Tropes and Figures · Benjamin Keach
Tropes and Figures, Treatise 1 · Head 9 · Part 11 – Part 12
Miniſters compared to Builders.
1 Cor. 3.10. According to the Grace of God which is given me, as a wiſe Maſter-Builder, I have laid the Foundation, &c.
A Builder is a Metaphor taken from Carpenters and Maſons, &c. that build Houſes; the Hebrew Word by which Building is expreſſed, is derived from the Root, foreign to build or rear an Houſe or City. God in Chriſt is the chief Maſter-Builder: He that built all Things, is God; 1 King. 10.4.and he is the great Builder of his Temple: Ʋpon this Rock will I build my Church, &c. And yet Miniſters under him are likewiſe Maſter-Builders, &c.
| Metaphor. | Parallel. |
| A Wiſe Maſter-Builder gives direction to others, how the Houſe, &c. muſt be built; and to this purpoſe ſhews the Figure or true Form of it, that ſo other Under-Builders may know how to go on with their Work. | SO St. Paul, and other great and wiſe Maſter-Builders, (the Apoſtles) have given plain Directions to us, and all inferior Builders, how the Houſe of God muſt be built, and with what Materials; and they have left in the holy Goſpel a plain Scheme or Figure of it, that ſo all ſpiritual Builders may know how to proceed in their Work. |
| II. A Maſter-Builder takes ſpecial care rightly to lay the Foundation, upon which the whole Fabrick or Structure is to be built, &c. | II. So the Apoſtles have, as Inſtruments in God's hand, laid the Foundation of the true Religion, the Foundation of Faith and Salvation, the Foundation of the true Church, &c. 1 Cor. 3.11 Another Foundation can no Man lay, than that which is laid, which is Jeſus Chriſt. |
| III. A Builder hath ſometimes much Rubbiſh to remove, before he can go on with his Work; as the poor Jews had, who built the Temple, &c. | III. So have Miniſters much Rubbiſh to remove out of their own and Sinners Way, before they can proceed in their bleſſed Work. There is the Rubbiſh of Falſe-Doctrine about Juſtification; this was in the Apoſtle's way, as well as 'tis in ours: The Jews were hardly taken off from their own Righteouſneſs, and legal Ceremonies; they would needs build upon a Legal Foundation: They ſtumbled at the Stumbling Stone, &c. We have much Popiſh Rubbiſh to remove, the Rubbiſh of Mens Inventions, and ſuperſtitious Ceremonies, &c. beſides the Rubbiſh of other Hereticks and Deceivers. |
| IV. A Builder oftentimes meets with hard Work, in hewing and ſquaring his Timber and Stones, ſome being very rugged and knotty, &c. | IV. So Miniſters find ſome Sinners are very ſtubborn and obſtinate, like knotty Timber, ſcragged and rugged Stones, which, without much Labour and Pains, are not hewed and fitted for the Building. |
| V. A wiſe Builder takes care to prepare and make all his Materials ready, before he raiſes the Structure, or builds his Houſe. | V. So ſhould a Miniſter of the Goſpel ſee that all the ſpiritual Stones and Timber be well ſquared, fitted, and prepared by a through Work of Repentance and Faith, before they are placed or laid into the Building or Church of God. Prepare thy Work without, and make it fit for thy ſelf in the Field, and then build thy Houſe. Prov 24.27. They muſt not lay Stones into the Building, as they come out of the Quarry from whence they are digged, ſuch Perſons as were never converted, nor capable Subjects of it; and then afterwards, when they are put into God's Houſe, go about to hew them by the Word, i. e. endeavour to convert them. Miniſters are Hewers, and the Ax is the Word of God: I have hewed them by the Prophets; But they muſt proceed orderly, i. e. not baptize,Mat. 28.19, …0. and then teach; but firſt teach, or make Diſciples, and then baptize them. |
| VI. A Builder can tell how many principal Pillars or Poſts belong unto the Houſe or Building, and ſees to fit all the Materials thereof in their proper place, and will be ſure to ſee that he wants never a principal Pillar. | VI. So Miniſters can tell how many fundamental Principles there are of the Chriſtian Religion, I mean, Principles neceſſary to Salvation; and alſo the Number of the Foundations of Church-Conſtitution and Fellowſhip; and will ſee that every thing they do be done orderly, every thing fitted according to the Directions of God's Word; and that they want not any one of the Foundation-Principles of the Chriſtian Religion. 'Tis dangerous, you know, if a Houſe be to be built upon ſix main Pillars, if it want one. Read Heb. 6.1, 2. |
| VII. A Builder has his Rule, by which he doth all his Work: He does not work by Gueſs, nor by the Sight of his own Eye only, but by a certain and unerring Rule. | VII. So a wiſe Miniſter hath his Rule, viz. the Word of God; he doth not do what he thinks is right in his own Eyes, until he hath tried it by the Rule; nor will he follow the Humor and Fancy of others, who may ſay, this is right, and that is right: but according as he finds Things to agree or diſagree with the holy Scriptures, and Spirit of God, that unerring Rule, by which he receives, or rejects, takes, or leaves: He, with Moſes, will do all things according to the Pattern ſhewed in the Mount: As many as walk according to this Rule, Peace be on them, and Mercy, Gal. 6. and upon the whole Iſrael of God. The Word of God ſhould be our Guide in all Things. |
| VIII. A wiſe Builder takes care that all the Building be fitly framed together, and well faſtened to the Foundation. | VIII. So a wiſe Miniſter, or ſpiritual Builder, endeavours to ſee that all the Saints be united, fitly framed, or joined together in Love, and well faſtened by Faith, and Love to Jeſus Chriſt. See what the Apoſtle ſaith, Eph. 2.Eph. 2.20, 21, 22. And are built upon the Foundation of the Apoſtles and Prophets, Jeſus Chriſt himſelf being the chief Corner-Stone; in whom all the Building being fitly framed together, groweth to an holy Temple in the Lord, in whom ye are builded together for an Habitation of God, through the Spirit. |
| IX. A Builder takes great care to give directions about the Door, or Way into the Houſe he is building, and makes it plain, that all People who have a mind, or ought to enter in, may readily find the way, and not ſtumble at the Threſhold. | IX. So a wiſe and faithful Miniſter takes ſpecial care to give directions about the Door into God's Houſe, that all whom Chriſt would have enter in, may not be at a loſs about it, nor ſtumble as it were at the Threſhold. 'Tis abſolutely neceſſary, that they are acquainted with, and able to ſhew to others, what are thoſe initiating Ordinances into the Houſe or Church of God. And ſad it is to ſee ſo many worthy Miniſters among us at ſo great a Loſs in this reſpect; as is demonſtrated in a ſmall Treatiſe, written by Mr. W. R. entitled, A ſober Diſcourſe of Right to Church-Communion. It hath always been aſſerted by Chriſtians of all Perſuaſions, (till of late) that Baptiſm in Water, that holy Sacrament Chriſt ordained and left in his Church, is abſolutely neceſſary to Church-Fellowſhip and Communion; though touching the Subject and Manner of the Adminiſtration of that Ordinance, there hath been much Controverſy: but ſure I am, the Word of God is very full and plain in this Caſe. 1. The Lord Jeſus hath poſitively enjoined Repentance, Faith, and Baptiſm, to be taught as the firſt Principles of his ſacred Doctrine, and as Fundamentals of Church-Communion and Fellowſhip. See Mat. 28.19, 20. Heb. 6.1, 2. 2. This alſo was the Door the holy Apoſtles (thoſe wiſe Maſter-Builders) directed Perſons to, and opened for entrance in the Primitive Time: Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, &c. Then they that gladly received the Word, were baptized; and the ſame Day there was added unto them about three thouſand Souls. Acts 2.40, 41. Compare this with Acts 8.48. & 16.33. Gal. 3.27. And hence 'tis ſaid; By one Spirit are we all baptized into one Body, or to be of one Body. Moreover, as it is in the above-cited Treatiſe proved, upon an Examination of the Records of the next Age after the Apoſtles, 'tis evident, the ſame Order was retained and kept up, as appears by Juſtin Martyr, in his Apology to Antoninus Pius, the Roman Emperor. This Food (ſaid he) we call the Euchariſt, to which no Man is admitted, but only he that believeth in the Truth of the Doctrine, being waſhed in the Laver of Regeneration, (ſo he called Baptiſm) for the Remiſſion of Sins, and that ſo liveth as Chriſt hath taught. Tertullian and Cyprian poſitively affirm the ſame, and divers others of the ancient Fathers; as Baſil, Nazianzen, Optatus, Athanatus, Epiphanius, Hilarius, Ambroſe, Jerome, Sozomen, Athanaſius, Auguſtin, &c. as is largely ſhewed by the Divines of Magdeburg, in their Hiſtory of the Church, printed at Baſil, 1624. Alſo all our modern Divines fully agree with the Ancients in this great Point, viz. That Baptiſm is abſolutely an initiating Ordinance, and that no unbaptized Perſon ought to be admitted into the Church, nor to the Lord's Supper; tho 'tis confeſs'd, that ſome do not ſay, that Baptiſm alone is the Door into the Church, but Baptiſm, and Impoſition of Hands. There are two Doors to be paſſed through, (as ſaith a learned Writer) 'before we can come, aditus, & intima Eccleſiae penetralia, viz. Baptiſm, and Laying on of Hands; whereof the latter properly and immediately gives admittance. Mr. Hanmors cites ſome ancient Chriſtians ſpeaking thus, Confirmatio (ſive manuum impoſitio) protinus dat jus communicandi in Sacramento corporis ac ſanguinis Chriſti: That is, Confirmation (or Impoſition of Hands) forthwith giveth full Authority and Right of Communion in the Body and Blood of Chriſt. And in another place ſaith the ſame Perſon, He that was not confirmed, was not admitted to the Euchariſt. |
| X. A Maſter-Builder goes on with his Work, when the Foundation is laid; the Scaffolds are not taken down, till the Building be finiſhed, but rather raiſed higher and higher, as the Fabrick goes up; he reſolves every Day's Work ſhall add ſome further Beauty to it, in order to the final perfecting of it. | X. So a true faithful Miniſter, when he ſees the Work of God's Houſe going on, every one labouring diligently every day to be more and more holy, and preſſing on towards Perfection: Not laying again the Foundation, &c.Heb. 6.1, 2 let us go on to Perfection, and ſo grow up unto him in all things, who is the Head. Goſpel-Builders are for the perfecting of the Saints, for the Work of the Miniſtry, for the edifying of the Body of Chriſt, Eph. 4 5. till we all come into the Ʋnity of the Faith, and Knowledg of the Son of God, unto a perfect Man, &c. |
| Metaphor. | Diſparity. |
| EArthly Builders build with ordinary Wood, Stones, Brick, &c. lifeleſs and dead Materials: Alſo they build Houſes for Men, or mortal Creatures only, which may be ſoon deſtroyed by an Enemy. | BUt the ſpiritual Builders build the Houſe of God with precious Stones, not earthly but heavenly, not dead but living: Ye alſo, as lively Stones, are built up a ſpiritual Houſe, and not for Man, but an Houſe or Habitation for God, through the Spirit; a Houſe that the Gates of Hell ſhall never prevail againſt. |
Divers Diſparities are alſo here omitted, and left to be enlarged by the ſtudious Reader.
Inferences.
THis may inform all that look upon themſelves to be ſpiritual Builders, to take heed they do not refuſe the chief Corner-Stone, as the Jewiſh Builders did: Remember the Foundation is laid, which is the Lord Jeſus Chriſt.
II. It may caution them to take heed they build with fit Materials, not with Wood, Hay, and Stubble, but Gold, Silver, and precious Stones.
III. It may caution them to take heed they build according to the Rule. Let them not miſtake the Rule, the Pope or Church of Rome is not the Rule, as we have ſhewn in the Firſt Volume, Book 3. pag. 1, 2, 3. General Councils are not the Rule; the Light within is not the Rule; the Word of God is the only Rule, by which theſe Builders of God's Houſe muſt do all their Work.
IV. It may caution them to take heed they do not make any other Doors into the Church, than what Jeſus Chriſt hath made. The Door that let into the natural Church of the Jews, is ſhut up by him that hath the Keys of David; Birth-Privileges will not give a Right to Church-Memberſhip under the Goſpel. Think not to ſay within your ſelves, We have Abraham to our Father, &c.
V. It may caution them to take heed they do not leave out of the Building any principal Pillar, leſt their Building prove defective, and ſtand not long. 'Tis a fearful thing to alter, add to, or diminiſh from the Word of God. Rev. 2.2.
Miniſters compared to Pillars.
Gal. 2.9. And when James, Cephas, and John, who ſeemed Pillars, &c.
MIniſters are like Pillars in the Houſe of God.
| Simile. | Parallel. |
| A Pillar helps to ſupport and bear up the Building. | SO Miniſters help to ſupport and bear up the Church and Houſe of God. |
| II. Pillars are a great Ornament to a Building; they ſerve not only for Uſe, but for Beauty. The two Brazen Pillars in Solomon's Temple were curiouſly adorned with Nets of Chequer-Work, Lilly-Work, and Rows of Pomegranats, &c. | II. So godly Miniſters are a great Ornament to the Church, being gloriouſly adorned (many of them) with the Gifts and Graces of the bleſſed Spirit, which ſome think was figured forth by the Pillars of the Temple, in reſpect of the Chequer and Lilly-Work; and by the Pomegranats, the Fruitfulneſs of their Converſation, &c. |
| III. Theſe Pillars ſtood in the Porch of the Temple. | III. So the Apoſtles, thoſe chief Pillars of the Goſpel-Church, lived in the beginning of the Church, ſaith Mr. Lee, Mr. Sam. Lee, fol. 228. or entrance of the Goſpel-Miniſtration. |