A Caveat for Archippus, Section 4
4. Profitably.
Paul, in the ſame place where he teſtifies his deſire to fulfill his Ministerie, inſtanceth at the firſt in this particular, Acts 20. 20. I hauehave kept backe nothing that was profitable. Therefore the Paſtours after Gods owne heart, feede not onlie with vnderstanding, but with knowledge. Ierem 3 15.Many may be vnderſtood, but what knowledge or profit can be gathered from them? To feed with vnderſtanding onelie, without knowledge, is to feed with an emptie ſpoone. So Luke 4. 22. They wondered at the gracious words that proceeded out of Chriſts mouth; not at his cloquent, witty, conceited, picked & affected quaint termes, but at his gracious, ſanctified, ſauoury, ſubſtantiall ſoliditie. As for that other froath, neyther did our Sauiour affect it, neyther would it hauehave ſo affected the people as to hauehave made them aſtonied.
The Conuiction of the Conſcience, the information of the Vnderſtanding, the reſolution of the Iudgement, the gaining of the Affections, the redreſſe of the Life; theſe ſhould be our aymes in diſpenſing of the Word. Now for theſe trickes and cranckes, this Grammaticall and Rhetoricall deſcant, theſe ends of gold and ſiluer, what help they to this buſineſſe? See what it is that a Miniſter ſhould aime at, 1. Corint. 14. 24. 25. If all propheſie, and one comes in that beleeues not, the ſecrets of his heart are made manifest: Hee will fall downe and ſay plainly, that God is in you indeed. At this ſhould Miniſters aime, to diſpenſe the word in that power, and euidence of Gods Spirit, that mens conſciences may (at leaſt) be conuinced, that our Miniſtery is of God. But few aime at this. At this they aime rather, that it may be ſaid; A fine wit is in them, an eloquent tongue is in them (things indeed not to be diſpiſed;) but in the meane time regard not that it may be ſaid of them, God is in them; ſubſtance, and ſauourie ſoliditie is in them, 1. Corint. 4. 19. I will come to you ſhortly, and will know, not the ſpeech of them which are puffed vp, but their power; For the Kingdome of God is not in word, (no nor in words) but in power. Now alas, what power hauehave ſuch Corinthian flaſhes? What power hauehave ſuch Corinthian floriſhes? what power hath ſuch paper-ſhot to beate downe the ſtrong holdes of Sathan? They were not Trumpets of gold or ſiluer, but of plaine Rammes hornes that layd flat the high walls of Hierico. Labor ſo to blow the trumpet of the Miniſterie, that we may hauehave the ſpirit blow with it. The ſpirit bloweth where it listeth. It ſeldom or not at all liſts to blow in a painted pipe. Farre be from vsus that humour of Cookes, who ſeeke more for credit in making of puffe-paſte, and kicke-ſhawes, then from dreſſing wholſome ſauourie food. When a man hath beſtowed his beſt paines in that kinde, that may be ſaid of him, which Auſtin Confeſſ. 1. 14.ſaith of Homer, that he was dulciſsime vanus. Though it be ſweet and pleaſing to the eare, yet it is but ſweet vanitie. VVhat is the life or conſcience ere the holier for theſe knackes? GiueGive me leaue to cloſe this point with the two former, with that ſauory counſel of that reuerēd father B. Babington in Leu. 7. Are you a Miniſter, called of God to leauen his people with good leauen? Looke how ye do it, and be painfull; faithfulneſſe will be crowned, when ſlothfulneſſe wil be condemned, and will condemne you; And ſubmit your ſelfe to the profit of your people, not hunting after your owne glorie, that you are thus and thus, and ſo learned, eloquent, profound and ſo foorth. If your people profit not, becauſe you flie too high a pitch for them, and ſcorne to lay a foundation of the Catechiſme amongst them, you will be found an vnprofitable ſeruant at the Reckoning day; one that hath gained nothing to his Lord, but hath hid his talent in the fowle napkin of fruitleſſe matter, and idle figures of affected ſpeech. Spoken like a Biſhop, ſpoken like a Father.