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A85870
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XI choice sermons preached upon severall occasions. With a catechisme expounding the grounds and principles of Christian religion. By William Gay B.D. rector of Buckland.
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Gay, William, Rector of Buckland.
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1655
(1655)
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Wing G397; Thomason E1458_1; ESTC R209594
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189,068
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322
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blessed Mat. 5. Blessed are ye for your knowing because ye do what ye know and blessed are ye for your doing because ye know what ye do blessed are ye internally for the peace of your consciences is unto you a continual feast blessed are ye externally for your light shineth before men that they may see your good works and glorifie your Father which is in heaven Blessed are ye supernally for God is not ashamed of you to be called your God for he hath prepared for you a Citty Blessed are ye in things temporal in things spiritual in things eternall In things temporall read the 28. of Deut. Blessed shalt thou be in the City and blessed also in the field blessed shall be the fruit of thy body and the fruit of thy ground and the fruit of thy cattle blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in and blessed when thou goest out In things spirituall for your understandings shall be illuminated your wills rectified your affections sanctified your old man mortified your new man quickned and ye wholly made accepted in the beloved In things eternall for there is an inheritance immortall undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved for you in heaven where ye shall have joy without sorrow health without infirmity pleasure without satiety life without death and indeed I cannot tell you what but this I may warrant all that ye would and nothing that ye would not as appeareth Psal 16.11 In thy presence is the fulness of joy and Psal 17.15 When I awake up after thy likeness I shall be satisfied with it Blessed are ye in the present Tense which I adde as a vantage to the former Notes as being indeed the speciall of all even now already ye have obtained it Now whiles ye dwel with Mesech and have your habitation among the tents of Kedar now whiles ye live in this vale of tears in this sea of glasse in this dungeon of the flesh now even now blessed are ye Blessed are ye in the unchangable decree of God the Father who hath elected you in the Incarnation of God the Son who hath redeemed you in the effectual operation of God the holy Ghost who hath sealed you Blessed are ye in the knowledge of God who hath called and justified you in the knowledge of the Church who hath received and acknowledged you in the knowledge of your selves your own consciences testifying together with Gods Spirit bearing witness with your spirits that yee are the children of God Blessed are yee for though yee shall not take possession of it till your soules be parted from your bodies Eccl. 12.7 and though ye shall not have the compleat perfection of it till your bodies be raised again and reunited to your soules Heb. 11. yet even in this life ye have the pawn and pledge of it 2 Cor. 1.22 Arrham spiritus the earnest of the Spirit a pure heart and good conscience and faith unfeigned 1 Tim. 1.5 And now concerning the present business Of the Visitation which is the occasion of our meeting and of my present speaking I need say nothing of it for my Text hath said all already If ye know these things blessed are ye if ye doe them To or for our quickning to this or any other duty what need more be sayd then this that our professed burthen of blessednesse our hoped weight of glory dependeth equally on our knowing and doing our duty Neither can I judge any of you my hearers to have need of more application of this unto you This assembly consisteth especially of three sorts Churchwardens Ministers Visiters And each of these concerning the businesse in hand I hope I need question no otherwise then Saint Paul questioned Agrippa Beleevest thou the Prophets I know thou beleevest So I now to you Are yee prepared and ready to doe your duties I know yee are prepared To the Churchwardens why should I make other question seeing the businesse is not new but very antient and of frequent use and seeing they are taught their lesson not by rote but by book having Articles to direct them whereof to consider and whereto to answer To the Ministers why should I make other question seeing their lips are to be the preservers of knowledge Mal. 2.7 and their foreheads the stamps of holiness Exod. 28.38 I may say therefore for them as the parents of the born blind man answered for their sonne concerning his blindnesse and recovery Hee is old enough ask him he shall answer for himself Joh. 9.20 To the Visitors what need I make other question seeing they cannot bee ignorant that hee who saith to them I have said ye are Gods addeth also immediately but ye shall die like men yea and in another place professeth himself to be the Visiter of Visiters Namely that in case of forsaking his Law and not walking in his Judgements he will visit such offences with the rod and such sinne with scourges Psal 89.31 What need I then say any more of this businesse yet I remember a passage of Mr. Latimer that man of the worn-out-age being challenged and taxed for somewhat spoken by him before and concerning the King he answered Would ye have me preach before a King and say nothing of a Kings duty This made mee to think it unfit for me to preach at a Visitation and say nothing thereto properly belonging To avoid this therefore I offer to your consideration and reformation two abuses which I take to be no small ones for they touch our coppyhold as I may say or rather our Freehold the honour and dignity of our Sacraments The first concerneth the former Sacrament Baptism and namely in this that it is grown a common custom to keep children from Baptism till the moneth be up for the Mothers churching sake some for state some to save charges But if the childe bee dead bom the parents grieve to look upon it and speedily commit it to the earth and shall not the apprehension of spiritual death be also grievous and make us speedily seek the remedy to bury that death in Christs death Circumcision was a bloody and cruell a tedious and grievous Sacrament as may appear by that forty years forbearing of it for journeying sake Josh 5.6 and by the prevailing of Simeon and Levi two men for there be no more mentioned to the Massacre of all the Males in a whole City being newly circumcised Gen. 34.25 Yet that Sacrament might not be omitted past the eighth day But our Sacraments as St. Augustine observeth Aug. Ep. 118. are numero pancissima observatione facilima few and easie and shall wee presume then to delay Baptism which is to us in stead of Circumcision till the moneth bee up The Minister is required to bee speedy in ministring it in case of danger And doth not this also binde the people to shun delay and to prevent danger Yea the Common Prayer book in the beginning of private Baptism injoyneth that Baptism be not delayed past the first
should not depart from Jerusalem but wait for the promise of the Father Act. 1.4 And in this businesse they sate and the Holy Ghost came and sate upon each of them Behold then there is Unity Quietness Diligence Fidelity Constancy First here is Unitie one with another They were all with one accord in one place Behold the spirit of Unity rejoyceth in Unity The spirit of wisdom is loving Wisd 1.6 And the first fruit of the spirit is love Gal. 5.22 This loving spirit therefore descended upon them that were united in love to shew if that we dwell in love we dwell in God and God will be ready to dwell in us Secondly here is quietnesse They were in no commotion or hurly burly but quiet in themselves and one with another They sate therefore the spirit of rest here takes up his rest The spirit of trouble delighteth in trouble he is a compasser he compasseth the Earth Job 17. he taketh no rest neither doth he desire to find it but delighteth in compassing heads and troubled mindes that do weary themselves in the way of wickednesse But where the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty Peace Quietnesse and freedome from trouble The Dove could find no rest for the sole of her foot while the troubled waters endured but the raven continued going and coming from her first going forth Gen. 8. For the carcasses and carions tost in waters were her fittest rest Now the wicked are the raging waves of the Sea foaming out their own shame Jude 13. They are like the raging Sea that cannot rest whose waters cast up mire and dirt Is 57.20 therefore on them the golden feathered Dove of Heaven setleth not but the black devouring vulture of hell setteth up his rest Thirdly here is diligence They give not themselves to sleepy or idle rest but to such exercises as belong to their calling therefore they receive the hope of their calling Eph. 4.4 For as God is an austere man to idle and unprofitable servants so to the vigilant and diligent he is not onely liberall in honoring Lu. 16.21 Euge Well done good and faithfull servant and in rewarding Enter thou into thy masters joy Mat. 25. but also kind and loving in ministring He will gird himself about and make them sit down to meat and will come forth and serve them Lu. 12. Blessed therefore are both these and all those servants whom their Lord when he cometh shall find so doing even exercised in the charge that their Master shal give them Fourthly here is Faithfulness They had a charge given to that they are obedient they had a promise made In that they are confident Therefore according to their Faith so is it unto them And as they believe so do they receive Faithfull is he that promiseth Heb. 10.23 God is faithful 1 Cor. 10.13 Faithful therfore also must he be that receiveth Men must be faithfull He that commeth to God must believe not onely that God is but that he is arewarder of them that seek hm Heb 11.6 He that will receive must ask in faith and waver not Jam. 1. And he that will be received must be received in Faith So Philip answered the Eunuch when he would be baptised If thou believest with all thy heart thou maiest Act. 8.36 For Christ both in his word and in his work is unavailable to the unfaithfull Hee is the end of the Law for righteousnesse How to every one that believeth Rom. 10.4 He could there in his owne Country do no great works Why not because his giving hand failed but because their receiving hand failed Because of their unbeliefe Mar. 6.5 For in giving and ministring there must be also receiving they are relative workes and cannot be one without the other Fiftly here is Constantness For as asoresaid this was the tenth day of their expectation and had it been tenfold ten no doubt it had been but as one to them they would have bidden without grudging unto the end both for their loves sake and for their trusts sake For their loves sake For every Jacob thinks two apprentiships one of the body and soul above ground another of the body under ground to be but a little while for the love of his Rachel his desired happinesse And for their trusts sake because they knew that that the Lord is not slack concerning his promise Pet. 3.9 but that all his promises are yea and Amen 2 Cor. 1.20 And without repentance Rom. 11.20 Therefore they runne not as at an uncertain thing their labor is not in vain in the Lord Their constancie is crowned at the last Be patient therefore brethren unto the comming of the Lord behold the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the Earth and hath long patience untill he receive the former and the later rain Be ye therfore also patient and settle your hearts for the comming of the Lord draweth near Jam. 5.6 And let us not be weary of well doing for in due time we shall reap if we faint not Gal. 6.9 Remember Lots wife and look not back Lu. 17. For no wan that putteth his hand to the plough and looketh back is apt for the Kingdom of Heaven Lu. 9. But he that continueth to the end shall be saved Mat. 10. Be faithfull unto the death and I will give thee the Crown of life Rev. 2.10 So much of the circumstances of this businesse the Time and the Persons or Parties The second chief part or branch of this text is the substance or matter of the businesse related that is the comming of the Holy Chost in sensible forms The comming of the Holy Ghost why was not the Holy Ghost come till now Indeed it is said Joh. 7.39 The Holy Ghost was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified Yet it cannot be denyed but that the Holy Ghost was given before For in old time holy men of God spake as they were inspired by the Holy Ghost 2 Pet. 1.21 But he was not come or given in comparison of this comming or giving Why Not in like manner Not in like measure Not to like end Not in like manner For before he was given inwardly but now outwardly before secretly now openly Before invisibly now visibly Before quoad potentiam efficaciam in respect of power and efficacie now quoad praesentiam apparitionem in respect of presence and appearance Before suddenly now upon promise and expectation So that Christs words inverted may be hither applyed The kingdom of God is come with observation Lu. 7.20 So that now men might say lee here or loe there For the Kingdom of God is not onely within them but without them and upon them totally possessing and compassing them Not in like measure For before it was here and ther to one or to a few at once but now to a multitude and in a multitude or magnitude To a multitude For there were 120. together Chap. 1. ver 15. In multitude for they were all