N04195:14
The great concern of a watchman for souls, appearing in the duty he has…
The great concern of a watchman for souls, appearing in the duty he has to do, and the account he has to give, represented & improved, in a sermon preached at the ordination of the Reverend Mr. Jonathan Judd, to the pastoral office over the Church of Christ, in the new precinct at Northampton, June 8. 1743. / By Jonathan Edwards, M.A. Pastor of the First Church of Christ in Northampton. ; [Four lines from Ezra]The great concern of a watchman for souls, appearing in the duty he has to do, and the account he has to give, represented & improved, in a sermon preach'd at the ordination of the Reverend Mr. Jonathan Judd, to the pastoral office over the Church of Christ, in the new precinct at Northampton, June 8. 1743. / By Jonathan Edwards, M.A. Pastor of the First Church of Christ in Northampton. ; [Four lines from Ezra]
Boston: printed by Green for N. Procter, 1743
Title page typeset from the transcription.
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.
3. A grand Argument to induce and oblige them to Faithfulness in this Employment, they must give Account; i. e. they must give an Account to him that committed those Souls to their Care, of the Souls they were betrusted with, and of the Care they have taken of them.
Therefore that we may the better understand the Nature of that Work of a Minister of the Gospel and Pastor of a Church, and the grand Inducement to Faithfulness in it, spoken of in the Text, and know the better what Improvement we ought to make of these Things, I would ⟨p. 8⟩I. Show that Ministers of the Gospel have the Souls of Men committed to their Care by the Lord Jesus Christ. II. I would show to what Purpose Christ thus commits the precious Souls of Men to the Care of Ministers. III. That the Way in which Christ expects that Ministers should seek that these Purposes may be obtained, with Respect to the Souls committed to them, is by watching for them. IV. I would observe, how when the Time of their Employment is at an End, they must give an Account to him that committed the Care of these Souls unto them.
Therefore that we may the better understand the Nature of that Work of a Minister of the Gospel and Pastor of a Church, and the grand Inducement to Faithfulness in it, spoken of in the Text, and know the better what Improvement we ought to make of these Things, I would ⟨p. 8⟩I. Shew that Ministers of the Gospel have the Souls of Men committed to their Care by the Lord Jesus Christ. II. I would shew to what Purpose Christ thus commits the precious Souls of Men to the Care of Ministers. III. That the Way in which Christ expects that Ministers should seek that these Purposes may be obtained, with Respect to the Souls committed to them, is by watching for them. IV. I would observe, how when the Time of their Employment is at an End, they must give an Account to him that committed the Care of these Souls unto them.