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ID Title Author Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) STC Words Pages
A28314 A sermon preach'd before the Queen at White-hall, August 23, 1691 by Jonathan Blagrave ... Blagrave, Jonathan, 1652-1698. 1691 (1691) Wing B3111; ESTC R6778 10,432 34

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A SERMON Preach'd before the QUEEN AT WHITE-HALL August 23. 1691. BY Jonathan Blagrave Sub-Almoner and Chaplain in Ordinary to Their Majesties Published by Her Majesties Command LONDON Printed by G. C. for John Southby at the Harrow in Cornhil and T. Jones at the White Horse without Temple-Bar 1691. Luke 12.4 5. And I say unto you my Friends Be not afraid of them that kill the Body and after that have no more that they can do But I will forewarn you whom you shall fear Fear him which after he hath killed hath Power to cast into Hell Yea I say unto you fear him MOST of that Fear and Terror that Men undergo in this World is occasion'd by false Opinions which they form to themselves of the Good or Evil of those Circumstances that are incident to the Humane State And that it is Opinion only and no real Good or Evil in such Circumstances that gives Men so much Disturbance and Disquiet is evident from this that in the very same Circumstance wherein one Man thinks himself Miserable another would account himself happy And again in the same Condition wherein one Man thinks himself Happy another would account himself Miserable The Evil then doth not lie so much in the Circumstance or Condition but chiefly in a Man's Fancy or Opinion And this is yet more apparent in that the greatest Misfortunes that befall Men tho' they are very grievous at first yet when they have been familiar to them and they are us'd to them they are nothing Tho' the Misfortune be the same and the Men the same yet it is nothing so Grievous because then they know all the Evil that is in it and at first they form'd an Idea of it which was much greater than the Truth For this is the Unhappy Case of Poor Man that must inform himself by the Mediation of Fleshly Organs by his Senses and Imagination that he continually Cheats himself with false Images of Things For as soon as he sees any thing that looks a little taking that seems at first sight to be Good and Pleasant and Desireable presently his Fancy falls to work and he forms an Image of it that is altogether lovely he adorns it with all that he can find Charming he never enquires into the Blemishes and Imperfections of it And having thus drawn a Representation much beyond Truth his Passions are inflam'd and he pursues this Shadow this work of his own Brain and thereby loses some real and substantial Good In like manner when a Man sees any thing that at first Blush has a frightful Aspect immediately without having Patience to examine the Truth he forms a dreadful Image of it in his Fancy he draws it so Gastly that he himself becomes immediately mightily afraid of it and his Fear helps to make it still more Terrible and so he becomes like a Man that Fancies he sees Shapes in the Dark in flying from which he falls into some real Danger tumbling into a River or down a Precipice And the Reason why the Generality of Men do thus Cheat themselves is because all Men would know every thing without being at the pains of Enquiry and it is much easier to fancy a thing to draw a Representation of it in our Imagination than it is to search out the Real Truth But in nothing do Men more impose upon themselves in this kind than in the Apprehensions of Death they draw the most ugly and frightful Images of it in their Fancy that is possible and so this becomes to them the King of Terrors And all their Lives long as the Apostle speaks they are in Bondage thro' fear of it Therefore the Politick Founders of States invented Superstitions to remove this Fear when there should be occasion to hazard Mens Lives for the Security of their Country or the like And it has been the continual Study of the Philosophers of all Sects to perswade Men out of this Fear to make the Thoughts of Death more easie and to keep them from spoiling all the Enjoyments of Life And yet indeed Death it self is no such Terrible thing if it be throughly examin'd and truly enquir'd into But there is something after Death that well deserves our Fear Therefore our Blessed Lord to remove from his Disciples this vulgar Mistake to deliver them from this common but vain Fear and to shew them where they had reason to Fear and how their Fear might do them good and prevent great and real Evils speaks thus to them in the words of my Text And I say unto you c. In pursuance of the Design of which words I shall shew First That Death it self is no such great Evil as it is commonly apprehended to be and therefore not mightily to be feared Secondly That the Wrath of God against Sinners and the Punishment following upon that Wrath are very great Evils and therefore much to be feared And In Conclusion I shall shew the Advantage of the true Fear of God in respect of the Happiness it brings to this Life as well as that to come How it frees and delivers us from all other Fears or Terrors whatsoever First Then Death in it self is no such great Evil that we ought so mightily to fear it And this will appear if we enquire into the Good it deprives us of For Death it self can be no way Evil but in respect of some good it takes from us which we might otherwise enjoy What is then the great Good The Happiness and Satisfaction that a Man can have in Life and from which we are cut off by Death And for the knowing of this we can have no better way than to ask of those who have had the greatest Experience of the Enjoyments of this Life What their Opinion is How they find it And surely Solomon is a very sufficient Evidence in this Case No Man could enjoy more in this Life than he did and he declares all that Enjoyment to be Vanity and Vexation of Spirit And if you desire to be satisfied by a Living Witness in this Matter and will ask any Man that you think has enjoy'd the greatest Portion of Health and Prosperity and long Life Whether he thinks he has always been a very Happy Man And whether if he was put to his Choice he would chuse to live the very same Life in all its Circumstances that he hath liv'd over again I say The very same in all its Circumstances because Men would desire to live again that they might order their Affairs better and have more Delight and Enjoyment than they have had And it is the Hope that Men have that still their Life will be more Pleasant and Comfortable than it has been that makes them endure their Lives They still feed themselves with Hope and that buoys them up and encourages them There is none will say He desires the same Life again that he has pass'd thro' There is none will tell you that his past Life has been to