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A47026
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A farewel-sermon preached to the united parishes of St. Mary Woolnoth & St. Mary Woolchurch-Haw in Lombard-Street by David Jones
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Jones, David, 1663-1724?
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1692
(1692)
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Wing J934G; ESTC R32368
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28,884
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45
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all the Haters of God's People if they did but thus ingenuously confese that all their Hatred against Good Men proceeds from no other cause but their Hatred against the Truth which they profess For as our Condemnation will be the greater for Robbing Widows Houses under a pretence of Long Prayers So likewise to Hate and Undo a Man under a Pretence of Religion and Friendship is the height of Sin 't is to make the God of Love the Author and the Instrument of Hatred and Malice So then 't is plain that Ministers telling the Truth do oftentimes make their greatest Friends to become their Enemies As it is Matter of Fact Now the Question is How this comes about To which I answer thus As Christ who is the Prince of Peace is not of himself the Cause of War tho he accidentally sends a Sword upon Earth So likewise Telling the Truth is not of its self the cause of Hatred but it only proves to be so accidentally I shall explain this by a common and familiar Instance Solomon tells us Truly the Light is sweet and a pleasant thing it is for the Eyes to behold the Sun Eccles 11. 7. And yet take a Man that has sore Eyes and the Light of the Sun is so far from being either sweet or pleasant to him that he shuns it as much as possible and prefers Darkness before it All the Fault being in the Eyes and not in the Light that shines upon them And just thus it is in our case Truth is most sweet and pleasant to the Nature of Man in the state of Innocence the desire of Knowledge whereof Truth is the proper Object made our first Parents to forfeit Paradise and yet take a Man after the Fall in his corrupted state and Truth is so far from being either sweet or pleasant to him that he shuns it as much as possible and prefers a Lie before it He hates the Light because his Deeds are evil All the Fault being in the Man that cannot endure the Truth and not in the Truth its self A Plaister applied to a sound Member creates no Smart all the Smart comes from the Wound And that 's the manner how this comes about And the Reason why it comes thus about is this Every beloved Sin is a Mans Right Hand and his Right Eye and every Minister commands us to mortifie our most beloved Sins And what is this but the same in effect as to wound us in our most sensible Part and to cut off our Right Hands and to pluck out our Right Eyes And what is the usual Resentment of an angry furious and revengeful Man in such a case needs no proof Present Death or a Challenge is the least that can be expected And this is the true and the only Cause of all our Hatred in the World No Men are so much hated and persecuted and reviled as the faithful Ministers of the Gospel are They that would make an excellent Figure either in the Field or at the Bar or in any other Calling are despised as they are Ministers Their very Profession exposes them to scorn Christ himself and the Prophets before him and the Apostles after him were all of them thus barbarously treated Slander Malice Persecution and Death its self was their only Portion Nay further The Hatred of the World is made an inseparable Mark of a Faithful Minister for if he were of the World the World would love its own And the Love of the World is made a certain Sign of an unfaithful Minister For says our Saviour Luke 6. 26. Wo unto you when all men shall speak well of you for so did their Fathers to the False Prophets To have the good Word of all Men and to be a false Prophet is all one in the Judgment of Christ Nay further yet This Hatred that attends telling the Truth has made many a good Man e'en afraid to enter upon this thankless and ungrateful Office It was the case of Moses Jeremy and Jonah Yea and it has made others that were entred upon it to resolve to give it over again or at least to give over their Faithfulness in reproving Sin and to do as other Men did leave their Flocks to Themselves the Devil and the wide World And this was the Prophet Jeremy's Case for says he Jer. 20. 7 8 9 I am in derision daily every one mocketh me for since I spake I cried I cried out Violence and Spoil because the Word of the Lord was made a Reproach unto me and a Derision daily Then I said I will not make mention of him nor speak any more in his Name That is I am so much scorned for telling the Truth that I am resolved to give over Preaching And thus I have shewn you That Ministers telling the Truth do often times make their greatest Friends to become their Enemies Which was the Second Thing proposed And the Third is This It is unreasonable for Men to become Enemies to their Ministers for telling them the Truth For First of all It is unreasonable to find Fault with a thing for doing that which it ought to do For who will find fault with a Soldier for fighting well or with a Musitian for singing well And who will find fault with his Ear for hearing well or with his Eye for seeing well Certainly he must be a very foolish Man that will cut off his Ear because it hears well or that will pluck out his Eye because it sees well And yet just such another Folly are those Men guilty of who turn away their Ministers for telling them the Truth whose Business and Employment it is to do so upon Pain of Damnation And therefore St. Paul told the Galatians plainly that nothing but foolishness and bewitchery could ever have made them his Enemies upon that account For says he Gal. 3. 1. O foolish Galatians who hath bewitched you All the reason they had to hate him was no reason at all 't was perfect Folly and Bewitchery Secondly Ministers are but the Servants and Messengers and Ambassadors of Almighty God and their business is to tell Men the Truth and to tell them their Faults And canst thou be angry with a poor Servant for doing what his Master bids him Canst thou be angry with a Messenger for delivering his Message Canst thou be angry with an Ambassador for doing what the King his Master commands him and he dares not but do upon pain of Death And why then wilt thou be angry with thy Minister for telling thee the Truth and obeying God rather than Man Thirdly To hate a Minister for telling the Truth is a Sign of a Bruit For says Solomon Brov. 12. 1. He that hateth reproof is bruitish And yet they that do so most do take themselves for Men of the best parts and the best breeding and the most accomplish'd Gentlemen of the Age. Again To hate God's Minister for telling the Truth is a sign that
A Farewel-Sermon Preached to the UNITED PARISHES OF St. Mary Woolnoth St. Mary Woolchurch-Haw IN LOMBARD-STREET By DAVID JONES Student of Christ-Church Oxon. Luk. 16. 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And the Pharisees also who were covetous heard all these things and they derided Christ that is they emptied their Nostrils at him The Third Edition LONDON Printed for Thomas â—â—â—kurst at the Bible and Three Crowns in 〈◊〉 and Brab Aylmer at the Three Pigeons in 〈◊〉 1692. Gal. 4. 16. Am I therefore become your Enemy because I tell you the Truth WHEN St. Paul first Preached the Gospel to these Galatians he was Persecuted on all Hands because of his plain practical and powerful Preaching but they were so far from liking him ever the worse upon that account that they neither despised the Infirmity nor rejected the Temptation which was in his Flesh but received him as an Angel of God even as Christ Jesus Yea and they thought themselves so extream Happy in his Ministry that he himself bears them witness that if it had been possible they would have plucked out their own Eyes and have given them to him as you have it at large in the Three Verses that are immediately before my Text. But now all of a sudden we find a great Change in their Affections their Love is turned into Hatred and their present Enmity does equal if not exceed their former Friendship And the reason of it is this There was in those times a Sect of Men called Gnosticks who though they were notorious for all manner of Lewdness and Debauchery did yet pretend to a greater measure of Knowledge than other Men. And these Gnosticks handled the word of God deceitfully and made a Merchandize of the Souls of Men and thought Gain to be Godliness and as a means to increase their Party they tickled their itching Ears and pleased their Fancies and preached unto them smooth things Affirming It was lawful to deny Christ in the time of Persecution and consequently that they might lawfully deny Christ whenever his Doctrin was against their Profit their Pleasure or Preferment in this World the loss of which is usually esteemed by some Men a greater Persecution than the loss of Life For how usual is it to see some Men hazard their very Lives either for an imaginary point of Honour or for the filthy pleasure of a night How grateful this Doctrin was to Flesh and Blood and what a World of Converts it presently made needs no Proof and how contrary St. Paul's Doctrin was to it needs no Proof neither His Epistles his Fighting with Beasts at Ephesus and his other innumerable Persecutions for the Cross of Christ put it beyond all doubt And consequently we need not inquire any further into the Cause why these Galatians who were at first so fond of St. Paul are now become so much his Enemies for says he Am I become your Enemy because I tell you the Truth His telling them the truth was the true and the only cause of all their Enmity against him In Discoursing upon which Words I shall use this Method First of all I shall shew you that the greatest Friends may become Enemies Secondly I shall shew you that Ministers telling the Truth do oftentimes make their greatest Friends to become their Enemies Thirdly I shall shew you how unreasonable a thing it is for Men to become Enemies to their Ministers for telling them the Truth Fourthly I shall shew you that Ministers are not to forbear to tell the Truth though they make their greatest Friends to become their Enemies by so doing And then Lastly I shall shew you that Ministers are not to be afraid to argue the Case with their Hearers but they are by St. Paul's Example in my Text to put it Home to all their Consciences whether they can alledge any other reason why they become their Enemies save only because they tell you the truth and discharge their Conscience in the sight of God as they ought to do Of which in their Order with as much shortness as I possibly can wherein if I shall exceed the usual time allotted for this Exercise do but remember it is my last Sermon and that I have St. Paul for my Example who when he was to take his leave of Ephesus Preached for a long time and continued his Speech till Midnight Acts 20. 7. 9. First of all I am to shew you that the greatest Friends may become Enemies For these Galatians do hate St. Paul now as much as ever they loved him before Paul and Barnabas were extraordinary good Men and extraordinary good Friends they were Fellow-Travellers Fellow-Labourers and Fellow-Sufferers all which had a Marvellous Force to increase confirm and continue their Friendship And yet they fell out upon a very ordinary occasion and the Contention grew so sharp between them that they departed asunder one from the other Acts 15. 39. Holy David had a Familiar Friend a Companion a Guide who did eat of his Bread whom he trusted with whom he took sweet Counsel and with whom he walked in the House of God as a Friend and yet no body knows how even he also became his Enemy and did lay great wait for and did magnifie himself against him Psal 41. 55. Nay and even David himself was not altogether so friendly to Jonathan's Posterity as he ought to have been For that little kindness that he shewed to his poor Lame Son Mephibosheth was not at all owing to his Friendship but to the Oath of God that had passed between them 2 Sam. 21. 7. And not to heap up any more instances in so plain a case St. Peter who loved Christ so entirely as to profess himself willing to lay down his Life for him though all others forsook him became so much his Enemy as to Deny and to Swear and to Curse that he never so much as knew him Yea he became so much his Enemy that Christ himself took him for the Enemy the Devil and said to him plainly Get thee behind me Satan Matth. 16. 23. So true is it that the greatest Friends may become Enemies They may cry Hosanna to the Son of David and then Crucisie him Which was the First thing proposed And the Second is this Ministers telling the Truth do oftentimes make their greatest Friends to become their Enemies For these Galatians that were so much taken with St. Paul became his Enemies for no other reason and Christ is express that the Jews sought to kill him for no other reason For says he John 8. 40. You seek to kill me a Man that hath told you the Truth which I have heard of God And Ahab That Ahab as the Scripture brands him by way of Emphasis for Sinning even that Ahab was so ingenuous as to tell Jehoshaphat plainly that the only reason why he hated Micaiah the Prophet was because he did not Prophesie good concerning him but evil 1 Kings 22. 8. And 't were well for