162 A11 Expojition upon the all diligence and indufir'y in promoting their fpiritual Good, that you may at the laft Day prefent them with Joy before the Tribunal of God : Lo here am I and the Ch!ldrcn and Servants that thou haft given me. ~ow that you may with Joy and .Tnumph prefent them before the Throne of Jufbcc then, be frequent in prefenung them before the Throne of Grace now. Let not a D3y pafs without its ftated Hours of Prayn in your Family~ inftruc.l: thofe that arc ignorant, reduce thofe that arc Erroneous, admonifh and rebuke with all Authority thofc that are faulty, difcard thofe that are contumacious and incorrigible: Let not a fcoffing Jfhmatjl, a Scorner and Derider of Piety and Holinefsrcmain within your Doors; and efpecially be careful that both you and your Family do ftrk.Hy obfcrvc and fan{t:ify the Lord's Day; for therein confifts a great pare of the Life and Strenoth of Religion, and this Day ufua\ly gives a feafoning to all the Days of the \Veck 0 after. Prepare your FamiJies by private Duties, for pnblick; let none of them ftay at home from the Ordinances, but upon great al]d urgent NeccaJty. Suffer them not to w:tnder, fomc to one Paftor, and fome to another; -but where the Ordinances of God are duly difpenfcd; and wh ither thou thy felf art called·, thither do thou lead thine ; that as they all together receive their bodily Food in thy Houfe, fo they may all togethef receive their fpiritual Food in the Houfe of God; take an Account of their profiting by what they hear; be as careful to fee thy Family well imployed in the Service of God upon that Day, as to fee them imploycd in th ine own Service a~d Affairs the other Days of the Week: A_nd therefore be not long nor unnecefranly from them, for God bath made thee hts Overfeer i and if his Work go not forward in private Family~ Duties, efpedally on the Lords Day, thou canft never expetl: a BleOing upon what they do for thee: And thus much concerning the mutual Duties of Mafters and Servants. The next fort of Reladve Duties that l ihall treat of is, that of Paftors and their Flocks, Minifters and their People. For between them alfo is fuch a relation of su... periority and Inferiority, as brings them tmder the DireCHon of this O:>mmandment. We do not arrogate too much to our felves, nor take too much upon us, when we affirm that we are Sup€riour to the People, and have an Authoriry over them in things Spiritual, arid appertaining unto God•• And although through t he Vices . and fOul Mifcarriagcs ofthofe who are dignified with this high Honour, and partly t hrough the Meannefs of their outward State and Condition; to which may be ad• ded likewife, the Meannefsand AbjeCtedncfs of their Spirits, as <t Confequent upon the"former, bafelyproftitutingthcmfelves, and forfeiting thcRefpect t hat is due to them, by their fordid crouching for a Morfel of Bread at the lower...end of a Gen... tleman's Table; though bythefe, l fay~ not only their Perfons, but their Office be funk into the loweft Scorn and Contempt; yet 1 cannot but with the Apofrle magnify mine Office, which is truly excellent and venerable; and it is the great Sin of the People todefpife this Calling, although the Follies and Indifcrction of Mi... nifters themfelves may not only occafion but invite them to do it. Now here 1 fha\1 plainly fet down the reciprocal Duties which they ought mutually to perform each to other.· The Duties of Minifters either refpeCt their Call to that Office; or thci"r Management and Difcharge of it. The great Duty that refpects their Calli~, to look to it that they be rightly called, that they do not temerarioufiy thruft themfelves into fo facrcd a Function, unlefs they be duly fet apart thereunto. For as the Priefts under the Law were rakm from among Mm, anJ ordained for Men in thinS,s P.ertait!ing unto ~~J, to offer G1[rs and Sacrifices, as the Apoftle fpeaks, Heb. )· I. So llkewtfe the Mm1ftcrs of the Gofpel are to be duly fanCtified and fet apart for this high Imploymenr, to ftand before the Lord, and to Minifter in things that appertain unto his Wor!bip: And it is an in... , tolerable Prefumption for any to intrude themfelves ir.to this Lot, without being feletled thereunto by thac Order which God himfelf hath appointed and left unto his Church. For no M4n takerh this Honour to himfelf, but he that is C!flled of God, as tbe Apoftle fubjoins, vtr. 4· And therefore God complains of tho!c Prophets whom he had not fent, and yet they ran; and to whom he had not fpoken, and yet they -prophelied, Jrr. 23 . 2.1. Audacious undertaking Men it feems they were; like fomeof llte days, who thought their Forwardnefs alone a fuffi.cient Confecra£ion, and the Seal of whofe Cammillion bears only the Stamp of their own Impudence. ~ow to the due Gonftitution of a Min ifter there is requifite a twofold Call . Jiirft,
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