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A93754
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Sermon I. on Phil. IV. 11.
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Stafford, Richard, 1663-1703.
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1698
(1698)
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Wing S5131C; ESTC R233366
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22,642
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26
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there The Lord hath given me that knowledge even from the times of my Youth and the days of my former Years that what I did Read in that Book I should apply unto my self And I remember particularly that above ten Years since when I was in my Chamber and still as it is written Search the Scriptures for in them ye think that ye have Eternal Life John 5. 39. Of which Salvation the Prophets have enquired and searched diligently searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ did signifie 1 Pet. 1. 10. 11. So it was That not upon the outward customary or cursory reading but upon the searching Marke that yea upon the searching Diligently of the Scriptures I found how that the whole Current and Stream of the Promises and good things of God were therein declared and made unto the Poor and Needy For the Needy shall not alway be forgotten the expectation of the Poor shall not perish for ever Psal 9. 18. For the Oppression of the Poor for the Sighing of the Needy now will I arise saith the Lord I will set him in Safety from him that puffeth at him Psal 12. 5. I know that the Lord will maintain the Cause of the Afflicted and the Right of the Poor Psal 140. 12. When the Poor and Needy seek Water and there is none I the Lord will hear them I the God of Jacob will not forsake them Isa 41. 17â— Saith Jesus Christ The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach the Gospel unto the Poor Luke 4. 18. Blessed be ye Poor for your is the Kingdom of God Luke 6. 20. Hath not God chosen the Poor of this World Rich in Faith and Heirs of the Kingdom which he hath Promised to them that Love him James 2 5. There are Innumerable other places of Scripture to the same purpose But Observe here the Limitation and Restriction for the divinely Inspired Apostle doth not here say the Lord hath chosen all the Poor of this World but only those who as the Words immediately following add are Rich in Faith and Heirs of the Kingdom which he hath Promised to them that Love him So that none of the good things afore or hereafter mentioned do belong to such Poor as are Ungodly Ignorant or Sinners Again in the same Scriptures of Truth there are many Evil things spoken against the Rich of the People But ye have despised the Poor Do not Rich Men oppress you and draw you before the Judgment Seat Doe they not Blaspheme that Worthy Name by the which ye are called James 2 6 7. Go to now ye Rich Men Weep and Howl for your Miseries that shall come upon you Your Riches are corrupted and your Garments are moth eaten Your Gold and Silver is Cankered and the Rust of them shall be a witness against you and shall eat your Flesh as it were Fire Ye have heaped Treasure together for the last Dayes ye have lived in pleasure on the Earth ye have Nourished your Hearts as in a Day of Slaughter James 5 1 2 5. Wo unto you that are Rich for you have received your Consolation Luke 6. 24. Wo unto them that joyn House to House that lay Field to Field Therefore Hell hath enlarged her self and opened her Mouth without measure And their Glory and their Multitude and their Pomp and he that rejoyceth shall descend into it Isa 5. 8 14. Now the Scripture saith nothing in vain for all of it even to every tittle must be fulfilled and that Wo which is therein Pronounced against them and hangs over their Head will at length fall down upon them in Punishment and Misery They are inclosed in their own fat with their Mouth they speak proudly Deliver my Soul saith David by the Spirit from the Wicked which is thy Sword from Men which are thy Hand O Lord from Men of the World which have their Portion in this Life and whose Belly thou fillest with thy hid Treasure They are full of Children and leave the rest of their Substance to their Babes Psal 17. 10 14. Then said Jesus unto his Disciples Verily I say unto you that a Rich Man shall hardly enter into the Kingdom of Heaven And again I say unto you It is easier for a Camel to go through the eye of a Needle then for a Rich Man to enter into the Kingdom of God Mat. 19 23 24. Therefore shall the Lord of Hosts send among his fat ones leanness Behold the Lord of Hosts shall lop the Bough with Terrour and the High ones of Stature shall be hewn down and the Haughty shall be Humbled Isa 10. 16 33. The Lord of Hosts hath Purposed it to Stain the Pride of all Glory and to bring into contempt all the Honourable of the Earth Isa 23. 9. How much she hath Glorifyed her self and lived deliciously so much Torment and Sorrow give her Rev. 18 7. The Lord God hath Sworn by himself saith the Lord God of Hosts I abhor the Excellency of Jacob and hate his Palaces Amos. 6 1. Here God whose thoughts are not your thoughts Isa 55 8. declares his abhorrence and hatred against them whom the World Loves and Respects Flatters and endeavours to please Surely Men of Low degree are Vanity and Men of High degree are a lie Psal 62 9. Observe here that Blunt expression and plain English if we may so say of the Holy Ghost Men of High degree are a lie Which seems to intimate forth that that opinion or Estimation which other People have of them or they of themselves as if there were some what in them which were more above or better then other Men is a meer lie and Falshood Yet now our Flesh speaking of those in Debt and Poverty is as the Flesh of our Brethren who were more Rich and Wealthy our Children as their Children Neh. 5 5. God hath made of one Blood all Nations of Men Acts. 17 26. Which includes High and Low Rich and Poor alike So it is in God's account now and as to the future Judgment he will make concerning them Will he esteem thy Riches no not thy Gold nor all the forces of Strength Job 36 19. That accepteth not the Persons of Princes nor regardeth the Rich more then the Poor for they are all the Work of his Hands Job 34 19. O that there were the same God-like mind in my kindred according to the Flesh for as to them and some others this following Scripture is Literally fulfilled in me Our Soâ— exceedingly filled with the Scorning of those that are at Ease and with the contempt of the Proud Psal 123. 4. Indeed it is fit and Requisite that there should be some order and Distinction amongst Men and Women in the World but then on the other hand for any one whatever to have hiâ— Heart lifted up above his Brethren Deut. 17 20. Or to despise the Poor James 2 6. is a Sinful and Wrong extream The Lord seeth not
SERMON I. ON Phil. IV. 11. For I have Learned in whatsoever State 1 am therewith to be Content THE Drift and Design of all Preaching the Word is that People may cease to do Evil and Learn to do well as much as ever they can And inasmuch as a great deal of sin is occasioned through distrust murmuring concerning the exceeding Sinfulness and Provocation whereof ye may read in several places in the Book of Numbers our Hearts fretting against the Lord The Foolishness of Man perverteth his way and his heart fretteth against the Lord Coveteousness and such like And on the other hand that we may finish our Course with joy even when Bonds and Afflictions abide us in every place And the several severe and harsh dispensations of Providence which befall us they being so many Exercises and Tryals whereby God holds his Servants in warfare here on Earth do not move us nor yet hinder us but that we may Nevertheless finish the Ministry which we have received of the Lord Jesus to testify the Gospel of the Grace of God And that no outward thing whatever which shall happen unto Men may hinder them in the discharge of and finishing that work which God hath appointed them severally on this Earth for to do That ye may trust in the Lord and do Good so shalt thou dwell in the Land and verily thou shalt be fed And perform every tittle of your respective Duties in whatever Vocation or Calling Trade or Employment State or Condition of Life God hath placed ye in Come Prosperity or Adversity whether ye receive Good or Evil things from the Hands of God That ye may still in all the several Periods and Stages of your ensuing life whether it be up Hill or on smooth Ground in dirty or clean way drive at these two ends eschew Evil and do Good bearing the same still in Mind and Practising the same These and such like are the reasons of my choice to Discourse on this Subject For I have Learned in whatsoever State I am in therewith to be Content They are the Words of St. Paul which he brings in upon the occasion of an Act of Liberality which the Philippians shewed towards him which they would have done before but they lacked opportunity and at last they did it Thus much is signified from those words immediately foregoing our Text. But I rejoyced in the Lord Greath that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again wherein ye also were careful but ye lacked opportunity No that I speak in respect of want Which words do carry an Innuendo Intimation or Meaning tho he doth not affirm it plainly through modesty and shame by Nature which doth usually accompany that condition of his want Or rather he doth afterwards so express himself that whaâ— would be want to others was none to him Because by this excellent Grace of Contentation he had so made it that want was as it were no want unto him Not that I speak in respect of want Why should he use this Phrasâ— and Manner of Speech unless there was something in it In verse 16. He speaks out plainly Ye sent once and agaiâ— unto my necessity For I have Learned in whatsoever Statâ— I am in therewith to be Content Brethren It is no new or strange thing for the Saint and Servants of God to be in Want Need or Poverty for this is what happened to others of former Generationâ— and in other Countreys A remarkable Instance and Example whereof was the Apostle Paul as he giveth us herâ— to understand as also in other places of his Epistles Noâ— there cried a certain Woman of the Wives of the Sons of the Prophets unto Elisha saying thy Servant my Husband iâ— Dead and thou knowest that thy Servant did fear the Lord and the Creditor is come to take unto him my two Sons to be Bondmen whereupon Elisha did work a Miracle to pay that debt 2 Kings 4. 1. Here was one that did fear the Lord and yet was in debt The time would fail me to tell of all those his Servants and Prophets that were under the Old Testament Dispensation of Christ and the Apostles and the Poor Saints to whom it is said in an eminent manner the Gospel is Preached who have been since that time in the World who were but Poor and Low in Estate as to this Worlds Goods The Patriarke Jacob was hardly put to his shifts and yet he found sustenance by the Providence or providing of Almighty God which he doth intimate and most thankfully acknowledge upon his Death Bed God before whom my Fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk the God which fed me all along unto this Day Gen. 48. 15. This answered unto that Vow which he Vowed in the times of his Travels and Pilgrimage we read in Gen. 28. 20. If God will be with me in the way that I go and will give me Bread to Eat and Raiment to put on so that I come again to my Fathers House in Peace then shall the Lord be my God Which kind of Expression then uttered did carry with it some kind of fear and distrust as also therein was contained Prayer Trust and Confidence The Patriarke Goes on to add The Angel which redeemed me from all Evil Gen. 48. 16. Notwithstanding his saying of this Nevertheless he did meet with Afflictions and Weariness But the Angel of the Lord even at the very same time did preserve him from the Evil of those Afflictions and afterwards redeemed him utterly from the afflictions and troubles themselves Here it may be asked What is the Evil of Afflictions It is either sin or to be made miserable by them which the true Saint or Servant of God is not nor yet doth he give way unto the other in whatever affliction doth befall or happen unto him It is an excellent Character that is left recorded of Job that amidst all his Griefs and Calamities In all this Job sinned not nor charged God foolishly Job 1. 22. And so it is with every one of us that do serve and fear him God doth not so much preserve us from Afflictions and Troubles for he doth suffer yea and order them to fall upon us But then it is that he doth redeem us from all Evil when amidst and under the Pain Smart and Vexation of them In all this we sin not nor yet leave Duty undone nor yet charge God foolishly So that no hard thoughts do arise in our minds nor yet do our hearts fret against the Lord. But even unto this day when Moses is Read and so it is at this Day when the Gospel of Christ is Read the Veil is upon their Heart 2 Cor. 3. 15. Seeing many things but thou observest not Isa 42 20. And so People read many things in the Scriptures the Book of the Lord but they Observe them not They do not confer experiences in their own Souls and commune and search with their own Spirit how it is