the Holy Scriptures and the Ancient Doctors of the Church And they who have not had opportunity to make such improvement in Divine Knowledge may furnish themselves out of their Writings which these Hereticks have occasioned Particularly out of the Bishop of Worcester's Discourse about the Blessed Trinity which is not long but very full and satisfactory 3. Yet I must admonish you when you find it necessary to discourse to your People upon this Subject that you be mindful of His Majesties late Injunctions and not presume to invent any new ways of explaining so sublime a Mystery as the Holy Trinity or use any other terms to express it but such as the Ancient Christians used and are in the Articles of our Religion the Three Creeds and our Liturgy Which teach us that our Blessed Saviour is the Son of God in the highest and most proper sense of these Words by Eternal Generation In like manner we are to believe that the Holy Ghost is God proceeding from the Father and the Son This may be evidently proved out of the Scriptures wherein God hath thus far revealed his own most Blessed Nature as well as his Mind and Will unto us But how the Son is Begotten of the Father and how the Holy Ghost proceeds from both he hath not revealed unto us because it is as incomprehensible as the Divine Essence is and therefore we must not adventure to say any thing about it For though we know that the Son is God and the Holy Ghost is God and yet there are not Three Gods but one God in Three Persons because the Holy Scriptures plainly declare the Son to be a distinct Person from the Father and the Holy Ghost from both yet what it is that makes the distinction of the Person of the Son from the Person of the Father c. that is not declared to us by God who only knows it and therefore is not to be enquired into Accordingly the Holy Fathers of the Church frequently admonish us to forbear such enquiries in that Memorable saying of theirs 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 search not into the manner how such things can be but shun such enquiries For the manner of the Sons Generation and the Holy Ghosts Procession can be comprehended by none but themselves But such things being let alone as out of our reach let it be your business to establish the People in this great Truth that Jesus Christ is really the Eternal Son of God begotten of him before all Worlds By representing this to them as the great support of their Souls which may safely rely upon one so mighty to save For he who is perswaded that our Saviour is perfect God as well as perfect Man can no more doubt of his Power to communicate all Divine Grace to us than he can doubt of the Vertue of his Sacrifice to make satisfaction for our Sins and work our Reconciliation with God whereby whatsoever might hinder his Divine Communications to us is taken out of the way We are sure if this be true that he is an Everlasting Spring of Divine Grace to the whole World would they but believe on him Whereas it is inconceivable how any mere Creatures should be so highly exaulted as to be possessed of Omnipotence and Omniscience that is to be able to know all our needs as well as to supply them Which it is easie for our Blessed Saviour to do if he be the Eternal Son of God who hath taken out Nature into a personal Union with himself 4. Which great truth being firmly established in their belief endeavour I beseech you to improve it all you are able to the amendment of their lives Such an amazing love of God ought to have a mighty effect upon us all and will make a great change in us if it be heartily believed and pressed home by serious consideration Let that therefore be the great business of your Preaching to reduce this and all other Christian Truths to Christian Practice Make them sensible what manner of Persons they ought to be in all holy Conversation and Godliness as St. Peter speaks being so nearly related to the Son of God Whatsoever Sin you know them to be addicted unto lay the heynousness of it before them especially after God hath loved us so much as to give his only begotten Son to redeem us from all iniquity and purifie us to himself a peculiar people zealous of good Works Whatsoever duty you know them to neg lect or to be remiss in the performance of it represent to them how dangerous it is to disobey our Blessed Saviour who hath made this the test of our love to him that we keep his Commandments Remember them frequently of what he said to his Disciples in his last Discourse he had with them XV John 14. Ye are my Friends if ye do whatsoever I command you 5. Endeavour to convince their judgment about these things by clear Reasons and then to awaken their Affections by your Zeal and Fervour And that will be excited in you by an inward sence and feeling in your own hearts of that which you deliver to your People It is an admirable observation of Erasmus in his Book De ratione Concionandi upon those words of our Saviour concerning John the Baptist V John 35. He was a burning and a shining Light ARDERE PRIUS EST LUCERE POSTERIUS To burn with Zeal that is for God and fervent affection to the People is the first thing and then we shall shine by Christian instructions Which will be faint and feeble if they do not proceed from an ardent Spirit 6. And there is very much in another thing of which the same great Man put me in mind in another part of his Works Lib. V. Epist 27. Where he tells Jodocus Jonas Non parum ponderis adder orationi tuae si quae doces potissimum ex arcanis voluminibus haurias si vita doctrinae responderit si docendi Officium nullâ gloriae nulla quaestus suspitione vitietur It will add no small weight to thy Sermons if thou draw those things that thou tacheth chiefly out of the Holy Scriptures if thy life be correspondent to thy Doctrine and the Office of instructing be tainted with no suspition of vain glory or worldly advantage The proof of what you say out of the Holy Scriptures rightly expounded and fitly apply'd will certainly make it very powerful For what is there that hath so much force in it as the Authority of God All Believers have a great reverence to his Word which the Ancient Christians thought the highest learning Insomuch that the Abyssines who retain much of the ancient Simplicity are never so pleased as to hear the Word of God alledged and the more Scripture any Man hath in his Sermons the more learned they esteem him So Ludolphus informs us in his late Historica Ethiopica Lib. III. Cap. V. N. 16. 7. And there is nothing in the Holy Scripture that you ought to
be excellent But then he tells him there is a far more ancient prophetical saying which preceded this many Ages teaching Men briefly and at once not only to desire nothing but to be made good men but also how they may be made truly good viz. Love the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy mind and thy Neighbour as thy self To him who can be perswaded to do this Non ei reliquam facilem sed eam totam esse doctrinam duntaxat utilem salubrem I do not say as Socrates did that all the rest will be easy but that this is the whole only profitable and wholesome Doctrine and there needs no more Epist XX. Keep this therefore perpetually in your Heart which contains in it all things else Love the Lord your God and love your Neighbour and you have done all you need to do for all is included in this You will not be wanting in your Duty to either of them if you heartily Love them SECT III. My next Advice shall be in the words of the blessed Apostle St. Paul who hath left us a wonderful Example of most tender affection to mens Souls read 1 Thes 2 7 8 11. Whatsoever ye do in word or deed do all in the Name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks unto God and the Father by him III Coloss 17. That is when you are going to perform any part of your Office pray him to be present with you and assist you So St. Chrysostom and out of him Theophylact Expounds these words in the Name of Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 calling upon him to be thy Helper 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 First making thy prayer to him and so go about thy business When you put on your Surplice for instance think with your selves that you are going to offer up the Prayers of the People to God in the Name of Jesus Christ And then with what Solemnity with what Reverence will you perform that Sacred Office Especially when you have besought him to be with you and believe that he is nigh to all them that call upon him in Truth In like manner when you go up into the Pulpit consider with your selves that you are going to speak in the Name of Christ unto his People beseeching him to assist you and to carry home the Truths you shall deliver to their Hearts and Consciences For dexteriùs loquentur cùm hominibus qui prius tota mente cum Deo fuerunt collocuti as Erasmus excellently speaks they will speak with Men more dextrously who have first of all with their whole Soul spoken with God The like I might say of other parts of your Duty which will then be most successfully discharged when you have engaged our Lord by solemn Prayer to him to go along with you and accompany you Theodoret hath another interpretation or rather a further improvement of the sense of these words which is this adorn all your words and actions 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with the remembrance of the Lord Christ That is haveing invoked his blessed presence to be with you think what he would do how he would behave himself and with what Spirit he would perform such things as you are going about For example when you are going to compose a Sermon it would be of great use and efficacy if you would think with your selves what Christ would say to your People if he were to speak to them what he would require of them with what Motives he would excite them and what Compassion he would express to their Souls It would be inpossible then for any Man if he had Christ in his mind to say any thing but what he hath well considered and will tend to make Men good He will not Preach for his own glory but for the glory of Christ pursuing things profitable rather than plausible not affecting in his discourse lenocinia sed remedia such things as may tickle the ears of idle People but such as will cure their Diseases and Distempers They are the Words of Salvian in his Preface to his Book de Gubernatione Dei Which are agreeable to the old Rule which Rittershusius there mentions 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Give me not Spruce things but such as the City needs They that interpret the words to this sense be so mindful of Christ that you do nothing indecorous nothing unbeseeming the relation you have to him nothing that may dishonour him differ not much from the former And therefore I conclude this Advice as the Apostle doth his Admonition As we ought to begin every thing with a devout remembrance of Christ whose blessing upon us we ought to implore so we ought to end all by giving thanks to God through him That 's as acceptable to him as our Prayers nay is a powerful Prayer for more of his Grace For none are so likely to receive more as those who thankfully acknowledge what they have received already And therefore let all your doings be thus begun and ended in the Name of Christ Whereby you will be preserved in his Love and Favour and partake still more of his grace SECT IV. Especially if you do all this in Sincerity of heart Which is that good Soil wherein if the Seed of the Word be not sown and received it brings forth no Fruit to Perfection and which our Saviour more particularly required in his Apostles who were to sow that good Seed in Mens hearts Such Persons it is manifest he sought for as were plain simple and honest hearted having no worldly end to serve but wholly bent to know the way to Eternal Salvation Andrew and Peter who were first called to follow him it is evident were of this Spirit for they left all they had to attend him and next to them Philip who finding Nathaniel and telling him they had found the MESSIAH Jesus of Nazareth to whom he pray'd him to go along with him as soon as our Saviour saw him he said to shew what kind of Men he delighted in Behold an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile I John 47. which was a surprising Character of him after Nathaniel had made this objection against our Saviour can any good thing come out of Nazareth But as Theophylact well observes those were not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 words of unbelief but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of a mind that accurately weighed things and was well studied in the Law which taught him that Christ was to come out of Bethleem in Judaea not out of Nazareth in Galilee By this our Saviour judged of his Sincerity which appeared also in that notwithstanding this seeming prejudice he went along with Philip to be better informed of our Saviour This is one great part of that Sincerity which I am now recommending to you to have your minds free from the power of Prejudice and partial Affections being desirous only to know the truth and understand what the will of the Lord is So St.
Chrysostom upon these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 His judgment was uncorrupt and unbyassed and pronounced nothing either out of Favour and Affection or out of dislike and hatred Another token of which Sincerity there follows in that after this high commendation which our Lord gave him he was not at all elated by it nor ran away with these Encomiums as the same Father speaks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. but continues enquiring and searching more exactly being desirous of this alone to be more perfectly satisfied in the Truth As he was upon his next Question and our Saviour's Answer to it By this is appears that sincerity of heart is the best Disposition to understand the mind of Christ and to be employ'd by him in the Ministry of the Gospel as the Apostles were Who had regard to Nothing in this World but only to the Glory of God and the Salvation of Men in which also they found the highest Satisfaction or rather Rejoycing and Glorying For so St. Paul saith 2 Corinth I. 12. Our rejoycing or glorying or boasting is this the Testimony of our Conscience that in simplicity and Godly sincerity c. We have our Conversation in the World He served our Lord that is with pure intention designing nothing but to win Souls to him by delivering his mind sincerely to them and seeking no greater Satisfaction than to have it believed and obeyed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. as St. Chrysostom glosses on those words There was nothing deceitful in him No Hypocrisy no Simulation no Flattery no Craft or Fraud or any thing of that kind but he acted with all freedom in Simplicity in Truth in 〈◊〉 pure uncorrupt Judgment and clear intention having nothing concealed and hidden undernaeth nothing rotten at the bottom Thus he explains himself in the Second Chapter of the First Epistle to the Thessalonians v. 3 4 5. For our Exhortation was not of deceit nor of uncleanness nor of guile But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the Gospel even so we speak not as pleasing Men but God which trieth our hearts For neither at any time used we flattering words as ye know nor a cloak of covetousness God is witness Nor of men sought we glory neither of you nor yet of others This admirable Spirit let us imitate endeavouring after such a degree of this Vertue as to be glad if Men could look into our Hearts and see our secret intentions and designs as we are sure God doth Who as he is witness to them as the Apostle speaks so will judge us according to our uprightness and integrity in seeking to do him honour and to promote the Salvation of Souls Thus the Fathers of the Church particularly St. Gregory Nazianzen distinguish a Political Christian from a Spiritual 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. A Political Person or a Man of this Worlds business is to do and to say all things whereby he may do himself credit and be honoured by others designing no happiness beyond this present Life But a Spiritual Mans business is to take care of his Salvation and highly to esteem what contributes unto that but to look upon that which doth not as nothing worth In short To esteem those things above all others 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. By which he himself may be made most worth and he may draw others by himself to the best and most excellent things Orat. XIX p. 300. SECT V. There are some other qualities that make up the Character of a good Minister of Jesus Christ of which I have not room in this little Treatise particularly to discourse For he ought to serve the Lord with all humility of mind XX Acts 19. with Patience also 2 Tim. II. 24. and with Meekness 2 Tim. II. 25. All which St. Paul hath commended to us together with the foregoing qualities in that admirable description he makes of himself 2 Corinth VI. 3 4 5 6. c. which was part of the Epistle I observed for the First Sunday in Lent Where he first of all saith that they took care to give no offence in any thing that the Ministry might not be blamed Of which I shall briefly speak a little when I have first laid before you what follows But in all things approving our selves as the Ministers of God Not merely shewing themselves saith Oecumenius on the place but more than that approving or commending themselves which signifies a demonstration 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by real Works and Deeds to be truly Christ's Ministers Which demonstration saith he they gave first of all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Patience nay he adds much Patience 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 generously bearing all that was said of them that is Mens Censures Reproaches and Calumnies yea and all the sufferings and miseries they pleased to heap upon them Which he expresses in the next words in afflictions in necessities in distresses in stripes in imprisonments in tumults in labours in watchings in fastings Upon which I cannot enlarge nor upon what he saith of their Pureness and Knowledge i. e. their Divine Wisdom whereby they approved themselves God's Ministers not by Humane Philosophy as the same Oecumenius expounds it and all the rest But only take Notice of what he saith v. 7. by the armour of righteousness on the Right hand and on the Left As if he had said would ye know how we come to perform such things as the same Author expounds it give ear then to what follows it was by being armed on both sides on the right and on the left which are not so contrary but the Armour of Righteousness fitted both By the right hand saith he the Apostle understands 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 prosperous things such as honour and esteem among Men which did not make us swell nor puff us up with Vain Glory and therefore were the Armour or Weapons of Righteousness On the left hand were the things contrary to these Temptations Persecutions Reproaches and Injuries by which we were not dejected nor cast down as by the other we were not elated As if he had said in other words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 neither lifted up by good things nor disheartned by evil A proof of which immediately follows by honour and by dishonour by evil report and good report In which words saith that Author he recounts the right hand and the left hand things And in this Spirit we ought to serve the Lord Christ not minding the vain praise of Men nor their dispraise but only endeavouring to approve our selves to our Blessed Lord and Master with an equal mind in all Conditions Before I end this I cannot but a little reflect upon those words wherewith the Apostle begins this discourse giving no offence in any thing that the Ministry be not blamed Which admonishes us cautiously to avoid every thing at which Men may take just exception for this very reason least the Gospel of Christ should be hindred