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A53432 The best guide in the worst of times delivered in a sermon at the Guild-Hall Chappel on March 27, 1681 before the honourable the aldermen and several eminent citizens of the city of London / by William Orme ... Orme, William. 1681 (1681) Wing O437; ESTC R23123 28,642 60

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THE Best Guide IN THE WORST OF TIMES Delivered in a SERMON AT THE GVILD-HALL Chappel ON March 27. 1681. Before the Honourable THE ALDERMEN And several Eminent Citizens Of the CITY of LONDON By WILLIAM ORME Vicar of S. Bartholomews the Less London LONDON Printed for Samuel Carr at the Sign of the Kings Head near the West End of S. Pauls 1681. To the Right Honourable Sir PATIENCE WARD Kt Lord Mayor Of the City of LONDON And to the Honourable Court of Aldermen MY LORD THe Honor and Obedience which is justly due and ought to be given to Magistratical Authority doth many times influence Men to do that which the sense of their own Vnworthiness and Imperfections doth reasonably disswade them from Vpon which Account this Sermon is Presented to Publick View with making its First and Humble Approaches to Your Honour For where should it properly go for Maintenance and Protection but to that Mansion-House from whence issued forth the Order which caused it to appear thus habited from the Press This Discourse indeed ●a●l not the Honour of Your Lordships Presence that being prevented by Your Lordships much condoled Sickness But now it lies under and before Your Lordships eye not only to be read and examined but to be taken care of and Defended MY LORD The Times are Dark and Slippery wherein a Wise man can hardly find his way and a Strong Man walk without fear of stumbles and falls how much more the Ignorant and the Weak In compassion therefore to such I endeavoured all I could to furnish them with the Best Guide and Surest Rule for their Conduct and Support And if Men would be but as ready and earnest to follow this Advice which St. Paul gives for their outward Carriage and Conversation as they are to observe what the Learned gives them for their Healths and Estates I am confident Our Clouds of Fears and Jealousies would quickly Vanish Our Storms of Strifes and Contentions would gather into a Calm And Our God would defend us from all sorts of Enemies or else force them to be at Peace with Vs In short I have only this to crave that my Readers will perufe this Sermon with the like Good meaning and Honest mind as it was Preached and seemed to be Heard And be so kind to me as to cover its faults with Charity and so kind to themselves as to put the rest in practice with Diligence and Perseverance To the zealous prosecuting of which we of this City especially have a double Incouragement and Obligation The First is the Direction of one that was an Infallible Apostle The other is the Exemplary Pattern of Your Lordships Piety Prudence and Peaceable Conduct To whose Fame and Merit I Offer this as my First-fruits with Hearty Prayers for Your Lordships Perfect Recovery and all Possible Assurances that I Am Your Lordship's And the Honorable Court of Aldermen's Most Humble and Obedient Servant WILL. ORME St. Bartholomews the less April 18. 1681. A SERMON PREACH'D AT Guild-Hall Chappel March 27. 1681. PHILIPPIANS I. 27. The former part of the Verse Only let your Conversation be as it becometh the Gospel of Christ THE constancy and reality of a Friend is never so visible and known as in the time of straits and necessities The skill and courage of a Pilot is never so much tried and proved as when the Vessel is engaged with a Tempest In such like seasons as these S. Paul took the opportunity of shewing his admirable prudence and hearty love for and to his Philippians who were in a distressed and deplorable condition when he sent them this Epistle For first they were miserably rent and divided by the artifices of some ill-minded men who partly out of ambition of setting up themselves and partly out of envy to S. Paul's flourishing same and Ministry did all they could and that under the profession of Christianity too to allenate the Peoples minds and affections from S. Paul and to crumble them into parties Of these you read Verses 15 16 some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife and some also of good will The one preach Christ of contention the other of love Secondly They lay under the fearful apprehensions of being assaulted and persecuted by an Enemy from abroad For there were some at Nero's Court who out of inveterate malice to Christianity had represented to him the many mischiefs and dangers that would attend his Government if he suffered Christians to encrease and multiply Upon which suggestion Nero might possibly give orders to fall upon the Philippians with Sword and Violence And of these sort of Enemies S. Paul who was then a Prisoner at Rome and so might probably hear what was done at Court gave the Philippians notice with this annexed Exhortation But in nothing be terrified or affrighted at the adversaries for though they may think to root up Christianity by destroying your lives yet you shall be saved the Gospel shall flourish and they shall come to naught For this persecution is an evident sign or token of perdition to them but to you of Salvation and that of God Verse 28. And now if we consider these Philippians tortured with Intestine broils and convulsions and threatned to be set upon with Sword and Persecution we may reasonably conjecture that they knew not well what to do nor what course to take to save and defend themselves and their newly espoused Religion S. Paul therefore like an affectionate constant Friend and a most skilful Pilate took their condition so far into his pity and consideration as to give them the best advice and assistance and which none but an Apostle could give the like For if a Church or People are shaken and divided at home or menaced with ruine from abroad there is no such way for their safety and defence as retreating to the diligent practice of the Apostolical advice given in the Text Only to let their conversations be as becomes the Gospel of Christ In the Opening of which words I shall propose these Four things to be considered First That in evil and dangerous Times men ought to be very careful and prudent in the management of themselves and their conversations Secondly That the best and most prudent course we can take in the ordering of our Conversations is to guide and govern them by the rules and laws contained in the Gospel of Christ Thirdly We shall consider wherein the Agreeableness of a man's Life and Conversation to the Gospel of Christ doth principally consist Fourthly I shall give some Reasons why in evil and perillous Times we ought then more especially to be most prudent and careful in governing our Conversations according to the Gospel of Christ and then conclude with Application I begin with the First That in Evil and Perillous Times men ought to be very careful and prudent in the management of themselves and their Conversations It was in such a like case as this that S. Paul proposed this advice