Selected quad for the lemma: order_n
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A40725
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Concio ad magistratum a nations honour, and a nations dishonour, or, A kingdoms prospective-glass : discovering who are the most faithful friends, and who the most dangerous enemies to the peace and prosperity of a kingdom / written by P. Fullwood.
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Fullwood, P. (Peter)
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1673
(1673)
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Wing F2522; ESTC R7022
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26,022
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48
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Prophesie it was the direction our Saviour gave to his Disciples before he sent them to preach Behold I send as Lambs among Wolves be ye therefore wise as Serpents but innocent as Doves The Prophet David fought first with a Lion then with a Bear then with a Phillstine but we must wrestle with Principallities Powers the Rulers in dark places here is the great Lucifer of the Church of Rome together with other evil Angels that have fallen the Church by Apostacy therefore let us walk in Wisdome toward them that are without Secondly respectu habito justitiae It is a principle in moral Policie that corrupt execution of Law is as dangerous as unjust violation it is a mercy to have such in Authority modo audeant quae sentiunt saith Cicero the Aegyptian Kings usually and solemnly presented this Oath to their Judges not to swerve from their consciences though they should have a command from them to the contrary such an heart without affection a mind without passion a treasurer which keepeth for every man what he hath and distributeth to every man what he ought to have Thirdly respectu habito charitatis the rigour of Justice is not to be exacted without the sweet commixture of Mercy Rulers must be like Cherabins to have wings to shelter the innocent as well as a flaming sword to drive out offendors he that is Judge of the whole world his mercy like Nebuchadnezzars tree spreads over the face of the whole Earth or Davids Sun which runs from one end of the Earth to the other therefore as God said to Moses see thou do all things according to the pattern shewed thee in the Mount So I come to the last step of this first general let them labour in the word and doctrine The office of an Elder as it is a work of great importance so not to be done negligently such deserve not this double honour but a curse rather cursed is every one that doth the work of the Lord negligently the Elders are compared to Planters Builders Soldiers Husbandmen the Husbandman is never out of work redit Agricolae labor but especially in time of Harvest now is the Lords Harvest there is need of painful labourers to gather Gods wheat into his Barn but do I stand upon comparisons there is no labour saith St. Chrysostome is comparable to the labour of the faithful Pastour hence the Apostle here adds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as some take the word not in apposition but in composition plurimum laborantes labouring most earnestly they must not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 take an easie and light yoke but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 use double diligence they must labour in the word and doctrine they must labour but not in the affairs of this life with which they must not intangle themselves that they may please him who hath called them the inordinate cares of this World are a great distraction to any Christian much more to such as are called to wait at Gods Altar the Prince of Philosophers hath given this precept let no Husbandman or Handy-crafts-man be a Priest it is a maxime grounded upon the Law of Nature It stands not with the honour of God that they that are imployed in his service should be manuary Trades Such mechanical imployments with-draw their minds from their holy function and are repugnant to that knowledg and other gifts that are required in that holy order they that spend more time amongst beaâ—ts then amongst books are fitter for the plough than the Pulpit let us fix our thoughts on a more noble object let us labour in the word and doctrine let us not labour for the meat that perisheth but for the mâ—at that endureth unto everlasting life Theodorus Beza in one of his Polemical Treatises upon these two Word and Doctrine hath found a ground of upholding their new distinction betwixt Pastours and Doctours which he thinketh so manifest as he saith quis not videt and yet never any before him could find it out duae istae voces saith Calvin rem unam significant as Joseph said of Pharaohâ—s two dreams they are both one Carthusianus starts another distinction upon these two Word and Doctrine they must labour in the word of exhortation and in the doctrine of instruction for the enlightning of the understanding the word of exhortation for the regulating of the affections the one to dispel the darkness of the mind the other the rebellion of the heart the doctrine of instruction with the word of exhortation doth commonly produce a cold and speculative knowledg without practice the word of exhortation without the docâ—rine of instruction begets a blind and pernitious zeal without knowledg Other distinctions betwixt these two Word and Doctrine have been noted in verbo scientibus in doctrina ignorantibus so Ausâ—lmus in the word to them that know already in doctrine to them that are yet to learn he must labour in verbo scientibus in the explication of obscure and difficult peeces of Scripture called by the Apostle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which he that cannot unfold is like the ridiculous builder of whom it is said caepit ad ficare noâ— potuâ—t consummarâ— this man began to build and was not able to finish He must labour likewise in doctrina ignorantibus in catechismes gathered from easie and plain places of Scripture which were in uâ—e in the Apostles time and called a form of sound words and the principles of the doctrine of Christ and since the Apostles time both in the Greek and Latine Church the neglect of catechizing is the cause why so little good is done amongst us by Preaching Preaching without Catechizing seems Rachel like beautiful but barren making the Hearers like Pharaohs lean kine that devoured the fat ones and were never the fatter Be we then like those Olive branches in the Prophet Zacharie which through these two golden pipes empty the holy oyl out of our selves Thus at the length we have measured the waters of this golden sea viz. the Elders duty Oh! let the waves thereof beat a while upon your affections and then they will bring you to the Haven to that honour that double honour which is intailed upon us Let the Elders that rule wâ—ll be counted worthy of double honour especially such as labour in the word and doctrine So I come to the second general the Elders heres first Quale honos honour Secondly Quantas double honour Thirdly Quarâ— they are worthy Fourthly Quomodo how let them be counted worthy of these in their order and first of the first The Heathens directed by the divine light of Nature ever had and still have their Priests in great estimation amongst the Romanes none were created Pontificies but such as were of noble blood by the Mahometan law if any outrage be done to a Priest if he be a Turk that so doeth he looseth his right hand if a Christian or Jew that so doeth he must be burnt alive there is no greater
viz The Elders which are among you I exhort who am also an Elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed Feed the Flock of God which is among you taking the oversight thereof not by constraint but willingly nor for filthy lucre but of a ready mind neither as being Lords over Gods heritage but being examples to the flock and when the chief Shepherd shall appear ye shall receive a Crown of glory that fadeth not away This then being confirmed we may infer that the Elders are the Sons of the Church invested with the holy order of Priesthood Nor without due consideration was the imposition of this name but upon the account of those qualifications which are entailed upon that holy order maturity of years as well as of Judgment be required in those that wait at Gods Altar Such blossomes as over-run the spring 1 Tim. 3. 5. are usually knipt before the knitting and how can those those that venture before they know either Coast or Compass avoid those dangerous Rocks against which their own and Peoples Souls are subject to be split The Antient Romanes had a law called Lex annalis or Lex annarie which prescribed a certain age before which none was admitted to bear office the ground whereof was because tâ—meritatem adoliscentiae verebantur this Age it is less experienced so prove to rash and heady passions which Edict was for a time so duly observed that neither Birth nor Friends Favour nor affection could procure any dispensation which tended not more to the honour then benefit of the State nor were there wanting provisions wanting for the Church of the like Nature we read of many Decrees of Antient Counsels that none should attain to the Order and Degree of a Presbyter before a certain age but Canons at the first were duly observed but yet through the rust and canker of times miserably neglected and violated to the great detryment of the Church as woe to the Land where the is King is a Child so woe to the Church where the Priests are children St. Bernard in one of his Epistles complains that even in his dayes Scholares pueri nuberbes Juvcnes School boyes and beardleâ—s youths were promoted to Ecclesiastical dignityes and from the Ferula to bear rule over others Baroni tells us that Pope John the twelfth was preferred to the Popedom in his non-age and Benedict the ninth puer fere decennis scarcely ten years of age But we need not travaile into forraign parts to revieu this complaint sad experience in our own Kingdome makes it too evident how many dayes nay how many years were we without a King without a Prince without an Ephod without a Teraphin during which time Jeroboam set up his golden calves in Dan and Bethel he makes Priests of the lowest of the People nay children tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine an inlet to all Sects and Factions but now the Sun is risen those shaddows must flee away let these with Davids men first go to Jericho till their beards be shaven first let them learn to speak before they presume into publick Auditoryes to such as these the Apostles advice to Timothy is very seasonable let them give attendance unto reading that their profiting may appear unto all lest they fall into the praemunire of the Churches censure who shall visit their iniquity with rods and their sin with scourges so I come to the second step of the first general let them rule Let the Elders that rule well c. Rule or Government is the Pillar of the Law the Pedestal of Religion the Nurse of the Arts and Sciences without which Bethel will turn to Babel and the house of God to a den of Thieves When there was no Judg. 21. v. 25. King in Israel every man did that which was right in his own eyes Amongst the Persians after the death of their King a lawless liberty was granted to all Persons during the inter regnum Oh! how Murder Rapine and Plunder swarmed amongst them like the Locust of Egypt so that men were inforced to hide themselves in the Caves of the Earth to secure them from the Violence of the Enemy and if we consider what myseries we endured whilst Annarchy usurped the Crown and Mitre what Violence to Churches what Indignity to the Ministry what Contempt of all Sacred and Divine Institutions we may very well take up the complaint of the Church Behold and see if ever sorrow were like unto my Lam. 1. v. 12. sorrow wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger but now the Rod of Aaron for the house of Levi is budded with â—uds bloomes blossomes and brings forth perfect Almonds and so I pass to the third step of this first general the modus regiminis let them rule well First let them rule themselves well let them rule their hands that they be no strikers let them rule their tongues well that they be no brawlers let them rule their affections well that they be vigilant sober given to hospitality apt to teach and be examples to the Believers in word in doctrine in conversation godliness Secondly let them rule their houses well that their houses may be the houses of God wherein lodgeth wisdome righteousness holiness where the word of God dwelleth plentifully instructing the ignorant reproving the obstinate convincing the erronious confirming the weak Vttium primae concoctionis vix corrigitur in secundae That harm which is contracted in the first concoction is scarcely cured in the second and want of care to restrain enormityes in the Family Is a main cause that so many exorbitances appear in the Common-wealth those diseases that at first might admit of an easie cure by long continuance prove incureable nor is this domestical rule more necessary than profitable Theodosius religious carriage in his Family made his whole court a seminary of Religion let us then take up the resolution of holy Joshuah As for me I and my house we wâ—ll serve the Lord. Thirdly let them rule the house of God well the best things being perverted prove most hateful The best Wine soonest turns to the tartest Vinegar mans body that is compounded of the purest Elements being corrupted proves most distasteful the word of God which is the power of God to salvation being sophisticated by the cunning devices of Teachers becomes the savour of death unto death and the Church of God which is the pillar and ground of the truth being out of order opens a gap to let in the Foxes to destroy the Vines which to prevent let the Elders besides the ruling of their own houses rule the house of God well First respectu habito prudentiae the Argo was only committed to Typhis children and such as are not acquainted with the Map are not fit to guide the Stern Ezekiel must first eat and concoct the Roule before he be sent to