Chrift and winning of fouls; men that will prefer Je rufalem to their chiefeft joy; men that will be fuitably weighted with the work they are undertaking, and concerned to be cleared about their having God's call to it; men that will not rufh forwardly upon the work, have an active hand in thrufting themfelves into the vineyard, and fo run urfent, but wait patiently till God clear their way. O that God would raise up fuch a miniftry in Scotland for the next age! O that he would fend fuch labourers into his harvest! This would prevent our reproach, and retrieve our credit. 4 Let us pray for the continuance of the purity of doctrine and worship in the land, that God may preferve us from deifm, and whatever hath a tendency thereto; and from all Popith, Socinian, or Arian errors; and that he may deliver us from all Pelagian and Arminian tenets and opinions; that fo men may fee and acknowledge Gcd in every thing; whereas Pelagians and Arminians fcarce fee God in any thing, but make man him.felf (as it were) a God, by afcribing all to his natural powers, and making him independent with refpect to his converfion and fpiritual performances. O what a reproach would it be to us, if fuch errors fhould prevail among us! 5 Let us pray for the prefervation of the peace and unity of this church, and that our breaches may all be healed, and greater breaches prevented; that God may pity us in our prefent fituation, and raife up peace-makers amongst us; that he may infpire all the minifters of this church with a fpirit of mecknefs, charity, and forbearance towards their brethren, who cannot attain to the fame light with them in fome leffer matters; and that he may deliver us from a fpirit of bitterness, malice, or perfecution, against our brethren. O how monstrous and reproachful will it be, for those who bear the character of Chrift's lambs and doves, to fall a-biting and tearing one another, like lions and beafts of prey! 6. Let us pray for the removing of all these things which are the caufes of divifion and contention among us; and, particularly, for deliverance from all fpiritual oppreffion, oppreffion, and encroachments upon the rights and liberties of this church, by patrons or others, that for congregations may be fupplied with pastors with the confent and good-liking of the members thereof; this would contribute much for our welfare, and prevent our reproach. 7. Let us pray, that God would pour out a spirit of reformation, and of zeal for piety, and against all manner of fin and vice, upon all ranks of perfons amongst us; fuch as magiftrates, minifters, elders, heads of families, parents, and teachers of youth; fo that every perfon, in their respective ftations, may vigouroufly exert themselves for fuppreffing fin, and recommending the exercife of godlinefs amongst thofe committed to their charge: And hereby the credit and profperity of the church would be greatly promoted. Queft. 2. How is it that we must pray for the church, fo as to prevail ? · Anf. 1. Let us pray in faith,' Jam i. 6 believing that God is infinite in power, and able to help; full of compaffion, and ready to help; and depending entirely upon the merits and mediation of Jefus Chrift, for acceptance in our prayers. 2. Let us pray with fervency, like Jacob, who wrestled with God, when he prayed. Let us, by importunate addreffes, befiege heaven with holy violence; and, like Samfon, let us bow ourselves with all our might, in order to pull down the pillars of Dagon's temple. 3. Let us join penitent tears with our fervent prayers; for, in the text, we find weeping and praying linked together; Allo the Limous wrestler Jacob wept and made fupplication,' when he prevailed with the angel, Hof. xii. 4. us pray in an argumentative manner, when we p'ead with God for his church: Let us fill our mouths with arguments, as in the text, and as Mofes did, Exod. xxxii. 11, 12, 13. 5. Let us pray with perfeverance, as we are directed, Eph vi. 18. Rom xii. 12. Hold not your peace, give him no reft,' faith the prophet, Ifa. xii. 1, 6, 7. 6. Let our prayers be joined with a diligent ufe of the means, to obtain the favours we Nn 2 afk: 4. Let afk: As idle beggars are not welcome to man's door, fo neither are they to God's. And this leads to Queft. 3. What are thofe means and endeavours proper to be used by us, in conjunction with our prayers, in order to obtain the credit and profperity of this church, and to prevent her reproach? Anf. I defire, in the humbleft manner, to offer these following to my brethren's confideration: 1. Let us all endeavour to be like the well-furnished fcribe, that bringeth forth out of his treasure, things both new and old,' i. e. Let us ftudy to furnished with a stock of neceffary and ufeful knowledge, that we may bring forth variety of provifion for the entertainment of our peoples fouls: The priests lips fhould preserve knowledge. In the 1st place, Let us all be well-fkilled in fcripture-knowledge, in the knowledge of God and his perfections, and of the mystery of the Trinity, fo far as revealed, and of Jefus Chrift, our furety and facrifice. Likewife, we need the knowledge of human arts and sciences, and of the languages; and efpecially those in which the holy bible was first written: This knowledge is a good handmaid to divinity and fcriptureknowledge; and, for acquiring thefe, we ought to have nurferies of learning, and schools of the prophets, as in ancient ages. There is a fect lately rifen among us, who decry fuch knowledge as unneceflary for gofpel-minifters, and therefore make choice of illiterate men for that office. But, if the devil should stir up Arians, Socinians, Deifts, or others, to make an attack upon our holy religion, what could such men do to defend it? If Rome fhould fend her fubtile Jefuits and learned priests among us, to fubvert the Proteftant doctrines, and mislead our people, how would these unlearned preachers be able to maintain them, and discover the fallacies of their arguments? Object. O (fay they) we have the word to oppose them. Anf. ft. Had there not been men of learning before you to have tranflated it, you even would not have had that. 2dly, Put the best sword ever was, in the hand of one that that wants skill to use it, he could not thereby defend himself against him that is expert in the art of fencing. When the cunning Jefuit fhall allege, The paffage you quote is not justly tranflated, what would you answer him? It hath been judiciously obferved, by the authors of our ecclefiaftic hiftories, that the bloody emperor Dioclefian did not fo much mifchief to the church and her minifters, as the emperor Julian the apoftate did. The firft, indeed, put many of them to death; but the devil learned Julian another way, viz. to take away the maintenance of minifters, and put down their schools of learning; and hereby Julian did the greatest damage of the two: For, though Dioclefian took many eminent men away, there ftill arofe others in their itead; but the robbing of minifters and fchools of learning, of their maintenance and revenues, did hinder a fucceffion of able minifters in the church. And fhall any lover of Zion join iffue with that infamous apoftate? Let young preachers and expectants remember this, that they may diligently improve their excellent opportunities in furnishing themfelves with the knowledge of the languages, hiftory, philofophy, mathematics, geography, aftronomy, and polemic divinity, which are good handmaids to fcripture-knowledge: And this would be one way to promote the welfare of this church, and prevent her reproach; for, an ignorant miniftry is a reproach to any church. II. Let all of us ftudy, in a fpecial manner, to be found among these who deferve the character of able minifters of the New Teftament, mentioned by the apoftle, 2 Cor. iii. 6. Quest. Who is it that may be denominated an able minister of the New Teftament? Anf. He is one that is well fkilled in the mystery o Chrift, and him crucified; that knows how to open up the covenant of grace, and the method of our juftification by Jefus Chrift, and his righteoufnefs only. He makes it his main bufinefs to hold forth the excellency and usefulness of Christ, both for our juftification and fanctification. He looks upon Jefus Chrift as the Chriftian's great furety and facrifice, and alfo as his head head of influence, his life, and that without Chrift we can do nothing :'. And, therefore, he makes it the great end of his fermons to exalt Chrift, and free grace difplayed through him; to pre.ch up Chrift. and preach down felf; to make Christ all, and felf nothing: And, whether he preach duties or privileges, threatenings or promifes, the tendency of all is to lead finners from a covenant of works to a covenant of grace, from self to Chrift. Again, this New-! eftament minifter, not only preached up the excellency of the righteoufnefs of Chrift, and of faith therein, for our falvation; but he alfo infifts upon the neceflity of repentance for fin, and reformation from it: He preffes the practice of holinefs and all moral duties, to complete the character of a true Chriftian: He affures all his hearers, that 'without holiness no man can see God;' feeing it is impoffible a man can be a good Chriftian (profefs what he will) unless he be a good moralift; he must mind the fecond table duties as well as the first; he must not only attend divine worship, but he must be sober, honest, chafte, meek, juft, merciful, charitable, and beneficent, minding his neighbour's intereft as well as his own; and in thefe things following the example of the holy Jefus, his Lord and pattern. But then, the NewTeftament minifter is concerned that mens morals be of the right stamp; that they be Chriftian morals, and of the fame nature with gofpel-holinefs or fanctification; and, in order thereto, he directs men to Jefus Chrift, the treasure and fountain of grace and holiness, the fountain of fanctification as well as of juftification. Morality, performed in the ftrength of nature, is ftill four fruit, and can never please God, till it fpring from Chrift as the root; unregenerate morality, however far men advance in it, is ftill but nature at beft. heart must be renewed, and the foul united to Chrift, before morality can be refined into 'gofpel-holinefs, and moral virtues commence Chriftian graces. The gofpel minifter teacheth, that all acceptable morality, all true grace or holiness, is the proper refult of the foul's union with the holy Jefus, our living head, who is the firft and immediate receptacle of the holy Spirit, and The of |