Selected quad for the lemma: city_n
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A41438
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The interest of divine providence in the government of the world a sermon preached at Guild-Hall-Chappel, before the right honourable the Lord Mayor and aldermen of the city of London, Febr. xi. 1682 / by J. Goodman ...
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Goodman, John, 1625 or 6-1690.
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1683
(1683)
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Wing G1109; ESTC R20428
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16,326
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48
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condition is worse than that of inferiour Beings he is doubly miserable and that without remedy Shall then a trifling Epicurean objection nay shall a Sceptical surmise or a flash of Wit and Drollery baffle us out of that wherein the honour of our natures consists and upon which all our comfort depends Laugh at and scorn them that laugh at a Providence poor pitiful wretches that worship blind fortune or a manacled and fettered Deity bound hand and foot by fatal necessity Our God is a wise and good and free Agent restrained limited by nothing but his own Wisdom He sees all things without difficulty or deception manages all things without fatigue or weariness governs all things with just order judges without partiality pities in all adversity can relieve in all necessity and with unspeakable glory rewards those that faithfully serve him And pursuant of this belief let us in the Second place raise our affections to the highest pitch of triumph let us make a shout as in the Text The Lord reigneth let the earth rejoice let the multitude of the Isles be glad thereof Or as you have it in the 10. Verse of the Psalm immediately foregoing Tell it out amongst the heathen that the Lord reigneth Let all foreign Nations and all foreign Churches all that have good will and all that have ill will to our Religion or to our Country know that the Lord is King and that we trust not to the number of our Forces or the Wisdom of our Counsels our Seas or our Rocks our Courage or Conduct but to our King to that Divine Providence which watches over us Let our Prince and our Magistrates take courage against the rage or the follies the numbers or combinations of evil men in consideration that they are the instruments of Divine Providence the Lieutenants of Gods Government and he that set them in office under himself will stand by them and bear them out in discharge of their trust and duty Let the People be quiet not listen to noise and rumours but be sure to banish all disloyal thoughts of resorting to irregular means for the asserting their pretensions Is not God in the World hath any one wrested the Scepter out of his hand why then should we not trust in him When Philip Melancthon otherwise a very wise and peaceable and mild-spirited person began to be out of humour with the then state of the World Luther addresses to him in these words Exorandus est Philippus ut desinat esse rector Mundi q. d. Good Brother Philip let God alone to govern the World Let the Oppressed the Widow the Fatherless and Friendless take comfort for he that sitteth in the Throne will judge righteous judgment and first or last avenge the cause of his meanest Subject Nay let the man that is tempted and assaulted by the Devil hold his ground and fear nothing for God is above the Devil To conclude let us all lay aside our fears and our jealousies our sighs and complaints our melancholy and despondency Is there not a balm in Gilead is there no Physician there Jer. 8. 22. Have we not a Wise and a Powerful a Glorious and a good Prince why then should we murmur why accuse his Reign why reproach his Government Novum seditionis genus otium silentium said the Historian A sullen uncomfortableness and dislike of our condition our discontent with the state of affairs is a kind of Sedition against Heaven our murmuring is no better than a libelling of Gods Government Wherefore to say no more let us stick close to this God this mighty Potentate let us hope trust and rejoice in him and he shall bless our King our Church our Magistrates and all our Concerns Now to this Universal Monarch of the World this King of Kings and Lord of Lords be all Glory and Praise Worship and Adoration World without End THE END ERRATA PAG. 12. l. 2. r. are as p. 21. l. 14. r. all-seeing eye of p. 24. l. 19. r. great Saint Books written by the Reverend Doctor Goodman and sold by R. Royston at the Angel in Amen-Corner THE Penitent Pardoned Or A Discourse of the Nature of Sin and the Efficacy of Repentance under the Parable of the Prodigal Son The Second Edition Corrected and Enlarged A Sermon preached at Bishops-Stortford August 29. 1677. before the Right Reverend Father in God Henry Lord Bishop of London at his Lordship 's Primary Visitation A Serious and Compassionate Enquiry into the Causes of the present Neglect and Contempt of the Protestant Religion and Church of England A Sermon preached before the Right Honourable Sir Robert Clayton Lord Mayor and the Aldermen of the City of London at the Guild-Hall-Chapel Jan. xxv 1679. A Sermon preached before the Right Honourable Sir John Moore Lord Mayor and the Aldermen of the City of London at the Guild-Hall-Chapel Decemb. 18. 1681. The Interest of Divine Providence in the Government of the World A Sermon preached before the Right Honourable Sir William Pritchard Lord Mayor and the Aldermen of the City of London at the Guild-Hall-Chapel February the 11th 1682.
Pritchard Mayor Jovis xxii o Die Februarii 1682. Annoque Regis CAROLI Secundi Angl. c. xxxv o THis Court doth desire Doctor Goodman to Print his Sermon lately Preached at the Guild-Hall-Chapel before the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of this City Wagstaffe THE INTEREST OF Divine Providence IN THE Government of the World A SERMON PREACHED At Guild-Hall-Chappel before the Right Honourable the LORD MAYOR and ALDERMEN of the CITY of LONDON Febr. xi 1682. By J. GOODMAN D. D. Chaplain in Ordinary to His MAJESTY LONDON Printed for Rich. Royston Bookseller to His most Sacred Majesty MDCLXXXIII To the Right Honourable Sir WILLIAM PRITCHARD LORD MAYOR OF THE CITY of LONDON And to the COURT of ALDERMEN My LORD and Gentlemen IN Obedience to Your Order I have printed and here humbly present to You the Sermon I lately Preached before You and therewith I make my Acknowledgments of the Respects You have shewed me in the kind Entertainment of my Endeavours to serve You. I made choice of the great Doctrine of Providence for the Subject of my Discourse as well with a peculiar regard to the distracted condition of the Times we live in as upon the general account of its perpetual usefulness to all the great purposes of Religion and I am now confirmed in my Choice by the testimony of your judgments and approbation My Lord Though I live not much in the Air of this busie World yet a man must be quite out of it that is not sensible not only of different Apprehensions and Disputes amongst us but of the most violent passions and animosities insomuch that no Terms of Reproach are thought virulent enough to bestow upon one another but we must rake the Sinks of other Countries for odious Nicknames to distinguish Parties and to perpetuate our Quarrels Nor is this the worst of our Case neither for now at length as it uses to happen in declining Age our Choler seems to be turned into Melancholy and our Anger into Jealousie We grow suspicious of our best Friends of our Governours of our Clergy of one another By which means not only Religion is scandalized but the very Sinews of Society are relaxed and the strength of the Nation is dissolved And what Remedies can be sufficient to recover us from this Condition It is true we have a Gracious Prince but who can preserve a Kingdom divided against it self We have good Laws but what can they signifie when they have lost their veneration We have a great many Good Men but who will take upon him to make peace when he that parts the Fray is likely to receive the most Blows and he that pretends to be a common Friend to the angry Parties shall be treated as tbe common Enemy In a word we seem to be very near that condition which the Historian bewails in his own Country Nec Morbos nec Remedia pati possumus We can neither subsist without a Cure nor yet will admit of the Remedies Now My Lord my Text affords us hope even in this condition It brings into view a mighty Majesty able to awe men into a composure It gives us assurance that we are under his Government who can cool our Heats allay our Passions prevent our Fears and cure our Melancholy Almighty Providence can turn the hearts of men change the Scene of things and make a Tempest become a Calm And that in his own good time he will do this for us we have encouragement to expect from the former experience we have had of his Goodness and upon the interest of the Protestant Religion that Vine which his own right hand hath planted amongst us Now that it may please him to effect this in our days and to make Your Lordship and the rest of the Worthy Magistrates of this City in their several Places instrumental in so happy a Work is the hearty Prayer of Your Lordship's Most Humble Servant JO. GOODMAN March 5. 1682 3 A SERMON PREACHED Before the Right Honourable THE Lord MAYOR and ALDERMEN Of the CITY of LONDON PSALM XCVii Verse 1. The Lord reigneth let the Earth rejoice let the multitude of the Isles be glad thereof WHether this Psalm was penned by Moses upon occasion of the Victory obtained over Sihon King of Heshbon as the first Omen of Israel's success in the conquest of the promised Land as the Jewish writers think Or Whether it was composed by David upon the recovery of his Throne and Kingdom when the conspiracy of Absolom was defeated as the Greek Interpreters seem to intimate Or lastly Whether the same David indited it upon the huge inlargement of his Dominions by the addition of all those bordering Countries his Conquest whereof we have recorded 1 Chron. 18. as seems most probable It is however certain in the general that the Psalm is an Hymn of Praise to the Divine Majesty and a devout acknowledgment of his power and providence in the management of the affairs of the World And like as at the inauguration of some virtuous and brave Prince or especially upon some glorious specimen or instance of his Wisdom and Prowess in the conduct of Affairs it is usual for the people to make mighty shouts and acclamations So here is the shout of a King in my Text and all the World is summoned to celebrate the glories of this great Monarch Jehovah The Lord reigneth let the Earth rejoice let the multitude of the Isles be glad thereof By the Earth I understand the Land of Canaan and bordering Countries the Territory of the Church By the multitude of the Isles I conceive is meant all the remoter parts of the World for by that name the Jews in their language were wont to call all but the Continent on which they inhabited as may appear Gen. 10. 5. where speaking of the posterity of Japheth the Text saith by these were the Isles of the Gentiles divided So the words afford us these two observations First That the Divine Majesty is not a mere necessary Agent or passive Being or unconcerned Spectator of the Affairs of the World but manages and governs as well as observes the course of things Secondly That this Divine Providence and Government of the World is matter of security and satisfaction of triumph and rejoicing to all mankind And that although the Church of God have a principal interest in it and advantage by it yet no part of the World is neglected by God or destitute of a Providence And these two shall be the subject of my present discourse I am well aware that neither of them contain any new Doctrine to entertain and gratifie curiosity but I am withal very certain that they represent to us matter of the greatest usefulness and importance that can be for any times but most peculiarly seasonable at this time The Doctrine of a Providence and especially such an one as the Text speaks of being the only consideration able to allay our Passions to abate our Fears to remove our