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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A90810	A sermon preached before the religious societies in St. Michael's Church Dublin. September the 25th. 1698. / by Thomas Pollard ...	Pollard, Thomas.	1698 (1698)	Wing P2777; ESTC R181919	10,628	20

A SERMON Preached before the RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES IN St. MICHAEL's CHURCH DUBLIN September the 25th 1698. By Thomas Pollard Minister of St. Peter's Dublin DUBLIN Printed by and for Joseph Ray Bookseller in Skinner-row over against the Tholsel MDCXCVIII TO THE Religious Societies IN DUBLIN BRETHREN THô I was ready at your Request to Preach this Sermon yet I must confess I was not so willing to make it Publick as conscious to my self how much so great and useful a Subject must suffer through the Weakness of the Manager But when your desires came back't with his Grace's Commands it was no longer fit for me to dispute the matter I am very sensible that besides the Exceptions that may be justly taken against the Imperfections of this Discourse many Objections will be rais'd against the Argument it self which is likely to find the same ill Usage for Encouraging that you have allready met with for Endeavouring a Reformation But if the Publishing this Sermon may prove either useful to You or Beneficial to others I shall very little Regard the Censures of ill Men who as they are Enemies to Virtue so they will be sure to be to all that shall abett it To Direct and Encourage the Good Work you have so successfully begun viz. The beating down the Body of Sin and putting some stop to that I orrent of open Lewdness and Prophaneness which for some time past has been breaking in upon us was the great design of this Discourse and if it may Influence and Inspirit any of us in so Generous an Undertaking I shall think my Time and my Labour well laid out And that GOD's Blessing may allways accompany your Endeavours and mine in this Charitable Attempt is the hearty Prayer of You Affectionate humble Servant Thomas Pollard A SERMON Preach'd before the Societies in St. Michael's Church Dublin September the 25th 1698. The 19th of Leviticus in the latter part of the 17th verse Thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy Neighbour and not suffer Sin upon him The whole Verse runs thus Thou shalt not hate thy Brother in thine heart thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy Neighbour and not suffer Sin upon him THese words recommend a duty as difficult to the Performer as unwelcom to the Receiver and that is Brotherly Admonition and Reproof for whosoever shall attempt it tho' in the greatest kindness to Mens Souls is in danger not only of being accounted but of being treated as their Enemy because he tells them the truth 'T was a work difficult enough for a Prophet and we find God himself intimating as if there were but few qualified for so generous an undertaking Isaiah 6.8 And I heard the Voice of the Lord saying whom shall I send and who will go for Us Implying that it was no easie matter to find a well qualified and willing Person and tho' the Prophet Isaiah was prepared and ready at that time to undertake the Imployment yet we find the Prophet Jeremiah something backward bewailing himself and complaining of the hardship of the Duty Saying Wo is me my Mother that thou hast born me a Man of strife and a Man of Contention to the whole Earth Jer. 15.10 And therefore to arm him against all dangers and difficulty of the undertaking God does not only chear him up but threaten him too Thou therefore gird up thy Loins i. e. rouze up thy Spirits and thy Courage and arise speak to them all that I commanded thee be not dismayed at their Faces lest I Confound thee before them Jer. 1st 17. And whether they would hear or whether they would forbear God oblig'd him to discharge this necessary tho' unwelcome office towards them And with the same caution God arms Ezekiel upon the like occasion And thou son of man be not afraid of their words tho' Briers and Thorns be with thee i. e. tho' this people be as Briers and Thorns which shall prick and wound thy Soul And tho' thou dost dwell among Scorpions be not afraid of their words nor be dismayed at their looks Ezek. 2.6 And if a Commission'd Prophet was to expect such Treatment when he was sent by God to rebuke a wicked Nation how much rougher usage must a private Person look for when he undertakes to Reprove a wicked and licentious People and to reform those Vices which by a long and general Practice and Indulgence are not only grown fashionable but have gotten Credit and Power in the World insomuch that he that dares attempt a Reformation must look for nothing less than to be torn with Briers and Thorns and to be the object of all the Venom that the Tongues of these wicked Scorpions can spit against him but God that knew the danger does not excuse from the duty but lays his commands peremptorily thus Thou shalt in any wise Rebuke thy Neighbour c. And tho' this Precept was given under the Law yet it is of that Moral Obligation that it is not superseded but rather reinforced by the Gospel Dispensation I shall not at present confine these words as some understand them in Relation only to the former part of the Verse Thou shalt not hate thy Brother in thine heart i. e. Thou shalt not bear any private Malice or Grudge against him and smother it in thy breast as Absolom did against his Brother Amnon for the Text says He spake unto him neither good nor bad and gives this as the reason For Absolom hated Amnon 2 Sam. 13.22 But thou shalt make known the cause of the Difference and Displeasure and shalt in any wise plainly rebuke him for it Tho' this be an excellent duty and may prove the prevention of many great and grievous Evils yet I shall at this time treat of these words in a greater Latitude even as they respect Sin in general and not only some trespass committed against our selves And in handling of them in this larger sense I shall follow this method 1. I will endeavour to make it appear that it is the Duty of a private Christian as much as in him lies to Reprove and Reform Sin in his Neighbour 2. I shall shew you the manner how this duty is to be perform'd 3. The Motives and Reasons that may encourage him in so difficult a performance 1. I shall endeavour to make it appear that it is the duty of a private Christian as much as in him lies to Reprove and Reform Sin in his Neighbour To prevent Sin and destroy the works of the Devil is so Noble and generous a design that for the accomplishment thereof our Blessed Saviour thought it worth while to leave all the Glorious Mansions of Heaven to descend into a wicked World and to submit himself to the most barbarous Treatment it could give him and his great business here was to save his People from their Sins that they being deliver'd from their Spiritual Enemies might become a peculiar People zealous of good works and might serve God without fear in Holiness

but improve and exalt this excellent and necessary duty And by how much we have more noble motives for the performance of it by so much are we the more strictly oblig'd to the Conscientious discharge of it And thus having proved that it is the Duty of a private Christian as much as in him lies to reprove and reform Sin in his Neighbour I come in the second place to shew you how this Duty is to be performed And that is first of all by instructing the Ignorant and that both as to the Credenda and Agenda of their Religion For as many Sin against light so some Sin for want of it and it is noble charity to give Eyes to the Blind to give Light to them that sit in Darkness and the Shadow of Death and to guide their Feet into the way of Peace But thô this may tend very much to the Reformation of our Brother yet it is properly rather to Direct than Reprove 2dly There is a way of reproving Sin-by the contrary example of Holiness and Vertue and when Sin has not taken too deep a root this may prove an excellent method for the reclaiming of Sinners For the exemplary Piety and Holiness of a good Man is such a Check and Reproach to the Ungodly that like the Ark and Dagon one cannot stand before the other But if the Contagion of Sin be spread and grown so inveterate that Example alone cannot Shame and Master it yet it will still have the Advantage of giving the more Force and Efficacy to our Reproofs it will convince them that we are sincere and in earnest when they see us so Zealous in the Practise of that our selves which we would so earnestly recommend unto them But it will be a hard matter to perswade any man to believe and practice that which by my own Actions that by most People are look'd upon as the most sensible and convincing Arguments I do plainly demonstrate I neither believe nor practice my self How apt will every one be to retort my Rebukes with a Physitian heal thy self or rather with a Thou Hypocrite first cast the Beam out of thine own Eye and then shalt thou see clearly to pull the Mote out of thy Brothers Eye He that is guilty himself is not fit to stone Sin in another 3dly Our Rebukes and Reproofs of our Brother ought to be insinuated with all Tenderness and Brotherly love that they may plainly perceive our design is to save their Souls and not to Gratisie our own or others Spleen in exposing their Persons and Reputations And that we may the better insinuate our kind concern for them we must observe as near as we can the Mollia Tempora fandi the season and circumstances that are most likely to render our endeavours successful least otherwise it should appear that we design rather to Upbraid than Reform them And then 't is likely they will rather grow worse than better under our Admonitions as 't is thought the Physick that does not Master does irritate and ferment the evil Humour And therefore we ought to use the greatest caution and prudence that our Reproofs according to the observation of a great Divine may come as the Fathers thought Grace did to the Elect Tempore congruo in a fit season not when they are in the heat and Career of their Sins but as God did to Adam in the cool of the day when the temper of the Wax may make it more capable of an impression lest striving to stop the Rapid Stream in ' its force we make it swell and overwhelm all before it Reproofs ill placed look more like the Attacks of an Enemy than the Rebukes of a Friend and they will sooner Exasperate than Reform the Delinquent And therefore when there is any hopes of doing good this way this gentle method should be always used before we proceed to rougher treatment we should try if the pouring in the precious Balm of Reproof will do the work before we proceed to break their Heads by the severity and Penalty of the Laws But 4. sometimes the wound is more dangerous and will perhaps need Incisions and rougher Applications sometimes the Sin is deeply rooted by a long Custom and is become not only fashionable but has gotten Credit as well as Ground in the World and then People Sin on with a stiff Neck and a high Hand and a Crest lifted up and when the Man becomes so exceeding Sinful then Reproof will be lost upon such obstinate Sinners all this precious Balm will like Oyl to the Fire make it flame the more Those are the People the wise man speaks of Reprove not a Scorner lest he hate thee Prov. 9.8 He means such as are Incorrigible have ascended the Chair of the Scornful and are become presumptuous open and daring Sinners such as the Hereticks of old are to be rejected and the precious Pearl of Reproof are not to be cast before such Swine lest like the evil Spirit they turn upon thee and tear thee But here we are to call in the help of the Civil Magistrate who should be as the Apostle speaks the Minister of God a Revenger to execute wrath upon him that doth evil Rom. 13.4 And let him look to it if he bears this Sword in vain he makes himself partaker of other mens Sins draws a vast guilt upon his own head and his Doom will be so much sharper as his Trust was greater than other Mens But thanks be to God who has not only given us good Laws for the suppression of Vice and Reformation of Manners but has also inspired some of our Magistrates with so much Courage and Zeal for God and Religion as resolutely to put these wholesom Laws in Execution maugre all the Interest and Malice of a wicked Prophane and Licentious Faction And since we have not only good Laws but good Magistrates who do so Zealously abett the cause of GOD and Practical Holiness we ought not to be faint-hearted in so good a cause but where Brotherly Admonition will not or is not likely to take place there to appeal to the Civil Magistrate and to pray the assistance of the Sword of Justice for the cutting down those Sins which were too strong and powerful for any private Reproof I told you before that by our Baptismal Vow we are all engag'd to resist and prevent Sin as far as lawfully we may and when 't is not probable that the best Arts of Perswasion and Reproof will take place but men are become so obstinate and desperately wicked that they are not to be awakened by all the terrors of the LORD then 't is high time to try if the Sword of Justice will deter them or have any better influence upon them and to this end we may justly and fairly complain to the Civil Magistrate and desire the execution of the Laws against such scandalous Offenders And the reproach of being call'd an Informer ought not to discourage us or to