SERM. honour, and edification of the participants in virtue and LVI. piety.

1 Tim. iii.

7, 10.

Those who derive their authority by a continued succession from the Apostles; who are called unto, and constituted in their office in a regular and peaceable way, agreeable to the institution of God, and the constant practice of his Church; according to rules approved in the best and purest ages: who are prepared to the exercise of their function by the best education that ordinarily can be provided, under sober discipline, in the schools of the prophets, who thence by competent endowments of mind, and useful furniture of good learning, acquired by painful study, become qualified to guide and instruct the people: who, after previous examination of their abilities, and probable testimonies concerning their manners, (with regard to the qualifications of incorrupt doctrine, and sober conversation prescribed by the Apostles,) are adjudged fit for the office; who also in a pious, grave, solemn manner, with invocation of God's blessing, by laying on the hands of the presbytery, are admitted thereunto.

Those whose practice in guiding and governing the people of God is not managed by arbitrary, uncertain, fickle, private fancies or humours, but regulated by standing laws; framed (according to general directions extant in holy Scripture) by pious and wise persons, with mature advice, in accommodation to the seasons and circumstances of things for common edification, order, and peace.

Those who, by virtue of their good principles, in their disposition and demeanour appear sober, orderly, peaceable, yielding meek submission to government, tendering the Church's peace, upholding the communion of the saints, abstaining from all schismatical, turbulent, and factious practices.

Those also, who are acknowledged by the laws of our country, an obligation to obey whom is part of that Pet.iii.1.13. human constitution, unto which we are in all things (not evidently repugnant to God's law) indispensably bound to submit; whom our sovereign, God's vicegerent and

the nursing father of his Church among us, (unto whom SERM. in all things high respect, in all lawful things entire obedi- LVI. ence is due,) doth command and encourage us to obey.

Those, I say, to whom this character plainly doth agree, we may reasonably be assured, that they are our true guides and governors, whom we are obliged to follow and obey for what better assurance can we in reason desire? what more proper marks can be assigned to discern them by? what methods of constituting such needful officers can be settled more answerable to their design and use? how can it be evil or unsafe to follow guides authorised by such warrants, conformed to such patterns, endowed with such dispositions, acting by such principles and rules, can we mistake or miscarry by complying with the great body of God's church through all ages, and particularly with those great lights of the primitive Church, who by the excellency of their knowledge, and the integrity of their virtue, have so illustrated our holy religion?

There are, on the other hand, sufficiently plain characters, by which we may descry seducers, and false pretenders to guide us.

Gal. i. 9.

vi. 4, 20. 2 Tim. ii.

Those who do regodidaozaken, teach otherwise, or discost 1 Tim. vi. from the good ancient wholesome doctrine, revealed in 3. i. 3, 4, the holy Scripture, attested by universal tradition, profess- 1 Tim. i. 4. ed, taught, maintained to death by the primitive saints and martyrs; who affect novelties, uncouth notions, big words, and dark phrases; who dote on curious empty speculations, 2 Pet. ii. and idle questions, which engender strife, and yield no good 18. fruit.

14, 16, 23.

Tit. iii. 9.

ordinatio

stantes,

Those who ground their opinions and warrant their pro- Ipsorum ceedings not by clear testimonies of divine revelation, by nes temerathe dictates of sound reason, by the current authority of riæ, inconwise and good men, but by the suggestions of their own leves. Terfancy, by the impulses of their passion and zeal, by pre-tull. tences to special inspiration, by imaginary necessities, and such like fallacious rules.

Those who, by counterfeit shews of mighty zeal and

SERM. extraordinary affection, by affected forms of speech, by LVI. pleasing notions, by prophesying smooth things, daubing and glozing, by various artifices of flattery and fraud, attract and abuse weak and heedless people.

Those who, without any apparent commission from God, or allowable call from men, or extraordinary necessity of the case, in no legal or regular way, according to no custom received in God's Church, do intrude themselves into the office, or are only assumed thereto by ignorant, unstable, giddy, factious peopled, such as those of whom St. Paul ? Tim. iv. 3. saith, that according to their own lusts they heap up teachers to themselves, having itching cars.

Those who are not in reasonable ways fitly prepared, not duly approved, not competently authorised, not orderly admitted to the office, according to the prescriptions of God's word, and the practice of his Church; not entering into the fold by the door, but breaking through, or clambering over the fences of sober discipline.

Those who in their mind, their principles, their designs, and all their practice, appear void of that charity, that meekness, that calmness, that gravity, that sincerity, that stability which qualify worthy and true guides: who in the disposition of their mind are froward, fierce, and stub born; in their principles loose and slippery; in their designs and behaviour turbulent, disorderly, violent, deceitful: who regard not order or peace, but wantonly raise scandals, create dissensions, abet and foment disturbances in the Church; who under religious appearances indulge their passions, and serve their interests, using a guise of devotion, and talk about holy things as instruments to vent wrath, envy and spleen; to drive forward designs of ambition and avarice: who will not submit to any certain

a Hi sunt qui se ultro apud temerarios convenas sine Divina dispositione præficiunt, qui se præpositos sine ulla ordinationis lege constituunt, qui nemine episcopatum dante episcopi sibi nomen assumunt. Cypr. de Un. Eccl. 256.

p.

judgment or rule, will like nothing but what their fancy SERM. suggests, will acknowledge no law but their own will; LVI. who for no just cause, and upon any slender pretence, withdraw themselves, and seduce others from the Church, in which they were brought up, deserting its communion, impugning its laws, defaming its governors, endeavouring to subvert its establishment: who manage their discipline (such as it is of their own framing) unadvisedly and unsteadily, in no stable method, according to no settled rule, but as present conceit, or humour, or advantage prompteth; so that not being fixed in any certain judgment or practice, they soon clash with themselves, and divide from one another, incessantly roving from one sect to another; being carried about with divers and strange doctrines; like Heb. xiii. children, tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine.

9.

Eph. iv. 14. Those, the fruits of whose doctrine and managery amount at best only to empty form of godliness, void of real virtue; while in truth they fill the minds of men with ill passions, ill surmises, ill will; they produce impious, unjust, and uncharitable dealing of all kinds, particularly discontentful murmurings, disobedience to magistrates, schisms and factions in the Church, combustions and seditions in the State.

In fine, those who in their temper and their deportment resemble those ancient seducers, branded in the Scripture, those evil men, who did seduce, and were seduced:

2 Tim. iii.

13.

Whose dispositions are represented in these epithets : they were avóraxra, unruly, or persons indisposed and Tit. i. 10. unwilling to submit to government; τολμηταί, αυθάδεις, presumptuous, and self-willed, or self-pleasing darers; 707-2 Pet. ii. 10. jusai, meu timorgos, murmurers, complainers, or conjunctly discontented mutiners; auroxarángiro, self-condemned, Tit. iii. 10, namely, by contradictious shuffling and shifting, or by ex- 2 Tim. iii. communicating themselves from the Church; yénres, be- 13, 4. witchers, inveigling and deluding credulous people by dissimulation and specious appearances; having a form Matt. vii. of godliness, but denying the power thereof; being wolves in sheep's clothing, grievous wolves, not sparing the flock;

11.

15.

Acts xx. 29.

SERM. deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the servants LVI. of Christ, and ministers of righteousness; lovers of them2 Cor. xi. selves, covetous, boasters, proud, revilers, truce-breakers, false accusers, traitors, heady, high minded, vain talkers, 2 Pet. iii. 16. deceivers, ignorant, unlearned, unstable :

13, 15.

1 Tim. vi. 4:

Rom. xvi. 17, 18.

6, 7.)

2 Tim. iii.

5.

1 Tim. vi.

4.

Whose practices were; to cause divisions and offences con(1 Tim. i. trary to received doctrine; by good words and fair speeches to deceive the hearts of the simple ;—to swerve from charity —having turned aside to vain jangling, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say, nor Eph. iv. 14, whereof they affirm: to beguile unstable souls; to lie in wait Acts xx. 19. to deceive; to speak perverse things that they may draw disciples after them; to creep into houses, captivating silly women; to dote about questions and strifes of words, where2 Pet. ii. 18. of cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, perverse Jude 16. disputings; to speak swelling words of vanity; to admire persons because of advantage, (or out of private design, for Tit. i. 11. self-interest ;) to subvert whole houses, teaching things which 1 Tim. iv. 2. they ought not for filthy lucre's sake; to speak lies in hypoPhil. i. 15, crisy; to preach Christ out of envy and strife, not out of 2 Pet. ii. 19. good-will, or pure intention, (oix àyvãs,) not purely; to promise liberty to their followers; to walk disorderly; (that is, in repugnance to order settled in the Church) to despise dominion, and without fear to reproach dignities; to speak evil (rashly) of those things which they know not, (which are beside their 2 John 9. skill and cognizance;) to separate themselves from the Church. Such persons as these, arrogating to themselves the office Tit. iii. 10. of guides, and pretending to lead us, we must not follow or regard; but are in reason and conscience obliged to reRom. xvi. ject and shun them, as the ministers of Satan, the pests of Christendom, the enemies and murderers of souls.

16.

2 Thess. iii.

6, 11.

2 Pet. ii. 10.
Jude 8.

Jude 10.
Jude 9.

2 Thess. iii.

6.

17.

1 Tim. vi. 5. It can indeed nowise be safe to follow any such leaders,

(whatever pretences to special illumination they hold forth, whatever specious guises of sanctity they bear,) who in their doctrine or practice deflect from the great beaten roads of holy Scripture, primitive tradition, and catholic practice, roving in by-paths suggested to them by their private fancies and humours, their passions and