from him to treat with their fellow-Creatures in the business of Religion and to communicate the Mysteries of the Gospel to them which by a just Analogy may also be attributed to all succeeding Ministers who are legally appointed to serve at the Altar of Christ and to Minister to his People in Sacred things Which is the second part of the Proposition and respects the Office and employment of the Persons spoken of in the Text They are the Stewards of the Mysteries of God that the Gospel of Christ or the Doctrine of Christianity is intended under this Phrase will most evidently appear if we compare this Expression of the Apostle with others of the like Nature and then consider the most genuine import and signification of them in Col. 2.2 the Apostle professing his ardent Zeal and Sollicitude for the Church of God at Colossi and Laodicea inserteth this very expression into his prayer for them that they might be united with one accord into the the knowledge and profession of the Mysteries of God of which he affirms in the next Verse That all Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge are contained in them the same he calls their Faith in Christ Vers 5. And receiving Christ Jesus the Lord Vers 6. Which Phrases can admit of no other Exposition to explicate their sence and meaning than to signifie the Christian Doctrine which at the first was delivered by the Lord and afterwards confirmed and perfected by them that heard him Parallel to which is that Illustrious Aphorism of St. Paul 1 Tim. 3.16 Great is the Mystery of Godliness that is the Religion of Christ which prescribes the most excellent and perfect Rules of Piety and that this notion requires so general a signification appears by the several branches enumerated by the Apostle as a Basis or Foundation to support the Church of God which were the common received Articles of the Christian Religion For that men might not wander eternall◠in the dark and an everlasting blindness possess their Souls it hath pleased the infinitely Wise and Gracious God to communicate to the World by Divine Revelation many sublime and mysterious points and whatever else is necessary to be believed and observed in order to Mens Salvation and that these things might be perpetuated to the World and secured from the corruptions or invasions of Enemies it seemed good to the Holy Ghost to commit them to writing in the Sacred Records of Holy Scripture which by an especiall providence are preserved entire to this very day in the Canonical Books of the Old and New Testament which latter was the only Foundation laid by the Apostles and therefore the Catalogue of Books contained therein the sum and substance of the Christian Faith which St. Paul saith was made manifest and known to the Saints and so certainly could not remain in unwritten Traditions for then it would have been hid from the World Rom. 16.26 And another Apostle calls it the Faith once or at once delivered Jude 3. Which directly opposeth any Innovation or Introduction of Doctrines into the Gospel after its consummation by the Apostles which is an assertion of such Catholick verity that all the Writers in the Church of Christ have constantly acknowledged it till those few persons in the late Councel of Trent durst venture to reject the universal Tradition of the Church and run counter with the best Antiquity which is plainly demonstrated by the incomparable industry and elaborate inquiry of the late Reverend Bishop of Durham in his Scholastical History of the Canon of Holy Scripture So that though the Writings of Apocryphical Authors may be Read in the Church of God for example of life and instruction of manners yet the Governours of our Church in Compiling her publick Liturgy have appointed no part of those Books to be Read but what is agreeable to Canonical Scripture and always accounted their Authority too weak to lay any Foundation for or to establish any necessary Doctrine upon Which was the Judgment of Saint Jerome concerning this matter who was also the most strenuous Assertor of the certain and indubitate Catalogue of Holy Writers for speaking of the Writings of Apocrypha he saith Legit quidem Ecclesia sed eas inter Canonicas non recipit and though we receive the Name and Number of Canonical Books from the Authority of humane Tradition and upon the same credit believe those Copies which now we enjoy to be Authentick and in all material parts agreeable to the most Primitive Writings of the Evangelists and Apostles yet we dare not receive the Traditions of men as the Doctrine of God nay we utterly reject such Impositions as presumptuous and impudent and are afraid of the Curse of God if we should receive them as Articles of Faith because the Holy Ghost in the Comsummation of the Gospel hath consign'd and Sealed it up with an Anathema Rev. 22.18 19. Itestifie c. Therefore the Church of England according to the practice of the Catholick Church in all Ages since the time of the Apostles hath prescribed the same Canon of Scripture and utterly disclaimed all pretence of Adition to or Detraction from it as 't is recited in the Sixth Article of our Religion So that the written Word of God the Sacred Records of the Gospel the several Contents therein the various parts thereof and no other Writings or Traditions whatsoever are that depositum committed to the charge of all Ministerial Officers whose duty it is to preserve and improve the same according to the pleasure of their Lord and Master for this purpose they are constituted Stewards of God and Dispensers of Holy Mysteries thus St. Paul affirms in general 2 Cor. 5.18 19 20. God hath given Us the Ministry of Reconciliation and committed to Us the Word of Peace that we are Ambassadours for Christ to pray men in Christs stead to be reconciled unto God and in particular proclaims of himself that he was appointed a Preacher of the Gospel and an Apostle and a Teacher of the Gentiles 2 Tim. 1.11 And for this reason he exhorts Timothy to stir up the gift of God which was in him by the putting on of his hands to hold fast the form of sound words which he had heard of him and to keep by the Holy Ghost the good thing which was committed to him Vers 6 13 14. To which agrees that description of a Minister or President in Sacred affairs delivered by that Mystical Divine that he is the proper Interpreter of Divine Theology 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Angel of Almighty God being to learn from those Divinely inspired Oracles and then to teach and explain them to the Church And if the Commission of those Apostolical Persons be restrained within the prescription of certain bounds that they durst not go beyond the command of the Lord to do either good or bad of their own mind had power to say nothing in the name of Christ but what he communicated to them
AD CLERUM A VISITATION SERMON PREACHED At Beckonsfield in the County of Bucks April the 9 th 1678. By JOHN JAMES A. M. Rector of Latimers in the County of Bucks LONDON Printed by T.H. for R. Chiswel at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Church-yard 1678. Imprimatur Geo. Thorp R mo in C.P.D. Domino Gulielmo Archiep. Cant. a Sacris Domesticis May 31. 1678. 1 Cor. 4.1 2. Let a man so account of us as of the Ministers of Christ and Stewards of the Mysteries of God Moreover it is required in Stewards that a man be found faithful SAint Paul having planted Christianity among the Corinthians by preaching the Gospel of Christ in the City of Corinth and other adjacent Provinces in the Countrey of Greece after the space of Eighteen Months he departed from those Regions and took his Journey into Asia where he alsodelivered what he had received from the Lord and instructed the People both publickly in the Synagogues and privately in their Houses in the Mysteries of the Kingdom of God Immediately after his departure Apollos being by Priscilla and Aquila sufficiently instructed in the Doctrine of the Gospel upon his coming to Ephesus is by them recommended and sent to the Brethren at Achaia where he boldly delivered and diligently taught the things of the Lord confirming those who were converted by the Ministry of St. Paul in the grounds and principles of the Christian faith and by arguments unanswerable confuting the most obstinate Jews and putting to silence publickly in the Synagogues the most subtle and shrewdest Disputants among them Acts 18. vers 24 c. But though Paul had planted the Christian Religion in converting many by the preaching of the Gospel to be Proselytes to it and Apollos after him had watered those Converts in contributing his utmost assistance to settle and establish them on the Foundation which Paul had laid though God himself had given increase in making their labours effectual by the blessed influence of his Spirit to obtain those great ends he designed in the promulgation of the Gospel to wit the Conversion and Edification of Souls in the faith of Christ yet in a short time the heat of their Devotion began to be abated or rather to be misimployed upon improper objects For those which had enrolled themselves into the same Society professed and were Baptized into the same faith and so became members of the same mystical body broke forth into furious contentions animosities against each other rendring most miserably and most cruelly tearing the Church of Christ to pieces in its very Infancy for through the enmity of those impure Gnosticks against the Rules and Precepts of Christianity and the malice of the Judaizing Christians against many points of Doctrine contained therein most lamentable Schisms and Factions broke forth in the Church of Corinth which like flames of Fire were ready to consume and burn it down to the ground Errors and Heresies were scattered abroad and greedily received by too many among them which like ill Weeds soon grew up and brought forth most unwholsom fruit in their lives and manners This sad news no sooner came to the Ears of our Apostle but it sunk heavily down upon his Soul and made a deep impression of sorrow upon his minde therefore to redress these mischiefs and if possible to settle the distractions and divisions of Corinth he presently composeth and directs this Epistle to the Church there and to all other Christians both Jews and Gentiles inhabiting the Regions of Achaia in which after a Religious and most affectionate Salutation to procure from them a favourable Audience and a candid entertainment of what he delivered from v. 1. to v. 9. He most earnestly exhorts them to an Unity in Doctrine and brotherly Communion one among another vers 10 11. And then laying open before their eyes the grievousness of their Schism he charges them boldly with it to their very faces vers 11 12 13. Telling them plainly that the Christian Religion is but one and Christ Jesus the only Author of it That the excellency of its is such that though it be not ushered into the World with sublimity of speech and the Ornaments of humane wisdom and therefore is styled the foolishness of Preaching and by the learned Scribes and wise Disputers of the World was rejected with pride and insolence yet it consisteth in the power of God and so far excelleth the wisdom of this World that it destroys the understanding of the Wise and Prudent and confounds the things that are Mighty and Noble Chap. 1.2 That as Christ is the Author of this Divine Institution so he is the only proper Foundation for men to lay the Superstructure of their Faith and Salvation upon and according to the expression of St. Peter Acts 4.12 The only Name under Heaven given among Men whereby they should be called And consequently that thoso who labour in the Church of Christ have no dominion over the Faith of men or authority to command their Consciences notwithstanding they are Ministers of Christ and fellow-labourers together with God Stewards in the Houshold of Faith and Dispensers of the Mysteries of the Gospel and therefore as men are obliged to shew them their respective and just esteem but not to transcend its prescribed limits and bounds so 't is required these be faithful in their Office and Conscientious in the discharge of so Sacred a Function which as 't is a prevalent means to repair the breaches and cure the divisions in the Church of Christ so 't is the advice of the Apostles to the Corinthians and the immediate design of the words in my Text. Let a man so account of us c. That my discourse may be full and comprehensive proportionable to the just design and import of these words and serviceable in some measure to the present occasion and future necessities of this Assembly Three things necessarily require our consideration First The Subjects of the Apostles discourse implyed under the Pronoun Us. Secondly The matter predicated of or attributed to these Persons The Ministers of Christ and Stewards of the Mysteries both which Particulars joyned together make up an entire Proposition that the Persons intended by the Apostle are the Ministers of Christ and Stewards of the Mysteries of God Thirdly Practical Inferences deduced from the truth of the Apostles assertion one respecting the men to whom these persons are employed as Ministers and Stewards Let a man so account of us as of The other relating to the Persons themselves to whom their Office is committed Moreover 't is required in Stewards that a man be found faithful First We shall consider the subjects of the Apostles discourse implyed under the Pronoun Us The Persons here intended being the very Foundation of the Apostles Argument and a just determination of this Particular the most regular and orderly Method to assist us in the undertaking and progress of our present employment 'T is certain that the
but little Conscience in prescribing Rules and Directions to others or if we do employ our knowledge and our strength to explain the Mysteries of Salvation to the Souls committed to our charge we cannot challenge a Blessing from God upon our endeavours nor rationally expect that our labours should be successful for God himself hath taken up a quarrel against such men Psal 50.16 17 Unto the wicked saith God What hast thou to do to declare my Statutes or to take my Covenant in thy mouth seeing thou hatest instruction and castest my words behind thee therefore I will reprove thee and set thy sins in order before thy eyes And the Apostle assures us that such men are inexcusable before God and that his Sacred Name is blasphemed by them Rom. 2.1 17 --- 24. And as our People may justly upbraid the Indecency and absurdity of our Lives when our Actions confront our Doctrines and our Manners give our Preaching the Lye as St. Jerome hath observed Perdit Authoritatem docendi cujus Sermo opere destruitur so they may be provoked to reproach and contemn the Gospel it self as an unholy Institution or a fabulous Legend like those in Salvian's time Si Christus Sancta docuisset Christiani Sanctè vixissent Of what great concernment is it then that we demonstrate our knowledge in the sound Mysteries of Religion by our Reverent apprehensions of them and a Religious deportment in the whole course and frame of our actions correspondent to them That every Article of the Christian Faith of whose truth we labour to persuade our People be influential upon our Practices in such proportion 1 Cor. 14.24 25. that if there come in one that believeth not or one that is unlearned into our Assemblies he may be convinced and falling down on his face worship God and report that God is in us of a truth And every Precept in the Body of Christianity which we binde upon the Consciences of men and exhort them to practice may be delineated so fairly in our Lives and Conversations that others seeing our good works may glorifie our Father which is in Heaven Such was the faithfulness of our Apostle in this particular that without any remorse he could take the Philippians by the hand and lead them to the Practice of every good work by the conduct of his own Example Brethren be ye followers together of me and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an example Phil. 3.17 And in his Epistle to these he appeals to their own Consciences to judge in what manner of Conversation he walked among them 1 Thes 2.1.10 Your selves Brethren know our entrance unto you and ye are Witnesses and God also how justly and holily and unblameably we behaved our selves among you Lib. 3. de Jub Dei P. 78. for which reason Salvian so highly and deservedly commends him Boni Domini bonus famulus singularis Magistri praeclarus imitator And now Brethren we see our Calling and are we Conscientious in the management of it We have heard our Profession and are our Practices answerable to it We cannot I am sure be ignorant of those Arguments that oblige our Faithfulness and do they preswade us to a constant Universal Obedience Or are not the best of us too little serious in the work of the Ministry and therefore our labours the less successful Do we persuade our People in the Mysteries of Godliness and press them to unfeigned Repentance and uniform Obedience to the Laws of Heaven as men that know the terrors of the Lord and believe without these things our Auditors shall perish Eternally Do we intreat exhort and beseech them as it were for their Lives and Salvation Or do we count our Office a burden and substituting others into our Stewardship are indifferent what Persons labour in the Vineyard so we may eat the Fruit thereof and receive the Profits in their appointed Season Do none of us by our scandalous lives disgrace the Gospel we Preach and so offend our weaker Brethren by laying a stumbling Block in their way to Heaven and scandalizing them by our licentious Courses I come not into this place to Caluminate any much less to accuse my Fathers and my Brethren this work I refer to the scrutiny of every mans Conscience and the Inquisition of our Spiritual Governours And I heartily wish that every Minister in this Assembly after the strictest Examination will be found to have approved himself a faithfull and wise Steward in the House of God that our care is to rertench the sins and impieties and to repair the Schisms and Divisions in the places were we live that we are obedient to the voice of our exact Conformity to her Laws and Canons and Brotherly kindness to one another that in our Instructions and Exhortations we display the odious Nature of sin in its proper colours that sinners may blush and be ashamed at their prophane and vicious courses And use the most prevalent Rhetorick to set forth Vertue to the life to represent it with our utmost skill in the most amiable and lovely attire that men may be drawn as with Cords of love to Court and embrace her and above all these things that we keep our selves unspotted from the sins of the World for hereunto are we called to be blameless and harmless as the Sons of God without rebuke that our Conversations may be living Sermons and our Sermons the lively Oracles of God These are the qualifications to make us faithfull Stewards in the Church of God We must be Wise to understand the Mysteries of Religion lest we be deceived by the Stratagems and Sophistry of Imposters and Faithfull lest we seduce and delude others We must be Learned in the word of God that in our Doctrines we may shew Incorruptness Gravity Sincerity and found speech that cannot be condemned and Conscientious in Preaching the same that he who is of the contrary part may be ashamed and those that gainsay the faithfull Word of God by the soundness of our Doctrines and faithfulness of our Labours may be convinc'd Who then is a faithful and wise Servant whom his Lord hath made Ruler over his Houshold to give them meat in due Season Blessed is that Servant whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing For he shall say unto him Well done thou good and faithfull Servant thou hast been faithfull over a few things I will make thee Ruler over many things enter thou into the Joy of thy Lord. FINIS