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THE 
 
 CHRISTIAN PASTOR'S MANUAL : 
 
 A SELECTION OF TRACTS 
 
 OJT THE 
 
 DUTIES, DIFFICULTIES, AND ENCOURAGEMENTS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 
 
 EDITED 
 
 BY JOHN BROWN, - ■ 
 
 MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL, EDINBURGH. 
 
 FIRST AMERICAN FROM THE EDINBURGH EDITION. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA : 
 
 J. WHETHAM, 22 SOUTH FOURTH STREET. 
 
 M DCCC XXXVII. 
 
J. L. Powell, Printer, Burlington, N. J- 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 The following selection of Tracts on the 
 duties, difficulties, and encouragements of the 
 Christian Ministry, was made at the request 
 of a few respected friends, to serve a particu- 
 lar purpose, which appeared to them highly 
 important, by private and gratuitous circula- 
 tion within a comparatively confined sphere. 
 It occurred, however, in the course of prepar- 
 ing the volume for the press, that, by general 
 publication, a variety of useful ends might be 
 gained, w^ithout in any degree interfering with 
 the primary object for which the selection 
 was made. 
 
 To enter into a particular detail of the 
 claims which the followino: Tracts have on 
 the attention of the public at large, and espe- 
 cially of those who are preparing for, or in- 
 vested with, the sacred office, is unnecessary, 
 
IV ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 as the most of them have been long highly 
 valued by the best judges, and would, on the 
 part of the Editor, be unbecoming, as the 
 strongest proof he could give of his approba- 
 tion has already been given in their insertion 
 in this selection, so that any lengthened eulo- 
 gium on them might seem an encomium on 
 his own judgment. This would be the more 
 obviously unnecessary and unbecoming from 
 the attestations annexed, which, proceeding 
 from men whose talents and worth are so gene- 
 rally known, and so highly appreciated, may 
 be expected to create a confidence in the pub- 
 lic mind, to which no statement of his could 
 have been entitled. To have such men in 
 the number of his friends, he accounts a great 
 happiness, and, to be allowed to tell the w^orld 
 so, a great honour. 
 
 JOHN BROWN. 
 Edinburgh, Feb, 1826. 
 
RECOMMENDATION BY REV. ROBT. GORDON, D.D., EDINBURGH. 
 
 Hope Park End, 20th Dec. 1325. 
 
 My Dear Sir, 
 
 1 return the volume which you were so good as to send 
 me. It appears to me to be a most happy selection, pre- 
 senting in a very striking light the duties and the responsi- 
 bility of the ministerial office, and forming just such a 
 work as every Christian Pastor ought to have by him. 
 I hope it will find its way into the hands of many, espe- 
 cially young Ministers ; and I pray that the solemn and 
 weighty considerations which it sets forth, may be ac- 
 companied with the divine blessing. 
 1 am, My Dear Sir, 
 
 Yours most truly, 
 
 Robert Gordon. 
 
 RECOMMENDATION BY REV. HENRY GREY, M.A., EDINBURGH. 
 
 Edinburgh, 9th Jan. 1826. 
 My Dear Sir, 
 
 I have read with much pleasure, and I trust with some 
 profit, the pieces contained in the Christian Pastor^s Ma- 
 nval, and cannot but hold the Ministers of the Gospel in- 
 debted to you for the pains and judgment that have thus 
 1* 
 
VI _ RECOMMENDATIONS. 
 
 laid before them, in a commodious compass, the matured 
 and faithful suggestions of so many Divines of unques- 
 tionable experience, and of highest reputation in the Chris- 
 tian world. To have been the Pupils of such men as 
 Doddridge, Watts, Erskine, — to have received ordination 
 at their hands, with such admonitions as are here ad- 
 dressed to us, would by most be esteemed a privilege : 
 and this the devout Preacher, or aspirant to the work of 
 the Ministry, may, in the serious perusal of these ad- 
 dresses, in a good degree, appropriate to himself. If it 
 occur to us in the perusal, that the greatest prominence is 
 not in every instance given to those which are the most 
 important parts in the character and duties of the Chris- 
 tian Minister, it is to be recollected, that personal piety 
 and zeal for the progress of the Redeemer's kingdom are 
 invariably presupposed in the individuals to whom these 
 counsels are addressed, — in whose work no completeness 
 of education, superiority of talent, or strenuousness of ap- 
 plication, can supersede the exercise of humble faith, or 
 give success without the blessing that cometh from on high. 
 I am. Dear Sir, 
 
 With much esteem. 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 Henry Grey. 
 
 RECOMMENDATION BY REV. JOHN DICK, D. D., GLASGOW. 
 
 Glasgow, January 19, 1826. 
 My Dear Sir, 
 
 The Tracts contained in the volume you left with me, 
 have been selected with judgment, and are entitled to an 
 
RECOMMENDATIONS. VU 
 
 attentive and serious perusal. They exhibit, in a very 
 impressive manner, the duties, and difficulties, and temp- 
 tations of the ministerial office ; and are calculated to ex- 
 cite all who are invested with it, to watchfulness, diligence, 
 and fervent prayer for divine direction and assistance. 
 They promise to be particularly useful to those who are 
 entering upon the sacred function, by putting it in their 
 power to avail themselves of the counsels and admonitions 
 of men distinguished by their character and talents, in 
 whom piety and learning were conjoined with the wisdom 
 of experience. So far as my recommendation may con- 
 tribute to the circulation of the Christian Pastor's Manual, 
 it is most cordially given. 
 
 I am, Dear Sir, 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 J. Dick. 
 
 RECOMMENDATION BY REV. RALPH WARDLAW, D. D., 
 GLASGOW. 
 
 Glasgow, February 1, 1826. 
 Rev. AND Dear Sir, 
 
 " The Christian Pastor's Manual," with the perusal of 
 which you have favoured me, and of which you request 
 my opinion, has my decided and high approval. It con- 
 tains much that is exceedingly valuable, as the record of 
 the judgment and experience of men of deserved eminence 
 in the Church of God, a subject of very deep practical in- 
 terest — the character and duties of a Christian Minister. 
 O what blessed effects might we expect to see resulting, 
 were all of us, who bear the sacred office, niiore thoroughly 
 
Vlll RECOMMENDATIONS. 
 
 imbued, in mind and heart, with the principles and spirit 
 which are here illustrated and enforced ! Were we enabled 
 consistently to exemplify them in all our personal deport- 
 ment, and in the discharge of every function of our Min- 
 isterial trust; were we, with "singleness ofe3'e," to make 
 Christ's object ours, pursuing, as the end of our ministry, 
 the end of his mission — " to seek and to save that vvhich 
 was lost." No conscientious, right-minded servant can 
 satisfy himself with any end different from, or inferior to, 
 that of his Master. And it is my prayer, and my hope, 
 that this publication may, by the blessing of God, emi- 
 nently contribute to prepare for the good work those who 
 have in purpose devoted themselves to it, and to stimulate 
 to renewed earnestness of effort, and self-improvement, and 
 supplication, such as are already engaged in its duties. 
 I ever am, 
 
 Rev. and Dear Sir, 
 
 Yours most cordially, 
 
 Ralph Wardlaw. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page. 
 
 The Evil and Danger of Neglecting Souls. — By P. Dod- 
 
 RISGE, D. D. 11 
 
 Of Preaching Christ. — By Rev. John JEifwiirGS, . .' . . 42 
 
 Of Particular and Experimental Preaching. — By Rev. John 
 
 Jenxisgs, 57 
 
 Pastoral Cautions. — By Rev. Abraham Booth, .... 72 
 
 On the Qualifications Necessary for Teachers of Christiani- 
 ty.— By John Ekskine, D. D 109 
 
 " Ministers of the Gospel Cautioned against giving Offence. — 
 
 By John Erskine, D. D 150 
 
 "" Difficulties of the Pastoral Office.— By John Ehskine, D. D. 185 
 
 Rules for the Preacher's Conduct. — By Isaac Watts, D. D. 206 
 
 The Student and Pastor. — By Rev. John Mason, A. M. . 252 
 
 ■^ The Character and Duty of a Christian Preacher. — By Rev. 
 
 D. BosTveicK, A. M 346 
 
 Letter on the Propriety of a Ministerial Address to the Un- 
 converted. — By Rev. John Newton 376 
 
 Thoughts on 1 Timothy iv. 13.— By Rev. T. Scott, A. M. 383 
 ^ On the Snares and Difficulties attending the Ministry of the 
 
 Gospel. — By Rev. John Newton, €92 
 
 Remarks on Subjects connected with the Christian Ministry. 
 
 —By Rev. R. Cecil, M. A. 398 
 
 Questions Proper for Young Ministers frequently to put to 
 themselves, chiefly borrowed from the Epistles to Tim- 
 othy and Titus.— By Isaac Watts, D. D. ... 414 
 
THE 
 
 CHRISTIAN PASTOR'S MANUAL. 
 
 THE EVIL AND DANGER OF NEGLECTING 
 
 SOULS. 
 
 BY P. DODDRIDGE, D. D. 
 
 "If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, 
 and those that are ready to be slain : if thou sayest, Be- 
 hold, we knew it not, — doth not he that pondereth the 
 heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not 
 he know it ? and shall not he render to every man accord- 
 ing to his works ?" 
 
 For the explication of these words, I would offer three 
 plain and obvious remarks : — 
 
 (1.) That the omission, which is here charged as so dis- 
 pleasing to God, though immediately refering to men's nat- 
 ural lives, must surely imply that the neglect of their souls 
 is much more criminal. 
 
 The text strongly implies, that we shall be exposed to 
 guilt and condemnation, before God, hy forbearing to de- 
 liver them that are drawji unto deaths and those that are 
 ready to he slain. This must directly refer to innocent 
 persons, brought into visible and extreme danger by some 
 oppressive enemy, either by the sudden assault of a pri- 
 vate person, or by some unjust prosecution under forms of 
 
12 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 law ; and may particularly extend to cases, where we have 
 reason to believe a capital sentence has been passed, in 
 consequence of false witnesses, detected before execution 
 is done ;* and if the neglect of that be (as you see it is) 
 represented as highly criminal, it must be a much more 
 heinous crime, by any neglect of ours, to permit the ruin 
 of men's souls, without endeavouring after their recovery, 
 when they are, as it were, drawn away to the extremest 
 danger of eternal death, and are ready to be slain by the 
 sword of divine justice. 
 
 (2.) The text seems to suppose that men would be ready 
 to excuse themselves for this neglect. It is true, indeed, 
 that at the first sight of a miserable object, we naturally 
 find a strong impulse to endeavour to relieve it. Our 
 hearts, as it were, spring in our bosoms, and urge us for- 
 ward, to exert ourselves on such an occasion ; which seems 
 to be intimated by that word, which we render forbear, 
 which often signifies to check, to restrain, and hold back 
 a person from what he is eager on doing ; but the wise 
 man intimates, there may be danger of suppressing these 
 generous sallies of the soul, on the first view of the object; 
 of suffering our charity to cool, and then of searching out 
 apologies for our inactivity. You may be ready to say, 
 Behold, we knew it not. " I did not particularly see the 
 
 * It was allowed amongst die Jews, that if any person could offer 
 any thing in favour of a prisoner, after sentence was passed, he might 
 be heard before execution was done ; and therefore it was usual (as 
 the JMischna says) that when a man was led to execution, a cryer 
 went before him, and proclaimed " This man is now going to be 
 executed for such a crime, and such and such are witnesses against 
 him ; — whoever knows him to be innocent, let him come forth and 
 make it appear." 
 
ON THE NEGLECT OF SOULS. 13 
 
 danger : I did not, however, apprehend it to be so extreme ; 
 or, I did not know the innocence of the person in danger ; 
 or, if I did believe it, I knew not how to deliver him. I 
 did not think the interposition of such a person as myself 
 could be of any importance in such an affair. I was sorry 
 to see innocence overborne, and weakness oppressed ; but 
 I was myself too weak to contend with the mightier op- 
 pressor ; too poor, too ignorant, or too busy, to meddle in 
 an affair where those who were much my superiors were 
 concerned, and had determined the case. I had no obli- 
 gations to the person in danger ; I had no concern with 
 him, nor any thing to do to embarrass myself with his 
 affairs." — If these excuses be just, it is well. Neverthe- 
 less, the text supposes, 
 
 (3.) That these excuses might often be overruled, by an 
 appeal to men's consciences, as in the sight of God. 
 
 Doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it ? As 
 if he should have said, " It is an easy thing to excuse 
 omissions, so that a fellow-creature shall have nothing to 
 reply ; but whoever thou art that readest these words, I 
 charge thee to remember, that it is comparatively a very 
 little matter to be judged of man's judgment : he that 
 judgeth thee is the Lord; and he pondereth the heart : he 
 weighs, in a most accurate balance, all its most secret sen- 
 timents. I there cut off* all chicane and trifling debate at 
 once, by placing thee in his presence, and laying open 
 thy conscience there. Thou canst answer me ; but canst 
 thou answer the heart-searching God ? Does not He, the 
 great Father of Spirits, see, in every instance, how inferior 
 spirits conduct themselves 1 Does he not precisely know 
 the situation in which thy heart was, at the very moment 
 in question ? Thou sayest thou knewest it not ; but he is 
 
 witness whether thou indeed didst, or didst not know it ; 
 3 
 
14 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 and he also sees all the opportunities and advantages which 
 thou hadst for knowing it : all the hints which might have 
 been traced out to open a more explicit and particular 
 knowledge ; every glimpse which thou hadst when thou 
 wast ( like the priest, when he spied at a distance the 
 wounded traveller) passing by on the other side, and per- 
 haps affecting to look the contrary way." 
 
 Nor was it in vain that the wise man renewed his expos- 
 tulation in a different form. He that keepeih thy soulj 
 doth not he know it? As if he had said, " Consider God, 
 as keeping thine own soul ; as holding it in life ; as pre- 
 serving thy spirit, by his continued visitation ; and then 
 say, O thou that neglectest the life of thy brother, whether 
 he must not be highly displeased with that neglect ? May 
 he not reasonably expect, that while He, the Lord of 
 Heaven and Earth, condescends to become thy guardian, 
 thou shouldst learn of him, and be according to thine abili- 
 ty, and in thy sphere, a guardian to the whole human race, 
 and shouldst endeavour, in every instance, to ward off 
 danger from the life, from the soul of thy brother!" 
 
 And that these thoughts may enter into thy mind with 
 all their weight, it is added, once more, in this pointed form 
 of interrogation. Will he not render to every man accord- 
 ing to his works ? " I appeal to thine own heart. Is he not 
 a Being of infinite moral, as well as natural perfections, and 
 will he not, as the Judge of all the earth, do right ] Would 
 he not have remembered and rewarded thy generous care 
 for the preservation of the miserable creature in question ? 
 And, on the other hand, will he not reckon with thee for 
 such a failure? Human laws, indeed, cannot punish such 
 neglects; but the Supreme Legislator can, and will do it. 
 Think of these things, and guard against such fatal negli- 
 gence in every future instance. Think of them, and hum- 
 
ON THE NEGLECT OF SOULS. 15 
 
 ble thyself deeply before God, for every past instance in 
 which such guilt has been incurred." 
 
 God is my witness, that I mean not to insinuate the 
 least disrespectful thought, with regard to any one of you. 
 Nevertheless, permit me to say it without offence (for 1 say 
 it in the fear of God, and with the sincerest deference and 
 friendship to you) I am afraid, the extensive and impor- 
 tant obligations of the ministerial office are not generally 
 considered and remembered among us as they ought. I 
 apprehend, much more might be done to the honour of 
 God and the good of souls than is commonly done, even 
 by those who, in the main, have a principle of true religion 
 in their hearts; by those who keep up the exercise of pub- 
 lic worship in a regular and honourable manner, and ap- 
 pear not only irreproachable in their conversation, but, if 
 considered as in private life, bringing forth the fruits of 
 righteousness. The learned, the wise, the virtuous, the 
 pious minister, is, I fear, often negligent of a considerable 
 part of his trust, and charge ; and thereby fails to deliver^ 
 as he might those that are drawn unto death, and perhaps 
 are Just ready to be slain. 
 
 To awaken our spirits, therefore, from that insensibility, 
 in this respect, into which they are so ready to fall, I shall 
 take the liberty, 
 
 I. Briefly to consider, what excuses we may be most 
 ready to offer, for neglecting the souls of men. 
 
 II. Seriously to represent the great evil of that neglect 
 in the sicrht of God, notwithstandinsj all those excuses. 
 After which, 
 
 III. I shall add a few hints, by way of reflection, as the 
 time may admit. 
 
 (I.) I am to consider, what excuses we may be ready to 
 
16 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 make, for neglectinjT to do our utmost for the salvation of 
 men's souls. — Particularly, 
 
 1. That we do something considerable for that purpose ; 
 that we take care for their instruction in public ; reading 
 the word of God to them, when they are assembled to- 
 gether in his house; explaining and enforcing it, in our 
 expositions and sermons ; presenting prayers and praises to 
 God, in their name ; and, at proper seasons, administering 
 the sacraments, in such a manner as we judge most agree- 
 able to the institution of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 And so far indeed it is well ; and a most wise and gra- 
 cious appointment of our blessed Redeemer it is, that such 
 ordinances should be administered on solemn stated days, 
 and by men appropriated to that employment ; in conse- 
 quence of which, such knowledge is dispersed, as is, through 
 the divine blessing, effectual for the salvation of many souls ; 
 and I am not afraid to say that this would make the Chris- 
 tian ministrj'', even in the hands of ignorant, careless, and 
 vicious men, a blessing to the nation where it is settled, so 
 long as reading the Scriptures, and almost any kind of 
 prayers in an intelligible language, make a part of divine 
 service in their assemblies. Much more then will it be so 
 in the hands of wise, sober, and religious men. 
 
 But while we are thus pleading our diligence and care 
 in the administration of public ordinances, it will be kind- 
 ness to ourselves, seriously to ask our own hearts, at least, 
 how they are administered. It is a very important trust 
 to have the management of men's religious hours commit- 
 ted to us; their seasons of social worship being, compara- 
 tively, so short, and so infinitely momentous. Methinks, 
 we do almost, as it were, put our own lives in our hand 
 while we undertake it, and may justly tremble on the view 
 of that awful account which we are to give of it. 
 
ON THE NEGLECT OF SOULS. IT 
 
 I hope, Sirs, we have the testimony of our own con- 
 sciences before God, that we do not, on these solemn oc- 
 casions, content ourselves with cold essays on mere moral 
 subjects, however acute, philosophical, or polite ; nor make 
 it our main business, in our sermons, to seek the ornament 
 and elegance of words, the refinements of criticism, or the 
 nice arrangement of various complex and abstruse argu- 
 mentations. When we speak, in the name and presence 
 of God, to immortal creatures, on the borders of eternity, 
 I hope we entertain our hearers with plain, serious, and 
 lively discourses, on the most important doctrines of Chris- 
 tianity, in their due connexion and their relation to each 
 other, in such a manner as we, on mature consideration, 
 do verily believe may have the most effectual tendency to 
 bring them to God through Christ, and to produce and pro- 
 mote in their hearts, through the divine blessing, the great 
 work of regeneration and holiness. I hope and trust that 
 God is our witness, and that the people of our charge are 
 witnesses, that not one of those who diligently attend on 
 our ministry, though but for a few succeeding Sabbaths, 
 can fail to learn the way of salvation, as exhibited in the 
 gospel ; and that we speak of it as those that are in earn- 
 est, and do, from our very souls, desire to answer the great 
 ends of our ministry, in the prosperity of the Redeemer's 
 kingdom, and the eternal happiness of those invaluable 
 souls whom he has committed to our care, — otherwise, we 
 may incur great and fatal guilt, though public worship be 
 constantly and decently carried on, and though a reasona- 
 ble proportion of time be employed in it, with numerous 
 and attentive auditories ; to whom we may be as the lovely 
 song of one that has a pleasant voice, while in the ears of 
 God, for want of that fervent charity, which should dictate 
 and animate all, we are but as sounding brass, or as a 
 tinkling cymbal. 
 2* 
 
18 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 But granting, as I would willingly suppose, and as with 
 relation to you, my brethren, I do firmly believe, all these 
 reflections can be answered with satisfaction, — here is in- 
 deed a part of your duty honourably performed, and an 
 important part of it too ; — but is that part, though ever so 
 important, to be substituted for the whole? The diligent 
 inspection of our flock, pastoral visits, the observation of 
 the religious state of families, personal exhortations, admo- 
 nitions, and cautions, by word or letter, as prudence shall 
 direct, catechising children, promoting religious associa- 
 tions among the younger and the elder people of our charge, 
 and the strict and resolute exercise of discipline in the sev- 
 eral churches over which we preside, — are these no parts 
 of our office? Will we say it with our dying breath? — 
 will we maintain it before the tribunal of Christ, that they 
 did not belong to the Christian ministry ? — and if not, will 
 our care in other parts of it be allowed as a sufficient ex- 
 cuse before him for our total omission of these. We have 
 preached, and prayed, and administered the sacraments. 
 These things we should indeed have done ; and when we 
 had taken the care of congregations upon us, we could 
 hardly avoid it ; but surely our own consciences will, now 
 or hereafter, tell us that we ought not to have left the 
 others undone ; — but we may, perhaps, for a while elude 
 the conviction, by pleading, 
 
 2. That the care of particular persons more properly 
 belongs to others ; and especially to heads of families, who 
 have more opportunities of being serviceable to those under 
 their charge, and indeed have the most immediate concern 
 in them. It certainly does. But does it belong to them 
 alone ? — or if it did, do not they belong to us and to our 
 care ? — and is it not the part of every superior officer of a 
 society to see to it, that the subaltern officers be careful 
 and diligent in the discharge of their duty? — and in this 
 
ON THE NEGLECT OF SOULS. 1 9 
 
 case, are we to take it for granted that, in our respective 
 congregations, heads of families are so of course? — that 
 they pray in their families ; that they read the Scriptures 
 and other good books there, especially on the evening of 
 the Lord's Day ; — that they catechize their children ; and 
 solemnly press upon them, and upon their servants, the 
 serious care of practical religion. Are we roundly to con- 
 clude, without any farther inquiry, that all this is done, 
 and done in so diligent and so prudent a manner as that 
 there is no need of any particular exhortations, instructions, 
 or admonitions from us? Would to God there were any 
 one congregation in the whole kingdom of which this might 
 reasonably be presumed to be the case ! But if it were in- 
 deed so, would not our concurrence with these wise and 
 pious heads of families, in so good but so difficult a work, 
 encourage and strengthen them to prosecute it with greater 
 cheerfulness and vigour? Would it not quicken both their 
 cares and their endeavours? And might it not, by the di- 
 vine blessing, promote the success of them ? Might it not 
 gain on the minds of children and servants, to see that 
 we do not think it beneath us, tenderly to care for their 
 souls? And might not our tender and condescending re- 
 gards to them in private, by convincing them how well we 
 mean them, render our public labours more acceptable and 
 useful to them? Now, we well know that the children 
 and servants of the present generation are the hopes of the 
 next; as they are probably those that, in their turns, will 
 be parents and governors of families, whose children and 
 servants, when they arise, will one way or another feel the 
 happy or unhappy consequences of our fidelity or neglect; 
 — and when such affairs are in question, shall we allow 
 ourselves to plead, 
 
 3. That we have so much other business, and such va- 
 
20 
 
 rious engagements of a different kind, that we cannot pos- 
 , sibly attend to these things ? 
 
 But give me leave, my brethren, to observe, that the 
 question here is not, Whether we can find out other agree- 
 able ways of filling up our time? but, Whether those other 
 ways are more important? and. Whether that different 
 manner of employing it be more acceptable in the sight of 
 God, and will turn to a better account in that great day, 
 when our conduct is to be finally reviewed by Him ? We 
 must indeed have our seasons of recreation, and our sea- 
 sons of study ; but it will easily appear, that no regards 
 to either of these will vindicate or excuse our neglect of 
 the private duties we owe to our flock, in giving diligence 
 to know their state ; and being careful to teach them, not 
 only publicly, but from house to house. 
 
 Recreation, to be sure, can afford no just apology for 
 neglecting it; since to follow this employment prudently, 
 might be made a kind of recreation from the labours of a 
 sedentary and studious life. A grave and severe recrea- 
 tion ! you will perhaps say. Grave indeed, I will acknow- 
 ledge it to be ; but not therefore to a serious mind less de- 
 lightful. So much of those two noblest and sweetest ex- 
 ercises of the soul, devotion and benevolence, would natur- 
 ally mingle with these pious cares and tender addresses, 
 as would renew the strength which had been exhausted in 
 our studious hours, and the manly, shall I say, or rather 
 the God-like joy it would administer, would quite discoun- 
 tenance that which we find in the gay indulgences of a 
 humorous and facetious conversation ; though I see no ne- 
 cessity of forbidding that, at proper intervals, so far as its 
 cheerfulness is consistent with wisdom and religion ; and 
 I am sure, that if we can turn our seasons of recess from 
 study to so profitable an account as would be answered by 
 
ON THE NEGLECT OF SOULS. 21 
 
 the duties which you know I have now in view, it will be 
 a most happy art, well becoming one who is truly pru- 
 dent, and would therefore husband his time to the best pur- 
 poses for eternity ; in which view, it is evident that the 
 smallest fragments of it, like the dust of gold, are too val- 
 uable to be lost. 
 
 The great proportion of time to be given to our studies 
 will, no doubt, be urged, as a yet more material excuse; 
 but here it is obvious to reply, that a prudent care in the 
 duties I am now recommending, is very consistent with 
 our employing a great deal of time in study ; and particu- 
 larly, with our giving it, what I hope we shall always 
 learn to value and redeem, our morning hours, to which 
 some of the evening may also be added ; and if these will 
 not generally suffice, give me leave to ask. What are those 
 important studies that would thus engross the whole of our 
 time, excepting what is given Devotion and to what is gen- 
 erally called Recreation ? 
 
 I have had some little taste of the pleasures of literature 
 myself, and have some reason to hope I shall not be sus- 
 pected of any prejudice against it ; nor am I at all inclined 
 to pass those contemptuous censures on the various branches 
 of it, in which ignorance and sloth are often, with strange 
 stupidity, or with yet stranger assurance, seeking, and it 
 may be finding a refuge ; but on such an occasion I must 
 freely say that I fear many things, which employ a very 
 large portion of our retired time, are studied rather as po- 
 lite amusements to our own minds than as things which 
 seem to have any apparent subserviency to the glory of 
 God and the edification of our flock ; and consequently, I 
 fear, they will stand as articles of abatement, if I may 
 so express it, in our final account; and when they come to 
 be made manifest, it will be found works that shall be 
 
22 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 burnt, as being no better, in tbe divine esteem, " than 
 wood, hay, and stubble," how beautifully soever they may 
 have been varnished, or gilded over. 
 
 Let me here, in particular, address myself to my younger 
 brethren, with a frankness which may be to them more 
 excusable, while I urge them to a Christian self-denial 
 upon this head, where perhaps it may be, of all others, 
 the more difficult. 1 do not apprehend persons of your 
 approved character to be in danger of any other kind of 
 luxury and intemperance; but there is, if you will permit 
 me so to call it, a sort of refined, intellectual luxury, with 
 regard to which I am jealous over you, lest you should be 
 seduced into it, or rather, lest some of you be already en- 
 snared by its specious charms. 
 
 I would not, my young friends, be so severe and cruel as 
 to desire you should be confined from that high and ele- 
 gant entertainment, which a person of genius and taste will 
 find in the masterly writings of the ancient orators, histo- 
 rians, and poets; or in those polite and elegant pieces 
 which our own and other modern languages may afford ; 
 from which the wise man and the Christian will learn 
 many things of solid use, as well as matters of most de- 
 lightful amusement. Neither would I pretend to forbid 
 some mathematical and philosophical researches, into 
 which you are initiated in your academical course, and 
 with which you will do well to retain and improve your 
 acquaintance in the progress of life ; both to strengthen 
 your rational faculties by that strenuous exercise, and 
 to improve your knowledge of the works of God ; which 
 will appear great, wonderful, and delightful, in proportion 
 to the degree of sagacity and diligence with which they 
 may be searched out ; but it is one thing to taste of these 
 poignant and luscious fruits, and another to feed and live 
 
ON THE NEGLECT OF SOULS. 23 
 
 upon them : one thing to make the most noble and substan- 
 tial parts of them our entertainment and refreshment, — and 
 quite another to make their circumstantial curiosities the 
 chief business of our study, and the favourite subjects of 
 our most attentive inquiry. That true greatness and ele- 
 vation of mind, which the gospel is so admirably calcula- 
 ted to produce, would teach us a much sublimer science; 
 and if, for the sake of these little things, we neglect to pray 
 for those whom God hath committed to our care, to inquire 
 into their religious state, to pursue them with suitable ap- 
 plications and addresses, the time will come when we shall 
 assuredly own that we dearly purchased the most refined 
 pleasures they could possibly give us ; not to say how 
 much greater and nobler pleasure we even now resign, 
 while our duty is neglected. 
 
 Oh ! my brethren, let us consider how fast we are post- 
 ing through this dying life which God has assigned us, in 
 which we are to manage concerns of infinite moment ; how 
 fast we are passing on to the immediate presence of our 
 Lord, to give up our account to him. You must judge for 
 yourselves ; but permit me to say, that, for my own part, 
 I would not, for ten thousand worlds, be that man who, 
 when God shall ask him at last, how he has employed 
 most of his time while he continued a minister in his 
 church, and had the care of souls, should be obliged to re- 
 ply, "Lord, I have restored many corrupted passages in 
 the ancient classics, and illustrated many which were be- 
 fore obscure ; I have cleared up many intricacies in chro- 
 nology or geography ; I have solved many perplexed cases 
 in algebra ; I have refined on astronomical calculations ; 
 and left behind me many sheets on these curious and diffi- 
 cult subjects, where the figures and characters are ranged 
 with the greatest exactness and truth ; and these are the 
 
24 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 employments in which my life has been worn out while 
 preparations for the pulpit, or ministrations in it, did not de- 
 mand any immediate attendance." Oh, sirs, as for the 
 waters which are drawn from these springs, how sweetly 
 soever they may taste to a curious mind that thirsts for 
 them, or to an ambitious mind, which thirsts for the ap- 
 plause they sometimes procure, I fear there is often reason 
 to pour them out before the Lord, with rivers of penitential 
 tears, as the blood of souls which have been forgotten, while 
 these trifles have been remembered and pursued. 
 
 Nor am I without my fears that a great deal of studious 
 time is lost in an over-artful composition of sermons, and 
 in giving them such polish and ornament as does not con- 
 duce to their usefulness, nor any way balance the labour 
 employed in the work. If we do not diligently watch over 
 our hearts, this will be an incense offered to our own van- 
 ity, which will render our sacrifice less acceptable to God, 
 however we and our hearers may be delighted with the 
 perfume. 
 
 Greater plainness and simplicity of speech might often 
 be more useful to the bulk of our auditory, and perhaps 
 more acceptable too; and, on the whole, it might be at 
 least equally beautiful ; for all that are not children in un- 
 derstanding, know that there is a natural and manly kind 
 of eloquence, arising from a deep sense of the subject, and 
 an ardent love to the souls of our hearers, which is of all 
 others the most to be desired and esteemed ; and though 
 such discourses may be attended with some little inaccura- 
 cies, and may want something of the varnish which exacter 
 preparation might set on, — yet, surely, where a habit of 
 speaking is formed by proper application, and the materials 
 of a sermon are well digested in the mind, it will rise above 
 a reasonable contempt ; and if, where more exact prepara- 
 
ON THE NEGLECT OF SOULS. 25 
 
 tion is made, a care to preserve those niceties of composi- 
 tion deaden the manner of the delivery, and take off either 
 its solemnity, its vigour, or its tenderness, I cannot but ap- 
 prehend it as injurious to the character of the orator as to 
 that of the Christian. The most celebrated speakers, in 
 judicial courts and in senates, have in all nations and ages 
 pursued the method I now recommend ; and the most ac- 
 ceptable preachers have successfully attempted it. 
 
 On the whole, permit me to say, it would be a fatal 
 thing to barter away the souls of our people for the highest 
 and justest reputation of speaking well; yet I fear there are 
 many who, in this view, do it for nought, and have not, in 
 any sense, increased their wealth by the price. But per- 
 haps, after all, the most plausible excuse may be that which 
 I have reserved as the last that I shall mention, viz: 
 
 4. That the attempts I am proposing might displease 
 those that attend upon our ministry; upon which account 
 it may seem, both with respect to them and ourselves, a 
 necessary precaution of prudence to decline them. This 
 is the lion in the street, which we often plead, slothful as 
 we too naturally are, for staying within doors, when our 
 duty calls us abroad on these charitable errands; but I 
 hope, on a nearer approach, it will not be found so fierce, 
 or so invincible, as a timorous imagination paints it. 
 
 Methinks, brethren, we make a very unfavourable repre- 
 sentation of the temper and character, not to say of the 
 breeding and understanding of our people, when we so 
 readily take it for granted that they will be displeased with 
 us for addressing those exhortations to them in private, 
 which they seem so desirous of receiving from us in public. 
 Let us ask our own consciences, would they all be dis- 
 pleased? If not, the displeasure it might give to some, can 
 be no excuse for neglecting it with regard to others; and 
 
26 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 we are indeed so miserable as to be situated among whole 
 congregations, in whom ignorance, pride, and profaneness, 
 prevail to such a degree, that a minister who would be 
 welcome among them, if he came only as a common visit- 
 ant, should be looked upon with contempt or indignation, 
 when he came expressly as a " friend to their eternal in- 
 terests," and would step a little out of the common way 
 for their salvation ? 
 
 If this were really our case, who would not say with 
 the prophet. Oh, that I had in the wilderness a lodging- 
 place of wayfaring men, though it were but such a wretch- 
 ed cave as travellers find in a desert, that I might leave 
 my people, and go from them ; for they be all an assembly 
 of treacherous men ! — of treacherous men indeed, if, while 
 they call themselves Christians and Protestants, they should 
 think themselves injured and affronted by the exhortations 
 of their ministers, while they would warn every man, and 
 teach every man in all wisdom, that they might present 
 them perfect in Christ ; but, blessed be God, bad as the 
 world is, there is no room to imagine this to be the case, 
 or any thing like it. Perhaps, while we are delaying, and 
 coldly deliberating about it, many lively Christians under 
 our care are earnestly praying that God may put such a 
 thing into our hearts; and should we attempt it, I doubt 
 not but they would receive us as angels of God, or even 
 as Christ himself; their love to us would be more abun- 
 dantly confirmed, and their hearts cemented in closer bonds 
 than they have yet known ; and many others would at 
 least own that we acted in character, and maintained a 
 more apparent consistency of behaviour, if the affair were 
 properly conducted. 
 
 Did we indeed pretend to control them in the manage- 
 ment of their temporal affairs, or to exercise a lordly do- 
 
ON THE NEGLECT OF SOULS. 27 
 
 minion over their faith and their conscience, they might 
 justly be displeased ; or did we craftily demand that they 
 should lay open to us the secrets of their breasts in con- 
 fession, their suspicions were pardonable, and their resent- 
 ments reasonable ; but it must be great malice and folly to 
 suspect any design of that infamous nature from our visit- 
 ing them as pastors, with pious exhortations and affection- 
 ate prayers, as those who are concerned for them and their 
 children and servants, that their souls may prosper and be 
 in health. A solicitude for the health of their bodies is 
 esteemed friendship and gratitude, and inquiries concern- 
 ing it seem but common decency; and can it offend them 
 to find we are solicitous about that welfare which is infi- 
 nitely more important, and, by virtue of our office, our 
 peculiar charge ? 
 
 Yes, you will say, in one instance it will displease ; for 
 when we are obliged to blame any thing which we see 
 amiss in them, their pride will naturally take fire on such 
 an occasion ; and perhaps those whom we have thought 
 our best friends will become our enemies, if we will ven- 
 ture to tell them such disagreeable truths as fidelity may 
 extort in some circumstances. This is, after all, the main 
 difficulty ; and, as I cannot wonder if it impress our minds, 
 I pray God to forgive the perverseness of those that make 
 it so great. Yet, surely, it is possible to manage reproof 
 so as that in most instances it shall oblige rather than pro- 
 voke. If we tell our hearers of their faults privately ; and 
 if we do it with tenderness and respect ; if we show by 
 our manner of speaking, that what we say proceeds from 
 an humble fear lest we should displease God, betray our 
 trust, and injure their souls by neglect ; if at the same 
 time our behaviour to them be, as it surely should be, con- 
 stantly obliging ; if we do our utmost, so far as truth and 
 justice will permit, to guard and shelter their character in 
 
28 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MA.NUAL. 
 
 the world ; and bring our complaints of them to none but 
 themselves, — bad as the world is, I believe few will quar- 
 rel with us upon this account ; but we shall see, as Solo- 
 mon observed, That " he who rebuketh a man, will after- 
 wards find more favour than he that flattereth with his 
 tongue." 
 
 But supposing the worst that can happen, that folly and 
 wickedness should prevail so far over all the tender and 
 prudent address of the friend and the pastor, as to render 
 us evil for so great a good, and hatred for so generous and 
 so self-denying an instance of love, how could that hatred 
 be expressed ? Seldom in any more formidable manner 
 than by w^ithdrawing from our ministry, and discontinuing 
 what they have done for our support ; for the revelings of 
 persons of such a character can seldom hurt any but them- 
 selves. 
 
 Now I hope, brethren, we shall always retain so much 
 of a manly, not to say a Christian spirit, as to choose to 
 retrench some of our expenses, to forego some of the en- 
 tertainments of life, to cast ourselves and families on Provi- 
 dence, or even, if it were necessary, to subsist in an ho- 
 nest and creditable poverty by the daily labour of our own 
 hands, much rather than meanly to crouch to such haughty 
 sinners, and sacrifice duty, honour, and conscience to the 
 arrogance of their petulant temper. Let us fear God as 
 we ought, and we shall find nothing to fear from them ; 
 but we should be willing to imitate the fidelity and courage 
 of the Baptist, though the wrath of a king might be pro- 
 voked by it, and imprisonment or martyrdom might be its 
 reward. I hope such considerations as these may effectu- 
 ally obviate the excuses which indolence or cowardice 
 may be ready to form for our neglect of men's souls, es- 
 pecially when we go on, 
 
 ( II.) To consider the great evil of that neglect, as it 
 
 / 
 
ON THE NEGLECT OF SOULS. 29 
 
 appears in the sight of God, notwithstanding all these ex- 
 cuses, or any of the like kind, with which we may endea- 
 vour to palliate it. 
 
 But who can fully represent it, as it appears to his capa- 
 cious and all-penetrating view ! What human mind can 
 conceive the infinite evil ! It is not, sirs, a subject on which 
 to display the wantonness of wit, or the colourings of ar- 
 tificial harangue ; a terrible kind of solemnity attends it, 
 and I attempt the display of it with fear and tresabling. 
 If it seem a light matter to us to forbear to deliver those 
 that, in this sense, are drawn unto deaths and them that 
 are thus ready to perish, consider, my brethren, and oh ! 
 may my own conscience always consider, what the death 
 of the soul is ! How many wretched souls are continually 
 dying around us ! What gracious provision God has made 
 to prevent it! and what peculiar obligations we are under, 
 to labour to the utmost for the preservation of their lives I 
 
 1. Let us think what the death of the sold is. 
 
 The apostle James intimates, that it is a thought of great 
 importance, when he says, " He that shall turn a sinner 
 from the error of his way, shall save a soul from death." 
 As if he had said. Do but reflect what that is, and you will 
 find your success is its own I'eward. We well know that 
 to save a soul from death is not merely to prevent the ex- 
 tinction of its being, though even that were much ; but to 
 prevent its positive, its lasting, its eternal misery. It is to 
 prevent its being slain by the pointed and flaming sword of 
 divine justice. 
 
 It is a tragical spectacle to behold a criminal dying by 
 human laws, even where the methods of execution are gen- 
 tle ; as, through the lenity of ours, they generally are 
 amongst us ; and; I doubt not, but it would grieve us to the 
 
 heart to see any who had been under our ministerial care 
 3* 
 
30 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 in that deplorable circumstance ; but oh ! how much more 
 deeply must it pierce our very souls to see them led forth 
 to that last dreadful execution, with those of whom Christ 
 shall say, "As for these mine enemies, who would not that 
 I should reign over them, bring them forth, and slay them 
 before me !" Oh, how will it wound us to hear the begin- 
 ning of those cries and wailings which must never end ! 
 How shall we endure the reflection, " These wretches are 
 perishing for ever, in part because I would not take any 
 pains to attempt their salvation 1" — and is this so strange a 
 supposition, that some, once under our ministry, may then 
 perish in our sight ? Would to God that it were only less 
 probable ! But, on the contrary, let us, 
 
 2. Consider, how many souls, precious and immortal as 
 they are, seem to be continually dying around us ! 
 
 Are there but few that miscarry ? Let Peter inform us, 
 when he says, That " the righteous scarcely are saved." 
 Yea, let our Lord himself inform us, when he says, " Strait 
 is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life, 
 and few there be that find it ; whereas wide is the gate and 
 broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many 
 there be that go in thereat." We grieve to see epidemical 
 distempers prevailing around us ; we are ready, as Provi- 
 dence calls us, to visit the sick and the dying ; and could 
 take little pleasure in our health, if we did not endeavour 
 to succour them, as we have opportunity. 
 
 But let us look round and see whether that distemper 
 which threatens the death of souls, be not epidemical in- 
 deed. With all the allowances which that charity can 
 make which believcth all things, and hopeth all things, 
 which it can with any shadow of reason hope and believe, 
 — must we not own that there are marks of eternal death 
 on many? — and that there are many more in whom we can 
 
ON THE NEGLECT OF SOULS. 31 
 
 see nothing which looks hke a token of spiritual life? So 
 that the best we can say of them is, that possibly there 
 may be some latent sparks of it concealed in tiie heart, 
 which as yet produce no effect to the honour of their pro- 
 fession, or the benefit of the world. In the meantime, 
 sinners are spreading the infection of their infidelity and 
 their vices far and wide; as if, like some illustrious 
 wretches that have been miscalled heroes, they accounted 
 the destruction of numbers their glory. Can we behold 
 such a contagion spreading itself even in the Christian 
 church, which ought to be healthful as the regions of Par- 
 adise, and not bitterly lament it before God 1 — or can we 
 seriously lament it, and not endeavour its redress ? — espe- 
 cially when we consider, 
 
 3. What gracious provision God hath made to prevent 
 their death. " Is there not indeed balm in Gilead ? Is 
 there not a Physician there ?" — even this glorious gospel of 
 the blessed God, whose efficacy we have so often heard of 
 and seen! And shall they yet perish? Adored be the 
 riches of divine grace, we know (and it is infinitely the 
 most important part of all our knowledge) that there is a 
 rich and free pardon proclaimed to all that will sue for it, 
 and accept the benefit in a proper, that is, a grateful man- 
 ner ; for cordial acceptance and real gratitude are all it 
 demands. One would expect the tidings should be as life 
 to the dead ; but we see how coldly they are received — 
 how shamefully they are slighted — how generally, yea, 
 how obstinately they are rejected ; and what is the conse- 
 quence? Refusing to believe on the Son of God, they shall 
 " not see life but the wrath of God abiding on them," with 
 an additional weight of vengeance, as it well may. 
 
 Now, is not this enough to make our very hearts bleed 
 to think that immortal souls should die under the gospel ? 
 
32 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 yea, die under aggravated guilt and ruin ! So that, in- 
 stead of being any thing the better for this delightful mes- 
 sage of peace and grace, they should be for ever the worse 
 for it, and have reason to wish, throughout all eternity, 
 thev had never seen the faces, nor heard the voices of 
 those that brouo;ht it, but had been numbered amoncr the 
 sinners of Tyre and Sidon, of Sodom and Gomorrah. 
 
 If we do not, on the express authority of our Lord, be- 
 lieve this to be the case with regard to impenitent sinners 
 under the gospel, we are not Christians even of the lowest 
 class ; but if we do not believe it, and are not affected with 
 it so far as to endeavour their recovery, I see not how any 
 regard to our own temporal interest, or that of others, can 
 entitle us to the character, either of prudence or humanity; 
 even though we had not been distinguished by a public of- 
 fice in the church, but had passed through life in the sta- 
 tion of the obscurest among our hearers ; but it is impossi- 
 ble I should do justice to my argument, if I do not urge, 
 
 4. The consideration of the peculiar obligations we are 
 under to endeavour the preservation of souls, not only in 
 virtue of our experience as Christians, but of our office as 
 ministers. 
 
 If we were only to consider our experiences as we are 
 Christians, if we have any thing more than the empty 
 name, that consideration might certainly afford us a very 
 tender argument to awaken our compassion to the souls of 
 others. We know what it is ourselves to be upon the 
 brink of destruction, and in that sad circumstance to obtain 
 mercy; and shall we not extend mercy to others'/ We 
 have looked to Jesus, that we might live ; and shall we not 
 point him out to them ? We have tasted that the Lord is 
 gracious ; and shall we not desire to communicate the same 
 happy relish of his grace to all about us ? He has mag- 
 
ON THE NEGLECT OF SOULS. 33 
 
 nified the riches of his pardoning love to us : and shall we 
 not, with David, resolve that we will endeavour to teach 
 transgressors his ways, and labour to promote the conver- 
 sion of sinners unto him ? Even now he is keeping our 
 souls, his visitation preserves our spirits ; and, as it is by 
 his grace that we are what we are, it is by having obtained 
 help from him that we continue unto this day ; and shall 
 his grace, daily bestowed upon us, be in vain? — shall not 
 we have compassion on our fellow-servants, as the Lord 
 continually hath pity on us? 
 
 But our office as ministers completes the obligation, when 
 we consider the view in which the word of God represents 
 that office, and the view in which we ourselves have re- 
 ceived it. 
 
 As for the former of these, we are all acquainted with 
 those representations ; and it is greatly to be wished, for 
 our own sake and that of our people, they may be very 
 familiar to our minds. Let us often listen with becoming 
 attention to the blessed God as speaking to us in those 
 words which he once addressed to the prophet Ezekiel, 
 that faithful approved servant of the Lord : " Son cf man, 
 I have made thee a watchman to the house of Israel ; 
 therefore, hear the word at my mouth, and give them 
 warning from me. When I say to the wicked, Thou shalt 
 surely die ; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest 
 to warn the wicked from his evil ways to save his life, — 
 the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity ; but his 
 blood will I require at thine hand :" — and with apparent 
 reason may the sentinel be punished for the desolation 
 which the enemy makes, while, instead of watching, he 
 sleeps. 
 
 We are elsewhere represented as men of God, as sol- 
 diers of Jesus Christ, as made overseers or bishops by the 
 
34 THE CHRISITAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 Holy Ghost, as under-shepherds in subordination to Christ, 
 the great Shepherd and Bishop of souls ; and should not 
 the thought, gentle as it is, awaken us to diligent inspec- 
 tion over the sheep he has committed to our care? Other- 
 wise, we are but images of shepherds, as it is represented in 
 those lively and awful words of God, by Zechariah, which 
 methinks might strike terror aud trembling into many, 
 who, in the eye of the world, may seem the happiest of 
 their brethren : — " Wo to the idol-shepherd that leaveth 
 the flock." The sword of divine vengeance, which, by 
 his negligence, he has justly incurred, " shall be upon his 
 arm, and upon his right eye;" upon that eye which should 
 have watched over the flock, and that arm which should 
 have been stretched out for its rescue ; so that he shall be 
 deprived of those capacities he abused, and be made mi- 
 serable in proportion to that abuse ; for " his arm shall be 
 clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened." 
 Such we know are the pathetic views which the Scripture 
 gives us of our office, and of the guilt and danger attend- 
 ing^ the nesjlect. 
 
 I might, if my time would admit, further urge the views 
 with which we have ourselves received it, and engaged in 
 it. Most of us, when we undertook the pastoral charge, 
 solemnly recorded our vows before God, " that we would 
 endeavour, with all diligence and zeal, to attend to the ser- 
 vices of this holy function ; that we would be instant in 
 season and out of season, and labour to discharge the pri- 
 vate as well as public duties of the ministerial life." 
 
 These vows of God are upon us ; and every ordination 
 of any of our brethren at which we assist, adds a farther 
 and solemn obligation to them. Lot us, therefore, take 
 the greatest care that we do not deal deceitfully and un- 
 faithfully both with God and man. For it is most evident 
 
ON THE NEGLECT OF SOULS. 35 
 
 that, though the neglect of immortal souls is very criminal 
 in every rational creature, it is most of all so in us who 
 have so deliberately and so publicly undertaken the charge 
 of them. 
 
 It would, indeed, in this case, not only be cruelty to 
 them, but the basest treachery and ingratitude to our great 
 Lord, who has lodged such a trust in our hands: a trust 
 which evidently lies so near his heart. Having redeemed 
 his people with his own blood, he commits them to our 
 care; and, having acquired to himself the most tender 
 claim to our love that can be imagined, he graciously re- 
 quires this evidence of it. That we should feed his sheep, 
 yea, his lambs ; so putting our office in the most amiable 
 and tender view, and bringing in every sentiment of grate- 
 ful friendship to excite our diligence in it. 
 
 However we may regard it, I doubt not but our blessed 
 Redeemer considers it as the greatest favour, and the high- 
 est honour he could have conferred upon us; that, being 
 returned to his throne in the heavens, he should choose us 
 to negotiate his cause and interest on earth, and should 
 consign over to our immediate care that gospel he brought 
 down from heaven, and those souls which he died to save; 
 and that he should make it the delightful labour of our life 
 to follow him in his own profession and employment, to 
 be, of all our fellow-creatures, his most immediate repre- 
 sentatives, and, in humble subordination to him, saviours 
 of men. Does not the very mention of it cause our hearts 
 to glow with a fervent desire and generous ambition of an- 
 swering so high a confidence ? Could any one of us en- 
 dure the thought of betraying it? 
 
 How could we, in that case, lift up our faces before him 
 when we shall, as we certainly must, see him, eye to eye! 
 Yes, my brethren, let us every hour recollect it ; our Mas- 
 
36 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 ter will ere lona; come and reckon with us: he will " ren- 
 der to every man according to his works," as my text ex- 
 presses it, in exact harmony with the language of the New 
 Testament; and which of us would not then wish to ap- 
 pear before him, as those that have been faithfully attached 
 to his cause, and have distinguished themselves by a zeal 
 for his service? Shall we then, any of us, repent of our 
 activity in so good a work? Shall we wish that we had 
 given more of our time to the pursuit of secular interest, 
 or the curiosities of literature, and less to the immediate 
 care of souls? Oh, my brethren, let us be wise in time! 
 We have but one life to spend on earth, — and that a very 
 short one too ; let us make the best of it ; and lay it out 
 in such kind of employments as we verily believe will give 
 us most satisfaction in the closing moments of it, and when 
 eternity is opening upon us. It is easy to form plausible 
 excuses for such a conduct: but our own hearts and con- 
 sciences would answer us, if we would seriously ask them 
 what the course of life in the ministerial office is which 
 will then afford the most comfortable review, and through 
 the riches of divine grace, the most pleasing prospect. — T 
 should now proceed, 
 
 ( III.) To the farther application of these things, in some 
 practical inferences from them : — 
 
 1. You have all, I doubt not, prevented me in reflecting 
 on the reason we have to humble ourselves deeply in the 
 presence of the blessed God, while we remember our faults 
 this day. I do not indeed at all question, but that many of us 
 have set before our people life and death ; and have in our 
 public addresses urged their return to God, by the various 
 considerations of terror and of love, which the thunders of 
 Mount Sinai and the grace of Mount Zion have taught us. 
 We have on great occasions visited them ; and entered into 
 
ON THE NEGLECT OF SOULS. 37 
 
 some serious discourse with them ; and have often, and 
 I would hope more or less daily borne them on our hearts 
 before God in our seasons of devout retirement. Blessed 
 be God that in these instances we have, in any degree, ap- 
 proved ourselves faithful ! It must give us pleasure in the 
 review; but, oh, why have not our prayers been more 
 frequently presented, and more importunately enforced? 
 Why have we not been more serious and more pressing in 
 our private addresses to them, and more attentive in our 
 contrivances, if I may so express it, to catch them* in the 
 
 * On June the 30th, 1741, a meeting of ministers had been held 
 at Denton, Huntingdonshire, and after that a private conference, in 
 which Dr. Doddridge presented hints of a scheme for the Revival of 
 Religion; and which was approved not only at the Denton confer- 
 ence, but also by some of the most eminent of the London ministers' 
 of different denominations, and at a meeting of ministers which was 
 held at Northampton the August following. Then it was agreed to 
 take them into a more particular consideration, in a conference at 
 the next assembly, to be held at Kettering, the 15th of October. 
 To that ciinference this discourse was introductory. The result was, 
 that the scheme was approved with a few other particulars which 
 had not before occurred, and measures were taken to carry them into 
 execution ; and as they were printed originally with the discourse 
 in the form of Resolutions, we subjoin them here : — 
 
 I. That it may tend to the advancement of religion, that the min- 
 isters of this association, if they have not already done it, should 
 agree to preach one Lord's day on family religion, and another on 
 secret prayer ; and that the time should be fixed, in humble hope 
 that concurrent labours, connected with concurrent petitions to the 
 throne of grace, may produce some happy effect. 
 
 IL That it is proper that pastoral visiting should be more solemn- 
 ly attended to ; and that greater care should be taken in personal in- 
 spection than has generally been used ; and, that it may conduce 
 to this good end, that each minister should take an exact survey of 
 his flock, and note down the names of the heads of families, the 
 4 
 
38 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 net of the gospel ? Let us ask our own consciences this 
 day, as in the presence of God, if there be not reason to 
 
 children, the servants, and other single persons in his auditory, in 
 order to keep proper memorandums concerning each ; that he may 
 judge the better of the particulars of his duty with regard to every 
 one, and may observe how his visits, exhortations, and admonitions, 
 correspond to their respective characters and circumstances. 
 
 III. That consequent on this survey it will be proper, as soon as 
 possible, and henceforward at least once a year, to visit, if it be prac- 
 ticable, every head of a family under our ministerial care, with a 
 solemn charge to attend to the business of religion in their hearts 
 and houses, watching over their domestics in the fear of the Lord, — 
 we, at the same time, professing our readiness to give them all pro- 
 per assistance for this purpose. 
 
 IV. That it will be highly expedient, immediately, or as soon as 
 may be, to set up the work of catechising in one form or another, 
 and to keep to it statedly for one half of the year at least ; and that 
 it is probable, future counsels may ripen some scheme for carrying 
 on this work in a manner which may tend greatly to the propagation 
 of real, vital, cathoUc Christianity, in the rising generation. 
 
 V. That there is reason to apprehend, there are in all our con- 
 gregations some pious and valuable persons, who live in a culpable 
 neglect of the Lord's Supper; and that it is our duty particularly 
 to inform ourselves who they are, and to endeavour by our prayers 
 to God, and our serious addresses to them, to introduce them into 
 communion (to which I question not we shall all willingly add) ; 
 cautiously guarding against any thing in the methods of admission 
 which may justly discourage sincere Christians of a tender and 
 timorous temper. 
 
 VI. That it is to be feared, there are some, in several of our com- 
 munions at least, who behave in such a manner as to give just of- 
 fence ; and that we may be in great danger of making ourselves 
 " partakers of other men's sins," if we do not animadvert upon them ; 
 and that, if they will not reform, or if the crime be notorious, we 
 ought, in duty to God, and to them, and to all around us, solemnly 
 to cut them off from our sacramental communion, as a reproach to 
 the Church of Christ. 
 
ON THE NEGLECT OF SOULS. 39 
 
 apprehend that some who were once our hearers, and it 
 may be our dear friends too, have perished through our 
 
 VII. That it may, on many accounts, be proper to advise our 
 people to enter into little bands, or societies, for religious discourse 
 and prayer ; each consisting of six or eight, to meet for these good 
 purposes once in a week or a fortnight, as may best suit with their 
 other engagements and affairs. 
 
 VIII. That it might be advisable, if it can be done, to select out 
 of each congregation under our care, a small number of persons re- 
 markable for experienced prudence, seriousness, humility, and zeal, 
 to act as a stated council for promoting religion in the said society : 
 and that it would be proper they should have some certain times of 
 meeting with each other and with the minister, to join their counsels 
 and their prayers for the public good. 
 
 IX. That so far as we can judge, it might, by the divine blessing, 
 conduce to the advancement of these valuable ends, that neighbour- 
 ing ministers, in one part of our land and another (especially in this 
 county) should enter into associations, to strengthen the hands of 
 each other by united consultations and prayer : and that meetings 
 of ministers might, by some obvious regulations, be made more ex- 
 tensively useful than they often are. In which view it was farther 
 proposed (with unanimous approbation) that these meetings should 
 be held at certain periodical times : That each member of the asso- 
 ciation should endeavour, if possible, to be present, studying to or- 
 der his affairs as to guard against unnecessary hinderances : — That 
 public worship should begin and end sooner than it commonly has 
 done on these occasions : — That each pastor preach at these assem- 
 blies in his turn: — That the minister of the place determine who 
 shall be employed in prayer: — That after a moderate repast, to be 
 managed with as little trouble and expense as may be, an hour or 
 two in the afternoon be spent in religious conference and prayer, 
 and in taking into consideration (merely as a friendly council, and 
 without the least pretence to any right of authoritative decision) the 
 concerns of any brother, or any society, which may be brought be- 
 fore us for our advice : — And finally, that every member of this as- 
 sociation shall consider it as an additional obligation upon him to 
 
40 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 neglect; and are gone to eternal destruction for want of 
 our more prudent, more affectionate, and more zealous 
 care for their deliverance? 
 
 In these instances, my brethren, though it is dreadful to 
 say it, and to think it, yet jt is most certain that we have 
 been, in part, accessary to their ruin ; and have reason to 
 say, with trembling hearts, and with weeping eyes, Deliver 
 us from blood-guiltiness, from the blood of these unhappy 
 souls, Oh God, thou God of our salvation ! And we have 
 need, with all possible earnestness, to renew our applica- 
 tion to the blood and righteousness of a Redeemer : not 
 daring to mention any services of our own as matter of 
 
 endeavour to be, so far as he justly and honourably can, a friend and 
 guardian to the reputation, comfort, and usefulness of all his brethren. 
 
 X. That it may be proper to enter into some farther measures to 
 regulate the admission of young persons into the ministry. I will 
 take leave to add one particular more, vphich has since occurred to 
 my thoughts, and which I here submit to your consideration, and to 
 that of my other Reverend Brethren, into whose hands they may 
 fall, especially those of our own association, viz. 
 
 XI. Whether something might not be done, in most of our con- 
 gregations, towards assisting in the propagation of Christianity 
 abroad, and spreading it in some of the darker parts of our own land ? 
 In pursuance of which it is further proposed, that we endeavour to 
 engage as many pious people of our respective congregations as we 
 can, to enter themselves into a society, in which the members may 
 engage themselves to some peculiar cares, assemblies, and contribu- 
 tions, with a regard to this great end. A copy of sueh an associa- 
 tion I am endeavouring to introduce among my own people, and 
 several have already signed it. It is a feeble essay ; and the effects 
 of it in one congregation can be but very small ; but if it were gene- 
 rally to be followed, who can tell what a harvest such a little grain 
 might at length produce. May God multiply it a thousand-fold ! 
 
 P. Doddridge. 
 J^orthampton, Feb, 1, 1741-2. 
 
ON THE NEGLECT OF SOULS. 41 
 
 confidence in his presence; how highly soever others may- 
 have esteemed them, who candidly look on the little we 
 do, and perhaps make more charitable excuses for our ne- 
 glect than we ourselves can dare to urge before God. Let 
 the remembrance of these things be for a lamentation ; and 
 while it is so, 
 
 2. Let us seriously consider what methods are to be 
 taken to prevent such things for the time to come. 
 
 They that have perished have perished forever, and are 
 far beyond the reach of our labours and our prayers; but 
 multitudes to this day surround us, who stand exposed to 
 the same danger, and on the very brink of the same ruin ; 
 and besides these dying sinners, who are the most com- 
 passionate objects which the eye of man or of God beholds 
 on this earth of ours, how many languishing Christians 
 demand our assistance ! or, if they do not expressly de- 
 mand it, appear so much the more to need it ! Let us look 
 round, my brethren, I will not say upon the nation in gen- 
 eral, but on the churches under our immediate care, and 
 say, whether the face of them is such as becomes the so- 
 cieties of those whom the Son of God has redeemed with 
 his own blood; and of those that call themselves the dis- 
 ciples and members of a once crucified and now glorified 
 Jesus 1 Is their whole temper and conduct formed upon 
 the model of his gospel? Are they such, as we would de- 
 sire to present them before the presence of his glory ? 
 What is wanting cannot be numbered ; and perhaps we 
 may be ready, too rashly to conclude, that what is crooked 
 cannot be made straight. — Nevertheless, let us remember, 
 it is our duty to attempt it, as prudently, as immediately, 
 and as resolutely as we can. Many admirable advices for 
 that purpose our fathers and brethren have given us ; par- 
 ticularly Dr. Watts, in the first part of his Humble At- 
 
42 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 tempt for the Revival of Religion^ and Mr. Some in his 
 sermon on the same subject: excellent treatises, which, re- 
 duced into practice, would soon produce the noblest effects. 
 That those important instructions may be revived, and 
 accommodated to present circumstances, with such addi- 
 tions as those circumstances require, we are this day, hav- 
 ing united our prayers, to unite our counsels. I will not 
 anticipate what I have to offer to your consideration in the 
 more private conference, on which we are quickly to enter. 
 To form proper measures will be comparatively easy ; to 
 carry them strenuously into execution, will be the great- 
 est exercise of our wisdom and piety. May proportionable 
 grace be given to animate us, and to dispose them that are 
 committed to our care to fall in with us, in all our attempts 
 for the honour of God, and for Iheir edification and com- 
 fort ! 
 
 OF PREACHING CHRIST. 
 
 BY THE REV. JOHN JENNINGS. 
 
 Professing ourselves Christians, I hope, we are satisfied 
 upon careful and rational inquiry, that the religion of Jesus 
 comes from God ; and that it is a most glorious dispensa- 
 tion, no less for the sublime wonders of its doctrine, than 
 the divine purity of its precepts. Now in all the peculiar 
 glories of this religion, Christ is interwoven like Phidias* 
 name in the shield, which could not be effaced without de- 
 
OF PREACHING CHRIST. 43 
 
 stroying the shield itself; so that preaching Christ and 
 preaching the gospel are, in Scripture style, synonymous 
 terms. 
 
 ( I.) To preach Christ, therefore, is our charge, our 
 business, and our glory, But, " who is sufficient for these 
 things 1 " Give me leave, then, my dear brethren and 
 friends, to remind myself and you, what regard a minister 
 should have to our Redeemer in his preaching. 
 
 1. Let us make Christ the end of our preaching. If we 
 seek principally to please men, then are we not the ser- 
 vants of Christ. If we look no farther than our own repu- 
 tation, or temporal advantage, appropriating our talents to 
 our own private use, how shall we make up our accounts 
 to our divine Master? 
 
 Our ultimate end should be the personal glory of Christ. 
 That the glory of Christ, as God is ihe ultimate end of the 
 gospel, none can doubt ; so that it is said of this divine 
 Person, " All things are for him, as well as by him ;" Is 
 he not worth ten thousand of us ? Of more worth than the 
 world ; the only begotten Son of God, whom the highest 
 angels adore 1 Now if the glory of Christ's person be the 
 principal end in the divine schemes and actings, it should 
 also be our highest view and design. 
 
 Again, as the glory of Christ's 'person, should be our ul- 
 timate end, so the advancement of his kingdom of grace 
 among men should be our subordinate end. The immedi- 
 ate design of the gospel is the recovery of fallen creatures 
 to holiness and happiness. Christ is " come into the world 
 to save sinners ;" and he sends us to preach his gospel, in 
 order " that men might live soberly, righteously, and god- 
 ly, looking for the blessed hope." We should not think it 
 enough to inform, to amuse, to please, to affect, but we 
 must aim farther to bring them to trust in Christ, to be 
 
44 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR S MANUAL. 
 
 penitent and holy ; and every subject must be managed 
 with this view. And let it be our great care, on a specula- 
 tive subject, still to keep the end in view, and apply it 
 practically. 
 
 Let us by all means endeavour to save precious souls, 
 but yet aim at a higher end, that we ourselves may be " a 
 sweet savour of Christ unto God;" and then, though we 
 miss of our secondary end, and are not as we could wish, 
 " the savour of life unto life" to any great number, yet in 
 being " the savour of death unto death to them that perish," 
 we shall be the instruments of glorifying the justice and 
 loncf-suffering of Christ, and be witnesses for God, "that 
 there has been a prophet amongst them." Our primary 
 end is answered, " our labour is with the Lord," and 
 we in the meantime are supported, "though Israel be not 
 gathered," for " the word shall not return empty." 
 
 Nay, further, it is not enough that the strain of our 
 preaching be adapted to the true design of the gospel, but 
 we must at heart sincerely intend it ; otherwise, though our 
 discourses be unexceptionable, and others be saved through 
 our ministry, yet if our designs be wrong and base, we 
 " shall be castaways." 
 
 2. Let Christ be the matter of our preaching. Let us 
 display the divine dignity and loveliness of his person, as 
 " God manifest in the flesh." — unfold his mediatorial office, 
 the occasion, the design, and purport of his great under- 
 taking, — remind our hearers of the particulars of his incar- 
 nation, life, death, resurrection, ascension, and intercession, 
 — set forth the characters he bears, as a prophet, priest, and 
 king ; as a shepherd, captain, advocate, and judge. Let 
 us demonstrate the sufficiency of his satisfaction, the tenor 
 and excellence of the covenant confirmed with and by him, 
 our justification by his righteousness, adoption through our 
 
OF PREACHING CHRIST. 45 
 
 relation to him, sanctification by his Spirit, our union with 
 him as our head, and safe conduct by his providence ; and 
 how pardon, grace, and glory accrue to the elect through 
 his suretyship and sacrifice, and are dispensed by his hand. 
 Let us declare and explain his most holy laws in his name, 
 and teach the people whatever duties he has commanded 
 to God, our neighbour and ourselves ; — quicken the saints 
 to duty, raise their hopes, establish and comfort their souls, 
 by the exceeding great and precious promises of the gos- 
 pel, which in him are " yea and amen." — I give but short 
 and imperfect hints of these things, and refer to the apos- 
 tolical writings, which are made up of discourses on these 
 and such like topics. 
 
 3. Let a continual regard to Christ distinguish our ser- 
 mons on any subject from discourses on mere natural re- 
 ligion. If we speak of the perfections of God, let us con- 
 sider them as shining in his Son, " who is the brightness 
 of his Father's glory, and express image of his person," 
 and exemplified in his undertaking. If we set forth gospel 
 blessings and promises, let us consider them as purchased 
 by a Saviour's blood, and distributed by his bounty ; for 
 " by his own blood he has obtained eternal redemption, and 
 from him the whole body is supplied." If we take notice 
 of the providence of God, let us not forget that "all power 
 is given to Christ, in heaven and in earth," and that " he 
 is head over all things to the church." If by the terrors of 
 the last judgment we persuade men, let " the wrath of the 
 Lamb" be denounced, while the reckoning is represented 
 as most dreadful for abused grace and a slighted Saviour; 
 for " this is the condemnation." And when we are assist- 
 ing the devotions of the people, the same regard to Christ 
 should be observed. 
 
 When we are discoursing on the subject of duty, Christ, 
 
46 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 as the most powerful motive, is by no means to be forgot- 
 ten ; for to persuade men to practical godliness is one of 
 the most difficult parts of a minister's work. Men will 
 hear a speculative discourse with a curious satisfaction, 
 and attend to the displays of God's grace with some joy ; 
 nay, a Felix may tremble when judgment is preached. 
 Many, indeed, will bear to hear of duty too ; but to induce 
 them to practise it, hie labour^ hoc opus. Here we have 
 need to call in all helps, and take all advantages, which 
 the gospel, as well as the light of nature, can furnish. In 
 other discourses we are rather attacking Satan's outworks, 
 a blind and prejudiced understanding ; but, in practical 
 subjects, we assault his strongest fort, corrupted will. We 
 may gain the understanding on our side, with some share 
 of the affections ; but to subdue a perverse will, in favour of 
 practical Christianity, is not so easy a thing, that we can 
 afford to spare any important motive or quickening consid- 
 eration.* But here I must be more particular in explain- 
 ing how we should regard Christ in preaching duty. 
 
 * lu reference to what is advised in this and the following sections, 
 a young preacher will do well to read, with devotion and care, those 
 parts of Mr. Matthew Henry's practical and incomparable Exposi- 
 tion, which relate to the subject he would preach upon. He will 
 also find in the works of Mr. Arthur Hildersham, his Exposition of 
 Psalm, i. and John iv. an uncommon degree of sacred skill, in re- 
 commending duty and practice from Christisn motives, worthy of 
 assiduous imitation. 
 
 Perhaps this may be the most proper place to recommend a work 
 lately published, viz. .5 Practical View of the prevailing Religions 
 System of professed Christians, in the higher aiid middle Classes 
 in this Country, contrasted tvith real Christianity, by W. Wilber- 
 force, Esq. — a work which, for excellency of plan, a strain of mas- 
 culine eloquence, acuteness of discernment, and force of reasoning, 
 and above all, a spirit of sublime devotion, is not perhaps equalled 
 
OF PREACniNG CHRIST. 47 
 
 (I.) We should represent duty as the fruit of faith in 
 Christ, and love to him. When by faith we behold a cru- 
 cified Jesus, do we not tremble at the severity of God's jus- 
 tice, and hate those sins that occasioned his sorrows 1 
 When we consider that " by his stripes we are healed," 
 can we forbear to love him who first loved us 1 Shall we 
 not live to him that died for us 1 Can we have the heart 
 to crucify him afresh 1 
 
 From such actings of faith and outgoings of love, flows 
 that divine temper which constitutes the new creature, and 
 lays the foundation of all right gospel obedience. Thus, 
 therefore, let us continually trace gospel duties up to their 
 fountain head, that the people may learn, that it is not out- 
 ward reformation which will stand the test in the day of 
 judgment, but an inward renewal of the soul ; that " the 
 tree must first be made good, before there can be any good 
 fruit ;" and that all must be done for Christ's sake, and 
 flow from " faith working by love." 
 
 (2.) Let us enforce duties with motives respecting Christ. 
 As grateful love to him should constrain us, fear of his 
 wrath should awe us, if we would approve ourselves the 
 disciples and followers of Christ, and enjoy communion 
 with him ; if we would promote his honour and interest, 
 and possess joy and not confusion, at his appearing. Not 
 that we should neglect any motives which the light of na- 
 ture can furnish, and are level to the capacities of the peo- 
 ple ; for we have need enough of all ; but if we go no fur- 
 
 in our language ; nor is it a small part of its excellence that it re- 
 presents duty, according to our author's advice, as the fruit of faith 
 and love, enforcing obedience with motives respecting Christ, to be 
 performed by his grace, and acceptable through his merits. — Dr. 
 Williams, 
 
48 
 
 ther, our exhortations will want far the greatest part of 
 their weight. We must " beseech and exhort by the Lord 
 Jesus." 
 
 (3.) Let us inculcate duties, as to be performed by the 
 £rrace of Christ ; telling the people that our fruitfulness de- 
 pends on our being ingrafted into this vine ; that there is no 
 holy walk without being " led by the Spirit, and when we 
 do good, it is not we, but the grace of God that is in us; 
 that out of a sense of weakness we are to be made strong, 
 through Christ strengthening us." 
 
 (4.) Let us consider all good works as acceptable through 
 the merits of Christ ; and remind our hearers, that could 
 we do all, we were but "unprofitable servants;" and that 
 we must seek to be found at last, not having our own right- 
 eousness, but that which is of God by faith. 
 
 4. Let us express ourselves in a style becoming the gos- 
 pel of Christ; not with great swelling words of vanity, or 
 in the style of the heathen sophists, or words that man's wis- 
 dom teacheih, and perhaps sound best in our own ears ; 
 but let us use " great plainness of speech," and seek to find 
 out such " acceptable words" as may best reach the under- 
 standing and affections of the bulk of an auditory. 
 
 As for the affectionate part of a discouse, brethren, I 
 suppose you allow, upon a view of ancient and modern 
 learning, that the men of the east, and next to them the 
 ancient Greeks, excelled in fire, and works of imagination; 
 and yet the moderns, inhabiting milder western climates, 
 even the French, from whom, on many accounts, we should 
 expect the most of this sort, produce but an empty flash, 
 in comparison with the solid heat of the ancients ; and 
 rather amuse us with little delicacies, than, by masterly 
 strokes, command our whole souls. Now the Scriptures 
 are the noblest remains of what the east has produced, and 
 
OF PREACHING CHRIST. 49 
 
 much surpass the best of the Greeks in the force of their 
 oratory. Let us, therefore, take their spirit and style, and 
 thence borrow bold figures and allusions, strong descrip- 
 tions, and commanding address to the passions; but I am 
 prevented in all I would say on this important head, by the 
 Archbishop of Cambray's Dialogues concerning Elo- 
 quence, which I am as little capable of improving upon, as 
 I am of commending them as they deserve."* 
 
 (II.) And now, brethren, let me lay before you some 
 reasons and motives, to back this friendly admonition con- 
 cerning preaching Christ. 
 
 1. It is the only way to have our labours accepted of 
 Christ, and to have communion with him in oiir work. — 
 
 * The sublime Fenelon's Dialogues on Eloquence are deservedly 
 mentioned, by many writers of eminence, with a sort of respect bor- 
 dering on veneration ; and no wonder, for such a union of the sub- 
 lime and simple, of learning and familiarity, of judicious criticism 
 and happy illustration ; and unaffected humility and warm benevo- 
 lence, delicate taste and solid sense ; and above all, such reverence 
 for sacred things, blended with a subject so often employed by hu- 
 man vanity and pride, are superior excellencies very rarely found. 
 
 Dr. Dodridge (Fam. Expos, on John xiv. 2. Improvem. Note) 
 having alluded to a beautiful observation of this author, says, " This 
 is the remark of the pious Archbii^hop of Cambray, in his incompar- 
 able Dialogues on Eloquence ; which, may God put it into the hearts 
 of our preachers often and attentively to read !" — Another able 
 judge on this subject thus expresses himself: — " But what need I 
 enter further into the detail of pulpit-eloquence ] If you want to 
 see the whole machinery and apparatus of it displayed in the cora- 
 pletest manner, I refer you to the great and good Prelate of Cam- 
 bray's Dialogues on that subject ; who was himself the justest critic, 
 and one of the best models of eloquence that I know." Fordyce'a 
 Theodofus, p. 150. Lond. 1755. For a brief but striking charac- 
 ter of the eloquence of Fenelon, see the Abbe Maury's Principlea 
 of Eloquence, sect. Iv. — dr. wili.iams. 
 5 
 
50 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 Even Paul cries out, " Who is sufficient for these things?" 
 With how much more reason may we do so ? Does not 
 our cheerful progress in our work depend on a divine affia- 
 tus, and the spirit dispensed by Christ ? but if we take lit- 
 tle notice of him in our preaching, and do not distinguish 
 ourselves from the moral philosophers of the Gentiles, how 
 can we expect any more of this enlivening and encourag- 
 ing presence of Christ than they had? Nay, we have less 
 ground to expect it, if we slight wilfully so noble a revela- 
 tion, with which they were never favoured. 
 
 2. It is the only way to win souls to Christ, and to 
 make them lively Christians. The success of the gospel 
 is owing, certainly, no less to the power of its motives, 
 than to the clearness, fulness, and purity of its precepts. 
 These peculiar motives of the gospel have all such a re- 
 spect to Christ, that they are enervated if he be disre- 
 garded. The gospel is what God in his unfathomable wis- 
 dom has fixed upon, as the grand mean to reform man- 
 kind, and save them ; and he seems in honour concerned 
 to crown it with greater success than any other scheme 
 whatsoever. " The preaching of Christ crucified is the 
 power of God." If, by suppressing a part, we maim the 
 gospel, we can expect in the nature of things, but a very 
 defective success. Nay, may we not fear that God's hon- 
 our is concerned, in such a case, to blast us while we la- 
 bour almost in vain ? 
 
 Observation agrees with this theory. The great mas- 
 ters of reason, who have less regard to Christ in their 
 preaching, may, indeed, have a charm for one of an hun- 
 dred, who have a taste for the beauties of fine reasoning, 
 and be of use to them, while the bulk of an auditory is 
 asleep. Alas ! with what heart can we go on, entertaining 
 two or three, while starving most of the souls in an audi- 
 
OF PREACHING CHRIST. 51 
 
 tory ? May we not also observe a happier effect of a strain 
 prudently evangelical on Christians themselves : that they 
 who sit under it are more lively, zealous, ready to every 
 good work, and heavenly. minded, than those Christians 
 who have heard less of the gospel 7 
 
 3. It is a direct imitation of the Apostles of Christ. 
 Christ himself, whilst upon earth, preached the gospel in 
 parables, in a concealed manner, distantly, and with re- 
 serve. He could not so fully take the advantage of his 
 resurrection, satisfaction, ascension, and the like, not yet 
 done, made or proved. He had many things to say, which 
 his disciples could not then bear ; but he declares them af- 
 terward by his Spirit in his Apostles. They therefore are 
 the true pattern of our preaching now, after the mystery 
 of redemption is brought to light, and hath its full evi- 
 dence. 
 
 How then did the Apostles preach Christ ? It is endless 
 to attempt a full detail of particulars; any part of the apos- 
 tolical writings is authority sufficient to our purpose ; and 
 therefore I have been sparing in quotations all along, as 
 needless to those who will look into these writings with 
 this view ; and here we do not desire to insist upon any 
 passages in their writings which may be supposed to be 
 written for reasons peculiar to that age and country in 
 which the Apostles wrote, and in which perhaps we are 
 not so much obliged to imitate them in our preaching ; for 
 what will remain, after all these are put out of the account, 
 will, I am satisfied, be as full to our purpose as those that 
 are struck off. 
 
 I shall then, by way of specimen, select some of the 
 Apostles' discourses on moral duties, where we are most 
 apt to forget Christ, or a due respect to him ; that it may at 
 
52 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 once appear that the Apostles neither shunned the pressing 
 of such duties, nor disregarded Christ in treatins of them. 
 
 Honesty is pressed by these motives : — " The unright- 
 eous, thieves and extortioners shall not inherit the kingdom 
 of God" (which, in the style of the New Testament, is 
 Christ's kingdom of grace and glory.) That Christians 
 are "converted by the Spirit of Christ, and justified by his 
 righteousness." Chastity is enjoined, as " our bodies are 
 members of Christ, as we are one spirit with him, temples 
 of the Holy Ghost, and bought with a price." Alms-giving 
 is recommended, as it brings a large tribute of "praise to 
 God for our subjection to the gospel of Christ — and Christ 
 became poor for our sakes." — Evil -speaking is forbidden, 
 because "we were foolish and wicked; but the grace of 
 God has made the difference ; not for our righteousness, 
 but of his free mercy he has regenerated us, and given us 
 his Holy Spirit, through Jesus Christ, by whom we are 
 justified and heirs of glory." — Subjects are commanded to 
 obey magistrates, because " the gospel is come, and we 
 should put on Christ Jesus." — Husbands are charged " to 
 love their wives, as Christ loved the Church." The obe- 
 dience of wives is urged, because " the husband is the 
 head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the Church." 
 Servants are exhorted to their duty, as they would "adorn 
 the doctrine of Christ, because grace so teacheth, and that 
 we look for Christ's appearance, who gave himself for us 
 that we might be holy." — Now what is there in these mo- 
 tives peculiar to one age or nation ? Are not all these as 
 good now as formerly? And are men so reaoy in their 
 duty, that we have no need of them ? 
 
 Nay, it is worthy of observation, that the Apostles do 
 not confine themselves to motives peculiarly adapted to the 
 
OF rUEACHING CHRIST. 53 
 
 duty they are pressing, and which serve to enforce one 
 duty rather than another ; but, as you may see, when such 
 proper motives are not at hand, they take, without any 
 scruple, common or general ones,' which will equally en- 
 force any duty whatsoever. 
 
 And why should not we introduce the peculiarities of 
 the gospel on all occasions, as frequently as the Apostles 
 did? If our schemes of theology will not allow us, we 
 have reason to suspect we are in a different scheme from 
 the Apostles. Are we afraid that men will make perverse 
 use of such doctrines as the Apostles used for motives? 
 The Apostles chose to venture it, and why should not we? 
 If we will not dare to preach such a gospel as may be per- 
 verted by men of corrupt minds to their own injury, we 
 must not expect to be instruments of any good. If we 
 are a " savour of life" to some we must expect to be the 
 " savour of death" to others, or not preach at all. 
 
 1 confess, even the Remonstrant scheme (which, I think, 
 considerably sinks the doctrines of grace) does allow room 
 to regard Christ abundantly more than most preachers of 
 that denomination do. I would meet them on their own 
 principles ; what hinders their frequently inculcating the 
 merits of Christ, the depravity of our nature, the necessity 
 of regeneration, the aids of grace, union and com.munion 
 with Christ? These topics, it were to be hoped, might 
 have their effect : but alas ! how ^qw of the Remonstrants 
 improve to advantage, so much of the gospel as they hold 
 and receive; and it makes me less inclined to this scheme, 
 that it so generally draws those that embrace it into a 
 strain of preaching, even on practical subjects, so different 
 from that of the Apostles ; and inclines them, I know not 
 
 how, to suppress those glorious motives (which yet their 
 
 5* 
 
54 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 own principles might allow) by which the Apostles enforced 
 gospel duties. 
 
 4. So only shall we deserve the name of Christian 
 preachers. Only did I say ; I am afraid this may sound 
 too harsh. — Come let us put the matter as soft and candid 
 as common sense will allow us. So shall we most evi- 
 dently or best deserve this honourable title. 
 
 Whilst a preacher keeps off from the peculiarities of the 
 gospel, and says nothing but what the light of nature 
 would also suggest and authorize, give me leave to say, a 
 stranger might possibly doubt whether he is a Deist or a 
 Christian; the question is like an imperfect mathematical 
 problem, which equally admits of different solutions. 
 
 Suppose the ghosts of Paul and Seneca to come, mere 
 strangers, into an assembly, where one is haranguing the 
 people in this abstracted manner, I am apt to think Seneca 
 would claim him as a philosopher of his own sect and re- 
 ligion. Now if Paul should also make his claim to him 
 as a minister of Christ, how could the question be decided, 
 without allowing Seneca to be a preacher of Christ also? 
 
 On the other hand, if a preacher insists upon even the 
 peculiar and glorious truths of Christianity, but so unhap- 
 pily manages them, as not to lead people to holiness, and 
 the imitation of Christ thereby, — what is this to the grand 
 and full purpose of preaching; or, to the ultimate design 
 of the gospel 1 Such preachers are quite off that divine 
 system which is calculated to destroy the works of the 
 devil, and to teach men sobriety, righteousness, and godli- 
 ness. It is not only Christ without us we are to preach, 
 but also Christ in us, and our putting on Christ Jesus, by 
 a holy heart and life. 
 
 If the Apostle James should come again, and make a vis- 
 
OF PREACHING CHRIST. 55 
 
 itation to our churches, and hear such a preacher, he would 
 imagine himself among such people as he writes against 
 in his epistle; he would be apt, when the minister had 
 done, in his zeal for Christ, to take the text in hand again, 
 and supply what the preacher had omitted, viz. the appli- 
 cation ; and to say to the auditors, " Know ye not that 
 faith without works is dead 1 " If the preacher should 
 here interrupt him, saying "Hold, spare your pains, the 
 Spirit of God will make the application, and teach men 
 holiness," — would not James reply, " I and the rest of the 
 Apostles were taught to preach otherwise, and to give par- 
 ticular exhortations to duty: — we judged we might as well 
 leave it to the Spirit, without our pains, to reveal the doc- 
 trine, as to instruct men in the practice of the gospel." 
 
 Upon the whole, brethren, let it be our resolution to study 
 and preach Christ Jesus. On this subject there is room 
 for the strictest reasoning, and most sublime philosophy ; 
 it deserves, invites, and inspires the strongest fire of the 
 orator; in extolling Christ, we cannot shock the most deli- 
 cate taste by over-strained hyperboles : here the climax 
 may rise till it is out of sight ; our imagery cannot be too 
 strong and rich. 
 
 Should our Lord himself appear, and give you a charge 
 at your entrance on the ministry, would he not say (what 
 indeed he has said already) " As the Father hath sent me, 
 so send I you to preach the kingdom of God, that every 
 knee may bow to me, and every tongue confess me. 
 Teach them to observe all things whatsoever I have com- 
 manded you: and tell them, that without me they can do 
 nothing; that when they have done all, they are unprofita- 
 ble servants, and must be found in my righteousness. Be- 
 come all things to all men ; seek words which the Holy 
 Ghost teacheth, that you may gain souls, and bring in my 
 
56 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 sheep, for whom I have laid down my life. If ye love 
 me, feed my sheep. I have called you friends ; do all in 
 my name, and to my honour: so I will be with you al- 
 ways ; and if you thus watch for souls, you shall give up 
 your account with joy, at my appearing. This is the 
 preaching which, though it seem foolish to many, shall 
 prove the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Cast 
 forth the net on this side, and so may you expect to catch 
 many souls. Be ye followers of my Apostles, as they 
 are of me, and in my name shall ye do wonders; if you 
 preach me, I and mine shall therein rejoice; be not ashamed 
 of my gospel, and I will not be ashamed of you." 
 
 But to arrive at any tolerable perfection in preaching 
 Christ is a work of time, the result of a careful perusal of 
 the Scriptures, and studying the hearts of men. It requires 
 the mortifying of the pride of carnal reason, a great con- 
 cern for souls, and. a humble dependence on the Spirit of 
 God, with the lively exercise of devotion in our closets. 
 
 As for the reasoning part on the more agreed points of 
 our religion, a young preacher sooner may get to consid- 
 erable excellency; but the Christian orator is longer in 
 finishing. We may soon get necessary truths into our 
 own minds, and come at minds of our size and taste ; but 
 by proper motives and ways to reach the souls of a differ- 
 ent make and turn, even the lowest of the vulgar, is what 
 very few quickly arrive at ; but let us not despair ; if we 
 thus regard the Lord Jesus in our ministrations, we may 
 very reasonably expect the assistance of his Spirit, — and 
 then we shall be " able to do all things, through Christ 
 strengthening us." 
 
OF PARTICULAR AND EXPERLMENTAL 
 PREACHING. 
 
 BY THE REV. JOHN JENNINGS. 
 
 Rightly to divide the word of truth is the necessary care 
 of a minister, if he would be " approved of God, and be 
 a workman that needeth not to be ashamed." — And it is a 
 skill worth studying for, and labouring to attain : our suc- 
 cess and the good of souls depend upon it more than is 
 commonly imagined. 
 
 No doubt you may have heard many honest people ex- 
 press their dissatisfaction with some preachers in such terms 
 as these : — " They go on constantly in a general way, that 
 does not come close to the heart, reaches not my case and 
 experience, and I am not edified by them." Their com- 
 plaint is not altogether without meaning or reason, as I 
 hope you will be convinced by and by. 
 
 1. To keep a little in view that passage of Scripture I 
 have mentioned, dividing the word may mean these four 
 things : — 1. Going through the variety of gospel subjects ; 
 declaring the whole counsel of God, the doctrines of grace, 
 threatenings, promises, and the duties of morality ; and 
 giving each its due proportion. 
 
 Some, finding their thoughts flow most readily and af- 
 fectionately on the dictrines of grace, and that by these 
 they best command the affections of the hearers, are alto- 
 gether upon them, and neglect to teach the people to ob- 
 serve what Christ has commanded them. I bear many of 
 them witness they have a zeal for God, but I wish it were 
 
58 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 more according to knowledge. They do not sufficiently 
 consider that holiness is the very design of Christianity ; 
 and our preaching on other heads is in order the better to 
 enforce duty, and render men like to Christ. 
 
 I am afraid, from what I have observed, that this strain 
 of preaching will increase the number of those hearers 
 whom our Saviour describes by the " stony ground," in 
 the parable of the sower ; namely, such who, though full 
 of notions and transient affections, and forward in profess- 
 ing, yet have an unsubdued will, have no root in themselves, 
 and bring forth no fruit to God. This strain, I fear, though 
 it may seem to bring many toward Christ, will bring but 
 few safely to him. Many of their hearers, with Christ 
 much in their mouths, will prove but hypocrites settled on 
 their lees, and slaves to lusts. Nor is this strain more 
 happy for the uniform growth of the sincere Christian. 
 They that sit under it are too frequently low, imperfect, 
 and partial in practical goodness ; distempered with con- 
 ceit and preposterous zeal for words and phrases, and 
 things of little or no consequence ; perplexed and perplex- 
 ing others with a thousand groundless scruples ; children 
 in understanding, and it were happy were they so in malice 
 too ; but alas ! their narrowness of mind infects the heart 
 with uncharitable affections. 
 
 Others, having not arrived at the relish of the doctrines 
 of grace themselves, suppress them in their preaching, and 
 are altogether on morality ; enforcing it with no motives 
 of the gospel, except some of those addressed to fear. 
 These, if they are masters of much fire, may be convinc- 
 ing to some ; but it fares with most of their converts as 
 with the man in the parable, out of whom the unclean 
 spirit went for a while, who, finding his house empty, re- 
 turned with seven more ; and the latter end of such is 
 
OF PARTICULAR PREACHING. 59 
 
 worse than the beginning. Or else, the awakened hearer 
 either takes up a proud dependence upon a mistaken, ex- 
 ternal, and Pharisaical righteousness ; or, not being by his 
 teacher led to Christ, he proceeds not, settles not ; but abid- 
 ing long under the doubtful concern, is wearied with it, 
 weary of it, and comes to nothing ; which seems to be the 
 thought in Hosea; " Ephraim is an unwise son; he should 
 not stay long in the place of the breaking forth of chil- 
 dren." Or lastly, if any are truly converted under such 
 ministry, it is very usual that they are forced to desert it, 
 to find richer and sweeter pasture for their souls. 
 
 Some of their hearers may possibly prefer this strain 
 of preaching ; but it does not thence follow that they are 
 the better for it. To illustrate this remark, I will recite a 
 paragraph out of Remarkable Passages in the Life of a 
 Private Gentleman : — " Spiritual searching discourses I 
 did not so much savour as mere moral doctrines, though 
 too immoral myself. The hopes I had conceived of the 
 strength of my good resolutions rendered them grateful. 
 Seneca's Morals I read with pleasure; Mr. Baxter^ s 
 SainVs Rest frightened me; so after reading a {"ew pas- 
 sages, T threw it by." Thus with regret he tells us what 
 little profit he had in that way, of his fondness for which 
 he was ashamed, when he came to be of Paul's mind, to 
 count all dross and dung, that he might win Christ. 
 
 2. The putting of a thought in several distinct views 
 and lights, for different purposes and designs. The sacred 
 writers are herein our pattern, and that not by chance, but 
 for wise reasons. One view is designed to raise one af- 
 fection ; another view, to excite another of a different sort ; 
 and, finally, one of the views is designed as an antidote 
 against the poison which the corruption of men's hearts 
 might draw out of the other. 
 
60 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 For instance, the terms and way of our justification and 
 salvation are frequently stated thus: — "That we must be 
 found in Christ, having on the righteousness which is of 
 God by faith," and " we must be made the righteousness 
 of God in him." And this view is exquisitely adopted to ^ 
 humble us, to draw^ forth love and gratitude, and encou- 
 rage our hopes and dependence. 
 
 But lest this phraseology, if used alone, should beget se- 
 curity, at other times we are told, that " by works a man 
 is justified, and not by faith only ; and that faith without 
 works is dead ;" and that the inquiry at the last day shall 
 be, Who has " fed the hungry, clothed the naked?" &c. 
 
 And most commonly these tv/o views are united in the 
 same paragraph ; that one may prevent the ill consequences 
 man's perverseness would dravv^ from the other. As phy- 
 sicians, finding some dangerous efl^ct likely to follow from 
 a drug of sovereign virtue, mix some other with it, to pre- 
 vent the fatal consequences. 
 
 So we are said to be " elect, according to the fore-know- 
 ledge of God, through sanctification of the Spirit unto obe- 
 dience, and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus." Again, we 
 are told, that " by grace we are saved through faith, the 
 gift of God, not of works ; for we are his workmanship, 
 created in Christ Jesus unto good works." 
 
 I may give another instance, in the different ways the 
 Scripture speaks of power and duty. Sometimes we are 
 told ihat " we cannot come to Christ except the Father 
 draw us." That " without Christ we can do nothing." 
 That " if we live, it is not we, but Christ that liveth in us." 
 Now these views tend to hide pride from man, to create a 
 diffidence of oursel' es, and to centre our hopes and de- 
 pendence on Christ; but lest the slothful and wicked ser- 
 vant should make his impotence his excuse, we arc called 
 
OF PARTICULAR PREACHING. 61 
 
 upon to " turn and make us new hearts," exhorted to " ask 
 and we shall receive," and are assured " God will give the 
 Spirit to them that ask him ;" and how happily are these 
 two views united in this passage ! " Work out your own 
 salvation with fear and trembling ; for it is God that work- 
 eth in you to will and to do." 
 
 Now, less skilful dividers of the word deal entirely in 
 one of these views, and neglect the other ; and while they 
 are labouring to excite one good affection, they raise ano- 
 ther of a bad tendency together with it. To this in part 
 it is owing that there are so many low or distempered 
 Christians. Nor is this partiality more happy in effecting 
 the real conversion of sinners, who generally, under such 
 management, are either left asleep, and settled in a fond 
 conceit of their own righteousness, or else stumble at the 
 rock of offence (in a different manner indeed from what the 
 Jews did) thinking to find by Christ a way to Heaven, 
 without holiness or moral honesty. 
 
 3. Distinctly explaining and enforcing particular duties, 
 end opposing particular sins. It is true, the whole scheme 
 of gospel duty is deducible from the general heads of faith 
 and love ; but, alas ! most men's minds are slow, confused 
 and erroneous in long deductions ; and it is our business to 
 lead them on in every step, and to show what particular 
 duties to God, our neighbour and ourselves, will flow from 
 these principles, and are necessary to make the man of 
 God perfect. We must particularly teach them to " add 
 to their faith virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, god- 
 liness, brotherly kindness, and charity," if we would not 
 leave them blind and unfruitful ; and we should, in a par- 
 ticular manner, speak of" the fruits of the Spirit, as love, 
 joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meek- 
 ness, and temperance ;" and at proper seasons explain and 
 6 
 
62 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR 's MANUAL. 
 
 enforce each of them. We should apply the lamp of the 
 word to detect and disgrace all the particular " works of 
 darkness," and to make manifest " the fruits of the flesh ; 
 such as adultery, lasciviousness, wrath, strife, seditions, 
 heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and 
 such like." 
 
 If I should read to a sick person a learned lecture on the 
 benefit of health, and exhort him to take care to recover it, 
 but never inquire into the nature of his disease, or prescribe 
 proper methods and medicines for the cure, he would 
 hardly acquiesce in me for his physician, or resign to me 
 the care of his bodily health. Nor is it a more likely way 
 to the soul's health, to rest in mere general exhortations to 
 holiness, without distinctly handling the several branches 
 thereof, and the opposite sins. 
 
 4. Particularly applying to the several cases, tempers, 
 and experiences of the hearers. Besides many thoughts 
 suited in general to all cases, there might properly arise in 
 the application of most subjects, thoughts distinctly proper 
 to the converted and unconverted ; to notional hypocrites 
 and mere moralists, to mourners, to backsliders, and lazy 
 Christians ; and at several times to a much greater variety 
 of characters and persons. Now such particular addresses, 
 when the case is drawn in a lively manner, and in the na- 
 tural language of the sort of men intended, and judiciously 
 and artfully treated, are the closest, most weighty, and 
 most useful parts of the application. 
 
 That this is the true way of addressing an auditory, viz. 
 to divide them into several classes, and distinctly speak to 
 each, will be plain, if we look through the apostolic writings, 
 and, I might add, the prophetic also, with this view ; and 
 we shall find that both prophets and apostles frequently 
 take care to distinguish the holy and the vile, the convert- 
 
OF PARTICULAR PREACHING. 63 
 
 e^ and the unconverted. As for instance, as to their 
 knowledge and apprehension of things : — " The natural 
 man receiveth not the things of the Spirit, they are foolish- 
 ness to him, he cannot know them : but the spiritual judge 
 all things." And also as to their obedience to the law, 
 " The carnal mind is enmity against God, is not subject to 
 God's law, nor can be subject, or please God." 
 
 They particularly reprove scoffers, and confute gain- 
 sayers ; "Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish." 
 For instance, those who denied or cavilled at the resurrec- 
 tion : " Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened 
 except it die," &c. And also those that were for a faith 
 without works : " Wilt thou know, vain man, that faith 
 without works is dead ?" &c. 
 
 They address carnal stupid sinners in an awful way; 
 denounce " woe to them that are at ease ;" as Paul when 
 he made Felix tremble, or as Stephen, " Ye stiff-necked and 
 uncircumscised," &c. 
 
 They lead convinced sinners to Christ; to those that are 
 inquiring they say, " If ye will inquire, inquire ye, return, 
 come ; turn to the strong hold; if the Lord hath torn he 
 will heal." "Repent and be baptized in the name of the 
 Lord Jesus, for the remission of sins," &;c. " Believe on 
 the Lord Jesus Christ," &c. 
 
 They reason with ihe moralist, and those that " trust in 
 themselves that they are righteous; showing their right- 
 eousness is " as filthy rags." " The law saith, there is none 
 righteous, but all the world are guilty before God; there- 
 fore by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified ; but 
 the righteousness of God is msnifested, that God might 
 freely justify them that believe on Jesus, therefore man is 
 justified by faith ; boasting is excluded by the law of faith ; 
 And ye received the Spirit by the hearing of faith ; the 
 
64 THE CHRISTIAN pastor's manual. 
 
 gospel was before preached to Abraham ; they that are of 
 the works of the law are under the curse. But the law 
 could not disannul the covenant confirmed before, but was 
 a schoolmaster to brmg us to Christ, that we might be 
 justified by faith ; they then that are Christ's are Abraham's 
 seed, and heirs according to the promise." 
 
 They sharply rebuke and expose pretending hypocrites, 
 showino; them their abominations, detectino; and confound- 
 ing the wretches that "delight to know God's way, and 
 hear his word, but will not do it." As Peter : "Thou hast 
 no part in this matter ; thy heart is not right in the sight 
 of God ;" and James; " Show me thy faith without thy 
 works ; — the devils believe and tremble." 
 
 They rouse and encourage Christians who have but 
 little strength, and persuade them to make farther advan- 
 ces in religion, — that he that is " feeble may be as David." 
 " Ye are dull of hearing, for the time ye ought to have 
 been teachers ; strong meat belongeth to them that are of 
 full age ; therefore leaving the first principles, let us go on 
 to perfection." 
 
 They deal with the several sorts of distempered Chris- 
 tians tenderly, and yet plainly and faithfully; as particu- 
 larly, with those who idolize one minister, and despise 
 others; telling them it is not by might and power of man, 
 but by God's Spirit, that the gospel is successfijl. " While 
 one saith, I am of Paul, and another, I am of Apollos, are 
 ye not carnal 1 Who is Paul or Apollos, but ministers by 
 whom ye believed 1 It is God that giveth the increase ; 
 Paul, Apollos, Cephas, all are yours." They endeavour 
 to soften those of too rigid a temper, exhorting them not 
 to speak to the grief of those whom God hath smitten : as 
 " Ye ought rather to forgive and comfort him ; I beseech 
 you confirm your love towards him." " If a man be over- 
 
OF PARTICULAR PREACHING. 65 
 
 taken in a fault, restore him in the spirit of meekness, con- 
 sidering lest thou also be tempted." They talk roundly 
 to those who are apt to make God the author of sin : who 
 say " We unavoidably pine away in our iniquities, and 
 how can we then be saved?" As in James, " Let no man 
 say I am tempted of God ; for God tempteth not any man." 
 
 Declining Christians are quickened, awakened, and put 
 in mind of the love of their espousals ; " Be watchful, and 
 strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die." 
 
 They awfully warn those who are in danger of sinning 
 and falling back to perdition ; telling them, " the righteous- 
 ness they have done will be remembered no more: " and 
 " God's soul will have no pleasure in them." "It is im- 
 possible for those who were once enlightened, &c., if they 
 fall away, to renew them again to repentance, seeing they 
 crucify the Son of God afresh." 
 
 They encourage the persecuted and afflicted ; telling 
 them, " When they pass through the fire and water, God 
 will be them," and that " when they are tried they shall 
 come forth as gold, and be the Lord's in that day when he 
 maketh up his jewels." " The sufferings of this present 
 time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that 
 shall be revealed." " We are compassed with a cloud of 
 witnesses ; Jesus endured the cross, and is set down at the 
 right hand of the Majesty on high; whom the Lord loveth 
 he chasteneth, and that for our profit ; chastening yields 
 the peaceable fruits of righteousness." And more particu- 
 larly, those that lament relations dead in Christ, are told 
 they shall go to be happy with them, though the dead shall 
 not return ; " sorrow not as do others that have no hope ; 
 for those that sleep in Jesus will God bring with him." 
 
 There are also particular lessons for strong Christians, 
 
 viz. to be tender to the weak, and to be public-spirited, 
 6* 
 
66 THE CHRISITAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 that as " Ephraim should not envy Judah, so neither 
 should Judah vex Ephraim." " Him that is weak in the 
 faith receive; — let not him that eateth despise him that 
 eateth not ; — let none put a stumbling-block in his brother's 
 way ; — let not your good be ill spoken of; — hast thou 
 faith? have it to thyself; — bear the infirmities of the weak ; 
 — let every one please his neighbour for his good to edifi- 
 cation. Knowledge pufieth up ; but charity edifieth ; — let 
 not your liberty be a stumbling-block to the weak, — nor 
 through thy knowledge let thy weak brother perish, for 
 whom Christ died; — if meat make my brother to ofiend, I 
 will eat no flesh while the world stands." Again, they 
 are told that " a mark is set upon the men " that deplore 
 the sins of the times ; and " a book of remembrance is 
 written" for those who distinguish themselves by their 
 piety in times of abounding wickedness. " Thou hast a 
 few names who have not defiled their garments; and they 
 shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy." 
 
 You find also a suitable portion for those who are groan- 
 ing under corruption ; who complain they were " shapen 
 in iniquity," and their actual " errors are past understand- 
 ing;" although "I am carnal, sold under sin, and what I 
 would I do not, and what I hate that do I ; in my flesh 
 dwells no good, and to perform good I find not, yea, with 
 the flesh I serve the law of sin, (Oh wretched man that I 
 am ! ") yet, " I consent to God's law, and delight in it after 
 the inner man ; it is not then 1 that do this evil, but sin 
 that dwelleth in me. I thank God through Jesus Christ: 
 with my mind I serve God's law, and God will deliver me 
 from the body of this death." And they are told how 
 God hath "laid on Christ our iniquities;" and he will be 
 " the Lord our righteousness and strength." " If any man 
 sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the 
 righteous." 
 
OF PARTICULAR PREACHING 67 
 
 The humble and penitent, who are of a contrite spirit, 
 and tremble at God's word, are comforted : " Ye were 
 sorry indeed, it was but for a season ; — it was after a godly- 
 manner ; — I rejoice in it ; — such sorrow worketh repent- 
 ance not to be repented of; — it wrought in you carefulness, 
 fear, desire, zeal, and revenge; you have approved your- 
 selves clear in this matter." 
 
 They who want direction, and cry out, " Oh that my 
 ways were directed to keep thy statutes ! " are sent to God 
 for counsel. " If any man lack wisdom, let him ask it of 
 God, and it shall be given him." 
 
 The deceiver and the deceived (viz. those of evil minds, 
 who seduce others, and those that are misled in the sim- 
 plicity of their hearts) are to be distinctly and differently 
 treated ; "On some have compassion, and others save with 
 fear." 
 
 As for those of the house of Israel in desertion, who 
 mourn after the Lord, who walk in darkness and see no 
 light, and say, " the Lord hath forsaken me," there were, 
 I believe, few, if any, in those days of the plentiful effusion 
 of the Spirit, when the gospel church was in its infancy, 
 and " a nation was to be born in a day ;" but few, I say, 
 who had doubts about their sincerity ; they had persecu- 
 tions, distress, and exercises of another sort ; and those 
 were sufficient. I am apt to think such cases were also 
 rare in the beginning of the reformation from popery ; 
 which seems to be the occasion of some of the first reform- 
 ers confounding faith with assurance. However, there are 
 laid up in the New Testament, some proper hints of coun- 
 sel for such as should in after-times labour under the hid- 
 ings of God's face; as "To examine themselves,' — for 
 this to beseech the Lord ; — to clear themselves of sin ; — 
 not to faint in well-doing ; " and the like. 
 
68 
 
 Brethren, from your acquaintance with the Scriptures, 
 you will easily perceive that I could run this specimen 
 much farther through the sacred writings ; and if you pe- 
 ruse the writings of the most powerful and successful 
 preachers, particularly the Puritan Divines, you will see 
 that they herein imitated the great leaders of the Christian 
 profession ; and were large in their particular application 
 to several sorts of persons ; suiting their discourses to all 
 the variety of the hearts of men, and sorts and frames of 
 Christians, according to the precepts of Christianity, and I 
 may add of true oratory. In this way they found their 
 own hearts warmed, and thus they reached the hearts of 
 their hearers ; whilst many were imagining the minister 
 had been told of their case, and made the sermon for them ; 
 and so was verified that passage, — " The word of God is 
 quick and powerful, a discerner of the thoughts and in- 
 tents of the heart." 
 
 Now, what success can we reasonably expect, if we do 
 not take into close consideration the cases of our several 
 spiritual patients? If a man, professing physic, should ad- 
 minister or prescribe one constant medicine for fevers, and 
 another for consumptions, and so for other distempers, 
 without considering the age, constitution, strength, and 
 way of living of his patient, and not vary his method and 
 medicines as those vary, we should hardly call this the 
 regular practice of physic. Nor can I think this general 
 and undistinguishing way will be more safe, or likely to 
 answer its end, in divinity than in medicine. 
 
 Now I rest persuaded, brethren, the thing is so evident 
 you cannot but allow it is best to suit ourselves to all the 
 variety of tempers and experience of the hearers, if it can 
 be done ; and I hope some thoughts may be successfully 
 offered upon the way how this skill may be attained. 
 
OF PARTICULAR PREACHING. 69 
 
 1. Above all, then, carefully study your own hearts, 
 and preach over the ruder sketches of your sermons to 
 yourselves first ;* by which means the correspondent 
 workings of your own hearts and affections may furnish 
 you with proper thoughts wherewith to apply closely to all 
 whose temper, experience, and case are like your own: for 
 what is supplied to your imperfect notes, out of the appli- 
 catory meditations of your own minds on the subject, will 
 very probably, according to the usual way of the Spirit, 
 happily and powerfully reach those of the same make in 
 like circumstances. 
 
 2. But, alas ! one man's experience falls far short of all 
 the variety of men's hearts, and of the Spirit's work ; nay, 
 those whose heads are turned for close and regular thought 
 and whose time has been spent in study and letters, as 
 they go on more rationally and evenly in religion, have 
 less variety of experience than many of a different mould 
 and way of thinking. Here it will be needful then to look 
 out of ourselves, and take a large view, in order to be ac- 
 quainted with cases and tempers different from our own ; 
 and with such methods of the Spirit's work, as we our- 
 selves have never experienced, but many others have. 
 Now the best and original way of getting this acquaintance 
 with men, and with God's workings in them (and I may 
 add, of Satan's workings also) is by conversing freely 
 with the serious people of our flock. 
 
 I know your thoughts will prevent me with an objec- 
 tion ; you will say. This is almost impracticable, espe- 
 
 * The method recommended here by the Tutor, was, we are in- 
 formed by Mr. Orton, exemplified by the pupil, Dr. Doddrige, with 
 great advantage. T would here insert the passage, but that I take it 
 for granted the Christian Preacher will have in his library the valu- 
 able publication referred to. — Orton s Memoirs of the Life, Charac- 
 ter, and Writings of Br. Doddridge, 2d. edit. p. 26, &c. 
 
70 THE CHRISTIAX PASTOR's MAMUAL. 
 
 cially amongst persons of politeness and figure ; these, 
 alas ! too rarely will use any such freedom with us, in lay- 
 ing open their hearts, and communicating their experience 
 to us, as may give us the needful information. If we ever 
 do arrive at any acquaintance with the experience of 
 Christians, little thanks are due to such as these ; they ex- 
 pect we should preach suitably to them, and that with as 
 much reason as Nebuchadnezzar demanded of the wise 
 men to interpret a dream they knew not. The middle and 
 lower sort of people, indeed, are more unreserved to grave 
 ministers of age and standing, but will hardly use the same 
 freedom with young men. 
 
 To help you over this difficulty, I would observe, that, 
 as for the polite, and men of some thought and reading, 
 your own experience, with the allowances and corrections 
 a moderate skill in human nature will enable you to make, 
 may lead you into happy conjectures at their way of think- 
 ing. Besides, in the time of their visitation, under some 
 sore affliction, you will find them more communicative; 
 and an hour's free discourse with such as can give a ra- 
 tional and intelligible account of themselves, in a season 
 when they are disposed to do it, is as valuable and useful 
 as it is rare and difficult to enter into. 
 
 3. Again, have an eye upon the serious youth, whom 
 nature and providence has designed to place in a supe- 
 rior class ; and especially at a time when the impres- 
 sions of religion are new to them. You will find them 
 more open than elder persons, if you court their intimacy, 
 and relieve their bashfulness ; and if you can see into the 
 heart of a youth, then, with the proper allowances for 
 alterations that age and business will make, you may pretty 
 well guess at their turn of mind in more advanced years. 
 
 4. With the generality of serious and more advanced 
 Christians, there needs not so much nicety to get into such 
 
OF PARTICULAR PREACHING. 71 
 
 a spiritual intimacy with them as we desire; the layino- 
 aside of nicety and ceremony, and getting into such a grave 
 good-natured way as our character requires, is more than 
 half-way to our purpose. Where this is insufficient to en- 
 courage the people to freedom, lead them into it by com- 
 municating first, either what yourselves have experienced, 
 under the name of a third person (if modesty or prudence 
 require it) or else what you have learned from others, 
 without betraying the confidence they have put in you. 
 By these methods we shall seldom fail of drawing serious 
 people on to such a freedom as will be of use to them and 
 ourselves. If we heartily go about it, we are pretty sure 
 to succeed. 
 
 5. I may farther hint at a compendious way for gaining 
 much knowledge of men's hearts in a little time, viz. If 
 you have any tolerable skill in the different tempers and 
 complexions of mankind, distribute, in your thoughts, your 
 people into classes, according to their natural genius and 
 temper, and select one of each class, with whom to be 
 more particularly acquainted; for amongst those whom na- 
 ture has formed alike, you will find upon further inquiry, 
 a striking uniformity in the Spirit's work and way of pro- 
 ceedins; with them. 
 
 6. I might recommend a way of knowing these things 
 at second hand, viz. from the most popular and experi- 
 mental authors ; but this way is far inferior to the other : 
 we shall but faintly paint any phenomenon of the heart, 
 by copying another picture ; it is infinitely preferable to do 
 it from the life. Yet would I earnestly recommend the 
 perusal of such authors as deal much in an experimental 
 strain, and have been very successful in it; but with a dif- 
 ferent design, viz. That we may learn from them, how to 
 describe, in a discreet and live manner, such cases as we 
 ourselves have observed ; and how to address properly to 
 
72 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 those cases, with the like thoughts and expressions, as have 
 in the course of their preaching happily answered the end. 
 After all, rightly to divide the word of truth, with true 
 wisdom is a matter of no small difficulty ; but if we care- 
 fully and diligently go about it, with a zeal for our Master's 
 interest, and sensible of our own insufficiency, asking wis- 
 dom of God, we know he giveth liberally, and will surely 
 make us wise to win souls, to the honour of his name, and 
 our own rejoicing in the day of the Lord Jesus. To 
 whom, with the Father and Holy Spirit, that one God 
 whom we adore, be paid the highest honours and praises 
 to eternal a^es. Amen. 
 
 PASTORAL CAUTIONS. 
 BY ABRAHAM BOOTH. 
 
 As you, my Brother, are now invested with the pastoral 
 office in this church, and have requested me to address 
 you on the solemn occasion, I shall endeavour to do it with 
 all the freedom of a friend, and with all the affection of a 
 brother ; not as your superior, but as your equal. 
 
 The language of divine law on which I shall ground my 
 address, is that memorable injunction of Paul, in his charge 
 to Timothy : 
 
 TAKE HEED TO THYSELF. 1. Timotluj iv. 16, 
 
 Very comprehensive, salutary, and important, is this 
 apostolic precept. For it comes recommended to our seri- 
 ous and submissive regard, as the language of a saint, who 
 
\ 
 
 PASTORAL CAUTIONS. 73 
 
 was pre-eminent among the most illustrious of our Lord's 
 immediate followers ; as the advice of a most accomplished 
 and useful Minister of the Gospel, when hoary with age, 
 rich with experience, and almost worn down by arduous 
 labours ; and as the command of an apostle, who wrote 
 by the order and inspiration of Jesus Christ. This divine 
 precept I shall now take the liberty of urging upon you in 
 various points of light. 
 
 Take heed to yourself, then, with regard to the reality 
 of true godliness, and the state of religion in your own 
 soul. That you are a partaker of regenerating grace, I 
 have a pleasing persuasion : that you have some expe- 
 rience of those pleasures and pains, of those joys and sor- 
 rows, which are peculiar to real Christians, I make no 
 doubt. But this does not supercede the necessity of the 
 admonition. Make it your daily prayer, and your dili- 
 gent endeavour, therefore, to feel the importance of those 
 truths you have long believed — of those doctrines you now 
 preach. Often inquire at the mouth of conscience, what 
 you experience of their comforting, reproving,. and sancti- 
 fying power? When you have been preaching the pro- 
 mises of grace, or urging the precepts of duty, earnestly 
 pray that their practical influence may appear in your own 
 dispositions and conduct. Endeavour to realize the force, 
 and to comply with the requisition of that precept, Grow 
 in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 In proportion as the principles of true piety are vigorous 
 in your heart, may you be expected to fill up the wide cir- 
 cumference of pastoral duty. For there is no reason to 
 fear that a minister, if tolerably furnished with gifts, will 
 be remarkably deficient, or negligent, in any known branch 
 of pastoral obligation, while his heart is alive to the enjoy- 
 
74 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 ments and to the duties of the christian character. It is 
 from the pastor's defects considered under the notion of a 
 disciple, that his principal difficulties and chief dangers 
 arise. For, my Brother, it is only on the permanent basis 
 of genuine christian piety, that your pastoral character can 
 be established, or appear with respectability, in the light of 
 the New Testament. — I called genuine christian piety pe?'- 
 manent. Because every thing essential to it will abide, 
 and flourish in immortal vigour: whereas the pastoral of- 
 fice, though honourable and important when connected 
 with true godliness, must soon be laid aside, as inconsist- 
 ent with the heavenly state. 
 
 Take heed to yourself, lest you mistake an increase of 
 gifts for a growth in grace. Your knowledge of the 
 Scriptures, your abilities for explaining them, and your 
 ministerial talents in general, may considerably increase, 
 by reading, study, and public exercise : while real godli- 
 ness is far from flourishing in your heart. For, among 
 all the apostolic churches, none seem to have abound- 
 ed more in the enjoyment of spiritual gifts, than the 
 church at Corinth : yet few of them appear to have been 
 in a more unhappy state, or more deserving of reproof. I 
 have long been of opinion, my Brother, that no professors 
 of the genuine gospel have more need to be on their guard 
 against self-deception, respecting the true state of religion 
 in their own souls, than those who statedly dispense the 
 gracious trutli. For as it is their calling and their husi- 
 ness, frequently to read their Bibles, and to think much on 
 spiritual things — to pray, and preach, and often to con- 
 verse about the affairs of piety ; they will, if not habitu- 
 ally cautious, do it all ex officio, or merely as the work of 
 their ministerial calling, without feeling their own inter- 
 est in it. 
 
PASTORAL CAUTIONS. 75 
 
 To grow in love to God, and in zeal for his honour, in 
 conformity to the will of Christ, and in heavenly-minded- 
 ness, should be your first concern. Look well, therefore, 
 to your internal character. For it is awful to think of ap- 
 pearing as a minister, without being really a Christian ; 
 or of any one officially watching over the souls of others, 
 who is habitually unmindful of his own immortal interests. 
 
 In the course of your public ministry, and in a great 
 variety of instances, you may perhaps find it impractica- 
 ble to enter into the true spirit of a precept, or of a prohibi- 
 tion, so as to reach its full meaning and its various appli- 
 cation, without keling yourself convicted by it. Incases 
 of this kind, you must fall under the conviction secretly 
 before God, and pray over it with undissembled contrition: 
 agreeably to that saying, Thou that teachest another, 
 teachest thou not thyself? When Ministers hardly ever 
 make this practical application of iheir public admonitions 
 and cautions, as if their own spiritual interests were not 
 concerned in them, their consciences will grow callous, and 
 their situation, with regard to eternity, extremely danger- 
 ous. For, this being habitually neglected, how can they 
 be considered as walking hu3ibly icith God? which, 
 nevertheless, is of such essential importance in the chris- 
 tian life, that, without it, all pretences to true piety are 
 vain. Hence an author, of no small repute in the churches 
 of Christ, says, " He that would go down to the pit in peace, 
 let him keep up duties in his family and closet; let him 
 hear as often as he can have opportunity ; let him speak 
 ofien of good things ; let him leave the company of pro- 
 fane and ignorant men, until he have obtained a great re- 
 pute for religion ; let him preach, and labour to make 
 others better than he himself; and, in the mean time, ne- 
 glect to humble his heart to walk with God in a manifest 
 holiness and usefulness, and he will not fail of his end." 
 
76 
 
 Take heed that your pastoral office prove not a snare to 
 your soul, by lifting you up with pride and self-impor- 
 tance. Forget not, that the whole of your work is minis- 
 terial ; not legislative — That you are not a lord in the 
 church, but a servant — that the New Testament attaches 
 no honour to the character of a pastor, except in connec- 
 tion with his humility and benevolence, his diligence and 
 zeal, in promoting the cause of the great Shepherd — And, 
 that there is no character upon earth which so ill accords 
 with a proud, imperious, haughty spirit, as that of a Chris- 
 tian pastor. 
 
 If not intoxicated with a conceit of your own wisdom 
 and importance, you will not, when presiding in the man- 
 agement of church affairs, labour to have every motion 
 determined according to your own inclination. For this 
 would savour of ecclesiastical despotism ; be inconsistent 
 with the nature and spirit of congregational order; and 
 implicitly grasping at a much larger degree of power, and 
 of responsibility, than properly falls to your share. 
 
 Nor, if this caution be duly regarded, will you consider 
 it as an insult on either your ministerial wisdom, or your 
 pastoral dignity, if now and then, one or another of your 
 people, and even the most illiterate among them, should 
 remind you of some real or supposed inadvertency or mis- 
 take, either in doctrine or in conduct; no, not though it be 
 in blunt language, and quite unfounded. For a readiness 
 to take offence on such occasions, would be a bar to your 
 own improvement; and, perhaps, in articles, relatively con- 
 sidered, of great importance. Nay, in such cases, to be 
 soon irritated, though not inconsistent with shining abili- 
 ties, nor yet with great success in the ministry, would, 
 nevertheless, be an evidence of pride, and of your being, 
 as a Christian, in a poor feeble state. For, to be easily 
 shoved out of the way, pushed down, as it were, with a 
 
PASTORAL CAUTIONS. 7? 
 
 straw, or caused to fall into sin, by so feeble an impulse, 
 must be considered as an undoubted mark of great spiritual 
 weakness. Because the health of the soul, and the vigour 
 of the spiritual life are to be estimated, not by our know- 
 ledge and gifts, but by the exercise of Christian graces, in 
 cheerfully performing arduous labours ; in surmounting 
 successive difficulties ; and in patiently bearing hardships, 
 for the sake of Jesus. Yes, and in proportion to the de- 
 gree of your spiritual health, will be your meekness and 
 forbearance under those improprieties of treatment, by one 
 and another of your people, which you will undoubtedly 
 meet. On examining ourselves by this rule, it will plainly 
 appear, I presume, that though many of us in this assem- 
 bly might, with regard to the length of our Christian pro- 
 fession, be justly denominated fathers ; yet, with reference 
 to spiritual stature and strength, we deserve no better char- 
 acter than that o^ rickety children. Think not, however, 
 that I advise you always to tolerate ignorant, conceited, 
 and petulant professors, in making exceptions to your min- 
 istry, or in calling you to account for your conduct, with- 
 out reason, and without good manners : but endeavour, 
 with impartiality and prudence, to distinguish between 
 cases of this kind. Then the simple and sincere, though 
 improperly officious, will not be treated with resentful 
 harshness; but with some resemblance of what is beauti- 
 fully denominated, the meekness and gentleness of Jesus 
 Christ, But alas I how poorly we imitate our Perfect 
 Pattern ! 
 
 It is of such high importance, that a pastor possess the 
 government of his own temper, and a tolerable share of 
 prudence, when presiding in the management of church 
 affairs, that, without these, his general integrity, though 
 undisputed, and his benevolence, though usually considered 
 7* 
 
78 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 as exemplary, will be in danger of impeachment among 
 his people. Nay, notwithstanding the fickleness and ca- 
 price of many private professors with regard to their min- 
 isters, it has long appeared probable to me, that a majority 
 of those uneasinesses, animosities, and separations, which, 
 to the disgrace of religion, take place between pastors and 
 their several churches, may be traced up, either to the un- 
 christian tempers, to the gross imprudence, or to the lazi- 
 ness and neglects of the pastors themselves. 
 
 Take heed to yourself, respecting your temper and con- 
 duct in general. Every one that calls himself a Christian 
 should fairly represent, in his own dispositions and beha- 
 viour, the moral character of Jesus. The conversation of 
 every professor should not only be free from gross defects ; 
 it should be worthy of general imitation. But though each 
 member of this church be under the same obligations to 
 holiness, as yourself; yet your spiritual gifts, your minis- 
 terial office, and your pastoral relation, suggest a variety 
 of motives to holiness, which your people do not possess. 
 Make it your diligent concern, therefore, to set your hear- 
 ers a bright example, formed on that perfect model, the 
 temper and conduct of Jesus Christ. 
 
 Yes, my Brother, it is required that Pastors, in their 
 own persons and conduct, especially in the discharge of 
 ministerial duties, give a just representation of the doctrine 
 they preach, and of him in whose name they dispense it. 
 But, in order to do this, though in an imperfect manner, 
 what integrity, benevolence, humility, meekness, and zeal 
 for the glory of God ; what self-denial and readiness for 
 bearing the cross ; what mortification of corrupt aflections 
 and inordinate desires of earthly things; what condescen- 
 sion and patience ; what contempt of the world, and hea- 
 venly-mindedness, are necessary; not only the Scripture 
 declares, but the nature of the thing shows. 
 
PASTORAL CAUTIONS. 79 
 
 Persons who are not acquainted with the true nature 
 and genius of evangelical doctrine, will be always disposed 
 to charge the gospel itself with having a strong tendency 
 to encourage those immoralities which appear in the char- 
 acter of its professors, and especially of those that preach 
 it. Hence an apostle says. Giving no offence in any thing, 
 that the ministry he not blamed. For what can persons, 
 otherwise uninformed, with more appearance of reason 
 conclude, than that the example of those who propagate 
 the doctrine of salvation by grace, through Jesus Christ, 
 is an authentic specimen of its genuine tendency in the 
 hearts and lives of all those who believe and avow it? In 
 the ministry of religious teachers, there is an implicit lan- 
 guage, which is commonly considered by their hearers as 
 importing, that what they do and are, if disgraceful, is the 
 effect, not of their natural depravity, or of peculiar temp- 
 tations, but of their doctrinal principles. Hence the minis- 
 ters of Christ are commanded, in all things to show them- 
 selves patterns of good works. To be examples to be- 
 lievers in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in 
 faith, in purity. Yes, my Brother, the honour and pre- 
 ferment, to which our divine Lord calls his ministers, are, 
 to give a just representation, in their own conduct, of the 
 graces of his Person, and the holiness of his doctrine, to 
 others. For whatever apparently splendid advantages a 
 man may have, with reference to the ministry, if they do 
 not enable him the more effectually, in his Christian course 
 and ministerial work, to express the humility, the meek- 
 ness, the self-denial, and the zeal of the Chief Shepherd, 
 together with the holiness of the doctrine he teaches, they 
 will redound but little to his account another day. 
 
 1 will now adopt the words of our Lord, and say. Take 
 heed and beware of covetousness. That evil turn of heart 
 
80 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 which is here proscribed with such energy and such 
 authority, is, through the false names it assumes, and the 
 pleas which it makes, to be considered as extremely subtle 
 and equally pernicious. It evidently stands opposed, in 
 Scripture, to contentment with the allotments of Providence, 
 to spiritual mindedness, and to real piety. It is an ex- 
 tremely evil disposition of the heart; of which, notwith- 
 standing, very little account is made by the generality of 
 those who profess the gospel of divine grace; except when 
 it procures the stigma of penuriousness, or the charge of 
 injustice. But, whatever excuses or palliatives may be in- 
 vented, either to keep the consciences of covetous profes- 
 sors quiet, or to support a good opinion of others respect- 
 ing the reality of their piety, the New Testament declares 
 them unworthy of communion in a church of Christ, and 
 classes them with persons of profligate hearts and lives. 
 The existence and habitual operation of this evil, therefore, 
 must be considered as forming a character for hell. Nor 
 need I inform you, that, for a long course of ages, myriads 
 of those who assumed the appellation of Christian Minis- 
 ters, have been so notorious for an avaricious disposition, 
 for the love of secular honours, and for the lust of clerical 
 domination, as greatly to promote infidelity, and expose 
 Christianity to contempt. 
 
 Take heed, then, and beware of covetousness. For 
 neither the comfort, the honour, nor the usefulness of a 
 man's life consisteth in the abimdance of the things which 
 he possesseth. Let your conversation be without covetous- 
 ness ; and, possessing the necessaries of life, without being 
 indebted to any man, be content with such things as you 
 have : for He who governs the world hath said, 1 will 
 never leave thee nor forsake thee. For as a man's hap- 
 piness does not consist in things, but in thoughts, that 
 
PASTORAL CAUTIONS. 81 
 
 abundance after which the carnal heart soeargerly pants, is 
 adapted to gratify — not the demands of reason much less 
 the dictates of conscience, nor yet the legitimate and sober 
 claims of appetite; but — a fond imagination; pride of 
 show; the love of secular influence; the lust of dominion ; 
 and a secret desire of lying as little as possible at the 
 mercy of Providence. I have somewhere seen it reported 
 of Socrates, the prince of pagan philosophers, that on be- 
 holding a great variety of costly and elegant articles ex- 
 posed to sale, he exclaimed. How many things are here 
 that I do not want ! So, my Brother, when entering the 
 abode of wealth we behold the stately mansion, the nume- 
 rous accommodations, the elegant furniture, the luxurious 
 table, the servants in waiting, and the fashionable finery of 
 each individual's apparel ; with what propriety and em- 
 phasis ought each of us to exclaim, How many things are 
 here which I do not want ; which would do me no good ; 
 and after which I have no desire 1 For we should not for- 
 get who it was that said, How hardly shall a rich man 
 enter the kingdom of heaven ! 
 
 I said. Possessing the necessaries of life without being 
 indebted to any man. For this purpose resolutely deter- 
 mine to live, if practicable, within the bounds of your in- 
 come ; not only so as to keep out of debt, but, if possible, 
 to spare something for the poor. Supposing, my Brother, 
 that, either through the afflicting hand of God, or the crimi- 
 nal neglect of your people, unavoidable straits approach ; 
 be not afraid of looking poverty in the face, as if it were, 
 in itself considered, a disgraceful evil. For poverty is a 
 very innocent thing, and absolutely free from deserved in- 
 famy; except when it is found in scandalous company. 
 But if its forerunner and associates be pride, laziness, a 
 fondness for good living, a want of economy, and the con- 
 
82 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 tracting of debts without a probability of paying them ; it 
 deserves detestation, and merits contempt — is inconsistent 
 with virtuous conduct, and must gradually sink the charac- 
 ter ofany minister. If, on the contrary, it be found close- 
 ly connected with humility and patience, with diligence, 
 frugality, and integrity — such integrity as impels, for in- 
 stance, to wear a thread-bare coat, rather than run into 
 debt for a new one ; to live on the meanest wholesome 
 food, or to go with half a meal, rather than contract a debt 
 which is not likely to be discharged ; such penury will 
 never disgrace, either the minister himself, or the cause of 
 Jesus Christ. Not the minister himself. Because in the 
 purest state of Christianity, the most eminent servants of 
 our divine Lord were sometimes distressed with want of 
 both decent apparel and necessary food. Not the cause of 
 Jesus Christ. For his kingdom not being of this ivorld, 
 but of a spiritual nature, it cannot be either adorned by 
 riches, or disgraced by poverty. Besides the ministers of 
 evangelical truth must be poor indeed, if in humbler cir- 
 cimistances than Jesus himself was, when proclaiming the 
 glad tidings of his kingdom. It must, however, be ac- 
 knowledged, that, so far as a faithful pastor is reduced to 
 the embarrassments of poverty merely by his people with- 
 holding those voluntary supplies which they were well able 
 to have afforded, and to which, in common justice, equally 
 as by the appointment of Christ, he had an undoubted right 
 the best of causes is disgraced, and the oiTenders are ex- 
 posed to severe censure. 
 
 Were a pastor driven to the painful alternative, of either 
 entering into some lawful secular employment, or of con- 
 tinuing his pastoral relation and stated ministrations, in a 
 course of embarrassment by debts which he could not pay; 
 the former would become his duty. Not only because we 
 
PASTORAL CAUTIONS. 8^ 
 
 ought never to do evil that good may come ; but also be- 
 cause it is much more evident, that lie ought to owe no 
 man any thing, than it is, that the Lord ever called him to 
 the ministry, or qualified him for it. But, if necessity do 
 not impel, the following passage seems to have the force 
 of a negative precept, respecting the Christian pastor : No 
 man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of 
 this life ; that he may please him who hath chosen him to 
 he a soldier, A pastor should be very cautious, not only 
 of entering, unnecessarily, into stated secular employment; 
 but also of accepting any trust, though apparently advan- 
 tageous, in which the preservat-ion and the management of 
 property are confided to his integrity and prudence. For 
 so critically observed is the conduct of a man that has the 
 management of another's pecuniary affairs ; and so delicate 
 is a minister's character, that he is in peculiar danger of 
 exposing himself to censure, and of injuring his public use- 
 fulness, by such engagements. 
 
 Take heed, I will venture to add, take heed to your se- 
 cond-self in the person of your ivife. As it is of high 
 importance for a young minister in single life, to behave 
 with the utmost delicacy in all his intercourse with female 
 friends, treating with peculiar caution those of them that are 
 unmarried ; and as it behooves him to pay the most con- 
 scientious regard to religious character, when choosing a 
 companion for life ; so, when in the conjugal state, his 
 tenderest attention is due to the domestic happiness and the 
 spiritual interests of his wife. This obligation, my brother, 
 manifestly devolves upon you ; as being alrendy a husband 
 and a father. Next after your own soul, therefore, your 
 wife and your children evidently claim the most affection- 
 ate, conscientious, and pious care. 
 
 Nor can it be reasonably doubted, that many a devout 
 
84 THE CHRISTIAN pastor's manual. 
 
 and amiable woman has given her hand to a minister of 
 the gospel, in preference to a private Christian, though 
 otherwise equally deserving, in sanguine expectation, by 
 so doing, of enjoying peculiar spiritual advantages in the 
 matrimonial relation. But, alas! there is much reason to 
 apprehend, that not a few individuals among those worthy 
 females, have often reflected to the following effect: 
 
 " I have, indeed, married a preacher of the gospel ; but 
 I do not find in him the affectionate domestic instructor, for 
 either myself, or my children. My husband is much es- 
 teemed among his religious acquaintance, as a respectable 
 Christian character ; but his example at home is far from 
 being delightful. Affable, condescending, and pleasing, in 
 the parlours of religious friends ; but, frequently, either 
 trifling and unsavoury, or imperious and unsocial, in his 
 own family. Preferring the opportunity of being enter- 
 tained at a plentiful table, and of conversing with the 
 wealthy, the polite, and the sprightly, to the homely fare 
 of his own family, and the company of his wife and chil- 
 dren, he often spends his afternoons and evenings from 
 home, until so late an hour, that domestic worship is either 
 omitted, or performed in a hasty and slovenly manner, 
 with scarcely the appearance of devotion — Little caring 
 for my soul, or for ihe management of our growing off- 
 spring, he seems concerned for hardly any thing more, 
 than keeping fair with his people: relative to which, I 
 have often calmly remonstrated, and submissively en- 
 treated, but all in vain. Surrounded with little ones, and 
 attended with straits ; destitute of the sympathies, the in- 
 structions, the consolations, which might have been ex- 
 pected from the affectionate heart of a pious husband, con- 
 nected with the gifts of an evangelical minister, I pour out 
 my soul to God, and mourn in secret." Such, there is 
 
PASTORAL CAUTIONS. 85 
 
 ground of apprehension, has been the sorrowful soliloquy 
 of many a minister's pious, dutiful, and prudent wife. Take 
 heed, then, to the best interests of your second-self. 
 
 To this end, except on extraordinary occasions, when 
 impelled by duty, spend your evenings at home. Yes, and 
 at an early hour in the evening, let your family and your 
 study receive their demands on your presence, in the lively 
 performance of social and secret devotion. Thus there 
 will be reason to hope, that domestic order and sociability, 
 the improvement of your own understanding, and commu- 
 nion with God, will all be promoted. 
 
 Guard, habitually, against every appearance of impru- 
 dent intercourse, and every indelicate familiarity with the 
 most virtuous and pious of your female friends. Be par- 
 ticularly cautious of paying frequent visits to any single 
 woman who lives alone ; otherwise, your conduct may 
 soon fall under the suspicion of your neighbours, and also 
 of your own wife, so as to become her daily tormentor; 
 even while she believes you innocent of the great trans- 
 gression. — In cases of this kind, it is not sufficient that 
 conscience bears witness to the purity of your conduct, and 
 the piety of your motives : for, in matters of such a deli- 
 cate nature, there should not be the least shadow of a 
 ground, either to support suspicion, or to excite surmise. 
 There is need for us, my Brother, to watch and pray 
 against the greatest sins — even against those to which, per- 
 haps, we never perceived ourselves to bo much inclined. 
 For, alas ! we have sometimes heard of apparently pious 
 and evangelical ministers falling into such enormous 
 crimes, as not only disgrace religion, but degrade hu- 
 manity. ■ - y- 
 
 Of late, I have been much affected with Ihe following 
 
 reflection : " Though, if not greatly deceived, I have had 
 
 8 
 
86 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 some degree of experimental acquaintance with Jesus Christ 
 for almost forty years ; though 1 have borne the ministe- 
 rial character for upwards of twenty-five years; though I 
 have been, perhaps, of some little use in the church of 
 God ; and though I have had a greater share of esteem 
 among religious people than I had any reason to expect ; 
 yet after all, it is possible for me, in one single hour of 
 temptation, to blast my character — to ruin my public use- 
 fulness — and to render my warmest Christian friends 
 ashamed of owning me. Hold thou me up, O Lord, and 
 I shall be safe ! " Ah ! Brother, there is little reason for 
 any of us to be high-minded : and, therefore, Happy is 
 the man that feareth always. 
 
 Take heed to yourself, tcith regard to the diligent im- 
 provement of your talents and opportunities, in the whole 
 course of your ministry, it behooves you, as a public 
 teacher, to spend much of your time in reading and in 
 study. Of this you are convinced, and will act, I trust, 
 agjreeablv to that conviction. For suitable means must 
 be used, not only in your public ministry, in season and 
 out of season, for the good of others ; but with a view to the 
 improvement of your own mind, in an acquaintance with 
 divine truth. Yes, my Christian friend, this is necessary, 
 that your ability to feed the flock with knowledge and un- 
 derstanding may be increased ; that your own heart may 
 be more deeply tinctured with evangelical principles ; that 
 you may be the better prepared for every branch of pas- 
 toral duty, and for every trying event that may occur. 
 For who can reasonably deny the necessity of diligence in 
 the use of means, adapted, respectively, to promote your 
 own ministerial improvement, and to obtain the great ob- 
 jects of your pastoral office ; any more than to a rational 
 prospect of success, in the management of secular busi- 
 
PASTORAL CAUTIONS. 87 
 
 ness? Be, then, as careful to improve opportunities of both 
 obtaining and imparting spiritual benefits, as the prudent 
 and assiduous tradesman or mechanic is, to promote the 
 legitimate designs of his professional calling. 
 
 If a minister of the gospel behave with Christian deco- 
 rum, possess tolerable abilities for his work, and having 
 his heart in it, be habitually industrious, there is reason to 
 conclude that, in the common course of Providence, he 
 shall not labour in vain. As nobody, however, wonders 
 that a merchant, or a manufacturer, who, having no plea- 
 sure in his employment, neglects his affairs, and behaves 
 £is if he thought himself above his business, does not suc- 
 ceed, but becomes bankrupt; so, if a minister be seldom 
 any further engaged, either in the study of truth, or in the 
 public exercises of religion, than seems necessary to his 
 continuance, with decency, in the pastoral station, there is 
 no reason to wonder, if his public devotion be without sa- 
 vour, and his preaching without success. The church of 
 which such a minister is the pastor, seems completely war- 
 ranted to cry in his ears. Take heed to the ministry which 
 thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it. 
 
 Take heed to yourself, respecting the motives by which 
 you are infuenced in. all your endeavours to obtain useful 
 knowledge. For if you read and study, chiefly that you 
 may cut a respectable figure in the pulpit ; or to obtain 
 and increase popular applause ; the motive is carnal, base, 
 and unworthy a man of God. Yet, detestable in the sight 
 of Him who searches the heart as that motive is, there 
 will be the greatest necessity for you to guard against it as 
 a besetting evil. It is, perhaps, as hard for a minister ha- 
 bitually to read and study with becoming diligence, with- 
 out being under this corrupt influence, as it is for a trades- 
 man prudently to manage a lucrative business, without 
 
88 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 seeking the gratification of a covetous disposition ; yet both, 
 the minister and the tradesman must either guard against 
 these pernicious evils, or be in danger of sinking in final 
 ruin. 
 
 Besides, whatever be the motives which principally ope- 
 rate in your private studies, it is highly probable those very 
 motives will have their influence in the pulpit. If, when 
 secretly studying the word of God, it was your chief con- 
 cern to know the divine 'will, that you might, with integ- 
 rity and benevolence, lay it before your people for their 
 benefit ; it is likely the same holy motiv-e will attend you 
 in public service. But if a thirst of popularity, or a lust 
 of applause, had the principal influence in the choice of 
 your subject, and in your meditations upon it, there will 
 be no reason for surprise, if you should be under the same 
 detestable bias, when performing your public labour. 
 
 Study your discourses, therefore, with a devotional dis- 
 position. To this you are bound by the very nature of 
 the case, as a Christian minister. For, when the Bible is 
 before you, it is the word of God on which you meditate, 
 and the work of God you are preparing to perform. It is 
 reported of Dr. Cotton Mather, " That in studying and 
 preparing them, he would endeavour to make even that an 
 exercise of devotion for his own soul. Accordingly his 
 way was, at the end of every paragraph, to make a pause, 
 and endeavour to make his own soul feel some holy im- 
 pression of the truths contained in it. This he thought 
 would be an excellent means of delivering his sermons with 
 life and spirit, and warming the hearts of his people by 
 them ; and so he found it."* 
 
 It is, indeed, an easy thing for a preacher to make loud 
 
 Abridgment of Dr. C. Mather's Life, p. 38. 
 
I 
 
 PASTORAL CAUTIONS. 89 
 
 professions of regard to the glory of God and the good of 
 immortal souls, as the ruling motive in his ministerial con- 
 duct: but experience has taught me, that it is extremely 
 difficult for any minister to act suitably to such professions. 
 For as that pride which is natural to our species, impels 
 the generality of mankind to wish for eminence, rather 
 than usefulness, in this or the other station ; so it is with 
 ministers of the word. Forty years ago I saw but little 
 need of this caution, compared with that conviction of its 
 necessity which I now have. A preacher of the real gos- 
 pel, I am fully persuaded, may appear exceedingly earnest 
 and very faithful in his public labours, as if his only design 
 were to promote the cause of truth, the happiness of men, 
 and the honour of God ; while, nevertheless, he is more 
 concerned to figure away at the head of a large body of 
 people in the religious world, than to advance the genuine 
 interests of Jesus Christ, and the felicity of his fellow-rnor- 
 tals. What is it but this detestable pride, that makes any 
 of us ministers take more pleasure in perceiving our la- 
 bours made useful to the rich, the learned, and the polite, 
 than to the poor, the illiterate, and the vulgar? It is, 1 
 presume, principally, because it adds consequence to our 
 own characters, to have wealthy, well-educated, and po- 
 lished persons in our churches. Jesus, however, in the 
 time of his personal ministry, was far from being influenced 
 by any such motive; and equally far from showing the 
 least predilection for persons of promising dispositions, on 
 any such grounds. Witness his behaviour to Nicodemus, 
 lo the young Ruler, and to the Nobleman at Capernaum. 
 
 I will add, what is it but the same depravity of heart, 
 
 which frequently renders us much more attentive to our 
 
 wealthy friends, than we are to our poor brethren, in times 
 
 of affliction? even though we be well assured, that there is 
 
 8* 
 
90 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 little dantrer of the rich beincr overlooked in their sorrows. 
 Hoary as I now am* in the ministry, and accustomed as 
 I have been to hear conscience cry out against me for this, 
 that, and the other omission of duty, I do not recollect that 
 it ever charged me with neglecting any person in plentiful 
 circumstances when deeply afflicted, and requesting my 
 visits. But, alas ! I do recollect having frequently heard 
 conscience, with a frowning aspect, and an angry tone, 
 either demanding, " Wouldst thou be thus backward to un- 
 dergo some little inconvenience, in visiting a wealthy pa- 
 tient ? " or declaring, " That afflicted brother would not, 
 through mere forgetfulness, have been recently disappointed 
 of thy presence, conversation and prayers, had he not been 
 an obscure and a poor man. Had he been less deserving 
 of thy compassionate regard, he would have been favoured 
 with it." Alas, my Brother, there is reason to fear, that 
 few ministers on this ground, stand perfectly free from 
 censure, at the bar of a tender conscience ! 
 
 As you should take heed to yourself, respecting the prin- 
 ciples on which you act, and the ends at which you aim, 
 in your preparations for the pulpit; so it behooves you to 
 be still more careful in these respects, when you enter on 
 public service. For then you professedly appear, as a 
 guilty creature, to adore at the feet of Eternal Majesty; 
 as a minister of the Divine Jesus, to perform his work ; 
 and as the servant of this church, to promote the happi- 
 ness of all its members. Endeavour, therefore, always to 
 enter your pulpit under the force of this conviction : " I 
 am an apostate creature, and going to worship the omni- 
 scient God : a wretch who deserves to perish, yet looking 
 to sovereign mercy : a sinner called by the gospel, and 
 
 * A. D. 1805. 
 
PASTORAL CAUTIONS. 91 
 
 trusting in the great atonement ; confessedly insufficient 
 for the great work on which I am entering, but relying on 
 the aids of grace." This will produce deep solemnity, tem- 
 pered with devout delight : which mixture of holy awe and 
 sacred pleasure should accompany the Christian, and es- 
 pecially the Christian minister, whenever he approaches 
 the Supreme. 
 
 Remarkable and important is that saying, Let us have 
 grace ichereby we may serve God acceptably, with rever- 
 ence and godly fear : for our God is a consuming fire. 
 Very observable also is the language of David : 1 will go 
 to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy. JMay the 
 import of these passages united, exert its force on your 
 very soul, whenever you take the lead in public worship ! 
 Then your graces as a Christian, and your gifts as a min- 
 ister, will be exercised at the same time. Your graces 
 being excited, you have communion with God : your gifts 
 being exerted, the people are edified. Whereas, were you 
 to enter the pulpit merely to exercise your ministerial 
 talents, though others might be fed by the truths delivered, 
 your own soul would starve. This, I fear, is the case of 
 many who preach the gospel. 
 
 But, what a figure, in the eye of Omniscience, must that 
 preacher make, who is not habitually desirous of exercising 
 devout affections in the performance of his public work ! 
 Like an index on the high-road, he directs others in the 
 way to heaven ; but he walks not in it himself. He may 
 prophesy with Balaam, or preach with Judas ; his learning 
 and knowledge, his natural parts and spiritual gifts, may 
 excite admiration and be useful to others ; but, being desti- 
 tute of internal devotion, his heart is not right with God, 
 and he is a wretched creature. Sounding brass, or a 
 tinli'ling cymbal, is the character by which he is known 
 in sacred Scripture. 
 
92 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 When, however, commencing public service, it is need- 
 ful to remember, that you appear, not only as a worship- 
 per of God, but as a minister of Christ. Being such, it is 
 your indispensable duty to preach Christ, and not your- 
 self: that is, with sincerity and ardour, to aim at display- 
 ing the glories of his person, and the riches of his grace ; 
 the spirituality of his kingdom, and the excellence of his 
 government; not your own ingenuit}^, or eloquence — your 
 parts, or learning. Guard then, my Brother, as against 
 the most pernicious evil ; guard, as for your very life, 
 against converting the gospel ministry into a vehicle to ex- 
 hibit your own excellence ; or prostituting the doctrine of 
 Christ crucified to the gratification of your pride, or that it 
 may be a pander to your praise. For who can estimate 
 the magnitude of that guilt which is included in such con- 
 duct? Yet with this enormous and horrible evil, I cannot 
 forbear suspecting, many ministers are more or less charge- 
 able. Nay, to the commission of this outrage on the 
 honour of Christ and of grace, every minister should con- 
 sider himself as liable. For so polluted are our hands, 
 that, without grace preventing, we defile every thing we 
 touch. So depraved are our hearts, that we are in danger 
 of committing a robbery on the glory of our divine Lord, 
 even when it is our professed business to exalt it. 
 
 As, when entering on public devotion, you should en- 
 deavour to act becoming your character, under the notion 
 of a guilty creature, in audience with the King Eternal; 
 and as a minister of Christ, whose business it is to display 
 his glory ; so you are further to consider yourself as the 
 servant of this church. When standing up to address 
 your people, it should ever be with an earnest desire of 
 promoting their happiness. They having chosen you to the 
 pastoral office; you having accepted their invitation; and 
 being now solemnly ordained to the important service ; that 
 
PASTORAL CAUTIONS. 93 
 
 mutual agreement, and the interesting transactions of this 
 day, should operate as a threefold motive to the faithful 
 performance of your public work. Yes, you are bound 
 affectionately to aim at doing them good, by laying divine 
 truth before them in such a manner as is adapted to en- 
 lighten their minds, to affect their hearts, and to promote 
 their edification. 
 
 Though the occasional exercise of your ministerial talents 
 in other places, may be both lawful and commendable ; 
 yet, as it is here only that you stand in the pastoral rela- 
 tion, you ought, except in extraordinary cases, to fill this 
 pulpit yourself; and not leave the deacons to procure sup- 
 plies, in a precarious manner, while you are serving some 
 other community. It is here, as a public teacher, that your 
 proper business lies ; and here, at the usual times of as- 
 sembling your voice must be heard — When the pastor of 
 a church discovers an inclination to avail himself of almost 
 any pretext for being absent from his people, in order to 
 serve others ; he gives reason of suspicion, whatever his 
 pretences may be, that either filthy lucre, or a lust of pop- 
 ularity, has too much place in his heart : and that he ac- 
 cepted the pastoral office, rather as an article of conve- 
 nience, than as a matter of duty. It is, indeed, much to be 
 lamented, that though dissenting ministers in general justly 
 exclaim against the non-residence and the holding of plu- 
 ralities, which are so common among the clergy ; yet th^ 
 conduct of some pastors among the Nonconformists makes 
 near approaches to that of pluralities in our national estab- 
 lishment, and is a violation of pastoral duty. 
 
 You should seek, with peculiar care, to obtain the ap- 
 probation of conscience in each of your hearers ; as ap- 
 pears by the following words : By manifestation of the 
 truths commending ourselves to every man's conscience in 
 
94 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOK's MANUAL. 
 
 the sight of God. This illustrious passage presents us 
 with a view of Paul in the pulpit ; and a very solemn ap- 
 pearance he makes. He has just been adoring in secret, 
 at the feet of the Most High ; and, recent from converse 
 with the Most Hoi}', he is now going to address his fellow- 
 sinners. Penetrated with the importance of his office, and 
 the solemnity of his present situation, he manifestly feels 
 — he seems to tremble. Nor need we wonder : for the 
 subject on which he is to speak, the object he has in view, 
 and the witness of his conduct, are all interesting and so- 
 lemn to the last degree. Truth, Conscience, and God 
 — the most important and impressive thoughts that can en- 
 ter the human mind — pervade his very soul. Evangelical 
 truth is the subject of his discussion; the approbation of 
 conscience is the object of his desire ; and the omniscient 
 Holy One is the witness of his conduct. An example, 
 this, which you and I, and every minister of the word are 
 bound to imitate. Make it your diligent endeavour, then, 
 to obtain the approbation of conscience, from all that hear 
 you : for without deserving that, none of your public la- 
 bours can be to your honour, or turn to your own account 
 ill the great day of the Lord. 
 
 A minister may say things that arc profoundly learned, 
 and very ingenious : that are uncommonly pretty and ex- 
 tremely pleasing to the generality of his hearers ; without 
 aiming to reach their consciences, and to impress their 
 hearts, either by asserting divine authority, or by display- 
 ing divine grace. When this is the case, he obtains, it 
 may be, from superficial hearers, the reward which he 
 sought ; for he is greatly admired and ajiplauded. But 
 alas ! the unawakened sinner is not alarmed ; the hungry 
 soul is not fed ; and the Father of jnercies is defrauded of 
 that reverence and confidence, of that love and obedience. 
 
PASTORAL CAUTIONS. 95 
 
 which a faithful declaration of the gracious and sanctifying 
 truth might have produced. Yes, my Brother, it is much 
 to be suspected, that many ministers have recommended 
 themselves to the fancies, the tastes, the affections of their 
 hearers ; who never deserved, and who never had, in a 
 serious hour, the approbation of their consciences. 
 
 Be ambitious, therefore, of obtaining and preserving the 
 suffrage of conscience in your favour, whether admired, 
 and honoured with verbal applause, or not. For it is evi- 
 dent from observation, that a preacher who is endued with 
 a competent share of learning and fine parts, a retentive 
 memory and good elocution, may recommend himself to 
 the admiration of great numbers; while their consciences, 
 in the hour of solemn reflection, bear testimony against him. 
 Because, as a minister may have all those engaging qualifi- 
 cations, while habitually proud and covetous, deceitful and 
 vain ; so the conscience never feels itself interested in the 
 fine imagination, the genius or the learning, which a min- 
 ister discovers in his public services. — It is worthy of re- 
 mark, my Brother, that though none of us can command 
 success to our labours, were we ever so pious, diligent, and 
 faithful ; and though it may not be in our power to obtain 
 the applause of literaturCj of genius, or of address; yet, in 
 the common course of things, if we be assiduous, benevo- 
 lent, and upright in our labours, we may secure the appro- 
 bation of conscience, in the generality of our stated hear- 
 ers : which is an article of great importance to the tran- 
 quility of a minister's own breast. 
 
 Now, my young friend, if you keep conscience in view ; 
 if you remember that God himself is a witness of your la- 
 tent motives, and of your public labours, you will not 
 choose an obscure text, principally that you may have the 
 honour of explaining it : nor will you select one which has 
 
96 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 no relation to the subject you mean to discuss, in order that 
 your acumen may shine, by making it speak what it never 
 thought. The more you keep the approbation of conscience 
 and the presence of God in your eye, the more depend- 
 ent will you be on divine assistance, in all your ministe- 
 rial addresses. Yes, bearing in mind, on every occasion 
 of this kind, that your business here is to plead for the in- 
 terests of evangelical truth, under the immediate inspection 
 of Him who is the teuth ; you cannot but feel your in- 
 capacity, and look for assistance to God, whose cause you 
 mean to promote. The more you keep the consciences of 
 men and the presence of God in your view, the more will 
 you be impressed with the importance of your subject, and 
 the more earnest will you be in addressing your hearers : 
 for that minister must have a strange set of passions, 
 who does not feel himself roused by such considerations. 
 The more you keep the approbation of conscience and the 
 inspection of God in remembrance, the less will you be dis- 
 posed to indulge a light and trifling spirit, and the more 
 devotional will you be, in the course of your administra- 
 tions : for the ordinances of God are too sacred to become 
 the vehicles of entertainment, and his presence is too 
 solemn to permit the smile of levity. 
 
 Again : Keeping the consciences of men, and the 
 Searcher of hearts in view, it will afford you much more 
 pleasure to find, that persons who have been hearing you, 
 left the place bemoaning their apostate state, and very 
 deeply abased before the Most Holy ; than to be informed, 
 that they greatly admired you as a preacher, and loudly 
 applauded your ministerial talents. Because for a person 
 to depart from public worship, in raptures with the min- 
 ister's abilities, is no proof that he has received any spirit- 
 ual benefit. But if, smitten with a sense of guilt, he cry 
 
PASTORAL CAUTIONS. 97 
 
 out, — Holo shall I escape the wrath to come 7 God he 
 merciful to me a sinner! Or if he exclaim, Who is a god 
 like unto our God ? How great is his goodness, and how 
 great is his beauty ! What shall I render to the Lord for 
 all his benefits? then it looks as if the preacher had com- 
 mended himself to his conscience, and as if the truth had 
 reached his heart. For language of this kind, from a re- 
 flecting hearer, has a devotional aspect, and gives glory to 
 God. It indicates a soul, either as being apprehensive of 
 deserved ruin, or as rejoicing in revealed mercy ; as hav- 
 ing a good hope through grace, or as revering divine au- 
 thority. Whereas, barely to admire and praise the preacher, 
 is quite consistent with reigning depravity, and with rooted 
 enmity to God. As it is written. They sit before thee as 
 my people, and they hear thy words — With their mouth, 
 they show much love, but their heart goeth after their co- 
 vetousness. And lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely 
 song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well 
 on an instrument : for they hear thy words, but they do 
 them not, 
 
 .Once more: In proportion as the approbation of con- 
 science, and the inspection of God are properly kept in 
 view, the pleasure you have, arising from verbal commen- 
 dations of professed friends, and the pain of strong oppo- 
 sition from the avowed enemies of evangelical truth, will 
 be diminished. For conscience does not often express it- 
 self in the language of noisy applause ; which, when free 
 from hypocrisy, is commonly the fruit of a weak under- 
 standing, under the influence of strong passions. Hence 
 it is not unfrequent for those who have been the most libe- 
 ral in praising a minister, to be found among the first who 
 entirely desert his ministry — As to unfounded censures, 
 
 and violent opposition ; the testimony of a good conscience, 
 9 
 
98 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 and the countenance of Scripture, are adapted to afford the 
 needful support. 
 
 Take heed to yourself, with regard to that success and 
 those discouragements, which may attend your ministry. 
 Should a large degree of apparent success, through the fa- 
 vour of heaven, accompany your labours, there will be the 
 highest necessity to guard against pride and self-esteem. 
 A young man, of good ministerial abilities, and honoured 
 ^ with great usefulness, is in a delicate situation, respecting 
 the prosperity of his own soul ; for, through the want of 
 experience and observation, such concurrence of pleasing 
 particulars has proved to some very promising characters, 
 the innocent occasion of disgrace and ruin. Shining abili- 
 ties, and a blessing upon their labours, have rendered them 
 popular. Popularity has intoxicated them with pride. 
 Pride has exposed them to various temptations. Tempta- 
 tions have prevailed ; and either precipitated them into some 
 enormous offence, or laid the foundation of a gradual de- 
 parture from the truth, and from the practice of real piety 
 If the former, their character has been killed, as by the 
 stroke of an apoplexy. If the latter, their comfort and use- 
 fulness have been destroyed, as by a consuming hectic. 
 Agreeable to that saying. Pride goeth before destruction, 
 and a haughty spirit before a fall. 
 
 Remember, therefore, my Brother, that though it is your 
 indispensable duty to labour and pray for prosperity in 
 your work ; yet, that a season of remarkable success will 
 generally prove an hour of peculiar temptation to your own 
 soul. — Talce heed to yourself, at such a time, and watch 
 the secret motions of your own heart. The number of 
 your hearers may increase, and your church my flourish ; 
 while, in your own breast, devotional affections and virtu- 
 ous dispositions are greatly on the decline; nor need I in- 
 
PASTORAL CAUTIONS. 99 
 
 form you, that every degree of such declension has a ten- 
 dency to final ruin. 
 
 Besides, if there should be an appearance of extensive 
 utility attending your labours, for which I sincerely pray ; 
 you may do well to remember the old proverb, " All is not 
 gold that glitters." Numbers there are that seem to re- 
 ceive the word with Joy, who, in time of temptation, fall 
 away — Many evangelical and popular preachers, I am 
 very suspicious, have greatly over rated the usefulness of 
 their own labours. For, the longer I live, the more appre- 
 hensive I am, that the number of real converts, among 
 those who profess the genuine gospel, is comparatively very 
 small : according to the import of that alarming declara- 
 tion, Many are called, but few are chosen. 
 
 On the other hand, should you meet with many and 
 great discouragements, take heed that you do not indulge 
 a desponding temper, as if you had been of no use in the 
 ministerial work. With discouragements you certainly 
 will meet, unless Providence were to make your case an 
 exception to the general course of things ; which you have 
 no ground to expect. Very painful discouragements, for 
 instance, may sometimes arise, from the want of liberty 
 and savour in your own mind, when performino- public 
 service. This, there is reason to suppose, is not uncom- 
 mon. 1, at least, have had frequent experience of it ; and, 
 once to such a degree, that I began to think very seriously 
 of giving up the ministry : supposing that the Great Shep- 
 herd had nothing further for me to do, either in the pasto- 
 ral office, or in preaching the word at large This exer- 
 cise of mind, though exceedingly painful for some weeks, 
 was both instructive and useful. Before that well-recol- 
 lected season, I had frequently talked about the necessity 
 of divine influence, to render a minister savoury in his own 
 mind, as well as profitable to others; but then I felt it. 
 
100 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 Be not discouraged, then, as though some strange thing 
 happened unto you, that never befel a real minister of 
 Christ, if a similar trial should occur in the course of your 
 ministry. For it may be to you, as I trust it was to me, 
 of no inconsiderable benefit : because I reckon, that^what- 
 ever curbs our pride^. makes us feel our insufficiency, and 
 sends us to the throne of grace. — Seldom, alas ! have I 
 found any remarkable degree of savour, and of enlarge- 
 ment in public service, without experiencing, more or less, 
 of self-elatement and self-gratulation on that account. In- 
 stead of complaining, therefore, that T have not more lib- 
 erty in my work, or more success attending the perform- 
 ance of it, I have reason to wonder at the condescending 
 kindness of God, in that he gives to my extremely imper- 
 fect labours the least saving effect, and that he does not fre- 
 quently leave me to be confounded before all my hearers. 
 Such, Brother, have been the feelings and reasonings of 
 my own mind, and such my confessions before God many 
 a time. 
 
 It is not unlikely that, in the course of years, some of 
 your people, who had expressed a warm regard to your 
 ministry, and perhaps considered you as their spiritual 
 father, may become, without any just reason, your violent 
 opposers, asperse your ministerial character, and wish to 
 be rid of you. This, though very trying, is far from an 
 unexampled case: no, not with regard to much greater 
 men, and far better ministers, than either of us. Witness 
 the language of Paul, in various parts of his two Epistles 
 to the Church at Corinth^ and in his letter to the Galatian 
 Churches. Witness also the Life of that excellent man, 
 Mr. President Edwards of New England. 
 
 Among the dissatisfied, it is probable, some will com- 
 plain of your ministry being dry, legal, and of an Ar- 
 minian cast : while others, it may be, will quarrel witij it 
 
PASTORAL CAUTIONS. 101 
 
 under a supposition, that you dwell too much on the doc- 
 trines of divine grace, and verge toward Antinomianism. 
 My own ministry, however, has been the subject of loud 
 complaint, in these opposite ways, and that at the very 
 same time. Nor have we much reason to wonder at it. 
 For if a minister, to the best of his ability, display the 
 glory of sovereign grace, in the election, redemption, and 
 justification of sinners ; he will be sure to offend the pride 
 of multitudes, who are seeking acceptance with God by 
 iheir own obedience. Persons of this character will proba- 
 bly draw the same inferences from his doctrine, and form 
 the same objections against it, as those by which the min- 
 istry of Paul was opposed. If it be so, they will cry, Why 
 does God yet find faidt ? for who hath resisted his will ? 
 Let us do evil that good may come ; and continue in sin, 
 that grace may abound. The law is made void, and 
 personal holiness is quite superfluous. 
 
 Does the same preacher insist upon the necessity of that 
 holiness, without ichich no one shall see the Lord — upon 
 that conformity to the example of Christ, and that spiritual- 
 mindedness, without which all pretensions to faith in the 
 Son of God are vain? the covetousness and carnality of 
 others will be disgusted. They will pronounce him legal, 
 and consider his doctrine as inimical to the prerogatives of 
 sovereign grace : and this, because he maintains, that evan- 
 gelical truths have a holy influence on all who believe 
 them; or, in the language of James, that faith without 
 works is dead. 
 
 Again : you may, it is highly probable, have painful 
 
 opportunities of observing, that while some of your people 
 
 embrace pernicious doctrines, verge to wide extremes, and 
 
 are exceedingly desirous of making proselytes to their 
 
 novel peculiarities; others of them are giddy and flighty, 
 9* 
 
102 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 rambling about from one place of worship to another, ad- 
 miring almost every fresh preacher they hear; but quite 
 dissatisfied with your ministry, though they hardly know 
 for what. Nor is there any reason to doubt, that others, 
 among the objects of j'^our pastoral care, will administer 
 occasions of grief, by formality and lukewarmness in their 
 profession ; by their pride, extravagance, or sensuality ; 
 by their envy, avarice, or injustice ; or, finally, by malev- 
 olent attacks, in unfounded charges upon your own char- 
 acter as in the case of Paul, among the Corinthians. You 
 must guard, however, against desponding discouragement, 
 when any of these painful particulars occur to your notice. 
 Nay, should a variety of them appear at the same time, 
 you must not conclude that God has deserted your minis- 
 try, and entirely forsaken your church. But, while firmly 
 determined to promote the exercise of strict and impartial 
 discipline ; and while careful, except the case be quite pe- 
 culiar, never to bring the bad conduct of any individual 
 into your public discourses ; examine your own ways — 
 humble yourself before God — increase your past6ral exer- 
 tions — cry mightily to the Father of mercies for assistance 
 — endeavour, as it were, to levy a tax upon these trials; 
 that they may, at least, afford private advantage to your 
 own soul — and, then, leaving your cause with God, he of 
 good courage. 
 
 I said. Endeavour to levy a tax upon your trials. For 
 even malevolent attacks, and unfounded charges, upon a 
 Christian's character, if his own temper be under proper 
 government, may prove an occasion of promoting his best 
 interests. In such cases, and for this end, it behooves 
 him to examine his heart and ways, to see whether he 
 have not contracted the guilt of some greater evil, than 
 that which is falsely laid to his charge. If, on impartial 
 
PASTORAL CAUTIONS. 103 
 
 inquiry, his conscience attest the affirnnative; it will soon 
 appear, that he has much less reason to redden with indig- 
 nation at his accuser's unfounded charge, than he has to 
 admire the goodness of God in permitting an arrow to be 
 aimed at his character, which he can easily repel by the 
 impenetrable shield of a good conscience; while greater 
 evils of his heart, or conduct, for which he cannot but se- 
 verely condemn himself, are entirely hidden from his ac- 
 cuser. Besides, the Christian, in such a predicament, 
 may justly say, ' Though free from the charge alleged, it 
 is not owing to the superior holiness of my heart; but 
 must be ascribed to divine, preserving care.' 
 
 A Christian, therefore, who, in such a conjecture of cir- 
 cumstances, is wisely seeking his own emolument, will be 
 disposed to consider the unrighteous allegation, as a gra- 
 cious, providential warning, lest at any time he be reaJly 
 overtaken of that very evil, with which, at present, he is 
 falsely accused. Little do we know of the spiritual dan- 
 ger to which we are continually exposed ; the temptations 
 by which we may be, unawares, powerfully assaulted; or 
 how near we may be to the perpetration of some awful 
 evil, from which we have commonly imagined ourselves 
 to be most remote. Neither, on the other hand, is it pos- 
 sible for us thoroughly to understand all the ways and 
 means, by which our heavenly Father communicates those 
 hidden provisions of preventing grace, which are continual- 
 ly administered for our preservation.* But, alas ! how 
 seldom it is that any of us have humility and wisdom suf- 
 ficient, thus to improve such an event ! 
 
 Once more: Take heed that you pay an habitual re- 
 gard to divine infuence ; as that loithout ivhich you can- 
 
 * Dr. Owen's Sermons and Tracts, p. 49. 
 
104 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR*S MANUAL. 
 
 not either enjoy a holy liberty in your work, or have any 
 reason to expect success. We have heard with pleasure, 
 that the necessity of such an influence, to enlighten, to 
 comfort, and to sanctify the human mind, makes one ar- 
 ticle in your theological creed. An article, doubtless, of 
 great importance. For as well might the material system 
 have sprung out of nonentity, without the ahmghty Ji at, as 
 an assemblage of holy qualities arise in a depraved heart, 
 without supernatural agency. As well might the order, 
 harmony, and beauty of the visible world be continued, 
 without the perpetual exertion of that wisdom, power, and 
 goodness which gave them birth, as the holy qualities of a 
 regenerate soul be maintained and flourish, independent of 
 the Divine Spirit. 
 
 Now, my Brother, as the knowledge of any truth is no 
 further useful to us, than we are influenced by it, and act 
 upon it ; as doctrinal sentiments are not beneficial, except 
 in proportion as they become practical principles, or pro- 
 duce correspondent feelings and affections in our own 
 hearts ; so you should endeavour to live continually under 
 the operation of that sacred maxim, Without jie ye can 
 do nothing. With humility, with prayer, and with ex- 
 pectation, the assistance of the Holy Spirit should be daily 
 regarded. In all your private studies, and in all your 
 public administrations, the aids of that Sacred Agent should 
 be sought. Consistency of conduct, peace in your own 
 breast, and success in your own labours, all require it : 
 for, surely, you do not mean merely to compliment the 
 Holy Spirit, by giving his work a conspicuous place in 
 your creed. Were you habitually to study and preach 
 your discourses, without secret, previous prayer for divine 
 assistance, the criminality of your neglect would equal the 
 inconsistency of your character. If Christianity be the 
 
PASTORAL CAUTIONS. 105 
 
 religion of sinners, and adapted to their apostate state, it 
 must provide, as well for our depravity, by enlightening 
 and sanctifying influence, as for our guilt, by atoning 
 blood. 
 
 Our Lord, when addressing his disciples, relative to the 
 gracious work of ihe Holy Spirit, says, He shall glorify 
 me : for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto 
 you. By which we are led to infer, that when a minister 
 sincerely seeks and mercifully obtains divine assistance in 
 preaching the word, his discourses will have a sweet savour 
 of Christ and his offices — will display his mediatorial glo- 
 ries — will exhibit his excellent characters, and condescend- 
 ing relations, that are suited to the necessities of miserable 
 sinners. Thus he will feast the mental eye, and excite 
 admiration of the Saviour's Person and undertaking, in 
 the believing heart ; even though the elocution and manner 
 of the preacher be of an inferior kind. — Hence you may 
 learn, my Brother, how to appreciate those discourses, 
 which, whether heard from the pulpit, or perused from the 
 press, frequently excite admiration of the minister's talents, 
 but are far from raising the same passion to an equal de- 
 gree, by exhibiting the personal and official excellencies of 
 the adorable Jesus. 
 
 Nor can you pray over your Bible in a proper manner, 
 when meditating on the sacred text, without feeling a 
 solemnity in your ministerial employment. That solem- 
 nity should always attend you in the pulpit : for, a preacher 
 who trifles there, not only aff*ronts the understanding of 
 every sensible and serious hearer, but insults the majesty 
 of that Divine Presence in which he stands. Guard, there- 
 fore, against every appearance of levity in your public 
 work. In all your studies, and in all your labours, watch 
 against a spirit of self-sufficiency, from which that profane 
 
106 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 levity often proceeds. Remember, that your ability for 
 every spiritual duty, and all your success, must be from 
 God. To him your eye must be directed, and on his pro- 
 mised aid your expectations of usefulness must be formed. 
 In thus acting the part of a Christian, while you perform 
 the, work of a Minister for the benefit of others, your own 
 soul will feel itself interested in the doctrines you preach, 
 and in the duties you inculcate ; in the promis'es you ex- 
 hibit, and in the reproofs you administer. 
 
 I will now, my Brother, for a k\v minutes, direct your 
 attention to another divine precept, and then conclude. 
 Paul, when addressing Titus in the language of apostolic 
 authority, says. Let no one despise thee* A singular and 
 remarkable saying! No one ; whether a professed Chris- 
 tian, an unbelieving Jew, or an idolatrous Gentile. Ob- 
 serve however, it is not said. Let no one envy^ or hate^ or 
 jyersecute thee ; but, let no one despise thee. How, then, 
 was Titus to preserve his character from contempt 1 By 
 the penal exercise of miraculous powers, on those who 
 dared to treat him with indignity 1 No such expedient is 
 here intimated. By assuming lordly titles, appearing in 
 splendid robes, taking to himself state, and causing the 
 vulgar to keep their distance? Nothing less. For that 
 would have been directly contrary to an established law of 
 Christ, and inconsistent with the nature of his kingdom. 
 But it was, as the apostle in another place plainly inti- 
 mates, by becoming a bright example of the believers, in 
 word, in conversation, in charity or love, in spirit, in faith 
 or fidelity, in purity. Or, by being pre-eminent among 
 those who adorned the doctrine of God our Saviour. 
 
 Yes, a minister of the gospel, who takes heed to him- 
 self — to his Christian character, to his official duties, and 
 to his various relations in life, whether domestic, religious, 
 
PASTORAL CAUTIONS. 107 
 
 or civil ; is not very likely to be sincerely despised by 
 those that know him. His supposed religious oddities may 
 be treated with contempt, and he may be hated for his 
 conscientious regard to evangelical truth, and to the legis- 
 lative authority of Jesus Christ : but the: manifest respec- 
 tability of his moral character will find an adyoeate in-the 
 breast of each that knows him, and especially in the houi* 
 of serious reflection. For, a series of conduct, bearing 
 testimony to the reality of religious principle, to the fear 
 of God, and to the social virtues reigning in his heart, will 
 generally secure him from deliberate contempt. Hence 
 it has been observed, by an author of eminence in his lite- 
 rary station : " It was a pertinent advice that Paul gave to 
 [Titus,] however oddly it may appear at first ; — Let no 
 one despise thee. For we may justly say, that in ninety- 
 nine cases out of a hundred, if a pastor is despised, he has 
 himself to blame."* 
 
 Yes, and how respectable soever for literature and 
 science, if he entered upon his office, chiefly under the 
 influence of secular motives ; or if he be habitually tri- 
 fling and vain, proud or covetous ; if, in his general con- 
 duct, there be more of the modern fine gentleman, than 
 of the primitive pastor ; and much more of the man of 
 this world, than of the man of God ; he deserves, under 
 the pas/oraZ character, to be despised. For the feelings, 
 and sympathies, and turn of his heart, are neither con- 
 genial to those of the Great Shepherd, under whom he 
 should serve, and with whom, in order to feed the flock, 
 he must have frequent spiritual intercourse ; nor adapted 
 to meet the necessities of any people, that know the Chief 
 
 * Dr. G. Campbell's Lectures on Ecclesiastical History, to), i. 
 p. 174. 
 
 y V 
 
108 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 Pastor's voice. He is a man of the world ; and a Minis- 
 ter, who is not above the world, is very likely to be de- 
 spised by the world. 
 
 Take heed, then, my Brother, that no one may have 
 any reason to despise you ; and that this church may 
 never, like the church at Colosse, come under the obliga- 
 tion of that precept. Say to Archippus, Take heed to 
 
 THE MINISTRY WHICH THOU HAST RECEIVED IN THE 
 
 LORD THAT THOU FULFIL IT. An apostolic injunction 
 this, which, it is to be feared, attaches to many churches, 
 respecting their lukewarm and negligent pastors. Nay, 
 who, that is daily lamenting over the plague of his oxen 
 heart ; that reflects on the state of religion in what is 
 called the Christian world ; that considers the ministerial 
 work and the pastoral office, as being both sacred and im- 
 portant ; and, finally, that demand of the Supreme Judge, 
 Give an accovnt of thy stewardship ; can forbear to ac- 
 knowledge the propriety of Dr. Owen's pathetic language, 
 when he says, " The Lord help men, and open their eyes 
 before it be too late ! For either the Gospel is not true, or 
 there are {qw who, in a due manner, discharge that min- 
 istry which they take upon them." 
 
 Take heed, I once more charge you. Take heed to 
 YOURSELF. This duty performed, you can scarcely forbear 
 taking heed, either to the doctrine you preach, or to the 
 fock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you an over- 
 seer j to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased 
 with his own blood. Amen. 
 
ON THE QUALIFICATIONS NECESSARY FOR 
 TEACHERS OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 BY JOHN ERSKINE, D. D. 
 
 My brethren, he not many masters, knowing that we shall 
 receive the greater condemnation, — james, iii. 1. 
 
 The words, in the original, might have been better ren- 
 dered thus, Be not many teachers, knowing that we shall 
 undergo a severer Judgment;* and were occasioned by cer- 
 tain novices, assuming the ofRce of teachers, when utterly 
 unqualified for it. The meaning of them is, the office of 
 a spiritual instructor is attended with great difficulty and 
 danger, and the duties of it are hard to be discharged. Let 
 not, therefore, every man rush into that office. Let none 
 undertake it rashly, and while destitute of the gifts and 
 graces necessary for so sacred a function ; for teachers, as 
 well as hearers, must appear before the judgment-seat of 
 Christ. God will require more from teachers, than from 
 others ; and their private miscarriages, or unfaithfulness to 
 the duties of their office, will expose them to the severest 
 punishment. 
 
 Inattention to this solemn charge, in ministers and can- 
 didates for the ministry, is one unhappy source of the low 
 state of religion in the Christian world. If we had juster 
 ideas of the difficulty and importance of the ministerial of- 
 fice, this might prevent our devoting ourselves to it from 
 selfish motives, as it would prevent us from acting a mean 
 and contemptible part when engaged in it. Since, there- 
 
 * See Whitby's Notes, and Bishop Bulfs Sermon on this passage. 
 10 
 
110 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 fore, my reverend fathers and brethren have obliged me to 
 attempt a service, for which I am so poorly qualified ; per- 
 mit me to represent some of the qualifications necessary in 
 the spiritual instructor. The subject must greatly suffer 
 by the unskilful hand that manages it : and yet I would 
 hope that my weak endeavours may, by the divine bless- 
 ing, stir up our remembrance of truths, too obvious indeed 
 to be unknown, but which even the best and wisest amongst 
 us, are sometimes apt to forget,' when a practice corres- 
 ponding to them becomes our duty. 
 
 The principal qualifications necessary in the spiritual in- 
 structor, are, personal religion ; soundness in the faith ; a 
 good genius, improved by a competent measure of true 
 learning ; prudence and discretion ; and a due mixture of 
 a studious disposition, and of an active spirit. 
 
 1. Personal religion is a necessary qualification in the 
 Christian teacher. God has not, indeed, limited the effi- 
 cacy of ordinances by the character of the dispenser. But 
 yet the Scriptures warrant us to say, that wicked ministers 
 run unsent, and that God generally frowns upon, and blasts 
 their labours. When souls are entrusted to the slaves of 
 Satan, we cannot but dread a bad account of them : For 
 what concern will those feel, or what care will they take, 
 about the salvation of others, who feel no concern for their 
 own salvation 1 Ministers are men of God ; an expres- 
 sion which surely implies that they are men devoted to his 
 service, conformed to his blessed image, zealous for his hon- 
 our, animated by his spirit, and breathing after communion 
 and fellowship with him. But a man of God, living without 
 God in the world ! a man of God, whose affections are 
 earthly, sensual, and devilish! a master of Israel, ignorant 
 of the new birth ! a guide to Zion, walking in the paths that 
 lead to destruction ! a soldier of Christ, in league with Sa- 
 
QUALIFCATIONS FOU TEACHERS, &C. Ill 
 
 tan ! is a shocking and monstrous absurdity. The light 
 of the world, and the salt of the earth, arc too honourable 
 titles for any under the power of darkness and corruption. 
 Those must be clean, that bear the vessels of the sanctu- 
 ary. Their master is holy, their work is holy ; and there- 
 fore, it becomes them to be holy also. An infinitely wise 
 God would scarcely appoint those to help forward others to 
 Christ, who themselves are strangers to him ; or commis- 
 sion those as his ambassadors, to negociate a treaty of 
 peace with an apostate rebel world, who themselves are ob- 
 stinately persisting in treachery and rebellion. 
 
 If a bad man desires to be a minister, his ends of desir- 
 ing it are low, sordid, and mercenary : not to win souls to 
 Christ, but to gain a comfortable subsistence to himself and 
 his family ; not to secure the substantial honour of the di- 
 vine approbation, but to attract the empty applause of the 
 great, or of the populace. Hence, if speaking the truth 
 interferes with his interest or reputation, he had rather risk 
 the salvation of his hearers, than hazard the displeasure 
 of those who can do him a" favour. Having no heart to 
 his work, he is glad to shift it off, or to perform it in a 
 lazy, careless, unprofitable manner; and yet he cannot 
 wholly avoid the unpleasant drudgery of recommending to 
 others what he dislikes himself, of counterfeiting sentiments 
 he never felt, and of applauding a behaviour the very re- 
 verse of his own. He seeks not the grace of God, to as- 
 sist him in his labours, and to crown them with success. 
 No wonder, then, that he does no good to souls, since he 
 does not so much as aim at doing it. 
 
 How different is the case with those who are fitted to 
 preach the gospel to others, by having felt the power of it 
 on their own hearts. 
 
 They engage in the work of the ministry^ not seeking 
 
112 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's 3IA1SUAL. 
 
 their own 'profit, hut the profit of many, that they may he 
 saved. They take the oversight of the flock, not for filthy 
 lucre, but of a ready mind. With eyes divinely enlight- 
 ened, they contemplate the fervent love to God, the tender 
 compassion to perishing souls, and the infinite hatred of 
 sin, which shine so brightly in the example of Jesus, and 
 thus suck in something of these glorious dispositions. Be- 
 holdinsj, with devout admiration, what Christ has done and 
 suffered, to seek and to save that which was lost, they 
 esteem it their highest honour and happiness to contribute, 
 even in the lowest degree, to promote that generous design, 
 though at the expense of every thing that unrenewed na- 
 ture accounts valuable. Their inquiry is not, how shall I 
 indulge my sloth, raise my fortune, or advance my repu- 
 tation ? But, how shall I glorify God, advance the interests 
 of the Redeemer's kingdom, and promote the spiritual and 
 eternal welfare of precious and immortal souls 1 Having 
 tasted that the Lord is gracious, they are unwilling to eat 
 their spiritual morsels alone, and earnestly wish to have 
 others partakers of the same grace of life, and, in this re- 
 spect, not only almost, but altogether, such as they are. 
 Having known the terrors of the Lord, they feel a tender 
 compassion for those who have no pity for themselves. 
 Their souls weep for them in secret places, and are grieved 
 at the hardness of their hearts ; yea, they travail in birth 
 for them, till Christ be formed in them, and long to impart 
 to them some spiritual gift, by which they may be edified. 
 I might add, they love all with a pure heart fervently, who 
 .love our Lord Jesus in sincerity ; and, forgetting little dif- 
 ferences of opinion in matters of doubtful disputation, they 
 esteem their persons, value their society, sympathize with 
 them in their distresses, rejoice in their temporal and spi- 
 ritual prosperity, and being affectionately desirous of them, 
 
QUALIFICATIONS FOR TEACHERS, &C. 113 
 
 are willing to impart to them, not the gospel only, but 
 their own souls also : so dear and precious are such in 
 their eyes ! 
 
 Animated by such a spirit, the pious minister is vigorous 
 and active, diligent and unwearied, in his Master's ser- 
 vice. Night and day, his care and vigilance resemble that 
 of the most tender-hearted affectionate parent. Careful to 
 find out the necessities of his flock, and the most proper 
 methods to supply them, and, having found out these 
 methods, careful and speedy in applying them. When 
 carnal men cry. Master, spare thyself; or when the re- 
 mains of a sluggish and indolent spirit would pull him 
 back, he remembers the dreadful doom of those who hide 
 their talents in a napkin, or do the work of the Lord de- 
 ceitfully. The whole of his time and strength he thinks 
 too little to spend, in endeavouring to save, even one soul, 
 from death. Hence, he stirs up the gift of God that is in 
 him ; exerts himself with an unlanguishing vigour ; and 
 whatsoever his hand findeth to do, doeth it with all his 
 might. He knows the worth of time too well, to trifle it 
 away in vain amusements, in idle visits, in unprofitable 
 studies, or needlessly to immerse himself in secular busi- 
 ness, in political schemes, or any thing else foreign to his 
 oflice. Impatient of whatever would divert him from his 
 work, or retard him in it, he counts those hours lost, in 
 which he is not either getting good to his own soul, doing 
 good to the souls of others, or acquiring greater fitness for 
 his important trust. For the same reason, he keeps as 
 abstracted as possible from the world, lest, by engaging 
 too far in its tumultuous cares, a worldly spirit, kindling in 
 his breast, should gradually consume every devout and 
 benevolent affection. Such a one was the great Apostle 
 
 of the Gentiles. Hear from himself what were his ser- 
 10* 
 
114 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 vices : " In labours more abundant, in journeyings often, 
 in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hun-- 
 ger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. 
 Besides these things which are without, that which cometh 
 upon me daily, the care of all the churches." Love to 
 Christ set in motion all his springs of action, and made 
 him fly like a flaming seraph, from pole to pole, to pro- 
 claim the ineffable glories of the son of God, and to offer 
 his inestimable benefits to the sons of men** 
 
 Grace, in lively exercise, makes the teacher honest and 
 impartial y bold and courageous. These qualifications he 
 will often have occasion for in the discharge of his duly. 
 If he strikes at errors or superstitions, which antiquity has 
 rendered sacred and venerable, many will count him an 
 enemy to God and religion, for telling them the unwel- 
 come truth, and stamp upon him the most opprobrious 
 names, for paying more regard to the infallible word of 
 God, than to the absurd unscriptural traditions of men. 
 If he urges men to costly and self-denying duties, the 
 covetous and the proud are disobliged. If he reproves 
 particular vices, those notoriously guilty of them are of- 
 fended. Or if he inflicts church censures on the openly 
 scandalous and immoral, not only the guilty person, but 
 his friends and relations take umbrage at it. But none 
 
 * Much of this apostolic spirit appeared in some of the first re- 
 formers, and has in our own time appeared in the painful and suc- 
 cessful labours of the late J\f}\ David Braineril, in the conversion 
 of barbarous Indians to the Christian faith. See his Journal, 
 printed at Philadelphia, 1746, and Mr. Edwards^s Account of his 
 Life, printed at Boston, 1749. It is a pity the London abridgment 
 of his Journal has omitted a curious account of the difficulties he 
 met with in ChristJEnizing the Indians, and the methods he used to 
 surmount these difficulties. 
 
QUALIFICATIONS FOR TEACHERS, &C. 115 
 
 of these things move him. He will not, through a slavish 
 dread of man, put his candle under a bushel, or withhold 
 the truth in unrighteousness ; but endeavours to keep back 
 from his hearers nothing profitable, however unpleasant 
 and distasteful, and to declare to every one of them the 
 whole counsel of God. He reckons himself a debtor to 
 the wise, and to the unwise, to the bond and to the free, 
 to young and old, to rich and poor, to friends and to ene- 
 mies, to the meek and to the frovvard, to those who have, 
 and to those who have not, profited by his ministry. 
 Hence, his labours extend to all his people without excep- 
 tion ; not, indeed, in the same measure and degree, but in 
 proportion to their necessities, and the probability of suc- 
 cess. He is no respecter of persons, but warns every 
 man, and teaches every man, in all wisdom, that he may 
 present every man perfect in Christ. The soul of the 
 meanest is precious in his sight. He enters the cottages 
 of the poor as willingly as the palaces of the wealthy ; and 
 can esteem holiness, though dressed in rags, or lying on a 
 dunghill. Nor is he biassed, by the hopes of their favour, 
 to cringe and fawn to the great. He scorns to humour 
 their vices, or flatter their weaknesses. If they dare sin, 
 he dares reprove, however his worldly interests may suf- 
 fer by it. He uses not flattering words, nor a cloak of 
 covetousness. Artifice and dissimulation he abhors, and 
 will not decline his duty, from the fear of exposing himself 
 to hatred or reproach. Though briars and thorns be with 
 him, and he dwells among scorpions, he is not afraid of 
 their words, nor dismayed at their looks, but speaks plain 
 and home to the conscience, leaving the event to his great 
 Master. Thus Christ preached to the Pharisees, against 
 covetousness, hypocrisy, and making void God's law by 
 human traditions. Paul reasoned with Felix of temper- 
 
116 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's 3IANUAL. 
 
 ance and righteousness. Peter charo-es his hearers with 
 murdering the Lord of glory. And John the Baptist tells 
 Herod, " It is not not lawful for thee to have thy brother 
 Philip's wife." — The faithful minister deems himself bound 
 to go and do likewise, and will rather offend man by this 
 boldness, than offend God, by conniving at sin. 
 
 While others walk in craftiness, and handle the word of 
 God deceitfully, meanly disguise and dissemble their senti- 
 ments, subscribe as true what they are convinced is false, 
 suit their doctrine to the depraved taste of their hearers, or 
 express themselves in so ambiguous a manner, that they 
 appear to maintain, what inwardly they disbelieve; he re- 
 nounces these hidden things of dishonesty, and by mani- 
 festation of the truth commends himself to every man's 
 conscience in the sight of God. He is bold, in his God, 
 to preach the gospel, not as pleasing men, but God who 
 trieth the heart. The truths of God, whether fashionable, 
 or not, he will declare, knowing, if he should please man 
 by concealing them, he should not be the servant of Christ. 
 Though errors have long maintained their ground, and are 
 still keenly espoused, not only by great, but even by good 
 men, he opposes them with a zeal and warmth suited to 
 their importance. Like Paul, who would not give place 
 by subjection to the Judaizing teachers, no, not for an hour ; 
 and who even withstood Peter to the face, because he was 
 to be blamed. God's word is in his heart as a burning 
 fire, shut up in his bones ; and therefore, cost what it will, 
 he cannot but speak the things which he has seen and 
 heard. His belly is as wine that hath no vent, and neces- 
 sity is laid upon him to speak, that he may be refreshed. 
 He would rather be right in his opinions than be thought 
 so. He v/ill not sacrifice the truth for the reputation of 
 holding it ; nor purchase honour at the expense of honesty. 
 
aUALinCATIONS FOR TEACHERS, &C. 117 
 
 With sacred sincerity, what the Lord saith, that will he 
 speak, though philosophers should call him Enthusiast, the 
 populace salute him Heretic, or the statesman pronounce 
 him mad. 
 
 This integrity and uprightness preserves the minister 
 from fainting under a prospect of outward difficulties, and 
 a sense of his own weakness. Having put his hand to the 
 plough, he will not draw back. Though he has long la- 
 boured in vain, and spent his strength for nought, he will 
 not give over labouring, but says in his heart, it may be 
 they will consider, though they be a rebellious house. 
 When he considers what men are before their conversion, 
 he sees no cause to despair of the repentance of any, how- 
 ever hardened in wickedness. He cannot think it much 
 to wait on his fellow-sinners, and bear with their reproaches, 
 and injuries, and ingratitude, when he reflects, with what 
 patience and long-suffering the great God has waited upon 
 him. Taught by the divine condescension, he is gentle 
 among his people, even as a nurse that cherisheth her chil- 
 dren ; and though he might be bold, in Christ, to enjoin 
 them that which is convenient, yet, for love's sake, he 
 rather beseeches them. And while he cannot but observe 
 much in their behaviour, to damp and discourage him, yet 
 he is willing to see and own any thing in it that is good 
 and commendable, and is prompted by the least favourable 
 appearances, to undertake services the most painful and 
 difficult. 
 
 Grace, in lively exercise, not only animates the teacher 
 to his work, but assists him in it, and greatly tends to 
 crown it with success. It does so, by disposing him to 
 give himself to prayer, as well as to the ministry of the 
 word. Sensible that all his furniture for the ministry, and 
 success in it, must come from the Lord, with humble fer- 
 
118 THE CHRISTAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 vour and confidence he implores the divine blessing. Yea, 
 he wrestles and makes supplication, and, as a prince, has 
 power with God, and prevails. He is a favourite at the 
 court of heaven, and improves all his interest there for his 
 people's good. His heart's desire and prayer to God for 
 every one of them is, that he may be saved ; and the 
 effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. 
 It opens the windows of heaven, and brings down a bless- 
 ing, till there is no room to receive. Hence, plentiful out- 
 pourings of the Spirit have been often obtained by the 
 prayers of some of our pious ancestors, whose gifts and 
 learning were far from being considerable.* 
 
 Further — Personal religion promotes Jcfioivleclge of the 
 truth, and aptness to teach ; both which are indispensably 
 necessary in the spiritual instructor. A sincere devoted- 
 ness to Christ, and a sense of the infinite importance of re- 
 ligion, excite him diligently and impartially to inquire what 
 are the genuine doctrines and precepts of Christianity. 
 Hence with a mind open to conviction, unbiassed by pre- 
 judice or prepossession, and ready to embrace the truth as 
 soon as sufficient evidence of it shall appear to him, he 
 candidly hears all parties, and cheerfully receives religious 
 instruction, whoever is the instrument of conveying it. 
 At the same time, as it is the faith once delivered to the 
 saints, not the established tenets of a party, which he would 
 discover and embrace ; he will not blindly follow any hu- 
 man guide, but brings every doctrine to the test of the sa- 
 cred oracles, and makes these, not the systems of fallible 
 men, the standards of his faith. He seeks for Christianity 
 in the Scriptures, by reading them with devout attention, 
 meditating on them day and night, and imploring the illu- 
 
 See Fulfilling of the Scriptures, folio edition, p. 197. 
 
I 
 
 QUALIFICATIONS FOR TEACHERS, &C. 119 
 
 minations of their divine Inspirer, to teach him God's ways 
 and lead him into all truth. 
 
 Nor can such petitions fail to receive a gracious answer. 
 For God has promised, if any man will do his will, that 
 he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God : which 
 implies, that men who have this spirit, shall be preserved 
 from fundamental errors. They have an unction from the 
 holy One, whereby they know all things. There is a 
 taste in painting and music, which enables some, with 
 great exactness, to perceive the beauties or blemishes of a 
 picture or musical composition. One, whose palate is not 
 vitiated, knows good food as soon as he tastes it. Good- 
 nature points out, at once, to the benevolent, what is agree- 
 able or disagreeable to the rules of goodness, far more pre- 
 cisely, than the brightest genius does to the sullen and 
 morose. Just so, a holy soul, when in the lively exercise 
 of grace, without the trouble of surveying principles and 
 consequences, easily distinguishes between good and evil ; 
 and, by an immediate perception of the beauty or ugliness, 
 sweetness or nauseousness, of such or such actions, judges 
 of itself what is right: for love to God, heavenly-minded- 
 ness, meekness, humility, and such like graces, discover 
 more readily and exactly to one of ordinary capacity, what 
 conduct is becomino; or unbecoming; in a Christian, than 
 the most diligent study and elaborate reasoning discovers 
 this to a man who has not a spiritual taste, though of the 
 strongest natural abilities. The lips of the righteous know 
 what is acceptable: for the heart of the righteous teacheth 
 his mouth, and addeth learning to his lips. Those who 
 are holy, being transformed by the renewing of their mind, 
 prove what is that good and perfect and acceptable will of 
 God. The pleasant harmony there is between the word 
 of God, and the disposition and relish of the sanctified, 
 
120 
 
 brings suitable scripture rules to their remembrance on 
 proper occasions, and mightily helps them in judging the 
 true meanino; of these rules. 
 
 And, as piety thus prevents men from mistaking the 
 duties, so it preserves them from prejudices against the 
 doctrines of Christianity. The natural man, who has no- 
 thing in him but mere unrenewed nature, receiveth not the 
 things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto 
 him ; neither can he know them because they are spiritual- 
 ly discerned. There is a certain glory and excellency in 
 the gospel scheme of salvation, of which he has no more 
 idea than a blind man of colours, or a deaf man of sounds. 
 No wonder, then, that Christ crucified is to him a stumbling 
 block, and that, being led aside by the error of the wicked 
 he makes shipwreck of faith. But the saint, perceiving 
 that so glorious a scheme as the gospel could have none 
 but God for its author, is fortified by this consideration 
 against the impressions which the subtle reasonings of In- 
 fidels might otherwise make upon him. Just as one, who 
 perceives the light and brightness of the sun, would be lit- 
 tle moved by any attempts to prove that there was nothing 
 but darkness around him. 
 
 But, above all, inward piety assists in understanding 
 and explaining experimental religion. These can best un- 
 veil the pangs of the new birth, and the nature of union 
 and communion with Christ, and describe conversion, pro- 
 gressive sanctification, a life of faith, the struggles of the 
 flesh and spirit, and such like subjects, who can speak of 
 them from their own experience. Those are best suited to 
 speak a word in season to weary souls, who can comfort 
 them, in their spititual distresses, with those consolations 
 wherewith they themselves have been comforted of God. 
 Their experience of the influence of truths which have been 
 
QUALIFICATIONS FOR TEACHERS, &C. 121 
 
 most useful to their own souls, leads them to insist much 
 upon these in their public ministrations, and determines 
 them to know nothing in comparison of Christ, and him 
 crucified. Whereas, on the other hand, some of the most 
 edifying subjects are least relished by a bad man, and can 
 scarcely be managed by him with any advantage. Will 
 he be fit to warn his hearers of the devices of Satan, and 
 the deceits of a desperately wicked heart, who, being quite 
 a stranger at home, knows nothing of these matters but 
 from uncertain report? will not the unconverted minister, 
 when he meets with the discouragements of an awakened 
 sinner, or the fears and distresses of a doubting deserted 
 saint, be often at a loss how to deal with them ? and is 
 there not the highest danger, lest, on the one hand, he 
 build up the false hopes of the self-deceiver, or, on the 
 other hand, make sad the hearts of those whom God 
 would not make sad ? Surely, those who are animated by 
 the Spirit, which inspired the Scriptures, bid fairest for ex- 
 plaining them aright, and applying them to the various ne- 
 cessities of their hearers. 
 
 Ministers unconcerned about religion, are generally cold 
 and languid in their addresses to the conscience. When 
 urging others to repent and believe, they do but stammer 
 about these things ; and their words, not coming from the 
 heart, are not likely to reach it. Even, when the doctrine 
 they preach tends to rouse the secure, their way of preach- 
 ing it tends to lull them asleep.* There is something un- 
 
 * Pride, says Mr. Baxter, makes many a man's sermons ; and 
 what pride makes, the Devil makes. And what sermons the Devil 
 will make, and to what end, we may easily conjecture. Though 
 the matter be of God, yet if the dress, and manner, and end, be 
 from Satan, we have no great reason to expect success. Baxter^s 
 Gildas Salvianiis, chap. 4. sect. 2. 
 11 
 
122 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 natural in endeavouring to excite, in other men's breasts, 
 motions we never felt in our own. No wonder, then, that 
 men behave awkwardly in attempting it, and that the cold- 
 ness of the preacher makes the hearers cold too. But, 
 when the faithful minister exhorts, out of the abundance of 
 the heart the mouth speaketh. And the language of the 
 heart has something in it peculiarly lively and persuasive, 
 something of unction, not to be equalled by the most la- 
 boured compositions of others. Unless one's gifts are un- 
 commonly mean, a warm concern for souls will animate 
 and inflame his language, dictate to him the most moving 
 and pathetic addresses, and, on some occasions at least, in- 
 spire him with a divine, and almost irresistible eloquence, 
 which, with amazing force, will pierce the conscience, ra- 
 vish the affections, and strike conviction into the most ob- 
 durate offender. 
 
 True religion will promote in ministers a pious and ex- 
 emplary behaviour. The best advices lose their weight 
 when the adviser gives us ground to suspect his sincerity, 
 and to taunt him with the proverb. Physician cure thyself. 
 Though ministers are not grossly profligate, if they are 
 more solicitous to promote their own ease, wealth, and 
 grandeur, than to advance the glory of God, and the good 
 of souls ; more diligent to improve their farms than to feed 
 their flocks; lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God ; 
 and more happy in the company of the libertine than of 
 the serious Christian ; if their behaviour is light and airy, 
 and their conversation frothy and trifling ; if they are 
 always on the popular, or always on the fashionable side, 
 and implicitly follow the directions of those who have it in 
 their power to gratify their pride, or satiate their avarice : 
 this will greatly lessen our respect for their instructions. 
 But if ministers, by their conversation, as well as by their 
 
QUALIFICATIONS FOR TEACHERS, &C. 123 
 
 doctrine, hold forth the word of life ; if they live what they 
 preach, possess the graces they recommend, and practise 
 the virtues ihey enforce on others ; if they are courteous and 
 affable, kind and condescending, and, while they dare to 
 plead the cause of the God of truth, do it in a manner 
 which may not offend him as the God of love ; if they 
 can hate a man's vices, and yet love his person, and es- 
 teem his excellencies, without approving his faults ; if they 
 keep at the widest distance from a sullen moroseness and 
 melancholy dejection, and yet are grave and decent out of 
 the pulpit as well as in it, maintain the dignity of their 
 character, avoid those liberties, which, though generally 
 deemed innocent, have been guilty of destroying both the 
 power and form of godliness, and abridge themselves, on 
 proper occasions, even of lawful freedoms, remembering 
 that many things may be lawful which, when practised by 
 a minister, edify not ; if they are indeed blameless and 
 harmless, the sons of God without rebuke, shining as 
 lights in the world ; if, under the strongest temptations to 
 dissemble, the law of truth is in their mouth, and no ini- 
 quity found in their lips : if their private behaviour breathes 
 a spirit of genuine undissembled goodness : what a glori- 
 ous prospect does this open, of the flourishing of religion 
 under their culture ? If all in the ministry did thus walk 
 with God in truth and equity, might we not expect God would 
 honour them, to turn many away from iniquity ? might we 
 not hope, that so lovely a conduct would engage others to 
 be followers of them, even as they are of Christ] — Exem- 
 plary holiness, meekness and gentleness, forbearance and 
 patience, candour and moderation, modesty and humility, 
 love to God, to Christ, and to virtue, and a behaviour cor- 
 responding to these graces, must needs adorn the teacher's 
 profession, add efficacy to his instructions, stop the mouth 
 
124 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL, 
 
 of slander, give freedom and boldness in reproving vice, 
 gain him the affections of the pious, command the esteem 
 and reverence of the indifferent, strike the enemies of reli- 
 gion with awe and dread, restrain the most profligate from 
 many enormities they would otherwise commit, and trans- 
 form even envy itself into admiration of so amiable a cha- 
 racter, and a generous desire to copy after it. — But, may 
 some inquire, cannot the hypocrite behave well '? I grant 
 he may, in a certain degree. But some of the most signal 
 and illustrious evidences of grace in the heart, are of so 
 mortifying a nature, that the hypocrite will scarcely at- 
 tempt to counterfeit them : or, if he do, as the part he acts 
 is unnatural and constrained, it is scarce possible but, when 
 off his guard, somethmg will be done or neglected by him, 
 which, though no full evidence of the badness of his heart, 
 may raise such prejudices against him, as will render his 
 person contemptible, and his ministry too. Not to observe 
 that a holy providence often unveils the secret depravity 
 which a splendid profession may, for a while, conceal. 
 
 I conclude this head, with observing, that if the seeds of 
 godliness are not sown in the heart, ere we undertake the 
 pastoral office, probably they will never be sown there. 
 True, indeed, a bad minister is not out of the reach of 
 grace : but of all men, he has least reason to expect it. 
 His being engaged in religious services, so far from pro- 
 moting his cure, tends to harden him in impenitence. And 
 as wicked seamen, who continually border on the confines 
 of death, by being accustomed to danger, learn to despise 
 it; so the most affecting truths, by being familiar to the 
 wicked preacher, lose their efficacy upon him, and he ac- 
 quires such a habit of talking of things the most important 
 and tremendous, without feeling what he says, that neither 
 the thunders of the law alarm, nor the grace of the gos- 
 
QUALIFICATIONS FOR TEACHERS, &C. 125 
 
 pel allures him. To use the words of the judicious Bishop 
 Butler, " Going over the theory of virtue in one's thoughts, 
 talking well, and drawing fine pictures of it ; this is so far 
 from necessarily or certainly conducing to form an habit 
 of it in him who thus employs himself, that it may harden 
 the mind in a contrary course, and, by degrees, render it 
 insensible to all moral considerations. For, from our very 
 faculty of habits, passive impressions, by being repeated, 
 grow weaker. Thoughts, by often passing through the 
 mind, are felt less sensibly." * '^' 
 
 II. Oi'thodoxy^ or soundness in the faith, is highly ne- 
 cessary in a spiritual instructor. Much more stress is laid 
 upon this, in the sacred writings, than some seem willing 
 to allow. Timothy is not only instructed what to preach, 
 but commanded to charge some, that they teach no other 
 doctrine ; to withdraw himself from thase who teach other- 
 wise, and who consent not to wholesome words, even the 
 words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which 
 is according to godliness; to avoid those oppositions of 
 science, falsely so called, which some professing, have 
 erred concerning the faith ; and to hold fast the form of 
 sound words which he had heard of Paul. Titus is ac- 
 quainted, that a bishop must hold fast the faithful word, as 
 he has been taught, and charged to speak the things which 
 become sound doctrine ; in doctrine showing uncorruptness, 
 gravity, sincerity, sound speech that cannot be condemned. 
 But can all this be expected of one whose sentiments are 
 unsound ? or shall we say, these qualifications were neces- 
 sary in an age when the presence of the apostles might 
 have done much to stop the progress of error, but are un- 
 necessary now ? Jude acquaints those to whom he wrote. 
 
 * Butler's Analogy, P. i. chap. 5. 
 11* 
 
126 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 " Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of 
 the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto 
 you, and exhort you, that ye should contend earnestly for 
 the faith which was once delivered to the saints." Does 
 not this import, that the common salvation cannot be se- 
 cured, if fundamental articles of faith are renounced 1 
 
 I know orthodoxy is a thing every where spoken against, 
 and has had the misfortune to be judged and condemned 
 as accessary to crimes, which, had men consulted it, they 
 would never have committed. If the name displeases any, 
 we shall give it another. Is it either ridiculous or hurtful 
 to judge of things as they really are ? If Orthodoxy, in 
 this sense, has done evil, let its enemies bear witness of the 
 evil ; but if good, why do they reproach it ? Do supersti- 
 tion, enthusiasm, bigotry, or persecution for conscience 
 sake, flow from just sentiments of religion, and of the pro- 
 per means to promote it ? or rather, do they not flow from 
 wrong sentiments of these? Truth and general utility ne- 
 cessarily coincide. The first produces the second. " Ob- 
 serving truth," to use the words of the learned Bishop 
 Warburton, " is acting as things really are. He who acts 
 as things really are, must gain his end, all disappointment 
 proceeding from acting as things are not ; just as in rea- 
 soning from true or false principles, the conclusion that 
 follows must be necessarily right or wrong. But, gain- 
 ing the end of acting, is utility or happiness ; disappoint- 
 ment of the end, misery."* If, then, as this masterly 
 reasoner has well proved, truth produces utility; will it 
 not follow, that to des|)ise orthodoxy, is to despise happi- 
 ness? I would add, that, as the end of divine revelation 
 is the glory of God, and the holiness and happiness of man- 
 
 * Warburton's Divine Legation, book 3, sect. 6. 
 
aUALIFICATIONS FOR TEACHERS, &C. 127 
 
 kind, it is, on the matter, impeaching divine wisdom, to 
 say, that there is any thing in divine revelation, which 
 does not tend, in some degree, directly or indirectly, to 
 promote these ends. And, if so, even lesser mistakes in 
 public teachers must be hurtful, as even lesser mistakes 
 will prevent their improving certain truths for the good and" 
 wise purposes for which they were revealed. Neverthe- 
 less, though a teacher free from error may be wished for, 
 it can scarcely be expected that, in the present state of hu- 
 man nature, such a one should be found : for, as the apos- 
 tle observes in the verse following our text, " If any man 
 offend not in word, the same is a perfect man." Those, 
 therefore, who entertain just notions of those doctrines which 
 the Holy Spirit uses as the chief means of convincing and 
 converting sinners, and building up saints in faith, holiness, 
 and comfort, may, notwithstanding their lesser mistakes, 
 be considerably useful in preaching the gospel. But such 
 as have wrong notions of those truths whereby the blessed 
 Spirit ordinarily begins and carries on the life of God in 
 the soul of man, are scarcely fit to be workers together 
 with God, in the affair of man's salvation. And those 
 will be likely to corrupt men from the simplicity that is in 
 Christ, and remove them to another gospel, who embrace 
 principles which strike at the vitals, and sap the very found- 
 ations of religion ; principles calculated to flatter the pride, 
 or to encourage the sensuality of corrupt nature. 
 
 Allow me to adopt the reasoning of a sermon lately 
 printed, in which the importance of right principles in re- 
 ligion is excellently represented.* " They who hold the good 
 influence of Christian principles to be so inconsiderable, as 
 
 * Dr. Blair's sermon before the Society for propagating Christian 
 Knowledge, Jan. 1, 1750, p. 16. 
 
128 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 to render the propagation of them of no great importance, 
 will be at no loss to give us instances of corrupt and wrong 
 principles having had a great influence on the world. Loud 
 complaints we hear from this quarter, of the dreadful ef- 
 fects which superstition and enthusiasm have produced; 
 how they have poisoned the tempers and transformed the 
 manners of men, and have overcome the strongest re- 
 straints of law, of reason, and of humanity. — Is this, then, 
 the case, that all principles, except good ones, are supposed 
 to be of such mighty energy? Strange! that false religion 
 should do so much, and true religion so little. No impar- 
 tial inquirer, sure, can be of so absurd an opinion. The 
 whole history of mankind shows, that religious belief is no 
 inconsiderable principle of action. The mischief such be- 
 lief has done, when misled, is indeed a good argument to 
 be on our guard against error. But as it is a proof of 
 what belief can do, it is an argument to hope the more 
 from it, when rightly directed." These reflections prove 
 not only the importance of Christianity in general, but of 
 just and true sentiments of the particular doctrines con- 
 tained in it ; and, consequently, they prove the importance 
 of an orthodox ministry. 
 
 III. A tolerable genius and capacity, with a competent 
 measure of true learning, are requisite to fit for the office 
 of a spiritual instructor. Infidels may wish, as Julian the 
 apostate did, to see learning banished from the Christian 
 church. And men of low education, or of selfish spirits, 
 may think meanly, or speak diminutively of a gospel min- 
 istry, as if the weakest abilities sufficed to qualify for it. 
 But a Paul cried out, who is sufficient for these things? 
 Elihu tells us, that scarcely one of a thousand is qualified 
 to deal with the conscience. Jeroboam was blamed for 
 making priests of the lowest of the people. And Amos 
 
QUALIFICATIONS FOR TEACHERS, &C. 129 
 
 speaks of il, as something strange and unusual, that he 
 who had not been educated in the schools of the prophets, 
 who was no prophet, neither a prophet's son, but an herds- 
 man, and a gatherer of sycamore fruit, should be commis- 
 sioned by God to prophesy to Israel. However, then, 
 some may speak evil of the things which they know not, 
 we dare engage to prove, that a weak, honest man, might, 
 with as much propriety, and as little inconvenience, be al- 
 lowed to undertake the office of physician, or advocate, or 
 judge, as the office of a minister of Christ: though, doubt- 
 less, his good and honest heart, without other qualifications, 
 would be poor enough furniture for offices less important 
 and ditficult than these. Uncommon talents are necessary 
 to explain obscure passages of Scripture, to resolve intricate 
 cases of conscience, and to defend the truth against gain- 
 sayers : services, to which ministers have frequent calls. 
 Nor will a small measure of skill and ability qualify any 
 man, to teach the necessary doctrines and duties of religion, 
 to convince the understanding, to interest the affections, to 
 dart irresistible light into the conscience, and fix it there, to 
 meet with men's objections and prejudices against religion, 
 to unfold the temptations of Satan, and deceits of the heart, 
 and to do all this in a manner becoming the dignity of the 
 pulpit, and yet plain to the dullest capacity. Nothing less 
 than this, is the ordinary object of the spiritual instructor. 
 Good sense, expressed so perspicuously, and ranged in 
 such an order, as to be easily understood and remembered, 
 is the very soul of composition ; and this cannot be ex- 
 pected, but from one of a quick invention, a clear head, 
 and a sound judgment, who has gifts as well as grace, a 
 doctrinal and speculative, as well as a practical and ex- 
 perimental knowledge, and has acquired a facility of im- 
 parting his ideas to others. And even all this will not go 
 
130 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 SO far as to qualify a man to speak often in public, without 
 either a retentive memory, or an unusual command of 
 words. Nay, the best natural powers will need to be well 
 cultivated by a liberal education. Without an ability to 
 read the Scripture in the languages in which it was origi- 
 nally written, and some acquaintance with natural and 
 moral philosophy, history, antiquity, the best Greek and 
 Roman authors, and the arts of logic, rhetoric, and criti- 
 cism, in an age of so much learning as the present, a min- 
 ister can scarcely fail to be despised ; and a despised min- 
 istry is seldom successful. Besides, on many occasions, 
 the teacher will need all his learning to unfold to him the 
 meaning of difficult passages in sacred writ, especially, if, 
 as sometimes happens, his commentaries fail him, where 
 he most wants their help. Nor will one, wholly ignorant 
 of philosophy, history, and criticism, be able to give satis- 
 fying answers to the reasonings of infidels founded upon 
 these, to detect their sophistry, beat them out of their 
 strong holds, and so, if he convince not their conscience, 
 at least to stop their mouths. There are some scriptures, 
 from which, if they stood in the original as they do in our 
 translations, almost unanswerable objections might be 
 drawn against our holy faith. And what advantage must 
 this give the infidel to triumph over the illiterate teacher ! 
 And, indeed, if the hedge of a learned ministry were once 
 removed from these lands, as I am afraid some wish it to 
 be, what could we expect, but that ignorance and infidelity, 
 error and heresy, superstition and enthusiasm, should 
 quickly overspread them ? Those who, by the blessing of 
 God on their studies, have acquired considerable measures 
 of learning, have been the best explainers and defenders of 
 Christianity, and have recommended practical religion in the 
 most distinct and persuasive manner. And without a mira- 
 
QUALIFICATIONS FOR TEACHERS, &;C. 131 
 
 cle which we have no ground to expect, illiterate minis- 
 ters can never equal them. 
 
 But above all, one who would teach others to be reli- 
 gious, must himself have a clear and distinct notion of re- 
 ligion. We cannot avoid despising the man who is igno- 
 rant in his own profession, whatever his knowledge may be 
 of other matters. To say of a physician, he has a good taste 
 in music and poetry, but is grossly ignorant of the nature 
 of diseases, and of their proper remedies, is giving him the 
 most unfavourable character. In like manner, it is a 
 wretchedly poor character of a minister of Christ, to say 
 of him, " he is a good philosopher, and understands well 
 the Greek and Roman writers, but is little acquainted with 
 the means revealed in Scripture, of recovering mankind 
 from the ruins of their apostacy:" for, if so, he comes 
 short of the very end of his office, and fails in that, in 
 which, above all things, he ought to have excelled. We 
 cannot therefore entertain too low and despicable an opin- 
 ion of such ignorant presumers, as set up for teachers of 
 Christianity, and pretend to show unto others the way of 
 salvation, while their own ideas of it are so dark and con- 
 fused, that they have need to be taught which are the first 
 principles of the oracles of God. He who would be a 
 scribe, instructed in the kingdom of heaven, able to bring 
 forth out of his treasures things new and old, must under- 
 stand well the doctrine of man's primitive apostacy from 
 God, with its unhappy effects on the whole human race; 
 the method of recovery through Christ : the work of the 
 Spirit in applying a purchased redemption ; the full and 
 free offers of Christ, and of salvation through him, made 
 in the gospel, to the very chief of sinners: the nature of 
 that faith which unites to Christ, of that holiness which 
 makes men meet for the inheritance of saints in lif^ht, and 
 
132 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 which is indeed heaven begun in the soul ; and of those 
 various good works of piety, or of charity, by which we 
 are bound to glorify God, to serve him in our generation, 
 and to prove, to ourselves and others, the truth and energy 
 of our faith. It is a contradiction to suppose that minis- 
 ters should be able to represent these important doctrines 
 in a proper light to others, if they themselves understand 
 neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm. Misera- 
 ble, therefore, must be the state of the church, if left to the 
 care of such unskilful guides ! for, if the blind lead the 
 blind, both must fall into the ditch. To prevent so dread- 
 ful a calamity, it is required, as an essential qualification 
 of a guide to souls, that he be apt to teach; not a novice, 
 lest, being lifted up with pride, he fall into the condemna- 
 tion of the devil. Those, whose knowledge of divinity is 
 entirely derived from a few modern sermon-writers, or 
 books on the deistical controversy,* but who have never 
 read and digested into their memories a system of divinity, 
 must needs be ignorant of many important truths, and can 
 scarcely have any view of that connexion of the different 
 parts of religion, in which a great deal of its beauty con- 
 sists. And will such keep back from their hearers nothing 
 profitable, and teach others what they have never learned 
 themselves? will thev instruct men in the whole of their 
 duty to God, to themselves, and to one another, who are 
 unskilful in the word of righteousness, having never studied 
 with care the nature and necessity of these duties, the hin- 
 deranccs in the practice of them, and the methods of re- 
 moving those hinderances? or will those, who have not 
 thoroughly studied the evidences of Christianity in general, 
 
 * The author regrets, that defences of Christianity, and replies to 
 Tindal, Collins, &c., forty-seven years ago, when he preached this 
 sermon, justly admired, and generally read, are now almost forgotten. 
 
aUALlFICATIONS FOR TEACHERS, 6z;C. 183 
 
 or of particular articles of faith, be ready to give an an- 
 swer to every man that asketh a reason of the hope that 
 is in them ; and thus be able, by sound doctrine, both to 
 exhort and to convince gainsayers 1 
 
 I conclude this head with observing, that the spiritual 
 instructor should be mighty in the Scriptures, able not 
 only to repeat, but to explain them, having the word of 
 God dwelling in him richly, in all wisdom and spiritual 
 understanding. It is his duty to declare the whole counsel 
 of God, and to teach men to observe all things whatso- 
 ever Jesus has commanded. But how can he do this, with- 
 out knowing from the sacred oracles, what is the counsel 
 of God, and what are the commands of Jesus 1 Any other 
 guide will, in some instances, mislead, or at least prove de- 
 fective in his instructions. The Scriptures only are fully 
 sufficient for doctrine, for reproof, for instruction, for cor- 
 rection in righteousness ; able to make the man of God 
 perfect, thoroughly furnished to every good word and 
 work ; able to direct the ministers, not only how to live, 
 but how to preach. And he who is little conversant in 
 them, will be apt to insist much on things which they rarely 
 mention : and seldom to mention things on which they 
 chiefly dwell : to lay a great deal of stress on things on 
 which they lay little stress, and little stress on things which 
 they exhibit as of the last importance. Hence, some dis- 
 courses on self-examination almost entirely omit, or handle 
 in an overly, superficial manner, some of the plainest, most 
 express, and most frequently repeated Scripture characters 
 of true holiness, on the one hand, and of counterfeit ap* 
 pearances of it, on the other, as if they had found out a 
 better way to distinguish the real Christian from the self- 
 deceiver, than that which the sacred oracles, when design- 
 12 
 
134 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 edly treating on this subject, have pointed out.* Hence, 
 methods have been recommended to preserve the solemnity 
 of ordinances, different from, nay, in some instances, con- 
 trary to, those which Infinite wisdom has prescribed. 
 Hence some content themselves with recommending holi- 
 ness in general, without distinctly explaining and enforcing 
 particular duties, or reproving, as our Lord and his apos- 
 tles did, particular sins. Others, in exhorting to moral vir- 
 tues, scarce make any use of the motives to them, urged 
 with so divine an eloquence in the Scriptures of truth. "j* 
 And, which is worst of all, some so entirely omit the pe- 
 
 * I know no writer who, in inquiring into this important subject 
 has proceeded with such cautious regard to the infallible touchstone 
 of truth, as Mr. Janathan Edwards of Northampton, in his judicious 
 treatise concerning religious affections, printed at Boston, 1746. I 
 scarcely think this age has produced any book on practical divinity, 
 which will so well reward a careful perusal. 
 
 ■j- 1 mean not, says a lively tvritev, to exclude morality from 
 preaching Christ. No ; this I testify, that he, who neglects the for- 
 mer, shall never be benefitted by the latter. Christ profiteth him 
 nothing. Religion is the souVs conformity to God in his 7noral per- 
 fections. So much as a man has of true morality, so much has he 
 of God ; and so much as he has of God in this world, so much will 
 he have of heaven in the next. But then, this morality must be 
 baptized in the name of Christ. Without regard to Christ in prin- 
 ciple, and in end, and an entire dependence upon the influences of 
 his Spirit; the brightest speculations, and the strongest arguments, 
 a text fetched from the Bible and motives brought from heaven would 
 be to preach Seneca, rather than Christ: and to urge the duties of 
 moraUty upon motives that are not Christian, is only to deprive the 
 lame man of his crutches, and then bid him walk. No man ever in- 
 sisted on morality more than St. Paul ; but he ever christianiseth it : 
 he ingrafts the man into faith by Christ, and you quickly find him 
 
aUALIFICATIONS FOR TEACHERS, &C. 135 
 
 culiar doctrines of the gospel, that one might hear a long 
 course of sermons from them, without learning that, which 
 it was the grand design of revelation to teach, the way, I 
 mean, in which a fallen creature may emerge from the 
 ruins of his apostacy. Hence, instead of rightly dividing 
 the word of truth, many confine their sermons to those sub- 
 jects, on which they find their thoughts flow with the most 
 readiness and affection, neglecting others of at least equal 
 importance. Some are continually detecting the deceits of 
 the heart, and false resemblances of grace ; others, thun- 
 dering out the terrors of the law, representing the dread- 
 ful indignation of God against the unconverted, or arguing 
 the justice of that indignation ; and others content them- 
 selves, with inviting sinners to accept the Saviour, without 
 taking suitable pains, by preaching the duties and sanc- 
 tions of the law, to convince them of their need of him. 
 Some seem to forget, that to quicken, to warn, to direct, 
 and to encourage true Christians, is any part of their work; 
 while others address their audiences, as if they were all 
 converted. Some preach continually upon duties, others 
 upon privileges, others upon doubts and temptations. 
 These, and such like defects, would be prevented, were 
 Moses and the prophets, Christ and his apostles, considered 
 as our patterns in preaching. The deep things of God, 
 which he has revealed by his Spirit, should be the grand 
 topics of our ministry, as they were of Paul's : and these 
 
 budding with every precious grace, and loaded with the fruit of 
 good works. Never doth Paul seem so much in his element, as 
 when he is preaching Christ. How often doth he go out of his way 
 to meet with him ! Here he stretches in his thoughts, and pursues 
 the glories of the Redeemer, till he is almost out of breath, &c. 
 — Hobby 3 Sermon at Emerson s ordination, p. 16, 
 
136 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 we should speak, as he did, not in the words which man^s 
 wisdom teacheth, hut which the Holy Ghost teacheth, com- 
 paring spiritual things with spiritual. 
 
 IV. Ministers have need to be persons of -prudence and 
 conduct, and to know men as well as books. A minister 
 should study himself. He should not only be acquainted 
 with his own spiritual state, but with the particular turn of 
 his genius : for, God having distributed among ministers 
 various gifts, and thereby fitted them to answer different 
 purposes in his service, our usefulness will in a great mea- 
 sure depend upon knowing what our gift is. Thus, some 
 are fittest to inform and convince the judgment, by the clear 
 and distinct light in which they represent truth, and the 
 strong and unanswerable arguments with which they sup- 
 port it. Others have a greater talent of touching the con- 
 science, or of moving the passions. A minister should 
 study the make and frame of the human mind ; for, till 
 the springs of human nature are, in a good measure, dis- 
 closed to him, and he has learned how far the bodily pas- 
 sions, or a disordered imagination, may either cloud genu- 
 ine piety, or cause a resemblance of if, he will be often at 
 a loss what judgment to frame of religious appearances. 
 He should know all the avenues to the soul, and study the 
 different capacities and tempers of men, that he may be 
 able, with becoming address, to suit himself to them all. 
 Physicians consider the age, constitution and strength, and 
 way of living, of their patients, and vary their prescriptions 
 accordingly. Ministers should, in like manner, be able to 
 adapt themselves to the difl^erent ages, natural dispositions, 
 genius, temporal circumstances, temptations, errors, moral 
 characters, and religious inclinations of their hearers. 
 
 No wise prince will employ those to manage affairs in 
 which his honour and the interest of his kingdom are deeply 
 
QUALIFICATION FOR TEACHERS, &C. 137 
 
 concerned, who have not capacities and accomplishments, 
 in some measure adapted to that important trust; and, as 
 Solomon observes, he that sendeth a message by the hand 
 of a fool, cutteth off the feet, and drinketh damage. Can 
 we, then, entertain so low sentiments of the wisdom of the 
 King of heaven, as to think, that now, when extraordinary 
 gifts are ceased, he would ordinarily employ those in the 
 grand, but difficult design, of advancing his glory, and 
 saving precious souls, who are unfit to be employed even 
 about the common afl^airs of this life? 
 
 The ambassadors of Jesus, then, should be wise as ser- 
 pents, as well as harmless as doves. The wisdom that is 
 from above, which is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and 
 easy to be entreated, full of mercy and of good fruits, with- 
 out partiality, and without hypocrisy, should shine even in 
 their private conversation. They are required to let no 
 man despise them, and to give no offence in any thing, 
 that the ministry be not blamed. A wicked, ill-natured 
 world, are continually watching for their halting, and will 
 gladly improve the least slip or inadvertency, to bring a 
 slur upon them. Ministers, therefore, had need to shun, 
 not only what is sinful, but what is dishonourable or dis- 
 obliging, and to avoid every thing which may justly blast 
 their reputation, and thus lessen their influence, and impair 
 their usefulness. If their behaviour is mean and sordid, 
 ridiculous and affected, rash and imprudent, much hurt is 
 hereby done to religion, and sacred things become con- 
 temptible. 
 
 They should not indulge the first sallies of a warm 
 imagination, but weigh the more distant consequences of 
 actions, lest they mislead the weak and injudicious, pro- 
 voke the censures of the captious and severe, and hurt the 
 gospel when they meant* to serve it. Where they inno- 
 12* 
 
138 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 cently may, they should accommodate themselves to peo- 
 ple's humours, and become all things to all men, that, by 
 an obliging conduct, they may gain them to Christ. They 
 should avoid imprudently intermeddling in controversies of 
 a civil nature, especially among those of their own charge, 
 and saying or doing any thing indiscreet, whereby they 
 may prejudice the people against their ministrations. In 
 opposing error, and reproving vice, they must know when 
 to keep silence, and when to speak ; when to come with a 
 rod, and when in the spirit of meekness. Likewise, in 
 healing wounded consciences, in reconciling those at vari- 
 ance, in encouraging the disconsolate, in speaking to those 
 on a death-bed, in managing the public business, and in 
 exercising the discipline of the church : all their sagacity, 
 caution, penetration, and judgment, are little enough to 
 choose out the properest means, and to apply them with 
 dexterity, that they may not spoil the best designs by bad 
 management. 
 
 Spiritual instructors need wisdom for rightly managing 
 their public discourses. They should adapt the choice of 
 their subjects to the particular circumstances and necessi- 
 ties of their hearers, as wise householders, giving to every 
 one his portion of meat in due season ; and should com- 
 pose their sermons so, as that the meanest may understand, 
 and the most judicious have no cause to despise them, and 
 so as neither unnecessarily to offend the weak, nor give 
 advantage to the maliciously criticising. They should imi- 
 tate their glorious Master, who patiently bore with the pre- 
 judices of his disciples, and instructed them as they were 
 able to bear it. Much depends on the timing of things 
 well, and the manner of doing them ; on choosing the most 
 proper seasons for instruction, and imparting it in an en- 
 gaging manner; on avoiding offensive phrases, and bor- 
 
QUALIFICATIONS FOR TEACHERS, &C. 139 
 
 rowing favourite ones, where we honestly can ; and, on 
 using such reasonings to confirm the doctrines, or to en- 
 force tlie duties of religion, as we have ground to think, 
 from the disposition of our hearers, or the dealings of Provi- 
 dence towards them, will be aptest to strike and work upon 
 them: for a word, fitly spoken, is like apples of gold in 
 pictures of silver. Now, in all this, wisdom is profitable 
 to direct, as no rules can be given to extend to every par- 
 ticular case. 
 
 V. A due mixture of a studious disposition, and of an 
 active spirit, is necessary in teachers of Christianity. 
 That the last of these is so, appears, at first sight, from the 
 time and pains requisite to know the state of our congre- 
 gations, to catechise, to visit the sick, to administer private 
 instruction, reproof or consolation, to prepare young people 
 for the Lord's table, and sometimes to conduct to the Sa- 
 viour the awakened sinner, who is asking the w^ay to Zion 
 with his face set thitherward. The ministry is no idle or 
 easy profession, but requires an almost uninterrupted series 
 of the most painful and laborious services. But minis- 
 ters of a lazy, indolent disposition, will be tempted to hurry 
 over those duties, and will grudge to spend so much time 
 in them as is really necessary to render them in any de- 
 gree useful. Nor will ordinary measures of grace suffice 
 to overcome such temptations. But then, a studious dis- 
 position is equally necessary. It was not without its use, 
 even in the days of inspiration. Solomon found much 
 study a weariness to the flesh ; but yet was sensible, that 
 the advantages of it overbalanced the toil ; and tells us, 
 that the preacher, meaning himself, sought to find out ac- 
 ceptable words, and gave good heed, and sought out and 
 set in order many proverbs. Though he excelled all men 
 in understanding, yet he did not turn people off with any 
 
140 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 thing that came first in his mind, but took pains to range 
 his thoughts in a proper method, and to express them in 
 agreeable language; so that his sermons were the fruit of 
 labour and study, as well as of inspiration. And he tells 
 what moved him to all this pains. " The words of the 
 wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters 
 of assemblies, i. e. There is like power in words wisely 
 chosen to stir up the slothful to duty, as there is in a goad 
 to prick the ox forward. Nor do they only move the affec- 
 tions in a transient way, but stick in the conscience and 
 memory, as nails do in a board." Daniel understood, by 
 books, the number of the years whereof the word of the 
 Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accom- 
 plish seventy years, in the desolations of Jerusalem. Paul 
 was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, and liad made con- 
 siderable proficiency under so eminent a master. And 
 yet, after he had been favoured with divine inspiration, he 
 is so far from thinking further study needless, that even 
 when in prison, and when he had the near prospect of his 
 approaching martyrdom, he commands his books and 
 parchments to be sent him. If this inspired apostle saw 
 occasion for all the learning and knowledge he could at- 
 tain to by ordinary means, to assist him in instructing 
 mankind, much more must we stand in need of such helps, 
 who cannot pretend to his extraordinary gifts. Paul ex- 
 horts Timothy to give attendance, first to reading, and 
 then to exhortation and doctrine, to instruct himself well, 
 before he instructed others; and charges him to meditate 
 on divine things, and give himself wholly to them, that his 
 profiting might appear to all. Though, from a child, he 
 had known the holy Scriptures, was esteemed learned 
 enough to be a minister of Christ, and had extraordinary 
 gifts bestowed upon him ; he is warned, that reading and 
 
QUALIFICATIONS FOR TEACHERS, &C. 141 
 
 meditation were still necessary to fit him to teach and ex- 
 hort. Shall we then be able, without any reading or medi- 
 tation at all, to preach the word of life, in a way suitable 
 to its majesty and importance? I deny not, indeed, that 
 those whom God has blessed with a ready elocution, may 
 preach warmly and accurately too, without writing their 
 sermons. But even those, who have words most at com- 
 mand, will prove but a sounding-brass, and a tinklincr 
 cymbal, if they do not endeavour, by reading and medita- 
 tion, to be masters of the subjects on which they preach. 
 Reverence for that God in whose name we speak, regard 
 for the dignity of the pulpit, and concern for the glorious 
 design that brings us there, should prevent our rushing 
 into it rashly and unprepared, and serving God and his 
 people with sudden undigested thoughts that cost us no- 
 thing. Ministers are not set apart to their office, to trifle 
 away six days of the week, and then to go to the pulpit 
 with whatever comes uppermost. Such extemporary per- 
 formances, though for a little they may please some, sel- 
 dom do credit to God's ordinances, or produce any lasting 
 effects on the hearers. The good matter contained in them 
 is generally despised and overlooked, through contempt of 
 the looseness of the method, and meanness of the style. 
 Meditation, then, and reading, ai'e necessary branches of 
 a minister's duty; and, consequently, those must be unfit 
 for the pastoral office, who are of an unfixed, sauntering 
 disposition, who have no relish for study, know not what 
 it is to meditate and are never pleased but when v.'ilh com- 
 pany, or abroad. 
 
 And now, my dear hearers, let what has been said affect 
 all of you, with the deepest concern, that ever the care of 
 souls should have been entrusted to men destitute of these 
 
142 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 qualifications. Let it excite in you the warmest emotions 
 of gratitude to tlie Father of mercies, for blessing our land 
 in general, and those bounds in particular, with so many 
 able and faithful ministers. Let it procure your prayers, 
 for us in the ministry, that the blessed Spirit would more 
 and more qualify us for our difficult work, by imparting 
 all needful supjilies of gifts and grace : and that, as death 
 is daily thinning our numbers, the Lord of th^ harvest 
 would, from time to time, repair our breaches, by sending 
 forth honest and skilful labourers into his harvest. 
 
 Students need scarcely be particularly addressed, as the 
 whole of what has been said was principally designed to 
 warn them, not to be too farward and hasty in setting up 
 for teachers. God does not call those to feed the sheep of 
 Christ, who have no love to the Shepherd. For all who 
 love not our Lord Jesus are wicked ; and unto the wicked 
 God saith. What hast thou to do, to declare my statutes, or 
 to lake my covenant in thy mouth ? How great a trust is 
 committed to the pastor ! Hundreds of precious immortal 
 souls he is bound to watch over, as one that must give an 
 account: And will you be able to give a good account of 
 the souls of others, if unable to give a good account of 
 your own 1 Is it not a most pitiable case, to be under a 
 strict and awful charge, to affect the minds of your hearers 
 with what never affected your own minds? Presume not, 
 then, to undertake the care of souls, without personal holi- 
 ness, and till, by the blessing of God on your education, 
 and your diligent attendance on prayer, reading and medi- 
 tation, you have attained a suitable furniture of gifts and 
 graces for the service of the sanctuary. You behold with 
 indignation the quack-doctor, who will venture to hazard 
 the health and lives of men for a little paltry gain. If 
 such deserve to be accounted murderers of the body, shall 
 
QUALIFICATION'S FOR TEACHERS, &C. 143 
 
 not the blood of souls be laid to thy charge, if thou shalt 
 undertake the care of them while unqualified for it, and if, 
 through thy negligence or unskilfulness, they shall eter- 
 nally perish ? 
 
 Parents should be well satisfied of the pious disposition 
 of their children, and of the goodness of their genius, ere 
 they devote them to the work of the ministry ; and should 
 beware of pressing them to undertake the care of souls, 
 against their inclination, or without it. 
 
 Such as are invested n-ith the power of choosing gospel 
 ministers, or in choosing those who are to train up our 
 youth in the various branches of knowledge necessary for 
 the ministry, I would humbly entreat to be wise and faith- 
 ful in the discharge of so important a trus(. Let always 
 the most worthy be preferred. Do all to the glory of God. 
 Esteem the interests of Zion, and of Zion's kino-, above 
 your chiefest joy. These are the commands of God ; and 
 if you disregard them, sooner or later you shall smart for 
 it. Let not afTections for any friend, or fear of disobliging 
 those from whom you expect favours, mislead you to an 
 improper choice. 
 
 Patrons, as good Bishop Burnet has observed,* are 
 bound to pay a sacred regard to the trust veslcd in them ; 
 and if they exercise their legal right, should first carefully 
 consider what are the qualifications of the person they pre- 
 sent to a benefice ; otherwise the souls, that may be lost by 
 a bad nomination, will be required at their hands, by him 
 who made and purchased these souls, and in whose si^ht 
 they are of inestimable value. It is all one, with relation 
 to the account they must give at the tribunal of Jesus, 
 whether money, or kindred, or friendship, or something 
 
 * Pastoral Care, ch. 7, 140, 141 ; and ch. 10, throughout. 
 
144 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 else, was their motive in bestowing a presentation, if re- 
 gard is not had, in the first place, to the worth of the per- 
 son nominated, and his fitness to undertake the care of 
 souls. Did patrons act with a visible regard to true good- 
 ness and real merit, and were they never swayed to make 
 a wrong nomination by application and importunity, by 
 ambitious or interested views, or by desire of gratifying a 
 friend, who may have a chaplain to provide for ; the worst 
 grievance in presentations would be removed, which I take 
 to be this, that many patrons have no sense of the value 
 of souls; and therefore are indifferent with whom they en- 
 trust them. 
 
 Those who are so happy as to be allowed the choice of 
 a guide to their souls, must be chargeable with the worst 
 of madness, nay, with the most monstrous and inexcusable 
 impiety, if they willingly expose their souls to eternal de- 
 struction by committing them to the charge of those, of 
 whose piety and abilities they have no knowledge. Surely, 
 no affair in the whole circle of life calls for more serious 
 concern and importunate supplication. Let not then inter- 
 rest and favour, let not ambition to be head of a party, let 
 not the solicitations of great men, on the one hand, or a 
 humour of opposing them, on the other, determine your 
 conduct. Be not too much influenced by little showy 
 qualifications, such as a flowery style, a loud or melodious 
 vioce, a ready delivery. But covet earnestly the best gifts, 
 the most solid and substantial qualifications, such as piety, 
 learning, sound principles, aptness to teach. Advise with 
 faithful and judicious ministers, who are able and willing 
 to serve your best interests, and are much more competent 
 judges of some of these qualifications, than private Chris- 
 tians ordinarily can be. 
 
 And let us, my reverend and dear fathers and breth- 
 
QUALIFICATIONS FOR TEACHERS, 6z;C. 145 
 
 ren, from a genuine regard to the honour of God, and the 
 credit of religion, to the success of the gospel, and the sal- 
 vation of immortal souls; and as we would not bring a 
 stain upon our order, and depreciate it in the eyes of the 
 world, which is often partial enough to censure the whole 
 clergy for the faults of a few : Let us beware of introdu- 
 cing any into the sacred ofBce, but such as we have good 
 evidence are qualified for it, by being visibly, and in the 
 judgment of charity, sincere Christians, orthodox as well 
 as learned, having grace as well as gifts. I acknowledge, 
 designing men may counterfeit some of these qualifications 
 with so much artifice, as, after the utmost caution we can 
 use, to impose upon us : and in that case, though we com- 
 mit a mistake, we are guilty of no fault, since such favour- 
 able appearances ought to determine us to judge favoura- 
 bly. But if we separate any to the ministry without suita- 
 ble evidence of their fitness for it, either by personal ac- 
 quaintance, and free unreserved conversation with them, or 
 by hearing their public performances, and strictly and par- 
 ticularly examining their knowledge of the truth, and abili- 
 ty to defend it ; or by private inquiries at those, on whose 
 skill, integrity, opportunities of information, and cautious- 
 ness in recommending, we may safely rely ; should such 
 afterwards prove incapable of discharging their trust, the 
 blame of their defects will be laid to our charge. 
 
 How awful is the warning of Paul to Timothy, and in 
 him to all concerned in ordaining others to the pastoral of- 
 fice ! Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither he par- 
 taker of other men's sins : keep thyself pure. As if he 
 had said, though you have no particular reason to suspect 
 a candidate unfit for the ministry, be not on that account 
 slight and superficial in trying his qualifications for it, but 
 13 
 
146 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 examine, with the utmost care and exactness, his moral 
 character, and aptness to teach ; for if, through indolence 
 and carelessness, you neglect to make those inquiries, up- 
 on which you might have discovered what was amiss ; or 
 if, through an excessive tenderness for candidates, through 
 that fear of man which bringeth a snare, or through some 
 other unworthy motive, you so far connive at his known 
 vices or defects, as to grant him ordination ; by this con- 
 duct, you partake with him, not only in the sins he has al- 
 ready committed, but in those also which he shall after- 
 wards commit, while he either teaches or lives badly ; and 
 therefore, you must answer for all the pernicious conse- 
 quences of his ordination, in ruining his own soul, and the 
 souls of his flock. Nay, should other ministers be unwar- 
 rantably rash in this matter, and urge you to concur with 
 them, be not moved by their entreaties or authority, to act 
 contrary to your own judgment, lest you be condemned as 
 accessary to their guilt. In the verse preceding this cau- 
 tion, ministers are charged not to prefer one before another, 
 and do nothing by partiality^ i. e. not to determine a cause 
 for or against any person, till we hear what can be said on 
 both sides ; not to prefer one before another, where there 
 appears no sufficient reason for such a preference ; and not 
 to be swayed by friendship or prejudice, to be more fa- 
 vourable to one, and more severe to another, than we ought 
 to be. And, in the end of the chapter, to encourage this 
 diligence, the apostle informs us, that if we proceed with 
 due deliberation we shall not lose our labour, but shall or- 
 dinarily be able to form a judgment concerning candidates. 
 Some men's sins are open beforehand^ going before them 
 tojvdgment ; and some men, they, viz: their sins, follow 
 after. Likewise, also, the good works of some are mani- 
 
aUALlFICATIONS FOR TEACHERS, &C. 147 
 
 fest beforehand ; and they, viz. the good works, that are 
 otherwise, cannot be hid,* The meaning is, some men's 
 sins are so heinous and notorious, that, going as it were 
 before them to judgment, little or no trial is necessary in 
 order to discover them. And the sins of others follow 
 them to judgment; because, though less open, yet they 
 also might, in most cases, by due inquiry, be brought to 
 light. In like manner, the good works of some, and their 
 fitness for ordination, are easily discerned, even before they 
 undergo a formal trial ; and those good works which are 
 not manifest beforehand, but which, through the modesty 
 or obscure situation of the performer, are little observed, 
 may often, by a diligent search be discovered. 
 
 From this remarkable passage, to which we would do 
 well to take heed, the learned Grotius observes, that we 
 ought not only to inquire, whether a candidate for ordina- 
 tion is innocent of atrocious crimes, but whether he has 
 done much good, seeing the pious actions of the eminently 
 pious can seldom be hid. And, agreeably to this, Paul re- 
 quires, not only that a bishop be blameless, but that he 
 have a good report of them which are without, lest he 
 fall into reproach ; so that freedom from gross scandals, 
 without certain positive evidences of a pious disposition, is 
 no sufficient warrant for us to ordain any. It is criminal 
 to lay hands on a candidate, if we have no positive ground 
 to hope that he will preach usefully; and it is equally crim- 
 inal to do it, if we have no positive ground to hope that 
 he will be an example to others in word, in conversation, 
 in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity : for the last of these 
 
 * See Grotius or Wolfius on the place, and a piece, entitled, The 
 apostolical rule concerning the ordination of ministers considered' 
 — Lond. 1737, p. 5— 14. 
 
148 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 is as really a part of the minister's duty, and as really a 
 means to be used by him for saving souls, as the first. The 
 things, says Paul to Timothy, that thou hast heard of me 
 amonw many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful 
 men, who shall be able to teach others also. We must 
 have probable evidence of their faithfulness, as well as of 
 their ability to teach. Even deacons are first to be proved, 
 and then to use the office of a deacon. Sure, then, minis- 
 ters, whose office is much more honourable and important, 
 should not be allowed to exercise it, till their fitness for it 
 is well tried. But the vast danger of promiscuous admis- 
 sions into the ministry, has been so well represented, in a 
 pamphlet published here three years ago, on occasion of 
 an act and overture of the General Assembly, 1746,* that 
 I am sensible I have trespassed on your patience, in en- 
 larging so much on this head. 
 
 If any allege, that there would not be found a sufficient 
 number of ministers for all our churches, did we ordain 
 with such caution, I answer, it is better to hazard this in- 
 convenience, than to break an express law of Christ, which, 
 if less strict in ordaining, we certainly do. Let us mind 
 our duty, and leave the event to Providence. Strictness in 
 admissions may, indeed, discourage those who bid fairer 
 for starving or poisoning, than for feeding the souls of their 
 flocks. But to discourage such is highly commendable : 
 and a small number of able and faithful pastors, is more to 
 be desired than a multitude of raw, ignorant, illiterate no- 
 vices, incapable either to explain or to defend the religion 
 
 * See a Letter to a JMlnister of the C/inrch of Scotland, shoiv- 
 ing the unreasonableness of extending chap. 7 of the form of pro- 
 cess to probationers. Glasg. 1747, especially p. 6 — 27; and p. 
 61—74. 
 
aUALIFICATIONS FOR TEACHERS, &C. 149 
 
 of Jesus ; or of polite apostates from the gospel to philo- 
 sophy, who think their lime more usefully and agreeably 
 spent in studying books of science than in studying their 
 bibles; or of mercenary hirelings, of as mean and sordid 
 disposition as those we read of 1 Sam. ii. 36, who crouched 
 to the high-priest for a piece of silver and a morsel of 
 bread, saying, " Put me, I pray thee, into one of the priest's 
 offices, that I may eat a piece of bread." 
 
 May God, in mercy, prevent such low and unhappy men 
 from ever creeping into the sacred function ! May a faith- 
 ful, an able, and a successful ministry, ever be the bless- 
 ing of our land I May the glorious Head of the Church 
 appoint unto every dwelling-place of mount Zion, and to 
 all her assemblies, pastors according to his own heart, to 
 feed his people with knowledge and understanding? And 
 may he, whose words are works, say to our church in 
 general, and to this corner of it in particular, "This is my 
 rest for ever; here will I dwell; for I have desired it. I 
 will abundantly bless her provision ; I will satisfy her poor 
 with bread. I will also clothe her priests with righteous- 
 ness, and her saints shall shout aloud for joy. There will 
 I make the horn of David to bud. 1 have ordained a lamp 
 for mine anointed. His enemies will I clothe with shame; 
 but upon himself shall his crown flourish." 
 13* 
 
MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL CAUTIONED 
 AGAINST GIVING OFFENCE. 
 
 BY JOHN ERSKINE, D. D. 
 
 Giving no offence in anything, that the ministry be not 
 blamed. — 2 Corinthians vi. 3. 
 
 These words of the apostle Paul, which were primarily 
 intended to do justice to his own character, and that of 
 Timothy, his beloved son in the faith, present to the view 
 of gospel ministers, in every age, a fair and approved pat- 
 tern, which they ought to copy after, if they wish to pros- 
 per in their arduous work. The conduct of these excel- 
 lent men was, in the main, so circumspect and exem- 
 plary, that it could give no just cause of offence to^.jXews, 
 to Gentiles, or to the churches of Christ. They carefully 
 avoided whatever might increase the prejudices of unbelie- 
 vers against the gospel, or might impair the reputation and 
 success of their ministry, by laying a stumbling-block, or 
 occasion of offence, in their brother's way. 
 
 I intend, in discoursing on this passage, first to explain 
 the duty of giving no offence ; then to inculcate upon my- 
 self and my brethren in the ministry, the practice of that 
 duty ; and, lastly, to conclude with some practical reflec- 
 tions on what may be delivered. 
 
 I. I am to explain the duty here recommended to minis- 
 ters, Giving no offence. 
 
 To preach and to act so as that in fact none shall be of- 
 fended, would indeed be a hard, or rather impossible, task. 
 
MINISTERS CAUTIONED AGAINST OFFENCE. / 151 
 
 We cannot govern the sentiments and passions of others ; 
 and that can never be our duty v^hich is wholly out of our 
 power. The tastes of our hearers are so opposite, that 
 what is relished by one set of them will necessarily disgust 
 another. So changeable are the humours of not a few, 
 that what yesterday they approved, to-morrow they con- 
 demn. The weak and captious will censure our not doing 
 what was either impossible or unfit to be done. Not visit- 
 ing the sick when we were altogether ignorant of their 
 sickness ; visiting one person oftener than another ; preach- 
 ing a little longer than usual, or a little shorter ; insisting 
 often on subjects of general importance, or insisting seldom 
 on subjects of less extensive use ; repeating the same ser- 
 mon on different pulpits: borrowing useful observations 
 from the compositions of others ; refusing to spend that 
 time in company which duty requires us to devote to our 
 studies : nay, circumstances still more insignificant than 
 these: our parentage; our wealth; our poverty; our 
 dress; our necessary recreations ; every thing that relates 
 to us : every thing we say or do, however innocent : every 
 thing we omit, however needless, may, by one or other,. 
 be found fault with. To such trifles, triflers alone can 
 constantly attend. If people will take offence where no 
 shadow of offence has been given, his soul must be grovel- 
 ling, and his time and pains poorly employed, who, in 
 such low inconsiderable matters, can entirely guard against 
 it. Even truth and holiness give offence. If any truth is 
 contrary to generally received opinions, many will be our 
 enemies for telling them that truth. If vice is honestly re- 
 proved, the obstinate transgressor will be provoked. But 
 if men take umbrage at us for doing our duty, it becomes 
 us to offend man rather than God. When we hold on 
 steadily in the paths of truth and righteousness, amidst 
 
152 ' 
 
 these unjust reproaches, the testimony of God and of a good 
 conscience will afford us unspeakable support and delight. 
 The faithful minister, though reviled by an ungrateful gene- 
 ration, as a troubler of Israel, and a turner of the world 
 upside down, is glorious in the eyes of the Lord. Though 
 his character may, for a season, be under a cloud, God 
 will at length bring forth his righteousness as the light, 
 and his judgment as the noon-day. It is evident, therefore, 
 the duty of giving no offence, only means the giving no 
 just cause of offence, by doing any thing unbecoming our 
 profession as Christians, or our office as ministers of Christ. 
 But it is proper to descend to particulars. 
 
 1. Our life and conversation should be inoffensive. Our 
 station is elevated and conspicuous, and exposes us to the 
 most strict and critical inspection. Many eyes are upon 
 us, and the same allowances will not be made for our mis- 
 carriages as for those of others. Though we could speak 
 with the tongues of men and angels, we shall hardly charm 
 our hearers into a life of piety, and convince them that re- 
 ligion is beautiful, unless we exhibit her beauties in a regu- 
 lar well-ordered conversation. A dissolute life cannot fail 
 to make us base in the sight of the people. When our 
 practice is manifestly inconsistent with our doctrines, the 
 brightest parts will not protect character, the finest accom- 
 plishments will not screen us from deserved reproach. 
 
 Nor is it enouo-h that we are charoeable with scandal- 
 ous wickedness. If we indulge ourselves in practices of a 
 suspicious nature ; venture to the utmost bounds of what is 
 lawful ; needlessly frequent the company of scoffers at re- 
 ligion; or, at least, spend more of our leisure hours with 
 the gay and thoughtless, than with sober serious Christians ; 
 if our conduct betrays a crafty, political, intriguing spirit; 
 if we discover no relish for retirement ; are often and un- 
 
MINISTERS CAUTIONED AGAINST OFFENCE. 153 
 
 necessarily in the tavern, seldom in the closet, and reserve 
 little of our time for reading, meditation and prayer ; if a 
 word scarce ever drops from us in ordinary conversation, 
 that can either instruct or edify, we transgress the precept 
 of giving no offence. With whatever force of argument 
 and seeming warmth, we recommend from the pulpit hea- 
 venly-mindedness and devotion, humility, self-denial, wean- 
 edness from the world, uprightness and integrity, the care- 
 ful improvement of time, and a tender circumspect life, few 
 who observe our behaviour will be charitable, or rather, 
 will be blind enough, to fancy us in earnest. The judi- 
 cious will shrewdly suspect that pleasure, gain, or honour, 
 is dearer to us than God's glory and the salvation of souls. 
 Good men will be offended ; and even bad men, whatever 
 they pretend, will, in their hearts, despise us. We move 
 in a more exalted sphere than others ; and, if we would 
 shine as lights of the world, had need to avoid every ap- 
 pearance of evil, and to consider well, not only what is just 
 and pure, but what is lovely and of good report. The 
 world expects that we should do honour to our profession, 
 act up to the dignity of our character, and, with the great 
 apostle of the Gentiles, magnify our office, by acquiring, 
 cultivating, and exercising every accomplishment, gift, and 
 grace, that tends to promote our usefulness in the Church 
 of Christ. Many things abstractly considered, may be 
 lawful, which yet are not expedient, and edify not. Duty, 
 indeed, sometimes obliges to contradict the humours of our 
 people. But it is neither acting a wise nor a good part, to 
 contradict them for contradiction's sake. In matters indif- 
 ferent, we should become all things to all men, that we may 
 gain the more ; and deny ourselves the use of our lawful 
 liberty, when, by indulging it, our brother would be stum- 
 bled, or offended, or made weak. 
 
154 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 2. We should give no offence by choosing injudiciously 
 the subjects of our sermons. When we preach what is 
 the result of mere human reason, or teach, for doctrines, 
 the commandments of men : when we urge uncertain spe- 
 culations as warmly as if salvation depended on the belief 
 of them ; puzzle our hearers with new schemes unsup- 
 ported by Scripture evidence, or, by forced unnatural inter- 
 pretations, torture the inspired writings to speak our mind : 
 when the things we teach, though possibly true in them- 
 selves, yet are not important religious truths, explained 
 and enforced in a scriptural strain ; we practically declare, 
 by such a conduct, that we have no high esteem for divine 
 revelation, and have forgot our commission as ambassadors 
 of Christ. It would be reckoned arrogant presumption, 
 even in the ambassador of an earthly prince, should he 
 exceed his instructions, and betake himself to his own sa- 
 gacity, in adjusting the differences of his sovereign with 
 neig-hbourinof states. And can an ambassador commis- 
 sioned by Him, in whom are hid all the treasures of wis- 
 dom and knowledge, be thus unfaithful, without the most 
 daring and impious insolence ? He bids fairest to preach 
 with success, who preaches in words, not of man's wisdom, 
 but which the Holy Ghost teacheih, comparing spiritual 
 things with spiritual. The blessed Spirit sets his seal only 
 to doctrines stamped with his own authority, and which 
 flow from that sacred fountain unsullied and pure. The 
 gospel, when mingled with human inventions, loses mucli 
 of its native lustre, and, like adulterated milk, affords but 
 scanty and unwholesome nourishment. An itch to say 
 what is curious and uncommon, is a dangerous turn of 
 mind in a teacher of Christianity. Common truths are 
 like common blessings ; of most use, and of truest worth : 
 and that is the best sermon which makes the grace of God 
 
MINISTERS CAUTIONED AGAINST OFFENCE. 155 
 
 sweet, salvation through Christ acceptable, sin ugly and 
 hateful, and holiness amiable to the soul. 
 
 If they give just ground of offence who add to the word 
 of God, they do it also who take from it. All God's words 
 are right. There is nothing forward or perverse in them. 
 Every doctrine and precept is wisely suited to promote 
 God's glory and man's salvation, and was mercifully re- 
 vealed for that purpose. All scripture is given by inspira- 
 tion of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for 
 correction, for instruction in righteousness. Those enter- 
 tain too high a conceit of their own penetration, and very 
 mean ideas of the divine wisdom, who fancy it dangerous 
 to preach what the blessed Spirit judged it proper to reveal. 
 If we would keep back from our people nothing profitable, 
 we must endeavour to declare to them the whole counsel 
 of God. Concealing any part of that form of sound words 
 which our commission directs us to publish is unfaithful- 
 ness to God, and injustice to the souls of men. " He," 
 saith God, " that hath my word, let him speak my word 
 faithfully ;" Jer. xxiii. 28. And again : " — all the words 
 that I command thee to speak unto them, diminish not a 
 word ;" Jer. xxvi. 2. 
 
 As wise and faithful stewards, we must regard the whole 
 family, and give to every one his proper portion : teaching 
 the young and ignorant, in a plain familiar manner, the 
 first principles of the oracles of God : and dispensing 
 strong meat to them of full age, who, by reason of use, 
 have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. 
 The erroneous, we must endeavour, by sound reasoning, 
 to convince of iheir mistakes. We must unfold the strict- 
 ness, spirituality, and extent of God's law; and display the 
 awful sanctions that enforce it, to rouse from their spiritual 
 lethargy, the secure and thoughtless, the bold and pre- 
 
156 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 sumptuous, the proud and self-confident : awakened souls 
 we must gently allure to Christ, by the sweet and free in- 
 vitations of the gospel ; and believers w^e must exhort, by 
 a faithful discharge of every duty, to adorn the doctrine of 
 God their Saviour in all things. 
 
 Perhaps it is one chief occasion of our giving offence, 
 by not declaring the whole counsel of God, that there are 
 certain subjects peculiarly easy and agreeable to us, which, 
 on that account, we are apt to imagine the most important, 
 and to insist upon the most frequently. Lecturing usually 
 on large portions of Scripture might be some remedy to 
 this evil. Occasions would, in that way, soon present, of 
 explaining every doctrine, and inculcating every duty. 
 Both we and our hearers would grow better acquainted 
 with the lively oracles, and learn to read them more pro- 
 fitably. Besides, short occasional hints, which naturally 
 arise in our ordinary course of expounding a gospel or 
 epistle, may fall with weight on our hearts ere they are 
 aware, and force conviction. Whereas, when the subject 
 of a sermon is directly levelled against vulgar prejudices 
 or fashionable vices, instantly the alarm is taken, and the 
 mind strengthens itself against evidence. The heart is a 
 fort more easily taken by sap than by storm. 
 
 But though we give hints of every truth, our sermons 
 will offend the judicious, if we insist more frequently and 
 earnestly on suljects of lesser importance, and more spa- 
 ringly and coldly on those branches of Christianity which 
 are most frequently introduced, and have the greatest stress 
 laid upon them, in the sacred writings. Our great busi- 
 ness is, to instruct guilty creatures how they may be re- 
 covered from the ruins of their aposlacy, serve God ac- 
 ceptably here, and enjoy him for ever hereafter. It is 
 justly offensive, if we content ourselves with now and then 
 
MINISTERS CAUTIONED AGAINST OFFENCE. 157 
 
 mentioning, in a slight and overly manner, those things 
 which affect the very vitals of our common Christianity. 
 
 If Christ, and salvation through him, are rarely preached, 
 this will be quite opposite to the apostolic pattern. Let 
 it not be pleaded, That these doctrines were more neces- 
 sary to Jews and Heathens than to professed Christians. 
 A little observation may convince us, that many of our 
 hearers are Christians only in name, and need to be taught 
 these doctrines more perfectly, or, at least, to have deeper 
 impressions of their truth and importance. Besides, it was 
 not barely in addressinsj infidels, that the apostles insisted 
 on such subjects. They did it also in their epistles to the 
 saints and faithful in Jesus, who knew these things, and 
 were established in the present truth. A considerable part 
 of many of these epistles immediately relates to the pecu- 
 liar doctrines of Christianity. And, in the practical part 
 of them, these peculiar doctrines are often urged as mo- 
 tives even to social and relative duties. For instance, they 
 are urged to dissuade from evil speaking, and to recom- 
 mend meekness and gentleness, Tit. iii. 2, et seq. : and in 
 the 8th verse of that chapter, the apostle, after pronounc- 
 ing the doctrine of justification through Christ a faithful 
 saying, enjoins Titus to affirm it constantly, in order to 
 excite believers to carefulness in maintaining good, works. 
 But I have a still higher pattern to plead. More of our 
 Lord's sermons are recorded by the beloved disciple than 
 by the other evangelists ; and of these the principal sub- 
 jects are, the dangerous state of the unconverted, and the 
 nature, necessity, and blessed consequences of faith in 
 Christ, of union with him, and of the sanctifying influ- 
 ences of his Spirit. The last and longest of these ser- 
 mons, though preached to the apostles only, who had long 
 ago professed their dependance on him as their guide to 
 14 
 
158 THE CHRISTIAN FASTOR's 3IANUAL. 
 
 eternal life, yet chiefly relates to the mutual love of Christ 
 and his people, and the safety and comfort that flow from 
 the exercise of faith in him. The doctrine of Christ cru- 
 cified, is the instituted mean for producing and nourishing 
 the divine life, and should be the centre of our sermons, in 
 reference to, and dependance upon which, other subjects 
 ought to be considered. 
 
 The nature of true religion, as distinguished from every 
 counterfeit appearance, the genuine workings of it in the 
 heart, and the fruits of it in the life, are subjects that need 
 to be often explained and inculcated. Scripture abounds 
 with occasional instructions on these heads : and the 119th 
 psalm, our Lord's sermon on the mount, the epistle of 
 James, and John's first epistle, treat them designedly, and 
 at full length. On the one hand, we must inculcate it fre- 
 quently, that however blameless men's outward conduct 
 may appear, yet, if they act barely from selfish interested 
 principles, and have not charity, love to God, to Christ, 
 and to their brethren of mankind, they are nothing, have 
 not the spirit of Christ in them, and are none of his : " The 
 end of the commandment is love, out of a pure heart, a 
 good conscience, and faith unfeigned." In other words, 
 the end of divine revelation is not gained upon us, till we 
 love our duty, see a beauty and excellency in holiness, and 
 esteem it our meat and drink to do the will of our heavenly 
 Father. On the other hand, we must remind our hearers, 
 that where the tree is good, the fruit also will be good; 
 and that no pretences to faith or love are well founded, 
 which do not justify themselves by a suitable practice. 
 Nor must we content ourselves with general encomiums 
 on holiness and good works. It is necessary, minutely to 
 describe the various graces of the Spirit that constitute the 
 Christian temper, and the various duties we owe to God, 
 
MINISTERS CAUTIONED AGAINST OFFENCE. 159 
 
 our neighbours, and ourselves. We do not comply with 
 the precepts of the apostles, and imitate their example, in 
 speaking the things that become sound doctrine, unless 
 we inculcate upon our hearers the particular obligations 
 that result from their different ages, stations, and relations; 
 Tit. ii. 1, 2. For vice, as well as error, is contrary to 
 sound doctrine, according to the glorious gospel of the 
 blessed God; 1 Tim. i. 9—11. 
 
 Further — We give offence, if we do not insist on subjects 
 suited to the spiritual state of our flocks, and to the dispen- 
 sations of providence towards them. In many discourses, 
 the counsel is good, but not for the time ; whereas a well- 
 timed discourse bids fairest to strike and edify. There is 
 also a time to keep silence, as well as a time to speak. In 
 many cases, we will instruct and admonish in vain, if we 
 stay not till men's minds are calm, composed, and in pro- 
 per temper to give us a fair hearing. Paul would not feed 
 with strong meat those who are not able to bear it. On 
 some occasions, an oblique hint will irritate more than a 
 severe undisguised reproof would do at another season. 
 
 It is evident, from what has been said, that the matter 
 of his sermons must needs give offence, whose ideas of the 
 great truths of Christianity are superficial, confused, and 
 indistinct. Men must have knowledge ere they impart it; 
 and there is one only source whence divine knowledge, 
 without danger of mistake, can be derived, and where- it is 
 the duty and interest of the minister of Christ, with the ut- 
 most diligence, to dig for it. Let the writings of philoso- 
 phers, of historians, and of politicians, be their study whose 
 business it is to unfold the secrets of nature, to transmit to 
 posterity the memorable deeds of heroes, or to give coun- 
 sel to their Sovereign in matters of state. These branches 
 of knowledge are at best ornamental, not essential, to a 
 
160 THE CURISTAN PASTOr's 3IANUAL. 
 
 teacher of Christianity. He may innocently, nay, usefully, 
 amuse himself with them ; but he cannot, without sacrilege, 
 devote to them the greatest part of his time. His office is, 
 to make known to perishing sinners the sublime, the affect- 
 ing, the comforting truths, of the lively oracles; and for 
 that end, attentively to read them, to meditate on them day . 
 and night; and, whilst he despises not the labours of able 
 and worthy men, who have endeavoured to illustrate them, 
 to secure a better and more effectual help, by humbly and 
 fervently imploring the Father of lights, to open his eyes 
 to behold wondrous thin2;s out of God's word. Thus shall 
 he become a scribe instructed into the kingdom of God, 
 and, like unto a man that is an householder, bring forth 
 out of his treasures things new and old. 
 
 3. When ministers give no offence by the subjects of 
 their sermons, they may give a great deal, by their man- 
 ner of handling them. Particularly, 
 
 When they preach not in a manner calculated to inform 
 the judgment. Men are rational creatures, and, if we 
 would address them as such, the understanding should, as 
 the leading power, be fii-st applied to. For this purpose, 
 we must clearly open and explain the truth, confirm it by 
 arguments level to the capacities of our hearers, and do all 
 this in plain familiar language, which even those in low 
 life may easily understand. Christianity was designed for 
 the peasant, as well as the philosopher ; and, as the learned 
 and wise make a small proportion of most congregations, 
 to preach it in a way in which only they are like to be the 
 better for it, is highly offensive. Philosophy, though from 
 the press it has done religion substantial service ; yet when 
 often introduced in the pulpit, generally hurts it, by usurp- 
 ing the place of what would be more useful, and probably 
 more acceptable too. Scholastic niceties, metaphysical dis^ 
 
MINISTERS CAUTIONED AGAINST OFFENCE. 161 
 
 tinctions, and a fine subtle thread of reasoning, may in- 
 deed sometimes be necessary in answering metaphysical 
 objections against religion ; and therefore, on some rare oc- 
 casions, the use of them in the pulpit may be profitable : 
 but the bulk of audiences are incapable of following a long 
 and intricate train of thought ; and therefore will be con- 
 founded by it, not instructed and convinced. While some 
 may applaud such sermons as deep and rational, the more 
 wise will despise them as idle and injudicious. This, how- 
 ever, is no apology for any who verge to the opposite ex- 
 treme, slight order and exactness in their compositions, 
 and instead of keeping close to a subject, entertain their 
 hearers with confused incoherent discourses, empty of sen- 
 timent, but full of insipid repetitions, and impertinent ram- 
 bliniT excursions. ' 
 
 I say nothing of those, whose long perplexed periods, 
 occasioned by unnecessary epithets and expletives, and pa- 
 rentheses and digressions, render their sermons at once 
 tedious and obscure. This unhappiness of style is re- 
 markable in some who stand in the first rank of genius 
 and penetration, who, exerting thought more intensely than 
 others, had little attention to spare for expression. Their 
 fault is more voluntary, and therefore more offensive, who, 
 by a false expectation of the elegant or the sublime, soar 
 aloft above the comprehension of their hearers. Bombast 
 descriptions, glittering fiowers of eloquence, and luxuriant 
 flights of wit, had better be left to the heroes of romance.* 
 
 Sermons composed in such a stylcj may indeed enter- 
 
 * Hervey of the Church of England, and Macewen of the Seces- 
 sion, arc agreeable writers: but to attempt their manner is danger- 
 ous, without an uncommonly lively imagination, solid judgment and 
 correct taste. Luxuriances of style, generally overlooked in origi- 
 nal geniuses, appear ridiculous in their servile imitators. 
 14* 
 
162 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 tain and amuse ; but they want perspicuity, the very first 
 and fundamental excellency of speech. Even the justest 
 metaphors, when too much crowded, enervate a discourse; 
 darken, instead of illustrating the sense ; and, to use the 
 words of another, res^^ble the windows in old cathedrals, 
 in which the painting keeps out the light. I acknowledge, 
 the best sentiments, if conveyed in mean and low images, 
 and clothed in a rustic slovenly dress, provoke laughter in 
 .some, and occasion uneasiness in others : but we need not 
 * run into a financial nicety of style, in order to avoid a sor- 
 did negligence. 
 
 Still more ofiensive than these, is the obscurity affected 
 for its own sake. It must offend every honest man, if, to 
 conceal unpopular opinions, and to put on an air of ortho- 
 doxy, we use expressions which may be interpreted with 
 equal ease to divers, and even contrary purposes. Re- 
 markable are the words of Paul, 1 Cor. xiv. 8, 9. " If 
 the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare 
 himself for the battle? So likewise ye, except ye utter by 
 the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be 
 known what is spoken? for ye shall speak to the air." If 
 this is a good argument against preaching in an unknown 
 tongue, it is equally good against every thing else that dis- 
 guises, instead of unfolding our sentiments of Christianity. 
 The apostles used great plainness of speech ; and it is an 
 apostolic injunction, " If any man speak, let him speak as 
 the oracles of God." Let his style be plain and clear, 
 like that of the sacred writings ; not dark and ambiguous, 
 like the oracles of the Heathen.* 
 
 * It was justly observed of the council of Trent, " Nosti artificia 
 horum hominum ; vix unquam aliquid aperte dicunt, vix unquam 
 simpliciter ; et cum ceteri homines loquantur ut intelligi possint, isti 
 
MINISTERS CAUTIONED AGAINST OFFENCE. 163 
 
 After all, informing the judgment, though the first part 
 of our work, is far from the whole of it. Sermons will 
 do little service, if they are not also calculated to command 
 a reverend attention, to strike the conscience, and to warn 
 and affect the heart. We speak as ministers of God : and 
 therefore it becomes us to speak with dignity and boldness, 
 not fearing the face of man. Favour should not bribe, 
 nor frowns nor dangers affright us, from delivering our 
 master's message. I mean not to vindicate pride nor pas- 
 sion. A proper decorum should be observed, especially in 
 administering reproof. It is not fit to say to a king, Thou 
 art wicked, or to princes. Ye are ungodly. Persons in 
 public characters must be treated with a deference suited 
 to their station ; and even the meanest must not be insult- 
 ed. Courage, however, and faithfulness, are by no means 
 inconsistent with meekness and discretion ; and if the 
 greatest dare grossly and openly to transgress, the minister 
 of Christ should dare to reprove. 
 
 Besides the meanness of some, in conniving at fashion- 
 able vices, there are others, whose thoughtless unconcerned 
 gesture and pronunciation greatly diminish the dignity of 
 their pulpit performances, and make them received with 
 indifference, perhaps indignation, instead of respect. A 
 light and merry air, an antic jovial carriage, in executing 
 the weighty commission with which God has entrusted us, 
 is contrary to the rules o^ decency, and cannot fail to pre- 
 judice the hearers. It is impossible to be too grave and 
 serious in addresses, on the success of which the happiness 
 of immortal souls in so great a measure depends. 
 
 But though our language is plain and elegant, our me- 
 
 nihil magis volunt quatn ne intelligantur." Pibvaci epistola ad 
 Hospitaliiim, apiid Covrayer, in notis ad Fr. Pauli hist. Cone. 
 Trid. t. i. p. 368, edit. Lond. Too many Protestants have imita- 
 ted them in this. 
 
164 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MAISUAL» 
 
 Ihod accurate, and our manner grave and solemn ; yet, if 
 our discourses are flat and lifeless, they will seldom warm 
 the heart. Mr. Melmoth has observed, that in Archbishop 
 Tillotson's sermons a pathetic animated address is often 
 wanting, even on occasions when naturally we would have 
 expected most of it. Abundance of spirit, hovvcver, ap- 
 pears in some of his discourses, especially in exposing the 
 absurdities and impieties of the church of Rome. And it 
 might have been remarked with equal justice, that numer- 
 ous volumes of sermons, published in England since that 
 time, while inferior to the Archbishop's in important senti- 
 misnts well arranged, and in many genuine beauties of 
 style, resemble them only in that languid manner of which 
 Melmoth complains. Alas! my brethren, dull and point- 
 less arrows are ill suited to pierce the conscience of har- 
 dened sinners. Soft and drowsy harangues, instead of rous- 
 ing a secure generation, will rather increase their spiritual 
 lethargy ; and a cold preacher will soon have a cold audi- 
 tory. Jesus has entrusted us with the concerns of his peo- 
 ple, a people dearly bought, and greatly beloved ; we have 
 to do with souls that must be happy or miserable for ever; 
 we address them, in the name of God, upon matters of in- 
 finite importance : and is it not an indignity to him, whose 
 ambassadors we are, to execute our commission coolly, and 
 as if half asleep? Will it not tempt others to slight our 
 message, if, by the manner of delivering it, we appear to 
 slight it ourselves? When our own hearts are most im- 
 pressed w ith the inestimable worth of immortal souls ; 
 when, out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speak- 
 eth ; when our sentiments, style, voice and gesture, dis- 
 cover how much we are in earnest : then we are most 
 likely to touch the liearts of our hearers, and make them 
 feel the force of what we say. 
 
 I have said so much upon preaching, as there are more 
 
MINISTERS CAUTIONED AGAINST OFFENCE. 165 
 
 directions and exhortalions in Scripture with relation to it, 
 than with relation to any other branch of our office ; 1 must 
 barely hint the remaining particulars, lest I encroach too 
 far on your time and patience. 
 
 4. We may give offence, not only by an improper man- 
 ner of preaching, but by a neglect or undue performance 
 of the other public offices of our station. 
 
 In leading the devotions of the church, we give offence, 
 when either the matter, expression, or manner, is unsuit- 
 able; when we are long and tedious ; mingle our own pas- 
 sions and prejudices in our addresses to God ; introduce 
 disputable matters, in which many sincere Christians can- 
 not join with us; when we adapt not our prayers to the 
 particular circumstances and necessities of our people ; 
 hurry them over carelessly ; discover no becoming seri- 
 ousness and solemnity of spirit, no realizing sense of the 
 value of the blessings for which w^e plead ; and when we 
 seem to forget that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the 
 life, through whom alone our guilty race can obtain access 
 to God, and acceptance with him. 
 
 It is just cause of offence, and, did vital piety flourish, 
 would be offensive to our people, that the Lord's Supper is 
 so seldom dispensed. And as our manner of dispensing 
 that ordinance is one chief hindrance of its frequency, it is 
 worthy our inquiry, how far that also is blameable. Un- 
 doubtedly we give offence, if for trifling unwarrantable 
 causes, we put off administrating it ; or if we usurp the 
 prerogative of Christ as sole lawgiver of the church, by 
 makino- the terms of Christian communion either wider or 
 narrower than he has made them. 
 
 And this leads me to observe, that as the discipline of 
 the church is in part committed to us, we give offence if we 
 exercise it with respect of persons and, through a mistaken 
 
166 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 tenderness for any, or a fear of incurring their displeasure, 
 allow them to live without due censure, in the open prac- 
 tice of scandalous crimes, instead of rebuking them with 
 authority, that others also may fear. At the same time, 
 we give offence, if we claim a right to judge them that are 
 without. It is an offence against common sense, to expel 
 men from a society to which they never seemed to belong, 
 and to debar them from privileges, to which they never 
 had, or pretended to have, any title. 
 
 Probably some might be offended, and none greatly edi- 
 fied, should I say much on our conduct in judicatures. Of 
 this subject, much has been said from the pulpit, and on 
 occasions too where no purpose of edification could be 
 gained by saying any thing. This much, however, may I 
 hope be said, without impropriety, on such an occasion. To 
 act a juggling unsteady part, and, from connexions of any 
 kind, to vary from our professed principles ; to sneak, and 
 cringe, and prostitute our consciences, either to the humours 
 of the great, or to the prejudices of the populace : to be- 
 have with insolence to men our superiors in age and ex- 
 perience ; to listen with avidity to one side of a question, 
 while we deny a fair and full hearing to the other ; to si- 
 lence sober reasoning by railler}^ by dark malicious inu- 
 endoes, by bitter satirical invectives, or by noisy cries for 
 a vote; to treat one another with harshness and severity 
 for diflerent sentiments and different conduct in matters of 
 doubtful disputation ; cannot fail to offend every cool and 
 impartial observer. Nor can it, I think, be disputed, that 
 we give ofience, if we examine slightly the opinions, dis- 
 positions, and abilities of those we recommend to impor- 
 tant offices; and solemnly attest, that men have qualifica- 
 tions, which either we know that they want, or at least 
 know not that they have. 
 
MINISTERS CAUTIONED AGAINST OFFENCE. 167 
 
 In ordaining to the ministry we act in the name of Christ ; 
 and therefore give offence if we act against his authority, 
 or without it. Genius, learning, prudence, aptness to teach, 
 are all necessary parts of furniture for a minister; and, in 
 ordinary cases, without some measure of them, none ought 
 to be set apart to that honourable service. But the most 
 eminent gifts and abilities, when grace does not direct the 
 proper use of them, may too probably qualify men to be 
 plagues, instead of blessings to the church of God. Jesus 
 would not commit his sheep to Peter, till he had answered 
 satisfyingly the question, "Lovest thou me?" He who 
 knows all things, knew the love of his disciple; and there- 
 fore thus inquired, chiefly for our sakes, that in commit- 
 ting to others the ministry of reconciliation, we shall follow 
 his steps. They who have seen Christ's beauty, tasted his 
 love, and felt the pleasures and advantages of religion, are 
 peculiarly qualified by this their Christian experience, to 
 recommend them to others with dignity and freedom. Sin- 
 gular activity is requisite, in the many labours, and singu- 
 lar fortitude and firmness of mind, in the many difficulties 
 and afflictions, to which faithful ministers are exposed. 
 Now, love, and love alone, will reconcile to these ; nay, 
 render them a delight. Untender, therefore, and un- 
 kind we are to the feeble flock of Christ, if we commit 
 them to men, who, for aught we know or care, bear them 
 no affection ; and probably, instead of feeding and defend- 
 ing them, may poison them, or expose them to be de- 
 voured. None will presume thus to plead before Christ in 
 the great day of account? " It is true, we entrusted souls, 
 dear in thy sight, and for whom thou didst shed thy precious 
 blood, to one, whose conduct seemed to discover, that his 
 natural enmity to thee remained unsubdued. But he was 
 an agreeable companion, a man of strong natural powers, 
 
168 THE CHRSTIAN PASTOR S MANUAL. 
 
 and an accomplished orator." If such a plea would be 
 absurd, must not that conduct be absurd which requires it? 
 We are not indeed to seek, for we cannot obtain, an abso- 
 lute certainty, that those we ordain are lovers of Jesus. It 
 is God's prerogative to search the heart ; and the judgment 
 we form, on the most probable evidence may prove wrong. 
 But it is enough to warrant our act, if there be a profession 
 of real religion, and an outward conduct in some measure 
 agreeable to that profession : and, without doubt, different 
 sentiments of a candidate, and different opportunities of 
 knowing him thoroughly, may justify some in bearing a 
 part in his ordination, when it would be in others presump- 
 tuous wickedness. There is one thing more in our ordina- 
 tions, which, I think, merits our serious attention : and that 
 is, the solemnly giving to one, in the name of Jesus, the 
 charge of a congregation unwilling to submit to him, and 
 among whom there is no probability of his usefulness.* 
 Upon what principles this can be vindicated, I am yet to 
 learn. The state must no doubt determine what shall be 
 the established religion, and who shall be entitled to the le- 
 
 * The zeal of Passius, canon of Valencia, outran his knowledge, 
 when he maintained in the council of Trent, that it was a devilish 
 pestilent invention of late heretics, destructive of laith and of the 
 church of God, to ascribe to any claim of right the voice or consent 
 allowed the people in the choice of their pastors ; which was a mere 
 favour, revocable at pleasure. Yet he certainly argued consistently^, 
 in insisting, that those passages should be expunged from the pontifi- 
 cal which seem to suppose such consent necessary ; particularly 
 where the bishop says, in ordaining a presbyter; " Non frustra a pa- 
 tribus institutum, ut de electione eorum qui ad regimen altaris adhi- 
 bendi sunt, consulatur et populus; quia necesse est, ut faciiius ci 
 quis obedientiam exhiheat ordinate, cui assensum pra^buerit ordi- 
 nando." 
 
MINISTERS CAUTIONED AGAINST OFFENCE. 169 
 
 gal benefice for teaching it : but no government ought, and 
 our government does not attempt, to impose upon any, 
 either a religion, or an instructor in religion. It is still 
 more difficult to conceive, why a conscientious scruple to 
 bear a part in an ordination, the form of which seems to 
 assert a falsehood, should exclude a man, otherwise quali- 
 fied, from serving God in the gospel of his Son. I have 
 seen no act of Parliament, or constitution of the church of 
 Scotland, that enjoins this. Sure I am, it is not enjoined 
 by Christian forbearance and love. 
 
 5. We give offence, by the neglect or undue performance 
 of the more private duties of our calling. 
 
 If we pay no regard to the souls of our charge, unless 
 in the pulpit, and immmediate preparation for it ; if we 
 seem indifferent how we stand in the esteem and affection 
 of our people, or what is the success of our labours ; if 
 we use not every proper method for conveying and cherish- 
 ing religious impressions, for preventing backslidings, and 
 for recovering those that have fallen, from their spiritual de- 
 cays ; if we neglect to warn the unruly, to comfort them 
 that mourn, to visit the afflicted, and to catechise the young 
 and ignorant, when we have any probable prospect that 
 these services may be useful ; or if we manage our visits 
 to the sick so incautiously, that bystanders are encouraged 
 to put oflT thoughts of repentance to their last moments, 
 and thereby sustain a hurt which any good done to the dy- 
 inof will seldom balance ; we greatly fail of our duty, and 
 are guilty of giving offence. 
 
 II. I now proceed briefly to enforce the exhortation of 
 giving no offence. 
 
 The text itself suggests a powerful argument. If we 
 give ofTence, the ministry will be blamed. The people of 
 15 
 
170 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 God will justly be angry with us, and condemn our faulty 
 conduct. Nay, possibly, all our future ministrations will, 
 in their eyes, become hateful or contemptible ; and thus a 
 fair prospect of usefulness be unhappily blasted. Though 
 a man could speak like an oracle, little regard will be paid 
 to what he says when his credit is sunk. 
 
 Nor is this the worst: the ungodly confine not their cen- 
 sures to the weak or worthless minister ; but, as though 
 one clergyman stood representative of all, take occasion, 
 from his licentiousness or imprudence, to traduce ministers 
 in general as fools or knaves. In every place there are 
 subtile emissaries of Satan, who incessantly watch for our 
 halting, and take a handle, from the least misbehaviour of 
 W'hich we are guilty, to reflect on the most innocent of our 
 brethren. The enemies of Jesus are fond of every thing 
 that can expose our order : and if our conduct is profligate, 
 or our pulpit-compositions despicable, that affords them the 
 wished-for pretext to gratify their malice. The cry is, 
 They are all alike. Nay, it is well if the sacred office it- 
 self be not aspersed, and the wisdom of God who instituted 
 it arraigned. Thus, when we depart out of the way, it 
 causes many to stumble at the law, and to abhor the offer- 
 ing of the Lord. Jesus himself is crucified afresh, and his 
 holy religion reproached through our faults, unjustly im- 
 puted to them. We are ambassadors for Christ; and by 
 our ill management of that trust, disgrace is reflected on 
 him in whose name we act ; the cause of God suffers, the 
 hearts of the godly are grieved, the wicked are hardened 
 in their wickedness, and precious souls eternally perish. 
 Wo to the world because of offences. It must needs be 
 that offences come ; but wo to the man, double wo to the 
 minister, by whom they come : it were better for him that 
 a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into 
 
MINISTERS CAUTIONED AGAINST OFFENCE. 171 
 
 the depths of the sea. Though his heavenly Master, who 
 invested him with so honourable an office, is present, and 
 observes his conduct, he dares to be indolent in his service, 
 and basely to betray his interest. He scruples not the 
 most direct and horrible perjury, by violating the solemn 
 engagements he came under, to take heed to the flock of 
 which he was ordained an overseer. He feels no remorse 
 for offending the Sovereign of Zion, by a neglect of duty, 
 and a breach of trust, which, in his own servant, or in the 
 servant of an earthly sovereign, would have appeared to 
 him infamous and detestable. But possibly, when death 
 is about to seal the eyes of his body, the eyes of his soul 
 may be opened to perceive things as they really are. Af- 
 ter having spent his life in doing the work of the Lord de- 
 ceitfully, and pursuing the honours, riches, and pleasures 
 of this world, not the glory of God, and the salvation of 
 souls, methinks I see him receive the awful summons. 
 Give an account of thy stewardship, for thou must be no 
 longer steward. He feels himself about to be dragged to 
 a state of misery, eternal and intolerable. Conscience 
 awakes from its fatal slumber, and by the most cruel and 
 insupportable reproaches, avenges his contempt of its old 
 and long-forgotten remonstrances. His wonted arts of 
 stilling this inward tormentor, now lose their power. 
 Fearfulness and trembling come upon him, and horror 
 overwhelms him. Hell is naked before him, and destruc- 
 tion without a covering. And God, justly provoked, laughs 
 at his calamity, and mocks when his fear cometh. Yet, 
 possibly, another, equally unfaithful, may have no bonds 
 in his death, and leave this world as he lived in it, thought- 
 less of God and duty, and regardless of eternity. But if 
 dying does not, surely death shall put an end to his peace. 
 See him appearing before the tribunal of a now inexorable 
 
172 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 judge. Behold his countenance changed, his thoughts 
 troubling him, the joints of his loins loosed, and his knees 
 smiting one against another; when, lo ! a voice more 
 dreadful than thunder thus accosts him : " Wicked and 
 slothful servant, what hadst thou to do to declare my sta- 
 tutes, or that thou shouldst take my covenant in thy mouth ; 
 seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words be- 
 hind thee? " Mark a numerous flock ruined by his negli- 
 gence or bad example. Listen to them calling for ven- 
 geance. The cry of their blood enters into the ears of the 
 Lord of Sabaoth ; and the irreversible doom is pronounced, 
 " Take him, bind him hand and foot, cast him into utter 
 darkness; there shall be weeping, and wailing, and gnash- 
 ing of teeth." 
 
 Turn away from this shocking scene, and observe on 
 the right hand of the Son of Man a faithful pastor. Pos- 
 sibly his dying words were words of triumph and trans- 
 port : " This is my rejoicing, the testimony of my con- 
 science, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with 
 fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, I have had my 
 conversation in the world. I have fought a good fight, T 
 have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Hence- 
 forth is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which 
 the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day : 
 and not to me only, but to all them also that love his ap- 
 pearing." But with what superior joy does he lift up his 
 head, when he rests from his labours, when his warfare is 
 accomplished, and the day of his complete redemption 
 dawns! He walked with God in peace and equity, and 
 did turn many away from iniquity. These he now pre- 
 sents to the great Shepherd of the sheep, saying, " Behold 
 me, and the children thou hast given me." He is their 
 rejoicing, and they also are his rejoicing in the day of the 
 
MINISTERS CAUTIONED AGAINST OFFENCE. 173 
 
 Lord Jesus. Joyful to both was the sound of the gospel : 
 but more joyful, now, is the final sentence, "Well done, 
 good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a 
 few things, I will make thee ruler over many things : en- 
 ter thou into the joy of thy Lord." 
 
 If, therefore, we have any zeal for the glory of God, if 
 any regard for the interest of the Redeemer's kingdom, if 
 any tender concern for the salvation of our hearers, and 
 if, in the great day of the Lord, we would not be found 
 among them that offend, and work iniquity, and after hav- 
 ing prophesied in Christ's name, hear him pronounce 
 against us the dreadful sentence, "Depart from me; I 
 know you not : " let us take heed to ourselves, and to our 
 doctrine, and walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise; 
 giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not 
 blamed. 
 
 It is now time to hasten to a conclusion. If it is our 
 
 duty to give no offence, how difficult then is our office ! 
 
 what superior accomplishments, natural and acquired, what 
 
 exalted improvements in vital piety, what continual aids of 
 
 the Holy Spirit, are requisite to preserve from giving 
 
 offence in any thing, men exposed to such a variety of 
 
 temptations and snares ! The best of us have cause, with 
 
 grief and self-abasement, to acknowledge, that in many 
 
 things we daily offend. Let us not, however, sink into 
 
 slothfulness and despair. God's grace will be sufficient 
 
 for us, if we humbly implore it, and he will perfect strength 
 
 in our weakness. Say not, O humble servant of Christ, 
 
 I am a child ; for thou shalt go to all that God shall send 
 
 thee ; and whatsoever he commandeih thee, thou shalt 
 
 speak. What he has done for many others, may greatly 
 
 encourage our prayers and endeavours. We have heard 
 
 with our ears, our fathers have told us, what burning and 
 15* 
 
174 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 shining lights have gone before us in the work of the 
 Lord. We have heard of their holy exemplary lives ; 
 their strict discipline, both in their own families and in the 
 church of God ; the gravity, nay, dignity, of their appear- 
 ance ; their animated penetrating sermons, and their edi- 
 fying manner in familiar discourse. May a double por- 
 tion of their excellent spirit rest upon us who come after 
 them ! And when, from time to time, our fathers are 
 stripped of their priestly robes, may the sons of the pro- 
 phets who stand up in their room, even exceed them in 
 knowledge of divine things, in piety, in wisdom, in dili- 
 gence, in success ! that thus our holy religion may de- 
 scend uncorrupted to distant ages, and the people which 
 shall be created may praise the Lord. 
 
 I have been exhorting myself and my reverend fathers 
 and brethren, not to give ofience. It is equally necessary 
 to exhort you, our hearers, not to be hasty in taking it. 
 Be tender, my friends, of our reputation. If any thing is 
 insinuated to our disadvantage, be not rash and easy in be- 
 lieving it. If the charge is not supported by sufficient evi- 
 dence, regard it not. Against an elder receive not an ac- 
 cusation under two or three witnesses. By wounding our 
 good name, you render our ministry despicable and unsuc- 
 cessful ; than which nothing can be more pleasing to Sa- 
 tan, or hurtful to your own eternal interests. Judge not 
 our cause, till you have given it a fair impartial hearing. 
 Pass no sentence against us, till you know we have done 
 what is alleged, and till you also know we had no good 
 reason for doing it. And since God instructs you by men 
 of like passions and infirmities with yourselves, expect not 
 from them angelical perfection. Make candid allowances 
 for those errors and frailties that are incident to the wisest 
 and best of men. Throw over them the veil of charity. 
 
MINISTERS CAUTIONED AGAINST OFFENCE. 175 
 
 Do not form a judgment of our general character from one 
 unguarded word or action. God hath threatened, that 
 those shall be cut off that watch for iniquity ; that make a 
 man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that 
 reproveth in the gate. You expect we should give no of- 
 fence by the neglect of our duty : we, with the same jus- 
 tice, expect, that you should give no offence by the neglect 
 of yours ; and offence you give us, if you do not attend our 
 ministerial instructions, implore the blessing of God upon 
 them, and actually improve by them. If many professed 
 Christians spent not more time in censuring ministers than 
 in praying for them, the ministry in this land would be 
 less blamed than it is at present, and probably less blame- 
 worthy too. Meantime, what is amiss in our conduct will 
 be no excuse for despising the message we bring in the 
 name of Jesus, and persisting in impenitence and unbelief. 
 
 If an inoffensive ministry is thus important, how careful 
 should patrons be to present, and parishes still enjoying 
 the important privilege of election, to call none to the pas- 
 toral office who may be in danger of giving offence by 
 their weak abilities, unsound principles, or dissolute lives ! 
 And how foolish and criminal a part do candidates act, 
 who hastily rush into the sacred function, ere they have 
 laid in the necessary furniture for discharging it honoura- 
 bly ! Is there not cause to fear, that not their character 
 only, but religion in general, may suffer for the reproach 
 of their youth ? 
 
 Upon the whole, would we give no offence as men, as 
 Christians, as ministers of Christ ; let us search out the 
 sins and infirmities to which we are chiefly liable, that we 
 may guard against these with peculiar care. In order 
 to discover our weak side, let us duly regard the opin- 
 ion others entertain of us. Let us not interpret friendly 
 
176 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 admonition as a disparagement and affront, but thankfully 
 receive it as a mark of unfeigned affection. Say, with Da- 
 vid, " Let the righteous smite me, it shall be a kindness ; 
 and let him reprove me, it shall be as excellent oil which 
 shall not break my head." We are often blind to our own 
 failings ; and happy are we, if we can engage some wise 
 and good man, who tenderly regards our welfare, to point 
 them out. But if we find none thus faithful and honest, 
 let us wisely improve the accusations of enemies, and learn 
 from them those blemishes and defects, to which, without 
 the help of such ill-natured monitors, we might have re- 
 mained strangers. 
 
 May we all, whether in public or private stations, be 
 blameless and harmless, the sons of God without rebuke, 
 shining as lights in the world, maintaining alwa3^s con- 
 sciences void of offence towards God and towards man. 
 And may the Lord' our God be with us, as he was with 
 our fathers. Let him not leave us nor forsake us, that we 
 may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways, 
 and to keep bis holy commandments for ever. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 [The preceding sermon having been first preached at an ordination, 
 the charges then delivered to the iuinister and congregations are 
 here subjoined.] 
 
 CHARGE TO THE MINISTER. 
 
 Though giving the usual charge would have better be- 
 come one or other of our venerable fathers, yet since the 
 place where I stand requires it, suffer me, reverend Sir, to 
 be your monitor. Providence has called you to an honour- 
 able, but, at the same time, a difficult office. Gifts are 
 
MINISTERS CAUTIONED AGAINST OFFENCE. 177 
 
 necessary to capacitate you for it ; grace to animate you 
 to discharge it faithfully. A small measure of gifts, and 
 low attainments in grace, will poorly answer these impor- 
 tant purposes. If you would be a vessel unto honour, 
 sanctified and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto 
 every good work, covet earnestly the best gifts ; the gift of 
 knowledge, the gift of utterance, the gift of prudence. Lift 
 up your heart to the Father of lights, in humble fervent 
 supplication, that he would plentifully pour out upon you 
 these, and every other good and perfect gift : and as they 
 are not now imparted miraculously, but acquired through 
 the blessing of God on the use of means, join to your 
 prayers, diligent application to study. Meditate on divine 
 things, give thyself wholly to them, that thy profiting may 
 appear unto all. Those of the most extensive knowledge 
 know only in part, and need to learn the way of God more 
 perfectly. Give attendance to reading. Make a wise 
 choice of the books you read. Study those most which 
 most tend to increase in you the dispositions and abilities 
 proper for your office. There is one book, or rather col- 
 lection of books, which, without an appearance of arro- 
 gance, I may venture to recommend, as of all others the 
 best : I need not say, I mean the Bible. Make that your 
 chief study ; for, if rightly understood, and improved, it is 
 able to make the man of God perfect, thoroughly furnished 
 unto every good word and work. Apollo's character was 
 "an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures." It 
 were to be wished, that both branches of the character 
 were to be found in every minister ; yet the last is by much 
 the most valuable. If we are well acquainted with the 
 doctrines of the gospel, and the arguments that support 
 them; and understand the duties of the Christian life, the 
 motives that enforce them, the hinderances of their practice, 
 
178 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 and the best methods of removing these hinderances ; we 
 may, by manifestation of the truth, commend ourselves to 
 men's consciences in the sight of God ; though to those 
 who are enamoured with the enticing words of man's wis- 
 dom, and who regard sound and show more than substance, 
 our bodily presence may appear weak, and our speech 
 contemptible. 
 
 Be equally dilligentto improve in every holy disposition. 
 Your public work will be much affected by the frame of 
 your spirit. If you decline in religion, your flock will fare 
 the worse : but the better Christian you are, the more use- 
 ful minister you are like to be. Seek, therefore, above all 
 things, to grow in grace ; especially in that excellent grace 
 of love, love to God, love to Christ, and love to precious 
 souls. For this purpose, live a life of faith on the Son of 
 God. Abide in him, and constantly depend upon him for 
 all needful supplies of divine influence. Then will you 
 feel your master's work a delight, not a burden, and will 
 vigorously exert your abilities for the glory of God, and 
 the welfare of man. Your sermons will be serious, your 
 prayers fervent, your private conversation will naturally 
 turn to subjects good for the use of edifying, and your life, 
 as well as doctrine, will point out the path to the heavenly 
 mansions. 
 
 With pure and upright intentions, dedicate yourself to 
 the service of God in the gospel of his Son. Take the 
 oversight of the flock, not by constraint, but willingly ; 
 not for filth)'^ lucre, but of a ready mind. To use the 
 words of another on a like occasion,* " You had better be 
 
 * President Burr's sermon at Bostwic's ordination, p. 31. Mr. 
 Bostwic, in a sermon before the synod of New York, May, 1758, 
 printed at Philadelphia, and since reprinted at London, has justly 
 
MINISTERS CAUTIONED AGAINST OFFENCE. 179 
 
 the ofFscoLiring of all flesh, than preach to gain the vain 
 applause of your fellow-worms. You had better beg your 
 bread than enter upon the ministry as a trade to live by. 
 However those may live who act from no higher principle, 
 it will be dreadful dying for them, and more dreadful ap- 
 pearing before their judge." Expect, therefore, your re- 
 ward from God only. Resolve, in divine strength, at no 
 time to use flattering words or a cloak of covetousness ; 
 neither of man to seek glory, but ever to speak and act, 
 not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth the heart. 
 
 Be deligent and faithful in the actual discharge of your 
 oflice. Take heed to the ministry thou hast received of 
 the Lord, that thou fulfil it. The longest life quickly hast- 
 ens to a period ; your time for service swiftly flies away, 
 and will soon be irrecoverably past and gone ; work, there- 
 fore, the work of him that sent you while it is day. The 
 night Cometh, when no man can work. Make full proof 
 of thy ministry. Think not that performing one branch 
 of duty will atone for neglecting another ; but, in so far as 
 time and strength permit, attend upon each in its proper 
 season. 
 
 Allot the greatest proportion of your time to those parts 
 of your work, public or private, that are most essential 
 and important. Preach the word, reprove, rebuke, exhort, 
 with all long-suflering. Study your sermons well, and be- 
 ware of offering to God and his people that which costs 
 you nothing. Endeavour to be thoroughly acquainted with 
 the circumstances and dispositions of your hearers, their 
 
 described the influence of selfishness in perverting a gospel minis- 
 try. The late Principal Gowdie intended to republish it here ; and 
 good judges, both of the church of England, the church of Scotland, 
 and the Secession, wish it were more known among us. 
 
180 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 prejudices against religion, and the rocks on which souls 
 are in the most hazard of being shipwrecked. Suit your 
 discourses to their various necessities. Study to show thy- 
 self approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be 
 ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Seek out 
 and set in order acceptable words ; and when about to pre- 
 pare for the pulpit, beg the direction of the Spirit in choos- 
 ing a subject, his assistance in composing and delivering 
 your sermon, and his blessing to render it effectual. Ar- 
 rows thus fetched from heaven bid fairest to reach the cases 
 of your hearers, and to pierce their hearts. 
 
 Take heed to yourself, as well as to your doctrine. Let 
 your life testify, that you believe what you preach. Be 
 wise as a serpent; harmless as a dove. Watch and pray 
 that ye enter not into temptation. Fly youthful lusts ; but 
 be a pattern to believers, in words, in conversation, in cha- 
 rily, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Win the affection of 
 all, by an obliging courteous behaviour; and, by preserv- 
 ing a suitable dignity of character, secure their esteem. 
 An affable, condescending manner, has often recommended 
 a bad cause; and sourness and ill-nature have raised un- 
 conquerable prejudices against many a good one. The 
 wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. The 
 servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle to all 
 men, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose 
 themselves, if God, peradventure, will give them repentance 
 
 to the acknowledgment of ihe truth. But though meek- 
 
 ness should temper your zeal, remember that zeal in re- 
 turn should enliven your meekness. You enter on the 
 ministry in a day in which iniquity abounds, and the love 
 of many waxes cold. The peculiar doctrines of Chris- 
 tianity, are run down and opposed, and a tender circum- 
 spect behaviour ridiculed, by many who value themselves 
 
MINISTERS CAUTIONED AGAINST OFFENCE. 181 
 
 as standards of genius or politeness. In such a day, ex- 
 ert your courage to stem that torrent of infidelity and vice, 
 which threatens to break in upon us, and destroy every 
 thing valuable. Contend earnestly for the faith once de- 
 livered to the saints. Be pot ashamed of Christ's words 
 and ways in an adulterous and perverse generation ; lest 
 the Son of man be ashamed of you, when he cometh in 
 the glory of his Father, with the holy angels. 
 
 These things, my dear brother, are no easy task. I hope 
 you have often counted the cost, and with deep concern la- 
 mented your insufficiency. But know, for your encourage- 
 ment, through Christ strengthening you, you may do all 
 things. He hath said to his ministers, " Lo, I am with 
 you always, even to the end of the world." And faithful 
 is he who hath promised, who also will do it. 
 
 If your labours should not be crowned with the desired 
 success, be not weary in well-doing; for in due season you 
 shall reap if you faint not. Though Israel should not be 
 gathered, yet, if faithful in your work, you shall receive a 
 a glorious recompense. Besides, success may come when 
 you expect it least. Be instant, therefore, in season and 
 out of season. He that observeth the wind shall not sow, 
 and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap. In the 
 morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not 
 thine hand : for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, 
 either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike 
 good. 
 
 CHARGE TO THE PEOPLE. 
 
 I shall now conclude with a short address to the people 
 of this consrreoration. 
 
 Be thankful, my brethren, for a gospel ministry. Let 
 the infidel and profane account it a burden, not a blessing 
 16 
 
182 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 to society : but do you admire the goodness of God in an 
 institution so wisely calculated to promote your best inter- 
 ests. Was it not for public teaching, ignorance and vice 
 should soon grow to so prodigious a height, that not even 
 the form of religion would remain. Receive with becom- 
 ing affection him who is this day ordained your pastor. 
 Consider the dignity of the office with which he is invested, 
 and entertain him with suitable respect. Ministers are 
 men of God ; they minister in his name, and by his ap- 
 pointment. See, then, that your pastor be with you with- 
 out fear ; because he worketh the work of the Lord. Es- 
 teem him highly in love, for his work's sake. Ministers 
 would labour with belter success, if they lived more in the 
 hearts of their people. Add not, therefore, to your pas- 
 tor's difficulties, by an undutiful carriage. Rather assist 
 and strengthen him to bear up under them. Put the best 
 construction on his words and actions which they can pos- 
 sibly bear ; and treat him not rudely ; and vent not your 
 spleen against him, though in his doctrine or life, lesser 
 blemishes should appear. Curb such an insolent intempe- 
 rate zeal, by reflecting on the apostle's direction : " Rebuke 
 not an elder, but intreat him as a father." Contempt cast 
 upon faithful ixHnisters, and injuries done them, Christ will 
 resent as done to himself. 
 
 Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together, as 
 the manner of some is. Withdraw not from ordinances 
 dispensed by your pastor, though his sentiments in lesser 
 matters should differ from yours. I say, in lesser matters : 
 for if an angel may be lawfully accursed, surely a minis- 
 ter may be lawfully deserted, who preaches another gos- 
 pel, who lays another foundation for the hopes of guilty 
 sinners, than God hath laid. But bring not against him 
 unjustly so heavy a charge. Remember, in this imperfect 
 
MINISTERS CAUTIONED AGAINST OFFENCE. 183 
 
 state, lesser mistakes are unavoidable, and will not vindi- 
 cate your separating from him. And where a case is not 
 extremely clear, you owe considerable deference to his 
 judgment, as he has greater leisure than most of you for 
 studying, and greater advantages for understanding the 
 sacred oracles. Let, therefore, your pastor ever find you 
 humble and teachable, swift to hear, slow to speak, slow 
 to wrath. Come not to church with a captious quarrel- 
 some disposition. With what heart can ministers preach, 
 when hearers are still upon the catch, eager to pick up 
 something with which to find fault ? Act a worthier part. 
 Laying aside all malice, and guile, and hypocrisy, and 
 envying, and evil-speaking, hearken with meekness to that 
 ingrafted word which is able to save your souls ; like the 
 noble Bereans, receive the instructions of your teachers 
 with all readiness of mind : not yielding them, however, 
 an implicit faith, but searching the Scriptures daily, whether 
 these things are so. In so far as they stand the test of 
 that infallible touchstone, regard them not as the word of 
 man, but as they are in truth the word of the living God. 
 See that you reject not Christ, when, by his ministers, 
 he speaketh to you from heaven. When he calls, do not 
 refuse ; when he stretcheth forth his hand, do not disregard 
 it. Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving 
 your own souls. While you have the light, walk in the 
 light, lest darkness come upon you. It is but for a little 
 ministers can be useful ; ere long they must cease to 
 preach, and you to hear. Those servants of God who 
 now show to you the way of salvation, must, in a while, 
 resign their places ; and the eye that now sees them must 
 see them no more. Comply, then, with their wholesome 
 counsels, while j^et you enjoy them; lest you mourn at 
 the last, and say. How have I hated instruction, and my 
 
184 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 soul despised reproof! I have not obeyed the voice of my 
 teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me. 
 
 Second the labours of your minister, by private endea- 
 vours, suitable to your several stations, for the good of 
 souls. Train up your children in the way that they should 
 go, and encourage any serious impressions made upon 
 them. When discipline is exercised against open offenders, 
 show that the honour of God, and the happiness of pre- 
 cious souls, lie nearer your hearts than the ease and repu- 
 tation of any man. The efficacy of church-censures will 
 much depend on your conduct towards those who fall un- 
 der them. Have no company with such, that they may 
 be ashamed : and if they will not hear the church, let them 
 be to you as heathen men and publicans. 
 
 And when you are allowed the nearest access to a throne 
 of grace, and feel your hearts in the most devout and hea- 
 venly frame, wrestle and make supplication for your min-. 
 ister, that his own soul may prosper and be in health ; that 
 the presence of God may accompany him in all his minis- 
 trations ; and that, when he plants and waters, God him- 
 self may give the increase. 
 
 May his doctrine drop as the rain, and his speech distil 
 as the dew : And may the soul of every one of you be 
 like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose 
 waters fail not. 
 
DIFFICULTIES OF THE PASTORAL OFFICE. 
 BY JOHN ERSKINE, D. D. 
 
 Who is sufficient for these things 1 — 2 Corinthians ii. 10. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 These are the words of Paul, the great Apostle of the 
 Gentiles, and they express his lively apprehensions of the 
 dignity of the gospel, the importance of its success, and the 
 difficulty of preaching it aright. And if he, who was not 
 a whit behind the very chief of the apostles, felt so deep a 
 sense of his insufficiency for that arduous work, surely it 
 would be presumption in any ordinary gospel-minister to 
 deem himself sufficient. I have therefore made choice of 
 these words, to correct the mistakes of such who account 
 the labours of our office easy and inconsiderable, and to 
 excite your prayers, that, seeing we are of ourselves in- 
 sufficient for them, our sufficiency may be of God. For 
 this purpose, let us first take a survey of the numerous and 
 important duties of the pastoral office, and then consider 
 the temptations from within, and opposition from without, 
 which may probably arise, to divert us from the due dis- 
 charge of them. 
 
 I. I shall briefly survey some of the many and import- 
 ant duties of the pastoral office. — And I begin with public 
 preaching, the duty to which my text immediately relates 
 and on which the Scripture insists most, and lays the 
 greatest stress ; so that, when this and other ministerial 
 duties interfere, this, as the most important and most ex- 
 tensively useful, should be preferred. 
 16* 
 
186 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 Christ crucified, and salvation through him ; the law, as 
 a schoolmaster, to bring men to Christ ; and exhorting the 
 disciples of Jesus to adorn his doctrine, by the conscien- 
 tious performance of every duty; ought to be the chief 
 s"ubjects of our sermons. A comprehensive knowledge of 
 Christian faith and practice, and an ability to read and un- 
 derstand the Scriptures in the languages in which they 
 were originally writ, are highly important, if we would be 
 ready scribes, instructed unto the kingdom of heaven, and, 
 like unto a man that is an householder, able to bring out of 
 our treasures things new and old. Inspiration and mirac- 
 ulous gifts are now ceased ; and therefore much time must 
 be spent in reading and meditation, in order to attain such 
 knowledge. And yet, our utmost diligence and application 
 poorly qualify us for rightly expending the sacred oracles, 
 unless through divine teachings, we imbibe the sentiments 
 and spirit of their inspired penmen. Nay, an union of 
 speculative and experimental knowledge, though necessary, 
 is not sufficient to qualify for preaching usefully. Know- 
 ledge is one thing; and a faculty of imparting it to others 
 and of improving it for their benefit, is quite another. 
 
 Great skill is requisite to explain the sublime mysteries 
 of our holy faith, to unfold their mutual connexions and 
 dependencies, and so to demonstrate their certainty, that 
 the sincere lover of truth may be convinced, and even the 
 captious silenced. Great penetration is requisite, to search 
 the secret foldings of the understanding and heart ; to 
 trace the various sources of error and vice ; and, when we 
 have detected them, neither, by overlooking the reasonings 
 of infidels and profligates, to give them a handle for boast- 
 ing that they are unanswerable ; nor, by mentioning them 
 without necessity, or weakly answering them, to betray the 
 cause we mean to defend. 
 
DIFFICULTIES OF THE PASTORAL OFFICE. 187 
 
 Our task, however, would be comparatively easy, were 
 men lovers of truth and holiness, and sincerely disposed 
 to hearken to the voice of sober reason, rather than to the 
 clamorous demands of headstrong appetite. But many are 
 the very reverse of this. Corrupt affections have a full as- 
 cendant over them. The gospel is an enemy to these cor- 
 rupt affections, and therefore they are enemies to the Gos- 
 pel. Our business is, to persuade such to hate and renounce 
 what is their chief delight ; to engage them in a course of 
 life to which they are strongly averse: nay, to prevail with 
 them to accuse, judge, and condemn themselves. The ad- 
 vocate pleads with success, because he pleads against those, 
 for whom the judge has no particular affection, and with 
 whom he is no way connected. But often the minister 
 pleads against that which is dearer to the judge than a 
 right hand or a right eye. And what justice can be ex- 
 pected, when the judge is also the party, and the cause in 
 which men are to pass sentence is their own ? 
 
 Add to all this, that the genius, spiritual condition, and 
 outward circumstances of our hearers, are various ; and a 
 manner of address proper for some, would be very impro- 
 per for others. The secure must be alarmed, the ignorant 
 enlightened, the wounded in spirit led to the Physician of 
 souls, the tempted fortified against temptation, the doubting 
 resolved, the weak strengthened, the backslider reclaimed, 
 and the mourner in Zion comforted. Even those truths, 
 which are the common nourishment of all, must be differ- 
 ently dressed and seasoned. Ministers are debtors to the 
 wise and to the unwise, to the young and to the old, to the 
 bond and to the free. But, how difficult is it to discharge 
 that debt, and, as wise and faithful stewards, to distribute 
 to every one his portion of food in due season ! Little 
 pains may serve to display criticism and literature on sub- 
 
188 
 
 jects which do not need them, or without occasion to 
 plunge so deep in abstract philosophical speculations, that 
 the bulk of an audience shall lose sight of us. But it is in- 
 comparably more difficult to compose a popular discourse 
 in a style plain, elegant, nervous, grave, and animated ; 
 neither bombast nor grovelling ; neither scrupulously exact 
 nor sordidly negligent. Humble prayers, and much prepa- 
 ration, is necessary for that edifying strain of preaching, 
 where the sentiments natively flow from the subject, and 
 are all solid, useful, and calculated to strike; where every 
 head, and every thing said by way of enlargement, is ranged 
 in its proper order; and where the turn of thought and ex- 
 pression is scriptural and devout, natural and unaffected, 
 sweet and insinuating, tender and affectionate. I say no- 
 thing of committing a discourse to memory, and of pro- 
 nouncing it with suitable warmth, solemnity, and distinct- 
 ness. Hardly can it be hoped that so many different ex- 
 cellencies should be found united in one preacher. It 
 were well if none put in trust with the Gospel, wanted 
 qualifications the most essential. But, even in these, we 
 are often greatly defective. Nor is this any cause of won- 
 der. The door to the sacred office is opened ere the judg- 
 ment is ripe, opinions sufficiently formed, and the fire and 
 the thoughtlessness of youth fully evaporated. Our scheme 
 of divinity has not acquired a proper degree of consistency, 
 a small proportion of time having been employed in study- 
 ing it, and that not always in the wisest manner. Hence, 
 we have shallow superficial views of the doctrines and 
 duties in which we should instruct others ; and, wanting 
 distinct extensive ideas of a subject, we content ourselves 
 to skim over the surface of it, disguising poor insipid 
 thoughts with the charms of expression and pronunciation. 
 I hope you are now convinced, that if preaching was 
 
DIFFICULTIES OF THE PASTORAL OFFICE. 189 
 
 our only work, it would be no easy task to preach with 
 that dignity which becomes discourses spoken in the name 
 of God, and on subjects of the highest importance. It is 
 equally difficult to lead the devotions of a numerous con^ 
 gration, and in their name, as well as 'our own, to plead 
 and wrestle with God, for the blessings suited to their re- 
 spective necessities. I pass over dispensing the sacra- 
 ments, and the other public duties of our office. 
 
 But our services are not confined to the pulpit, or to 
 closet preparation for it. It is oneimportant branch of oub 
 work, to instruct and catechise the young and ignorant in 
 the first principles of religion, seeing, without this know- 
 ledge the heart cannot be good. If childhood and youth 
 are left to their natural ignorance and vanity, manhood 
 and old age will be generally unprofitable; and sermons 
 however excellent, will prove of little service, because they 
 cannot be understood without the previous knowledge of 
 these first principles of religion. Christ has therefore 
 solemnly enjoined us to feed his lambs. We are bound to 
 nourish up children in the words of faith, and of sound 
 doctrine ; and experience shows, that plain and short ques- 
 tions and answers are the most effectual way of gradually 
 instilling religious instruction into tender minds. We must 
 feed them with milk, and not with strong meat, which, as 
 yet, they are unable to bear ; not discouraging them, at 
 their first outset, by obliging them to learn a multitude of 
 words they in no degree understand ; but adapting our- 
 selves to the weakness of their capacity, beginning with the 
 history of the Bible, the more necessary articles of our holy 
 faith, and the plainer and more general precepts of Chris- 
 tian morals. Haughty looks or an angry tone, may in- 
 crease their aversion to what is serious, and make them 
 eager to get rid of us : but an insinuating and agreeable 
 
190 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 manner, may gain their esteem and affection, and make 
 religion appear to them venerable and lovely. Familiar 
 comparisons, examples from history, and appeals to con- 
 science, must often illustrate and enforce these instructions. 
 To impress all on their minds, tedious as it may seem, at 
 one time the same sentiments, and even words, must be re- 
 peated over and over again, and at other times the same 
 sentiment presented in various points of light, that the 
 young learner may not mistake our meaning, or remain 
 unaffected. Would we teach knowledge, and make to un- 
 derstand doctrine them that are weaned from the milk, and 
 drawn from the breasts ; precept must be upon precept, pre- 
 cept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a lit- 
 tle, and there a little. Is. xxviii. 9, 10. For doing all this, 
 prudence, gravity, condescension, meekness, patience, are 
 requisite. Perhaps, all things weighed, it is more difficult 
 to catechise, than to preach well. It might greatly pro- 
 mote the interests of religion, if men of eminent piety and 
 abilities were set apart to give themselves wholly to this im- 
 portant work, for which the other duties of ministers leave 
 them too little or no leisure. Meantime, inability to what 
 could be wished, excuses us not from doing what we can : 
 the rather, that, next to public preaching, there is no me- 
 thod in which we can be so eminently and extensively use- 
 ful. 
 
 Parochial visitation, if managed in a way easy to plan^ 
 I will not say easy to execute, would be equally useful. 
 But a formal vi«it once in a year, with a short prayer, and 
 a few general advices, is, I am afraid, a bodily exercise 
 which profiteth little. It is a weariness to the flesh, of 
 small service to the great ends of our office, unless as it 
 affords some opportunity to gain the affection of those en- 
 trusted to our care: and this it will hardly do, if we do not 
 
DIFFICULTIES OF THE PASTORAL OFFICE- 191 
 
 carry our connexion and intercourse with them beyond 
 these formalities, gladly lending them our friendly aid, 
 when it may any how advance their spiritual welfare, and, 
 in such cases, not overlooking even the meanest and poor- 
 est of our people. The discovering a pure disinterested 
 affection, a sincere desire to oblige, and a good stock of 
 discretion, candour, and charity, encourages them to un- 
 bosom to us their spiritual joys and griefs, to ask our coun- 
 sel in their perplexities, and freely to impart to us their 
 doubts and objections against religion. Thus we may 
 learn their various circumstances, and instruct, exhort, re- 
 prove, and comfort them accordingly. Sermons, like ar- 
 rows shot at a venture, seldom hit the mark, when we 
 know not the character of our hearers; and, in many in- 
 stances, our knowledge of their character must be imper- 
 fect, if we contract no familiarity with them. Yet this, 
 however desirable, is next to impossible, in a numerous 
 charge, or in a charge almost continually shifting its in- 
 habitants. Though this may be one cause why religion 
 seldom flourishes in populous cities, yet ministers ought 
 not to be blamed for not doing what they have no strength 
 or leisure to do. Public duties, which at once promote the 
 good of many, are to be preferred to private duties, which 
 promote the good of a few families or individuals. Much 
 good, however, might be done even by civil visits, could 
 we learn the art of being grave without affectation, and 
 cheerful without levit}^ ; never leaving a company without 
 dropping something to render them wiser or belter. 
 
 There are, however, circumstances, in which our visits 
 are peculiarly seasonable. Sometimes, when families are 
 favoured with signal mercies and deliverances, our advice 
 may restrain their joy within proper bounds, remind them 
 of the precarious nature of temporal comforts, and excite 
 a thankful sense, and a suitable improvement of God's 
 
192 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MAJNUAL. 
 
 goodness. But our visits bid fairest to be acceptable, and, 
 if wisely improved, useful too, when God brings upon a 
 family afflictive providences, or when the Lord maketh the 
 heart soft, and the Almighty troubleth it. The mind is 
 then more susceptible of serious impressions, and hearkens, 
 with avidity, to what, in the day of prosperity, was de- 
 spised. Yet, so various are the outward troubles and in- 
 ward distresses of mankind, that almost every day, we 
 meet with cases wholly new to us, and which we are quite 
 at a loss how to manage. So opposite, too, are the opinions 
 and tempers of people in distress, that what is best calcu- 
 lated to strike one, makes not the least impression on an- 
 other ; and what is necessary to rouse one from security, 
 vi'ould sink another in despair. Security, however, is the 
 more common and dangerous extreme ; and, too great in- 
 dulgence has worse consequences than too great severity. 
 They therefore mistake it greatly, who send for ministers 
 on a deathbed, only to speak to them the language of com- 
 fort, and to pray for mercy to their souls. Promising par- 
 don to those who feel not their spiritual maladies, is say- 
 ing, Peace, peace, when there is no peace. But men love 
 to be flattered and deceived ; and therefore, one's being 
 much sent for by people of all characters, to visit the sick, 
 is a presumption he has no great talent of rousing their 
 consciences. After all, where the concerns of the soul 
 have been neglected to a deathbed, it is to be feared that 
 such visits are oftener pernicious to the healthy, than pro- 
 fitable to the diseased. We ought not, however, to neglect 
 them : because diseases, which wear the most threatening 
 aspect, may not prove mortal ; because the call of the gos- 
 pel extends to every living man ; and because this, when 
 prudently managed, is a proper opportunity to warn by- 
 standers not to defer the work of conversion to so unfit a 
 season. 
 
DIFFICULTIES OF THE PASTORAL OFFICE. 193 
 
 Reconciling difTerences is a work highly suitable to the 
 character of ambassadors of the Prince of peace. Not that 
 it becomes them to be judges and dividers in matters of 
 property; but, wlien unhappy differences arise betwixt 
 Christian friends, the pastors of a church should do their 
 best timeously to cement them. I say, timeously ; for di- 
 visions, like diseases, when neglected in their first begin- 
 nings, become incurable ; and evil-minded people, who de- 
 light in sowing tares, or in watering them where already 
 sown, will not be wanting to insinuate, that such an affront, 
 or such a neglect, is insupportable: so that we cannot be 
 too speedy in fortifying the parties at variance against these 
 malicious artifices, provided we have got a firm hold of 
 their esteem and confidence, and fully convinced them, we 
 mean our advice for their mutual benefit. To conduct 
 our friendly offices with success, we must beware of dis- 
 covering partiality, by listening too favourably to one side 
 of the question. When a superior is in the wrong, we 
 must not diminish the respect due to his station, by saying 
 so too bluntly in the presence of his inferior, but rather 
 take him aside, and endeavour privately to convince him 
 of his fault. Nor, when parties are together, ought we to 
 suffer them to debate the cause of their differences. This 
 would generally tend to widen the breach, and to imbitter 
 and chafe their spirits more than before. We should rather 
 advise them to demean themselves as the disciples of Jesus, 
 by forgetting and forgiving what is past. 
 
 In private reproof, what zeal for God, and what tender 
 compassion for perishing souls, is needful, to overcome that 
 aversion every good natured man must feel to tell another 
 he has done amiss, and which every wise man must feel, 
 to offend or to distress those whose friendship he values ! 
 what skill to temper severity with mildness, and to pro- 
 17 
 
194 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 portion our censures to the degree of the fault, and to the 
 character and circumstances of the offender ! what pru- 
 dence to seize the properest season, and to choose the fit- 
 test manner, of administering this bitter medicine ! what 
 presence of mind, to detect the weakness of those pre- 
 tences, by which the reproved would vindicate his conduct ! 
 Though we should argue weakly from the pulpit, we are 
 in no danger of immediate open contradiction : but, when 
 we reprove in private, pride is immediately at work, to spy 
 out any fallacy in our reasoning, and to raise specious 
 doubts and objections, which, if we cannot resolve, our la- 
 bour is lost, and our rashness despised. In private en- 
 deavours to reclaim infidels, or those who err in the funda- 
 mental articles of faith, the difficulties are much the same; 
 save that misguided conscience joins pride in making head 
 against us, and thus renders our success more improbable. 
 Readiness of thought, as well as extent of knowledge, are 
 necessary, to refute the sophistical cavils of subtle adver- 
 saries, and to ofTer such argument in support of truth, as 
 shall leave no room for reply, — I shall not say much on 
 the discipline and government of the Church. In many 
 entangled, perplexing cases that come before us, it is hard 
 to know what measures ought to be preferred. But it is 
 much harder to conduct ourselves with such prudence and 
 moderation as to retain the esteem of those who differ from 
 us, and yet with such integrity as to preserve the approba- 
 tion of our own consciences. 
 
 There is another duty, incumbent on ministers as such, 
 more difficult than any I have yet mentioned ; and that is, 
 to show themselves patterns of good works, Tit. ii. 7; and 
 to be examples to others, in word, in conversation, in cha- 
 rity, in spirit, in faith, in purity, 1 Tim. iv. 12. The set- 
 ting a good example, is not only a moral duty, incumbent 
 
DIFFICULTIES OF THE TASTORAL OFFICE. 195 
 
 on them in common with others, but seems given them in 
 charge, as a part of their sacred office, and an instituted 
 mean for saving of souls. Hence Paul enjoins Timothy, 
 1 Tim. iv. 16, " Take heed to thyself and to thy doctrine; 
 for, in doing this, thou shalt both save thyself, and them 
 that hear thee." A holy, exemplary behaviour, gives a 
 force and energy to sermons, which learning, genius, and 
 eloquence, could never have procured them. When a 
 minister's life proves that he is in earnest, his admonitions 
 strike with authority on the conscience, and sink deep into 
 the heart : while the strongest reasonings against sin have i 
 little effect, if hearers can apply the bitter proverb. Physi- 
 cian, heal thyself. 
 
 Ministers, as guides to their flock, should not only cau- 
 tiously avoid what is in itself unlawful, but what, if prac- 
 tised by others, would prove to them a probable occasion of 
 stumbling. Many things have no intrinsic evil, and yet 
 are so near the confines of vice, that uncommon prudence 
 is necessary to indulge in them without being defiled. As 
 such prudence is extremely rare, ministers, ere they give 
 any practice the sanction of their example, had need to 
 examine not only what is safe for them in particular, but 
 what is safe for that flock of Christ, to which they ought 
 to be patterns and guides. When travelling alone, we may 
 choose the shortest and most convenient road, though it 
 be somewhat slippery and dangerous, provided we are con- 
 scious we have prudence enough to guard against those 
 dangers. But he must be a merciless and unfaithful guide, 
 who, knowing that a number of weak thoughtless children 
 who follow his footsteps, should choose a path, safe to him- 
 self, but in which it was morally certain the greatest part 
 of his followers would stumble and fall. This adds con- 
 siderably to the difficulties of our office ; not only as all 
 
196 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR S MANUAL. 
 
 restraints are, in their own nature, burdensome, but as it is 
 often hard to resist the importunity of those, who traduce 
 our caution, as a being righteous over-much. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 In a former discourse, I have presented to you a rude 
 and imperfect draught of the duties of our function ; to 
 convince you, that the office of a bishop, though a good, 
 is a difficult work. Justly did the pious Leighton observe, 
 that even the best would have cause to faint and give over 
 in it, were not our Lord the chief shepherd, were not all 
 our sufficiency laid up in his rich fulness, and all our in- 
 sufficiency covered in his gracious acceptance. 
 
 II. I shall now complete the argument, by considering 
 the temptations and opposition which may probably arise 
 to divert us from the right discharge of the duties of our 
 office. Ministers, though bound to exemplary holiness, 
 are men of like passions and infirmities with others, and 
 equally exposed to be seduced by Satan, the world, and 
 the flesh. The devil assaults the shepherd, that he may 
 make the easier prey of the sheep ; and he has many faith- 
 ful agents, who enter fully into his malicious views, and 
 lay snares for ministers, that having them to quote as their 
 patterns, they may excuse their own licentiousness, and si- 
 lence their reprovers. Is a minister at an entertainment? 
 they entice him to excessive mirth, to do as others, and 
 not to affi'ight men at religion, by stiffiiess and singularily. 
 If they succeed, though openly they may applaud, yet se- 
 cretly they may despise and ridicule him, for acting so much 
 out of character. That degree of solitude and 'retirement, 
 which happily secures others from many temptations, is 
 impossible to a minister, who takes heed to the flock over 
 which the Holy Ghost has made him overseer. His duty 
 
DIFFICULTIES OF THE PASTORAL OFFICE. 197 
 
 obliges him to converse with men of all stations and cha- 
 racters : with the infidel, the licentious, the debauchee ; as 
 well as the sober, the virtuous, the pious : and he often 
 sees what it is improper for him to imitate. One heaps 
 favours upon him, to pave the way for demands, which, 
 without doing violence to the religious principle, he cannot 
 comply with. Another would intimidate him from doing 
 his duty, by threatening the loss of his friendship ; and, 
 rather than suffer for well-doing, he may be in danger of 
 purchasing ease and prosperity, at the expense of honour 
 and conscience. If he dares to defend the truth and im- 
 portance of those doctrines which are the peculiar glory 
 of our holy religion, the persecution of tongues is what 
 he cannot avoid. No personal virtue will atone for so un- 
 pardonable a crime. No evidence of learning, prudence, or 
 moderation, will shelter from the odious name of bigot and 
 enthusiast, which some, who affect to be valued for their can- 
 dour and charity, so very liberally bestow : and there are 
 many who cannot bear to be despised and laughed at, even 
 when sensible that the ridicule is ill-founded. In every 
 place, briars and thorns are with us ; and we dwell among 
 scorpions. Nay, even good man, through remaining dark- 
 ness in their understandings and corruptions in their hearts, 
 may greatly hinder us in our Master's work ; and, by an 
 excessive deference for them, we may be betrayed to fore- 
 go our own judgment, and to act a part which will be bit- 
 terness to us in the latter end. Surely, then, we had need 
 to take heed to our steps, and to watch and pray that we 
 enter not into temptation. 
 
 But our chief danger arises from indwelling corruption. 
 Our office obliges us to preach and pray, on many occa- 
 sions, when our frames are dull and languid. Hence there 
 is a danger lest we grow accustomed to speak of God, and 
 17* 
 
198 
 
 Christ, and eternity, without feeling the importance of 
 what we speak, and realizing our own concern in it. If 
 we fall into such a habit, the most striking truths, preached 
 by ourselves or others, make no impression upon us; and 
 that quick and powerful word, which ought to recover 
 from deadness and formality, loses its power and energy. 
 Thus we go on from evil to worse ; have no relish for our 
 work; do as little in it as we possibly can, and do that lit- 
 tle without spirit : drawing nigh to God with the mouth, 
 and honouring him with the lip, while the heart is far from 
 him. Ministers ought to be men of superior knowledge. 
 But, too often, superior knowledge produces contempt of 
 others, and puffeth up with pride and self-conceit. Pride 
 inclines us stiffly to maintain an error we have once as- 
 serted, even in spite of the clearest evidence against it ; to 
 compose sermons, with a view to our own honour, rather 
 than the glory of God, and edification of souls; and hence, 
 to make an idle show of learning, genius, or eloquence, 
 which, though it pleases the ear, neither enlightens the un- 
 derstanding, nor affects the heart. Flattery greatly strength- 
 ens this self-conceit. When that intoxicating poison is art- 
 fully conveyed, few are entirely proof against it. Though 
 persons applaud us, who are no competent judges, or whose 
 heart is at variance with their lips, self-conceit regards 
 their praise as sincere and well founded. 
 
 If we escape this rock, the opposite extreme of discou- 
 ragement may have a fatal influence. Some, through too 
 close application to study, contract unhappy disorders in 
 their blood and spirits ; and Satan takes the advantage of 
 this, to raise a world of darkness and confusion in their 
 minds ; so that they are pressed out of measure, and ready 
 to sink under their burden. God may write bitter things 
 against us, and cause us to possess the iniquities of our 
 
DIFFICULTIES OF THE PASTORAL OFFICE. 199 
 
 youth. Possibly, some special opportunity of serving God, 
 was afforded us, and neglected ; or, as Solomon, we may 
 have forsaken him, after he hath spoken to us twice. Bv 
 this, the Comforter, which should comfort our souls, is pro- 
 voked to withdraw, and to leave us, for a long season, in 
 a languishing frame. Thus, we go mourning without the 
 sun, our feet lame, our knees feeble, our hands hanging 
 down. Performing any difficult duty, appears impossible; 
 and, even the grasshopper is a burden. 
 
 After a series of years spent in vigorous endeavours to 
 promote the cause of truth and holiness; ignorance, pro- 
 fanity, and contempt of the gospel, too often continue to 
 prevail. From the pulpit, and in private, too, we address 
 our hearers in the warmest manner : But we preach, and 
 pray, and watch, and labour, in vain. He that was un- 
 clean, is unclean still ; and he that was filthy, filthy still. 
 We are ready to say. Why exert ourselves thus to no pur- 
 pose? why cultivate a soil, which, after our utmost care, 
 remains barren ? Hence ministers, after laudable diligence 
 in the first years of their ministry, are in danger of sparing 
 themselves overmuch, and of doing little in the duties of 
 their office, save what decency and character constrain 
 them to do. The temptations gain additional force, when 
 those, among whom we have faithfully laboured, fail in 
 due gratitude and respect, and discover an eagerness to 
 pick faults in our sermons, or private behaviour. Though 
 we act with the purest intentions, every thing is taken by 
 a wrong handle, and sure to displease. This froward, 
 censorious spirit, our Lord beautifully describes, Luke vii. 
 31 — 35. Conscious that we merit better treatment, we 
 sometimes peevishly take pet at the public; and, when we 
 find they are resolved to blame even without cause, be- 
 come less concerned to avoid just cause of censure. 
 
200 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 Once more. — As we grow older, aversion to fatigue, 
 and love of ease, grow upon us, and often lead to neglect 
 or delay our duty, when some motive stronger than indo- 
 lence does not push us on to the discharge of it. Nay, in- 
 dolence, feeble and languishing as it seems, often triumphs 
 over the more violent passions; and, as it restrains bad 
 men from much wickedness, so it hinders the servants of 
 Christ from doing a deal of good, which they might, and 
 ought to have done. It puts off till to-morrow, what had 
 better been dispatched to-day. To study a subject to. the 
 bottom, and to compose with exactness, is such a fatigue, 
 that if we have a certain readiness of expression, we are 
 apt to get rid of it, and to venture into the pulpit with little 
 preparation. It is hard to resist this bias; to prosecute 
 studies which, though necessary, are perhaps unpleasant; 
 to allow a suitable proportion of time to every different 
 duty; and resolutely to employ our precious hours to the 
 best advantage. And when indolence, by long habit, has 
 acquired force, the overcoming it is next to impossible. 
 
 Judge, my brethren, from the whole of what has been 
 said, if the work of the ministry is so light and easy, as 
 many, through ignorance or inadvertency, are apt to ima- 
 gine. It is an honourable, but it is also a laborious and 
 arduous service : and no man, by his own strength, is 
 sufficient for it. How vain, then, and presumptuous, are 
 such, who, depending on their natural abilities, hastily 
 thrust themselves into the sacred office, without spending 
 suitable time in preparatory studies, and without any eye 
 to Christ, to assist, to accept, and to prosper their labours! 
 What can be expected, but that, being unlearned and un- 
 stable, they should wrest the Scripture to the destruction 
 of themselves and others? Even men of the most distin- 
 guished talents, and purest zeal, when they survey the ex- 
 
DIFFICULTIES OF THE PASTOKAL OFFICE. 201 
 
 tent and importance of their cliarge, and the strict account 
 they must one day give of their stewardship, have cause, 
 with Moses, exceedingly to quake and fear, and, with Da- 
 vid, to plead, " Enter not, O Lord, into judgment with thy 
 servant ; for in thy sight no flesh living shall be justified." 
 How dreadful, then, to engage in such work, without de- 
 light in it, fitness for it, or regard to its great end and de- 
 sign ! 
 
 I know not, if any students of divinity, or young preach- 
 ers, are now hearing me. If there are, 1 hope they will 
 receive what 1 have said with meekness and candour. As 
 a sincere friend, I would warn them of rocks, some of 
 which I myself have found dangerous. If my heart de- 
 ceived me not, my ends in entering into the ministry were 
 pure and disinterested. I have seen no cause to repent 
 my choice of a profession. I am not ashamed of the gos- 
 pel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation, to 
 every one that believeth. I esteem it my honour and hap- 
 piness to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ. But I 
 lament that I entered on the sacred function, ere I had 
 spent one fourth of the time, in reading, in meditation, and 
 in devotional exercises, which would have been necessary 
 in any tolerable degree, to qualify me for it. I have made 
 some feeble efforts to supply these defects. But, besides 
 the public duties of my office, and a variety of unavoidable 
 avocations ; indolence of temper, the employing too much 
 time in studies or labours less important, and oiher culpa- 
 ble causes, partly formerly hinted, partly needless or im- 
 proper to be mentioned, have been considerable bars in the 
 way of my success. Ye, v.^ho now enjoy the golden season 
 of youth, be careful to improve it to better purposes. The 
 advantages you now have for acquiring gifts and grace, 
 may never return in any future period. 
 
202 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 And now, you have heard the duties I owe to this nu- 
 merous congreo-ation, and the difficuhies I have to sur- 
 
 DO ' 
 
 mount in the faithful discharge of them ; I say, to this con- 
 gregation ; having neither leisure nor incHnation, to do the 
 office of a bishop in another's diocese, when there are souls 
 in my own more than enough for my care. The charge 
 of all the souls in this large and populous city, is a yoke 
 which the most vigorous minister in it would be unable to 
 bear : and, as one minister cannot inspect every family, so 
 no one family can reasonably desire the inspection of every 
 minister. It is ordinarily fit that people should apply to 
 those ministers in whose district they dwell, and to whose 
 immediate inspection Providence has entrusted them. In 
 this way, few, if any, will be wholly overlooked. But if 
 we pursue no regular plan, but leave it to chance, or to 
 personal attachments, to determine our work, multitudes, 
 who most need our assistance, will enjoy least of it, and 
 others will engross a greater proportion of our time than 
 ought to be allowed them. I therefore hope my many 
 friends and acquaintances in other congregrations of this 
 city, will forgive me for preferring a greater to a lesser 
 good, and for employing my labours where, through the 
 blessing of God, I think they bid fairest to be useful. 
 
 If my relation to this congregation forbids me, in ordi- 
 nary cases, to alienate from them my ministerial services ; 
 much more does my relation to the Church in general, for- 
 bid me, needlessly to trifle away my time, or to employ it 
 in a way foreign to my office. God has given me a 
 charge, to meditate on divine things, and give myself 
 wholly to them : and friends, and innocent recreations, 
 must not claim those hours which ought to be consecrated 
 to God and his people. I would say to friends, I would 
 say to innocent recreations, as Nehemiah to Sanballat, " I 
 
DIFFICULTIES OF THE PASTORAL OFFICE. 203 
 
 am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down; why- 
 should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to 
 you?" Neh. vi. 3. If the apostles thought it unreasonable 
 to leave the word of God, in order to redress abuses com- 
 mitted in administering the alms of the church; shall we 
 leave it for causes of a less worthy nature? Doubtless, it 
 becomes us to employ what time we can spare, from the 
 duties we owe to our souls, to our families, to our congre- 
 gations, in studies or labours, that may tend to the general 
 benefit of the church of God. This would afford us abun- 
 dant work, though we were fixed in the smallest and most 
 inconsiderable charges. But though such services are of- 
 ten expected from ministers in this great city, and, though 
 it must be owned, our situation procures some peculiar ad- 
 vantages for engaging in them, yet we must be singularly 
 frugal of our time, if we would redeem any considerable 
 proportion of it for those desirable ends. 
 
 But It is now time, briefly, to address my dear Christian 
 friends and brethren in this congregation, of which the 
 spiritual oversight, through the providence of God, is com- 
 mitted to me. When I think on the many great and good 
 men who have formerly filled this pulpit, and cast an eye 
 on my own unworthiness and insufficiency, I cannot but 
 tremble that one so poorly qualified, is now called to the 
 same work. When I review my defects and miscarriages 
 when exercising the sacred office in two charges compara- 
 tively easy, and, in the last of which, I had the aid of an 
 afiectionale and faithful fellow-labourer,* I am ready to 
 say, if I have run with the footmen, and they have wearied 
 me, how shall I run with the chariots ? and if, in the day 
 of prosperity, wherein I trusted, my heart fainted, what 
 
 * The Reverend Mr. Robert Roland at Colross. 
 
204 THE CIIRSTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 shall I do in the swellings of Jordan ? I am called to enter 
 upon labours, and to encounter difficulties, hitherto un- 
 known to me. My task is, my vigour is not, increased. 1 
 am with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trem- 
 bling, lest I shall not find you such as I would, and that I 
 shall be found unto you such as ye would not. Struck 
 with the disproportion between my strength and the diffi- 
 culties of this important charge, I must bespeak your can- 
 dour and indulgence; and yet, weak as I am, and feeble 
 as my endeavours are, they may tend to our mutual salva- 
 tion, through your prayers, and the supply of the Spirit of 
 Christ. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, for the Lord 
 Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye 
 strive together with me, in your prayers to God for me 
 that I may be delivered from them that do not believe : that 
 my ministerial services in this city, may be accepted of the 
 saints ; and that to you in particular, I may come with joy 
 by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed ; Rom. 
 XV. 80 — 32. Send up your warmest addresses to the Fa- 
 ther of lights, from whom cometh every good and perfect 
 gift, that his grace may be sufficient for me, and his 
 strength perfected in my weakness : that in my closet, he 
 would enable me to incline my ear to wisdom, and to apply 
 my heart to understanding ; yea, to cry after knowledge, 
 and lift up my voice for understanding ; to seek her as sil- 
 ver, and to search for her as for hid treasures : that in the 
 pulpit, and in the more private duties of my office, he 
 would touch my cold heart, and faltering lips, with a live 
 coal from his altar, and give me the tongue of the learned, 
 to speak words in season to every soul: that the law of 
 truth may be in my mouth, and no iniquity found in my 
 lips : that I may walk with God in peace and equity, and 
 turn many away from iniquity. Brethren, pray for us. 
 
DIFFICULTIES OF THE PASTORAL OFFICE. 205 
 
 that the word of the Lord may have free course and be 
 glorified ; and that we may be delivered from wicked and 
 unreasonable men ; for all men have not faith ; 2 Thess. 
 iii. 1, 2. Pray always, with all prayer and supplication 
 in the Spirit ; and watch thereto, with all perseverance and 
 supplication for all saints ; and for me, that utterance may 
 be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to 
 make known the mystery of the gospel ; Eph. vi. 18, 19. 
 Moreover, as for me, God forbid that I should sin against 
 the Lord, in ceasing to pray for you : but I will teach you 
 through divine strength, the good and the right way. For 
 my friends and brethren's sake, I will now say, Peace be 
 within you ; and because of the house of the Lord our God, 
 I will seek your good. I conclude with the prayer of the 
 Psalmist, Ps. 11. 9 — 13 and 15th verses; "Hide thy face 
 from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in 
 me a clean heart, O God ; and renew a right spirit within 
 me. Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not 
 thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy 
 salvation, and uphold me with thy free Spirit. Then will 
 1 teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners shall be con- 
 verted unto thee. O Lord, open thou my lips, and my 
 mouth shall show forth thy praise." 
 
 18 
 
RULES FOR THE PREACHER'S CONDUCT. 
 BY ISAAC WATTS, D. D. 
 
 When true religion falls under a general and remark- 
 able decay, it is time for all that are concerned to awaken 
 and rouse themselves to fresh vigour and activity, in their 
 several posts of service. If the interests of piety and vir- 
 tue are things fit to be encouraged and maintained in the 
 world, if the kingdom of the blessed God among men be 
 worthy to be supported, surely it is a necessary and be- 
 coming zeal for every one who hath the honour to be a 
 minister of this kingdom, to take alarm at the appearance 
 of such danger ; and each of us should inquire, What can 
 I do to strengthen the things that remain and are ready to 
 die, as well as to recover what is lost 1 Let my brethren 
 therefore in the ministry forgive me if I presume, at this 
 season, to set before them a plain and serious exhortation. 
 What I have to say on this subject shall be contained un- 
 der four general heads. 
 
 I. Take heed to your own personal religion, as absolute- 
 ly necessary to the right discharge of the ministerial office. 
 
 n. Take heed to your private studies, and preparation 
 for public service. 
 
 III. Take heed to your public labours, and actual min- 
 istrations in the church. 
 
 IV. Take heed to your conversation in the world, and 
 especially among the flock of Christ over whom you preside. 
 — Bear with me while I enlarge a little upon each of these. 
 
 L Take heed to your personal religion, especially to the 
 work of God in your own heart, as absolutely necessary to 
 
RULES FOR THE PREACHER's CONDUCT. 207 
 
 the right discharge of the ministerial work. Surely, there 
 is the highest obligation on a preacher of the gospel to be- 
 lieve and practice what he preaches. He is under the most 
 powerful and sacred engagements to be a Christian himself, 
 who goes forth to persuade the world to become Christians. 
 A minister of Christ, who is not a hearty believer in Christ, 
 and a sincere follower of him, is a most shameful and in- 
 consistent character, and forbids in practice what he recom- 
 mends in words and sentences. 
 
 But it is not enough for a minister to have a common de- 
 gree of piety and virtue equal to the rest of Christians ; 
 he should transcend and surpass others. The leaders and 
 officers of the army under the blessed Jesus should be 
 more expert in the Christian exercises, and more advanced 
 in the holy warfare, than their fellow-soldiers are supposed 
 to be : 2 Cor. vi: 4. In all things approving ourselves 
 (saith the apostle) as the ministers of God, in much pa- 
 tience, &c., and, I may add, in much of every Christian 
 grace. A small and low degree of it is not sufficient for 
 a minister ; see therefore not only that you practice every 
 part and instance of piety and virtue which you preach to 
 others, but abound therein, and be eminent beyond and 
 above the rest, as your station in the church is more ex- 
 alted, and as your character demands. 
 
 Now, since your helps, in the way to Heaven, both to 
 the knowledge and practice of duty, are much greater than 
 what others enjoy, and your obstacles and impediments 
 are in some instances less than theirs, it will be a shameful 
 thing in you, as it is a matter of shame to any of us, to 
 sink below the character of other Christians in the practice 
 of our holy religion, or even if we do not excel the most 
 of them ; since our obligations to it, as well as our advan- 
 tao-es for it, are so much greater than those of others. 
 
208 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 1. Take heed therefore to your own practical and vital 
 religion, as to the realit)'' and the clear undoubted evi- 
 dence of it in your conscience. Give double diligence to 
 make your calling and election sure. See to it, with earn- 
 est solicitude, that you be not mistaken in so necessary 
 and important a concern ; for a minister who preaches up 
 the religion of Christ, yet has no evidence of it in his own 
 heart, will lie under vast discouragements in his work; 
 and if he be not a real Christian himself, he will justly fall 
 under double damnation. 
 
 Call your own soul often to account ; examine the tem- 
 per, the frame, and the motions of your heart with all holy 
 severity, so that the evidences of your faith in Jesus, of 
 your repentance for sin, and of your conversion to God, 
 be many and fair, be strong and unquestionable ; that you 
 may walk on with courage and joyful hope toward Heaven, 
 and lead on the flock of Christ thither with holy assurance 
 and joy. 
 
 2. Take heed to your own religion, as to the liveliness 
 and power of it. Let it not be a sleepy thing in your bo- 
 som, but sprightly and active, and always awake. Keep 
 your own soul near to God, and in the way in which you 
 first came near him, i. e. by the mediation of Jesus Christ. 
 Let no distance and estrangement grow between God and 
 you, between Christ and you. Maintain much converse 
 with God by prayer, by reading his word, by holy medita- 
 tion, by heavenly-mindedness, and universal holiness in 
 frame and temper of your own spirit. Converse with God 
 and with your own soul in the duties of secret religion, 
 and walk always in the world as under the eye of God. 
 Every leader of the flock of God should act as Moses did, 
 — should live as " seeing him that is invisible." 
 
 3. Take heed to your personal religion, as to the growth 
 
RULES FOR THE PREACIIEr's CONDUCT. 209 
 
 and increase of it. Let it be ever upon the advancing 
 hand. Be tenderly sensible of every wandering affection 
 toward vanity, every deviation from God and your duty, 
 every rising sin, every degree of growing distance from 
 God. Watch and pray much, and converse much with 
 God, as one of his ministering angels in flesh and blood, 
 and grow daily in conformity to God and your blessed 
 Saviour, who is the first minister of his Father's kingdom, 
 and the fairest image of his Father. 
 
 Such a conduct will have several happy influences to- 
 wards the fulfilling of your ministry, and will render you 
 more fit for every part of your public ministrations. 
 
 1. Hereby you will prove in your acquaintance with 
 divine things, and the spiritual parts of religion, that you 
 may better teach the people both truth and duty« 
 
 Those who are much with God may expect and hope 
 that he will teach them the secret of his covenant, and the 
 ways of his mercy, by communications of divine light to 
 their spirits. " The secret of the Lord is with them that 
 fear him, and he will show them his covenant." Luther 
 used to say. That he sometimes got more knowledge in a 
 short time by prayer, than by the study and labour of 
 many hours. 
 
 2. Hereby you will be more fit to speak to the great 
 God at all times, as a son with holy confidence in him as 
 your Father ; and you will be better prepared to pray with 
 and for your people. You will have an habitual readiness 
 for the work, and increase in the gift of prayer. You will 
 obtain a treasure and fluency of sacred language, suited to 
 address God on all occasions. 
 
 3. Hereby you will be kept near to the spring of all 
 grace, to the fountain of strength and comfort in your 
 work ; you will be ever deriving fresh anointings, fresh in- 
 
 18* 
 
210 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 fluences, daily lights and powers, to enable you to go 
 through all the difficulties and labours of your sacred 
 office. 
 
 4. Hereby, when you come among men in your sacred 
 ministrations, you will appear, and speak, and act like a 
 man come from God ; like Moses, with a lustre upon his 
 face when he had conversed with God ; like a minister of the 
 court of Heaven employed in a divine office ; like a mes- 
 senger of grace who hath just been with God, and received 
 instructions from him ; and the world will take cognizance 
 of you, as they did of the apostles, that they were men 
 who had been with Jesus. 
 
 5. This will better furnish you for serious converse with 
 the souls and consciences of men, by giving j-ou experi- 
 mental acquaintance with the things of religion, as they 
 are transacted in the heart. You will learn more of the 
 springs of sin and holiness, the workings of nature and 
 grace, the deceitfulness of sin, the subtility of temptation, 
 and the holy skill of counterworking the snares of sin, and 
 the devices of Satan, and all their designs to ruin the souls 
 of men. You will speak with more divine compassion to 
 wretched and perishing mortals ; with more life and power 
 to stupid sinners; with more sweetness and comfort to 
 awakened consciences, and with more awful language and 
 influence to backsliding Christians. 
 
 6. You will hereby learn to preach more powerfully in 
 all respects for the salvation, and talk more feelingly on 
 every sacred subject, when the power and sense, and life 
 of godliness are kept up in your own spirit. Then, on 
 some special occasions, it may not be improper to borrow 
 the language of David the prophet, and of St. Paul and 
 St. John, two great apostles, though it may be best in pub- 
 lic to speak in the plural number, — " We have believed, 
 
RULES FOR THE PREACHER S CONDUCT. 211 
 
 therefore wc have spoken ; what we have heard and 
 learned from Christ, we have declared unto you ; what we 
 have seen and felt, we arc bold to speak ; attend, and we 
 will tell you what God has done for our souls." You may 
 then at proper seasons convince, direct, and comfort others 
 by the same words of light and power, of precept and pro- 
 mise, of joy and hope, which have convinced, directed, 
 and comforted you : a word coming from the heart will 
 sooner reach the heart. 
 
 II. Take heed to your own private studies. These pri- 
 vate studies are of various kinds, whether you consider 
 them, in general, as necessary to furnish the mind with 
 knowledge for the office of the sacred ministry, or, in par- 
 ticular, as necessary to prepare discourses for the pulpit. 
 
 Those general studies may be just mentioned, in this 
 place, which furnish the mind with knowledge for the work 
 of a minister : for though it be known you have passed 
 through the several stages of science in your younger 
 years, and have made a good improvement in them, yet a 
 review of many of them will be found needful, and an in- 
 crease in some (so far as leisure permits) may be proper 
 and useful, even through the whole course of life. 
 
 But amongst all these inquiries and studies, and these 
 various improvements of the mind, let us take heed that 
 none of them carry our thoughts away too far from our 
 chief and glorious design, that is the ministry of the gos- 
 pel of Christ. Let none of them intrench upon those 
 hours which should be devoted to our study of the Bible or 
 preparations for the pulpit ; and whensoever we find our 
 inclination too much attached to any particular human 
 science, let us set a guard upon ourselves, lest it rob us of 
 our diviner studies and our best improvement. A minister 
 
212 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 should remember that he, with all his studies, is consecrat- 
 ed to the service of the sanctuary. Let every thing be done 
 therefore with a view to our great end ; let all the rest of 
 our knowledse be like lines drawn from the vast circum- 
 ference of universal nature, pointing to that divine centre, 
 God and Religion : and let us pursue every part of science 
 with a design to gain better qualifications thereby for our 
 sacred work. 
 
 I come to speak of those particular studies which are 
 preparatory for the public work of the pulpit ,• and here, 
 when you retire to compose a sermon, let your great end be 
 ever kept in view, i. e. to say something for the honour of 
 God, for the glory of Christ, and for the salvation of the 
 souls of men. For this purpose, a few rules may perhaps 
 be of some service. 
 
 One great and general rule is. Ask advice of Heaven, 
 by prayer, about every part of your preparatory studies ; 
 seek the direction and assistance of the Spirit of God, for 
 inclining your thoughts to proper subjects, for guiding you 
 to proper Scriptures, and framing your whole sermon, both 
 as to the matter and manner, that it may attain the divine 
 and sacred ends proposed. — But I insist not largely on this, 
 here, because prayer for aids and counsels from Heaven 
 belongs to every part of your work, both in the closet, in 
 the pulpit, and in your daily conversation. 
 
 The particular rules for your preparatory work may be 
 such as these : — 
 
 1. In choosing your texts or themes of discourse, seek 
 such as are more suited to do good to souls, according to 
 the present wants, dangers, and circumstances of the peo- 
 ple ; whether for the instruction of the ignorant; for the 
 conviction of the stupid and senseless ; for the melting and 
 softening of the obstinate; for the conversion of the wicked; 
 
RULES FOR THE PREACHEr's CONDUCT. 213 
 
 for the edification of converts ; for the conrifort of the timor- 
 ous and mournful ; for gentle admonition of backsliders, 
 or more severe reproof. Some acquaintance with the gene- 
 ral case and character of your hearers is needful for this 
 end. 
 
 2. In handling the text, divide, explain, illustrate, prove, 
 convince, infer, and apply in such a manner as to do real 
 service to men, and honour to our Lord Jesus Christ. Do 
 not say within yourself, how much or how elegantly can 
 I talk upon such a text, but what can I say most usefully 
 to those who hear me, for the instruction of their minds, 
 for the conviction of their consciences, and for the persua- 
 sion of their hearts? Be not fond of displaying your 
 learned criticisms in clearing up terms and phrases of a 
 text, where scholars alone can be edified by them ; nor 
 spend the precious moments of the congregation in making 
 them hear you explain what is clear enough before, and 
 hath no need of explaining; nor in proving that which is 
 so obvious that it wants no proof. This is little better 
 than triflincr with God and man. 
 
 Think not, how can I make a sermon soonest and easi- 
 est ? but how can I make the most profitable sermon for 
 my hearers? Not what fine things I can say, either in a 
 way of criticism or philosophy, or in a way of oratory and 
 harangue ; but what powerful words can I speak to impress 
 the consciences of them that hear with a lasting sense of 
 moral, divine, and eternal things? Judge wisely what to 
 leave out, as well as what to speak. Let not your chief 
 design be to work up a sheet, or to hold out an hour, but 
 to save a soul. 
 
 3. In speaking of the great things of God and religion, 
 remember you are a minister of Christ and the gospel, 
 sent to publish to men what God has revealed by his pro- 
 
214 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's 3IANUAL. 
 
 phets and apostles, and by his Son Jesus, — and not a hea- 
 then philosopher, to teach the people merely what the light 
 of reason can search out. You are not to stand up here 
 as a professor of ancient or modern philosophy, nor as an 
 usher in the school of Plato, or Seneca, or Locke ; but as 
 a teacher in the school of Christ, as a preacher of the New 
 Testament. You are not a Jewish priest, to instruct men 
 in the precise niceties of ancient Judaism, legal rites and 
 ceremonies ; but you are a Christian minister : let Chris- 
 tianity, therefore, run through all your compositions, and 
 spread its glories over them. 
 
 It is granted, indeed, that reasonings from the light of 
 Nature have a considerable use in the ministry of the gos- 
 pel. It is by the principles of natural religion, and by 
 reasoning from ihem on the wonderful events of prophecy 
 and miracles, &c., that we ourselves must leain the truth 
 of the Christian religion ; and we must teach the people to 
 build their faith of the gospel on just and rational grounds : 
 this may perhaps, at some time or other require a few 
 whole discourses on some of the principal themes of natu- 
 ral religion, in order to introduce and display the religion 
 of Jesus : but such occasions will seldom arise in the course 
 of your ministry. 
 
 It is granted also, that it is very useful labour sometimes, 
 in a sermon, to show how far the light of nature and rea- 
 son will carry us on in the search of duty and happiness, 
 and then to manifest how happily the light of Scripture 
 supplies the deficiency of it, that the people may know how 
 greatly they are indebted to the peculiar favour of God for 
 the book of divine revelation. 
 
 If you speak of the duties which men owe to God, or to 
 one another, even those which are found out by reason and 
 natural conscience, show how the gospel of Christ hath 
 
RULES FOR THE PREACHER S CONDUCT. 215 
 
 advanced and refined every thing that nature and reason 
 teach us. Enforce these duties by motives of Christianity, 
 as well as by philosophical arguments drawn from the na- 
 ture of things : stir up to the practice of them, by the ex- 
 amples of Christ and his apostles, by that Heaven and 
 that Hell which are revealed to the world by Jesus Christ 
 our Saviour ; impress them on the heart by the constrain- 
 ing influence of the mercy of God and the dying love of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, by his glorious appearance to judge 
 the living and the dead, and by our blessed hope of attend- 
 ing him at that day. These are the appointed arguments 
 of our holy religion, and may expect more divine success. 
 
 When you have occasion to represent what need there 
 is of diligence and labour in the duties of holiness, show 
 also what aids are promised in the gospel to humble souls, 
 who are sensible of their own frailty to resist temptation, 
 or to discharge religious and moral duties ; and what in- 
 fluences of the Holy Spirit may be expected by those who 
 seek it. Let them know that Christ is exalted to send 
 forth this Spirit, to bestow repentance and sanctification as 
 well as forgiveness : for without him we can do nothing. 
 
 If you would raise the hearts of your hearers to a just 
 and high esteem of this gospel of grace, and impress them 
 with an awful sense of the divine importance and worth of 
 it, be not afraid to lay human nature low, and to represent 
 it in its ruins by the fall of the first Adam. It is the vain 
 exaltation of ruined nature that makes the gospel so much 
 despised in our age. Labour therefore to make them see 
 and feel the deplorable state of mankind, as described in 
 Scripture ; that by one man sin entered into the world, and 
 death by sin, and a sentence of death hath passed upon 
 all men, for that all have sinned. Let them hear and 
 know that Jews and Gentiles are all under sin ; that there 
 
216 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 is none righteous, no, not one ; that every mouth may be 
 stopped, and all the world may appear guilty before God. 
 Let them know that it is not in man that walketh to direct 
 his steps ; that we are not sufficient of ourselves to think 
 any good thing ; that we are without strength, alienated 
 from the life of God, through the ignorance, and darkness 
 of our understanding, and are by nature children of diso- 
 bedience, and children of wrath; that we are unable to re- 
 cover ourselves out of these depths of wretchedness with- 
 out the condescensions of divine grace, and that the gospel 
 of Christ is introduced as the only sovereign remedy and 
 relief under all this desolation of nature, this overwhelming 
 distress ; neither is there salvation in any other ; for there 
 is none other name under Heaven given among men where- 
 by we must be saved. And they that wilfully and obsti- 
 nately reject this message of divine love, must perish with- 
 out remedy, and without hope; for there remains no more 
 sacrifice for sin, but a certain fearful expectation of ven- 
 geance. 
 
 These were the sacred weapons with which those were 
 armed to whom our exalted Saviour gave commission to 
 travel through the dominions of Satan, which were spread 
 over the heathen countries, and raise up a kingdom for 
 himself amongst them. It was with principles, rules, and 
 motives derived from the gospel, that they were sent to at- 
 tack the reigning vices of mankind, to reform profligate 
 nations, and to turn them from dumb idols to serve the liv- 
 in-g God. And though St. Paul was a man of learning 
 above the rest, yet he was not sent to preach the enticing 
 words of man's wisdom, nor to talk as the disputers of the 
 age and the philosophers did in their schools; but his busi- 
 ness was to preach Christ crucified; though this doctrine 
 of the cross, aad the Son of God suspended on it, was a 
 
RULES FOR THE PREACHER's CONDUCT. 217 
 
 stumbling-block to the Jews, and the Greeks counted it 
 foolishness ; yet to them that were called, both Jews and 
 Greeks, this doctrine was the power of God, and the wis- 
 dom of God for the salvation of men. And therefore St. 
 Paul determined to know nothing among them, in com- 
 parison of the doctrine of Christ and him crucified. These 
 were the weapons of his warfare, which were mighty, 
 through God, to the pulling down of the strong holds of 
 sin and Satan in the hearts of men, and brought every 
 thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. It was 
 by the ministration of this gospel that the fornicators were 
 made chaste and holy, and idolaters became worshippers 
 of the God of Heaven ; that thieves learned honest labour, 
 and the covetous were taught to seek treasures in Heaven ; 
 the drunkards grew out of love with their cups, and re- 
 nounced all intemperance ; the revilers governed their 
 tongues, and spoke well of their neighbours, and the cruel 
 extortioners and oppressors learned to practise compassion 
 and charity ; these vilest of sinners, these children of Hell, 
 were made heirs of the kingdom of Heaven — being washed, 
 being sanctified, being justified in the name of the Lord 
 Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. 
 
 Flad you all the refined science of Plato or Socrates ; all 
 the skill in morals that ever was attained by Zeno, Seneca, 
 or Epictetus ; were you furnished with all the flowing ora- 
 tory of Cicero, or the thunder of Demosthenes ; were all 
 these talents and excellencies united in one man, and you 
 were the person so richly endowed, — and could you em- 
 ploy them all in every sermon you preach, — yet you could 
 have no reasonable hope to convert and save one soul in 
 Great Britain, where the gospel is published, while you 
 lay aside the glorious gospel of Christ, and leave it entirely 
 
 out of your discourses. 
 19 
 
218 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 Let me proceed yet further, and say, had j^ou the fullest 
 acquaintance that ever man acquired with all the princi- 
 ples and duties of natural religion, both in its regard to 
 God and to your fellow-creatures ; had you the skill and 
 tongue of an angel to range all these in their fairest order, 
 to place them in the fullest light, and to pronounce and 
 represent the whole law of God with such force and splen- 
 dour to a British auditory, as was done to the Israelites at 
 mount Sinai, you might, perhaps, lay the consciences of 
 men under deep conviction, for by the law is the knowledge 
 of sin ; but I am fully persuaded you would never recon- 
 cile one soul to God ; you would never change the heart 
 of one sinner, nor bring him into the favour of God, nor 
 fit him for the joys of Heaven, without this blessed gospel 
 which is committed to your hands. 
 
 The great and glorious God is jealous of his own autho- 
 rity, and of the honour of his Son Jesus ; nor will he con- 
 descend to bless any other methods for obtaining so divine 
 an end than what he himself has prescribed ; nor will his 
 Holy Spirit, whose ofRce it is to glorify Christ, stoop to 
 concur with any other sort of means for the saving of sin- 
 ners, where the name and offices of his Son, the only ap- 
 pointed Saviour, are known, and despised and neglected. 
 It is the gospel alone that is the power of God to salvation. 
 If the prophets will not stand in his counsel, nor cause the 
 people to hear his words, they will never be able to turn 
 Israel from the iniquity of their ways, nor the evil of their 
 doings. 
 
 Was it not the special design of these doctrines of Christ, 
 when they were first graciously communicated to the world, 
 to reform the vices of mankind which reason could not re- 
 form? and to restore the world to piety and virtue, for 
 which the powers of reason appeared too feeble and impo- 
 
RULES FOR THE PREACHER's CONDUCT. 219 
 
 tent ? The nations of the earth had made long and fruit- 
 less essays what the light of nature and philosophy would 
 do, to bring wandering degenerate man back again to his 
 Maker ; fruitless and long essays indeed, when, after some 
 thousands of years, the world, who had forgotten their 
 Maker and his laws, still ran further from God, and plunged 
 themselves into all abominable impieties and corrupt prac- 
 tices ! Now, if the all- wise God saw the gospel of Christ 
 to be so fit and happy an instrument for the recovery of 
 wretched man to religion and morality ; if he furnished his 
 apostles with these doctrines for this very purpose, and 
 pronounced a blessing upon them as his own appointment, 
 why should we not suppose, that this gospel is still as fit, 
 in its own nature, for the same purpose, as it was at first? 
 And why may we not hope the same heavenly blessing, 
 in a great measure, to remain upon it, for these purposes, 
 to the end of the world ? 
 
 Shall I enquire yet further: Is this a day when we 
 should leave the peculiar articles of the religion of Christ 
 out of our ministrations, when the truth of them is boldly 
 called in question, and denied by such multitudes who 
 dwell among us 1 Is this a proper time for us to forget 
 the name of Christ in our public labours, when the witty 
 talents and reasonings of men join together, and labour 
 hard to cast out his sacred name with contempt and scorn 1 
 Is it so seasonable a practice in this age, to neglect these 
 evangelical themes, and to preach up virtue, without the 
 special principles and motives with which Christ has fur- 
 nished us, when there are such numbers amongst us who 
 are fond of heathenism, who are endeavouring to introduce 
 it again into a Christian country, and spread the poison of 
 infidelity through a nation called by his name? If this be 
 our practice, our hearers will begin to think indeed, that 
 
220 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 infidels may have some reason on their side, and that the 
 glorious doctrines of the gospel of Christ are not so neces- 
 sary as our fathers thought them, while they find no men- 
 tion of them in the pulpit, no use of them in our discourses 
 from week to week, and from month to month, and yet 
 we profess to preach for the salvation of souls. Will this 
 be our glory, to imitate the heathen philosophers, and to 
 drop the gospel of the Son of God? — to be complimented 
 by unbelievers as men of superior sense, and as deep rea- 
 soners, while we abandon the faith of Jesus, and starve the 
 souls of our hearers by neglecting to distribute to them this 
 bread of life, which came down from heaven? O let us, 
 who are his ministers, remember the last words of our de- 
 parting Lord, " Go, preach the gospel to every nation : he 
 that believeth and is baptized shall be saved ; and he that 
 believeth not — shall be damned : and lo, I am with you 
 alway, to the end of the world." Let us fulfil the com- 
 mand, let us publish the threatening with the promise, and 
 let us wait for the attendant blessing. 
 
 Forgive me, my dear brother and friend, and you my 
 beloved and honoured brethren in ihe ministry, forgive me, 
 if I have indulged too much vehemence in this part of my 
 discourse ; if I have given too great a loose to pathetic lan- 
 guage on this important subject. I doubt not but your 
 own consciences bear me witness, that this elevated voice 
 is not the voice of reproof, but of friendly warning; and I 
 persuade myself, that you will join with me in this senti- 
 ment, that if ever we are so happy as to reform the lives 
 of our hearers, to convert their hearts to God, and to train 
 them up for Heaven, it must be done by the principles of 
 the gospel of Christ. On the occasion of such a head of 
 advice, therefore, I assure myself you will forgive these 
 warm emotions of spirit. Can there be any juster cause 
 
RULES FOR THE PREACHEr's CONDUCT. 221 
 
 or season to exert fervour and zeal, than while we are 
 pleading for the name, and honour, and kingdom of our 
 adored Jesus? Let him live, let him reign forever on his 
 throne of glory ; let him live upon our lips, and reign in 
 all our ministrations ; let him live in the hearts of all our 
 hearers ; let him live and reign through Great Britain, and 
 through all the nations, till iniquity be subdued, till the 
 kinordom of Satan be destroyed, and the whole world are 
 become willing subjects to the sceptre of his grace. 
 
 Thus have I finished my third exhorlation relating to the 
 preparation of your sermons for the pulpit. 
 
 4. In addressing your discourse to your hearers, remem- 
 ber to distinguish the different characters of saints and sin- 
 ners ; the converted, and the unconverted, the sincere 
 Christian and the formal professor, the stupid and the 
 awakened, the diligent and backsliding, the fearful or hum- 
 ble soul, the obstinate and presumptuous; and at various 
 seasons introduce a word for each of them. Thus you 
 will divide the word of God aright, and give to every one 
 his portion. 
 
 The general way of speaking to all persons in one view, 
 and under one character, as though all your hearers were 
 certainly true Christians, and converted already, and want- 
 ed a little further reformation of heart and life, is too com- 
 mon in the world, — but I think it is a dangerous way of 
 preaching ; it hath a powerful and unhappy tendency to 
 lull unregenerate sinners asleep in security, to flatter and 
 deceive them with dreams of happiness, and make their 
 consciences easy without a real conversion of heart to God. 
 
 Let your hearers know that there is a vast and unspeak- 
 able difference betwixt a saint and a sinner, one in Christ, 
 and one out of Christ ; between one whose heart is in the 
 state of corrupt nature or unrenewed, and one that is in a 
 19* 
 
222 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOK's MANUAL. 
 
 state of grace, and renewed to faith and holiness ; between 
 one who is only born of the flesh, and is a child of wrath, 
 and one who is born again, or born of the Spirit, and is 
 beconne a child of God, a member of Christ, and an heir 
 of Heaven. Let them know that this distinction is great 
 and necessary ; a most real change, and of infinite import- 
 ance ; and however it has been derided by men, it is glo- 
 rious in the eyes of God, and it will be made to appear so 
 at the last day, in the eyes of men and angels. That lit- 
 tle treatise, written by the learned Mr. John Jennings, con- 
 cerning Preaching Christ and Experimental Preaching, has 
 many valuable hints relating to these two last particulars 
 of my exhortation. 
 
 5. Lead your hearers wisely into the knowledge of the 
 truth, and teach them to build their faith upon solid 
 grounds. Let them first know why they are Christians, 
 that they may be firmly established in the belief and pro- 
 fession of the religion of Christ ; that they may be guarded 
 against all the assaults of temptation and infidelity in this 
 evil day, and may be able to render a reason of the hope 
 that is in them : furnish them with arguments in opposi- 
 tion to the rude cavils and blasphemies which are frequent- 
 ly thrown out into the world against the name and the 
 doctrines of the holy Jesus. 
 
 Then let the great, the most important, and most neces- 
 sary articles of our religion be set before your hearers in 
 their fairest light. Convey them into the understandings 
 of those of meanest capacity, by condescending sometimes 
 to plain and fanniliar methods of speech ; prove these im- 
 portant doctrines and duties to them, by all proper reasons 
 and arguments : — but as to the introducing of controver- 
 sies into the pulpit, be not fond of it, nor frequent in it. In 
 your common course of preaching avoid disputes, especial- 
 
RULES FOR THE PREACIIEr's CONDUCT. 223 
 
 ly about things of less importance, without an apparent 
 call of Providence. Religious controversies, frequently in- 
 troduced, without real necessity, have an unhappy tenden- 
 cy to hurt the spirit of true godliness, both in the hearts of 
 preachers and hearers. 
 
 And beware of laying too much stress on the peculiar 
 notions, terms, and phrases of the little sects and parties in 
 Christianity; take heed that you do not make your hearers 
 bigots and uncharitable, while you endeavour to make 
 them knowing Christians. Establish them in all the chief 
 and most important articles of the gospel of Christ, without 
 endeavouring to render those who differ from you, odious 
 in the sight of your hearers. Whensoever you are con- 
 strained to declare your disapprobation of particular opin- 
 ions, keep up and manifest your love to the persons of 
 those who espouse them, and especially if they are persons 
 of virtue and piety. 
 
 6. Do not content yourself to compose a sermon of 
 mere doctrinal truths and articles of belief, but into every 
 sermon (if possible) bring something practical. It is true, 
 knowledge is the foundation of practice ; the head must be 
 furnished with a degree of knowledge, or the heart cannot 
 be good : but take heed that dry speculations, and mere 
 schemes of orthodoxy, do not take up too large a part of 
 your compositions ; and be sure to impress it frequently on 
 your hearers, that holiness is the great end of all know- 
 ledge, and of much more value than the sublimest specula- 
 tions ; nor is there any doctrine but what requires some 
 correspondent practice of piety or virtue. 
 
 And among the practical parts of Christianity, some- 
 times make it your business to insist on those subjects 
 which are inward and spiritual, and which go by the name 
 of Experimental Religion. Now and then take such 
 
224 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 themes as these, viz. The first awakenings of the con- 
 science of a sinner, by some special and awful providence, 
 by some particular passages in the word of God, in pious 
 writings, or public sermons, the inward terrors of mind, 
 and fears of the wrath of God, which sometimes accom- 
 pany such awakenings; the temptations which arise to di- 
 vert the mind from them, and to sooth the sinner in the 
 course of his iniquities ; the inward conflicts of the spirit in 
 these seasons, the methods of relief under such temptations ; 
 the arguments that may fix the heart and will for God 
 against all the enticements and opposition of the world ; 
 the labours of the conscience fluctuating between hope and 
 fear; the rising and working of indwelling sin in the heart, 
 the subtile excuses framed by the flesh for the indulgence 
 of it; the peace of God derived from the gospel, allaying 
 the inward terrors of the soul under a sense of guilt ; the 
 victories obtained over strong corruptions and powerful 
 temptations, by the faith of unseen things, by repeated ad- 
 dresses to God in prayer, by trusting in Jesus, the great 
 mediator, who is made of God to us wisdom and righte- 
 ousness, sanctification and redemption. 
 
 While you are treating on these subjects, give me leave 
 to put you again in mind, that it will sometimes have a 
 very happy influence on the minds of hearers to speak 
 what you have learnt from your own experience, though 
 there is no need that you should tell them publicly it is 
 your own ; you may inform them what you have borrow- 
 ed from your own observation, and from the experience of 
 Christians, ancient or modern, who have passed through 
 the same trials, who have wrestled with the same corrup- 
 tions of nature, who have grappled with the same difficul- 
 ties, and at last have been made conquerors over the same 
 temptations. As face answers face in the glass, so the 
 
RULES FOR THE PREACHER's CONDUCT. 225 
 
 heart of one man answers to another; and the workings 
 to another ; and the workings of the different principles of 
 flesh and spirit, corrupt nature and renewing grace, have a 
 great deal of resemblance in the heart of different persons 
 who have passed through them. This sort of instruction, 
 drawn from just and solid experience, will animate and en- 
 courage the young Christian that begins to shake off the 
 slavery of sin, and to set his face toward Heaven ; this will 
 make it appear that religion is no impracticable thing. It 
 will establish and comfort the professors of the gospel, and 
 excite them with new vigour, to proceed in the way of fahh 
 and holiness ; it will raise a steadfast courage and hope, 
 and will generally obtain a most happy effect upon the 
 souls of the hearers, beyond all that you can say to them 
 from principles of mere reasoning and dry speculation : 
 and especially where you have the concurrent experience 
 of scriptural examples. 
 
 7. Whether you are discoursing of doctrine or duty, take 
 great care that you impose nothing on your hearers, either 
 as a matter of faith or practice, but what your Lord and 
 Master, Christ Jesus, has imposed. 
 
 But in this state of frailty and imperfection, dangers at- 
 tend us on either hand. As we must take heed that we 
 do not add the fancies of men to our divine religion, so we 
 should take equal care that w-e do not curtail the appoint- 
 ments of Christ. ^Vith a sacred vigilance and zeal we 
 should maintain the plain, express, and necessary articles 
 that we find evidently written in the word of God, and 
 suffer none of them to be lost through our default. The 
 world has been so long imposed upon by those shameful 
 additions of men to the gospel of Christ, that they seem 
 now to be resolved to bear them no longer: but they are 
 unhappily running into another extreme : because several 
 
226 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 sects and parties of Christians have tacked on so many 
 false and unbecoming ornaments to Christianity, they re- 
 solve to deliver her from these disguises ; but while they 
 are paring off this foreign trumpery, they too often cut her 
 to the quick, and sometimes let out her life-blood (if I may 
 so express it) and maim her of her very limbs and vital 
 parts. Because so many irrational notions and follies have 
 been mixed up with the Christian scheme, it is now a 
 modish humour of the age to renounce almost every thing 
 that reason doth not discover, and to reduce Christianity 
 itself to little more than the light of nature, and the dic- 
 tates of reason ; and under this sort of influence, there are 
 some who are believers of the Bible and the divine mission 
 of Christ, and dare not renounce the gospel itself; yet they 
 interpret some of the peculiar and express doctrines of it 
 into so poor, so narrow, and so jejune a meaning, that they 
 suffer but little to remain beyond the articles of natural 
 religion. This leads some of the learned and polite men 
 of the age to explain away the sacrifice and atonement 
 made for our sins by the death of Christ, and to bereave 
 our religion of the ordinary aids of the Holy Spirit ; both 
 which are plainly and expressly revealed, frequently re- 
 peated in the New Testament, and which are two of the 
 chief glories of the blessed gospel ; and which, perhaps , 
 are two of the chief uses of those sacred names of the Son 
 and the Holy Spirit, into which we are baptized. It is this 
 very humour that persuades some persons to reduce the 
 injury and mischief that we have sustained by the sin and 
 fall of Adam, to so slight a bruise, and so inconsiderable a 
 wound, that only a small matter of grace is needful for our 
 recovery; and accordingly they impoverish the rich and 
 admirable remedy of the gospel to a very culpable degree, 
 supposing no more to be necessary for the restoration of 
 
RULES FOR THE PREACHER's CONDUCT. 227 
 
 man than those few ingredients, which, in their opinion, 
 make up the whole composition. Hence it comes to pass, 
 that the doctrine of regeneration, or an entire change of 
 corrupt nature, by a principle of divine grace, is almost 
 lost out of their Christianity. 
 
 8. Remember that you have to do with the understand- 
 ing, reason, and memory of man, with the heart and con- 
 science, with the will and affections ; and therefore you 
 must use every method of speech which may be most pro- 
 per to engage and employ each of these faculties or powers 
 of human nature on the side of religion, and in the inter- 
 ests of God and the gospel. 
 
 Your first business is with the understanding, to make 
 even the lower parts of your auditory know what you 
 mean. Endeavour, therefore, to find out all the clearest j 
 and most easy forms of speech, to convey divine truths into 
 the minds of men. Seek to obtain a perspicuous style, 
 and a clear and distinct manner of speaking, that you may • 
 effectually impress the understanding while you pronounce 
 the words, that you may so exactly imprint on the mind 
 of the hearers the same ideas which you yourself have 
 conceived, that they may never mistake your meaning. 
 This talent is sooner attained in your younger years, by 
 having some judicious friend to hear or read over your 
 discourses and inform you where perspicuity is wanting in 
 your language, and where the hearers may be in danger 
 of mistaking your sense ; for want of this, some young 
 preachers have fixed themselves in such an obscure way of 
 writing and talking, as hath very much prevented their 
 hearers from obtaining distinct ideas of their discourse ; 
 and if a man gets such an unhappy habit, he will be some- 
 times talking to the air, and make the people stare at him, 
 as though he were speaking some unknown language. 
 
228 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 Remember you have to do with the reasoning powers of 
 man in preaching the gospel of Christ ; for though this 
 gospel is revealed from Heaven, and could never have been 
 discovered by all the efforts of human reason, yet the rea- 
 son of man must judge of several things relating to it. It 
 is reason must determine whether the evidence of its hea- 
 venly original be clear and strong : it is reason must judge 
 whether such a doctrine or such a duty be contained in the 
 gospel, or may be justly deduced from it: it is the work of 
 human reason to compare one Scripture with another, and 
 to find out the true sense of any particular text by this 
 means ; and it is reason also must give its sentence. 
 Whether a doctrine, which is pretended to be contained in 
 Scripture, be contrary to the eternal and unchangeable re- 
 lations and reason of things? and if so, then reason may 
 pronounce that this doctrine is not from God, nor can be 
 given us by divine revelation. Reason, therefore, hath its 
 office qnd proper province, even in matters of revelation ; 
 yet it must always be confessed that some propositions may 
 be revealed to us from Heaven, which may be so far supe- 
 rior to the limits and sphere of our reasoning powers in 
 the present state, that human reason ought not to reject 
 them, because it cannot fully understand them, nor clearly 
 and perfectly reconcile them, unless it plainly see a natural 
 absurdity in them, a real impossibility, or a plain incon- 
 sistency with other parts of divine revelation. 
 
 And in your representation of things to the reason and 
 understanding of men, it would sometimes be of special 
 advantage to have some power over the fancy or imagina- 
 tion ; this would help us to paint our themes in their pro- 
 per colours, whether of the alluring or the forbidding kind ; 
 and now and then we should make use of both, in order to 
 impress the idea on the soul with happier force and success. 
 
RULES FOR THE TREACHER'S CONDUCT. 229 
 
 When you would describe any of the personal or social 
 virtues of life, so as to enforce their practice, set yourself 
 to display the beauties and excellencies of them, in their 
 own agreeable and lovely forms and colours ; but do not 
 content yourself with this alone, this is not sufficient to al- 
 lure the degenerate and sensual mind of man to practise 
 them. Few persons are of so happy a disposition, and so 
 refined a genius, as to be wrought upon by the mere aspect of 
 such inviting qualities. Endeavour, therefore, to illustrate 
 the virtues by their contrary vices, and set forth these 
 moral mischiefs, both in their deformities and their danger- 
 ous consequences, before the eyes of your hearers. Think 
 it not enough to represent to them the shining excellencies 
 of humility and benevolence, of justice, veracity, gratitude, 
 and temperance ; but produce to sight the vile features of 
 pride, envy, malice, spite, knavery, falsehood, revenge, 
 sensuality, luxury, and the rest of that cursed train, in 
 their proper places and seasons. Make it evident, how 
 contrary they are both to the law of God and the gospel 
 of Christ ; describe them in all their several forms, shapes, 
 and appearances ; strip them of their false pretences and 
 disguises ; show how they insinuate and exert themselves 
 in different occurrences of life, and different constitutions, 
 and pursue them so narrowly, as it were with a hue and 
 cry, with such exact descriptions, that if any of these vices 
 are indulged by your hearers, they may be found out by 
 strict self-examination, that the consciences of the guilty 
 may be laid under conviction of sin, and be set in the way 
 of repentance and reformation. 
 
 Whensoever any vice has found the way into our bo- 
 soms, and makes its nest there, its proper and evil features 
 and characters ought to be marked out by the preacher 
 
 with great accuracy, that it may be discovered to our con- 
 20 
 
230 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 sciences, in order to our destruction ; for these wretched 
 hearts of ours are naturally so fond of all their own in- 
 mates, that they are too ready to hide their ill qualities 
 from our own sight and conviction, and thus they cover and 
 save them from the sentence of mortification and death, 
 which is denounced against every sin in the word of God ; 
 and let the preacher and the hearer both remember, that 
 sin must be pursued to the death, or else there is no life 
 to the soul. Only the Christian, who, "by the spirit mor- 
 tifies the sinful deeds of the body," has the promise of sal- 
 vation and life. 
 
 Think farther, that you should take some care also to 
 engage the memory, and to make it serve the purposes of 
 religion. Let your reasonings be ever so forcible and con- 
 vincing, let your language be ever so clear and intelligible, 
 yet, if the whole discourse glide over the ear in a smooth 
 and delightful stream, and if nothing be fixed on the me- 
 mory, the sermon is in great danger of being lost and fruit- 
 less. Now, to avoid this danger, I would recommend to 
 you the care of a clear and distinct method ; and let this 
 method appear to the hearers by the division of your dis- 
 courses into several plain and distinct particulars, so that 
 the whole may not be a mere loose harangue, without evi- 
 dent members, and discernible rests and pauses. What- 
 soever proper and natural divisions belong to your subject, 
 mark them out by their numbers, 1st, 2nd, 3d, &c. This 
 will aflTordyou time to breathe, in the delivery of your dis- 
 course, and give your hearers a short season for the re- 
 collection of the particulars which have been mentioned 
 before. 
 
 But in this matter take care always to maintain a happy 
 medium, so as never to arise to such a number of particu- 
 lars as may make your sermon look like a tree full of 
 
RULES FOR THE PREACHER's CONDUCT. 231 
 
 branches in the winter, without the beautiful, profitable 
 appearance of leaves and fruit. 
 
 Cast the scheme of your discourse into some distinct, 
 general heads, and lesser subdivisions, in your first sketches 
 and rudiments of it ; this will greatly assist you in the 
 amplification.; this will help you to preserve a just method 
 throughout, and to secure you from repeating the same 
 thoughts too often : this will enable you to commit your ser- 
 mon to your own memory the better, that you may deliver 
 it with ease ; and it will greatly assist the understanding as 
 well as the memory of all that you hear. It will furnish 
 them with m.atter and method for an easy recollection at 
 home; for meditation in that devout retirement and for re- 
 ligious conference or rehearsal, after the public worship is 
 ended. 
 
 Consider again, your business is with the consciences, 
 and wills, and affections of men. A mere conviction of 
 the reason and judgment, ^by the strougest arguments, is 
 hardly sufficient, in matter of piety and virtue, to com- 
 mand the will into obedience ; because the appetites of the 
 flesh and the interest of this world are engaged on the op- 
 posite side. It is a very common case with the sons and 
 daughters of Adam, to see and know their proper duty, 
 and to have the reasons that enforce it fresh in their me- 
 mory; and yet the powerful efforts of the flesh and the 
 world withhold the will from the practice, forbid its holy 
 resolutions for God and Heaven, or keep them always fee- 
 ble, doubtful, and wavering. The God of nature there- 
 fore has furnished mankind with those powers which we 
 call Passions or Affections of the Heart, in order to excite 
 the will with superior vigour and activity, to avoid the evil 
 and pursue the good. Upon this account the preacher must 
 Learn to address the passions in a proper manner : and I 
 
232 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR S MANUAL. 
 
 cannot but think it a very imperfect character of a Chris- 
 tian preacher, that he reasons well upon every subject, and 
 talks clearly upon his text, if he has nothing of the pa- 
 thetic in his ministrations, no talent at all to strike the pas- 
 sions of the heart. 
 
 Awaken your spirit, therefore, in your compositions, con- 
 trive all lively, forcible, and penetrating forms of speech, 
 to make your words powerful and impressive on the hearts 
 of your hearers, when light is first let into the mind. Prac- 
 tice all the awfal and solemn ways of address to the con- 
 science, all the soft and tender influences on the heart. 
 Try all methods to rouse and awaken the cold, the stu- 
 pid, the sleepy race of sinners ; learn all the language of 
 holy jealousy and terror, to afl>ight the presumptuous ; all 
 the compassionate and encouraging manners of speaking, 
 to comfort, encourage, and direct the awakened, the peni- 
 tent, the willing and the humble ; all the winning and en- 
 gaging modes of discourse and expostulation, to constrain 
 the hearers of every character to attend. Seek this happy 
 skill of reigning and triumphing over the hearts of an as- 
 sembly; persuade them with power to love and practise 
 all the important duties of godliness, in opposition to the 
 flesh and the world ; endeavour to kindle the soul to zeal in 
 the holy warfare, and to make it bravely victorious over 
 all the enemies of its salvation. 
 
 But in all these effrirts of sacred oratory, remember still 
 you are a minister of the gospel of Christ ; and as your 
 style must not affect the pomp and magnificence of the the- 
 atre, so neither should j^ou borrow your expressions of 
 your metaphors from the coarsest occupations, or any of 
 the mean and uncleanly occurrences in life. Swell not the 
 sound of your periods with ambitious or pedantic phrases ; 
 dress not your serious discourses to the people in too glit- 
 
RULES J'OR THE PREACHEr's CONDUCT. 133 
 
 tering array, with an affectation of gaudy and flaunting or- 
 naments, nor ever descend to so low a degree of famili- 
 arity and meanness, as to sink your language below the 
 dignity of your subject or your office. 
 
 9. As the art of reasoning, and the happy skill of per- 
 suasion are both necessary to be used in framing your dis- 
 courses, so both of them may be borrowed, in a good 
 measure, from the holy Scriptures. The word of God 
 will furnish you with a rich variety of forms, both to 
 prove and persuade. Clear instruction, convincing argu- 
 ment, and pathetic address to the heart, may be all drawn 
 from the sacred writers. Many fine strokes of true logic 
 and rhetoric are scattered through that divine book, the 
 Bible : words of force and elegance, to charm and allure 
 the soul, glitter and sparkle like golden ore in some pecu- 
 liar parts of it. You may find there noble examples of 
 the awful and compassionate style, and inimitable patterns 
 of the terrible and tender. Shall I therefore take the free- 
 dom once again to call upon you to remember that you 
 are a minister of the word of God, a professor and preacher 
 of the Bible, and not a mere philosopher upon the foot of 
 reason, nor an orator in a heathen school ? 
 
 And as for bright, warm, and pathetic language, to 
 strike the imagination, or to affect the heart, to kindle the 
 divine passions, or to melt the soul, none of the heathen 
 orators can better furnish you than the moving expostula- 
 tions of the ancient prophets, the tender and sprightly odes 
 of holy David, or the affectionate part of the letters of 
 St. Paul, which even his enemies, in the church of Corinth, 
 confessed to be powerful. The eastern writers, among 
 whom we number the Jews, were particularly famous for 
 lively oratory, bright images, and bold and animated 
 
 figures of speech. Could I have heard Isaiah or Jeremiah 
 20* 
 
234 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 pronouncing some of their sermons, or attended St. Paul 
 in some of his pathetic strains of preaching, I should 
 never mourn a want of acquaintance with TuUy or De- 
 mosthenes. 
 
 A preacher, whose mind is well stored and enriched 
 with the divine sense and sentiments, tlie reasoning and 
 language of Scripture, (and especially if these are wrought 
 in his heart by Christian experience,) supposing his other 
 talents are equal to those of his brethren, will always have 
 a considerable advantage over them, in composing such dis- 
 courses as shall be most popular and most useful in Christian 
 assemblies ; and he may better expect the presence and bless- 
 ing of God, to make his word triumph over the souls of men, 
 and will generally speak to their hearts with more power for 
 their eternal salvation. Show me one sinner turned to 
 God and holiness by the labours of a preacher who is gene- 
 rally entertaining the audience with a long and weighty 
 chain of reasoning from the principles of nature, and 
 teaching virtue in the language of heathen philosophy, — 
 and, I think I may undertake to show you ten who have 
 been convinced and converted, and have become holy per- 
 sons and lively Christians, by an attendance upon a spi- 
 ritual, affectionate, and experimental ministry : the whole 
 assembly hang attentive upon the lips of a man who 
 speaks to the heart as well as to the understanding, and 
 who can enforce his exhortations from a manifold expe- 
 rience of the success of them. They delight to hear the 
 preacher whose plain and powerful address to the conscience, 
 and whose frequent methods of reasoning in the pulpit, have 
 been drawn from what they themselves have read in Scrip- 
 ture concerning God and man, sin and duty, our misery 
 and divine mercy, death, resurrection, judgment, heaven 
 and hell. They attend with holy reverence and affection 
 
RULES FOR THE PREACUER's CONDUCT. 235 
 
 on such a minister, whose frequent argument, both in points 
 of doctrine and practice, is, Thus saith the Lord. 
 
 10. Be not slothful nor negligent in your weekly prepa- 
 ration for the pulpit ; take due time for it ; begin so early 
 in the week that you may have time enough before you to 
 furnish your preparation well ; and always allow for acci- 
 dental occurrences, either from indisposition of body, from 
 interruptions by company, from unforeseen business or 
 trouble, &c., that you may not be reduced to the necessity 
 of hurrying over your work in haste at the end of the 
 week, and serving God and the souls of men with poor, 
 cold, and careless performances. Remember that awful 
 word, though spoken on another occasion, " Cursed be he 
 that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully." Manage so 
 as to leave generally the Saturday evening, or, at least, 
 the Lord's day morning entire, for the review and correction 
 of your discourse, and for your own spiritual improvement, 
 by the sermon which you have prepared for the people. 
 
 If it should happen that the mere providence of God, 
 without any neglect of yours, has hindered you from mak- 
 ing so good a preparation as you designed, you may, with 
 courage and hope of divine assistance, venture into the as- 
 sembly with more slender and imperfect furniture ; but, 
 if your conscience tells you that your preparations are 
 very slight, and the neglect is your own, you have less 
 reason to expect aids from above, without great humilia- 
 tion for your negligence ; and what if God should forsake 
 you so far in the pulpit as to expose you to public shame, 
 and thus punish you for your carelessness in the midst of 
 the congregation. 
 
 Study your matter well, by meditation and reading, and 
 comparing Scriptures together, till you have gotten it com- 
 pletely within your grasp and survey : then if you should 
 
236 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 happen to be so situated in preaching, that you could not 
 refresh your memory by the inspection of your paper every 
 minute, yet you will not be exposed to hurry and confu- 
 sion, — a ready thought will suggest something pertinent to 
 your purpose. Let your preparation be usually so perfect 
 that you may be able to fill up the time allotted for the dis- 
 course with solid sense and proper language, even if your 
 natural spirits should happen to be heavy and indisposed at 
 the hour of preaching, and if your mind should have no 
 new thoughts arising in the delivery of your discourse. 
 
 Labour carefully in the formation of your sermons, in 
 your younger years: a habit of thinking and speaking 
 well, procured by the studies of youth, will make the la- 
 bour of your middle age easy, when, perhaps, you will 
 have much less time and leisure. 
 
 in. Take heed to your public labours and ministrations 
 in the church ; which may be done by attending to the fol- 
 lowing particulars : 
 
 1. Apply yourself to your work with pious delight — 
 not as a toil or task, which you wish were done and 
 ended ; but as matter of inward pleasure to your own 
 soul ; enter the pulpit with the solemnity of holy joy, 
 that you have an opportunity to speak for the honour of 
 God and the salvation of men. Then you will not preach 
 or pray with sloth or laziness, with coldness or indifference. 
 We do not use to be slothful and indifferent in the pursuit 
 of our joys, or the relish of our chosen pleasures. Stir 
 up yourself to the work with sacred vigour, that the as- 
 sembly may feel what you speak ; but, if you deliver the 
 most solemn and lively compositions, like a man that is 
 half asleep, it will be no wonder if your hearers slumber. 
 A dull preacher makes a drowsy church. 
 
RULES FOR THE PREACHER S CONDUCT. 237 
 
 2. Endeavour to get your heart into a temper of divine 
 love, zealous for the laws of God, affected with the grace 
 of Christ, and compassionate for the souls of men. With 
 this temper engage in public work. Let your frame ot 
 spirit be holy with regard to your own inward devotion, 
 near to God, and delighting in him ; and let it be zealous 
 for the name of Christ, and the increase of his kingdom. 
 O pity perishing sinners, when you are sent to invite them 
 to be reconciled to God ! Let not self be the subject or the 
 end of your preaching ; but Christ, and the salvation of 
 souls. " We preach not ourselves," saith the apostle, " but 
 Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves, your servants, for 
 Jesus' sake." Speak as a dying preacher to dying hearers, 
 with the utmost compassion to the ignorant, the tempted, 
 the foolish, and the obstinate; for all these are in dan- 
 ger of eternal death. Attend your work v/ith the utmost 
 desire to save souls from Hell, and enlarge the kingdom of 
 Christ your Lord. 
 
 Go into the public assembly with a design (if God please) 
 to strike and persuade some souls there into repentance, 
 faith, holiness, and salvation ! Go to open blind eyes, to 
 unstop deaf ears, to make the lame walk, to make the fool- 
 ish wise, to raise those that are dead in trespasses and sins, 
 to a heavenly and divine life, and to bring guilty rebels to 
 return to the love and obedience of their maker, by Jesus 
 Christ, the great reconciler, that they may be pardoned 
 and saved ! Go to diffuse the savour of the name of 
 Christ and his gospel, through a whole assembly, and to 
 allure souls to partake of grace and glory ! 
 
 3. Go forth in the strength of Christ, for these glorious 
 effects are above your own strength, and transcend all 
 the powers of the brightest preachers ! " Be strong in the 
 grace which is in Christ Jesus;" — " without him we can do 
 
238 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 nothing." Go with a design to work v/onders of salvation 
 on sinful creatures, but in the strength of Jesus, who hath 
 all power given him in Heaven and earth, and hath pro- 
 mised to be with his ministers to the end of the world ! 
 Pray earnestly for the promised aids of the Spirit ; and 
 plead with God, who hath sent you forth in the service of 
 the gospel of his Son, that you may not return empty, but 
 bring in a fair harvest of converts to Heaven. It is the 
 Lord of the harvest who only can give this divine success 
 to the labourers. "He that planteth is nothing, and he 
 that watereth is nothing ; but all our hope is in God, who 
 giveth the increase." 
 
 4. Get the substance of your sermon, which you have 
 prepared for the pulpit, so wrought into your head and 
 heart, by review and meditation, that you may have it at 
 command, and speak to your hearers with freedom ; not as 
 if you were reading or repeating your lesson to them^ but 
 as a man sent to leach and persuade them to faith and 
 holiness. Deliver your discourses to the people, like a man 
 that is talking to them in good earnest about their most 
 important concerns, and their everlasting welfare ; like a 
 messenger sent from Heaven, who would fain save sinners 
 from Hell, and allure souls to God and happiness. Do 
 not indulge that lazy way of reading over your prepared 
 paper as a school-boy does an oration out of Livy or Cice- 
 ro, who has no concern in the things he speaks ; but let 
 all the warmest zeal for God and compassion for perishing 
 men animate your voice and countenance, and let the peo- 
 ple see and feel, as well as hear, that j^ou are speaking 
 to them about things of infinite moment, and in which 
 your own eternal interest lies as well as theirs. 
 
 5. If you pray and hope for the assistance of the Spirit 
 of God, in every part of your work, do not resolve always 
 
RULES FOR THE PREACHER's CONDUCT. 239 
 
 to confine yourself precisely to the mere words and 
 sentences which you have written down in your private 
 preparations. Far be it from me to encourage a preacher 
 to venture into public work without due preparation by 
 study, and a regular composition of his discourse. We 
 must not serve God with what costs us nothing. All our 
 wisest thoughts and cares are due to the sacred service ot 
 the temple : but what I mean is, that we should not impose 
 upon ourselves just such a number of precomposed words, 
 and lines to be delivered in the hour, without daring to 
 speak a warm sentiment that comes fresh upon the mind. 
 Why may you not hope for some lively turns of thought, 
 some new pious sentiments, which may strike light and 
 heat, and life into the understandings and the hearts of 
 those that hear you ? In the zeal of your ministrations, 
 why may you not expect some bright, and warm, and pa- 
 thetic forms of argument and persuasion, to offer them- 
 selves to your lips, for the more powerful conviction of 
 sinners, and the encouragement and comfort of humble 
 Christians ? 
 
 Have you not often found such an enlargement of 
 thought, such a variety of sentiment, and freedom of speech 
 in common conversation, upon an important subject, be- 
 yond what you were apprized of beforehand 1 — And why 
 should you forbid yourself this natural advantage in the 
 pulpit, and in the fervour of sacred ministrations, where 
 also you have more reason to hope for divine assistance ? 
 
 6. Here would be a proper place to interpose a few di- 
 rections concerning elocution, and the whole manner of de- 
 livery of your discourse to the people, which includes both 
 a voice, gesture, aud behaviour, suited to the subject and 
 design of every part of the sermon ; but the rules that are 
 necessary for this part of our work, are much bette de- 
 
240 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 rived from books written on this subject, from an observa- 
 tion of the best preachers, in order to imitate them, an 
 avoidance of that which we find offensive when we our- 
 selves are hearers. 
 
 If I had a design to go through the whole of the minis- 
 terial office, I should here also find a proper place to speak 
 of the manner of your performance of public prayer, of 
 your direction of that part of worship which is called 
 Psalmody, and of your ministration of the ordinance of 
 Baptism and the Lord's Supper ; but this would require 
 more time, and my chief design was to put you in mind of 
 a few useful things which relate to preaching. I proceed, 
 therefore, to the last particular. 
 
 7. Be very solicitous about the success of your labours 
 in the pulpit. Water the seed sown, not only with public, 
 but secret prayer. Plead with God importunately, that he 
 would not suffer you to labour in vain. Be not like that 
 foolish bird, the ostrich, which lays her eggs in the dust, 
 and leaves them there, regardless whether they come to 
 life or not : God hath not given her understanding. But 
 let not this folly be yourcharacter or practice : labour, and 
 watch, and pray, that your sermons and the fruit of your 
 studies may become words of divine life to souls. 
 
 It is an observation of pious Mr. Baxter, which I have 
 read somewhere in his works, That he has never known 
 any considerable success from the brighest and noblest ta- 
 lents, nor the most excellent kind of preaching, and that 
 even where the preachers themselves have been truly reli- 
 gious, if they have not had a solicitous concern for the suc- 
 cess of their ministrations. Let the awful and important 
 thought of souls being saved by my preaching, or left to 
 perish and be condemned to Hell by my negligence ; I 
 say, let this awful and tremendous thought dwell ever upon 
 
RULES FOR THE PREACHER's CONDUCT. 241 
 
 your spirit. We are made watchmen to the house of Is- 
 rael, as Ezekiel was ; and if we give no warning of ap- 
 preaching danger, the souls of multitudes may perish 
 through our neglect ; but the blood of souls will be terri- 
 bly required at our hands. 
 
 IV. Take heed to your whole conversation in the world ; 
 let that be managed not only as becomes a professor of 
 Christianity, but as becomes a minister of the gospel of 
 Christ. Now, amongst other rules which may render your 
 conversation agreeable to your character, I entreat you to 
 take these ^ew into your thoughts. 
 
 1. Let it be blameless and inoffensive. Be vigilant, be 
 temperate in all things, not only as a soldier of Christ, but 
 as an under-leader of part of his army. Be temperate, and 
 abstain sometimes even from lawful delights, that you may 
 make the work of self-denial easy, and that you may bear 
 hardship as becomes a soldier; but always watchful, lest 
 you be too much entangled with the affairs of this life, that 
 you may better please him who has chosen you for an 
 officer in his battalions, and that you may not be easily 
 surprised into the snares of sin. Guard against a love of 
 pleasure, a sensual temper, an indulgence of appetite, an 
 excessive relish of wine or dainties : these carnalize the 
 soul, and give occasion to the world to reproach us but 
 too justly. 
 
 2. Let your conversation be exemplary in all the duties 
 
 of holiness and virtue ; in all the instances of worship and 
 
 piety toward God, and in those of justice, honour and 
 
 hearty benevolence towards men. Be forward and ready 
 
 to engage in every good word and work, that you may be 
 
 a pattern and a leader of the flock ; that you may be able 
 
 to address the people committed to your care in the lan- 
 21 
 
242 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 guage of the blessed apostle, "Be ye followers of me, even 
 as I also am of Christ." " Brethren, be followers together 
 of me, and mark them which walk so, as ye have us for 
 an example ; for our conversation is in Heaven." " Those 
 things, which ye have both learned and received, and 
 heard and seen in me, do you practice, and the God of 
 peace shall be with you." 
 
 3. Let your conversation be grave and manly, yet plea- 
 sant and engaging. Let it be grave, manly, and venera- 
 ble. Remember your station in the Church, that you sink 
 not into levity and vain trifling, that you indulge not any 
 ridiculous humours or childish follies, below the dignity of 
 your character : keep up the honour of your office among 
 men, by a remarkable sanctity of manners, by a decent 
 and manly deportment. Remember, that our station does 
 not permit any of us to set up for a buffoon ; nor will it be 
 any glory to us to excel in farce and comedy. Let otliers 
 obtain the honour of being good jesters, and of having it 
 in their power to spread a laugh round the company when 
 they please ; but let it be our ambition to act on the stage 
 of life, as men who are devoted to the service of the God 
 of Heaven, to the real benefit of mankind on earth, and to 
 their eternal interest. 
 
 Yet there is no need that your behaviour should have 
 anything stiff or haughiy, anything sullen or gloomy in 
 it. There is an art of pleasing in conversation, that will 
 maintain the honour of a superior office, without a morose 
 silence, without an affected stiffness, and without a haughty 
 superiority. A pleasant story may proceed, without of- 
 fence, from a minister's lips ; but he should never aim at 
 the title of a Man of Mirth, nor abound in such tales as 
 carry no useful instruction in them, no lessons of piety, or 
 wisdom, or virtue. 
 
RULES FOR THE PREACHER's CONDUCT. 243 
 
 Let a cheerful freedom, a generous friendship, and an 
 innocent pleasure, generally appear on your countenance ; 
 and let your speech be ever kind and affectionate. Do not 
 put on any forbidding airs, nor let the humblest soul be 
 atVaid to speak to you. Let your whole carriage be civil 
 and affable ; let your address to men be usually open and 
 free, such as may allure persons to be open and free with 
 you in the important concerns of their souls. Seek, as far 
 as possible, to obtain all your pious designs, by sofl and 
 gentle methods of persuasion. 
 
 If you are ever called to the unpleasing and painful work 
 of reproof, this may be done effectually, upon some occa- 
 sions, without speaking a word. When vicious, or un- 
 cleanly, or unbecoming speeches arise in public conversa- 
 tion, a sudden silence, with assumed gravity, will often be 
 a sensible and sufficient reproof. Or where words of ad- 
 monition may not be proper, because of the company, 
 sometimes a sudden departure may be the best way to ac- 
 quaint them with your disapprobation. 
 
 But there are cases wherein such a tacit rebuke is not 
 sufficient to answer your character and your office. Some- 
 times it is necessary for a minister to bear a public and 
 express witness against shocking immorality, or against 
 vile and impious discourse. Yet, in general, it must be 
 said, if a reproof can be given in secret, it is best, and most 
 likely to prevail upon the offender, because it less irritates 
 his passions, nor awakens his pride to vindicate himself, 
 and to despise all reproof. 
 
 Whensoever Providence calls you to this work, make it 
 appear to the transgressor that you do it with regret and 
 pain : let him see that you are not giving vent to your own 
 wrath, but seeking his interest and welfare ; and that were 
 it not for the honour of God and for his good, you would 
 
244 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 gladly excuse yourself from the ungrateful task ; and that 
 it is a work in which your spirit takes no delight. If the 
 case and circumstances require some speeches that are 
 awful and severe, let it appear still that your love and pity 
 are the prevailing passions ; and that even your anger has 
 something divine and holy in it, as being raised and pointed 
 against the sin rather than against the sinner. 
 
 Study to make the whole of your carriage and discourse 
 amongst men so engaging, as may invite strangers to love 
 you, and allure them to love religion for your sake. 
 
 4. In order to attain the same end, let your conversation 
 be attended with much self-denial and meekness ; avoid 
 the character of humorist, nor be unreasonably fond of 
 little things, nor peevish for the want of them. Suppress 
 rising passion early. If you are providentially led into 
 argument and dispute, whether on themes of belief or prac- 
 tice, be very watchful lest you run into fierce contention, 
 into angry and noisy debate. Guard against every word 
 that savours of malice, or of bitter strife : watch against 
 the first stirrings of sudden wrath or resentment : bear 
 with patience the contradiction of others, and forbear to 
 return railing for railing. A minister must be gentle, and 
 not apt to strive, but meekly instructing gainsayers. 
 
 , He should never be ready either to give or take offence ; 
 but he should teach his people to neglect and bury resent- 
 ment, to be deaf to reproaches, and to forgive Injuries, by 
 his own example, even as God has forgiven all of us. Let 
 us imitate his divine pattern, who cancels and forgives our 
 infinite ofiences for the sake of Christ. " A bishop must 
 not be a brawler or a striker ;" but such as the apostle 
 was, " gentle among the people, even as a nurse cherishes 
 her children ;" and being affectionately desirous of their 
 welfare, we should be willing to impart not only the gos- 
 
KULES FOR THE PREACHER's CONDUCT. 245 
 
 pel of God to them, but any thing that is dear to us, for 
 the salvation of their souls. 
 
 Never suffer any differences, if possible, to arise between 
 you and any of the people who are committed to your care, 
 or attend on your ministrations ; this will endanger the 
 success of your best labours among them, and, for this 
 reason, though you visit families with freedom, yet avoid 
 all unnecessary inquiries into their domestic affairs by a 
 prying curiosity ; the pleasure of such secrets will never 
 pay for the danger that attends them; — and your own 
 business is sufficient for you. 
 
 Avoid entering into any of the little private and personal 
 quarrels that may arise among them, unless Providence 
 give you an evident call to become a peace-maker; but 
 even in this blessed work there is some danger of diso- 
 bliging one side or the other; for though both sides are 
 often to blame, yet each supposes himself so much in the 
 right, that your softest and most candid intimation of their 
 being culpable, even in little things, will sometimes awaken 
 the jealousy of one or both parties against you. This will 
 tend to abate their esteem of you, and give a coldness to 
 their attention on your sacred services. We had need be 
 wise as -serpents in this case, and harmless as doves. 
 
 5. Let your conversation be as fruitful and edifying as 
 your station and opportunities will allow. Wheresoever 
 you come, use your utmost endeavours that the world may- 
 be the better for you. If it be the duty of every Christian, 
 much more is it the indispensable duty of a minister of 
 Christ to take heed that no corrupt communication proceed 
 out of his mouth, but that which is good for edification, 
 that it may minister grace to the hearers. 
 
 In your private visits to the members of your flock, or 
 
 to the houses of those who attend on your ministry, depart 
 21* 
 
246 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANjUAL. 
 
 not without putting in, if possible, some word for God and 
 religion, for Christ and his gospel : take occasion from 
 common occurrences that arise, artfully and insensibly to 
 introduce some discourse of things sacred. Let it be done 
 with prudence and holy skill, that the company may be 
 led into it ere they are aware. The ingenious Mr. Norris' 
 little Discourse on Religious Conversation, and Mr. Mat- 
 thew Henry's Sermon on Friendly Visits, have many ex- 
 cellent and valuable hints in them for our use. 
 
 It is to be confessed, that the best of ministers and Chris- 
 tians sometimes fall into such company, that it is hardly 
 possible to speak a word for God and the gospel among 
 them. Try then whether you cannot lead the discourse 
 to some useful theme in matters of science, art and inge- 
 nuity, or to rules of prudence, morality, or human conduct. 
 There is a time of keeping silence, and restraining our lips 
 as with a bridle, even from every thing that is piously 
 good, while some sort of wicked men stand before us. 
 The best men are sometimes dumb with silence, and dare 
 not speak of God or religion, lest they should cast their 
 pearls before swine, and give their holy things to dogs; 
 and lest they should provoke the unclean or the envious 
 animals to foam out their impurities, or to turn again and 
 rend them ; but 1 doubt this caution has been carried much 
 farther by our own cowardice and carnality of spirit than 
 David practised it, or than Jesus Christ meant it, in the 
 seventh chapter of Matthew. Let us take heed then that 
 we abuse not this prudent caution to manifest neglect of 
 our duty, and to withhold our lips from the things of God, 
 where Providence gives us a fair opportunity to speak of 
 them. 
 
 Now and then take occasion to speak a kind and reli- 
 gious word to the children of the household ; put them in 
 
RULES FOK THE TREACHER'S CONDUCT. 247 
 
 mind of avoiding some childish folly, or of practisinn- some 
 duty that belongs to their age. Let your memory be well 
 furnished with the words of Scripture, suited to the several 
 ages of mankind, as well as to the various occasions of 
 life, that, out of the abundance of the heart, your mouth 
 may speak to the advantage of all "that hear you, and par- 
 ticularly to that of the younger parts of mankind, who are 
 the hopes of the next generation. Make the lambs of the 
 flock love you, and hear your voice with delight, that they 
 may grow up under your instruction to fill up the room of 
 their fathers when they are called away to Heaven : nor 
 let servants be utterly neglected, where Providence may 
 afford you an opportunity to speak a word to their souls. 
 
 He that has the happy talent of parlour-preaching, has 
 sometimes done more for Christ and souls in the space of 
 a few minutes, than by the labour of many hours and days, 
 in the usual course of preaching in the pulpit. Our char- 
 acter should be all of a piece, and we should help forward 
 the success of our public ministrations, by our private ad- 
 dresses to the hearts and consciences of men, where Provi- 
 dence favours us with just occasions. 
 
 In order to promote this work of particular vvatchfulness 
 over the flock of Christ, where he has made you a shep- 
 herd and overseer, it is useful to keep a catalogue of their 
 names, and now and then review them with a pastoral eye 
 and affection. This will awaken and incline you to lift up 
 proper petitions for each of them, so far as you are ac- 
 quainted with their circumstances in body or mind. This 
 will excite you to give thanks to God on account of those 
 who walk as becomes the gospel, and who have either be- 
 gun, or proceeded and increased in the Christian life and 
 temper by your ministry : you will observe the names of 
 the negligent and backsliding Christians, to mourn over 
 
248 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR'^ BIANUAL. 
 
 them and admonish ihem: you will be put in mind how to 
 dispose of your time in Christian visits, and learn the bet- 
 ter to fulfil your whole ministry among them. 
 
 V. The things which I have spoken hitherto, have been 
 a display of the best methods I can think of, for the exe- 
 cution of the sacred office of the ministry ; and so far as 
 they are conformable to the word of God, we may venture 
 to say, these are your duties, my dear brother, and these 
 are ours. It remains now to be considered, in what man- 
 ner shall we enforce them on our own consciences, and on 
 yours? What solemn obtestations shall I use to press 
 these momentous concerns on all our hearts? What pa- 
 thetic language shall I choose, what words of awful efficacy 
 and divine fervour, which may first melt our spirits into 
 softness, and then imprint these duties upon them with last- 
 ing power? We exhort and charge you, we exhort and 
 charge ourselves, by all that is serious and sacred-, by all 
 that is important and everlasting, by all the solemn trans- 
 actions between God and man which are past, and by all 
 the more solemn and awiul scenes which are yet to come; 
 by all things in our holy religion which are dreadful and 
 tremendous, and by all things in this gospel which are 
 glorious and amiable, heavenly and divine. We charge 
 you by all that is written in this book of God, according to 
 which we shall be judged in the last day, by all the infi- 
 nite and astonishing glories and terrors of an invisible 
 world, and an unseen eternity ; we charge and exhort you, 
 we exhort and charge ourselves, that we all take heed to 
 the ministry which we have received of the Lord Jesus, 
 that we fulfil it. 
 
 We charge you, and we charge ourselves by the decay- 
 ing interests of religion, and the withering state of Chris- 
 
RULES FOR THE PREACHEr's CONDUCT. 249 
 
 tianity at this day, that we do not increase this general and 
 lamentable decay, this growing and dreadful apostacy, by 
 our slothful and careless management of the trust which 
 is committed to us. It is a divine interest indeed, but de- 
 clining ; it is a heavenly cause, but among us it is sinking 
 and dying. O let us stir up our hearts, and all that is 
 within us, and strive mightily in prayer and in preaching 
 to revive the work of God, and beg earnestly that God, by 
 a fresh and abundant effusion of his Spirit, would revive, 
 his work among us. Revive thy own work, O Lord, in the 
 midst of these years of sin and degeneracy, nor let us la- 
 bour in vain ! Where is' thy zeal, O Lord, and thy strength, 
 the sounding of thy bowels and thy mercies ? Are they 
 restrained ? O let us rouse our souls with all holy fervour, 
 to fulfil our ministry, for it will be a dreadful reproach up- 
 on us, and a burden too heavy for us to bear, if we let the 
 cause of Christ and godliness die under our hands for want 
 of a lively zeal, and pious fervour and faithfulness in our 
 ministrations ! 
 
 We entreat, we exhort and charge you, and we charge 
 ourselves, by the solemn and awful circumstances of a dy- 
 ing bed, and the thoughts of conscience in that important 
 hour, when we shall enter into the world of spirits, that 
 we take heed to the ministry which we have received : 
 surely that hour is hastening upon us, when our heads will 
 lie upon a dying pillow. When a few more mornings and 
 evenings have visited our windows, the shadows of a long 
 night will begin to spread themselves over us ; in that 
 gloomy hour, conscience will review the behaviour of the 
 days that are past, will take account of the conduct of our 
 whole lives, and will particularly examine our labours and 
 cares in our sacred office. Oh, may we ever dread the 
 thoughts of making bitter work for repentance in that hour 
 
250 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 and of treasuring up terrors for a death-bed, by a careless 
 and useless ministry ! 
 
 We exhort and charge you, and we charge ourselves, 
 by our gathering together before the throne of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, and the solemn account we must there give 
 of the ministry with which he hath entrusted us, that we 
 prepare, by our present zeal and labour, to render that most 
 awful scene peaceful to our souls, and the issue of it joy- 
 ful and happy. Let us look forward to that illustrious and 
 tremendous appearance, when our Lord shall come with ten 
 thousands of his holy angels to inquire into the conduct of 
 men, and particularly of the ministers of his kingdom here 
 on earth. Let us remember that we shall be examined in 
 the light of the flames of that day, what we have done 
 with his gospel which he gave us to preach. What we 
 have done with his promises of rich salvation, which he 
 sent us to offer in his name ! What is become of the souls 
 committed to our care ! O that we may give up our ac- 
 count with joy, and not with grief, to the Judge of the liv- 
 ing and the dead, in that glorious, that dreadful and deci- 
 sive hour. 
 
 We charge and warn you, my dear brother, and warn 
 and charge ourselves, by all the terrors written in this di- 
 vine book, and by all the indignation and vengeance of 
 God, which we are sent to display before a sinful world ; 
 by all the torments and agonies of Hell which we are com- 
 missioned to denounce against impenitent sinners, in or- 
 der to persuade men to turn to God, and receive and obey 
 the gospel, that we take heed to our ministry that we fulfil 
 it. This vengeance and these terrors will fall upon our 
 souls, and that with intolerable weight, with double immor- 
 tal anguish, if we have trifled with these terrible solemni- 
 ties, and made no use of these awful scenes to awaken 
 
RULES FOR THE TREACHER'S CONDUCT. 251 
 
 men to lay hold of the offered grace of the gospel. Know- 
 ing, therefore, the terrors of the Lord, let us persuade men, 
 — for we must all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ, 
 to receive accordinor to our works. 
 
 In the last place, we entreat, we exhort and chai'ge you, 
 by all the joys of Paradise, and the blessings of an eternal 
 Heaven, which are our hope and support under all our la- 
 bours, and which, in the name of Christ, we offer to sinful, 
 perishing men, and invite them to partake thereof. Can 
 we speak of such joys and glories with a sleepy heart and 
 indolent language? Can we invite sinners, who are run- 
 ning headlong into Hell, to turn and partake of the felici- 
 ties, and not be excited to the warmest forms of address, 
 and the most lively and engaging methods of persuasion ? 
 What scenes of brightness and delight can animate the 
 lips and language of an orator, if the glories and the joys 
 of the Christian's Heaven and our immortal hopes cannot 
 do it 1 VVe charge and entreat you, therefore, and we 
 charge ourselves, by the shining recompenses which are 
 promised to faithful ministers, that we keep this glory ever 
 in view, and awaken our dying zeal in our sacred work. 
 
THE STUDENT AND PASTOR. 
 
 BY JOHN MASON, A. M. 
 PART I. 
 
 He that devotes himself to the work of the sacred min- 
 istry, should be continually intent on two things, viz. the 
 improvement of his own mind, and the minds of others in 
 the most important and useful knowledge. 
 
 This comprehends the whole office of a student and 
 pastor. 
 
 The business of a student is, to be so employed, as to be 
 continually making some valuable accessions to his own 
 intellectual furniture. To which five things are necessary. 
 1. A proper distribution and management of his time. 2. A 
 right method of readinoj to advantao-e. 3. The order and 
 regulation of his studies. 4. The proper way of collect- 
 ing and preserving useful sentiments from books and Con- 
 versation. Lastly, The improvement of his thoughts when 
 alone. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 OF THE RIGHT DISTRIBUTION AND MANAGEMENT OF 
 OUR TIME. 
 
 A student should be as frugal of his time as a miser is 
 of his money ; should save it with as much care, and spend 
 it with as much caution : " To be careful how we manage 
 and employ our time is one of the first precepts that is 
 taught in the school of wisdom, and one of the last that is 
 
THE STUDENT AND PASTOR. 253 
 
 learnt. And 'tis a prodigious thing to consider that, al- 
 thouo-h amongst all the talents which are committed to our 
 stewardship, time (upon several accounts) is the most pre- 
 cious ; yet, there is not any one of which the generality of 
 men are more profuse and regardless. Nay, 'tis obvious 
 to observe that even those persons who are frugal and 
 thrifty in every thing else, are yet extremely prodigal of 
 their best revenue, time ; of which alone (as Seneca nobly 
 observed) His a virtue to he covetous.''''* And 'tis amaz- ^ 
 ing to think how much time may be gained by proper 
 economy;'!' and how much good literature may be acquired 
 if that gain be rightly applied. To this purpose, let the 
 following rules be observed: 
 
 1. Take particular notice of those things which are most 
 apt to rob you of your time. Upon such an inquest you 
 will probably detect the following thieves.:]: : t 
 
 1. The bed. Never allow yourself above six hours 
 sleep at most. Physicians all tell you that nature demands 
 no more for the proper recruits of health and spirits. All 
 beyond this is luxury ; no less prejudicial to the animal 
 constitution than intemperste meals ; and no less hurtful to 
 the powers of the mind than to those of the body. It in- 
 sensibly weakens and relaxes both. 
 
 2. Ceremonies and formal visits. They may sometimes 
 be necessary ; but if they can't be improved to some use- 
 ful purpose, the shorter they are the better. Much of this 
 time is spent to no purpose, and 'tis to be feared not a little 
 of it to bad purpose. 
 
 *Norris's MiseeU p. 118. 
 
 ■\ Ad summa perveniet nemo, nisi tempore, quo nihil esse fugaciua 
 constat, prudenter utatur. Kingel, de Rat. Stud. p. 100. 
 
 t O fures, O latrones, O tyrannos crudelissimos quorum consiiio 
 mihi unquam periit Hora ! Id. p. 104. 
 22 
 
5^54 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 3. Indolence is another thief of tinne. Indulging to a 
 slow, heavy, unactive disposition ; delaying, or deferring 
 necessary business to a future time, which ought to be set 
 about immediately; idle musing, or indulging in vain, chi- 
 merical imaginations. This is very natural to some, and 
 as unnatural to others ; and commonly leads to another 
 and greater waste of time, viz. 
 
 4. Sloth and idleness. No man takes more pains than 
 the slothful man. Indolence and ease are the rust of the 
 mind. No habit grows faster by indulgence, exposes to 
 more temptations, or renders a man more uneasy to him- 
 self, or more useless to others.* 
 
 5. Reading useless books. And those books may be 
 called useless to you which you either do not understand 
 or if you do, afford you neither solid improvement nor suit- 
 able entertainment. And especially pernicious books, or 
 such as tend to give the mind a wrong turn or bad tincture. 
 
 6. Much time is often lost by a wrong method of study- 
 ing, and especially by applying to those branches of learn- 
 ing which have no connexion with the great end you pro- 
 pose. Why should a divine affect the Civilian? or dive 
 into the depths of politics? or be ambitious to excel in the 
 abstrusest parts of mathematical science ? He has spent 
 much time and labour in these disquisitions, and at last 
 gained his point. But after all his expense, what is he the 
 better preacher or the better man ? In every undertaking 
 (especially when we enter upon a new course of study) we 
 should remember the cui bono ; and ask ourselves how far 
 this is like to improve our usefulness, or add to our reputa- 
 
 * QuaeJam tempora eripiuntur (sc : negotiis) nobis, qusedam sub- 
 ducuntur (amicis), qusedam effluunt (inertia): turpissima taraen egt 
 jactura quae per negligentiam venit. Sen. Ep. 1. 
 
THE STUDENT AND PASTOR. 255 
 
 tioa under that character we are about to sustain, and 
 wherein we aim at some degree of distinction. 
 
 Lastly. Much time is lost by an unnatural bent of the 
 mind to a study to which it is not disposed ; or by which 
 the faculties are already fatigued, it will find great relief 
 by a change of employment. A man that rides post to 
 save time would not choose to be always spurring a jaded 
 horse, but will rather change him for a fresh one, whereby 
 he makes a speedier progress with more ease to himself. 
 Nil invitd Minerva, The activity of the mind is so great 
 that it often finds more relief and refreshment by turning 
 to a new track of thinking, different from that it was tired 
 in, than it does from a total relaxation of thought in mere 
 bodily exercise ; which shows that 'tis not labour that tires 
 it, so much as a dull uniformity of employment ; since it 
 is more refreshed by variety than rest.* 
 
 2. Let your most precious time (viz. that wherein the 
 thouo-hts are most composed and free) be sacred to the 
 most serious and important studies. Give the morning to 
 composition, or the reading some valuable author of anti- 
 quity with whom it is worth your while to be well ac- 
 quainted. The afternoon will suffice for history, chrono- 
 logy, politics, news, travels, geography, and the common 
 run of pamphlets : and let books of entertainment amuse 
 a dull hour, when you are fit for nothing else. To apply 
 your early time, or fresh thoughts to these, is like drinking 
 wine in a morning ; and giving too much of our time and 
 thoughts to them, is like drinking the same intoxicating 
 liquor to excess, and will have the same effect on the mind 
 as that has on the body. 
 
 * Post Lectione seu stylo defessus nihil nitor repugnante natura : 
 sed exercitii genus aliud quaero, quo tjedium varietas minuat. Rin. 
 de Rat. Stud. p. HO. 
 
256 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 3. Remember to be always before-hand with your busi- 
 ness, post est occasio calva. Whatever must be done now 
 as well as hereafter, for that very reason had better be done 
 now. This is a prudent maxim in life, applicable to a 
 thousand cases; and of no less advantage to a student than 
 a tradesman. Defer nothing to the very last, lest some 
 intervening accident should prevent the execution of an 
 important purpose, or put you into a hurry in the prosecu- 
 tion of it. And what is done with precipitance and haste 
 seldom succeeds so well, or is executed with that accuracy 
 and discretion, as what is the effect of more mature and 
 deliberate thought. A traveller that must reach his home 
 in a given time, would not be thought discreet if, by loiter- 
 ing at the beginning of his journey, he is forced to run 
 himself out of breath at the end. 
 
 4. That time is not lost, but improved, which is spent in 
 those exercises which are necessary to invigorate and 
 strengthen the faculties for harder work, or to preserve a 
 good stale of health or spirits; as eating, drinking, sleep- 
 ino", physic, bodily exercise, recreations, and the like. 
 Because through a neglect of these, a student may contract 
 a bad habit of body or mind ; or so far impair his consti- 
 tution as to render him a long time unfit for useful ser- 
 vice. But (Est modus in rebus, &c.) an excess of these 
 things defeats their end, and is as prejudicial to health, as a 
 discreet and moderate u^e of them is conducive to it.* 
 
 * Such diversions as his (viz. the clergyman's) health or the tem- 
 per of his mind, may render proper for him, ought to be manly, de- 
 cent, and grave ; and such as may neither posses his mind or time too 
 much, nor give a bad character of him to others. His cheerfulness 
 ought to be frank, but neither excessive nor Hcentious. His friends 
 and his garden ought to be his chief diversions, and his study his chief 
 employment. — Burnet's Dis. of the Past. Care, ch. 8. 
 
THE STUDENT AND PASTOR. 257 
 
 Lastly. Enter upon nothing but what you are determined 
 to pursue and finish. Much time is often lost by vain at- 
 tempts, and leaving useful designs imperfect. For as he 
 who begins to build a house, but never completes it, must 
 set down to his loss the greatest part of his money thus 
 expended : so a student who desists from a work {re infectd) 
 wherein he has taken much pains, is chargeable with as 
 fruitless an expense of his time as the other is of his 
 money.* 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE WAY TO READ AUTHORS TO ADVANTAGE. 
 
 A student should be as careful what books he reads, as 
 what company he keeps. They both leave the same tinc- 
 ture on the mind. 
 
 1. Don't read indiscriminately; nor indulge a curiosity 
 of perusing every new book that comes out ; nor desire to 
 read it, 'till from the known ability of the author, or the 
 information of some judicious friend, you know 'tis worth 
 your reading. — The curiosity of Vanillus to be personally 
 acquainted with men and their characters, leads him into 
 all company when he is at Bath; and when he hears of a 
 new stranger he is uneasy 'till he knows him, and is able 
 to give others a description of his person, equipage and 
 family. By this turn of temper Vanillvs loses much time 
 
 * If you are writing a book, or engaged in any work which re- 
 quires much time and pains to execute, lay it down as a rule to let 
 no day pass, without putting a hand to it. JVulla dies sine linea, 
 will carry you (like a steady traveller) a vast length in one year, 
 
 22* 
 
258 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 which would be more agreeably and profitably spent in the 
 conversation of a few select friends. He knows men, but 
 not human nature. — There is a wide difference between a 
 man of reading, and a man of learning. One can't read 
 every thing; and if we could, we should be never the 
 wiser. The bad would spoil the good, fill our minds with 
 a confused medley of sentiments, and desires, and the end 
 of reading would be quite defeated for want of time and 
 power to improve and practice. A man that eats of every 
 dish at table, overloads his stomach, is sick and digests 
 nothing. He had better have fasted.* 
 
 2. Lay aside the fruitless inclination of reading a trifling 
 author quite through, in hopes of finding something better 
 at the end. You are sure of findinsj something better in 
 another on the same subject. Therefore lose not a cer- 
 tainty for the sake of a mere possibility. Why should 
 you confine yourself to listen to the impertinence of one 
 man, when by only turning your back, you may be enter- 
 tained and improved by the more pleasing and instructive 
 conversation of another? 
 
 3. Observe the characteristical beauties of your author. 
 Every good writer has his peculiar felicity, his distinguish- 
 ing excellence. Some excel in style ; entertain us with 
 easy, natural language ; or with an elegance and propriety 
 of expression ; or delight us with their florid, smoo'h, and 
 well turned periods. Some love a figurative, diffuse and 
 flowing style. Others quite a plain, rational, discursive 
 one. Each have their excellence. But the most elegant 
 is that which is most natural, proper, and expressive; it 
 
 * Distrahit antmum librorum multitude Fastidientis stomachi 
 
 multa degustare, quae ubi varia sunt et diversa inquinant, non alunt. 
 Sen. Ep. 1. 
 
THE STUDENT AND PASTOR. 259 
 
 can't then be too short and plain, both to delight and in- 
 struct ; the two great ends of language. A style over- 
 loaded with studied ornaments grows prolix ; and prolixity 
 always weakens or obscures the sentiment it would express. 
 No decorations of well-chosen words, or harmony of ca- 
 dence can alone for this fault. Such a style is like a lady 
 who, in adorning her person, spoils a good shape by a 
 tawdry dress, and a fine face by paint and patches. And 
 both proceed from the same affectation in preferring the 
 embellishments of art to those of nature, whose charms 
 are infinitely more powerful and pleasing. — Others excel 
 in sentiments. Those sentiments strike us with most plea- 
 sure that are strong, or clear, or soft, or sublime, pathetic, 
 just, or uncommon. Whatever has the most weight and 
 brevity finds the quickest way to the heart. — Others excel 
 in method ; in a natural disposition of the subject, and an 
 easy, free, familiar way of communicating thoughts to the 
 understanding. Nothing is very striking. You approve 
 and are well pleased with your author, and you scarce 
 know for what. This resembles the Jc ne sais quoi, tovt 
 agredble in the very humour, turn and air of some people 
 we converse with. — Others are very happy in their man 
 ner and way of conveying clear, rational, solid arguments 
 and instructions to the mind, which arrest your attention 
 command your approbation, and force your assent at once 
 You see every thing in broad day, in a fair, and strong 
 and proper light. A perfect writer has all these excel 
 lencies of style, sentiment, method and manner united 
 A judicious reader will observe in which of them his author 
 most excels. 
 
 4. From all your authors choose one or two for your 
 model, by which to form your style and sentiments; and 
 let them be your Enchiridia, your pocket-companions. 
 
260 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 Consult and imitate them every day, till you are not only 
 master of their style and sentiments, but imbibe their spirit. 
 But be very cautious both in your choice and imitation, lest 
 with their excellencies you adopt their faults, to which an 
 excessive veneration for them may make you blind.* 
 
 5. If your author have an established reputation ; and 
 you don't relish him, suspect your own taste and judgment. 
 Perhaps something has biassed your mind against him : 
 find it out and compare it with those beauties which charm 
 his other readers more than all his blemishes offend them.| 
 Or perhaps you do not understand him ; then 'tis no won- 
 der you don't admire him. If your judgment be good 'tis 
 a sure sign your author is so when the more you read him 
 the more you like him. A good friend and a good book 
 are known by this ; they grow in your esteem as you 
 grow in acquaintance with them. 
 
 When you meet with such an author on any subject, 
 stick by him, make yourself master of him. You will dis- 
 cover new beauties in him every time you read him, and 
 regret not that you are unread in the common rubbish. 
 Some books better deserve to be read through ten times 
 than others once.f 
 
 6. Before you sit down to a book taste it, i. e. examine 
 the title-page, preface, contents and index ; then turn to 
 
 * Certis ingeniis immorari et innutriri oportet, si velis aliquid at- 
 
 trahere quod in animo fideliter redeat probates itaque semper 
 
 lege, et siquando ad alios divertere libuerit, ad priores redi. Id. et 
 Ibid. 
 
 j- ubi plura nitent in carmine, non ego paucis 
 
 Offendar Maculis, quas aut Incuria fudit, 
 Aut humana parum cavit natura. 
 
 Hor. de Art. Poet. 1. 350. 
 t — decies repetita placebunt. Juv. 
 
THE STUDENT AND PASTOR. 261 
 
 the place where some important article is discussed: ob- 
 serve the writer's diction, argument, method and manner 
 of treating it. And if after two or three such trials you 
 find he is obscure, confused, pedantic, shallow or trifling, 
 depend upon it he is not worth your reading. 
 
 Lastly, if the book be your own, make marks at the 
 margin against those passages where the sentiment is well 
 conceived or expressed, and worth your remembering or 
 retailing; or transfer it into your common-place book un- 
 der the head your author is treating of: or at least a refer- 
 ence to it.* In reading an ancient Latin or Greek 
 
 author, it will be a help to the memory to transcribe the 
 passages that struck you most, in the spare leaves at the 
 beginning or end of the book in English, and by thus skim- 
 ming off the cream you will have it always ready for use. 
 If you meet with a happy expression or even one well- 
 chosen word on any subject, which you may have occa- 
 sion to use, (and wish it might occur to you when you are 
 at a loss for expressions) mark it and make it your own 
 
 for ever.f Thus you will read with taste and profit, 
 
 and avoid the censure which falls upon — 
 
 A bookish blockhead ignorantly read 
 With loads of learned lumber in his head. 
 
 * Inter legendum auctorem non oscitanter observabis, si quod inci- 
 dat insigne verbum, si quod argumentum, aut inventum acute, aut 
 tortum apte, si qua scntentia digna quae memorise commendetur : is- 
 que locus erit apta notula quapiam insigniendus. — Eras?n. de Hat. 
 Stud. 
 
 f Qanto pluris feceris exiguum proventum, tanto ad altiora doc- 
 trinae vestigia es evasurus. Qui vilissimos quosque nummos admi- 
 rantur, intuentur crebro, ct servant accurate ad summas sa;penumero 
 divilias perveniunt ; pari modo, si quis aptarit sudorum mctam bene 
 scribere, discat mirari bene scripla, discat gaudere, si vel nomina 
 duo conjunxerit venuste. Rin. de Rat. Stud. p. 111. 
 
262 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 HOW TO STUDY TO ADVANTAGE. 
 
 Here we must consider both the subjects and method. 
 
 As to the subjects of your Study. 
 
 Consider what will make you most eminent and useful 
 in your profession ; * this kind of study is to be your seri- 
 ous business, and daily and diligently prosecuted. In all 
 your reading keep this point in view. \ traveller should 
 have his right road and the end of his journey always in 
 his eye, whatever little diversions or excursions he may 
 indulge by the way. You may sometimes be, nescio quid 
 meditans nugaruin, but dont be totus in illis.'\ 
 
 To an acquaintance with books join the study of human 
 nature. Your own heart, passions, temper, humour, habits 
 and dispositions, will be the books you have most need to 
 consult on this subject.:]: For human nature in the main 
 strokes of it, is much the same in all the human species. § 
 Next to this your observations on the ways and charac- 
 
 * Quisquis verbum domini statuit sincere prsedicare, perpetuus et 
 assiduus sit oportet in sancti propositi meditatione, ut sibi constent 
 omnia vitas studia. Eras. Eccl. p. 6, 7. 
 
 Quemadmodum enim non inscite dixit quidam,eura eruditum ap- 
 pellandum esse, non quididicerit plurima, sed qui optima maximaque 
 nesessaria; ita non est necesse ut futurus Ecclesiastes in quibuslibet 
 consumat operam atque tetatem — sed eaprimum acpotissimum dis- 
 cat quae ad doccndi munus sunt accommodatissima, Id. p. 92, 93. 
 
 fHor. Sat. L. 1. S. 9. 
 
 + Vid. Self-Knowledge, Part. 1. Ch. 9—11. 
 
 § Les hommes sont a-peu-pres tous fails de la meme maniere ; et 
 ainsi ce qui nous a touche, les touchera aussi. Ostervald de I'exer- 
 cice du Ministere. p. 134. 
 
THE STUDENT AND PASTOR. 263 
 
 ters and tempers of men, will be of great help to you; 
 together with some books where human nature is strongly 
 and finely painted, in its various shapes and appearances. 
 
 'Tis not beneath the Christian philosopher to take some 
 pains to be acquainted with the world ; or the humours, 
 manners, forms, ceremonies, characters and customs of 
 men ; at least so far as is necessary to avoid singularity 
 and a disagreeable awkwardness, and to preserve a de- 
 corum^ and an easy address in all company. 
 
 A student should not think any thing unworthy his at- 
 tention and notice, that has a tendency either to make him 
 more agreeable, or more useful to others. Some regard 
 is therefore due to dress, behaviour, the usual form of civili- 
 ty, and whatever contributes to the art of pleasing. Among 
 these 1 would particularly recommend a habit of express- 
 ing his sentiments freely and properly upon any subject. 
 Let his style and language be studied principally with this 
 view. 
 
 As to the method of studying to advantage. 
 
 Pray for a divine blessing on your studies; that God 
 would guide you into the most useful knowledge and all 
 important truths; direct your subjects, and assist your 
 meditations upon them. 
 
 Procure a collection of the best and most approved books, 
 which treat of the sciences you chiefly desire to cultivate, 
 and make yourself master of them in the way before pre- 
 scribed. 
 
 Consult your own genius and inclination in the study 
 you intend to pursue ; you will else row against the tide, 
 and make no progress that is either comfortable or credita- 
 ble to yourself. 
 
 Compose your spirits, fix your thoughts, and be wholly 
 intent on the subject in hand. Never pretend to study 
 
264 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR 's MANUAL. 
 
 whilst the mind is not recovered from a hurry of cares, or 
 the perturbations of passion. Such abrupt and violent 
 transitions is a discipline to which it will not easily submit, 
 especially if it has not been well managed, and long ac- 
 customed to it. Aurora Musis arnica^ necnon vespera : 
 because the mind is then commonly most free and disen- 
 gaged. 
 
 Let the scene of your studies be a place of silence and 
 solitude ; where you may be most free from interruption 
 and avocation. 
 
 When you have a mind to improve a single thought, or 
 to be clear in any particular point, don't leave it till you are 
 master of it. View it in every light. Try how many 
 ways you can express it, and which is the shortest and 
 best. Would you enlarge upon it ; hunt it down from au- 
 thor to author : some of which will suggest hints concern- 
 ing it, which perhaps never occurred to you before: and 
 give every circumstance its weight. Thus by being mas- 
 ter of every subject, as you proceed, though you make but 
 a small progress in reading, you will make a speedy one 
 in useful knowledge. To leave matters undetermined, and 
 the mind unsatisfied in what we study, is but to multiply 
 half notions, introduce confusion, and is the way to make 
 a pedant, but not a scholar. 
 
 Go to the fountain-head. Read original authors rather 
 than those who translate or retail their thoughts. It will 
 give you more satisfaction, more certainty, more judgment 
 and more confidence when those authors are the subjects 
 of conversation, than you can have by taking your know- 
 ledge of them at second hand. It is trusting to translations, 
 quotations, and epitomes, that makes so many half scholars 
 go impertinently wise. 
 
 Finally. Be patient of labour. The more you accus- 
 
THE STUDENT AND PASTOR. 265 
 
 torn yourself to laborious thinking, the better you will bear 
 it. But take care the mind be not jaded.* 
 
 If divinity be your peculiar study, observe the following 
 rules. 
 
 1. Be critically expert in the original Scriptures of the 
 Bible, and read a chapter in Hebrew, and another in Greek 
 every day. And especially observe the different senses in 
 which the same original word is used by the same author : 
 this often throws a great light on his meanino-. 
 
 2. When you have found what you take to be your au- 
 thor's own sense, keep to that, and admit of no vague, un- 
 certain, orconjectural constructions, whatever doctrine they 
 may discountenance or favour. 
 
 3. Be sure to make the sacred Scripture the source, 
 standard, and rule of all your theological sentiments. 
 Take them from it, bring them to it, and try them by it. 
 
 4. Make yourself master of some short well chosen sys- 
 tem of Divinity, for the sake of method and memory; but 
 take care, (Nullius in verhum jurare magistri) that you 
 be not swayed by the credit of any human names in mat- 
 ters of divine faith. Let reason, evidence and argument, 
 be the only authorities to which you submit. Remember 
 'tis truth you seek ; and seek her (as you would do any 
 thing else) in the place where she is most likely to be found. 
 
 * Socrates ille non hominum modo, verum etiam Apollinis Oracu- 
 lo, sapientissimus judicatus, et perennis philosophiae fons, dicere so- 
 let; radicem quidem eruditionis per amarum esse, sed fructum ha- 
 bere jucundissimum ; initioque magnos adferre labores, sed honestis- 
 simum sudantibus proemium reponere. Ergo, tu, quisquis es, cui 
 ignea vis in pectore exarsit, cui flamma in praecordiis micat, procul, 
 procul absint mollia, lenia, facilia, blanda, quae animi impetum extin- 
 guere solent. Dura petamus, &c. Vid. Ringelbergius de ratione 
 Studii, p. 13. 
 
 23 
 
266 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 5. Divest yourself as much as possible of all preposses- 
 sion in favour of, or prejudice against any particular party- 
 names and notions. Let the mind be equally balanced, or 
 it will never rightly determine the weight of arguments. 
 Prejudice in one scale will outweigh much solid truth in 
 the other : and under such a prepossession, the mind only 
 observes which balance preponderates, not what it is that 
 turns it. 
 
 6. Cultivate a proper sense of the imbecility of the hu- 
 man mind and its proneness to error, both in yourself and 
 others. This will guard you against a dogmatical confi- 
 dence in defence of your own opinions, and arm you 
 against the influence of it in others. And, on the con- 
 trary, endeavour after a meek, humble, teachable temper ; 
 which, from the highest authority we are sure, is the best 
 disposition of mind, to seek and receive divine truth. 
 
 7. Be not fond of controversy. Theological altercations 
 have in all ages been the bane of real religion, and the 
 fatal source of unknown mischief to true Christianity. It 
 sours the temper, confounds the judgment, excites malevo- 
 lence, foments feuds, and banishes love from the heart : 
 and in fine, is the Devil's most successful engine to depre- 
 ciate and destroy the principles of vital piety. Let the 
 
 controversies you read be the most important, viz. those 
 against the deists and papists. And read only the best 
 authors upon them. Among whom you will find none to 
 exceed the late bishop of London and Dr. Leland in the 
 former, and Dr. Tillotson and Chillingworth in the latter. 
 
 8. Avoid theological minutenesses. Lay no stress on 
 trifles : as you see many do, either from a wrong educa- 
 tion, or a weak turn of mind : Reserve your zeal for the 
 most important subjects, and throw it not away upon little 
 things. 
 
THE STUDENT AND PASTOR. 267 
 
 Lastly, let none but the best writers in divinity be your 
 favourites. And those are the best writers who at once 
 discover a clear head and a good heart ; solid sense and 
 serious piety, where faith and reason, devotion and judg- 
 ment go hand in hand. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE METHOD OF COLLECTING AND PRESERVING USEFUL 
 THOUGHTS FROM CONVERSATION. 
 
 Whenever it can be done without affectation and pedan- 
 try, turn the conversation on the subject you have been 
 reading last, if you know it to be suitable to your com- 
 pany ; and introduce your maturest observations upon 
 it. This will fix it in your memory, especially if it be- 
 comes matter of debate.* For the mind is never more 
 tenacious of any principles, than those it has been warm- 
 ly engaged in the defence of. And in the course of 
 such debate you may perhaps view them in a new light ; 
 and be able to form a better judgment of them, and be ex- 
 cited to examine them with more care. Intercourse awak- 
 ens the powers, whets the mind, and rubs off the rust it is 
 apt to contract by solitary thinking. The pump for want 
 of use grows dry, or keeps its water at bottom, which will 
 not be fetched up unless more be added. 
 
 * Quicquid didiceris id confestim doceas ; sic et tua firmare, et 
 prodesse aliis potes. — Ea doce quae noveris, eaque diversis horis 
 aliis atque aliis coveniet inculcare. Satis sit, si quispiam te audiat, 
 interea exercitio miram rerum copiam tibi comparaveris. — Ringel. 
 de ratione Studii, p. 28, 56. 
 
268 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 When you have talked over the subject you have read, 
 think over what you have talked of; and perhaps you will 
 be able to see more weight in the sentiments you oppossetl, 
 than you were willing to admit in the presence of your an- 
 tagonist. And if you suspect you was then in an error, 
 you may now retract it without fear of mortification. That 
 you may at once improve and please in conversation, re- 
 member the following rules. 
 
 1. Choose your company, as you do your books. And 
 to the same end. The best companj^, like the best books, 
 are those which are at once improving and entertaining.* 
 If you can receive neither pleasure nor profit from your 
 company, endeavour to furnish it for them. If this can't 
 be done, (and especially if there be danger of receiving 
 hurt from them) quit them as decently as you can. 
 
 2. Study the humour of your company, and their cha- 
 racter. If they be your superiors, or most inclined to talk, 
 be an attentive hearer. If your inferiors, or more disposed 
 to hear, be an instructive speaker. 
 
 3. When the conversation droops, revive it with some 
 general topic by starting a subject on which you have some 
 good things to say, or you know others have. To which 
 end it will not be amiss to be a little prepared wilii topics 
 of conversation, suitable to the company you are going in- 
 to : and the course of your own thoughts in conversation 
 will be more free than you ordinarily find them to be in 
 silent meditation. 
 
 4. When any thing occurs that is new, or instructive, 
 or that you are willing to make your own, enter it down in 
 your minute or common-place book if you cannot trust 
 
 * Ille lulit punctum, qui miscuit utile dulci. — Hor. de Arte Poet. 
 1. 343. 
 
THE STUDENT AND PASTOR. - 2G9 
 
 your memory, (for in conversation all are free-booters ; 
 whatever you lay your hand on that is worth keeping is 
 lawful prize,) but take care that you do not charge either 
 the one or the other with trash. 
 
 5. Never stand for a cypher in company by a total si- 
 lence. It will appear boorish and awkward, and give a 
 check to the freedom of others. 'Tis ill manners. Better 
 say a trivial thing than nothing at all. Perhaps you hear 
 a deal of impertinence, uttered by some in the company, 
 which you candidly excused ; presume upon their candour, if 
 you happen to talk in the same manner. You have a right 
 to claim it : You will readily receive it. Something trite and 
 low, uttered with an easy, free, obliging air, will be better 
 received than entire silence ; and indeed than a good senti- 
 ment delivered in a stiff, pedantic, or assuming manner. 
 And many good things may arise out of a common ob- 
 servation. However, after a dead silence, it will set the 
 conversation a going, and the company who want to be re- 
 lieved from it, will be obliged to you. This is a secret that 
 will never fail to please. 
 
 6. Join not in the hurry and clamour of the talk, espe- 
 cially when a trifling point is disputed and several speak 
 at once, but be a patient hearer, till you have made your- 
 self master of the subject and the argument on both sides. 
 And then you may possibly find an opportunity to put in 
 as mediator, with credit to your judgment. 
 
 Repeat not a good thing in the same company twice, un- 
 less you are sure you are not distinctly heard the first time. 
 
 7. Though you may safely animadvert upon, yet do not 
 oppose, much less rally the foibles or mistakes of any 
 one in the company ; unless they be very notorious, and 
 there be no danger of giving offence. But remember that 
 
 23* 
 
270 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 he himself sees the matter in a different light from what 
 you do, and with other eyes. 
 
 8. If detraction or profaneness mingle with the conver- 
 sation, discountenance it by a severe, or a resolute silence, 
 where reproof would be thought indelicate. If this be not 
 sufficient to put a stop to it, make no scruple to withdraw.* 
 
 9. Affect not to shine in conversation, especially before 
 those who have a good opinion of their own understand- 
 ing. The surest way to please them, is to give them op- 
 portunity to show their parts ; a monopoly of this kind will 
 scarce ever be endured with patience. "j" 
 
 10. Bear with the impertinences of conversation, some- 
 thing may be learned from them, or some opportunity 
 may be given you to put in a sentiment more a-propos. 
 Besides, what appears low and flat to you, may not to 
 another.:}: 
 
 * Possidonius relates to St. Austin, that this Latin Distich was in- 
 scribed on the table where he entertained his friends. 
 
 Quisquis amat dictis absentem rodere amicum, 
 Hanc mensam indignam noverit esse sibi. 
 
 j- Conversation is a sort of commerce, towards which every one 
 ought to furnish his quota, i. e. to hear and speak in his turn. 'Tis 
 acting against the rules of honesty, and laws of commerce, to mo- 
 nopolize all, and deprive others of the share they have in the gain, 
 'Tis in like manner, a kind of injustice in those who compose the 
 circle, always to usurp the talk. If your design by it is to make a 
 show of your parts, and to procure esteem, you quite mistake your 
 interest; for you exasperate those against you whom you thus force 
 to silence, who can't bear the ascendent you give yourself, and the 
 degree of superiority you assume. — Reflect, upon ridicule. Vol. 1. 
 p. 55. 
 
 + That which makes common conversation so nauseous, are the 
 applauses bestowed on follies. Narrow souls admire every thing, 
 
THE STUDENT AND PASTOR. 271 
 
 Lastly, Appear perfectly free, friendly, well pleased, 
 easy and unreserved. This will make others so ; and draw 
 out many a good thought from them. And is much more 
 pleasing than a studied politeness, and all the usual arts of 
 common place civility.* 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 CONCERNING THE IMPROVEMENT OF OUR THOUGHTS WHEN 
 
 ALONE. 
 
 A student (like a philosopher) should never be less alone 
 than when alone. Then it is that (if it be not his own 
 fault) he may enjoy the best of company. 
 
 Next to the regulation of the appetites and passions, the 
 most important branch of self-government is the command 
 of our thoughts : which without a strict guard will be as apt 
 to ramble, as the other to rebel. The great difficulty will 
 
 and cry up the least trifles, that ought to be let pass. That which 
 becomes a well-bred man on these occasions is to say nothing. It 
 would be a criminal complaisance to applaud oflfensive fooleries. It 
 would be likewise a faulty delicacy, to bear with nothing but what is 
 exquisite, and to express contempt for every thing that is flat and tri- 
 vial. — Idem. p. 346. 
 
 * However it is extolled as the great art of conversation, to appear 
 with the utmost openness and civility when you are most upon the 
 reserve : Yet, as it is not only the ordinary dress of courtiers, and 
 travellers, but an art that frequently belongs to the shops, the cover- 
 ing is much more transparent than they who act under it are apt to 
 think. And besides such an address is really nauseous amongst 
 friends : and the greatest masters of this artful smoothness, seldom 
 deceives others thereby, so much as themselves. — Vid. Advice to a 
 Son, p. 31. 
 
272 THE CHRISTIAAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 be to keep them fixed and steadily employed upon your 
 subject. To this end, let the mind be cah-n and dispassion- 
 ate — view your theme in every light — collect your best 
 thoughts upon it — clothe those thoughts in words, and con- 
 sider how Mr. Addison, Mr. Melmoth, or any other writer 
 you admire would express the same. — Guard against va- 
 s^rancy or dissipation of your thoughts — recall them when 
 they are rambling ; and observe by what connexion of 
 ideas or images they are enticed away from their work, 
 and refix them more diligently. — If you have a pen and 
 ink at hand, set down your best sentiments on paper. — If 
 your subject be of a religious nature, it may not be amiss 
 to recollect some proper text of Scripture, as a standard to 
 which you may recall your vagrant forces. 
 
 Let the m.atter of your meditations be something sea- 
 sonable, important or entertaining. Consult the temper 
 your mind is in, or ought to be in at that time ; and let 
 your subject be suitable to it. 
 
 Take care that nothing vain, or vicious steal into 5'our 
 mind when alone. Hereby you may make 3^ourself a very 
 bad companion to yourself; and become your own tempter. 
 
 If the place or occasion will admit it, think viva voce, 
 or utter your thoughts aloud. 
 
 In your evening meditations, go over in your mind the 
 best things you have read or heard that day, and recollect 
 them the next evening.* 
 
 The great advantage of being alone is, that you may 
 choose your company ; either your books, your friend, 
 your God or yourself. There is another will be ready to 
 intrude, if not resolutely repelled. By the turn of your 
 
 * Id quoque perutile fuerit, ante somnum notare quaecumque luce 
 ea peracta sunt. — Ringel. de Rat. Stud. p. 110. 
 
THE STUDENT AND PASTOR. 273 
 
 thoughts you may detect his entrance, and by what pas- 
 sage he stole in. You may know him by his cloven foot. 
 And you have the best precept, exemplified by the best pre- 
 cedent, how to eject him.* 
 
 If books be your subject, or what you lately read and 
 laid up in your memory ; your mental employment will be 
 7'ecollection andjudgnient. Recollection to recall to your 
 mind the good things you have read; and judgment to 
 range them under their proper class : and to consider upon 
 ■what occasion, or in what company it may be proper or 
 useful to produce them. 
 
 If you choose a friend for the companion of your soli- 
 tude, let it not be merely for your own pleasure. But con- 
 sider in what manner you may improve or entertain him. 
 Or what it is you would learn from him ; and in what 
 manner you must behave towards him, the next time you 
 come into his company. 
 
 When you desire to have the great God for the object of 
 your contemplation, (as you should always do in your reli- 
 gious retirements,) your mind cannot be too serious, com- 
 posed and free. Now it is that the thoughts will be most 
 apt to revolt and ramble : and the utmost efforts must be 
 used to guard and guide them. Two things in this case 
 you should never forget. 
 
 1. Earnestly implore his help, that you may think not 
 only steadily, but worthily of him. 
 
 2. Consider him as present with you, and as witness to 
 all the employment of your mind. 
 
 Lastly. If you are your own companion, and sdf-medi- 
 tation be your business, you have a large field before you.f 
 But one thing be sure not to neglect, viz. Sharply and im- 
 
 * See James iv. 7. comp. with Mat. iv. 10. 
 •j-See Self-Knowledge, part. 3. ch. 1. 
 
274 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 partially to reprove yourself, in case of any observable 
 failure, and resolve to amend your conduct in that particu- 
 lar, especially when the same circumstances occur. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 THE PASTOR. 
 
 The business of a pastor is to do all he can to promote 
 
 the eternal interest of the souls of men. And to keep his 
 
 eye continually on this, the great object of the sacred 
 
 office will be a good direction to him in the prosecution 
 
 of it. 
 
 He is now to improve, regulate, digest, and apply that 
 
 stock of knowledge he has taken so much pains to acquire ; 
 
 and examine what part of it will be most helpful to him in 
 
 his great design. 
 
 The duties of the pastor's office may be comprised under 
 
 the six following general heads : 
 
 Preaching, Praying. Administering the Seals. Visit- 
 ing the sick. His conduct towards his people in gene- 
 ral. And towards persons of different characters in 
 particular. 
 
 1. Preaching. This may be divided into two parts; 
 Preparation. And Elocution. 
 1. Preparation. Which consists of composition, and 
 
 the duties immediately previous to preaching. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 OF COMPOSING OF SERMONS. 
 
 '^' Besides all the usual academical preparations, the study 
 of languages, sciences, divinity, &c., there is a particular 
 art of preaching to which if ministers did more seriously 
 
THE STUDENT AND PASTOR. 275 
 
 apply themselves it would extremely facilitate that service, 
 and make it more easy to themselves, and more profitable 
 to their hearers."* For acquiring which art the rules laid 
 down in this and the three following chapters may be help- 
 ful to those who are entering upon the sacred employment. 
 1. The first thing to be considered is the choice of the 
 subject. Here you must consult your own genius, taste, 
 and abilities : And choose those subjects which have most 
 impressed your own mind ; for on those you are most 
 likely to succeed, and to produce the most mature and use- 
 ful sentiments. Consult also the temper, taste, and capa- 
 cities of your audience. For the more suitable your sub- 
 ject, style, and sentiments are to them, the more likely you 
 will be both to please and improve them. And therefore 
 a minister should never fix, nor choose to preach amongst 
 a people whose opinions are widely different from his own. 
 " Let the most useful and pertinent subjects be your most 
 frequent choice. Those are the most useful which are the 
 most edifying : And those most pertinent that are most 
 fitted to the capacities, and necessities of the auditory. 
 To both which you ought to have a special regard. f If 
 you are at a loss for a text, consult the contents of the 
 several volumes of sermons you have by you. That a 
 man may form himself to preaching, he ought to take 
 some of the best models, and try what he can do on a text 
 handled by them, without reading them, and then compare 
 his with theirs. This will more sensibly, and without 
 putting him to the blush, model him to imitate, or (if he 
 can) to excel the best authors.:]: Whatever particular text 
 
 * Wilkin's Ecclesiastes, p. 1. 
 
 ■}• Barecroft's Ars Concionandi, p. 92. 
 
 + Burnet's Pas. Car. p. 226, 227. 
 
276 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 strike your mind, with more than common force, in the 
 course of your reading and meditating the Scriptures, pen 
 it down with some useful strictures that may occur to you, 
 for the foundation of a future work. By this means you 
 will have a good supply of suitable texts at hand. A ser- 
 mon should be made for a text, and not a text found out 
 for a sermon. For to give our discourses weight, it should 
 appear that we are led to them by our text. Such ser- 
 mons will probably have much more effect than a general 
 discourse, to which a text seems only to be added as a de- 
 cent introduction, but to which no regard is had in the pro- 
 gress of it.* Affect not an obscure, difhcult, or barren 
 text, to show your ingenuity in throwing light upon it, or 
 set others a wondering what you can make of it. Dis- 
 courses from such texts must be either unprofitable or un- 
 natural. f 
 
 2. Having chosen your subject ; your next care is, to be 
 furnished with a store of useful and pertinent thoughts upon 
 it. Having fixed your spot on which to build, you are now 
 to prepare materials. To this purpose, carefully peruse 
 your text, both in the original and different translations. 
 Attend to its connexions and ref^'ence ; and observe what 
 is the principal subject it points to. Collect from your 
 concordance, or common-place book to the Bible, or from 
 Mr. darkens Annotations^ or from Wilson'' s Ch7'istian 
 Dictionary^ and others, all its parallel places, or the seve- 
 ral Scriptures that have a reference to it. Pen them down 
 
 » Burnet's Pas. Car. p. 280. 
 
 j Id. et Ibid : Many will remember the text that remember nothing 
 else ; therefore such a choice should be made as may at least put a 
 weighty and speaking sense of the Scriptures upon the memories of 
 the people, Id. p. 217. 
 
THE PASTOR AND STUDEPfT. 277 
 
 on loose paper, to be properly interwoven into the discourse 
 under any particular head or branch of it. Consult other 
 authors on the same subject. Use their thoughts, but not 
 their words, unless you quote them expressly ; which 
 should never be done, unless your author be a writer of 
 eminence, and of good repute with your audience. And 
 let it be a sentiment so weighty, and well expressed, as 
 deserves to be remembered by them ; and then they will 
 remember it the sooner as coming from him than from 
 yourself. 
 
 3. Having thus provided materials ; form your plan. 
 Let your method, as well as your subject, flow from your 
 text. Let the division be easy and natural, and such as 
 the audience would expect. " Let it arise from the sub- 
 ject itself; and give a light and just order to the several 
 parts. Such a division, as may easily be remembered ; 
 and at the same time help to connect and retain the whole. 
 In fine, a division that shows at once the extent of the sub- 
 ject, and of all its parts."* — Avoid a tedious multiplication 
 of particulars under every general head of your discourse. 
 Let your particular heads be not only few but distinct ; 
 and affect not to conceal the number and order of them, if 
 they be distinct and natural, as some modern preachers do. 
 'Tis a false delicacy to aim at reducing a sermon to the 
 form of a polite harangue. The other method of express- 
 ing the number of the heads in their proper order, is not 
 only more pleasing to the common sort of hearers, but a 
 help to their understanding and memory; which a preacher 
 should by all means carefully regard. f " It will be pro- 
 
 • Cambray's Dialogue on Eloquence, p. 9. 
 
 ■j- 'Tis but a bad rule in Alsted (at least for vulgar auditories) 
 when he advises to conceal and alter the method for variety's sake. 
 24 
 
278 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 per, to draw your method or plan, on a loose piece of paper 
 laid before you, with the several particulars under their 
 respective general heads ; and whatever place of Scripture, 
 or inferences, &c. you meet with in reading or meditating, 
 pertinent to any particular point you shall speak to, you 
 may then place them under that particular : For all things 
 may not come to your mind at once ; and a thought is so 
 quickly gone (let your memory be almost always never so 
 tenacious and retentive) that you will hardly retain it, un- 
 less it be in this manner committed to paper. And what- 
 ever place of Scripture you make use of, which you do 
 not well understand, consult the ablest commentators on 
 that passage for the meaning of it ; that you may not ap- 
 ply it to a wrong sense."* 
 
 4. Having thus provided materials, and formed your 
 plan, begin the superstructure. Which will now be raised 
 and adorned with great ease, and be continually improving 
 upon your hands. For no man can talk well on a subject, 
 of which he is not entirely master.f 
 
 " In the beginning you must endeavour to gain the fa- 
 vour of the audience, by a modest introduction, a respect- 
 ful address, and the genuine marks of candour and pro- 
 bability. "J Let your exordium be short, modest, grave 
 
 Crypsis dispositionis tollit fastidium auditoris. This may be true 
 of itching curious hearers, but not of such as regard their own 
 profit and edification. Wilk. Eccles. p. 5- 
 
 * Barecroft's Ars. Cone. p. Ill, 112. 
 
 •f Etenim ex rerum cognitione efflorcscat et redundet oportet 
 oratio : Quse nisi subest res ab oratore percepta et cognita, inanem 
 quandam habet elocutionem, et fere puerilem. Cicero de Orat. 
 1. 1. § 6. 
 
 i Cambray's Dialogues on Eloquence, p. 117. — Sed haec adju- 
 Tant in oratore, lenitas vocis, vultus, pudoris significatio, verborum 
 comitas. Cic. de Orat. I. 2. § 43. 
 
THE STUDENT AND PASTOR. 279 
 
 and striking ; either by proposing your method, and enter- 
 ing upon your subject directly : or by a few important 
 general observations, which are connected with, or natu- 
 rally lead to it : or by some short unexpected remark on 
 the words of the text. 
 
 In your enlargement on particulars, if you find your 
 thoughts don't run freely on any point, do not urge them 
 too much ; this will tire and jade the faculties too soon. 
 But pursue your plan : Better thoughts may occur after- 
 wards, which you may occasionally insert. 
 
 Let your best sentiments stand in the beginning or end 
 of a paragraph, and the rest in the middle, which will pass 
 very well in good company. And let every head conclude 
 with some striking sentence, or pertinent Scripture. 
 
 As every complete sermon resembles a little book, the 
 method of composing the former, may be the same with 
 what Ringelhergiiis tells us he used in composing the 
 latter. 
 
 " My first care (says he) is to form in my mind, a per- 
 fect plan of the work before me. Then in a large tablet, 
 or a sheet of paper, I set down the titles of the chapters, 
 or the several heads I am to discourse on. Then I look 
 over them to see if they have their proper place, connexion 
 and coherence : And alter them as I see occasion. Then 
 wliilst my mind is still warm with the subject, I take a 
 brief sketch of what is proper to be said under each head, 
 which I write down on a loose piece of paper ; these I af- 
 terwards transfer into my plan, and in a fair hand tran- 
 scribe under their proper heads. By this means, I have the 
 whole subject and method of the work under my eye at 
 once. Then I every day transcribe a chapter for the 
 Press, and add, or expunge, as I go along, according as 
 the matter requires. After this, when I see nothing de- 
 
280 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR*S MANUAL. 
 
 ficient or redundant in the subject, I apply myself to revise 
 the language."* 
 
 Let your application be close, fervent and animated. + 
 To which end, get your own heart warmed and penetrated 
 with your subject. For however drowsy, or inattentive 
 your hearers may be in the beginning, or middle of a dis- 
 course, they should be always awakened, and warmed at 
 the close. " 'Tis oftentimes proper at the end of a dis- 
 course, to make a short recapitulation, wherein the orator 
 ought to exert all his force and skill, in giving the audience 
 a full, clear, concise view of the chief topics he has en- 
 larged upon.if: And let the last sentence of the sermon, 
 be either your text, or some pertinent Scripture, or some 
 weighty thought well expressed and worth remembering. 
 
 5. Having thus raised your superstructure on the plan 
 proposed, you must put the finishing hand to the work, by 
 decently adorning it: Which is the business of a revisal, 
 wherein you are to re-examine the method, matter and 
 style. 
 
 1. The method. Here perhaps you may see some small 
 alterations necessary ; e. g. this head may come in more 
 naturally before that ; such a sentim.ent will shine to more 
 advantage at the conclusion of a paragraph; and this par- 
 ticular head not sufficiently distinct from that, and there- 
 fore both had better be wrought into one. 
 
 2. With regard to the matter. Such a sentiment is ex- 
 
 * Ringel. de Rat. Stu. p. 83— 92— Vid. Ars. Concio. p. 93. 
 
 ■j- II ne suffit pas de savoir d'ou il faut tirer les usages ; il est ne- 
 cessaire de connoitre le but qu'on doit se proposer dans une appli- 
 cation. Or ce but, c'est d'emouvoir, de toucher ses auditeurs, de 
 leur inspirer les sentimens de piete, d'amour de Dieu, de charile, 
 &c. Ostervald de I'Exercise, p. 126. 
 
 \ Cambray's Dialogues, p. 118. 
 
THE STUDENT AND PASTOR. 281 
 
 pressed before, therefoi'e strike it out here; too much is 
 said upon this part of the subject, too little upon that; add 
 here, retrench there ; if any new thought, or pertinent 
 scripture occur to your mind, search out the proper place 
 where to dispose of it. 
 
 3. With regard to your style. This thought is obscure- 
 ly expressed, explain it ; this sentence is equivocal, be 
 more determinate ; this is too long, shorten it ; here is a 
 jingle, correct it ; this disposition of the words is harsh and 
 hard to be pronounced, alter it ; this expression is too mean 
 and vulgar, substitute a better.* 
 
 I shall conclude this chapter with the following general 
 rules relating to the style of the pulpit. 
 
 1. Let it be plain, proper and perspicuous; and then 
 the shorter it is the better. A concise, full and nervous 
 style is always most striking, therefore most pleasing. 
 To obscure and weaken the sense by a studied ornament 
 or flow of words, is wrongs oratory, and nauseous to every 
 one of true taste. 
 
 " The words in a sermon must be simple and in com- 
 mon use, not savouring of the schools, or above the under- 
 standing of the people. All long periods, such as carry 
 two or three different thoughts in them must be avoided ; 
 for few hearers can follow or apprehend these. Niceties 
 of style are lost before a common auciience.""!" 
 
 2. Let your numbers bo full and flowing. And care- 
 fully avoid all harshness from dissonance in the choice 
 and disposition of your words : this is a part of rhetoric, 
 
 * Equidem in libris excudendis, cum speciosum aliquem vocum 
 contextum, aut verba duo, ornata invenio, Isetitia exulto majore, 
 quam si aureum reperisscm. Ringel.de Rat. Stud. p. Ill, 113. 
 
 f Burnet's Past. Care, p, 223. 
 24* 
 
282 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 which, though carefully cultivated by the ancients, is too 
 much neglected by the moderns.* In reading over a dis- 
 course to ourselves, we must observe what words sound 
 harsh, and agree ill-together ; for there is a music in speak- 
 ing, as well as in singing, which a man though not other- 
 wise critical in sounds will soon discover. f 
 
 3. Observe a medium between a too short and too pro- 
 lix a style. The sententious style is apt to be defective. 
 A prolix one (if the, members of a long sentence be not ju- 
 diciously disposed, and fraught with a weight of sentiment,) 
 tedious and disagreeable ; and a low creeping style is as 
 unbecoming the dignity of the pulpit, as a high and turgid 
 one. There is a decency to be observed in our language, 
 as well as our dress : X with regard to both, a prudent man 
 
 * See Treatise on Prosaic Numbers Numeros equidem vitam 
 
 vocaverim orationis; quod baud obscure apparebit, sisententiam nu- 
 merosam solveris, iisdem servatis et transpositis verbis. Quippe quae 
 ante efficax erat, ea soluta ridicula videbitur ; Quamobrem in omni 
 opere, prima curarum esse debet, ut res sive membra cohereant ; 
 proxima, ut verba, seu modulatio numerorum. Ringel. de Rat. Stud, 
 p. 92, 93. 
 
 f Burnet's Past. Care, p. 236. 
 
 :j: Expression is the dress of ihought, and still 
 Appears raoi'e decent, as more suitable. 
 A low conceit in pompous words express'd, 
 Is like a clown, in royal purple dress'd ; 
 For different styles with different subjects sort. 
 As several garbs, with country, town and court. 
 Some by old words to fame have made pretence, 
 Ancients in phrase, mere moderns in their sense : 
 Such labour'd nothings in so strange a style, 
 Amaze th' unlearned, make the learned smile. 
 
 Pope's Essay on Criticism. 
 
THE STUDENT AND PASTOR. 283 
 
 will consider, not only what is decent in itself, but what is 
 most so at certain times. * 
 
 4. An illustration of your subject by sensible images, 
 and apt similies, will always be agreeable. 
 
 Lastly, let the conclusion of your periods be harmonious, 
 and your concluding thoughts the most memorable. "j" 
 
 See more on this subject, Part II. Ch. 4. 
 
 CHAPTER. II. 
 GENERAL RULES RELATING TO PREACHING. 
 
 1. It were advisable for young preachers to pen down 
 every sentence of their sermons in short-hand; and trust 
 nothing to their memories, till they are masters of a free, 
 fluent, and proper style; and have acquired a good com- 
 mand of their spirits, a free utterance, and a maturity of 
 sentiments. Then they may venture to leave something 
 to the memory, by writing half sentences, 'till by degrees 
 they are able to trust to it a good part of the enlargement 
 under every head. This will be no great burden, provided 
 they take care to be thoroughly masters of their notes, be- 
 fore they go up into the pulpit; and will be a great help 
 to a free, decent, and natural elocution. 
 
 * Omnique in re, posse quod deceat facere, artis et naturae est ; 
 scire quid quandoque deceat, prudentise. Cic. de Orat. 1. 3. § 55. 
 
 ■j-EIocutio partibus quatuor consummatur. Primum enim si res 
 tractetur magnifica, caveo no particula usquam jaceat humi, infra 
 
 dignitatem orationis turn etiam video ne verbum idem, aut sylla- 
 
 ba, si fieri possit, bis ponatur ad hsec do operam, ut numerorum 
 
 gratia, sive concentus cohsereat, aut per omnes periodi partes, aut 
 
 saltern in fine Postrema cura est, ne muiti sint fines sententia- 
 
 rum, qui pedes easdem habeant. Ringel. de Rat. Stud. p. 90, 91. 
 
284 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 I would not advise any young minister, though ever so 
 happy in a strength of memory, entirely to lay aside his 
 notes; it can answer no valuable end, and the inconveni- 
 ences of it are these; — the thoughts may possibly wander; 
 in that case you are bewildered without a guide: This re- 
 flection will create a confusion and perplexity in the mind, 
 which the hearers will observe with pain ; and you will 
 scarce ever be able to recover the right tract in that hurry 
 of spirits without many a trip and much trouble: This will 
 throw a tremour, at least a diffidence on the mind, which 
 will make it difficult to resume your wonted courage. Be- 
 sides, when so much attention is bestowed on the memory, 
 you will be apt to pay too little to the judgment and affec- 
 tions. You will not have leisure to observe how much 
 your own heart is affected, or how you may best affect 
 that of your hearers, who are never more pleased, than 
 when they see their preacher composed, free, and deeply 
 impressed with his own subject : and never more disgusted, 
 than when they observe him confused, bewildered, or inat- 
 tentive to what he himself delivers. Besides, the inaccu- 
 racy of diction, the inelegance, poverty and lowness of ex- 
 pression, which is commonly observed in extemporaneous 
 discourses, will not fail to offend every hearer of good taste. 
 
 2. Go to the bottom of your subject : And think of every 
 thing that ought to be said upon it: And consider what 
 points, or parts of it, your hearers would be glad to have 
 cleared up, or most enlarged upon. To skim off only the 
 surface, is to put off your audience with froth. The 
 weightiest sentiments often lie at bottom ; be at the pains 
 then of diving deep to bring them up from thence. On the 
 other liand, 
 
 3. Take care you do not torture your subject, by aim- 
 ing to exhaust it. Don't endeavour to say every thing that 
 
THE STUDENT AND PASTOR. 285 
 
 can be said, bat every thing that ought to be said upon it. 
 A preacher's excellence is seen, not so much in saying a 
 great deal upon a text, as saying the best things in the best 
 manner.* 
 
 4. Don't crowd your thoughts too thick. This will but 
 fatigue and perplex the minds of your hearers, who should 
 always have time to follow you. If you pour water too 
 fast into the funnel it will run over. 
 
 5. Protract not your discourse to an undue length. The 
 best sentiments will not be attended to, whilst your hear- 
 ers are impatiently waiting and wishing for the conclusion. 
 It were better to offend by the other extreme, provided 
 your matter be solid, well disposed, and well digested. 
 Better leave your audience longing than loathing. Absti- 
 nence is less hurtful than repletion. I think Luther says 
 in his table-talk, that one necessary qualification of a 
 preacher, is to know when to leave off. 
 
 6. In practical preaching (which should be your ordina- 
 ry strain) remember that you preach to Christians ; and 
 let your chief molives to practice be drawn from Christian 
 principles. " It is verily a fault in too many of the pub- 
 lic teachers of our times, that their sermons are moral 
 harangues generally ; and Tully's Offices ; and Seneca's 
 Epistles, serve them instead of the Bible : They are fur- 
 nished with nothing but moral precepts, as if they were 
 preaching at Old Rome or Athens, and their auditors were 
 all infidels. t 
 
 * Nolim te facere, quod prava quadam ambitione, vulgus profes- 
 sorum hodie facit, ut omni loco coneris omnia dicere, sed ea dun- 
 taxat quae explicando prsesenti loco sint idonea ; nisi siquandodelec- 
 tandi causa, digrediendum vidcbitur. Erasmi. de Rat. Studii. p. 186. 
 
 Un predicateur judicieux sait pailer, et se taire, il salt dire ce qu'il 
 faut, et s'arreterou il faut. Oster. de I'exercice du Min. p. 142. 
 
 -f- Edward's Preacher, vol. i. p. 73. 
 
286 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 7. Be sure to consult the capacity and understanding of 
 your hearers. Remember you are not declaiming in the 
 academy ; but preaching to an illiterate congregation : Take 
 care then that you be not too learned, or too logical; that 
 you do not shoot over the heads of your hearers (as they 
 call it) either in your doctrine or language. Condescend 
 to their capacities ; and let it be your ambition and care 
 whilst you are treating of the highest subjects, to be com- 
 prehended by the lowest understanding: Wherein Arch- 
 bishop Tillotson, Archbishop Sharp,* and Dr. Sherlock 
 will be your best patterns. — 'Tis not easy to be conceived 
 how much ignorance of divine things there is in the minds 
 of the greatest part of those you preach to. 
 
 It was the observation of a late celebrated divine oi the 
 Church of Rome, " that there are always three quarters of 
 an ordinary congregation, who do not know those princi- 
 ples of religion, in which the preacher supposes every one 
 to be fully instructed."! It is to be hoped that matters are 
 somewhat mended in our protestant assemblies ; but still 
 there is reason to fear, that they who compose the major 
 part in our places of worship, are deplorably defective in 
 their knowledge of the true doctrines of Christianity. And 
 as the subject should not be too deep for their conceptions, so 
 neither should the style be too high for their comprehen- 
 sion ; and therefore all scholastic terms, systematical 
 phrases and metaphysical definitions should be for ever 
 banished from the pulpit. 
 
 8. Affect not to show your parts, by entering upon nice 
 and curious disquisitions, or by a strong portrait of general 
 characters. This is shooting beside the mark, or at least 
 
 * Archbishop Sharp was Archbishop of York, and the ancestor of 
 the late philanthropist, Granville Sharp. 
 fCambray. 
 
THE STUDENT AND PASTOR. 287 
 
 will but very seldom reach it. The chief end it will pro- 
 duce (and which you will be thought to aim at) is your 
 own applause, and not your people's profit. " To close a 
 thread of reason, too great an abstraction of thought, too 
 sublime and too metaphysical a strain, are suitable to very 
 few auditories, if to any at all."* " I love a serious 
 preacher, who speaks for my sake, and not for his own, 
 who seeks my salvation, and not his own vain-glory. He 
 best deserves to be heard, who uses speech only to clothe 
 his thoughts, and his thoughts only to promote truth and 
 virtue. Nothing is more despicable than a professed de- 
 claimer who retails his discourses, as a quack does his 
 medicines. "f 
 
 9. Endeavour to afTect your own mind with what you 
 deliver; and then you will not fail to affect the minds of 
 your hearers.:]: There must be a life and power in your 
 delivery, to keep up the attention and fix the affection of 
 them that hear you ; " for an artificial eloquence without 
 a flame within is like artificial poetry ; all its productions 
 are forced and unnatural, and in a great measure ridicu- 
 lous. "§ " 'Tis said of John Baptist that he was a burning 
 
 * Burnet's Pastoral Care, p. 219. — 'Tis here that our preacher's 
 are most defective. Most of their fine sermons contain only philo- 
 sophical reasonings ; sometimes they preposterously quote Scrip- 
 ture only for the sake of decency and ornament. Their sermons 
 are trains of fine reasoning about religion, but they are not religion 
 itself. We apply ourselves too much to the drawing of moral cha- 
 racters, and inveighing against the general disorders of mankind ; 
 but we don't sufficiently explain the precepts and principles of the 
 Gospel. Cambray's Dialogues, p. 160, 161. 
 
 •j- Cambray's Letter to the French Academy, p. 230. 
 
 t Summa, quantum, ego quidem sentio, circa movendos aflfectus, 
 in hoc posita est, ut movcamur ipsi. Quintilian 1. 6. c. 2. 
 
 § Burnet's Pastoral Care, p. 223. 
 
288 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 and shining light, ardere prius estf lucere posterius ; ar- 
 dor mentis^ est lux doctriiKB. 'Tis a hard matter to affect 
 others with what we are not first affected ourselves."* 
 
 10. When you are called to touch upon controversy 
 (which you should avoid as much as possible in the pulpit) 
 be candid, clear, short and convictive. Be sure that your 
 arguments be solid, close and strong ; and your answers 
 at least as ctear as the objections : For if these be plain 
 and those perplexed, you will but confirm the error you 
 mean to confute. f Avoid all needless censures, especially 
 of persons by name. When a censorious spirit is kindled 
 by the preacher, nothing will sooner be catched by the 
 hearers ; and that unhallowed flame will quickly be pro- 
 pagated far and wide. — Dark debates in divinity are like 
 rocks not only steep and craggy, but barren and fruitless, 
 and not worth the pains of climbing to the top ; and what 
 influence they have on the spirits of men, is commonly a 
 bad one. 'Tis scarce to be imagined what harm these 
 theological subtil ities do us. As spirits extracted from 
 bodies, are always hot, heady and inflammatory : so di- 
 vine truths subtilized and too much sublimated, heat, intox- 
 icate and discompose the minds of men, fire their tempers, 
 and kindle very hurtful and unruly passions, to the distur- 
 bance of their own peace and that of others. 
 
 11. Let your great aim in every sermon be to please 
 God and profit your people, to do them good rather than 
 gain their applause. Don't covet a reputation for elo- 
 quence ; it will turn you off from higher views. Besides, 
 an excessive desire for popularity and fame will subject you 
 to many secret vexations : As well may you expect the sea 
 
 • Bishop Wilkin's Ecclesiastes, p. 252. 
 t See Wilkin's Eccles. p. 26. 
 
THE STUDENT AND PASTOR. 289 
 
 to be undisturbed, as the mind of an ambitious man to be 
 long free from disquietude.* 
 
 Lastly, Endeavour to get the great principles of Chris- 
 tianity wrought into your own heart ; and let them shine 
 in your temper and conversation. " Ministers have one 
 great advantage beyond all the rest of the world in this 
 respect, that whereas the particular callings of other men, 
 prove to them great distractions, and lay many temptations 
 in their way to divert them from minding their high and 
 holy calling of being Christians, it is quite otherwise with 
 the clergy ; the more they follow I heir proper callings, they 
 do the more certainly advance their general one : the bet- 
 ter priests they are, they become also the better Christians. 
 Every part of their calling, when well performed, raises 
 good thoughts, and brings good ideas into their minds, and 
 tends both to increase their knowledge and quicken their 
 sense of divine matters. "j"" — Cicero, Quintilian, and Hor- 
 acCy all made virtue a necessary qualification in a complete 
 orator.:|: I am sure it is so in a Christian preacher. It is 
 
 * AK\ i^y-i^ojuivoi rue >^cyHC, a? «v itp^irui too Sio) ^ s; /uev iTntivareo nxt 
 
 rajv 'jLitp^Tco-j , y.rt ^imna, /unJ'i ctKyuTO). Chrysos. de Sacer. 1. 5. 
 
 I Burnet's Pastoral Care, ch. 8- 
 
 4: Quae (sc. eloquentia) quo major est, probitate jungenda, summa- 
 que prudentia ; quarum vurtutura expertibus si dicendi copiam tra- 
 diderimus, non eos quidem oratores efficerimus, sed furentibus quse- 
 dam artua dederimus. 
 
 Cicero de Oratore, 1. 3. §. 14. 
 
 Sit ergo nobis orator, quern instituimus, is qui a M. Cicerone fini- 
 tur. Vir bonus dicendi peritus — ideoquenon dicendi modo eximian 
 in eo facultatem, sed omnes animi virtutes exigimus. Quintilian, 
 Lib. xii. c. 1. 
 
 Scribendi recte sapere est et principium et fons. 
 
 Hor. de Art. Poet. 
 25 
 
290 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 required of a Presbyter that he he blameless. Tit. i. 6.* 
 When a preacher has the great doctrines which he teaches 
 inwrought into his temper, and he feels the influence of 
 them on his own spirit, he will reap from thence these three 
 great advantages in his public ministrations. He will then 
 speak from his own experience. He will with greater con- 
 fidence and assurance direct and counsel others. And 
 will more readily gain belief to what he saysf. — Without 
 this experimental sense of religion in the heart, and a 
 steady practice of it in the life, all the learning in the world 
 will not make a person either a wise man, a good Chris- 
 tian, or a faithful minister.:}: And to induce him to a wise 
 circumspection in his conduct, he should often consider the 
 influence his own example will have upon his people, for 
 whom he must live, as well as for himself; and who will 
 think themselves very justifiable if they indulge to no 
 other liberties than such as they see their minister takes 
 himself.§ 
 
 Before I close this chapter let me add one thing more, 
 viz. That a minister both with regard to his conduct and 
 preaching, should take care not to be too much affected 
 with common fame. Though he is not to be absolutely 
 
 * In sacredote etiam aliis licita prohibentun 
 
 Vide Hieronym. in loco. 
 
 f Edward's Preacher, vol. 1 p. 321. 
 
 ^ Aliud enim est scire, aliud sapere. Sapiens est, qui didicit non 
 omnia, sed ea quse ad veram fselicitatem pertinent ; et iis quae didicit 
 afficitur, ac transfiguratus est. Erasmi. Ecclesiastes, p. 21. 
 
 rn^cu Ttt? o<^^^xX/ufi?, a>g tie iAvro) juovcv, aKKx icxi TrKy.^a ^cevm TdraTa. 
 
 A Bishop had need be sober and vigilant, and have all his eyes 
 about him, who lives not only for himself, but for so great a multi 
 tude of people. Chrysostom, de Sacer. 1. 3. c. 12. 
 
THE STUDENT AND PASTOR. 291 
 
 indifferent to the applauses and censures of others, yet he 
 should arm himself against the bad influence of both. He 
 must expect to pass through good report and evil report : 
 And both are apt to make hurtful impressions on weak, 
 unstable minds. — As to evil report a Stoic will tell you, 
 that in confidence of your innocence, you ought absolutely 
 to despise both it and its author. 
 
 I think Chrysostom's advice is more suited to the charac- 
 ter of a Christian minister. " As for groundless and un- 
 reasonable accusations, says he, (for such a Christian bi- 
 shop must expect to meet with) it is not right either exclu- 
 sively to fear them, or absolutely despise them. He should 
 rather endeavour to stifle them though they be ever so 
 false, and the author of them ever so despicable ; for a 
 good and bad report is greatly increased by passing through 
 the hands of the multitude who are not accustomed to ex- 
 amine, but to blab out every thing they hear whether true 
 or false. Therefore we are not to despise them but to nip 
 those evil surmises in the bud, speak friendly to those who 
 raise them, be their characters ever so bad ; and omit no- 
 thing that may remove their wrong impressions of us. 
 And if after all they persist to defame us, we may then 
 despise them.* 
 
 Clirysostom de Sacerdot. 1. v. c. 4. 
 
292 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 OF THE DUTIES IMMEDIATELY PREVIOUS TO THE WORK OF 
 THE PULPIT. 
 
 To prepare for this service the following directions may 
 be useful. 
 
 1. Before you enter on the public worship of God in his 
 house, be sure to apply yourself to the throne of Grace, 
 for a divine blessing on your labours. It was a usual say- 
 ins of Luther. Bene orasse, est be?ie stvduisse* And 
 in these your previous devotions see that your heart be 
 very sincere and fervent. You must pray for yourself, 
 and pray for your people. 
 
 (1.) You must pray for yourself — that God would help 
 you to bring your own spirit into a frame suitable to the 
 work you are about to undertake — that the word you de- 
 liver may affect your own heart, or that you may first feel 
 the holy flame you would communicate to others — that a 
 door of utterance may be opened to you, and that you 
 may speak as becomes the oracles of God — that he would 
 direct you to speak to the consciences and particular cases 
 of your hearers, or that what you deliver, may be a word 
 in seasonf — and that he will especially assist you in 
 prayer, and give you the spirit of grace and supplication. 
 
 * Sub horam concionis ecclesiastes (let se profundse deprecationi, 
 et ab eo postulet sapientiam, linguam, et oratiouis eventum, quilin- 
 guas infantium faclt disertas. Incredibile dictu quantum lucis, quan- 
 tum vigoris, quantum roboris et alacritatis hinc accedat Ecclesiastae. 
 Eras. Eccles. p. 486. 
 
 f Ad docendum divina nemo idoneus est, nisi doctus divinitus, Id. 
 p. 110. 
 
THE STUDENT AND PASTOR. 293 
 
 (2.) You are to pray for your people — that their atten- 
 tions may be engaged both to the evidence and importance 
 of the things they are to hear — that God would open their 
 hearts to give them a fair and candid reception, and that 
 no bad prejudice may prevent the good effect of the word — 
 that the grace of God may co-operate with his appointed 
 means, to set home divine truths with power on their con- 
 sciences — that they may be able to retain the good seed 
 that is sown — that it may bring forth its proper fruit in 
 their future lives — and finally, that their prayers for you, 
 and behaviour towards you may strengthen your hands, 
 and make you more serviceable to their souls. 
 
 2. Let your mind and countenance be very composed 
 and serious, and your gesture grave and decent. To this 
 end, endeavour to bring your spirit into a religious and de- 
 vout frame, before you come into the house of God. At- 
 tend to the real importance of the work you are called to, 
 both when you are the mouth of God to the people, and 
 when you are the mouth of the people to God. Avoid 
 those objects, and avert those thoughts which tend to dis- 
 compose your mind, or indispose it for the sacred service 
 you are going to engage in. Clear your heart of all vain 
 and worldly cares, and especially of all vexatious and dis- 
 turbing thoughts, before you enter on the public service of 
 God. Endeavour to attain a spiritual, holy, and heavenly 
 frame of mind by previous prayer, reading, and devout 
 meditation. It will render your sacred work both more 
 agreeable and easy to yourself, and more beneficial to your 
 hearers, if you endeavour to carry into the house of God 
 that serious temper of mind which you desire they should 
 carry out of it. 
 
 3. Before you enter on your work take time to premedi-, 
 
 tate and recollect some of the most weighty, pertinent, 
 25* 
 
294 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 and important sentiments and expressions you may have 
 occasion for, either in prayer or preaching. This will be 
 especially necessary, if you give anything in charge to the 
 memory, that you may not be at a loss for those senti- 
 ments when they are to be produced in their proper place. 
 The mind should be well seasoned with the discourse be- 
 fore it be delivered. 'Tis not enough to be master of your 
 notes, but you must enter into the spirit of your subject. 
 Call in everything that is proper to improve it, and to raise 
 and animate your mind in the contemplation of it. 
 
 4. Affect your mind with the consideration of the so- 
 lemnity and importance of the business you are going 
 about, and how much may depend on a faithful execution 
 of it. Few men had ever more natural courage than Lu- 
 ther, and yet he was often heard to say, that even to the 
 latest part of his life, he never could conquer his fear when 
 he mounted the pulpit.* And St. Chrysostom used to say 
 that that Scripture, they watch for your souls as those that 
 must give an account, Heb. xiii. 17. struck his mind with 
 constant awe.'j' 
 
 Lastly, keep up a self-command and a becoming pre- 
 sence of mind, and get above a low servile fear of men. 
 If you are master of your subject, and come well furnish- 
 ed wilh suitable materials for their religious improvement, 
 and produce plain Scripture and reason for what you ad- 
 vance, you have no cause to fear either the critic or the 
 censor ; but may with modesty conclude that you are at 
 
 ♦Etsi jam senex, etin concionando exeicitus sum, tamen timeo 
 quoties suggestum conscendo. Wilkin's Eccles. p. 254. 
 
 j" ySLP <|>cCi« TUVTrtC TUC Oi-Wil\>1i 0-UVi^Zc X.*.TdLa-iiil /UH TUV -^V^HV. 
 
 Chrysostom de Sacerdotio, 1. 6. 
 
THE STUDENT AND PASTOR. 295 
 
 least as good a judge of the subject you have taken so 
 much pains to understand and digest, as they are who 
 never gave it so precise or extensive a consideration. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 OF PULPIT ELOCUTION. 
 
 Under this phrase I comprise the language, pronun- 
 ciation, and action that is most becoming the pulpit. 
 
 1. The language. This must be plain, proper, pure, 
 concise, and nervous. 
 
 ( 1. ) Let your language be plain or perspicuous.* 'Tis 
 a nauseous affectation to be fond of hard words, or to in- 
 troduce terms of art and learning into a discourse address- 
 ed to a mixed assembly of plain, illiterate Christians. The 
 ridicule of it will appear by supposing you were to talk to 
 them in that manner in common conversation. They who 
 don't understand you will dislike you : and they who do, 
 will see the affectation, and despise you. 
 
 ( 2. ) Let your words be well chosen, proper, and ex- 
 pressive. Such as your hearers not only understand, but 
 such as are most fit to convey the sentiments you mean. 
 
 ( 3. ) Aim at purity of language. To this end diversify 
 your style as far as it is consistent with perspicuity and 
 propriety — And avoid the frequent and near repetition of 
 the same word, unless it be very emphatical, and the reite- 
 ration rhetorical — Shun all harsh and jingling sounds — 
 
 * Prima est eloquentise virtus, perspicuitas; et quo quisque inge- 
 nio minus valet, hoc se magis attollere et dilatare conalur : ut statu- 
 ra breves in digitos eriguntur, et plura infirmi minantur. Quintil- 
 ian. 1. ii. c. 3. 
 
296 THE CHRISTIAN pastor's 3IANUAL. 
 
 Have an eye to an easy cadence at the close of your pe- 
 riods, and conclude, as often as you can, with an emphati- 
 cal word — Avoid dubious and equivocal expressions, or 
 such as leave the same indeterminate — And all low, vulgar, 
 and barbarous words — Let your phrase be like your dress, 
 decent, unaffected, and free from gaudy and studied orna- 
 ments — And, in fine, let all your art be to imitate nature. 
 
 ( 4. ) A concise style very well becomes the pulpit, be- 
 cause long periods convey not the sense either with so 
 much ease or force, especially to uncultivated minds. But 
 affect not to speak in proverbs. A short sententious style, 
 if it be expressive, full, and clear, will be always strong 
 and universally agreeable. 
 
 ( 5. ) Aim at a striking, nervous style, rather than a 
 diffusive, flowing one : and let the most emphatical words 
 convey the sublimest thoughts ; and if there be a glow in 
 the sentiment, it will seldom fail to shine in the expression.* 
 See Ch. i. ad finem. 
 
 2. The pronunciation. 
 
 ( 1. ) Let this be quite free, natural, and easy. " The 
 whole art of good oratory consists in observing what na- 
 ture does, when unconstrained. You should address your- 
 self to an audience in such a modest, respectful, and en- 
 gaging manner, that each of them should think you are 
 speaking to him in particular."]"" Every sort of affected 
 tone is to be carefully avoided. Suppose your whole audi- 
 tory to be but one person, and you were speaking to them 
 in your own parlour. And let the nature of your subject 
 direct the modulation of your voice : Be cool in the rational. 
 
 * Verbaque provisam rem non invita sequentur. 
 
 Hor. de Art. Poet, 
 j- Cambray's Dialogues, p. 98. 
 
THE STUDENT AND PASTOR. 297 
 
 easy in the familiar, earnest in the persuasive, and warm 
 in the pathetical part of your discourse. Every passion 
 requires a pronunciation proper to itself.* 
 
 (2.) Let the voice be always distinct and deliberate, and 
 give every word its full sound. Attend to your own voice : 
 If it be not strong, full and clear to yourself, you may be 
 sure 'tis not so to many of the audience. And to help 
 your voice, address yourself chiefly to the remotest part 
 of the assembly, and then they who are nearer will hear 
 plainly enough. Let your pronunciation be very delibe- 
 rate. You will be in little danger of speaking too slow, 
 provided your voice and action and the weight of the sen- 
 timent, keep up your hearers' attention. 
 
 (3.) Affect not to move the passions by a loud, cla- 
 morous voice. This is not poivei-ful preaching ; and ar- 
 gues no excellence in the preacher but the strength of his 
 lungs. 'Tis unseemly in a Christian minister to imitate 
 the priests of Delphos, who delivered their oracles with 
 rage and foaming. This noisy, blustering manner shocks 
 a delicate hearer, and degrades the dignity of the pulpit. 
 To be a Boanerges 'tis not necessary to become a Sten- 
 tor.'\ However, 
 
 (4.) Let your voice be always lively and awakening; 
 though at some times it should be more animated than at 
 others. 
 
 (5.) Now and then a sudden change from a: higher to a 
 lower key (when something remarkable occurs) will won- 
 derfully catch the attention. This is what Quintilian calls 
 Ars varianda, which, when well-timed, is not only grace- 
 
 * See Treatise on Elocution, p. 29. 
 j- Edward's Preacher, vol. i. p. 198. 
 
298 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 ful in itself, but pleasing to the ear, and gives no small 
 relief to the preacher.* 
 
 (6.) Repeat sometimes the most remarkable sentences 
 with a free, decent, easy manner. 
 
 (7.) Make a pause after some important thought. These 
 pauses (especially near the close of a discourse) will have 
 a very good effect ; not only as they render the service 
 more solemn, but give both yourself and your hearers time 
 to compose and recollect ; and mightily awaken their at- 
 tention to what follows, which should therefore be always 
 something worthy of it. " There are some occasions, 
 where an orator might best express his thoughts by silence : 
 For if, being full of some great sentiment, he continue im- 
 moveable for a moment, this surprising pause will keep 
 the minds of the audience in suspense, and express an 
 emotion too big for words to utter."! In a word, (as 
 Quintilian observes) the great art of elocution, is no more 
 than a proper and natural modulation and variation of the 
 voice, according to the nature of the subject.:]: 
 
 3. The action. This must always be adapted to the 
 pronunciation, as that to the passions. Here two extremes 
 are to be avoided, viz. too much, and too little action. 
 
 (1.) Let not your action be too much. 
 
 We have some at home that outdo the French, and in- 
 vent new ways of an apish and uncouth deportment. One 
 is ready every moment to throw himself out of the pulpit. 
 
 * Ars porro variandi, cum gratiam praebet, ac renovat aures, turn 
 dicentera ipsa laboris mutatione reficit. — Quintilian, 1. xi. c. 3 
 
 j- Cambray's Dialogues on Eloquence, p. 89. 
 
 t Secundum rationem rerum, de quibus dicimus, conformanda 
 vox est, 1. xi. c. 3. Quintil. 
 
THE STUDENT AND PASTOR. 299 
 
 and the people that sit below him are in continual fear that 
 he will be in good earnest. Another reckons up all the 
 heads and particulars on the tips of his fingers, which he 
 exposes to the gazing people. Others by odd and fantastic 
 gestures of the like nature delight to give the auditors di- 
 version, and make good the primitive use of the word pul- 
 pit, which was the higher part of the stage where the 
 players and comedians acted. But our serious preacher 
 abhors all of this kind, and never affects to be theatrical.* 
 To be more particular. Your action should not be per- 
 petual. The body or any part of it must not be in con- 
 stant motion. As the preacher should not be like the 
 trunk of a tree, always immoveable ; so neither like the 
 boughs of it, in continual agitation. Nor must the motion 
 of the body be uniform and unvaried. A steady vibrating 
 swing of the body from the right to the left, like the pen- 
 dulum of a clock, is very unnatural and faulty. " As 
 there is a monotony in the voice ; so there is a uniformity 
 in the gesture, that is no less nauseous and unnatural, and 
 equally contrary to the good effect that one might expect 
 from decent action. "| Again, your action should not be 
 mimical. The hands should seldom stir, unless when 
 some passion is to be expressed, or some weighty senti- 
 ment pointed out. — Nor too violent. As when it exceeds 
 the force of the expression, and the dignity of the senti- 
 ment : a fault we often see in company among persons of 
 a warm, impetuous temper. — Nor theatrical, pompous and 
 affected. This becomes neither the dignity of the pulpit, 
 nor the solemnity of the work. The chief action should 
 be (1.) in the eye: which should be commanding, quick 
 
 * Edward's Preacher, vol, i. p. 200. 
 I Cambray's Dialogues, p. 91. 
 
300 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 and piercing ; not confined to your notes, but gently turn- 
 ing to every part of your audience, with a modest, grace- 
 ful respect. (2.) The head, which should always regu- 
 larly turn with the eyes. (3.) The hands. The right 
 hand should have almost all the action ; at least the left 
 hand is never to be moved alone. (4.) The upper part of 
 the body ; which should always correspond with the mo- 
 tion of the eyes, head and hands, and should be for the 
 most part erect. Avoid a lazy lolling on the cushion ; on 
 which your elbows should rarely rest, and when they do 
 [e. g. when you make a considerable pause) let it be with 
 an easy, graceful attitude. — In a word, let all your pulpit 
 actions be natural, free, decent and easy : which by fre- 
 quent practice and a careful observation of these rules will 
 be soon attained.* 
 
 (2.) The other extreme to be avoided is too little action. 
 To stand like a statue, stiff and motionless, when you are 
 speaking to your people of the most momentous and affect- 
 ing things, is as unnatural and as disagreeable as a set, 
 uniform tone in pronunciation ; and looks as if you were 
 not in earnest yourself, and cared not whether your people 
 were so : How singular would this appear if you were 
 talking to a friend in private upon any particular affair that 
 very much concerned him, and to which you desire to ex- 
 cite his most earnest attention! How will your hearers be 
 able to keep from sleeping, if they see you are scarce 
 awake yourself? — Into this extreme the English preachers 
 are most apt to fall, as the French into the former. But 
 after all let it be remembered, that the end of a decent, just 
 and lively pronunciation and action, is only to excite and 
 fix the attention of your hearers. Let your chief care be 
 
 See Treatise on Elocution, p. 39, and following. 
 
THE STUDENT AND PASTOR. 301 
 
 still directed to the propriety and importance of your sen- 
 timent, and the dignity of your subject : For it will never 
 fail to disgust your hearers, if you rouse their attention by 
 a solemnity of voice and action, and then put them otf 
 with something low, trite or unafFecting. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 ON PRAYER. 
 
 2. The next most considerable part of the pastoral of- 
 fice is prayer ; which is commonly divided into the grace 
 and gift of prayer. 
 
 1. The grace, or the spirit of prayer. This signifies 
 either (1.) Praying with the heart and spirit, with the in- 
 tent engagement of all the mental powers, understanding, 
 will and affections. Or (2.) with the exercise of those 
 Christian graces which are proper to enkindle a devout 
 fervour of mind in that part of worship ; such as humility, 
 self-abasement, faith, love, delight, desire, trust in God, 
 hope and heavenly-mindedness. Or (3.) under the par- 
 ticular aid and influence of the Holy Spint who helps our 
 infirmities, and teaches us to pray : So says the apostle, 
 we know not what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit 
 helpeth our infirmities, Rom. viii. 26. by composing our 
 spirits, giving us a greater abstraction from the world, and 
 a greater elevation of heart, and calling into lively exer- 
 cise the graces before-mentioned. And this spiritual prayer 
 may be entirely mental without the use of words ; and 'tis 
 this spirituality which gives to our prayers all their effect 
 and power; and without it no prayer, though ever so pro- 
 perly composed or decently delivered, will be acceptable 
 26 
 
302 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR 's MANUAL. 
 
 to God, or available to ourselves : which therefore we 
 should frequently and earnestly ask at the throne of divine 
 grace. But 'tis the other kind of prayer, which I am at 
 present more particularly to consider, viz. 
 
 2. The gift of prayer ; or an ability to perform this duty 
 extempore, in a decent and devout manner, publicly. And 
 to this purpose three things are required. 1. An enlarge- 
 ment of mind. 2. A regulation or arrangement of our 
 thoughts. 3. A freedom of expression, or ready utter- 
 ance. These will take in the matter, method and manner 
 of prayer. 
 
 (1.) An enlargement of mind ; which takes in the mat- 
 ter of prayer. Whatever we want, or desire, or know we 
 ought to desire, should be the subject-matter of our prayers. 
 In order to an enlargement of mind in prayer, and a suit- 
 able supply of matter, 
 
 We must 1. be well acquainted with the state of our 
 souls; and attend to our spiritual wants and weaknesses. 
 The Christian's own heart is his best prayer-book. The 
 more we converse with that, the better shall we converse 
 with God. It may not be amiss to commit to writing those 
 defects and blemishes, we chiefly observe in our charac- 
 ters, the mercies v/e have received (especially any particu- 
 lar mercies we have received by prayer) either deliverance 
 from evil, direction in difficulties, or the accomplishment 
 of a desired end : Each of which will be a proper subject 
 either of petition, confession or thanksgiving. — 2. When 
 you address yourself to the sacred work, see that the mind 
 be free, composed and serious. Its conceptions and appre- 
 hensions will then be more ready, and proper thoughts will 
 more freely occur. — 3. Possess your mind with an awful 
 reverence of the divine majesty whom you address as (he 
 heart-searching God. — Let your expression be very deli- 
 
THE STUDENT AND PASTOR. 303 
 
 berate and solemn, that the mind may have time not only 
 to conceive, but to regulate and contemplate its concep- 
 tions. — 5. Daily study the word of God with this view in 
 particular, that you may be better supplied with materials 
 for devotion. — 6. Endeavour after a comprehensive view 
 of things. Let the mind take a wide scope; and let it 
 freely run on those subjects that most affect it. — 7. Let 
 practical divinity, and a right disposition of heart towards 
 
 God be your principal care and study 8. Take some 
 
 time to premeditate and recollect the chief topics of prayer, 
 and commit some few well chosen expressions" and sen- 
 tences to memory. — Lastly, Let the subject you have 
 preached upon, (and especially those you have found your 
 mind most warmly affected with, and some of the most 
 striking sentiments and expressions in them,) be wrought 
 into the composition of your future prayers, ranged under 
 their proper heads. This in time will greatly enrich your 
 magazine of materials for prayer ; and lead you to proper 
 thoughts and words on the most important occasions. 
 
 (2.) We should not only aim at a comprehension, but 
 observe a method in prayer. The usual method is 1. In- 
 vocation: Wherein we are to make solemn mention of 
 some of the divine attributes. Nor should this be always 
 confined to the beginning of prayer. It may very pro- 
 perly be repeated by way of preface to some of the prin- 
 cipal petitions we put up to God ; which, when pronounced 
 with seriousness and reverence, will have a good effect to 
 awaken the devotion of the heart. But always remember 
 to invoke the All-mighty under those attributes and per- 
 fections which are most suitable to the blessings you ask 
 of him ; e. g* When we pray for an accession of divine 
 knowledge and wisdom, the address may be in this form. 
 
304 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 " O thou father and fountain of light, in whom there is no 
 darkness at all, who givest to man the wisdom he asketh 
 of thee, we beseech thee to disperse the darkness of our 
 minds, shine into our hearts, and liberally bestow upon us 
 that wisdom w-hich thou knowest w-e want." — 2. Confes- 
 sion of sin. The transition to this part of prayer will be 
 natural and easy, by taking particular notice of those 
 moral perfections of the divine nature, in which we our- 
 selves are most defective ; e. g. The righteousness and 
 holiness of God, as thus. "O holy, holy, holy. Lord God 
 Almighty, who art of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, 
 wherewith shall we, thine unholy creatures, presume to 
 appear before thee, or lift up our eyes or thoughts to hea- 
 ven, which our iniquities have reached before them !" — In 
 public prayer, let these confessions be general. In private, 
 particular, as your consciousness of guilt may suggest. — 3. 
 Petition. The connection here may be properly made by 
 the mention of the divine mercies, or the remembrance of 
 Christ's mediatorship, and the promise of grace and pardon 
 to penitent sinners : And most properly begins with peti- 
 tion for pardon ; then, for a more perfect renovation ; after 
 which proceed to beg for other spiritual blessings ; as more 
 light and knowledge, more love to God, more faith and 
 hope, more strength against temptation and sin, more 
 purity and heavenly-mindedness, more indifference to the 
 world, &c. Then proceed to temporal blessings. — 4. Par- 
 ticular intercessions. These it will be best to precompose; 
 and commit to memory the expressions and phrases that 
 are most proper to be used on particular occasions. But 
 let the phrase and subject be often varied, that it may not 
 appear to be a form. And in all our prayers upon any 
 particular, or special occasions there's great need of much 
 
THE STUDENT AND PASTOR. 305 
 
 premeditation.— Lastly. Thanksgiving. The subjects of 
 these are either general or particular ; and as various as 
 our mercies. 
 
 This part of prayer may perhaps come in more properly 
 after invocation; and the transition from thence to corf - 
 fession, may be made by the mention of our unworthi- 
 iiess of the divine blessmgs. 
 
 Besides this general method it would be proper to pre- 
 serve in your mind a particular method of the several 
 blessings you are to pray for, the sins you confess, and 
 the mercies you commemorate. Let these be laid up in 
 the mind, in order to be produced in their proper places. 
 But do not tie yourself down to the invariable use of any 
 method, whether general or particular ; for a too close ap- 
 plication of the mind to the method or expression of prayer 
 is apt to obstruct the devout employment of the heart. 
 Besides, this will make the prayer appear too formal, arti- 
 ficial and studied, and bring n drowsiness on the minds of 
 those whose devotion you are called to excite and lead ; 
 who are never more pleased and edified in this part of wor- 
 ship, than when they observe us to be affected with our 
 own prayers. A heart inspired with warm devotion will 
 not be confined to exact method. And a lively start of 
 thought, and a strong, surprizing sentiment uttered out of 
 its due place, will strike the minds of our fellow-worship- 
 pers so strongly, that they will not attend to the want of 
 method, or if they do, will readily excuse it. Enlarge 
 mostly on that part of prayer with which you find your 
 own mind most afTected ; and let not any occasional devia- 
 tions from your purposed method interrupt the fervent 
 workings of your spirit. 'Tis good however to be master 
 of a regular system of materials, and of pertinent expres- 
 sions under each head, which may serve instead of a form 
 26* 
 
306 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR^S MANUAL. 
 
 (bat still to be uttered in the most solemn and reverend 
 manner) when the powers of the mind happen to be heavy 
 and unactive, or oppressed by the presence of others at a 
 time we are called to the performance of this duty. 
 
 (3.) Next to the matter and method, we should have a 
 regard to the manner of prayer. This respects 1. the ges- 
 ture of the body ; which should be always decent, grave 
 and humble, and expressive of the reverence of the heart: 
 as folding the hands, or putting the open palms together, 
 sometimes erect, sometimes declining with the body ; some- 
 times lift up with the eyes, according as the pious or hum- 
 ble motions of the heart direct. Let the eyes be mostly 
 closed, or if open, steadily fixed ; for nothing is more in- 
 decent than for the eyes to wander in the performance of 
 this duty. 2. The pronunciation. Let this be slow, so- 
 lemn, grave, distinct, and serious. Let not your words 
 follow faster than your thoughts; that the latter may have 
 time to be maturely conceived and well expressed ; by 
 which means, one thought will more naturally rise out of 
 another, and be in readiness to be produced whilst the 
 other is uttering. And when the conceptions are thus be- 
 fore-hand with the expressions, the mind will be free, com- 
 posed and serious ; and have time to feel the weight of its 
 own thoughts ; which will be a great help to the true spirit 
 of prayer. "Due and proper pauses and stops will give 
 the hearer time to conceive and reflect on what you speak, 
 and more heartily to join with you ; as well as give you 
 leave to breathe, and make the work more easy and plea- 
 sant to yourself. Besides when persons run on heedless 
 with an incessant flow of words, being carried us it were 
 in a violent stream, without rests or pauses, they are in 
 danger of uttering things rashly before God ; giving no 
 time at all to their own meditation; but indulging their 
 
THE STUDENT AND PASTOR. 307 
 
 tongue to run sometimes too fast for their own thoucrhts, 
 as well as for the affections of such as are present with 
 them. All this arises from the hurry of the tongue into 
 the middle of a sentence, before the mind has conceived 
 the full and complete sense of it."* 
 
 Avoid the extremes of a too low and muttering voice, 
 which some use, and a clamorous, strong, noisy tone, 
 which others affect ; as if they expected to be heard for 
 their loud speaking ; or as if the devotion of the heart con- 
 sisted in a strength of lungs. This is improperly called 
 poicerful praying, and will be very disgustful to many. 
 
 3. The expression. Here let the following rules be ob- 
 served. 
 
 (1.) Let your language be plain, but proper. Avoid all 
 low, vulgar, and obsolete phrases, but affect not an elegant 
 or rhetorical style ; much less an obscure and mystical 
 one ; for how can the mind feel the weight of that senti- 
 ment it does not understand 1 f 
 
 (2.) Scriptural expressions, if happily chosen, are very 
 ornamental in prayer. " It would be of excellent use to 
 improve us in the gift of prayer, if in our daily reading of 
 the word of God, we did observe what expressions were 
 suited to the several parts of this duty; adoration, confes- 
 sion, petition, or thanksgiving, and let them be wrought 
 into our addresses to God that day.":]: And to be furnished 
 with a Copia of scriptural expressions to be used in prayer, 
 read Henry^s Method of Prayer^ Bishop Wilkin's Dis- 
 course on the Gift of Prayer, or Closet Devotions. 
 
 But here let tiie two following cautions be observed : 
 
 • Watts' Guide to Prayer, p. 93. 
 -[■ See Wilkins on Prayer, p. 48. 
 ± Watts' Guide to Prayer, p. 75 
 
308 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 (1.) Let not your prayer be all in Scripture words. 
 Sonae conceive a prayer of nothing but texts of Scripture 
 tacked together ; which prevents the mind from taking a 
 proper scope, and leaves no room for the invention, or the 
 utterance of pious thoughts. 
 
 (2.) Avoid the dark, mystical expressions of Scripture; 
 which you have reason to believe the greatest part of your 
 hearers do not comprehend the sense of. " If we indulge 
 the use of such dark sentences in our speaking to God, we 
 might as well pray in an unknown tongue, which was so 
 much disapproved of by the apostle, 1 Cor. xiv. 9. Let 
 not the pomp and sound of any hard Hebrew nam.es, or 
 obscure phrase in Scripture, allure us to be fond of them 
 in social prayer, even though we ourselves should know 
 the meaning of them, lest we confound the thoughts of our 
 fellow- worshippers."* 
 
 (.3.) If you have not the faculty of clothing your own 
 ideas in proper and pertinent words, borrow the phrases 
 and expressions of others upon the same subject. Make 
 a collection of them from the best authors, but remember 
 to pick out those which come nearest to your own phrase- 
 ology, or such as you best approve, and would wish to 
 have in readiness when you are speaking on that particu- 
 lar subject. And when you are furnished with a store of 
 such well-chosen expressions, turn then) into the form of 
 a prayer, and commit them to memory : which expedient 
 will not only facilitate your expression, but give room for 
 further invention. " 'Tis usual for young students to be 
 very careful in gathering common-place hooks : It would 
 be a much greater advantage, if they were as diligent to 
 
 * Watts' Guide to Prayer, p. 76, 
 
THE STUDENT AND TASTOR. 309 
 
 collect under proper references any such particular matter, 
 or expressions in prayer wherewith at any lime they find 
 themselves to be more especially afFccled."* 
 
 ( 4. ) 'Tis very proper and requisite that your prayer 
 after sermon be formed on the subject you have been treat- 
 infT of; wherein you may go over all the heads of your 
 discourse, and touch upon the most important sentiments, 
 and repeat the most striking expressions in it. But as the 
 mind will be then sometimes fatigued, and the powers ex- 
 hausted and unfit to be put on the new labour of invention, 
 it may not be amiss to pen down the short concluding 
 prayer verbatim, to be repeated memoriter; but without 
 confining yourself either to the precise expressions, or 
 method you had before conceived, if the mind be able or 
 disposed to enlarge. 
 
 ( 5. ) Avoid those phrases and modes of expression 
 which you know to be obnoxious or disgustful to your 
 hearers; and prefer those that will give the least offence 
 to any party or denomination of Christians. 
 
 ( 6. ) Throw your prayer out of a form as much as you 
 can, by varying both method and phrase, and by a fresh 
 supply of sentiments and expressions; which will be a 
 great help both to your own devotion, and theirs v/ho join 
 with you in this part of worship. 
 
 (7.) Let your prayers, as well as your sermons, be 
 rather too short than too long. 
 
 ( 8. ) Avoid preaching prayers. " Some persons who 
 affect long prayers are greatly faulty in this respect ; they 
 are speaking to the people and teaching them the doctrines 
 of religion, and the mind and will of God, rather than 
 speaking to God the desires of their own mind. They 
 
 * Wilkins on Prayer, p. 39. 
 
310 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 wander away from God to speuk to men. But this is 
 quite contrary to the nature of prayer."* 
 
 (Lastly.) Be not too fond of a nice uniformity of words, 
 nor of perpetual diversity of expression in prayer, " We 
 should seek indeed to be furnished with a rich variety of 
 holy language, that our prayers may always have some- 
 thing new and something entertaining in them ; and not 
 tie ourselves to express one thing always in one set of 
 words, lest this make us grow formal and dull, and indif- 
 ferent in those petitions. But on the other hand, if we are 
 guilty of a perpetual affectation of new words, which w-e 
 never before used, we shall sometimes miss our own best 
 and most spiritual meaning, and many times be driven to 
 great impropriety of speech ; and, at best, our prayers by 
 this means will look like the fruit of our fancy and inven- 
 tion, and the labour of the head more than the breathings 
 of the heart."* 
 
 I shall conclude this chapter with a few general direc- 
 tions how to attain and improve this useful gift. 
 
 (1.) Accustom yourself to a serious, devout, and de- 
 cent discharge of this duty every day in private ; whereby 
 a readiness of conception and expression will be sooner ac- 
 quired. 
 
 ( 2. ) Spare no i)ains to gain so excellent a talent ; for 
 'tis not to be had (especially by some) without much ap- 
 plication ; but 'tis worth it all : and there are few things on 
 which the labour of one who is a student for the sacred 
 ministry can be more usefully employed. 
 
 ( 3. ) Often pray for this gift of prayer. 
 
 (4.) Endeavour to get your spirit deeply impressed 
 with the great things of religion : and let those sentiments 
 
 * Watts' Guide to Prayer, p. 86. f Id. p. 89. 
 
THE STUDENT AND PASTOR. 311 
 
 which most affected you in your most serious frames, be 
 wrought into your prayers. 
 
 ( 5. ) Maintain a manly presence of mind, and use all 
 proper means to conquer that bashfulness and timidity of 
 spirit which young persons are subject to, and is a great 
 hindrance to a decent discharge of this duty.* 
 
 (6.) Take every opportunity you can to hear others 
 pray ; and imitate them in every thing you observe to be 
 decent,^ graceful, and excellent. 
 
 ( Lastly.) Vary your concluding doxologies. And that 
 you may herein give no offence to any, it may be proper 
 to confine yourself to those o( Scripture, which are very 
 various, and such as follow : 
 
 Heb. xiii. 21. — Tlirovgh Jesus Christ, to whom be glory 
 for ever and ever. Amen. 
 
 Rom. xvi. 25, 27. — Now to him that is of potcer to es- 
 tablish you according to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. To 
 God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. — 
 Amen. 
 
 Rom. ix. 5. — Through Jesus Christ who is over all, 
 God blessed for ever. Amen. 
 
 Gal. i. 4, 5. — Who gave himself for our sins, that he 
 might deliver us from this present evil world, according 
 to the will of God and our Father : To whom be glory 
 for ever and ever. Amen. 
 
 Ephes. iii. 20, 21. — Now unto him who is able to do 
 exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, ac- 
 cording to the poiver that worketh in us, unto him be 
 glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, 
 world without end. Amen. 
 
 1. Tim. i. 17. — Now unto the King eternal, immortal, 
 
 * See Dr. Watts' Guide to Prayer, p. 110—112. 
 
312 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever 
 and ever. Amen, 
 
 1. Peter iv. 11. — Throvgh Jesus Christ, to whom be 
 praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. 
 
 2. Peter iii. 18. — Throvgh our Lord a fid Saviour Je- 
 sus Christ, to whom be glory both now and for ever, — 
 Amen. 
 
 Jude, ver. 24, 25 — Now unto him that is able to keep 
 us from falling, and to present ns faidtless before the pre- 
 sence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise 
 God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and 
 power, both now and for ever. Amen, 
 
 Rev. i. 5, 6. — Unto him who loved us, and washed us 
 from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings 
 and priests to God even his Father : To him be glory 
 and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. 
 
 Rev. V. 13. — Blessing, and honour, and glory, and 
 power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto 
 the Lamb for ever and ever. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 CONCERNING THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 1. Of Baptism. 
 
 *' A minister ought to instruct his people frequently in 
 the nature of baptism, that they may not go about it merely 
 as a ceremony, as it is too visible the greater part do, but 
 that they may consider it as the dedicating their children 
 to God, the offering them to Christ, and the holding them 
 thereafter as his ; directing their chief care about them to 
 the breeding them up in the nurture and admonition of the 
 
THE STUDENT AND PASTOR. 313 
 
 Lord."* In the administration of this ordinance 'tis best 
 to keep to the original institution as your rule and guide. 
 The most natural method to be used in the celebration of it 
 seems to be this : 
 
 ( 1. ) Recite the express words of the institution. Matt, 
 xxviii. 28. Then, 
 
 ( 2. ) It would not be amiss to say something in vindi- 
 cation of those two positive institutions ot Christianity, 
 Baptism and the Lord's Supper; and to show the excel- 
 lency of the Christian dispensation from its simplicity, and 
 that it is not encumbered with those numerous external 
 ceremonies which the Jewish dispensation was. 
 
 (3.) Make a short discourse on the ordinance as a sacra- 
 ment of the Christian church ; wherein you may offer some 
 useful remarks on the practice of infant baptism ; then add 
 some proper observations relating to the mode and manner 
 in which the ordinance is to be celebrated ; laying this 
 down as an undisputed principle, that in the maner of per- 
 forming divine worship 'tis always best and safest to keep 
 close to the divine rule ; so as neither to go beyond ; nor 
 fall short of it : for in the former case, we know not whether 
 human and arbitrary additions will be approved of God, 
 but this we are sure of, he will never condemn us for not 
 doing what he never commanded ; and therefore the sign 
 of the cross may be safely omitted as no where enjoined 
 by God himself: and as to the latter case, (i. e. neglecting 
 any part of our rule, or those instructions he hath given us 
 for the directory of our worship,) this must certainly be 
 criminal, and derogatory to the honour of the divine insti- 
 tutor. But where the circumstance or mode of any reli- 
 gious action is left undetermined in the form and words of 
 
 Burnet's Pas. Care, p. 185. 
 27 
 
314 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 the institution, that which is most decent and convenient 
 is to be preferred. Hence sprinkling or washing the face 
 of the baptized person gently with the hand, is to be pre- 
 ferred to plunging the body all over in water; because the 
 former is more safe and decent, and the latter no where 
 commanded as the standing universal mode of baptizing. 
 
 (4.) Be more particular in explaining the nature, end 
 and design of this ordinance, and in opening the typical 
 part of it. Here you may bring in the doctrine of sancti- 
 fication, and the purifying influences of the Holy Spirit 
 figured by the water in baptism, and the relation this 
 Christian institution has to the baptizing of proselytes, and 
 to the Jewish ordinance of circumcision. 
 
 (5.) You may then briefly open the nature of the pre- 
 sent duty of the parents ; in giving up their child to God, 
 and what is implied therein, viz. their desire that it should 
 be received into the church of Christ, and brought up in 
 the Christian faith. And be very particular in your ad- 
 dress to the parents of the infant which is to be baptized ; 
 pressing upon them the importance of their charge, and the 
 care they are to take in the education of their child : espe- 
 cially in reference to its spiritual and eternal concerns. 
 But this may be either before, or after the ceremonial part 
 of the ordinance is performed. 
 
 (6.) Proceed then to ask a blessing upon the ordinance ; 
 and pray for the infant in particular. 
 
 (7.) Then take the infant, and washing it gently with 
 water, baptize it in the name of the leather,, and of the Son, 
 and of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 Then, lastly (if the exhortation to the parents do not 
 come in here, but was addressed to them before) conclude 
 with the thanksgiving prayer and the benediction. 
 
THE STUDENT AND PASTOR. 315 
 
 II. or the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. 
 
 1. Of the method of performing it. 
 
 2. Of taking in communicants. 
 
 1. Of the method of performing it. The most regular 
 method seems to be this. — (1.) Make a short preparatory 
 discourse, tending to open the nature and design of this sa- 
 crament, and the necessity and importance of its intention ; 
 or to excite some devout affections in the minds of the 
 communicants, especially relating to the love of Christ, the 
 design of his death and sufferings, and the necessity of a 
 frequent commemoration thereof in this sacred institution. 
 But let the address be very serious, and very solemn. — 
 Then (2.) read distinctly the words of the institution. — 
 Then (3.) solemnly pray for the divine blessing and pre- 
 sence ; give thanks to God for the institution of the visible 
 symbols to affect your mind, and assist your faith ; and 
 earnestly pray that the great end of this sacred solemnity 
 may be visibly answered in every one of the commun • 
 cants, and be manifested in their growing love to the Re- 
 deemer, and more steady attachment to his gospel, as their 
 only rule of faith and life. — Then (4.) break the sacramen- 
 tal bread, and distribute it either personally, or by the 
 hands of the deacons. — To assist the devotion of the com- 
 municants, 'tis the custom of some ministers to pronounce 
 now and then some serious and weighty sentences relative 
 to the love and sufferings of Christ, or the benefits of his 
 death. But this is disused by others under an apprehen- 
 sion that instead of quickening the devotion of our fellow- 
 worshippers, it may interrupt it, by diverting the course of 
 their own meditations. — (5.) After the distribution of the 
 bread, make a short prayer to beg the continuance of the 
 divine presence and blessing, and that God would gracious- 
 
316 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 ly forgive the infirmities of our worship : and give thanks 
 for the element you are about to partake of, and pray that 
 it may answer the design intended by it ; which is all that 
 protestants mean by the consecration of the elements. — 
 But it is the custom with some to pray for a blessing on 
 both the elements, in one single prayer. — (6.) Then fol- 
 lows the distribution of the cup in the manner before-men- 
 tioned. — In some churches 'tis the custom of the minister 
 to partake of the elements last : And in others first ; pro- 
 nouncing with an audible voice these, or some such words, 
 *' In obedience to Christ's command, and in remembrance 
 of him, I take and eat this bread as the memorial of his 
 body which was broken for sin." And so in partaking of 
 the cup. " I take and drink this cup," &c. — After the 
 distribution of the elements, the minister sometimes makes 
 a short exhortation to the people, relating to the nature of 
 their sacramental obligations, and exhortinisj them to be 
 faithful thereunto. After which a collection is made for 
 the poor by the deacon from pew to pew, or at the door 
 when the congregation breaks up. — (7.) Then follows a 
 suitable Hymn or Psalm. — (Lastly.) Conclude with a 
 short thanksgiving prayer. — In order to furnish your mind 
 with suitable matter for your sacramental exhortations and 
 prayers, it is requisite to read some proper devotional trea- 
 tise on this ordinance, before you enter on the celebration 
 of it. 
 
 2. The method of admitting communicants to the Lord's 
 Table. This is different in different churches. For direc- 
 tion in this affair these general rules may be of service. 
 
 (1.) As every particular church is a select religious so- 
 ciety, every member of it has a right to be satisfied of the 
 character and qualification of every new member that is 
 admitted into it. This is plain from the very nature and 
 
THE STUDENT AND PASTOR. 317 
 
 design of such a society, and necessary to preserve the 
 purity and discipline of the church. 
 
 (2.) That the qualifications required in the candidates, 
 should be no other than what we have plain warrant from 
 Scripture to demand, and such as are necessary to preserve 
 purity and discipline : For herein (as well as in other parts 
 of Christian discipline and church-government) we are 
 strictly to adhere to Scripture as our rule, so far as it af- 
 fords us any direction in this matter. And therefore to 
 require that the spiritual experiences of the candidate be 
 publicly declared by himself, or read by another, in the 
 presence of the church, before he is suffered to commu- 
 nicate with them, (which is the practice in some protestant 
 dissenting congregations) is not only unnecessary, but un- 
 warrantable, and often attended with very bad effects : it 
 is unnecessary, because it is found not to answer the end 
 principally designed, the greater purity of the church ; it is 
 unwarrantable, because we have no shadow of a precept 
 or precedent for it in Scripture, or primitive antiquity; and 
 the bad consequences of it, are 1. It bars the way to this 
 ordinance, discourages meek, humble and modest persons 
 from proposing themselves to the communion, whilst it is 
 easily accessible to men of bold, forward and confident 
 tempers. 2. It is a temptation to the candidates to declare 
 more than they have really experienced, lest the church 
 should reject them ; or to describe the animal passions as 
 divine influences, and the workings of the imagination as 
 the operations of the Spirit, which young and unexperienced 
 Christians are too apt to do. 3. It supposes and counte- 
 nances some very mistaken principles, viz. that none have 
 a right to this ordinance but those whose hearts are " not 
 only" really converted ; but who are also sensible of this, 
 27* 
 
318 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 and are able to make others sensible of it, by describing the 
 time, means, manner and effects of that conversion. 4. It 
 attributes a power to the church which they have no right 
 lo, viz. of judging the hearts of others; and that by a very 
 precarious rule, viz. from what they say of themselves. For 
 if they judge by the general character, life and conversation 
 of the candidate (w^hich is a much better rule) there is no 
 necessity for a public declaration of his experience. It 
 likewise implies a power in the church of excluding from 
 this ordinance all that cannot produce such evidence of 
 their real conversion as will satisfy every member of the 
 church. Upon what foundation so extraordinary a claim 
 is built, 'tis hard to say. Lastly. This practice tends to 
 make the members thus admitted, too careless and confi- 
 dent after their admission ; for when they have the testi- 
 mony of the whole church concurring with their own 
 strong imagination that they are true converted Chris- 
 tians, and look upon the sins they commit after this 
 only as the weaknesses of God's children, they are in 
 great danger of being betrayed into a false and fatal peace. 
 Therefore, 
 
 (3.) A creditable profession, and unblemished character 
 and conversation may be deemed as a necessary and suffi- 
 cient qualification for the holy communion. This is neces- 
 sary in order to keep up the discipline, and preserve the 
 purity of the church ; and it is sufficient because we do not 
 find that our sacred rule requires any thing further. And, 
 
 (4.) As soon as the members of the church are satisfied 
 of this general qualification of the candidate, they have no 
 right to refuse their assent to his admission. 
 
 (5.) Provided they have this satisfaction, 'tis not mate- 
 rial by what means they receive it. Sometimes the elders 
 
 1 
 
THE STUDENT AND PASTOR. 319 
 
 of the church are deputed to confer privately with the can- 
 didate, and enquire into his knowledge of the design and 
 nature of this ordinance ; and whether his views and ends 
 in desiring to join in it be sincere and right. — Sometimes 
 this is left entirely to the minister, whose business it pro- 
 perly is; who if he be satisfied in those points acquaints 
 the church of it at the next ensuing sacrament; and there- 
 upon declares that if any of the members present do not 
 signify to him (before the next sacrament) any objections 
 against the candidate's admission, he will then (by their 
 consent) be admitted to the ordinance as a member of that 
 church. — In other churches members are admitted by the 
 minister only, without any notice given to the church 'till 
 the very time of admission ; nor even then are they ap- 
 prized of it any other way than by a few petitions in the 
 minister's prayer particularly in behalf of the new-admit- 
 ted member. 
 
 (Lastly,) The church has an undoubted right to expel 
 irregular and unworthy members: This is generally done 
 at first by suspension ; when the minister intimates his de- 
 sire and that of the church to the delinquent member, that 
 he would refrain from coming to the sacrament till he hears 
 further from him ; which is generally sufficient without the 
 solemnity of a formal and public expulsion. 
 
 CHAPTER Vir. 
 
 ON VISITING THE SICK. 
 
 This is a very arduous and delicate office, and especially 
 in some circumstances ; and a different method of address 
 and conduct is requisite according to the different charac- 
 ters of the persons you visit. 
 
320 
 
 It will therefore be proper, 
 
 I. To lay down some general rules to be observed, in 
 order to a right execution of this part of your duty. 
 
 I I. To specify some particular cases. 
 
 I. To lay down some general rules to be observed, in 
 order to a right execution of this part of your duty. 
 
 (1.) A previous preparation for it is very proper ; by 
 considering what kind of address will be most necessary 
 and suitable to the person you visit. 'Tis something 
 strange (as a late judicious divine well observes) that min- 
 isters who take so much pains to prepare for the work of 
 the pulpit, should generally take so little to prepare for this, 
 which is one of the most difRcult and most important of- 
 fices in the ministry.* 
 
 (2.) It would be advisable to have in readiness a good store 
 of Scripture expressions, adapted to the support and comfort 
 of the afflicted : which may be easily collected from the 
 Common-place book to the Bible ; and out of these, choose 
 such as are most applicable to the case of your friend. 
 
 (3.) Adapt yourself to his taste and understanding as 
 well as to the circumstances of his case; by making such 
 observations, and using such expressions as you know are 
 most familiar and agreeable to him : But lake care to ex- 
 plain the phrases he makes use of, if you have reason to 
 think he does not understand them. 
 
 (4.) Let your deportment and address be very free, 
 friendly, close, tender and compassionate. 
 
 * Cette fonction est aussi une de celles dont on s'acquitte le plus 
 mal. La plupart des ministres n'y apportent aucune preparation. 
 Cependant, elle n'est pas moins difficile qu'importante. On se pre- 
 pare pour les Sermons, mais non pas pour voir les Malades. 
 
 Ostervald Du Governement de I'Eglise, p. 307. 
 
THE STUDENT AND PASTOR. 321 
 
 (5.) Place yourself in the condition of the person before 
 you ; and consider in what manner you would wish a min- 
 ister or friend to behave to you in those circumstances. 
 
 (6.) Whilst you are tender be sure to be faithful ; and 
 have respect to the approbation of your conscience after- 
 wards. Remember that you are a minister of the gospel, 
 and must not sacrifice the cause of truth and Godliness to 
 a false shame or tenderness. 
 
 (Lastly.) Let your prayer for the sick person be short 
 but very serious and solemn, and adapted as much as may 
 be to the state of his soul, and the danger of his disease. 
 In all which offices there is great need of much piety, fide- 
 lity and wisdom.* 
 
 1 1 . Let us now consider how a minister ought to behave 
 in his visitation to the sick, under some particular circum- 
 stances. And, 
 
 1. If you have reason to believe that the afflicted per- 
 son you visit is a real good Christian, your work will not 
 be very difficult ; it may be pleasant and useful ; and you 
 may possibly receive more advantage from him, than he 
 does from you. For a Christian's graces are at such a 
 time commonly most lively, and the tongue very faithful to 
 the sentiments of the heart ; so that you will presently see 
 what it is that lies most upon his mind. And as your pre- 
 sent business will be to administer consolation and solve 
 his doubts, 
 
 Your topics of consolation may be taken, 1. From his 
 
 * Pour montrer que la piete est necessaire, vous n'avez que remar- 
 quer, qu'on fait trois fonctions aupres de Malades. II faut sender la 
 conscience, leur donner les conseils, qui sont necessaires, et prier 
 pour eux. Id. p. 290. 
 
322 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 past experience. Direct him to look back to the goodness 
 of God to him, and the sensible experience he has had of 
 the divine love and presence. Bid him think of what God 
 has done for his soul, and thence draw David's conclu- 
 sion, " because the Lord has been my help," &c. — 2. Re- 
 fer his thoughts to the paternal character. And bid him 
 think of the compassions of a father to- a weak and help- 
 less child. — 3. Open the inexhaustible stores of divine 
 mercy in the gospel. — 4. Insist on the mighty efficacy of 
 the Redeemer's blood — 5. The genuine marksof true faith 
 and sincere repentance. — Lastly, Endeavour to affect his 
 mind with a lively apprehension of the heavenly glory, to 
 which he will very shortly be received. 
 
 And as to his doubts tell him 1. That he is not a proper 
 judge in his own case, under the present weakness of his 
 powers ; that the lowness of his animal spirits causes him 
 to look too much upon the dark side, and to see every 
 thing through a wrons; medium : that he has no reason to 
 suspect his case to be worse now than it was when he had 
 better hopes concerning it. — 2. That the best of men have 
 had their doubts ; that if it be the sign of a weak faith, it 
 is however the sign of some true faith. — 3. That it is much 
 safer to be doubtful than over confident — 4. That however 
 variable be our frame, God's regards for his own children 
 are unchann-eable, — 5. Bid him examine his doubts to the 
 bottom, and trace them up to the true source ; and perhaps 
 they may appear to arise from the agency of Satan, who 
 delights to disturb the tranquillity of those he cannot de- 
 stroy. — 6. Ask him, if he has any hopes ? and whether 
 he would part with the little hope he has, for the greatest 
 treasures on earth? Bid him examine the foundation of 
 those hopes, as well as that of his fears ; for he can never 
 judge aright till he look on both sides : And oftentimes a 
 
THE STUDENT AND PASTOR. 323 
 
 Christian's weak hope has a better foundation than his 
 strongest fears. But 
 
 2. Is the character of the sick person you visit doubtful ? 
 your business is more difficult, and your address must be 
 more cautious. 
 
 If there be no apparent danger of death, 1. Endeavour 
 to give him just notions of a particular providence ; that 
 though men do not so often attend to it as they ought, yet 
 most certain it is both from Scripture and reason that what- 
 ever befalls every individual man on earth is under the im- 
 mediate direction of Providence : And as to this affliction 
 in particular, persuade him to regard and consider it as the 
 hand of God. — Then 2. discourse on the wisdom and 
 goodness of God in sending these occasional rebukes of 
 his providence ; which whatever we think are sent for the 
 best ends. Afflictions are the physic of the soul designed 
 to purify and purge it. — 3, Under this view of things press 
 upon him the exercise of patient submission and a total re- 
 signation to the divine will ; and direct him to look upon 
 the present dispensation (though grievous) as sent in mercy 
 to him, and what may hereafter produce the most excellent 
 effects. — 4. Tell him that in the best of men there are 
 sins and follies sufficient to justify the severest dispensa- 
 tions of God's providence ; that many good Christians 
 have suffered worse ; and what reason he has to be thank- 
 ful that his case is not more calamitous. — 4. Remind him 
 of the many miseries mixed with the present affliction. — 
 6. If it should please God to restore him, exhort him faith- 
 fully to concur with the design of this visitation, by his con- 
 stant endeavour to amend what his conscience now smites 
 him for. 
 
 But if there be apparent symptoms of approaching death, 
 exhort him 1. seriously to review his past life, to call to 
 
324 THE CHRISTIAN pastor's manual. 
 
 mind the most remarkable transgressions of it, for which 
 he should now greatly humble his soul before God, and sin- 
 cerely renew his repentance. — And that his repentance 
 may be sincere and unfeigned, — 2. Endeavour to make 
 him sensible of the evil and guilt of sin, from its contra- 
 riety to the holy nature of God, and the inevitable ruin it 
 exposes the soul unto. — 3. When he is thus humbled and 
 penitent, revive him with the consolation of the gospel; the 
 amazing compassion and goodness of God to a world of 
 sinners in sending his son to redeem them by his death ; 
 and the merits of the Redeemer's sufferings, whose blood 
 cleanseth from all sin. — Then 4. open to him in a plain 
 and easy manner the gospel-method of salvation by Jesus 
 Christ. — 5. In a deep self-abhorrence for his sins, and in 
 such a lively faith in Christ, advise him to call upon the 
 Father of mercies for pardon through Jusus Christ his son. 
 — 6. Remind him to settle his affairs in this world, as well 
 as he can ; and then think — no more of it for ever. — And 
 Lastly, leave with him some suitable text of Scripture 
 which you apprehend most applicable to the state of his 
 soul. But 
 
 3. If the sick man you visit has been notoriously wicked, 
 and appears ignorant, insensible and hardened, your busi- 
 ness then is the most difficult of all. 
 
 To make any right impression on such a one, you must 
 1. pray to God beforehand that you may be enabled to say 
 something that is suitable to his case which may be a means 
 of awakening him to a proper sense of his danger. — And 
 then 2. when you come into his room, appear deeply af- 
 fected with his case. Let him see that you are more con- 
 cerned for him, than he is for himself; that you are more 
 
 sensible of his danger than he is of his own Then 3. in 
 
 order to bring him to a proper sense of his state and dan- 
 
THE STUDENT AND PASTOR. 325 
 
 ger, put some close questions to him relating to the holy 
 and righteous nature of God ; his infinite hatred of sin ; 
 the absolute impossibility of being happy hereafter but in 
 his favour : the certainty of a future judgment when God 
 will render to every one according to his works ; and 
 the unspeakable importance of the soul's being safe for 
 eternity. — Then 4. beg of him not to deceive himself with 
 vain hopes ; but be willing to see the truth of his case, as 
 it is represented to him in the unerring word of God, how- 
 ever dangerous or dreadful it may appear to him ; for 
 whilst he shuts his eyes against the danger, there's no pos- 
 sibility of escaping it.* — 5. If his distemper is like to be 
 fatal, let him know it ; and that all that can be done to es- 
 cape everlasting misery, must immediately be done; that 
 there is as yet some hope (though it be but small) that this 
 possibly may be done ; that on this moment depends his 
 future condition for ever : And beg him not to lose this last 
 cast he has for eternity. — 6. If his conscience by this 
 means be awakened and you observe some genuine relent- 
 ings of heart, take that occasion to assist its workings, to 
 enforce its reproofs and urge its convictions, till you see 
 something like a true penitential remorse. — Then 7. earn- 
 estly pray with him, and for him ; that God would con- 
 tinue to give him a just sense of his sin and danger, and 
 that his grace and Spirit may carry on those convictions till 
 they issue in a real change of heart. — Then 8. take your 
 leave of him in a tender and affectionate manner, not with- 
 out giving him some hope that if the same sensible and 
 penitent frame continue, there may be mercy in reserve for 
 him: But beg of him whilst he has the use of his reason 
 not to omit any opportunity of crying mightily to God for 
 
 * See Burnet's Pastoral Care, p. 195, &c. 
 28 
 
326 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 mercy through the merits of Jesus Christ his son. — 9. In 
 your next visit (which should be soon after this) if you 
 find him penitent, exhort him to glorify God by making 
 an ample confession of his sins in private, with all their 
 heinous aggravations, and not to be afraid to see the worst 
 of himself; and if he has in any matter injured or de- 
 frauded others, you must insist upon it, as a mark of trbie 
 repentance, that he immediately make restitution or satis- 
 faction, if it be in his power. — Lastly. If his penitential 
 sorrow still continue, and you have reason lo believe him 
 sincere, you may begin to administer the consolations of 
 the gospel, and address him as you have been directed in 
 the case of the person before-mentioned under the like cir- 
 cumstances.* 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 CONCERNING THE MINISTER'S CONDUCT TOWARDS HIS 
 
 PEOPLE. 
 
 Here it will be proper 1. To lay down some general 
 rules to be observed at all times. And 2. Some particu- 
 lar rules applicable to extraordinary occasions. 
 
 I. To lay down some general rules to be observed at all 
 times. 
 
 Previous to these I would desire you to observe these 
 two things. 1. Arm yourself with resolution, and prepare 
 to meet with difficulties and contempt. The nature of 
 your office implies the first, and all the dignity of it will 
 not secure you from the last. But if you behave prudent- 
 ly and faithfully in it, you will meet with contempt from 
 
 * See Spink's Sick-man Visited. Ostervald de la visits des Malades. 
 
THE STUDENT AND PASTOR. 327 
 
 none but those who deserve it, and whose esteem would be 
 no honour. 2. Study the true nature of Christian humihty: 
 and let your mind be clothed with it as its greatest orna- 
 ment. But distinguish between that dastardly meanness 
 and pusillanimity which makes you ashamed to look in 
 the face, and speak in the presence of your superiors, (and 
 may tempt you to an abject compliance with all their hu- 
 mours,) and that humility which arises from a reverence 
 of God, a consciousness of your own defects, the difficulty 
 of your work, and the knowledge of your character.* 
 This will teach you to bear contempt with dignity, and ap- 
 plause with decency ; the latter perhaps you will find not 
 less difficult than the former. Let the knowledge of your- 
 self be your guard against that vanity of mind which will 
 be apt to steal into it when you hear the approbatjxDns or 
 commendations of men."!" Thus armed with resolution 
 and humility, let your principal care be, 
 
 (1.) To be faithful to God and conscience; and take 
 care that nothing betray you into such a behaviour upon 
 any occasion, for which your own mind will reproach you 
 in secret. And a steady regard to this rule will lead you 
 to decline the most usual and dangerous temptations. 
 
 (2.) Let your conduct to all be inoffensive, beneficent 
 and obliging. Make it your practice, and it will be your 
 
 * Laudata est in sacris Tateris Humilitas, damnata superbia ; sed 
 est Humilitatis genus quo nihil est detestabilius ; est et superbiBe 
 genus, quo nihil laudabilius. — Erasra. Eccles. p. 191. 
 
 ■f Non solum adversus sinistra populi judicia, adversus malitiam 
 etiam pie dicta calumniantium, adversus siinultates illorum quibus 
 ob vitam corruptam in visa est Veritas, sed etiam adversus acclama- 
 tiones, et applausus hominum laudantiura, debet habere solidum et 
 immobilem spiritum. Id. p. 20. 
 
328 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 pleasure, to do some kind office to every one to whom you 
 have a power and opportunity of doing it with prudence. 
 And let the Emperor Titus's rule of conduct be yours, not 
 to let one day pass, if possible, without doing some good 
 to one person or other. 
 
 (3.) Visit your people in a kind and friendly manner, 
 as often as it suits with your convenience and theirs. This 
 is the business of the afternoon. For the whole morning, 
 and as much time as you can redeem at night, should be 
 devoted to study. Where your visits are most pleasant 
 and profitable, and most expected and desired, pay them 
 most frequently. But where there is any prospect of doing 
 good to any in your flock, there you should sometimes pay 
 your visits, though it be to the poorest persons, and espe- 
 cially when they are in trouble. And in all your visits 
 take some opportunity of making moral remarks, or drop- 
 ping some useful instructions, or leaving some good rule, 
 or religious observation for their benefit. But this must 
 be done not with a magisterial authority, or ministerial air, 
 but with all the freedom and ease imaginable, en-passant 
 and when it rises naturally out of the subject of the conver- 
 sation. 
 
 (4.) Throw off all affectation, parade, stiffness, morose 
 conceit, reserve, and self-sufficiency. Let your ambition 
 be to be distinguished by nothing but real goodness, wis- 
 dom and benevolence. And be courteous, free, conde- 
 scending, affable, open, unreserved and friendly to all. 
 But amidst all your freedoms, forget not the dignity and 
 decorum of your character.* 
 
 * Est autem non vulgaris prudentiae, sic esse mansuetum erga om- 
 nes, ut tameii officii authoritatem tuearis; sic esse familiarem, mo- 
 destum et comem erga subditos, ut familiaritas et lenitas non pariat 
 contemptum. — Erasm. Eccles. p. 166. 
 
THE STUDENT AND PASTOR. 329 
 
 (5.) Circumspectly avoid every thing that may give 
 them unnecessary offence, whether by word or conduct, 
 though it be in matters of indifference. You may possibly 
 in point of fidelity be obliged to give them offence in some 
 important things; in all others therefore you should en- 
 deavour to conciliate their esteem and respect. It shows 
 much weakness and little prudence and candour to be ob- 
 stinate and tenacious of little things, whether modes, cus- 
 toms, or phrases, which are offensive to others. It is not 
 walking charitably, nor following the things that make for 
 peace; and is a violation of the Apostle's rule of becoming 
 all things to all men.*' But see that your charitable con- 
 formity do not transgress the laws of sincerity. 
 
 (6.) Above all, let your character be a fair copy of the 
 virtues you preach ; and let the documents of the pulpit be 
 exemplified in the conduct of your life. A minister should 
 abstain from the appearance of evil; not only from things 
 criminal, but from those which may be interpreted to his 
 dishonour, and reported to his disadvantage. f Vide etiam 
 supra ch. 2. ad finem. 
 
 (Lastly.) Be much in prayer for wisdom, strength, pru- 
 dence, and capacity equal to your work and difficulties. 
 This you will find as necessary as your most important 
 
 * Qui dum omnibus sese accommodat, tarn varius est, ut interdum 
 videatur sibi contrarius, cum sibi maxime constet undique, Id. p. 35. 
 
 ■(■ Ecclesiastae perpendendum est, quaedam ejus esse generis, ut 
 quanquam absint a crimine, tamen quoniam pra3 se ferunt malam 
 speciem, non absint a criminis suspicione. Ab his quoque circum- 
 specto cavendum est ecclesiastae, — quae per se non crimina sunt, 
 tamen maligno vulgo ad obtrectandum quam ad obtemperandum 
 procliviori praebent male suspiciandi maleque loquendi materiam. — 
 
 lb. p. 27. 
 
 28* 
 
330 THE CHRISTIAN FASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 studies. But take care that your private transactions with 
 God, be very serious, solemn, and sincere; apd let your 
 endeavours go along with your prayers.* 
 
 II. To lay down some particular rules applicable upon 
 extraordinary occasions ; or proper to regulate your con- 
 duct towards persons of different characters. 
 
 (1.) What is a right conduct towards those from whom 
 you have received abuse, contempt, or just cause of offence ? 
 
 1. Your first care must be to guard your passions. 
 Keep your temper, and banish all vindictive resentments. 
 If possible never think of it ; but be sure not to harbour 
 the thoughts of it, which will but chafe and corrode the 
 mind to no purpose. Be satisfied with a consciousness of 
 your innocence, and consider the injurious person as an 
 object of your pity rather than indignation. 2. As you 
 must endeavour to forget the offence; 3'ou must not only 
 cease to think, but forbear to talk of it, unless it be with 
 an intimate friend to ask his advice. 3. You may law- 
 fully decline the company of the person who has thus in- 
 jured you, and break off a familiar commerce with him, as 
 you cannot look upon him as your friend. But take every 
 opportunity of doing him good that lies in your power. 
 4. Embrace the first opportunity and overture of re-esta- 
 blishing a good understanding and renewing your former 
 amity. And, Lastly. In all cases of this nature, let it be 
 remembered that the misconduct of others towards you. 
 
 * Ab eo petendum cest qui solus largitur vera bona, petendum au- 
 tem non oscitanter, sed assiduis simul et ardentibus precibus, nee 
 modo votis postulandum est, ut detur, sed bonis etiam operibus 
 
 ambiendum, ut quod datum est servetur, et indies augescat. 
 
 Id. p. 22. 
 
THE STUDENT AND PASTOR. 331 
 
 will not justify yours towards ihem, that you are still under 
 the same obligations to walk by the rules of that wisdom 
 which is from above, which is first pure, then peace- 
 able, <SfC. 
 
 (2.) What is a right conduct towards narrow, bigoted, 
 censorious Christians, who are proud of their orthodoxy, 
 and zealously attached to party notions ? 
 
 1. These persons must by no means be disputed with 
 or opposed, because whilst they have much more zeal than 
 knowledge, they are very apt to be warm and angry at 
 anv argument that is levelled against their favourite senti- 
 ments ; and much more if they cannot answer it. And 
 whilst bigotry blinds their minds, they are not capable of 
 seeing the force of an argument; much less of being con- 
 vinced by it: they should therefore be treated like froward 
 children, or persons in a passion. 2. Take every oppor- 
 tunity of secretly undermining their false notions, (espe- 
 cially if they be dangerous) by hinting at their bad conse- 
 quences ; or by setting the opposite doctrine of truth in a 
 strong light from Scripture. But dwell not long upon it, 
 least they apprehend themselves particularly aimed at, 
 which they will not fail to resent. 3. Treat them with 
 the utmost marks of freedom, tenderness, and friendship, 
 to convince them that your sentiments of doctrine (though 
 opposite to theirs) create in you no disafTection to them. 
 4. Endeavour to make them sensible of the much greater 
 importance of those things in which you agree with them; 
 and press them powerfully on their consciences ; and when 
 they once come to feel the weight and force of these, they 
 will gradually abate of their zeal for lesser things. And 
 this is the only (at least the best and safest)way to con- 
 vince them that these things on which they have misplaced 
 their zeal are to be reckoned amonojst the minutice of di- 
 
332 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 vinity; for nothing is more natural and common, than for 
 the mind to raise the importance of a subject, in proportion 
 to the zeal it expresses for it. Otherwise it would lie under 
 the constant self-reproach of being governed by a blind 
 irregular zeal. And as their zeal for any particular doc- 
 trine has fixed the importance of it, before their under- 
 standing has precisely weighed it, to go about to argue 
 against that importance would be to argue against their 
 zeal, i. e. their passions, which is a very unequal encoun- 
 ter, and altogether vain. 5. Take occasion often to ex- 
 pose the effects of bigotry in other instances to their view, 
 whereby they may possibly become sensible of their own. 
 But let the instances be so distant, (or if near so artfully 
 insinuated) that they may not be sensible of your design. 
 6. Come as near to their sentiments as you possibl}'^ can, 
 (w^hen your subject leads you that way) and show them 
 the plain reason why you cannot come nearer. Lastly. 
 Refer all to plain Scripture, and resolve to adhere to that, 
 both for the confirmation of doctrine, and the confutation 
 of error ; and by removing their mistaken 'sense of Scrip- 
 ture, open to them the first source of the errors they have 
 imbibed. 
 
 (3.) What is a right conduct towards those that are in- 
 clined to infidelity 1 
 
 1. As these are but bigots of another rank, they must 
 be treated with the same tenderness, caution, and prudence. 
 The latitudinarian and narrow bigot will be equally in- 
 flamed by a violent opposition ; for they both lay an equal 
 claim to superior wisdom, and eagerly demand (what, if 
 you would keep them in humour, you must not be back- 
 ward to pay) some compliment to their own understanding. 
 But 2. As these are the great champions of reason, and 
 will admit of no other weapon in the hand of their anta- 
 
THE STUDENT AND PASTOR. 333 
 
 gonist, be sure to be expert at that, and insist upon it that 
 your adversary uses no other ; i. e. that he do not put you 
 off with sophistry, paralogism, illusion, equivocation, ridi- 
 cule, buffoonery, clamour, confidence, passion, or grimace, 
 instead of solid argument and plain reason. Keep him to 
 his point. Admit nothing but what you understand ; and 
 nothing but what he understands himself: And take care 
 that he do not entangle you in a wood of words, or blind 
 your eyes with dust, or prevent your seeing distinctly the 
 point in hand by holding a cloud before it ; or lead you 
 from it by diverting to another subject, when he, is pinched 
 and piqued by an argument he cannot answer. 3. If your 
 adversary be a person of sense, learning, and ingenuity, 
 the most effectual method to draw him to your opinion, is 
 by a strong appeal to those good qualities, whereby he will 
 convince himself. — 4. If his self-conceit be unsufferable, 
 and hi3 ignorance ridiculous, it may not be amiss some- 
 times to mortify the former by exposing the latter. — 5. In- 
 sist upon it that if his regard and esteem for natural reli- 
 gion be sincere, that will engage him to think favourably 
 of the Christian institution, which has refined and exalted 
 morality to its utmost perfection : that there is no honest 
 Deist but (whatever he believes) would heartily wish 
 Christianity to be true. — Lastly. If you observe him ca- 
 pable of serious impressions, urge him to consider serious- 
 ly the dreadful risk he runs whilst he pawns his immortal 
 soul upon it that Christianity is an impostiu'e ; and how 
 unavoidable his ruin, whilst he continues wilfully to neglect 
 it : Because if Christianity be true, the sentence of con- 
 demnation denounced against him (by the great author of 
 it) for resolving not to believe it, must be also true. Vid. 
 John iii. 36. 
 
 ( 4. ) How should we conduct ourselves as faithful and 
 judicious ministers towards melancholy, dejected and doubt- 
 
334 THE CHRISTIAN TASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 ing Christians ? As this is a frequent case, and often at- 
 tended with no small difficulty, I shall consider it more 
 particularly. 
 
 The first thing to be considered is the true source and 
 original of this melancholy gloom and dejection of mind : 
 Whether it arises from bodily disorder, worldly losses and 
 afflictions, some grievous sin committed, or from an exces- 
 sive apprehensiveness and timidity of spirit. Perhaps the 
 person himself may impute it to none of these, but either 
 to the divine desertion, or the buffetings of Satan. But 
 these must carefully be distinguished and explained, be- 
 cause they are frequently mistaken ; and then according to 
 the true source of their spiritual trouble must be your ad- 
 vice and address to them. 
 
 If you have reason to believe that the troubled state of 
 their mind is owing principally to a bodily disorder, or 
 some obstruction or dyscracy of the animal fluids, you 
 should recommend to them a physician, or prescribe them 
 physic, the cold bath, constant emploj'ment, or exercise in 
 the air.* 
 
 If their sorrow or settled melancholy of mind be the 
 effect of some worldly losses and afflictions, you must en- 
 deavour all you can to alleviate it, by showing them how 
 many ways God can (if he pleases) make up to them the 
 loss they have sustained ; how many wise and kind ends 
 may be answered by it ; that the scenes of life are varia- 
 
 *The greater part of those that think they are troubled in mind, 
 are melancholy hypochondriacal people, who, what through some 
 false opinions in religion, what through a foulness of blood, occa- 
 sioned l)y their inactive course of life, in which their minds work too 
 much, because their bodies are too little employed, fall into dark and 
 cloudy apprehension ; of which they can give no clear nor good ac- 
 count. — Burnet's Past. Care, p. 199. 
 
THE STUDENT AND PASTOR. S35 
 
 ble : After night comes the day. Beseech them to put 
 their hope and trust in God as a gracious and indulgent 
 Father ; and urge every topic of consolation proper to be 
 used in a time of worldly adversity. 
 
 If the disconsolate state of their mind be the effect of a 
 melancholy constitution, the case is still more difficult, and 
 belongs rather to the physician's department than that of' 
 the minister. The latter can have but small hope of ad- 
 ministering any proper relief, because the person is not 
 capable of reasoning or thinking justly, and there is some- 
 thing within him that obstructs the avenues to his heart, 
 which must first be removed before comfort can find its 
 way to it. All that can be done in this case, is to per- 
 suade him, if you can, (of what he will find it very hard 
 to believe) that he sees every thing in a wrong light, and 
 is not at present a competent judge in his own case ; and 
 therefore ought not to believe his thoughts. Ask him if 
 he never judged more favourably of his spiritual state here- 
 tofore than he does now ; and whether he was not a more 
 capable judge of his case then than he is now ? 
 
 If the trouble of his mind arise from the reproaches of 
 conscience for some grievous sin committed, your way is 
 then more direct and plain. If you have reason to be- 
 lieve that this sorrow of heart is the effect of a true peni- 
 tential remorse, you are then to lay before him every pro- 
 per topic of consolation the gospel admits, viz. the riches 
 of the divine mercy, the merits of the blood of Christ, the 
 extent and efficacy of tree grace, the precious promises of 
 the gospel, and the examples of God's mercy and wonder- 
 ful compassion to humble penitents; and conclude all with 
 an earnest exhortation to trust his soul in the hands of 
 Christ, and to rely on the mercy of God in the way of a 
 steady conscientious obedience. 
 
336 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's JIANUAL. 
 
 If it arise from an excessive apprehensiveness and 
 timidity of spirit, and you have cause to believe the per- 
 son's state is much better than he fears, you are then to 
 fortify and encourao;e his heart by referring him to his own 
 past experience of what God has done for his soul ; the 
 various tokens of his favour to him in the former scenes 
 of life, and in the several methods of his grace and provi- 
 dence. Urge upon him the exercise of a lively faith, en- 
 couraged by the grace of the gospel ; and convince him 
 that it is no less wrong and prejudicial for a person to think 
 too ill than to think too well of himself : that as he is in no 
 danger at all of the latter, advise him for the honour of 
 God, the credit of religion, and his own peace and com- 
 fort, to guard against the former, where his greatest danger 
 lies. Again, 
 
 If the melancholy and dejected soul have a pious turn, 
 and imputes his present darkness to what he calls divine 
 dereliction, or the hidings of God's face, explain that affair 
 to him ; and tell him that his want of that spiritual joy and 
 comfort he once found in his soul may be owing to other 
 causes ; the present low state of his spirits, a distempera- 
 ture of the animal frame, the influence of external objects 
 and accidents, or a concurrence of all these: that nothing 
 is more variable than the frame of the human mind, that 
 we are not to think that God's regards to his own children 
 vary with that; this is a great mistake, and a mistake that 
 is greatly dishonourable to him ; that whilst he sees them 
 upright, sincere, humble, obedient and dependant, his re- 
 gards to them are always the same, whatever they may 
 think of him ; that God never hides his face from his peo- 
 ple till they withdraw their hearts from him ; that unless 
 good manners will not permit you to forbear your visits 
 you will then have a fair opportunity of insinuating some 
 
THE STUDENT AND PASTOR. 337 
 
 they forsake him he will never depart from them ; that the 
 hidings of God's countenance (which the Psalmist so 
 often complains of) generally, if not always, refer to the 
 external dispensations of God, or outward providential af- 
 flictions, not inward spiritual desertions ; when the distress 
 of his circumstances vi'^as so great that God might seem to 
 have forgotten and forsaken him, and his enemies might be 
 ready to put that construction upon it. 
 
 Lastly. If the person imputes the trouble of his mind 
 to the buffetings of Satan, explain that affair to him. Let 
 him know that though in some cases that evil spirit may 
 have an agency in creating some spiritual troubles, yet he 
 has no more power over the mind than what it pleases 
 God to give him : that his influence (be it what it will) is 
 controlled and limited : that the most he can do is to sug- 
 gest sinful and troublesome thouglits, which we may and 
 ought to repel : that the Holy Spirit has a counter-agency 
 to inspire good and holy affections : that by indulging Jjo-jr-;- 
 excessive grief and gloomy apprehensions, we give the 
 devil an advantage over us, and even invite his tempta- 
 tions : and finally, we ought to take especial care to dis- 
 tinguish between the agency of Satan and the operation 
 of natural causes, and not impute those things to the devil 
 which are owing to our own folly and weakness,- or are the 
 physical effects of external objects. 
 
 (5.) What is a right conduct towards the licentious and 
 profane ? 
 
 1. Whilst you behave towards ihem with civility and 
 discretion, it will be advisable to decline a particular inter- 
 course with them. A minister's behaviour towards men 
 should in a good degree be regulated by their moral char- 
 acters. 2. In case they seek your more intimate friend- 
 ship by kind and benevolent offices, so that gratitude and 
 29 
 
338 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 good manners will not permit you to forbear your visits, 
 you will then have a fair opportunity of insinuating some 
 necessary and gentle admonitions ; either by way of story, 
 similie, repartee, raillery, or reproof suitable to the subject 
 of the discourse or the temper they may be in: which (if 
 it take effect) will prepare your way for a more free and 
 close remonstrance. 3. Always open a way to the heart 
 on that side where you find the easiest access. Some are 
 most touched with a sense of honour, and a regard to their 
 reputation; others with a view to their interest; others 
 must be allured by an easy, gentle, rational address; and 
 others will yield to nothing but close and warm reproof; 
 But take particular care to know the ruling passion of the 
 person you address, and, if possible, to bring that over to 
 your side. 4. Beg of them to erect their hopes, and ex- 
 tend their views as rational beings designed for an immor- 
 tal existence, and not forget their connexion with another 
 world ; for to provide only for the present, and live from 
 hand to mouth, is to act far below the dignity and design 
 of human nature. 5. If they have any taste for reading, 
 put into their hands such books as are most suited to their 
 capacity, taste and character. Lastly. You should fre- 
 quently address them from the pulpit: But your public 
 address (while it is strong and animated) must be general, 
 and have nothing in it that is distinguishing or appropria- 
 live; that the audience may have no room to think that 
 any person is particularly intended in the animadversion; 
 for though they bear to be preached to, yet no man loves 
 to be preached at. 
 
 (6.) How are we to behave towards the grossly igno- 
 rant and careless ? 
 
 1. Endeavour to rouse them to a sense of religion and 
 their dependence on God, by a seasonable improvement of 
 
THE STUDENT AND PASTOR. 339 
 
 some awakening providences ; e. g* their own sickness, 
 or worldly disappointments ; the death of a friend, or some 
 public calamity. 2. Represent to them the most important 
 and affecting subjects of religion, in the strongest light and 
 plainest language : e. g. the shortness of time ; the awful- 
 ness of eternity ; the certainty and near approach of death ; 
 and the terrors of the final judgment. 3. If you find that 
 your conversation is agreeable to them, frequently visit 
 them in a free and friendly manner ; and take care that 
 there be nothing dogmatical or authoritative in the advice 
 you give them : but let all appear to proceed from a com- 
 passionate concern you have for the interest of their souls. 
 
 4. As they are but children in understanding they must 
 be dealt with as such : put the plainest and most affecting 
 books into their hands ; and take care you do not feed 
 them with strong meat, when they stand in need of milk. 
 
 5. It will not be amiss in some part of your sermon (espe- 
 cially in the application) to adapt yourself in particular to 
 their capacity and condition, that they may not only under- 
 stand but feel what you say : for these sort of hearers 
 (both amongst the high and low) perhaps make a much 
 larger part of our audience than we imagine. 
 
 (7.) What is a proper behaviour towards those who are 
 superior to us in rank and fortune? 
 
 1. Readily pay them the respect due to their distinction 
 and character. If their temper and conduct be not alto- 
 gether such as you could wish, yet that will not excuse 
 you from a civil, decent and obliging behaviour towards 
 them. You must remember your duty to others, however 
 Ihey may be deficient in theirs to you. But if they treat 
 you with kindness, friendship and affection, they claim 
 your gratitude, honour and esteem ; which will prompt 
 your endeavours to oblige and serve them every way you 
 can. But 2. be free, open, conversable and discreetly un- 
 
340 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 reserved before them. Absence of mind, distance of be- 
 haviour, formality of address, stiffness of manner, or af- 
 fected silence, is always ungenteel and disgustful ; and es- 
 pecially in the presence of superiors. 3. Preserve a gene- 
 rosity and manliness of temper and address ; and show no- 
 thing of a mean, low, timid, servile spirit ; that is not only 
 dishonourable to your own character, but infers a bad 
 compliment upon theirs. They are not tyrants ; nor if 
 they were must you submit to be their slaves. And re- 
 member that if they are sensible and genteel, wise and 
 good, they will consider their superiority to you in one re- 
 spect, as balanced by that of yours to them, in another ; 
 theirs may be most showy, but perhaps yours may be most 
 valuable. 4. Forget not the dignity and decorum of your 
 character. There is something you owe to that as well as 
 to the distinction and opulence of your friends. And while 
 this is your guard against incidental levities and a compli- 
 ance with sinful customs, it is by no means inconsistent 
 with pure wit, innocent humour, and seasonable cheerful- 
 ness : which if attended with good sense and an obliging 
 natural behaviour, will be no less agreeable in the com- 
 pany of your superiors, than in that of your equals. 5. Do 
 and say all the obliging and agreeable things you can, con- 
 sistent with truth and conscience and the honour of your 
 function. And then 6. take every opportunity of insinuat- 
 ing something (conformable to the duty of your office) 
 which may be serviceable to their spiritual interest, and 
 helpful to their moral character. Lastly. Make a prudent 
 and seasonable use of your interest in them, for the relief 
 of your poor neighbours; whose distresses maybe better 
 known to you than they are to them. 
 
 (8.) What is the proper behaviour of a minister towards 
 the poor of his congregation ? 
 
 This must be regulated by their moral character. 1. If 
 
THE STUDENT AND PASTOR. 341 
 
 their character be immoral or profane, as they will not be 
 very fond of your company, they will take no offence if 
 you forbear to visit them; but they should not be wholly 
 neglected. Genteel, kind and candid reproof, prudently 
 and seasonably given, may have a good effect when they 
 come to reflect upon it coolly : and a seasonable relief to 
 them in their distress will add weight to your admonitions, 
 and will give them such impressions of your charity, as 
 will better dispose them to receive your instructions. 2. If 
 they be serious and well inclined, and you find yourself 
 agreeable to them, you should frequently call upon them ; 
 and though your visits be short, they should be free, friend- 
 ly, condescending and courteous; and always leave with 
 them some spiritual, moral, or religious instruction, suited 
 to their taste, understanding and circumstances. Be ready 
 to advise and help them in every thing you can. If you 
 see a good heart at bottom, and especially a humble spirit, 
 make the greatest allowance for their ignorance, prepos- 
 session, or infelicity of temper : and when there is need of 
 reproof let it be preceded by the sincerest expressions of 
 love, and by real acts of friendship. If they are willing to 
 open the state of their souls to you, attend to it with pa- 
 tience and care, that you may administer the most suitable 
 advice and comfort. Have a particular regard to their ca- 
 pacity in your public exhortations. To the poor the gos- 
 pel is preached. And as these sometimes make up the 
 bulk of a congregation, and their souls stand as much in 
 need of spiritual nourishment, as those of greater know- 
 ledge and comprehension, they should be always fed with 
 food convenient for them. 
 
 (Lastly.) In what manner ought a minister to behave 
 towards those who have fallen into notorious sins 1 
 
 This must be regulated by the disposition, character and 
 29* 
 
342 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOIi's MANUAL. 
 
 temper of the offender. The sensible and penitent must 
 be treated one way, the obstinate and impenitent another. 
 The following method in general will perhaps be found to 
 be the most prudent and effectual. 
 
 1. Previous to all reproof should be a circumstantial 
 knowledge of the fact you reprove. 2. Be sure that it be 
 criminal or indiscreet, and that the person guilty, is or 
 ought to be sensible of it; for if you reprove him for what 
 he is not guilty of, or what he is not sensible there is any 
 harm in, he will probably retort upon you the charge of 
 censoriousness. If there be guilt and indiscretion in his 
 conduct, and he not sensible of it, your business then is to 
 convince him of it ; and how much injury he may do liis 
 character by inadvertently allowino; those things as fit and 
 innocent, which are not so in him. And let your argu- 
 ments in proof of the guilt be taken from the circumstances 
 of the fact ; the character and relation he bears in life ; 
 the opinion of wise and judicious men ; the nature of 
 things ; and the testimony of Scripture. And then 3. see 
 that your reproofs be not too severe, 1 do not mean more 
 severe than the offender would choose, but more severe 
 than the nature and circumstances of the case require; or 
 more severe than is necessary for the justification of your 
 fidelity, and the reformation of the sinner. 
 
 Too much severity towards tender minds does more 
 harm than good. See Gal. vi. 1. " Brethren if a man be 
 overtahen in afavlt, ye loliicli are spiritual, restore such 
 a one in the spirit of meekness ; considering thyself, lest 
 thou also he tempted^* — 4. Take care least through a 
 
 * Ov yup d'Ts-Kac, &c. You must not only proportion your re- 
 proofs to the nature of the offence, but to the disposition of the of- 
 fender; least while you mean to heal the breach, you make the rent 
 
THE STUDENT AND PASTOR. 343 
 
 fear of offending your brother, you do not offend God by 
 a want of faithfulness. Prov. xxvii. 6. " Faithful are 
 the wounds of a friend »'' It is the greatest piece of friend- 
 ship you can do him, and if he is wise he will think it so, 
 and more highly esteem you for it. Psal. cxli. 5. " hei 
 the righteous smite me, it shall be a kindnessJ''' — 5. Let 
 your reproof appear to flow from your love lo him, and be 
 administered with the utmost tenderness and wisdom.* — 
 Lastly. Leave not your offending brother without proper 
 directions for a better conduct. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 CONCERNING THE DIFFICULTIES A MINISTER MUST EXPECT 
 TO MEET WITH IN THE EXECUTION OF HIS OFFICE j AND 
 HIS PROPER SUPPORT AND ENCOURAGEMENT UNDER THEM. 
 
 Some of these may arise, 
 
 (1.) From your own natural temper, which may render 
 you indisposed or unapt to some particular parts of the 
 ministerial office. But the most difficult duties by becom- 
 ing a habit, become easy. 
 
 (2.) No small difficulty may arise from the resolution 
 and labour requisite to put some of the forementioned rules 
 
 worse ; and in rectifying one fault, occasion a greater. — Chrysos- 
 tora de Sacerdotio, I. 2. p. 150. 
 
 * There may be ways fallen upon of reproving the worst men in 
 so soft a manner, that if they are not reclaimed, they shall not be 
 irritated or made worse by it ; which is but too often the effect of 
 an indiscreet reproof. By this a minister may save the sinner's 
 soul : he is at least sure to save his own, by having discharged his 
 duty towards his people. — Burnet's Pastoral Care, p. 194. 
 
344 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR 's MANUAL. 
 
 into execution. But this difficulty will in like manner di- 
 minish as this course becomes habitual. " In all other 
 professions, those who follow them, labour in them all the 
 year long ; and are hard at their business every day of the 
 week : and shall ours only, that is the noblest of all others, 
 make the labouring in our business an objection against 
 any part of our duty?"* And in proportion as our heart 
 is engaged in the work, the difficulty of it will grow less, 
 and our delight in it greater. 
 
 (3.) Another discouragement may arise from the seem- 
 ing singularity of this character ; and the general neglect 
 which ministers of all denominations discover of the duties 
 belonging to the sacred function : what you do out of con- 
 science they may impute to affectation ; which, instead of 
 procuring their esteem, may create their envy. But it is 
 a small matter to he condemned in the day that man 
 judgeth yotf, since you will be acquitted another day, when 
 he that judgeth you will be the Lord ; which is the proper 
 import of that passage, 1 Cor. iv. 3, 4. Or, 
 
 (4.) From the little success you meet with, notwith- 
 standing all your most earnest endeavours to promote the 
 spiritual interest, and eternal happiness of mankind. But 
 your future acceptance and reward will not be in proportion 
 to the success, but the sincerity of your endeavours. "j" 
 
 (5.) Your own weakness and infirmities both of body 
 and mind, may throw fresh discouragements in your way: 
 But these will be graciously allovved for ; and God requires 
 of none more than they have received. Vl we have re- 
 ceived but one talent, he does not expect so much from us, 
 as from those on whom he has bestowed ten. 
 
 * Burnet's Pastoral Care, p. 207. 
 
 f Burnet's Pastoral Care, p. 212, 213. 
 
THE STUDENT AND PASTOR. 345 
 
 (6.) The ministerial character itself may subject you to 
 the contempt of some profane men : But if you adorn it 
 by the useful, upright conversation before described, 'tis 
 great odds but you secure their esteem and respect ; if not, 
 their continued contempt is your real honour. 
 
 (7.) From the different tempers, tastes, dispositions of 
 the people: But how you are to behave with regard to 
 these has been shown before; and no small degree of pru- 
 dence is required in this case.* 
 
 In a word, every view of the nature, difficulty, and dig- 
 nity of your office, may furnish you with a proper motive 
 and direction to a right behaviour in it."]* No valuable end 
 can be pursued without some obstruction, nor obtained 
 without some difficulty. Your employment is truly hon- 
 ourable and important ; and your encouragement, advan- 
 tage, and assistance, more than equal to the labour it re- 
 quires. If you be found faithful you shall not fail of a dis- 
 tinguished recompence, from the bountiful hand of that 
 good master in whose service you are engaged. And a 
 careful observation and practice of those rules of pastoral 
 conduct before laid down, (by the blessing of God) at once 
 adorn your character, increase your honour; exalt your 
 present joy, and enhance your future reward. :j: 
 
 * Nunc si reputemus in eodera populo, quanta sit varietas sexuura, 
 setatura, conditionis, ingeniorum, opinionum, vitae institutionis, con- 
 suetudinis. quanta oportet esse prsedituni prudentia ecclesiasticen, 
 cui sit temperanda oratio! — Erasm. Eccles. p. 36. 
 
 j" Ab humi repentibus curls erigat animum tuum, considerata 
 functionis dignitas : a prevaricatione deterreret delegantis severitas ; 
 socordiam exeludat suscepti numeris difficultas : industriam ac vigi- 
 lantiam exstimulet prsemii magnitudo, quod non ab hominibus, sed a 
 Deo erit expectandum. Id. p. 193. 
 
 t Quam Lselitiam, quam exultationem, quod repudium credimus esse 
 in pectore fidelis ecclesiastae, dum repetat quot animas'ipsius ministe- 
 rio, Dominus, SatansD tyranidi subtractas sibi vindicarit ! Id. p. 14. 
 
THE CHARACTER AND DUTY OF A CHRISTIAN 
 PREACHER. 
 
 BY DAVID BOSTWICK, A. M.* 
 For toe 'preach not ourselves, hut Christ Jesus the Lord. 
 
 2 CORINTHIANS iv. 5. 
 
 Were I to give a brief and summary description of man's 
 original apostacy in few words, I would choose to say, that 
 it was a departing from God, the author and fountain of 
 blessedness, and retiring into himself as his last and ulti- 
 mate end : and that the sum of his moral depravity, con- 
 sists in an habitual disposition to treat himself, in the same 
 manner that he ought to treat the God of Heaven ; i. e. to 
 love himself supremely, and seek himself ultimately and 
 finally, and set up himself in one shape or another, as the 
 grand centre to which all the lines of his busy thoughts, 
 anxious cares, and subtile projects, bend, and in which 
 they terminate. 
 
 While he continued in his original state of moral recti- 
 tude, that God who was the author of his being, was his 
 beginning and end, his interest and attractive, his desire 
 and delight, and in a w'ord, his all. But when sin took 
 place in his heart, it warped the unhappy creature from 
 his God to himself; insomuch that self is now become all 
 to corrupt and depraved nature, even as God was once all 
 to nature uncorrupted and undepraved. Selfishness is 
 therefore now become the most active and reigning princi- 
 ple in fallen nature, and, like the first wheel in a grand 
 
 * Preached at Philadelphia before the Synod of New York, May 
 26, 1758. 
 
CHARACTER AND DUTi' OF A TREACHER . 347 
 
 machine, sets the whole world in motion. For if we sur- 
 vey the conduct of busy mortals, in the various ranks and 
 degrees, characters and circumstances of life, we shall 
 easily perceive that self is the idol they are naturally dis- 
 posed to worship, and selfishness the grand interest to 
 which they are by nature entirely devoted. 
 
 We find ourselves in the midst of an active busy world, 
 the inhabitants of which are ever engaged in some vigorous 
 pursuits. But what are they pursuing ? AVhat is the 
 governing principle of their actions? And what the centre 
 to which they bend, and in which they terminate? Are 
 they labouring for God as their ultim-ate end, or for them- 
 selves ? When the merchant compasseth sea and land, in 
 search of a worldly treasure, does he this for God, or for 
 himself? When the soldier boldly enters the field of bat- 
 tle, faces death in its most hideous forms, and opens his 
 bosom to the most pregnant dangers, does he this for the 
 honour of God, or for the honour of himself? When the in- 
 dustrious tradesman rises early, and sits up late, and eats the 
 bread of carefulness, and fills up his swift succeeding hours, 
 with the most painful and assiduous labour, does he labour 
 ultimately for God, or for himself? When men of supe- 
 rior rank, and greater affluence, devote their wasting mo- 
 ments to the fashionable diversions, and pleasurable en- 
 tertainments of life, do they this to please and glorify God, 
 or to please and gratify self? In a word, what is it in 
 general that men live for, and what are they doing in the 
 world ? What are their thoughts spent, their words 
 spoken, their hands employed, and their time improved for? 
 Is it for God, or themselves ? Alas, how easy it is to see 
 the awful prevalence of this corrupt and accursed principle! 
 It is self that rules kingdoms, that governs families, drives 
 on their trade, manages their worldly business ; that 
 
348 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 chooses even their religion, and influences their whole con- 
 duct ; that lies at the root and bottom of all their actual 
 sins, makes them ungodly, and keeps them ungodly, and 
 is their very ungodliness itself. 
 
 And, O ! that it might be said, with undoubted truth, 
 that notwithstanding the general prevalence of this detesta- 
 ble principle, among the various ranks and orders of men, 
 there. is at least one order exempted from the general 
 charge ; and that none who sustain the sacred character, 
 are influenced by mercenary principles, or selfish motives ; 
 but that each individual could safely adopt the language of 
 the apostle, in behalf of himself and brethren, "We preach 
 not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord." 
 
 In the preceding chapter, the apostle had been magnify- 
 ing his office, on account of the excellency and glory of 
 that gospel, which was the subject of it : And in this, he 
 vindicates the ministry of the apostles and gospel ministers, 
 from the unjust accusations of false and judaizing teachers, 
 who had charged them with walking in craftiness, and 
 handling the word of the Lord deceitfully. He avouches 
 their sincerity, that they renounced the hidden things of 
 dishonesty ; and as a proof of their integrity, he assures 
 them, that their business was to preach Christ, and not 
 themselves. " We preach not ourselves, says he, and 
 therefore are not a set of designing men, as our accusers 
 would insinuate ; self is neither the matter, nor the end of 
 our preaching ; we neither teach our own notions, passions, 
 or prejudices, for the word of God, nor do we seek our- 
 selves, or the advancement of our secular interest and 
 glory : but we preach Christ Jesus the Lord, and endea- 
 vour to make him known to the world, in each of these 
 amiable characters, as the Messiah, the Christ of God, as 
 Jesus, the Saviour of men, and as Lord and King in his 
 
CHARACTER AND DUTY OF A PREACHER. 349 
 
 church ; and to advance the interest of his glorious king- 
 dom among men." 
 
 From these words I shall attempt to show, 
 
 I. What that selfishness is which the apostle here disclaims ; 
 or, when ministers may be said to preach themselves. 
 
 II. I shall consider some of the operations of that selfish 
 principle, in those particular instances, that tend to dis- 
 cover its reigning dominion. And then, 
 
 III. Show what it is to prea9h Christ Jesus the Lord. 
 And lastly, improve the whole. 
 
 Let us then inquire, 
 
 I. What that selfishness is which the apostle here dis- 
 claims, &c. And to set this in a proper light, and prevent 
 mistakes, I must observe negatively. 1st, It is not that 
 regular self-love that induces ministers to zeal and faith- 
 fulness in the discharge of their sacred trust, from the con- 
 sideration of future rewards and punishments. There is a 
 self-love implanted in human nature that is consistent with 
 complete rectitude, and therefore is not the effect of our 
 moral depravity. This Adam had in his state of perfect 
 innocence, or else the promises of rewards would have 
 been no inducement to obedience, nor would the severest 
 threatenings have deterred him, in any measure, from diso- 
 bedience. It is not, therefore, a criminal selfishness, for 
 ministers to have a suitable regard to their own future and 
 everlasting interest, and to be influenced to diligence and 
 industry, in their great important work, by motives drawn 
 from those future and eternal realities. It was doubtless 
 agreeable to the God of heaven, that Ezekiel the prophet 
 should be influenced to faithfulness, in giving warning, 
 from that awful consideration, that the " blood of those 
 that perished, should otherwise be required at his hand." 
 
 And when the apostl^ urged Timothy to " take heed to him- 
 30 '■ 
 
350 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 self and his doctrine, and continue in them," he would 
 have him influenced by these considerations, that he 
 "should save himself, and them that heard him." Nor 
 was even St. Paul entirely above the influence of this mo- 
 live, when he gave this reason, why " he kept his body 
 under subjection ; lest when he had preached to others, 
 himself should be a cast-away." It was not an unrea- 
 sonable selfishness in the prophet Isaiah to take encourage- 
 ment under all his complaints, and be animated in his 
 work, from the consideration that " though Israel was 
 not gathered, yet he should be glorious in the eyes of the 
 Lord." 
 
 2dly. This disclaiming ourselves does not imply a total 
 disregard to our reputation and character among men ; for 
 on this, the success of our ministry, and consequently the 
 advancement of the Redeemer's kingdom, may, in some 
 measure, depend. If the character of a gospel minister is 
 stained with false and ill-natured aspersions, this tends to 
 mar his influence, and consequently his usefulness : It is 
 therefore noways inconsistent with a gospel self-denial, to 
 seek a vindication of himself and his abused reputation. 
 The apostle himself does so, in this and his other epistles ; 
 and says, no man shall stop him in this boasting. It ever 
 becomes the ministers of Christ to have a tender regard to 
 their reputation and character, as subservient to the great 
 ends of their ministry, and in which the honour of Christ, 
 and the interest of religion, is nearly concerned. It be- 
 comes a bishop to be blameless, and an officer in the 
 church of God to be of good report ; yea, and to maintain 
 the authority of his sacred character, " and let no man 
 despise him." Indeed if our reputation among men of 
 carnal corrupt minds, suffers for our faithfulness in the 
 discharge of our sacred trust, and " men speak all manner 
 
CHARACTER AND DUTT OF A PREACHER. 351 
 
 of evil against us falsely for Christ's sake, (which is not 
 at all uncommon) in this case, our honour, interest, and 
 reputation, and even life itself, is to be given up, and made 
 a willino; sacrifice to the honour and interest of Jesus 
 Christ ; " not counting our own life (much less our name 
 and reputation) dear, that we may finish our course, and 
 the ministry we have received of the Lord Jesus. 
 
 But, secondly, and positively, the selfishness here dis- 
 claimed, is, in general, that which stands in direct opposi- 
 tion to the honour of God, and the interest of Jesus Christ. 
 That sets up self in the room and place of God, incur es- 
 timation, affections, intentions and pursuits ; and disposes 
 us to love and value ourselves in the same manner as we 
 ought to love and value the God of heaven ; to prefer our 
 honour to his honour, and our interest to the interest of 
 Jesus Christ ; and in a word, to regard ourselves supremely, 
 and seek ourselves ultimately and finally, and to be in- 
 fluenced inordinately, in one shape or other, by mercenary 
 views, and selfish motives, in all we do. It is, therefore, 
 nothing less, on the whole, than a direct contending with 
 the God of heaven, and maintaining a dispute with him, 
 who shall be most loved and regarded by us, he or we, and 
 whose honour and interest shall be primarily and ulti- 
 mately pursued, his or our own. 
 
 But more particularly, this selfishness in public preach- 
 ing may be considered both materially and formally ; or as 
 it respects the subject matter, and the formal manner, of our 
 preaching. 
 
 1st Then, ministers may be said to preach themselves, 
 when the matter of their public preaching is such that it 
 tends rather to promote self-honour and self-interest, than 
 the honour of God, and the interest of Jesus Christ. 
 When the substance of their sermons is only "the enticing 
 
352 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 words of man's wisdom, calculated rather to gratify men's 
 curiosity with pleasing speculations, than to pierce their 
 hearts with pungent convictions ; and has a greater ten- 
 dency to please their fancies, than to convert and save their 
 souls. When in the matter of their preaching, they con- 
 form to men's vitiated taste and corrupt humours, and ra- 
 ther soothe and flatter, than strive to awaken and alarm 
 their consciences ; endeavouring rather to win them to 
 themselves, and gain them over to their own self-interest, 
 than to win them to Christ, and convert them to God. In 
 a word, we are awfully guilty of this criminal selfishness, 
 when our sermons have rather a tendency in their matter 
 and composition, to commend ourselves, than to commend 
 the Lord Jesus Christ ; and to beget in the corrupt hearts 
 of our hearers, an esteem of our persons, gifts, and abili- 
 ties, rather than of the person, glory, and offices of the 
 great Redeemer, the ever adorable God-man Jesus Christ. 
 2dly. This selfishness respects the form as well as the 
 matter of our preaching, i. e. the governing principle from 
 which we act in our public ministry, and the ultimate end 
 we have in view. And this is doubtless the principal thing 
 here intended ; for be the matter of our preaching ever so 
 good, yet self may be the root and bottom of it all, and 
 the object of our principal aim. Nothing is more evident 
 than that we may do the work of God, and that which is 
 really so, as to the matter or thing done ; and yet not do it 
 for God, as to the formal manner, but rather for ourselves. 
 Thus Jehu did the work of the Lord when he executed the 
 vengeance of Jehovah on the house and family of wicked 
 Ahab; and when he broke down the images of Baal, and 
 restored Israel from idolatry ; and yet he did it not for 
 God, but for himself, as appears by his proud boast, "come 
 see my zeal for the Lord of Hosts." 
 
CHARACTER AND DUTY OF A PREACHER. 353 
 
 It is not at all inconsistent to say, that ministers may 
 calculate their sermons, both as a matter, method, and 
 manner of delivery, so as to have an aptitude and tendency 
 to answer the great ends of preaching, and yet may preach 
 themselves, as to the principle from which they act, and 
 the ultimate end they have in view. Nor is it at all to be 
 wondered at, if in a time when the most zealous, lively, 
 and practical preaching, the most earnest addresses to the 
 heart and conscience are in vogue, and tend most to re- 
 commend the preacher, and promote his reputation, that 
 mere selfish principles should induce men to attempt these, 
 and even strive to excel therein. So that though we preach 
 ever so well, as to the matter and method of our sermons, 
 and with ever so much apparent zeal and fervour, in the 
 delivery of them, yet if we fail as to the formal manner, 
 and aim chiefly and ultimately at ourselves, our honour, 
 interest, and reputation, we are found guilty of that crimi- 
 nal selfishness which the apostle disclaims ; and are mak- 
 ing idols of ourselves by treating ourselves in the manner 
 we ought to treat the great God of heaven and earth. This 
 is the selfishness here disclaimed, and this it is for men to 
 preach themselves. I am 
 
 II. To consider some of the operations of this corrupt 
 
 principle, in those particular instances that tend to discover 
 
 its reigning dominion. In every unsanctified heart, self in 
 
 one shape or other is ever uppermost, and has an entire 
 
 ascendancy and governing influence in every thing they 
 
 do. When, therefore, men of this character take upon 
 
 them the office of the gospel-ministry, self must be their 
 
 grand motive, and their principal inducement. For, though 
 
 a faithful discharge of this important trust requires more 
 
 self-denial that any employment under the sun, yet there 
 
 are many things in the sacred office that may be alluring 
 30* 
 
;^M THK CHRISTIAN TASTOR's MAXVAL. 
 
 bails to men of cornipi and soltish minds. A tolerable 
 maintei>ai>ce» or coin fo riable subsistence in the world, may 
 be an indi>cenx"^t to such as know not better how to pro- 
 vk^ tor ibemsehTiS : whix like the unjust ste\*-ard, are un- 
 w illing to dig and ashamed to beg. and then?lbre choose 
 this raiber than a nx^aner emplo\ nx^nt. Tbus. in the de- 
 geftCTaie tinx>s ot' the chun:h ot* old, men would »* crouch 
 for a pie\?e of silver, and say, put me, 1 pray thee, into the 
 priest's office, thai I may eat a piece of bread." And hence 
 that bitter complaint, that " the priests taught for hire, and 
 the prophets divined lor money ;" and on this account they 
 w>M^ called *"" gneedy dogs that could ne\^^r have enough, 
 and sbephejvis that did not understand, looking every one 
 ibr his gain from his quarter."' Let none understand me 
 as though I insinuated, that ministers have not a right to 
 insist on a sufficient maintenance and an honourable sup- 
 '^?~: ; for whatever a carnal selfish world may imagine, it 
 vm/- be tound true at last, that God (and not man) »* hath 
 oraainod that ihey who preach the gospel should li\'e of 
 :bt gospel." Nor do 1 in the least doubt, but the too gen- 
 eral neiilect of this duty among people to their ministers, 
 is one of the crying and God-provoking sins of the pre- 
 sent day. (See Mai. iii. S, 9, 10.) What 1 am proving 
 is, that sself, in its reigning doa:iinion. may influence men to 
 underrake the sacred employn::ent with such sordid views. 
 And this is necessanly supposed, in the apostle's llnequent 
 eihortaticas to minisieis, " not to be greedy of filthy lu- 
 cre, Dor be given to filthy lucre, nor teach things for fil- 
 thy lucre's sake." The inducen>ent of the apostle himself 
 (as of every other faithful minister^ was vastly didereni. 
 A necessity, says be, *• is laid upon me, and wo is me if 1 
 preach not the gospel.*' And he could say, with the ut- 
 zDo^ ancerityjio the Corinthian church, " I seek not yours, 
 bat TOO." 
 
csakjlctek An vrrr or a r?Kj&rsrE?. ^9 
 
 Apam^ 9. life oTsendj, aad as ofponoi^ftj lo lontiaa cue 
 widb the irarioas ifin) iv— 'fi of 
 maj bea»iBdi w.M i w'«i fc>tiKMe wtohweawrmfer 
 lalioa, aad wcoy tr ■ J fi»|;fn i h 'ni' ibiI naiii ■ ■ ■ [ 
 
 Aad, ■pmM jov fcefieve it, Sn? Hae! 
 aad inMrmrr of a MMwater^g Kfe, hy ihoae wjp 
 iwfliiBgof the ■■■y caieg, fitf^Kx, aad poylesneies of k, 
 may powiMy iadaee a seMUb ■«», wiio ti wSag tt> &- 
 Tonrdbefledb^toealerapODic Nor iikataB iHnrlj ifat 
 the vetneaee »id leapect dmva to the AjtimI 
 
 nay iaihy it those who aie chiefly 
 Tb jgicuUe to a praod irifiih rrrTtji^ to 
 he looked upon aad icspecied as the leader aadgwieof 
 the people, aad to haf^odbeis depeadeaCoa haayaad^^Te- 
 eeife the law at his ^noih.'' 
 
 How, whea sodb aSksrmg hails as ^eae are the ::r nci- 
 ped iadnceaKals to the ■aaiifiy, the reiptmg doaaaum of 
 a sdfah pihatipfe is eseeedn^y evideac Aad as these 
 a ader ta ke the sagged i a n ii i i j aw a t £br th^aseives, aad aot 
 fiir God, so they win ever "^ preadb ikemmdtwss, aad aot 
 Christ Jesus the Lofid.'' For tLe sane pnae^pie, 
 pennst ia their hearts, wtt atteadaad ^vverB 
 every hvaaeh of their iniaiimniil ccft^cKt. R will go with 
 then iato their ptivaie «ludiif.% aad thefe will cboose 
 siri^ect, lonn aad raetho^ze Aeir senooas^ 
 Hake them moie aiteative to oKie woids a 
 thaa to die sacred tntfhs of God. Aad heaee, mniLjd of 
 
 diat aKght to toad to BKft aad 
 heaits, Aey wS ilinaad 
 with trifla^ specabtiaas, set off with ^litli liajp toys, with 
 figaics of ihetoac, aad arts of efecodoa. Or "■"*» ■■* of 
 
356 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 everlasting welfare, they go beyond their capacity, and 
 teach them nothing but that they are able to speak unpro- 
 fitably and unintelligibly. Self will often dispose them to 
 take off the edge, and dull the life of their teachings, un- 
 der a pretence of filing off the roughness, and smoothing 
 the diction. And if a plain and cutting passage occurs, it 
 will cast it away, as too rustical and ungrateful. Thus in 
 their preparations for public service, instead of consulting 
 seriously, " What shall I say, and how shall I say it, so as 
 best to please and glorify God, and do good to the souls of 
 men," self will make them consult, " What shall I say, 
 and how shall I deliver it, so as to be thought an excellent 
 preacher, and to be admired and applauded by all that 
 hear me." 
 
 And when self has done its work in their study, and 
 made their sermon, it will attend them even to the pulpit, 
 and there it will form their very countenance and gesture, 
 and modulate their voice, and animate their delivery, and 
 put the very accent and emphasis upon their words and 
 syllables, that all may be calculated to please rather than 
 profit, and to recommend themselves and secure a vain ap- 
 plause, rather than recommend Jesus Christ, and secure 
 his interest in the hearts of men. 
 
 And when the sermon is ended, self goes home with the 
 preacher, and makes him much more solicitous to know 
 whether he is admired and applauded, than whether he has 
 prevailed for the awakening and conversion of souls. And 
 so powerful is this principle in some, that they could even 
 be glad in their heart (were it not for shame) to ask their 
 hearers, in direct terms, whether they like, admire, and 
 applaud their labours, and conceive a good opinion of them. 
 But as this will not do, self will put them on some topic 
 of conversation with their hearers, that will tend, if pos- 
 
CHARACTER AND DUTY OF A PREACHER. 357 
 
 sible, to draw out their own commendation ; and if they 
 can perceive they are highly thought of, they rejoice 
 greatly, as having attained their end. But if they find 
 they are esteemed but weak, or at best but common preach- 
 ers, they are dejected and disappointed, as having missed 
 what they think the grand prize of the day. 
 
 And hence this false self-seeking heart, can be very easy 
 and contented with a general approbation and applause, 
 without seeing any saving fruit of ministerial labour, from 
 year to year. Or if he desire success in the awakening 
 and conversion of sinners, yet self may lie at the bottom 
 of this too : and though it may work differently from the 
 manner above described, yet it may terminate in the same 
 thing in the final issue. Self may make such as these 
 strive to excel in appearances of real godliness, and in 
 zealous, fervent, practical preaching; yea, it may dispose 
 them to desire success, to affect and change the hearts of 
 their hearers, and they may calculate their discourses for 
 that purpose, and yet aim ultimately at themselves, and the 
 advancement of their own reputation. What can be more 
 agreeable to a man, who ultimately seeks himself, than to 
 see people throng around him, and crowd in multitudes to 
 hear him, and appear to be affected with what they hear? 
 And to find that he is able to command their attention, and 
 move their passions and affections ; and what more pleas- 
 ing, than to hear himself cried up by them, as the most 
 able and godly preacher in the land, and famed through 
 the whole country as a man of the highest spiritual excel- 
 lencies, and most successful labour. 
 
 I mean not to insinuate that men of such mercenary and 
 corrupt principles, are like to be very successful, for though 
 it is possible they may do good, and God may bless what 
 means he pleases ; yet it seems more probable, that, as 
 
358 THE CHRISTIAN pastor's manual. 
 
 they labour not for God, but for themselves, he will leave 
 them to themselves for the success: And that their labours 
 will have no greater blessing, than themselves are able to 
 give, and that their words, how pungent soever, will reach 
 no farther than their own streno-th is able to make them. 
 But what I have asserted, is, that self may make men de- 
 sire success, so far as it may tend to the advancement of 
 their reputation. Again, 
 
 Sometimes this selfish disposition will work up envious 
 and bitter thoughts, against all those who they imagine 
 stand in their light, or by out-shining them, eclipse their 
 glory, and hinder the progress of their idolized reputation. 
 Hence they are inwardly vexed and mortified, when a pre- 
 ference is given to the names and parts of their brethren, 
 as if all the praise given to others was injuriously taken 
 from them, and that they themselves were not so particu- 
 larly noticed, respected, and esteemed, as their partial 
 selfish judgment imagines they ought to be. And this 
 often lays a foundation for jealousy, suspicion, and aliena- 
 tion, as if they were carrying on two different and contrary 
 interests. It is this also, that makes some so tenacious of 
 their own opinions, that they almost claim infallibility, and 
 are ever impatient of contradiction or control. They es- 
 teem and value the man that will say as they say, and be 
 of their ojrlnion, and promote their reputation ; but he who 
 will dare to dilTer from, or contradict them, is not to be 
 borne with. O, Sirs ! it is impossible to trace out all the 
 corrupt workings of this detestable and pernicious princi- 
 ple, or to mention the innumerable mischiefs it has occa- 
 sioned in the Church of God. It was this that raised anti- 
 christ, by several gradual and progressive steps, to his 
 present tyrannical dignity. It was this that enkindled the 
 flames of persecution, in the several periods of the Christian 
 
CHARACTER AND DUTY OF A PREACHER. 359 
 
 Church, and stained the earth with the crimson gore of 
 human blood ; and it is this disturbs and rends Christian 
 societies, and divides them into different interests, and dif- 
 ferent parties, and fills them with bitterness against one 
 another. " O may the Lord in mercy deliver us from 
 ourselves, as our worst enemy ; and from the power and 
 dominion of selfishness, as the sorest plague that can be- 
 fall us on this side hell ! " 
 
 But I have dwelt too long on this disagreeable subject, 
 and shall therefore pass to the 
 
 Third general head, which was to show, 
 
 III. What it is to preach Christ. " We preach not our- 
 selves, but Christ Jesus the Lord." And this also must be 
 considered both materially, and formally, or as it respects 
 the subject matter, and the formal manner of our preaching- 
 
 1st. As it respects the matter ; it includes, in general, 
 the whole sum of gospel doctrine, relating to man's salva- 
 tion by Jesus Christ ; the original contrivance, the merito- 
 rious impetration, and actual application of it, through his 
 blood and Spirit ; the fall of man, " by one man's disobe- 
 dience," and the guilt and ruin of a fallen state necessarily 
 supposed ; the original purpose of God's love and grace, 
 that issued in the gift of his dear Son, the glory of his per- 
 ison as God, the eternal relation he sustained to the father, 
 his substitution as a surety, and designation to the office of 
 Mediator, his voluntary contract in the covenant of re- 
 demption, which made way for his mysterious incarnation,* 
 his holy life, his meritorious and cruel death, his powerful 
 resurrection, triumphant ascension, and perpetual prevail- 
 ing intercession ; the complete atonement he made, and the 
 everlasting righteousness he hath brought in ; together with 
 the various offices he sustained, both in his state of humi- 
 liation and exaltation : The methods of divine operation, in 
 
360 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 the work of effectual calling, the nature and use of divine 
 faith, to apply his blood and righteousness ; the blessings 
 consequent on believing, justification, adoption, sanctifica- 
 tion, perseverance in grace, and consummation in glory, 
 perfection of holiness at death, and the complete happiness 
 of soul and body at the resurrection, in the full enjoyment 
 of God to all eternity. These, and all other Gospel truths, 
 supposed by them, included in them, and consequent upon 
 them, relating to Jesus Christ, are to be the subject matter 
 of our preaching; all which are summarily comprehended, 
 in the three characters mentioned in the text, Christ Jesus 
 the Lord. Christ the Messiah, the anointed of God, quali- 
 fied for, and set apart to, the office of Mediator : Jesus the 
 Saviour of men, who saves his people from their sins, both 
 from the guilt and power, and finally from the punishment 
 of them, by working out for them a righteousness to be im- 
 puted ; and by working in them a righteousness implanted. 
 The Lord, the great head and king of his Church, who 
 has its government on his shoulders, and to " whom all 
 power is given in heaven and upon earth;" to whom all 
 homage and obedience are due, and to whom is committed, 
 as a person every way qualified and worthy, the sole ma- 
 nagement of the solemn transactions of the grand and 
 final judgment. 
 
 But particularly, 1st, To preach Christ, is to hold him 
 forth, not merely as a lawgiver, to be obeyed ; but chiefly 
 as a law-fufiller, to be believed in, for pardon, righteous- 
 ness, and everlasting life. To represent him to poor 
 perishing sinners, as a surety, who has undertaken in their 
 room and stead, to pay the debt of duty and of penalty, for 
 which divine justice has them under an arrest; to atone 
 for the crimes for which they are under sentence, and 
 work out for them a complete and perfect righteousness, 
 
CHARACTER AND DUTY OF A PREACHER. 361 
 
 answerable to the strict demands of his uncliangeable law. 
 How honourably soever we may speak of Jesus Christ, as 
 a ruler to be obeyed, and as a pattern to be imitated ; yet 
 if we do not exhibit him to view, as the great law-ful filler, 
 to be believed in, and as " the end of the law for right- 
 eousness," we do not properly preach Christ ; but conceal a 
 most essential branch of his mediatorial excellency. It is 
 the grand fundamental article of the religion of Christ, and 
 the ground of all our hopes, " that he suffered for us, the 
 just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God ; that he 
 not only died for our good, (as the Socinians say, to set us 
 an example how to suffer with patience ;) but that he died 
 " in our room and stead," and was " made sin for us" by 
 imputation, that we by imputation " might be made right- 
 eous in the sight of God through him." 
 
 2dly, To preach Christ, is to exhibit to view his infinite 
 divine fulness, and the freeness of his unbounded grace, his 
 almighty power to save, and his willingness to exert that 
 power ; that in him is to be found all that righteousness 
 that the law requires, and all that grace that the gospel 
 promises ; and in short that a poor, guilty, helpless, sin- 
 burdened, and law-condemned sinner can possibly want ; 
 and that all the blessings of his atonement, are freely of- 
 fered, " without money and without price." 
 
 3dly, To preach Christ, is to make him the grand cen- 
 tre of all the variety of subjects we enter upon, in the 
 whole credenda and agenda of religion. If we treat of the 
 nature and perfections of the Deity, we are to consider 
 them as displayed most eminently " in the face of Jesus 
 Christ." If we exhibit to view the divine law, in its strict- 
 ness and spirituality, we are to remember Christ, " as the 
 end of the law for righteousness." If we denounce its 
 
 dreadful " curses against every one that continues not in 
 31 
 
362 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 all things written in the book of the law to do them ;" it is 
 that " the law as a school-master, may bring them to 
 Christ, that they may be justified by faith." If we treat of 
 gospel promises and gospel blessings, we must consider 
 them as purchased by the blood, and distributed by the 
 bounty and grace of Christ. If we discourse upon divine 
 faith, Christ must be considered as " the author and finish- 
 er," as well as the direct object of it. If we treat of re- 
 pentance, it is " Christ exalted at the right hand of God," 
 that must give it, and the remission of sins ; " and Christ 
 crucified, and viewed by faith, that must be the first spring 
 of it. If we treat of gospel obedience, it must be considered 
 as the genuine fruit of faith in Christ, and union to him ; 
 springing from " constraining love to," and performed by 
 strength and grace derived from the Lord Jesus Christ ; 
 and accepted altogether on account of the merit of his obe- 
 dience and death. In a word, Christ must be considered 
 ed as " all and in all, as the alpha and omega, the begin- 
 ning and the eud;" the fountain from which all is derived 
 and the centre in which all must terminate ; his righteous- 
 ness is all in justification, his Spirit and grace all in sancti- 
 fication, and the enjoyment of him all in glorification. This 
 is to preach Christ, as to the matter of our preaching, 
 And then, 
 
 II. As to the formal manner, it implies, that we aim at 
 the honour and glory of Christ, and the advancement of 
 his interest, as our ultimate and final end. This is doubt- 
 less the principal thing intended, in opposition to those 
 mercenary views and selfish aims that were mentioned be- 
 fore. Men may speak much about Jesus Christ in their 
 sermons, and yet not properly preach Christ : yea, they may 
 preach Christ too, as to the matter of their preaching, in all 
 the instances above described, and yet not do it for Christ, 
 
CHARACTER AND DUTY OF A PREACHER. 363 
 
 but for themselves. And thus they make Christ himself, 
 and the precious doctrines of the gospel, only subservient 
 to the advancement of the grand idol, Self. To preach 
 Christ, then, is to make his honour and interest the centre 
 of all our labour and industry; the mark on which we fix 
 our eye, and towards which we endeavour to steer, in all 
 our private studies and public administrations, and in every 
 instance of our ministerial conduct. Our business is to 
 commend Christ, and not ourselves ; to win the hearts of 
 men to him, and not to ourselves : and attach them to his 
 interest, rather than our own. And as this must be the 
 ultimate, proposed end, so those means must be chosen 
 that have the most natural tendency to accomplish it ? even 
 such methods and manner of address as will tend to pierce 
 the obdurate hearts, and wound the stupid consciences of 
 sleepy secure sinners, by making them feel the ruin of 
 their fallen state, their guilt and condemnation by the 
 law, and the absolute impossibility of obtaining a personal 
 legal righteousness : that they may effectually see their 
 need of Christ, both as a surety to pay their law-debt, 
 and as a " fountain to wash in from sin and from unclean- 
 ness." 
 
 The rich and unbounded treasures of gospel grace, are 
 also to be laid open, and gospel invitations to be exhibited 
 in their free and indefinite terms, urged with the most pow- 
 erful motives and persuasive arguments that can be drawn 
 from love, or from wrath, from heaven, or from hell ; and 
 from all the glorious and dreadful things of an unseen and 
 eternal world. 
 
 Let me now endeavour to improve this subject by an in- 
 ference or two, from each of the principal foregoing heads ; 
 and then conclude with a particular application. And, 
 
 1st, If ministers are not to preach, or to seek them- 
 
364 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 selves, in the execution of the sacred office, then none can 
 ever discharge this important trust acceptably in the sight 
 of God, who are under the reigning dominion of merce- 
 nary and selfish principles. I have observed before, that 
 when man fell from God by original apostacy, he retired 
 as it were into himself, and is ever since disposed supremely 
 to love, and ultimately to seek himself, as his last and final 
 end. — Selfishness then, in one shape or another, is now the 
 reigning, active principle in fallen nature, and has the en- 
 tire dominion in every heart that is unrenewed and unsanc- 
 tified ; as, therefore, unsanctified men have no governing 
 principle but self, and can act from no higher principles 
 than they have, how can they be qualified for a faithful 
 discharge of that work, which requires so much self-re- 
 nunciation. If such as these undertake the ministry, their 
 views must be altogether selfish : they study, pray, and 
 preach for themselves, and make themselves the grand 
 centre of all they think, and speak, and do ! " Seeking 
 their own things, and not the things of Christ Jesus ; pre- 
 fering their honour to his honour, and their interest to his 
 interest ; and, therefore, they are guilty of idolatry, by 
 setting themselves uppermost in their estimation, affections, 
 designs, and pursuits. And if I should grant that such as 
 these may be useful in the ministry, yet surely the undertak- 
 ing will be awfully hazardous to the souls committed to their 
 charge, and the consequence extremely dreadful to them- 
 selves, for " when they have preached to others, themselves 
 will be finally rejected and cast away." 
 
 2dly. If the business of gospel ministers is to preach 
 Christ, hence see the honour and dignity of their office. 
 No other than a glorious Christ, the anointed of God, the 
 darling of heaven, and the beloved of angels and saints, is 
 the subject of their ministry ; from him their authority 
 
CHARACTER AND DUTY OF A TREACHER. 365 
 
 and commission is derived, in his valuable interest they are 
 engaged to speak, as " ambassadors in his name and 
 stead." Their office is, therefore, honourable in some pro- 
 portion to the dignity of the sovereign from whom they 
 receive commission ; the grandeur of the court in whose 
 interest they are employed as ambassadors, and the import- 
 ant errand they have to transact with guilty men. And as 
 they are engaged for Christ, and employed by him to act 
 as ambassadors in his name, he has declared that he will 
 regard the treatment they meet with as if done to himself: 
 " He that receiveth you, says he, receiveth me ; and he 
 that despiseth you, despiseth me, and him that sent me." 
 Were we acting a part for ourselves, and speaking in our 
 own name, and driving on our own self-interests, men 
 might treat us as they pleased ; but if we act as ambassa- 
 dors for Christ, in pursuit of his interest, and in his name 
 and stead, let them take heed how they despise the sacred 
 character we sustain, or neglect the solemn messages we 
 bring. But I must not dwell on these inferences, the time 
 being far elapsed. 
 
 Permit me, therefore, now^, with all humility, to address 
 myself particularly to the venerable members of this Sy- 
 nod, with all others of the sacred character here present. 
 
 My reverend fathers and dear brethren! 
 
 The subject I have now been handling will necessarily 
 lead me to great freedom and plainness of speech, yet I 
 will not entertain so dishonourable a thought of any of you, 
 as to imagine an apology necessary : nor will I doubt your 
 candid acceptance of what shall now be said, though by 
 one of the meanest of the sacred character, who would 
 gladly sit at your feet and learn, and who is willing to 
 stand corrected or reproved by you. 
 31* 
 
366 THE CHRISTIAN pastor's manual. 
 
 Let what we have heard, 
 
 1. Lead us into our own hearts, to examine in the pre- 
 sence of an all-seeing God, whether we have not too much 
 of this abominable selfish principle still lurking within us, 
 and too little singleness of heart for God and Jesus Christ. 
 Do we never shrink into diffidence and neglect in cases of 
 duty, through the power and prevalence of that soothing 
 temptation, spare thyself? Do we never find this detesta- 
 ble enemy strive to encroach on the rights of the Godhead, 
 and assume the honour and regard that is due to Jesus 
 alone ? Does it never creep into our studies, and seek to 
 have a hand in our preparations for the sanctuary of the 
 Lord, and dispose us to consult how to please, rather than 
 how to profit ; and how our own interest may be secured 
 in the esteem and affections of our hearers, rather than 
 how the interest and kingdom of Christ may be advanced? 
 And when we enter the sacred desk, with a message from 
 heaven to guilty men, are we never too thoughtful of the 
 notices and observations of our poor fellow mortals round 
 about us, and too little sensible of the all-seeing eye of 
 Jehovah upon us, and the vast and inexpressible weight of 
 the errand on which we come? Are we never too solicit- 
 ous about mere external appearances that attend our de- 
 livery, and too little so about the spiritual frame of our 
 hearts in the sight of God? Are we never tempted by 
 this pernicious principle, to play the hypocrite before our 
 hearers, with a greater show of zeal, and fervour, and de- 
 votion, than is answerable to the inward state and frame of 
 our minds ? If at any time we find ourselves dead and 
 barren, and have but little clearness or freedom, we 
 are dejected; our hearts are depressed and sunk within 
 us : but from whence is this dejection ? Is it because we 
 
CHARACTER AND DUTY OF A PREACHER. 367 
 
 have done so poorly for God, and been so miserably defi- 
 cient in his service ? Or only because we have made so 
 indifferent a figure in the eyes of our fellow men? On the 
 other hand, when we find some enlargement and freedom, 
 a readiness of thought, and fluency of expression, and feel 
 some suitable degree of zeal and fervour, does a selfish, 
 deceitful heart never prompt us to a sort of self-compla- 
 cency, and delight in ourselves? And if we are pleased 
 that God has enabled us, in any measure, to be faithful, 
 yet, are we never too much elated with the approbation 
 and applause of those that have heard us. 
 
 And when our public performiances are ended, what is 
 the object of our greatest solicitude? Whether sinners 
 are awakened and won to Christ, or whether we our- 
 selves are held in high esteem ? Whether the word preached 
 has gained their hearts for God, or whether it has gained 
 for us their pleasing approbation ? And does this selfish 
 principle never direct or influence our conduct among the 
 people of our charge? Are we not often best pleased with 
 the company and society of those who (perhaps too partial 
 in our favour) may gratify our vanity with their professions 
 and tokens of esteem and friendship? And do we not, 
 from the same principle, shun, or too much neglect, those 
 who appear less friendly, though they need our instruction 
 and advice as much as others ? Do we not too much ne- 
 glect the duties of private and particular applications, for 
 fear of offending; and yet frame excuses for our neglects, 
 that have too much selfishness in them? In a word, what 
 did we undertake the ministry for? What do we study, 
 preach, and pray, live, ^nd labour for? Is it ultimately 
 for God or for ourselves ? I beseech you, reverend and 
 dear sirs, bear with this plainness and freedom, and let me 
 not be looked upon in the light of an arrogant accuser; 
 
368 THE CHRISTIAN pastor's manual. 
 
 far be it from me to lay any of these things to your charge, 
 or to harbour a doubt of j^our disinterested zeal for God, 
 and victory over self. " There is but one heart among us 
 that I have reason to suspect," and over that I find it ne- 
 cessary to keep a continual watch and guard : and O ! 
 how many are the secret windings and turnings, and dif- 
 ferent shapes and appearances of this pernicious adversary, 
 self! How often does it beset us, when and where we have 
 little expected it, and give us occasion to lament and say, 
 " Hast thou found me, O mine enemy'/" If we find then, 
 on the above-mentioned inquiry, that our self-denial and 
 deadness to ourselves is yet very imperfect, Let us in the- 
 Second place, Bitterly bewail it before God, with the 
 deepest humiliation. For what can be more detestable, or 
 carry a greater malignity in its very nature, than that dis- 
 position that would exalt self in the place of God and Jesus 
 Christ, and as it were contend with him for the preference, 
 and dispute the point with him who shall be most loved 
 and regarded by us, he or we ; and whose honour and in- 
 terest shall be primarily pursued, his or our own ? And 
 how inconsistent is this selfishness with that lesson of self- 
 denial that we are obliged to preach to others, and which 
 Jesus has taught us, both by precept and example. Nay, 
 with what force can we recommend self-denial to others, 
 while we are selfish, or how can we reprove or condemn 
 the sin in others that we harbour too much in ourselves. 
 We tell the drunkard, the swearer, the profane sinner, that 
 *' except he be converted and changed he cannot be saved ; 
 and is it not as true of us, that we cannot lie the true dis- 
 ciples, or faithful ministers of Christ, except we deny our- 
 selves." Does not our Lord himself lay this down as the 
 grand criterion by which he submits his own doctrine and 
 mission to trial, whether it was of God or whether he spake 
 
CHARACTER AND DUTY OF A rREACUER. 369 
 
 of himself. " He that speakcth of himself, says ho, seek- 
 eth his own glory : but he that seeketh the glory of him 
 that sent him, the same is true." I make no doubt, Sirs, 
 but selfishness in its reigning dominion, is a greater sin than 
 drunkenness or whoredom. The one dishonours God by 
 breaking his law ; but the other strikes at the very relation 
 of sovereign and subject, and contends with him, as it 
 Avere, for the rights of godhead, and insists on being above 
 him in the estimation, affections, intentions, and pursuits. 
 Now, " it is one thing to break some particular laws of a 
 prince, and another to set up to be above him, or to exalt a 
 rival in his room and stead ;" the first indeed is transgres- 
 sion, but the other is downright treason and rebellion, and 
 therefore the most heinous. And indeed whatever we do 
 in religion, and how good soever it be, as to the matter or 
 thing done, yet if self is the reigning principle, it tarnishes, 
 corrupts, and debases all. And as it is the very essence of 
 holiness to live to God, and act entirely for him, so it is 
 horrible wickedness, in the very nature of it, to live to 
 ourselves, and act ultimately for ourselves. If, therefore, 
 we find the remains, or secret workings of so corrupt and 
 detestable a principle, let us mourn and be humbled before 
 God, and repair by faith to him who once died, " That 
 they which live should not live to themselves, but to him 
 who died for them, and rose again." Let us, in the third 
 place. 
 
 Ever be watchful against this enemy of God, and our 
 souls, and endeavour to suppress the first risings of it. Let 
 us ever remember, " we are not our own," and therefore 
 have no business to live to ourselves, or regard our inter- 
 est or reputation, any further than the honour of Christ, 
 and the interest of religion is concerned. If God has made 
 us, if Christ has redeemed us, if in our ordination vows we 
 
370 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 have solemnly given up ourselves and our all to him, then 
 certainly we are not our own ; and therefore to appropriate 
 our time and talents to our own interest and reputation, is 
 a sacrilegious robbinsc of God. 
 
 Further, let us guard against that fear of man that self- 
 ishness would prompt us to, and which would make us 
 too fond to please, and too fearful to displease ; for if we 
 thus seek to please men, and by that means to advance 
 ourselves, we cannot be the faithful " servants of Jesus 
 Christ." And yet, such are the perverse tempers of many 
 we have to deal with, that we are often reduced to an un- 
 happy dilemma, and must either offend God, or offend 
 them. Poor guilty mortals love to be soothed and flattered, 
 but do not love to be plainly dealt with ; hence, such point- 
 ecf addresses as tend to discover them to themselves, offen 
 excite their resentment. Thus, w'hen our Lord was re- 
 presenting to his hearers, by several parables, the awful 
 destruction that would shortly come upon the final reject- 
 ers of the gospel Saviour, and the gospel salvation, it is 
 said, "the chief priests and Pharisees perceived that he 
 spake of them." A heinous business indeed ! as if it was 
 intolerable insolence for him to speak of them. It is true, 
 they perceived right, he did speak of them, and all others 
 like them; and what then? Why, they are exasperated, 
 and would have laid hands on him, and treated him in a 
 manner they thought he deserved, had it not been that 
 they feared the multitude. And when this is the case, 
 that we must either offend God or men ; whose displeasure 
 shall we most regard? If carnal self is consulted, it will 
 influence us to displease God, and to sooth and flatter our 
 fellow-men. But alas ! should we make such an awful 
 sacrifice to their corrupt humours, will they undertake to 
 answer it for us 1 Will they defend us from the displea- 
 
CHARACTER AND DUTY OF A TREACHER. 371 
 
 sure of Jehovah, when he shall send for us by death, or 
 sentence us to hell by his righteous judgment 1 No, they 
 dare not attempt this, nor dare we trust them in this mat- 
 ter. We have one God, and one master to please, and he 
 must be obeyed, whether men like or dislike. Our errand 
 to them is on matter of life and death, the vast importance 
 of which, must engage all the powers of our souls. Poor 
 Christless sinners are not in a state to be soothed and flat- 
 tered, or jested and trifled with ; heaven and hell are not 
 matters to be talked of in a careless indolent strain ; it is 
 plain dealing such want, however they may take it; such 
 as will tend to make them feel their wretched, miserable 
 state, and awaken their solicitude for deliverance. 
 
 Again, our business is to preach Christ Jesus the Lord, 
 and exhibit him to view in his personal glory and divine 
 fulness as the law-fulfiUer and Saviour of sinners ; to urge 
 them compassionately to come to him that they might have 
 life, and on their final refusal, to denounce against them 
 the terrors of eternal death. And besides the inexpressi- 
 ble importance of these things, every consideration from 
 the present providences of God, suggests an awakening 
 call to the utmost diligence and painful industry. The 
 God of heaven is now thundering an alarm on every side, 
 our country is groaning under ravages and devastations, 
 and all the frightful calamities of war and blood ! The 
 enemies of Zion are forming a confederacy, and saying, 
 "Let us raze it, let us raze it to the foundation." And 
 who can tell how soon our churches may be demolished 
 and beaten into rubbish, and we ourselves called to prison 
 and to death. And what, in the name of God, shall we 
 do in a day of suffering, if we have not learned to deny 
 ourselves, and account our honour, interest, and even life 
 itself, nothing in comparison of the interest and kingdom 
 
372 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 of Jesus Christ? Or should God in mercy yet spare his 
 church from the ravages of popish and pagan adversaries, 
 yet as to us, we know our time is short, and " the night of 
 death will soon come when no man can work." We live 
 in a dying world, and dwell in regions of mortality, and 
 have lately had frequent and awful notices of the uncertain 
 tenure of human life. 
 
 The last year in particular with respect to ministers, 
 may very properly be called the dying year, in which the 
 God of heaven has smitten his church in these parts, with 
 repeated strokes of sore bereavement in a close and awful 
 succession ! Scarce had we time to dry our weeping 
 eyes for the loss of one of eminent character and useful- 
 ness,* but the streams of grief were called to flow down 
 afresh for the loss of another,! whose zeal for God and 
 the conversion of souls, was scarce to be paralleled. And 
 yet for all this, the anger of Jehovah was not turned away, 
 but his hand was soon lifted up again, and with a dread- 
 ful aim, and resistless stroke, has brought down to the 
 dust, perhaps the greatest pillar in this part of Zion's build- 
 ings.:]: O how does the whole fabric shake and totter ! 
 
 * The Rev. Mr. Aaron Burr, President of the College. 
 
 ■f The Rev. Mr. James Davenport, Minister at Hopewell, both of 
 New Jersey. 
 
 * The Rev. Jonathan Edwards, President of the College of New 
 Jersey, of whom the Rev. G. Tennant, of Philadelphia, writes thus : 
 
 Philadelphia, March 28, 1758. 
 On Wednesday the 22d instant, departed this life, the reverend 
 and worthy Mr. Jonathan Edwards (formerly of Northampton, in 
 New England, but lately of Stockbridge) president of the College of 
 New Jersey ; a person of great eminence both in respect of capacity, 
 learning, piety, and usefulness ; a good scholar, and a great divine. 
 As his genius was extraordinary, so it was greatly improved by long 
 
CHARACTER AND DUTY OF A PREACHER. 373 
 
 And what a gloomy aspect do these providences wear? as 
 if God, by calling home his ambassadors, was about to 
 quit the allair of negotiating peace with mankind any more. 
 
 and hard study, by which he treasured up much useful knowledge, 
 both divine and human, and was thus uncommonly prepared for the 
 arduous and important province to which he was called. Divinity 
 was his favourite study, in the knowledge of which he had but few, 
 if any equals, and no superior in these provinces. The humility, 
 gravity, and modesty of his behaviour, rendered him amiable to all 
 that feared God, who had the pleasure and privilege of his acquaint- 
 ance. But nothing appeared with greater lustre, and more striking 
 charms in his conduct, than his candour to man, and his fidelity to 
 his God. Virtues very rare in this degenerate age, wherein piety, 
 integrity, and bravery, are ready to breathe their last ; an age where- 
 in " All flesh have corrupted their way," and there is none (or al- 
 most none) upright among men. This man of God was favoured 
 with an unshaken firmness in the cause of his great master, nor 
 would his noble soul stoop to vulgar prejudices, or meanly blend 
 with the crowd. His judicious and magnanimous defence of the 
 principles of the Christian reformed religion, against the plausible 
 pretexts and cavils of Arminians, in a late volume upon the liberty 
 of the human will, — a volume in which their cause is with great 
 force of argument entirely baffled, and which is thought by some 
 professors of divinity in Europe, and by divers divines here, to ex- 
 ceed any thing that has been written on the subject; and his excel- 
 lent writings in behalf of the power of piety (which some time since 
 happily spread in this sinful land) deserve esteem, and make his 
 memory blossom in the dust. Others of his writings, likewise de- 
 serve to be mentioned wath honour; it is as a comfort to us, in the 
 midst of grief, that this ascending Elijah has left behind him, the 
 mantle of so many valuable volumes, by which, though dead, he 
 speaks with wisdom and warmth, in favour of truth and holiness ; 
 hereby, though without design, he has erected to his memory a bust, 
 not only preferable to fulsome funeral panegyrics, but even to the 
 most durable monumental marble. 
 
 As this wise and faithful servant of Christ, glorified his blessed 
 32 
 
374 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 Shall not we then who survive, double and redouble our 
 diligence, knowing our time is short, and in proportion to 
 the decrease of labourers, the work increases upon our 
 hands. O Sirs ! are heaven and hell glorious and dread- 
 ful realities? are sinners despising the one and sleeping 
 
 master, with uprightness and intrepidity of heart, by a conversation 
 becoming his gospel; so it pleased God to put great honour upon 
 him, living and dying, by crowning his honest and unwearied la- 
 bours with surprising successes, in the conversion of many, and giv- 
 ing him great calm in his soul, at the time of his exit. When eter- 
 nity drew near, he with undisturbed composure desired his daughter 
 to request her mother and his wife not to indulge excessive grief, on 
 occasion of his departure from her, but to consider that the spiritual 
 relation between them, would not be dissolved by death, and that he 
 hoped to see her again ; and likewise that she should tell the other 
 children that he requested them to observe the instructions he had 
 from time to time given them, and that if they did so, good would 
 come to them." After he had spoken to the above purpose, he 
 looked about, and said, now, " where is Jesus of Nazareth, my true 
 a::d never failing friend 1 " and so he fell asleep, and went to the 
 Lord he loved, (Sic mihi contingat vivere, sicque mori) and left a 
 bereaved society to sit in the dust, and mourn the unspeakable, (yea 
 in some respects) the irreparable loss of so v/ise, experienced, and 
 faithful a head ; and that in a time of great necessity, general ca- 
 lamity, great and growing danger to the church and state : O ! when 
 a holy God takes away such righteous persons, such invaluable jevi^- 
 els, in thick succession from our guilty land and nation, to his own 
 bosom, his own cabinet, and that in the beginning of a dark gather- 
 ing tempest, big with the fate of nations, is it not an awful omen 1 
 And should we not lay it to heart before it be too late ] May we 
 not, with some variation, lament the death of this excellent man, in 
 the language of David, over Saul and Jonathan, O Prince-town, the 
 '* beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high place;? ? " Or over brave 
 Abner, " know ye not this day that a great man is fallen in Israel ] " 
 Or in the pensive strains of Elisha over a departed Elijah, " my father, 
 xny father, the chariot of Israel, and the horse-men thereof? " 
 
CHARACTER AND DUTY OF A PREACHER. »375 
 
 over the mouth of the other, and are we sent from God 
 lo awaken them, and shew them their danger ; sent to offer 
 them a Saviour and invite them to fly from the wrath to 
 come to his atoning blood, why then, O ! why do not these 
 important realities swallow up our whole attention 1 Why 
 do not we make more haste in plucking sinners as brands 
 from everlasting burning? Why do not we pray more fer- 
 vently, and preach more zealously, and lay out our whole 
 life, and soul, and strength in this great work? What ! is 
 the interest and happiness of deathless immortal souls 
 worth no more pains ? Can we do no more for the honour 
 and interest of our glorious Master than this comes too ? — 
 Shall the men of this world be more painful and industri- 
 ous in seeking themselves, that we in seeking the glory of 
 Christ, and the salvation of souls ? God forbid 1 We are 
 on matters of life and death, we pray, and preach, and la- 
 bour for eternity ; sure it becomes us then to do it with all 
 our might. Shall we not be solemn and serious, when so 
 near that state and place where all are serious ? Believe 
 it, Sirs, there is no trifling in the eternal world, there are 
 none in jest either in heaven or hell. God forbid, then, 
 that we should jest and trifle with immortal souls, that are 
 just at the door and upon the borders of an eternal state ! 
 
LETTER ON THE PROPRIETY OF A MINISTE- 
 RIAL ADDRESS TO THE UNCONVERTED, 
 
 BY THE REY. JOHN KEWTON. 
 
 Sir, — In a late conversation, you desired my thoughts 
 concerning a Scriptural and consistent manner of address- 
 ing the consciences of unawakened sinners in the course 
 of your ministry. It is a point on which many eminent 
 ministers have been, and are not a little divided; and it 
 therefore becomes me to propose my sentiments with mod- 
 esty and caution, so far as I am constrained to differ from 
 any from whom in general I would be glad to learn. 
 
 Some think, that it is sufficient to preach the great truths 
 of the word of God in their hearing ; to set forth the ut- 
 terly ruined and helpless state of fallen man by nature, 
 and the appointed method of salvation by grace, through 
 faith in the Lord Jesus Christ ; and then to leave the appli- 
 cation entirely to the agency of the Holy Spirit, who alone 
 can enlighten the dark understandings of sinners, and en- 
 able them to receive, in a due manner, the doctrines either 
 of the law or the gospel. And they apprehend, that all 
 exhortations, arguments, and motives, addressed to those 
 who are supposed to be still under the influence of the car- 
 nal mind, are inconsistent with the principles of free grace, 
 and the acknowledged inability of such persons to perform 
 any spiritual acts ; and that therefore the preachers, who, 
 avowing the doctrines of free grace, do, notwithstanding, 
 plead and expostulate with sinners, usually contradict them- 
 selves, and retract in their application what they had la- 
 boured to establish in the course of their sermons. 
 
ON MINISTERIAL ADDRESS. 377 
 
 There are others, who, though they would be extremely 
 unwilling to derogate from the free grace and sovereign 
 power of God in the great work of conversion, or in the 
 least degree to encourage the mistaken notion which every 
 unconverted person has of his own power ; yet think it 
 their duty to deal with sinners as rational and moral 
 agents ; and, as such, besides declaring the counsel of God 
 in a doctrinal way, to warn them by the terrors of the 
 Lord, and to beseech them by his tender mercies, that they 
 receive not the grace of God, in a preached gospel, in vain. 
 Nor can it be denied, but that some of them, when deeply 
 affected with the worth of souls and the awful importance 
 of eternal things, have sometimes, in the warmth of their 
 hearts, dropped unguarded expressions, and such as have 
 been justly liable to exception. 
 
 If we were to decide to which of these different methods 
 of preaching the preference is due, by the discernible ef- 
 fects of each, it will perhaps appear in fact, without making 
 any invidious comparisons, that those ministers whom the 
 Lord has honoured with the greatest success in awakening 
 and converting sinners, have generally been led to adopt 
 the more popular wixy of exhortaiio?i or address ; while 
 they who have been studiously careful to avoid any direct 
 application to sinners, as unnecessary and improper, if they 
 have not been altogether without seals to their ministry, 
 yet their labours have been more owned in building up 
 those who have already received the knowledge of the 
 truth, than in adding to their number. Now as he that 
 winneth " is wise," and as every faithful labourer has a 
 warm desire of being instrumental in raising the dead in 
 sin to a life of righteousness, this seems at least a pre- 
 sumptive argument in favour of those who, besides stating 
 
 the doctrines of the gospel, endeavour, by earnest persua- 
 32* 
 
378 THE CHRISTIAX PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 sions and expostulations, to impress them upon the hearts 
 of their hearers, and intreat and warn them to consider, 
 " how ihey shall escape if they neglect so great salvation." 
 For it is not easy to conceive, that the Lord should most 
 signally bear testimony in favour of that mode of preaching 
 which is least consistent with the truth, and with itself. 
 
 But not to insist on this, nor to rest the cause on the 
 authority or examples of men, the best of whom are im- 
 perfect and fallible, let us consult the Scriptures, which, as 
 they furnish us with the whole subject-matter of our min- 
 istry, so they afford us perfect precepts and patterns for its 
 due and orderly dispensation. With respect to the subject 
 of our inquiry, the examples of our Lord Jesus Christ, and 
 of his authorised ministers, the apostles, are both our rule 
 and our warrant. The Lord Jesus was the great preacher 
 of free grace, " who spake as never man spake ;" and his 
 ministry, while it provided relief for the weary and heavy 
 laden, was eminently designed to stain the pride of all hu- 
 man glory. He knew what was in man, and declared, 
 " that none could come unto him, unless drawn and taught 
 of God ;" John vi. 44 — 46. And yet he often speaks to 
 sinners in terms, which, if they were not known to be his, 
 might perhaps be censured as inconsistent and legal ; John 
 vi. 27 ; Luke xiii. 24 — 27 ; John xii. 35. It appears, both 
 from the context and the tenor of these passages, that they 
 were immediately spoken, not to his disciples, but to the 
 multitude. The apostles copied from their Lord ; they 
 taught that we have no sufficiency of ourselves, even to 
 think a good thought, and that " it is not of him that 
 willeth, or of him that runneth, but of God who shov/eth 
 mercy ;" yet they plainly call upon sinners, (and that be- 
 fore they had given evident signs that they were pricked 
 to the heart, as Acts iii. 31.) " to repent, and to turn from 
 
ON MINISTERIAL ADDRESS. 379 
 
 iheir vanities to the living God;" Acts iii. 19; xiv. 15; 
 and XV ii. 30. Peter's advice to Simon Magus is very full 
 and express on this point ; for, though he perceived him to 
 be " in the very gall of bitterness, and in the bond of in- 
 iquity," he exhorted him " to repent, and to pray, if per- 
 haps the thought of his heart might be forgiven. '*^ It may 
 be presumed that we cannot have stronger evidence, that 
 any of our hearers are in a carnal and unconverted state, 
 than Peter had in the case of Simon Magus ; and therefore 
 there seems no sufficient reason why we should hesitate to 
 follow the apostle's example. 
 
 You have been told, that repentance and faith are spi- 
 ritual acts, for the performance of which, a principle of 
 spiritual life is absolutely necessary ; and that therefore, to 
 exhort an unregenerate sinner to repent or believe, must 
 be as vain and fruitless as to call a dead person out of his 
 grave. To this it may be answered, that we might cheer- 
 fully and confidently undertake even to call the dead out 
 of their graves, if we had the command and promise of 
 God to warrant the attempt; for then we might expect his 
 power would accompany our word. The vision of Eze- 
 kiel, chap, xxxvii. may be fitly accommodated to illustrate 
 both the difficulties and the encouragement of a gospel 
 minister. The deplorable state of many of our hearers 
 may often remind us of the Lord's question to the prophet, 
 " Can these dry bones live?" Our resource, like that of 
 the prophet, is entirely in the sovereignty, grace, and power 
 of the Lord : " O Lord, thou knowest, impossible as it is 
 to us, it is easy for thee to raise them unto life ; therefore 
 we renounce our own reasonings ; and though we see that 
 they are dead, we call upon them at thy bidding, as if they 
 were alive, and say, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the 
 Lord ! The means is our part, the work is thine, and to 
 
330 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 thee be all the praise." The dry bones could not hear the 
 prophet; but while he spoke, the Lord caused breath to 
 enter into them, and they lived; but the word was spoken 
 to them considered as dry and dead. 
 
 It is true, the Lord can, and I hope he often does, make 
 that preaching effectual to the conversion of sinners, where- 
 in little is said expressly to them, only the truths of the 
 gospel are declared in their hearing ; but he who knows 
 the frame of the human heart, has provided us with a va- 
 riety of the topics which have a moral suitableness to en- 
 gage the faculties, affections, and consciences of sinners ; 
 so far at least as to leave themselves condemned if they 
 persist in their sins, and by which he often effects the pur- 
 poses of his grace; though none of the means of grace by 
 which he ordinarily works can produce a real change in 
 the heart, unless they are accompanied with the efficacious 
 power of his Spirit. Should we admit, that an uncon- 
 verted person is not a proper subject of ministerial exhor- 
 tation, because he has no power in himself to comply, the 
 just consequence of this position would perhaps extend too 
 far, even to prove the impropriety of all exhortation uni- 
 versally : For when we invite the wTary and heavy laden 
 to come to Jesus, that they may find rest ; when we call 
 upon backsliders to remember from whence they are fallen, 
 to " repent, and to do their first works ;" yea, when we 
 exhort believers to " walk worthy of God, who has called 
 them to his kingdom and glory ;" in each of these cases 
 we press them to acts for which they have no inherent 
 power of their own : and unless the Lord, the Spirit, is 
 pleased to apply the word to their hearts, we do but speak 
 into the air ; and our endeavours can have no more effect 
 in these instances, than if we were to say to a dead body, 
 *' arise and walk." For an exertion of divine power is no 
 
ON 3I1NISTER1AL ADDRESS. 381 
 
 less necessary to the liealing of a wounded conscience, 
 than to the breaking of a hard heart; and only he who 
 has begun the good work of grace, is able either to revive 
 or to maintain it. 
 
 Though sinners are destitute of spiritual life, they are 
 not therefore mere machines. They have a power to do 
 many things which they may be called upon to exert. 
 They are capable of considering their ways ; they know 
 they are mortal ; and the bulk of them are persuaded in 
 their consciences, that after death there is an appointed 
 judgment : they are not under an inevitable necessity of 
 living in known and gross sins ; that they do so, is not for 
 want of power, but for want of will. The most profane 
 swearer can refrain from his oaths, while in the presence 
 of a person whom he fears, and to whom he knows it would 
 be displeasing. Let a drunkard see poison put into his li- 
 quor, and it may stand by him untasted from morning to 
 night. And many would be deterred from sins to which 
 they are greatly addicted, by the presence of a child though 
 they have no fear of God before their eyes. They have a 
 power likewise of attending upon the means of grace ; 
 and though the Lord only can give them true faith and 
 evangelical repentance, there seems no impropriety to in- 
 vite them, upon the ground of the gospel promises, to seek 
 to him who is exalted to bestow ihrse blessings, and who 
 is able to do that for them, which they cannot do for them- 
 selves ; and who has said, " him that cometh unto me, I 
 will in no wise cast out." Perhaps it will not be easily 
 proved, that intreaties arguments, warnings, ibrmed upon 
 these general principles, which are in the main agreeable 
 and adequate to the remaining light of natural conscience, 
 are at all inconsistent with those doctrines which ascribe 
 the whole of a sinner's salvation, from first to last, to the 
 free sovereign grace of God. 
 
882 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 We should undoubtedly endeavour to maintain a consist- 
 ency in our preaching ; but unless we keep the plan and 
 manner of the Scripture constantly in view, and attend to 
 every part of it, a design of consistency may fetter our 
 sentiments, and greatly preclude our usefulness. We need 
 not wish to be more consistent than the inspired writers, 
 nor be afraid of speaking, as they have spoken before us. 
 We may easily perplex ourselves, and our hearers, by nice 
 reasonings on the nature of human liberty, and the divine 
 agency on the hearts of men ; but such disquisitions are 
 betcr avoided. We shall, perhaps never have full satisfac- 
 tion on these subjects, till we arrive in the world of light. 
 In the mean time, the path of duty, the good old way, 
 lies plain before us. If when 30U are in the pulpit, the 
 Lord favours you with a lively sense of the greatness of 
 the trust, and the worth of the souls committed to your 
 charge, and fills 3^our heart with his constraining love, 
 many little curious distinctions, which amused you at other 
 times, will be forgotten. Your soul will go forth with your 
 words : and while your bowels yearn over poor sinners, 
 you will not hesitate a moment, whether you ought to 
 warn them of their danger or not. That great champion 
 of free grace, Dr. Owen, has a very solemn address to sin- 
 ners ; the running title to which is " Exhortations unto 
 believing." It is in his Exposition of the 130th Psalm, 
 from p. 242 — 247. Lond. edit. 1609, which I recommend 
 to your attentive consideration. I am, &c. 
 
THOUGHTS ON 1 TIMOTHY iv. 13. 
 BY THE REV. THOMAS SCOTT, A. M. 
 
 i:V A LETTER TO THE REV. G. KNIGHT. 
 
 *'Aston SaiulforJ, June 17, 1816. 
 
 " My dear sir, — As wholly unable to meet you in per- 
 son, T send you my proxy, in a paper of hints on your 
 most important question. 
 
 *' Should any brother undertake to form a paper for pub- 
 lication from the whole result of the discussion, he is per- 
 fectly at hberty to use my hints for that purpose : but, if 
 this be not determined on, [ shall be glad to receive them 
 back again ; as probably 1 may make some use of them 
 hereafter : and I shall also gladly receive any of the re- 
 marks which my brethren make on them, or on the gene- 
 ral subject. 
 
 "I hope I shall not forget to pray for a large blessing 
 on the compay and the congregrations : for my heart will 
 be with you : and I trust you will be particular, both when 
 together and when separate, in praying for me ; and for my 
 life, or health, or even ease, so much as that I may be up- 
 held, and enabled to act consistently in my closing scene, 
 and may Jlnish my course with Joy, &c. : for I feel myself 
 a poor, weak, and sinful creature, in constant danger of 
 falling or fainting, unless upheld by the pov/er and grace 
 of the Lord Jesus. With my kind remembrances to Mrs. 
 Knight : and prayers for a blessing on you and your family; 
 and Christian love to all the assembled brethren, I remain 
 " Your faithful and affectionate brother, 
 
 Thos. Scott." 
 
384 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's JIANUAL. 
 
 Thoughts on the words of St. Paul to Timothy, " Give 
 THYSELF WHOLLY TO THE3I," (sV T^-Toj^ iV^i,) Considered 
 as an instruction to all ministers of Christianity , in 
 every age and nation, 
 
 " The context of this expressive clause should be con- 
 sidered with peculiar attention, in explaining the words 
 made use of. Let no man despise thy youth : but be thou 
 an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in 
 charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Till I come, give 
 attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Ne- 
 glect not the gift that is in thee, which ivas given thee — 
 by the laying on of the hands of the presbytery . Medi- 
 tate upon these things ; give thyself wholly to theji, 
 that thy prof ting may appear to all. Take heed unto 
 thyself, and unto the doctrine : continue in them : for in 
 doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them that 
 hear thee. (1 Tim. iv. 12 — 14.) Each expression, when 
 closely examined, is as it were a sermon ; and the whole 
 comprises such a mass of appropriate instruction, warning, 
 and encouragement to ministers, as can rarely be found 
 in so ^iiw words. Let us then meditate on these things 
 continually. 
 
 " Two particulars seem especially to call for our notice 
 in the clause more immediately under consideration : — 
 1. The ^Ain^s which the apostle intended: and 2. What 
 it is to give ourselves wholly to them, 
 
 " I. The things intended. The apostle doubtless refer- 
 red to those exhortations, which he had just before given 
 to his beloved son Timothy, respecting his personal con- 
 duct and example ; his ministerial office, as a talent en- 
 trusted to him ; the exercise of this ministry ; the prepa- 
 
THOUGHTS ON 1 TIM. iv. 13. 385 
 
 ration lor that exercise ; and the ends to be proposed in the 
 whole — Continue in them, for in so doing thou shalt both 
 save thyself, and them that hear thee ; that is, who so hear 
 thee as to believe and obey the doctrine taught by thee. 
 
 *' A ^ew hints may then be here dropped on some of the 
 particulars relating to our important ministry — for we 
 cannot too much magnify our office, and should have high 
 and honourable thoughts of it ; as the best of all good 
 works ; the most beneficial service which man can perform 
 to man ; and the most immediately connected with the 
 glory of God our Saviour ; yet attended with the most 
 awful responsibility. It is a gift conferred on us, when 
 set apart to that service. To us it is given, to preach the 
 unsearchable riches of Christ* It is a talent entrusted to 
 our stewardship, which demands faithful iniprovement. It 
 opens the way to the cultivation of the mind for purposes 
 peculiar to the minister; to purposes of the highest im- 
 portance; and in which, if he do not neglect it, his prof t- 
 ing may appear unto all men ,• not only when he sets out 
 as a young and inexperienced minister, but even if he had 
 attained to Timothy's competency, nay to that o^ Paul 
 the aged himself; except as inspiration and miraculous 
 powers are concerned ; and from these the gift here spo- 
 ken of, at least in applying it to us, should be considered 
 as entirely distinct. He that would be apt to teach must 
 be apt to learn, and always learning to the end of life : 
 else, (as is, alas, too often the case,) he will be like those 
 who spend much and gain little, and are always in penury. 
 In this general office and stewardship, the apostle would 
 probably, if he spake to us in modern language, and ac- 
 cording to our situation as pastors, point out the public 
 exercise of our ministry, statedly or occasionally, instant 
 
 sjxai'pw;; axafpwj; witii many things concerning our doc- 
 33 
 
386 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 trine, our motives, our spirit, &c. He would advert to the 
 more private exercise of our ministry yVom house to houses 
 according to the various openings which are afforded us of 
 privately warning, instructing, counselling, and comfort- 
 ing, the healthy and the sick, and those around the sick ; 
 or in teaching children, and in various other ways. He 
 would note those things which should be attended to by us 
 in the study, by reading and writing, and preparing for our 
 public ministry, or aiming at accessional usefulness by our 
 studies and publications. The fisherman, when not fish- 
 ing, is employed in washing or mending his nets, repairing 
 his boat, &c., that he may be ready for the next expected 
 opportunity ; or to seize on one that he did not expect. 
 Especially, the apostle would point out what is to be done 
 in the closet, by our earnest and constant prayers and sup- 
 plications. (Compare Col. ii. 1 ; iv. 12.) He would go 
 with us into ouv families; and lead us to consider the im- 
 portance of so commanding our children and our house- 
 holds, (Gen. xviii. 19,) and so governing them, that every 
 thing, as far as we possibly can, may bear the holy stamp 
 of our sacred office. Here a large field opens before us, 
 of family instruction and worship ; of educating our chil- 
 dren; of our conversation before them, and our domestics, 
 and friends, &c. ; in order by every means to fix the im- 
 pression, that we deeply mean all which we deliver from 
 the pulpit : for, alas, loo often the conduct and conversa- 
 tion of the dining and drawing room renders this at least 
 very doubtful, to those who more narrowly inspect our 
 conduct. The apostle would even attend us on our visits, 
 our journeys, our seasons of relaxation, &c. and remind 
 us, that we must never forget, not only our Christian, but 
 our ministerial character. All must be stamped with its 
 holiness; all must be a part'of a system, strictly adhered 
 
THOUGHTS ON 1 TIM. iv. 13. 387 
 
 to, of being constantly learning, and waiting the oppor- 
 tunity of imparting what we have learned in the things 
 of God. 
 
 " I might go into all our needful intercourse with those 
 without, and our concerns in the world as they relate to 
 temporal things, or to any employments in which it may 
 be expedient to engage, in connexion with our ministry : 
 in short, to our whole example ; an example not only to the 
 world, but to believers. But these hints must suffice. 
 
 " II. The import of the words rendered, Give thyself 
 ivholly to them. — I remember that Demosthenes some- 
 where uses the same or an entirely similar expression con- 
 cerning himself, and his application to public affairs : he 
 was always the statesman: his time, his talents, his heart, 
 his all, were swallowed up, as it were, in this one object. 
 And in fact no man ever became very eminent in any line, 
 when this was not his plan. It is noted by some writer 
 concerning Buonaparte, that he never went to any town or 
 city, or country new to him, but immediately he was ex- 
 amining and considering where would be the best place for 
 a castle or a camp, for an ambushment or an attack, for 
 the means of defence or a-nnoyance. He thus, in his line, 
 entered into the spirit of the clause sv r'nToig 'ia^i ; always 
 the general. Our Lord says of himself, My meat is to do 
 the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work: and 
 his whole time and soul were engaged in it. The apostles 
 say, We will give ourselves continually to prayer and to 
 the ministry of the ivord ; we will not suffer even things 
 good in themselves (as serving tables,) to take us off from 
 these grand and essential employments. Much less would 
 they have left them, for secular interests or trivial pur- 
 suits. They entered into the spirit of the clause under 
 consideration. 
 
388 THE CHRISTIAN pastor's makttal. 
 
 " Let these things then have our u'/io/e ti7ne: let even 
 recreation and animal refreshment be so regulated, mode- 
 rated, and subordinated, that they may not interfere with our 
 grand employment, or unfit us for it; but rather recruit 
 and prepare us for it, that they may all l)ecome subser- 
 vient to our main object. Prudent men of the world know 
 how to do this, in respect of their object ; and will neither 
 let meals, nor sleep, nor visits, nor diversions, interfere 
 with it ; but endeavour in all these to promote it by means 
 of them. They enter into the spirit of the clause, and of 
 the words used elsewhere, redeeming the time. 
 
 "Let these things have our whole mirtd, or capacity, 
 natural ability, genius, learning : whatever we have or are, 
 or can attain to, let these things have the ivhole. Wher- 
 ever the bees collect the honey, they bring it all to the 
 hive. Let us give all our powers and talents to our highly 
 important service ; and not for a moment admit an idea of 
 employing genius or learning to other purposes, foreign to 
 our ministry. The vows of God are upon us: at least I 
 feel this to be ray case ; for, almost forty years since, I 
 solemnly vowed before God not to engage in any literary 
 pursuit or publication, however creditable or lucrative it 
 might be, which had not the religious instruction of man- 
 kind for its immediate object. 
 
 " All our reading ought to be subservient to this. We 
 may read any books, ancient or modern, sacred or profane, 
 infidel, heretical, or what not; but always as ministers; 
 to note such things as may the better enable us to defend, 
 and plead for, the truth as it is in Jesus ; never, merely 
 for amusement or curiosity, or love of learning, simply for 
 its own sake, or for the credit or advantages derived from it. 
 
 " Let these things have our whole heart. We shall 
 never fall in whh the apostle's counsel, unless our ministry 
 
THOUGHTS ON 1 TIM. iv. 13. 389 
 
 and its employments be our pleasure and delight ; unless 
 our warmest affections are excited by it, and our sweetest 
 gratifications derived from it. Connected with this, how- 
 ever, our keenest sorrows and regrets will also thus be 
 stirred. But our whole soul and heart must be in it. We 
 must count it both our work and our wages ; our business 
 and our pleasure ; our interest and our honour ; and, in 
 connexion with saving ourselves along with those that hear 
 us, our all. Nothing moved the apostle in his various pur- 
 suits ; he did not think even his life dear to himself, so 
 that he might finish his course with joy, aad the ministry 
 which he had received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gos- 
 pel of the grace of God. And neither the smiles nor 
 frowns of men, neither worldly gain nor loss, nor yet 
 privations, hardships, delays, disappointments, will move 
 us, if we enter into his spirit, and copy his example. 
 
 " We must, as has been said, remember that we are the 
 ministers of the holy Jesus ; the shepherds of his flock; 
 the stewards of his mysteries ; his messengers of recon- 
 ciliation to perishing sinners ; and we must never go any- 
 where, or do any thing, so as to lay aside this our sacred 
 character. Is a man invited by neighbours or superiors ? 
 let him decline the invitation, if he cannot, in such a visit, 
 speak and act as a minister ; studying that dignified, yet 
 meek and unaffected manner, in which Christ improved 
 such seasons and opportunities, as openings to most im- 
 portant instruction. Does he journey 1 let even the coach, 
 or the inns, or the ship, be improved as openings for com- 
 municating, in one way or other, useful instruction ; and, 
 if this should prove impracticable, let him at least learn 
 some lessons concerning the human heart, and the aims 
 and pursuits of worldly men, which may render him more 
 
 competent to meet the thoughts, plans, and consciences of 
 33* 
 
390 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 his hearers. He may thus be learning when he cannot 
 teach; and gleaning when he cannot reap. Does he, for 
 the sake of recruiting health and spirits, retire to some wa- 
 tering place, or other scene of relaxation 1 Let him not 
 divest himself of his ministerial character, as is sometimes 
 done, if not, alas! of the Christian character also : but let 
 him still be prompt at learning, and apt to seize any oppor- 
 tunity of teaching ; and at least preserve himself, and those 
 belonging to him, from giving any countenance to the fes- 
 tivity, frivolity, and dissipation of such scenes. 
 
 " Does he teach pupils privately, or at a public semi- 
 nary ? still let him do it as a Christian minister, and en- 
 deavour, by wise (Jam. i. 5.) and persevering endeavours, 
 to train up his pupils for Jesus Christ. In reading with 
 them tlie classics, for instance, let him intersperse remarks 
 on the falsity of their principles, the fallacy of their rea- 
 soning, the tendency of their writings : comparing their 
 maxims with those of Solomon, and with the words of 
 Christ and his apostles, on similar subjects and occasions : 
 and in every way let it appear in his conduct respecting 
 them, that he is far more earnestly desirous of imparting 
 good to them, than of deriving advantage from them ; re- 
 membering our Lord's saying, It is more blessed to give 
 than to receive. 
 
 " The same principles are applicable to a variety of 
 other particulars. But I have already too much enlarged. 
 These things adverted to will effectually keep the ministers 
 of Christ from meriting the charge brought against the 
 priests by Malachi i. 10 ; and even from exciting a feeling 
 in those of decided zeal, like St. Paul's, when he said^ All 
 seek their own, and not the things of Jesus Christ. Love 
 o^ filthy lucre, and empty praise and popularity, will not 
 then warp their minds ; but they will feed the fiock of 
 
THOUGHTS ON 1 TIM. iv. 13. 391 
 
 God^ taking the oversight of it, not by constraint, hut 
 willingly; not for Jilthy lucre, hut of a ready mind ; nei- 
 ther as heing lords over God^s heritage, hut as examples 
 to the flock : and when the chief shepherd shall appear, 
 ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadetk not away. 
 ( 1 Pet. V. 2—4. ) 
 
 " P. S. When Nehemiah had related the progress made 
 in a short time in building the wall of Jerusalem, in the 
 midst of dangers and opposition, he says. The people had 
 a mind to work. They were not paid for their work, but 
 incurred expense and danger about it; but the object was 
 so near their hearts, that they had a mind to ivork ; and 
 thus great things were done in a little time. Oh, if all Chris- 
 tians and ministers had thus a mind to work, for nothing, 
 when good might be done, how much might be effected ! 
 He that is willing to work for nothing will never complain 
 that he has nothing to do. Yet the principle that made the 
 apostles determine not to serve tables, though a good work 
 in itself, should render minister-;, in this day, very careful 
 not so to give their services, even to the most useful socie- 
 ties, and to attending the meetings of them, as to prevent 
 their giving themselves continually to the word of God 
 and prayer. A danger at present seems to arise on this 
 side. 
 
 <' Mr. Cecil used to say, that the devil did not care how 
 ministers were employed, if not in their proper work ; 
 whether in hunting and field sports, at cards and assem- 
 blies, in writing notes on the classics, or in politics, &c. It 
 was all one to him ; each might please his own taste." 
 
ON THE SNARES AND DIFFICULTIES ATTEND- 
 ING THE MINISTRY OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 BY THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 Dear Sir, — I am glad to hear that yon are ordained, 
 and that the Lord is about to fix you in a place where 
 there is a prospect of your being greatly useful. He has 
 given you the desire of your heart ; and I hope he has 
 given you likewise a heart to devote yourself, without re- 
 serve, to liis service, and the service of souls for his sake. 
 I willingly comply with your request ; and shall, without 
 ceremony, offer you such thoughts as occur to me upon 
 this occasion. 
 
 You have doubtless often anticipated in your mind the 
 nature of the service to which you are now called, and 
 made it the subject of much consideration and prayer. 
 But a distant view of the ministry is generally very differ- 
 ent from what it is found to be when we are actually en- 
 gaged in it. The young soldier, who has never seen an 
 enemy, may form some general notions of what is before 
 him; but his ideas will be much more lively and diversi- 
 fied when he comes upon the field of battle. If the Lord 
 was to show us the whole beforehand, who, that has a due 
 sense of his own insufficiency and weakness, would ven- 
 ture to engage? But he first draws us by a constraining 
 sense of his love, and by giving us an impression of the 
 worth of souls, and leaves us to acquire a knowledge of 
 what is difficult and disagreeable by a gradual experience. 
 The ministry of the gospel, like the book which the Apos- 
 tle John ate, is a bitter sweet; but the sweetness is tasted 
 
DIFFICULTIES ATTENDING THE MINISTRY. 393 
 
 first, the bitterness is usually known afterwards, when we 
 are so far engaged that there is no going back. 
 
 Yet I would not discourage you: it is a good and noble 
 cause, and we serve a good and gracious master ; who, 
 though he will make us feel our weakness and vileness, 
 will not sutler us to sink under it. His grace is sufficient 
 for us : and if he favours us with an humble and depend- 
 ent spirit, a single eye, and a simple heart, he will make 
 every difficulty give way, and mountains will sink into 
 plains before his power. 
 
 You have known something of Satan's devices, while 
 you were in private life; how he has envied your privileges, 
 assaulted your peace, and laid snares for your feet : though 
 the Lord would not suffer him to hurt you, he has permit- 
 ted him to sift and tempt, and shoot his fiery arrows at 
 you. Without some of this discipline, you would have 
 been very unfit lor that part of your office which consists 
 in speaking a word in season to weary and heavy-laden 
 souls. But you may now expect to hear from him, and 
 to be beset by his power and subtilty in a different man- 
 ner. You are now to be placed in the forefront of the bat- 
 tle, and to stand, as it were, for his mark: so far as he 
 can prevail against yobi now, not yourself only, but many 
 others, will be affected: many eyes will be upon you : and 
 if you take a wrong step, or are ensnared into a wrong 
 spirit, you will open the mouths of the adversaries wider, 
 and grieve the hearts of believers more sensibly, than if 
 the same things had happened to you while you was a lay- 
 man. The work of the ministry is truly honourable ; but, 
 like the post of honour in a battle, it is attended with pecu- 
 liar dangers: therefore, the apostle cautions Timothy, 
 "Take heed to thyself, and to thy doctrine." To thyself 
 in the first place, and then to thy doctrine; the latter with- 
 out the former would be impracticable and vain. 
 
394 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 You have need to be upon your guard in whatever way 
 your first attempts to preach the gospel may seem to ope- 
 rate. If you should (as may probably be the case, where 
 the truth has been little known) meet with much opposition, 
 you will perhaps find it a heavier trial than you are aware 
 of: but I speak of it only as it might draw forth your cor- 
 ruptions, and give Satan advantage against you : and this 
 may be two ways ; first by embittering your spirit against 
 opposers, so as to speak in anger, to set them at defiance, 
 or retaliate upon them in their own way ; which, besides 
 bringing guilt upon your conscience, would of course in- 
 crease your difficulties, and impede your usefulness. A vio- 
 lent opposition against ministers and professors of the gos- 
 pel is sometimes expressed by the devil's roaring, and some 
 people think no good can be done without it. It is allowed, 
 that men who love darkness will show their dislike of the 
 light ; but, I believe, if the wisdom and meekness of the 
 friends of the gospel had been always equal to their good 
 intentions and zeal, the devil would not have had opportu- 
 nity of roaring so loud as he has sometimes done. The 
 subject-matter of the gospel is offence enough to the car- 
 nal heart : we must therefore expect opposition : but we 
 should not provoke or despise it, or do any thing to aggra- 
 vate it. A patient continuance in well-doing, a consistency 
 in character, and an attention to return kind offices for 
 hard treatment, will, in a course of time, greatly soften the 
 spirit of opposition ; and instances are to be found of minis- 
 ters, who are treated with some respect, even by those per- 
 sons in their parishes who are most averse to their doc- 
 trine. When the Apostle directs us, " If it be possible^ 
 and as much as in us lies,Vo live peaceably with all men," 
 he seems to intimate, that though it be difficult, it is not 
 wholly impracticable. We cannot change the rooted pre- 
 judices of their hearts against the gospel ; but it is possible, 
 
DIFFICULTIES ATTENDING THE MINISTRY. 395 
 
 by the Lord's blessing, to stop their mouths, and make 
 them ashamed of discovering it, when they behold our 
 good conversation in Christ. And it is well worth our 
 while to cultivate this outward peace, provided we do not 
 purchase it at the expense oftruih and faithfulness; for or- 
 dinarily we cannot hope to b*e useful to our people, unless 
 we give them reason to believe that we love them, and 
 have their interest at heart. Again, opposition will hurt 
 you, if it should give you an idea of your own importance, 
 and lead you to dwell with a secret self-approbation upon 
 your own faithfulness and courage in such circumstances. 
 If you are able to stand your ground uninfluenced either 
 by the favour or the fear of men, you have reason to give 
 glory to God ; but remember that you cannot thus stand 
 an hour, unless he upholds you. It shows a wrong turn 
 of mind, when we are very ready to speak of our trials and 
 difficulties of this kind, and of our address and resolution 
 in encountering them. A natural stifTness of spirit, with 
 a desire to have self taken notice of, may make a rnan 
 willing to endure those kind of hardships, though he has 
 but little grace in exercise : but true Christian fortitude, 
 from a consciousness that we speak the truths of God, and 
 are supported by his power, is a very different thing. 
 
 If you should meet with but little opposition, or if the 
 Lord should be pleased to make your enemies your friends, 
 you will probably be in danger from the opposite quarter. 
 If opposition has hurt many, popularity has wounded more. 
 To say the truth, I am in some pain for you. Your natu- 
 ral abilities are considerable; you have been diligent in 
 your studies; your zeal is warm, and your spirit is lively. 
 With these advantages, I expect to see you a popular 
 preacher. The more you are so, the greater will your 
 field of usefulness be : but, alas ! you cannot yet know to 
 
396 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 what it will expose you. It is like walking upon ice. 
 When you shall see an attentive conorresation hano-incr 
 upon your words; when you shall hear the well-meant, 
 but often injudicious, commendations of those to whom the 
 Lord shall make you useful; when you shall find, upon 
 an intimation of your preachTng in a strange place, people 
 thronging from all parts to hear you, how will your heart 
 feel? It is easy for me to advise you to be humble, and 
 for you to acknowledge the propriety of the advice ; but 
 while human nature remains in its present state, there will 
 be almost the same connection between popularity and 
 pride, as between fire and gunpowder; they cannot meet 
 without an explosion, at least not unless the gunpowder is 
 kept very damp. So unless the Lord is constantly moist- 
 ening our hearts (if I may so speak) by the influences of 
 his Spirit, popularity will soon set us in a blaze. You will 
 hardly find a person, who has been exposed to this fiery 
 trial, without suffering loss. Those whom the Lord loves, 
 he is able lo keep, and he will keep them upon the whole ; 
 yet by such means, and in a course of such narrow escapes, 
 that they shall have reason to look upon their deliverance 
 as, no less than miraculous. Sometimes, if his ministers 
 are not watchful against the first impressions of pride, he 
 permits it to gather strength : and then it is but a small 
 thing that a few of their admirers may think them more 
 than men in the pulpit, if ihey are left to commit such mis- 
 takes when out of it, as the weakest of the flock can dis- 
 cover and pity. And this will certainly be the case, while 
 pride and self-sufficiency have the ascendant. Beware, 
 my friend, of mistaking the ready exercise of gifts for the 
 exercise of grace. The minister may be assisted in pub- 
 lic for the sake of his hearers ; and there is somethini; in 
 the nature of our public work, when surrounded by a con- 
 
DIFFICULTIES ATTENDING THE MINISTRY. 397 
 
 course of people, that it is suited to draw forth the exertion 
 of our abilities and to engage our attention in the outward 
 services, when the frame of the heart may be far from 
 beins: right in the sight of the Lord. When Moses smote 
 the rock, the water followed ; yet he spoke unadvisedly 
 with his lips, and greatly displeased the Lord. However, 
 the congregation was not disappointed for his fault, nor 
 was he put to shame before them ; but he was humbled for 
 it afterwards. They are happy whom the Lord preserves 
 in some degree humble, without leaving them to expose 
 themselves to the observation of men, and to receive such 
 wounds as are seldom healed without leaving a deep scar. 
 But even these have much to suffer. Many distressing ex- 
 ercises you will probably meet with upon the best suppo- 
 sition, to preserve in you a due sense of your own un- 
 worthiness, and to convince you, that your ability, your 
 acceptance, and your usefulness, depend upon a power be- 
 yond your own. Sometim.es, perhaps, you will feel such 
 an amazing difference between the frame of your spirit 
 in public and in private, when the eyes of men are not 
 upon you, as will make you almost ready to conclude, that 
 you are no better than an hypocrite, a mere stage-player, 
 who derives all his pathos and exertion from the sight of 
 the audience. At other times you will find such a total 
 emptiness and indisposition of mind, that former seasons of 
 liberty in preaching will appear to you like the remem- 
 brance of a dream, and you will hardly be able to persuade 
 yourself, you shall ever be capable of preaching again: 
 the Scriptures will appear to you like a sealed book, and 
 no text or subject afford any light or opening to determine 
 your choice: And this perplexity may not only seize you 
 in the study, but accompany you in the pulpit. If you are 
 
 enabled at some times to speak to the people with power, 
 34 
 
398 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 and to resemble Samson, when, in the greatness of his 
 strength, he bore away the gates of the city, you will, per- 
 haps, at others, appear before them, like Samson, when his 
 locks were shorn, and he stood in fetters. So that you 
 need not tell the people you have no sufficiency in yourself 
 for they will readily perceive it without your informa- 
 tion. These things are hard to bear ; yet successful 
 popularity is not to be preserved upon easier term.s : and if 
 they are but sanctified to hide pride from you, you will 
 have reason to number them amongst your choicest 
 mercies. 
 
 I have but just made an entrance upon the]subject'of the 
 difficulties and dangers attending the ministry. But my 
 paper is full. If you are willing I should proceed, let me 
 know, and I believe I can easly find enough to fill another 
 sheet. May the Lord make you wise and watchful ! 
 That he may be the light of your eye, the strength of 
 your arm, and the joy of your heart, is the sincere prayer 
 of, &c. 
 
 REMARKS ON SUBJECTS CONiNECTED WITH 
 THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 
 
 BY THE REV. RICHARD CECIL, M. A. 
 
 ON THE ASSISTANCE WHICH A MINISTER HAS REASON TO EX- 
 PECT IN THE DISCHARGE OF HIS PUBLIC DUTY. 
 
 Men have carried their views on this subject to extremes. 
 Enthusiasts have said that learning, and that studying and 
 
MISCELLANEOUS REMARKS. 399 
 
 writing sermons, have injured the Church. The accurate 
 men have said, " Go and hear one of these enthusiasts 
 hold forth !" 
 
 But both classes may be rendered useful. Let each cor- 
 rect its evils, yet do its work in its own way. 
 
 Some men set up exorbitant notions about accuracy. 
 But exquisite accuracy is totally lost on mankind. The 
 greater part of those who hear, cannot be brought to see 
 the points of the accurate man. The Scriptures are not 
 written in this manner. I should advise a young minister 
 to break through all such cobwebs, as these unphilosophi- 
 cal men would spin round him. An humble and modest 
 man is silenced if he sees one of these critics before him. 
 He should say, I am God's servant. To my own Master 
 I stand or fall. I will labour according to the utmost 
 ability which God giveth and leave all consequences to 
 him." 
 
 We are especially taught in the New Testament, to 
 glorify the Spirit of God : and, in his gracious operations 
 in our ministry, we are nearer the Apostolic times than we 
 often think ourselves. 
 
 But this assistance is to be expected by us, as labourers 
 in the vineyard ; not as rhapsodists. Idle men may be 
 pointed out, who have abused the doctrine of divine as- 
 sistance ; but what has not been abused? We must expect 
 a special blessing to accompany the truth ; not to super- 
 cede labour, but to rest on and accompany labour. 
 
 A minister is to be in season, and out of season ; and, 
 therefore, every where a minister. He will not employ 
 himself in writing secular histories : he will not busy him- 
 self in prosecuting mathematical inquiries. He will labour 
 directly in his high calling ; and indirectly, in a vast vari- 
 ety of ways, as he may be enabled: and God may bless 
 
400 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 that word in private, which may have been long heard in 
 public in vain. 
 
 A minister should satisfy himself in saying, "It matters 
 not what men think of my talents. Am I doing what I 
 can?" — for there is great encouragement in that commen- 
 dation of our Lord's, She hath done what she could. It 
 would betray a wrong state of mind to say, " If I had dis- 
 charged my duty in such and such a way, I should have 
 succeeded." This is a carnal spirit. If God bless the 
 simple manner in which you spoke, that will do good ; if 
 not, no manner of speaking could have done it. 
 
 There is such a thing in the religious world as a cold, 
 carnal wisdom : every thing must be nicely weighed in the 
 scales: every thing must be exactly measured by the rule. 
 I question if this is not worse in its consequences, than the 
 enthusiasm which it opposes. Both are evil, and to be 
 shunned. But I scarcely ever knew a preacher or writer 
 of this class who did much good. 
 
 We are to go forth, expecting the excellency of God^s 
 power to accompacy us, since we are but earth em vessels : 
 and if, in the Apostolic days, diligence was necessary, how 
 much more requisite is it now ! 
 
 But, to the exercise of this diligence, a sufficiency in all 
 things is promised. What does a minister require ? In all 
 these respects the promise is applicable to him. He needs, 
 for instance, courage and patience: he may, therefore, ex- 
 pect that the Holy Spirit will enable him for the exercise 
 of these gi'aces. 
 
 A minister may expect more superintendence, more ele- 
 vation, than a hearer. It can scarcely be questioned that 
 he ought to pray for this : if so, he has a ground in Scrip- 
 ture thus to pray. 
 
 I have been cured of expecting the Holy Spirit's influ- 
 
MISCELLANEOUS REMARKS. 401 
 
 ence without due preparation on our part, by observing 
 how men preach who take up that error. I have heard 
 such men talk nonsense by the hour. 
 
 We must combine with St. Paul — " Bene orasse est bene 
 studuisse'' must be united with St. Paul's Meditate upon 
 these things ; give thyself wholly to them, that thy profit- 
 ing may appear to all. One errs who says, I will preach 
 a reputable sermon ; and another errs who says, " I will 
 leave all to the assistance of the Holy Spirit," while he has 
 neglected a diligent preparation. 
 
 ON PREACHING CHRIST. 
 
 ''^ We preach Christ Crucified.'''' 1 Cor. i. 23. 
 
 Christ is God's great ordinance. Nothing ever has been 
 done, or will be done to purpose, but so far as he is held 
 forth with simplicity. All the lines must centre in him. 
 I feel this in my own experience, and therefore I govern 
 my ministry by it; but then this is to be done according to 
 the analogy of faith — not ignorantly, absurdly, and falsely. 
 I doubt not, indeed, but that access on this side is less per- 
 nicious than access on the other ; because God will bless 
 his own especial ordinance, though partially understood 
 and partially exhibited. 
 
 There are many weighty reasons for rendering Christ 
 prominent in our ministry : — 
 
 1. Christ cheers the prospect. Every thing connected 
 with him has light and gladness thrown around it. 1 look 
 out of my window ; — the scene is scowling — dark — frigid 
 — forbidding: — I shudder, my heart is chilled. But, let 
 the sun break forth from the cloud — I can feel — I can act 
 — I can spring. 
 
 2. God descending and dwelling with man, is a truth so 
 
 34* 
 
402 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 infinitely grand, that it must absorb all other. " You are 
 his attendants ! Well ! but the Mng! There he is ! — the 
 kingr 
 
 3. Out of Christ God is not intelligible, much less ami- 
 able. Such men as Clarke and Abernethy talk sublime 
 nonsense. A sick woman said to me — " Sir, I have no 
 notion of God. I can form no notion of him. You talk 
 to me about him, but I cannot get a single idea that seems 
 lo contain any thing." " But you know how to conceive 
 of Jesus Christ as a man ! God comes down to you in 
 him, full of kindness and condescension." " Ah ! Sir, 
 that gives me something to lay hold on. There I can rest. 
 I understand God in his Son." But if God is not intelli- 
 gible out of Christ, much less is he amiable, though I ought 
 to feel him so. He is an object of horror and aversion lo 
 me, corrupted as I am! I fear, I tremble, I resist, I hate, I 
 rebel. 
 
 4. A preacher may pursue his topic, without being led 
 by it to Christ. A man who is accustomed to investigate 
 topics is in danger. He takes up his topic, and pursues it. 
 He takes up another, and pursues it. At length Jesus 
 Christ becomes his topic, and then he pursues that. If he 
 cannot so feel and think as to bend all subjects naturally 
 and gracefully to Christ, he must seek his remedy in se- 
 lecting such as are more evangelical. 
 
 5. God puts peculiar honour on the preaching of Christ 
 crucified. A philosopher may philosophize his hearers, 
 but the preaching of Christ must convert them. John the 
 Baptist will make his hearers tremble; but, if the least in 
 the kingdom of heaven is greater than he, let him exhibit 
 that peculiar feature of his superiority, Jesus Christ. Men 
 may preach Christ ignorantly, blunderingly, absurdly ; yet 
 God will give it efficacy, because he is determined to mag- 
 nify his own ordinance. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS REMARKS. 403 
 
 6. God seems, in the doctrine of the cross, to design 
 the destruction of man's pride. Even the murderer and 
 the adulterer sometimes become subjects of the grace of 
 the Gospel, because the murderer and adulterer are more 
 easier convinced and humbled ; but the man of virtue is 
 seldom reached, because the man of virtue disdains to de- 
 scend. Remember me, saved a dying malefactor? God, 
 1 thank thee, condemned a proud Pharisee ! 
 
 Every minister should therefore enquire, ^^Whai is for 
 me the wisest way of teaching Christ to men?''"' Some seem 
 to think that in the choice of a wise way, there lurks al- 
 ways a trimming disposition. There are men, doubtless, 
 who will sacrifice to self, even Christ Jesus the Lord: but 
 they, of all men, are farthest from the thing. There is 
 a secret in doing it, which none but an honest man can dis- 
 cover. The knave is not half wise enough. 
 
 We are not to judge one another in these things. Suf- 
 ficient it is to us, to know what we have to do. There are 
 difTerent ways of doing the same thing, and that with suc- 
 cess and acceptance. We see this in the apostles them- 
 selves. They not only preached Christ in different ways ; 
 but, what is more, they could not do this like one another. 
 They declare this fact themselves ; and acknowledge the 
 grace of God in their respective gifts. Our beloved brother 
 Paul writes, says St. Peter, accordinnj to the wisdom given 
 unto him. But there are Peters, in our days, who would 
 say, " Paul is too learned. Away with these things, which 
 are hard to be understood. He should be more simple. I 
 dislike all this reasoning." And there are Pauls, who 
 would say, " Peter is rash and unguarded. He should put 
 a curb on his impetuosity." And there are Johns, who 
 would say, *' They should both discharge their office in my 
 soft and winning manner. No good will come of this fi:re 
 
404 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 and noise." Nothing of this sort ! Each hath his proper 
 gift of God ; one after this manner, and another after that : 
 and each seems only desirous to occupy faithfully till his 
 Master come, leaving his brethren to stand or fall to their 
 own Master. 
 
 Too much dependence is often placed on a system of 
 rational contriv>ance. An ingenious man thinks he can 
 so manage to preach Christ, that his hearers will say — 
 *' Here is nothing of Methodism ! This has nothing to do 
 with that system!" I will venture to say, if this is the 
 sentiment communicated by his ministry, that he has not 
 delivered his message. The people do not know what he 
 means, or he has kept back part of God's truth. He has 
 fallen on a carnal contrivance, to avoid a cross ; and he 
 does no good to souls. The ichole message must be deli- 
 vered ; and it is better it should be delivered even coarsely, 
 than not at all. We may lay it down as a principle, that 
 if the Gospel be a medicine^ and a specific too, as it is, it 
 must be got down such as it is. Any attempt to sophisti- 
 cate and adulterate will deprive it of its efficacy ; and will 
 often recoil on the man who makes the attempt, to his 
 shame and confusion. The Jesuits tried to render Christi- 
 anity palatable to the Chinese by adulterating it, but the 
 Jesuits were driven with abhorrence from the empire. 
 
 If we have to deal with men of learning, let us show 
 learning so far as to demonstrate that it bears its testimony 
 to the truth. But accommodation in manner must often 
 spring from humility. We must condescend to the capa- 
 city of men, and make the truth intelligible to them. 
 
 If this be our manner of preaching Christ, we must 
 make up our minds not to regard the little caviller, who 
 will judge us by the standard of his favourite author or 
 preacher. We must be cautious too, since men of God 
 
MISCELLANEOUS REMARKS. 405 
 
 have been and ever will be the butt and scorn of the world, 
 of thinking that we can escape its sneers and censures. 
 It is a foolish project, to avoid giving offence ; but it is 
 our duty, to avoid giving unnecessary oflence. It is ne- 
 cessary offence, if it is given by the truth ; but it is unne- 
 cessary, if our own spirit occasion it. 
 
 I have often thought that St. Paul was raised up pecu- 
 liarly to be an example to others, in labouring to discover 
 the wisest way of exhibiting the Gospel ; not only that he 
 was to be a great pattern in other points, but designedly 
 raised up for this very thing. How does he labour to 
 make the truth reasonably -plain ! How does he strain 
 every nerve and ransack every corner of the heart, to 
 make it reasonably palatable ! We need not be instructed 
 in his particular meaning when he says, I became all things 
 to all men, if by any means I might save some. His 
 history is a comment on the declaration. 
 
 The knowledge of Jesus Christ is a wonderful mystery. 
 Some men think they preach Christ gloriously, because 
 they name him every two minutes in their sermons. But 
 that is not preaching Christ. To understand, and enter 
 into, and open his various offices and characters, the glo- 
 ries of his person and work, his relation to us, and ours to 
 him, and to God the Father and God the Spirit through 
 him ; this is the knowledge of Christ. The divines of the 
 present day are stunted dwarfs in this knov/ledge, com- 
 pared with the great men of the last age. To know Jesus 
 Christ for ourselves, is to make him a consolation, delight, 
 strength, righteousnsss, companion, 'and end. 
 
 This is the aspect in which religion should be presented 
 to mankind ; it is suited, above all other, to produce effect; 
 and effect is our object. We must take human nature as 
 we find human nature. We must take human nature in 
 
406 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 great cities, as we find human nature in great cities. We 
 may say, " this or that is the aspect which ought to have 
 most effect : we must illuminate the mind : we must enlist 
 the reason : we must attack the conscience." We may 
 do all this, and yet our comparative want of success in 
 begetting and educating the sons of glory, may demon- 
 strate to us that there is some more effective way; and 
 that sound sense and philosophy call on us to adopt that 
 way, because it is most effective. 
 
 Our system of preaching must meet mankind ; they 
 must find it possible to live in the bustle of the world, and 
 yet serve God : after being w^orried and harassed with its 
 concerns, let them hear cheering truths concerning Christ's 
 love, and care, and pity, which will operate like an en- 
 chantment in dispelling the cares of life, and calming the 
 anxious perturbations of conscience. Bring forward pri- 
 vileges and enforce duties, in their proper places and pro- 
 portions. 
 
 Let there be no extremes ; yet I am arrived at this con- 
 viction : — Men who lean toward the extreme of evangelical 
 privileges in their ministry, do much more to the conver- 
 sion of their hearers, than they do, who lean toward the 
 extreme of requirement. And my own experience con- 
 firms my observation. I feel myself repelled, if any thing 
 chills, loads, or urges me. This is my nature, and I see 
 it to be very much the nature of other men. But, let me 
 hear, son of man, thou hast played the harlot with many 
 lovers ; yet return again to me, saith the Lord, 1 am 
 melted and subdued. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS REMARKS. 407 
 
 ON VISITING DEATH-BEDS. 
 
 I have found it, in many cases, a difficult thing to deal 
 with a death-bed. We are called unto death-beds of va- 
 rious kinds : — 
 
 The true pilgrim sends for us to set before him the food 
 on which he has fed throughout his journey. He has a 
 keen appetite. He wants strength and vigour for the last 
 effort ; and, then, all is for ever well ! He is gone home, 
 and is at rest ! 
 
 Another man sends for us because it is decent ; or his 
 friends importune him ; or his conscience is alarmed : but 
 he is ignorant of sin and of salvation ; he is either indif- 
 ferent about both, or he has made up his mind in his own 
 way : he wants the minister to confirm him in his own 
 views, and smooth over the wound. I have seen such men 
 mad with rage, while I have been beating down their re- 
 fuge of lies, and setting forth to them God's refuge. There 
 is a wise and holy medium to be observed in treating such 
 cases : — " I am not come to daub you over with untem- 
 pered mortar : I am not come to send you to the bar of 
 God with a lie in your right hand. But neither am I come 
 to mortify you, to put you to unnecessary pain, to embit- 
 ter you, or to exasperate you." There is a kindness, af- 
 fection, tenderness, meekness, and patience, which a man's 
 feelings and conscience will condemn him while he op- 
 poses ! I have found it a very effectual method to begin 
 with myself; it awakens attention, conciliates the mind, 
 and insinuates conviction : — " Whatever others think of 
 themselves, I stand condemned before God : my heart is 
 so desperately wicked, that, if God had not showed me in 
 his Word a remedy iu Jesus Christ, I should be in despair: 
 
408 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 I can only tell you what I am, and what I have found. If 
 you believe yourselves to be what God has told me I am 
 and all men are, then I can tell you where and how to find 
 mercy and eternal life : if you will not believe that you are 
 this sort of man, [ have nothing to offer you. I know of 
 nothing else for man, beside that which God hath showed 
 me." My descriptions of my fallen nature have excited 
 perfect astonishment : sometimes my patients have seemed 
 scarcely able to credit me ; but I have found that God has 
 fastened, b-y this means, conviction on the conscience. In 
 some cases, an indirect method of addressing the con- 
 science may apparently be, in truth, the most direct ; but 
 we are to use this method wisely and sparingly. It seems 
 to me to be one of the characteristics of the day, in the 
 religious world, to err on this subject. We have found 
 out a circuitous way of exhibiting truth. The plain, di- 
 rect, simple exhibition of it is often abandoned, even where 
 no circumstances justify and require a more insinuating 
 manner. There is dexterity indeed, and address in this ; 
 but too little of the simple declaration of the testimony of 
 God, which St. Paul opposes to excellency of speech or of 
 wisdom, and to enticing words of man's wisdom. We 
 have done very little when we have merely persuaded men 
 to think as we do. 
 
 But we have to deal with a worse death-bed character, 
 than with the man who opposes the truth. Some men 
 assent to every thing which we propose. They will even 
 anticipate us. And yet we see that they mean nothing. I 
 have often felt when with such persons, " I would they 
 could be brought to contradict and oppose 1 That would 
 lead to discussion. God might, peradventure, dash the 
 stony heart in pieces. But this heart is like water. The 
 impression dies as fast as it is made." I have sought for 
 
5IISCELLANE0US REMARKS. 409 
 
 such views as might rouse and stir up opposilicn. I have 
 tried to irritate the torpid mind. But all in vain. 1 once 
 visited a young clergyman of this character, who was 
 seized with a dangerous illness at a coffee-house in town, 
 whither some business had brought him ; the first time I saw 
 him we conversed very closely together ; and, in the pros- 
 pect of death, he seemed solicitous to prepare for it. But 
 I could make no sort of impression upon him ; all 1 could 
 possibly say met his entire ap[)robation, though I saw his 
 heart felt no interest in it. When I visited him a second 
 lime, the fear of death was gone ; and, with it, all solicit 
 tude about religion. He was still civil and grateful, but 
 he tried to parry off* the business on which he knew I 
 came. " I will show you, sir, some little things with 
 which I have worn away the hours of my confinement 
 and solitude." He brought out a quantity of pretty and 
 tasty drawings. 1 was at a loss how to express, with 
 suitable force and delicacy, the high sense I felt of his in. 
 decorum and insipidity, and to leave a deep impression on 
 his conscience — I rose, however, instantly — said my time 
 was expired — wished him well, and withdrew. 
 
 Sometimes we have a painful part to act with sincere 
 men, who have been carried too much into the world. I 
 was called in to visit such a man. " I find no comfort," 
 he said. " God veils his face from me. Every thing 
 around me is dark and uncertain." I did not dare to act 
 the flatterer. I said — "Let us look faithfully into the state 
 of things. I should have been surprised if you had not 
 felt thus. I believe you to be sincere. Your state of feel- 
 ings evinces your sincerity. Had I found you exulting in 
 God, I should have concluded that you were either deceived 
 or a deceiver; for while God acts in his usual order, how 
 
 could you expect to feel otherwise on the approach of 
 35 
 
410 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 death, than you do feel ? You have driven hard after 
 the world. Your spirit has been absorbed in its cares. 
 Your sentiment — your conversation have been in the 
 spirit of the world. And have you any reason to expect 
 the response of conscience, and the clear evidence which 
 await the man who has walked and lived in close friend- 
 ship with God? You know that what I say is true." His 
 wife interrupted me, by assuring me that he had been an 
 excellent man. " Silence 1" said the dying penitent, " It 
 is all true !" 
 
 Soon after I came to St. John's I was called on to visit a 
 dying lady, whom I saw many times before her death. I 
 found that she had taken God for her portion and rest. 
 She approached him with the penitence of a sinner grate- 
 ful for his provision of mercy in Christ. She told me she 
 had found religion in her Common Pmyer Book. She 
 blessed God that she had " always been kept steady to her 
 church ; and that she had never followed the people called 
 Methodists, who were seducing so many on all sides." I 
 thought it would be unadvisable to attempt the removal of 
 prejudices, which, in her dying case, were harmless ; and 
 which would soon be removed by the light which would 
 beam in on her glorified soul. We had more interesting 
 subjects of conversation, from which this would have led 
 us away. Some persons may tax her with a want of 
 charity : but, alas ! I fear they are persons who, knowing 
 more than she did of the doctrines of the gospel, have so 
 little of its divine charity in their hearts, that, as they can- 
 not allow for her prejudices, neither would they have been 
 the last to stigmatize her as a dead formalist and pharisee. 
 God knoweth them that are his ; and they are often seen 
 by him where we see them not. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS REMARKS. 411 
 
 SOME NEGATIVE RULES GIVEN TO A YOUNG MINISTER GOING 
 INTO A SITUATION OF PECULIAR DIFFICULTY. 
 
 As I know you have received much good advice, I would 
 suggest to you a few hints of a negative kind, with a view 
 of admonishing you to be careful, while you are doing your 
 work, not by any mistakes of your own to hinder your 
 success — 
 
 I. By forgetting that your success with others is very 
 much connected with your personal character. 
 
 Herod heard John gladly, and he did many things, be- 
 cause he knew the preacher to be a just and holy man. 
 Words uttered from the heart find their way to the heart, 
 by a holy sympathy. Character is power ; — 
 
 " A good man seen, though silent, counsel gives." 
 
 If you would make deep impressions on others, you 
 must use all means to have them first formed on your own 
 mind. Avoid, at the same time, all appearances of evil— ^ 
 as a covetous or worldly, a vain or assuming, a careless or 
 indevout deportment. Never suffer jesting with sacred per- 
 sons or things. Satan will employ such antidotes as these 
 to counteract the operation of that which is effective and 
 gracious in a minister's character. 
 
 II. By placing your dependence on any means, quali- 
 ties, or circumstances, however excellent in themselves. 
 
 The direct way to render a thing weak, is to lean on it 
 as strong. God is a jealous God ; and will utterly abolish 
 idols as means of success. He designs to demonstrate 
 that men and creatures are what he makes them, and that 
 only. This also should be your encouragement : — look- 
 ing, in the diligent and humble use of means, to that Spirit 
 
412 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 of life and power without whose influence all your endea- 
 vours will be to no purpose, you have reason to expect 
 help suited and adequate to all your difficulties. 
 
 III. By unnecessarily appearing in dangerous or im- 
 proper siiuations. 
 
 It is one thing to be humble and condescending ; it is 
 another to render yourself common, cheap, and contempti- 
 ble. The men of the world know when a minister is out 
 of his place — when they can oppress him by numbers or 
 circumstances — when they can make him laugh, Vv'hile his 
 office frowns. Well will it be for him, if he is onl)'^ ren- 
 dered absurd in his future public admonitions, by his for- 
 mer compliances; well if, being found like St. Peter on 
 dangerous ground, he is not seduced, virtually at least, to 
 deny his Master. 
 
 IV. By suspicious appearances in his family. 
 
 As the head of your household you are responsible for 
 its appearances. Its pride, sloth, and disorder will be 
 yours. You are accountable for your wife's conduct, 
 dress, and manners; as well as those of your children, 
 whose education must be peculiarly exemplary. Your 
 family is to be a picture of what you wish other families 
 to be : and, without the most determined resolution, in re- 
 liance on God, to finish this picture cost what it will, 
 your recommending family religion to others will but cre- 
 ate a smile. Your unfriendly hearers will recollect enough 
 of Scripture to tell you that you ought, like the primitive 
 bishop, to be one, that ruleth well his own house, having 
 his children in subjection with all gravity; for if a man 
 know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take 
 care of the church of God ? 
 
 V. By meddling, beyond your sphere, in temporals. 
 Your aim and conversation, like your sacred calling are 
 
MISCELLANEOUS REMARKS. 413 
 
 to be altogether heavenly. As a man of God, you have 
 no concern with politics and parties and schennes of inter- 
 est, but you are to live above them. There is a sublime 
 spirit in a devoted minister, which, as one says of Chris- 
 tianity itself, pays no more regard to these things than to 
 the battles of rooks, the industry of ants, or the policy of 
 bees. 
 
 VI. By venturing off general and acknowledged ground 
 in spirituals. 
 
 By giving strong meat, instead of milk, to those who 
 are yet but babes — by giving heed to fables, which minis- 
 ter questions rather than godly edifying ; amusing the 
 mind, but not affecting the heart ; often disturbing and be- 
 wildering, seldom convincing ; frequently raising a smile 
 never drawing a tear. 
 
 VII. By maintaining acknowledged truth in your oim^ 
 spirit. 
 
 Both food and medicines are injurious, if administered 
 scalding hot. The spirit of a teacher often effects more 
 than his matter. Benevolence is a universal languao;e : 
 and it will apologize for a multitude of defects, in the man 
 who speaks it ; while neither talents nor truth will apolo- 
 gize for pride, il liberality or bitterness. Avoid, there- 
 fore, irritating occasions, and persons, particularly disputes 
 and disputants, by which a minister often loses his temper 
 and his character. 
 
 VII I. By being too sharp-sighted, too quick-eared, or 
 too ready ■tongued. 
 
 Some evils are irremediable : they are best neither seen 
 nor heard : by seeing and hearing things which you can- 
 not remove, you will create implacable adversaries ; who, 
 being guilty aggressors, never forgive. Avoid speaking 
 meanly or harshly of any one: not only because this is 
 
 35 
 
 _^* 
 
414 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOr's MANUAL. 
 
 forbidden to Christians, but because it is to declare war as 
 by a thousand heralds. 
 
 IX. By the temptations arising from the female sex, 
 I need not mention what havoc Satan has made in the 
 church, by this means, from the Fall to this day. Your 
 safety, when in danger from this quarter, lies in flight — 
 to parley, is to fall. Take the first hint from conscience, 
 or from friends. 
 
 In fine, watch thou in all things : endure afl^ictions ; do 
 the work of an evangelist : make full proof of thy minis- 
 try : and then, whether those around you acknowledge 
 your real character or not how, they shall one day know 
 that there hath been a prophet among them ! 
 
 QUESTIONS PROPER FOR YOUNG MINISTERS 
 FREQUENTLY TO PUT TO THEMSELVES, 
 CHIEFLY BORROWED FROM THE EPISTLES 
 TO TIMOTHY AND TITUS. 
 
 BY ISAAC WATTS, D. D. 
 SECTION I. 
 
 OF FAITHFULNESS IN THE MINISTRY. 
 
 Do I sincerely give myself" to the ministry of the word ;" 
 Acts vi. 4, and do I design to make it the chief business 
 of my life to serve Christ in his Gospel, in order to the 
 salvation of men ? 
 
MISCELLANEOUS REMARKS. 415 
 
 Do I resolve, through the aids of divine grace, " to be 
 faithful to him who hath .put me into the ministry," and 
 " to take heed to the ministry which I have received in the 
 Lord that I may fulfil it 7" 1 Tim. i. 12. Col. iv. 17. 
 
 Do 1 honestly and faithfully endeavour by study and 
 prayer to know " the truth as it is in Jesus ? " Eph. iv. 21. 
 and do I seek my instructions chiefly from the " holy Scrip- 
 tures which are able to make me wise unto salvation, 
 through the faith that is in Christ, that I may be thoroughly 
 furnished unto every good word and work ? " 2 Tim. iii. 
 14. 17. 
 
 Do " I hold fast the form of sound words," as far as I 
 have learned them of Christ and his apostles? 2 Tim. i. 
 13. That I " may by sound doctrine exhort and convince 
 gainsayers;" Tit. i. 9. and do I determine to "continue 
 in the things which I have learned, knowing from whom 
 I have learned them?" 2 Tim. iii. 14. 
 
 Do I resolve to give the people the true meaning of Christ 
 in his word, so far as I can understand it, and '♦ not to 
 handle the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation 
 of the truth commend myself to every man's conscience in 
 the sight of God ?" 2 Cor. iv. 2. 
 
 Am I watchful to " avoid profane and vain bablings? 1 
 Tim. vi. 20. and do I take care to " shun foolish questions, 
 which do gender strife, and disputing about words, which 
 are to no profit, but the subversion of the hearers ?" 2 Tim. 
 ii. 14, 23. 
 
 Do I study to show myself approved unto God, rightly 
 dividing the word of truth ; 2 Tim. ii. 15. giving to every 
 one, viz. to saints and sinners, their proper portion ? 
 
 Do I make it my business to "testify to all men, whether 
 Jews or Greeks, the necessity of repentance towards God, 
 and faith in Christ Jesus ;" and that " there is no other 
 
416 THE CPIRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 name under heaven given whereby we may be saved ;" 
 making this gospel of Christ the subject of my ministry ? 
 Acts XX. 21 Acts iv. 12. 
 
 Do I constantly affirm that " those who have believed in 
 Christ Jesus should maintain good works, and follow after 
 holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord ? Titus 
 iii. 8. Heb. xii. 14. 
 
 Do I teach those that hear me to " observe all that Christ 
 hath commanded us, nor shun to declare to them at proper 
 seasons the whole counsel of God ?" Mat. xxviii. 20. Acts 
 XX. 27. 
 
 Do I preach to the people, " not myself, but Christ Jesus 
 the Lord, and myself as their servant for Christ's sake?" 
 2 Cor. iv. 5. 
 
 Do I, in my study and my preaching, " take heed to my 
 doctrine and my exhortations, so that I may save myself 
 and them that hear me?" 1 Tim. iv. 16. 
 
 Do I " watch over the souls of men as one that must 
 give an account, being solicitous that I may do it with joy, 
 and not with grief?" Heb. xiii. 17. 
 
 SECTION ir. 
 
 OF DILIGENCE IN THE MINISTRY. 
 
 Do I" give attendance to reading," meditation and study? 
 Do 1 read a due portion of Scripture daily, especially in 
 the New Testament, and that in the Greek original, that I 
 may be better acquainted with the meaning of the word of 
 God? 1 Tim. iv. 13. 
 
 Do I apply myself to these things, and give myself 
 wholly to them, that my profiting may appear to all ? 1 
 Tim. iv. 15. 
 
QUESTIONS FOR YOUNG MINISTERS. 417 
 
 Do I live, constantl)^ as under the eye of the great 
 Shepherd, who is my master and my final judge and so 
 spend my hours as to be able to give up a good account of 
 ihem at last to him ? 
 
 Do I not ** neglect to stir up any of those gifts, which 
 God has given men, for the edification of the church?" 
 1 Tim. iv. 14. and 2 Tim. i. 6. 
 
 Do I seek, as far as possible, to know the state and the 
 wants of my auditory, that " I may speak a word in sea- 
 son V Is. i. 4. 
 
 Is it my chief design, in choosing my subject, and com- 
 posing my sermon, to edify tljc souls of men? 
 
 Am I determined to take all proper opportunities to 
 preach the word in season and out of season, that is, in the 
 parlour or the kitchen, or the workhouse, as well as in the 
 pulpit; and seek opportunities to speak a word for Christ, 
 and help forward the salvation of souls ? 2 Tim. iv. 2. 
 
 Do I labour to show my love to our Lord Jesus, by 
 " feeding the sheep and the lambs of his flock?" John xxi. 
 16,17. 
 
 Am I duly solicitous for the success of ray ministry? and 
 do I take all proper methods to inquire what effects my 
 ministry has had on the souls of those who hear me? 
 
 Where I find or hope the work of grace is begun on the 
 soul, am 1 zealous and diligent to promote it? 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 OF CONSTANT PRAYER AND DEPENDANCE. 
 
 Do I " give myself to prayer, as well as to the ministry 
 of the word ?" Acts vi. 4. 
 Do I make conscience of praying daily in secret, that I 
 
418 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR S MANUAL. 
 
 may thereby maintain holy converse with God, and also, 
 that I may increase in the gift of prayer? Matt. vi. 6. 
 
 Do I make it my practice to offer " prayers, supplica- 
 tions, and intercessions for all men," particularly for our 
 rulers, and for my fellow labourers in the ministry, and for 
 the church of Christ, and especially for those to whom I 
 preach ? 1 Tim. ii. 1. Rom. i. 9, 10. Phil. i. 4. 
 
 Do I seek by prayer, for divine direction and assistance 
 in my studies, and in all my preparations for the public 1 
 and do I plead for the success of my ministry with God, in 
 whom are all our springs? Eph. iii. 14 — 19. Phil. i. 8, 9. 
 
 Do I ever keep upon my spirit a deep sense of my own 
 insufficiency for these things, that I may ever depend and 
 wait on the power of Christ for aid and success ? 2 Cor. ii. 
 16. and iii. 5. and 2 Tim. ii. 1. 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 OF SELF-DENIAL, HUMILITY, MORTIFICATION, AND 
 PATIENCE. 
 
 Do I endeavour to please all men for their good, and 
 not make it my business to please myself? Rom. xvi. 2. 
 But to become all to all, that I may win their souls, so far 
 as is consistent with being true and faithful to Christ ? 1 
 Cor. X. 2.3, and ix. 19, 22. 
 
 Do I behave myself before men, " not as a lord over 
 God's heritage, but as a servant of all for Christ's sake? 
 and do I treat them not as having'dominion over their faith, 
 but as a helper of their joy ?" 2 Cor. iv. 5. and i. 24. 
 
 Am I " gentle and patient towards all men, in meekness 
 instructing those that oppose themselves?" 2 Tim. ii. 24, 
 25. 
 
QUESTIONS FOR YOUNG MINISTERS. 419 
 
 Do I " approve myself in all things as a minister of 
 God ; in much patience possessing my own soul," and 
 having the government of my own spirit? 2 Cor. vi. 4. 
 
 Do 1, as a man of God, whose business is heavenly, flee 
 from covetousness and the inordinate desire of gain ; not 
 seeking my own things so much as the things of Christ? 
 1 Tim vi. 10, 11. But having food and raiment, have I 
 learned therewith to be content ? 1 Tim. vi. 8. 
 
 Am I willing '' to endure hardness as a good soldier of 
 Jesus Christ ?" 2 Tim. ii. 3. and am I learning to bear 
 whatsoever God calls me to, " for the sake of the elect, 
 that they may obtain salvation with eternal glory ?" 2 Tim. 
 ii. 3, 10. 
 
 Am I more and more fortified against shame and suffer- 
 ing for the testimony of my Lord Jesus Christ? 2 Tim. 
 i. 8—12. 
 
 Am I willing " to spend myself and to be spent for the 
 good of the people, or even to be offered up, as a sacrifice 
 for the service of their faith ? and do I count nothing dear 
 to me, that I may fulfil the ministry which I have received 
 of the Lord Jesus? Phil. ii. 17. 2 Cor. xii. 15. Acts 
 XX. 24. 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 OP CONVERSATION. 
 
 It is my constant endeavour to " hold fast the true faith, 
 and a good conscience together, lest making shipwreck of 
 one, I should lose the other also." 1 Tim. i. 19. 
 
 Do I so walk as to be an " example of Christians, in word, 
 in conversation, in charity, in faith, in purity?" 1 Tim. 
 iv. 12 ; that in " all things I may show myself a pattern 
 of good works ?" Tit. ii. 7. 
 
420 THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR's MANUAL. 
 
 Do I endeavour to walk uprightly amongst men^ and 
 do nothing by partiality 1 1 Tim, v. 21. 
 
 Is my conversation savoury and religious, so as to min- 
 ister edification to the hearers 1 Eph. iv. 29. 
 
 Do I " shun youthful lusts, and follow after righteous- 
 ness, faith, charity, and peace with all them that call on 
 the Lord, out of a pure heart V 2 Tim. ii. 22. 
 
 Do I avoid, as much as possible, the various temptations 
 to which I may be exposed, and watch against the times, 
 and places, and company which are dangerous ? 
 
 Do I practice the Christian duty of love and charity, to 
 those who differ from me in opinion, and even " bless and 
 pray for them that are my enemies?" Rom. xii. 14; and 
 xiv. 1. 
 
 Do I behave myself blameless as a steward of God, noi 
 self-willed, not soon angry, not given to wine, nor filthy 
 lucre, no brawler, no striker ; a lover of hospitality, a lover 
 of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate ? Tit. i. 7. 8. 
 
 Do 1 daily endeavour " to give no offence in anything, 
 that the ministry be not blamed ?" 2 Cor. vi. 3. 
 
 Do I watch over myself in all times, and places, and 
 conversations, so as to do and to bear what is required of 
 me, to make a full proof of my ministry, and to adorn the 
 doctrine of God my Saviour? 2 Tim. iv. 5. Tit. ii. 10. 
 
 THE END 
 
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