sake, whose clergy they are: and thank God that you have such a Clergy among you, as is ordained according to Christ's own institution, and endowed with the same Spirit which He breathed into His Holy Apostles, handed down from them to us, by a continued and uninterrupted Succession; which is the great glory of our Church, and that which you can never sufficiently thank God for: as, considering that by this means you have the Word and Sacraments so truly and powerfully administered among you, that nothing but the extreme neglect of yourselves can hinder any of you from being happy for ever.

But that you may all be so, you must not think it enough that you have such a Clergy ordained among you, nor that the means of grace are so duly and regularly administered to you, but you must exercise yourselves continually in them, otherwise your having of them will signify nothing, unless it be to sink you lower into the abyss of misery. Neither must you use only some, but all the means that are appointed for the begetting or increasing of true grace and virtue in you. For if you neglect any, you had even as good neglect all; one being as necessary in its kind as another, and all assisting one another, in order to the attainment of the end. And after all, though you use the means, and all the means, you must use them only as means; and therefore not rest in them, nor trust on them, but only upon Him who hath appointed them, and hath sent His Holy Spirit to move in them, to make them effectual to the purposes for which they are used.

Do but this, and you will soon find, by your own experience, what infinite cause you have to bless God for your living in a Church where Holy Orders are conferred, and, by consequence, the means of salvation administered, so exactly according to the institution and appointment of Christ our Saviour: to whom, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory, now and for ever, Amen.

SERMON III.

MANNER OF THEIR INSTITUTION WITH US.

SERM.

III.

2 CORINTHIANS iv. 1.

Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not.

THE last public Ordination that was held here, happening upon St. Matthias's day, from his formal and solemn admission into the number of the Apostles, I took occasion to discourse in general of the public admission of persons to serve in the sacred ministry of Christ's Church, which we now call Ordination; shewing both the necessity of it, and likewise the ancient way and manner of performing it. Now, this falling out upon St. Matthew's day, who was both an Apostle and Evangelist, I have chosen this part of the Epistle appointed for the day, from whence to treat briefly of our admission into the ministry of the Gospel here spoken of, as it is now celebrated in our Church, according to the ancient way and manner before mentioned.

But before we come to that, we must observe, that the Apostle having, in the foregoing chapter, fully declared and proved the excellency of the Evangelical ministry beyond that of the Legal, he thence infers, that he and others, with whom this glorious ministry was entrusted, having received so great a mercy, did not faint or grow weary in the execution of it, nor were ever discouraged by any straits or difficulties they met with in it, as being fully persuaded that their faithful performance of their duty in it was a matter of that extraordinary consequence, both to themselves and others, that all the troubles that could ever befal them for it should never in the least dishearten them; but they were resolved, whatsoever came of it, faithfully to discharge the trust

that was reposed in them: "Therefore, seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not."

And this certainly is left upon record, as a standing rule for the ministers of the Gospel to walk by in all ages and places of the world; especially those of our Church who have the same ministry or authority to administer the Word and Sacraments conferred upon them which the Apostle here speaks of, by being ordained regularly, according to the way and manner which the Apostles themselves, by the direction of Christ and His Holy Spirit, instituted in His Church, and with all the care and diligence, with all the decency and order, with all the piety and devotion, that can be used or exercised upon any occasion whatsoever.

But this being what I principally intend to insist upon at this time; without any further preface or apology, I shall, by the assistance of God, run through the whole Office of our Church for the Ordination of Deacons and Priests, and shew the excellency of the course and method she takes for the admitting any of her members into the ministry of the Gospel; that so they who are to be ordained may understand what great obligations lie upon them, not to be either idle or faint-hearted, but diligent and courageous in the discharge of the office committed to them: and all others may see what cause they have to bless God that they live in a Church wherein the Apostolical institution is so strictly observed, and so much care taken in the choosing and ordaining those who are to have the charge of their souls.

First, therefore, that all the pious and devout members of the Church, dispersed over the whole kingdom, may know the times when it is to be done, and so improve the interest they have in Heaven, for God's blessing and assistance in the management of so great a work: there are four set days in every year, all Sundays, appointed for it; and in the respective weeks immediately foregoing, called Ember Weeks, three days are set apart to be spent in fasting and prayer to God, that He would so guide and govern the minds of His servants, the Bishops and Pastors of His Church, that they may lay hands suddenly on no man, but faithfully and wisely make choice of fit persons to serve in the sacred ministry of His Church; and also that He would

III.

SERM. give His grace and Heavenly benediction to all that shall be then ordained to any Holy Function, that, both by their life and doctrine, they may set forth His glory, and set forward the salvation of all men.

Can. 33.

Now whilst all good people are thus jointly imploring God's aid and direction of them in it, the Bishops, in their several dioceses, are considering whom to choose, and examining the fitness of those who offer themselves to be admitted to any Holy Function, either of Deacon or Priest, according to these general rules, which the Church for that purpose has laid down before them. As first, That none shall be admitted Deacon, except he be twenty-three years of age, unless he have a faculty; and every man that is to be admitted Priest shall be full twenty-four years old. That none be ordained, either Deacon or Priest, who hath not first some certain place where he may exercise his function, nor except he subscribe to the three articles mentioned in Can. 36; that is, first, to the king's supremacy, in all causes and over all persons, as well Ecclesiastical as temporal; secondly, the Book of Common Prayer, and ordering of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons; that it contains nothing contrary to the Word of God; that it may be lawfully used, and that he himself will use that and none other; thirdly, to the thirty-nine Articles, acknowledging them to be all agreeable to the Word of God.

And besides all this, none must be admitted to Holy Orders except he can give an account of his faith in Latin, according to the said thirty-nine Articles; and he be able to confirm the same by sufficient testimonies out of the Holy Scriptures. And moreover, except he then exhibit letters testimonial of his good life and conversation, under the seal of some College, in Cambridge or Oxford, where he remained before, or else of three or four grave ministers, together with the subscription and testimony of other credible persons, who have known his life and behaviour by the space of three years next before.

According to these rules, every Bishop in his diocese, either by himself, or some minister deputed by him, is obliged to examine those who come to be admitted into the ministry of the Church and if, upon due examination and

:

inquiry, he find that they are of the age required, have a real Title, subscribe to the thirty-nine Articles, and can give a good account of their faith, and good proof of their sober and pious life; then he makes choice of them, otherwise he rejects them, and lays them aside, as unfit for the ministry.

When any are thus approved of, and chosen by the Bishop to be admitted in to Holy Orders; he appoints them to meet him at the Cathedral, or some parish Church in his diocese, where, after Divine service, and a sermon fitted to the occasion, the Archdeacon or his Deputy presents, first those who are to be admitted Deacons, to him, as he sits near to the Communion-table, in the presence of the whole congregation then present. Upon which the Bishop adviseth him to take heed that they whom he presents be apt and meet, for their learning and godly conversation, to exercise their ministry duly, to the honour of God and the edifying of the Church. To which the Archdeacon answers, That he has inquired of them as to their lives, and examined them as to their learning, and thinks them to be so, even apt and meet for the ministry they undertake. After which, that the whole congregation may be satisfied as well as the Bishop, of their fitness for the office; he requires that if any of them know any impediment or notable crime in any of the persons to be ordained, for which he ought not to be received into the ministry, they would now come forth and shew what that crime is. So that if any of you know any such crime or impediment in any of the persons to be now ordained, it is your fault if they be ordained, for you may hinder it if you will-nay, you are bound to do it, by discovering what objections ye have against it.

From whence ye may observe, by the way, that whatsoever disorderly or unworthy persons are admitted to Holy Orders ye must not blame the Bishop but yourselves, or those that know them, for it. For it cannot be supposed, that he should have the personal knowledge of every one that comes to him for Orders; all that he can do, is to inquire of them, and consider what credit is to be given to the letters testimonial which they bring to him, wherein it may be possible for him to be imposed upon. But they who do not only personally