The Pastors Charge and the Peoples Duty, Chapter 1
CAP. I. The Text opened.
MY Reverend and Dear Brethren! Unto us theſe words are ſpoken; unto whom they were firſt, and immediately directed; by whom; on what occaſion; and with what Argument they are enforced, I need not tell you: The bare Reading theſe three Verſes at length, will make all this plain and obvious to the meaneſt Underſtanding.
So when they had dined, Jeſus ſaith to Simon Peter, Simon, Son of Jonas, loveſt thoume more than theſe? He ſaith unto him; yea LORD; thou knoweſt I that love thee. He ſaith unto him; Feed my Lambs.
He ſaith to him again the ſecond time; Simon, Son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He ſaith unto him; yea LORD; thou knoweſt that I love thee. He ſaith unto him; Feed my Sheep.
He ſaith unto him the third time; Simon, Son of Jonas; loveſt thou me? Peter was grieved becauſe he ſaid unto him the third time; loveſt thou me? And he ſaid unto him, LORD, thou knoweſt all things; thou knoweſt that I love thee: Jeſus ſaith unto him; Feed my Sheep.
You ſee 'twas our LORD Jeſus Chriſt, the great Shepherd of the Sheep, and whoſe Own they are, that ſpake theſe words with his own mouth, and left this thrice inculcated Charge with his Diſciple Peter, unto whom in the name of all the reſt, he was wont to direct his ſpeeches, not as Princeps, but as*This notion will need a little explication in a more proper place. Primus Apoſtolorum; and with whom, all the other, not only of his then preſent Brethren; but of all their future Succeſſors in the ſame Office, were included. And this after his Reſurrection from the Grave, wherein he had paid the full Price of our Redemption; and having laid down his Life for his Sheep, had victoriouſly triumphed over his and their laſt Enemy Death, and was now about to leave the World, and go to the Father. And knowing that he muſt leave his poor Flock, whom he had purchaſed at ſo dear a Rate, in the midſt of the Wolves and wild Beaſts of this Wilderneſs; he thus charges his Servants concerning them, unto whom he committed the Care and Over-ſight of them; Feed my Lambs; Feed my Sheep. And, leſt this ſhould be too little, he ſtrengthens his Charge with the moſt obliging Argument, that could poſſibly be urg'd; duplicate page duplicate page Loveſt thou me? And this three times repeated; which argues an extraordinary Earneſtneſs, and particular Emphaſis, that he would put upon it. There are ſome, that think this was three times repeated in perſonal reflection on Peter, for his thrice denying him; and perhaps there may be ſomething in that: But what was ſaid to Peter, was ſaid to all the Reſt, both Them and Ʋs; and his thrice repeating it, was but to let us know, how dear his little Flock was to him; what Jealouſie he had for them, leſt they ſhould be neglected; and what an Account he will require of us concerning them in the Day of our Accounts.
And here, if I may not be thought too curiouſly to criticize upon the Text, I would obſerve theſe two things in it.
The Order Of the Charge.
The Matter Of the Charge.
1. The Order. We ſee the Lambs are firſt mentioned, then the Sheep. Though theſe Names are ſometimes, in Scripture, promiſcuouſly uſed; yet in propriety of ſpeech, there is a difference, though not of Kind, yet of Age at leaſt; and the Terms are not convertible. Though all Lambs are Sheep, all Sheep are not properly called Lambs. And where we find both words uſed, as in the Text, it plainly intimates a diſtribution of the Flock into theſe two conſtituting parts of it.
By the Lambs here, I underſtand only what the plain uſe of the Metaphor directs to; viz. the Younger ſort; Younger, either in reſpect of Years, or in reſpect of Grace. And why are theſe firſt mentioned? Some uſe may be made of this; though not that uſe, which Bellarmine fooliſhly and falſly ſuggeſts. But they may be firſt nam'd in our LORD's Charge to us.
1. Becauſe they are the weaker part of the Flock; which doth by ſo much the more recommend them to our tendereſt Care and Inſpection: They are worſt able to defend, or provide for themſelves; they are weak in Judgment, and weak in Experience; and weak things are ſoon loſt. Therefore eſpecial proviſion muſt be made for them.
2. They are firſt in the Charge, becauſe they are firſt in the Order of Nature. They are Lambs before they are Sheep; and herein they ſeem to claim a precedency. Therefore firſt, Feed my Lambs.
3. They are Spes Gregis; The Hope of the Flock. Though the weaker, yet commonly the ſounder part; though the more Ignorant, yet the more Teachable. O Sirs! if we loſe them while they are Lambs, 'twill be hard, perhaps too late to cure or recover them, when they are grown more wild, or more rotten. The greateſt hope of the ſucceſs of our work lies here. But where common Experience ſays ſo much, I need ſay the leſs.
4. They are Fundamentum Gregis. By whom the Stock is maintained, and a Succeſſion preſerved in the Earth. The Seminary and common Fund of the Church. To loſe the Lambs, is the ready way to loſe all.
5. They are the moſt Innocent part of the Flock. There is a kind of foreign, an innate Principle of Dearneſs and Affection in every ingenuous Breaſt for ſuch as theſe. Can a Woman forget her ſucking Child? She will ſooner forget all the reſt, than her Little one. He ſhall feed his Flock like a Shepherd; he ſhall gather the Lambs with his arm, and carry them in his boſom, and ſhall gently lead thoſe that are with young, Iſa. 40.11. This was ſpoken of Him, by whom the words of my Text were ſpoken. No wonder then that he takes the firſt care for theſe. Yet though the Lambs are firſt, we find them but once mentioned in the Text; but the Sheep twice. Is it becauſe the Sheep are more in number, or more in value? or doth it not ſeem rather to tell us; That though the Lambs call for our firſt Care; the Sheep are they that coſt us double Labour? while they are young and tender, they are more ductile, and teachable; their Minds are a Tabula raſa, not prepoſſeſt with Opinion or Prejudice; their Affections green and complying, and not actually preingag'd; their Conſciences untoucht in their natural Virginity: I do not ſay in their Original Purity. But when they are grown up, and have imbib'd a few Religious Notions, and are grown fond of them; or have proſelyted themſelves to a Party; how hard is it convince them, or to rectifie their Errours in Judgment? When they have taſted the ſenſual ſweets of ſin; or intangled their hearts in the Cares of the World, or eſpouſed their Chriſtian Profeſſion to a Carnal Intereſt; or, under a Form of Godlineſs, are come to ſettle in their Lees; O how hard, and next to impoſſible is it then to move them? when ſtray'd among the wild Beaſts, to reclaim them? when rotten, to recover them? Here's double Labour with theſe.
Or elſe they are twice mentioned, becauſe they are capable of Paſtoral Inſpection, in one point beyond what the Lambs are. Of which I ſhall take a little notice in the next. Thus much for the Order of the Charge.
2. We are next to conſider the Matter of it: Wherein I ſhall not uſe the old Logical Terms of dividing; but briefly take notice of the Charge it ſelf; and the Argument, that is here uſed to enforce it.
1. The Gharge is; Feed my Lambs, and my Sheep. My Lambs, foreign. My Sheep, foreign. I would not querere nodum in Scirpo, ſeek for Subtilties, where the Text neither intends, nor needs any. I know the words are often ſynonymouſly uſed; yet if we look into their Etymology, we ſhall find ſome difference; and which, to me, ſeems to be deſigned here; foreign ſignifies only to feed, ſo as to make fat, ſaginare; but foreign, is not only to ſeed, but to rule and govern; to exerciſe the Office; not only the Care, but the Power of a Shepherd over his Flock. So then, here's the Reaſon of what I juſt now hinted at. The Lambs are but once mentioned; and the Charge concerning them is only to Feed them; theſe being not capable of Paſtoral Diſcipline and Government. But with the Sheep, there's the double labour, both of Feeding and Ruling.
I ſhall not now trouble you with the Popiſh Queſtions, that have been controverted on this Text, as being alien to the deſign and proper work of this Day. Only let me ſay again; That what was here ſpoken to Peter, was ſpoken to every one of the other Apoſtles; wherein both They, and We. that have ſucceeded them in their ordinary Work and Office of the Miniſtry, are perſonally and equally concerned. And though the Lambs and the Sheep make up the whole Church of Chriſt upon Earth; it cannot be underſtood, that the Church Oe…umenical was here committed to the Charge of every, or of any one individual Paſtor; ſuch a Work being loaded with Moral Impoſſibility. But the Charge, being given perſonally and particularly, it muſt be underſtood of the Church Congregational; that is, that Part, or Congregation of the Church, whereunto every one is particularly, and according to Goſpel Order, called, and ſet as Paſtor, or Over ſeer. Thus you have the Charge it ſelf.
2. Here's the Argument, wherewith our Saviour enforces it; which is threefold.
1. The Relations he hath to them: They are My Lambs, and My Sheep. Mine, whom you call your LORD, and your Maſter; yea, your Redeemer, and your Saviour: Therefore feed them for my ſake.
2. The Propriety he hath in them: They are Mine, and not Yours; the work of my hands, the Lot of my Inheritance, the Objects of my Care and Delight, the Price of my Blood, and the Fruit of the Travel of my Soul; for whoſe ſakes it is, that I have thus humbled my ſelf: Therefore take heed how you neglect the leaſt of them.
3. The other part of the Argument is concomitant to the Text; Loveſt thou me? q. d. If thou loveſt me, as thou profeſſeſt to do; ſhew thy Love to Me, in thy Care of Mine. Let my poor Lambs taſt the Fruits of my Love in thee. Let my Sheep be aſſur'd that thou loveſt Me, by thy Love to Them. It is like a careful and prudent Huſband's paſſionate recommending the Care and Rule of his dear Children and Family, when about to leave them by Death; or a long Journey to his beloved Wife. If ever you had any Love for me; if theſe Children be mine, as I believe them to be, ſee that you carry your ſelf in all reſpects as becomes a diſcreet and loving Parent towards them: Take my Eſtate; fill up my room, and diſcharge the Offices of my Relation to them; and let them want nothing, for my ſake. This is that which is wont to be uſed as the laſt and moſt overcoming Argument amongſt deareſt Friends. If you love me, do ſo, or ſo: a kind of adjuring them by all the Bonds of Love and Friendſhip that are between them.
And now, Sirs, you ſee, here's a Foundation for a much larger Diſcourſe, than time or ſtrength will at preſent bear. I ſhall contract my ſelf into as narrow a Circle, as I am able, that I may not too far tranſgreſs the Bounds aſſigned me.