their souls for security of their faithful discharge of their duty. 4. Of all sorts of persons in the world, they have greatest need of dependence upon Christ for light and strength; for their work is far above their abilities, and therefore are they constantly to have their eyes to the Lord for daily supplies according to their need. 5. I find I have great reason to be humbled for my shortcomings in several things; as, 1st, That I have never been so sensibly affected with the great charge the Lord hath put (and I have condescended to take) upon me. 2dly, In that I have not applied myself wholly to these things, nor given myself to word and prayer as my only work. How much of my time hath been. spent in not discharging any part of my duty? 3dly, I have been sadly entangled with the affairs of this life, and my heart is so taken up with them, that I had but little heart to my charge; at least I could not wholly look to these things. 4thly, I have not had that tenderness towards perishing souls, nor such sense of God's presence and matters I have been speaking of. 5thly, I have not so depended for counsel, direction, strength, and a blessing from God: I have spoken in my own wisdom too much, and have not had things so purely from God. 6thly, The duty of particular exhortation much slighted; many means, as private conference, writing of letters towards saving and edifying of souls, have been neglected. 7thly, My conversation hath not been so shining and convincing as became a minister. 8thly, I was many times timorous and bashful, when I should boldly have appeared against sin and for God. For these, with many sinful defects, I desire to mourn and be humbled before the Lord, and to seek mercy through the blood of Jesus Christ.

But, however I have great cause to be humbled for many sinful defects I have been sensibly convinced of, and to flee to the Lord Jesus' blood shed for the remission of sins for pardoning grace; yet I have the Lord to bless, and have great peace and comfort, for not a few things that through his grace I have attained : 1. That the Lord hath so far honoured me, as to call me to serve him in the gospel of his Son, who was educated and placed in

another station in the world, and designed by my parents and friends for another business. 2. That the Lord was at such pains, by converting me once and again, by sore spiritual conflicts and exercises, desertions, lifting up and casting down, afflictions, persecutions, death of relations, temptations, and trials, to qualify me in some measure for the ministry, and that for several years before I entered thereunto. 3. That the Lord did so wonderfully bless the little endeavours I used, and pains I took, for increasing my knowledge, improving my parts and gifts. 4. That I am in some measure not only called, but convinced of my call, to the ministry. 5. That I durst never preach anything to others, but what I had some experience of in my own spirit; that I had myself walked in that way that I directed others to walk in; that I never gave a mark or sign of grace, but what I could say I found in myself; that I never started doubts, or endeavoured to loose them, but by these means and medicines the Lord's Spirit had formerly proposed and loosed them to myself; I only delivered what I received from the Lord Jesus. 6. That the Lord not only commissionated me to preach and cry, but directed me always what to cry ere I preached. Every sermon I preached, I had it with some warmness and life from the Lord upon my own spirit; and I durst never preach that sermon that I was not in some measure affected with in studying before I preached it. 7. That I never undertook the office of the ministry for filthy lucre's sake in the least, refusing money for the space of twelve years, so that I had not a farthing from any upon that or any other account during all that time, but wholly maintained myself with my own estate; nor yet mostly or altogether from pride or vain-glory, but was desirous of the office to honour and serve Christ therein, and likewise to do all the good I could to poor sinners. 8. That my labours were not altogether in vain, but much accepted with gracious persons and others, and efficacious to not a few; and my repute was amongst the best, and honoured more both at home and abroad than I desired or deserved. Common people did repute me and love me, because I spoke to their capacities, and used similitudes;

those that were more knowing had me in esteem, because I was full master of whatsoever I spoke; and many liked me because I spoke of things that were little touched by others, viz., the difference betwixt law and gospel, freedom and absoluteness of the covenant, and some peculiar notions I had, which the most part did relish, but some again did so far mistake as to think I was a setter-forth of new opinions. 9. That I was in some measure endued with all the qualifications needful to a minister, though I had but a small degree of some of them. 10. That my gifts, parts, and graces sensibly increased, yea, and outward estate in the world, since I entered upon the work of the ministry. 11. That as I sensibly found my own weakness and insufficiency to do ought for the Lord, so I have as sensibly found the immediate supply of the Spirit of grace enabling to discharge the duty of my calling in a gracious and comfortable manner. 12. I bless the Lord, whatever were my shortcomings and failings, I never dishonoured my calling by any scandalous sin; my conversation was truly, in some measure at least, suitable to my office. 13. That I was always on the Lord Jesus' side, and opposite to the dragon and his party. 14. That he gave me to suffer for his truth, as well as to preach his truth; and that all the malice of adversaries did never make me change in principle, or comply in the least with them.

A ministerial call is God's command in his word to such as he hath gifted for that employment to serve him in the gospel, applied by the Spirit to the heart inwardly, and found and declared to be such by such as he hath appointed for that purpose, and received for that effect by his Church. 2. The subject of this power is the Lord Jesus, from whom he receives it: but the Church, consisting of spiritual officers and professed believers, are the instru ments of application; the one by election, by which he is made minister of such a people; and the other by appointment or ordination. It is from Christ that all true ministers have their commission but the Lord Jesus, the only chief bishop, appoints servants to see his commission; and, in case they discern it to be from Christ, are to publish the same. 3. It would seem that ministers

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ordaining and solemnly appointing a person to the work of the ministry is much declarative of what Christ doth principally; as it is with an ambassador or herald who denounces war, it is his master who doth it, he but ministerially publishes and declares it, and at most he doth but instrumentally and ministerially denounce war. 4. Yet are not ministerial acts of preaching, ordaining, excommunicating, mere idle declarations, but have an instrumental causality, and are efficacious, producing effects; and hence we hear tell of "hewing by the prophets," and of" the sword of Elisha, which should slay;" Jeremiah is "as fire," and the people "as wood to be consumed." 5. Yet it is not this by virtue of any natural, innate causality in the word preached, or other ordinance dispensed; but the Lord doth make use of the minister's declaration (for in itself it is no more) as a passive mean to do his will by; as a channel is said to convey the water into the sea, though it cannot put forth any active efficacy thereunto. 6. In some cases ministers have authority to preach, either by election or ordination. The want of any of these doth not annul a minister's office, the Lord conferring the power sometimes by ordination as the channel, and sometimes by election. Ordination, I think, makes a minister; or the Lord, by laying on the hands of the presbytery, doth confer a right to preach, and make a minister: and the election of a people doth make a man their minister. 7. As every Christian, who is baptized in any particular church, is baptized in the universal Catholic Church, and therefore hath right to a visible fellowship with it in all privileges; so he who is ordained a minister, is a minister of the universal Catholic Church, and may exercise ministerial acts in any place of the world, may preach and administer the sacraments, and the like. 8. I suppose, therefore, the practice of indefinite ordination is very warrantable, that is, of ordaining a minister, though not to any particular charge, especially in ecclesia constituenda, or turbata, where ministers cannot stay in one place, and where the universal confusion of the Church doth call for help. In a constitute settled church, elders indeed are appointed in every city; for so the first ministers, apostles, seventy disciples, evangelists, were ordained;

so Mr Wisheart, Tindal, Bradford, Mr Patrick Hamilton, and most of our extraordinary first reformers. 9. No unqualified person, that is, no scandalous person, no ignorant or profane man, who is not able in some measure to convince the adversary, can be counted a minister in the court of heaven or of men; for God never calls such in his word to preach, whom he hath not someway fitted for the work; nor doth the Spirit of Christ apply this call to any but to such as are qualified. And if men call any who visibly appear not to be so qualified, as they may, and also too frequently do, it is clave errante; this unqualified, so ordained, is no minister, more than a woman ordained is to be esteemed a minister of Christ: for the same law, that discharges and interdicts the one, interdicts the other. 10. The office and acts of such, as ordination and baptism, though in themselves null, yet they are effectual to godly persons, to whom their "uncircumcision becomes circumcision;" and, therefore, are not necessary to be retracted. The same I say of Popish priests, who are not ministers of Christ; the ordinances dispensed by them are all in themselves null, yet, to such as observe the law of circumcision, their " uncircumcision becomes circumcision:" and, consequently, a Popish priest turning orthodox, and renouncing the great whore, and all antichristian authority, there is no need he be re-ordained. 11. As there is no necessity of the re-ordination of such, nor of the re-baptizing of such as Popish priests or wicked scandalous ministers do baptize; so, I think, the one may be re-ordained, and the other in case of scruple may be re-baptized. 12. There is no true ministry nor true ordinance of Jesus Christ in the Popish Church, nor salvation in it as such. That work and employment, which the Lord doth call us to, is ordinarily that which we find our corrupt natures have most aversion to, and therefore most difficult; for Satan will stir up the greatest opposition thereunto, as we see in Moses and Jeremiah. Therefore that part of the ministry your hearts have greatest aversion to, and seek most to shift, is that to which you are mostly called. (2.) As the foundation and ground of our call to believe on Christ is God's word, making it our duty to believe;

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