Gospel reconciliation, or, Christ's trumpet of peace to the world

You will say, why? should preachers be fool?

You wil say, why? should preachers be fool?

No, God forbid, there should be the greatest Wisdom that can be, and this is no warrant for one to come into the Pulpit, and to speak extempore, we do not come to justify a raw and empty discourse, that hath nothing in it but mere words, and a noise, but hath no solidity; No, let Ministers study, and Labour to be as solid as they can, & search into the mysteries of the Gospel, & open the secrets of God, & so it will prevail with the consciences of men, & if Ministers have any parts, there is matter enough to express the parts of those that are most able, and that which requires their study; and so the Apostle would have Timothy to study, and therefore it is no justifying of those that do not study.

No, God forbid, there should be the greatest Wisdom that can be, and this is no warrant for one to come into the Pulpet, and to speak extempore, we do not come to justifie a raw and empty discourse, that hath nothing in it but meer words, and a noise, but hath no solildity; No, let Ministers study, and Labor to be as sollid as they can, & search into the misteries of the Gospel, & open the secrets of God, & so it wil prevail with the consciences of men, & if Ministers have any parts, there is matter enough to express the parts of those that are most able, and that which requires their study; and so the Apostle would have Timothy to study, and therefore it is no justifying of those that do not study.

But we must remember we come to speak in Christs steed; Christ certainly did not come with empty words, ⟨p. 298⟩but he came to open the counsels of his Father, and he did reveal the, great Mysteries of the Gospel, it was in a solid way, & so the Apostle, that which they spake was weighty and solid (though it was not with vain words and phrases as I spake before.) But this I name the rather, (not that I direct my speech so much to Ministers as to you people; seeing you hear that this is our point; that God & Christ speaks in the Ministry of the word, that therefore you should desire, and affect such a kind of Ministry wherein God speaks most, wherein Christ speaks most; wherein you can hear the voice of God, and of Christ, And I know no one argument that doth more fully evidence the difference between a carnal heart, and a gracious spiritual heart than this. What Ministry doth thy heart most savour, and relish? hereby you may know the temper of your hearts, One may know the temper of the body by knowing what food one doth most savour: so we may know the temper of the heart, by knowing what food it doth most relish; if thou dost relish frothy food thy heart is according to it but if thou dost relish and Savour a spiritual Ministry that comes in the power and authority of God and Christ, that speaks to thy heart and conscience; this is an evidence, and sign of a gracious disposition in thy heart. And the truth is, in one that is fallen (or in a great measure) from God; if there be any sparks of grace remaining, they will appear in this as much as in any thing; that though his heart be grown more loose than it was: yet still he cannot but acknowledge he doth find more power in such a spiritual Ministry than in another. But your carnal hearts they will savour and relish of a Ministry, that is a mere word ministry, that hath least of God and Christ; where there is but little of God and Christ in the heart, there the Ministry that hath least of God and Christ is most relished. Some Women, and some that are ignorant; if they hear a Sermon that hath a great deal of Greek, & latin in it that they cannot understand; they go away and commend his Sermon though