Sacrilegious desertion of the holy ministry rebuked, and tolerated preaching of the gospel vindicated,…Sacrilegious desertion of the holy ministery rebuked, and tolerated preaching of the gospel vindicated,…

Brethren, what harm will it do to you, if a Non-Conformist preach by you? if many follow him? If some prefer him before you? Do not others prefer you before him? What if his followers think Conformity to be sin? ⟨p. 125⟩Do not you and yours think so of our Non-Conformity? It is not your selves that you preach for, but the peoples Souls: And why may not Christs Gospel profit them from another as well as from you? Nature teacheth men to relish their own food, and partly to feel what doth them good? Clemens Alexand. Strom. 1. giveth it as the reason why the Church (then, not now) left it to every Communicant at the Sacrament, to Take their own part, Because man having free will, shall be the chooser, or refuser of his own good. If they choose a worse Teacher than you, it is not you but they that are the losers: If they choose a better, you have your end, if you are Christians; If you preach not so well as another, you are not fit to be Ministers of Christ, if you be not glad that another doth better, and is a blessing to the Flock. If you preach better, its two to one but goodness will have an insuperable attraction: Or if mistake make them more capable of good from another than from you, should you not desire that they might have it? Will you say, It is their partial humour? I have heard many Ministers say so, that had reason to have said, It is my unskilfulness or dullness: But suppose it be so; A Physician will let his patient take his Medicine from one mans hand, if he refuse it from another. The Father will not let the Infant famish if he will take no ⟨p. 126⟩meat from him, but from the Mother. If the people had no faults or weaknesses, what need were there of you or other Ministers.

Brethren, what harm will it do to you, if a Non-Conformist preach by you? if many follow him? If some prefer him before you? Do not others prefer you before him? What if his followers think Conformity to be sin? ⟨p. 125⟩Do not you and yours think so of our Non-Conformity? It is not your selves that you preach for, but the peoples Souls: And why may not Christs Gospel profit them from another as well as from you? Nature teacheth men to relish their own food, and partly to feel what doth them good? Clemens Alexand. Strom. 1. giveth it as the reason why the Church (then, not now) left it to every Communicant at the Sacrament, to Take their own part, Because man having free will, shall be the chooser, or refuser of his own good. If they choose a worse Teacher than you, it is not you but they that are the loosers: If they choose a better, you have your end, if you are Christians; If you preach not so well as another, you are not fit to be Ministers of Christ, if you be not glad that another doth better, and is a blessing to the Flock. If you preach better, its two to one but goodness will have an insuparable attraction: Or if mistake make them more capable of good from another than from you, should you not desire that they might have it? Will you say, It is their partial humour? I have heard many Ministers say so, that had reason to have said, It is my unskilfulness or dulness: But suppose it be so; A Physician will let his patient take his Medicine from one mans hand, if he refuse it from another. The Father will not let the Infant famish if he will take no