Selected quad for the lemma: scripture_n
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A63260
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The pastor's care and dignity, and the people's duty a sermon preach'd at the assembly of ministers at Taunton, 7th September, 1692 / by G.T.
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Trosse, George, 1631-1713.
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1693
(1693)
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Wing T2304; ESTC R23764
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21,711
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65
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and more clearly prove the Mind of the Holy Ghost therein 2. Such must be seen very well seen in the things themselves in the matter of their Stewardship even in all the Mysteries and Oracles of God they must have a clear distinct setled satisfactory Knowledge of all Doctrinal and Practical Truths they must have a spiritual Apprehension of them according to their own spiritual Nature How can a Steward ever be a good Steward and duely dispense those things whereof he has no knowledge His Ignorance will make him to mistake one thing for another to the disgrace of his Charge and to the detriment of the Family Mal. 2.7 The Priests lips should keep knowledge and they should seek the law at his mouth for he is the Messenger of the Lord of hosts His Lips and to be sure his Head first must keep Knowledge before he can distribute it to the enquiring People So our Saviour saith Every Scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven Matth. 13. â—2 is like unto a man that is an housholder which bringeth forth out of his treasures things new and old He must be stored with all due knowledge of the things of God and have Treasures of all sorts of them which that we may attain there is required a serious a diligent a humble an assiduous and constant studying of the Holy Scriptures with servent frequent and constant Prayer to God for his Blessing our Study in them and enlightning our Minds and enriching our Souls with them Which St. Paul exhorts Timothy to Tim. 4. â—3 15. Till I come give attendance to reading meditate upon those things give thy self wholly to them that they profiting may appear to all If such an eminent and enlightned Minister as Timothy must read and meditate to profit himself more and more in Divine Knowledge then much more have we need and must it be our Duty to read and meditate daily and constantly that we may increase therein I mean reading in and meditating on the Word of God which doubtless St. Paul chiefly if not only meant in this his Exhortation to Timothy for he tells him in another place 2 Tim. 3.15 17. That the scriptures were able to make him wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus All Scripture is given by Inspiration of God and is profitable for Doctrine for Reproof for Correction for Instruction in Righteousness that the Man of God may be perfect throughly furnished unto all good Works So that the Scripture fully and infallibly furnishes us with all Truths with the Confutation of all Errors with all Duties to be pressed upon all our People and with a Discovery of all Sins to be forbidden And hereby the Steward of God's Mysteries may be compleatly furnished for the Discharge of his Function And here for the more clear satisfactory Discovery of the Truths of Scripture and a more ready Use and Improvement of them for the Benefit of the Houshold of God I would exhort to the framing in our Minds of a Methodical Body of Divinity of all the Articles of Faith and of all the Duties of Life A Steward should keep all his Store and Treasure in a distinct Order or else he may be confounded when having occasion on some unexpected Emergency he shall be to seek and not be able to find what is required he should produce Such a Method of Theology is called Rom. 12. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Analogy of Faith which we translate Proportion of Faith wherein every thing is fitly and proportionably placed has its proper dependence one upon another refers each to other is proved illustrated strengthened and confirmed each by other and 't is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tim. 1. The Form or the Scheme of the Plat-form of sound Words formally so in themselves efficiently so in others being the grand Instrument in the hand of the Spirit to make Souls sound and healthy in the Faith Such a Plat-form the Apostle would have Timothy to hold fast to have it always with him and without question 't is more noble and useful in the Head then 't is in a Book He that hath clearly and distinctly such a Body of Divinity in his Head and has experienced the Grace of God in his Heart and keeps alive the Graces of the Spirit will be prepared upon any warning within a little time with his Bible when he can have no other Helps only to preach distinctly orthodoxly and profitably upon any Polemical or Practical Point that may be proposed by the usual assistance of the Spirit of God Whereas such as decry and jeer at this as Systematical Divinity if they should be engaged to discourse upon such a Subject and have no opportunity to recur to their own common Places and Collections nor the help of other Books would make but sorrowful jejune consus'd and blundring work on 't 3. Such must be wise and prudent The former of these three you may call Learning or Knowledge the second you may call Sapience or Wisdom and this you may call Prudence and Discretion By which I mean a diligent and sagacious Inquisition into and Discovery of the Condition and State of the Family and of each Person in it over which we are stated Stewards that so we may know what to distribute of the Mysteries of God unto them which requires a very careful Inspection into them and their ways and doings and a diligent Converse with them and Examination of them as far as conveniently we may A Steward should know the Temper and Constitution of the Family lest he should give Food where Physick is more necessary and so hurt instead of benefiting those that are committed to his Charge he ought to observe whether they work and deserve their Maintenance or whether they be idle and merit nothing lest he should waste his Master's Goods by giving them to those who ought to have none of them Ministers must so endeavour to know the People of their Charge as to know to whom they ought to apply the Promises and whom they ought to chear with the Cordials of the Gospel and to encourage with all the Priviledges thereof and to whom they ought to apply the Threats of the Law and to make them to smart with the Corrosives of the Word and cast them down by a due Exclusion from Evangelical Communion who are Babes and want Instruction and gentle Carriage toward them and who ought to be reproved and severely dealt with In a word they ought so wisely and prudently to know their Personal Charge as to know what is every ones due and so to give to every one suitably his Proportion and proper Part of the Word Sacrament and Censures Which requires great measures of Discretion and Prudence and this is that which is chiefly declared by our Lord Christ in those places where he saith that 't is the part of a wise Servant and Steward over God's House Matth. 24.
1 Cor. 1. begin When ye are gathered together and my spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ to deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus So he also enjoyns them joyntly to concur in the Re-admission of that excommunicated Person 2 Cor. 2 8. when he had given sufficient Evidence of his unfeign'd Repentance sufficient to such a Man is this Punishment which was inflicted of many many not the Minister alone but with his People so that contrariwise ye the same many ought to forgive him and comfort him lest perhaps such a one should be swallow'd up with overmuch Sorrow Wherefore I beseech you that you would confirm your love towards him Wherefore supposing that a Minister should know a Person to be most unworthy of Fellowship and most worthy of Excommunication yet if his Crime be such as he ought not to reveal and his People being ignorant of it and contending for his continuance with them he may probably suspend his own Act but 't would be no way adviseable to proceed to a formal Censure and authoritative Excommunication because so more hurt would redound to the Church then good and Ministers ought not only not to do those things which are unlawful but also they ought not to do those things which are imprudent and inexpedient Wherefore seeing the things that are committed to Ministers are these spiritual heavenly evangelical Things infinitely more excellent rich and glorious then all the Riches and Mines and Concerns of this Life which are nothing in comparison of them therefore their Stewardship is more noble and excellent more useful and profitable then any other 5. It will also appear if we consider the Ratification of all the Acts of this Stewardship by God and Christ in Heaven all that they duely perform in their Stewardship according to God's Word Clare non erante either in Word or Deed is confirmed by God in Heaven and shall be made good for ever and ever The Threats that they pronounce against Sinners and Hypocrites in their Preaching how presumptuous or secure soever they be shall certainly be inflicted by God if they persevere to be so and all the Promises and Blessings that they proclaim to the Godly and Sincere what sad hard dismal next door to dispairing Thoughts they may have of themselves shall certainly be made good by God and so whoever they exclude from the Priviledges of the Militant Church here on Earth shall be excluded from those of the Triumphant Church in Heaven according to those Scriptures already quoted Whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven Whosoever sins ye remit they are remitted and whosoever sins ye retain they are retained And thus we have proved that Ministers are Stewards and have shewn the Excellency of their Stewardship and proceed to the Application 1. Vse of Information It serves to inform us 1. In the great Usefulness and Profitableness of the Ministry in and to the Church of God I had almost said the Necessity thereof thereunto if it be not absolutely necessary to the Bene-esse the well-being of the Church What Confusion what Waste what Want and Ruine must the Absence of a Steward cause to a great and numerous Family wherein are too many unwise and headstrong Persons too many proud and self-conceited ones too many slavish and prodigal ones c. his Absence would soon dissolve the Houshold In the Church of God are too many weak and peevish ones too many proud and self-conceited ones too many unruly and extravagant ones c. who without the Rule and Guidance of a Minister would soon dissolve and ruine Churches This Metaphor therefore shews the Utility and Benefit of Ministers in the Church of God as do also those others of Fathers Nurses Pastors Shepherds Guides Watchmen and Embassadors c. To shew that as these are useful and necessary to Children to Flocks to blind Ones to Cities and Armies in time of War and between dissenting Nations so useful and necessary are Ministers to the Church of Christ Vse 2. It informs us in the Error of those who judge Ministers to be the most useless contemptible and burdensome Persons of the Humane Society and especially if they be plain powerful Heart-searching and Conscience-startling Ministers These profane and ungodly Wretches are grosly mistaken and under dangerous Delusions Exhor 1. This Stewardship of the Ministers is serviceable for Exhortation and the Object hereof is threefold 1. To the Stewards themselves 2. To those who intend to be so And 3. To the Houshold over whom they are so 1. To the Ministers and Stewards themselves And here I will only briefly premise that though I am very unfit and unworthy to advise or excite you to those things which you know better and are more forward to do than myself yet God's Providence and your Call bringing me hither I must be your Monitor and Remembrancer wherefore I crave your Patience and Condescention toward me but require your Reverence and Subjection to our supream Lord while I exhort to some few particulars As 1. That you would still consider and walk constantly under the due Apprehension of the Greatness the Honour the Weight the Consequence of this your Function and Stewardship a profound and clear Perswasion hereof would be a good and is a necessary Preparatory to what follows 2. To be in Abilities and Qualities and Practice and Behaviour what their Function and Stewardship require and exacts from them To be such and to act and do as their Office does call for in all as much as possible excelling all other Servants to the Family and Houshold And here I shall take leave to mind you of some particulars As 1. Such must be learned not to mention those Scholastical Sciences which all hold useful and necessary for understanding analifing and handling the Word of God and all others are educated in before they pretend to be Candidates for this Function I would here recommend the Ecclesiastical History and the knowledge of the Original Languagues at least some competent skill in them if we can't arrive to a critical exact one Every Steward should have the Key of his Store-house at his own Girdle if not when his Duty requires his Distribution of the Family's Provision he may be to seek or else may have a Key with false Wards put into his hand You are wise to adapt the Simile To be able to go immediately to the Fountain-head ourselves must be more contenting satisfactory and delightful then to receive the streams through Pipes by which we know not what may have been contracted to allay its Purity And withal by such a Knowledge we shall be qualified the more easily to vindicate the Scripture from false Glosses and Interpretations which the Unlearned and Heretical are apt to impose upon it