The Worthy Churchman, or the Faithful Minister of Jesus Christ

John Jackson (1600-1648) was a Westminster Puritan divine with a theological intellect, and tender pastoral heart. What makes a worthy minister of the Gospel? Jackson's work focuses on the stones in the High Priest’s breastplate, as it is set down by Moses in Exod. 28:17-20, and the overlapping passage of Rev. 21:19-20 which concerns the stones seen in the walls of the New Jerusalem. Both the ministry of God’s servants in the Old and New Testaments have certain qualities represented in these stones. Jackson keenly explains these passages to demonstrate that ministers labor after the rich endowments and virtuous habits of grace, which they receive by co-working with God, and they do this by frequent repeated acts of prayer and preaching, to introduce grace into their own soul and the souls of others by the power of God. This work is not a scan or facsimile, has been carefully transcribed by hand being made easy to read in modern English, and has an active table of contents for electronic versions.