be excellent But then he tells him there is a far more ancient prophetical saying which preceded this many Ages teaching Men briefly and at once not only to desire nothing but to be made good men but also how they may be made truly good viz. Love the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy mind and thy Neighbour as thy self To him who can be perswaded to do this Non ei reliquam facilem sed eam totam esse doctrinam duntaxat utilem salubrem I do not say as Socrates did that all the rest will be easy but that this is the whole only profitable and wholesome Doctrine and there needs no more Epist XX. Keep this therefore perpetually in your Heart which contains in it all things else Love the Lord your God and love your Neighbour and you have done all you need to do for all is included in this You will not be wanting in your Duty to either of them if you heartily Love them SECT III. My next Advice shall be in the words of the blessed Apostle St. Paul who hath left us a wonderful Example of most tender affection to mens Souls read 1 Thes 2 7 8 11. Whatsoever ye do in word or deed do all in the Name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks unto God and the Father by him III Coloss 17. That is when you are going to perform any part of your Office pray him to be present with you and assist you So St. Chrysostom and out of him Theophylact Expounds these words in the Name of Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 calling upon him to be thy Helper 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 First making thy prayer to him and so go about thy business When you put on your Surplice for instance think with your selves that you are going to offer up the Prayers of the People to God in the Name of Jesus Christ And then with what Solemnity with what Reverence will you perform that Sacred Office Especially when you have besought him to be with you and believe that he is nigh to all them that call upon him in Truth In like manner when you go up into the Pulpit consider with your selves that you are going to speak in the Name of Christ unto his People beseeching him to assist you and to carry home the Truths you shall deliver to their Hearts and Consciences For dexteriùs loquentur cùm hominibus qui prius tota mente cum Deo fuerunt collocuti as Erasmus excellently speaks they will speak with Men more dextrously who have first of all with their whole Soul spoken with God The like I might say of other parts of your Duty which will then be most successfully discharged when you have engaged our Lord by solemn Prayer to him to go along with you and accompany you Theodoret hath another interpretation or rather a further improvement of the sense of these words which is this adorn all your words and actions 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with the remembrance of the Lord Christ That is haveing invoked his blessed presence to be with you think what he would do how he would behave himself and with what Spirit he would perform such things as you are going about For example when you are going to compose a Sermon it would be of great use and efficacy if you would think with your selves what Christ would say to your People if he were to speak to them what he would require of them with what Motives he would excite them and what Compassion he would express to their Souls It would be inpossible then for any Man if he had Christ in his mind to say any thing but what he hath well considered and will tend to make Men good He will not Preach for his own glory but for the glory of Christ pursuing things profitable rather than plausible not affecting in his discourse lenocinia sed remedia such things as may tickle the ears of idle People but such as will cure their Diseases and Distempers They are the Words of Salvian in his Preface to his Book de Gubernatione Dei Which are agreeable to the old Rule which Rittershusius there mentions 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Give me not Spruce things but such as the City needs They that interpret the words to this sense be so mindful of Christ that you do nothing indecorous nothing unbeseeming the relation you have to him nothing that may dishonour him differ not much from the former And therefore I conclude this Advice as the Apostle doth his Admonition As we ought to begin every thing with a devout remembrance of Christ whose blessing upon us we ought to implore so we ought to end all by giving thanks to God through him That 's as acceptable to him as our Prayers nay is a powerful Prayer for more of his Grace For none are so likely to receive more as those who thankfully acknowledge what they have received already And therefore let all your doings be thus begun and ended in the Name of Christ Whereby you will be preserved in his Love and Favour and partake still more of his grace SECT IV. Especially if you do all this in Sincerity of heart Which is that good Soil wherein if the Seed of the Word be not sown and received it brings forth no Fruit to Perfection and which our Saviour more particularly required in his Apostles who were to sow that good Seed in Mens hearts Such Persons it is manifest he sought for as were plain simple and honest hearted having no worldly end to serve but wholly bent to know the way to Eternal Salvation Andrew and Peter who were first called to follow him it is evident were of this Spirit for they left all they had to attend him and next to them Philip who finding Nathaniel and telling him they had found the MESSIAH Jesus of Nazareth to whom he pray'd him to go along with him as soon as our Saviour saw him he said to shew what kind of Men he delighted in Behold an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile I John 47. which was a surprising Character of him after Nathaniel had made this objection against our Saviour can any good thing come out of Nazareth But as Theophylact well observes those were not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 words of unbelief but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of a mind that accurately weighed things and was well studied in the Law which taught him that Christ was to come out of Bethleem in Judaea not out of Nazareth in Galilee By this our Saviour judged of his Sincerity which appeared also in that notwithstanding this seeming prejudice he went along with Philip to be better informed of our Saviour This is one great part of that Sincerity which I am now recommending to you to have your minds free from the power of Prejudice and partial Affections being desirous only to know the truth and understand what the will of the Lord is So St.
upon us Of which you should endeavour to make your People sensible whereby they may be induced to observe them with Religious Joy Especially the three chief Festivals in memory of our Saviour's Nativity Resurrection and the Coming of the Holy Ghost But it is time to proceed to the other part of this Discourse which I propounded in the beginning And I must be the shorter in it because I have been longer in this than I at first intended PART II. HAving laid before you the Duties both private and publick which belong to your Holy Function I come now to treat a little of the Spirit wherewith they ought to be Performed SECT I. And above all things you must labour to possess your Hearts with a Spirit of Love to God whose Servants you are and who employs you in the most Glorious Work in the World A Spirit I say of Love to God the Father who hath sent his Son to be the Saviour of the World and to God the Son who loved the Church and gave himself for it and to God the Holy Ghost who hath by a peculiar Grace separated you from other Men to Minister unto Christ in his Church Which was a Witness of what was said to you at your Ordination Receive the Holy Ghost for the Office and Work of a Priest in the Church of God These were not empty words nor mere lofty Expressions without any Power in them But an effectual Prayer for the Holy Spirit of Grace which was then conferred upon you And should mightily move you to serve the Church of Christ in the love of the Spirit as St. Paul speaks XV Rom. 30. That is in the Love which the Spirit of God inspires you withal For as he saith before in that Epistle V. 5. The love of God is shed abroad in our Hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us So we pray in the Hymn which is recited at the Ordination of Priests Come Holy Ghost our Souls inspire And lighten us with Coelestial fire Thy blessed Unction from above Is comfort life and fire of Love These are not vain words if sent up with ardent Affection to God but procure for us the power of the Holy Spirit to enlighten and enliven and warm our Hearts with the Knowledge and Love of God our Saviour Which Love we should every day endeavour to stir up by reflecting upon the wonderful Love of God the Father Son and Holy Ghost unto us For so St. Chrysostom notes upon those words of St. Paul XV Rom. 30. He mentions the Love of the Spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For as Christ and the Father hath loved the World so hath the Spirit Upon this Love we ought to reflect every Morning and ponder it so long till we find it excite in us that Heavenly fire of Love to God which we prayed for at our Ordination For if we preserve this Flame in our Hearts it will make us cheerful as well as diligent restless and unwearied in the work of the Lord. Nothing can carry 〈◊〉 thorough it like this and render it so easy and sweet to us as to think we are serving our good God in that which he loves and delights to have done and to feel that every thing we do proceed from love to him and to his service Our Saviour teaches us that this is the Principle by which 〈◊〉 his Ministers ought to Act in that Question which he asks St. Peter and repeats it thrice after his Resurrection Simon Peter lovest thou me XX◠Joh. 15 16 17. And in the command which follows upon his profession that he sincerely loved Him Feed my Lambs and feed my Sheep take care of the Souls of Young and Old that they want not their proper Food For they are so dear to him as Theophylact there Notes that he makes our care of them to be the mark of our Affection to him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For it is therefore a certain token of our Love to him because it flows from thence as from its Fountain and Spring If we love him we can never neglect them This will make us studious and industrious to promote the Salvation of those Souls whom Christ so dearly loved It being the truest Expression of our Love to Christ So St. Chrysostom upon this place Christ repeated this so often to show us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 After what manner we ought chiefly to love him by taking care of his flock Can any Man read this then and be negligent No not if he Love the Lord Jesus in Sincerity who hath bid him demonstrate his Love by feeding his Lambs and his Sheep There are several other things saith that great Father of the Church which may give us some Confidence towards God nay make us Illustrious and Famous But that which above all things wins us the favour of Heaven is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our tender care of our Neighbours Which leads to the next thing SECT II. Which is a sincere Love and Affection to the Souls of Men which Christ hath redeemed with his precious Blood If we make an estimate of them by the price which was paid for them we cannot set too high a value upon them And if we look upon them as invaluable Beings purchased at so dear a rate we shall do all we can to save them and be exceeding fearful least any of them should be lost through our Negligence Preserve therefore and keep alive in your Hearts a Spirit of love to the Souls of Men especially to your Parishioners And there is no way to do this like to the Consideration what it cost to Redeem them no less than the Blood of the Son of God who demonstrated thereby how precious they are in themselves and how dear to him Bestow a few thoughts upon this every day and it will beget and continue in you the greatest Kindness and tenderest Compassion towards them And that will move you to lay out your selves with the utmost Diligence in all the Offices belonging to your Function And this both for his sake and for theirs that he may see of the travel of his Soul and be satisfied as the Prophet speaks LIII Isa 11. and that they may obtain the Salvation which is in Christ Jesus with Eternal Glory 2 Tim. 2. 10. I shall conclude what I have said of these two things a Spirit of love to God and to the Souls of Men with a notable Discourse of St. Austin's Who in a Letter to Longinianus a Pagan Philosopher remembers him of this saying of one of the Ancients quibus satis persuasum esset ut nihil mallent mallet se esse quà m viros bonos his reliquam facilem esse doctrinam unto those who were perswaded so far as to desire no thing but to be made good Men all the rest of the Instructions that Philosophers could give them would be very easy This he saith he took to be a saying of Socrates which must be acknowledged to
in Optatus lib. 1. Which Name the very Heathen had learnt it was so common as appears by the enquiries they made after Bibles to burn them this being an usual question in the examination of the Martyrs Libros Deificos habetis Which we should look upon therefore as they did as an invaluable Treasure and let the word of Christ dwell in us richly in all wisdom as the Apostle S. Paul speaks III Colossi 16. Such wisdom as will not indeed make us Philosophers or Rhetoritians c. to use the words of Justin Martyr 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. But gives such instructions that of Mortals it makes us immortal of Men it makes us God-like from the Earth it translates us above the top of Olympus Exhort 2. ad Graecos p 40. And the very same in effect the Holy Scriptures speak concerning themselves when they tell us they are able to make such a Man as Timothy was wise unto salvation being 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 2 Tim. III. 15 16 17. which should move us to follow his Exhortation in the foregoing Epistle 1 Tim. IV. 13 15. Give attendance to reading c. Meditate on these things give your selves wholly to them that your profiting may appear to all or in all things For this end you must joyn with this such other Studies as tend to lead you into a right understanding of the Holy Scriptures Of this you were admonished also at your Ordination when you promised to be diligent in reading the Holy Scriptures and in such studies as help to the knowledg of the same laying aside the study of the World and of the Flesh And chiefly you are to study to understand the Language in which the Holy Scriptures were Originally delivered to the Church especially the New Testament in which we ought to be as perfect as Lawyers are in Littleton's Tenures For this is our standing Rule of Faith and Manners in which if we be not well skilled our selves we shall never be able to direct others And next to this it is necessary to study diligently some approved Commentator upon the Bible especially Dr. Hammond on the New Testament which is not only to be read over but to be digested so that you may be Masters of the sense of our Saviour and his Holy Apostles I shall not lanch out into any further directions about the study of the Fathers and the Church-History which are necessary to accomplish a compleat Divine for that would swell this Book to a much greater bulk than I design it should have To conclude this Section let Ezra that Restorer of Religion among the Jews be your pattern who tells us himself that he was a ready Scribe in the Law of Moses VII Ezra 6. Such we should be well versed in the Holy Scriptures especially in the Laws of Christ so as to have them ready at hand for our purpose And in the 10th Verse he tells us how he came to deserve this Character First he had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the LORD i. e. understand it and then Secondly it follows he prepared his heart to do it that is to act according to his knowledg and so to teach Israel statutes and judgments SECT II. Which that we may be able to do with good success we ought as the Psalmist speaks most emphatically give our selves unto prayer CXIX Psal 4. This is a duty incumbent upon all private Christians whom our Saviour and his Apostles command to pray alway and to pray without ceasing and to watch unto prayer but the Ministers of Christ ought more especially to be instant and incessant in it because they have need of a special assistance and blessing from above upon their labours to make others good Christians Which cannot be done without the blessed presence of God's Holy Spirit with us which must constantly and earnestly be implored to give us a right judgment in all things to fill us with a lively sence of Divine Matters and to enable us to convey it into the Minds and Hearts of others Of this also we are put in mind at our Ordination and therefore should never forget it For in that admirable Exhortation which goes before the Questions to which we are to make Answers the great excellence and the great difficulty of our Office is represented to us to make us sensible what need we have to pray earnestly for God's Holy Spirit without which it is impossible for us to have either a will or ability to perform it as we ought And accordingly this is one of the things which immediately after we promise to God and to his Church That we will be diligent in Prayers as well as in reading the Holy Scriptures Let us therefore as it follows in the forenamed Exhortation Pray continually to God the Father by the Mediation of our only Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ for the heavenly Assistance of the Holy Ghost For as the Holy Scriptures are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Door whereby the good Shepherd enters to the performance of his Office as Theophylact I observed before Expounds our Saviour's words X John 1. So the Holy Spirit of God in the opinion of the same Father is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mentioned in the third Verse of that Chapter which we translate the Porter or the Door-keeper who opens the Door for us and lets us into the sense of the holy Scriptures So his words are because by the Holy Spirit the Scriptures being opened and understood Christ is made known to us therefore it is called the Door-keeper 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. By whom he being the Spirit of Wisdom and Knowledg the Scriptures are opened unto us and by that means our Lord the good Shepherd enters to take us into his care and conduct To be Strangers then to this Holy Duty is to be Strangers to God and to all that is good who as He is nigh to all those that call upon him faithfully so he withdraws himself from those who neglect him Of which we cannot be guilty if we remember in what need we stand above all other Men of his blessed Presence with us to guide and strengthen and further us in the discharge of our weighty trust for his Honour and the Salvation of Men. This will stir us up not only to ask and seek but knock also as our Saviour Speaks that is pray with the greatest importunity for the Holy Spirit which our Heavenly Father is more ready to give than Parents are to give food to their hungry Children Let us be awakened by the example of King David who prevented the morning light to pray to God and to meditate in his Statutes as he tells us CXIX Psal 147 148. Though he was a man that had abundance of Cares upon him and was engaged in many Warrs as Theodoret glosses upon