A26932:361
Gildas Salvianus: The Reformed Pastor
Gildas Salvianus, the reformed pastor showing the nature of the pastoral work, especially in private instruction and catechizing : with an open confession of our too open sins : prepared for a day of humiliation kept at Worcester, Decemb. 4, 1655 by the ministers of that county, who subscribed the agreement for catechizing and personal instruction at their entrance upon that work / by their unworthy fellow-servant, Richard Baxter ...Gildas Salvianus, the reformed pastor shewing the nature of the pastoral work, especially in private instruction and catechizing : with an open confession of our too open sins : prepared for a day of humiliation kept at Worcester, Decemb. 4, 1655 by the ministers of that county, who subscribed the agreement for catechizing and personal instruction at their entrance upon that work / by their unworthy fellow-servant, Richard Baxter ...
London: printed by Robert White for Nevil Simmons, 1656
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
Reverend and dear Brethren, our business here this day is to humble our souls before the Lord for our former negligence, especially of Catechizing and personal instructing those committed to our charge; and to desire Gods assistance of us in our undertaken employment for the time to come. Indeed we can scarce expect the later without the former. If God will help us in our future duty and amendment, he will sure humble us first for our former sin. He that hath not so much sense of his faults as unfeignedly to lament them, will hardly have so much more as may move him to reform them. The sorrow of Repentance ⟨p. 138⟩may go without the change of heart and life; because a Passion may be easier wrought then a true conversion: but the change cannot go without some good measure of the sorrow. Indeed we may justly here begin our Confessions; It is too common with us to expect that from our people, which we do little or nothing in our selves. What pains take we to humble them, while our selves are unhumbled? How hard do we squeeze them by all our expostulations, convictions, and aggravations, to wring out of them a few penitent tears, (and all too little) when our own eyes are dry, and our hearts too strange to true remorse and we give them an example of hard-heartedness, while we are endeavouring by our words to mollify and melt them. O if we did but study half as much to affect and amend our own hearts, as we do our hearers, it would not be with many of us as it is! Its a great deal too little that we do for their humiliation; but I fear its much less that some of us do for our own. Too many do somewhat for other mens souls, while they seem to forget that they have any of their own to regard. They so carry the matter, as if their part of the work lay in calling for Repentance, and the hearers in Repenting: theirs in speaking tears and sorrow, and other-mens-only in weeping and sorrowing; theirs in preaching duty, and the hearers in performing it; theirs in crying down sin, and the peoples in forsaking it.
REverend and dear Brethren, our business here this day is to humble our souls before the Lord for our former negligence, especially of Catechizing and personal instructing those committed to our charge; and to desire Gods assistance of us in our undertaken employment for the time to come. Indeed we can scarce expect the later without the former. If God will help us in our future duty and amendment, he will sure humble us first for our former sin. He that hath not so much sense of his faults as unfeignedly to lament them, will hardly have so much more as may move him to reform them. The sorrow of Repentance