44. And it will be the work of faithful ministers, to save men's souls. But with such various degrees of self-denial or selfishness, as they have various degrees of wisdom and holiness.
45. Many great and piously disposed princes, like Constantine, will think that to honour and advance the clergy, into worldly power and wealth, is to honour God and the christian religion; and great munificence is fit for their own greatness.
46. And because such honour and wealth cannot possibly be bestowed on all, it must make a great disparity, and set some as lords over the rest.
47. And the unavoidable weakness, passions, and divisions of the clergy, will make rulers think, that there is a necessity; that besides the civil government, there should, be some of their own office, to rule the rest, and to keep them in order, obedience, and peace.
48. Ambition and covetousness will abuse this munificence of princes: and whilst that any church preferments are so great (beyond the degree of a mere encouraging subsistence) as to be a strong bait to tempt the desires of a proud and worldly mind, the most proud and worldly that are within the reach of hope, will be the seekers, by themselves, and by their friends.
49. Mortified, humble, heavenly men, will either never seek them, or with no great eagerness; their appetite being less, and their restraints much greater.
50. Therefore they that have the keenest appetites to church grandeur and preferments, and are the eager seekers, are most likely to find.
51. Therefore the lovers of wealth and honour, are more likely still to be the lords among the clergy; except in such marvellous happy times, when wise and pious princes call the more worthy that seek it not, and reject these thirsty seekers.
52. The greatest lovers of worldly wealth and honour, are the worst men, 1 John ii. 15; James iv. 4, &c.
53. Therefore, except in such times as aforesaid, the worst men will be still the rich and powerful in the clergy, for the most part, or at least, the worldly that are very bad.
54. These carnal minds are enmity to God, and cannot be subject to his law. And the friendship of the world is enmity to God. And the honour and wealth of these worldly men, will be taken by them for their interest; and they will set themselves to defend it, against all that would endanger it.
55. The doctrine and practice of humility, mortification, contempt of the world, forsaking all, taking up the cross, &c. is so much of the christian religion, that however the worldly clergy may formally preach it, their minds and interests are at enmity to it.
56. Such men will make church canons according to their interests and minds.
57. And they will judge of ministers and people according to their interest and mind; who is sound, and who is erroneous; who is honest, and who is bad; who is worthy of favour, and who is worthy of all the reproaches that can be devised against him.
58. The humble, mortified ministers and people, that are seriously the servants of a crucified Christ, and place their hopes and portion in another world, have a holy disposition, contrary to this worldly, carnal mind; and their manner of preaching will be of a different relish, and the tenor of their lives of a contrary course.
59. The generality of the best people in the christian churches will perceive the difference between the worldly and the heavenly manner of preaching and of living, and will love and honour the latter far above the former; because their new nature suiteth with things spiritual, and fitteth them to relish them.
60. The worst of vicious and worldly men will disrelish the spiritual manner of preaching and living, and will join with the worldly clergy against it.
61. The worldly clergy being hypocrites, as to christianity and godliness, (like Judas that loved the bag better than Christ,) they will make themselves a religion, consisting of the mere corpse and dead image of the true religion; of set words, and actions, and formalities, and orders, which in themselves are (many, at least, if not all) good; but the life they will not endure.
62. This image of true religion, or corpse of godliness, they will dress up with many additional flowers out of their own gardens, some tolerable, and some corrupting: that so they may have something which both their own consciences and the world may take to be honourable religion; lest known ungodliness should terrify conscience within, and shame them in the world without.
63. This image of religion, so dressed up, will suit their carnal auditors and people too, to the same ends; and therefore will become their uniting interest.
64. That which is but a weed among these flowers, the more heavenly ministers and people will dislike, and much more dislike the loathsome face of death (or lifelessness) in their religion.