A sermon preached at the assizes at Hertford, Jvly viii, 1689 by John Strype ...

A sermon preached at the assizes at Hertford, Jvly viii, 1689 by John Strype ...

Table of contents

Title page

To the Right Worshipful Richard Hutchinson, Esq HIGH-SHERIFF of the County of HERTFORD.

A SERMON Preached at the Assizes at Hertford, IVLY viii. 1689.

I.

II.

ERRATVM.

§

[Page]

A SERMON Preached at the ASSIZES AT HERTFORD, IVLY viii. 1689.

By IOHN STRYPE, M. A. Vicar of Low-Leyton in Essex.

IMPRIMATUR, Iulii 22. 1689. C. ALSTON.

LONDON, Printed for Richard Chiswell, at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Church-Yard, MDCLXXXIX.

To the Right Worshipful Richard Hutchinson, Esq HIGH-SHERIFF of the County of HERTFORD.

[Page]

[Page]

SIR,

I Acknowledge it a Satisfaction to me, that this plain SERMON, preached at the late Assizes, found such a general good Acceptation both from the Iudges and Gentry, insomuch, that many of them put you upon obliging me to make it publick. But it added much to the satisfaction, that the subject matter of the Discourse was so well approved by so great a Body of Honour and Quality, as then appeared. Nor does it a little tend to the Reputation of that County, that the Magistrates and Gentry thereof allow so well of Discourses of this nature, shewing hereby their True Affection to the Protestant Religion, and to Christian Peace and Love, and how sensible they are of the singular Mercies and Deliverances vouchsafed by God to this Nation, both in former times, and of late especially.

[Page] Sir, You have the honour to be reserved for the First Sheriff of Hertford-shire, under the Auspicious Reign of KING WILLIAM and QUEEN MARY. And it was your Happiness, as well as your Honour, that you were laid aside from serving that Office the last Year, after you were pricked and published in the Gazette, in the List of the High Sheriffs, as being judged, no doubt, too good an English man, and too true a Protestant, to serue the Turn that was then driving on.

I have, you see, in compliance with your desire, exposed what I preached to publick view, praying God it may be of some benefit to you, and all others, that shall take the pains to read it, for the promoting of Christian Wisdom and Sobriety; and then I have my end. I am,

SIR, Your very much obliged humble Servant,

IOHN STRYPE.

A SERMON Preached at the Assizes at Hertford, IVLY viii. 1689.

[Page]

I SAM. XII. vii.‘Now therefore stand still, that I may reason with you before the Lord, of all the righteous Acts of the Lord, which he did to you and to your Fathers.’

I Come not here to instruct Judges, not to teach Magistrates their Duty: As this would not become me to do, so neither, I presume, do they need it, whose great Wisdom And Gravity is able to direct them in the Businesses that lie before them. Their [Page] Office indeed is as Weighty, as 'tis Honourable, to distribute Justice, to see good Laws well executed, to right oppressed Innocence, to bring Wickedness to Shame; in a Word, to maintain the Kings Peace, and the Churches Peace; a Great and Divine Employment. But where there be Principles of Loyalty, and a Love of Iustice planted in the mind, accompanied with Piety to God, and a grave Iudgment, and many Years Experience; these are far better Monitors than the best Preachers can be: And I am persuaded I have Men enriched with such Endowments to be my Auditors at this Time.

That I may not therefore seem to misdoubt your Integrities or Abilities, Right Honourable and Right Worshipful, nor expose my self to the Censure of too much Assurance and Presumption; and yet that I may speak in some proportion to this present occasion, I have chosen these Words, which are part of the Charge of a great Judg in Israel, of whom the Scripture gives this Character,1 Sam. 7. 16. That he went from year to year in circuit to Bethel, and Gilgal, and Miz [...]h, and judged Israel in all those places: And so you see the Words may be suitable in respect of the Person that spake them. And they were delivered at a very great and solemn Convention [Page] of People, as yours now is; and so they are suitable, in regard of the Auditory, that heard them: And the Matter of them, being a serious Exhortation to reflect upon God's Goodness, and their own Ingratitude, can neither now, not at any time else, be unsuitable for Ministers to preach, nor Christians to hear.

Here, then, we have Samuel, the Judge, beginning his Charge; Now therefore stand still, that I may reason with you before the Lord of all the righteous Acts of the Lord, which he did to you and to your fathers. The Word, which we translate, Let me reason with you, [...] is a Law Term among the Hebrews, & signifies, To plead and contend in Iudgment for some wrong done: And is as much as if the should have said, Let me plead on God's side against you. A good Judg is alwaies an Advocate on God's behalf, and zealous in his Cause. Israel had wronged God, dealt unjustly with him. How so? By sinning against him: For every Sin is an Injury done to God. Samuel now stands, and takes God's Part against them, by shewing them how gracious God had been to them, and how well he had deserved at their Hands, by his Mercies and Favours, expressed towards them; for so the Word, which we render Righteous Acts, [...] often signifies: And by shewing them withal, how [Page] illy they had requited the Lord, disobeyed his Commandments, and rebelled against their Heavenly King.

And that his Expostulation with them, from the Topic of God's Goodness, might make the deeper impression upon them, he descends in the following Verses to enumerate the Righteous Acts of God towards them:Ver. 8. When Iacob was come into Egypt, and your Fathers cried unto the Lord, then the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, which brought forth your Fathers out of Egypt. So that their Escape out of Egypt was one of these Righteous, or Merciful, Acts of God to them.

And then it follows, And made them dwell in this place. This place; that is, The Land of Canaan, where they now were. That was another of these eminent Favours, or Righteous Acts of the Lord.

And when they forgat the Lord, Ver. 9. be sold them into the hand of Sisera, Captain of the Host of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistins, and into the hand of the King of Moab; and they fought against them. And they cried unto the Lord, Ver. 10. &c. And the Lord sent Ierubbeal,Ver. 11.and Bedan, and Iephtbah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your Enemies on every side, and ye dwelled safe. They had Enemies, it seems, round about them, that plotted and combined to destroy them; [Page] but GOD alwaies interposed for their safety: This is a Third Mercy of GOD vouchsafed them.

And upon these three signal Manifestations of GOD's Goodness to them, the Prophet Samuel grounds his reasoning with them: For indeed they were Favours of that nature, that the Iews could not think of them, but they must needs have been touched with a quick sense of the Distinguishing Love of GOD to them, and under what mighty Obligations they were to Him; as namely, to review them again,

I. That GOD had brought them away from Egypt; where they were a poor, miserable, oppressed People, under intolerable Slavery, crouching to an insulting proud Tyrant, who laid unconscionable Tasks and Burthens of hard Labour upon them.Ex. 1. 14. Their Task-masters, saith the Scripture, made their Lives bitter with hard bondage in Mortar and in Brick [...] and in all manner of service in the Field.Ch. 2. 23.All their service, wherein they made them to serve, was with rigor. Insomuch, that it is said, They sighed and groaned, by reason of their bondage. From all this Severity and Anguish did their gracious GOD [Page] in due time give them an eminent and famous Freedom.

II. Another of God's Righteous Acts towards them, was the planting them in the Land of Canaan; where they were not only free from the former Servitude, but lived plentifully and prosperously. A Land therefore it is described to be, flowing with Milk and Honey, fruitful, and yielding all things for their service, use, and delight. And here they lived under their own Laws, in a wise and well constituted Government, having the true, standing, divine Service of God settled among them. Oh, what a blessed Change was this to them, to exchange Egypt for Canaan, the unmerciful Impositions of a Tyrannical Prince, for the sweet and good Laws of their Gracious and Heavenly King.

III. The third Favour of God to Israel, that Samuel here mentions, is not so much one single Mercy as a Constellation of them; namely, Their many Deliverances, after their settlement in Canaan, from their Enemies round about them, that envied their Peace, that were jealous of their Happiness, and that laboured, and contrived, and combined together, either to reduce [Page] them to their old Slavery again, or totally to ruine and root them out: But as often as they rose up against them, so often did their good God appear on their behalf, and by strange and miraculous means sheltered this people from their Malice, and continued their Church, and preserved their State, in spight of all attempts to the contrary.

And these are the Righteous Acts of the Lord, upon which this holy and good man is going to reason with them. This is the Foundation, upon which he builds the strength of his ensuing Discourse. That considering these great Vouchsafements of God, how obliged they were to fear him, and cleave unto him with their whole Hearts: And, Of what an high nature would their Transgressions be, after all this kindness; and, What shame, what sorrow, what repentance would suffice to ballance their ingratitude.

And this is the method of Samuel's arguing with the Iews, from the Mercies of God to them; and, no doubt, it made a very notable impression upon their Hearts: An excellent Platform and Direction this is for us to follow in our Exhortations, and when we call upon Men to consider their waies, and to amend them; We cannot [Page] take a better course, more probable to have a good effect, than this, which the Prophet Samuel here useth; that is, To set before Men the gracious dealings of God to them and their Fathers, what Comforts and Refreshments he hath bestowed on them; what Deliverances and Salvations he hath wrought for them; what visible and remarkable Tokens and Footsteps of his Grace and Goodness they have seen and felt; and then hereupon to argue and expostulate with them.

And seeing, my Christian Brethren, we of this Nation, with the Iews, have received great and eminent Mercies at the hand of God, and with the Iews also, our carriage and behaviour towards him hath been no waies correspondent, I shall therefore at this time follow the same course and method that Samuel here does; and for this purpose, give me leave in the first place to bespeak you in Samuel's very words. Now therefore stand still, that I may reason with you before the Lord, of all the righteous acts of the Lord, which he did to YOU and YOUR Fathers. And here I shall set before you the Mercies of God to you and your Fathers, and then reason with you in the presence of the Lord concerning them.

I.

[Page]

Let me recollect the Righteous Acts, or the Mercies, of the Lord. As for private and personal Mercies, I shall not at all insist upon them, but limit my Discourse only to those that are publick and national, such as have happened to us as a Nation; for such are the Righteous Acts meant in the Text. And here let us reflect a little upon what God hath done for us of this Nation. And upon search and examination we shall soon find, That his Goodness hath been marvellous and abundant towards us. Certainly, whatsoever great things other Kingdoms may boast of, as received from the hand of God, we of this Kingdom have had our share. And truly, I think, if a man should go all the World over, and take an account of every People and Language, this Island of our Nativity would be found to be the Happiest. And tho' doubtless all others have reason to be sensible of the Goodness of God to them in many respects, yet we of this Nation have far greater reason. We have swam in a greater Sea of Mercies, and our Cup hath more overflowed: God hath given more notable and famous marks of his Favour to us English-men.

[Page]It will be convenient to mention some of them, because particulars do more affect; and as Samuel in this Chapter insisted chiefly upon three sorts of Mercies vouchsafed to Israel; so by way of Parallel, I will at this time reduce the Mercies of God to our Nation, under three Heads.

I. The Deliverance of our Force-fathers from the Spiritual Egypt, viz. The Bondage of Popery.

II. The placing us in a good Land, a second Land of Canaan.

III. The Protections that God hath given us, from our Enemies round about us, that combined together against us, like the Canaanites and the Perizzites, and the rest of the seven Nations, against Israel.

I. I begin with the Deliverance of our Forefathers from the Tyranny of Rome, and the bondage of the Popish Religion. A Yoke, which our Fathers, both Kings and People, many a year, had grievously laboured under; when a foreign Bishop had usurped Authority over our Estates [Page] and Liberties, our Souls and Consciences, in that sort, as tho' we had all been made only to serve the ends of his Ambition and Covetousness; and which was saddest of all, our immortal Souls were in imminent hazard, by reason of the wretched Ignorance, Superstition, and false Worship Men were then nursell'd up in.

But the good GOD in due time looked down upon us, pittied our Bondage, and brought us up out of this Egypt, moving and emboldening the Hearts of our Governours to vindicate themselves from the Usurpations of Rome, and to dismiss Superstition and Idolatry from among us, and to set on foot a blessed Reformation from those notorious Abuses and Corruptions, in which our poor Church had been so long wrapt up before. The Scriptures, that shew unto us the Way of Salvation, lockt up before, were now opened: Our Prayers, that were hidden in an unknown Tongue before, made intelligible: Worshipping of Saints, and making Addresses to Wood and Stone, abrogated: The Holy Sacrament of the Lord's. Supper, polluted by a Mass of Fooleries, and Corruptions, and Errors, restored to its Primitive use and practice; and a reasonable Service [Page] celebrated, and Preachers appointed to teach and instruct men, concerning the Contents of our Holy Religion; and Means of Saving-knowledg more and more brake in upon us And thus we were then delivered.

And this Mercy of God will appear to be the greater, if we consider what a small part of Christendome, in comparison, enjoy it beside our selves. God seemed to have picked us out from the rest of the World, to manifest This his Kindness to; for the greater part of Christians still sit in Darkness, concerning CHRIST and his Religion; and while their Priests pretend to keep knowledge, they communicate little enough to them; they tell them, it is enough for them to believe as the Church believes, That they must resolve their Faith into the Authority of the Church: But what the Faith of the Church is, they need not trouble themselves to know, let them but hear Mass and mumble over their Rosaries and their Latin Prayers; let them but kiss a Crucifix, and kneel before a Saints Image, and sprinkle themselves with Holy Water, and arm themselves with the sign of the Cross, and 'tis enough.

This, I say, is the condition of most Christians; but God hath dealt more bountifully with [Page] you my Brethren; He hath given you means of more perfect knowledge of JESUS CHRIST, and of the way and means of Salvation by him.

In a word, We have our Christian Religion, that had been defac'd, blotted, and blurred by Popish Superstition, cleansed from its Corruptions, and restored to us as it was in the Primitive Ages; a most invaluable Mercy and Blessing! so that nothing now remains for us to do, but to live according to the knowledge and means of Grace which we have. And this is one Rank of Divine Favours vouchsafed us of this Nation, viz. Our deliverance from the Bondage and Tyranny of Rome, answerable to that of the Iews from Egypt.

II. Another singular Mercy of God to this Nation, parallel to that God vouchsafed the Iews, is the good Land, wherein God hath planted us. As the former concerned our spiritual Good, so this our Temporal; indeed a blessed Country ours is, a true Canaan, a Land flowing with Milk and Honey. The British Islands were antiently and truly reckoned one of the best and happiest Soyles in the World.

[Page]And here I might insist upon the Fruitfulness of the Land, the Plenty of all things for the Life and uses of Men; the Temperature and Wholsomness of the Clime; the Health and long Age of the Inhabitants; the Manners and Dispositions of the People, who are naturally Loyal and True, Sober and Manly, Couragious and Valiant: For so the antient Inhabitants were reputed to be; and if they are not all so now, 'tis owing to their Sins, whereby many of us have marred and emasculated our Natures.

Moreover, I might insist upon the happy Situation of this Island, walled about with Seas, to defend us from Foreign Invasion, that ambitious Princes may not so easily make Inroads upon us, and bring in their destructive Armies; God hath placed us in a World by our selves, and we were therefore sometimes called, Alter Orbis, The other World.

Under the consideration of the Happiness of our Country, I might likewise entertain you with a Discourse of our moderate and easie Government, and wholesome Laws: Our Kings rule by Law, and are not arbitrary; our Laws are framed and modelled by our own Representatives; and so, in effect, we are under Laws [Page] of our own making. And among the rest of the Priviledges of the English Nation, this must not be forgotten, at this time especially, That for the saving us both the Labour and Expences of long Journies up to Westminster-Hall, the Reverend the Judges leave their Seats there for our Ease and Convenience; and are sent down among us, twice a Year, in these their Circuits, to hear and determine our Grievances, and to do us Right, and to take Vengeance on Malefactors, the common Mischieves of a Country. And thus Justice is brought home, as it were, to our own Doors.

In all which Respects, many wife Men, not only our Country-men, who may be thought to speak partially, but Foreigners, have held the English Government, To be one of the best constituted Governments in the World.

These things I can now but mention; but these, well thought on, will enhance the Value of this second Rank of Mercies, referring to the Country, wherein God hath placed us, insomuch that we may truly use the Words of the Psalmist, The lines are fallen to us in a pleasant place, and we have a goodly Heritage.

[Page]III. There is another Mercy still behind, wherein God hath resembled us to his own People the Iews; and that is, The Protection of our Church and our Land from the Malicious and Unwearied Attempts of our Enemies. Miraculous have been the Deliverances that God hath wrought for us, from Foreign Invasion and Domestick Conspiracy.

I need but mention the Invincible Armada, in the Year 88. when the Pope and the King of Spain, and the Princes of Italy, marshalled up all their Strength and Wealth, and set forth the greatest Fleet that ever the Sea bore, with an intent to invade our Land, to massacre our Persons, and to reduce us to the old Egyptian Bondage again: But here the Winds and the Seas were on our side, and fought for us; and then God shewed strength with his own arm, and scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

I can but name that prodigious and unheard of Plot of Gun Powder, that should have made but one stroke of the three Estates, and cut them off at one blow; whereby both our Civil Government and our Protestant Religion should have been dispatched at once: But this, God, by a strange Discovery, disappointed also.

[Page]And when, of later times, we were embroiled in lamentable Civil Wars, and the Lord's anointed, our Natural Sovereign, slain by wicked Hands, and our antient Government subverted; in due time did the good God take pity upon the sad Estate of these Kingdoms, and brought back our Natural Prince, and restored our Counsellors, as at the beginning, and gave us our old Government again in Church and State. And thus God delivered us then also.

But there are later Deliverances than any of these, fresh in our Memories; wherein our merciful God hath aggrandized his Mercy, and magnified his Goodness to us; namely, in the two last Kings Reigns, when so many Plots and mischievous Projects were hatching and secretly carrying on against us; and of late more openly and avowedly, by our implacable Enemies of Rome, to enslave our free-born Persons, to overthrow our antient Government; and, which was worst of all, to extirpate our excellent Protestant Religion; having also the countenance of Authority on their side; and a powerful standing Army to back them: And they thought, and so indeed did we all, That their Work was as good as done; nor had we [Page] the least Crevise of Hope, but began to prepare for Suffering, and to submit our Necks, as patiently as we could, to that heavy Yoke, which neither we nor our Fathers were able to bear. But, behold! in this very juncture, [...], did God, beyond our Hopes, or very thoughts, raise up another Cyrus to his People, who by a train of Miraculous and Strange Successes, which we ought piousty to attribute to the special Influence of Heaven, recover and restore this despairing Nation to its Property, Liberty, Peace, Religion, and every thing else that was dear and precious unto us; and we have a very fair Prospect, if our Sins and Follies do not prevent, of much future Tranquillity.

And truly, to add this to the rest, It is a Mercy of God, not to be forgotten, that notwithstanding the Iesuites and Emissaries of Rome, have all along from Generation to Generation, from one King's Reign to another, been so busie to overturn us, though they bring up Youth in Foreign Schools, founded on purpose to plot Treasons, and compass the Ruine of our Kings and Kingdom; they have never yet these hundred Years and upwards, been able to effect their cursed Designs: And what is all [Page] this to be attributed to, but the special Providence of God over us? God still blasts them, disappoints them, discovers them, countermines them, makes them false to one another; and we have, blessed be God, a Protestant King, and a Protestant Religion still; such, such have been the miraculous Appearances of God for this Church and Nation.

O nimium dilecta Deo—

O thou Nation of England, beloved of God, too much, beyond thy Deserts.

And thus I have set before you the Mercies of God, his righteous Acts towards us and our Fathers: Thus Good, thus Gracious hath he been, so happy hath he rendred us, so often hath he delivered us, so tender hath he been of us, as if he had adopted us for his second Israel; he hath dealt with us, indeed, as his Children, as his Friends, as his Beloved: How abundant, O Lord, is thy goodness to the Sons of Men? the memorial of thine abundant goodness shall be shewed, and men shall sing of thy greatness: One generation shall praise thy works unto another, and declane thy power.

[Page]And thus I have finished the first Stage of my Discourse, and that was, To recollect unto your Thoughts the Righteous Acts of the Lord.

II.

And now I come to reason with you hereupon, What shall we say to these things? But that my Reasoning with you may be the more effectual, and make the more deep and lasting Impression, I should discourse, if I had Time, from these three Heads.

I. To consider what such gracious Dealings of God, do in all Justice and Equity call for.

II. What our behaviour hath been.

III. To expostulate and reason with you upon the whole Matter.

I. To consider what such gracious Dealings of God do in all Justice require of us: for natural Reason will dictate to us, That there doth arise an Obligation upon us from Favours received, so that in Point of Equity certain Duties are owing to our Friend, or our Deliverer, [Page] or he that hath contributed toward the Comfort of our Life; but above all, when the great God of Heaven and Earth, who is infinitely above us, takes Care of us, and is some waies or other notably beneficial to us; What is Man now to do? certainly his Heart ought to be lift up in Thankfulness to the great Benefactor: His Mind ought alwaies to bear the Characters of the Divine Goodness engraven upon it, as it were with the Pen of a Diamond: And this Sense of Divine Favour ought to express it self by demeaning our selves loyally towards that God, from whose Hands these Favours have fallen; by loving him, fearing him, obeying his Commandments, and complying with his blessed Will, and by devoting and submitting our selves intirely unto him. But,

II. Let us see what our Behaviour hath been: We have been such as have participated, in a large manner, of the Bounty of Heaven, as I have shewn you already; the Paths of God have been all Mercy and Truth to us, and to our Fathers before us. But now, to come nearer to you, What have you done for God? Where has your Gratitude, your [Page] Loyalty been to him? Have God's Mercies made us any whit the better? Nay are we not the worse? Have we not kicked against him, when he hath sed us to the full? Have not the Lives of many of us been such, as if they were led on purpose to confront him? As if we were resolved to offend him? As if we cared not for his Favour? How often have we sinned against God, when with the same Ease we might not have sinned, or have done somewhat that might have pleased him? How frothy and unchristian have our Words and Discourses been? How unjust and unrighteous, and uneven our Dealings? If we have been in Prosperity, how forgetful have we been of him? How insolently have we carried our selves? How have we trampled upon our Inferiors, and oppressed our Underlings? If we have been in Adversity, how unadvisedly have we spoken with our Tongues? into what Indecencies hath our Passion, or Anger, or Sorrow driven us.

But particularly, what little Correspondence have we born towards that infinite Mercy of restoring the true Religion to us? We pretend, indeed, to value and love [Page] our Religion. We speak much of our Happiness in professing it; We shew great Dislike and Abhorrence of Rome and her Practices; but alas! our Lives bear no Proportion to our Words and Professions.

And here I may take up the Complaint that an English Protestant Writer,Tho. Deacon in his Preface to his Iewel of Ioy. in the very beginning of the Reformation, and of Fame in those Times, used in reference to this Matter: ‘What a Swarm of gross Gospellers have we among us? who can prattle of the Gospel very finely, talk much of the Justification of Faith, crack very stoutly of the free remission of all their Sins by Christ's Blood, avaunce themselves to be of the number of those, which are predestinate unto everlasting Glory: But how far doth their Life differ from all true Christianity? they are puft up with all kind of Pride, they swell with all kind of Envy, Hatred, Malice & Enmity against their Neighbour; they brenne with unquenchable Lusts of Carnal Concupiscence; they wallow and tumble in all kind of beastly Pleasure; their greedy covetous Affections are unsariable; the enlarging of their Lordships, the encreasing of their Substance, [Page] the scraping together of worldly Possessions, infinite, and knoweth no End. In fine, all their Endeavours tend unto this End, to shew themselves very Ethnicks, and utterly estranged from God in their Conversations, although in Words they otherwise pretend▪ all their Religion consists in Words and Disputes; in Christian Actions and godly Deeds, nothing at all’ And so he goes on.

This then you see hath been a Charge; that hath stuck on the Protestants from the very first Times of our Reformation, in the Reign of Edward VI and I am afraid those Complaints may more truly be taken up against them in these degenerate, backsliding Daies of ours; I appeal to your selves for the Truth of these things. Thus good hath God been to us, and thus froward and disingenuous have we been to him.

III. And now, in the third Place, let me expostulate and reason with you upon the whole matter: Is it possible, that the goodness of God hath had no better, Success upon us? Have we thus required the Lord, foolish People and unwise? What strange Stupidity [Page] possesseth us, that we carry our selves so untowardly toward the best Friend we have in all the World? Was ever more disingenuity or folly known? Disingenuity, to affront so good a God, to be so base there where we have been so kindly dealt with; and Folly too, in exposing our selves to the Effects of that Fury, that is begotten of Kindness abused.

Let us at last be persuaded to leave these Courses: Oh! be not so weak, to suffer so vile a thing as Sin to impose upon thee? What? Shall I dishonour my God? Shall I displease him? Shall I be guilty of so gross Ingratitude to my dearest Benefactor? And all this only to gratifie a Lust? Shall I sooner listen to a Passion, to a Folly, than to my God? Hath Sin deserved better of me than God hath? Oh! far be it from me. And certainly this Expostulation will take hold of all Men▪ that have any Spark of Ingenuity in them. For these things, that I am now discoursing, touch upon the tenderest part of the Soul, and make a very close Address unto the igenuous Part of it.

I shall propound one or two good Counsels to you, with reference to the present Discourse, and so make an end.

[Page]I. In reference to the Mercies of God in general, endeavour to bear and keep up a quick Sense of them alwaies upon your Minds: Oh! bear about with you these Marks of Divine Love and Favour: The Remembrance of them will be of excellent Use for the checking us in our Careers of Sin, and the forwarding us in the Course of Piety; for a Man can scarcely think of God's Goodness to him, and at the same time play the Villain and the Rebel against him. But on the contrary, God's Mercies will enkindle a Love of God in our Hearts; and if we love him, we shall obey him, and do and suffer any thing for his sake. And therefore, I say, let not the goodness of God depart out of your Minds, but frequently call upon your Souls,Psal. 103. 2, 3. as David did upon his, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name: Bless the Lord, O my Soul, and forget not all his Benefits.

II. and lastly, as to the Mercy of the Protestant Religion in particular, the Counsel I would give you in relation to this is, that we walk answerably unto it; and that our [Page] behaviour be such, as may become it. And there are two things that are great Ornaments unto it, and that will set a mighty Lustre upon it, and indeed are indispensably required by it: The one is a Peaceable Spirit, and the other a Holy Life. Peace and Holiness, which are both joyned together in one Verse,Heb. 12. 14. Follow peace with all men, and holiness; and they are recommended unto us by the most prevalent Argument that can possibly be invented, because without them no man shall see the Lord: seeing the Lord in Heaven, in Glory, being made Partakers of the blisful Vision, depends upon the pursuit of Peace and Holiness.

First, Peace, That venerable, sacred, inviolable thing: Peace, the great primary Law of our Holy Religion; the truest distinguishing Character of a right Christian; the best Prop and Pillar of Christianity. Quid est Christianismus si Pax absit? said Erasmus, What is Christianity it self without Peace? As though it could not subsist without Peace, that there could scarce be Christianity without it. Nay, it is the Happiness of Heaven: There is nothing there but a sweet union of Spirits, and harmony of Souls; and, in a word, it is the [Page] Name that GOD himself is called by, viz. The God of Peace. Heb. 13. 20.

And therefore this is to be preserved sarta tecta, by all the care and means possible. And because our difference in Opinion is so apt to do violence to this Sacred Badg of Christianity, let us take great care, whatsoever our Judgments be, that it have not that very bad influence upon any of us. And to remedy this, either let us sacrifice our private Opinions to Peace, which is of far greater value than our Opinions can be; or, if we do not that, yet by providing by all possible means against disturbances and clamour, and all bitter zeal: And that we may do, partly by concealing our different Judgments, and having our Faith to our selves,Rom. 14. 22. as the Apostle adviseth; partly by complying with, and submirting to the Customs of the National Church, as far as we can possibly, that so far as lies in us, we may live peaceably with all men; partly by being modest in our Sentiments, not confident or stiff in our own Conceits, apt to think charitably of those that differ from us; not fond of a Party, nor crying, I am for Paul, and I for Apollos; nor cherishing Prejudices against all that are not [Page] of our own way. It is a thing of a very bad consequence, and oftentimes falls out to the breach of Christian Peace and Love, that we usually espouse a Side, and then we are partial to our selves, and very critical in espying faults in others, and rigorous in censuring and condemning the Practices of all besides our own Party.

It brings to my mind a Passage, that we read in our Books,Gilbert. Foliot. God. Caral. of Bishops, of a certain Bishop of Lendon in King Henry II. his Reign. This man discoursing one day with a Friend of his, concerning this temper, saith he, ‘When I first entred into a Monastery, I was wont to blame very much the sluggishness of my Governours: When I became a Prior, I would complain of Abbots: Afterwards arising to the Honour of an Abbot, I favoured my fellow-Abbots, but ceased not to reprehend Bishops: And lastly, When I was a Bishop my self, I began to see how much more easie a thing it is to find Faults than to mend them.’ By which he did shew, in himself, the temper of most men, how apt they are to favour their own side, and how diligent to accuse their Superiors, and how ready to be angry with all of a different Order, Sect, or Perswasion. [Page] And withal, upon maturity of Years and Judgment, he gave us to see, how unreasonable and childish this is; and therefore, that it is much better to be of a charitable modest Spirit, to cover some defects that we espy in others, and not to think our selves without fault, alwaies remembring, that There is nothing perfect under the Sun. And this would prove an excellent means for the composing and pacifying the Minds of Christians to one another, and for the promoting of Peace.

Let us then labour after the things that make for peace: Let us seek peace and ensue it, and approve our selves the true Disciples and genuine Followers of the loving and peaceable JESUS, by being peaceable and peace makers our selves. He was of a peaceable Spirit, and underwent much for Peace sake, and was the great Pacificator between GOD and Man; the infinite Benefits whereof, such as the Pardon of our Sins, and the blessed Hope of everlasting Peace, we Christians feel, to our great and endless Comfort; the consideration of which Blessed things, brought about by our great Peace-maker, should make us Friends, and Sons of Peace.

[Page] Secondly, To Peace join Holiness; and indeed the one is a proper Door and Entrance into the other: The peaceable Christian is the only probable Man to make a truly holy Christian. When the Soul is calm, and the storms of Passion and Contention are all lay'd and still; then the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Peace and Love enters. Let not the profession of Christianity serve thy turn, without the Spirit and Life of it. Be very conscientious in all the great and divine Laws of it, Mortification and Self-denial, Justice and Temperance, Humility and Patience, Meekness and Charity, Love and Good-will, subduing our Humours, and bridling our Passions, and bringing our Spirits under Discipline, and framing our Minds more and more to a relish and delight in holy Exercises, to a love of God, to a contempt of the World, to an ardent desire to be admitted into that Coelestial State above.

This is the true divine Life and Spirit, that becomes all the Professors of the Gospel, that should be their chief End, and their great and earnest Care, as they would walk worthy of that holy Name, whereby they are called. And when all is done, after all our talk and [Page] dispute; after all our heats and contests; after all our Books and Writings, there is nothing so effectual to make God our Friend; nothing so much adorns our Excellent Protestant Religion, and better secures it to us and our Posterity: In a word, nothing treasures up so much solid Peace and holy Assurance unto our Souls, as the sincere honest application of our selves to the Practicals of RELIGION.

FINIS.

ERRATVM.

Pag. 23. in the Margin, read Thom. Beacon.

Information about this book

Title statement

A sermon preached at the assizes at Hertford, Jvly viii, 1689 by John Strype ...

Strype, John, 1643-1737.

Edition statement

1689

Publication

Publisher

Text Creation Partnership,

Place of publication

Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) :

Date

2004-03 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1).

ID [DLPS]

A61862

ID [STC]

Wing S6025

ID [STC]

ESTC R685

ID [EEBO-CITATION]

11944947

ID [OCLC]

ocm 11944947

ID [VID]

51308

Availability

This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal. The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission.

Series

Early English books online.

Notes

(EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A61862)

Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 51308)

Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 516:6)

Source

— A sermon preached at the assizes at Hertford, Jvly viii, 1689 by John Strype ..., Strype, John, 1643-1737..

Extent

[4], 32 p.

Printed for Richard Chiswell ...,. London :: 1689.. (Erratvm: p. 32.) (Reproduction of original in Huntington Library.)

Creation

Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford.

Editorial practices

EEBO-TCP is a partnership between the Universities of Michigan and Oxford and the publisher ProQuest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by ProQuest via their Early English Books Online (EEBO) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). The general aim of EEBO-TCP is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic English-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in EEBO.

EEBO-TCP aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the Text Encoding Initiative (http://www.tei-c.org).

The EEBO-TCP project was divided into two phases. The 25,363 texts created during Phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 January 2015. Anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source.

Users should be aware of the process of creating the TCP texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data.

Text selection was based on the New Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature (NCBEL). If an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in NCBEL, then their works are eligible for inclusion. Selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. In general, first editions of a works in English were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably Latin and Welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so.

Image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. Quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in Oxford and Michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet QA standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. After proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. Any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. Understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of TCP data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. Users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a TCP editor.

The texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the TEI in Libraries guidelines.

Copies of the texts have been issued variously as SGML (TCP schema; ASCII text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable XML (TCP schema; characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless XML (TEI P5, characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or TEI g elements).

Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site.