An expository comment, doctrinal, controversial, and practical upon the whole first chapter to the…An expository comment, doctrinal, controversal, and practical upon the whole first chapter to the…

That the Ministers of the Gospel are to carry on their work without any fleshly ¹wisdom, or sinful policy.

That the Ministers of the Gospel are to carry on their work without any fleshly ¹wisdome, or sinfull policy.

1. 1Ministers ought not to use fleshly wisdom.

Gods truth doth not need mans lie. The Gospel doth not want for its propagation, the craft and fraud of ungodly policy. Howsoever Politicians take up ⟨p. 424⟩many rules about worldly greatness; as, Qui nescit dissimulare, nescit regnare, &c. And with Plato, to say, That a lie is as necessary in a Common-wealth, as physic to a diseased body. Yet as Christ himself, so all the Ministers of Christ are to be without guile in their mouth. The Gospel of Christ is preserved and propagated only by such heavenly and holy means, that God will own, and give a blessing unto. Christ compareth his Disciples to Sheep, not to Foxes. It is true, there is a Serpentine wisdom commended by Christ. And our Saviour commissionating his Disciples to preach the Gospel, biddeth them, To beware of men, Mat. 10. 17. but an offensive, or a deceitful way of walking, that is not beseeming the Ministers of Christ. And therefore Paul doth frequently disclaim it, especially, 1 Thess. 2. 3, 4, 5. There are two false ways of propagating Religion, as Gerhard observeth, (Cathol. confess. part prim.) Media violentiae, and Media fraudulentiae. The means of violence may be either in external, temporal punishments; or in tyrannical unreasonable Church impositions, which later the Apostle doth also renounce, vers. 24. Both which ways the Antichristian party are notorious in. And there are Media fraudulentiae, ways of hypocrisy and deceit, using subtle and unjustifiable ways to bring about their religious designs. Now although it be the Gospel that we would extol; though the holy truths, and pure worship of Christ, yet we must not make use of fleshly wisdom herein, but walk by Scripture-rules. For it's Gods grace, not mans policy, gives success to the Gospel.