A SERMON Preached at the Triennial Visitation OF THE Right Reverend Father in GOD RICHARD L. Bishop of Bath and Wells HELD AT BRIDGEWATER on the 19th Day of August 1695. By MATTHEW HOLE B. D. Vicar of Stokegursey in Somersetshire LONDON Printed for Mat. Wotton at the Three Daggers in Fleetstreet near the Inner-Temple-Gate 1696. TO THE Right Reverend Father in GOD RICHARD Lord Bishop of Bath and Wells My Lord THis Sermon which was Preached at Your Lordships Command and Printed at the Request of Your Clergy naturally flyes to the Altar for Protection and if it may be allowed to take Sanctuary there it will not fear the Censure or Assaults of any Adversaries The subject matter of it being concerning Spiritual Gifts 't is in a manner intituled to the Care and Patronage of Spiritual Persons and especially of Your Lordship who is deservedly placed in the highest Rank and Order of them If any Evil Spirits shall arise and oppose these Gifts of the Holy Ghost as Jannes and Jambres of old withstood Moses and Simon Magus and others resisted the Apostles we need not doubt but the Author of them will help us to defend the Argument and the Finger of God will elude the Magical Enchantments both of Atheism and Enthusiasme If this Discourse may any ways help forward the right use of these Spiritual Gifts if it may serve to correct the Abuse of them in some or to discountenance the vain Pretences to them in others it may perhaps prove one of the Best Gifts that could be Presented to the Church by one of the meanest Well-wishers to it My Lord I have Obeyed Your Lordships Command which the Obligations of Duty and Gratitude must ever make me willing and ready to do That all Your Clergy may Reverence and Obey Your Lordship as their Spiritual Father and that Your Lordship may long continue to be a Blessing and Support to Your Clergy is the Hearty Prayer of My Lord Your Lordships most Obedient and Devoted Servant MATTHEW HOLE A SERMON Preached at the Triennial Visitation c. 1 COR. xii Last Verse But covet earnestly the best gifts And yet I shew unto you a more excellent way THE great Subject of this Chapter is concerning Spiritual Gifts which the Apostle in his entrance upon it declares to be so useful and necessary a piece of Knowledge Ver. 1. that he would by no means have us ignorant of it And to the end that the Christian Church might be rightly instructed in so Divine and Excellent a Subject he here treats at large concerning the Author the number the use and the distribution of these Spiritual Gifts For the Author he declares it to be no other than the Holy Spirit of God the Third Person in the ever Blessed and Adorable Trinity whose peculiar Office in the Oeconomy of Mans Salvation is to edifie and instruct the Church of Christ for which we are so entirely beholding to this Holy Spirit Ver. 3. that no Man can say that Jesus Christ is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost And they are called therefore Spiritual Gifts not because they are seated in the Spiritual part or Soul of Man but because they proceed from the Spirit of God From the Author he goes on to the number and variety of these Spiritual Gifts reckoning up in the 4th and following Verses The Word of Wisdom the Word of Knowledge the Gift of Prophecy the Gift of Healing the gift of Tongues and the Interpretation of Tongues and the like All which diversity of Gifts he tells us flow from the same Spirit and their different operations from the same Lord who worketh all in all that is who worketh all these Gifts in all that have them And least we should mistake the design of the Holy Ghost in bestowing these Gifts he proceeds to direct us in the right end and use of them telling us That the manifestation of the Spirit was given to every one to profit withal Ver. 7. that is not barely to procure some private profit to themselves but for the publick good and benefit of others They were not given for vanity and ostentation to set forth our selves by our Eloquence or any Elaborate Arts of Speech much less to raise Schisms and Factions but to advance the Peace Unity and Edification of the Church Then lastly for the distribution of these Gifts he tells us that they are not all given to one nor are the same given to all but they are scattered with an admirable variety and in different measures on the sons of Men that like the various Members of the Natural Body they might be all helpful and serviceable to one another Ver. 28 29 30. Are all apostles saith he are all prophets are all teachers do all speak with tongues do all interpret Eph. 4.11 12. No He hath given some to be apostles some prophets some evangelists some pastors and some teachers and all this for the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry and the edifying of the body of Christ And having thus discoursed at large of the nature end and use of these Spiritual Gifts he closes the Chapter with this excellent advice of our Text Covet earnestly the best gifts And for an introduction to the following Chapter adds And yet I shew unto you a more excellent way The words will require a little Explication before I can sum up the sense or speak clearly to them First Then by gifts here there can be no doubt but the Apostle chiefly intended those supernatural and extraordinary gifts of Tongues Miracles Prophecy and the like which were rife and common in those days and were indeed necessary in the Infancy of the Church for the confirmation of the Gospel and to gain Proselites to the belief of it But those extraordinary and miraculous Gifts having long since ceased together with the reason of them may not now be the object of our Ambition and therefore the Apostles advice here may be and usually is extended likewise to the natural and acquired gifts of the Spirit which are necessary still to propagate the Doctrine of the Gospel as it now stands confirmed and derived down to us Of this kind are those intellectual habits and endowments of the Mind by the improvement whereof some attain to a greater skill in the Tongues others excel in the knowledge of Arts and Sciences by which means Men come to have different Talents and are diversly qualified for publick service All which gifts together with the improvement of them proceed still from the same Spirit and are given for the same use even the good and benefit of Mankind and these will be continued to the end of the World only with this difference that whereas the former were conferred on the Apostles and others by Inspiration and sudden Infusion and so they needed only to be directed to the right use of them these latter are now conveyed to us by the ordinary Methods of Study
and Diligence and so we are to be taught both how to get and how to use them as we ought These are the gifts But Secondly What does the Apostle mean by the best gifts For that term denotes not only a diversity but a preference of some above others In Answer to which by the best gifts here we are to understand not absolutely the best in every kind but those that were most useful and tended most to the edification of the Church for the Apostle having before asserted Ver. 7. That the manifestation of the Spirit was given to every one to profit withal Whatever most promoted that end was reckoned in the number of the best gifts so that whether the Apostle referred here to the gift of Tongues which was very necessary at that time when the Gospel was to be Preached to People of divers Nations and Languages or whether he had an eye to the gift of Miracles which gave the greatest credit to their Doctrine and begat the highest assent and veneration to it or whatever else were the particular Gifts referr'd to 't is plain the Apostle meant by them such as best edified the Church and consequently by Analogy we are still to reckon those the best gifts whereby we may best profit and edifie our Hearers But Thirdly What is the Apostles meaning in bidding us to covet these Gifts and that earnestly too To covet in Scripture is sometimes taken in a very bad sense and there is one whole Precept in the Decalogue directly levell'd against it Indeed to covet any of our Neighbours Goods or to use any indirect arts to compass them is a vile and detestable piece of Covetousness but to desire the gifts of God for the good of Mankind and to seek to enrich our Mind with the highest and best abilities to promote his Glory is a noble and laudable Ambition and this is what the Apostle here recommends to us But Fourthly What is that more excellent way which he here directs to And yet I shew unto you a more excellent way The words in the Original are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I shew unto you a way to attain to a greater excellency than any the best gifts can advance you to And what 's that Why 't is the Graces of the Spirit as appears by what follows where the Apostle immediately falls upon the excellent Grace of Charity which as it comprizes the Love of God and our Neighbour is the complex or summary of all Christian Graces and to set forth its excellence he presers it far above all other Gifts or Endowments whatever as we shall shew hereafter From the words thus explained we may easily gather these two Propositions I. That the Ministers and Pastors of the Church ought earnestly to covet and labour for the best gifts that is those especially that tend most to the Benefit and Edification of the Church II. That the Graces of the Spirit are more excellent than the Gifts of it and therefore ought to be more earnestly coveted and laboured for These two useful and seasonable Truths shall be the subject of our ensuing Discourse and I begin with the first of them viz. I. That the Ministers and Pastors of the Church ought earnestly to covet and labour for the best gifts that is such especially as conduce most to the Benefit and Edification of their Hearers St. Paul gave this direction with reference to those extraordinary Gifts that were rife in his time that they should covet and seek after the best of them And the Reason being still the same we are concerned likewise even in those ordinary Gifts that are continued to us to desire those most that are likelyest to do most good In treating therefore of this Proposition I must inquire First What are now the best or most beneficial Gifts for the use of the Church And Secondly How we are to covet and seek after them For the First Before I can shew you what are now the most useful and beneficial Gifts for the good of the Church I must put you in mind of four or five Gifts or Talents in Prayer and Preaching which are none of the best though they have been too much affected in our days And the 1. I shall mention of these is The Gift of Extemporary Effusions in Prayer which some have miscalled The gift of Prayer This is not much to be affected nor to be reckon'd in the number of the best gifts for this instead of edifying hath greatly disturbed the Peace of the Church and destroyed the Reverence and Harmony of Publick Worship Solomon who hath been justly reputed the Wisest of Men hath will'd us Not to be rash with our mouth nor hasty to utter any thing before God â—…cl 5.2 but to consider that God is in heaven and we are upon earth therefore our words unto him should be few Meaning that we should never approach the Divine Majesty but with the profoundest Awe and Reverence and that is best signified by few and well weigh'd Expressions in our Addresses to him And therefore a greater than Solomon even our Blessed Saviour himself the Head and Founder of his Church prescribed a Form of Prayer to be used by his Disciples and followers and the Christian Church according to his order hath used the same ever since and likewise composed her Publick Liturgies according to that excellent Platform And thanks be to God our Church hath at this day one of the most pious and best composed Liturgies that is extant in the Christian World so that now we need only bring ardent desires and good affections in the use of it and we need not doubt a gracious answer and acceptance There was indeed in the days of the Apostles an extraordinary gift of Praying by Inspiration called sometimes Praying by the Spirit which was necessary in the beginning of Christianity when as the Apostle tells us They knew not how or what to pray for as they ought but when the Holy Spirit of God had dictated the holy Scriptures wherein we are directed both as to the matter and manner of our Prayers when the sacred Canon was compleated and Publick Prayers composed according to the directions of it then this among other extraordinary Gifts ceased together with the reason of it for the Spirit of God which doth nothing in vain is not wont to give extraordinary assistances when ordinary means will serve the turn So that all the gift of Prayer now remaining in the Church consists not in pouring out many and new words but in the pious Motions and good Affections of the Heart The Spirit helps our infirmities still but how Rom. 8.26 Not by furnishing us with new Phrases and variety of Expressions which God is no way delighted with but with sighs and groans saith the Apostle that cannot be uttered that is by exciting the inward desires and breathings of the Soul after him Hence we read that the poor Publicans short Letany Luke 18 10
therefore when the Apostle adviseth us to covet earnestly the best gifis he thereby puts us upon using the best means of becoming Masters of them And because it may be asked what they are I shall briefly mind you of these four 1. Diligent Study 2. Frequent Exercise 3. Hearty Prayer And 4. A good Life Of each of which a word or two distinctly And 1. We must covet these Gifts by our diligent Study and earnest search after them for this is now the ordinary way and means of acquiring them Indeed in the days of the Apostles the Spirit was poured out and came upon them not by Study but by sudden Infusion The mighty wind in which the Holy Spirit descended was a Symbol of Inspiration and betokened the breathing into them the Gifts of the Holy Ghost The Fire that sate upon their Heads represented that fervency of Spirit which enabled them with courage to go through all the difficulties of their Office The Cloven-Tongues bespake the diversity of Languages with which they were endow'd by which means Illiterate Persons excelled the greatest Rabbies and Fishermen spake more Languages than the most studied Linguists But now we are to seek that by Industry which they had by Inspiration and the Church being arrived at the Stature of a Man in Christ Jesus God Almighty hath laid aside those extraordinary helps and supports of Infancy So that Diligence now keeps the Key of Knowledge and 't is Study alone that opens to us the Treasures of Wisdom 2 Tim. 2.15 Study saith the Apostle to shew thy self a workman that needeth not to be ashamed To be an Able Divine is a work of Study and a serious intention of Mind is necessary to the expert and faithful discharge of our Office We may not now pretend to or look for Inspiration nor hope by Dreams and Visions to know the Will of God No Ignorance and Folly are the effects of Sloth whilst Learning and Knowledge are only the Rewards of Industry Rom. 1â— 8. The word is nigh thee saith the Apostle even in thy mouth and in thy hand oh let it be in thy Heart too and make it the daily object of thy Study and Meditation 2 Pet. 19. We have a sure word of prophesie saith St. Peter whereunto we do well to take heed as to a light that shineth in a dark place Solomon that great Master of Wisdom exhorts us to seek for Knowledge and to search diligently for Understanding yea he wills us to search for it as for silver and to dig for it as for hid treasure Prov. 4. for though there be some truths that seem to float at top and to lye open to a careless eye yet there are others that lye deep and require a profounder search here we are to imploy our most composed thoughts giving our selves to Reading and Meditation as the first and great means of attaining them 2. Our study for these Gifts must be accompanied with the frequent use and exercise of them This will whet our Parts and set an edge on our Faculties and thereby enable us rightly to divide the Word of Truth St. Paul exhorts Timothy Tim. â— 6. to stir up the gift of God that was in him signifying that 't is Exercise that puts Life and Vigour into our Parts that blows up those Sparks within us and quickens them in o a bright and useful Flame Thus to imploy is to improve our Talent which will daily increase by Exercise and like the Widows Cruise of Oyl multiply by being used A lazy neglect of Mens Gifts makes them do the work of the Lord negligently and for want of a due exercise of their own Parts they do but too much exercise the Patience of them that hear them He that buryed his Talent in the Earth and he that wrapped it in a Napkin were both deprived of them and doom'd as wicked and unprofitable servants to outer darkness whereas he that used his Talent to his Masters Honour was commended for a good and faithful Servant and enter'd into his Masters Joy which makes it evident that Exercise is a good means of improving our Gifts and procuring to us the Reward of them 3. To the Exercise of our Gifts we must add hearty and fervent Prayer for a Blessing upon them for though Paul may plant â—or 3. and Apollo may water yet 't is God alone that gives the increase 〈◊〉 1.5 If any lack wisdom saith St. James let him ask it of God Thither our recourse must be if ever we hope to obtain it and indeed whither else should we go 〈◊〉 6.68 He only hath the words of eternal life To seek for Wisdom only in Books and Writings is but to seek the living among the dead 't is the Blessing of God that enlivens our indeavours and makes us rich both in Grace and Knowledge and he that leaves out this in his search after them will never arrive to more than what will betray his own Ignorance â—es 1. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the father of lights And therefore we must look upward and make our requests known unto him in whom are hid all the treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge and for our encouragement the same Apostle tells us that he giveth to all men liberally Jam. 1.5 and upbraideth not And our Blessed Saviour hath assured us that Earthly Parents are not more willing to give good Gifts to their Children Mat. 7.11 than our Heavenly Father is to give the Holy Spirit to them that ask it Our desires then of these Gifts must be carried on with uncessant Petitions to God for them and if we would attain to any measure of them we must seek them upon our Kneesâ— for 't is the Blessing of God that gives the Talent and the Improvement too and the Fruits of the Spirit owe all their increase to the Dew of his Heavenly Benediction Lastly To our Prayers we must joyn the exercises of Vertue and a Holy Life for Wisdom enters not into a polluted Soul nor can so refin'd a perfection inhabit an impure or corrupt Heart The carnal mind is enmity against God 1 Cor. 2.14 It receives not the things of the spirit of God neither can it know them because they are spiritually discerned And therefore our Hearts must be purged from the corruptions of Sin and Errour to make way for the entrance of Divine Truths and our Souls must be consecrated to holy uses before they can be fit to be the Temples of the Holy Ghost A good Life will best dispose us to a good Understanding and sincere desires of pleasing God will make us useful and profitable unto Men. So that if we mean to arrive at any proficiency or growth in Knowledge we must live up to that whereunto we have already attain'd for he that doth the will of my father saith our Saviour John â— 17. he shall know the
harm become instruments of much good unto the Church and consequently 't is the sanctifying of Gifts that like the enamelling of Pearls gives them their main lustre and value But Thirdly There is another great and surpassing excellency in the Graces above the Gifts of the Spirit and that is the Duration or Continuance of them for Grace hath Eternity stamped on it 't is coeval with the Spirit of God that gives it and as Immortal as the Spirit or Soul of Man that receives it This is more than can be said of the best gifts for of these the Apostle declares in the next Chapter 1 Cor. 8 9 1â—… that they must shortly have an end and be done away Whether there be prophesies saith he they shall fail whether there be tongues they shall cease whether there be knowledge that shall vanish away But Charity he tells us shall never fail and of the Graces of the Spirit he affirms that they shall abide for ever This is an excellency that far transcends all other Perfections whatever 't is the disgrace of all Worldly Excellencies that they are short-liv'd and vanishing Riches perish in the using the pleasures of Sin are but for a season Honour is but a puff of Wind a bubble that passeth away with the breath that raised it yea the most specious and durable accomplishments on this side Religion must all fail and leave us at the Grave But Grace goes farther with us and accompanies us into the other World where it not only leads to but makes up the chiefest part of our Felicity St. John tells us that good Men at their Death rest from their Labours that is among other things from the Laborious Exercise of their Gifts but their good Works and the gracious Habits of their Mind follow and go along with them and that not only to crown them with a Reward but to perpetuate the very Action for Grace differs from Glory not in Kind but merely in Degree and those gracious Habits that are begun and planted in us here will there grow up into a greater Maturity and Perfection Yea Heaven is nothing else but the Blessed Mansion of Holiness where that Grace that is here Militant and daily struggling with the reliques of corrupt Nature will there be Triumphant with a Palm of Victory in her Hand and a Crown of Gold upon her Head and the Spirits of Just Men in whom it reigns shall be made perfect and become more than Conquerours through Christ that loved them And now having by the Blessing of God finished what I at first proposed give me leave to press the Exhortation of the Text with respect both to the Gifts and Graces of the Spirit And First Let me exhort you to covet earnestly the best gifts that is to labour for the most useful and edifying Abilities whereby you may best serve the Church and profit your Hearers And here if I could ever hope to prevail methinks it might be reasonably expected from such an Assembly as this consisting of Persons whose great business it is to instruct others in the Knowledge and Practice of Divine Things Know then my Brethren that this is the main end of our Ministry and the design of all our Spiritual Gifts and therefore hither should all our aimes and indeavours tendâ— Remember that you are the Mouth of the People unto God to make known their Requests unto him and you are the Mouth of God unto the People to make known his will unto them The faithful discharge of both these may indeed require no small Labour but 't will be abundantly recompensed with a great Reward In your Prayers then affect not Novelty or Variety of Expressions which are no way pleasing unto God But let all your Addresses unto him be in fit Words and in all the decent Postures of Humility and Adoration Read the Publick Prayers of the Church with Reverence and devout Affections that the Hearers Zeal may be enkindled by the pious ardours of your Devotion In your Preaching shew Vncorruptness Gravity Tit. 2 7 8. Sincerity and sound Speech that cannot be condemned that he who is of the contrary part may be ashamed having no evil thing to say of you So shall you put a muzzle upon the prophanest Mouths and cut off all occasion from them that seek occasion against you Stir up your People to Love and to good Works for these things are good and profitable unto Men and when they are thus forced to approve your Labours you will be the better able to convince gainsayers and to strike detractors dumb Do not entertain Vulgar Hearers with nice and curious speculations which rather perplex than inform their Minds but let all your Discourses to them be evermore plain and practical leaving matters of Dispute to the Schools or more Learned Auditories Avoid all things that may engender Strife or lead to Faction and follow those things that make for Peace and things whereby ye may edifie one another Do not use your Gifts to Pride and Vain-glory for this is to make the Breathings of the Holy Ghost subservient to the vain Breath of the Multitude which cannot but grieve the Holy Spirit of God and do despight to the Spirit of Grace Beware of abusing your Parts to the Maintenance of Schism and Divisions but rather use your utmost Prudence to heal those Breaches which open too wide a gap for Atheism Confusion and every evil work Suit all your Discourses both to the Necessities and likewise to the Capacities of your Hearers having Milk for Babes and stronger Meat for riper Christians In a word Feed your Flocks with sound Doctrine and go before them by a Pious Example that they may safely both hear your Voice and follow you But I may not conclude without minding you of the more excellent way and calling upon you to walk and keep in it that is to covet more earnestly the Graces than the Gifts of the Spirit We have seen how far the one excells the other that 't is Grace alone that sanctifies our Gifts and gives them all their worth and excellence This therefore justly calls for our most earnest Prayers and Endeavours 'T is good saith the Apostle Heb. 13 9. to have the heart established with grace yea much better than to have the Head stuffed with Knowledge for this may but aggravate our Condemnation whilst the other will secure and increase our Felicity Grace is indeed the greatest thing that God can give or that we can receive for 't is a Ray of the Divinity the very Character or Image of God stamped upon the Soul and what higher thing can the most elevated Ambition raise our Wishes to Wherefore let our desires and endeavours after it bear some proportion to its transcendent worth and excellency Psal 81 40. let us open our Mouths wide that we may be filled with the Spirit and let the cry of our Devotions Zech. 4â—… like the acclamations at the Building of the Temple be evermore Grace Grace But let us especially to whom the World hath given the stile of Spiritual Persons pray for a double portion of the Spirit that God would furnish us with his Gifts to promote his Glory and the good of Mankind and sanctifie them with his Grace that we may use them to those ends that as we excel others in the Holiness of our Profession so we may in the Holiness of our Lives too adding to our knowledge vertue to vertue temperance to temperance patience 2 Pet 5 6 â—… to patience brotherly-kindness and to brotherly-kindness charity for if these things be in us and abound they will truly enoble our Minds adorn our Profession and dignifie us far above all Earthly Preferments In a word my Brethren see that ye come behind in no Gift being enrich'd in all knowledge and in all utterance that ye may speak as the Oracles of God and that all your Speeches may administer Grace to the Hearers So shall ye shine as Lights in this World and as Stars of the first Magnitude in the Kingdom of Heaven Which that we may all do I shall conclude with the excellent Collect appointed for this day Almighty and most Merciful God of whose only Gift it cometh that thy faithful People do unto thee any true and laudable Service grant us thy Grace that we may so faithfully serve thee in this Life that we fail not finally to attain thy Heavenly Promises through the Merits of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen FINIS