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PUBLIC LIBRARY 1154225

ABTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS. 1899

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ADVERTISEMENT.

T may be necessary to apprise the Reader, that several of the Doctor's Tracts are not included in this collection: namely, His "Differtation concerning the Antiquity of the Hebrew Language, Letters, Vowel-Points and Accents; The Doctrine of the Trinity stated and vindicated; The Doctrine of the Resurrection stated and defended; The Doctrine of Juftification by the Righteousness of Chrift, ftated and maintained; The Doctrine of God's everlasting Love to his Elect, and their eternal Union with Christ; together with fome other Truths, ftated and defended, against Dr Taylor; The Doctrine of the Saints' final Perfeverance, afferted and vindicated; The Doctrine of Predeftination ftated, and fet in a Scripture-Light, against Mr Wesley; The Prophecies of the Old Testament respecting the Meffiah considered, and proved to be literally fulfilled in Jefus; containing an Answer to the Author of The Scheme of Literal Prophecy, &c. Two annual Difcourfes on the Duty of Prayer and Singing of Pfalms; An Effay on the Original of Funeral Sermons, Orations and Odes; A brief Confeffion of Faith,' &c. The reason why these Tracts are omitted, is, because most of thofe fubjects are fully treated of in his Body of Divinity. Either of the above Tracts may be had separately, and if encouraged, will be collected into a volume, like the two already published.

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The Editor takes, likewife, this opportunity of requesting the candor of the learned Reader to excufe any literary mistakes, which may occur in any of the quotations from the dead languages: an apology, which there would have been no reason for offering, had these two volumes undergone the Doctor's last revisal.

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A Sermon at the Ordination of the Rev. George Braithwaite, M. A.

II. A Sermon at the Ordination of feveral Minifters,

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XIV. Antipedobaptism; or, Infant-Baptism an Innovation,
XV. A Reply to a Defence of the Divine Right of Infant-Baptifm; with
Strictures on Mr Bostwick's Vindication of Infant-Baptifm,

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ORDINATION SERMON S.

SERMON

XXXVII.

The Duty of a Paftor to his People.

Preached at the ORDINATION of the Reverend GEORGE BRAITHWAITE, M.A. March 28, 1734.

2 TIMOTHY IV. 16.

Take heed unto thyself, and unto thy doctrine; for in doing this, thou fhalt both fave thyself, and them that hear thee.

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HE part of the work of this day affigned to me, is to give a word of exhortation to you, my Brother; who have been at this time folemnly ordained a paftor or overseer of this church. Your long standing, and usefulness in the ministry, might juftly excufe every thing of this kind, did not custom, and the nature of this day's service, seem to require it. You will therefore fuffer a word of exhortation, though it comes from a junior minifter, fince you know in what fituation we are; our fenior minifters are gone off the stage of this world, who ufed to fill up this place, and whofe years beft became it: Our fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever? Give me leave to address you in the words of the great apostle of the Gentiles to Timothy, Take heed unto thyfelf, and unto thy doctrine; for in doing this, thou shalt both fave thyfelf, and them that bear thee; fince this epiftle was written, not for his fake only, but for the use and service alfo of other minifters of the gospel in fucceeding ages; that they might know how they ought to behave themfelves in the boufe of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of truth. In it the apostle gives a large account of the proper qualifications of the officers VOL. II.

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of churches, bishops, and deacons; and in this chapter defcends to fome particular advice and directions to Timothy, and which are defigned for the benefit and advantage of other preachers of the word, and paftors of churches. I fhall not take any notice of them here, feeing I fhall have occafion to make use of them in fome parts of the following difcourfe; and shall therefore immediately attend to the words of my text, in which may be obferved,

I. A charge or exhortation given to Timothy.

II. Some reasons to fupport it, and engage his regard unto it.

I. Here is a charge or exhortation given, which confifts of three parts :
First, To take heed to himself.

Secondly, To take heed to his doctrine.

Thirdly, To continue therein.

First, The apoftle exhorts Timothy to take heed to himself. This is not to be understood of him merely as a man, that he fhould take care of his bodily health, his outward concerns of life, or make provifion for his family, if he had any; not but that these things are to be equally regarded by a minifter of the gospel, as by any other perfon. Though he ought to be diligent in his studies, laborious in his work, and preach the gospel in season and out of season; yet he ought to be careful of the health of his body, and not deftroy his natural conftitution. The words of the wife man are applicable to our prefent purpose, be not righteous over-much, neither make thyself over-wife, why shouldeft thou destroy thyfelf? The apostle Paul, in this epiftle, advises Timothy to take care of himfelf in this sense, seeing he had much work upon his hands, and but of a weakly conftitution; he exhorts him, that he would drink no longer water, but use a little wine, for his stomach's fake, and his often infirmities; and it is alike true of a minister as of any other man, what is elsewhere faid, If any provide not for his own, and especially for those of his own boufe, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. But this is not what the apoftle has here in view, when he fays take heed to thyself.

Nor is this exhortation given to Timothy under the character of a believer, or private chriftian. There are fome things which are common to minifters, and private chriftians; their cafes, in fome refpects, are alike, and cautions to them. are equally, neceffary: they have the fame corruptions, are subject to the fame temptations, and liable to the fame daily failings and infirmities; and therefore fuch, whether minifters or people, who think they ftand, fhould take heed left they fall. Unbelief, and distrust of divine providence, prefence, power, and affiftance,

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