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A31927
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Englands antidote against the plague of civill warre presented in a sermon before the Honourable House of Commons on their late extraordinary solemn fast, October 22, 1644 / by Edmund Calamy ...
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Calamy, Edmund, 1600-1666.
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1652
(1652)
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Wing C234; ESTC R5769
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41,464
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54
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your fastings And then again Thirdly there is a great deal of Fasting but there is no Reformation a great deal of talk of reformation but there is no practice of reformation we have a great many Covenants of Reformation but there is no performance of our Covenants We swear to reform but we do not reform we fast one day and feast the devil all the moneth after many times Do we do as the King of Nineveh did and as his Nobles and people did they cried unto the Lord and turned every man from his evill way but because there is no such turning from sin amongst us because there is no reformation that is the reason why our fasting doth no more good Beloved in the Lord suffer me to speak my minde plainly Could I see the Parliament of England do as the King of Nineveh did and all the Nobles of Nineveh did could I see them all appear here and lying down in dust and ashes weeping and mourning and lamenting before the Lord and humbling their souls in good earnest and every man turning from his iniquity and from the violence in his hand such a fasting day would save the lives of three Kingdoms such tears would prevent the effusion of the bloud of thousands such a day would be loud musick in the ears of God The Lord make this day to be such a day Thus much I thought good to say in reference to the generall expression in the Text But now God commands All men Secondly But then it is added in the Text God commands all men every where that is another expression to repent If we must repent anywhere we must repent every where for First Because God fils every where If thou canst commit a sin where God is not there I 'le give thee leave not to repent but if God be every where we must repent every where because God is every where And then again Secondly Because some devil or other is every where I do not say that the devil is every where but some devil or other is every where and therefore we must repent every where because our Accuser is every where and our Judge is every where And then again Thirdly Because death will meet us every where If there be any place wherein thou art exempted from death I 'le give thee leave not to repent there but death will meet with thee every where and therefore God commands all men every where to repent And then again Fourthly Because we must give an account for all the Actions that we do every where God at the day of judgement will ask thee an account of that that thou hast done anywhere and therefore we must repent every where And then Fifthly Because we sin every where we sin in our Churches and therefore God cals for a Church-repentance We sin in our Parliament therefore God cals for a Parliament-repentance We sin in our Sacraments therefore God cals for a Sacrament-repentance We sin in our beds in our shops and therefore God cals for repentance in our shops and in our beds God cals to the Assembly of Ministers to repent of their sinnes God cals not only to the people at Oxford to repent but to the people at Westminster to repent God not only cals to the pretended Parliament at Oxford but the true Parliament at Westminster to repent God cals all men every where to repent And then again Sixthly Because Gods judgements are every where Gods judgements fill every Town every City every Countrey the Sword devours every where and therefore God commands us to repent every where Thus much for the second exhortation There is one Question yet behinde which must have an answer before I can conclude Some will say What is that Repentance which is the unum necessarium for England and which is The great Commandment of God for England Is there any man that doth not repent There is much talk indeed in the world and much dispute about Repentance and much profession of repentance And every man saith he repenteth But I fear that most people mistake the nature of true repentance and so are cheated of their salvation by a rotten and false repentance There is a threefold mistake of repentance First Some think it an ominous thing to repent and judge of repentance as some ridiculously judge of making their Wils who refuse to make their Wils in their health as thinking it an omen and presage of their death So many refuse to repent in health because they think it a work of sicknesse and if they should do it in health it would hasten their death This opinion is not worth confuting Secondly Some think it an easie thing to repent and therefore deal with repentance as one saith as countrey-people do with Physicians who never send for them till they be breathing out their last breath So many never think of Repentance till they be upon their death-bed and then they conceive that these five words Lord have mercy upon me are as efficacious to send them to heaven as the Papists conceit that their five words of consecration are able to transubstantiate the bread in the Sacrament into the body of Christ Most people think it very easie to repent It is but repenting saith the sinner But this But is a hard But It requires the omnipotent power of God to work repentance 2 Tim. 2. 25. Therefore it is called a rending of the heart Joel 2. 13. which is a hard work And it is likewise called a ploughing up of the fallow ground of our hearts It is a Transmutation a change of the whole man from sin to God which is no easie work Thirdly and especially Most people think they repent when they do not And I beleeve that the reason why so many goe to hell is not so much for want of repentance as for want of a right repentance We reade Act. 11. 18. of a repentance unto life and 2 Cor. 7. 10. of a repentance never to be repented on where note there is a repentance which is not unto life and a repentance to be repented on Repentance is a rare jewell But as there is no jewel but it may be counterfeit so there is no grace but it may be counterfeited As there is a counterfeit faith a dead carcasse of faith so there is a bastardly repentance poenitentia spuria non genuina or as Austin cals it Poenitentia infructuosa And as a counterfeit jewell is nothing worth no more is a counterfeit repentance And as many are undone by the buying of a counterfeit jewel so there are many in hell through the mistake of this jewel that yet thought it may be they had repented aright and so might all their friends possibly think likewise Now therefore the great question will be What is that repentance unto life that repentance never to be repented on which if I have I may assure my self that I am in the state of salvation For the answer to this I will briefly shew 1. What is not that repentance which is
Die Mercurii 22 Octob. 1644. IT is this day Ordered by the Commons assembled in Parliament That M. Ashurst and M. Gowrdon do from this House give thanks to M. Calamy for the great pains he took in the Sermon he preached this day at the entreaty of the Commons at S. Margarets Westminster It being a day especially set apart for a Publike Humiliation and to desire him to print his Sermon And it is Ordered that none shall presume to Print his Sermon without being authorised under the Hand-writing of the said M. Calamy H. Elsyng Cler. Parl. D. Com. I Authorize CHRISTOPHER MEREDITH or his Assigns to print my Sermon above-named and no man else EDMUND CALAMY Englands Antidote AGAINST The Plague of Civill Warre Presented in A SERMON BEFORE THE HONOUrable House of COMMONS on their late extraordinary Solemn Fast October 22. 1644. By EDMUND CALAMY B. D. and Preacher at Aldermanbury LONDON LUKE 13. 4 5. Or those eighteen upon whom the Tower of Siloe fell and slew them think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Ierusalem I tell you Nay but except ye Repent ye shall all likewise perish LONDON Printed by A. Miller for Christopher Meredith at the Sign of the Crane in Pauls Church-yard MDCLII TO THE HONOURABLE the House of COMMONS now assembled in PARLIAMENT THe subject matter presented unto you in this Sermon is Repentance A Theam that concerns you not only as you are Parliament men betrusted by the people with the happinesse of the Kingdom but as you are Gentlemen betrusted by God with immortall souls It is a question with some though with me it is no question Whether a wicked man can be a good Parliament man But I suppose it is a question with none That if the man go to hell for want of repentance what shall then become of the Parliament man For this grace is absolutely necessary for your own salvations so necessary as that there is not the least crevise for an impenitent sinner to get into heaven at And it is necessary also for the preservation of the Kingdom For it is The only way and an infallible way to deliver us from this man-devouring and land-devouring Iudgement that is now upon us as is proved at large in the ensuing Discourse And therefore I could heartily wish that one of the Sermons preached before you every Fasting day might be a Sermon of Repentance And that all our Pulpits might sound forth nothing but the the Doctrine of Repentance and that this might be the Language of every godly Minister Repent O England Repent Repent It was once said and that very truly Inter altercandum veritas amittitur I am sure it may be more truly said of our times Inter disputandum paenitentia amittitur The people of the City of London have almost disputed away their Repentance I have read of one that by long studying of School-Divinity was so besotted that he quite forgot the Lords Prayer And I fear that in our dayes through the heat of disputation about matters of Discipline Faith and Repentance is much forgotten both by Minister and People And therefore as it was the excellency of our first Reformers for which they are eternally to be praised to bring the Divinitie of former times which was much perplexed and almost lost amongst the multitude of unnecessary School-utrum's unto a plain positive Scripture-Divinitie So it will be the excellency of all the godly Ministers in England for which Posterity will blesse them to bring all the multitude of the unnecessary Questions that are amongst us to this Unum necessarium of Repentance But then our care must be that this Repentance be a right Repentance For most people deceive themselves into hell by a false Repentance The nature of man is wonderfull prone First To think it an easie thing to Repent Secondly To think that Repentance is an ordinary common Theam and that it is an easie matter to make a Sermon of Repentance Thirdly To think that it is in his power to Repent when he will Fourthly To think that God will be contented with any slight Repentance Fifthly To think that little sinnes need no great Repentance Sixthly To think that he repenteth when he doth not Seventhly To deferre his Repentance till he come to be old or sick Eighthly To trust to his Repentance and to think to make God amends by his repentance All these are common and dangerous errours The Lord deliver you from them Remedies against most of them are discovered in the following Sermon which though I suppose your multitude of businesses will not suffer you to reade over yet your multitude of businesses must not hinder you from the present practice of it For he that excuseth himself from present Repentance by the multitude of his imployments what doth he else but excuse himself out of heaven as they did Luke 14. 18 19. that brought Apostles why they could not goe to heaven Your affairs are many and weighty yet I beseech you alwaies remember Christs speech Luke 10. 41 42. Martha Martha thou art carefull about many things but one thing is needfull The Lord make you Students of such things which when well studied will study you into Christ and into Heaven Most men study things that study them into envy and into contentions and into things to be repented of The Lord make you to study that Repentance which is a repentance never to be repented of So prayeth Your much obliged spirituall servant EDMUND CALAMY A Sermon preached before the Honourable House of COMMONS at their extraordinary Day of Humiliation October 22 1644. Acts 17. vers 30. latter part But now commandeth all men every where to repent The former part runs thus And the times of this ignorance God winked at but c. AMong all the Texts that are in the Bible there is no one Text more suteable to these times then this that I have read unto you But now God commands all men every where to repent God hath been preaching repentance to England by the Ministry of his word almost these hundred years but England hath turned a deaf ear to Gods preaching and God is now preaching repentance not only by his Word but by the sword for the sword hath a voice as well as the word Mic. 6. 9. And the sword speaks louder then the Word God is riding throughout all England upon his red and bloudy horse thundring out repentance to every City Countrey Town and Family and that which was the last speech of Master Bradford when he was burning at the stake is now become the voice not only of the Word of God but of the Sword of God Repent Oh England repent repent The Text is very sutable the Lord make it as profitable as it is sutable If any shall object and say That the doctrine of repentance is a doctrine that we all know already I answer if you know this doctrine so well the more shame you practise it so little