16. THE SIXTEENTH SERMON,

THE SIXTEENTH SERMON, UPON 2. TIMOTHY 2.15. IN WAY OF EXHORTATION to the Provincial assembly of the Presbyteries of Louthiane, holden at Edinburgh the 16. of September, 1589.

Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, deviding the word of truth aright. 2. TIMOTHY, 2.15.

It is not unknown unto you (Brethren) that in Timothy we have the true pattern of a Profitable Pastor set down, how he should behave himself in all things, what he should do, what he should leave undone; what he should follow, what he should fly: In everything he is forewarned, but chiefly among many, of one thing, that he study not to please men, that he hunt not for their praise and commendation. For why? Experience from time to time hath taught, yt these men have not only endangered their own estate, but hazarded also the whole estate of the Church. As namely, there were two in his own time, in the days of Timothy, who to get a name among men, that they were very curious disputers & subtle reasoners, moved doubts upon everything, chopped & changed with the truth of God, as if it had been the profane word of man: & at ye last, they began to move questions, & raise some doubts upon ye very articles of our belief. And the spirit of the devil to carried them forward, that from doubting, at the last, it came unto a plain defection. They denied the article of the resurrection in particular. So they did not only lose themselves and poisoned the Auditory, but they perverted the truth of God, so far as in them lay. From these men’s example, the Apostle forewarned his Disciple, and in him every Pastor, that they beware not only of this vain jangling about words, (specially in matters of conscience,) but chiefly beware of the root & fountain, from whence they spring, to wit, of that natural self-love, which we nourish all in our bosoms, and are so loath to part with in our whole life. And we have an example before our eyes in our time, of a man going about to make himself great, and to get the praise of men: who in the end, not only hazarded his own estate, but endangered the estate of the whole Church, so far as lay in him. So, as the example of Hymenaeus was meet to move Timothy to beware of such a vice: even so, let the example of our Hymenaeus, which is yet in our eyes, move us, that we fall not into the like snare, that we cast not only, not to hunt for the praise of men, but also that we apply us to eschew the root and fountain from whence it springeth; to wit, that natural self-love, whereof every one of us hath a portion. And since we are entered into the school Christ, let us study to learn that one lesson, to renounce ourselves. The Lord give us hearts to learn it, and make us to be borne again in this life, and to renounce ourselves in this life, which are not the works of man, but the singular works of God renewing man.

Now as he hath shown him, what he shall eschew; and that this is the vice which he should chiefly fly: so in this 15. verse, he beginneth to admonish him, that the contrary of it is the chief virtue which he should embrace, and the only thing which he should aim at, during his whole life: to wit, he should Study to be approved of God. For seeing there is no workman, but he wisheth to suit his work to be allowed of, (this is a common instinct in us with the rest, to seek to be approved:) therefore the Apostle informeth him and admonisheth him, what sort of approbation he shall seek, at whose hands he shall seek it, and after what manner he shall come by it. So for the present we have these three things to speak of: Of the sort of approbation that a Pastor should seek: at whose hands he should seek it: and how, and after what manner he shall obtain it. As to the sort of approbation, it must be spiritual & godly, flowing from the Spirit of God, and not from flesh and blood. And as it must flow from the Spirit of God, and not from flesh and blood: so must he seek it at the hands of God only; and not of any creature living. Study to be allowed of him; for why? suppose men would allow of thee, thou art not the more approved. For if thou instead of others shouldst praise thyself, thou art never one hair the better. For if a man honor himself, (saith our master John , 8.) his honor is nothing worth: and he whom men commends, (saith the Apostle, 2. Cor. 10.15.) is not approved; but only he is approved whom God commendeth. Therefore, let us not seek honor one from another, but let us seek the honor which cometh from God only: let us study to be approved of him only; for obtain we his approbation, we shall get the other two, for there is but three in all: For if God approve us, he shall make our own conscience approve us. And have we our own conscience and God within our conscience to allow of us, we have two of the best; for these two will never leave us, they will stand by us here, and when it cometh before a higher Tribunal, they will make us joyful. And as to the third sort which is by men, where these two go before, we shall have the Church of God (no doubt) and good men to approve us. For where God and conscience calleth a man inwardly, this God maketh his Church by their testimony to ratify his calling outwardly. As ye see he commanded the Church to separate Paul & Barnabas, to the work whereunto he had called them inwardly; so, obtain we his approbation, & we shall have all the three. Therefore let us look to none but his; we look to his approbation, when we look to ourselves: then honoreth he us, when we honor him. When we seek nothing but him, then seeketh he us and our weal. And it is for better for us that he seek our good, then that we ourselves seek it. For he can and may seek it best. Therefore let us study to seek God and his honor, that God may seek us and our honor. And will we look who hath sent us forth, who employeth us, who made us Ambassadors instead of Christ? we shall find that we ought to study to please none but him. We are not subject to render account to any but to him. To him we are subject indeed: therefore it is necessary that we study to be approved of him. Now to come by his approbation, the Apostle showeth us what way we may proceed, & how we shall behave ourselves; namely, that we do two things. First, that we study, that is, that we have a sound care to present ourselves before him; Next, that we study to present our work of the ministry before him; as he would say, that we study to take heed to ourselves and to our office. To ourselves, that we be good Christians, to our office, that we be good Pastor: for he will never be a good Pastor that is not a good Christian: Therefore the first thing that he must take heed to, is to his person, that he study to present himself, get access to his countenance and stand before him. Now there is no standing before God but in purity, and by purity of the heart: it is the pure heart only that looketh upon God and standeth before him. For Blessed are the pure in heart, (saith our Master, Math. 5.) for they shall see God. The heart again is no way purged but by faith; so it is by faith only that we stand & present ourselves unto God. The good Pastor to get himself approved, must study for the increase of faith and sanctification. For he shall never teach with authority and power, except he feel in himself the thing that he would have wrought in others: how shall he press to sanctify others, who is not sanctified himself? how shall he teach holily who is not holy? So we must study for our own particular sanctification, that while as we preach salvation to others, we be not reprobates ourselves.

Next we must study to present our works, and how we have traveled before him. That is, we must study to show our selves good Pastors as well as good Christians; and to this effect he letteth us see what properties are required in particular of us, to do the part of a Pastor. And first of all he showeth us, that we must be workmen, not idle; for the ministry is a work and no idle business: And in respect that men may work and all out of frame and out of order, therefore he adjoineth, we must be such sort of workmen that need not be ashamed, that is, workmen without reproof. The work of the ministry standeth in two points, in ruling & teaching; the third thing that he must do, as he must be a worthy workman, so he must be a skillful workman, that can cut aright and work rightly; and in the end of the verse he showeth him whereupon he shall work, & wherein he shall travel; to wit, upon the word of truth. And because these things cannot be done without great travel, he biddeth him study for them all. So to come back, the first thing that we must take heed to: We must take heed that we be not idle. And it is required of us yt we be workmen, that is, the ministry as I have said, is a work and no idle business. That it is a work, I have many places to prove it, but there is one in special out of the 1. Thessa. 5.12. where the Apostle saith, I pray you acknowledge those that labor among you, and have them in great estimation for their works sake. So the ministry is a work, and that we are workmen, Acknowledge, saith he, those that labor among you, and have them in most great estimation for their works sake. The work of the ministry standeth in two points, in ruling, and in teaching; and these are the two points: for ruling we have 1. Thes. 5.12. where it is said, and rule you in the Lord. And as for teaching, the 17. verse 1. Tim. 5. Chap. letteth us see yt they must labor in the word. Now by reason that men may work, and work out of frame; and that men may labor diligently, and yet out of order: he adjoineth, that they must be such workmen as need not to be ashamed; as he would say, worthy workmen and without reproof. For the ministry is a worthy work, He that seeketh the office of a Bishop, (saith the Apostle) 1. Tim. 3. doth seek a worthy work. So he must be a faithful and a worthy workman. To do the part of a faithful and worthy workman, he must do two things; he must not only rule, but rule rightly; he must not only teach, but teach skillfully: That he must rule rightly, we have the Apostle for us, 1. Tim. 5.17 where he saith: The Elders that rule well (and not only simply the Elders that rule) are worthy, &c. Now to rule rightly, it is as the Apostle speaketh, 1. Thes. 5. To rule in the Lord: to rule in the Lord again, is to rule spiritually, in spiritual affairs as the Lord did. To rule in the Lord, is not to rule as a Lord: For we preach Christ Jesus to be our Lord, (saith the Apostle) and we are your servants for his sake. So to rule in the Lord, is not to rule as a Lord, but under the Lord as a servant. To rule in the Lord, is to rule as he did. Now he saith of himself, Math. 18. That he came not down to do his own will, but his Fathers will who sent him: So as the Lord ruled not after his own will, much less must we rule after our will: yea not after the will of the Prince. We must lay all sorts of wills aside, and follow the will of God only. For so many conclusions and determinations as flow from the will of man, yea although they were the will of the Prince, beside the warrant of God’s word: they are as many nullities, and have no power to strike upon the conscience, no more then ye Popes Bulls. So he must lay aside all sort of will, and rule after the Lord’s will. For his will is perfect, good and holy, (as the Apostle speaketh. Romans 12:2.) Further, if he will rule as the Lord did, he must rule carefully and very diligently; for as it was his meat and drink (as he speaketh himself) to do the work of his Father, so we must be careful and prefer his work before any work of our own, although it concern our body never so near. To move us to diligence we should remember, that we have the City of God to watch over, we should remember that we have the spouse of Christ to present as a pure virgin, and we have the lambs of Christ committed to our feeding; for that threefold repetition of our Master bidding Peter feed his lambs, what required it but diligence? And who is able to answer to the meanest of these things? And yet I have not spoken the half of the things that are requisite. So that I marvel not if of old and of late also, there be many loath to enter their shoulders under so heavy a burden. But it is a great marvel that any should be found that can intrude himself to so weighty and hard at work. Whoever he be that runneth so unsent, he will never do good in this work. As he must rule rightly, so he must teach skillfully; and this is set down in the end of this verse, where he biddeth them devide the word and devide aright. As to the former speech it is a borrowed kind of phrase, wherein the Apostle alludeth to two things, first to the bread of the family, comparing ye word to household bread, & us to stewards, who are the dividers of yt bread. As it is required in a steward of a great family that he be discreet: in such sort that he have a respect to every man’s age, ability and disposition, and devide to them thereafter: So in us that are the dispensers of this blessed word, there is a special kind of dexterity wished, that is, the gift of discretion, whereby we may skillfully and fruitfully devide to everyone. He that will do the part of a skillful Teacher, must be a faithful interpreter, and a skillful applier, to interpret faithfully: he must take heed to three things chiefly: first he must take heed to the meaning of the Author, that he take up his true meaning so near as he can. To take up his meaning truly, he must first take heed to the words what they signify, he must try their signification, & after trial gather such a meaning as the words may bear, and as their signification may agree with: for if he gather a contrary meaning, or another then they may import, he is not an interpreter of these words, but a perverter of them. Next, to see if the meaning be right, he must confer thē with other parts & places of the Scripture: see how it agreeth with the analogy of faith. And if he find any harmony, there is no doubt but the sense is true. The third thing that he must do, he must take heed how the words are placed, in what order they come in, what relation they have to the things that go before, and also how they are fastened with the things that follow. But he that would interpret truly, must chiefly take heed to the Scriptures: for all true interpretations must be sought out of the Scriptures: for seeing that all truth is contained in the Scriptures, there can be no true interpretation but that which floweth from thence. Men should not be leaned to where they want Scriptures; for no man should use a lie to interpret a truth: and the words of men without Scripture are only lies and vanities. Also if the interpreter would be sensible as he ought and should be, of force he must use Scripture, he must confer place with place: and that thing which he findeth obscurely spoken in one place, he will find it more clearly spoken in another. So, many Scriptures are necessary, and he that would interpret truly, must have many Scriptures in his memory. Therefore we should pray for holy memories; for our old memories will not keep these things, they must be sanctified memories that shall keep holy things. As he must be a faithful interpreter, so he must be a skillful applier: for he must Divide the word aright. It is not enough that he apply, except he apply it also skillfully: So application is necessary, skillful application, I say, is necessary. As it is not possible that we can feed upon food, except it be applied to our mouth; as little is it possible, that our souls can feed, except the food of them be applied. Indeed things would be applied skillfully: for as if the food be applied to any other part but the mouth, the application serveth not; even so it is in spiritual things, if they be not applied to the right parts, and to the right diseases, the application may do them more evil then good. Therefore it is necessary, that he who would do the part of a skillful applier, do know the faults and diseases of his flock; which is not possible to be done in this Town, except it were divided into parishes, that everyone might have a reasonable number to come to him, that he were acquainted with, and accustomed with their manners and behavior. This application, is a chief point of the Pastors office: for there is no edifying beside it: there is no obedience to God but by it. And therefore, as by interpretation he informeth the mind, and maketh it to understand what he should do, what he should leave undone: So by application he should subdue the will, that it may give obedience and follow the understanding.

Then in a word, we see that the gift of government, and ye gift of exhortation, are necessarily requisite to be in a Pastor in some measure, in such sort, yt he cannot be a Pastor, except he have a part of both these gifts, as I have said, in some measure: And therefore ye have to take heed to your admission in admitting of young men, ye should see how they have profited in both these gifts. And that act which was made in the last provincial assembly, would be taken heed to, that none be placed in this office, except he have learned by time the gift of government, together with the gift of teaching in some measure. And as for application it is so necessary, if it were no more but to turn over ye very words of the text upon the Auditory, it must not be left; yea, and the nearer that we go to God’s word, the application is so much the better: for his word must ever have a greater force with it then any other word. And when the people hear that God speaketh, and not man, it striketh a great reverence in the hearts of the auditory: And so much the more, when we consider the worthiness and dignity of the subject, whereupon we ought to take these pains and are to entreat. The Apostle calleth it here the word of truth. The more notable that any subject is, it would be so much the more wisely handled; And we have not such a notable subject as this, for there is not a subject that hath these epithets, to be called sound, wholesome, holy and true, but this. And beside this, there is neither health, soundness, truth nor holiness: Therefore we should not chop nor change with the word, as if it were a vain word, but with great humility it would be handled. But who is able to do these things, or to answer to the meanest part of them? These things crave an exact diligence, a singular care and a painful travel. They are not purchased by sluggishness, they will not give us leave to employ ourselves else-where, but they take the whole man, yea the whole thing that he may do, if it were more. And therefore in respect of this, the Apostle useth the word Study, showing us that these things are not gotten without study; that is, without an earnest care and great diligence. All things whereunto a Pastor should study may be taken up in two words: In faith, and in a good conscience. Study we for these two, there is no doubt but we shall take heed both to ourselves, and to our office. And these two we cannot keep, except we study for the third also, which is the keeper of all the rest; to wit, the holy Spirit. We must study to entertain and nourish him, and this is done chiefly, by praying in the holy Spirit: Therefore, we should be acquainted with prayer, and be instant in it, that the Lord would not withdraw his holy Spirit from us; but rather increase the power thereof from day today, that we might find by experience, and by a sensible feeling, the truth of his heavenly promises within ourselves, and specially of that promise of life everlasting. To the which life, Christ Jesus, that great Pastor of the sheep, who gave his life for his flock, bring us. To whom with the Father and the holy Spirit, be all honor, praise and glory, forever and ever. Amen.

FINIS.

-----