§. XXXIII.
The true Ministers Call.I. The Ministry and Ministers we plead for, are such as are immediately called and sent forth by Christ and his Spirit unto the Work of the Ministry: So were the holy Apostles and Prophets, as appears by these Places, Matt. x. 1. 5. Ephes. iv. 11. Heb. v. 4.
1. But the Ministry and Ministers our Opposers plead for, are such as have no immediate Call from Christ; to whom the Leading and Motion of the Spirit is not reckoned necessary; but who are called, sent forth, and ordained by wicked and ungodly Men: Such were of old the false Prophets and Teachers, as appears by these Places, Jer. xiv. 14, 15. item. Chap. xxiii. 21. and xxvii. 15.
True Ministers Guide.II. The Ministers we plead for, are such as are actuated and led by God’s Spirit, and by the Power and Operation of his Grace in their Hearts, are in some Measure converted and regenerate, and so are good, holy, and gracious Men: Such were the holy Prophets and Apostles, as appears from 1 Tim. iii. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Tit. i. 7, 8, 9.
2. But the Ministers our Adversaries plead for, are such to whom the Grace of God is no needful Qualification; and so may be true Ministers, according to them, though they be ungodly, unholy, and profligate Men: Such were the false Prophets and Apostles, as appears from Mic. iii. 5. 11. 1 Tim. vi. 5, 6, 7, 8, &c. 2 Tim. iii. 2. 2. Pet. ii. 1, 2, 3.
True Ministers Work.III. The Ministers we plead for, are such as act, move, and labour in the Work of the Ministry, not from their own mere natural Strength and Ability, but as they are actuated, moved, supported, assisted and influenced by the Spirit of God, and minister according to the Gift received, as good Stewards of the manifold Grace of God: Such were the holy Prophets and Apostles, 1 Pet. iv. 10, 11. 1 Cor. i. 17. ii. 3, 4, 5. 13. Acts ii. 4. Matt. x. 20. Mark xiii. 11. Luke xii. 12. 1 Cor. xiii. 2.
3. But the Ministers our Adversaries plead for, are such as wait not for, nor expect, nor need the Spirit of God to actuate and move them in the Work of the Ministry; but what they do they do from their own mere natural Strength and Ability, and what they have gathered and stolen from the Letter of the Scripture, and other Books, and so speak it forth in the Strength of their own Wisdom and Eloquence, and not in the Evidence and Demonstration of the Spirit and Power: Such were the false Prophets and Apostles, as appears, Jer. xxiii. 30, 31, 32, 34, &c. 1 Cor. iv. 18. Jude 16.
True Ministers Humility.IV. The Ministers we plead for, are such as, being holy and humble, contend not for Precedency and Priority, but rather strive to prefer one another, and serve one another in Love; neither desire to be distinguished from the rest by their Garments and large Phylacteries, nor seek the Greetings in the Market-places, nor uppermost Places at Feasts, nor the chief Seats in the Synagogues; nor yet to be called of Men Master, &c. Such were the holy Prophets and Apostles, as appears from Matt. xxiii. 8, 9, 10. and xx. 25, 26, 27.
4. But the Ministers our Adversaries plead for, are such as strive and contend for Superiority, and claim Precedency over one another; affecting and ambitiously seeking after the fore-mentioned Things: Such were the false Prophets and Apostles in Time past, Matt. xxiii. 5, 6, 7.
True Ministers Free Gift.V. The Ministers we plead for, are such as having freely received, freely give; who covet no Man’s Silver, Gold, or Garments; who seek no Man’s Goods, but seek them, and the Salvation of their Souls: Whose Hands supply their own Necessities, working honestly for Bread to themselves and their Families. And if at any Time they be called of God, so as the Work of the Lord hinder them from the use of their Trades, take what is freely given them by such to whom they have communicated Spirituals; and having Food and Raiment, are therewith content: Such were the holy Prophets and Apostles, as appears from Matt. x. 8. Acts xx. 33, 34, 35. 1 Tim. vi. 8.
5. But the Ministers our Adversaries plead for, are such as not having freely received, will not freely give; but are covetous, doing that which they ought not, for filthy Lucre’s Sake; as to preach for Hire, and divine for Money, and look for their Gain from their Quarter, and prepare War against such as put not into their Mouths, &c. Greedy Dogs, which can never have enough. Shepherds who feed themselves, and not the Flock; eating the Fat, and clothing themselves with the Wool; making Merchandize of Souls; and following the Way of Balaam, that loved the Wages of Unrighteousness: Such were the false Prophets and Apostles, Isa. lvi. 11. Ezek. xxxiv. 2, 3. 8. Mic. iii. 5. 11. Tit. i. 10, 11. 2 Pet. ii. 1, 2, 3. 14, 15.
The Ministers Life and Qualification.And in a Word, We are for a holy, spiritual, pure and living Ministry, where the Ministers are both called, qualified and ordered, actuated and influenced in all the Steps of their Ministry by the Spirit of God; which being wanting, we judge they cease to be the Ministers of Christ.
But they, judging this Life, Grace, and Spirit no essential Part of their Ministry, are therefore for the upholding of an human, carnal, dry, barren, fruitless and dead Ministry; of which, alas! we have seen the Fruits in the most Part of their Churches: Of whom that Saying of the Lord is certainly verified, Jer. xxiii. 32.—I sent them not, nor commanded them, therefore they shall not profit this People at all, saith the LORD.
PROPOSITION XI.
Concerning Worship.
What the true Worship is, that is acceptable to God.All true and acceptable Worship to God is offered in the inward and immediate Moving and Drawing of his own Spirit, which is neither limited to Places, Times, nor Persons. For though we are to worship him always, and continually to fear before him; How to be performed.yet as to the outward Signification thereof, in Prayers, Praises, or Preachings, we ought not to do it in our own Will, where and when we will; but where and when we are moved thereunto by the Stirring and secret Inspiration of the Spirit of God in our Hearts; which God heareth and accepteth of, and is never wanting to move as thereunto, when Need is; of which he himself is the alone proper Judge. All other Worship then, both Praises, Prayers or Preachings, which Man sets about in his own Will, and at his own Appointment, which he can both begin and end at his Pleasure, do or leave undone as himself seeth meet, whether they be a prescribed Form, as a Liturgy, &c. or Prayers conceived extempore by the natural Strength and Faculty of the Mind, they are all but Superstition, Will-worship, and abominable Idolatry in the Sight of God, which are now to be denied and rejected, and separated from, in this Day of his spiritual Arising: Superstition and Will-worship, Idolatry.However it might have pleased him (who winked at the Times of Ignorance, with a Respect to the Simplicity and Integrity of some, and of his own innocent Seed, which lay as it were buried in the Hearts of Men under that Mass of Superstition) to blow upon the dead and dry Bones, and to raise some Breathings of his own, and answer them; and that until the Day should more clearly dawn and break forth.