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A70206 A sermon on Acts xxviii, 22 shewing, that the Christian religion is not a sect, and yet that it is every where spoken against / by Matthew Henry ... Henry, Matthew, 1662-1714. 1699 (1699) Wing H1476; ESTC R19814 33,478 57

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which its Adversaries have so industriously endeavoured if it had been of Men it had certainly come to naught quickly though they had let it alone but being of God it was to admiration Victorious over all opposition A Sect a Cheat could never have supported it self against so much Contradiction no Human Power or Policy could have kept it up nor any thing less than an Almighty Arm. The continuance of the Christian Religion in the world to this day is a standing Miracle for the Conviction of its Adversaries and the Confirmation of the Faith of those that adhere to it VVhen we consider what a mighty Force was raised by the Powers of Darkness against Christianity when it was in its Infancy how many they were that spoke against it learned Men great Men Books were written Laws were made against it those that spoke for it how few were they and how mean and despicable the foolish things of the VVorld and the Weak and yet we see the Word of God mightily growing and prevailing Must we not needs say this is the Lord 's doing it is marvellous in our eyes The several false Religions of the Heathen with their various Superstitions and Idolatries though they gave very little Opposition one to another but agreed together well enough yet having no foundation in Truth they all wither'd away and dwindled to nothing and after the mighty sway they had born and all means possible us'd to support 'em at length their Day came to fall their Oracles silenced their Altars deserted and the Gods themselves were famished Zeph. 2.11 and perished from the Earth according to that Prediction Jer. 10.11 which is put into the mouths of the Captiv'd Jews to retort upon their insulting Enemies and for that purpose is originally in the Caldee Dialect VVe may ask triumphantly not only where are the Gods of Humath and of Arpad Where are the Gods of Sepharvaim Hena and Ivah those obscure and petty Deities But where are the Gods of Babylon and Aegypt Greece and Rome the illustrious names of Saturn and Jupiter Juno and Diana where are the Gods which our British and Saxon Aucestors worshipped bofore they received the Light of the glorious Gospel Are they not all forgotten as dead Men out of mind and their names written in the dust But Christ's Holy Religion though for some Ages it was utterly destitute of all Secular Supports and Advantages and was assaulted on all hands by the most vigorous Attacks of its daring and most implacable Enemies yet it hath strangely weather'd its point and is in being and thanks be to God in some places in a flourishing state to this day Its cause an opposed but never a baffled cause Let us turn aside now and see this great sight a Bush burning and yet not consum'd and say The Lord is in it of a Truth Come and see the Captain of our Salvation riding forth in the Chariot of the everlasting Gospel with his Crown upon his Head and his Bow in his Hand conquering and to conquer That which was every where spoken against Christianity was like the Viper which fasten'd upon St. Paul's Hand it gave people occasion to think very ill concerning it and to look for its speedy fall as the barbarous people concerning him whom they concluded to be a Murtherer and expected that he should have swollen or fallen down Dead But it hath in all Ages shaken those venomous Beasts into the Fire and taken no harm and so hath prov'd its own Divine Original Let us herein acknowledge the Wisdom and Power of our Lord Jesus who hath so firmly built his Church upon a Rock that the Gates of Hell i. e. all its Powers and Policies and Numbers could never prevail against it Mahomet though he industriously adapted his Religion to the Sensual Appetites of Men whose Reason only and not their Lusts could object against it yet he obtain'd no strength nor interest at all till by a thousand Artifices he had got the Power of the Sword and with it forbad any upon pain of Death to speak against him or his Doctrine charging his first Followers who were to propagate his Religion if they met with any that objected against it not to dispute with them but to kill them immediately By which means that grand Imposture in a little time got some footing in the world and by the same Barbarous and Inhumane Methods it hath been supported now above a Thousand Years And in like manner that great Enemy of the Church represented in St. John's Vision maintains his Interest by causing that as many as would not worship the Image of the Beast should be killed Rev. 13.15 Thus are Errors and false Religions propagated strip them of these supports they fall to the ground of course but on the contrary the Christian Religion was planted and preserv'd not only without but against secular Force recommended and upheld by its own intrinsick Truth and Excellency and that Divine Power which accompanied it The Preachers and Professers of it every where spoken against and yet every where getting ground and strangely victorious purely by the word of their Testimony and by not loving their Lives unto the Death Thus is come Salvation and Strength and the Kingdom of our God and the Power of his Christ Thirdly Let us greatly lament the Folly and Wickedness of those who speak against Christ and his Holy Religion and if we can do any thin● have compassion upon them and help to undeceive them and rectify their Mistakes Surely this is one of the Abominations committed among us for which we should be found among those that sigh and cry Ezek. 9.4 one of those Instances of the Pride of Sinners for which our Souls should weep in secret Jer. 13.17 This is that Reproach of the solemn Assembly which is such a Burthen to all good Men. Zeph. 3.18 Our Ears should tingle and our Hearts tremble to hear the Reproach and Contempt cast upon Christ and his Religion or to hear of it and looking upon our selves as nearly concern'd in Sacred Things we should be sensibly touch'd with the Profanation of them To affect us herewith let us consider 1. The great Dishonour hereby done to our God in the World They that reflect upon his Truths and Ways his Word and Ordinances reflect upon him He that toucheth these toucheth the apple of his eye If therefore we have any love to God or concern for his Honour and have cordially espous'd the Interests of his Kingdom what is an Affront to him will surely be a Grief to us It cannot but be a very melancholly Thought to every sensible Soul That the God that made the World is made so light of in the World That he who doth so much Good to the Children of Men hath so little Honour from them nay and hath so much Dishonour done him by them every day and his Name continually blasphemed