THere needs no other Preface or In­troduction to commend this saying to our attention, then this which the Apostle hath set before it, This is a true saying. For seeing there is not any saying in this book which is not as true as this, we may be sure there is some difference between the truth of this and other sayings, which made the Apostle so particularly commend it to us. And though it be not easie to determine positively what it is, it is not hard to say what it might be.

For first, it is easie to perceive what great need there was to arm and fence it well against the contradiction of such as would oppose and gainsay it. For there is not any saying in this book which hath met with more and greater op­position and contradiction. The Office of a Bishop hath been the mark at which not onely the profess'd Enemies of the Church have bent their bows and shot their arrows; but likewise [Page 2] they who have the greatest contention with each other, which of them should be the better, if not the only Christian Church; they on the one side contending for one Bishop over the whole Church, and making all the rest but his Mini­sters; the other would have as many Bishops as there are Ministers, which is in effect to have none.

But secondly, the truth of this saying is like­wise a matter of great importance, worthy of more then ordinary regard, which might move the Apostle to commend it to a more then ordi­nary attention. For there is not a word in it which will not require and deserve a distinct and particular consideration. First, here is the Office of a Bishop; secondly, the Work belonging to that Office; thirdly, the Goodness of that Work; fourthly, the Desire of the Office, and of the good Work: the one set down by way of supposition, If a man desire the Office of a Bi­shop; the other by way of inference or conclu­sion thereupon, he desireth a good work.

These are the particulars in the Text, of which I shall speak in the same order that I have proposed them, beginning first with the Office of a Bishop.

[...], which is here translated the Office of a Bishop, signifies not the bare Office or Fun­ction of a Bishop, as it is an Office of work, but the Office together with the Dignity and pre­eminence, the Power and Authority, which is so essential to it, and so necessary for the due exercise and discharge of that Office, that it can­not [Page 3]be without it. As likewise the word [...] signifies not the bare Office, but the Office together with the Dignity of an Apo­stle. Which Dignity the Apostle St. Paul was carefull to assert and maintain, as well as to dis­charge the Office. And it is the more remark­able in him, because he was a man so far from all manner of arrogance and vain-glory, that no man could have more humble thoughts of himself. Insomuch that when he speaks of himself, 1 Cor. 15.9. he calls himself the least of the Apo­stles, though he knew he was not inferiour to the chiefest Apostles; and not only the least of A­postles, but lesse then the least of all Saints: Eph. 3.8. but when he speaks of his Office, he saith, In as much as I am the Apostle of the Gentiles, Rom. 11.13. I magnifie mine Office. And truly we likewise have great reason to magnifie the Office of a Bishop, so great, that St. Hierom (who was not partial to the Dignity of that Order) confesseth that the safety of the Church depends upon it. Ecclesiae salus pendet in dig­nitate summi Sacerdotis; cui si non exors quaedam & ab omnibus emine is detu pote­stas, tot in ec­clesiis efficien­tur schismata quot sacerdotes. Hieron. ad Lucif. The safety of the Church (saith he) depends upon the dignity of the high Priest; to whom unlesse there be given an extraordinary and eminent power, there will be as many Schisms in the Church as there be Priests. And we have seen the truth hereof by so sad experience of late years, that it will be the more seasonable at this time, and especially up­on this occasion, to speak something of the Dignity of this Office.

The word in the Text, [...], signifies properly an over-seeing or superintendency; for a Bishop is an Overseer or Superintendent. [Page 4]And we know that he that is set to oversee, must be in a higher station then they are whom he is set to oversee. There be many other names and titles by which they are describ'd in Scripture, and in the best Writers of the ancient Church, which are names and titles not onely of Office, but likewise of Dignity and Autho­rity. Rev. 1.10. They are the Stars in the right hand of Christ; Luke 12.42. the Angels of the Churches; the Stewards whom the Lord hath set over his family; the Pastors or Sheepherds of the flock which he hath purchased with his own blood; the successors of the Apostles; the Vicars of Christ; the high Priests; the Rulers and Princes of the Church. All these are names and titles of no small Dignity, and some of them likewise of Power and Authority; wherein the Office of a Bishop differs from that of a Priest or Presbyter: not only as Celsior gradus, a higher degree; the Bishop among the Priests being, as it is said of the high Priest a­mong his brethren, Ecclus 50.12. like the Cedar among the Palm-trees; but it is likewise potestas alterius ordinis, a power of another Order, a power to ordain other Officers in the Church, and to oversee them, that they may do their work as they should, or if they will not, to put them beside their Of­fice.

This Power and Authority of the Bishop was so well known to St. Hierom, (whom I menti­on the rather, because he himself was no Bi­shop, and is thought by such as would have no Bishops to be a friend to them) I say, St. Hierom, when Vigilantius broach'd his He­resie, [Page 5]wonders that the Bishop in whose Diocese he was a Priest did not withstand his madnesse, Miror sanctum Episcopum, in cujus parochia esse Presbyter dicitur, acquic­scere furori ejus, & non v [...]rgâ Apostoli­câ virgâ (que) fer­r [...]â confringere vas inutile, & tradere in int [...] ­ritum c [...]rnis, ut sp [...]ritus sal­vus fiat. S H [...]eron. Epist. ad Ri­parium. Et tu quidem honor [...]fice circa nos & pro soli­taria hum litate fecisti ut mal­les de eò nobis conqueri, cum pro episcopatûs vigore & ca­thedrae au [...]hori­tate haberes po­t [...]statem qu [...] posses de illo sta­ [...]m v [...]d [...]art. Cypr. Epist 65. ad R [...]ga­tionum. and break in pieces that unprofitable vessel, and deliver him up to the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit might be saved. By virtue of the same power St. Cyprian punish'd the delinquent Clergy of his Diocese, by depriving them of their moneth­ly Dividends; and writing to Rogatianus, a Bi­shop, who had made his complaint to him of a Deacon that behaved himself injuriously toward him, he tells him, it was a great humility in him to complain of one over whom he himself had Authority and Power to right himself, by virtue of his Episcopal Office, and the Authority of his Chair. And herein likewise the Hierarchy of the Church differs from that of the Angels; for though there be degrees among them, some are of a higher Order, and others of a lower; yet we do not find that they of the higher Or­der have power to depose or degrade those of the lower; there is no need of any such power, where all are regular and orderly: but such a power there is in the Hierarchy of the Church, and must be, because it cannot be supposed that men will be so orderly as Angels.

There is therefore a necessity of this Office, with this Power and Authority, to preserve Truth and Peace and Ʋnity, and to prevent the manifold and great mischiefs which Parity, the Mother of Anarchy and Confusion, would soon produce: which must needs be greater in the Church, then in the State. For there is nothing that so effectually rules the Multitude as Religi­on, [Page 6]the name whereof is so venerable, that they are more apt to follow their Preachers then their Princes; because they look upon them as the Ministers of God, whose Office it is to teach them his word and will; and are afraid to think amisse of any thing which they hear from them, lest in so doing they should set themselves a­gainst God: whereby it comes to passe that there is scarce any Errour so grosse which some of them will not believe, or any Wickedness so great which some of them will not practice, and think thereby to do God service, if it be preach'd to them as a matter and duty of Religion. And how much this may tend to the disturbance of the publick Peace and Government, is easie to be seen. For remedy whereof, if the sovereign Prince interpose his power only, he runs the hazard of being reputed an enemy of God and of Religion, then which nothing can be more pre­judicial to him not only in point of reputation, but of safety likewise.

There is no better Remedy against all this mischief, then that wise and good, grave and lear­ned men, such as are able by sound Doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gain-sayers, Tit. 1.9. should be set up over the rest, with Power and Authority to charge them that they teach no other Doctrine, as St. Paul writes to Timothy, whom he left at Ephesus to this end, 1 Tim. 1.3. and to stop the mouths of such unruly and vain talkers, who sub­vert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, as the same Apostle writes to Titus, whom he left at Creet to do this Office, Tit. 1.10, 11.

This is too great an Office for one man to exercise over the whole Church: as therefore Christ chose not one onely, but twelve Apo­stles, to whom he committed this Office and trust: so his Apostles, John 20 21. whom he sent as his Fa­ther sent him, i.e. with a power to send others af­ter them with the like power, ordained, not one B [...]shop onely in the City of Rome, but one in e­very City. But as it is too great a power and trust to be committed to one man over the whole Church, so likewise it was not for the good of unity and order that it should be committed unto every one that was fit to bear some Office in the Church. As therefore Christ, who had so ma­ny Disciples, John 4.1. that the Pharisees had heard that he made more Disciples than John, did not make them all Apostles; and though he gave diversity of Gifts and Graces to divers men, yet among all these he chose but twelve Apostles: so the Apostles after him ordained Elders or Bishops, not in every Village, but onely in every City; making the Government of the Church herein conformable to that of the State, where the Praefect or Governour of a Province or Country had his residence in the City, but his Jurisdiction in the Country round about. And this conformi­ty in the Government of the Church to that of the State was so much the better, because that kind of Government in the State was best for the State, and the like Government in the Church was best for the Church.

It were easie here to shew how all Govern­ment is so much the better, as the Power and [Page 8]Authority of it is more united in one man; un­less the Piecincts of it be so great, that it is a­bove the proportion of any one mans ability: That where it is divided, though it be but be­tween two, it is very apt to destroy it self. That a Family is best ordered, where there is but one Pater-familias; a Ship, where there is but one Master, who commands all the Officers under him; a Castle, where there is but one Gover­nour, to whom all obey; an Army, where there is but one General, that commands all the Offi­cers in their several charges; a City, where there is one Mayor, though many Aldermen; a Kingdom, where there is but one King, though many inferiour Magistrates. And after this it were as easie to shew that such an orderly Go­vernment is as decent and necessary in a Church as in any of these. It were likewise easie to shew how agreeable this order is to that which God himself established in the Church of the Jews; what a fit resemblance there is between the Le­vites, Priests and High-priests in the one, and the Deacons, Presbyters and Bishop in the other; how careful Christ was to retein in his Church, whatsoever he found commendable in that; and how wary of introducing any innovation, where there was no necessity. And after this I could shew you how all Religions have had their Priests and their High-priests; the light of natural Rea­son teaching them that they must have some Re­ligion, that Religion cannot be publickly exer­cised without Priests, nor by them so well, un­less they be under some High-priest; it being [Page 9]necessary for the good of order, that there be a subordination, and that to hold many together in one, they must be all under one.

But what need all this to justifie this order in the Church, of which we speak, when it is a thing so clear, that Irenaeus calls it Traditionem Apostolicam toti mundo manifestam, an Apostoli­cal tradition manifest to all the world; and writes that many of the Bishops in his time could derive their succession from the Apostles? And the most ancient and best Writers of the History of the Church have left us the names of them in some of the principal Cities of the world, toge­ther with the time and order of their succession from the Apostles. There is not a Council, not a Father, which might not be produc'd as a wit­ness of this Truth. Yea, those Hereticks who would have unchurch'd all the world but them­selves, the Novatians and the Donatists, had Bi­shops of their own, as thinking them so necessary to the being of a well-form'd Church, that to be without them were to unchurch themselves. One ambitious Presbyter there was, Aerius by name, who because he could not be a Bishop, would have none; because he could not raise himself to the Dignity of that Office, studied to bring down that Office and levell it with his own. But he was condemn'd by the whole Church, and remains upon the Catalogue of Hereticks.

To all these Testimonies we may adde one which is more than all these, the testimony of Christ from heaven, in an Epistle sent by an An­gel to his beloved Disciple and Apostle St. John, [Page 10]bearing witness both of the antiquity of this Or­der, and of his own approbation of it, Rev. 1. ult. where interpreting the mystery of the seven stars in his right hand, he saith, the seven stars are the Angels of the seven Churches. Where by the se­ven Churches he means the seven famous Chur­ches which are mentioned afterward, to whom his Epistles are directed; and by the seven Stars and the seven Angels, he must mean the seven Bishops of those seven Churches: for if he had meant seven Presbyteries or Classes, it had been more proper to have call'd them seven Constellations than seven Stars, and seven Quire of Angels than seven Angels.

Other Offices there are in the Church but the Office of a Bishop is the highest, to which all other Offices are as steps or degrees, according to that which we read in the 13 Verse of this Chapter, They who have used the Office of a Dea­con well, purchase to themselves a good degree, or, as we may render it, a fair ascent or step, i. e. to a higher degree of Office in the Church. But there is no Office in the Church to which the Office of a Bishop may be call'd a step or degree. One Bishop may have a greater Diocese than a­nother, which is not by Divine, but Ecclesiasti­cal right, limiting not the power and authority, but the exercise of it, for the good of order, and to avoyd confusion: but he that hath the least Diocese is as much a Bishop as he that hath the greatest, as he that hath a little Flock is as much a Shepherd as he that hath a greater. Every Bi­shop is as much a Bishop as the Bishop of Rome, [Page 11]or as St. Peter, for he is a successor of the Apo­stles in the whole Episcopal Office, which is all that in which they have or were to have any suc­cessors.

The differences between an Apostle and a Bi­shop are onely in such accessories as do not be­long to the Office of a Bishop, but onely to the Time in which they exercised that Office. The Apostles were eye-witnesses of Christ; which none could be but such as were conversant with him during the time that he went in and out among them, unless it were by vision from Heaven, Acts 1.21. as St. Paul. But as they were testes oculati, eye-witnesses; so the Bishops their successors were and are testes instructi, witnesses instructed and taught. They who were first, were indued with extraordinary Gifts and Graces of the Spirit of God, which was pour'd forth upon the Church like the holy Oyle upon the head of Aaron: but the same Spirit of God which was pour'd forth upon them, runs down upon the Bishops their successors as truly, though not so plentifully. They had their Calling immediatly from Christ; the Bishops their successors have their Calling as truly from Christ, though not so immediatly. The Apostles chose their successors, and they others after them: but they did not bestow that Power and Authority upon them, but were one­ly the Ministers of God and Christ. It was by them that the Episcopal power was given, but not from them, but from him from whom all Powers are ordain'd. And therefore all Bishops anciently were wont to write themselves Bishops [Page 12]of such or such a City: not by the constitution of the Apostles or their successors, nor by the favour of those who elected them to their Of­fice; but by the grace of God. The Apostles were Bishops of the whole Church; so is every Bishop by Divine right: the limitation of them to such or such a Diocese, which is by Ecclesi­astical constitution, is not a limitation of their power and authority, but of the exercise of it, not to lessen them, but to preserve peace and u­nity in the Church. In a word, the Apostles were the chief Governours of the Church which was in their time, the Bishops of the Church in their time. And what need we say more for the Dignity of an Office, which is so much the same with that of an Apostle?

But because I have said thus much of it, it is the more needfull, before I passe from this par­ticular, to speak something of the difference be­tween this Power and Authority, which is the highest in the Church, and that which is the highest in the Kingdoms of the world. Both are powers ordained of God, not to oppose or confront, but to assist each other. The Power of the one is the power of his Sword, which is a rod of iron; the Power of the other is the power of his Sword, which is the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. The Power of the one serves to punish them that will not be subject to him with banishment, imprisonment, confiscation, death, &c. The Power of the other banisheth no man out of his Country, but only out of the Church; it cuts off no man from the land of the [Page 13]living, but only from the communion of Christi­ans; it deprives no man of any right that be­longs to him either as a man, or as a member of any Common-wealth, Kingdom or other Society in them, but only that which belongs to Chri­stians. In which it deprives him of nothing, but that to which he hath no right.

And as the Powers are distinct, so likewise are the Ends of them: the End of the one be­ing the civill and temporall good of them that are under it; the End of the other, the spirituall and eternall good.

But these two distinct Powers with their dif­ferent Ends do not hinder but help each other. For while the Bishop useth his power to make men good Christians, he makes them so much the better Subjects; it being a part of their Christianity to be good Subjects, their Allegiance is bound up in their Religion, so as they cannot depart from the one unlesse they likewise re­nounce the other; a Christian cannot be a Re­bell, but he must depart from his Faith and turn infidel, if not in word, yet in deed.

So that the Spirituall Sword doth not clash with the Temporall, but joyn with it in the same work, and so assists and strengthens it, as that it doth that work which belongs properly to the temporall Sword better than it self. The King with his Sword commands all that are under him to live in obedience to him and to his Lawes, for fear of incurring his displeasure, and falling under his power, which can but kill the Body. The Bishop with his power com­mands [Page 14]subjects to be obedient to their Sove­raigns and their Lawes, out of Conscience to­wards God, whose Ministers they are, for fear of his displeasure, and falling under his pow­er, who can cast both Soul and Body into hell.

And as the Spirituall Sword doth not clash with the Temporall, so neither doth the Tem­porall Sword clash with the Spirituall; as I could shew you, but that I must remember that my Text speaks not of the Office of a King, but of a Bishop, and there be other particulars in it for which I must reserve some time: and therefore I passe on to the next Particular, which is the Work belonging to this Of­fice.

The Office of a Bishop is an Office not of Dignity only, 2 but of Work: the Dignity is an­nex'd to it for the Works sake, partly as neces­sary for the better exercise and discharge of it, and partly as a due for the worthiness of the Work. 1 Thes. 5.12, 13. We beseech you, bre­thren, to know them that labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; and to esteem them very highly in love for their works sake. He doth not say for their Office and Dignity, but for their Works sake. For the Office and Dignity were not made for the Bishop, that he might have an Office, but the Bishop was made for the Office, and the Office for the Work. This is the end of all the Offices which Christ hath set in the Church. Eph. 4.11. He gave some Apostles, some Prophets, some Evangelists, some Pastors and Doctors, for the perfecting of the Saints, for the [Page 15]work of the Ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ; Not for the dignity of a Magistracy, but for the work of the Ministry; for every one of these Offices is a ministry, even the highest of them all. For who is Paul? and who is Apollo? 1 Cor. 3.5. but ministers? and a ministry is a Work. As therefore in the Church of the Jews God or­dained Priests, not that they might have the Office of Priesthood, but that: they might mi­nister to the Lord in the Priests Office: Levit. 7.35. So in the Christian Church he hath ordained severall Of­ficers, but all of them to this end, that every one of them might minister to him in his Office. When our Saviour committed this Office to St. Peter, he did not say to him, Be thou a Bi­shop, or a Pastor; but he said unto him, Feed my sheep, John 21.15. to mind him chiefly of his Work for which he put him in Office. And S. Peter in like manner minds the Elders or Bishops, not to stand so much upon their Dignity, as to look well to their Work. 1 Pet. 5.1, &c. The Elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an Elder—Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof—not as being lords over God's heritage, &c. For they are not the lords, Luke 12.42. but the Stewards, whom the Lord hath set over his houshold; not to exercise dominion, like the Princes of the Gentiles, but to give them their portion of meat in due season. It is not their flock, but the flock of God, over which they are set; not to feed themselves with the fat, and to cloth themselves with the wooll, but to feed and oversee the flock of God: it is not their heri­tage, [Page 16]but the heritage of God which is com­mitted to them; not as a principality, to have a dominion in it, but as a charge, to have the care and inspection over it.

The Work which belongs to the Office of a Bishop must needs be greater then that which belongs to the Office of a Priest or Presbyter: for every Bishop is a Priest, but every Priest is not a Bishop; as much greater as the Office is higher, and the sphere in which his work lies of a larger compasse. A Priest or Presbyter is over his flock, inasmuch as it is his Office to minister to them the things that are holy, and to instruct and teach them the word of God: but his flock is but a small part of that greater flock which the Bishop is to oversee, and it is his work to oversee not the flock only, but the over­seers of the several parts of his flock; for though they be over their severall flocks, they are all under him. It is his work to oversee the whole business of the Church; to see that the ser­vice of God be duly and decently celebrated; that all the Congregations be supplyed with such, and such only, as teach the things which be­come sound Doctrine that cannot be condemned; that in their life and conversation they behave themselves in all things as the Ministers of God, giving no offence in any thing, that the Mi­nistry be not blam'd; that such as are scandalous be remov'd, if they will not be reform'd; to purge the Church of them, if they will not purge them­selves; to see that they whom they have bap­tizd be first instructed by them, and then con­firm'd by him.

Some indeed there are, who think the work of a Bishop is nothing but to preach; and if he should preach so often as they would have him, he should have work enough of that. I do not deny, but that this is a part of his work, a work which belongs to him as he is a Bishop, so properly, that it belongs to no other Officer in the Church but by Commission from him.

In the first Age of the Church, while the Apostles retained the Office of a Bishop to themselves, there was little other work but that of Preaching; and so much of that as was enough to take up all their time. The great work of their time was to gather together the Sheep that were scatter'd abroad, and bring them into the fold of the Church, to convert Infidels to the faith, of which they had not heard, and of which they could not hear without a Preacher. And because this was a great Work, to the end they might give the more atten­dance to it, they committed some other parts of their work to others, that could do that as well as themselves. It was a part of their work to baptize, for Christ sent them not only to teach all nations, but likewise to baptize them: but when it was too great a work for them to do both, they committed the work of baptizing to their Disciples, giving themselves to the work of Preaching, the less work giving way to the greater. So likewise it was a part of their work to take care of the poor: but when it came to be a great Work, by reason of the [Page 18]great number of them, and the complaint of some that they were neglected, they instituted the Office of Deacons, whom they set over that bu­siness, Acts 6.4. giving themselves to Prayer and to the mi­nistry of the Word.

The Work of the Bishops their Successors, was, not so much to convert Infidels, as to confute Hereticks and Schismaticks; not so much to gather the Sheep into the fold, as to keep them from going astray, and to keep the Wolves from entring in among them. To which end they have other work beside that of Preaching, and for which reason the Apostle in this Chapter tells us, that a Bishop must not only be apt to teach, but he must be one that knows how to Rule his own house well: and he gives this reason for it. For if a man know not how to Rule his own house, how shall he take care of the Church of God? Where it is evident that it is the Work of a Bishop to take care of the Church of God.

This is a Work that may take up so much of his time, and require so much of his paines, as will disable him from the frequency of Preaching, especially when through age and the infirmities incident thereunto, he must either do it with great disadvantages, or omit some other part of his work, which is no less, if not more necessary then this. For it is not with the Preaching of a Bishop as it was with that of an Apostle: the Apostles preach'd as they were in­spir'd by the Holy Ghost; the Bishop must give diligence to reading, hearing, meditation. He must [Page 19] study to approve himself to God, 2 Tim. 2, 15. a workman that needeth not to be asham'd, rightly dividing the word of truth. This is a work that cannot be done without much study. But all this work must not lie upon the Bishop only; there be other Officers under him who have partem so­licitudinis, part of the care, though not plenitu­dinem potestatis, the fulness of the power: and these having not so much of the work of Ruling, may spend the more of their time in Preaching. But still it is the Bishops Work, to see that they, to whom he commits this part of his Work, be such as the Apostle adviseth Timothy to make choice of, faithfull men, 1 Tim. 2.2. such as shall be able to teach others also. Wherein there is great care and circumspection to be had, as we may see by the strict charge which he gives him concerning it. 1 Tim. 5.21. I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect Angels, that thou observe these things, without preferring one before another. Do nothing through partiality; lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be thou par­taker of other mens sins.

But yet this is not all his Work. He must not only take heed to whom he commits this Work, but likewise see that none but such as are sent to the work take it upon them, and that they who are sent, do the work for which they are sent, and not through ignorance or de­sign mistake their errand, and teach things which they ought not. For when Christ commends the Bishop of Ephesus for examining them who say they are Apostles, and are not, Rev. 2.2. he doth imply [Page 20]that this was a part of his Work, and tacitly blame those who having the same Office, have not the same Care. And this is likewise a great Work. For if in the Apostles time there were, as he saith, Tit. 1.10. many unruly and vain talkers, whose mouths must be stop'd; it is not like but there would be many such afterward. Act. 20 29, 30. He knew that after his departure grievous wolves would enter in, not sparing the flock; and that among themselves would men arise speaking perverse things, to draw away Disciples after them. And we know that Popularity was not the sin of that Age and place only: we find the like complaint in the Church of Galatia; there were false Teachers crept in among them, who withdrew them from him that had call'd them in the grace of Christ, unto another Gospel, Gal 1.6. and chap. 4 17. he tells us who and what manner of men they were. They zealously affect you, but not well; yea they would exclude us, that you might affect them: i. e. they make profession of a zealous affecti­on to the good of the people to whom they preach, but their aim is to steal away their hearts and affections from all other men to themselves; in pursuance of which design, they would preach down the Apostles, to preach up themselves. And what wonder to see a po­pular affection transport men to preach down Bishops, when the same affection so early transported some to preach down Apostles?

But it is not only the Popularity and Pride of such Teachers, but likewise a giddinesse in the people, which makes more work yet for [Page 21]the Bishop. The Apostle foresaw it, and gave early notice of it to Timothy, 2 Tim. 4.3. The time will come that they will not endure sound Do­ctrine, but according to their own lusts they will heap up to themselves Teachers, having itching ears. And this must needs make more work for the Bishop, for the more greedy they are in heaping up such Teachers, the more vigi­lant and carefull must he be to pull them down.

In a word, there is Work enough in the Church for the Bishop, and for all other Of­ficers under him, wherein his care must be to mind that Work or service most, by which he may most promote the Glory of God and the Good of his Church, and to see that they to whom he commits the rest of the work, doe their work as they ought to do it. And so much for the Second Particular, in these words, the work which belongs to the Office of a Bishop. I come now to the third Particular, which is the Goodnesse of the Work.

It is very well rendred in our Translation a good work, The good­ness of that work. not an honest or a pious or an honou­rable work, as it might be rendred: not but that it is all these, but because it is all these and all these are comprehended in this expression of a good work.

First, it is an honourable work; for it is the work in which they are call'd workers together with God. And that for very good reason: for that, which our Saviour saith, Joh. 5.17. my Father. worketh hitherto, and I work, is as true now, as it was then when he spake it, and that more espe­cially [Page 22]in this then in any other work. For there is nothing on earth so dear to God as his Church; nothing to which his Providence and Goodnesse extends more then to the good and orderly go­vernment of it. It is the work for which he sent his Sonne from heaven; no other name or title doth so well express the work for which he came into the world, as that of the great Shepherd and Bishop of our souls. For which rea­son diverse of the ancient Fathers, by the lost sheep in the Parable understand Mankind in the state of his Fall; by the ninety and nine that went not astray, the Angels that kept their first e­state; by the man that left the ninety and nine, to seek the sheep that was lost, the man Christ Jesus that came down from Heaven the habita­tion of Angels, to seek and save man that was lost. It is the work for which he sent abroad his Apostles, John 20.21. as his Father sent him. The work for which he sent down his Spirit upon them soon after his return to heaven, and his exalta­tion at the right hand of God: The work for which he hath promis'd to be with them and with their Successors unto the end of the world, Mat. 28. ult. And this is sufficient to shew how honourable a work it is.

It is likewise as pious, honest and Charitable a work as it is honourable. It is the most ac­ceptable work or service that men can do to God. 2 Cor. 2.15. We are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, saith the Apostle, speaking of this work, which is the work of a Bishop as well as an Apostle; to signify, that as a sweet and fragrant odour is [Page 23]gratefull unto us, so is this work noe less accep­table to God.

And as it is so acceptable to God, so it is no lesse for the good and benefit of men. The good which it works most Directly and properly is the spirituall and eternal good, which is so much better then all that is but temporall, that there is no comparison between them. But it is not so particularly for the spirituall and eternall good, but that it is likewise very much for the temporall. The Histories of all Ages since the beginning of Christianity bear wit­nesse abundantly of the manifold and great good which hath been wrought in the world by Bi­shops doing that work which belongs to their Of­fice. They have been, and are the chief Mi­nisters under God of upholding, Tit. 1.1. and preserving that Truth which the Apostle calls the truth ac­cording to Godliness; 1 Tim. 4.8. that Godlinesse of which he saith that it is profitable for all things, having the promise of the life which now is, and of that which is to come. And to the End we might the better consider how true this is, he adds in the next verse, This is a true saying and worthy of all acceptation. And to say nothing of the life which is to come, of which no truth ever had so clear and ample promises there is nothing more profitable for the life which now is. Nothing so effectual to restrain all the iniquitie which makes one man a Devil to another, or to pro­mote all that Vertue and Goodnesse which makes one man a God to another. For every iniquity is then most carefully avoyded, and e­very [Page 24]very good work most sincerely and exactly per­form'd, when he that avoyds the one and does the other is mov'd thereunto by a principle of Religion. This is the great advantage which Religion hath above all the best Lawes that the wisdome of men can make, or their justice put in execution. The best humane Lawes can but lop off the branches of those iniquities which Religion plucks up by the roots. The power of the one is only upon the Actions of men, so farr forth as they fall under the cogni­sance of other men; the power of the other upon the Affections. It is much if the one can restrain men from being very wicked; the other hath a power to make them very good men.

And there is no Religion so effectuall to take away all manner of Iniquity, and to plant and cherish all manner of Vertue as the Christian; the Precepts whereof, which are in their na­ture the most pure, are likewise in the extent of them the most perfect and complete, reaching to all sorts of men, in all manner of conversa­tion, to Princes, Subjects, Parents, Children, Husbands, Wives, Masters, Servants, Neighbours, Strangers, to make them all good in their severall relations, and the better they are, the more happy in each other. The Promises annex'd to the observation of these Precepts are the most high and heavenly; the confirmation of those Promises the most divine: to the end that the Promises being so confirm'd might be the more stedfastly believed; and the Promises being be­lieved, the Precepts might be the better ob­served; [Page 25]and the Precepts being so observ'd, all men might conspire together mutually to pro­mote the happinesse of each other, then which they can do nothing better to advance their own. This is the naturall effect of that Truth which is according to Godlinesse, the receiving and observing whereof is the most excellent means to procure the favour of God, then which nothing can make the happinesse of men even in this world more complete.

Now as all this good comes to men by Christian Religion, so the Office and Work of a Bishop is of great necessity and virtue to uphold and preserve this Religion in the truth and purity of it. All other Offices which God hath set in the Church, have their work herein, when they are well and duly performed; but it is the work of a Bishop to see that they be duly per­form'd. There is no Office so necessary to pre­vent Schisms and Factions, then which there is nothing more destructive of the civil Peace; nothing more fruitful in all the mischiefs which make the life of men the most unhappy. For what greater mischiefs among men, then those which arise from hatred, variance, emulation, wrath, strife, sedition, heresies, envyings, &c. and whence arise so much of these, as from the rents and divisions in the Church? and whence come these rents and divisions in the Church, but from the contempt which is pour'd forth up­on the Office of a Bishop? Whence have Here­sies and Schisms arisen, and do still arise, but from this, that the Bishop, who is one, and is over [Page 26]the Church, Unde schismata & haereses ob­ortae sunt, & oriuntur, nisi dum Episcopus, qui unus est, & Ecclesiae praeest, superbâ quo­rundam prae­sumptione con­temnitur? Cyprian. is by the Pride and presumption of some despis'd? saith Cyprian. This is that which, hath so often chang'd the Pulpit into a Theatre, from whence so many instead of preaching the Gospel of Peace have blown the Trumpet of War, and perverted that which God hath or­dain'd to turn swords into mattocks, and speares into plowshares, to serve as the greatest means of turning mattocks into swords, and plowshares into speares.

In a word, there is nothing so necessary and effectuall to the happinesse of men in this life, as to live together in Unity. Psal. 133.1. Behold, how good and how pleasant a thing it is for brethren to dwell toget her in unity. There is no Unity among men so strong and so good as that, of which Religion is the bond; nothing so necessary to preserve the unity of Religion, as the Dignity and Au­thority of the Office of a Bishop. Brethren will be apt to fall out among themselves; though they be of one house, they will not be of one mind. But as the best means to keep or make them friends, is, the reverence which both of them owe to their common Father: so the best means under God to keep up amity in the Church, or to recover it when it is lost, is to remember the reverence which all the true Sons of the Church owe to those who are their Fathers in God. And, so much for the third Particular in the Text, which is the Goodness of the work. I come now to the fourth and last, which is the Desire of the Office, and of the good work.

Here are two things to which the word de­sire is apply'd, desire the Office, The Desire of the Office. and desire the good Work: but not in the same manner, for the former is by way of Supposition only, If a man desire the Office of a Bishop; the later is by way of Inference or conclusion upon that Supposition, he desireth a good work. And though in our Translation it be one and the same word in both places, desire the Office and desire the good Work; yet in the originall, there be two different words. The former is [...], the later is, [...] The difference be­tween these two words is so nice, that our lan­guage cannot well furnish us with words fit to expresse it: but in that there is some difference in the Originall, it may teach us, that it is not alwaies one and the same desire that is set upon the Office, and that which is set upon the good Work.

True it is, that when the Apostle wrote this, there was nothing in the Office, for which a man would have desir'd it, but the Goodnesse of the work. There were no Temporalties annex'd to it, no Dignity in the eye of the world, but so much Work, and that so full of perill, as well as paines and labour, that had it not been for some great Goodnesse in the Work, no man would have undertaken, much lesse desir'd it. We read of one Marcus, who cut off his thumb because he would not be made a Bishop; and we read of many, who had their heads cut off because they were. But when it came to be an Office, which might [Page 28]be enjoyed not only with Safety, but likewise with great Honour and Dignity, and Revenue sufficient to maintain and uphold that Honour; we read of some who have desir'd the Office of a Bishop, not for the Goodnesse of the work, but for the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the highest seats in the Synagogue, and to be call'd of men Rabbi. Then an Infidel would be a Chri­stian, if he might be a Bishop, as he that said, Make me Bishop of Rome, Facite me Pon­tificem Roma­num, & proti­n [...]s ero Chri­stianus. Praetextat. and I will soon be a Christian. Thus to desire the Office of a Bishop is so far from being a good Work, that the bet­ter Work it is which belongs to the Office, the worse it is so to desire the Office. It is a grea­ter question whether it be lawful to desire the Office for the goodness of the work: for though it be a commendable thing to desire a good work, yet when that good Work is so annex'd to a great Office, that a man cannot do the Work unlesse he have the Office, it may be suspected that he looks more upon the greatnesse of the Office then upon the goodnesse of the Work; and this Office requires a man that is not onely without blame, but likewise without suspicion. I answer, generally, it is more seemly for a man to stay till he be desir'd to take the Office than to desire it before; and it is not unlike but that one that doth least desire the Office, will best perform the Work. But yet I will not say but that a worthy and good man may have so true and so great a desire to do so good a Work, as to desire the Office and the Dignity, not for the Office or the Dignity, but for the [Page 29] necessity of both to make him capable of doing so good a Work, and be the worthier and better man for having that desire.

But admitting it to be lawfull, it may be a­nother question whether it be prudent. For I find it a question among Philosophers, whe­ther it be the part of a wise man to take upon him a great Office; which might well be a question among them, who thought it so great a happinesse to be at quiet without any trouble to molest, and to live at ease without any bur­den to oppresse, that there could be nothing in the greatest Office to recompense the losse of this tranquillity and liberty, which men in great office cannot hope to enjoy: for how can a man be at quiet that puts himself into the noyse of business? or how can he live at his ease, that hath the Government upon his shoul­ders? Besides it is a very desirable thing to have the thoughts free for Contemplation, wherein a man may converse with many of the wisest and best men that have ever been in the world, who being dead yet speak, or with Saints and Angels, yea with Christ, and God, and any thing, to which his thoughts may have recourse when they are free: and if there be a life on earth that comes near to that of Saints in Heaven, it may seem to be this. But a great Office hath ever too much work to allow a man this freedom for his thoughts. Solitude and Si­lence are much fitter for such a purpose then the noyse and croud, which must needs be where there is so much Work.

Yet the Philosopher could think and say, that though the Dignity and splendor of a great Of­fice was no recompense for the losse of his quiet and his ease, and the freedom of his thoughts for contemplation, yet because some men must be in office, it might stand with his wisdome to take it upon him, rather then to suffer it to fall into the hands of a foole: But still this is but to take the Office upon him, not to desire it. If there be any thing that can make a wise and good man desire this Office, it must be the Goodnesse of the work; there is nothing else that can make satisfaction for the great care and paines which lies so heavy upon the Office. A Bishop in his Office is like a Candle upon a Candlestick, set up to give light to them that are in the house, by consuming himself. It is but a small recompense for consuming himself, that he is set up in a golden Candlestick: but to give light to them that are in the house is so good a Work, that for the doing of that a great charity might make a man desire it, though it be with the disadvantage to himself, of consuming himself. I say a great Charity: for it must be a greater Charity then hath been taugh in the School of Philosophy; but not greater then may be learned in the School of Christ, where we are taught to mind the good of other men as well as our own, and a much greater good of other men with the losse of a lesse good of our own; according to the pattern and example of our Lord and Ma­ster who emptied himself that he might fill [Page 31] us. The good of other men, which is or may be wrought by this Work, is so great as may well invite a good proficient in this Schoole to part with all that is dear to him in this world for the procuring of it, though they for whose good he consumes himself, return him nothing but evil for good, and hatred for his good will, according to that which the Apostle speaks of himself, 2. Cor. 12.15. I will very gladly spend and be spent for your sake, though the more abun­dantly I love, the lesse I be loved.

And yet I do not say that any man may de­sire the Office of a Bishop for the goodness of the Work. For as it is a good, so it is a great work; and as it is desirable because it is good, so it is no lesse dreadfull because it is great. It is a good work to watch for the Souls of men; but it is a great work, Heb. 13.17. so to watch for the souls of men, as they that must give an account. Onus Angelicis humeris formi­dandum. This hath made some wise and good men to call it a burthen, which the Angels might be afraid to take upon their shoulders. 2 Cor. 2.16. It made the Apo­stle to say, who is sufficient for these things? And if it put so great an Apostle to make that question, he that would offer himself in answer, had need first consider himself, and in that con­sideration lay aside himself; or else he may easily be deceiv'd in himself, by thinking too well of his own Sincerity and Sufficiency, be­cause it is his own.

When our Saviour put that question, Luke 12.42. Who is that faithfull and wise Steward whom the Lord shall make Ruler over his houshold? [Page 32]he is thought by some to make enquiry after one that is fitly qualified for the Office of a Bishop. Certain it is, that such a man ought to be a wise and a good man. For if he be not a wise man, he will not know how to behave himself in the house of God: and if he be not a faithfull and good man, he will not do that which he knows he ought to do. He must be a wise man, that he may understand his work; and he must be a good man, that he may do it.

But it may be a question, whether it be e­nough that he be a wise and a good man, and whe­ther the Office of a Bishop do not require the wisest and the best of men. When the Apo­stle saith in the following verses, that he must not be a novice, and that he must be apt to teach, and that he must be one that knows how to Rule his own house well; he doth not speak as if one that were thus qualified were wise enough, but one that is not thus qualifi'd is not wise enough. He must not only not be a novice, but one that is able in Doctrine to shew uncorruptness, Tit. 2.7, 8. gravity, sincerity, sound speech, that cannot be condemn'd, that he that is of the contrary part may be asham'd, Tit. 1.9. having no evill to say of him. He must not only be apt to teach, but likewise able by sound Do­ctrine both to exhort and to convince the gain­sayers. He must not only know how to rule his own house well, but likewise to take care of the Church of God.

The Philosopher, who said that Kingdomes would then be most happy when Kings were Philosophers, or Philosophers were Kings, gave [Page 33]this reason for it, That Philosophers above all other men spend their time and paines in obser­ving and considering how God governs the world: and having this pattern so much in their eye, they must needs be so much the fitter to govern under him. The Office of a Bishop is to govern the Church as a Vicar of Christ, and to the end he may do his work well, he had need be one that hath not only well studied his pattern; but such a one as is very conformable thereunto. He must have much of his wisdom, and much of his temper: so much of his Le­nity, who would not break a bruised reed, nor quench the smoaking flax, as to know how and whom and when he must instruct in meekness; and yet so much of his Courage and zeal, who whip'd the buyers and sellers out of the Tem­ple, as not to be afraid to rebuke sharply, where it is necessary or expedient. He must know not only whom to bind, but likewise whom to loose; lest while he either binds where he should loose, or looses where he should bind, he binds him­self so much as none can loose him. He that desires the Office of a Priest, had need be wiser then they who are of his flock: he that desires the Office of a Bishop, had need be so much wi­ser, as he is higher then a Priest. And not only so much wiser, but likewise so much better. There be many good qualities which the Apo­stle requires in him, in the words which follow these of my Text. A Bishop must be blamelesse, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach, not [Page 34]given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre, but patient, not a brauler, not covetous, one that ruleth his own house well, not a novice; and moreover he must have a good report of them that are without. But when he saith, he must in all things shew himself a pattern of good workes; Tit. 2.7. 1 Pet. 5. and when St. Peter saith, he must be an example to the flock; they both imply, that he must not only have all these good qualities, but these and all other good qualities in a great mea­sure and perfection: — [...]— [...], &c. Naz. Orat. 1. for so it becomes him that is to shew himself a pattern and exam­ple.

When our Saviour conferr'd this Office up­on St. Peter, he first put this question to him, Joh. 21.15. 1 Cor. 16.22. Simon, lovest thou me more then these? Not on­ly, Simon lovest thou me? for he that loves not him, is so unworthy to be a Bishop, that he is not fit to be in the rank of Christians. If any many love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema maranatha. But, Simon, lovest thou me more then these? to shew that he would not have the flock, which he hath pur­chased with his own blood, committed to any but such as have a singular and extraordinary love and devotion to him.

And thus I have gone through the Particulars in my Text. I shall now only look back up­on it with two reflections, and so conclude.

The first is with Sadnesse upon them that look with an evil eye upon this Office, or at least upon the Dignity of it. For the better work it is that belongs to the Office, the worse [Page 35]it is, to wish there were no such Office, or no such Dignity and Authority, which is ne­cessary for the better performance of that work which belongs to the Office. There is not an expression of greater misery that can befall a people, then that which is frequent in the Scri­pture, of being as sheep without a shepheard. He doth not say as sheep without pasture, or sheep gone astray, or sheep among Wolves, for so long as there is a shepheard over them, he may provide them pasture, or bring them home into the fold, or drive away the Wolves; but as sheep without a shepheard, in which all these miseries are involv'd: for if the shepheard be smitten, the sheep will soon be scatter'd, and if the sheep be scatter'd, they will soon be di­stress'd for want of pasture, and the Wolves will enter in among them, and there will be none to drive them out. Such is the miserable con­dition of a people that are as sheep without a shepheard: and what is a Church without a Bishop, but as sheep without a shepheard? The same expression is used to shew the mise­ry of a Kingdom without a King. It hath been the sad condition of this Nation these many years to be without both. And yet as if it had been our happinesse, we have been command­ed to give thanks to God for that which he would not have suffer'd to befall us, if he had not been much offended with us. The Office of a King and the Office of a Bishop may say among us, as Christ once said among his Coun­try-men, Many a good work have I done among [Page 36]you; for which of these do ye stone me? But it is no new thing for men to mistake their best friends for their enemies, and their enemies for their friends; to hate the one, and to fawne upon the other. The Apostle St. Paul gives us instances of both: of the one at Galatia, Gal. 4.16. Am I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth? of the other at Corinth, 2 Cor. 11.20. For ye suffer if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devoure you, if a man take of you, if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face.

But now, God be thanked, we have seen the hand of God among us, in gathering us together, to lead us like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron, the King and the Priest.

And this makes me look back upon my Text, with another reflection of joy and grati­tude, to see the good care and circumspection which is and hath formerly been in this Nati­on, in the choice of such men for the Office of a Bishop as are the most able and the most likely to do the Work which belongs to the Office. Wherein I think we are more happy then any Nation in the world. We have read of some times and places, in which novices have been made Bishops, because they were the sons or kinred of great men; or such as were able to purchase this Dignity for them; as the chief Captain obtain'd the priviledg of a Roman with a great summe of money: Boyes have been taken from the School and set up in the chaire, not so glad that they had gotten the Crosier-staff, [Page 37]as that they had gotten out of the reach of the Rod. Laetiores quod virgas evose­vit, quam quod attingerint principatum. Bern. Non iste ad e­piscopatum su­bito pervenit, sed per omnia ecclesiastica officia promo­tus—ad sa­cerdotii sublime fastigium, cun­ctis religionis gradibus ascen­dit. Cyprian Epist. ad An­tonian. But with us the way to the Office of a Bishop hath been and is the same by which St. Cyprian saith of Cornelius, that he came to the Bi­shoprick of Rome, not suddenly, but by an orderly ascent through all the inferiour Offices in the Church, as so many steps and degrees. The way to purchase the Office of a Bishop in this Church, is only that of which the Apostle speaks in the 13 v. of this Chap. They who have used the Office of a Deacon well, purchase to them­selves a good degree: so it is by having used the other Offices in the Church well, that men purchase to themselves this degree, which is the highest of them all. And as the Philoso­pher saith, they who would choose a fit Pilot to govern a ship, doe not choose a man because he is the richest, or because he is the noblest, or because he is the comeliest person among them, but because he is the ablest and most likely to do his work well: so it hath been and is the way in chusing men to sit at the stern in the government of our Church, to make choice of the most able and worthy, men who cannot more desire the Office of a Bishop, then the Office of a Bishop desires them.

And now to conclude all in a word. It was said of one of the Emperours, That he got nothing by coming to the Empire but the opportunity of being able to doe as much good as he was willing: so it is the happinesse of our Church, to see such men promoted to the highest Office in it, as aime onely at a [Page 38]power to doe all the good which they were willing to doe before. And as it is happy for the Church, so it is likewise happy for them; for though the Work be as great, as it is good, the reward will be greater. For when the chief Shepherd shall appear, 1 Pet. 5.4. ye shall receive a crown of Glory that fadeth not away.