42. * Can my own heart, and God who is greater than our hearts, bear me witness that in my sacred office I have not sought myself, or my own things, but the things of Jesus Christ? If I have changed one flock or station for another, or added one cure to another, have I done it insingleness of heart, as unto the Lord and not for myself? Has all that I have sought or done of this kind, been only from this motive, that I might be more faithful to him that hath called me, and be more and more spent andsacrificedfor the salvation of souls? Have I neglected no means of fitting and preparing myself for the illumination of God’s Holy Spirit, which alone can enable me in any measure to speak to and work upon the hearts and consciences of men? Have I earnestly longed, and laboured after every kind and degree of inward and outward holiness, and purity ofbody,soul, andspirit, that my standing at the altar may be acceptable to God, and my prayers and intercessions for my flock avail much before him? Has my own self-denial, renunciation of the world, and love of the cross of Christ, enabled me to preach up those duties in their full extent? Has my own strictly pious use of the things of this world, my own readiness to assist every creature to the utmost of my ability fitted me to call others to these things with power and authority? Have all agesand conditions of people under my care had their proper instruction and warning from me, so that I have spared no folly, vanity, indulgence, or conformity to the world, that hurt mens souls, and hinder their progress in piety? Have I done all that by my prayers and preaching, life and example, which Christ expects from those whom he has enjoined to feed his sheep? Can my flock by looking at me see what virtues they want? Can they by following me, be led to every kind and degree of Christian perfection! Lastly, has the will of God been the beginning and end, the reason and motive, the rule and measure, of my liking or disliking, doing or not doing♦every thing among those people with whom I have lived as their minister?♦removed duplicate word “every”43. These are a few of such questions as the present state of religion in thisislandcalls every minister to try himself by. For as the order of the clergy is instituted for no other end, but for the preserving of true piety in the world; so when any age is more than ordinarily sunk in vice and impiety, thewhole orderof the clergy, andevery memberof it, have great reason not only to be deeply afflicted, but greatly affrighted at it, and to suspect their own conduct, since that which is their particular work, has had solittlesuccess. They have great reason to apprehend, that it is some degeneracy of spirit, some general negligence, some want of example, some failure in doctrine, some defect in zeal and careof their particular flocks, thattoo muchcontributes to sogeneral a corruptionof manners. This does not suppose, that it is in the power of our order to regulate the manners of people as we please; it only supposes, that of all human means it has thegreatest effect, and that when any nation or people arevery bad, it behoves the clergy, who have anyright senseof the nature of our order, anytrue lovefor our brethren of it, to awaken and stir up one another to a faithful diligence in our callings; not such as may secure us from public scandal, and the laws of the land, but such diligence as the nature of our office, the spirit of the gospel, and the present decay of religion call for. Let us beseech one another, deeply to consider the great need that this poor nation hath of azealous,pious,exemplary,disinterestedandlaboriousclergy; to consider the dreadful judgments of God, that may justly be expected to fall first upon our own heads, if this only remedy is not procured by all of us, according to the utmost of our ability. It is now no time for ease, indulgence or worldly repose; all is to be renounced, all is to be sacrificed. Our religion is founded on this doctrine.—That we are to be born again of the Holy Spirit;—that there is no sanctification of the heart, no illumination of the mind, no knowledge of divine mysteries, no love of holy things possible to be had, but in and by the motion and life of this Holy Spirit in us;—that its life, motion and powerin us, increase according to our faith, prayers and desires of it.44. * Is it not now a flat denial of all this to say, as do some, that the establishment of the gospel in the world, together with the assistances ofhuman learning, andlanguages, has been the occasion why the assistance of the Holy Ghost is abated? For if we consult either scripture or experience, must it not be said, thatworldly peaceandprosperitywantas muchto be sanctified by the Holy Spirit, aspersecutionanddistress? Thathuman learningandknowledgeneed ashigh degreesof divine grace, as human ignorance? Is not the blindness and corruption ofmen of letters, as notorious as that ofunlearnedmen? Does aneditor of Terence, HoraceorVirgil, receive such illumination fromplaysandpoetry? Docardinalsandpluralistsreceive so muchunctionfrom human establishments, as to need less to be governed by the Holy Spirit of God? Or will we say, that acritical studyof divided languages, and a religion established in worldly ease and peace, are not only in themselves free from danger and corruption, but have so much of the nature of the Holy Spirit in them, that they can be to us inhis stead, and make his sanctifying operations upon us needed in aless degree?45. On the part of God, ourredemptionin Jesus Christ, and oursanctificationby the Holy Ghost, stand always in thesame degreeofnearnessandfulnessto all of us. There is hardly a chapterin the New Testament that can be understood, but upon the supposition of this great truth. If Christ is less formed in us than he was in the first saints of the church, if we come not to theperfect man,to the measure of the statureof thefulness of Christ, it is not because Christ is now become only our Redeemer in an ordinary way; but it is because we have not so counted all things butdung, that we might win Christ, as the first saints did. If the Holy Spirit does not now insuch a degreerenew, quicken, move, and sanctify our hearts, and fill us withsuch degreesof divine light and love, as was done in the first age of the church, it is not because this sanctifying spirit has committedsome partof his work tohuman learning, and so is become only our sanctifier in a lesser andordinary degree, but it is because we ourselves haveforsaken this fountain of living waters, and hewed out broken cisternsfor ourselves; it is because we have grieved this Holy Spirit,resistedhis motions, and under anoutward professionof Christ have kept up thatold man, with his deeds, which cannot be the habitation of the Holy Spirit.* If therefore we have any true sense of the nature and weight of our ecclesiastical calling, any desire to do thefull workof the ministry, to satisfy the necessities of our flocks; if we have any fear of being condemned asuselesslabourers in Christ’s vineyard, it is high time to awakefrom this dream of an ordinary and extraordinary sanctification of the Holy Spirit. It serves only to keep usunsanctified, shut up in death, in our own corrupted nature, to keep uslearnedlycontent with our state, as if we wererichandincreasedingoods, andhad needofnothing: and hinders us from knowing that we arewretchedandmiserable, and poor, and blind and naked.46. * Several of the clergy, whose lot is fallen in this corrupt age, may be supposed to have taken upon them the sacred office, and to have lived in it, not enough according to the nature and spirit of it, merely through thedegeneracyof the times, and from a consideration that they are well enough, according to the religion that now passes in the world. And perhaps there are few, if any of the order, however eminent for good works, whose virtues have not receiv’dsome abatementfrom the same cause—This therefore may be added as another reason why all the clergy of this land must in the spirit of martyrdom awaken the world into a faith and love of the gospel. Now is the time that we mustgive upall our worldly regards,forsake all that we have, that we must hate father and mother, wife and children, and brothers and sisters, yea and our own lives also, or we cannot be faithful ministers of Jesus Christ. The same spirit which first planted the gospel, is now required torecoverandrestoreit amongst us. We must break off our chains of worldly prudence, and come forth in the spirit and power of the gospel: so live, and speak, and act, whether in the pulpit or out of it, that all who see and hear us may be forced to confess that God is in us of a truth. Aministrythat have not this power, that have notfull proof, both to themselves and others, that the Holy Spirit is thuswith them, opening the kingdom of God in their own souls, and enabling them to preach it to others with spirit and power, are to answer to God for their want of it.47. To ask whether the assistance of the holy Spirit is to beordinaryorextraordinary, is as needless a distinction, as to ask whether aministerof the gospel ought to be an ordinary or extraordinary man. The operation of the holy Spirit in us since the fall, is a supernatural power, and therefore in a just sense always extraordinary; because enabling us to be and do that, which the ordinary power of fallen nature is insufficient for. But it is more or less restored to us, as we are more or less fitted to receive it.* The Christian religion has not had its proper effect, till it has so set up the kingdom of God among us, thathis will is done on earth, as it is done in heaven.* This is the perfection that every Christian is toaspireafter. And if they who are to be taught, are to be thus emptied of all worldly passions,thus dead to the workings of self-will, that the Spirit of God may be all in all in them, what manner of men ought they to be, who are toteach,promote,advance, andleadthe way to this purity and perfection? At what a distance ought he to be from everyappearanceof pride, that is to draw others to live and practise the profound humility of the blessed Jesus? How ought he to humble his body, and be steady in all kinds of self-denial, who would convince his flock, thatthey who sow to the flesh reapdestruction? How heavenly minded, how devoted to God, how attentive to the one thing needful, how unspotted from the world ought he to be, who is to persuade others that they cannot possiblyserve God and mammon? How empty ought he to be of allworldlypolicy, all arts and methods ofambition, who is to fix it deep in the hearts of his hearers thatunless they become as little children, they cannot enter into the kingdom of God? What open hands, and open heart ought he to have, what an extent of charity ought to be visible in him, who is to bring his flock to this faith, thatit is more blessed to give than to receive? How remarkably, undeniably plain, open, sincere, undesigning, and faithful should he be, who is to plant, and establish sincerity, plainness, simplicity, truth and innocence amongst his flock? There is such a necessary fitness in these things, that the power of religion, must be much prevented, when its preceptsare recommended by such as excuse themselves from the plain and open practice of them.48. * The office of the ministry is of the highest nature; it is a trust which no language can sufficiently express: and the unfaithful discharge of it is of all conditions in life the most dreadful. To be charged with the death and blood of souls, by that God who laid down his life to redeem them, is a condemnation that will carry more of guilt and punishment in it than any other. Would you know the office of a Christian pastor, you must look at the office of Christ. Would you know what manner of spirit he ought to be of, you must look at the Spirit of Christ. For the work of the ministry is only the work of Christ committed to other hands, who are to supply his absence, to be here in his stead, to be doing the same things, and with the same spirit that he did, till the end of the world.* Nothing is so highly honourable as to bear a part in the priesthood of Christ, and be employed in the work of the ministry. But then it should bewell considered, that it is only honourable in thesame sense, as it is honourable to suffer as a martyr. It is an honour that is as different from all worldly figure and distinction, as the glory of Christ upon the cross is different from the triumph of an earthly prince. When therefore we think of thehonouranddignityof the pastoral function, we should be careful to remember, that it is only the honour of dying a martyr, an honourof humbling, abasing, and sacrificing ourselves with Christ, and continuing the exercise of his suffering-priesthood for the salvation of the world. The holy function is often considered only as an authoritative commission to minister in holy things. But it is much more than this. It is a call and command to act with the Spirit of Christ, to represent his purity, to continue his holiness, to bear a part of his sacrifice, and devote themselves for the good of others, as he did. A priest that has only his ordination to distinguish him, wants as much to make him a true priest, asJudaswanted to make him a true apostle. For tho’ holiness alone gives no man a commission to exercise the pastoral office, yet all who are called to it, are as much ordained to a peculiar holiness, as to the administration of the sacraments.49. For the sacred office is God’s appointment, to continue through all ages, the spirit and power of Christ for reconciling men to God in the same manner and by the same means of holiness, sacrifice and devotion, which Christ exercised when he was upon earth. We need no other proofs of this, than this one saying of our Lord:As my Father hath sent me, so send I you.That is, for all the ends for which I am come into the world, for all the same ends I send you into it; to be there in my stead, to supply my absence, to carry on the work that I have begun, to act with my spirit, to continue the exercise of mylove, and labour, and suffering for the salvation of mankind. Now to be sent by our Lord for the same ends as he was sent into the world, is such an appointment of us to all kinds of holiness, as can never be rightly discharged, but by our devoting ourselves wholly and absolutely unto God.Imagine that you had lived with our blessed Lord upon earth, that you had learned the dignity and divinity of his person, that you had seen the love which he bore to mankind, that you had entered into the glorious designs of his kingdom, which was to convert the inhabitants of the earth, poor creatures of flesh and blood, into sons of God and heirs of eternal glory.Imagine that you had seen him after his resurrection, when he had redeemed the world, conquered sin, death and hell, and was about to take possession of his throne; imagine that then, you had seen him commission some of his followers to be priests and intercessors with God on earth, as he had been, to feed and nourish, and watch over his flock, as he had done, to go before them in such exemplary holiness, such love of God, such compassion for sinners, such contempt of the world, such poverty of spirit, such obedience, and resignation, as they had him for an ensample. Had you been present at all this, how would you then have felt these words, “As my Father hath sent me, so send I you?”50. * What sentiments of piety, what magnificence of spirit, what exalted holiness, would you have expected of those, who were called to succeed so great a master in so great a work? Could you think they could be fit for this office, unless they hadrenouncedandsacrificedevery thing for the sake of it? Could you think that any care but that of the church of God was proper for them? Would you not own that the conversion of sinners to God, ought to have been their only labour and pains? That they were to seek for no other happiness in this world, than such as their Lord and master had done, but consider themselves as called from the common affairs, ease and pleasures of life, to be in Christ’s stead towards the rest of mankind, to conduct them safely to eternal happiness? Now when we consider the apostles in this light, as being the first that were entrusted with thecare of soulsfrom Christ himself, we can see no degree of zeal, no height of piety, no compassion for sinners, no concern for the honour of God, no contempt of suffering, no disregard of worldly interest, no watchings or mortifications, no fervours of devotion, to which we of the clergy are not equally obliged. For the salvation of mankind is still the same glorious, and necessary work that it was in their days; is still to be carried on by the same means, and is now in the hands of the clergy as it was then in theirs. Ifit was their happiness and glory to be faithful to him that called them, to forget the little interests of flesh and blood, and have nothing at heart, but the advancement of God’s kingdom, we shall fail both of happiness and glory if we seek it any other way. If an apostle considering the weight of reconciling souls unto God, is forced to cry out,Who is sufficient for these things?Shall we think any care but that which is the greatest, will make us stand uncondemned before God?51. * It is a fatal deception to imagine, that the life of a minister of God is ever to be a life of ease and worldly repose. For tho’ the temporal sword be not always drawn against them, nor they forced to flee from one city to another, yet the world, the flesh and the devil, are never so difficult to be resisted, as in temporal prosperity; nor have the ministers of Christ ever more occasion to put on all their armour, than when the world is given up to ease, and peace, and plenty. Swarms of vices steal in upon us in these seasons; the spirit and life of religion is in danger of being lost, and the salvation of souls is made more difficult, than in the most perilous times. And how is such a state of temptation to be resisted, such a torrent of vice to be suppressed, but by the clergy’s shewing themselvesvisibleandnotoriousexamples of all the contrary virtues? When mankind are wallowing in debauchery, wantoning in pleasures, and given upto vanity and luxury in all shapes, it is then the duty of the faithful minister, by his being crucified to the world, to proclaim himself a messenger of a crucified Saviour, and to make his own self-denying, mortified, and heavenly life, a plain, open, and constant reproof of all vain indulgences.But to proceed, “To what a height of fanatic madness in doctrine as well as practice, says the Doctor, are some advanced, who set out at first with an appearance of more than ordinary sanctity only.” Is not this calling upon the clergy to beware, how they admit these beginnings of a more than ordinary sanctity of life, either in themselves, or those committed to their care? Is it not plainly telling them, that they must stickcloselyandsteadilyto such sanctity of practice, as may be calledordinary, or else they will be in fanatic madness? Nay, it is no force put upon his words, to suppose,a more than ordinary sanctity in practice only, is marked out as the genuine, natural cause offanatic madness, and therefore the cause is equally condemned with the effect. Had he meant that his reader should not have the same dislike of the one, as of the other, would he not have put in a word in favour of amore than ordinarysanctity of life? Would he not have said, that he did not intend toblame that, or at least notso muchas the other? But not a word of this. A more than ordinary sanctity inpracticeonly, and fanaticmadnessare considered as cause and effect, and left in the same state of condemnation, to be equally guarded against, and avoided, by the reader.52. I can’t help here addressing myself with great affection to all my younger brethren of the clergy. According to the course of nature, you are likely to have the care of the church wholly upon your hands in a short time; and therefore it is chiefly from you that the restoration of true piety is to be expected in this nation. I beseech you, therefore for your own sakes, for the gospel’s sake, for the sake of mankind, to devote yourselves wholly to the love and service of God. As you are yet but beginners in this great office, you have in your power to make your lives the greatest happiness, both to yourselves and the whole nation. You are entered intoholy ordersin degenerate times, where trade and traffic have seized upon all holy things; and it will be easy for you without fear to swim along with the corrupt stream, and to look upon him as an enemy or enthusiast, that would save you from being lost in it. But think my dear brethren, think in time what remorse you are treasuring up for yourselves, if you live to look back upon a loose, negligent, worldly life, spent among those whose blood will be required at your hands. Think on the other hand, how blessedly your employment will end, if by your voices, your lives, and labours, you put a stopto the overflowings of iniquity, restore the spirit of the primitive clergy, and make all your flock bless and praise God, for having sent you among them. * Lay this down as an infallible principle, thatan entire, absolute renunciationof all worldly interest, is the only possible foundation of that virtue which your station requires. Without this all attempts after an exemplary piety are in vain. If you want any thing from the world by way of figure and exaltation, you shut the power of your Redeemer out of your own souls, and instead of converting, you corrupt the hearts of those that are about you. Detest therefore with the utmost abhorrence, all desires of making your fortunes, either by preferments or rich marriages, and let it be your only ambition to stand at the top of every virtue, as visible guides and patterns to all that aspire after the perfection of holiness. Consider yourselves merely as the messengers of God, that are solely sent into the world, to bring the world to God.53. I don’t call you from a sober use of human learning, but I would fain persuade you to think nothing worthy of your notice in books and study, but that which applies to the amendment of the heart, which makes you more holy, more divine, more heavenly, than you would be without it. You want nothing, but to have the corruption of your natural birth removed, to have the nature, life, and spirit of JesusChrist derived into you. As this is all you want, so let this be all that you seek from books, study, or men. This is the only certain way to become eminent divines, instructed to the kingdom of heaven. And above all, let me tell you that the book of all books is your own heart, in which are written and engraven the deepest lessons of divine instruction. Learn therefore to be deeply attentive to the presence of God in your heart, who is always speaking, always instructing, always illuminating that heart that is attentive to him: and be assured of this, that so much as you have of inward attention to God, of love and adherence to his holy light and Spirit, so much as you have of real, unaffected humility and meekness; so much as you are dead to your own will, so much as you have of purity of heart; so much and no more, nor any further, do you see and know the truths of God. These virtues are the only eyes, and ears and senses, by which you will understand every thing in scripture, in that manner in which God would have it understood, both for your own good, and the good of other people.54. It was owing to this purity of heart, and attendance upon God, that an ancient widow namedAnna, knew him to be the true Messiah, whom the rulers, chief priests, and doctors of the law, condemned as an impostor. Had they, instead of their adherence to critical knowledge and rabbinical learning, been devoted to Godin such purity of heart as she was, they had known as much of the kingdom of God, as she did. Place therefore all your hope, all your learned help and skill, in the ardent love and practice ofthese virtues. And then, you will be able ministers, holy priests, and messengers of God; your cleansed hearts, like so many purified mirrors, will be always penetrated, always illuminated by the rays of divine light, and you will no more need the critics, to tell you what God speaks to you in the scriptures. But of all men in the world, the critical dealers in words and particles, know the least of them, and make the vainest attempts to understand them.Scripture considered as a doctrine oflife,faithandsalvationin Jesus Christ, is a sealed or unsealed, an open or shut up book to every heart, in the same proportion as it stands turned to the world, or turned to God. Nothing understands God, but the Spirit of God; nothing brings the Spirit of God into any mind but the renouncing all for it, the turning wholly unto it, and the depending wholly upon it. * Human learning is by no means to be rejected from religion, for it is of the same use, and affords the same assistance to religion, that thealphabet,writingandprintingdoes. But if it is raised from this kind and degree of assistance, if it is considered as a key, or the key to the mysteries of our redemption, instead of opening to us the kingdom of God, it locks us up in our own darkness. Godis an all speaking,all working,all illuminatingessence, possessing the depth of every creature according to its nature; and when we turn from all impediments, this divine essence becomes as certainly the true light of our minds here, as it will be hereafter. This is not enthusiasm, but the words of truth and soberness; and it is the running away from this enthusiasm, that has made so many great scholars as useless to the church as tinkling cymbals, and Christendom a mereBabelof learned confusion.
42. * Can my own heart, and God who is greater than our hearts, bear me witness that in my sacred office I have not sought myself, or my own things, but the things of Jesus Christ? If I have changed one flock or station for another, or added one cure to another, have I done it insingleness of heart, as unto the Lord and not for myself? Has all that I have sought or done of this kind, been only from this motive, that I might be more faithful to him that hath called me, and be more and more spent andsacrificedfor the salvation of souls? Have I neglected no means of fitting and preparing myself for the illumination of God’s Holy Spirit, which alone can enable me in any measure to speak to and work upon the hearts and consciences of men? Have I earnestly longed, and laboured after every kind and degree of inward and outward holiness, and purity ofbody,soul, andspirit, that my standing at the altar may be acceptable to God, and my prayers and intercessions for my flock avail much before him? Has my own self-denial, renunciation of the world, and love of the cross of Christ, enabled me to preach up those duties in their full extent? Has my own strictly pious use of the things of this world, my own readiness to assist every creature to the utmost of my ability fitted me to call others to these things with power and authority? Have all agesand conditions of people under my care had their proper instruction and warning from me, so that I have spared no folly, vanity, indulgence, or conformity to the world, that hurt mens souls, and hinder their progress in piety? Have I done all that by my prayers and preaching, life and example, which Christ expects from those whom he has enjoined to feed his sheep? Can my flock by looking at me see what virtues they want? Can they by following me, be led to every kind and degree of Christian perfection! Lastly, has the will of God been the beginning and end, the reason and motive, the rule and measure, of my liking or disliking, doing or not doing♦every thing among those people with whom I have lived as their minister?
♦removed duplicate word “every”
♦removed duplicate word “every”
♦removed duplicate word “every”
43. These are a few of such questions as the present state of religion in thisislandcalls every minister to try himself by. For as the order of the clergy is instituted for no other end, but for the preserving of true piety in the world; so when any age is more than ordinarily sunk in vice and impiety, thewhole orderof the clergy, andevery memberof it, have great reason not only to be deeply afflicted, but greatly affrighted at it, and to suspect their own conduct, since that which is their particular work, has had solittlesuccess. They have great reason to apprehend, that it is some degeneracy of spirit, some general negligence, some want of example, some failure in doctrine, some defect in zeal and careof their particular flocks, thattoo muchcontributes to sogeneral a corruptionof manners. This does not suppose, that it is in the power of our order to regulate the manners of people as we please; it only supposes, that of all human means it has thegreatest effect, and that when any nation or people arevery bad, it behoves the clergy, who have anyright senseof the nature of our order, anytrue lovefor our brethren of it, to awaken and stir up one another to a faithful diligence in our callings; not such as may secure us from public scandal, and the laws of the land, but such diligence as the nature of our office, the spirit of the gospel, and the present decay of religion call for. Let us beseech one another, deeply to consider the great need that this poor nation hath of azealous,pious,exemplary,disinterestedandlaboriousclergy; to consider the dreadful judgments of God, that may justly be expected to fall first upon our own heads, if this only remedy is not procured by all of us, according to the utmost of our ability. It is now no time for ease, indulgence or worldly repose; all is to be renounced, all is to be sacrificed. Our religion is founded on this doctrine.—That we are to be born again of the Holy Spirit;—that there is no sanctification of the heart, no illumination of the mind, no knowledge of divine mysteries, no love of holy things possible to be had, but in and by the motion and life of this Holy Spirit in us;—that its life, motion and powerin us, increase according to our faith, prayers and desires of it.
44. * Is it not now a flat denial of all this to say, as do some, that the establishment of the gospel in the world, together with the assistances ofhuman learning, andlanguages, has been the occasion why the assistance of the Holy Ghost is abated? For if we consult either scripture or experience, must it not be said, thatworldly peaceandprosperitywantas muchto be sanctified by the Holy Spirit, aspersecutionanddistress? Thathuman learningandknowledgeneed ashigh degreesof divine grace, as human ignorance? Is not the blindness and corruption ofmen of letters, as notorious as that ofunlearnedmen? Does aneditor of Terence, HoraceorVirgil, receive such illumination fromplaysandpoetry? Docardinalsandpluralistsreceive so muchunctionfrom human establishments, as to need less to be governed by the Holy Spirit of God? Or will we say, that acritical studyof divided languages, and a religion established in worldly ease and peace, are not only in themselves free from danger and corruption, but have so much of the nature of the Holy Spirit in them, that they can be to us inhis stead, and make his sanctifying operations upon us needed in aless degree?
45. On the part of God, ourredemptionin Jesus Christ, and oursanctificationby the Holy Ghost, stand always in thesame degreeofnearnessandfulnessto all of us. There is hardly a chapterin the New Testament that can be understood, but upon the supposition of this great truth. If Christ is less formed in us than he was in the first saints of the church, if we come not to theperfect man,to the measure of the statureof thefulness of Christ, it is not because Christ is now become only our Redeemer in an ordinary way; but it is because we have not so counted all things butdung, that we might win Christ, as the first saints did. If the Holy Spirit does not now insuch a degreerenew, quicken, move, and sanctify our hearts, and fill us withsuch degreesof divine light and love, as was done in the first age of the church, it is not because this sanctifying spirit has committedsome partof his work tohuman learning, and so is become only our sanctifier in a lesser andordinary degree, but it is because we ourselves haveforsaken this fountain of living waters, and hewed out broken cisternsfor ourselves; it is because we have grieved this Holy Spirit,resistedhis motions, and under anoutward professionof Christ have kept up thatold man, with his deeds, which cannot be the habitation of the Holy Spirit.
* If therefore we have any true sense of the nature and weight of our ecclesiastical calling, any desire to do thefull workof the ministry, to satisfy the necessities of our flocks; if we have any fear of being condemned asuselesslabourers in Christ’s vineyard, it is high time to awakefrom this dream of an ordinary and extraordinary sanctification of the Holy Spirit. It serves only to keep usunsanctified, shut up in death, in our own corrupted nature, to keep uslearnedlycontent with our state, as if we wererichandincreasedingoods, andhad needofnothing: and hinders us from knowing that we arewretchedandmiserable, and poor, and blind and naked.
46. * Several of the clergy, whose lot is fallen in this corrupt age, may be supposed to have taken upon them the sacred office, and to have lived in it, not enough according to the nature and spirit of it, merely through thedegeneracyof the times, and from a consideration that they are well enough, according to the religion that now passes in the world. And perhaps there are few, if any of the order, however eminent for good works, whose virtues have not receiv’dsome abatementfrom the same cause—This therefore may be added as another reason why all the clergy of this land must in the spirit of martyrdom awaken the world into a faith and love of the gospel. Now is the time that we mustgive upall our worldly regards,forsake all that we have, that we must hate father and mother, wife and children, and brothers and sisters, yea and our own lives also, or we cannot be faithful ministers of Jesus Christ. The same spirit which first planted the gospel, is now required torecoverandrestoreit amongst us. We must break off our chains of worldly prudence, and come forth in the spirit and power of the gospel: so live, and speak, and act, whether in the pulpit or out of it, that all who see and hear us may be forced to confess that God is in us of a truth. Aministrythat have not this power, that have notfull proof, both to themselves and others, that the Holy Spirit is thuswith them, opening the kingdom of God in their own souls, and enabling them to preach it to others with spirit and power, are to answer to God for their want of it.
47. To ask whether the assistance of the holy Spirit is to beordinaryorextraordinary, is as needless a distinction, as to ask whether aministerof the gospel ought to be an ordinary or extraordinary man. The operation of the holy Spirit in us since the fall, is a supernatural power, and therefore in a just sense always extraordinary; because enabling us to be and do that, which the ordinary power of fallen nature is insufficient for. But it is more or less restored to us, as we are more or less fitted to receive it.
* The Christian religion has not had its proper effect, till it has so set up the kingdom of God among us, thathis will is done on earth, as it is done in heaven.
* This is the perfection that every Christian is toaspireafter. And if they who are to be taught, are to be thus emptied of all worldly passions,thus dead to the workings of self-will, that the Spirit of God may be all in all in them, what manner of men ought they to be, who are toteach,promote,advance, andleadthe way to this purity and perfection? At what a distance ought he to be from everyappearanceof pride, that is to draw others to live and practise the profound humility of the blessed Jesus? How ought he to humble his body, and be steady in all kinds of self-denial, who would convince his flock, thatthey who sow to the flesh reapdestruction? How heavenly minded, how devoted to God, how attentive to the one thing needful, how unspotted from the world ought he to be, who is to persuade others that they cannot possiblyserve God and mammon? How empty ought he to be of allworldlypolicy, all arts and methods ofambition, who is to fix it deep in the hearts of his hearers thatunless they become as little children, they cannot enter into the kingdom of God? What open hands, and open heart ought he to have, what an extent of charity ought to be visible in him, who is to bring his flock to this faith, thatit is more blessed to give than to receive? How remarkably, undeniably plain, open, sincere, undesigning, and faithful should he be, who is to plant, and establish sincerity, plainness, simplicity, truth and innocence amongst his flock? There is such a necessary fitness in these things, that the power of religion, must be much prevented, when its preceptsare recommended by such as excuse themselves from the plain and open practice of them.
48. * The office of the ministry is of the highest nature; it is a trust which no language can sufficiently express: and the unfaithful discharge of it is of all conditions in life the most dreadful. To be charged with the death and blood of souls, by that God who laid down his life to redeem them, is a condemnation that will carry more of guilt and punishment in it than any other. Would you know the office of a Christian pastor, you must look at the office of Christ. Would you know what manner of spirit he ought to be of, you must look at the Spirit of Christ. For the work of the ministry is only the work of Christ committed to other hands, who are to supply his absence, to be here in his stead, to be doing the same things, and with the same spirit that he did, till the end of the world.
* Nothing is so highly honourable as to bear a part in the priesthood of Christ, and be employed in the work of the ministry. But then it should bewell considered, that it is only honourable in thesame sense, as it is honourable to suffer as a martyr. It is an honour that is as different from all worldly figure and distinction, as the glory of Christ upon the cross is different from the triumph of an earthly prince. When therefore we think of thehonouranddignityof the pastoral function, we should be careful to remember, that it is only the honour of dying a martyr, an honourof humbling, abasing, and sacrificing ourselves with Christ, and continuing the exercise of his suffering-priesthood for the salvation of the world. The holy function is often considered only as an authoritative commission to minister in holy things. But it is much more than this. It is a call and command to act with the Spirit of Christ, to represent his purity, to continue his holiness, to bear a part of his sacrifice, and devote themselves for the good of others, as he did. A priest that has only his ordination to distinguish him, wants as much to make him a true priest, asJudaswanted to make him a true apostle. For tho’ holiness alone gives no man a commission to exercise the pastoral office, yet all who are called to it, are as much ordained to a peculiar holiness, as to the administration of the sacraments.
49. For the sacred office is God’s appointment, to continue through all ages, the spirit and power of Christ for reconciling men to God in the same manner and by the same means of holiness, sacrifice and devotion, which Christ exercised when he was upon earth. We need no other proofs of this, than this one saying of our Lord:As my Father hath sent me, so send I you.That is, for all the ends for which I am come into the world, for all the same ends I send you into it; to be there in my stead, to supply my absence, to carry on the work that I have begun, to act with my spirit, to continue the exercise of mylove, and labour, and suffering for the salvation of mankind. Now to be sent by our Lord for the same ends as he was sent into the world, is such an appointment of us to all kinds of holiness, as can never be rightly discharged, but by our devoting ourselves wholly and absolutely unto God.
Imagine that you had lived with our blessed Lord upon earth, that you had learned the dignity and divinity of his person, that you had seen the love which he bore to mankind, that you had entered into the glorious designs of his kingdom, which was to convert the inhabitants of the earth, poor creatures of flesh and blood, into sons of God and heirs of eternal glory.
Imagine that you had seen him after his resurrection, when he had redeemed the world, conquered sin, death and hell, and was about to take possession of his throne; imagine that then, you had seen him commission some of his followers to be priests and intercessors with God on earth, as he had been, to feed and nourish, and watch over his flock, as he had done, to go before them in such exemplary holiness, such love of God, such compassion for sinners, such contempt of the world, such poverty of spirit, such obedience, and resignation, as they had him for an ensample. Had you been present at all this, how would you then have felt these words, “As my Father hath sent me, so send I you?”
50. * What sentiments of piety, what magnificence of spirit, what exalted holiness, would you have expected of those, who were called to succeed so great a master in so great a work? Could you think they could be fit for this office, unless they hadrenouncedandsacrificedevery thing for the sake of it? Could you think that any care but that of the church of God was proper for them? Would you not own that the conversion of sinners to God, ought to have been their only labour and pains? That they were to seek for no other happiness in this world, than such as their Lord and master had done, but consider themselves as called from the common affairs, ease and pleasures of life, to be in Christ’s stead towards the rest of mankind, to conduct them safely to eternal happiness? Now when we consider the apostles in this light, as being the first that were entrusted with thecare of soulsfrom Christ himself, we can see no degree of zeal, no height of piety, no compassion for sinners, no concern for the honour of God, no contempt of suffering, no disregard of worldly interest, no watchings or mortifications, no fervours of devotion, to which we of the clergy are not equally obliged. For the salvation of mankind is still the same glorious, and necessary work that it was in their days; is still to be carried on by the same means, and is now in the hands of the clergy as it was then in theirs. Ifit was their happiness and glory to be faithful to him that called them, to forget the little interests of flesh and blood, and have nothing at heart, but the advancement of God’s kingdom, we shall fail both of happiness and glory if we seek it any other way. If an apostle considering the weight of reconciling souls unto God, is forced to cry out,Who is sufficient for these things?Shall we think any care but that which is the greatest, will make us stand uncondemned before God?
51. * It is a fatal deception to imagine, that the life of a minister of God is ever to be a life of ease and worldly repose. For tho’ the temporal sword be not always drawn against them, nor they forced to flee from one city to another, yet the world, the flesh and the devil, are never so difficult to be resisted, as in temporal prosperity; nor have the ministers of Christ ever more occasion to put on all their armour, than when the world is given up to ease, and peace, and plenty. Swarms of vices steal in upon us in these seasons; the spirit and life of religion is in danger of being lost, and the salvation of souls is made more difficult, than in the most perilous times. And how is such a state of temptation to be resisted, such a torrent of vice to be suppressed, but by the clergy’s shewing themselvesvisibleandnotoriousexamples of all the contrary virtues? When mankind are wallowing in debauchery, wantoning in pleasures, and given upto vanity and luxury in all shapes, it is then the duty of the faithful minister, by his being crucified to the world, to proclaim himself a messenger of a crucified Saviour, and to make his own self-denying, mortified, and heavenly life, a plain, open, and constant reproof of all vain indulgences.
But to proceed, “To what a height of fanatic madness in doctrine as well as practice, says the Doctor, are some advanced, who set out at first with an appearance of more than ordinary sanctity only.” Is not this calling upon the clergy to beware, how they admit these beginnings of a more than ordinary sanctity of life, either in themselves, or those committed to their care? Is it not plainly telling them, that they must stickcloselyandsteadilyto such sanctity of practice, as may be calledordinary, or else they will be in fanatic madness? Nay, it is no force put upon his words, to suppose,a more than ordinary sanctity in practice only, is marked out as the genuine, natural cause offanatic madness, and therefore the cause is equally condemned with the effect. Had he meant that his reader should not have the same dislike of the one, as of the other, would he not have put in a word in favour of amore than ordinarysanctity of life? Would he not have said, that he did not intend toblame that, or at least notso muchas the other? But not a word of this. A more than ordinary sanctity inpracticeonly, and fanaticmadnessare considered as cause and effect, and left in the same state of condemnation, to be equally guarded against, and avoided, by the reader.
52. I can’t help here addressing myself with great affection to all my younger brethren of the clergy. According to the course of nature, you are likely to have the care of the church wholly upon your hands in a short time; and therefore it is chiefly from you that the restoration of true piety is to be expected in this nation. I beseech you, therefore for your own sakes, for the gospel’s sake, for the sake of mankind, to devote yourselves wholly to the love and service of God. As you are yet but beginners in this great office, you have in your power to make your lives the greatest happiness, both to yourselves and the whole nation. You are entered intoholy ordersin degenerate times, where trade and traffic have seized upon all holy things; and it will be easy for you without fear to swim along with the corrupt stream, and to look upon him as an enemy or enthusiast, that would save you from being lost in it. But think my dear brethren, think in time what remorse you are treasuring up for yourselves, if you live to look back upon a loose, negligent, worldly life, spent among those whose blood will be required at your hands. Think on the other hand, how blessedly your employment will end, if by your voices, your lives, and labours, you put a stopto the overflowings of iniquity, restore the spirit of the primitive clergy, and make all your flock bless and praise God, for having sent you among them. * Lay this down as an infallible principle, thatan entire, absolute renunciationof all worldly interest, is the only possible foundation of that virtue which your station requires. Without this all attempts after an exemplary piety are in vain. If you want any thing from the world by way of figure and exaltation, you shut the power of your Redeemer out of your own souls, and instead of converting, you corrupt the hearts of those that are about you. Detest therefore with the utmost abhorrence, all desires of making your fortunes, either by preferments or rich marriages, and let it be your only ambition to stand at the top of every virtue, as visible guides and patterns to all that aspire after the perfection of holiness. Consider yourselves merely as the messengers of God, that are solely sent into the world, to bring the world to God.
53. I don’t call you from a sober use of human learning, but I would fain persuade you to think nothing worthy of your notice in books and study, but that which applies to the amendment of the heart, which makes you more holy, more divine, more heavenly, than you would be without it. You want nothing, but to have the corruption of your natural birth removed, to have the nature, life, and spirit of JesusChrist derived into you. As this is all you want, so let this be all that you seek from books, study, or men. This is the only certain way to become eminent divines, instructed to the kingdom of heaven. And above all, let me tell you that the book of all books is your own heart, in which are written and engraven the deepest lessons of divine instruction. Learn therefore to be deeply attentive to the presence of God in your heart, who is always speaking, always instructing, always illuminating that heart that is attentive to him: and be assured of this, that so much as you have of inward attention to God, of love and adherence to his holy light and Spirit, so much as you have of real, unaffected humility and meekness; so much as you are dead to your own will, so much as you have of purity of heart; so much and no more, nor any further, do you see and know the truths of God. These virtues are the only eyes, and ears and senses, by which you will understand every thing in scripture, in that manner in which God would have it understood, both for your own good, and the good of other people.
54. It was owing to this purity of heart, and attendance upon God, that an ancient widow namedAnna, knew him to be the true Messiah, whom the rulers, chief priests, and doctors of the law, condemned as an impostor. Had they, instead of their adherence to critical knowledge and rabbinical learning, been devoted to Godin such purity of heart as she was, they had known as much of the kingdom of God, as she did. Place therefore all your hope, all your learned help and skill, in the ardent love and practice ofthese virtues. And then, you will be able ministers, holy priests, and messengers of God; your cleansed hearts, like so many purified mirrors, will be always penetrated, always illuminated by the rays of divine light, and you will no more need the critics, to tell you what God speaks to you in the scriptures. But of all men in the world, the critical dealers in words and particles, know the least of them, and make the vainest attempts to understand them.Scripture considered as a doctrine oflife,faithandsalvationin Jesus Christ, is a sealed or unsealed, an open or shut up book to every heart, in the same proportion as it stands turned to the world, or turned to God. Nothing understands God, but the Spirit of God; nothing brings the Spirit of God into any mind but the renouncing all for it, the turning wholly unto it, and the depending wholly upon it. * Human learning is by no means to be rejected from religion, for it is of the same use, and affords the same assistance to religion, that thealphabet,writingandprintingdoes. But if it is raised from this kind and degree of assistance, if it is considered as a key, or the key to the mysteries of our redemption, instead of opening to us the kingdom of God, it locks us up in our own darkness. Godis an all speaking,all working,all illuminatingessence, possessing the depth of every creature according to its nature; and when we turn from all impediments, this divine essence becomes as certainly the true light of our minds here, as it will be hereafter. This is not enthusiasm, but the words of truth and soberness; and it is the running away from this enthusiasm, that has made so many great scholars as useless to the church as tinkling cymbals, and Christendom a mereBabelof learned confusion.