of God's Glory it sanctifies the Temper and speaks it to be derived from the Holy Ghost 2. The Spirit of Love. It was not without very great Reason that our Saviour ask'd St. Peter thrice Lovest thou me and Lovest thou me more than these We may very rationally infer that in saying so he shew'd what manner of Spirit those should be of who were to be Pastors and Teachers and Overseers in the House of God. Nothing renders them more amiable to God and Man than this Spirit of Love Love to the Lord Jesus Love to God's Glory Love to the Souls of Men Love which makes them willing to spend and to be spent even to die for the Name of the Lord Jesus It is the mark of Christ's Disciples in general and therefore must be so more eminently of those who are to go before the Sheep and lead them to green Pastures From this Love have proceeded the almost incredible Pains that holy Men of God have taken for the Conversion of Souls whereof Ecclesiastical History gives us very considerable Instances 3. The Spirit of a sound Mind This seems to be a Temper able to curb the Passions Inordinate Lusts Desires and Perturbations of the Mind an admirable Spirit To know when to be angry and when to be calm when to be severe and when to be moderate and gentle when to use the Rod and when to use the Staff to have the Brutish Part in subjection to the Rational the Body to the Soul the Flesh to Spirit this is Wisdom beyond all Worldly Policy whatsoever Plato makes this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or soundness of Mind the opposite of Madness Indeed indulging our Passions and letting loose the Reins of our carnal and sensual Affections is no better for it 's an Argument that Reason is dethroned and the ruling part of the Soul is become subject to the ignobler Principality and surely this is Madness The Mind is then sound when it keeps the lower Faculties in good order and it is an Argument of Wisdom to judg of things without Heats or Prejudice or prospect of self-Interest and to keep the wild Desires of corrupted Nature in awe and to do things with Prudence and Moderation This is the Gift here aim'd at a Gift very necessary for the discharge of so great so weighty an Employ as is intimated in the Text a Gift which not only Timothy was partaker of but which as I said may justly be supposed to be in all and to be given in some degree or other to those whom God calls to the same Office. For if this Spirit was bestow'd on Timothy upon the account of his Office and God intends that Office should continue to the World's end we may justly conclude that he will not deny the same Gift now to those whom he calls to the same Office. He that conferr'd another Heart and another Spirit upon Saul when he call'd him to be King over his People Israel can we think he 'll deny so useful so necessary a Gift to the Rulers of his Church who have his Call his Summons his Vocation I say his Call for no Man takes that Honour unto himself but he that is called as also was Aaron Those who call themselves whom either Ambition or Interest or a worldly sensual Mind or fondness of being great and to be called of Men Rabbi puts upon thrusting themselves into this sacred Office are call'd indeed but it is by that Spirit whose Name is Legion not by him who gave some Apostles some Prophets some Evangelists and some Pastors and Teachers for the perfecting of the Saints for the Work of the Ministry for the edifying of the Body of Christ Ephes. iv 11 This Call of God which our Church accounts requisite and necessary upon such occasions is no 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bath Kol no Daughter of the Voice no audible Sound or Language dropp'd from Heaven as it was Act. xiii 2 Separate me Paul and Barnabas no sudden Passion or warm Fancy no violent Impulse which Melancholy causes or a turbulent Temper doth infuse but it appears by proper Parts and Abilities by Learning suitable to the Office by being skilful in the Word of Truth by a secret sense of the weight and importance of the Calling by Christian Wisdom and Prudence by a vehement desire to do good to win Souls to gain Proselytes to Righteousness and to advance the Glory of Christ's Kingdom by unfeigned love to good Men and being enamour'd with those Christian Vertues and Perfections without which that Name is only assumed and usurp'd and a Man is dead while he lives Those who are thus qualified have not only one but all or most of these Characters and carry this whole Constellation in the Heaven of their Souls are and may truly be said to be called to this Office by him who tells the number of the Stars for these are such even Stars in Christ's Right-hand and calls them all by their Names And on such Men we may expect the Spirit and the Gift of the Text will descend when an external Call invites them to put their Shoulders under the Burthen and as the Spirit came on Elishaâ—… when the Minstrel plaid so such Men having this Harmony in their Souls may look for the illapse of this Spirit especially when seconded with the external Musick of Veni Creator Spiritus When St. Paul 1 Tim. iii. 1 speaks of a Person who desires the Office of a Bishop and then subjoyns the Accomplishments of the Man who desires it he doth in effect require this internal Call and setting down the particular marks of it the design without all peradventure is to shew that he who thinks to enter into that Station must enquire of himself whether those Ingredients are found in him He â—hat finds them not and yet boasts of a Divine Vocation may indeed deceive and blind the Eyes of Men who can see no farther than the outside of the Cup and Platter but surely cannot impose upon a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an all-seeing Eye which doth not only see the Unsoundness of the Heart and want of the Wedding Garment but will revenge it too in that day when he shall judg the Secrets of Mens Hearts by his Gospel The Holy Ghoâ—… loves a cleanly Habitation the Terms and Epithethes by which that Gift is sometimes expressed in Scripture Fire and Water import so much It is another Spirit that enters into the Swine The Holy Spirit of Discipline as it is said Wisd. i. 5 will flee deceit and remove from Thoughts that are without Understanding and will not abide when Unrighteousness comes in But though a Person thus qualified for Timothy's Office and the sacred Function may be thereby disposed for the receiving of the Holy Ghost the Spirit of Power of Love and of a sound Mind or a greater portion of it if he had something of it before yet it seems this Gift is not actually bestowed except Persons of the same
Office and Station Men that have been thus initiated themselves lay their Hands on him which calls me to Examination of the second Query II. How this Gift was anciently and is still bestowed and communicated By the putting on of my Hands saith St. Paul and 1 Tim. iv 14 he adds by the laying on of the Hands of the Presbytery i. e. of the whole Apostolical Colledge or the greater part of the Apostles who it's like were present upon the place for the Apostles are called Presbyters sometimes ' nay Deacons too Names in those days not of Office at least not constantly but of Age and Honour and Service This Rite or Ceremony of Imposition of Hands on a Person designed for Church-Offices and the Service of the Tabernacle Isidore and others derive from Isaac's blessing his Son Jacob which they suppose was one by the Patriarch's laying his Hands upon Jacob's Head from Jacob's laying his Hands on his Grand-Children and blessing them from Moses's laying his Hand on Joshua and communicating part of his Spirit to him And indeed there are very few but will grant that it came from the Jews who at the preferring or promoting a Person to the degree of Rabbi or Doctor of their Law laid their Hands upon him a Ceremony performed by three and call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Semicah and this was a Symbol that the Holy Ghost rested upon the Person thus ordained The Ancient Romans used to lay their Hands upon their Slaves when they made them free and Numa Pompilius had Hands laid on him when he was made High Pontiff but it 's probable that even these fetcht it from the Jews The Christian Churches who retain'd what was good and praise worthy among the Jews seeing nothing in this Rite but what was grave and decent and solemn and serious adopted it into their Service The three Orders Bishops Priests and Deacons were in imitation of the Synagogue which had her High-Priests her Priests and her Levites and so was this Imposition of Hands In sacrificing Beasts to the Honour of God the Priest laid his Hands on the Victims Head to shew he dedicated it to God and from common separated it to a holy use and dismiss'd it from the Service of Men into that of the most High God all which Significations did wonderfully well agree with the end of the Ministerial Function under the Gospel and therefore the Christians had no reason to reject this useful and decent Custom Our Blessed Saviour first practised this Ceremony upon the Children that were brought to him for his Blessing and it 's not unlikly he laid his Hands on the Apostles before he left the World for we read that a little before his Departure he lifted up his Hands and blessed them Luke xxiv 50 After our Saviour's Ascension into Heaven the Apostles constantly used it after Baptism in Confirmation as an external Mark to signify the Descent of the Spirit upon the Persons wash'd with Water But more especially when they separated any Persons to holy Offices and they laid their Hands on such as a sign or pledg that the Holy Ghost or a Spirit and Temper suitable to their Calling and Employment and Profession was and would be conferr'd upon them to guide and assist and direct them This Imposition of Hands was no Physical Cause of conveying the Holy Ghost but an External Assurance That as surely as the Hands were laid on the Head of the Person ordain'd so surely would the Spirit of Power of Love and of a sound Mind light upon his Soul if he did not obstruct it by wilful departing from the Living God. And yet all this doth not make Order a Sacrament for tho we grant here is a Sign and something Spiritual and Unseen Represented by that Sign yet there is something more required to the making of a Sacrament and those must necessarily think so who believe that the Apostles could institute no Sacraments by their Authority That this Rite hath lasted in the Church from the Apostles Times unto this day is what the concurrent Testimonies of all Ages witness Those that would confine it to the Apostles Times are injurious to the Church of Christ which would be in an uncomfortable condition if her Guides and Pastors came not in the same way their Predecessors did and why should we think the Lord's Hand shortned or believe he will not let his Spirit accompany the Pious Ceremony when his Church now hath as much need of it as heretofore and it 's hard God should vouchsafe his Spirit to Persons on whom Holy Hands were laid in the Jewish and refuse that Favour to the Guides and Pastors of the Christian Church those especially who keep themselves unspotted from the World. The Maronites in their Office of Ordination make out the Original and Succession of this Rite thus The Most High God say they came down on Mount Sinai and laid his Hands upon Moses Moses laid his upon Aaron Aaron upon his Sons his Sons successively on those that follow'd them until John the Baptist John the Baptist laid his Hand upon our Saviour our Saviour upon his Apostles his Apostles on the Bishops that succeeded them and they ever since on those who are admitted into Holy Orders How true or how just this Calculation is I shall not now enquire But that which I hinted before I must touch here again viz. That this Ceremony as it relates to Orders and particularly to Timothy's Office must be performed by those upon whom Holy Hands were laid before in order to their Lawful Ministring before the Lord. The Secular Magistrate and Laity may name and propose Candidates but cannot by their Imposition of Hands ordain Bishops and Elders for no such Power was ever given them In the purest and best none would nay in the most corrupt Ages none durst presume to do it The Power Ecclesiastical as it was distinct from the Secular before the Empire was Christian so they have continued distinct since Crowns have stoopt to the Cross and though they live lovingly together and are helpful one to another yet the one ought not to interfere with the other's essential rights and Constitutions The Apostle emphatically says by the putting on of my hands Himself had been separated to the Office of Teacher and Apostle by Imposition of Hands and what was conferr'd on him he confers on Timothy the same way And yet though he had assistants in the Ordination of his Beloved Son and though others laid their Hands on him as well as St. Paul that 's no Argument that therefore one without the help of more cannot convey the Power and Authority of Timothy's Office to others I know the Church requires three at least to lay their hands on the Man of God who is to be consecrated to the Churches service and most of the Ancient Canons press it nay some Churches have been so stiff in this point that they have pronounc'd that Ordination of a Bishop unlawful
which hath been perform'd by one only and several Ancient Decrees and Constitutions there are that require Ordination of a Bishop by all the Bishops of the Province yet all this can have relation only to the ordinary course of things and where such plenty may easily be had Cases of necessity are not excluded here nor is that Ordination invalid where there is but one to bless the Party who is admitted to the Office in the Name of the Lord. Nor need we wonder that by the imposition of Hands the Holy Ghost even the Spirit of Power of Love and of a sound Mind should be conferr'd for as this Imposition of Hands is always seconded by Prayer which makes St. Austin look upon Imposition of Hands and Prayer to be one and the same thing So we know what Promises are made to fervent and importunate Prayer Luke XI 13 If ye being evil can give good gifts unto your Children how much more shall your heavenly Father give his Holy Spirit to them that ask him But It 's time I should in the last place shew III. How this gift is to be stirr'd up and what is the best and most proper way to do it In the original it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is as much as stirring up the fire or blowing the coals and making the fire burn that lies mingled with the ashes a word much used by Plato which hath made some fancy that the Apostle was well vers'd in Plato's Writings but there is no necessity for that Conjecture for the LXX make use of the expression and with their Translation it 's likely the Apostle was better acquainted than the Ideas of that Philosopher So that the Spirit of God conferr'd upon Sacred Persons by the Imposition of Hands is lodged in the Soul as the Treasure in the Gospel was hid in the Field which required digging and searching to make it useful It 's like Gold in the Oar which requires Melting and Cleansing and Purifying like a stock of money which requires Improvement by Trading like seed Sown in the Ground which requires Watering and other Labour and Industry to make it come forth and Grow and Spread and yield Fruit and strengthen man's heart This stirring up the Gift of God respects either the Means that are to be used or the Duty it self The Means hinted in this and the preceding Epistle are chiefly three Prayer Reading Meditating 1. Prayer Who can live without it Who can act or do any thing of Moment without the assistance of this Spiritual Engine Nature teaches Mankind to begin their Works of Concernment with God Grace therefore must be supposed to press this Duty infinitely more on you particularly the Heirs of Timothy's Office in order to this stirring up the Gift of God that is in you by the Imposition of Hands God that gives you Talents intends not that you should bury them in the Earth or lay them up in a Napkin but Occupy and Traffick with them and be gainers by them and to do this his help is necessary who gives strength to the Weak and Power to the Feeble and this help is not to be had without Importunate Cryes and Sollicitations These Prayers must have Fire it 's their fervour that unlocks the Secret Cabinet of the Almighty as Jamblicus Phrases it They must be in the Nature of Gorgonia's Devotions must even Storm and Threaten Heaven as it were so that God cannot withstand their Force and Power and such were the Prayers of Moses and Aaron and Samuel among his Priests that called upon his Name they call'd upon the Lord and he answer'd them Psal. XCIX 6 2. Reading This the Apostle expresly recommends to Timothy 1 Tim. IV. 13 in order to his stirring up the Gift of God. Reading What No doubt the Holy Scripture and therefore our Church prescribes delivering a Bible into the Hands of the Person upon whom Episcopal Hands are laid and the Maronites lay the Book of the Gospel upon such a Person 's Breast as the Nestorians in Syria do upon his back or shoulders not but that other Books are useful in their Times and Seasons but St. Paul knew what profit was to be got by Reading this Library of the Holy Ghost these Pandects of Christianity and being greedy after this Food of the Soul. The great examples you meet with here the Industry of Moses the Zeal of Elijah the Fervour of St. Paul the Vigour of St. Stephen the Courage of St. Peter the Assiduity of Apollo the Sincerity of Barnabas what are these but so many motives to stir up the Gift of God that is in you Add to all this the Glorious the Precious the Large the Sweet the Wonderful Promises Promises of Christ's Assistance Promises of Comfort of Support of Eternal Life and Glory which will animate and enliven and prompt you to blow up the fire of the Sanctuary and the Coal of the Altar that it may consume the Dross and Tin not only that which cleaves to your own Souls but that also which sticks to others that see and hear you and converse with you 3. Meditating This is also urged among the Means not to neglect the Gift of God 1 Tim. IV. 15 Meditate upon these things give thy self wholly to them The bare Reading will make no great impression Mediation digests and Rouzes the Soul from her Slumber This quickens the faculties sets all the wheels a going incites to Labour Prompts to Industry and moves and even compels us to imitate the great examples set down in the Word of God and to follow their Faith and Wisdom and Hope and Love and Charity Meditation is spiritual Seeing Seeing the Fight made Homer's Hero join in Battel Meditation surveys the Combats of the Prophets Apostles Martyrs and Christ himself and from hence arise Incentives and Encouragements to stir up the Gift of God that is in you by the Imposition of Hands But in what doth the stirring up of the gift of God consist Chiefly in these Three particulars 1. Feeding the Flock of God which is among you taking the oversight thereof not by constraint but willingly not for filthy Lucre but of a ready mind neither as being Lords over Gods heritage but being ensamples to the Flock This is St. Peters charge and we cannot well conceive how this Spirit or gift can be stirred up more profitably than this way for this end the Holy Spirit is bestow'd upon you that you should feed the Flock committed to your charge and cause it to be fed by persons not only Learned but Pious and Devout and such as have a great sense of God and of the worth of Mens Souls for this cause the Holy Ghost moves upon your inward Man that you should feed the Sheep by preaching the Word by your sweet and gentle Government and by your exemplary lives These will be Evidences and Arguments and Demonstrations that the Spirit of Glory and of God rests upon you that you walk after the
Spirit and are filled with it and that the weapons of your warfare are not carnal but spiritual mighty through God to the pulling down of the strong holds of iniquity Feeding implyes giving Food convenient to your Masters Family Ruling the House of God according to the dictates of Reason the Word of God and the best examples and making your selves paterns of Meekness Humility Charity Self-denial and of all good Works The external Honours Providence bestows upon you and the respect Men pay you are to encourage you to a chearful performance of your Work and intended not to swell you not to puff you up not to tempt you to please and tickle your selves with your Grandeur but to infuse greater alacrity into you to Fight the good Fight and to shed Blessed Influences on all that are round about you Ye are the Captains the Generals in Christ's Army while you bear the Heat and Burthen of the day detrect no Labour spare no pains live like Faithful Stewards of the Mystery of God Vindicate your Masters Honour act like persons who have renounc'd the hidden things of dishonesty and by manifestation of the Truth commend your selves to every mans Conscience in the sight of God you make good the glorious Titles and the lofty Names which are given you such as Angels and Stars and Lights of the World and the Salt of the Earth and a City set on a Hill c. Titles of a proud sound but which are intended to make you Humble and to tell you you are only exalted that you may with greater facility take your people by the hand and lift them up to Heaven This is the way to do good and to make Religion glorious and well spoken of This will even convince Infidels that Religion is something more than a Name something more than Policy and interest that it is able to transform Tempers to change hearts and to make Men act contrary to their natural inclination and that instead of debasing humane Nature it exalts and polishes and refines it and leads it to solid Bliss and Happiness and this as well as your Learning will make you as it was once said of the English Clergy stupor Mundi the Wonder of the World. 2. Labouring and making it your business to reform abuses Thus did the Primitive Prelates the Men whose Names we rise up to and whose Memories we admire and in whom the Spirit of Power of Love and of a sound mind did shine Indeed we have some later Examples of magnanimous persons within the Kingdoms to which we belong who finding the Field over which they were set over run with Bryars and Thorns with abuses which peace and plenty and connivance and love to an easie quiet life and the corruption of the Age and the covetousness and partiality of worldly Men and a slavish fear of Superiours had brought in have resolutely set themselves to weed the deformed and dismal Field and to pull out the Tares that incommoded and annoy'd the Wheat This is a Work which requires more than ordinary Courage and therefore fit for you whom Providence places at the Stern and constitutes chief Watchmen over the House of Israel and who are in credit with God and with your Prince Your Commission like Jeremy's reaches to destroying and pulling up as well as to planting and building not such a destroying as he who pretends to be the Vicar of Christ hath made in Kingdoms and Nations but tearing up those obstructions and impediments which put a stop to the chearful progress of Religion amongst us Here the Zeal of Phinâ—es will be necessary especially when the Evil is grown so dangerous that it s come to an Ense rescindendum Fear of displeasing Men or of being ill spoken of or of being contradicted by Equals or Superiors must here be banish'd as a thing that renders you unfit for the Kingdom of God and great Enterprises Had Christ and his Apostles insisted upon such excuses Judaism had triumph'd to this day and Idolatry maintain'd its post and station I need not name here the particular abuses which require your Cognisance and Censures they are too obvious and a holy mind that judges by the Word of God and the Rules of Primitive Discipline will soon perceive where the Sword of the Spirit even this Reformation is to be made use of I know its easier to spy faults than to mend them and what seems intollerable to one man appears harmless in anothers eye but such evasions will not do with a Person whose Soul is touch'd with a sense of God's Glory whose delight is to do good who examines impartially what is required of him in the Station he is in whom the love of God constrains to do great things for the honour of the Gospel and I may add who knows the terrours of the Lord and believes the threatning of Christ pronounced against the unfaithful Steward Matth. XXIV 50 The Lord of that Servant shall come in a day when he looks not for him and in an hour that he is not aware of and shall cut him asunder and appoint him his portion with the Hypocrites there shall be weeping and gnashing of Teeth 3. Enduring hardness as good Souldiers of Jesus Christ a duty very warmly recommended to our Bishop 2 Tim. II. 3 In discharging your duty faithfully you must expect obloquy and slanders and reproaches and other inconveniences troubles and adversities but to bear them patiently to maintain your integrity in the midst of all such Storms your sweetness in the midst of all the salt waters not to flinch from your good Profession not to sink under your Burthen to hold out to the End to continue with Christ in his Temptations and to be faithful unto death upon a prospect of the Crown of Righteousness this is Masculine and Heroick and a certain Argument that the Spirit of God is sent into your hearts which is the earnest of your future inheritance Thus the Apostles baffled the Temptations of the World and vanquished the Stratagems of Hell and Devils and thus the World must be taught that neither Death nor Life neither Superiorities nor Powers neither Things present nor Things to come can separate you from the love of God which is in Christ Christ Jesus our Lord. Were the future Glory saith One believ'd as firmly as the things which are seen it would be a kind of Martyrdom to live here To be sure the more lively our Faith and our Apprehensions are of that future Bliss the more cheerfully we shall stir up the Gift of God that is in us to our great Redeemers Glory and the more patiently we shall bear the crosses that befal us in our good and great attempts Crosses which must turn into Crowns at last Crowns that wither not that tarnish not Crowns which time doth not change and Ages do not alter for so we read 1 Pet. V. 4 When the Chief Shepherd shall appear ye shall receive a Crown of Glory which fades not away And now O Timothy whom God hath called and the King hath called and the Church doth call God by extraordinary parts and abilities the King who understands the merit of those who are near and dear to him the Church which considers who are like to be most useful to the edifying of the body of Christ O Timothy I say upon whom the sacred unction is to be poured forth and the hands of blessing to be laid Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to the Gospel an argument I make use of not only because of its relation to the day but because St. Paul makes it an incentive to a Bishops duty 2. Tim. II. 8 Remember therefore how our Great Master laboured for the good of Mankind for the salvation of Souls how he suffered and how he died and then rose to an immortal glorious life the emblem of thy Office and reward for when thou shalt have gone about doing good and healing those that are possess'd of sin and of the Devil and hast born and hast had patience thy mortal part which hath been tired and worn out with labour must fall indeed but then after the example of Christ's body a Creature must rise at last glorious and Angelical and triumphing over hell and Devils seeing We all look for a Saviour who shall change our vile body that it may be like unto his glorious body according to the mighty Working whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself FINIS Mr. Y. in the year 1685. Exod. 20.6 L. 3. c. 4. Hom. 15. in 1. Tim 3. v. Joh. xi 49. Morin in Ordin Maron Lib. 2. contr Donatist c. 16