Precious Treasure in Earthen Vessels, Title page – To the reader
Precious Treaſure IN Earthen Veſſels.
A SERMON Occaſion'd by the DEATH OF THE Reverend & Learned, Mr. Ebenezer Pemberton, Paſtor of a Church of CHRIST in Boston, and Fellow of Harvard College; Who Expired Wedneſday, Febr. 13th. 1716, 17. Aetatis Suae 45.
By Joſeph Sewall, A. M.
BOSTON: Printed by B. Green, for Samuel Gerriſh, and Daniel Henchman, Sold at their Shops. 1717.
To the READER.
MINISTERS of the Goſpel are in more reſpects than one, fitly compared to Earthen Veſſels; principally in that they are as Mortal as other Men. Do the Prophets Live for ever? But more eſpecially, in that they are (as Earthen Veſſels uſe to be) of ſmall account in the World. Chriſt's Kingdom not being of this World, He did not make uſe of the Princes of this World, to be the Diſpenſers of the Myſteries of it. Not many Mighty, not many Noble are called to that Work. Yet ſome ſuch there have been: Was not Solomon (a great King in Iſrael) a PREACHER? Was not Ambroſe of a Noble Romane Family? And Chryſoſtom of an high Birth? And yet both theſe, after they had for ſome time pleaded Cauſes at the Bar, out of a deſire to do good, betook themſelves to the Study of Divinity, and became famous Preachert of the Goſpel. Was not George Prince of Anhall, a Protes;tant Miniſter, and an Eminent and Succeſſful Preacher of Christ? Was there not an Earl who became the Paſtor of a Church in Geneva? But many Indances there have not been, of honourable Perſonages ſo employed. Our well obſerves, that the Work is Honourable enough in it …, and needs not borrow any Additional honour from the glory of the World. Alſo among Earthen Veſſels ſome are of a finer Mould than others. So among Miniſters, there are ſome of a more Tender, others of a more Robuſtous Conſtitution. There are … Meliore luto pracordia finxit — One of the Ancients in his Book, De Paſtorali Cura, Obſerves that the Apoſtle Writing to Timothy, Exhorts him to uſe Gentleneſs, and to rebuke with Long Suffering; but he bids Titus reprove Sharply, he ſuppoſeth the reaſon to be, that Titus was of a more Mild diſpoſition and needed a Spur: but that Timothy was of a more quick and zealous Temper.
Concerning that Worthy Perſon, whoſe lamented Death occaſioned the Preaching of the Judicious and Seaſonable Sermon Emitted herewith, I ſhall not ſay much; nor is it needful for me, Conſidering it has been done abundantly by Others. I had peculiar reaſon to know him, when he was a Student at the College. I then obſerved that he had a Pregnant Wit, and Strong Memory, and was an hard Student, whence it neceſſarily follows that having (as he had) a conſiderable time to furniſh himſelf with variety of Learning, his accompliſhments muſt be Eminent. But that which made him chieſly deſireable, was, his Piety. His gifts were Sanctifyed with Grace and the Fear of GOD; from thence it was that when he became a Publick Preacher of the Goſpel, he ſet himſelf to promote the Good of Souls, and not to make an oſtentation of his own Gifts and Learning. He had a Natural Fervour of Spirit, which being Sanctifyed, made his Sermons, by the bleſſing of God, the more Powerful & Effectual. His Death is the more awful, not only in that he dyed when in his Prime; but in the ſame Week another faithful Miniſter of God was taken away, viz. The Reverend Mr. William Brattle, Paſtor of the Church in Cambridge, whom alſo I had reaſon to have an Intimate acquaintance with, for that I preſided over the College all the Time of his being a Fellow and a Tutor there; and I had much Comfort in his Converſation. Had I not well known his Abilities, I would not have adviſed the precious Church in Cambridge, to have Elected and Ordained him their Paſtor, and at their and his deſire, performed that Office of Reſpect and Love, on November 25. 1696. He that holds the Stars in his right hand, was pleaſed to uphold him in the Paſtoral Office, ſome Months above Twenty Years. I am glad to ſee his Character already Publiſhed; and that it is done without any Hyperbolizing, that which is there ſaid of him being true, and nothing but juſtice to his Memory. Honos fugientem ſequitur. He is the more worthy of the honour which has been put upon him, for that (as I am informed) he deſired that no mention ſhould be made of him in any Funeral Sermon; which altho' an evidence of his Humility, does not make it unlawful for any to act contrary to his deſire in that Matter. It is related concerning that holy Man of God, Mr. Carter, who was a Miniſter at Bramford in Suffolk, that he forbad any Funeral Sermon to be Preached for him. Notwithſtanding which the Renowned Mr. Samuel Ward of Ipſwich: (… quantus vir fuit, Scripta loquuntur) his next Lecture Sermon was a Lamentation, for the Loſs which the Church of God had ſuſtained, in the Death of that Venerable Old Man, who to the admiration of all Men, at Fourſcore, which was the Year of his Death, Preached with as much Vigour as at Forty, without being ſubject to any decay in his Intellectuals. Mr. Brattle did not arrive to ſo great an Age. Nevertheleſs, the Death of ſuch an Aaron as he was, ought to be Lamented by Survivers, Numb. 20.29. 1 Sam. 25.1. Acts 8.2. Where ſhall there be found a ſuitable Succeſſor? Since the College is in Cambridge, the Pastor of the Church there ſhould be One of very Eminent accompliſhments, One of great Learning and Orthodoxy, able to inſtruct the Scholars, and to eſtabliſh them in Calvinian Anti-Arminian Principles. Should the Learned Youth be tainted with Arminianiſm, it may prove fatal to theſe Churches. My Learned Friend and Brother Mr. Samuel Lee, when on his Death-bed, had a great concern on his Spirit about that Matter, ſome body having made him believe (unjustly I hope) that the Young Students were adviſed to read Arminian Authors. God forbid. Cambridge has been lifted up to Heaven. Hooker, Shepard, Mitchel, Oakes have been Preachers there. And what Church in the World, did ever enjoy Four ſuch Preachers Succeſſively! Concerning Mr. Mitchel (my moſt dear Friend, whom I can never forget) I remember the admirably Learned Mr. Chauncey (who was alſo a famous Preacher in Cambridge as well as Preſident of the College there) when there was ſome little difference (and very little did they differ in any poine) between him and Mr. Mitchel, altho' Old enough to be his Father, Expreſſed his Love and Honour for Mr. Mitchel in theſe Words to me. If I would Envy any Man in the World, either for his Piety, or for his Ability, it would be Mr. Mitchel.
It is alſo of Great Importance to the Intereſt of Religion, that the Church in Boſton lately bereaved, ſhould be ſupplyed with another able Miniſter of the New Teſtament. And conſidering that they have been Exemplary for their Love and Dutiful Reſpect to thoſe who have been over them in the Lord, and formerly Spoke to them the Word of God; It is to be hoped that Chriſt will ſupply them. In the mean Time, I bleſs the Lord that they are not wholly deſtitute, or as Sheep without a Shepherd, but are favoured with One that has been (and I Hope and Pray that for many Tears he ſhall be) a great Bleſſing to them. The Lord with whom is the Reſidue of the Spirit, double His Spirit on him. But if they ſuffer him to be alone too long, under ſo great a burden, they cannot expect, but that notwithſtanding the Treaſure which Jeſus Chriſt has adorned him with, the Earthen Veſſel will break, when too heavy a burden lies too long upon it. Did not Moſes ſay, I am not able to bear this People alone, it is too heavy for me, Numb. 11.14.
It is a good Note which a late Writer has, That Since Miniſters are Earthen Veſſels, they ſhould take heed of daſhing one againſt another. In ſpecial, Let Younger Miniſters take heed of daſhing againſt their Fathers. And therefore beware of Introducing Innovations which will cauſe it to be ſo, as long as there be any that are Conſcientiouſly concerned to maintain the Old Religion of New-England.
I Conclude with ſaying, It is a Comfort that although the Earthen Veſſels are broken, the Treaſure is not, nor ever ſhall be loſt. The Word of God liveth and abides for ever.
INCREASE MATHER. Boſton, March 4. 1716, 17.
Precious TREASURE IN Earthen Vellels.
II COR. IV. 7.
But we have this Treaſure in Earthen Veſſels, that the Excellency of the power may be of GOD, and not of us.
IN the beginning of this Chapter the Apoſtle doth declare that he, and his Fellow-Labourers did fulfil their Miniſtry with unfainting Diligence, and godly Sincerity. He then anſwers an Objection which might be made againſt the Goſpel; in that Multitudes who live under the Diſpenſation of it, are not ſavingly Enlightened, but periſh in their Ignorance. To this the Apoſtle anſwers, that the fault lay in themſelves; Satan the ruler of the darkneſs of this World had blinded their minds, leſt the Light of the Glorious Goſpel of Chriſt who is the Image of God, ſhould ſhine into them. The Apoſtle doth alſo mention a wonderful Effect of God's Glorious Power in which the Goſpel is made uſe of as an Inſtrument, ver. 6. This miraculous Irradiation of the mind, the Apoſtle compares with that Creating work of God in commanding the Light to ſhine out of Darkneſs at firſt. And truly this work of God in the new Creation in forming a New and Divine Light in the Heart of a Sinner, is as truly the Effect of Almighty Power, as that was when God ſaid, Let there be Light and there was Light.
We have in the Words of our Text, (1) A further Deſcription of the Goſpel. It is a Treaſure. (2) The Character of the Diſpenſers of it. They are Earthen Veſſels. (3) We have the Reaſon of this Diſpenſation; and are told why God is pleaſed to put ſuch a Treaſure into Earthen Veſſels. It is that the Excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
1. We have a Deſcription of the Goſpel. It is a Treaſure. We have this Treaſure. A Treaſure, ſays One, is an Abundance of Things Repoſited or laid up for the ſupply of future wants. It denotes a Plenty and Abundance of things Precious and Valuable.
2. We have the Character of the Miniſters of the Goſpel in whom this Treaſure is laid up, Earthen Veſſels. The Word ſigniſieth Veſſels of Shells or Earth. And many Learned Men render it by Teſtaceis, a word of the ſame Latitude. Some ſuppoſe here may be an Alluſion to the Pitchers in which Gideon's Soldiers carried their Lamps. And ſometimes Lamps themſelves are made of Earth. The Goſpel is compared, in the Context, to Light. Now the Light of the Glorious Goſpel by which the Kingdom of Darkneſs is deſtroyed, is held forth out of Earthen Veſſels; Veſſels of baked Earth. The Expreſſion denotes their Meanneſs and Frailty. Goſpel Miniſters are of the ſame Mould with others; They are Fragil, Brittle Veſſels: Mortal Dying Creatures.
3. We have the Reaſon of this Diſpenſation given, and are told why God is pleaſed to put ſuch a Treaſure in Earthen Veſſels. That the Excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. That the Hyperbole of the Power: ſo it is in the Original, May be, may appear to be, may be known to be of GOD, and not of Men; that it may be ſeen, and acknowledged that the Powerful … of the Goſpel are not wrought by Man as the chief … but by God.
DOCT. I. It hath pleaſed God to put the Goſpel Treaſure in Earthen Veſſels.
DOCT. II. One great Reaſon of this is, that the Excellent Power which doth accompany the Goſpel in the Salvation of Sinners, may appear to be Divine; and that the Glory of it may be aſcribed to God, and not to Men.