affiftance, have a place in the hearts of minifters as well as others, and fometimes rife to a confiderable pitch, and do very much prevail; when fuch advice as this must be needful, take heed, brethren, left there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. There are many instances which might be produced, in which this exhortation would appear to be suitable to Timothy, and fo to any other gofpel minifter, confidered as a believer and a chrif tian. But I apprehend, that the apostle regards him in his minifterial capacity, as a preacher of the word; and is defirous, that he would take heed to himself, as a minister, and to the miniftry which he had received in the Lord, that he fulfil it. It becomes a minister of the gospel to take heed to his gifts bestowed upon him, by which he is qualified for his work, that he does not lofe, but use and improve them; to his time, that he spends it aright, and does not squander it away; of the errors and herefies which are in the world, that he is not infected by them; to his fpirit, temper, and paffions, that he is not governed by them; to his life and converfation, that it be exemplary, becoming his office, and makes for the glory of God; and to the flock committed to his care, which is the other part of himself. 1. A minifter ought to take heed to his gifts bestowed upon him, whereby he is qualified for the work of the miniftry. Jefus Chrift, when he afcended on high, received gifts for men, such as were proper to furnish, and fit them for minifterial fervice; and he has given them to men, he gave fome apostles, and Some prophets, and fome evangelifts, and fome paftors, and teachers: that is, he gave gifts, to qualify them for these feveral offices; and he ftill continues to give gifts to fome, by which they become capable of difcharging the work and office of pastors of churches; and where these are given, they ought to be taken care of. Now, a minister of the gospel fhould take heed to his gifts, that he does not lose them. The gifts and calling of God are without repentance. Gifts of special and faving grace are irreverfible; God never repents of them, or revokes them, or calls them in; where they are once beftowed, they are never taken away; but gifts fitting men for public work and usefulness, as they may be where true grace is not, fo they may be removed, when faving grace never will. This we may learn from the parable of the talents, where our Lord fays, Take therefore the talent from him, and give it to him which hath ten talents. For unto every one that bath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: But from him that bath not fhall be taken away even that which he bath. Wa therefore to the Idol Shepherd, the shepherd of no account, who is good for nothing; for an idol is nothing in the world; who leaveth the flock, makes no ufe of his gifts, deferts his ftation, forfakes the flock; the fword fhall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye; his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye fhall be utterly darkened. All his light and knowledge, his abilities and usefulness, fhall be taken from him. Hence the apostle exhorts Timothy, to keep by the holy Ghost the good thing which was committed to him; by which he means, not grace, but either the gof pel, or the gift of preaching it; grace cannot, gifts may be loft. Moreover, a gospel minifter fhould take heed to his gifts, that he uses them : Neglect not the gift that is in thee, fays the apoftle to Timothy; which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the prefbytery. A minister may be tempted to neglect, lay afide, and disuse his gifts, for want of fuccefs in his work, or because of the flight and contempt which may be caft upon him, or by reason of the rage, fury, and perfecutions of men; fomething of this nature was difcouraging to Timothy in the exercife of his gifts, which occafioned the apostle to put him in remembrance, that, fays he, thou ftir up the gift of God which is in thee, by the putting on of my hands; for God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and of a found mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the teftimony of our Lord, nor of me his prifoner; but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel, according to the power of God'. As if he should say, "Let not that gift which God has bestowed upon thee lie dormant, and be neglected by thee, through a timorous and cowardly fpirit; but boldly and "bravely preach the gospel of the grace of God, though thou art fure to en"dure much affliction and perfecution." Wo to that man, who, from any confideration whatever, wraps up his talent in a napkin, and hides it in the earth; fuch an one Chrift, at the great day of account, will call wicked and flothful, and give orders to caft such an unprofitable fervant into outer darkness, where fhall be weeping and gnashing of teethTM. 66 Befides, a minifter ought not only to take heed that he ufes his gifts, but also that he improves them; and, indeed, they are generally improved by ufing. Gifts, like pieces of armour, through difufe, grow rufty", but the more they are worn the brighter they are.. There are feveral things which have a tendency to improve, and, with the bleffing of God, do improve fpiritual gifts, fuch as prayer, meditation, and reading. Thefe the apoftle directed Timothy to, for the improvement of his mind: Till Lcome, fays he, give attend ance to reading, to exhortation, to do&trine°; meditate upon these things, give thyfelf wholly to them, or, be thou in them; be conftantly intent upon them, that thy profiting may appear to all, or in all things, that is, in all parts of useful knowledge. It is the duty of ministers to stir up the gift of God which is in them. Gifts are fometimes like coals of fire, covered and buried in afhes, to which there is an allufion in this paffage, which must be stirred up, or blown off, that they may revive and be re-inflamed, and fo communicate more light and heat. It is true, minifters cannot procure gifts for themselves, nor increase them of themselves; but God is pleased to give to his fervants greater abilities, more light and knowledge, in the diligent ufe of means, for unto every one that bath, that is, that has gifts, and makes ufe of all proper methods to improve them, fhall be given, and he shall have abundance. 2. A minifter ought to take heed to his time, that he fpends it aright, and does not fquander it away. Time is precious, and ought to be redeemed, and diligently improved, by all forts of men; but by none more than the ministers of the gospel, who should spend it in frequent prayer, conftant meditation, and in daily reading the fcriptures, and the writings of good men; which are tranfmitted to pofterity for the benefit and advantage of the churches of Christ. They should give themselves up wholly to these things, and daily and diligently study to fhew themselves approved unto God, workmen that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth'. They ought not to spend their time in an unprofitable manner, or in needlefs and unneceffary vifits. It is a mistake which prevails among church-members, that they must be vifited, and that very often: if minifters are not continually calling on them they think themselves neglected, and are much displeased; not confidering, that fuch a frequency of vifits, as is defired by them, must be the bane and ruin of what might otherwise be a very valuable miniftry; and at the fame time furnishes an idle and lazy preacher with a good excufe to neglect his ftudies, and that with a great deal of peace and quietnefs of confcience, whilft he fancies he is about his minifterial work. I would not be understood, as though I thought that vifits were needless things, and that they are no part of a minifter's work: I am fenfible, that he ought to be diligent to know the ftate of his flock; and that it is his bufinefs to vifit the members of the church, at proper times, and on proper occafions; what I complain of, is the too great frequency of vifits as is desired, and when they are unneceffary. • Εν τύτοις πατ * Εν πασιν. 2 Tim. i. 6. 3. A 1 Tim. iv. 15. • Verbum aragw@vgger etiam modeste eum officii admonet. Significat autem ignem cineribus tectum excitare, fopitam favillam in flammiam proferre. Aretius in 2 Tim. i. 6. In the fame fenfe as here is the word used in Marc. Antonin. de feipfo. 1. 7. f. 2. Vid. Gataker. Annotat in ibid. 2 Tim. ii. 15. 3. A minifter ought to take heed to himself, that he is not infected with the errors and herefies which are in the world. There always have been, and still are, herefies among men, and there must be; that they which are approved, are faithful and approved minifters of Chrift, might be made manifeft, to the churches, and the world, by their zeal for truth, and against error. And whereas minifters, as well as others, are liable to have their minds corrupted from the fimplicity that is in Chrift, and to be led away with the error of the wicked, and fo fall from their own stedfaftness; it becomes them, therefore, to take heed to themselves. This was the reason of the apostle's advice to the elders of the church at Ephesus, at his taking his leave of them; when he faid to them, take heed to yourselves, and to all the flock:-for, fays he, I know this, that after my departing, shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock; also of your own felves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away difciples after them. Take heed, beware, therefore, of these perverse men and things, left you also be drawn after them, and be carried away by them. Our Lord Jefus Chrift thought it neceffary to exhort his own difciples, to beware of the doctrine of the Pharifees and Sadducees; and to take heed, that they were not deceived by falfe Chrifts, and false prophets. Minifters, of all men, ought to be most careful to fhun error, and avoid falle doctrines; since their feduction may be the means of a greater fpread of them, and of the ruin of multitudes of fouls. 4. A minifter ought to take heed to his fpirit, his temper, and his paffions, that he is not governed by them. The preachers of the gospel are men of like paffions with others: Some of Chrift's difciples were very hot, fiery, and paffionate; they were for calling for fire from heaven to confume fuch who had displeased them; hence our Lord said unto them, Ye know not what manner of fpirit ye are of". One that has the government of his paffions, and can rule his own fpirit and temper, is very fit to rule in the church of God. He that is flow to anger, is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit, than be that taketh a city. But if a man is influenced and governed by his paffions, he will be led by them to take indirect and imprudent steps; and to manage affairs with partiality, to the prejudice of the church, and members of it. 5. A minifter ought to take heed to his life and converfation, that it be exemplary to those who are under his care. Private christians may, and ought to be examples one to another; they should be careful to maintain, or go before each other in good works; but more especially, minifters ought to be examples to the flock. This is the advice the apostle gave Timothy; be thou an example of the believers, in word, in converfation, in charity, in fpirit, in faith, in purity. They u Acts xx. 28-30. 21 Tim. iv. 12. w Luke ix. 55. * Prov. xvi. 32. Y Пposada, Tit. iii. 8. They ought to be careful how they behave themselves in their families, in the church, and in the world; that they give no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed, and fo become ufelefs and unprofitable. This was what the apostle Paul was careful of, with refpect to himself, and his ministry; I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection; I do not indulge, but deny myself. all carnal lufts and pleasures, left that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a caft-away; that is, not one rejected of God, or a reprobate; for he knew whom he had believed, and was perfuaded, that nothing could separate him from the love of God; he had no fearful apprehenfions of this kind;. though he was jealous and cautious, left he fhould be guilty of misconduct in his outward converfation among men; and fo become adon, rejected, and and disapproved of by men, and be useless in his miniftry. Every chriftian ought. to adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour, but more especially the preachers of it; their lights should so shine before men, that they seeing their good works, may glorify their father which is in heaven. The name of God, the ways of Christ, and the truths of the gospel, are blafphemed, and spoken evil of, through the scandalous lives of profeffors, and efpecially minifters. Nothing is more abomina ble than that one, whose business it is to inftruct and reprove others, is himfelf notoriously culpable; to fuch a person and cafe, the words of the apostle are very applicable, Thou therefore that teachest another, teacheft thou not thyself? Thou that preacheft, a man should not steal, dost thou fteal? Thou that fayeft, a man fhould not commit adultery, doft thou commit adultery? Thou that abborreft idols, doft thou commit facrilege? Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonoureft thou God? for the name of God is blafphemed among the Gentiles through you. b 6. A minifter ought to take heed to the flock committed to his care; which is but the other part of himself. There is a mutual relation, a close union, between a pastor and a church; they are in fome sense one, and their interests. are one; so that a pastor, by taking heed to himself, takes heed to his flock, and by taking heed to his flock takes heed to himself. Hence these two are joined together in the apoftle's advice to the elders of the church at Ephefus, Take heed to yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the holy Ghoft hath made you overfeers, to feed the church. Paftors of churches fhould be careful that they feed the faints with knowledge and understanding; that they feed the flock, and not themselves; that they perform the whole office of faithful fhepherds to them; that they ftrengthen the diseased, heal the fick, bind up the broken, bring again that |