Inference 1. If Jesus Christ, who is now passed into the heavens, be the great Prophet and Teacher of the church ; hence we may justly infer the continual necessity of a standing ministry of the church : for by his ministers he now teacheth us, and to that intent hath fixed them in the church, by a firm constitution, there to re- main to the end of the world, Matt, xxviii. 20. He teacheth men more personally, but ministerially. His ministers supply the want
* Augustine wished to have heard Paul from the pulpit, whom he called Christ's trumpet, and God's cloud; so many words, so many claps of thunder seemed tq sound in his ears.
126 The fouktain of life\ serm. ix.
of his personal presence, 2 Cor. v. 10. " We pray yon in Christ's " stead." These officers he gave the church at his ascension, i. e. when he ceased to teach them any longer with his own lips ; and so set them in the church, that their succession shall never totally fail : for so the word sfcro, he hath set, 1 Cor. xii. 28. plainly im- plies. They are set by a sure establishment, a firm and unalter- able constitution, even as the times and seasons , which the Father hath put [sQiro] in ins own power : it is the same word, and it is well they are so firmly set and fixed there ; for how many adver- saries in all ages have endeavoured to shake the very office itself? pretending that it is needless to be taught by men, and wresting such scriptures as these to countenance their error, Joel ii. 28, 29. * I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh : and your sons and " daughters shall prophesy," §c. And Jer. xxxi. 34. " These " shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man " his brother, saying, Know the Lord ; for they shall all know " me from the least of them to the greatest of them." As ta that of Joel, it is answered, That if an Old-Testament prophecy may be understood according to a New-Testament interpretation, then that prophecy doth no way oppose, but confirm the gospel ministry. How the apostle understood the prophet in that his prophecy, may be seen in Acts ii. 17. when the Spirit was poured out on the day of Pentecost upon the apostles. And surely he must be a confident person indeed, that thinks not an apostle to be as good an expositor of the prophet, as himself. And for that in Jer. xxxi. we say,
1. That if it conclude against ministerial teachings, it must equally conclude against Christian conferences.
2. We say that cannot be the sense of one scripture which con- tradicts the plain sense of other scriptures : but so this would, Eph. iv. 11, 12. 1 Cor. xii. 28.
3. And we say, the sense of that text is not negative, but com- parath-e. Not that they shall have no need to be taught any truth, but no such need to be taught the first truths : That there is a God, and who is this true God : They shall no more teach every " man his brother, saying, Know the Lord ! for they shall all " know me.11 To conclude, God hath given ministers to the church for the work of conversion and edification, " till we all " come into the unity of the faith, to a perfect man," Eph. iv. 11, 12. So that when all the elect are converted, and all those converts become perfect men; when there is no error in judg- ment or practice, and no seducer to cause it, then, and not till then, will a gospel ministry be useless. But (as it is well observed) there is not a man that opposes a gospel ministry, but the very being of that man is a sufficient argument for the continuance of it.
SEfcM. IX. THE FOUNTAIN OF LlFE. 127
Inf. 2. If Christ be the great Prophet of the church, and such a Prophet ; then it follows, That the weakest Christians need not be discouraged at the dulness and incapacity they find in tiiemselves : for Christ is not only a patient and condescending teacher, but he can also, as lie hath often done, reveal that to babes, which is hid from the wise and learned, Matth. xi. 25. " The testimonies of the " Lord are sure, making wise the simple," Psal. xix. 7. Yea, and such as you are, the Lord delights to choose, that his grace may be the more conspicuous in your weakness, 1 Cor. i. 26, 27. You will have nothing of your own to glory in ; you will not say, as a proud wretch once said, Ego et Dens metis ; " I and my God did ** this." Jesus Christ affects not social glory, he will not divide the praise with any. Well then, be not discouraged ; others may know more, in other things than you, but you are not incapable C>f knowing so much as shall save your souls, if Christ will be your teacher, in other knowledge they excel you: but if ye know Jesus Christ, and the truth as it is in him, one drop of your knowledge is worth a whole sea of their gifts : one truth sucked by faith and prayer from the breast of Christ is better than ten thousand dry notions beaten out by racking the understanding. It is better in kind, the one being but natural, the other super- natural, from the saving illuminations and inward teachings of the Spirit : and so is one of those better things that accompany salvation- It is better in respect of effects ; other knowledge leaves the heart as dry, barren, and unaffected, as if it had its seat in another man's head ; but that little you have been taught of Christ, sheds down its gracious influences upon your affections, and slides sweetly to your melting hearts. So that as one " preferred the " most despicable work of a plain rustic Christian, * before all the " triumphs of Alexander and Caesar ;" much more ought you to prefer one saving manifestation of the Spirit, to all the powerless illuminations of natural men.
Inf. 3. If Christ be the great Prophet and teacher of the church ; it follows, That prayer is a proper mean for the increase of knowledge: Prayer is the golden key that unlocks that treasure. When Daniel was to expound that secret which was contained in the king's dream, about which the Chaldean magicians had racked their brains to no purpose ; what course doth Daniel take ? Why, " he went to his house, (saith the text, Dan. ii. 17, 18.) and " made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah his " companions ; that they would desire mercies of the God of hea- " ven concerning his secret." And then was the secret revealed * — — — - — — — — 1 ' «
* Si mihi duretur optio, eligerem Christiani rustici sordidissimum et maxime agrcste opus* prce omnibus victvriis et triumphis Alexaudri et Csesaria,
128 THE FOUNTAIN OF LIFE. SERM. lX.
to Daniel. Luther was wont to say *, " Three things made a di- " vine ; meditation, temptation, and prayer.''1 Holy Mr. Brad- ford was wont to study upon his knees. Those truths that are got by prayer, leave an unusual sweetness upon the heart. If Christ be our teacher, it becomes all his saints to be at his feet.