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cause_n	good_a	know_v	reason_n	2,948	5	4.7939	4	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A60385	Ergon pseudous kai misthos alētheias, or, The wicked mans sad disappointment and the righteous mans sure recompence being a sermon preached the 17th day of October, 1661, at the solemn funerals of the Right Worshipful Sir Abraham Raynardson, Knight, late alderman of London / by George Smalwood.	Smalwood, George, 1604-1679.	1661 (1661)	Wing S4006; ESTC R10143	27,597	40

〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 OR The Wicked Mans sad Disappointment and The Righteous Mans sure Recompence BEING A SERMON Preached the 17 th day of October 1661. at the SOLEMN FUNERALS of the Right Worshipful Sir Abraham Raynardson Knight Late ALDERMAN of LONDON By GEORGE SMALWOOD M. A. and Rector of St. Margarets New-Fish-Street London 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Macar hom 17. Justus fructum eligit folia peccators Ambros de Paradiso cap. 13. Quam beata Civitas quae plurimos justos habet quomodo benedicitur tota de parte idem de Abel Cain l. 2. cap. 3. London Printed by Ame Hunt for William Hope and are to be sold at the sign of the Blew Anchor on the back side of the Royal Exchange 1661. To the Right Worshipful and truly Pious Lady the Lady Raynardson his much honored Friend An abundant supply of all Spiritual and Heavenly consolations is unfeignedly wished Madam IT is the first time that ever I adventured my meditations to the Press and it would have abundantly satisfied me if these homely and unpolished Notions when they had served the Funeral of my Wo●thy deceased Friend had bin buried together with him and not seen the Light nor after they had safely passed the T●yal of the Ear have come again under the more strict examination and exact scrutiny of the eye But I chose rather to expose these plaine practical Truths to the danger of a curious censure then not satisfie the desires of your Ladiship and those other worthy Friends and Relations of yours to whom I am so much obliged or be wanting in the due respects which I owe to the Memory of him that merited the tongue and pen of a far better Orator he that in all his publick Transactions expressed so much Piety and Obedience to Gods Commands so much Loyalty to his Lawful Soveraigne so much Religious care to keep a spotless and undefiled Conscience so much tender love and respect to the welfare of his Brethren and fellow Citizens that was so zealous to preserve the City from being stained with the indelible and everlasting infamy of Sacred Royal Blood certainly he and his actions deserved to be presented to the World by some such eloquent Tongue and accurate Pen as that of St. Basil the great whom Erasmus calleth the Christian Demosthenes for his rare and almost unparalleld eloquence none but an Apelles might draw the Picture of Alexander the great nor any carve his Statue but Lysippus as Plutarch telleth us It was Livies opinion that none was Ad laudandum Ciceronem Cicerone opus est fit to praise Clcero but another Cicero truly he had need be a very skilful Artist that draweth the picture of this worthy Knight in his due Lineaments and Proportions here I have given the World but a rude draught yet such as it is I bring to your Ladiship both for Patronage and Acceptance not doubting but that you to whom the original was so dear will most willingly embrace the Copy whatsoever is wanting to it in skill and workmanship is made up in the workmans honor and affectionate Respects towards him whom it represents and those to whom he was related and I hope thht as the Diamond commands the Ring and makes it more precious so this homely piece shall finde the better acceptation both with your self and others for●kis sake that is the Subject of it who was a precious jewel indeed Some perhaps will accuse me of Hyperbolizing and say I have given him too much and some it may be wlll think I have erred in the defect and say I have given him too little but I have labored to steer my course in a middle and equal way between both these Rocks and have as near as I could judge given him what was his just due and no more what I need not want witnesses to attest and I could do no less for my Text teacheth me to deal Righteously which I had not done if through a fearful or hashful silence I had concealed that from the world which was so real in him and so profitable to be communicated to others Here I have given a true Character out of the sacred Oracles of God both of the wicked whom he hates and of the righteous whom he loveth I have shewed the fatal disappointment of the one and the certain and blessed Reward of the other and have set forth the work of Gods Free Grace for I desire to set the Crown upon no other head but that in making this worthy Knight an eminent example of the latter Now if either the Preaching or Printing of these few Meditations or the laudable practice of him that occasioned them hath or shall effectually stir up any to eschew the deceitful Way of wickedness and walk in the safe and plain paths of Righteousness to be obedient to God Loyal to their Soveraigne and faithful to their trust which God and man committed to them and not to be overswayed by the tentations either of hope or fear to adventure upon any unrighteous and unwarantable action or design I shall bless God for such a Mercy and esteem it an auspicious hour that brought them forth into publick view And now neither to detain your Ladiship nor the Reader any longer in the Porch but to bring you into the house it self I shall adde only this humble request that you would not be over indulgent to pensive discontented thoughts that it hath pleased God to take so dear as Husband from you but rather let it be your comfort and joy that God was pleased to honor you with a Husband who was so fit to be taken from you to the enjoyment of himself consider what good God hath done by him and now what good God hath done for him and let these be Lenitives to asswage your grief if God was so good as to make him righteous and now so merciful as to make him glorious you have greater cause of thankfulness then sadness if it were possible for you now to see the happiness which you have good reason to beleeve he enjoyeth in the blessed vision of God it would turn all discontents into Hallelujahs and Songs of Thanksgiving R●flect not then so much upon your own loss as upon his gain and admire the wonderfull love of God who hath takin away a mortal husband from you one that you knew must die and hath given himself to be your husband who is immortal and liveth for ever he hath no reason to complaine that loseth the comfort of a Creature and keeps sure possession of God the Creator he can want no comfort that wants not God what hath not he that hath God Quid non habet qui habet habentem omnia who hath all things The Lord of his infinite goodness make up this earthly loss to your Ladiship with abundance both of Spiritual and Temporal Blessings upon all the living branches of that dead root but especially with a more full enjoyment of

serve as a foil for the latter He whose Funeral hath ministred the occasion of this discourse was one blessed be God whose heart was made of a better Ex meliore luto sinxit praecordia mould therefore I shall handle the first part more briefly 1. And first let us consider the quality or nature of the person He is a wicked man A wicked man is one that liveth as he was born according to the principles of corrupt nature without any real change of his state and condition one that yet hath never received any true life of Grace from Jesus Christ the Fountain of life but lieth still in his natural unbelief and hardness of heart and is altogether dead in trespasses and sins that is 1. He is deprived of Spiritual life per peccatum by sin as the means or instrument sin in the first Adam wounded him to death 2. Propter peccatum for sin as the meritorious or impulsive cause for which God most justly depriveth him of life 3. He is dead in sin that is he is so devoted addicted and wholly given over to all ungodly unrighteous and sinful ways and practices that a dead man may as soon return to life as he can be diverted and turned away from his impiety and iniquity He lieth in sin like a dead man in a grave turning more and more daily to rottenness and putrefaction and so walketh according to the course of this world according to the Prince of the power of the air the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience Ephes 2. 2. making provision for the fl●sh to fulfil the lusts thereof giving neither God nor man his due but behaving himself irreligiously and profanely towards God unjustly and uncharitably towards his neighbor unholily and impurely towards himself runing into all excess of riot He that liveth in the constant practice of any or all these evils is truly denominated a wicked man an ungodly unrighteous unclean liver 2. Consider his action he worketh wickedness is an operative principle and the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Turbulentus seditiosus inquietus Turbulent in the Common-wealth unsetled in all things Leigh Crit Sacra turbulent seditious unquiet and restless as well as wicked For wicked men are of unquiet troublesome spirits like the troubled Sea that cannot rest whose waters cast forth mire and dirt they are without peace in themselves therefore they seek to molest and disturb others like fire they are still breaking out into one combustion or other Saint Jude calleth wicked men raging waves of the Sea foaming out their own shame Now nothing is more restless then the waves of the Sea they cannot forbear tumbling and tossi●g if there 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jud. v 14. be any wind stirring He calleth them wandring Stars Planets not properly so called for no Starwander less then they do The Planets in themselves have certain stated motions and do keep the just points of their Compass The Sun knoweth his going down Psal 104. and the Moon is a faithful witness in Heaven keeping its constant course from one sign of the Zodiak to another and they have the name of Planets not from their own nature but from the judgement of sence because they are not carried about the whole circuit of the Heavens but in a shorter Orb and course But now improperly there are other wandring Stars which are not Stars indeed but onely dry exhalations inflamed which glare much and deceive the eye 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aristotle with appearance of light but soon vanish and are quenched These Aristotle calleth running and gliding Stars which are nothing else but fiery meteors glancing and shooting Such Stars are wicked men they have sometimes an appearance of light as if they were true Stars but they are but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 things which appear what they are not fiery meteors and as they are various and uncertain in their motions sometimes moving this way and sometimes that so they are restless in their motions till they are quite extinguished and put out For such is the nature of wicked men that they will be working though it be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a fruitless work to no purpose The corruption of their heart is a restless evil still breaking out upon every occasion making men commit sin with both hands greedily drinking in iniquity like water and drawing on sin with cords of vanity as the Prophets phrase is Not suffering men to sleep but causing them to devise in quity and work evil upon their beds and put it in practice when the morning is light because it is in the power of their hands to do it Mich. 2. 1. so Prov. 4. 16. it is said of wicked men They sleep not except they have done mischief and their sl●ep is taken away unless they cause Et si non aliqua nocuisses mortuus esses Virgil. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plutarch some to fall nay it is a kinde of death to them not to do evil Having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease to sin 2 Pet. 2. 14. the very sight of their eyes is turned as it were into adulterious glances as Plutarch wittily expresseth it this is the genius and natural disposition of wicked men like Satan the god of the world they are circumambulators they are going to and fro in the earth and walking up and down in it compassing Sea and Land to make one proselyte as Christ saith of the Pharisees and it is most true of the Jesuits those busie Factors of A●tichrist who are like Flies buzzing in every corner and seeking to bring in their erroneous opinions and superstitious practices Thus the wicked man is still working so the Hebrew word being a participle of the present Tense notes a continued act without any or not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with much interruption 3 Let us examine the vanity and folly of his work God knoweth he is doing to very little or no purpose as to his own good for it is a lying or deceitful work and that in divers respects 1 In respect of Satan the principal efficient cause of it who is the father of lyes the grand impostor that deceives the whole world that hath his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his sophistical reasonings and crafty devices his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wiles methods and stratagems his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 depths that are unsearchable whereby he gulls and deceiveth the poor souls of men that like silly birds are caught in his snares or like brute beasts are carried captive by him at his will 2 The wicked worketh a deceitful work in respect of the fountain from whence it floweth namely the heart of man which is deceitful above measure and desperately wicked a meer supplanter propounding evil under the appearance of good full of deceitful reasonings and carnal policies The Apostle calleth the lusts of the heart 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lusts of

out But I leave the dark side of the cloud and shall change the scene and present unto you the light side viz. the Godly mans blessed success Although the wicked mans work will deceive him yet the righteous shall not be disappointed of his hope For to him that soweth c. Herein let us consider 1. The quality of the person To him that soweth righteousness 2 His blessed success wherein these things are to be observed 1. The futurity of it It shall be it is not yet 2. The certainty of it it shall be sure 3. The excellent nature of it what and how great it shall be in the word Reward First Let us reflect a little upon the quality of the person and therein three things are to be noted 1. The Metaphor by which he is resembled He is a Sower of Seed 2. The Seed which he soweth is righteousness 3. His perseverance and continuance in sowing this Seed he is sowing in the present tense that is still sowing all his life 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 long he never breaks off this work till it be quite finished and that will not be till his life be ended Of each of these in order 1. The righteous man is a Sower of Seed this Metaphor of sowing fitly setteth forth the practice of a true Christian a righteous man is like one that soweth Seed in a field 1. In respect of his preparation for it for as before the Seed is sown the ground must be broken and plowed up and so made sit to receive it So he that soweth righteousness must first have his heart plowed and broken by contrition godly sorrow and humiliation for sin The Prophet Hoseah saith to Israel So we to your selves in righteousness reap in mercy break up your fallow ground cap. 10. 12. He that ploweth not cannot sow It is onely the broken and contrite heart that is fit to receive or retain grace our hearts must be prepared for grace as the ground for the seed by plowing So it was with St. Peters converts Acts 2. 37. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they were pricked in their hearts and said to Peter and to the rest of the Apostles Men and Brethren what shall we do if the fallow ground of our hearts was never yet plowed by godly sorrow and humiliation for our sins it argueth that the seed of righteousness was never yet sown there 2. After our hearts are plowed up then the seed of grace must be cast in by the Ministry of the Gospel the glad tidings of salvation being declared and applied by the faithful Dispenser of Divine mysteries The Preacher saith In the morning sow thy seed and in the evening withhold not thy hand for thou knowest not whether shall prosper either this or that or whether both shall be alike good Eccles 11. 6. This is not much unlike S. Pauls Counsel to Timothy Preach the word be instant in season and out of season 2 Tim. 4. 2. The Ministers of Christ must be carefull to sow the seed of the word upon all occasions and leave the success to God that giveth the increase for as our Saviour saith the Ut sementem feceris ita ●…etes Kingdome of Heaven is likened unto a man that sowed good seed in his field Mat. 13. 14. After plowing there must be sowing or no crop can be expected 3 After sowing the seed there must be rain to moisten it and sunshine to warm it and make it spring forth for humor calor moisture and heat are the causes of growth So the seed of grace that is sown in the heart must still be watered with the tears of true godly sorrow and with the dew of Heaven from above They that sow in tears can onely look to reap to joy he that goeth forth and weepeth bearing precious seed shall doubtless come again with rejoycing bringing his sheaves with him Psal 126. 5 6. A dripping Spring is most likely to produce a plentiful Harvest And then the sunshine of the Spirit must continually warm and quicken the seed of grace till it spring up and come at last to maturity for the letter killeth but the Spirit giveth life 2 Cor. 3. 6. 4 When the ground is well plowed and the seed is sowne watered and warmed there must be expectation and patient waiting till the time of Harvest So when the seed of grace is sown it must have a time to grow and ripen by degrees for no man cometh to the perfection Nemo repente sit optimus of goodness on a suddain the Sun climbs by little and little to his Meridian altitude And so the path of the just is as the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day Prov. 4. 18. The earth brings forth fruit first the blade then the ear after that the full Corn in the ear Mark 4. 28. So it is in all things ad summum non nisi ex principiis we must begin at the bottome and so come to the top by rounds and steps as they that climb up a Ladder Therefore when we have sown the seed of grace we must wait upon God till we reap the Harvest of Glory and be content to endure all manner of Weather rain and storms aswell as serene Halcyon dayes of peace and tranquillity if we meet with Thunder and Hail and an horrible Tempest we must not be terrified but bear it out with courage and constancy So did Job in the midst of the fiercest storms and foulest Weather that ever poor mortal endured he saith all the dayes of my appointed time will I wait till my change come Job 14. 14. the original 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Militiae 〈◊〉 so Montanus word that signifieth an appointed time signifieth also a warfare now Job was content to wait upon God till he should be pleased to give him his quietus est and discharge him though his life were a continual warfare where every battel of the Warriour is with confused noise and Garments rolled in blood Isai 9. 5. So must he that soweth this seed of righteousness wait till the time of rewarding come Behold saith St. James the Husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the Earth and hath long patience for it until he receive the early and latter rain Be ye also patient establish your hearts for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh cap. 5. ver 7. 8. The righteous have more reason to wait patiently then the Husbandman for they shall come to a better Harvest then he to a more rich and plentiful crop even to the enjoyment of God himself who is the chiefest good to sit with Christ upon his Throne and be Partakers with him of his Glory Therefore they have good cause to wait with patience for they shall be well payed for their waiting every minute shall be abundantly remunerated besides they shall do that which is good and well pleasing to God Lam. 3. 26. It is good that a man should

of his charity will appear to the comfort of the poor in the several Hospitals of this City and some other places 5. But then the greatest and most eminent Tryall and Testimony of his Righteousness and Integrity was in that fatal year 1648. when the Blood of His Sacred Majesty was shed by cruel and wicked hands then it pleased God to call him to be Lord Mayor of London in which office coming to him in such a stormy time he was stedfast and unmoveable from his Integrity he shewed himself a good Christian a wise Magistrate a loyal Subject and a loving Citizen Indeed Magistratus indicat virum Magistracy is a touchstone which will discover a man whether he be gold or dross he that carrieth himself as he ought in Offices of eminency giveth a great testimony of his wisdom and virtue There are two things that commend a Magistrate Honesty and Courage both these were eminent in him There were three very memoriable passages to be observed in this worthy Knight in managing his publick affairs 1. In reference to the good of the City whereof he was chief Magistrate when a Treaty was concluded upon between His late Majesty of Blessed Memory and the Parliament then sitting and in order thereunto an ingagement was subscribed by most of the Common Council and principal Members of the City for the carrying on of that Treaty Afterwards the Treaty proving ineffectual and the Parliament being dissolved by the unjust violence of the Army and their Abetters a strict inquiry was made after the names of those that subscribed the personal Treaty But the Book wherein the names of the Subscribers on both parts for and against the Treaty were written containing about two Reams of Paper being privately brought to this worthy Knight then Lord Mayor he tendering the good and welfare of all his Brethren and fellow citizens not knowing what might be the ill consequence of it if such a Record should be found extant took it and burnt it to ashes privately in his Chamber that nothing might remain to the prejudice of any how many perhaps here present were deeply ingaged to him for the safety of their estates if not of their lives by that one action certainly it was a work full of wisdom charity and brotherly kindness a most excellent concatenation of Christian Graces 2. When some tumultuous and busie Commoners had contrived a traiterous and wicked Petition to bring His Sacred Majesty and others to a Tryal and were vehemently urgent to have it read and voted in the Common-council that so it might be presented to the then new moulded Parliament as the desire of the whole City This Heroick and Noble Knight stoutly opposed the promoting thereof and would suffer it neither to be read nor voted notwithstanding the rage and violence of the adverse party who neither reverencing the Authority of his venerable office nor regarding the gravity of his person loaded him with reproach and contempt within telling him they would have it voted whether he would or no before their rising and some of them stirred up a tumultuous Rabble against him without Notwithstanding all this unworthy dealing with him he continued like an unmoveable Rock persisting in his resolution and endured those insolencies from eight of the clock in the morning until after eight at night accompanied only with two of his bretheren and would not yield a jot to their unreasonable desires notwithstanding all their clamorous importunities And at last when no reason would prevaile with them not able longer to endure their uncivil behaviour towards him and chiefly that he might to the utmost of his power keep the City and Citizens from being stained with the guilt of that Sacred Innocent Blood he resolutely took up the Sword and departed the Court to his great hazzard All these proceedings he caused to be registred in the book of Records belonging to the City for an evident testimony to after times of his own and the Cities Integrity and Innocency as to that ungodly and execrable Fact of taking away the Kings Life which he heartily abhorred for all which noble and gallant resolutions and performances he had since publick thanks given him by a declaration from the City Thus this worthy Knight might well be called the Sword and Buckler of London as Camillus and Fabius were among the Romans for he defended them from that which is worse then any outward evil viz. from blood guiltiness and that in the highest degree even from the guilt of parracide and shedding the blood of him that was Pater Patriae the Father of their Country This was a great mercy to the City on Gods part and an eminent favour on his part that did it and the whole City have cause to be thankfull to God and him for it When the rest of the children of Israel understood that their brethren the children of Reuben the children of Gad and the Children of Manasseh had not turned from following the Lord by building an Altar for Burnt-Offerings besides the Altar of the Lord their God which was before his Tabernacle but only had built a pattern of the Lords Altar to be a witness between them and their brethren that they and their posterity belonged to the Congregation of Israel and had a part in the Lord and his Service as well as the other Tribes when they understood the Truth of this it is said the thing pleased them and they blessed God and said This day we perceive that the Lord is among us because ye have not committed this trespass against the Lord now ye have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the Lord Joshua 22. 31. They rejoyced that God had kept their bretheren from polluting themselves with that crying sin of Idolatry and turning from the Lord and his Altar and took it as a token of Gods presence among them and as a merciful deliverance of the whole Nation from the avenging hand of God and his fierce wrath which the guilt of that sin would have brought upon them Truly we in this City have great cause to be well pleased and to bless God as well as they for keeping us from being guilty of His Majesties Blood we have reason to interpret this happy providence as they did to be a pledge and token that God would not forsake us but continue his gracious presence among us as blessed be his name he is pleased to do as we see at this day and I hope through mercy shall still see as also to be a merciful deliverance of this City from the fearful wrath and severe vengeance of the most righteous God which the guilt of that Sacred Blood besides its other crying abominations would have brought upon it we have reason to magnifie God for that gracious deliverance and for raising up this worthy Knight to be so happily instrumental therein had it been some faint hearted Ephraimite or covetous Demas he would have turned back in the day of