of Benjamin an Hebrew of the Hebrews The wiseman saith Blessed art thou O Land when thy King is the Son of Nobles c. To be nobly born is naturale medium stimulus ad virtutem gloriam as one saith it is a natural help and a singular incitation and provocation to riches and glory When Bathshebah would disswade Solomon her Son from intemperancy in drinking she brings an Argument from the nobleness of his birth Prov. 31. 4. It is not for Kings O Lemuel It is not for Kings to drink Wine nor for Princes strong drink It is not fit for any to drink immoderately much less for Kings and Princes Alexander scorned to run a Race with any who were not Kings because he himself was a Kings Son And because Themistocles was a great General therfore he would not stoop to take up a rich Booty but bids a common Souldier do it Nobility is a great spur to vertue The very Heathen could say Fortes creantur fortibus bonis Virtue when it is joyned with Nobility is much more glorious and illustrious than when joyned with poverty It is like a Diamond in a Golden Ring It is much more beautiful and much more useful and serviceable And therefore it is reckoned as a great judgement when the Nobles are cut off from a Nation Isaiah 39. 12. They shall call the Nobles thereof to the Kingdom but none shall be there and all their Princes shall be nothing 3. To be born in a rich fruitfull and religious Nation is no inconsiderable privilege For that God which sets bounds to our lives which we cannot pass doth also set bounds to our habitations Act. 17. 26. And hath made of one bloud all Nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth and hath determined the times before appointed and the bounds of their habitation That one man is born in Spain another in France another in Turks non fit Casu sed à Deo desinitur It is not by Chance and Fortune but by the wise ordering of God When God first scattered men over the face of the earth it was divino ductu distributione by divine guidance and distribution and as some think saith Streso by the Ministry of Angels As Joshua distributed the Land of Canaan by a divine lot So doth God by his Providence appoint in what places of the world every man shall dwell It is no little happiness to us that are now assembled this day that wee are by Nation Englishmen When Julius Caesar first came into Britain which we now call England hee thought he had found out another world Aristides a Greek Author cals it by way of excellency The great Island Charles the Great stiles it The granary and Storehouse for the Western world Matth. Parisiensis calls it hortus deliciarum puteus inexhaustus c. A Paradise of pleasures a well which can never be drawn dry Iosephus saith That if God had made the world round like a Ring as he hath done like a Globe Britain might most worthily have been the gem of it If all the world were made into a Ring Britain the Gem and grace thereto should bring There are four other considerations may be added in commendation of this fortunate Island as it hath anciently been called of great Britain 1. It was one of the first Nations that were converted from heathenism unto Christianity the learned Arch-bishop of Armagh proveth by undeniable Arguments that Ioseph of Arimathea Preached and Planted the Gospel in Britain The Apostle 2 Tim. 4. 21. makes mention of Claudia and Pudens her Husband That this Claudia was of the British Nation the same Authour proves by an Epigram in Martial Claudia caeruleis cum sit Ruffina Britannis Edita cur Latiae pectora plebis habet c. 2. The first King that ever professed Christian Religion was King Lucius born here in this Nation 3. The first Emperor that ever owned Christ and his Gospell was Constantine the great born in England 4. The first King that ever renounced the Popes Supremacy was King Henry the Eight and the first King that ever wrote against the Pope to prove him to be the Antichrist and the whore of Babylon was King Iames of famous memory And therefore I may safely say That it is a providence not to be slighted and disregarded that we are by Nation Englishmen Fourthly to be born in a Noble and famous City is a desirable privilege Paul reckoneth it as a mercy that hee was born in Tarsus and that he was a Citizen of no mean City There is I confess some contention amongst learned men about the place of Pauls birth As seven Cities strove about Homers birth so there are many places which challenge an interest in this holy Apostle Hierome brings it as the common opinion of his time that he was born in Giscalis a Town in Iudaea and bred up in Tarsus But in another place he recants this opinion and yet it is revived by Beda Masius and Arias Montanus Some say hee was born in Graecia others that hee was a Citizen of Rome But as Lorinus well saith Paulo ipsi natale suum prodenti solum credendum est Wee must believe Paul above all other witnesses He saith expresly That hee was {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} Born in Tarsus indeed he saith of himself that he was a Roman But how Not by birth but because Tarsus was invested with the Roman privileges There was a time when it was a singular Prerogative to be a Citizen of Rome Haec vox civis Romanus sum saepe in ultimis Terris c. This word I am a Roman Citizen relieved and rescued many in the utmost parts of the Earth It was terror mundi saith Cicero It was not lawfull to binde or scourge a Roman Citizen the chief Captain paid dear for this freedom but Paul was free-born because born in Tarsus which was a Roman Colony and made free of Rome by M. Antonius It is no contemptible Prerogative to us here present that we were born in London a City famous in Nero's time which is almost 1600. yeares ago for concourse of Merchants and of great renowne for provision of all things necessary Ammianus Marcellinus gives it a glorious Title calling it Augusta a stately and magnificent City This was 1200 years ago Cornelius Tacitus 300. years before him saith that it was valde celebre copiâ negotiatorum commeatu very renowned for commerce and multitude of Merchants It is the Metropolis and Mother-City of the Nation If England be a Paradise of pleasure London is as the Tree of life in this Paradise And surely if Plato accounted it a great honour that he was a Grecian born and not a Barbarian and that he was not onely a Grecian but an Athenian it must needs be an honour to
us here assembled not onely that we are Englishmen but Englishmen born in the Noble and famous City of London That we are Citizens of no mean City If any here desire to be farther informed of the excellency of this City let me intreat him to peruse a Booke printed this year composed by Mr. James Howel called Londinopolis Thus you have the PropositioÌ„ explained in all the four Branches of it But now I must adde That though the things forementioned be considerable Privileges yet they are but outward and temporal privileges common to the worst as well as the best of men Cateline was born in Rome as well as Caesar Caligula and Nero as well as Augustus and Trajan They are but fleshly and carnal prerogatives which a man may enjoy and yet be under the wrath of God and guilt of eternal damnation They are the Privileges of Paul a Pharisee and of Paul a Persecutor they are such Privileges which after he was converted he accounted but as dung and dross in comparison of and competition with the Lord Jesus Christ But yet howsoever they are privileges passages of Divine Providence not to be sleighted And therefore in the Application I shall first improve this PropositioÌ„ as it is a desirable privilege secondly as it is but an outward common and temporal privilege First As it is a considerable and desirable privilege and upon this account alone it will afford us three profitable and seasonable Exhortations Let us this day bless the Lord for this mercy that we are Englishmen and Londoners born and especially that we were born in England since it became Christian and since it was reformed from Popish Superstition There was a time when Britain was tristissimum superstitionum chaos when London was {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} as Paul saith of Athens a City wholly given to idolatry when we offered our sons and daughters alive in Sacrifice to those that were no Gods non ad honorem sed ad injuriaâ—s religionis not as an honour but as a shame to Religion The time was when we were drowned in popish superstition when England was the Popes Vassail and the Popes Asse as it was called to bear all his burdens but God out of his infinite mercy hath freed us of those burdens and we have enjoyed the Protestant reformed Religion for an hundred years together O let us bless God that we were born in England since it was reformed from Heathenism and Popery that we were born not in Egypt but in Goshen not in a valley of darkness but in a valley of vision not in Babylon but in Sion as you heard excellently the last year Leâ— us bless God that we were born in London not onely because of the excellency of the situation of it and the many outward accommodations to be found in it above other Cities but because of the abundance of the Gospel of salvation herein dispensed It is said of the Isle of Rhodes that it is fo happy an Island that there is not one day in the year in which the Sun doth not shine upon it this is true of London in a spiritual sense there is not one day in the year in which you do not enjoy the sunâ—shine of the Gospel This is the glory of London without this London is no more than Ligorn or Constantinople or Paris or any other City And this is one main end of our meeting this day to praise the Lord for this happy providence that we were born in London where we enjoy more of the purity plenty power and liberty of the Gospel than any other City in the world Besides this Let us this day bless God that London is yet a City and that it hath not long ago been made like unto Sodom and Gomorrha It is most certain that we are a sinfull City a City laden with iniquity a seed of evil doers children that are corrupters that are miserably apostatised both in doctrine worship and conversation as the sinnes of Niniveh cried aloud to God for vengeance so do the sins of London the pride the hypocrisie the covetousness the injustice the contempt of the Gospel the profanation of the Sabbath the drunkenness perjury whoredoms of London these and such like sins cry to God for vengeance Now that God should not onely not destroy us but multiply his blessings upon us as appears by our meeting this day That God should preserve us so many years from the man devouring plague that in all the time of the late unhappy wars God should preserve us from being plundered from popular tumults and insurrections from being burnt with fire and turned into an heap of ashes this heightens the mercy of God and makes it a blessing in folio Let us praise God exceedingly for it This is a Duty belonging to all that live in the City but more especially to us who are Native Citizens 2. Let us labour to be a credit and an ornament to the place where we were born as we are Citizens of no mean City so let not our conversation be low and mean but holy and honorable this was Paul's commendation he was a greater credit to Tarsus than Tarsus was to him Therefore Ignatius writing in one of his Epistles to the Tarsenses calls them Pauli cines discipulos Pauls fellow-Citizens and Disciples as accounting it a great honor to them that so famous a man as Paul was born in their City Thus Austin was a greater credit to Hippo than Hippo was to him and Hippocrates was a greater blessing to the Island Coâ— where he was born than the Island was to him I here are some men who are curses and Plague soars to the places where they receive their first breath who Viper like tear in pieces the bowels of the Mother that bare them such a one was Nero who set his own City on fire and rejoyced to behold the flames of it such another was Caligula who wished that all Rome had but one neck that he might cut it off at once Many such Monsters there are in most Cities who are vomicae carcinomata civitatis diseases impostumations stains and blemishes to the places where they are born who are Citizens but drunken Citizens Citizens but adulterous Citizens Citizens but covetous and oppressing Citizens but I hope better things of you here present this day What must we do that we may be ornaments to the place where we were born You must do two things You must be just in your words and actions towards men and holy in your carriage towards God these are the two Poles upon which the happiness of London turns then is a City happy when Justice and holiness meet together when the men thereof make Conscience of their duty to God as well as to their Neighbour and of their duty to their Neighbour as well as of their duty towards God when there is a
therefore you that are nobly born must labour to be nobly and vertuously minded Nobility without vertue is but as a scarlet-roabe upon a leprous body and like a jewel in a swines snout There are very many who are ignobly born and yet prove noble such was the Coblers son who grew to be a famous Captain and when he was upbraided by a noble man with his mean original wittily answered My nobility begins with me and thine ends in thee And there are many who are nobly born and yet prove ignoble to the dishonour of their progenitors Such were the children of Alcibiades Such was Hezekiah's son Such must not you be you must labour to be a credit to your Ancestors And you must not account it sufficient to be born of earthly Parents though never so noble but you must labour to be born of God and to be born from above for as Christ saith Except a man be born from above for so it is in the original He shall never enter into the Kingdom of Heaven It is not your being born from below though your Parents be never so high which will intitle you to heaven unlesse you be born from above unless you be heaven-born Christians A true Christian is of a noble extraction he is the adopted son of God Brother to Jesus Christ heir of God and co-heir with Christ He is the noblest man in the world Such must you labour to be and in comparison of this all outward nobility is but as dung and drosse 3. Let us not rest satisfied in being Citizens of this famous City of London but let us labour to be Citizens of the new Jerusalem to be Citizens of that City which is made without hands eternal in the heavens Heaven in Scripture is often called a City and it is no mean City glorious things are spoken of thee O thou City of the living God all earthly Cities aremean and poor in comparison of it and not worthy to be named that day in which we speak of this City the Scripture calls it A better Countrey that is an heavenly As far as heaven exceeds the earth so far doth thisCity exceed all earthly Cities It exceeds them 1. In its greatness and bigness and therefore it is called agreat City Revel 21. 10. And that great City by way of emphasis The holy Jerusalem descending out of heaven Our Saviour Christ saith That in his fathers house there are many Mansions Who can tell how many For there are in heaven a great multitude which no man could number of all Nations and kindreds and people and tongues If the Sun be 166times bigger than the Earth how big is this blessed City 2. In its sublimity and altitude It is a City seated above all visible heavens as the Apostle saith Ephes◠4. 10. Therefore it is called The highest Heaven and the third Heaven farre above the aëriall and aetheriall heavens And this sheweth the excellency of this City For in the Composition of the World the purest and the most excellent things are situated in the highest places The earth as the grossest is put in the lowest room the air above that and therefore purer than that the fire purer than the air the starry heaven above them and therefore of a more pure composition which Aristotle calls Quinta essentia But the heaven of the blessed is above the starry heaven and therefore of a far purer composition and as Zanchy saith It is inter omnia corpora simplicia simplicissimum 3. In its beauty and glory For this City hath no need of the Sun or Moon to shine in it But the glory of God doth lighten it and the Lamb is the light thereof And herein also consisteth the excellency of this City because it is a place where we shall be filled with the glory of God The Lord God Almighty shall be the everlasting light of it and our God the glory of it 4. It exceeds all other Cities in the wealth and riches of it For it is a City of pure gold and the streets of it are of pure gold the walls of it and the foundations are garnished with all manner of precious stones and the twelve gates of it are made of twelve pearles c. These expressions are all of them Metaphorical borrowed from things that are most precious and of highest account with men upon earth to set out the incomparable wealth and riches of heaven And surely if the streets be of pure gold O how beautiful are the inner rooms How rich is the Chamber of Presence of the great King of Kings 5. In the pleasures of it There are many Cities which are pleasantly situated and wherein all earthly pleasures are to be enjoyed This famous City of London is deservedly stiled not onely The Store-House of profit but the Garden of pleasure But Heaven is a Paradise of all pleasure and therefore it is called Paradise Earthly Paradise was omnium voluptatum promptuarium A promptuary and store-house of all pleasures and delights much more is heavenly Paradise It is the Garden of the Lord wherein the Saints of God are satisfied with joyes and unspeakable delights 6. In the privileges and immunities of it Every City hath its privileges and immunities to invite men to dwell in it to be free of it But now the privileges and immunities of heaven are unexpressible There we shall all be Kings crowned with a crown of righteousness a crown of life and a crown of glory There we shall be free from all misery from the wicked and their persecutions from the Devil and his temptations and above all we shall be free from the body of sin and iniquity 7. In the necessary accommodations of it A City is a place where all things necessary for the comfort of mans life are to be found The whole Countrey round about bring in their Commodities to it We use to say of Cheap side in London That it is the best garden in England But now Heaven is a City wherein we shall have a perfect possession of all good things It is an happiness made up by the aggregation of all things desirable 8. In the excellency of the inhabitants It is one of the greatest commendations of a City when the Inhabitants of it are godly and religious But now in Heaven there are none but the Souls of just men made perfect in grace The People which dwell there are all righteous Therefore it is called A holy City because it consisteth onely of holy persons 9. In the safety and security of it It is a great commendation of a City when it is safe and secure from enemies There is hardly any City in the whole World which enjoyeth this happinesse But now in heaven there is perfect safety and security Therefore it is said That the gates of it shall never be shut They that dwell there are above the Fear and hurt
of men or Devils 10. It exceeds all other Cities in the work imployment which the Citizens of this City have In earthly Cities men turmoil themselves with wordly businesses and are troubled about many things drowning themselves in the cares of the world c. But in Heaven there is no work but to sing Hallelujahs and to be alwayes praising God and rejoycing in his Presence 11. It exceeds all other Cities in the durableness eternity of it The pleasures of this City are everlasting and the Glory Honor Riches and Privileges c. of it are everlasting Therefore it is said to be a City which hath foundations The Apost. tels us That Abraham looked for a City which hath foundations This expressioÌ„ is put down in oppositioÌ„ to Abrahams dwelling in Tents Tabernacles A Tent is an house wch hath a covering but no foundation A Tent is a moveable house easily reared up and easily pull'd down But now the heaven of the blessed is a firm and an enduring City a City which hath foundations This Phrase signifieth Two things 1. The unchangeableness unalterableness of this Heavenly City 2. The everlastingnesse and eternity of it Both of them are expresly mentioned by the Apost. Peter 1 Pet. 1. 4. Where he calls heaven not only an immortal and undefiled but an inheritance that never fadeth away All Farthly Cities decay in time and need reparation But this is a City which never fadeth A place which needs no reparation And is as a Flower that is alwayes sweet and never withereth as excellent after 10000000. years as at the first moment of its creation It is unchangeable and unalterable And so also it is eternal and everlasting Earthly Cities have no foundation and therefore are fading and perishing They are like Cities made of wax or snow which quickly melt away like Nebucadnezzars Image whose head was of fine gold and breasts of silver but the feet which upheld it were composed of brittle clay that is easily dissolved Earthly happinesse like the earth is founded upon nothing And as the Cities we dwell in so we that dwell in these Cities have no foundation unlesse it be in the dust as Job speaks Therefore the Apostle saith We have here no abiding City but we seek one to come Heaven is a Kingdom that cannot be shaken A mansion-house as Christ saith In my Fathers house are many mansions so called from their perpetuity But we have no {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} no abiding city here Nature saith Cicero hath not given a dwelling place to us here upon earth but onely a lodging place as a guest in an Inne for a night and away Therefore it is that the Saints of God in all ages have acknowledged themselves to be sojourners pilgrims and strangers in this world traveling thorough it as thorough a strange Country unto their mansion-house in Heaven In a word All earthly Cities Persons and happinesse are subject First to alteration and next to dissolution The longest day hath its night and the longest life its death The famous Monarchies of the World have had their periods Kings dye and Kingdoms dye And great and famous Cities are in length of time ruinated and demolished We in this Nation have seen strange alterations changes and dissolutions All earthly Cities are changeable and perishing but Heaven is a City which hath foundations It is an unchangeable and everlasting City Lastly This City excells all other Cities in the builder and maker of it Earthly Cities are built by men but the builder of this City is God so saith the Apostle He looked for a City which hath foundations whose builder and maker is God There are some who think that the Heaven of the blessed is an uncreated place But this a great error For every thing in the world is either the Creator or the Creature â—f heaven were an uncreated place it should he a God and not a Creature We believe in our Creed That God is the Creator of all things visible and invisible And the forementioned text tells us That God was the builder and maker of it Here are two words used {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} the last word signifieth that God made it summo artificio to set out his skill and workmanship When great men build great houses for their own dwelling they build them according to their greatnesse When Ahashuerosh made a feast to shew the riches and glory of his Kingdom it was a most magnificent feast Solomons Temple built by him was justly accounted the glory of the World Pliny calls it Orbis miraculum The miracle of the World When Nebucadnezzar built a Palace for his own dwelling it was a sumptuous one The Heathens tell us of glorious structures made by earthly Kings of the Temple of Diana The Sepulcher of Mausolus The Walls of Babylon The Capitol of Rome c. and the Pyramids of Egypt one of which was twenty years building and three hundred threescore thousand men alwaies at work about it If all the Kings of the earth should joyn together to build a Palace surely it would be a rare building But if all the Angels in heaven should joyn and set their wisdom on work to build an house surely it would be an Angelical structure Much more when God himself who is an infinite Agent infinite in glory power and wisdom shall make an house to shew his skill wisdom glory and power this house surely must needs be superlatively excellent Such an house and such a City is Heaven whose Builder and curious Artificer was God And therefore it is said to be an house made without hands Not onely without earthly hands for so all the visible Heavens were made but without hands that is after a more excellent manner than the other Heavens The other Heavens are said to be made by the hand of God Psal. 19. 1. Psalm 102. 25. But this was made without hands that is after a more glorious and a more unconceiveable manner than all the other Heavens Q. But for what end did God build this glorious City A. For two ends First For his own dwelling-house Christ calls it His Fathers House God indeed dwells every where in regard of his Essence but in regard of the presence of his Glory he dwells onely in Heaven This sheweth the surpassing excellency of this Heavenly House It is an House fit for God to dwell in Secondly God made this City that it might be a place where the Saints of God shall live in the embraces of God for ever Come ye Blessed of my Father saith Christ inherit the Kingdom prepared for you c. It is a Kingdom of glory and happiness prepared for the Saints before the foundation of the world In a word God made this City to be the habitation of Angels and Saints after this life in which they shall see God face to
The City Remembrancer OR A SERMON PREACHED To the NATIVE-CITIZENS OF LONDON At their solemn Assembly in PAULS on Tuesday the 23 of June A. D. MDCLVII By EDM. CALAMY B. D. and Pastor of the Church at ALDERMANBVRY Psal. 87. 4 5 6. This man was born there And of Zion it shall be said This and that man was born in her and the Highest himself shall establish her The Lord shall count when he writes up the people That this man was born there Selah LONDON Printed by S. G. for John Baker at the Sign of the Peacock in Pauls Church-yard 1657. TO THE Right Honourable Right Worshipfull and all other Citizens of London who received their first birth in so renowned a Metropolis and were of late Assembled together for the acknowledgement of this Passage of Divine Providence towards them Much honoured and beloved in Christ IT cannot be denied but that GOD hath blessed this City above most Cities in the world with blessings of all kinds and more especially with the blessing of the Gospel And although our sins are many and great and such sins may be found amongst us for which God hath destroyed other great Cities yet notwithstanding he hath hitherto preserved us and dealt with us not according to Rule but according to Prerogative He hath made London an exception from his generall way of proceeding with other Cities and hath spared us upon the account alone of free-grace Even so Father for so it seemeth good in thy sight O that this extraordinaryand distinguishing love of God might at last lead us to Repentance And thatin this our day we might know those things which belong unto our peace before they be hid from our eyes That our Preservationsfrom former judgements may not prove Reservationsunto greater And that we may not by reason of our unthankfulness and unfruitfulness drink the dregs of Gods wrath and at last be be made a spectacle of divine indignation and an exampleto others because we would not learn righteousnessby their Examples The chief design of this ensuing Sermon now made publick by your intreaty is to persuade the Citizensborn in this famous City by their Prayers Unity Piety Verity and Charity to seek the welfare and happinessof it And to be so holy and heavenly in their lives that they may be accounted able and worthy to stand in the gap to hinder the Judgements of God from falling upon it It is not only not contrary but very suitable to Christian Religion to seek the good in an especiall manner of thePlace where we were born or bred up Because Jesus Christ was bred in Nazareththerefore he preached first in that place This he did saith one as a recompence for his education Because Paul was bred andbrought up in Jerusalem and of the stock of Israel therefore he was in great heaviness and continual sorrow of heart and could have wished himself accursed from Christ for his brethren his kinsmen according to the flesh Religion doth not take away natural affection butperfects it it doth not extinguish but order and regulateit It is your great Dutyto study to be blessings andMercies as to the placeswhere you were brought up so also to the places where youwere born It is reported ofAlexander the great that he loved his Master Aristostle as much as he did hisFather Philip because as he said from his Father hee received his being and from his Master his wel-being I will not dispute whether we owe more to the place where we were born or to the place where we were bred Sure I am We owe much to both and it is our duty to endeavour to beblessings both to the one and to the other It is a Providence not to be slighted that you are Citizens of no mean City but this will little avail if you be not a credit and an ornament to it The excellency of a Cityconsisteth in the excellencyof the Citizens without which an excellent City is rather a Bethaven than aBethel rather an Hell than a Heaven Human storiesrelate what great blessings some Persons have been to the places where they received their first Breath The Lacedaemonianswhen they laied waste all Baeotia sparedThebes because Pindar that famous Poet was born there And when Alexander destroyed it he commanded his Souldiers to spare Pindars Family c. The Persians when they waged War withall Grecia would not hurt the Isle of Delos because it was the place where Apollo was born c. O let it be your care that you may be Noah's Abraham's Lots and Daniels to the place where you were born That God by your prayers and tears may be moved to spare this great city multiply his blessing upon it For this end and purpose your great study must be towalk worthy of the Gospel which you enjoy with much purity power plenty and liberty You must not onely have it with you but in you not onely be Professors but practisers of it not onely be fellow-Citizens of London but of the Saints and of the houshold of God You must labour to be Citizens and Freemen of that City which hath foundations whose builder and maker is God For you cannotsin at so cheap a rate in London as some may do in other places When you sin you sin against greater light and love against greater means and mercies than others do And therefore your sins will more provoke theAlmighty and bring downgreater and more sudden desolations upon you You areCapernaum-like lifted up to heaven and if you slight the Gospel as she did you shall be brought down to hell and it shall be easier for Capernaum at the great day than for you The great God expects that you should be like Hananiah who feared God above many That you should be in the highest for me of Christs School taller by the head in gracethan men in other places He looks that you should do {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} something singular and extraordinary He hath given you more than he hathgiven to others and he requires more from you the Lord grant you may return more There were many eyes upon you beholding what you would do after this following Sermon was preached in which you were earnestly excited unto good works at your Publique Dinner Give me leave to tell you freely and plainly You have not as yet sufficiently answered the expectation either of others or of many of your own Company There were some little spots this year also in your Feast of Charity I mean some defects and blemishes not I hope for want of affection but of observing a due Method howsoever Thus much I must publish to the World both for theHonor of God and for your honor you havedoubled your Charity this year above what it was the last year You have bound out 30. Boyes to be Apprentices You have given considerable summes to Ministers born in London and Ministers Widows in
distresse and to poor Scholars in the Vniversities And my hope is That the next year you will double the summe above what you have given this year I am verily perswaded that what God said of Corinth is very true of London He hath much people in this City Though there are many wicked amongst us yet there are many yea very many both born andbrought up in London who truly fear God and for their sakes God hath hitherto spared us My prayers is that God would increasetheir number That this City may be a City of Refuge for distressed Christians not an oppressing or a bloudy City but a faithful and holy Citywherein God may delight to dwell and that Salvation may be appointed to her for Walls and Bulwarks So prayeth Your 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and fellow servant in promoting the common good Edm. Calamy A SERMON PREACHED Before the Native CITIZENS OF LONDON The City Remembrancer Act. 21. 39. But Paul said I am a Man which am a Jew of Tarsus a City in Cilicia a Citizen of no mean City WE are here met this day not only as Christians but as fellow Citizens to bless the name of the Lord that we were born not only in England but in London That we are Native-Citizens of no mean City For the better Celebrating of this mercy I have chosen this suitable Text which contains Saint Pauls just and necessary defence of himself against the unjust accusation of the Chief Captain of the Roman Band The chief Captain accuseth him for being an Egyptian a Seducer and a Murderer Art not thou that Egyptian which before these dayes madest an uprore and leddest out to the wilderness four thousand men that were Murderers In this verse Saint Paul makes his Apology which consisteth of three parts 1. He describes his Original He was {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} I am saith he a man which am a Jew I am not that wicked and cursed Egyptian you speak on but I am a Jew of a religious and noble extraction For though the Jewes are at this day the scorn and contempt of the world justly odious to all good Christians because of their murdering of Christ yet the time was when they were the only people God had upon earth when they were a Holy Nation when they were naturally holy as it is Gal. 2. 15. We who are Jews by nature and not sinners of the Gentiles They were not sinners by nature as the Gentiles but holy by nature I do not mean with the holyness of regeneration but with a federall holyness They were all in Covenant with God and their very Land was holy It was Immanuels Land The time was when they were not onely a holy but a noble people The honourablest Nation under the whole heavens For to them as the Apostles saith pertained the adoption and the glory and the Covenants and the giving of the Law and the Service of God and the promises Whose are the Fathers those noble and honourable Patriarcks and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came who is over all God blessed for ever Jesus Christ was not only the Son of man but the Seed of Abraham This is the first part of Pauls Apology He was a Jew of a godly and noble original Secondly He describes the Country where he was born He was not only a Jew as to his original but as to his Country he was a Cilician which is a Province in Anatolia or Asia minor a Country saith Ammianus Marcellinus dives omnibus bonis wealthy and fruitfull of all necessaries He was born in a rich and fruitfull Countrey Thirdly He describes his Native City the dignity and excellency of it He was a Jew of Tarsus that is born in Tarsus of Cilicia so called in opposition saith Cajetan to another Tarsus in Bythinia He was a Citizen of no mean City {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} In these words there is a {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} where more is to be understood than is expressed He was a Citizen of no mean City that is He was a Citizen of a Famous City Josephus calls it {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} Stephanus {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} It was urbs celebratissima a most renowned and celebrious City It was the Metropolis of all Cilicia Solinus saith it was mater urbium The Mother of Cities Diodorus Siculus saith That for the kindness it shew-to Julius Caesar and after him to Augustus Caesar it was called Juliopolis In this famous City was Paul born The words thus expounded may be handled two manner of wayes 1. Relatively as they are purely Apologetical and satissactory answers to the unjust accusations laid to Pauls charge by the chief Captain I shall not meddle with them in this sense because it would lead me to a discourse Heterogeneal to the occasion of this dayes meeting 2. Absolutely as they are an Historical Narraration of Pauls extraction Countrey and native City In this sense I shall speak to them I shall sum up all that I have to say into this Doctrinal conclusion Doct. That to be descended from religious and noble ancestors and to be born in a famous Country and City are considerable privileges and passages of Divine Providence not to be slighted or disregarded This proposition consisteth offour branches of which I shall speak in order 1. To be descended from godly and religious Ancestors is a desirable privilege and no small honour This was Pauls prerogative He was a Jew descended from the holy Patriarcks It is a great happiness when a man can truly say O God thou art my God and my Fathers God as it is Exod. 15. 2. And with Jacob O God of my Father Abraham and my Father Isaac For God hath promised not onely to be the God of the righteous but of their Seed and David saith That the generation of the righteous shall be blessed There is a saying amongst some men Happy is the Child whose Father goeth to the Devil But this is a wicked and cursed Speech For God punisheth the sins of the Fathers upon the Children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate him But I rather say Happy is the child whose Father goeth to Heaven For God sheweth mercy unto thousands of them that love him and keep his Commandements God promiseth to bless Isaac and to multiply his seed as the Stars of heaven because that Abraham his Father obeyed his voyce and kept his Statutes and Laws Gen. 26. 3 4 5. And the Apostle commends Marcus to the Colosstans to be regarded and respected by them because he was Barnabas Sisters Son he was the Sisters Son of a godly man 2. To be descended from noble and illustrious Progenitors is a considerable privilege This was also Pauls Prerogative He was of the stock of Israel of the Tribe
conjunction of holiness and righteousness blessed is that Land and blessed is that City which is in such a condition happy London if a Minister could rationally pray Jeremies prayer over it The Lord blesse thee O habitation of justice and mountain of holiness 1. You must be just in your words and actions towards men There is a great complaint throughout the whole Nation against divers men professing godlinesse in this City that they are false to their trust unfaithful in their promises unjust in their buying and selling That they are very religious in the publique Congregation but very unconscienceable in their private Shops That the faithful City is become an Harlot It was full of judgement and righteousness lodged in it but now her silver is become drosse and her wine mixt with water Now it is full of unrighteousness and unâ—ustice This is a bloudy charge and if true renders yâ—u Traytors and Rebels to the City of your Nativity Remember this day that God hates holinesse if it be not joyned with righteousnesse That an unjust holy man is an abomination to the Lord That holinesse without righteousnesse is not holiness but hypocrisie 2. You must be holy in your carriage towards God you must not onely give man his due but God his due you must not only have the Gospel but obey the Gospel you must not onely be good Citizens but good Christians Justice without holiness may make you good Heathens but will never make you good Christians An unholy justice is as odious to God as an unjust holiness Remember the words of the Apostle Without holiness no man shall see God Though you be never so just towards your Neighbours if you be not also holy towards God you shall never go to heaven Let us sincerely desire and earnestly endeavour and seek the good of the City wherein we were born This was the great commendation of Mordecah Fster 10. 3. He sought the wealth of his people Not his own wealth but the wealth of his people Such another was Nehemiah he sought the welfare of the children of Israel he was a man of a publique spirit he did not Monopolize and ingrosse all to himself he was a true Common-wealth's man not a Private-wealth's man he sought the good of the people of God more than his own Such another was Augustus Caesar It is said of him That he found the City of Rome weak and in rubbish and left it adamantine and invincible such must you be you must seek the good of the place of your nativity you must not onely labour to enrich enoble and greaten your selves to make your selves happy But you must labour to enrich enoble greaten and make London happy and blessed this you must do six manner of waies 1. By your prayers you must pray for the peace of this our Jerusalem that peace may be within her Walls and prosperity within her Palaces For your Brethren and Companions sake you must say and pray peace be within thee For in the peace of London is your peace wrapt up in the happiness of London your happiness is involved Pray that the name of London from this day may be Jehovah Shammai the Lord is there that the Lord would make it an habitation of Justice and a Mountain of Holiness Pray that the Sun of the Gospel may not set in our daies but that it may be continued to us and our posterities for evermore 2. By living together in love and union behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity it is like the precious ointment upon the head that ran down upon the beard even Aarons beard that went down to the skirts of his garments as the dew of Hermâ—n and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Sion for there the Lord commanded the blessing even life for ever As long as Ierusalem was a City compact together and at unity within it self so long it prospered But when it came to be divided into two sticks into Iudah and Ephraim the two Tribes and the Ten Tribes these two sticks never left beating one another till they were at last both of them destroyed It is observed by Learned men That all Englands enemies from without were brought into the Land by divisions from within Intestine divisions brought in the Romans Saxons Danes and Normans Tacitus saith that the Britains when Caesar came in factionibus trahebantur dunt singuli pugnabant universi vincuntur c. The divisions of London at this day are very many and very great O that this dayes meeting might be some wayes instrumentall for the healing of them That our feasting together may not onely in name but in reality prove to be a Love-Feast That heâ—â—eforth we would cease striving one against another and strive together for the Faith of the Gospel That wee would abstain from all dividing names principles and practices That Magistrates and Ministers would joyn together for the publick good That Aaron and Huz would hold up not weaken the hands of Moses Alwayes remembring that sad speech of Jesus Christ Mat. 12. 25. Every Kingdom divided against it self is brought to desolation and every City or House divided against it self shall not stand Thirdly By your holy lives and conversations For Holiness will not only preserve your own persons from Hell but the City wherein you live from ruine and destruction Here are assembled this day at least a thousand persons born in London Now if all you were really holy what a wall of Brass would it be for the defence of the City For if God would have spared five Cities if there had been but ten righteous persons in them How much more will he spare one City wherein there are a thousand righteous men Sin and iniquity brings down the judgements of God upon Cities and Kingdoms There is a story of two men riding through a Town in Germany burnt down by Souldiers The one said to the other Hic fuit hostilitas Here the enemy hath been but the other wisely and Christianly answered Hic fuit iniquitas Here sin hath been It was the sin of this place which made way for the Souldiers to come to destroy it When Phocas the Murderer of the Emperor Mauritius had built a high and strong Wall for his safety and defence he heard a voyce from heaven saying to him Though thou buildest thy Wall as high as Heaven sin is within and this will easily expose it to destruction It is sin which causeth God to burn up Cities and therefore you must by a holy life seek the good of this City Fourthly By your love to the godly learned and painfull Ministry of the City Contempt of the Ministry is a City-ruinating-sin It is a sin which brings destruction without remedy 2 Chron. 36. 16. They mocked the Messengers of God and misused his Prophets untill the wrath of God arose against
his people till there was no remedy When Hanun the Ammonite abused Davids Ambassadors this affront made him to stink before David as it is expresly said 2 Sam. 10. 6. and brought destruction upon him and all his people Ministers rightly called and ordained are the Ambassadors of Jesus Christ when you despise them you despise Christ when you starve them for want of maintenance Christ takes it as an injury against himself and he will revenge their quarrel One great reason why God destroyed Jerusalem was because she killed the Prophets and stoned them that were sent to her And the reason why Heidelberg that famous City was laid wast was as I was told by a Reverend and learned Minister there dwelling for the contempt of the Ministry O Let not this be your sin lest you also perish as they have done 5. By your constancy in the faith in these Apostatizing dayes It will not it cannot be denied but that London is miserably infected and beleapred with errors and heresies And what is said of Poland and Amsterdam may be as truly said of this City That if a man had lost his Religion he should be sure to find it be it what it will be amongst as here We are a Cage of unclean Birds A receptacle for Hereticks of all kinds Heresie is gone forth from London into all parts of the Land Now you must know That Heresie will quickly bring ruine upon a City Pezelius upon Sleidan tells us that the dissentions of the Christians in the East brought in the Saracens and Mahumetans They were divided into ten severall Religions and their divisions did armare Saracenos in ecclesiae perniciem did Arm the Saracens to destroy the Christians and therefore if you would seek the good of the place of your Nativity you must be valiant for the truth you must indeavour according to the station in which God hath set you to purge the City of these Augaean stables to hinder the growth of Heresie You must not be like Children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of Doctrin You must in malice be children but in understanding be men You must be stedfast and immoveable in the truth that so at last God who is a God of truth may delight to dwell in the midst of us and this City may be called as Jerusalem was A City of Truth 6. By your Charity and Liberality This doth especially concern such of you upon whom God hath bestowed the Riches of this World A poor Citizen may do good to his native-City by his prayers and holy life but you must also do good to it by your bounty and liberality Charity is the Queen of Graces without which all other graces are but cyphers and shadows Faith without charity is nothing worth if a man gives his body to be burnt and hath not charity it profiteth him nothing The Protestant Religion as it teacheth us not to trust to good works so also it teacheth us to be full of good works you have often heard us say that though faith alone justifieth yet the faith that justifieth is never alone though faith justifieth separatim à bonis operibus yet not separata à bonis operibus though good works be not necessary in the act of justification yet they are necessary in the person justified though good works be not the cause why we go to heaven yet they are the way to heaven Thus wee Preach Let it appear this day that you are real Protestants by practâ—sing this Doctrine Let the proud Papists trust to the merit of their works but let us Protestants trust in Christ onely and his righteousness and let us manifest the truth of our faith in Christ by our good works to the members of Christ alwaies remembring that laying of Christ Whatsoever you do to any of the least of my Brethren you do unto me You have many glorious precedents and put ternes left you by your predecessors whose hearts God hath stirred up to build many famous Hospitalls and to endow them with large revenews and to erect Free-Schools for the education of Youth and herein they become examples to you to follow their steps and as you inherit their Estates so also to inherit their vertues But I shall not press you any farther to charity in general I shall confine my Discourse to one little piece and parcel of charity towards your fellow-Citizens that are in want and necessity You are this day to dine together my hearts desire is that this dinner may be a Feast of Charity In the Primitive times the Christians had their {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} their Love-feasts on purpose to maintain Brotherly love these Feasts Jude calls according to our translation Feasts of Charity because in such Feasts the poor were alwaies remembred my humble sute is that this dinner may be a Feast of Love and Charity that some real good may be done at it that you may not onely feast as good Citizens but as good Christians and therefore you have a Sermon here this morning on purpose to prepare you for this Feast that so it may not onely be a civil but a religious meeting The Apostle Jude tells us of spots that were in the Primitive Feasts of Charity these spots were certain wicked and heretical persons which crept into their Feasts and defiled and polluted them I hope their will be no such spots amongst us this day The last year there were spots in our Feast of Charity mistake me not I do not mean it in Judes sense I am far from thinking that there were wicked and heretical men amongst us my meaning onely is that there were defects and blemishes in our last years meeting The Reverend Brother that Preach'd here the last year hath told the World thus much in Print But he addes very wisely and discreetly and I hope truly that this was not for want of affection but of contrivance not for want of liquor but vent not matter but method not conception but obstetrication you did not want a fountain of charity but onely a chanel cut out wherein your charity might stream it self This channel is now cut out for you there are indeed four chanels four glorious designes proposed by the Stewards for to draw out your charity and liberality towards your fellow-Citizens give me leave to read them to you as they were sent me in writing 1. For the relief of Ministers in distresse born in the freedom ofLondon 2. For relief of Ministers Widdows in want whose husbands were born in the freedom of London 3. For putting forth of poor Children to be Apprentises whose Fathers are or were freemen and which Children were born in the City of London or Liberties thereof 4. That relief may be made for poor Scholars Students in the Vniversity and there resident who are unable to subsist of themselves and who were Sons of freemen
and have been horn in London or the Liberties thereof Here are four famous Chanels for your Charity to stream in four Excellent materials to build your Liberality upon And let me tell you That you are obliged this day both in Conscience and Honour and you can neither sasisfie God or Man unlesse you do something worthy your selves To move you consider 1. That you miscarried the last year and therefore you are the more ingaged this year When I say you miscarried I do not mean as to the faithfulnesse of the Stewards who were very carefull and exactly diligent in laying out the Money that was gathered in Testimony whereof you have 32. poor Youths here before you whom they bound out Apprentises But I mean in regard of the littleness of the sum that was gathered And this miscarriage was not for want of affection as is said of you in print but for want of contrivance not for want of liquor but Vent of matter but method c. Behold now a Method propounded Behold a Vent for your charity Let it appear this day that that which is said of you in print is true Let the Fountain of your liberality stream out in these four Chanels 2. You have most of you got your Estates here in this City Here is the place where God hath blessed you And therefore the light of Nature teacheth you to seek the good of this City where God hath prospered you in the first and chief place And there are many of you whom God hath blessed with great estates As you are Citizens of no mean City so you are no mean Citizens Now God requires of you not only to be charitable but a suitable proportion of charity according as he hath blessed you You that are rich in Estate must not only do good works but be rich in good works alwaies remembring that saying of Christ To whom much is given of them much is required 3. Your charity will be a pattern and president to other persons and places For though you must not do good works to be seen of men yet you must do good works which men may see according as Christ saith Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorifie your Father wâ—h is in Heaven 4. I might here take occasion to tell you what the Kentish men have done lately in their Meeting and what the Warwick-shire men have done but this would be too much to undervalue you you are the Mother city and it is not fit that the Daughters should be examples to the Mother but the Mother to her Daughters I perswade my self that you will this day exceed all former patterns and be your selves a pattern to all others 5. I might also here take occasion to put you in mind of one of the last years Stewards whom God hath suddainly taken out of this world He was a godly man and of good esteem His name was Mr. John Wallington The Egyptians in all their great feasts were wont to have a Death's head served in as one dish that thereby they might be put in mind of their Mortality and learn to be sober and temperate in eating and drinking I could heartily wish that the death of this precious Christian might serve this day instead of a Death's-head to stir up your Charity and Liberality forasmuch as you know not how soon God may take you from your Estates or your Estates from you how soon God may call you to give an account of your Stewardships or whether ever you shall live to have such another publick occasion to testifie the greatness of your love to Christ by your Charity to his fellow-members And therefore while you have opportunity do good to all but especially to the Houshold of Faith But why should I use any more Arguments For the City of London hath alwayes been one of the best places in the world for Deeds of Charity Let me speak it to the Honour of God and of this City that even at this very day the City of London is a Sanctuary for all the distressed Christians of the Nation and a man may sooner get a 100 l. at a Collection in London than an hundred pence in many other places As God hath given you large estates so also hath he given to many of you large hearts And therfore why should not believe and confidently conclude that you will this day answer expectation and that you will be charitable though not to be seen of men yet so as that men may see it and bless God for you I shall adde onely this one word more You are Citizens of no mean City and no mean Citizens of this City And therefore let not your Charity this day be low and mean but transcendent and superlative suitable to the place where you were born and to such persons born in such a place So much for the use of this Proposition as it is a considerable and desirable Privilege Vse 2. I shall now further improve it as it is but an outward temporall fleshly and carnal privilege common to the worst as well as to the best of men As it is the Prerogative of Paul even then when hee was a persecuting Pharisee as it is a Privilege which a man may enjoy and yet be in the state of damnation And here likewise if time would permit I should exhort you unto three things very seasonable and profitable 1. Let us not rest satisfied in being the Children of Religious Parents but let us labour to inherit the virtues of our Parents There are many Children who are blots and blemishes to their Parents as Manasseh was to Hezekiah Conmodus unto Marcus Aurelius Antoninus of whom it is said that he had been perfectly happy had hee not begotten such a Son And that he did injure his Countrey in nothing but in being the Father of such an ungodly child Hoc solo patriae quod genuit nocuit There are many Citizens amongst us who are the wicked sons of very godly Parents let such know That it is a fearful thing to sin against good education and to walk contrary to those religious Principles which they suck'd in from their very Cradle That that which is a great mercy in it self is to them a great judgement And that their very Parents shall rise up in judgement against them and be instead of a thousand witnesses to condemn them 2. Let us not rest contented in being born of noble Parents but let those that are nobly born labour to be nobly minded For it is the noble minde makes a man noble and not the noble title It is a notable saying of Gregory the great A King may command his Subjects to call a Lyon a Lamb but he cannot make a Lyon to be a Lamb A King may give a man noble Titles but he cannot make the man a noble man because he cannot give him a noble and vertuous minde And