this conformity in the Government of the Church to that of the State was so much the better because that kind of Government in the State was best for the State and the like Government in the Church was best for the Church It were easie here to shew how all Government is so much the better as the Power and Authority of it is more united in one man unless the Piecincts of it be so great that it is above the proportion of any one mans ability That where it is divided though it be but between two it is very apt to destroy it self That a Family is best ordered where there is but one Pater-familias a Ship where there is but one Master who commands all the Officers under him a Castle where there is but one Governour to whom all obey an Army where there is but one General that commands all the Officers in their several charges a City where there is one Mayor though many Aldermen a Kingdom where there is but one King though many inferiour Magistrates And after this it were as easie to shew that such an orderly Government is as decent and necessary in a Church as in any of these It were likewise easie to shew how agreeable this order is to that which God himself established in the Church of the Jews what a fit resemblance there is between the Levites Priests and High-priests in the one and the Deacons Presbyters and Bishop in the other how careful Christ was to retein in his Church whatsoever he found commendable in that and how wary of introducing any innovation where there was no necessity And after this I could shew you how all Religions have had their Priests and their High-priests the light of natural Reason teaching them that they must have some Religion that Religion cannot be publickly exercised without Priests nor by them so well unless they be under some High-priest it being necessary for the good of order that there be a subordination and that to hold many together in one they must be all under one But what need all this to justifie this order in the Church of which we speak when it is a thing so clear that Irenaeus calls it Traditionem Apostolicam toti mundo manifestam an Apostolical tradition manifest to all the world and writes that many of the Bishops in his time could derive their succession from the Apostles And the most ancient and best Writers of the History of the Church have left us the names of them in some of the principal Cities of the world together with the time and order of their succession from the Apostles There is not a Council not a Father which might not be produc'd as a witness of this Truth Yea those Hereticks who would have unchurch'd all the world but themselves the Novatians and the Donatists had Bishops of their own as thinking them so necessary to the being of a well-form'd Church that to be without them were to unchurch themselves One ambitious Presbyter there was Aerius by name who because he could not be a Bishop would have none because he could not raise himself to the Dignity of that Office studied to bring down that Office and levell it with his own But he was condemn'd by the whole Church and remains upon the Catalogue of Hereticks To all these Testimonies we may adde one which is more than all these the testimony of Christ from heaven in an Epistle sent by an Angel to his beloved Disciple and Apostle St. John bearing witness both of the antiquity of this Order and of his own approbation of it Rev. 1. ult where interpreting the mystery of the seven stars in his right hand he saith the seven stars are the Angels of the seven Churches Where by the seven Churches he means the seven famous Churches which are mentioned afterward to whom his Epistles are directed and by the seven Stars and the seven Angels he must mean the seven Bishops of those seven Churches for if he had meant seven Presbyteries or Classes it had been more proper to have call'd them seven Constellations than seven Stars and seven Quire of Angels than seven Angels Other Offices there are in the Church but the Office of a Bishop is the highest to which all other Offices are as steps or degrees according to that which we read in the 13 Verse of this Chapter They who have used the Office of a Deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree or as we may render it a fair ascent or step i. e. to a higher degree of Office in the Church But there is no Office in the Church to which the Office of a Bishop may be call'd a step or degree One Bishop may have a greater Diocese than another which is not by Divine but Ecclesiastical right limiting not the power and authority but the exercise of it for the good of order and to avoyd confusion but he that hath the least Diocese is as much a Bishop as he that hath the greatest as he that hath a little Flock is as much a Shepherd as he that hath a greater Every Bishop is as much a Bishop as the Bishop of Rome or as St. Peter for he is a successor of the Apostles in the whole Episcopal Office which is all that in which they have or were to have any successors The differences between an Apostle and a Bishop are onely in such accessories as do not belong to the Office of a Bishop but onely to the Time in which they exercised that Office The Apostles were eye-witnesses of Christ which none could be but such as were conversant with him during the time that he went in and out among them unless it were by vision from Heaven Acts 1.21 as St. Paul But as they were testes oculati eye-witnesses so the Bishops their successors were and are testes instructi witnesses instructed and taught They who were first were indued with extraordinary Gifts and Graces of the Spirit of God which was pour'd forth upon the Church like the holy Oyle upon the head of Aaron but the same Spirit of God which was pour'd forth upon them runs down upon the Bishops their successors as truly though not so plentifully They had their Calling immediatly from Christ the Bishops their successors have their Calling as truly from Christ though not so immediatly The Apostles chose their successors and they others after them but they did not bestow that Power and Authority upon them but were onely the Ministers of God and Christ It was by them that the Episcopal power was given but not from them but from him from whom all Powers are ordain'd And therefore all Bishops anciently were wont to write themselves Bishops of such or such a City not by the constitution of the Apostles or their successors nor by the favour of those who elected them to their Office but by the grace of God The Apostles were Bishops of the whole Church so is every Bishop by Divine
small part of that greater flock which the Bishop is to oversee and it is his work to oversee not the flock only but the overseers of the several parts of his flock for though they be over their severall flocks they are all under him It is his work to oversee the whole business of the Church to see that the service of God be duly and decently celebrated that all the Congregations be supplyed with such and such only as teach the things which become sound Doctrine that cannot be condemned that in their life and conversation they behave themselves in all things as the Ministers of God giving no offence in any thing that the Ministry be not blam'd that such as are scandalous be remov'd if they will not be reform'd to purge the Church of them if they will not purge themselves to see that they whom they have baptizd be first instructed by them and then confirm'd by him Some indeed there are who think the work of a Bishop is nothing but to preach and if he should preach so often as they would have him he should have work enough of that I do not deny but that this is a part of his work a work which belongs to him as he is a Bishop so properly that it belongs to no other Officer in the Church but by Commission from him In the first Age of the Church while the Apostles retained the Office of a Bishop to themselves there was little other work but that of Preaching and so much of that as was enough to take up all their time The great work of their time was to gather together the Sheep that were scatter'd abroad and bring them into the fold of the Church to convert Infidels to the faith of which they had not heard and of which they could not hear without a Preacher And because this was a great Work to the end they might give the more attendance to it they committed some other parts of their work to others that could do that as well as themselves It was a part of their work to baptize for Christ sent them not only to teach all nations but likewise to baptize them but when it was too great a work for them to do both they committed the work of baptizing to their Disciples giving themselves to the work of Preaching the less work giving way to the greater So likewise it was a part of their work to take care of the poor but when it came to be a great Work by reason of the great number of them and the complaint of some that they were neglected they instituted the Office of Deacons whom they set over that business Acts 6.4 giving themselves to Prayer and to the ministry of the Word The Work of the Bishops their Successors was not so much to convert Infidels as to confute Hereticks and Schismaticks not so much to gather the Sheep into the fold as to keep them from going astray and to keep the Wolves from entring in among them To which end they have other work beside that of Preaching and for which reason the Apostle in this Chapter tells us that a Bishop must not only be apt to teach but he must be one that knows how to Rule his own house well and he gives this reason for it For if a man know not how to Rule his own house how shall he take care of the Church of God Where it is evident that it is the Work of a Bishop to take care of the Church of God This is a Work that may take up so much of his time and require so much of his paines as will disable him from the frequency of Preaching especially when through age and the infirmities incident thereunto he must either do it with great disadvantages or omit some other part of his work which is no less if not more necessary then this For it is not with the Preaching of a Bishop as it was with that of an Apostle the Apostles preach'd as they were inspir'd by the Holy Ghost the Bishop must give diligence to reading hearing meditation He must study to approve himself to God 2 Tim. 2 15. a workman that needeth not to be asham'd rightly dividing the word of truth This is a work that cannot be done without much study But all this work must not lie upon the Bishop only there be other Officers under him who have partem solicitudinis part of the care though not plenitudinem potestatis the fulness of the power and these having not so much of the work of Ruling may spend the more of their time in Preaching But still it is the Bishops Work to see that they to whom he commits this part of his Work be such as the Apostle adviseth Timothy to make choice of faithfull men 1 Tim. 2.2 such as shall be able to teach others also Wherein there is great care and circumspection to be had as we may see by the strict charge which he gives him concerning it 1 Tim. 5.21 I charge thee before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect Angels that thou observe these things without preferring one before another Do nothing through partiality lay hands suddenly on no man neither be thou partaker of other mens sins But yet this is not all his Work He must not only take heed to whom he commits this Work but likewise see that none but such as are sent to the work take it upon them and that they who are sent do the work for which they are sent and not through ignorance or design mistake their errand and teach things which they ought not For when Christ commends the Bishop of Ephesus for examining them who say they are Apostles and are not Rev. 2.2 he doth imply that this was a part of his Work and tacitly blame those who having the same Office have not the same Care And this is likewise a great Work For if in the Apostles time there were as he saith Tit. 1.10 many unruly and vain talkers whose mouths must be stop'd it is not like but there would be many such afterward Act. 20 29 30. He knew that after his departure grievous wolves would enter in not sparing the flock and that among themselves would men arise speaking perverse things to draw away Disciples after them And we know that Popularity was not the sin of that Age and place only we find the like complaint in the Church of Galatia there were false Teachers crept in among them who withdrew them from him that had call'd them in the grace of Christ unto another Gospel Gal 1.6 and chap. 4 17. he tells us who and what manner of men they were They zealously affect you but not well yea they would exclude us that you might affect them i. e. they make profession of a zealous affection to the good of the people to whom they preach but their aim is to steal away their hearts and affections from all other
men to themselves in pursuance of which design they would preach down the Apostles to preach up themselves And what wonder to see a popular affection transport men to preach down Bishops when the same affection so early transported some to preach down Apostles But it is not only the Popularity and Pride of such Teachers but likewise a giddinesse in the people which makes more work yet for the Bishop The Apostle foresaw it and gave early notice of it to Timothy 2 Tim. 4.3 The time will come that they will not endure sound Doctrine but according to their own lusts they will heap up to themselves Teachers having itching ears And this must needs make more work for the Bishop for the more greedy they are in heaping up such Teachers the more vigilant and carefull must he be to pull them down In a word there is Work enough in the Church for the Bishop and for all other Officers under him wherein his care must be to mind that Work or service most by which he may most promote the Glory of God and the Good of his Church and to see that they to whom he commits the rest of the work doe their work as they ought to do it And so much for the Second Particular in these words the work which belongs to the Office of a Bishop I come now to the third Particular which is the Goodnesse of the Work It is very well rendred in our Translation a good work 3 The goodness of that work not an honest or a pious or an honourable work as it might be rendred not but that it is all these but because it is all these and all these are comprehended in this expression of a good work First it is an honourable work for it is the work in which they are call'd workers together with God And that for very good reason for that which our Saviour saith Joh. 5.17 my Father worketh hitherto and I work is as true now as it was then when he spake it and that more especially in this then in any other work For there is nothing on earth so dear to God as his Church nothing to which his Providence and Goodnesse extends more then to the good and orderly government of it It is the work for which he sent his Sonne from heaven no other name or title doth so well express the work for which he came into the world as that of the great Shepherd and Bishop of our souls For which reason diverse of the ancient Fathers by the lost sheep in the Parable understand Mankind in the state of his Fall by the ninety and nine that went not astray the Angels that kept their first estate by the man that left the ninety and nine to seek the sheep that was lost the man Christ Jesus that came down from Heaven the habitation of Angels to seek and save man that was lost It is the work for which he sent abroad his Apostles John 20.21 as his Father sent him The work for which he sent down his Spirit upon them soon after his return to heaven and his exaltation at the right hand of God The work for which he hath promis'd to be with them and with their Successors unto the end of the world Mat. 28. ult And this is sufficient to shew how honourable a work it is It is likewise as pious honest and Charitable a work as it is honourable It is the most acceptable work or service that men can do to God 2 Cor. 2.15 We are unto God a sweet savour of Christ saith the Apostle speaking of this work which is the work of a Bishop as well as an Apostle to signify that as a sweet and fragrant odour is gratefull unto us so is this work noe less acceptable to God And as it is so acceptable to God so it is no lesse for the good and benefit of men The good which it works most Directly and properly is the spirituall and eternal good which is so much better then all that is but temporall that there is no comparison between them But it is not so particularly for the spirituall and eternall good but that it is likewise very much for the temporall The Histories of all Ages since the beginning of Christianity bear witnesse abundantly of the manifold and great good which hath been wrought in the world by Bishops doing that work which belongs to their Office They have been and are the chief Ministers under God of upholding Tit. 1.1 and preserving that Truth which the Apostle calls the truth according to Godliness 1 Tim. 4.8 that Godlinesse of which he saith that it is profitable for all things having the promise of the life which now is and of that which is to come And to the End we might the better consider how true this is he adds in the next verse This is a true saying and worthy of all acceptation And to say nothing of the life which is to come of which no truth ever had so clear and ample promises there is nothing more profitable for the life which now is Nothing so effectual to restrain all the iniquitie which makes one man a Devil to another or to promote all that Vertue and Goodnesse which makes one man a God to another For every iniquity is then most carefully avoyded and every very good work most sincerely and exactly perform'd when he that avoyds the one and does the other is mov'd thereunto by a principle of Religion This is the great advantage which Religion hath above all the best Lawes that the wisdome of men can make or their justice put in execution The best humane Lawes can but lop off the branches of those iniquities which Religion plucks up by the roots The power of the one is only upon the Actions of men so farr forth as they fall under the cognisance of other men the power of the other upon the Affections It is much if the one can restrain men from being very wicked the other hath a power to make them very good men And there is no Religion so effectuall to take away all manner of Iniquity and to plant and cherish all manner of Vertue as the Christian the Precepts whereof which are in their nature the most pure are likewise in the extent of them the most perfect and complete reaching to all sorts of men in all manner of conversation to Princes Subjects Parents Children Husbands Wives Masters Servants Neighbours Strangers to make them all good in their severall relations and the better they are the more happy in each other The Promises annex'd to the observation of these Precepts are the most high and heavenly the confirmation of those Promises the most divine to the end that the Promises being so confirm'd might be the more stedfastly believed and the Promises being believed the Precepts might be the better observed and the Precepts being so observ'd all men might conspire together mutually to promote the
happinesse of each other then which they can do nothing better to advance their own This is the naturall effect of that Truth which is according to Godlinesse the receiving and observing whereof is the most excellent means to procure the favour of God then which nothing can make the happinesse of men even in this world more complete Now as all this good comes to men by Christian Religion so the Office and Work of a Bishop is of great necessity and virtue to uphold and preserve this Religion in the truth and purity of it All other Offices which God hath set in the Church have their work herein when they are well and duly performed but it is the work of a Bishop to see that they be duly perform'd There is no Office so necessary to prevent Schisms and Factions then which there is nothing more destructive of the civil Peace nothing more fruitful in all the mischiefs which make the life of men the most unhappy For what greater mischiefs among men then those which arise from hatred variance emulation wrath strife sedition heresies envyings c. and whence arise so much of these as from the rents and divisions in the Church and whence come these rents and divisions in the Church but from the contempt which is pour'd forth upon the Office of a Bishop Whence have Heresies and Schisms arisen and do still arise but from this that the Bishop who is one and is over the Church Unde schismata haereses obortae sunt oriuntur nisi dum Episcopus qui unus est Ecclesiae praeest superbâ quorundam praesumptione contemnitur Cyprian is by the Pride and presumption of some despis'd saith Cyprian This is that which hath so often chang'd the Pulpit into a Theatre from whence so many instead of preaching the Gospel of Peace have blown the Trumpet of War and perverted that which God hath ordain'd to turn swords into mattocks and speares into plowshares to serve as the greatest means of turning mattocks into swords and plowshares into speares In a word there is nothing so necessary and effectuall to the happinesse of men in this life as to live together in Unity Psal 133.1 Behold how good and how pleasant a thing it is for brethren to dwell toget her in unity There is no Unity among men so strong and so good as that of which Religion is the bond nothing so necessary to preserve the unity of Religion as the Dignity and Authority of the Office of a Bishop Brethren will be apt to fall out among themselves though they be of one house they will not be of one mind But as the best means to keep or make them friends is the reverence which both of them owe to their common Father so the best means under God to keep up amity in the Church or to recover it when it is lost is to remember the reverence which all the true Sons of the Church owe to those who are their Fathers in God And so much for the third Particular in the Text which is the Goodness of the work I come now to the fourth and last which is the Desire of the Office and of the good work Here are two things to which the word desire is apply'd desire the Office 4 The Desire of the Office and desire the good Work but not in the same manner for the former is by way of Supposition only If a man desire the Office of a Bishop the later is by way of Inference or conclusion upon that Supposition he desireth a good work And though in our Translation it be one and the same word in both places desire the Office and desire the good Work yet in the originall there be two different words The former is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the later is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The difference between these two words is so nice that our language cannot well furnish us with words fit to expresse it but in that there is some difference in the Originall it may teach us that it is not alwaies one and the same desire that is set upon the Office and that which is set upon the good Work True it is that when the Apostle wrote this there was nothing in the Office for which a man would have desir'd it but the Goodnesse of the work There were no Temporalties annex'd to it no Dignity in the eye of the world but so much Work and that so full of perill as well as paines and labour that had it not been for some great Goodnesse in the Work no man would have undertaken much lesse desir'd it We read of one Marcus who cut off his thumb because he would not be made a Bishop and we read of many who had their heads cut off because they were But when it came to be an Office which might be enjoyed not only with Safety but likewise with great Honour and Dignity and Revenue sufficient to maintain and uphold that Honour we read of some who have desir'd the Office of a Bishop not for the Goodnesse of the work but for the uppermost rooms at feasts and the highest seats in the Synagogue and to be call'd of men Rabbi Then an Infidel would be a Christian if he might be a Bishop as he that said Make me Bishop of Rome Facite me Pontificem Romanum protinâ—s ero Christianus Praetextat and I will soon be a Christian Thus to desire the Office of a Bishop is so far from being a good Work that the better Work it is which belongs to the Office the worse it is so to desire the Office It is a greater question whether it be lawful to desire the Office for the goodness of the work for though it be a commendable thing to desire a good work yet when that good Work is so annex'd to a great Office that a man cannot do the Work unlesse he have the Office it may be suspected that he looks more upon the greatnesse of the Office then upon the goodnesse of the Work and this Office requires a man that is not onely without blame but likewise without suspicion I answer generally it is more seemly for a man to stay till he be desir'd to take the Office than to desire it before and it is not unlike but that one that doth least desire the Office will best perform the Work But yet I will not say but that a worthy and good man may have so true and so great a desire to do so good a Work as to desire the Office and the Dignity not for the Office or the Dignity but for the necessity of both to make him capable of doing so good a Work and be the worthier and better man for having that desire But admitting it to be lawfull it may be another question whether it be prudent For I find it a question among Philosophers whether it be the part of a wise man to take upon him a great Office
A SERMON PREACHED At the Consecration of the Right Reverend Fathers in God GILBERT Lord Bishop of London HUMPHRY Lord Bishop of Sarum GEORGE Lord Bishop of Worcester ROBERT Lord Bishop of Lincolne GEORGE Lord Bishop of St. Asaph On Sunday 28. October 1660. at S. Peters WESTMINSTER By JOHN SUDBURY One of the Prebendaries of that Church LONDON Printed for R. Royston at the Angel in Ivie-lane 1660. To the Right Honourable EDVVARD Lord HYDE Baron of Henden Lord high Chancellor of England Chancellor of the University of Oxford one of His Majesties most Honourable Privy Council MY LORD HAving sent this Sermon to the Press in obedience to Your Command I have taken the boldness to shelter it under the protection of Your Name in hope that when the Readers shall see it hath had Your approbation they will be the better inclined to afford it their own I wish it may have this effect upon such as have any prejudice against the Truth which I assert and maintain because it is of so much concernment to the publick good that I cannot think it would have any Adversaries but such as are the enemies of Mankind if it were not through some mis-understanding which I have endeavoured to remove I hope at least some will lay aside that envy with which they look upon the Bishops for the height and dignity of their Office and esteem them very highly in love for their Work sake 1 Thes 5.13 when they shall have seen here that it is not onely an Office of dignity but of work and that work as good as the Office is great I will say no more to them here than that the peace and safety of the Kingdome is so bound up with that of the Church that he that is a friend to the one cannot be an enemy to the other And that the Office and Dignity of a Bishop is so necessary to the peace and safety of the Church that the opposing of the one must needs beget disorder and confusion in the other But I will pray That God who hath restored us to a better Understanding of the Royall Office and Dignity will likewise give us a right Apprehension of the Episcopall Psal 77. ult And as He led his People like a Flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron so He will make us all the people of his pasture and the Sheep of his hands and lead us like a Flock in the right and good way which will make us as happy as we can be in this World and finally bring us to the perfection of our Happinesse in his Eternall Kingdome And herein I doubt not but Your Lordship is ready to joyne Your Devotions with those of Your LORDSHIPS Most humble and most faithful Servant JOHN SUDBURY 1 TIM 3.1 This is a true saying If a man desire the Office of a Bishop he desireth a good work THere needs no other Preface or Introduction to commend this saying to our attention then this which the Apostle hath set before it This is a true saying For seeing there is not any saying in this book which is not as true as this we may be sure there is some difference between the truth of this and other sayings which made the Apostle so particularly commend it to us And though it be not easie to determine positively what it is it is not hard to say what it might be For first it is easie to perceive what great need there was to arm and fence it well against the contradiction of such as would oppose and gainsay it For there is not any saying in this book which hath met with more and greater opposition and contradiction The Office of a Bishop hath been the mark at which not onely the profess'd Enemies of the Church have bent their bows and shot their arrows but likewise they who have the greatest contention with each other which of them should be the better if not the only Christian Church they on the one side contending for one Bishop over the whole Church and making all the rest but his Ministers the other would have as many Bishops as there are Ministers which is in effect to have none But secondly the truth of this saying is likewise a matter of great importance worthy of more then ordinary regard which might move the Apostle to commend it to a more then ordinary attention For there is not a word in it which will not require and deserve a distinct and particular consideration First here is the Office of a Bishop secondly the Work belonging to that Office thirdly the Goodness of that Work fourthly the Desire of the Office and of the good Work the one set down by way of supposition If a man desire the Office of a Bishop the other by way of inference or conclusion thereupon he desireth a good work These are the particulars in the Text of which I shall speak in the same order that I have proposed them beginning first with the Office of a Bishop 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is here translated the Office of a Bishop signifies not the bare Office or Function of a Bishop as it is an Office of work but the Office together with the Dignity and preeminence the Power and Authority which is so essential to it and so necessary for the due exercise and discharge of that Office that it cannot be without it As likewise the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies not the bare Office but the Office together with the Dignity of an Apostle Which Dignity the Apostle St. Paul was carefull to assert and maintain as well as to discharge the Office And it is the more remarkable in him because he was a man so far from all manner of arrogance and vain-glory that no man could have more humble thoughts of himself Insomuch that when he speaks of himself 1 Cor. 15.9 he calls himself the least of the Apostles though he knew he was not inferiour to the chiefest Apostles and not only the least of Apostles but lesse then the least of all Saints Eph. 3.8 but when he speaks of his Office he saith In as much as I am the Apostle of the Gentiles Rom. 11.13 I magnifie mine Office And truly we likewise have great reason to magnifie the Office of a Bishop so great that St. Hierom who was not partial to the Dignity of that Order confesseth that the safety of the Church depends upon it Ecclesiae salus pendet in dignitate summi Sacerdotis cui si non exors quaedam ab omnibus emine is detu potestas tot in ecclesiis efficientur schismata quot sacerdotes Hieron ad Lucif The safety of the Church saith he depends upon the dignity of the high Priest to whom unlesse there be given an extraordinary and eminent power there will be as many Schisms in the Church as there be Priests And we have seen the truth hereof by so sad experience of late years that it will be
the more seasonable at this time and especially upon this occasion to speak something of the Dignity of this Office The word in the Text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies properly an over-seeing or superintendency for a Bishop is an Overseer or Superintendent And we know that he that is set to oversee must be in a higher station then they are whom he is set to oversee There be many other names and titles by which they are describ'd in Scripture and in the best Writers of the ancient Church which are names and titles not onely of Office but likewise of Dignity and Authority Rev. 1.10 They are the Stars in the right hand of Christ Luke 12.42 the Angels of the Churches the Stewards whom the Lord hath set over his family the Pastors or Sheepherds of the flock which he hath purchased with his own blood the successors of the Apostles the Vicars of Christ the high Priests the Rulers and Princes of the Church All these are names and titles of no small Dignity and some of them likewise of Power and Authority wherein the Office of a Bishop differs from that of a Priest or Presbyter not only as Celsior gradus a higher degree the Bishop among the Priests being as it is said of the high Priest among his brethren Ecclus 50.12 like the Cedar among the Palm-trees but it is likewise potestas alterius ordinis a power of another Order a power to ordain other Officers in the Church and to oversee them that they may do their work as they should or if they will not to put them beside their Office This Power and Authority of the Bishop was so well known to St. Hierom whom I mention the rather because he himself was no Bishop and is thought by such as would have no Bishops to be a friend to them I say St. Hierom when Vigilantius broach'd his Heresie wonders that the Bishop in whose Diocese he was a Priest did not withstand his madnesse Miror sanctum Episcopum in cujus parochia esse Presbyter dicitur acquicscere furori ejus non vâ—rgâ Apostolicâ virgâque ferrâ—â confringere vas inutile tradere in intâ—ritum câ—rnis ut spâ—ritus salvus fiat S Hâ—eron Epist ad Riparium Et tu quidem honorâ—fice circa nos pro solitaria hum litate fecisti ut malles de eò nobis conqueri cum pro episcopatûs vigore cathedrae auâ—horitate haberes potâ—statem quâ— posses de illo staâ—…m vâ—â—dâ—â—art Cypr. Epist 65. ad Râ—gationum and break in pieces that unprofitable vessel and deliver him up to the destruction of the flesh that his spirit might be saved By virtue of the same power St. Cyprian punish'd the delinquent Clergy of his Diocese by depriving them of their monethly Dividends and writing to Rogatianus a Bishop who had made his complaint to him of a Deacon that behaved himself injuriously toward him he tells him it was a great humility in him to complain of one over whom he himself had Authority and Power to right himself by virtue of his Episcopal Office and the Authority of his Chair And herein likewise the Hierarchy of the Church differs from that of the Angels for though there be degrees among them some are of a higher Order and others of a lower yet we do not find that they of the higher Order have power to depose or degrade those of the lower there is no need of any such power where all are regular and orderly but such a power there is in the Hierarchy of the Church and must be because it cannot be supposed that men will be so orderly as Angels There is therefore a necessity of this Office with this Power and Authority to preserve Truth and Peace and Vnity and to prevent the manifold and great mischiefs which Parity the Mother of Anarchy and Confusion would soon produce which must needs be greater in the Church then in the State For there is nothing that so effectually rules the Multitude as Religion the name whereof is so venerable that they are more apt to follow their Preachers then their Princes because they look upon them as the Ministers of God whose Office it is to teach them his word and will and are afraid to think amisse of any thing which they hear from them lest in so doing they should set themselves against God whereby it comes to passe that there is scarce any Errour so grosse which some of them will not believe or any Wickedness so great which some of them will not practice and think thereby to do God service if it be preach'd to them as a matter and duty of Religion And how much this may tend to the disturbance of the publick Peace and Government is easie to be seen For remedy whereof if the sovereign Prince interpose his power only he runs the hazard of being reputed an enemy of God and of Religion then which nothing can be more prejudicial to him not only in point of reputation but of safety likewise There is no better Remedy against all this mischief then that wise and good grave and learned men such as are able by sound Doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gain-sayers Tit. 1.9 should be set up over the rest with Power and Authority to charge them that they teach no other Doctrine as St. Paul writes to Timothy whom he left at Ephesus to this end 1 Tim. 1.3 and to stop the mouths of such unruly and vain talkers who subvert whole houses teaching things which they ought not as the same Apostle writes to Titus whom he left at Creet to do this Office Tit. 1.10 11. This is too great an Office for one man to exercise over the whole Church as therefore Christ chose not one onely but twelve Apostles to whom he committed this Office and trust so his Apostles John 20 21. whom he sent as his Father sent him i.e. with a power to send others after them with the like power ordained not one Bâ—shop onely in the City of Rome but one in every City But as it is too great a power and trust to be committed to one man over the whole Church so likewise it was not for the good of unity and order that it should be committed unto every one that was fit to bear some Office in the Church As therefore Christ who had so many Disciples John 4.1 that the Pharisees had heard that he made more Disciples than John did not make them all Apostles and though he gave diversity of Gifts and Graces to divers men yet among all these he chose but twelve Apostles so the Apostles after him ordained Elders or Bishops not in every Village but onely in every City making the Government of the Church herein conformable to that of the State where the Praefect or Governour of a Province or Country had his residence in the City but his Jurisdiction in the Country round about And
reed nor quench the smoaking flax as to know how and whom and when he must instruct in meekness and yet so much of his Courage and zeal who whip'd the buyers and sellers out of the Temple as not to be afraid to rebuke sharply where it is necessary or expedient He must know not only whom to bind but likewise whom to loose lest while he either binds where he should loose or looses where he should bind he binds himself so much as none can loose him He that desires the Office of a Priest had need be wiser then they who are of his flock he that desires the Office of a Bishop had need be so much wiser as he is higher then a Priest And not only so much wiser but likewise so much better There be many good qualities which the Apostle requires in him in the words which follow these of my Text. A Bishop must be blamelesse the husband of one wife vigilant sober of good behaviour given to hospitality apt to teach not given to wine no striker not greedy of filthy lucre but patient not a brauler not covetous one that ruleth his own house well not a novice and moreover he must have a good report of them that are without But when he saith he must in all things shew himself a pattern of good workes Tit. 2.7 1 Pet. 5. and when St. Peter saith he must be an example to the flock they both imply that he must not only have all these good qualities but these and all other good qualities in a great measure and perfection 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Naz. Orat. 1. for so it becomes him that is to shew himself a pattern and example When our Saviour conferr'd this Office upon St. Peter he first put this question to him (a) Joh. 21.15 1 Cor. 16.22 Simon lovest thou me more then these Not only Simon lovest thou me for he that loves not him is so unworthy to be a Bishop that he is not fit to be in the rank of Christians If any many love not the Lord Jesus Christ let him be anathema maranatha But Simon lovest thou me more then these to shew that he would not have the flock which he hath purchased with his own blood committed to any but such as have a singular and extraordinary love and devotion to him And thus I have gone through the Particulars in my Text. I shall now only look back upon it with two reflections and so conclude The first is with Sadnesse upon them that look with an evil eye upon this Office or at least upon the Dignity of it For the better work it is that belongs to the Office the worse it is to wish there were no such Office or no such Dignity and Authority which is necessary for the better performance of that work which belongs to the Office There is not an expression of greater misery that can befall a people then that which is frequent in the Scripture of being as sheep without a shepheard He doth not say as sheep without pasture or sheep gone astray or sheep among Wolves for so long as there is a shepheard over them he may provide them pasture or bring them home into the fold or drive away the Wolves but as sheep without a shepheard in which all these miseries are involv'd for if the shepheard be smitten the sheep will soon be scatter'd and if the sheep be scatter'd they will soon be distress'd for want of pasture and the Wolves will enter in among them and there will be none to drive them out Such is the miserable condition of a people that are as sheep without a shepheard and what is a Church without a Bishop but as sheep without a shepheard The same expression is used to shew the misery of a Kingdom without a King It hath been the sad condition of this Nation these many years to be without both And yet as if it had been our happinesse we have been commanded to give thanks to God for that which he would not have suffer'd to befall us if he had not been much offended with us The Office of a King and the Office of a Bishop may say among us as Christ once said among his Country-men Many a good work have I done among you for which of these do ye stone me But it is no new thing for men to mistake their best friends for their enemies and their enemies for their friends to hate the one and to fawne upon the other The Apostle St. Paul gives us instances of both of the one at Galatia Gal. 4.16 Am I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth of the other at Corinth 2 Cor. 11.20 For ye suffer if a man bring you into bondage if a man devoure you if a man take of you if a man exalt himself if a man smite you on the face But now God be thanked we have seen the hand of God among us in gathering us together to lead us like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron the King and the Priest And this makes me look back upon my Text with another reflection of joy and gratitude to see the good care and circumspection which is and hath formerly been in this Nation in the choice of such men for the Office of a Bishop as are the most able and the most likely to do the Work which belongs to the Office Wherein I think we are more happy then any Nation in the world We have read of some times and places in which novices have been made Bishops because they were the sons or kinred of great men or such as were able to purchase this Dignity for them as the chief Captain obtain'd the priviledg of a Roman with a great summe of money Boyes have been taken from the School and set up in the chaire not so glad that they had gotten the Crosier-staff as that they had gotten out of the reach of the Rod. Laetiores quod virgas evosevit quam quod attingerint principatum Bern. Non iste ad episcopatum subito pervenit sed per omnia ecclesiastica officia promotus ad sacerdotii sublime fastigium cunctis religionis gradibus ascendit Cyprian Epist ad Antonian But with us the way to the Office of a Bishop hath been and is the same by which St. Cyprian saith of Cornelius that he came to the Bishoprick of Rome not suddenly but by an orderly ascent through all the inferiour Offices in the Church as so many steps and degrees The way to purchase the Office of a Bishop in this Church is only that of which the Apostle speaks in the 13 v. of this Chap. They who have used the Office of a Deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree so it is by having used the other Offices in the Church well that men purchase to themselves this degree which is the highest of them all And as the Philosopher saith they who would choose a fit Pilot to govern a ship doe not choose a man because he is the richest or because he is the noblest or because he is the comeliest person among them but because he is the ablest and most likely to do his work well so it hath been and is the way in chusing men to sit at the stern in the government of our Church to make choice of the most able and worthy men who cannot more desire the Office of a Bishop then the Office of a Bishop desires them And now to conclude all in a word It was said of one of the Emperours That he got nothing by coming to the Empire but the opportunity of being able to doe as much good as he was willing so it is the happinesse of our Church to see such men promoted to the highest Office in it as aime onely at a power to doe all the good which they were willing to doe before And as it is happy for the Church so it is likewise happy for them for though the Work be as great as it is good the reward will be greater For when the chief Shepherd shall appear 1 Pet. 5.4 ye shall receive a crown of Glory that fadeth not away THE END