DA 5133 H65c Hoadly Charge deliver 'd to the clergy THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES FREDERIC THOMAS BLANCHARD ENDOWMENT FUND asi?SKJs;^§;K^s^^^s;s^s^^^^^^e5^j;t';^^;s'S!y^ ( >■ > THE Lord Biihop of SALlSBURTs CHARGE, ^^ In the Y E A R M DCC XXVI Price Six-Pence. A A CHARGE Deliver'd to the CLERGY, A T T H E Primary Vis iTAT ION Of The Diocese of S A R U M, In the Year, MDCCXXVL By B E N J A M I N, Lord Bijhop of the /aid Diocese. LONDON: Printed for J a m e s and JohnKnapton, at the Croziri 'm^t. TauiirChurch-Tar4, Mdccxxvi. \ 3X r; V ^^« CHARGE Deliver'd to the CLERGY, ^c. p'M O U know, My Brethren, that the Re- /afiofi, I now bear to You, makes it my Du. ty, upon the prelent Occafion, to fay fomething to You. And, as this is the firft time of our coming together for that Purpofe : I think, I cannot better employ it, than by call- ing to your Minds, and my own, fome of the molt Im- portant and General Toinfs, which are of equal Concern to You and Mc ; and of the greateft Weight to Us all in the Difcharge of our feveral Duties. And, for this good End, nothing appears to me to be more proper than B L To 89440a C 2] I. To confidcr our felvcs, not only as Chriftians, but as, Minijlers of Chriji 5 and as having particularly devo- ted our fclves to the Service of God, and of the Souls of Men, in the Chrifttan Church. II. To confidcr our felves as Vroteftants i and as Mini- jlers in a Trot eft ant Church. And III. To confider our felves as Minifters in the Church of England, peculiarly fo called, as it is at prefent Eftablifh'd amongft Us. The Divifion of our Thoughts under thcfe Three Heads will be of great Ufe to Us : as it will lead Us more di- ftindly to confidcr the fcvcral Adverfaries We have to deal with, and the true Line and Meafure of our Duty with refpedt to Them ; as well as the \A^cight of our Of- fice, and Our great Concern in the due Performance of it. I. The firft and great Point, is, often to confider that Wc are not only Chriftians i h\xt Minifters oi Chrift, who have voluntarily and delibcrafely taken upon our felvcs a Sacred Office in the Chriftian Church ; and have devoted our felves peculiarly to the Service of Thofc Souls for which Chrift died. This [3] This is an awful and folcmn CoufiJcratiou, which ought to govern our whole Conducl, and fpread its influence over Every Part of our whole Behaviour. As We have chofen this Office, I truft, upon fuch good Grounds and Motives, as will juftify Us, before God, in what We fo- lemnly declared at the firft Step We took towards it, Viz. That \Ve truftcd We were moved to it bj the Holy Spirit of God ; it behoves Us, as much as We value the Favour of God, and our own Eternal Salvation, to take the great- eft Care that No One of Thofe committed to Us, fall {hort of the great Reward which all Chriftians have in their Eye. If fVe be not wanting, on our Part, towards this ; no Wick- ednefs or Wilfullnefs of Others will be charged upon Us, But if there be any wilful Defeft in our Care and Watch- fulnefsj Thofe whoperifh will not perifh without w/r Guilt mixt with their o-jon: and We muft anfwer at the Great Tribunal for our Share in fo unfpeakable an Evil. But not only this. The frequent Confideration of Our felves, as Minifters of Chrijl, will be an infallible Rule of Judgment and Aftion to Us, in every Circumftance of our Office. It will guide Us into the true Notion of the "Dignity of it : And it will lead Us to keep up, in iomc degree, our whole Conduct to that 'Dignity. There is, without doubt, a great and highly valuable 'Dignity in our Office. But it is in vain, my Brethren, for Us to boaft, or fo much as to fpeak, of it, unlefs We underftand B 2 what L^] what it is ; and, after We do underftand it, unlefs Wc live and ad, as if We our fclvcs were fcnfi- blc of it. We muft firft reverence Ourfelves, before We can expect that Others fhould reverence Us : Reverence ourfelves--, — Not by demanding outward Marks of Refpcft ; but by fuch a Behaviour, as will naturally command them, by attracting the Real Efteem of thofe around Us ; and by fuch a Condud, as will convince all who are WitnefTcs to it, that We are in earneft, and know what We mean by the juft Value We fct upon our Office. Our ^Dignity is our nearer Relation to Chrift : And this nearer Relation is contradted by means of that parti- cular FunBion which We have, under his Eye, and accord- ing to his Will, deliberately and fcrioufly undertaken; the Office of helping forward and promoting, in the World, the great End which He propofed in coming down from Hea- ven, and living and dying for Mankind. Now, all Relations to Chrifi, are either our Honour, or Reproach j our great Glory, or our great Shame -, our higher Reward, or our deeper Condemnation ; according as We our felves behave our felves in them. A wicked Chriftian has indeed a wor. thy Name, viz-, that of a Chrifiian : But He himfclf has noDi<^nity by taking upon Him that Name, whilft He con- tinues wicked. He reflects Shame upon the belt Name in the World ; and the Name He has alTumed reflects Shame and lanominy upon Him, whilft He fhews himfelf utterly un- worthy of it. So it is, and fo it muft be, mjf Brethren, with C 5] with Us. The O^ce We have undertaken, is a Glorious Office ; I will fay, a Godlike Office, — to carry forward tlic Purpofes of God himfelf, in the Dircftion of Mankind to his Favour and their own Eternal Happinefs. There is a T)ignityt and an Honour in it, confider'd in this View, not to be equal'd by any of the higheft Offices of this World, deck'd out with all their Pomp and Shew. But Pf^e can have no'Dignity accrue to Us from this Office, if We be fo unhappy as openly and plainly to oppofc our fclves to the mainDcfign of it. The higher the Honour, the greater the Dignity of the Office ^ the more confpicuous will it render every wilful Deviation of ours from it. In a Word, It is impoffible. He fhould have Dignity in Himfelf, or conciliate Refped and Honour to himfelf j who, making the beft and moft glorious Profeffion with his Mouth, is fcen openly to con- tradift it in the Tenor of his Conduct. i/ becaufe Wc may be fure. We cannot err, or wan. dcr from the Truth, or from any thing neccflary, fo as to hurt our fclves, whilft We follow fuch a Guide in the Uprightnefs and Sincerity of our Hearts. And it is our ^uty i becaufe We have made our fclves his Servants and Minijlers C7] Mtnijiers : and, as placed in fuch a Relation to Him, muft be guilty of a great and unpardonable Sin in not doing it. From hence it will appear to Us, that We muft throw off all regard to Our felves, to our own Wifhes or Inclinations, to our own private Opinions and Notions, any farther than as they are perfedly agreeable to his exprefs 'Declarations, And from hence it as plainly appears, that We muft not be the Follo'-juers or Minifters ol Men, in any fuch Scnfe as is inconfiftent with our conftant Uniform Regard to Chrijl and ^/jWill. There is no other infallible Oracle for Us, but This : And This will be fufficicnt for all our Furpofes, if We have no Purpofcs but what become Chriftians, and are fuitable to our Holy Profcfllon. In our Lives and Con- verfations, This is common to Us with all other Chrijlians, that from his Laws, from his Promifcs and Thrcatninc;s We muft take all our Rules of private Behaviour : And We have This to add peculiar to our felves, that, from the fame Director we muft learn efFecIually to be Examples to the Flock ; to cxcell in good V/orks ; and to let the light of thofe good Works fo Jhine before Men-, that They may from them be led to glorify our Father which is in Heaven.. And then, as to our Trenching, and that Great Duty in- cumbent upon Us of inftrucling Others i how can Wc pofli- bly hope to do it, either with Satisfaclion to our own Con- fciences, or with the Hope of God's Favour accompanying our C 8 ] our Labours, unkfs We frame and faOiion all our Teaching upon the Gofpel dclivcr'd by Chriji, or by his immediate 'Difciples from Him ? 'Wc fay. We arc the Alinifters of Chriji \ bcfccching Men, in his Name, to be reconciled to God through Hiin ; and to be what He has declared They ought to be, in order to be accepted by God. How there- fore, can We be the Minijiers of Chriji in this Work, unlefs We take all our Dircdions from Him : when it is fo very evident, that, as far as We negleft to do this ; as far as We follow our own Imaginations and Con- ceptions, or the Imaginations and Dircdions of any other Uninfpircd Men, without comparing them with the Will of Chriji ; fo far, We ceafe to be His Minifters or Servants, and become the Minifters of our own Will and Pleafure, or of the Will of other weak Men like our fclves? And how can Wc teach and advifc and befeech Men to be reconciled to God ; and to behave themfclves fo as to be accepted by Him ; without declaring to them thofe Terms, «pon which alone They may be thus accepted ? And how can Wc lay before them thofe Tertns, unlefs We know them our felves ? And how can Wc pofllbly know them our felves, but from Hint, who alone had Authority from God to propofe them to the whole World, where- ever the Sound of his Gofpel fhould be heard ? You will forgive Mc, My Brethren, if I infift upon this as the Principal of all Confiderations in which We have any Concern. It is in order to imprefs That upon my C9] my but under the conftant influence of which, We may be happy, and go on fecure in the Satisfaclion of doing our Duty thro' every Branch of it. I fhould efteem my felf utterly unworthy of the Name of a Minifter of the Gofpel-, and much more fo, of the Relation which I now ftand in to You ; if, in putting you in remembrance of any Inflanccs of your Duty, I could ever forget this Great Foundation of all j or fhould ever ceafe to inculcate this upon Tou and My felf. That it is in vain we call our fclves the Minifter s or Servants of Chrift, unlefs we take Him and his Gofpel, as He left it Us, for the Rule of our Preaching his Will : and that it is in vain we preach to Men the glad Tidings of Salvation, unlefs We ftudy thofe Sacred Books in which alone thofe glad Tidings are to be found ; and ftudy them fo efFeftually. and with fo juft Conceptions of them, as from Them only to lay before our Hearers thofe Terms of Salvation, which They alone can teach us. And happy will it be for \Js, if We continue conftant to this Rule. It will be our Guide, and our Support, in every Branch of our Office. It will over- rule our Hearts, and Pradice, in every Circumftancc of it. It will be a Fountain of Infallible TiireElions to our Flocks. And it will entitle our felves to the Favour of that Great Mafter^ from whofe Mouth alone we thus feek for True Knowledge. C , II. The L 10] II. The fecond General Point, I mentioned at firft, was, That We ought often to confidcr our felvcs as 'Proteftants ; Members and Minijlers of a Church reformed from the Superftitton and Tyranny of the Church of Rome. And I mention this, to put our felves in remembrance of what Length of Time, and our own feeming Security from Danger, may too often remove from our View ; and yet, what is of great Importance to have often before our Eyes. I would not have it thought, that I intend by this to ftir up any undue Zeal, or Refentment, againfl the Perfons of Any who are Members of that Communion. I think They have the Common Right, with All others, as to their Religious Tenets, (properly fo called) to be treated with Humanity, and to be convinced only by Ar^ gument. What their 'Principles lead to, with refped to the Cinjil Government ; or what their Prafticcs threaten j This is the piroper Concern of the Civil Government. But as to Us, whofe only Concern, as Preachers of the Gofpel, is with their Religion, (which is to be treated by Us with Spiritual Weapons only,) the prcfcnt Confidera- tion will be of a double Ufe. The firfl arifes from hence, That it is very apparent, from the Experience of every Week, and almofl every Hour ; That Thofe of that Communion ceafe not, Day or Night, to perpetuate and prefs all their antient Claims ; that Tlicy watch every Opportunity, aiid make ufe of every [ 'I ] every Art, to Ingratiate, firft Themfelvcs, and then their 'Do£irines, to the Minds of the Unftabic, and the Un- thoughtful Part of our World ; to infufc into Thofe who come in their Way, the mofl: agreeable, but falfe, Notions of their Rchgion ; and to fcducc Many out of the Flocks committed to our Care. From hence, I fay, arifes One Rcafon for our frequent Confidcration of our fcivcs as Minifters in a ^roteftant Church; That \Ve may not be lull'd aflecp, whilft fuch an Enemy is fo'juing Tares in the Field of it ; That we may not be led to think that the antient Controverjies between Us and Them arc of no Moment : but that We may frequently review them in the Courfc of our Studies; and fo thoroughly comprehend them, that We may be ready and prepared to rcfolve the Doubts, and anfwer the Scruples, which may at any time be artificially conveyed into the Minds of our People j and be always arm'd with every thing neceffary to combat the Sophiilry, and to wipe off the Falfc Colourings, of the Adverfary i and fo to preferve Thofe who, without our Help, muft too probably be carried away with the fair Outfide and Appearance of things. AnoTHER Ufe of this Conjideration will be. That, right- ly apprehended, it will prevent Us from giving Thofe fame Adverfaries that great Advantage which they have always made Ufe of moft effedually againft Us, by preferving Us from all Incenjijiencies, in our Arguings and Praftices, as Trotejiants. 1 mean, by leading Us (as it mnft do, if C 2 we [ 12 ] we purfue it juftly and finccrely) to an Uniform Set of Principles and Behaviour; by (hewing Us theneceflity of not Claiming, or Pradifing, Anything our f elves, which We utterly condemn in Them ; and for the fake of v/hich {chiefly, if not only,) Wcfeparated from them. [Viththis, Wc have nothing to fear from any the ftrongeft Attaque that can be made from that Qiiarter, in the Way of Debate or Argument. But without it, I will be bold to fay. They are fo well inftruftcd, and know fo well the Force oiTopics tzkcn from o«r Weakncflcs, and Inconfiftcncies, that it is in vain to hope for much vSuccefs againft them : Not to mention here a very important Confideration ; That All Truth muft of necellity be Uniform and Self-Con- Jiflent. I pafs on now, III. To the laft G^wer^j/Point I propos'd at firft : which was. That Wc muft confidcr Our felves as Minifters in the Church of England, peculiarly fo call'd, as it is at prcfent Eftablifh'd amongft Us. And this I am To far from wifhing to be ever left out of our moft ferious Thoughts, when we are confidering our Office, or our Duty ; that, I think, We are under all the Obligation to the contrary, which the Voluntary and Serious Engagement of Our Selves to this Church can poflibly lay upon Us. I have time only to mention one or t'is:o Particulars under this i/frf*;^ ; which yet will comprehend moft of What may, at another Opportunity, be more largely infiftcd upon. We C 13 ] We have deliberately chofcn, not merely Conformity to this Church, but the Minifterial Duty in it. And if We have acted iincercly in this, as I truft We all have ; This Choicey 1 think, muft have been made, becaufe It appears to Us, (who muft be determined by our o'X'n Judgments, as Others are by Theirs^ after the moft ma- ture deliberation, all things confidcred, to be the moft Unexceptionable and moft Excellent of All which have come •within our View : Or, in other Wordsj TiChurch, in which^ We truly think, We can do GOT), and the Souls of Men^ moft fervice. This therefore. We are obliged, agreeably to our voluntary Engagements, to defend by our Arguments • as Perfons always ready to give a Reafon for the Choice We have made. This wc are obliged to comply with, as to Its Rules and Orders, in all our Adminiftrations i as well as to adorn by our Examples, whilft We continue Minijiers in it. In all our "Defenfes of It, againft Thofc who differ from Us, on each Hand, We muft never forget the Tisi'o former Confiderations, that IVe zicChriftians, and Tra~ tejiants ; and that This Church is a Chrifiian and a Tro- tefiant Church. The View of thefe two Toints will make all our Arguments Powerful and Confiftent. The Meek and Good Spirit of Chriftianity will govern all our Zeal, and give it not only a Beauty, but an Ejfe^, beyond what it could othcrwifc have. And the great Pouudation- £lone C 14] -{lone of iiWTrotcftantifm laid down always for the Ground- work, will probably make whatever Wc fhall build upon it> Uniform and Strong beyond ail Danjzcr. Thcfc Two abiblutcly necclVary Points, will teach us to cndeavour to convince the Judgments of Thole who differ from Us, but not to confound or injure their 'Terjons i and will, at the fame time, ftiew Us the Ofil/ good Method of doing it. I N our Minijlrat'ions in this Church, Our Engagements oblige Us to keep to the Rules and Orders laid down plain- ly and cxprefly in it : Which, as it is eflablilhed by Laixj, has by that fame Law tied Us down to the Orders and Ceremonies appointed in it 5 and indeed, has cffcdually and plainly forbidden all other, befides Thofe frefcribed in the Book of Common-Trayer. These Orders and Prefcriptions, I think, wc are ftridly obliged to obfcrve, as the Rule and Mcafure of our Beha- viour in all the Adminiftrations belonging to our feveral Offices. And this Rule, I truft, (as We ought, fo) We may all follow, as the fafeft : without being cenfurcd, ci- ther on one hand, for not adding Other Ceremonies, Arbi- trary and Unprefcribed ; or, on the other hand, for not omitting or varying Any of Thofe which arc ajp- pointed. We [ 15 J W E muft add to this a Conftant Gate to perform the publick Services of the Church in a Manner that may fhew Us to have a Mind to prefcrve and to conciliate a Rcfped and ferious Regard to them : behaving our fclvcs in all owiAdminiftratmis, with the utmoft Decency and Gravity: reading the 0/^ffj with a diftinft, deliberate, and manly Pronunciation 5 without the Affectation of anything Theatrical on one hand ; or any thing Low, Carelefs, Dead, and Spiritlefs, on the other. And to all We mud add the ftriclcft regard to our own Lives and Gonverlati- ons j That our Conduft may adorn our Profelllon ; that our Gare of our Flocks may be fuitable, in fomc Degree, to our Obligations ; that our Examples may teach : With- out which, all our IVords and all our Treaching, will not, I fear, teach Any who attend upon Us j or reconcile any One of our Adverfaries to the Communion We would moft willingly recommend to Them. And thus I have given You my beft Thoughts, upon- Thofe principal Points, which I propofed to fpeak of at this time. To Thcfe, all other Particulars relating to our Duty in our Fundion, and our Behaviour with refpcft to All around us, (whether agreeing ij:jith Us, or not,) may be reduced ; and rightly judg'd of, from them. But the Time does not now allow Me to fhew this dillindly in the fe- veral Inftanccs which might be named ; or to enter into any other Important Conriderations, as I once defign'd to do ; and [ i6 ] and as I {hall ftill hope to do, upon another like Oppot- tunity, if it (lull pkaic God to bring us together again. And now, My Brethren, having put You, and My felf, in Mind of Thofc General Leflbns, in which You and My felf arc equally and conftantly concern'd, in the Execution of our Office ; Give me leave to add one Word, before I conclude, with relation to that Terfonal Inter- courfe which muft necefl'arily be between Us. And, as to this; I fincercly fpcak it, I deru-eNo7?^^^r^from7//^ ?io.- BOOKS Trintcd fdf J. and J . K n a p t on. BOOKS ivritten by Samuel Clarke, T). T). Re ci or of St. jamcs'j Wcftminftcr. Sermons at Mr. Boyle's I.edures on rhe Being and Attributes of God, the Obligations of Natural Religion, and the Truth and Certainty of the Chriftian Revelation. Tiie Fifth Edition. />;•. Gs. A Paraphrafe on the four Evangelifts. Two Vols. 8vo. The Fourth Edition, py. lis. Three ElTays, on Baptifm, Confirmation, and Repentance, The F'ourth Edition, iiino. pr. bound i .f. or ii6 for 5 /. Seventeen Sermons on feveral Occafions : Particularly, Of the Great Duty of Univcrfal Love and Charity. Of the Govern- ment of PafTion. Diicourfes upon Occafion of the Plague. Of St. Pc'ter being the Rock on which Chrift built his Church. Of the Faith of Abraham. Of Chrill being the Bread of Life. Of the Original of Sin and Mifery. Of ElecfVion and Reprobation, being a Paraphrafe on Rfin. ix. Tlie Prefenr Life a State of Probation in order to a Future Life. That Chrift's Admonitions to his 7\poftlcs, belong univerHilly to allChriftians, 2d Ed. pr.Ss. A Colleftion of Pajiers between Mr. Lcibnilx and Dr. Clarki\ relating to the Principles of Natural Philofophy and Religion. Sv'o. pr. 6 s. A Letter to Mr. Bodzvcl, concerning the Immortality of the Soul, with four Defenfes, i^c. The Fifth Edit. pr. 4 .f. • The Scripture-Dodtrine of the Trinity : Wherein all the Texts in the New Teftament relating to that Dodrine, and the princi- pal Paffiiges in the Liturgy of the Church of England are col- lei^lcd, compared and explained. The 2d Edit. Kvo. price'6 s.. A Letter to the Reverend Dr. Wells, in Anfwer to his Re- marks, price I .(. A Reply to the Objciflions of Robert Nelfor, Efq; and of an anonymous Author, againll Dr. C/^r/r's Scrijiture-Dodrine of the Trinity, £f?r. 8vo. price 4 s. Ja-obi Robaulti Ph\ftca. Latineverlit, reccufiiit, &c. S. Clarke, S. T.-P. Editio ^iarla, Pret. 8 j. An Eflay upon the Truth of the Chriflian Religion : Where- in its real Foundation upon the Old Teftament is fliewn. Oc- cafioned by the Difcourfe of the Grounds and Reafons of the Chrifli.in Religion. By Artlur yjJoUy Sjke,, D. D. Redor of Rayleigh in Eff:x. THE LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. IJHTU LD-UlL '""SEP 4 1970 „i r'.i • ^U.' Form L9-40ni-7,'56(C790s4)444 ^ 3 1158 00871 A^63or i'll'^'l'l1I''1l'''ll''' l"'l Tll'll'l"^ "ll"l'"l D 000 001 152 8 J -