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ID Title Author Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) STC Words Pages
A62628 Sermons preach'd upon several occasions. By John Lord Archbishop of Canterbury. The fourth volume Tillotson, John, 1630-1694. 1694 (1694) Wing T1260B; ESTC R217595 184,892 481

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quarrel in our own breasts and arm our own minds against our selves we create an enemy to our selves in our own bosoms and fall out with the best and most inseparable Companion of our lives And on the contrary a good Conscience will be a continual Feast and will give us that comfort and courage in an evil day which nothing else can And then whatever happen to us we may commit our souls to God in well-doing as into the hands of a faithful Creatour To whom with our Blessed Saviour and Redeemer and the Holy Ghost the Comforter be all honour and glory now and ever Amen How to keep a truly Religious Fast IN A SERMON Preached before the QUEEN AT WHITE-HALL September the 16 th 1691. How to keep a truly Religious Fast ZECH. vij V. Speak unto all the People of the Land and to the Priests saying When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month even those seventy years DID YE AT ALL FAST UNTO ME EVEN UNTO ME IN the beginning of this Chapter the People of the Jews who were then rebuilding the Temple at Jerusalem and had already far advanced the work though it was not perfectly finish'd till about two years after send to the Priests and the Prophets to enquire of them whether they should still continue the Fast of the fifth Month which they had begun in Babylon and continued to observe during the seventy Years of their Captivity in a sad remembrance of the destruction of the City and Temple of Jerusalem or should not now rather turn it into a Day of feasting and gladness To this enquiry God by his Prophet returns an Answer in this and the following Chapter And first he expostulates with them concerning those their monthly Fasts whether they did indeed deserve that name and were not rather a mere shew and pretence of a Religious Fast verses 4 5. Then came the word of the Lord of Hosts unto me saying Speak unto all the People of the Land and to the Priests saying When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month even those seventy years did ye at all fast unto me even unto me The enquiry was particularly concerning the Fast of the fifth Month because the occasion of that was more considerable than of all the other but the Answer of God mentions the Fasts of the fifth and seventh Months these two being probably observ'd with greater solemnity than the other But for our clearer understanding of this it will be requisite to consider the original and occasion of all their monthly Fasts which as appears from other places of Scripture in short was this When the Jews were carried away Captive into Babylon in a deep sense of this great Judgment of God upon them for their Sins and of the heavy affliction which they lay under they appointed four annual Fasts which they observed during their seventy years Captivity viz. the Fast of the fourth Month in remembrance of the Enemies breaking through the Wall of Jerusalem which we find mention'd Jer. 52.6 7. The Fast of the fifth Month in memory of the destruction of the City and Temple of Jerusalem verses 12 13. The Fast of the seventh Month in remembrance of the slaying of Gedaliah upon which followed the dispersion of the Jews of which we have an account Jer. 42.1 2. And the Fast of the tenth Month in memory of the beginning of the Siege of Jerusalem of which we find mention 2 Kings 25.1 In this order we find these four Annual Fasts mention'd Zechar. 8.19 not according to the order of the Events but of the Months of the several Years in which these Events happened And there likewise God gives a full Answer to this Enquiry concerning the continuance of these annual Fasts namely That they should for the future be turned into solemn Days of joy and gladness And the word of the Lord of Hosts came unto me saying Thus saith the Lord of Hosts the Fast of the fourth Month and the Fast of the fifth and the Fast of the seventh and the Fast of the tenth shall be to the House of Judah joy and gladness and cheerful Feasts I return now to the Text Did ye at all fast unto me even unto me that is did these Fasts truly serve to any Religious end and purpose Did not the People content themselves with a mere external shew and performance without any inward affliction and humiliation of their Souls in order to a real repentance Did they not still go on in their sins nay and add to them upon these Occasions fasting for strife and debate and oppression In a word were they not worse rather than better for them And therefore God had no regard to them as it follows in this Chapter Thus speaketh the Lord of Hosts saying Execute judgment and shew mercy and compassion every man to his brother and oppress not the widows nor the fatherless the stranger nor the poor and let none of you imagine mischief against his brother in your heart But they refused to hearken and pull'd away the shoulder and stopped their ears that they should not hear yea they made their heart as an Adamant-stone lest they should bear the Law and the words which the Lord of Hosts hath sent by his spirit in the former Prophets Therefore came great wrath from the Lord of Hosts Therefore it is come to pass that as he cried and they would not hear so they cried and I would not hear saith the Lord of Hosts So that notwithstanding these outward Solemnities of Fasting and Prayer here was nothing of a Religious Fast did ye at all fast unto me even unto me They were sensible of the Judgments of God which were broken in upon them but they did not turn from their sins but persisted still in their obstinacy and disobedience And what God here by the Prophet Zechary calls fasting unto Him even unto Him the Prophet Isaiah calls the Fast which God hath chosen and an acceptable day to the Lord. Wherefore have we fasted say they and thou seest not Wherefore have we afflicted our souls and thou takest no knowledge Behold ye fast for strife and debate and to smite with the fist of wickedness ye shall not fast as ye do this day to make your voice to be heard on high Is it such a Fast as I have chosen a Day for a man to afflict his Soul Is it to bow down his head as a bulrush and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him Wilt thou call this a Fast and an acceptable day to the Lord Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house when thou seest the naked that thou cover him and that thou hide not thy self from thine own flesh Then shall thy light break forth as the morning and thy salvation shall spring forth speedily Then shalt thou call and the Lord shall answer c. From all which