SERMONS upon Serm.31. others, and hath been always fealecl with extraordinary Effe &s; which are ceafed in thefe Days. 2. The Ordinary Call then is that which we fhould chiefly regard, and that is two- fold ; either Inward or Outward. 1. The Inward Calling, that is to be regarded in. the firft place. be fure you be Mi- lliners of Chrift's making. There can be no true Calling, unlef you fee God in it as well as Men. And the Lord taketh it to be his Prerogative, to bellow Officers upon the Church ; Dabo Evangel em ; I will give to Jerufalem one that bringeth good Tidings, If. 41.27. He did not only appoint the Office, but doth defign the Perlons. Now, what is this Inward Call ? I Anfwer, God calleth us, when he maketh us able and wil- ling ; the Inclination and the Ability is from God. The Inclination ; He thrnfs out Labourers into his Harvefi, Mat. 9.38. And the Ability ; He maker us able Minjfterr of the NewTefiament, 2 Cor. 3.6. and both thefe are required of us. Ability there mutt be. Look, as Princes count it a point of Honour, when they fend out Ambaffadors to Foreign Nations, to employ thofe that are fit ; fo it is for the Honour of God, that all his Meffengers fhould be.gifted and fitted. Gifts and Abilities are our Letters of Credence that we bring to the World, that we are called of God, and authorized to this Work. Certainly, if the Spirit of God fitted Bezaleel and Aholiab, for the material Work of the Tabernacle ; much more doth Spiritual Work require proportionate Abilities. It is true, there is a Latitude and Difference in the degree of Abilities ; but all that can look upon themfelves as called of God, mutt be able and apt to teach. The Aponte took this for a Call : 1 Tim.1.52. I thank Chrìß Jefus our Lord, who bath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the Minßry. If ever God put us into the Miniftry, he firft enableth us, and beftows fuitable Gifts and Graces. But that is not all, a Man mull be willing too. r Tim. 3. 1. If a Man defire the Office of a Bifhop, he defireth a good Workk. There mutt be a thong Inclination, that carries us out to fuch a courfe of Life, if the Lord lhall give us a Call : Yea, in tome Cafes, in the Confcience of the Inward Call, a Man may offer himfelf, his Gifts to Trial, and his Perfon to Acceptance, fo it be done modefily, and not in a vain- glorious Confidence. As Antifibenes faid in the Cafe of Magiftracy, that a Man thould deal with Magiftracy as with Fire; aMan would not come too near the Fire, left he burn himfelf; nor Rand at too great a diftance, left he grow Miff with Cold : So of the Miniftry, a Man mutt not be too forward, nor too backward. In force Cafes it is good to expetl the fair Invita- tion of Providence; an Inclination there mull be, if the Lord vouchfafe a Call. In tome Cafes, we may offer our (elves to the Acceptation of the Church, if the Lord fee fit that we be chofen. But to return, he hath the inward Call, who is able and wil- ling; I mean, upon Spiritual Grounds, having firft counted the Charges, Difficulties, Duties, Dahgers of this Calling. Well then, if Men be willing, but not fit, they are not called of God ; or if fit, yet not willing, they have not Warrant enough to un- dergo the Difficulty : much more they that are neither fit nor willing; but only thrufl themfelves upon the Office by the carnal Importunity of Friends, or corrupt Aims at Honour and fecular Advantage. Thus you fee what the Inward Call is. 2. There is an Outward Call. The Inward Call is not enough to preferve Order in the Church, an Outward Call is neceffary. As Peter, As to. was called of God to go to Cornelius ; and then, befides that, he had a Call from Cornelius himfelf: So muff we, having an Inward Call from the Spirit, expe& an Outward Calling from the Church, otherwife we cannot lawfully be admitted to the Exercife of fuch an Office and Fun &ion. As in the Old Teftameny the Tribe of Levi, and Houle of .daron, were by God appointed to the Service of the Altar ; yet none could exercife the Cal- ling of a Levite, or ferve as an High Prieft, till he was anointed and purified by the Church. Exod, 28. 3. Ind thou fbalt fpeak unto all that are wife- hearted, wham I have Pled with the Spirit of Wifdom, that they may make Aaron's Garments, to confect-ate hfm, that he may miniier to me in the Priefis Office. The like is repeated, Numb. 3. 3. So the Minifters of the Gofpel, tho called by God, mull have their External Separation, and felting apart to that Work by the Church; as the Holy Ghoft faith, Aar 13.2. Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the Work whereunto I have called them. Mark, the Spirit of God had chofen them, and yet calls upon the Church, the . Elders of Antioch, to feparate them for the Work of the Miniftry. But now in what Order this is to be done,1 by whom this Separation is to be made, is the great Cotltroverfy. Politici- ans, and with them Eref lions, make it to be the Magiflrates Right; the Anabaptifis, with
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=