they be gifted?" But he saith, « Unless they be sent :" which denotes a lawful call, or investiture into the office. The attorney that pleads at the bar may have as good gifts as the judge that sits upon the bench ; but he must have a lawful commission be- fore he sit as a judge. If it be thus in mat- ters civil, much more in church-matters, which are of higher concern. Those there- fore who usurj) tlio work of the ministry without being solemnly set apart for it, dis- cover more ])rido than zeal, and thev can expect no blessing, Jer. xxiii. 32., " I sent them not, nor commanded them; therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the Lord." So much fi)r the first : the a- postles' commission ; " These twelve Jesus sent forth."
IL Christ foretells their danger, v. 16., " Behold I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves." The apostles were going about a glorious work, but an hazardous work ; they would meet with enemies fierce and savage like wolves. As all that will live godly in Christ shall meet with suffer- ings, so commonly Christ's ambassadors encounter the deepest trials. Most of the apostles died by the hands of tyrants ; Pe- ter was crucified with his head downwards; Luke the evangelist was executed on an o- live-tree ; John was cast by Domitian into a vessel of scalding oil. Maximinus the empe- ror— as Eusebius relates — gave charge to his officers, to put none to death but the governors and pastors of the church. The ministers are Christ's nntcsignani, his en- sign-bearers to carry his colours, therefore- they are most shot at ; they hold forth his truth, Phil. i. IT., " I am set for the defence
4 H
GIO
SELECT SERMONS.
of the gospel." The Greek word, x^aa/, al- ludes to a soldier that is set in the forefront of the battle, and hath all the bullets flying about his ears. The minister's work is to part between men and their sins ; and this causeth opposition. When Paul preached against Diana, all the city was in an up- roar. Acts xix. This may stir up prayer for Christ's ministers, that they may be a- ble to withstand the assaults of the enemy, 2 Thess. ili. 2.
III. Christ gives the apostles their in- structions, whereof this in the text was one, " Be ye wise as serpents, and harmless as doves." 1. The exhortation, " Be ye wise ;" 2. The simile, " as serpents ;" 3. The qua- lification of this wisdom, — a wisdom mixed with innocency, " Harmless as doves."
This union of the dove and the serpent is hard to find. Mat. xxiv. 45., " Who then is a wise and faithful servant ?" On which place, saith St. Chrysoslom, it is an hard matter to find one faithful and wise. Faith- ful, there is the dove ; wise, there is the serpent : 'tis hard to find both. If one would seek for a faithful man, questionless he may find many ; if for a wise man, he may find many ; but if he seek for one both wise and faithful, this is rara avis, hard to find, yet it is possible though not common. Moses, a man " learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians," Acts vii. 22., there was the wisdom of the serpent ; and the meek- est man alive, Numb. xii. 3., " Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth," there was the innocency of the dove. Da- niel was an excellent person, Dan. v. 14., " Excellent wisdom is found in thee," there was the prudence of the serpent ; and, Dan. vi. 4., " The presidents and princes souglit to find occasion against Daniel, but they could find no occasion nor fault," behold here the innocency of the dove. Look on St. Paul, Acts xxiii. 6., " When Paul per- ceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out, I am a Pharisee;" by which speech Paul got all the Pharisees on his side ; here was the wisdom of the serpent ; and v. 1 ., "I have lived in all good conscience before God un- to this day," here was the innocency of tlie dove. How amiable is this, tJie union of
the dove and serpent ! The scripture joins these two together, " meekness of wisdom," Jam. iii. 13 ; wisdom, there is the serpent* meekness, there is the dove. This beauti- fies a Christian, when he hath the serpent's eye in the dove's head. We must haA^e in- nocency with our wisdom, else our wisdom is but craftiness ; and we must have wisdom with our innocency, else our innocency is but weakness. We must have the inno- cency of the dove, that we may not circum- vent others ; and we must have the wisdom of the serpent, that others may not circum- vent us. We must have the innocency of the dove, that we may not betray the truth ; and the wisdom of the serpent, that we may not betray ourselves. In short, reli- gion without policy, is too weak to be safe ; policy without religion is too subtle to be good. When wisdom and innocency, like Castor and Pollux, appear together, they presage the soul's happiness.
Doctrine. That Christians must be both wise and innocent.
I begin with the first, wise ; be ye " wise as serpents."