Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n
Text snippets containing the quad
|
ID |
Title |
Author |
Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) |
STC |
Words |
Pages |
|
B20783
|
A sermon preached at the ordinatoin [sic] of an elder and deacons in a baptized congregation in London by N.C.
|
Coxe, Nehemiah.
|
1681
(1681)
|
Wing C6718
|
25,157
|
47
|
Christ we preach warning every Man and teaching every Man in all wisdom i. e. by a suitable applying of Things to them according to their various Circumstances and Conditions that we may present every Man perfect in Christ Jesus Whereunto I also labour c. And all this pains must be enlivened by an Holy Example for if a Minister does not live over the Instructions he gives to others and appear a burning and shining Light in Life and Conversation as well as in Doctrine his ill Manners will do more hurt than all his Words can ever do good Examples have the greatest influence upon Men Verba docent Exempla trahunt Therefore is that charge so frequently repeated That they should in all things be Ensamples to the Flock I will add but a word or two for the encouragement and quickening of a Pastor to his Duty and then pass on to what remains What I intend at present I shall sum up under two Heads First Consider whom you serve and by whose Authority you are to act in your place You are a Minister of Christ not a Creature of humane appointment It is by the Holy Ghost that you are made an Overseer therefore take heed to your self and to the Flock of God A like Argument or Motive is included in that of Col. 4. 17. Say to Archippus Take heed to the Ministry that thou hast received in the Lord that thou fulfil it To receive a Ministry in the Lord is to be imployed in a Service for Christ and by his Order and Authority Now from hence these things and others like to them may be inferred 1. That there is a real dignity and worth in the Office which you are to administer He that desires the Office of a Bishop saith our Apostle desires a good Work It is an Office that a Man must labour in but his Labour is in a good Work viz. that which is honourable as well as useful as the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies and you know Difficilia quae pulchra 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 honourable Imployments are not without their burden Men may despise this Function but let not that discourage you Christ hath honoured you and let the sense of Duty and Gratitude to him bear you above all Discouragements to a faithful discharge of your Trust and that with holy boldness and fortitude of Mind 2. If you have reeived your Office from Christ you must be responsible to him for the discharge of it Stewards must one day give an account to their Lord and thrice happy he to whom Christ shall say in the day of Account Well done thou good and faithful Servant enter thou into the Joy of thy Lord. There is nothing tends more to engage us to all diligence and faithfulness in our Places than a deep and fixed thoughtfulness of that solemn Audit which we must be brought to at the Kingdom and Appearing of the great Shepherd 3. Those that Christ imploys in his Work may expect his gracious presence and assistance in all the difficulties that do attend it For this we have his word passed Lo I am with you to the end of Mat. 28 ult the VVorld tho' you may be persecuted you shall never be forsaken of me and tho' your Burthen may sometimes press you with a great weight yet my strength shall be made perfect in your weakness and my Grace shall always be sufficient for you It is the Grace and Assistance of Christ that a Minister must depend upon and expect the success of his Labours from and having ground for such an expectation let him not faint from the apprehension of any hardship or opposition that may lie in his way for all Power in Heaven and Earth is in his Hand by whom he is imployed 4. Seeing he is ingaged in Christ's Service the Reward of Faithfulness therein is sure Christ will not fail to shew himself a bountiful Lord and Master to those that serve him None ever were or shall be losers by doing his Work This is the incouragement that Peter lays before the Elders of the Church and exhorts them to lift up their Hearts to 1 Pet. 5. 4. And when the chief Shepherd shall appear ye shall receive a Crown of Glory that fadeth not away And this will be a sufficient compensation of all your sorrow and travel here Look how much your labour hath been more than others God will cloath you with the brighter Rays of Glory your Converts shall then be your Crown and your Joy when they that have turned many to Righteousness shall shine as the Stars for ever and ever Secondly Consider That it is the Care and Charge of Souls that is committed to you not the Temporal Concerns of this Life but the Affairs of Eternal Life are the Business of your Stewardship Now one Soul is of more worth than all the World because immortal and made for an Eternal State The Influence that the Ministry of the Word hath into the future state of Men made Paul say as in an extasie VVho is sufficient for these Things They are the Souls of Men that God thought it worth the giving of his own Son to redeem and Christ thought not much to shed his precious Blood for the Church is a Society of Men which God hath purchased to himself by his own Blood and now committed to your Care and appointed you to watch for their Souls therefore take heed to your selves and to your Flock for if any of them perish in an evil way thro' your neglect of Duty towards them They die in their sins but God will require their Blood at your Hand We come now to the last thing that lies before us viz. The Duty of the People towards their Pastors Able and faithful Pastors are a great Blessing and special Fruit of Christ's Love to his Church and he as well expects and requires her improvement of so great a Talent and the chearful performance of her Duty towards her Ministers a◠he doth strictly charge them to acquit themselves with all fidelity and diligence in their places I am under a necessity of bringing this part of my Discourse into a narrow compass and therefore shall recommend to you but these four things 1st You owe to your Pastor great Love Respect and Honour for his Work-sake And God requires that you make a due paiment thereof This our Apostle often presseth with great earnestness for instance see 1 Thess 5. 12 13. And we beseech you Brethren to know that is to acknowledg with due respect them which labour among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you and to esteem them very highly in love for their Work-sake And again Let the Elders that Rule well be counted worthy of double Honour especially those that labour in the Word and Doctrine 1 Tim. 5. 17. If you have a true Friend in the World it is he that watcheth for your Souls tells you the Truth and travels
it do not appear that he rules his own House well how shall he be esteemed fit to take care of the Church of God He must also be vigilant careful and diligent in his Work and Duty in the station wherein he hath been otherwise he will be very unmeet for a Pastoral Charge which requires perpetual watching sober and of a temperate Life adorned with Modesty and Moderation and of a good behaviour full of gravity and humanity in all his Deportment not self-willed proud and heady no striker nor soon angry but a Man that hath good Government of his Passions and whose meekness disposeth him to instruct and exhort Men with all Long-suffering and Doctrine He must not 2 Tim. 2. 24 25. 4. 2. be given to much Wine but set in himself an Example of Mortification to sensual Delights and utterly detest all unjust and sordid ways of heaping up or keeping Riches for himself as not given to filthy Lucre nor lyable to just suspition that he undertakes his Charge from a base covetousness of any outward Emoluments belonging thereto but of a ready Mind and sincere Love to Christ and the Souls of Men and he must be given to Hospitality that so he may go before others in all Offices of Kindness and Charity towards the Saints no brawler litigious or contentious Man but furnished both with Abilities and a ready Mind to teach and instruct others and therefore he must be well furnished with the Knowledg of the Mysteries of God himself and one that holdeth fast the faithful Word as he hath been taught that he may be able by sound Doctrine both to exhort and to convince the Gain-sayers In a word He must be a Man Holy and Just himself and a lover of all that are so yea one whose vertues Time hath proved and made conspicuous a steady and well-setled Man Not a Novice or new Convert lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the Devil This is the Rule of Trial that all Churches are bound to have in their Eye and diligently to attend to in their Election of Elders and when they do so Christ approves their choice and the Holy Ghost Act. 20. 28 makes their Overseers for both the Gifts Grace and Authority of a Gospel-Minister are from him and no Man or Society of Men under Heaven can de jure make him a Minister that Christ hath not qualified for such a Service for the validity of all Church Acts depends upon and is determined by their conformity to the Rule of Christ's Holy Will and Testament And as these Gifts Graces and Vertues ought to be in some good degree visible in him that is ordained to Eldership before that Charge be committed to him so after his Ordination it behoves him perpetually to endeavour the giving of a more abundant proof of them in himself by a daily increase in their Exercise But to proceed Secondly The Relative Duties of an Elder and the People are to be considered The due handling of this would require a just Treatise but it cannot be expected that I should enlarge upon Particulars nor indeed so much as touch upon many things that do properly belong thereto But all that I can do is briefly to speak to some things of a general and comprehensive nature with some inforcement of what may be especially seasonable at this time And First We shall speak to the Duty of an Elder in his place which is either more publick or more private for in both these respects he is under a bond of Duty to Christ and the Souls of the Members of that Church which he ministers in We shall begin with those Duties which are more publickly to be discharged by him And they are 1st To stand in some respects and to act in some things as a middle Person betwixt God and the People Mistake me not He is not to be a Mediator between God and the Church or in his own Interest to interpose himself betwixt God and the People for the procuring of their acceptance with him such an Office and Service for the Church no Man on Earth nor Saint or Angel in Heaven is capable of The Glory of it is Christ's peculiar As there is but one God so 1 Tim. 2. 5. in this regard there is but one Mediator betwixt God and Men the Man Christ Jesus But in two respects a Minister stands between God and the People 1. As he is to be the Mouth of the People unto God and to go before them in the Exercise of those Gifts and Graces which Christ hath furnished him with in conceiving and pouring out the publick Prayers of the Church to the most High And by some this is taken to be the special import of that saying of the Apostle's in Act. 6. 4. But we will give our selves continually Assidui erimus tum in praecundo plebi in precibus ad Deum â—um in Plebe instituenda Grot. in locum to Prayer and to the Ministry of the Word They seem equally to respect in both viz. Prayer and the Ministry of the Word the publick discharge of their Office in the Church and there is no doubt but what is here mentioned continues to be the Duty of ordinary Ministers in their Station as much as it was theirs And the Scripture knows no other Provision for the orderly and profitable performance of this Service in the Church than what Christ hath made by enduing Persons with those Gifts and such an anointing of his Holy Spirit as may enable them to go before their Brethren therein It would be very sad to have the Souls of Men committed to the care of such as are so unacquainted with or insensible of their Spiritual Concerns as not to be in some good degree prepared for this part of their Work to be the Mouth of the People in pouring out their solemn publick Prayers unto God 2. As he is to be the Mouth of God to the People to deliver his Message from God and speak to them in his Name It is eminently the Work and Business of a Pastor To preach the 2 Tim. 4. 2. Word to be instant in season and out of season to reprove rebuke and exhort with all Long-suffering and Doctrine They are Ministers of the New Testament and God's Ambassadors unto Men who are to dispense the Mysteries of God to his Church and they ought to exercise all diligence herein Studying to approve themselves VVorkmen 2 Tim. 2. 14 15 that need not to be ashamed rightly dividing the Word of Truth And woe will be to him that undertakes this Charge and preacheth not the Gospel which is the sincere Milk and Spiritual Food that the Souls of his Flock ought continually to be fed with This Duty is so earnestly pressed upon all Occasions Oportet Episcopum praedicantem mori where these Things are treated of in the Scriptures that there is no need of any other Arguments to