But though I were to preach the simple truth, and feed the sheep and give them good instruction, still it is not enough unless the sheep be guarded and protected, so that the wolves do not come and carry them off. For what is it that is built, if I throw out one stone and see another thrown into its place? The wolf can very readily endure to have the sheep well fed; he had rather have it so, that they may be fat. But this he cannot endure, the hostile bark of the dogs. Therefore is it a most important matter, if well considered, that we should truly feed the flock, as God has commanded it. _The flock_, he says, _which is among you_,--that is, which is with you, not that they are to lie at your feet. And _oversee them not by constraint, but willingly, not out of love for vile gain._ There he has expressed, in a single word, what the prophet Ezekiel writes, chap. xxxiv., of shepherds or bishops. And this is the meaning: you are not only to feed them, but also pay attention and be carefully faithful where it is called for and there is need. And here he uses a Greek word, _Episcopountes_,--that is, _being bishops_, and it comes from the word _Episcopos_,--that is, rendered in Dutch, _an overseer_, _a guardian_, who is on the watch or look-out, and takes notice of what every one around him wants. Observe, then, how a bishop and an elder are one and the same thing. So that _that_ is false which they now say, that the bishop's office is a dignity, and that _he_ is a bishop who wears a pointed hat on his head. It is not a dignity, but a ministry; so that he who has it should oversee and provide for us, and be our guardian, so as to know what is generally needed; that when one is weak and has a troubled conscience, he should then give help and comfort; when one falls, that he should raise him up, and things of this sort; so that the people of Christ may sufficiently be cared for, both in soul and body. For this reason, I have often said, that if a proper form of government was to be now established, there must in such a case be in one city as many as three or four bishops, who should have the oversight and care of the Church, providing for the general wants.