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A67685
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The end of Christ's advent a sermon preached in the cathedral-church of Norwich on the two and twentieth of June, 1684 / by Erasmus Warren, rector of Worlington in Suffolk.
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Warren, Erasmus.
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1684
(1684)
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Wing W965A; ESTC R33562
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20,221
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40
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frustrate the Contrivances of his Love and Kindness destin'd to our good we may hereby arrive at such a pitch of Malice as to be incapable of Salvation in some respect at such a pitch of Malice that the Ordinary influence and concurrence of Divine Grace which is sufficient to other Mens Salvation will not be effective of ours Nor is God obliged then to exert his Grace in mightier efforts and a Power irresistible No rather considering how we have despised his former Goodness it is but just with him to withdraw the Commune Effluxes of it leaving us as he did that stubborn Pharaoh to our selves And then our Hearts which would not be intenerated and mollifi'd by his Grace will grow more obstinate and inflexible When we are come into these Circumstances we may well suspect that our Day of Grace is past indeed For then we are unlike to get to Heaven unless by extraordinary Dispensations which GOD has promised to none and very seldom affords to any But then who is to blame for this Not CHRIST for he is willing to save us still but our selves alone who have sunk so deep into the Gulf of Sin as to render our Emergency into a State of Righteousness extremely difficult and in the Course of GODs usual dealings with Men utterly impossible And when by our vile licentious practices we thus straiten and block up our way to Heaven and shut and bolt the Gate of Paradise against our selves we cannot complain that we are kept out because CHRIST is unwilling to let us in No amongst all the outcries of Perishing Souls that pierce the horrible Regions of Darkness and eccho in the dismal Caverns of Hell I dare boldly say there is none like this That they Languish and die in endless misery for CHRIST's being loth to save them from it But then may some dissolute Miscreants say if the Case stands thus if none may despair if all may be saved then what good news is here for us we may then continue where we are and lay down and rest in our old delights and go on with confidence in our Sinful Pleasure and yet do well enough at last But to them that talk at this extravagant rate I reply in short My design was not to encourage the sinful but to support the sorrowful Not to harden the presumptuous but to relieve the penitent To build a Sanctuary for the contrite not a refuge for the careless And if they will snatch the Doctrine out of my mouth and make it minister to evil purposes be it known unto them they do great disservice to their own Interests If like Pharaohs Magicians they will turn a staff into a serpent or change an antidote to deadly poyson if they 'l burn by that fire which was kindled to warm them and surfeit of that food which was prepar'd to nourish them who can help it Themselves must answer for their wilfull ruine and by inverting the use of such wholsome remedies shall perish like fools and none shall pity them For albeit CHRIST is willing to save us yet save us he will on his own terms and in his own way And how is that The Scripture certifies GOD sent his SON to bless us in turning every one of us from our Iniquities And CHRIST gave himself for us that he might REDEEM us from all Iniquity So that first he saves us from sin and then from misery That 's the progressive method or order which he has fixt and prescribed to himself in carrying on and compleating the work of our Salvation First he rescues us from the reign and power and practice of Sin and then from the guilt and curse and punishment of it If therefore we mean to persist in Sin it behoves us to seek out for another SAVIOUR if in the end we would be happy And we cannot but remember that this Inference counsels none against despairing of Salvation but such as repent and repent truly of Sin 8. How little cause have we to distrust Providence as to our temporal maintenance GOD that honoured us with so great a blessing as JESUS's Advent will not deny us those that are less 'T is the Apostles Inference from the same Doctrine He that spared not his SON but delivered him up for us all How shall he not with him also freely give us all things He that paid such a vast price for our Souls will not neglect them while they dwell in these Bodies He will certainly vouchsafe us as much as we need though perhaps not so much as we wish What the Psalmist asserted we may boldly believe they that fear the LORD shall lack no manner of thing that is good They may lack many things good in themselves but nothing that is good for them He that fed Elijah by the ministry of Ravens and the Sereptan Widdow by miraculous augmentation of her exhausted provisions will find out ways for our competent subsistence in our greatest destitution of necessary supplies and will take care that we shall never want what it were better for us to enjoy Lastly Since CHRIST JESUS came into the World to save sinners how should we laud him for that signal Mercy It is the highest and most glorious favour that ever we received at his hands And therefore for it we should exceed in gratitude And therefore our Church in a deep sense of this incumbent Duty has appointed the Benedictus that most admirable Hymn or Song of Blessing for our SAVIOUR's Incarnation to be offered up to GOD in her Morning Devotions and mentions it also in the General Thanksgiving and good reason For had he given us leave to ask what we would and a promise to obtain whatever we asked we could not have requested any thing so great yet this he imparted undesired Yea if GOD had studied and cast about with himself to all Eternity he could not have invented or projected for us a more noble kindness O that Men would therefore praise the LORD for this his GOODNESS But Men alone cannot do it enough let the whole Creation make one Quire and joyn in consort to celebrate his Name with solemn Praises Let the Saints and Angels praise him Let the Heavens and the Earth praise him Let the World let both the Worlds and all that is therein praise him But above all let every sincere Penitent rouze up himself as the good Man did Praise thou the LORD O my Soul Methinks we should wish we had a Thousand Tongues to sing forth thankful Anthems to his MAJESTY And that our selves were turned all into Harmony that so we might extol him with the sweetest Melody But being sure we are unable to praise him sufficiently here upon Earth let us resolve to do what we can and let the rest alone till we get to Heaven Where our faint and flat and low magnificats shall rise up to Divine and lofty Hallelujahs and run out in most high and Eternal Doxologies I now conclude with this one Corollary Such is the sweetness such the usefulness of the Text before us that it ought never to be forgotten by us Let us set it therefore continually in our sight Let us fix it in our minds and Print it in our memories and every day revolve it in our cogitations It is as choice as pathetick a place as any in the Bible CHRIST JESUS came into the World to save sinners what a strange gratification drops and distills from the affecting words They are more fragrant than Perfumes more savory than Banquets more precious than Jewels more powerful than Rhetorick more cordial than Wine more healing than Balm more taking than Beauty more ravishing than Love I know not what to say to express my own Sentiments of them much less to set forth their native Excellence They are more valuable than all the World to repenting Sinners And all the felicities in the World cannot lift them up to such a degree of rapturous Joy as that which spreads and flows through their Souls upon the serious contemplation of this most faithful acceptable saying CHRIST JESUS came into the World to save Sinners To whom be all Glory Love and Obedience for ever and ever Amen FINIS