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A50559
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A sermon concerning zeal for religion consistent with moderation preached at Edenburgh on Sunday the 27th of April, 1690, before the Lord High Commissioner and the Estates of Parliament of Scotland / by Mr. George Meldrum ...
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Meldrum, George, 1635?-1709.
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1690
(1690)
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Wing M1637; ESTC R9041
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14,624
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20
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am afraid that Contention destroy the Common-wealth but if he will not let him leave the Country and Government and Hermias accepts the Condition and acknowledgeth that Certinas was the more Warlike and sit for the Government and so removed himself and his Family The other instance is of Timesias Clazomenius an excellent man yet because he did inhance all the Government he contracted the Envy and Hatred of the People of which he was ignorant till one day as he passed by some Children who had catched a Bird in a Gin and one of them bruising the Birds Head crushed its Brains the rest said to him we wish thou had so bruised the Head of Timesias the Children not knowing that Timesias was hearing them but he hearing them began to consider in himself whence the hatred of the People had arisen which was now in the mouths of Children and finding that his Government was unpleasing to them immediatly he packs up all and resolves to leave the City and Country This saies Plutarch is a saying worthy of a noble Mind Amo liberos sed Patriam magis amo I say if we mind not Publick Good Heathens will rise up against us and Condemn us Ye may now ask How shall we attain to this frame of Spirit And secondly What shall we do for the Publick Good 1st What shall I do to attain this publick frame of Spirit that I may be of a temper to prefer Jerusalem to my chief joy First I beseech you Sirs meditate seriously on the Motives I layed before you at this time until you get suitable Affections and Resolutions raised in your Hearts Consideration is a chief Mean to this Secondly Pray much to God for this Frame he is the Giver of all good Gifts he giveth liberally and upbraideth not Ja. 1. v. 5 17. Thirdly Labour for more love to God and love to your Neighbours if there were more Catholick Charity more sincere Love to God above all and more Charity to our Neighbours it would make us to seek more the Publick Good than our own Fourthly Eye the Example of the Lord Jesus and his Saints and Servants Heb. 12.1 2. Mind these things seriously and seek of God that he would work them in you Next you may ask What shall we do for the Publick Good there are some things that even the meanest in their most private Capacity may do for the Publick Good other things more incumbent to the Honourable Members of the High Court of Parliament that they may do for the publick Good First Some things the meanest in their most private Capacity may do for the publick Good The meanest of all may 1. Pray for the Publick this is our Duty Psal 122.6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem peace be within thy walls and prosperity within thy palaces pray for this this is it that all may do and all ought to do Isa 62.6 7. Ye that make mention of the Lord and are the Lord's remembrancers give him no rest keep no silence till be make Jerusalem a praise on the earth It s God only that shakes Kingdoms and Churches and God only can establish Kingdoms and Churches and he cannot only Stablish but make them a Praise again upon the Earth O seek him that he would settle Church and State again and seek it importunately the thing is weighty and the time dangerous and give him no rest he loves a holy Impudence and Importunity in this Luke 11.8 2. I recommend to you Labour to be at Peace with God or else your Prayers will come no speed Job 22.21 Acquaint thy self with God and be at Peace and so shall good come unto thee O! Peace with God quiets all Tranquillus Dei tranquillat omnia Job 34.29 If he give quietness who then can make trouble O therefore make Peace with God! This all of us should endeavour after 3. I recommend to you for the publick Good Turn away every one of you from that which may obstruct the publick Good every one of you adds Fuel to the Fire to the common Fire Remember to turn from your Provocations Your Iniquities separate between you and your God your sins hides his face from you Isai 59.2 Your Iniquities turns away good things from you Jer. 5.25 Therefore turn every one of you from the evil of your way away with Pride and Vanity away with Unrighteousness and Ungodliness away with Filthiness and Drunkenness with Injustice and Oppression and so Iniquity shall not be your ruine 4. I beseech these in the most private Capacity Labour what ye can to get these things that contribute for the Establishing and Settlement of Church and State And what is that even Righteousness and Holiness Prov. 14.34 Righteousness exalteth a Nation but Sin is a reproach to any people Holiness Mercy and Truth Righteousness and Meekness Love Charity and Justice Isai 33.6 Wisdom and strength is the stability of thy times and these are the things that tends to publick Good and therefore seek after them and above all these things put on Charity which is the Bond of Perfectness Col. 3.14 Follow Peace and love all men especially these of the Houshold of Faith Now these things Persons in the meanest Capacity may do And I would humbly offer in the next place some Things to the Honourable Members of the High Court of Parliament as more especially incumbent to them in such a Case as this And if any should ask Who are you that should give Advice to so high and honourable a Court I humbly acknowledge my own meanness and unfitness for this Work and would gladly have declined it if I could but whatever my meanness be I am a Servant of a great Master before whom the greatest on Earth are but as Grashoppers and if I have Warrand from him to speak I must not forbear for fear of you least he confound me before you but I hope I shall deliver nothing but what is agreeable to his Word and with all due Humility And first I recommend to you to be at Peace among your selves and study to unite in sincere Aims and Endeavours for the publick Good of Church and State This is the great thing needful in this matter It is storied of Themistocles and Aristides the Athenians when sent upon a publick Work they agreed well notwithstanding of any private Animosity that was betwixt them Come says Aristides let us lay aside our Differences and leave them upon the Borders of the Athenians tho' we should be necessitat to take them up again when the Work is done O lay aside Disserences and remember our Saviour's word Matth. 12.25 Every Kingdom divided against it self shall be brought to Desolation this is your Adversaries great Strength therefore take heed of this I think Protestants when Difference grows should be jealous least the Church of Rome have a Hand in this Matter for Divide Impera is her Maxime But surely to unite in Common Good is the great Duty of all The
on heaps See it also in Jer. chap 9. at the beginning O that my head were waters and my eyes a fountain of tears that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people And what a height of this frame was in the holy Apostle Paul Rom. 9.1 I could even be content to be accursed from Christ for my kinsmen according to the flesh Time would fail me to tell you of Joshua Uriah and David and of Daniel of Mordecai and Esther and others of the Saints in former times but if we would search the Scriptures every-where we will find that the condition of Religion of the Church of God and their Country lay nearer the Saints hearts than their own particular Their hearts trembled when it was in danger when it is reproached it is a burden to them If it be in distress they mourn they mourn for Zion and Jerusalem Isai 66.10 Rejoyce for Jerusalem all ye that mourn for her 1 Sam. 4.13 Eli's heart trembled for the Ark of God Zephan 3.18 The reproach of her was a burden And when in distress how fervent in Prayer are they Psalm 14.7 O that the salvation of God were come out of Zion when the Lord bringeth back the Captivity of his People Jacob shall rejoyce and Israel shall be glad And Psal 51. ver 18. Do good in thy good pleasure to Zion and build up the walls of Jerusalem Psal 25.22 Redeem Israel O God out of all his troubles And how restless are they in this Isai 62.1 6 7. They will give him no rest till he establish Jerusalem and make it a praise in the Earth So you see the truth of the Doctrine and there is good reason for it First The Honour of God is concerned in it more than any particular and this is the great thing lyes near every good man's heart God's honour What wilt thou do to thy great Name How are they troubled in their hearts when the Name of God is reproached Secondly Every particular person is but a Member of the Society of Church and State and the part is for the whole and what is for the good of the Society their good is wrapt up in it they should mind the good of the whole more than their own private concern hence the Spirit resembles the Church to a Body Rom. 12. and 1 Cor. ch 12. Eph 4. shewing If one Member suffer all the rest suffer with it so that all is for the Bodies good and all Gifts are given for the advancing and edifying of the Body we live not to our selves neither dye we to our selves but for God and serving him in the publick Good this much for the proof of the Doctrine For Application I might first Take occasion to lament how little of this publick Spirit is to be seen among us Ah! ah there is matter to renew that old Complaint All seek their own things but few the things of Christ Phil. 2.21 Which is contrair to that Precept 1 Cor. 10.14 Seek not every one their own things but every one the things of another Alas too many like that old fat Monk of whom it is storied that stroaking down his Breast and his Belly said Modo hic sit bene providing it be well with himself cared little how the World went about him so many care little how it go with Church or State if it go well with their own particular O! but this argues a sordid frame of heart that if it go well with themselves and they prosper they care little how it goes with others about them Alas what a shameful sin is this and a cause of much sin and wo and a sin that seminally and casually contains most of other sins let us be humbled for it and afterward beware of this and that shall be the 2. Use of Exhortation and here I would with all possible seriousness commend two things to you 1. Beware of a narrow selfish Disposition 2. I commend unto you to labour for a Publick frame of Spirit that like these in the Text ye may prefer Jerusalem above your chief Joy 1. Then beware of a selfish Disposition that Self be neither your Principle nor End I the rather urge this with Earnestness because first I see this a very common Sin and yet a Sin we are hardly convinced of First Selfishness is the most common sin in the World look either to Church or State to Magistrats or Ministers to High or to Low ye may discover much of the prevalent influence of Selfishness This is matter of Lamentation yea I think it is a sad truth that every Man and Woman among us now since the Fall is born with a selfish inclination and are not easily convinced of the sinfulness of it Because God hath made Man with a natural love to self and made it as a fundamental Principle and Law of Nature therefore it is hard to make us sensible when this Love gets out of due subordination to the Love of God and out of that due correlation to that Love we ought to have to our Neighbour as ourselves This makes us we are not easily convinced of it and so hardly recovered from it Some are so intent on Gain and enlarging their Estates without regard to Justice or Charity as if their desire were that they may place themselves alone on the Earth Isa 5.8 Others so intent on their Honour and Rising in the World that they care not though they rise by the Blood and Ruine of them that stand in their way yea such is the Deceit of mens hearts in this matter men may pretend the publick Good when Self is at the bottom of all Some will pretend they are for Peace Order and Publick Good when it is that they and theirs may possess the fat Benefices of the Church or State Sometimes Men may pretend to the Reforming of Abuses rectifying or preventing Disorders when Envy and Discontent the casting down others and raising up themselves acteth them yea the Honour of God may be pretended when the exalting ourselves and our own Party is designed Yea Ministers if they watch not may be led to pray for self and preach for self This then being so common a sin how much need is there to stir up all of you to watch against a selfish disposition Secondly I would the rather call to this because as it is a common so it is a great and grievous sin a Mother sin I may say a selfish Disposition is much of the cause of all the sin in the world it is directly opposite to the love of God above all and to the love of our Neighbour as our selves which is the sum of the Law A man that is selfish can with no sincerity pray Thy Will be done thy Kingdom come for he exalts his own Interest more than Gods and his own Will above and against Gods And this is the cause of much iniquity in the world and this being so great a sin