explain with greater care or inculcate more frequently than the Covenant of Grace which God hath made with us in Christ The terms and conditions of which you should endeavour to make your People thoroughly to understand both on Gods part and on their own together with the Mediator of this Covenant and the means whereby he purchased such gracious Conditions of Salvation for us But above all things we must take the greatest care that our life do not contradict our Doctrine for it is not sufficient that our Conversation in this World be innocent and unblameable but we must endeavour to make it exemplary and useful It must be so ordered as to convince the People that we firmly believe the excellence of those Vertues which we commend to them and that our chief aim and design is to save their Souls This will procure us love and esteem and make the People look upon us with Reverence as Men of God Our Office which is indeed very honourable is not sufficient to secure us from contempt if we act not according to it Nay men are prone to pry into our lives to see if they can find a justification of their own evil Practices by ours Which is the argument that Isidorus Peleusiota uses to a Bishop to be very cautious Lib. IV. Epist 219. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because his Life is scanned and strictly examined by a thousand eyes and tongues I shall say nothing particularly of our care to avoid any tang of Vain Glory and desire of applause in our Preaching but conclude this matter with this plain admonition That in an age so degenerate as that we now live in we ought to give all diligence to shine as Lights in the World as well as to be harmless and blameless the Sons of God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse Nation holding forth the Word of Life by our examplary conversation that is as well as by Preaching II Philip. 15 16. This St. Paul there makes the duty of all Christians but above all it concerns the Ministers of Christ whom he himself calls V Mat. 13. 14. in a peculiar manner the Salt of the Earth and the Light of the World And there never was greater need than now that we should study to season Men not only with wholsome Doctrine but an holy Example that we may preserve them from the Corruption which is in the World through lust There is a most dangerous putrefaction of manners as I may call it which hath so universally spread among us that I look upon the Nation as lost if we should lose our Savour Nothing can then preserve it from utter ruin and destruction And therefore let us distinguish our selves from others by our diligence in our calling by our exemplary Piety and Holiness that if it be possible we may save our Nation from perishing SECT VI. The next Office wherein you are concerned is the Ministration of Baptism of Infants Concerning which I shall only briefly admonish you of these things following 1. First that it is your duty to instruct your People frequently in the nature of this Sacrament that they may not imagine it an indifferent thing whether their Children be Baptized or no nor bring them carelessly to the Font as an old Ceremony that hath been long used in the Church But they may look upon it as indeed it is a solemn dedication of their Children to Christ and their entrance into the Covenant of Grace which they stand bound sacredly to keep And consequently call upon them often to consider their Children after this as Christ's Children by whom they are regenerate and boru again and therefore ought to be carefully brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. VI Ephes 4. 2. More particularly put them in mind that in Baptism a solemn profession is made of belief in the Blessed Trinity that is of God in Three Persons Father Son and Holy Ghost Unto whose Service we are there devoted For it is no frivilous observation of Theophylact upon those Words of our Saviour XXVIII Mat. 19. Go and teach all Nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost That 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he does not say Baptise them into the Names but into the Name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost For though they be three yet their Name viz. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Their Godhead is but one as he there explains it One God in three Persons of whose Love and Favour we are assured in Baptism and should value it above all the Riches in the World 3. And therefore admonish them what care they ought to take to give up their Children as soon as they can to this Blessed Trinity That they may be under their Care and partake of the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and of the Love of God and the Communion or Communication of the Holy Ghost as St. Paul speaks 2 Corinth XIII 14. And the first Rubrick before the Office for private Baptism directs them to admonish the People often that they defer not the Baptism of their Children longerthan the first or Second Sunday next after their birth or other Holy-day falling between unless upon a great and reasonable Cause to be approved by you 4. Next of all you are bound by the following Rubrick to warn them that without great Cause and Necessity they procure not their Children to be Baptized at home in their Houses The reason of which is given in the first Rubrick before the Office of Publick Baptism which sets forth the convenience of administring Baptism only upon Sundays or other Holy-days when the most number of People come together First For that the Congregation there present may testify the receiving of such as be newly Baptized into the Number of Christ's Church and Secondly that every Man present may be put in remembrance of his own Profession made to God in his Baptism Which are such wise and holy Reasons that every Man of Conscience who is Considerate will yield unto them 5. Advise Parents also about the Choice of Godfather and Godmothers and of the usefulness of them First about their Choice that they be such Persons as have a sense of Religion and understand it and will take some care it may be hoped of their Children if they themselves should die before they be grown up It is supposed that as long as Parents live they will put their Children in mind of their Vow in Baptism which is the reason that no new Obligation besides that they have already is laid upon them by making them Sureties for their Children But without this solemn undertaking for them other Men would not be so ready to assist them and look after their Education as it is to be hoped this will make them Which shows the other thing the usefulness of this Institution Which in the beginning of our Religion was in a manner absolutely necessary For when
upon us Of which you should endeavour to make your People sensible whereby they may be induced to observe them with Religious Joy Especially the three chief Festivals in memory of our Saviour's Nativity Resurrection and the Coming of the Holy Ghost But it is time to proceed to the other part of this Discourse which I propounded in the beginning And I must be the shorter in it because I have been longer in this than I at first intended PART II. HAving laid before you the Duties both private and publick which belong to your Holy Function I come now to treat a little of the Spirit wherewith they ought to be Performed SECT I. And above all things you must labour to possess your Hearts with a Spirit of Love to God whose Servants you are and who employs you in the most Glorious Work in the World A Spirit I say of Love to God the Father who hath sent his Son to be the Saviour of the World and to God the Son who loved the Church and gave himself for it and to God the Holy Ghost who hath by a peculiar Grace separated you from other Men to Minister unto Christ in his Church Which was a Witness of what was said to you at your Ordination Receive the Holy Ghost for the Office and Work of a Priest in the Church of God These were not empty words nor mere lofty Expressions without any Power in them But an effectual Prayer for the Holy Spirit of Grace which was then conferred upon you And should mightily move you to serve the Church of Christ in the love of the Spirit as St. Paul speaks XV Rom. 30. That is in the Love which the Spirit of God inspires you withal For as he saith before in that Epistle V. 5. The love of God is shed abroad in our Hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us So we pray in the Hymn which is recited at the Ordination of Priests Come Holy Ghost our Souls inspire And lighten us with Coelestial fire Thy blessed Unction from above Is comfort life and fire of Love These are not vain words if sent up with ardent Affection to God but procure for us the power of the Holy Spirit to enlighten and enliven and warm our Hearts with the Knowledge and Love of God our Saviour Which Love we should every day endeavour to stir up by reflecting upon the wonderful Love of God the Father Son and Holy Ghost unto us For so St. Chrysostom notes upon those words of St. Paul XV Rom. 30. He mentions the Love of the Spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For as Christ and the Father hath loved the World so hath the Spirit Upon this Love we ought to reflect every Morning and ponder it so long till we find it excite in us that Heavenly fire of Love to God which we prayed for at our Ordination For if we preserve this Flame in our Hearts it will make us cheerful as well as diligent restless and unwearied in the work of the Lord. Nothing can carry 〈◊〉 thorough it like this and render it so easy and sweet to us as to think we are serving our good God in that which he loves and delights to have done and to feel that every thing we do proceed from love to him and to his service Our Saviour teaches us that this is the Principle by which 〈◊〉 his Ministers ought to Act in that Question which he asks St. Peter and repeats it thrice after his Resurrection Simon Peter lovest thou me XX◠Joh. 15 16 17. And in the command which follows upon his profession that he sincerely loved Him Feed my Lambs and feed my Sheep take care of the Souls of Young and Old that they want not their proper Food For they are so dear to him as Theophylact there Notes that he makes our care of them to be the mark of our Affection to him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For it is therefore a certain token of our Love to him because it flows from thence as from its Fountain and Spring If we love him we can never neglect them This will make us studious and industrious to promote the Salvation of those Souls whom Christ so dearly loved It being the truest Expression of our Love to Christ So St. Chrysostom upon this place Christ repeated this so often to show us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 After what manner we ought chiefly to love him by taking care of his flock Can any Man read this then and be negligent No not if he Love the Lord Jesus in Sincerity who hath bid him demonstrate his Love by feeding his Lambs and his Sheep There are several other things saith that great Father of the Church which may give us some Confidence towards God nay make us Illustrious and Famous But that which above all things wins us the favour of Heaven is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our tender care of our Neighbours Which leads to the next thing SECT II. Which is a sincere Love and Affection to the Souls of Men which Christ hath redeemed with his precious Blood If we make an estimate of them by the price which was paid for them we cannot set too high a value upon them And if we look upon them as invaluable Beings purchased at so dear a rate we shall do all we can to save them and be exceeding fearful least any of them should be lost through our Negligence Preserve therefore and keep alive in your Hearts a Spirit of love to the Souls of Men especially to your Parishioners And there is no way to do this like to the Consideration what it cost to Redeem them no less than the Blood of the Son of God who demonstrated thereby how precious they are in themselves and how dear to him Bestow a few thoughts upon this every day and it will beget and continue in you the greatest Kindness and tenderest Compassion towards them And that will move you to lay out your selves with the utmost Diligence in all the Offices belonging to your Function And this both for his sake and for theirs that he may see of the travel of his Soul and be satisfied as the Prophet speaks LIII Isa 11. and that they may obtain the Salvation which is in Christ Jesus with Eternal Glory 2 Tim. 2. 10. I shall conclude what I have said of these two things a Spirit of love to God and to the Souls of Men with a notable Discourse of St. Austin's Who in a Letter to Longinianus a Pagan Philosopher remembers him of this saying of one of the Ancients quibus satis persuasum esset ut nihil mallent mallet se esse quà m viros bonos his reliquam facilem esse doctrinam unto those who were perswaded so far as to desire no thing but to be made good Men all the rest of the Instructions that Philosophers could give them would be very easy This he saith he took to be a saying of Socrates which must be acknowledged to
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