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A49318 The reasonableness of the Christian religion a sermon preached at the visitation held at Stoakesly in Cleveland, in Yorkshire : being the first visitation of the Reverend Mr. Long, B.D. and Arch-Deacon of Cleveland / by Ja. Lowde ... Lowde, James. 1684 (1684) Wing L3302; ESTC R14296 20,988 54

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THE REASONABLENESS OF THE Christian Religion A SERMON PREACHED At the Visitation held at Stoakesley in Cleveland in Yorkshire Being the first Visitation of the Reverend Mr. Long B. D. and Arch-Deacon of Cleveland By Ja. Lowde Rector of Esington in Cleveland and Chaplain to the Right Honourable John Earl of Bridgewater c. LONDON Printed for Walter Kettilby at the Bishops Head in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1684. To the Right Honourable JOHN Earl of BRIDGEWATER VISCOUNT BRACKLEY BARON of ELLESMERE Lord Lieutenant of the Counteys of BUCKINGHAM and HERTFORD And one of His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council My Lord WHEN I was first desired to make this Sermon publick I was sensible that it wanted and yet was afraid to entitle it to so great a Patronage but the Knowledge and happy Experience I have of your noble and generous Temper together with the many and great Obligations I lie under from your Lordship do not only encourage but oblige me to take all Opportunities of testifying the Sence I have of your Favors and my Gratitude to the World so that I have this to plead in excuse of my Presumption that even Duty and Justice required this Dedication For you have a Right and Title to all the Results of my Studies of this Nature provided they were worthy of your Acceptance seeing it was your Lordships Favor to which I at first ow'd these quiet and happy Opportunities of a Studious Retirement And that which further adds to my Obligations is this that the Remoteness of the Place doth not put me beyond the Reach of that Continued Kindness whose Influence like that of Heaven challenges a kind of an Ubiquity Upon these Accounts my Lord I presume to prefix so great a Name before so mean a Piece Mean I call it not in Respect of the Subject Matter but as to the manner of my handling it The Subject is great and worthy containing the Reasons both of our Religion and Loyalty and whatever Defects I may be otherwise guilty of in treating of them I shall yet make this abundant Compensation to the World in propounding so great an Example of both as your Lordship is to its Imitation The Jews required a Sign and the Greeks looked after Wisdom Those Signs indeed are now ceas'd nor is this an Age of Miracles yet thanks be to God we can yet justly boast of such moral Miracles if I may so speak of Religion and Learning as your Lordship may be justly counted My Lord I shall only add my Prayers to God that the King and Kingdom that both Church and State may be long happy in your able and faithful Councils that Religion and Learning may long enjoy so great a Patron and Allegiance and Loyalty may be long encouraged and promoted by such a great and eminent Example and remain My Lord Your Lordships most dutiful and faithful Servant Ja. Lowde 1 COR. 1. 23 24. But we Preach Christ Crucified to the Jews a stumbling Block and to the Greeks Foolishness but to them that are called both Jews and Greeks Christ the Power of God and the Wisdome of God THere is nothing that affords us more Pious and more Profitable matter of Meditation then the Consideration of the Way and Method by which God first designed and in due time effected mans Salvation For hereby we come to the most excellent and most useful piece of Knowledge that we are capable of that is to the Knowledge of God and of our selves this Method when duly considered and rightly understood being not only the Illustration of all the Divine Attributes of Wisdome Justice Power and Goodness but hereby also we see the shortness of our own meer humane Apprehensions when we consider by what weak and improbable means at least in Mens esteem such God has effected the greatest things that ever Heaven designed or Earth bore Witness to thus giving an undeniable Argument of the Truth and Divinity of that Religion he then instituted But this admirable contrivance of Almighty God met not with an answerable Reception in the World for both Jews and Gentiles either out of weakness or wilfulness either out of ignorance or perverseness were offended at it these two sorts of Men tho' differing much among themselves yet both agreed against Christ and his Religion and thought it a very improbable thing to reconcile the World to the Cross of Christ and indeed a very unreasonable thing to perswade Men to Worship a crucified Saviour As for the Jews they were prepossessed with Apprehensions concerning the Eternity of their Law and the Splendor of their expected Messias so that nothing that was outwardly mean and humble did agree with that pompous Scene of things which they had fancied They expected a great Prince for their Messias who should indeed cause an alteration in the Government but none in their Religion For that they look'd upon as Eternal and never to undergo the least shadow of change And therefore for the Jews who were thus accustomed at least in their own thoughts to Pomp and Ceremony for them who look'd upon themselves as the Children of Abraham and so Heirs of all the Glorious Promises made to them in Scripture for them to embrace an humble persecuted and at last crucifi'd Saviour this they thought inconsistent with their Religion as Jews and with their Reason as Men. And Christ as he was to the Jews a stumbling Block so was he to the Greeks that is as they thought themselves the learneder part of the Gentile World Foolishness Now the Greeks were offended at the plainness and simplicity of the Gospel they looked upon it as an Ignorant and unlearned Institution they expected to have found it full of Philosophy or some kind of nice and curious Learning which was in request and esteem among them and being disappointed heroin they began to entertain low and mean thoughts concerning it as not worthy to enter into their Scholes and upon this account was the Gospel to the Greeks Foolishness These were the two Grand Imputations under which the Gospel then lay both from Jews and Gentiles to both which the Text is a direct Answere that what ever mean thoughts the Jews might entertain concerning the Crucified Jesus and what ever unworthy apprehensions the Greeks might have of his Doctrine yet upon a due Consideration of things to those that are called that is to those that become Christians for that is the plain and proper and usual sence of Calling in Scripture to those who Judge by better Principles and surer Rules it is the Power of God in Opposition to the Jews and the Wisdome of God in Opposition to the Gentiles These two Scandals here cast upon Christ and his Religion together with the respective Answers which the Apostle here gives to them are the general parts of the Text and shall be the Subject of my present discourse First in Answer to the Jews I shall do these two things 1. I shall shew what little reason the Jews