coming along with a cruel War we lay under the Discouragement of not knowing whether it was not in order to a final Excision we knew not whether the door of Mercy was not altogether shut upon us But now we see That temporal Chastisements are Mercies or at least tenders of Mercy though not made use of but in great Extremities when Men will not be otherwise persuaded but by the Terrours of the Lord for he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the Children of Men. And all the distance of time between one Judgment and another the tender of Mercy continues and ought to be the more efficacious upon our Minds insomuch that the forbearance and long-suffering of God to us-ward is like to be of a shorter continuance by how much it hath had hitherto no very good effect upon us Wherever there is Sin there must be Repentance or Punishment following and if the use of temporal Punishment is to prevent eternal Why may we not as well take warning by Judgments already past as by those to come Why not much better since we know that they were sent to Reclaim and we don't know but others may be sent to Destroy us We may flatter our selves That when a Judgment is turn'd into a seeming Mercy the Offended Party is then Reconciled That God hath then repented him of the evil and all is well again But let us not deceive our selves the most we can make of such a Dispensation without our Repentance is That God will vindicate his Justice when he comes to pour out the dregs of his Wrath by such a variety of means first made use of and such tenders of Mercy in order to our Reformation After that the Temple of Jerusalem had been destroy'd it was rebuilt again and the Work carried on and improved for many Generations to the great admiration of all Beholders as appears by the Remarks that were made to our Saviour and this Prosperity made 'em put so much Trust in the Temple of the Lord the Temple of the Lord nevertheless that second Temple was scarce quite finished when a final Destruction and utter Desolation came both upon the Temple and all the City insomuch That one stone was not left upon another that had not been cast down The long-suffering of God to usward therefore ought to excite not only our Love but our Fear of God instead of making us presumptuous and unmindful of his former Judgments For Secondly If we continue unmindful of former Judgments inflicted on us and the plain Reasons for which they were inflicted if all that hath been done is ineffectual Why should we be stricken any more Why should we expect any other but a final Dispensation of God's Anger We were in a dangerous Case sure when the tender-hearted Physitian came to such Extremities as to apply an actual Cautery upon so noble and so sensible part of the Body Politick and if that hath done no good but we grow worse and worse what can be expected but a Cutting off Our Reformation began with Fires of Martyrdom let the Proselytes of that Persecuting Church disown it if they can with the same Confidence as they seek to Evade other Charges of that Nature And those cruel Fires did indeed Reform our Religion and Purifie our Liturgy but neither they nor any other Fires have been able to Reform our Lives to Purisie our Manners We seem resolv'd to continue a wicked People as we are and why then should we be tried any more till the great Conflagration of all things when the Almighty shall sit as a Refiner to separate the Silver from the Dross God's Spirit will not always strive with Man The whole World had but One hundred and twenty years given 'em to Repent in before the Flood came and swept all away except Eight Persons and can our little corner of the World expect a quarter of that time That great and populous City Niniveh had but forty days of trial given it and may we not say to this City as the Prophet Nahum said to Niniveh Ch. 3.8 Art thou better than populous No that was situate among the rivers whose strength was infinite Yet she was carried away she went into captivity her young children also were dashed in pieces at the top of all the streets and they cast lots for her honourable men and all her great men were bound in chains Had one of the old Prophets been alive he would perhaps have gone farther and said Art thou better than Sodom and Gomorrah is thy Pride thy fullness of Bread and the abundance of thy Idleness less than theirs And indeed Isaiah 1.9 If the Lord had not left us a remnant we as to our City should have been as Sodom and we should have been like unto Gomorrah It was easier for us at that time to have believed our Sins deserved it than it is now though our Sins are not at all less for then we were humbled as far as we are capable of Humiliation But it is not the greatness of the impression that Judgments make upon us which is to be consider'd but the durableness of it it may be said of us as it was of the Jews Chap. 26. ver 18. Lord in trouble have they visited thee they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them but as soon as the fiery trial was over Jer. 6 3â— we appeared again reprobate silver What are we the better for this Judgment Hath it consumed any of the Fuel that feed our Lusts Hath the Burning of the City lessened our Heart-burnings towards one another Have its Flames overcome those of Lust and Wine Are not our Tongues as much set on Fire of Hell as ever Don't the sulphurous stench of Oaths and Curses and all manner of Prophanation reak up to Heaven still Is not Pride sprung up out of Ruin and don 't we appear dress'd up and garnish'd for a New Sacrifice And if we are ever stricken any more 't will be I fear with such a blow as used to fall upon the head of the Victim 't will be as an Holocaust offered up to Divine Justice How can we expect otherwise if after the severest manifestations of a Divine Providence we shut our Eyes as if the flashes of Vengeance had blinded instead of enlightned our Understandings Is it not just that God should make bare his Arm and reveal Himself in something worse than hath yet befallen if there are found divers among us that will believe no other sort of Revelation Strange obstinacy of Heart that this Generation labours under One Bush on Fire reveal'd God Almighty to Moses and yet all the Flames we have seen and felt have made no impression upon us unless it be that we seem more hardened than ever Unless it be that we are grown more presumptuous and continue in Sin that Mercy and Grace may abound I appeal to any sensible and religious Man that is acquainted with the World and knows
CLARKE Major Jovis xxiii die Septembris 1697. Annoque Regni Regis Willielmi Tertii Angliae c. Nono THis Court doth Desire Dr. Prat to Print his Sermon Preach'd on the 2d of September last at the Parish Church of St. Mary le Bow before the Lord Mayor Aldermen and Citizens of this City Goodfellow A SERMON Preach'd before the Right Honourable the Lord-Mayor THE ALDERMEN AND Citizens of LONDON At St. Mary le Bow On Thursday Sept. 2. 1697. By SAMUEL PRAT D. D. Chaplain to His Highness William Duke of Glocester and Minister of the Savoy In the SAVOY Printed by Edw. Jones for Samuel Lowndes over against Exeter-Exchange in the Strand 1698. A SERMON Preached before the Lord-Mayor c. In the first Chapter of the Prophecy of Isaiah the former part of the 5th Verse Why should ye be stricken any more Ye will Revolt more and more THIS Prophecy begins with the Burden of Judah and Jerusalem in the days of King Vzziah and the Condition of the People at that time was this In the Reign of Joash the last King save one the People of Judah notwithstanding the great Prosperity with which God Almighty had Blessed 'em Revolted and turn'd back from the Service of God to their Old Sins This Joash had been wonderfully preserved out of that fatal time of Destruction in which the whole Royal Family had like to have been extinguish'd the Light of Judah almost quite blown out by the tempestuous Cruelties of Athaliah And the remembrance of that Deliverance had wrought so upon the King and People that for a while they betook themselves to Acts of Piety and Devotion The House of the Lord was repaired and the Church-Service restored to Decency and Order for those Sacrilegious Times had alienated the Holy Things so you find 2 Chron. 24.7 They had broken up the House of God and also all the dedicate Things of the House of the Lord did they bestow upon Baalim But after the Restoration when Peace and Prosperity had produced Luxury and Wantonness the Princes and the great Men Ver. 17. followed their own Lusts and flatter'd the King into a liking of their way of living So the King and all the People in general Revolted from God and return'd to their former Sins notwithstanding all that the Prophets and Preachers could do For when Wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for their Trespasses God Almighty sent Prophets to 'em to bring them again unto the Lord and they testified against them but they would not give Ear Ver. 19. Therefore God Almighty deals with 'em by Judgments to see if that will Reclaim ' em They were once Spoil'd by the Syrians and afterwards by the Israelites and humbled one would think very severely but all this would not soften 'em their Hearts were hardned and Judgments could work no more upon 'em than Mercies had done The Prophets therefore seem to be at a stand What will the Denouncing of Judgments signifie when the very Execution of 'em hath had no good Effect Thus we find the Prophet Hosea speaking as from God about this time to both the Nations of Judah and Israel chap. 6. v. 4. O Ephraim What shall I do unto thee O Judah What shall I do unto thee For your goodness is as a morning cloud and as the early dew it goeth away They had had Warnings and Threatnings enough by all the Prophets of those days thus we find the Prophet Amos in his 2d Chapter For three transgressions of Judah and for four I will not turn away the punishment thereof but I will send a fire upon Judah and it shall devour the Palaces of Jerusalem But after all the Denunciations and Executions of God's Anger there was still no Amendment The Prophet Isaiah therefore here in the beginning of his Prophecy having call'd Heaven and Earth to witness concerning God Almighty's dealing with 'em Hear O Heavens and give Ear O Earth and having Exprobrated their Sins and their Backslidings instead of Denouncing any more Judgments he Expostulates the Case with 'em as if they were past all the ordinary disciplining of Providence Why should ye be stricken any more To what purpose would it be if God Almighty visit ye with any of those Dispensations of his Anger which he never makes use of but in order to Reclaim and you alas seem to be past all Reclaiming Let him do what he pleaseth and repeat never so many Judgments upon you you will still be a sinful Nation c. Ye will Revolt more and more So that the words of my Text seem to infer this Proposition That the Nation or People who when God Almighty by manifest and sufficient Signs and Tokens of his Anger hath visited 'em frequently with Calamities and Judgments will not Repent but go on still in their Wickedness are not to expect any other Overtures till an utter Ruin and final Destruction comes upon ' em And this Proposition which needs no other Illustration but the Words of my Text nor any other Proof but the Reasonableness of the Thing I shall betake my self forthwith to apply to this present Occasion We are met here together this Day to Rememorate a very remarkable instance of God's Displeasure against this sinful Nation exercised upon this most sinful City as the Head or Chief-Member of our great Body Politick And such a Rememoration is perhaps much more seasonable now at this long distance of time than it was formerly whilst the impression of it was more recent and fresh upon our Minds because through the long-suffering and forbearance of God that which was doubtless designed for a Judgment or at least warning to flee from a greater Vengeance hath now changed its Aspect and put on the appearance of Mercy whilst we behold our City to have Risen out of its Ashes in greater Beauty and Splendor than ever so that we can scarce believe that to have been a Judgment which hath conduced so much to a present show of Prosperity But as those among us who were sorrowful Spectators of that dismal Conflagration we that saw the Terrours of the Lord set in Array against us cannot but call to Mind the manifest appearance of the furiousness of God's Anger then poured out upon us So they who now seriously consider the outward Grandeur and Felicity we at present enjoy and at the same time the great unworthiness in which we enjoy it all cannot but be as much afraid of the consequents of all this long-suffering and forbearance as we have been apprehensive of former Chastisements I have not met with many Periods of time in History in which this Nation and particularly this City hath been so long free from a publick Visitation Either Plagues or Famines or Invasions or Fires or Civil Wars or Persecutions did for many Ages together Discipline at shorter distances of time this Revolting and Back-sliding People Innumerable Methods hath Divine Providence made use of to Reclaim us till at last the
the Iniquity of the Times whether the ordinary Conversation of many Men doth not look as if seeing they have survived so many Judgments they had steel'd themselves like Pharaoh against the apprehensions of any more But Oh! Let the presumptuous Sinner take heed God's Arm is not shortned For all this his anger is not turn'd away Ch. 10.4 but his arm is stretched out still They that are insensible of Temporal Judgments have reason to look for one Eternal and then on the other side they who have no sense of Eternity ought the most of all Men to be afraid of Temporal Calamities because their Portion of good things is in this life and if any National Misfortune should deprive them of their hopes in this World they have nothing else to trust to no future Comfort in prospect It is high time therefore that we seriously reflect upon our Condition and though the Counsels of God are unsearchable and we can never know the Methods of His Providence till they are Exhibited yet we may make a rational Judgment of our selves Whether we appear in our Consciences the proper Objects of God's Mercy or His Anger And though it is not every body's Talent to examine the Case in General What as a Nation or People we may deserve yet every body can examine himself in Particular and this being a Day of Solemn Humiliation it can't be better spent than in such a Scrutiny or rather let every Master of a Family to whom the Care of his Houshold is committed and entrusted by God see how the Case stands with those under his own Jurisdiction and let the Superiour Magistrates who have a greater Trust with so much the more Care and Watchfulness attend unto it They are not the Sins of our Forefathers but our own that come under our Consideration let us not resume the Jewish Proverb That the fathers have eaten sowre grapes and the childrens teeth are set on edge We have eaten and drank sowre things enough our selves which have put that sowreness in our Tempers especially towards one another We have the crudities of our own Intemperance upon us and the root of Bitterness within our selves We have not derived so much malignity from the last Generation as we are like to transmit unto the next For we don't show them that come after us any great example of amendment Let us examine Whether they are like to be so as we are or no Whether our Sons or Daughters are more Virtuously Educated than we were Whether lesser Seeds of Vice appear in ' em The young People of this City I am afraid promised much better in former times than they do now the first sprouts of Sin had not half that impudent growth they have now a days Then perhaps there was a better sort of Discipline exercised in those times they learnt their Masters Crafts or Trades and not their Humours and Vices and when they grew up they made less failings both in their Manners and their Reputation They were Taught then to learn and labour truly to get their own Living and to do their Duty in that State of Life unto which it pleas'd God to call ' em There were not so many Beardless Men who think themselves wiser and better than their Masters They were better employ'd than to dress Fine to disguise their Profession to manage Intreagues to discourse of Politicks to be insolent in their Conversation and all the rest of those modern Accomplishments which qualifie 'em to be as uncapble of any good way of living as they are of that for which their Parents design ' em It would be more honourable for this Noble City and more prosperous for the Nation if every one would apply himself to his Vocation and by treading in all the fair and easie Paths of Humility Industry Temperance Chastity Fidelity and the like endeavour to raise themselves to the several Degrees of Honour and innocently aspire to the Scarlet Robe Such a conduct of Life would be a support if not a defence to 'em in the most disastrous times Nor did the Judgment we now Rememorate much affect the younger sort but at the rate they now live we have cause to fear such Calamities in which they shall as much partake as they do in the Sins of the Nation What can we expect when we come to consider these things We are big at present with the Hopes of an honourable and secure Peace But have we made our Peace with God Are we Reconciled to Him who maketh Wars to Cease in all the World Are we sure that we are qualified for the Blessings of Peace Are we as much proof against the Temptations of Prosperity as we have been apprehensive of the Contingencies of Adversity In vain shall we strow our streets with Palms and Lawrels if Jeshurun shall wax fat upon it and kick against God If when we are freed from Foreign Enemies we become Enemies to one another at home If we still carry on the war of our members If it makes us Proud and Presumptuous Wanton and Petulant Factious and Ungrateful If we prove to be of such Tempers that it was only the wolfs being at the door or Hannibal at the gates that kept us at Peace among our selves Rather let us not be solicitous about matters that are too high for us but let us consider and know in this our day the things that make for our everlasting Peace before they are hid from our Eyes This is our Day a Day consigned to us by Providence for the Humbling of our selves if peradventure the Lord may be intreated for us but if we will not humble our selves in this our day Isâ—iah â—2 know assuredly That the day of the Lord of Hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty and upon every one that is lifted up and he shall be brought low Peradventure I say the Lord may yet be intreated for his People the door of Mercy may continue open for a while as it now stands â—am 3.20 For it is of the Lord's Mercy that we are not consumed because his compassions fail not If we betake our selves to Repentance and Amendment of Life 't is possible that we may not be stricken any more that when our Enemies have put up their Swords the destroying Angel may not draw his upon us That whatever becomes of all our earthly Tabernacles which must moulder away for here we have no continuing City but seek for one that is to come yet we our selves our Immortal part may be saved so as by Fire that is according to the easiest Exposition As a Brand snatch'd out of the Fire We have had Memento's enough not to put our Trust and Confidence in any thing of this World The World it self passes away together with the Lusts and Desires thereof We know that we our selves shall be dissolved and what do we now but garnish our own Sepulchres or Monuments and trust to the Mercy or