Selected quad for the lemma: lord_n
Text snippets containing the quad
|
ID |
Title |
Author |
Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) |
STC |
Words |
Pages |
|
A60320
|
A sermon preached at Christ-Church in Dublin before the Lord Lieutenant and Council, the fifth day of July, 1674 by Mr. Andrew Sall ...
|
Sall, Andrew, 1612-1682.
|
1674
(1674)
|
Wing S392; ESTC R32075
|
51,081
|
162
|
A SERMON Preached at CHRIST-CHURCH IN DUBLIN Before the Lord Lieutenant and Council The Fifth day of July 1674. BY Mr. ANDREW SALL Formerly of the Order of Iesus and Professor of Divinity in the Colledges of Pamplona Polencia and Tudela in Spain Rector and Professor of Controversies in the Irish Colledge of the University of Salamanca Professor of Moral Theology in the Royal Colledge of the Society in the same University now Preacher of the Gospel in the Reformed Church of Ireland and Chaplain to his Excellency the most Honourable ARTHVR Earl of Essex Lord Lieutenant General and General Governour of Ireland Not unto us O Lord not unto us but unto thy Name give glory for thy mercy and for thy truths sake Psalm 115.1 I will speak of thy testimonies also before Kings and will not be ashamed Psalm 119.46 Published by Authority DVBLIN Printed by Benjamin Tooke Printer to his King 's most Excellent Majesty and are to be sold by Joseph Wilde Book-seller in Castle-street 1674. Imprimatur JA ARMACANUS To His Excelleney THE MOST HONOURABLE ARTHUR Earl of ESSEX Viscount Malden Baron Capel of Hadham Lord Lieutenant General and General Governour of His Majesties Kingdom of Ireland Lord Lieutenant of the County of Hertford and one of the Lords of His Majesties most Honourable Privy Council May it please your Excellency THE love of Truth made me forsake what I loved most of worldly things and occasioned my dearest friends to become my bitter Enemies Tyranny did stop my mouth formerly from speaking Truth and malice subrogated now doth pursue me even where I expected liberty being busy as I am informed in contriving if not my destruction my discredit that I might not be able to speak against errours too much prevailing in the world or not to be credited when I should do it The same of your Excellency's Heroick Endowments Christian Zeal of Truth and Holiness derived from your illustrious Progenitors and more immediately from your most honourable and renowned Father of glorious memory for sacrificeing his life to Truth and Loyalty did encourage me to address my self to your Excellency's Protection in this more than ordinary necessity thereof The most gracious reception your Excellency was pleased to give me emboldened me to manifest the justification of my departure from the Romish Communion and adhereing to the purity of Catholick Religion as it is professed by the Church of England in a Sermon Preached at the Royal Chappel of Christ-Church in your Honourable Presence And the singular â—â—â—ignity wherewith your Exâ—â—â—â—â—cy your Ilustrious 〈…〉 was pleased to hear and 〈…〉 prove of my discourse upon 〈◊〉 Subject giveth me confidenâ—â— to present to your Excellency commend to your protection the same Discourse being ordered to publish it That being Honoured in the Front with your Excellency's Illustrious Name it might the better withstand the assaults of envy and malice The adversaries of our Doctrine are so active in advancing their Faction that where they cannot practice Violence their contrivances do reach to terrify Sincere mindes from professing or speaking what they judgright I have but too much ground to think it is so with very many in this Country and abroad It is more want of courage than of knowledge that keeps many good men under their yoke and such as know their ways may think it a wonder that any who were among them of note should dare to oppose them It will be a singular glory of your Excellency if under your shelter we may enjoy the freedom of speaking Truth Peace is the Foundation of Happiness and Lustre in any Government and the fiercest Enemy of Peace is Dissension in Religion Of such Dissension the only remedy by ordinary Providence is a free exchange of reasons according to the Rule of God's Word and within the Bounds of Christian Modesty And this Freedom being all my ambition I cannot but assure my self of your Excellencies gracious Protection and Favour that may enable me to praise God in this way That we being delivered out of the hands of our Enemies Lu 1.74 might serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life Praying continually to God he may be pleased to bless your Excellency with all prosperity and farther your holy intentions for the spiritual and temporal welfare of this Kingdom I cease to give your Excellency farther trouble but shall ever remain Your Excellencies most humble and obedient Servant And Chaplain ANDREW SALL THE PREFACE To my Dear Countrey-men Friends and Kinsmen of the Roman Communion in IRELAND THE great Scandal you seem to have taken at my withdrawing from the Communion of the Roman Church and adhering to that of England has occasioned I should the more willingly obey the order I had of exposing to publick view the account of my proceeding and motives of my alteration contained in this Sermon which I have preached in the Royal Chappel of Christ-Church at Dublin desiring that such as could not or would not go thither to hear it may at their leisure and without passion read it If my proceedings herein were indeed a scandal I might justly fear that woe to him that gives it But mens averse disposition is apt to term a scandal what in it self is an example And I have ground to hope it is so with you at present in my concern Certainly it may be called an example and a good one if you hear the voice of God not to harden your heart or shut your ears against it though you may prudently examine the calling and endeavour to be certified whether it be of God And when you are assured it is so to obey your Lord and Maker not heeding the cryes of the world against you nor the suggestions of humane fear or shame So did the blessed Virgin Mary who hearing that high and honourable calling of God by the mouth of the Angel Gabriel did neither harden her heart nor shut her ears against it nor yet did she give a sudden assent but replied with a pressing reason according to the rules of humane Discourse saying How shall this be Lu. 1.34 seeing I know not a man but convinced with superiour evidences represented by the Angel she obeyed promptly the will of God not regarding her former apprehension of fear and shame Her example I have followed I heard the voice of God by several ways interiour and exteriour calling me out of the errours of my former profession I neither hardened my heart with resolute obstinacy nor gave a hasty assent to change but by prayer and study of many years did endeavour to certifie my self of the truth by all the ways I could imagine fit to find it out and being at last fully convinced did resolutely embrace it and openly declare for it not heeding the cryes nor fearing the menaces of passion and malice against me If you will not think fit to follow my example in this kind of proceeding I hope you will
best Writers on both sides And though I heartily wished to find the cause I hitherto maintained justified for not to run into the terrible inconveniences which human considerations represented to me in a change yet assisted by Divine grace and taking for rule of my Actions the Service and Will of God and the Interest of Eternity I resolved constantly to adhere to the Party which with better ground would render me secure of this higher Emolument when being in these considerations suddenly issued out our Sovereign Lord the King's Proclamation for banishing the Roman Clergy wherewith I saw my self betwixt two Extremities either to continue farther in the Countrey with my ambiguities in disobedience to my Sovereign's commands or to go into Spain and there be forced to preach and practise Doctrines my conscience did not approve of and for a speedy resolution after earnest prayer to God for the assistance of his Divine light in so weighty a matter I penned down for better consideration the reasons I did hear read and conceive against the Romish Tenents controverted I did also carefully peruse and seriously reflect upon the 39. Articles Canons and Liturgy of the Church of England and all considered well I did conclude the way of the Church of England to be safer for my Salvation than that of the Roman Church Wherefore I resolved to declare as I do hereby seriously and in my heart without any equivocation or mental reservation in the presence of God and this Congregation declare that I do give my full and free assent to the 39. Articles of the Church of England for holy and wise grounded upon the infallible Word of God acknowledging the Romish Tenents against them to be false and superstitious especially that of Transubstantiation as forcing upon Christians a belief of monstrous miracles repugnant to human reason and not grounded upon Divine Testimony nor necessary either for verifying Christ's Words in the Institution of this Blessed Sacrament or for the effects of it not for verifying the words whereas Christ saith in the like tenour that he is the true vine without real alteration in his Person or in the vine nor for the effects of the holy Sacrament Christ being able to annex unto the receiving of Bread and Wine what spiritual Grates he pleaseth without alteration of the Elements as he doth afford the spiritual Grace of Regeneration in the Waters of Baptism without alteration in the substance of the Water And lest an imagination of some temporal or sinistrous intention in this my Declaration upon the present conjuncture may hinder the spiritual benefit which souls may reap by it I have grave testimonies to shew and did already shew them to my renowned Lord Archbishop his Grace which assureth I did enjoy in Spain and may now enjoy with more advantage going thither upon the account I was to go such degree of honour and commodity as possibly I may not expect elsewhere so as looking upon a Voyage thither continuing my former Profession nothing occurred to my mind but pleasure applause and honour and turning my eyes upon my present resolution mountains of crosses and dangers did fright me But in this perplexity I have chosen rather to suffer crosses here with sarisfaction of conscience than to enjoy honours that other way accompanied with the tortures of a checking conscience and the unworthiness of a dissembling life Wherefore I humbly beseech your Grace that I may be admitted into the Communion of this Church and that I may be absolved for my so long continuance in Errour resisting the pâ—werful Caâ—ling of God which granted I hope by the Grace of Almighty God assisting me that I shall never withdraw my self for farther confirmation of all this I have hereunto subscribed my Name Andrew Sall. St. MAT. xxiv 15 16 17 18. When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prephet stand in the holy place whoso readeth let him understand Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains Let him which is on the house top not come down to take any thing out of his house neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes ON all occasions I conceive it to be the Duty of a Preacher to search diligently after the genuine and direct meaning of the word of God he takes in hand to expound that grounding his discourses upon it rather than upon private fancie they may carry more weight for the benefit of souls But when the very Text doth warn us of this duty and exhorteth to the right understanding of it self as ours at present doth whose readeth let him understand then certainly we have a special obligation of searching carefully for the right sense of it which I have endeavoured to do and found three several opinions among ancient and modern Interpreters touching that Abomination of Desolation standing in the Holy place mentioned in our Text. The first opinion followed by St. Jerome is that by this Abomination of Desolation may be understood the Image of Caesar which Pilate set up in the Temple of Jerusalem Or the Statue of the Emperor Adrian which he affirmeth to have stood in the most sacred place of the Temple the holy of holies to his own time which to the people of God was most abominable rendered the Temple desolate and void of Divine praises the faithful deserting the City and Temple that they might not be partakers of the prophane Idolatry practised in it as our Saviour councelleth in the words of our Text. The second Opinion followed by very learned Interpreters and attributed to St. Chrysostom is that by this Abomination is understood the Roman Army under Titus coming to besiege Jerusalem and ready to fill the City with their Banners bearing in them the Image of Caesar and his Eagle which to the Jews were Abominable and Prophane The third Opinion followed by the Gloss Interlineal is that the foresaid words of our Text do relate to the times of Antichrist 2 Thess 2.3 when that man of sin shall be revealed Dan. 11.36 2 Thess 2.4 who shall exalt himself and magnifie himself above every God and who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God as St. Paul saith At whose appearance our Saviour exhorteth the faithful to shun the place where they see it predominant All which three Opinions though different in expressions do concur to the same purpose of our spiritual instruction and will contribute to the right grounding the Points I intend to raise upon our Text to that end The following words of our Text do set forth the hast and diligence wherewith our Saviour would have the Faithful to shun the place infected with that Evil. Gerson Tract in Magnifi cat pag. 97. The Buildings of Judea had commonly plain Roofs to walk upon as Gerson relateth now who should happen to be on such Roofs is councelled by our Saviour not to stay for going by