tlse 1, It informeth us of four things : —
1. The excellency and dignity of the ministry. They are Christ's ambassadors ; they are sent, not as a post or letter-carrier, but as honourable messengers. An ambassador usually is one of the nobi- lity, sent by a prince, or the supreme power of a nation ; not to private men, but to their fellow-princes or states ; not upon a light cause, but to treat of matters of moment ; and not in a low or base manner, but with an equipage and pomp answerable to the dignity of him that sendeth. Or, in short, an ambassador is an eminent person, sent from some chief prince, with dignity and authority to transact affairs of the greatest moment ; and because he representeth the person from whom he is sent, therefore credit and honour is to be given to him suitable to his place and office. Now the greater the king or poten- tate is from whom he is sent, the more honour is done him ; if from an emperor, it is more honour than from an ordinary prince ; and the greater and more welcome the business is, still the greater honour. If the nature of the business be to require satisfaction for injuries, to denounce war, yet still he is respected according to his place; but if it be a matter of peace, he is more welcome ; or if it be to establish a cor- lespondence of traffic between nation and nation, much more if it be about a treaty of marringe, and to propound terms of the highest amity and friendship, he is much more respected ; and yet more especially if the state or prince to whom he is sent be inferior to the other that sent him. Now these are the terms upon which the
VeR. 18.] SERMONS UPON JOHN XVII. 485
ministers of the gospel are sent ; tbey are Christ's ambassadors, they are sent from the greatest monarch that ever was, from Christ, who is the King of kings and Lord of lords ; and they are sent to miserable and wretched men, to rebels to the crown of heaven ; and their message is not to denounce war, but to propose terms of friendship and amity, to tell you that God is willing to be reconciled to, and to be at peace with, his creatures. Oh ! * how beautiful upon the mountains should their feet be that publish such glad tidings ! ' Isa. Hi. 7. It is an allusion to the dirty feet of travellers, that come about weighty business ; the dirt of the journey doth not render them defiled, but beautiful. Nay, this is not all ; they are furnished with authority, with power of binding and loosing, of remitting and retaining sins : John ii. 23, ' Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them ; and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained.' To them are given the keys of the kingdom of heaven, to open and shut ; not as they please, but so as the Lord ratifies their regular proceedings in the court of heaven. They have a power, in God's name, to take up the controversy between God and you, and they bear God's name, that is, represent his person. And they are set forth with an answerable equipage, with plentiful gifts of the Holy Ghost, which are, as it were, their letters of credence, with gifts of knowledge, experience, and comfort, above the ordinary sort of christians.
2. It informeth us of the duty of the ministry, as well as their dignity ; their duty both in their life and conversation, and in their ministry and calling.
[1.] In their life and conversation. Kemember the gravity and state of ambassadors ; you represent Christ's person, and you must be examples and patterns to others. You should not be guilty of levity, or be given to the pomp and vanities of the world, as others are ; not only that you may not disparage your ministry, and hinder the ends of it, but that you may the better represent tlie person of him that hath sent you, and not disgrace Christ. An im2)rudent, vain, carnal minister is a disgrace to Jesus Christ: 2 Cor. iii. 18, ' We all with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of our God.' Principally that text concerns ministers ; so Beza, Calvin, and others expound it ; for there he is comparing the ministry of the New Testament with the ministry of the legal dispensation ; that as Moses, by conversing with God, his face shone, so ministers of the gospel have their glory too ; by conversing with Christ, they carry away his image. So that a minister should be a representative of Christ. It is a spiritual dignity, not a temporal, to be Christ's ambassadors ; and therefore you must excel, not in place only, but in grace: 1 Tim. iv. 12, ' Let no man despise thy youth, but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.' This is the duty of a minister, to appear like Christ's deputy, just as he was in the world. This will make way for your esteem, though young for age, and mean in birth and estate. The apostle doth not write to others, and say, ' See you do not despise Timothy ; ' but he writes to Timothy, 'Let no man despise thee.' Our disesteem cometh from ourselves, when we let fall the majesty of our conversations. Well,