IF ever you arrive to Blessedness, it must be by Faith, in the Blessed Lord Jesus Christ, who is Revealed and Offered unto you, in the Glorious Gospel of God: And if ever you Enjoy the Offers of the Gospel, it must be by the Preachers of it: Even by the Ministry of men set apart, for the Work of Explaining and Applying, the Great Mystery of Godliness among you.

A Ministry cannot be upheld without a Main­tainance. Now, while some of your Ministers, choose to leave their Salaries unto the volunta­ry Contributions of the People, there are o­thers, who (sensible of what the Great Voetius writes, Hominum saepe tanta est Injustitia, Falla­eia, Lubricita, ac profanitas, ut Expediat, Contrac­tum intercedere,) do make their Contracts with their people, for their Stipends. But it is well known. That tho' the Maintainance promised unto the Ministers among us, be ordinarily ve­ry small, scarce a Competency: and our Ministers are mostly of Calvins mind in this point, (as in all other they are Calvinests,) Consilium dedimus [Page 4] ut Ministris tantum Erogaretur, quantum ad Fra­galitatem Ordine suo dignam, sufficeret, non quod ad Luxum redundaret; Enough to supply them, in a credible and suitable Frugality would suffice them: nevertheless, they are often cheated of much, out of that Little, that has been promised unto them. The Ministers not rarely are put off with a Pay, call'd sometimes by the Name of, Synecdochical Pay, wherein by a certain Fi­gure of Avaritious & Sacrilegious Rhetorick, the part goes for the whole. There are multitudes, who from one end of the year unto the other, do nothing, towards the Support of the Evangeli­cal Ministry; and tho' a Levy do in most pla­ces Compel some to do something, yet that some­thing is done grudgingly, as upon Compulsion, & the whole comes not up to all that had been Engaged. If the Ministers now should go to take the Remedy which the Law gives them, for the Recovery of their Arrearages, they would find the Remedy worse than the Disease, and by using the Law, wound the future success of the Gospel While they have been, by the Acts of Assemblies, Exempted from Taxes, they have in reality been Taxed above any one Rank of men whatsoever. Nor does any but the Lord Jesus Christ, who in his Infinite Wisdom orders His Holy Servants to Preach under the Cross, know the Temptation that many of them have endured, when they have been defrauded of the Dues [Page 5] Vow'd unto them, & when a, Res angusta Domi, has broken their Spirits, and hindred their Stu­dies, & ruin'd the Liberal Education of their Fa­milies. It is their comfort indeed, that the Lord Jesus Christ saies to the Angels of the Churches, I know thy Works, & thy Poverty, & thy Patience.

Now, Syrs, give leave unto one, who tho' he cannot be called, as Rabbi Tarphon was among the Jews of old, The Wealthy Priest, yet is at this Time, as little a Sufferer in this case, as perhaps any man in the Country, to Expostulare the Case a little with you, on the behalf of his more Suffering Brethren throughout the Country.

In the first place, Altho' your Ministers rarely, if ever, touch upon it (because they would Preach the Lord Jesus Christ, & not Themselves,) yet I hope, you are not ignorant, That there is the plain, and clear Commandment of the Lord Jesus Christ, for the Maintainance of His Evangelical-Ministry. I pray, Do your Ministers the Right for once, your selves to Read, without putting Them to Read, in the first Epistle to the Corinthi­ans, the Ninth Chapter, from the fourth verse, to the Fourteenth. You shall here find an Inspired Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, with six or seven irrefragrable Reasons, in about nine or ten verses, proving This, which he makes his conclu­sion, The Lord hath ordained, that they which preach the Gospel, should live of the Gospel. It is then in­contestably evident, That if you do not your [Page 6] part, that your Ministers may Live comfortably, you Sin against the Ordinance of the Lord Jesus Christ I am astonished, that many a man, who calls himself a Christian, can invent any way to quiet his Conscience, before that positive word of the Lord Jesus Christ, Gal. 6. 6. Let him that is taught in the Word, Communicate unto him that rea­cheth in all good things. Now because the Deceit­ful Hearts of men will plead in their own Ex­cuse, I can't afford these Expences, my Family will want, all that I shall spend that way; the Apostle adds, Be not deceived, God is not mocked. q. d. God knows, that you throw away upon your need­less vanities, what you might much better have communicated unto your Teachers. When our Lord sent forth His Ministers, he directed them to expect a Subsistence from those to whom He sent them: And that upon this consideration, Mat. 10. 10 For the Workman is worthy of his meat: & Luk. 10. 7. For the Labourer is worthy of his Hire. What horrid impudence is it now, for the Wolves to bark at the Shepherds, of our Flocks, by the Name of Hirelings, meerly because they accept a Maintainance from them? Those Pagans, [for none worthy the Name of Christians, would so directly & expresly contradict our Glorious Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of Glory!] They have certainly forgot what the Apostle Paul writes, a Cor. 11 8 about his Taking Wages (or Hire) of other Churches; tho' he forbore to demand a­ny [Page 7] thing of that at Corinth. That Great Mini­ster of the Lord Jesus Christ, receiving the mo­ney, that the Philippians gathered for him, saies, Phil. 4 18. It was a Sacrifice, acceptable, well plea­sing to God. God required a Maintainance for his Ministers under the Old Testament; yea, tho' their Tribe, was [...]ardly a Fortieth part of the peo­ple, yet they had, by computation, as much Main­tainance as Three of the Twelve Tribes beside. And when they had part of their Maintainance detai­ned from them, the Almighty God Thundred upon it, Mal 3. 9, 10 Ye are cursed with a Cuase, for ye have Robbed me: Let there be meat in my House, and prove me now herewith, if I do not pour you out a Blessing. Now the Apostle counted it no weak Argument, that was to be fetch'd from the Maintainance of Ministers under the Old Testament, for the Maintainance of Ministers under the New. Saies he, 1 Cor 9. 13 Do ye not know, that they which Minister about Holy Things, Live of the Things of the Temple! And they which wait at the Altar, are partakers with the Altar? Even so they which preach the Gospel should Live of the Gospel. The Ministers of the New Testa­ment, are as worthy of a Maintainance, as those of the Old. And yet they don't ask of you, your Tythes, which was but part of the Levitical Maintainance: but if they might have so much as a Tenth part of what the Levites had, I am yerily perswaded, it would richly content many [Page 8] of them. If Moses took such care for his Mi­nisters, will any man dream, that Jesus (the Son over his House) takes no care at all for His? The word of the Lord Jesus Christ requires of a Minister, 1 Tim 36 That he be given to Hospi­tality: How is it possible for him to be so, if you be given to Coveteousness, and given to Dishonesty, and Cheat him of his Maintainance!

I beseech you, Syrs, Let Reason and Justice be a little heard, pleading the cause of your Neg­lected Ministers. Your Ministers demand not their Maintainance, as making a Lucre of Prayers, and Sermons, and Sacraments, and Spiritual Benefits: They are not the Sons of Simon Magus, to make a merchandize of things that are Spiritu­al; nor are they unmindful of Simon Peters cau­tion, about, Filthy Lucre. But while they apply themselves unto Spiritual Services, first, it is a vast Labour which they undergo. The Ministry is a most Laborious Employmens, unto all that have any sense of the Account, that they must give of their Stewardship. And sure, a Maintainance is one Thing, in the Honour, belonging to them, that Labour in the Word and Doctrine. And then, they are unavoidably taken off all other ways of nourishing themselves and their Families. Had they been brought up unto another Calling, or, would they yet betake themselves to a meaner Calling, they would probably grow Rich as fast as you. But they confine themselves to their Mi­nistry; because the Lord has Commanded them [Page 9] to give themselves unto it, and, Be wholly in it. It is therefore Barbarous to deny them an agree­able Maintainance.

Briefly, Your Ministers are desirous to follow their Studies closely; and indeed, if they be not Hard Students, it is impossible they should be Able Ministers of the New Testament. In their Publick Discourses, they are not fond of an Off hand Preach­ing; they be not for Spitting of Sermons; they would not give the Lord that which cost them no­thing; they would compose well Studied Meat-Offerings, not only for You O People of the Lord, but also for the Lord of Hosts Himself, that Great King, whose Name is dreadful. It is needful, they should have good Libraries, which, I assure you, are Costly Things: And it is needful, they should not be like the Clerks, who having large Libraries which they seldome look'd into, were by the K. of France compared unto men with Crooked Backs, which carryed a load they never look'd upon; but they must sit much in their Libraries, until they be­come themselves walking Libraries. Besides all this; the Government of their Churches, takes up no little share of their Time. And they must Visit their Flocks, to pray over the Sick, & Com­fort the Bereaved, & Instruct the Ignorant, & Re­lieve the Tempted. & give their best Advice unto the Unadvised. Yea, they must on frequent oc­casions give themselves to Fasting & Praying in their own Retirements, lest the Devices of Satan (who Desires to Sift them) should in any thing [Page 10] prevail against themselves, & their Flocks. Now, Sirs, are any so forsaken of all Reason, that they will not confess it an inestimable Benefit unto a Town, for to have a Minister, (a Good man, and full of the Holy Spirit, & Faith,) devoting himself unto these Divine Services, for them? Or, Is it Reason, that a man of worth, so Devoted, should by the unworthy Niggardliness, of those, whom he serves, be left wholly to sink under his encumbrances? Or, Is all Reason gone out of the world?

If your Ministers are prudently Thoughtful about their Maintainance, 'tis because they have Read that Word, 1 Tim 5. 8 If any provide not for his own, he is worse than in Infidel. And those men are truly worse than Infidels, who clamour against an Honourable Provision for the Mini­stry; the worst of Infidels do honourably Main­tain those that are set apart, for the supposed Service of their Souls.

And that which may make the Reproof to those men, who Rob their Ministers of their Dues, the more pungent is This; That there is a Sacriledge in the Robbery. Tis a Robbing of God. The Lord Jesus Christ, in Heaven sayes, Ye did it unto me.

Yea, You must allow me, to Advance this Assertion. Every man owes a Portion of his Estate, unto Pious Uses; he owes it unto the Lord: the Great Lord is abused, if that Quitrent be not rendred unto Him. But what Portion [Page 11] of his Estate is it, that every man must Separate, and Consecrate unto Pious Uses, that so all the rest may be clean unto him. I should think, That something about a Tenth part seems the Least that can be. I know very well, that ma­ny do and must give more than such a Portion; and I know the Business of many to Ly so that they can't exactly give just this portion. How­ever, something about this portion, seems a Good proportion. I find our Father Jacob, saying, Gen. 28 21, 22. The Lord shall be my God, & of all that thou shalt give me, I will surely give the Tenth un­to thee. (Syrs, This was a long while before Moses was born!) It seems, That man does not enough own the Lord for his God, who is not willing to give so much as the Tenth unto Him. Say, Will you not be the Seed of Jacob? They who beguile the Lord of this, are not so much as they should be, True Israelites. I could never yet see an Answer, to that Argument; If the Tythes of Abraham, were the Rights of Melchize­dek, then the Tythes of Christians, (the Seed of Abraham) are the Rights of the Lord Jesus Christ: For I am certain, That the Lord Jesus Christ is, A Priest after the Order of Melchizelek. It may be, I have a little surpriz'd you with some Fear, that I am going to challenge your Tythes, as due to the Clergy. But I'll put you out of pain as to That; I do not so! The Lord Jesus Christ has expresly provided others, as well as His Ministers, to be the Receivers of His Rents. [Page 12] The Improvement which I am to make of the Argument, is This. Let your Industrious, and Self-denying Ministers have but One Half, of what one would judge proper to pay to the Glorious Antitype of Melchizedek in Pious Uses, and I will undertake, it shall satisfie them. It will be but Righteousness in you; & you'l enjoy more than a little peace in it. Yea, 'Tis possi­ble, in many Towns, if you would permit your Ministers, to single out only some Two Species, (perhaps, One) of the many Blessings that make up your Harvest, and receive only a Tenth part of those Things, their Maintainance would be better than it is; they would gladly take up with it. This indeed I don't propound, but on­ly argue. Whereas now, they are Exposed un­to strange Hardships; and they have over & a­bove given unto them, to study upon, that clause in the Lamentations, Our Wood is Sold unto us!

Yea, I have been told, That when some of our Ministers, have been visited by the Hand of God with Sickness, and mourning for two or three months together, with the Sighs of He­man, I am shut up, and I cannot come forth! the people have gone to Substract so much of their yearly Maintainance, as their Sickly months would have come to. Alas, my Friends, common In­genuity would cry, Shame, upon such doings: And Christianity would have bespoke rather an Addition to, than a Substraction from the Main­tainance [Page 13] of your Ministers, who are in your Ser­vice, and only by the Calamity of Sickness in­terrupted in the Service

But, Sirs; what can you imagine to get, by thus witholding more than is meet? Oh, That you would Believe that word of God, Prov. 11. 24, 25. There is that withaldeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to Poverty; whereas, The liberal Soul shall be made Fat If the Spirit of Judas, cause you, to begrutch, all that is laid out upon the Lord Jesus Christ, and His Ministers, it is time for you, to consider, what Spirit ye are of. And if the Impiety of Pinching and Starving your Ministers, be aggravated, by your breaking your Covenants with them, [for oftentimes, men are so much worse than the Pharisees, that they neither pay Tythes nor keep Faith!] I entreat you, to ponder seriously on that awful Word, Jam. 5. 4. Behold, the Hire of the Labourers which is of you kept back by Fraud, Cryeth: and their Cries are entred into the Ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. 'Tis a Crime, you see that Cries to God for Vengeance: And I am astonished, That the Im­povershing Dispensations of God, which have been upon us, do no more put us, upon doing as that People, of old were call'd upon, Hag 1 5, 6, 9. Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, Consider your ways: ye have sown much, & bring in little: ye look'd for much, & lo, it came to little: why? saith the Lord of Hosts: Because of mine House that is wast Your injured Ministers, especially the more Deserving ones, do make as little Complaint [Page 14] as ever they can, against their Neighbours, or unto them. They say with Job, As for me, is my Complaint unto man? If it be, is to little purpose. But, when they see Debts oppressing of them, & the Necessaries of Life hard­ly allowed unto them & their Families, while their People can throw away upon Pride, & upon Drink, and upon their Diversions, the Money that would have been a thousand times better assign'd unto any Vertuous Uses in the world, Then they are Overwhelmed, & they pour out their complaint before the Lord. They mourn be­fore the Lord, in Secret places, & cry out, Lord, I am Oppressed, undertake for me! But an incredible wrath from the Jealous & Wronged Lord Jesus Christ, breaks forth against the People, that are guilty of so great an Oppression ▪ I tell you truly, Except it be the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, Crying against a People, I know not, whether any Cry more terrible can go up to Hea­ven, than the Crying wants & Straits of His Holy Mini­sters. I have been told, That if the Tavern-keepers in many Towns, would bring in true Accounts, of what Money they have received in the Needless visits of their Neighbours to the Taverns, the Sum would vastly ex­ceed all that is in those Towns laid out upon the House of God. This is a Thing that Cryes to Heaven, for the Re­moval of a Despised Gospel; Believe it, Sirs, Believe it.

Tis a wonderful Damage, that you do your selves, if it were no more than This; That by taking off your Ministers from their Studies, you Stunt their Abilities, & Cramp their Accomplishments, & loose the vast Good that would thereby accrue unto your selves. It seems, you would have your Ministers to be the Stars, rather than the Lamps of the Churches, & like Stars, to Shine, without the supply of any Earthly Contributions: But they are Lamps; and how should they do any other than Burn Dim, if you don't supply them? Antigonus [Page 15] admiring to see, the Diligent Philosopher Cleanthes, grinding his own Corn at the Mill, Cleanthes told him, I must either grind or Starve: whereupon Antigonus noted it as a great Indignity, that the Hands whereby Excellent Things had been written, should be galled with Mechanick Labours. But how often do the peo­ple cause the Hands which have Baptized them, and which break the Bread of Life unto them, to be Galled with Inferiour Labours, for the getting of Bread? They must either Plough, or Starve. This must needs ren­der their Ministry, less Edifying, to you, than it would have been. Yea, your Unrighteousness towards your Ministers may be punished by the Righteous God with Spiritual Plagues; and God may give you up to such a Spirit of Slumber, that their Ministry shall never more be Profitable to you: for the most Lively Ministry in the world, will do good no further than that the Blessing of God accompanies it. When people are call'd upon to Maintain their Ministers, tis added, Gal. 6. 8. He that soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life Everlasting. If you begrutch a small Pittance of of your Estates, for the Maintainance of them that are to Feed your Spirits, God may be so provoked, as to Resolve, that you shall Reap no Spiritual Advantages from their Ministry, but remain Barren Figtrees, till you are Cut down for the Fire of His Burning Indignation. Yea, Sirs, If ever you did get Good by your Ministers, one would think, you could not think any thing too Good for them! And what if the provocation should have this Effect also, That God will Take away your Excellent Ministers, & then, either leave you a long while Destitute, & per­haps Divided; or send Successors, that shall not be men of such Good Principles & Properties, as those men of God, that went before them? National Synods of the French Churches complained, That the Ingratitude of people refusing [Page 16] to Contribute unto the Subsistence of their Minister, threatened the Churches with a total Dissipution; and they Ordered, The Sacraments to be Denied unto the Ungrateful, if they remained Obstinate. And the Primitive Churches, I find passed their Consures on such Offenders. We have no such Method of proceeding in our Churches: But the Lord Jesus Christ, after a dreadful mann [...]r takes the work into His own Hand: He Chastises an Ungrateful people, with De­priving them of Sacraments; and of Ministers too. And, as the French Churches [...] Suffered a Total D [...]ssipation, Let us beware left Our Churches also do for their Ingratitude, come under a Total Dissipation This I remember▪ Twas the com­plaint of Austin [...] his Time, That the Parsimonious Coldness of the Christians, which dis [...]osed them to Rob God, & withdraw the Maintainance of His Ministers, was a grand Presage of the Calamities coming by Wars, upon the African Churches: With Souldiers, he says, Rapine will take, what was grudged for the Lord Jesus Christ, and His Ministers. God Avert the Omen.

But you, Brethren, who in Maintaining your worthy Mini­sters, will Do justly, & love mercy, & walk humbly with your God, shall find your [...] no loosers by your Equity Do but make an Impartial Observation, of others, whether those per­sons & those places, which Do best for the Maintainance of the Evangelical Ministry, do not Thrive most, under a very sense­ble Benediction of God, Yea, Do but make a Critical Experi­ment on your selves, whether if you'l Do more the next ye [...] towards the Maintainance of the Evangelical Ministry, y [...] don't at the years End, find that you Have more, than you ha [...] before. However, you may hope, that God will Eminen [...]ly Prosper unto you, that Ministry, which you Liberally Sustain; & by that Ministry, He will convey to your Souls, those Benefits, the Gain whereof is better than fine Gold. God will strangely Hear the Pr [...]yers of your Obliged Ministers for you, on frequent oc­casion, in this world. And in the world to come, you are likely to be the Crown of your Ministers, & They your Joy, before the Lord Jesus C [...]t, in those Fruit [...]s, which Eye hath not seen, & Ear hath not heard. With these Intimations, I remain,