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A27562
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A sermon concerning the excellency and usefulness of the common prayer preached by William Beveridge ... 27th of November. 1681.
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Beveridge, William, 1637-1708.
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1682
(1682)
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Wing B2100; ESTC R974
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27,675
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46
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A SERMON Concerning the Excellency and Usefulness OF THE Common Prayer PREACHED BY WILLIAM BEVERIDGE D. D. Rector of St. PETERS Cornhill LONDON AT THE Opening of the said Parish Church 27th of NOVEMBER 1681. LONDON Printed by T. James for Richard Northcott adjoyning to St. Peters Alley in Cornhill and at the Mariner and Anchor upon Fish-street-hill near London-Bridge MDCLXXXII To the Right Reverend Father in God HENRY Lord Bishop of LONDON One of His MAJESTY's Most Honourable PRIVY COUNCIL MY LORD YOVR Lordship having signified your pleasure that the Sermon which you heard when you did us the honour to be present at the Opening of our Parish Church should be made publick notwithstanding my averseness to print any thing in English yet out of a just sense both of that Obedience which I owe to You as my Bishop and of that Kindness which I have received from You as my Patron I have now done it and herewith make bold to present it to You. What Effect a Discourse of this Nature will have upon the Minds of those who shall have so much patience as to read it I know not But must leave that to him who hath the hearts of all men in his hand My Subject I am sure is good and necessary And as for my plain and practical way of handling it it is that which my Text requireth in that it commandeth that in our Christian Congregations All things be done to edifying So that unless I had endeavoured to suit it to the Capacities of all there present and to make it as edifying as I could unto them my Sermon had been a Contradiction to my Text And besides that I had lost my Design in Preaching it Which was to convince those especially whose Souls under your Lordship are committed to my care and conduct of the Excellency and Usefulness of the Common Prayer and so to perswade them to the constant and consciencioususe of it not only because it is conformable to the Doctrine Discipline and Practice of the Vniversal Church nor only because it is established by the Laws both of our Church and State though they also be very great Reasons but likewise because of that extraordinary benefit and advantage which they would receive from it for the edifying of their Souls in whatsoever is necessary to their Eternal Salvation I am very sensible that much more might have been said upon this Excellent Subject But intending no more than a plain Sermon upon the occasion I was forced to omit many things and to confine my self to such only which were most obvious and seemed the most necessary for people to know and practice in order to their being reconciled unto and edified by our Publick Prayers And if upon your perusal of that little which I have said you shall find any thing not agreeable to the Doctrine of our Church I humbly submit it to Your Lordships Judgment and Censure only desiring that You would be as ready to pardon as I am to retract it My Lord I have one request more to make unto You which is that as You was the occasion of my printing this Sermon so You would be pleased to accept of it now it is printed And if by the Blessing of Almighty God it may contribute any thing to those great Ends which You continually prosecute with so great Wisdom and Prudence with such exemplary Care and Diligence in the Management of that high Office which he hath called you to even to the Glory of his great Name the Good of his Church and the Salvation of the Souls of Men it is all that is desired by My Lord Your Lordship 's most humble and most obedient Servant WILLIAM BEVERIDGE A SERMON Concerning the Excellency and Usefulness OF THE Common Prayer 1 COR. XIV 26. Let all things be done to edifying WHEN Judas Maccabeus had new built the Altar and repaired the Temple at Hierusalem after it had been polluted and laid waste for Three years together the Church of God at that time and place rejoyced so much at it that they kept the Dedication of it Eight days and ordered that the same should be observed every year 1 Maccab. 4. 59. And so we find it was in our Saviours time for he himself was pleased to honour that Festival though onely of Ecclesiastical Institution with his own presence Joh. 10. 22. In the like manner we of this Parish have cause to be transported with joy and gladness and to spend this day in praising and adoring the most high God for that our Church which hath lain waste for above five times Three years is now at last rebuilt and fitted again for his Worship and Service For what the Altar and Temple were to the Jews then the same will our Church be unto us now Did they there offer up their Sacrifices to God as Types of the Death of Christ We shall here commemorate the said Death of Christ typified by those Sacrifices Did they come from all parts of Judea to worship God there So shall we I hope come from all parts of his Parish to worship God here Was the Temple an House of Prayer to them So is the Church to us Was that the Place where God according to his Promise came unto his people to bless them I do not doubt but he will do the same to us in this place if we come unto it and carry our selves in it as we ought to do In short was the Temple the place where all things were performed that could any way conduce to the Edifying of Gods people as things then stood The same may be said of our Church as things now stand For whatsoever is or can be necessary to the Edifying of our Souls here and so to their Eternal Salvation hereafter is clearly and fully comprehended in those several Offices which according to the Laws of the Land are now to be performed in this place Neither is there any thing contained in any of them but what doth really conduce to those great Ends and Purposes But this being a thing which is denied by some and understood but by few amongst us I shall endeavour to explain and demonstrate it unto all Which I chuse to do at this time because it is the most proper Subject I could think of for this Occasion For unless what is to be now done in this place will answer the ends wherefore it is erected all the Costs and Charges that have been laid out upon it will be to no purpose at all But if it can be fully made out That the Service which is here to be performed doth highly conduce to the Advancement of Gods Glory and your Happiness the great Ends wherefore such Places are erected then you cannot but acknowledg that whatsoever any of you have contributed towards it is the best Money that you ever spent and that this day wherein the said Service is begun to be performed in it is one of the most joyful days that this