A SERMON Preached before the KING AT WHITE-HAL Septem the 26th 1675. By John Standish B.D. And one of His Majesties Chaplains in Ordinary Published by His Majesties Command LONDON Printed for Henry Brome at the Gun in St. Paul's Church-yard 1676. 2 COR. Chap. 5. ver 20. Now then we are Ambassadors for CHRIST as though GOD did beseech you by us We pray you in CHRIST's stead be ye reconciled to GOD. THe matter of the Context which St. Paul infers these words upon is of such Transcendent Nature and Momentous Consequence that it may well bespeak your attention with that Angel's awakening Preface on the like subject Fear not for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people 'T is such a strange and ravishing piece of News as Corinth the Eye of all Greece could not see till our Apostle made the discovery As the itching Ears at Athens had never heard before He told it them too from the UNKNOWN GOD nor could it enter into the heart of Jew or Gentile Man or Angel to conceive till the Eternal WORD came down from Heaven on purpose to reveal it 'T is that stupendous Mystery hid from Ages that most Magnificent and most Kingly work of God as Clemens calls it the Mystery of Man's Redemption to wit That God was in Christ reconciling the World to himself not imputing their trespasses making him to be sin for us that knew no sin that we might be made the Righteousness of God in him Rejoyce then and be of good chear O sons of men for your sins are forgiven Divine Justice is satisfied the Debt paid the Bond cancell'd the Prison doors set ope and an Act of General Pardon pass'd in the Court of Heaven and seal'd on Earth with the Blood of GOD Himself to make it more unchangeable than any Decree of the Medes and Persians The case is so well alter'd with the Bankrupt Outlaw'd Seed of Adam that nothing hinders now but all men may be saved and made for ever if they stand not in their own light All degrees amongst them from the Judge of Areopagus to the Jailor at Philippi from the Lord Treasurer of Ethiopia to the Beggar at the Temple-gate from the Elect Lady to the Widow Dorcas from the Houshold of Caesar to that of Stephanas from the KING himself that sits upon the Throne to him that grindeth at the Mill all have an undoubted Right and Title to God the Father's Mercy if they will but kiss and reverence the Son there 's nothing wanting but their own consent to make them all Heirs of God Joint-heirs with Christ to everlasting Glory Consent Why will there be any demur upon that 'T is not to part with but take possession of an Inheritance purchas'd for them Not to merit or buy but only to accept and wear an Immortal Crown All 's a case Man is a wilful wise and stately Creature that must be woed and courted to his own Felicity And our gracious LORD blessed be his name hath made due Provision for that also for when he ascended up on high to his former glory he left not us to the wide World nor Himself without a witness in doing us good For he founded a certain Order of men on purpose to be his Delegates and Vicars to preach the Gospel of Peace every where and Remission of sins in his name saying as my Father sent me so send I you and lo I am with you and your Successors to the Worlds end To them he committed his Word of Reconciliation obliging them by all that is Sacred to leave no stone unturn'd but use all laudable means to perswade and intreat men as in his own person to come in upon Proclamation that they may have life Now then We are Ambassadors c. In the words I shall consider 1. The Character of the Evangelical Ministry which is 1. General Ambassadors and then more special and distinguishing Ambassadors for CHRIST 2. The subject matter sum and purport of their Ambassy be ye reconciled to God 3. Their manner of Address in delivering this Ambassy as though God did beseech you by us we pray you in Christ's stead I begin with the first and 1. With their general Character We are Ambassadors An Ambassador is properly one that represents his KING in a Foreign Country as a Deputy or Lieutenant doth in his own Dominions whose business is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the old Greeks call it to manage his Masters Affairs Power and Polity abroad to treat with other great Kings and Emperors upon the most weighty matters Whereby I suppose he is distinguish'd from Nuncio's Agents and other modern names of such as are either sent to petty Princes like those of Italy and Germany or if to Sovereigns upon State-Ceremony or Messages of lesser moment By this high Metaphor the Apostle here calls the Evangelical Ministry and that as I conceive for some or other of the ensuing Reasons 1. An Ambassador is suppos'd to be a man of Integrity faithful to his Instructions and true to his important Trust No Gifts or Pensions can tempt his impregnable Fidelity to a surrender He 's not to be practis'd upon or won to base Compliances with a Foreign Crown as knowing that if he be taken tardy or make excursions beyond his Line if by his fraud or falseness he lose the least hair of his Masters honour it may chance to cost him his own head Much more is it requir'd of them in the Text as Stewards of the Mysteries of God that they be found faithful unto the death The false Prophet said but true in that though Balac would give me the house full of Gold and Silver I cannot go beyond the Commandment of the Lord. They dare not say Peace peace when there is no peace nor flatter any man living in his sins to gain half a Kingdom When they address to one of the Potentates says Epictetus they remember there is Another above that sees and hears all that passes and of the two they are most obliged to please or fear Him His surly Yeomen of the Guard could not force the Lacedemonian Legates to fall down and worship the mighty Persian Monarch because against the express Law of Lycurgus From whence Origen infers much less should Men or Devils affright them that are engag'd in this more Divine Ambassy to give away their Masters honour to the King of Persin Greece or any other as being contrary to the whole Tenour of his Everlasting Gospel Wherefore let all such as Judas-like betray their Master for a few shekels of Silver or teach the Traditions of Men and Doctrines of Devils for the Word of God be as St. Paul saith Anathema Maranatha that is stand condemned till their Lord come 2. An Ambassador is presum'd to be one of more than common Prudence Sagacity and Judgment that understands his Errand throughly and such Imperial Laws as concern the Pleas of his Masters Crown Plutarch
Talent put into your hand and suffer his Holy Spirit to blow up those sparks of Grace ye have covered o're with ashes in your hearts O let not that Blessed Comforter depart finally from you for the World as he did from Saul for then an Evil Spirit will soon possess and vex and send you to Endor But if ye have neglected his Grace and fallen into sin as who can plead Not-guilty Who can tell how oft he offendeth implore his assistance heartily wait his approach humbly and attend his motions earnestly and he will raise you again to Newness of Life he will bring you fresh Auxiliaries from your glorified Saviour and in due time unite you so firmly unto Him that your sins shall be chargeable only upon Him His Merits put on your Accompt and sufficient Vertue shall go out of Him to cleanse you from all Unrighteousness 2. And lastly be their Address never so humble it runs in a more then Humane stile for We pray you in CHRIST'S stead and however you put us off till a a more convenient season Yet as the voice from Heaven said hear HIM HIM that once took the Curse of God upon him for you and is ever at his right hand interceding for his Blessings on you HIM to whom all power is committed both in Heaven and Earth who even as Son of Man is now Lord of Angels Lord of all The Requests of Kings have been used to go for Commands with dutiful Subjects And when the KING OF KINGS prays and begs but one thing of you can ye possibly deny Him Sure no Man can be so much a Monster no Gentleman so much a Jew We pray you in Christ's stead What shall I say more Yes not only the glorified Son of Man but GOD himself doth beseech you by us too Wonder not that he speaks to you by men of like-passions with your selves unless you wonder at his infinite Mercy For ye can neither see nor hear HIM and live one glimpse ye know even of CHRIST'S glorious Body struck Saul to the ground blind and half dead Speak Thou with us said Israel to Moses and let not GOD speak with us lest we Die. Besides it is GOD'S Prerogative alone to shew his own Strength by the most weak Instruments It was not a man of mean Person and Presence and then a Prisoner at the Bar too that made the stout Felix shake and tremble It was not Elijah's word a silly plain Prophet that fell like Thunder upon the great guilty Ahab and struck a Palsie into his Joynts and forc'd him to his Sackcloth and Ashes but the Word of the Living God which if as soft Fire it cannot melt like a strong Hammer oft breaks the Rocky Heart in pieces The same GOD doth not now thunder and threaten but pray and beseech you by us Hear O Heavens and give ear O Earth The Almighty Creator becomes as it were an humble Petitioner to his own Creature and to shew he is in good earnest because he could not swear by a greater he hath sworn by himself upon his own Life and Honour As I live saith the LORD I will not the death of a sinner Who can despise such ardent Love Who can spurn at such infinite tender Bowels Who can resist that still small Voyce the secret but piercing and importunate whispers of his Holy SPIRIT in your hearts which the Tongue of Men and Angels cannot express no nor all the powers of Men and Devils without your own consent render ineffectual And what doth the Lord thy God thus require nay request and beseech of thee O Man If he had bid thee do some great thing to cure thy natural Leprosie wouldst thou not have done it How much rather then when he saith unto thee only wash in the blood of the Covenant and he clean Only be reconciled be hearty friends with thy God make what returns thou canst of his wonderful Love Indeed the tinckling of three little Bells in a Country Steeple and the Peasants flocking to the Towns end and crying GOD SAVE THE KING adds not much to the Majesty of a Potent Monarch yet as that great Preacher and Prelate observes it is all they can do it shews their honest love and hearty affections and so sounds well and pleases the Royal ear Much more will your merciful God accept the will for the deed And let but men husband their proportion of Grace as well as they can let them but shew their integrity of heart and earnest desires and then do their faithful endeavours to serve love and honour Him and he asks no more being ready to supply all their defects and imperfections out of the inexhaustible Fountain of CHRISTS Righteousness This is all that God doth beseech you by us and if any man will deny him this he must needs confess his Damnation is just which GOD forbid and I have done For we are Ambassadors for CHRIST as though GOD the HOLY GHOST did beseech you by us We pray you in CHRIST GOD THE SON'S stead be ye reconciled to GOD THE FATHER To which Eternal TRINITY ONE GOD be the Eternal Kingdom Power and Glory AMEN FINIS A Catalogue of some Sermons c. printed for and sold by Henry Brome since the dreadful Fire of London to 1675. A Guide to Eternity by John Bona useful for Families and fit to be given at Funerals Dean W. Lloyd's Sermon before the King about Miracles 6 d. His Sermon at the Funeral of John Lord Bishop of Chester 6 d. His Sermon before the King in Lent 1673. 6 d. The Seasonable Discourse against Popery in quarto 6 d. The Defence of it quarto 6 d. The Difference betwixt the Church and Court of Rome in quarto 6 d. The Papists Apology to the Parliament answered 6 d. Mr. Naylor's Commemoration Sermon for the Honorable Col. Cavendish 6 d. Mr. Sayers Sermon at the Assizes at Reading 6 d. Mr. Tho. Tanner's Sermon to the scattered Members of the Church 6 d. Mr. Stanhop's four Sermons on several Occasions octavo bound 1 s. 6 d. Papal Tyranny as it was exercised over England for some Ages with two Sermons on the fifth 〈◊〉 November by Dr. Du Moulin in quarto 1 s. 6 d. His Sermon at the Funeral of Dr. Turner Dean of Canterbury 6 d. Bishop Lany's last Sermon preached before the King against Comprehension Principles and Duties of Natural Religion By John Wilkins late Lord Bishop of Chester Mr. Farindon's 130 Sermons in Folio
suffer shame and be Nick-named Fops Formalists and Thinking-Fools by men of the same spirit with them that said the Son of GOD himself had a Devil But yet these Hero's might remember in their cold blood and sober intervals if they have any that as it is against the Law of Nations to cast dirt upon and offer indignities to an Ambassador so the affront aims chiefly at his Prince and such as despise them despise him that sent them who will in due time redeem his own Honour and pay them that they have deserved Mean while we 'll be reveng'd of them too but only in our Churches Prayer and God speed it well that it may please him to forgive our Enemies Persecutors and Slanderers and to turn their hearts But 2. You need not fear the Sons of Levi should take too much upon them in this high Title if you consider their more special Character as they are Ambassadors for CHRIST A King indeed but one whose Kingdom was not of this World Who never used more secular Pomp in all his life but once riding into Jerusalem upon an Asses Colt A King indeed but his Courtiers poor Fishermen and Publicans his Scepter a Reed his Crown made of Thorns and his Throne an ignominious Cross And his Disciples are not greater than their Lord they pretend not to dispose of Crowns and Kingdoms let Him at Rome answer for that who says we know by what Right and Precedent All these will I give thee They claim no Secular Honours or Priviledges but what they owe to the pious Bounty of Christian Princes who are graciously pleas'd to treat them as Prophets and shall therefore receive a Prophets reward Their power says a Learned man is armed only with a spiritual Sword the wounds whereof are little felt or dreaded in this World supported mostly with a mean temporal Fortune yet it has stood hitherto against all Opposition and shall stand for ever But whether they meet with Friends or Foes Love or Hatred Frowns or Favours here they are sure of a Reward most glorious hereafter if they can but give their Master who is since declared King of kings a good account of their great Errand and Business here on Earth Which leads me to the second thing considerable The subject matter sum and purport of their Ambassy in those words Be ye reconciled unto God Reconciliation imports a returning into Favour and Friendship after a former Enmity or Falling-out between Parties Now though man be the sole Party offending that made the breach by sin his own voluntary act yet God hath been graciously reconciled to Him ever since the hour of CHRISTS death which he accepted as a full and perfect satisfaction for the sins of the whole World All the difficulty is which so many Ambassadors are daily sent about to prevail with man to be reconciled to God Reconciled Surely that must be an hard saying clogg'd with some impossible Condition that makes men start so at fly from and not endure to hear on 't Yes it is so for it requires them to do What shall I say to do just nothing in comparison rather to be passive as the Verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here is and not hinder God from making them happy Yes it requires them to renounce their own Merits and that 's a mighty piece of Self-denial for wretched sinners that never had any and then cry Peccavi before they can obtain Mercy It lays that grievous burthen upon them to be Friends with God or rather to suffer God to be so far Lord of their Wills as to advance them like the great Abraham to be his bosom Friends and Favourites In a word and not to mince the matter there being no name under Heaven whereby we can be saved but the name of JESUS it requires us all to believe stedfastly in and depend wholly upon Him both for pardon of our sins and power against them 1. For Pardon we must sue that out in and through his Death for without his precious Bloodshed there is no Remission of sins and without our acceptance none for us however Though there be Balm in Gilead and a Physician there yet if men will not use them no wonder if they perish and their blood be upon their own heads They may think never so well of their own Works and Ways but when all is done they must take Sanctuary in that new and living Way which he consecrated for us through the veil that is his Flesh Hebr. 10. or they 're undone for ever For as we are not of kin to CHRIST but only by the Mother's side as he is flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone and God the Father doth forgive no mans sins but for Christ's Merits offer'd in our Nature upon the Cross And so doth he convey this and all other Blessings to us only through his Son as our Mediator that is through his Humanity as the only Band by which we are united and reconciled to the Divine Nature Wherefore 2. We must depend upon him also for Grace and Power against sin by virtue of his Resurrection and Life to purifie our Hearts and Consciences and keep that Tyrant Sin from reigning at least in our mortal Bodies Never did the most Gracious Prince pardon Rebels but upon that one Condition That they would turn Loyal Subjects Therefore says St. Paul if any man be in Christ he is a new Creature he has a new heart new desires new principles new life all things new He 's not the same man he 's quite chang'd like the Prodigal Son come to himself to a sense of his former follies and present wants or like the man among the Tombs who when the Devils were gone out of him sate dutifully at Jesus feet clothed and in his right mind This is indeed the hardest Chapter in all our Word of Reconciliation but yet he that runs may read it if with holy David he takes the right course Commit thy way unto the Lord and put thy trust in him and he shall bring it to pass For is there any thing impossible with God The heart of all men even of Kings says Solomon is in the hand of the Lord as Rivers of water he turneth it whithersoever he pleaseth What though Nature of it self be weak and impotent so long as it is now endued with power from on high Indeed our Saviour tells us plainly to shew us our own insufficiency without Me ye can do nothing But St. Paul as truly answers for himself and us also I can do all things through CHRIST that strengthens me And when we read that such Vertue went out of Christ whilst in the form of a Servant that it cur'd the Woman of her Bloody Issue upon but touching the Hem of his Garment why should it seem incredible that his glorified Humane Nature now he is Lord of all should distil his vertual Presence and Life upon our Souls to heal our infirmities that he should impart