Election than to fear the Hardning of many Hundreds And if you should be Hardned by the offer of the Gospel of Peace there could be no greater Brand of your Rejection and that will make it appear that you are no such Son of Peace I but then may some say that are more Civil and Fair What if God send the Gospel to the most prophane surely there is no question but God will have mercy upon us for He doth appoint His Ministers to offer the Gospel of peace to the worst I but know what Christ saith That the Publicans and Harlots did enter into the Kingdom of God rather than the Scribes and Pharisees God offers to the worst yea many times makes it more effectual to the worst than He doth to some that are more Fair and Civil in their Conversations because indeed they do not see the need that they have of Peace I suppose you would think it to be one of the most Hard and Harsh things in the World if you should be told that all of you naturally were Enemies to God and yet there is nothing more plain in the Scripture than this Now because it is so hard to convince Civil men of this therefore they are not so soon wrought upon as prophane ones are Wherefore then my Brethren if this be so it is an Encouragement First to Ministers when they come to any place never to be troubled whatsoever people they be if he come to Preach to them and offer the Gospel of Peace to them for who knows but those that are the Worst and Vilest ones may come in and embrace the Gospel of Peace may be Vessels of Mercy and may hereafter stand and admire at the Riches of Gods Goodness and may live Eternally to Bless His Name for this blessed Peace that is made between their Souls and Himself And Secondly All you that do hear this Point stand for the present and admire at Gods Goodness that ever this should be so that ever you should hear such a Truth as this is that Christ would have His Ministers offer Terms of Peace to the Worst in the World I say Admire at this Goodness of Christ and especially you that are prophane ones stand and wonder
and to do or Suffer any thing in the World though but upon this Supposition That if God shall be pleased but to Bless my Ministry then the Lord shall make me an Instrument to bring Peace to that place even Peace between God and their Souls to be the Means to Convey all the good unto them that Jesus Christ hath Purchased by His Blood This seem'd to be the Encouragement that God gave to Jeremiah in Chap. 36. And that was in another kind Jeremiah was to go and reveal the Threats of God but Mark what his Encouragement was in ver 3. It may be that the House of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them that they may return every man from his evil way that I may forgive their Iniquity and their Sin Saith the Lord to Jeremiah Go about this Work though it be a hard Work and let this be your Encouragement It may be Though but upon a may be The House of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them that they may return every man from his evil way that I may forgive their Iniquity and their Sin Now if this were Jeremiah's Encouragement surely a greater Encouragement it is for a Minister to go and Preach the Gospel upon a meer May be that there are some that shall Entertain the Gospel And we find it was Paul's Encouragement in divers Scriptures as I might shew you but that 's most Notable in 2 Tim. 1. 10. But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ who hath Abolished Death and hath brought Life and Immortality to Light through the Gospel Whereunto I am appointed a Preacher and an Apostle and a Teacher of the Gentiles Mark saith He The Gospel reveals Jesus Christ who hath Abolished Death and hath brought Life and Immortality to light And saith he God hath appointed me to be a Teacher of this For the which Cause I also suffer these things I am content to go on in this Work of the Gospel whatsoever I suffer What Is this the Errand that I am sent about to go and Preach the Gospel that brings Life and Immortality to light Let me Suffer what can be I am content to go on in this Work O It is a glorious Errand that I am sent about If it please God I speed but upon one Soul O it were worth my Life So the excellent Fruit that should come upon the Entertainment of the Gospel is here given to these Disciples for their Encouragement in the Ministry Now what is it that should Encourage the Heart of a Minister in his Work more than these Three things First That he shall be an Instrument to glorifie God Secondly An Instrument to do good to Souls Thirdly He shall have a Crown of Glory so much the more These Three things are the greatest Encouragements in the World to any gracious Heart First That he shall be an Instrument of the Glory of God For one to live to be Instrumental of the Glory of God must needs make his Life comfortable whatsoever he suffer Now there can be no such Glory that any Creature can be made a greater Instrument of than the Glory that God hath from Souls that are Sav'd by Jesus Christ It is the highest Glory that God hath from all His Creatures that there should be some Souls that should understand Jesus Christ that should admire at Him should glorifie God in Jesus Christ It is the highest Glory that God doth Injoy in Heaven next unto the Glory that He hath in Himself and in His Son that is in the Trinity But for the Glory that He hath Ab extra from His Creatures that is the highest Glory that ever God had or shall have Now for the Lord to make a Man to be an Instrument of this To bring some Souls to be Eternally Glorifying God for Jesus Christ O It is worth all a Mans Strength though he should shorten his Life Seven Years yet if there be but One or Two Souls brought by his Ministry that shall Injoy the good things in Christ this is well worth the Labour and Pains For indeed in this the Lord doth honour Men more than Angels The Lord hath not put the Angels in Heaven upon such an Honourable work as this to be the Embassadors of God and Christ for Reconciliation The Lord hath not committed the Word of Reconciliation to Angels to go and Preach that in an Ordinary way They are not Deputed by Christ to be as His Officers We never read of any such thing in the Word of God though they be sometimes Appointed to be Ministring Spirits for the good of Gods Elect to Help them to Comfort them to Avenge them of their Enemies but we never read that the Word of Reconciliation was Committed to them and to the Ministers of the Gospel And therefore there is no such Glory that they can bring to God as the Lord is Pleased to make Man to be an Instrument of In this the Lord doth Honour Man more than the Angels that he shall be Appointed to be the great Ordinance under Jesus Christ for the bringing of Souls unto Jesus Christ and so the bringing of them to Magnifie the Infinite Riches of the Grace of God in Christ to all Eternity Now Is not this worth any ones Labour and Life O what Encouragement is this whatsoever one suffers in it Secondly Can there be next unto this a greater Encouragement than to be an Instrument of good to our Brethren of good to Mankind Those are the most happy Men in the World that are the most Useful for Mankind that the Lord shall be Pleased to make Use of for the good of Mankind and therefore it should Teach all to be as Serviceable as they can to others For the Happiness and the true Comfort of a Mans Life it doth not depend in this That he can get an Estate and go Brave and Fine and Eat and Drink of the best but it is in this That the Lord will make him useful in his place an Instrument of good to others It is a very Comfortable thing for any that are Chief in a place where they Live that the Lord makes them Instruments of the Civil good of the places where they are Of the good of the People for their Bodies to keep them in Peace and Order But to be Appointed by God to be an Instrument of Soul-good of Eternal good this is a higher Priviledge that God doth grant in His Mercy to some And it might be a mighty Encouragement the Considering of this What saith Saint James speaking to Christians to Encourage them to Labour to do good to their Brethren Brethren If any of you do erre from the Truth and one Convert him Let him know that he which Converteth a sinner from the Errour of his Way shall save a Soul from Death and shall hide a multitude of sins Let him know saith he that he