Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n
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B20783
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A sermon preached at the ordinatoin [sic] of an elder and deacons in a baptized congregation in London by N.C.
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Coxe, Nehemiah.
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1681
(1681)
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Wing C6718
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25,157
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47
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night and day to present you perfect unto God And let not his faithfulness in admonishing you cause an abatement of your love to him but if you love your own Salvation let it rather raise your esteem of him No wise Man will hate his Physician for giving a bitter Potion when his Life is saved by it or a Chirurgeon for performing an Operation painful to him when the restoring or preserving of a Member of his Body depends thereon He that brings to you the good Tidings of Salvation and publisheth Peace deserves to have his Feet esteemed beautiful and to be received with the Love and Respect that 's due to so good a Message and the bringer of it Christ will not bear the contempt of his Messengers therefore take heed that you provoke him not by casting a scornful Eye upon them nor rob your own Souls of the benefit of their Ministry by entertaining evil Surmises or undue Prejudices against them 2dly You owe Submission and Obedience to them in the discharge of their Office and in the exercise of that Rule and Oversight which Christ hath committed to them for your Edification Obey them that have the Rule over you and submit your selves Heb. 13. 17. It is not a blind Obedience that the Apostle requires nor such as shall suppose a Legislative Power in Church-Officers but an orderly subjection to them acting in their Office according to the Law and Testament of Jesus Christ even a ready obedience to the Word of God dispensed by them and humble submission to their just Reproofs and Ministerial Correction when rendred necessary by any miscarriage and this either in the publick or more private discharge of their Trust God doth not require that Men should pull out their own Eyes and mancipate themselves to the conduct of Church-Officers without the exercise of their own Reason and Judgment as it is in the Papacy where the blind lead the blind till both fall into the Ditch But when the Law of Christ is observed and a conformity with that urged by the evidence and demonstration of Truth from the Holy Scriptures herein the Obedience of the People is justly expected and he that thinks himself too good or too wise to receive Instruction or submit to Reproof from his Pastor ill deserves a place in any Christian Congregation My Brethren take heed of a proud factious Spirit James 3. 1. be not many Masters knowing that we shall receive the greater Condemnation And as it is your Duty to receive the Doctrine of Christ dispensed by them with meekness and fear and with humility to submit to the Discipline which they exercise according to the Authority they have received from Christ so also ought you to propose their holy Example for your imitation Heb. 13. 7. Remember them which have the Rule over you who have spoken to you the Word of God whose Faith follow considering the end of their Conversation Be followers of them as they are of Christ for if it be their Duty to be Ensamples to their Brethren in Word in Conversation 1 Tim. 4. 12. in Charity in Spirit in Faith in Purity it must be no less the Duty of their Brethren to write after their Copy and conform to their Example in all these Things For if the discharge of this Office be not improved by the Church unto their Edification and real growth in Grace and Holiness the end of it as to them is utterly lost 3dly You are much concerned to continue instant in Prayer to God for them You know the Apostle Paul often recommends himself to the Prayers of the Church and if he thought them so necessary for his help we have much more reason to account them so for ours The temptations of Ministers are many they have great Difficulties and Discouragements to conflict with And their Work is such as they can never fill up their Places as they ought but by the special Aid and Assistance of the Holy Ghost the success of all their Labours depends upon a Divine Blessing and the presence of God with them and in these things both the Glory of Christ and the Comfort and Edification of your own Souls is nearly concerned which is a sufficient Reason for your making Conscience of this Duty 4thly You are bound according to your Ability to provide a comfortable and honourable Maintenance for them Let him that is taught communicate with him that teacheth IN ALL GOOD THINGS Be not deceived God is not mocked Gal. 6. 6 7. These words call not only for a Maintenance of Ministers but for such a plentiful Contribution as may make them partakers with you in all good Things If God bless the Congregation with a plentiful Portion of this World's Goods it is their Duty to make their Minister a Party with them in their flourishing Condition and considering the Place and Imployment he is in and the Service he attends it would be extreamly unworthy to think you have done enough if his pressing Necessities be answered while you abound in Superfluities If the Congregation be Poor their Minister must be content to be poor with them yea rejoyce to approve himself a Minister of Christ by hunger and nakedness if the Providence of God call him thereto But while it is in the Power of your Hand to provide better for him God expects it from you and be not deceived he is not mocked neither will he suffer his Commands to be slighted and evaded without rendring a just rebuke to the Offender For whatsoever a Man soweth that shall he also reap Now that you may the better understand how far you are concerned in this Duty before I proceed to the farther pressing of it let me put you in remembrance 1. That a Minister is bound to attend wholly and only upon his Calling in the Ministry and not to entangle himself in the Affairs of this Life that he may please him by whom he is called to this Spiritual Warfare and nothing but real Necessity may dispense with the contrary his whole Time and Strength is little enough to be imployed in the Work he is called to he must give himself to the Ministry of the Word and Prayer and continue in Reading Meditation c. as a Man wholly devoted unto Gospel-Service and is therefore by his Call to the Ministry secluded from those Ways and Means of providing for his own Subsistence as the Trades and secular Imployments of others furnish them with that his Mind by the cares of worldly Business may not be diverted from that study of God's Word and Care of Souls which the duty of his Station engageth him to And if he may not expose himself to the careful Thoughts that accompany worldly Business tho' tending to his profit Certainly it is no way meet that he should be left to conflict with the thorny Cares of a necessitous Condition while those he ministers to have Means to prevent it 2. It is no less the Duty of a
enforce it but what are obvious to every one's Eye in the reading of them And he deserves not the Name of a Minister Pastor or Bishop that labours not herein It will not I suppose be expected that I should here lay down Rules for Preaching or enter into a Discourse about the Method of Theological Studies in order thereunto Only give me leave at present to recommend three things to those that are under so strict and solemn a Charge to preach the Gospel 1. Let your Care be to deal with the Souls and Consciences of Men as knowing that it is the Salvation of Souls which you are to labour after a Care of Souls that is committed to you and an account of them that you must make to God It is not your Business to gratify the itching Ears or wanton Fancies of Men Jerome complains of some in his Time That Id habent curae non quomodo Scripturarum medullas ebibant sed quomodo aures Populi declamatorum flosculis mulceant but to speak to their Hearts and by manifestation of the Truth to recommend your selves to every Man's Conscience in the sight of God 2 Cor. 4. 2. Lay out your pains in a solid explaining of the Principles of Religion and a judicious accommodation of them to practice that sincere Piety and the power of Godliness may be promoted by your Ministry Press the particular Duties of Men in every Relation and Capacity upon them warn them of the sleights of Satan rebuke their Errors and Disorders that go astray comfort the Afflicted and broken in Heart And in these things let no Zeal Diligence Boldness Industry or Labour be wanting 2. That this may be accomplished Be sure that you speak as the Oracles of God and deliver that 1 Pet. 4. 11. Doctrine to the People which is drawn from the pure Fountain of God's Word It is no less than the Evidence of Divine Authority that will work upon the Soul and command the Conscience of a Man whether it be by way of Comfort Exhortation or Reproof it is the stamp of Heaven upon the Things delivered by you that renders them powerful Let it therefore be your principal care in Preaching clearly to open and pertinently to apply the Scriptures that your Hearers may bear away this Conviction from your Sermons That you have the Mind of Christ It is not enough that the things you speak be true but you must manifest them to be so by strong and convincing Proofs Make Conscience of giving what in you lies the very sence of the Holy Ghost in the Scriptures that you speak to and weaken not excellent Truths by wringing them out of such Texts as intend another thing The word of God is Sacred and must be handled with all religious respect and reverence Divine Things will admit of no trifling 3. Remember that the Duty of your Place is Not to preach your selves but Christ Jesus the 2 Cor. 4. 5. Lord His Glory must be the Mark aimed at by all your Labours and his Grace the principal Subject of all your Discourses It is not a Philosophick Harangue that will save the Souls of Men but the preaching of Christ Crucified His 1 Cor. 1. 23. Gospel is the Power of God unto Salvation to them Rom. 1. 16. that believe and his Holy Name is the Ointment that perfumes all Religious Exercises Therefore I will not only say Let there be Aliquid Christi something of Christ in every Sermon but let Christ be the beginning middle and end of your Discourses for in him are hid all the Treasures of Colos 2. 3. Wisdom and Knowledg in him is the Fountain and Head-spring of all true Comfort and Holiness So much for the first Thing 2dly Unto the publick Work and Charge of a Bishop or Elder belongs also the Administration of the Sacraments or Ordinances of positive Institution in the Church as Baptism and the Lord's Supper This appertains to that Dispensation of the Mysteries of God that is committed to him and to that feeding of the Sheep of Christ which is required of him And then 3dly It is his Duty to take care of the due exercise of Discipline in the Church and the right ordering of all things pertaining to the Government thereof He is the Overseer of God's House Heb. 13. 17. and is to rule therein not in a despotical or lordly Way but by the Testament of Christ as becomes a Minister and as one set over the Lord's Heritage who are a voluntary People and to be governed not with force and rigor but with their own consent All the Brethren have an Interest in the management of Church-Affairs in the admission and ejection of Members yet this denies not a peculiar Concernment of the Elder in these things and a neglect of their due Administration will especially be charged upon him if guilty thereof And in these things great Prudence Tenderness Diligence and Impartiality is required of him It is a Matter of great importance that the Gates of the Lord's House the goings out and comings in thereof be well look'd to If Members be not received with due caution our Number may be increased but not our Joy and if any be precipitantly and without just grounds ejected the scandal and inconvenience will be as great And in all these things an Elder must endeavour so to demean himself that in the whole course of his Ministry there may be kept up a very lively representation of the Love Care Wisdom Compassion Faithfulness and Patience of the Lord Jesus Christ whom he serves I shall say no more of those Duties that are incumbent on a Pastor in the publick Exercise of his Ministry But in the next place Secondly There are also Duties of great importance to the Souls of Men which an Elder is bound diligently to attend the discharge of in a more private and particular way He is obliged to a constant watchfulness for and over his People and ought diligently to enquire and search into the state of his Flock That those who are in danger to err for want of counsel may be directed the unruly warned and rebuked feeble and dejected Souls strengthened comforted and encouraged and those that are beset with Difficulties and Temptations succoured and relieved Unto an unwearied diligence in these things Paul excites the Elders of the Church at Ephesus by his own Example You know saith he how I kept Act. 20. 18 c. back nothing that was profitable for you but have shewed you and have taught you publickly and from House to House The like he doth to those of Thessalonioa 1 Thess 2. 10 11 12. Ye are Witnesses and God also how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved our selves among you that believe As you know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you as a Father doth his Children That you would walk worthy of God c. And again Col. 1. 28 29. Whom viz.