The cure of church-divisions, or, Directions for weak Christians to keep them from being…

DIRECT. XLI.

Let not the bare Fervour of a Preacher, or the Loudness of his voice, or affectionate manner of utterance, draw you too far to admire or follow him; without a proportionable degree of solid understanding and judiciousness.

Let not the bare Fervour of a Preacher, or the Lowdness of his voice, or affectionate manner of utterance, draw you too far to admire or follow him; without a proportionable degree of solid understanding and judiciousness.

IT is pity that any wise and judicious Minister should want that fervour and seriousness of speech, which the weight of so great a business doth require. And it is greater pity, that any serious affectionate Minister, should be ignorant and injudicious: And it is yet greater pity that in any good men, too much of their fervour should be merely affected, and seem to be what it is not; or at least be raised by a selfish desire to advance our selves in the hearers thoughts, and to exercise our parts upon their affections. But it is most pitiful that the Church hath any hypocrites who have no other but such affected dissembled fervency. And it is not the least pity that so many good people, especially youths and women, should be so weak, as to value an affectionate tone of speech, above a judicious opening of the Gospel. I confess there is something in an affectionate expression, which will move the wisest: And as light and judgement tend to generate judgement, so heat of affection tendeth to beget affection. And I never loved a senseless delivery of matters of eternal consequence; As ⟨p. 215⟩if we were asleep our selves, or would make the hearers to be so: Or would have them think by our cold expressions, that we believe not our selves, when we set forth the great inestimable things of the life to come. But yet it grieveth my very soul to think, what pitiful, raw, and ignorant kind of preaching, is crowded most after in many places, for the mere affectionate manner of expression, and loudness of the Preachers voice! How oft have I known the ablest Preachers undervalued, and an ignorant man by crowds applauded, when I that have been acquainted with the Preacher ab incunabulis, have known him to be unable well to answer most questions in the common Catechism. And I durst not tell them of his great insufficiency and ignorance, for fear of hindering the success of his labours, and being thought envious at other mens acceptance. I have known poor tradesmen's boys have a great mind of the Ministry; and we that were the Ministers of the Country, contributed to maintain them while they got some learning and knowledge: But they had not patience to keep out of the Pulpit till they competently understood their business there: And yet many of the religious people valued these as the only men: