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Show • Tim.{.•~· Joii'e 3• Whal voice of the spoufe chrifi The voice of one that inllruchrh, and publickly owneth and profdferh fame propofirions of truth: 1 will put both rhefe together bccaufe of their relation to, and dependance one upon another: The Church of God is called the PiU•r and the ground of truth • ~riAot '!I ilp.J,.,.,. Tiit hn9oict.' I !hall not trouble you with ou; quarrel wtth the PWi!fJ about the fenfe 6f that Texr. Protej/am J nterpreters, make it a Metaphor drawn from the actions of men who ufe to hang up upon fome publick pofis, publick ediliJ and Procl4matiolu, declaring the pleafure ofPrinces, or !lares for their SubJects dcmeanours: God hath made choice of his Church as that body of people to which he hath committed hi1 Or11clu 'as that poll or pillar, where he hath hung our to be feen read and underflood, of all what in his pleafure men !hould beli~ve. ·Hence you read of •form offoundwordJ, whi~h Timothy is commanded to hold fJj/, 2 T1m. r. 13. but this form is there expounded, which thou hall he4rdfrom me. The Church is but the PiUar, not the author of truth; every Church of Chrifi doth openly own and profefs the Syflem of Gofpei-Doctrine. This voice rhe Lord defireth to hear, 'jude exhorteth thofe to whom he writes to contend for the Faith once delivered to the SatntJ; which can be'underflood of nothing but the Doctrine of Faith, hence Chrifiians are fo often called upon for unity in truth, to think and fPeak._ the fome th~11g,2 <:or,r. 10. ~o !land fafiln oneSpirir,and to be of one mmd, P~zl. I; .2 7. Pbzl. 2. 2. for there is but one Faith, Eph. 4. 5· No~ th.•s voice of the Spoufe owning and profeffing the truths of Chnfl,_ ts 'nor ~:mly the voice of the heart, owning and profeffing the ·~ $1lh, as ~t hath been revealed by Chrifl, and rhofe infpired by h1m; but·ts. expreffed by inftrH/1ion, whether Preaching or Ca. ~echifing, ( whtch Is but a fpecies of teaching. ) Gregory the great Interprets the :rext of Preaching, ( nor certainly is it to be ex~ lud_ed:) Chnfi defires to hear the voice ofhis publick Minillers tn h1s Church Preaching, that is,opening unro others the truths of the Gofpel, unfolding the mifieries of God!inefs a;d as the ambajJadoHrJ ofCbrifl, inrreating men. to believe and to be reconciled to ~od, To this purpofe are the frequent precepts to the 70 when Chr~fl fent them our, Matt. 1.0. 71 ;ro the Apoflles and their fucceffors t~ the end of the world, Mam 2 8. fo tH~ Apoflle to Timothy, 2 Ttm. 4· 2, pruch the 'lr.rd, be iiiflant i11 f rafon 'and out of fl•fon; yea th~ Lord requ_ires and defires it of every believing Soul, though not rn the pubhck meetings of the Church, yet in the Church, Church, which Is in their houfe ; as Abrab•,. is recorded in the old Teflament, for in]fru/1ing bi1 family; and God command· ed his ancient Church of the 'ftwJ, Deut. 6. 7· that they {hould t1aeb hi1 law1 umo their Cbildrm, and tali{ of them "'ben they Ia~ down, and when-tbryroje up, "'hm they fat in their hou(e, and wa/k,_. etl. by the way; and had it not been a practice under the Gofpel, 1'i111othy had never from a Child k._nown from the Scrifturu, 'l. Tim. 3· 15. the knowledg of them dwelt in his Mother EuHice, and his Grandmother Loil,and was·fo communicated unto him ; and this the Lord defires, yea and out of 011r houfes too : when thor< art converterl, faith Chrifi,Jlrengthen thy bretlmn; Chrifi defireth to hear the voice ofhis Saints, fpeaking to others the things which belong to his Kingdom. This is the firfl voice of the Spoufe, which her betoved defueth to hear, he defireth to hear her voice openly own· lng, avowing and acknowledging the truths of his Gofpel. The 'V'Oice of his Miniflers in it, openly expounding the myfleries of the Kingdom of Heaven, and arguing them into a belief of them, and perf wading them to an embracing ofrhem, and to a conformity to them. The voice of every particular believing Soul in his fiation, to his Family, tQ his Neighbour, opeoing the truths of God to them, in!frH/1ing them in the way of God more perfo/1/y, as Aq11ila and Pri(ciUa did ApoUo1, A~s 18 .l ~. But thts is not all the voice of his Spoufe which he defireth to hear. Secondly, There is vox argumtif, !he hath alfo a reproving voice. Such a voice there is and mufl be in the Church of Chrifi. Timothy is not only commanded, 2. Tim. 4· 2. to Preach but alfo to reprove and to rebu~e. There is a fo•terna comptio ( as the Schoolmen call it) a brotherly reproof, founded indeed in the Jaw of nature, which teacheth us to prevent our neighbours mifchie[ eflabli!hed by the law of God, Lev. I!J. r7. Thor<jhtJ/t not hatetby brother in thine heart, tho11 (7;./t iH any r~~ife rebu!zy thy 11eighbour, and llot foffer fin upon him, efiab!i!hed in the Gofpel. Ijthp brother fin agamft thee, go and tell him of it betwixt thee and him alone, Matt,18.t5. If he heartbee,thoN ba{fwsnthy Brother. There is a pafioral correption, which is the Duty of all Pallors of Churches. To them the precept is directed, 1 Tim. 4· 2. Rrbztk.t ex· hm; you know what God faid to Ezrkjel, when he made hi~ his watch-man. over tbe bo~t]t of l[rael, and the Apofile ufeth the fame Metaphor, when he tells Chrifiians, that their Pallors watch for their Souls ; and the elders of Ephr[UI are commanded to wa!cb, Act. |