The gallants burden A sermon preached at Pauls Cross, the twenty nine of March,…The gallants burden A sermon preached at Paules Crosse, the twentie nine of March,…

The Ministry is a matter of both Honour and Burden: Are there none, that catch at the Honour, will not meddle with the Burden? whose pined Flocks must either content themselves with a bare Pasture, or else stray forth into neighbouring Commons; whiles they forget to break their Masters Bread; yea perhaps to set the whole Loaf before his guests: Are there none that load their minds with the Burden of Cares, too heavy for a Christian soul to bear? the load of Ambition, the burden of Covetousness so pressing them down, as if they were exonerated of the Burden of the Gospel: But if any soul be sensible of this Burden, (as ⟨image 7⟩one, into whose bowels God hath put the compassion of distressed souls,)¹ for Zions sake he will not hold his peace: yea, let me speak it of him, that Job of himself; He is full of matter, and the spirit within him, compelleth him: the word is in him,² like new Wine in Bottles, which must be vented, or will burst forth: And if we slip our shoulders from under this Burden, God can make the whole world too hot for us, and at last impose a Burden of another nature, on our then weaker and more unable souls (the Mountains and Rocks (if weighed in the balance) will be found lighter) the Burden of all their sins, whose souls have bled to death by our negligence: We may, through our impatience and weakness with Jeremiah, curse the days of our Nativity, and cry woe worth the time,³ that ever we were borne, to so troublesome an Office: but a greater woe and curse attends us, if we attend it not: passive Corruptions in our selves, active Reproaches, Injuries, Oppositions of others, impulsive temptations of the Devil, may make us weary of our callings: but his Word is in our hearts, as fire shut up in our bones, and we shall be weary of forbearing; we cannot smother the flames of it, but with terms of defiance to the stoutest that bear a forehead, we must declare it: God gives us the provision of this Burden, before hand, that we may stoop the shoulders of patience and zeal to it: Thus to Ezekiel: Son of man, ⁴I send thee to Israel; What are they? I will not dissemble with thee: They are a rebellious house: contumelies against thy self, blasphemies against thy maker, the bitings, smitinges, woundings of tongues, hands, and swords: this is the Burden thou must bear;