it pleaseth him I will not dare saith one of them to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me to make the Gentiles obedient by word or deed The Ministry is God's ordinance and depends not upon the worthiness of him that is employed in it but it hath its virtue force and efficacy from the blessing of God and inward operation of his Spirit which worketh where and in and by whom he will Christ himself converted very few in comparison of the many converted by his Apostles Those Ministers whose parts are most Seraphical cannot at their pleasure infuse grace into their hearers hearts A Paul may plant and an Apollos may water but it is God that must give the increase So as that neither the one nor the other are any thing in themselves without God's blessing which the weakness of the instrument shall not hinder as making most for the Honour of the supreme Agent to work by it We have this treasure in Earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of Men. All God's Servants are not alike gifted some have five talents some ten some but one yet all may be his faithfull Servants and may have their gifts given them to profit withall And from any of their gifts any may learn and profit if the fault be not their own Who thâ—ives more in grace than they who conscionably attend and depend on their own godly Pastours Who go more empty away with the shell of Religion onely when others have gotten the kernel but such as love to wander and heap â—p to themselves Teachers of their own chusing The first sort find the pâ—eaching of God's word to prove wholsome food to them which though it seem coiurse and to be served in with great simplicity like Daniel's diet which was but Pulse and Water yet because it is God's allowance allways hath his blessing with it and makes his Children so to thrive that their Countenances do appear fairer and they are fatter in flesh than the other who though they feed upon Varieties and perhaps more curiously cook'd dishes yet have Souls that are still thin and lean and depart from their banquets without any great satisfaction for want of that blessing without which all manner of Varieties prove but wind and vanity For Man lives not by bread onely but by the word of blessing that comes forth of God's mouth Neither say I this of mine own private opinion but the brethren of the Non-conformity say the same He that keepeth in God's order under a meaner honest Minister is like to be a more humble thriving Christian than he that breaks that order under pretence of Edification Saith Mr. Baxter The ancient and godly Fathers of the Church taking into consideration this order that God hath established amongst his People have both in their publick Councils and private writings always disallowed and forbidden the liberty that People are apt to take of their own heads to wander from their own Pastours to hear Strangers In the third Council of Carthage where Saint Augustine himself was present there was this decree made Placuit ut a nullo Episcopo usurpentur plebes alienae nec aliquis Episcoporum supergrediatur in Dioecesi suum Collegam Be it ordained that no Bishop usurp or have any thing to doe with another's People or enter into the Diocese of his Compartner in office to meddle or make there And this Canon extends its obligation to Ministers of inferiour order in reference to each others Congregations as well as to Bishops in relation to their Dioceses For Sicut Episcopus se habet ad Dioecesim suam sic sacerdos ad suam parochaim saith Aquinas As it is with a Bishop with respect to his Diocese so 't is with a Minister in respect of his Parish Sine spe sunt saith that holy Martyr St. Cyprian perditionem maximam de indignatione Dei acquirunt qui schisma faciunt relicto Episcopo alium sibi foris Pseudoepiscopum constituunt They are without hope and procure to themselves the greatest destruction through the just indignation of God who make Schisms in the Church and leaving their own Bishop appoint and set up another a false Bishop to themselves Again singulis pastoribus portio gregis est ascripta quam reger quisque ac gubernet rationem sui actus domino reddat To every Pastour there is a portion of God's People committed which he ought to Rule and Govern as one that must give an account to God for them And saith the same holy man farther Oportet eos quibus praesumus non circumcursare nec Episcoporum concordiam cohaerentem sua subdola fallaci temeritate collidere It behoves those over whom God hath set us not to run about hither thither nor by their false and crafty temerity to break the Concord and good Agreement that ought to be amongst Ministers In the Canon-law it is ordained Vt dominicis festis diebus presbyteri antequam Sacra celebrent plebem interrogent si alterius parochianus sit in ecclesia qui proprio contempto presbytero ibi velit Sacris interesse si inveniatur statim ab ecclesia abjiciant That on Festival and Lord's days the Ministers before they beg in Divine Service shall ask the people if there be any Person of another Parish in the Church who neglecting his own Pastour desires to be present at divine Worship there and if any such be found they shall forthwith thurst him out of the Church And in another pleea it is thus decreed Omnis quilibet confiteatur proprio Sacerdoti siquis autem alieno Sacerdoti voluerit justa de causa coufiteri peccata licentiam prius postulet obtineat a proprio Sacerdote cum aliter ipse illum non possit absolvere vel ligare Let every man confess his faults to his own Minister but if any upon just cause desire to confess to another Minister let him first ask and obtain Licence so to doe from his own Minister seeing otherwise no other can absolve or bind him Of the same judgment in this case have the reverend Brethren of the Presbyterian perswasion declared themselves to be not onely in their Sermons to their people which I have sometimes heard but I have seen an Act and can produce it of the assembly of Scotland Entitled An act against such as withdraw themselves from the publick worship in their own Congregation Wherein the said Assembly in the zeal of God For preserving order unity and peace in the Kirk for maintaining that respect which is due to the ordinances and Ministers of Iesus Christ for preventing Schisms noysome errours and all unlawfull practices which may follow on the peoples withdrawing themselves from their own Congregations do ordiain every member in every Congregation to keep their own Paroch Kirk to communicate there in the Word and Sacraments and
truth in the World viz. that Christ was the holy one of God because he had no calling so to doe The words of St. Paul are full to the same purpose How shall they believe on him of whom they have not heard And how shall they hear without a Preacher And how shall they preach except they be sent The Apostle speaks of such preaching and hearing as should beget Faith and by which Grace is ordinarily wrought and increased in the Soul and upon which People may expect God's Blessing Now thus none can hear without a Preacher neither can any thus preach i. e. profitably to beget Faith except he be sent They cannot be succesfull in their Ministry without a Mission They may talk as Usurpers but not preach as God's Ambassadours They may satisfie the Itch of the Ear but they cannot be instrumental to work Grace in the heart God will not concur with that Ministry he sends not Our Saviour Christ Faith Iohn 10. 8. All that ever came before me are Thieves and Robbers Why Moses and the Prophets the Priests and Levites were before Christ. Were they all Thieves and Robbers and none of them true Pastours The Emphasis lies in the word came which being rightly understood makes it as true that all that ever came or shall come after Christ are Thieves and Robbers also as well as those that came before him St. Hierome's note upon the text makes it clear Venerunt inquit Christus non qui missi sunt de quibus Propheta veniebant a se ego non mittebam eos Our Saviour doth not say that all that were sent before him were Thieves and Robbers but all that came before me Plainly shewing that whosoever shall come amongst the People of God his Church to perform the Office of the Ministry of his own accord without a lawfull Sending is a Thief and a Robber and none of Christ's true Sheep will or ought to hear him But it will be said the Preaching and Ministry of such Persons as are in question is the Preaching and Ministry of Persons sent for they are Persons in holy Orders and Ministers ordained 1. I deny not but that some of such Persons as are in question may be lawfully ordained Ministers all are not to my knowledge yet it followeth not presently from thence that they are sent to preach or to perform Acts of the Ministry For it may so be in a true setled and constituted Church that for a lawfull Cause and by lawfull Authority a Person ordained may be deposed and justly suspended from performing any ministerial Acts as Abiathar in the Church of the Jews was by King Solomon Otherwise Ministers in their Office were Lawless and exempt from all legal and just Restraint and Censure And although a Person in holy Orders cannot have his Ordination ordinarily made void by any quoad internam potestatem in regard of the inward Power of Order that is conferred on him in his Ordination so as upon his Restauration he need be re-ordained yet it may be made void quoad externam executionem in regard of the outward Execution of that Power in the Church either in publick or private either for a set-time or season or else during his Life It is in the Power of the Church and Governours thereof to suspend a Minister from the Execution of his Office though it be not in their Power to rase out that Characterem insculptum that intrinsical Authority received in his Ordination And a Person so lawfully suspended by Authority as is said may he in such a case execute the Office of the Ministry or may he not If so then Acts of lawfull Authority in the Church signifie nothing Governours and Government and Church-discipline is a mere empty Name and but a Cypher Then might Abiathar have executed the High-priest's Office Notwithstanding King Solomon's Exauctoration of him And so the Ordinance of God in the Church to which all stand bound in Conscience to be in subjection will be made void and of none effect If not then such Ministers as notwithstanding their legal Restraint or suspension from Execution of their Office do yet constantly execute the same by preaching and other ministerial Duties otherwise than by the Law they are allowed cannot be said to be sent of God since they are inhibited by God's Vicegerents on Earth and consequently have not that sending which the word of God saith is necessary to those whose preaching is to be instrumental to work Faith and other saving Graces in the Hearts of God's People But what calling or sending can such a Minister as is in question pretend to for his setting up a Course of House-preaching or other ministerial Acts in the place or Parish where there is a publick constant preaching Minister established by Law If he hath any it must be either extraordinary or ordinary for there is not a third way of calling or sending Extradordinary calling or sending is that which is done by God himself immediately without the Concurrence or Ministry of any humane Help or Authority Not of man nor by man Either 1. By divine Vision or Revelation and thus St. Paul was called and sent to preach the Gospel at Macedonia A Vision appeared to Paul in the Night saying come over into Macedonia and help us And after he had seen the Vision immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us to preach the Gospel unto them 2. By secret impulse on mens spirits for this work wrought by the extraordinary Power of God in the Primitive times Such was Philip the Deacon's going to the City of Samariah and preaching the Gospel unto them after the dispersing the Church at Ierusalem Such also was the Calling of those who at the same dispersion first preached Christ at Phoenicia and Cyprus and the Hand of God was with them though otherwise they were but private Persons Now I think no wise men will pretend to these extraordinary Callings or Sendings in these days It is sufficient to say they are extraordinary and such as but in like Cases cannot be expected Extraordinary onely take place where ordinary are not to be had The internal and extraordinary sending is secret and invisible and therefore it is not sufficient for a man to say that he is sent of God seeing every Heretick may say the same but he ought to prove his extraordinary and invisible Calling by the working of some Miracle or by some special testimony of Scripture 'T is true Iohn Baptist had 〈◊〉 immediate and extraordinary Calling and yet wrought no Miracle that was reserved for the Messiah of whom he was the immediate Forerunner to manifest himself unto the world by but then that Calling of his was foretold and witnessed by plain testimonies of Scripture And the manner of his Birth and Condition of his Life as it was well known to all Israel were
example of our Saviour Christ nor of his Apostles can be brought to justifie or allow any such practice ARGUMENT VI. THAT which God in his word hath branded with a black mark forewarning and commanding his People to avoid cannot be his ordinance or means of grace For it is not God's manner to stygmatize or disgrace his own ordinances or to forbid or discourage any in the use of them but to dignifie advance the honour and strictly to enjoin the use of them as knowing that the Devil and his instruments will sufficiently vilifie and disgrace them and that there will be enough in all ages who will disuse and forsake them Yea God hath so far dignified his ordinances of the word and sacrament which he intends to make use of as means of grace that when he might have wrought it in mens hearts immediately by his own spirit yet he hath put them off to his Ministers to doe it which is no small honour The case of the Eunuch in the Acts makes this plain The Spirit bad Philip join himself to the Chariot Yea when God himself hath begun the work yet he would not perfect it himself but hath handed it over to his Ministers to be completed by them This he did at the Conversion of St. Paul He sent Ananias to him who entered into the House and put his hands on him and said Brother Saul the Lord even Iesus which appeared to thee in the way as thou camest hath sent me that thou shouldst receive thy sight and be filled with the Holy Ghost What greater honour than this could God have put upon his Ordinance of the Ministry But he hath set a black mark and brand upon the Persons and Ministry in question and commanded a withdrawing from them Now I beseech you brethren mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the Doctrine which ye have learned and avoid them for they that are such serve not the Lord Iesus but their own bellies and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple The Emphasis of the Apostles words is worthy our observation Mark them signifying such a diligent wary and circumspect care as Watchmen use that stand on an high Tower to descry the approach of an Enemie They mark diligently all Comers and give notice according as they apprehend any danger for the preservation of the City And avoid them as dangerous Persons hurtfull to Christian Society And how sweet and fair soever their words seem to be yet they will eat as doth a Canker They give not their poison but wrapt up in Honey Their smooth Language is their net wherewith they catch many a simple Soul that is not exceeding carefull lest any man should beguile him as Ioab did Amasa with enticing words Their flattering speeches and specious pretenses of Purity and Doctrine and tenderness of Conscience tend to no other but to deceive the simple and unwary to get themselves a maintenance and to fill their own bellies they are like the false Apostles in the Church of Corinth who transformed themselves into the Apostles of Christ yet were but deceitfull workers to bring that People into bondage to devour them and to take of them How guilty the persons in question are of causing Divisions amongst People whereever they come of renting the Unity of the Church and disturbing the peace thereof of giving offence to Rulers and Governours by their constant and wilfull violation of all Ecclesiastical and Civil order and discipline is too notoriously known by sad experience in all places And whether the other Character in the text belongs to them that they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and seek not so much mens Souls for therein they may spare their pains as needless where there is a preaching Ministry established as their purses 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 making merchandize of the word of God their hearers and followers are best able to tell and will I think in a while be weary of it In the mean time we that are Pastours of Flocks find by experience in those places where these persons intrude themselves that the People are ready to pull their own Ministers bread out of their mouths to feed those their new Masters live we never so blamelesly and take we never so much pains amongst them for the good of their Souls Yea they hate those their Ministers most who best deserve their love and lay most obligations on them According to that of the Philosopher Leve aes alienum debitorem facit grave ininâ—icum A bad Debtor when he owes but a small summ will be contented to look towards you but when it is great more than he can well pay or as much as he thinks he can get then he will be glad to be rid of you Again The Apostle foretells that towards the latter end of the World and surely those days are come upon us Perilous times shall come and there shall be many that shall creep into houses and lead Captive silly Women from such turn away And whom do the men we are speaking of most prevail upon and draw after them but easie and unstable souls such as have itching Ears always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth well meaning People that are spurred on with zeal and want judgment to hold the reins many times an over vehement bending into some way of our own chusing doth not onely withdraw us from the left hand way the way of Idolatry and Superstition from which we should all withdraw but from the middle way too in which we should all walk And then the danger is great The Devil doth many times make zeal and religion his instrument to drive men on to incredible extremities of impiety For if he cannot take away mens faith yet he will quench their Charity to others even to those to whom they owe it most For zeal except it be ordered aright when it bendeth it self to conflict with things either indeed or but imagined to â—e opposite to Religion useth the razor many times with such eagerness that the very life of Religion is thereby hazarded through hatred of tares the corn in the field is plucked up So that zeal needeth both ways a sober guide Zeal against Poperty saith another learned Authour who conceals his name except it be bridled by discretion and attended by equal pace of strength is not the way to protect but to betray a cause Those that were lately zealous for the good old cause lost it and the King had not better friends than his most implacable Enemies Fury is as bad in a Champion as torpour it is an even temperature of wisedom and valour that doeth the execution A sober Protestant though he rageth less shall prevail more on a Papist than a mad Fanatique The greatest part of zeal against Popery that is found amongst the Nonconformists is like that of one frantick who wounds himself