God in his church, by the blood whereby it was purchased, (Acts xx. 28) by the presence of God, by the judgement to come, (2 Tim. iv. 1) by the crown of glory which they shall receive from the Chief Shepherd, (1 Pet. v. 1, 2, 3, 4) press diligence and fidelity in the same upon those, whom they ordained thereunto.

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2. It is necessary, 'Necessitate medii,' unto the great ends of conversion and salvation for where there is no vision, the people perish. (Prov. xxix. 18) When they were without a teaching priest, they were without the true God. (2 Chron. xv. 3) No salvation without calling upon God, no calling without faith, no faith without hearing, no hearing without a preacher: it is the apostle's gradation, Rom. x. 13-15. For albeit it be not medium naturale,' which doth, by an intrinsecal and constant virtue, perpetually produce the effect intended, (for many more are called than chosen) insomuch that the prophet complains, Who hath believed our report? (Isa. liii. 1) All the day long, have I stretched forth my hand unto a rebellious people;' (Isa. lxv. 2) yet it is medium institutum,' appointed by God to be the ministry of reconciliation; (2 Cor. v. 18) and the word of grace, (Acts xx. 32) whereby ordinarily men are called to salvation, repentance and remission of sin being thereby preached in the name of Christ; (Luke xxiv. 47) the Lord working together therewith by the excellence of his power, as it pleaseth him, and dividing unto every man as He will. (1 Cor. iii. 5—7, and xii. 11)

In one word, it is necessary, 1. In regard of Christ, whose authority instituteth it, and whose glory is greatly concerned in it, as being his effectual instrument to demolish the kingdom of Satan, and to bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of him. (2 Cor. x. 5)

2. In regard of the church of Christ, the collection, edification, perfection, and salvation whereof, doth so greatly depend upon it, as the mighty power of God unto that purpose. (Rom. i. 16. 1 Cor. i. 21) Hereby men are gathered together, and turned from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God. (John xi. 52. Acts xxvi. 18) Hereby they are built up towards the attainment of their inheritance. (Acts xx. 32) Hereby they are carried on in the unity of the faith, and knowledge of the Son of God, unto a per

fect man. (Eph. iv. 13) Hereby they save themselves, and those that hear them. (1 Tim. iv. 16. Acts xi. 14)

3. In regard of ourselves, it is necessary, 1. Ad impletionem muneris:' for of all stewards, the stewards of the mysteries of God must be found faithful. (1 Cor. iv. 2) 2. 'Ad acquisitionem mercedis;' for they that turn many to righteousness, shall shine as the stars, for ever and ever. (Dan. xii. 3) 3. Ad evitationem periculi:' for wo be unto us, if we preach not the gospel. (1 Cor. ix. 16) So, in every one of these ways, a necessity is laid upon us.

Therefore great diligence, fidelity, and wisdom, are to be used in this so weighty a service. It is no small work, whereby strong holds must be pulled down, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the kingdom of God, be demolished; whereby sin and Satan must be dispossessed, and the whole man subdued to the obedience of Christ; whereby the very natural propensions of men must be changed, and they effectually persuaded to hate what they loved, to love what they hated; to deny themselves, their reason, their will, their appetites, their interests, their lands, their relations, their lives, their all, (for this they must sometimes do ' quoad exercitium,' ever 'quoad præparationem animi') to please an invisible God, and to obtain an invisible inheritance. This is not the work of an illiterate reader, but of one who hath the tongue of the learned, a work man that need not to be ashamed. This is not the work of a careless loiterer, that shears the fleece, and starves the flock, but of one who gives himself wholly to it. So did those renowned bishops in the primitive times: we read every where, in Saint Chrysostom, of his Xès, intimating that he was a daily preacher; and of Saint Ambrose's Omni die Dominico,' as Saint Austin tells us, Confes. vi. c. 3. Prayer and preaching are two excellent and worthy parts of the ministry of reconciliation, appointed as mutual helps and furtherances each to other; and therefore they, on either hand, do very ill, who justle out and disparage the one by the other; as if performing the one were a sufficient discharge of the ministerial function, and means of the people's edification and salvation without the other. Certainly our Saviour's commission extends to the world's end. (Mat. xxviii. 20) As long as there are strong holds to be demolished, sin to be reproved, a church to be edified,

saints to be perfected, enemies to be resisted; there will be a necessity of every ordinance of Christ, by which these great works may be effected.

And unto the more sure effecting of them, this weighty work of preaching is to be managed and discharged with that spiritual skill, that we may approve ourselves unto God, as workmen that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth: (2 Tim. ii. 15) that is to say,

1. With evidence and demonstration, so as to affect the conscience, and make powerful and awakening discoveries and impressions upon the practical judgement, which may not, by any sophisms or subterfuges, be evaded or gainsaid. This, the apostle calleth demonstrative, or convincing preaching;'"my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom," with ostentation of wit or human elocution, with rhetoricating sophisms, or plausible insinuating deceptions, as Cicero somewhere boasteth that he had dazzled the eyes of the judges; and as Saint Jerome complains of many in his time, "id habent curæ, non quomodo Scripturarum medullas ebibant, sed quomodo aures populi declamatorum flosculis mulceant: But," saith the apostle, “ my preaching was ἐν ἀποδείξει πνεύματος καὶ δυνάμss, in a spiritual, powerful, and invincible demonstration," which admits not of any possibility of being gainsaid or disproved :-for such is that syllogism which the philosopher calls a demonstration, wherein a conclusion is most evidently deduced ex principiis primis necessariis et per se veris.' (1 Cor. ii. 1, 4) And elsewhere, speaking of an unbeliever, who heareth evangelical preaching, he saith, ἐλέγχεται ὑπὸ πάντων, ἀνακρίνεται ὑπὸ πάντων, ‘He is so convinced, that he is judged; the secrets of his heart are so discovered, that he falls on his face as a cast and convicted prisoner, worshippeth God, and acknowledgeth God to be in such preaching.' (1 Cor. xiv. 24, 25) So the prophet is said to judge men, when he maketh them know the abomination of their fathers. (Ezek. xx. 4) And once more, 'We have not,' saith the apostle, walked craftily, nor handled the word of God deceitfully, ἀλλὰ τῇ φανερώσει τῆς andelas, by manifestation, or evident discovering of the truth, we commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.' (2 Cor. iv. 2) And thus it is said of

Stephen, that his adversaries were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit, by which he spake.' (Acts vi. 10)

2. With wisdom and seasonableness, as men are able to hear and bear; so Christ spake the word. (Mark iv. 33. John xvi. 12) We must have milk for the weak, and meat for the strong; so manage our ministry, as to prevent and remove all occasions of prejudice and offence, from any, which watch for matter of advantage and exception against

us.

3. With sincerity and faithfulness; not dissembling any necessary doctrine, nor daubing with untempered mortar, nor corrupting the word of truth; but delivering the whole counsel of God, pleasing men in all things for their profit and edification; and to all other purposes, not pleasing men, but God, which trieth the heart; (1 Cor. x. 33. 1 Thess. ii. 4) speaking his words, whether men will hear or forbear; (Ezek. ii. 7) and telling them the truth, though we be judged enemies for so doing. (Gal. iv. 16)

4. With spiritual power and authority, as Christ did; (Mat. vii. 29) to declare unto men their transgression, in such a manner as to judge them for it; (Mic. iii. 8. Ezek. xx. 4) that their hearts may be pricked, (Acts ii. 37) and they made to fall on their face, and give glory to God; (1 Cor. xiv. 25) to shew unto a man his uprightness, in such a manner as that he may find God gracious to him, and may see his face with joy: (Job xxxiii. 23-26) so to preach the word as to bind and loose, to remit and retain, to heal and settle the consciences of our hearers, that they may find the gospel come unto them, not in word only, but in power. (1 Thess. i. 5)

5. With meekness and all winning insinuations, that there may appear nothing but love and gentleness in every thing which we deliver: as the apostle professeth to the Thessalonians, that he was gentle among them, as a nurse cherisheth her children;' (1 Thess. ii. 7) and exhorteth Timothy and other spiritual persons, with meekness to instruct opposers, and to restore such as are overtaken with any fault. (2 Tim. ii. 24, 25. Gal. vi. 1) It is an excellent character which Saint Austin giveth of a preacher, that he should so manage his office, ut doceat, ut delectet, ut flectat, ut intelligenter, ut libenter, ut obedienter audiatur;' so to teach, as

withal to delight and persuade, and, by a constraint of love, to gain willing and cheerful obedience to the doctrine which he teacheth.

6. With courage and boldness; not to fear the faces of any presumptuous sinners, who dare to affront the law, and not to fear the face of God. Shall any man be so bold as to do what God forbids? and shall a minister be so timorous as not to speak what God commands? Shall I be afraid to offend him by doing my duty, who is not afraid to offend God by neglecting his? Shall I be afraid to save him who is not afraid to destroy himself? or shall I be dismayed at the face and frown of a man, and neglect the wrath of God who can tear me in pieces? Be not dismayed at their face,' saith the Lord, 'lest I confound thee before them.' (Jer. i. 17) Yet this boldness must be in a way of conviction and persuasion, without indiscretion and exasperation; that when we shew our zeal against men's sins, we may withal manifest our love to their persons, and that honour and reverend esteem which we owe to their dignities and conditions.

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Lastly, Our lives and examples must teach the people, as well as our doctrine. We must be like the star which did not only light the Wise Men, but lead them unto Christ. (Mat. ii. 9) He who, by his wicked life, buildeth again those things, which by his holy doctrine he destroyed, maketh himself a transgressor. (Gal. ii. 18) Verbis tantùm philosophari non doctoris est, sed histrionis.' It is rather pageantry than serious piety, for men to preach angelical sermons, and to lead diabolical conversations; Ut dicta factis deficientibus erubescant,' as Tertullian speaks. We cannot expect, that other men should follow our doctrine, when we ourselves forsake it. The greatest part of men being like sheep, which go 'non qua eundum, sed qua itur,' rather as they are led, than as they are taught.-And so much of the duty here supposed, the excellence, necessity, and manner, of preaching.

We proceed to the object or matter of preaching, expressed; 1. Negatively, not ourselves.' Men may be said to preach themselves these four ways:

1. When they make themselves lords over the flock, and exercise dominion over the consciences of those that hear them as if a ministry were a sovereignty; or as if the sheep