practice. Let the latter be a living commentary on the former; that the intemperate, being reproved by your fobriety; the unrighteous, by your integrity; and the ungodly, by your uniform devotion; may be led to glorify our common Lord and Mafter.

Having thus, dear Sir, pointed out fome of the great lines of that work you have this day under taken, we do call heaven and earth to witness, that your duty has been laid before you; and, that for all the confequences of defpifing or neglecting it, you alone fhall be anfwerable. We, therefore, in the words of our apostle," charge thee before "God, and the Lord Jefus Chrift, and the elect "angels, that thou obferve these things, without

preferring one before another, doing nothing "by partiality," 1 Tim. v. 21. We proceed, in the

3. Place, To improve this fubject in an addrefs to the conftituent members of this congregation. You, my brethren, in the kind providence of God, have acquired your unanimous with, by the prefent admiffion of our worthy brother to labour amongst you, in the miniftry of the gofpel.-You are called,

you are bound thankfully to acknowlege that Lord, whofe, we truft, he is, and whom he defires to ferve, in the favourable difpenfation. Do your eyes now fee your public teacher ? and are your views of the stated means of falvation again revived? what praife is, thence, due to the gracious Head of the church, for fuch an interpofition in your behalf; while numbers, through the Chriftian world, have no accefs to public ordinances at all; are scattered like fheep having no fhepherd; or elfe, through the qualities of their public teachers, have no fuch agreeable profpects as you? Remember that much of his usefulness, amongst

you

you, depends upon yourselves.-That he may help you, by his labours; you must help him, by your prayers. As the zeal and faithfulness of gospel minifters bid fair to have an agreeable effect on their flocks; fo, it seldom fails, that the frequent and: fervent prayers of a people have a delightful effect on their pastors. He is no more than an earthen veffel, into which the treasure must be put by the mafter of affemblies; elfe things new and old can never, by him, be brought forth, to your edification and comfort.-You are bound to make confcience of attending his miniftrations; for, though you should pray for him, and he use every mean of usefulness to your fouls, if these means are not at tended, what profit to you, or comfort to him, can take place Nor think it enough, without neceffity at least, to wait upon particular means of inftruction, to the neglect of others; for, as the wind bloweth where it lifteth, and as the husbandman knoweth not whether his morning or evening labours fhall profper; the very mean you neglect, may be that, whereby your fpiritual interefts might have been promoted: befides, if infinite wifdom has feen meet that line fhould be upon line, and precept upon precept, by lightly esteeming any part of that provifion, you will pour manifeft contempt, not on your paftor only, but on him alfo who fent him. Moreover, my brethren, you must know, that his undertaking to fpend and be fpent for you, neceffarily implies a reciprocal engagement, on your part, to attend upon his paftoral endeavours, and improve them to the best advantage.

Submiffion to him, in the Lord, is no lefs your indifpenfible duty.-Would the reprefentative of fome great perfonage meet with deference and regard, for his conftituent's fake? and fhall not one, employed, by Jefus Chrift, to take the overfight of

your

your fouls, and carry his laws into execution amongst you, be received and obeyed for his ma fter's fake? Though, in difcharging this great sruft, your paftor fhould be obliged to exercife the fword of difcipline; or, where the circumstances of the cafe may require, to ufe particular freedoms with your confciences; his kindness toward you, and concern for your falvation, are no more to be, from thence, called in queftion, than are the integrity and compaffion of a physician, for applying corrofives, where lenitives can take no effect.

...In a word, as he will endeavour to be a comfort to you; with equal concern, fhould you endeayour to render yourfelves comforts to him. If it must be acknowleged upon our part, that church members may, occafionally, be troubled by the weakneffes or temptations, even of worthy and ufeful office-bearers; can my dear friends be angry, though we take the liberty of telling you, that the tempers and temptations, the wickedness, fometimes, as well as weakness, of particular perfons, in moft congregations, are troublesome and vexatious to the office-bearers in them? Care, therefore, must be taken to guard against whatever may tend to weaken the hands, or difcourage the heart of your minifter: if yielding, on his part, for your edification, becomes his duty; compliance, on your part, for his comfort, will be no lefs incumbent.

We conclude with a fhort addrefs to fuch hearers of the gospel, as, with this congregation, have witneffed the prefent folemnity.

In as far as, my dear friends, you are ble with fuch to minifter among you, and to bear rule over you, as are not troublers of the church, but fpiritual guides, enfamples and comforts; in fo far God deals with you as he has not dealt with every peo

ple:

ple: wherefore, your gratitude to him, and im provement of fuch mercies, fhould bear fome kind of proportion to the favours by which you are fo happily diftinguifhed. As an inducement to these exercifes, allow yourselves to reflect on many Chriftians, in foreign parts, as well as in our neighbouring church, whofe circumftances, refpecting their fpiritual teachers and rulers, are fo different from yours.

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It has, with juftice, been allowed, by ftrangers themselves, that, all things confidered, no fuch body of profeffors, through the whole Christian world, are fo much privileged as thofe in our own church. We pretend not to fay, that our church is faultlefs, or her office-bearers unblameable; and though we fhould fay it, you would ly under no obligation to believe us but we may venture to affirm, that the particulars, wherein church offi cers may fometimes be obliged to differ from you, muft not always be confidered as characteristical of troublers of the church; nor, therefore, as grounds upon which you may lawfully wifh and pray for their excifion for, might Chriftians warrantably proceed upon fuch flimfy pretences, the real fervants of Chrift would foon drink deeper in the cup of fufferings, through the miftaken zeal of their hearers, than the hearers can probably ever do, through the zeal or imaginary mifmanagement of their rulers. As long, my brethren, as paftors and people both are in a flate of immaturity, their views and judgments cannot, in all things, be supposed to coincide; which is a maxim fo evident, on the principles of reafon and revelation, that the neceffity of forbearance,-nay, of manifold allowances, on each hand, is as demonftrable, as any thing of the kind is capable of.-If you imagine that officebearers, in the church of Chrift, are any more than

men

men of like paffions with ourselves; you will be as grofsly mistaken, as we would be, did we expect that even holy persons amongst you, fhould know and act, as the angels in heaven.-Are we often obliged, in judging of your characters, to admit, that the gold may be real, though mingled with much drofs? and have we not a claim, upon you, for the fame candour in judging of ours?

By all this we mean not to infinuate, that troublers of the church may not fometimes be found, in one or another corner amongst ourselves; nor that, if they are fuch, in the fcripture views of the character, you may not wifh and pray for their excifion: we only intend to caution you against forming your judgments of minifters and elders, upon the opinions of others, efpecially, if of a different communion from them; upon the prejudice of education; upon fuch fentiments of your own minds, as may only be raw and indigefled; or upon any other rule of judging, whatever, than the written, the unerring, word of God. If that ftandard was judiciously applied, to every individual, we doubt not, that, in fome inftances, your former apprehenfions might be found juft; at the fame time, it is a thousand to one, but fome likewife, most dandled on the popular knee, and thereby least exposed to the lafh of your cenfures, might be found greatly, perhaps grofsly, wanting. For, hath not he, who fpake as never man did, affured us, that "many who are first shall be laft, and the last first?" Matth. xix. 30.

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