from GOD v. 10. By this time I suppose you understand the meaning of my Text and how much we are concerned in it and there are two parts observable in the words 1. The Duty to Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem or of the Christian Church Peace be within thy Walls and Prosperity within thy Palaces 2. The Encouragement to this They shall prosper that love thee It is the first of these I shall at present speak to The Duty to Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem wherein I shall consider two things 1. What we must Pray for 2. How necessary Prayer is to obtain the Blessing 1. What we must for Peace and Prosperity Peace be within thy Walls and Prosperity within thy Palaces Now the Peace of the Church signifies two things 1. The Unity and Agreement of Christians among themselves 2. The Preservation of the Church from external Oppressions and Persecutions 1. The Unity and Agreement of Christians among themselves When they profess the same Faith and joyn in the same Worship when they love like Brethren and have a tender affection and sympathy for each other as Members of the same Body This all Christians confess to be a great and necessary Duty and pretend to lament those many scandalous Dissensions and Divisions of the Christian Church This I am sure that though Divisions and Dissentions are destructive to all Societies yet there is no Society suffers so much by it as the Christian Church this destroys Love and Charity which is the true Spirit of the Gospel and the Badge and Cognizance of our Profession By this shall all men know that ye are my Disciples if ye love one another This turns the Christian Church into a School of wrangling Disputes and makes men more concerned what they believe than how they live this gives great offence to the World representing the Christian Faith as very doubtful and uncertain and Christianity it self as a great Disturber of the Peace of Mankind this overthrows all Government and Discipline in the Church and makes its Censures despised and scorned when the most profligate Sinners can shelter themselves in a Schism and palliate or expiate their other Crimes by a factious Zeal and therefore if ever we desire to see Christianity flourish we must Pray heartily for Peace and Unity among Christians But that we may the better understand what we are to Pray for let us briefly inquire wherein the Unity of the Church consists and that is in the Unity of Faith the Unity of Communion and the Unity of Love and Charity 1st Unity of Faith Whereby I do not understand that all Christians must agree in all the Opinions and Speculations of Religion it would be well if it could be so but this can never be while men have such different Understandings and Abilities such different Skill and Opportunities of inquiry but the Unity of Faith is secured by an Agreement in all the Fundamental Articles of Reâ—â—â—ion though a little varied in some nicer Speculations which are like the different features in mens faces which distinguish them from one another but do not alter the Humane shape and this is the difference between the Disputes which divide Papists and Protestants and the Disputes of Protestants among themselves The first subvert the Foundations of Christian Faith and Worship and therefore these Differences can never be Accommodated and Reconciled they will not part with their Errours and we must not embrace them if we love our Souls for as dear a thing as Peace is we must not part with Truth for Peace But now the Disputes among all that are allowed to be Protestants whatever mistakes there may be on any side do not overthrow any necessary Article of the Christian Faith and therefore the Unity of the Faith may be secured amidst all these Disputes Some of these Disputes are only inconvenient Modes of speaking and the difference is only in Words when both Parties really mean the same thing which I believe if all Heat and Passion were laid aside would in a great measure appear to be the true State of that Protestant Controversie about Justification by Faith alone Others are meer Philosophical Disputes in which the Christian Faith is not peculiarly concerned for they have been and are disputed in all Religions such as the Controversie about God's Eternal Decrees and the Power and Efficacy of Nature and Grace which is only a reviving of that old Philosophical Dispute about Necessity and Fate and God's concourse with second Causes to produce their Effects And thus it is in some other Cases now methinks such Disputes as these which do not properly belong to the Christian Faith should not divide the Christian Church let men dispute about them as Philosophers but as Christians let it suffice them to believe what Christ and his Apostles have plainly taught us that is enough to carry us to Heaven and methinks it should be enough to make us agree in the Way thither As to Explain this more particularly but very briefly There is no good Protestant but will confess That we are Justified only by the Merits of CHRIST's Death and Sacrifice as the only Expiation and Atonement for our sins that no works of Righteousness which we can do can make satisfaction to God for our sins nor merit Eternal Life which is the gift of God that Christ is our only Saviour and that he is the Saviour only of his Body or Church that we are incorporated into the Body of Christ and put into a state of Justification by Faith and the Christian Sacraments that no impenitent unreformed sinner though he do profess to believe in Christ and be baptized shall be saved by Him and therefore though Repentance and a holy life do not merit the pardon of sin nor eternal Rewards yet they are necessarily required in all those who shall be forgiven and saved by Christ. This I say all good Protestants agree in and all this is plainly taught in Scripture and whoever believes this and practises accordingly shall certainly be saved and what need is there then of reducing all this into artificial Schemes wherein Mens Fancies and Conceits differ What necessity is there of disputing what the Office of Faith or what the Efficacy of Works is in our Justification when we all agree that we are saved only by the Mercy of God and the Merits of Christ through Faith in his Bloud and the Exercise of Repentance and a holy Life to understand the reason and order of things conduces much to the beauty and perfection of Christian Knowledge but Men may be saved and the Peace of the Church better secured without such particular Determinations Thus all good Protestants agree that all God's Works are known to him from the foundation of the World that Christ is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world that God knows who are his and always did so that we are predestinated to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
A SERMON Preached before the RIGHT HONOURABLE THE Lord Mayor AND ALDERMEN OF The CITY of LONDON AT GVILD-HALL-CHAPPEL On Sunday Nov. 4. 1688. By WILLIAM SHERLOCK D.D. Master of the Temple LONDON Printed for William Rogers at the Sun over against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleet-street 1689. Chapman Mayor c. Cur. Special tent die Lunae Quinto die Novemb. 1688. Annoque Regni Regis Jacobi Secundi Angl. c. Quarto THis Court doth desire Dr. Sherlock to Print his Sermon Preach'd Yesterday morning at the Guild-Hall-Chappel before the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of this City Wagstaffe IMPRIMATUR Novemb. 14 1688. Z. Isham R. P. D. Hen. Episc. Lond. Ã Sacris TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE Sir John Chapman LORD MAYOR OF THE CITY of LONDON My LORD IN obedience to the Order I received from your Lordship and the Court of Aldermen I Present you with this plain Sermon the whole Design of which is not to debate any thing nor to determine on which side the Truth lies in those warm Disputes which have been among us but to convince all those who Love and Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem how many Controversies there are which should be laid aside without Disputing and how a little condescention to each other may either happily Vnite us into oue Communion or at least Teach us to Live together in Love and Charity notwithstanding some different Apprehensions of Things and I hope so Charitable a Design as this will raise no new Disputes and Quarrels among us That GOD would preserve his Church restore Peace and Vnity among Christistians bless this Great and Populous City and direct your Lordship in the Government of it in these difficult Times is the hearty Prayer of My LORD Your Lordship 's Most obedient Servant WILL. SHERLOCK A SERMON Preach'd before the Lord Mayor 122 PSALM 6 7. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem they shall prosper that love Thee Peace be within thy Walls and Prosperity within thy Palaces THough the particular time and occasion of Penning this Psalm is uncertain yet so much is plain that it was after David had setled the Ark at Jerusalem and made that City the place of God's House and of Religious Worship and the Seat of Justice and Judgment There was the House of God vers 9. that is though the Temple was not yet built if this Psalm was composed by David as the Title of it signifies it was yet there was the Tabernacle and the Ark of God which formerly was in Shilo and afterwards removed from one place to another till David setled it in Jerusalem thither all the Tribes of Israel were to resort three times a year to worship God before the Ark of the Testimony 4 ver There was the Imperial Seat where David had built his Throne and Palace and where his Posterity were to dwell and govern Israel and therefore it was the Seat of Justice too as that must be where the Kings Throne and the House of God was placed There are set thrones of judgment the thrones of the house of David 5 ver These were the peculiar Priviledges of Jerusalem above any other City in Jury This was the reason of that peculiar affection and passionate concern which David had himself and exhorts all others to express for Jerusalem that he greatly rejoyced to go thither and to continue there I was glad when they said unto me Let us go into the house of the Lord our feet shall stand within thy gates O Jerusalem That he exhorts all people to pray for the peace and prosperity of Jerusalem and promises a Blessing to those who love it as it is in my Text Pray for the peace of Jerusalem they shall prosper that love thee peace be within thy walls and prosperity within thy palaces All this was not for the sake of the material Buildings the beauty of the place or the convenience of its scituation but because it was the Center of Unity Which is builded as a City that is compact together whither the Tribes go up the Tribes of the Lord unto the Testimony of Israel to give thanks unto the name of the Lord 3 4 ver Which shews in what respect he commends Jerusalem that it is built as a City which is compact together not with regard to the Uniformity and regular Order and Union of its material Buildings but that it was the Center of a Religious Unity and Order in Worship where all the Tribes of Israel met and united in the same Acts of Worship and Praise to God. There was the House of God there were the set Thrones of Judgment So that to Love Jerusalem to Pray for the Peace and Prosperity of it is to love the House the Worship the Name of God to love and pray for the Unity Happiness and Prosperity of the Church for the flourishing State of Religion and the peaceful Opportunities of Worshipping God in his Holy Temple together with the equal and impartial Administration of Justice which is so much for the Publick good to promote the Temporal and Eternal Happiness of Men that our Love to Mankind but especially our Love to the Brethren as well as our Zeal for God's Glory and Worship requires this of us For my Brethren and Companions sake I will now say Peace be within thee Because of the House of the LORD our GOD I will seek thy good v. 8 9. Thus I have given you a very plain and easie Exposition of this whole Psalm and therein have sufficiently Explained my Text I have but one thing more to add to make way for my intended Discourse and that is to shew you that this Exhortation does directly and not meerly by Accommodation and Analogie concern Us as well as it did the Jews For Jerusalem was but a Type of the Christian Church as the carnal Israel or the carnal Seed and Posterity of Abraham were of true and sincere Christians who are the Children of Abraham by Faith in Christ And therefore St. Paul expresly distinguishes between the earthly Jerusalem and the Jerusalem which descends from above 4 Gal. 25 26. For this Agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and answereth to Jerusalem which now is and is in bondage with her Children but Jerusalem which is above or from above that is the Christian Church is free which is the Mother of us all Which in 12 Heb. 22. he calls Mount Sion the city of the living GOD the heavenly Jerusalem And 3 Rev. 12. it is called The city of GOD the new Jerusalem which cometh down out of heaven from GOD. And 21 Rev. 2. The new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from GOD prepared as a bride adorned for her husband Which is a Description of the most reformed and purified state of the Christian Church on Earth So that this Exhortation To Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem does most properly belong to Christians because the Christian Church is the true Jerusalem the new the holy Jerusalem descending out of Heaven
himself according to the good pleasure of his will to the praise of the glory of his grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved that we are predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things according to the counsel of his own will 1 Ephes. 5 6 11. that when God comes to judge the World he will appear infinitely just and good and merciful that bad men shall have no reason to complain of God and that good men shall have nothing to arrogate to themselves This secures the glory of God of his wisdom goodness justice power and soveraignity and what need is there to inquire any farther into the divine Decrees than the Scripture has revealed in the particular explication of which when men follow their own fancies they vastly differ from each other to the great disturbance of the peace of the Church We are assured by plain testimonies of Scripture that God desires not the death of a sinner but rather that he should return and live that our destruction is of our selves that all the good we do is wholly owing to the grace of God who worketh in us both to will and to do of his own good pleasure that all the evil we do is owing to our selves that every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and inticed then when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death This we all agree in and this attributes the glory of all the good we do to God and the shame of all the evil we do to our selves this encourages us to do good in a confident assurance of the Divine Grace and teaches bad men that they must not think to excuse their wickedness by charging it on God and this is all that is necessary for us to know because it is all that is needful to the purposes of Religion and a holy life But when men frame this into Philosophical Hypotheses they then divide as far from each other as East and West and all the attempts of reconciling them is vain and fruitless for there is no Medium to unite in The only way to Peace is to silence all these Disputes as matters which Mankind will never agree about and wherein Religion is no more concerned than the government of Kingdoms or States and on which the salvation of our Souls no more depends than the conduct of our secular affairs or the preservation of this mortal life for the dispute about Decrees Predestination God's power over our Wills how God and Creatures produce the same effect what belongs to God and what belongs to the Creature in every action since in him we live and move concerns every thing else as well as Religion and yet in all other cases men let Philosophers dispute these points and quietly go about their business and do what is fit to be done as if there were no Controversie about these matters and I cannot imagine why they should not do so in Religion too Believe what is plainly taught and do what is commanded use the greatest wisdom and our utmost diligence in doing good and depend upon the succours of the Divine Grace and leave these Disputes to be decided at the Day of Judgment and that will decide them all By this means I am sure most of the Disputes among Protestants which have given the greatest Disturbance to the Church would be for ever silenced and Christian Religion would not be clogged nor reproached with such Philosophical Controversies 2ly The Unity of Communion and that consists in our worshipping God together when we resort to the same Church to offer up our united Prayers and Thanksgivings to God and to partake of that holy Supper which is the Sacrament and Symbol of our Union to Christ and to each other and this indeed is true Church-Unity and it is greatly to be lamented that men who profess the same Faith and agree in all the Essentials of Worship should divide Communion and refuse to Pray together and to Feast at the same holy Table of our Lord. We cannot indeed Communicate with the Church of Rome because they have corrupted the very Essentials of Christian Worship Most men do not understand their Prayers and therefore cannot joyn in Prayer with them they worship Images and Pictures which is expresly forbidden by the second Commandment Instead of praying to God in the Name of our only Mediator and Advocate Jesus Christ they have joyned other Intercessors with him pray to Saints and Angels and the Virgin Mary to pray for them and help them They worship the Host which we believe to be nothing but Bread and Wine as to the substance and therefore no Object of Worship and turn the Sacramental Feast of Christ's Body and Bloud into a propitiatory Sacrifice for the Living and the Dead Such a Worship as this we dare not joyn in because it is Sinful and Idolatrous But the case is quite different among Protestants they pray to the same God in the only Name of the same Lord Jesus Christ put up the same Petitions offer the same Thanksgivings and Praises observe the same Divine Institutions without any essential change and alteration and yet cannot worship God together as if it were an impious thing to put up the same Prayers and to offer the same Praises to God in a pious and grave and well-composed Form of Words which others do it may be not so well and decently in their conceived Prayers as if the Devotion of the Communicant in receiving so inestimable a Blessing as the Sacramental Body and Bloud of Christ upon his knees were a prophanation of that Holy Feast as if a white Linnen-Garment which never underwent any Religious Conjurations and is used only as a decent Habit without any opinion of its Vertue or Sanctity were a just reason to drive men out of the Church from the Christian Communion of Prayers and Sacraments These would be surprizing stories to any Christians in the World who had never heard before of such Disputes among us Pray give me leave to speak my mind freely upon this occasion Upon the best and most impartial Inquiries and Observations I can make I do in my Conscience believe the Church of England to be the most Apostolical and best Reformed Church in the World I see no reason from the nature of things to make any material Alterations in her Doctrine or Worship and therefore I confess it has given me very just Resentments to hear our Church charged with such unjust Imputations of Popery Superstition Idolatry Will-worship and what not and to see a blind and furious Zeal ready to raze up the very Foundations of it It has often grieved me to see such a Church as this rent and torn by Schisms which a man of ordinary prudence might easily foresee would give great advantage to the common Enemy of the Protestant Faith. This and the care of mens Souls and of their