fore to behave themfelves frowardly, ftubbornly, or irreverently, towards a lawful magiftrate, is to detain from him his due, and offer an unjust affront to his character; and confequently, let a man be never fo good in other instances, fuch a rebellious behaviour will befpeak him highly dishoneft and injurious in the fight of God. And,

Their duty.

pro

As you have feen the relation of inferior magiftrates intitles them to the people's reverence and obedience; the relation, which the prince and people bear to them, intitles them both to their fidelity, vigilance and juftice alfo; because inferior magiftrates are the king's trustees for himfelf and his people; and in their hands he deTo the king. pofits the honour, fecurity, and rights of his own crown and dominion, together with the fafeguard and tection of the juft and legal rights of his people: fo that upon their acceptance of his truft, by which they engage themfelves faithfully to discharge it, the king acquires a right to their faithful and vigilant care, to fee that his authority be reverenced, his laws obeyed, his perfon, government, and To the pet properties fecured; and the people acquire a right ple. to be protected by them in their perfons, reputations, liberties, and eftates: Befides, they should command without infulting, reprove with meeknefs, punish unwillingly, and never without manifeft tokens of tendernefs and compaffion. Confequently,

So far as they are wilfully failing, either towards the king How to be or the people, in any of thefe matters, they do unpurihed. juftly detain the king's or the people's rights, or both; they betray the truft committed to them, falfify their own engagements, and under the mafk of authority are publick robbers of mankind, and may and ought to be punished as fuch by thofe laws they have violated.

paftors.

IV. A fecond diftinguified branch of the parental authori Duties to ty, where the duties are mutual and reciprocal, is that of spiritual parents, or paftors and people. Thefe fpiritual parents difcharge the like good offices to our fouls, which our natural parents do to our bodies; therefore we proceed to inquire into the duty of the people to their mi

Eleem,

nifters. The chriftians of the first ages always expreffed a mighty value and efteem for their clergy;

because

because they were fenfible there could be no church without priests, and that it was by their means that God conveyed to them all those mighty bleffings which were purchafed by the death of Christ. Upon this account alfo fhould be founded our love of them; forafmuch as we are taught so to Love. do by the apostle, who faid to the Theffalonians, and we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; to fleem them very highly in love for their work's fake. If then we are taught to honour and esteem our fpiritual governors, paftors, or minifters, for their work's fake, we must treat them with refpect, confidering them as those that bear the great character of ambaffadors from Respect and Christ, as St. Paul calls them; and as inftruments reverence. of conveying to us the greatest bleffings we are capable of receiving, because they relate to our eternal falvation; and, confequently, regarding them as commiffion'd by him to that holy function: wherefore the authority they have received to prefide over christians, as governors of the church, must always be owned to come from God; and this religious regard to their divine miffion must be expreffed in the whole courfe of our conduct towards their perfons. We refpect and reverence them by our words and actions, expreffing all the honour and efteem we have for their character, treating their perfons with great civility in conversation: fpeaking all the good we can of them in their abfence, and throwing a veil over their infirmities; never making them the objects of our light mirth, nor proclaiming their failings in order to reproach their perfons, because it may tend to debafe their ininiftry; not ufing any fcurrilous words, or contemptuous behaviour towards them; becaufe the disrespect calt upon them is an affront to their Mafter, whofe perfon they reprefent: according to what our Saviour told his difciples when he fent them out to preach the gofpel. He that defpiseth you, despiseth me; and he that defpifeth me, defpifeth him that fent me.

Nor did people of ancient times reft in this outward behaviour: for they gave all imaginable proof of a fin- Maintecere and hearty love and esteem for their persons,

by

*

by maintaining them liberally out of their fhipwrecked fortunes, and chearfully fubmitting to the fevere difcipline injoined by them, from a sense of that authority ministers have received from Chrift, the great Bifhop of fouls; and in pursuance of thofe precepts which our Saviour and St. Paul have left us for that purpose. So we must also obey Obedience. our fpiritual governors, not only in whatsoever they out of fcripture declare to us to be God's commands, either by publick preaching, or by private exhortations; because they are the meffengers of the Lord of hofts, fo long as their doctrines are agreeable to the word of God; but likewife in fubmitting to that difcipline they fhall inflict, either to recover us from a fiate of folly, or to preferve us from falling into fuch a state; from a pure sense of that right they have to command, intrufted to them by our Saviour Jefus Christ, and of that great penalty we are liable to by our contempt: for he that defpifeth them, defpifeth him that fent them. We are accordingly charged to obey them that have the rule over us, and to fubmit ourselves; because they watch for our fouls, as they that must give an account. And tho' Prayers for it may be we are deprived of other opportunities them. of doing them any fubftantial fervice; yet it is in the power of the meaneft of us all to pray for, or to address heaven in their behalf; that they may be defended from the malice and ill-will of bad men; that they may have the countenance and protection of the great and powerful; that their zealous labours in God's vineyard may be attended with success; and that they may turn many to righteousnefs, according to the gospel of Christ.

From whence we learn that it is no diminution to greatThe priestnefs of birth, or any perfonal excellency, to be dehood is bo- voted to the miniftration of God's holy word and ourable. facraments. We speak here particularly of the christian priesthood; whofe priests are called the ministers of Chrift, stewards of the myfteries of God, to whom he hath committed the word of reconciliation, the glory of Christ, ambaffadors for Chrift, in Chrift's ftead, co-workers with

him,

* See Sund. z. Sect. ii.

him, angels of the churches. Because they act by commiffion from him, they are his officers and immediate attendants, and in a particular manner the fervants of his houfe. They are employed in his particular business, impowered and authorised to negotiate and tranfact for God, in all the outward administrations of the covenant of grace, or of reconciliation between God and man, by commiffion from Jefus Chrift.

Thus under the gospel they are inftituted to difpenfe spiritual food for the nourishment of Christians, to Why orfeed them with God's holy word and facraments, dained. to speak the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world; which is committed to their care, to be preserved intire from being maimed or perverted, as the facraments are to be rightly and duly administered to his people. For which end and purpose they were ordained by Chrift himself, the great Shepherd and Bishop of our fouls, who glorified not himself to be an high-priest; but had his commiffion from God the Father, and after his refurrection invested his ароftles with the fame commiffion his Father had given him before; which evidently contains an authority of ordaining others, and a power of transferring that commiffion from others, fo long as the world endures. Therefore, without his express commiffion, no man ought to take upon himself, or communicate to others, a power to fign and feal covenants in the name of Chrift.

What is re

quired of

them who

take orders.

The apoftles and their fucceffors exercised this commiffion in all places, and even in oppofition to the rulers that then were; fo that the church fubfifted as a distinct fociety from the state till the fourth century. Whence we infer, a man may have exceeding good parts, and a great talent in speaking; he may have likewise attained confiderable skill in the fcriptures and other forts of learning, and have all the other qualifications which are needful to make him a very useful minister of the church: But ftill this alone, without a lawful call, doth not impower him to take that office upon him. If a man do not come in this way, he is not a lawful fhepherd, but an intruder into Christ's flock, whatever natural or acquired abilities he may have to fit him for the employment. And great pu

rity of life is required of those that are invested with such an honourable character, whereby they may in fome measure be qualified to adminifter in holy things, and by their example guide thofe they inftruct by their doctrine, which is of Chrift; and it is an argument of a prophane temper to contemn those who are commiffioned by God himself to that facred office.

by God.

For though they may be inferior to others in fome huAre affigned man accomplishments; yet God hath promised particularly to affift them in the faithful discharge of their holy office, and has bleffed them with many perfonal qualifications to challenge our cfleem and refpect. For, as long as piety and virtue, learning and knowledge, have any credit and reputation in the world, and men are concerned that others fhould be formed to the fame valuable principles, that their minds fhould be cultivated, and their manners regulated; fo long the clergy will have a good title to the honour and eftcem of all thofe that are truly wife and Of fuperior good. Did we only confider the method of their education. very education, we fhall find it would give them great advantages for their improvement in all forts of neceffary and polite learning, and raise them above the level of those with whom they are equal in other circumstances; and, the fubject of their conftant ftudies being matter of piety and religion, it is reafonable to fuppofe they live under more lively and ftronger impreffions of the other world than the reft of mankind; and experience fufficiently convinces us how much the nobility and gentry of this kingdom are beholden to their care for thofe impreflions of piety and knowledge which are ftamped upon their education, and diffused into their families. For, even, in the most ignorantages, Their great Service in what learning flourished, it was in their body, and by their care was conveyed down to us. They have been in the moft diffolute times the greateft examples of piety, and we have yet remaining many eminent monuments of their magnificent as well as ufeful charities.

men.

And should it happen that the minifters of God may not Must not be act fuitably to the dignity of their character, yet contemned, we must not contemn them; for their character

fhould