i oo Chap. 3 2. An Expofition upon the Book of J ,o B Verf. Y 1.. he obferv'd alto wherein they miffed , as to the manner of proceeding ; and he obferved both well, and wifely to avoyd the like inconveniences; and thereuponprofeffed, l will not anfwer him with your fpeecher. Fourthly , Note. we fhould anfwer to every poynt and perfon with`neufon and fweetnefre, not with paff on and :batterneffe. There is no convincing others with wrath ; The wrath of roman (faith the. Apoffle ) work! not the righteoufneffe of God, (fames a. ío.) That is, wrathwill never bring about nor effect thofe righteous things , or ends, which God would have us ayme át. The wrath of man puts him quite out of the way of righte- oufneffe, both out of the way of right fpeaking, and of right as ing. To"fhew muchreafon, and little pallido; is our wifdome. So the Apoftle gives the rule ( 2Tim,:- 2. 26.. ) The fervant of the Lord naafi not flrive; he loth not mean it of bodily ftri- ving ; As if he had faid, he mutt not be a fighter. As when the Apolile faith (t Tim: 3. 3. ) AMini¡termull" not be a tinker ; ' It can hardly be thought he'fhould intendonly, if at all, that Mi- niffers 4.ould not be like grossly boyfterous men, who are not fo much as Civill in their behaviour;furely fuch are farre enough of from a fitnefs to be received into the Miniffry; therefore Come expound the Apoffle to the poynt in hand , he muff bè no linker with his tongue in paffion, anger , and wrath, no word-ffriker. There, is great ftriking, yea, wounding with words. Though Mi nifters mull ffrike and wound with theauthority of God, yet not with their ovine animofities..They muff wound the confciences of finners, with the Word andSpirit ofGod , but notwith their own wrathfull fpirits ; fuch firikers they maynot be, nor may the fervant of the Lord ftrive thus, but be gentle to all men , apt to teach, yea, patient in teaching. It is agreat exercife of patience to teach, with litiè uponline, precept uponprecept ; Whenwe fee little received or heeded, yet toinfift upon it, this is pati- ence ; Inmeekneffe inflruning fuch ac oppofe themfelves, if God peradventure will -give repentance to. the acknowledgement of the truth., As the Apoffle fames exhorts ( Chap.-i . 2 i.) to receive theword with meel¿neffe ; that's a trot+ necefïary rule in hearing the- word; formally times the he arer is in apaon , there is fuck
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=