in their Travels through the World to convert it from Idolatrie and to gain Proselytes to Christ. When the number of Believers was every where increast and the name of Christian which at first began at Antioch was every where disperst as far as Words were Names of persons the next business of the Apostles whose commission like the Sun 's was never to stand still or settle in one place but still to move like him from one Countrey to another was to mould their new Believers into well-form'd and govern'd Churches especially in great Cities such as Ephesus and Corinth and to appoint them Over-seers who should both teach and rule the Flock lest being left like Sheep without a Shepherd to o'relook them they either should be swallowed up by their own Heresies and Schisms or should break out of the Fold and relapse back again to Heathens These Overseers or as the Scripture calls them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 These Bishops of the Flock they were compelled to chuse out of their new Converts and Disciples who in that infancy of time that famine of great Parts were generally men whose Faith was far greater then their Knowledge men not bred in Schools unskilled in Tongues and Arts especially the Art 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Art of Ruling well Indeed they were such men as St. Paul describes in that mean and humble Map which he drew of those Times in the first Chapter of his first Epistle to the Corinthians at the 26. and 27. Verses where he sayes Ye see your calling Brethren how that not many wise men after the flesh not many mighty not many noble are called But God hath chosen the foolish things of the World to confound the wise and weak things of the World to confound the mighty and base things and things despised and things that are not hath God chosen to annihilate and bring to nought the things that are To supply this great Defect the holy Ghost was fain to assist the very Apostles in the making of their choices and to furnish men with gifts and parts which might fit them for Elections Nay the persons generally were so ungifted raw unlearned in all kinds so unfit to rule or govern in the Church that he was fain to qualifie them in a way of new creation to make Things which were not bring to nought the things that were to give form to shapelesse matter to change their Ignorance to Knowledge to make unwise men wise and to raise their Wisdom out of nothing to call Light out of Darknesse and then divide it into Stars to make those learned Shepherds who were but lately Sheep able to defend their Flocks from the most fierce and learned Wolves In short to call a Church out of a Chaos and give a beauty to confusion to dispose the several parts into well-tuned Orbes and Spheres to place great Lights in this new Firmament which were to rule the Day and lesser Lights to drive and chace away the Night was a Work which required the Illumination of Gods Spirit to hold a Torch to those who had else stood in the dark And this is that which St. Chrysostom Oecumenius Theodoret Theophylact and many other ancient Writers have very well observed For St. Chrysostom in his Comment upon this very Text sayes that in this childhood this nonage of the Church 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That nothing was done as Mans Wisdome did direct 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but by the direction of Gods Spirit whose business 't was not onely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to foretell things to come 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but to reveal things present too especially in the choice of fit Rulers in the Church Clemens Romanus speaking of those Rulers sayes That the first Bishops which were made were made by the Apostles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 having tryed them by the Spirit Oecumenius also speaks as if the other held his pen and sayes almost in the same form of words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The first Bishops were made Bishops by the appointment of Gods Spirit Thus St. Paul and Barnabas were of Preachers made Apostles Act. 13. 2. thus Titus was made Metropolitane of Creet Tit. 1. 5. and thus Timothy in this Text was made the first Ephesian Bishop 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the Spirit of God designing of him by the Prophets Nay Eusebius in the third Book of his Ecclesiastical History taking Clemens of Alexandria for his Chronologer and Warrant sayes That this way of making Bishops by the Appointment of Gods Spirit was observed in the Church till the death of St. John who after his return from his banishment to Ephesus being intreated by the Church there to provide for succession went through all the Regions near in a holy Visitation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and ordained such a Clergie as the holy Ghost revealed So that they who have been curious to compute St. Johns return which was in the Reign of Nerva the 98. year of Christ 30. years after St. Pauls martyrdom do reckon That from the day of Pentecost in which the holy Ghost descended on the Apostles in cloven Tongues of fire to the time of St. John's death which was in the 100. year of Christ this way of making Bishops by the designation of Gods Spirit continued in the Church 66. years complete At which time the Church having taken general root and from a grain of Mustard-seed being become a spacious Tree able to diffuse it self without Miracles and Wonders those gifts of Gods Spirit which had brought it to this Growth and had every where furnisht it with Rulers sent from Heaven like the Manna in the Scripture ceast to fall on those who had now the Promised Land given to them in possession But yet though all this be true we are not to suppose that Gods Spirit did so wholly ingrosse this businesse to himself as to obtrude those new Rulers on the Church without their Allowance and Approbation too He onely did direct and name and recommend them 't was left to the Church to admit them to their Cures he but designed the Persons the Church gave them Ordination by the laying on of the Hands of the Presbytery Which describes to us the Forme of this Bishops Consecration and comes in the fourth place to be considered and examined 'T is observed that the Spirit of God who in the Jewish Church spoke by the several sparklings of those precious stones or Jewels which shined in the Brest-plate of Aaron the High-priest where a Diamond and Amethyst gave Oracles and Answers and an Agate might be reckoned into the number of the Prophets removed those precious stones into the twelve Apostles and made them twelve Foundation stones in the new Building of Christs Church as you may read in the 21. Chapter of the Revelation at the 18 19. Verses Certainly whatever in that Church conduced to Piety and Order whatever might be made a patterne for religious Imitation the Christian
know that of most sins I think Ingratitude the worst Being therefore fairly invited at first to preach this Sermon and since by several Hearers of it to make it this way publick I beseech your Lordship to allow it the shadow of your Wing and to accept it not as a full payment of my Debts to you for this very Dedication of it sets me deeper on your score but as a Testimony how much greater my Desires are then my Abilities or Parts to let the World know how unfeignedly I am Your Lordships Most obliged and very grateful Servant IASPER MAYNE Feb. 26. 1661. 1 TIM 4. 14. Neglect not the Gift that is in thee which was given thee by Prophecy with the laying on of the Hands of the Presbytery THE PREFACE AS in the raising of the noblest Heights and Buildings that they may be exact and gain a reverence from the Eye great preparations are made towards the Erection of the Pile the best Masters in that Art are taken into counsel and Vitruvius is consulted to assist it with his Rules Platforms are drawn and Models are contrived that what was but a Scheme may be brought into a Structure Which made Aristotle say when he spoke like a Philosopher but so as that his saying holds in Architecture too That a material House or Palace springs from an immaterial and the Pile which is the creature of the Workmans Tool without was first shap'd and form'd by some designing mind within Lastly as when the materials are all ready and prepared some are set on work to hew and square the Stones others to dispose them into their several seats and stations others to oversee that the Workmen doe their Duties and that all things be done regularly as the Surveyors shall direct So God hath proceeded by the same course and method in the designing shaping forming and building of his Church Upon whose rude beginnings if we cast our eyes as it first appeared in the times before the Law though it began with the World and be as ancient as Mankind and had the same Corner-stone laid which now supports the Building in the promised Seed which was to bruise the Serpents head yet that Corner-stone being wrapt up in a Mystery and many thousand years required to remove the Veil and Cloud 't was but then a Church creeping forth out of the Quarrey without a hand to give it its just feature and perfection 'T is true indeed the Light of Nature helpt by the light and guidance of Tradition sufficiently inform'd men that God was to be worship'd but the way or manner how the work and person of the Priest the time when the place where with what holy Forms and Rites was left wholly to their Reason to discover and find out So that in the state of Nature the case stood with Religion as some have observed it did with the first Essayes in Painting unskilful men at first drew faces with a Coale to which after-times found Colours and gave beauty by their Pencil Or if you will hear me speak in the language of a Poet in this imperfect state of Nature the case stood with God in a way of Service and Religion as it did with the first Jupiter at Rome Aedibus exiguis habitabat Jupiter ingens Inque Jovis dextrâ fictile fulmen erat He was so rustickly adored that a Thatcht Cottage was his Temple where he stood holding an Farthen Thunder in his hand To redeem himself from so much rudeness of Devotion and to contrive a Worship some way worthy of his Greatness in the times of the Law he chose unto himself a select peculiar People which he formed into a Church and placed it for some Ages like a City on a Hill to invite the erring World to be its Proselytes and Converts His Service here below was taught to move like the Heavens above in a well-tuned harmony and musick of the Spheres A High-priest was appointed and the Miter set upon his head and inferiour Priests and Levites had their lower Orbs assigned them Sacrifices were prescribed and the business of the Temple proportion'd and cut out to the several Orders and Degrees of those who thus distinguish'd were to wait upon the Altar and the distinction was so sacred and the several bounds so set that as the Levite was not to invade the Office of the Priest so those inferiour Priests who broke beyond their bounds and attempted to invade the Office of the High-priest were not said to offer Sacrifice but strange fire before the Lord and perish'd for their boldness with their Censers in their hands To let us see that God was then the God of Order and turn'd such mens Oblations into their ruine and destruction Yet the Jewish Church thus modelled by Almighty God himself was but the imperfect draught and platform of a much holier Church to come 'T was but like their Tabernacle their House of Offerings and Oblations a moveable Pavilion or Tent fitted for a march towards a Land of Promise not yet discovered to their eye where that transitory Building that Temple made of threds was to be taken down to make way for one more lasting In short as 't is observed and 't is St. Austins Observation That in the forming of the Jewish Church the platform was first drawn and presented in a holy Scheme to Moses in the Mount so when that Scheme or Platform was wrought into a Fabrick when that which was a Pattern became a bodied Truth even that glorious Church in the midst of all its splendour was but a type and shadow of the Christian Church to come Some of the old lines were indeed to be preserved but with the addition of new colours drawing nearer to the life a High-priest was to be retained but with his Robes and Miter changed the Order of Aaron was to pass into the Order of Melchisedeck no longer to remain the Priest of one private single People but to be the publick Priest of all the Nations in the World The inferiour Priests and Levites too were to shift and change their Ephods and to pass into the Christian Presbyter and Deacon And now to hold you no longer in the Porch and Entrance of this Sermon but to draw this large Circle to its intended Point and Centre to reduce those Shadows into Substance and those Platforms into Building to form a new Church out of the ruines of an old stupendious in the raising and eternal in duration to make the Scripture-Prophecy become true authentick Story and the Glory of the second Temple to eclipse and drown the first to break down the Partition-Wall which divided Jews from Gentiles to square disproportion'd Subjects and unite all Nations in one Faith and by one common Gospel to bring them to Salvation was a Work reserved for none but Christ the Son of God himself Who as he was before designed to be the Head of this new Church so that he might be the Founder and Foundation of it
learnt in time to write such Letters too or as the young Gentleman whose Father was a Gamester learnt to handle Dice and stake whole Mannors at a Throw So good Example hath the like power to infect by being seen and Vertues may like Vices be made hereditary too But besides those seeds of Vertue sown in him by his Parents St. Paul himself had been his Tutor and had the forming of his manners he was bred up in his School to that ripeness and perfection that he superscribes this Epistle to him as to one begotten by him To Timothy my Son sayes he nay 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To Timothy my own Son sayes our English Translation But the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Greek if we may believe St. Jerome is a word to which no other Tongue can find a word to match it a word which in all kinds signifies the Son to have such a near resemblance to the Father as almost to confirm the Opinion of Andreas Dudithius who in his book De Conjugio Presbyterorum maintains that St. Paul was married and had children like St. Peter Of which but that we know his Father was a Greek the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 might perswade us that this Timothy was one Indeed the resemblance between them was so great that as in other births and natural generations the marks to distinguish the true-born from the spurious are the likeness of the child in shape and visage to the parent Sic oculos sic ille manus sic or a ferebat If he have his Fathers eyes and cheeks looks hands and gestures too we may conclude him genuine and the Parent twice the same So St. Jerome in his close Interpretation of that word proceeds by a distinction which holds comparatively true St. Paul had many Sons sayes he whom he converted to the Faith as the Corinthians and Ephesians whom he vouchsafes to call his Sons But the style of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Filius germanus the style of true-born Son so in all things like himself as not to be more the Son of the Parents that begot him then he was his morum filius the Off-spring of his Mind so furnisht with his vertues so accomplish'd with his gifts so zealous in his preaching so valiant in afflictions so active in his spreading the Gospel through the World was a style bestowed on none but this Timothy and Titus As if all others were his Bastard-sons begot upon some Hagar and onely these two were legitimate It is St. Jerome sayes so In short as likeness in manners begets a dearness in affections and as a friendship in affections begets a likeness in engagements so St. Paul made him his Fellow-labourer and Associate When the Decrees of the Apostles were to be disperst made in their general Council assembled at Jerusalem this Timothy was chosen to assist him in his Travels as you may read in the 16. Chapter of the Acts at the 4. Verse When an Evangelist was to be sent to confirm those distant Churches which St. Paul himself had planted but was not able to re-visit this Timothy was sent as his Deputy-Lieutenant as you may read in several Epistles to those Churches To all this such a holy prudence shined forth in all his actions his Morals were so good and so seasoned with Religion that his Name was like that precious Oyntment in the Scripture still breathing forth perfumes in all places where he came For he was well reported of he was above all reproch and scandal as you may read at the 3. Verse of that Chapter And of such Instruments as this did the Holy Ghost make choice to be Preachers of the Gospel and Rulers in the Church Men whose Life as well as Doctrine was still Sermon to the People men who confuted Vice not more by argument and reason then by their blameless carriage and vertuous conversation 'T was against the Oeconomy and Discipline of Heaven to send men into Gods Vineyard who went drunk into the Field and who minded not the vine but the vintage grape and wine And the Holy Ghost himself had erred had he given his Pearls to Swine to the sensual or intemperate still wallowing in the mire or had he taken his holy things and cast them unto Dogs no sooner eased of one distemper but returning to another No cloven Tongues of fire did sit upon their heads whose tempers were still cloven still kindling Flames and Factions still breaking of Gods people into divisions rents and schisms The gift of Knowledge was not dropt upon the ambitious proud high-minded their Bladder swelled too much and was too much puft up before To him that hath shall be given was the Rule Gods Spirit went by and more gifts were given to him who had well imployed the former Which leads me on to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Gift here in this Text and comes in the next place to crave a room in your Attentions The Saying of our Saviour Christ when he spoke it was so true in the 10. Chapter of St. Luke at the 2. Verse The Harvest truly is great but the Labourers are few that to increase their number and to fit them for the work the Holy Ghost was fain to interest himself in the choice of workmen and the qualifying of them too His work and business 't was to send men into the Field and to teach them how to manage and use their Sickle too The Men already chosen if their number had been greater where a World was to be converted were too disproportion'd for the Harvest Besides they wanted parts for so great an undertaking unless they could have done like the man in Eunapius a Greek Historian who tells us of one Aedesius who had so much the Spirit of Divination in his power that he would but clap a Wreath of Lawrel on his head and straight speak by Inspiration straight put himself in Raptures and utter learned Oracles to the great amazement of the Hearers The Apostles were not all bred at the feet of Gamaliel but were as yet unlearned men called from mending Nets fitter to deal with Fishes and to put forth a Boat to Sea then to cast their Nets on Land and there catch men in the Inclosure Besides being Jews they were hardly fit to preach to Jews for where was their gift of Miracles to work upon the Jews who were onely to be gained by Miracles and Wonders Had they preacht to the Gentiles where was their gift of Tongues to preach to all Nations who could speak no Tongues but one Had Christ sent to Athens to stock himself with Preachers he might have found great Scholars there but hard to be perswaded to forsake their own Schools and to list themselves in his Nay these for some Ages were the greatest Enemies of the Faith men who measured Truth by Aristotles Precepts and would believe no more then what some Plato taught Nay men who like Porphyrius called the