as the Grand Empory of the World the Common Mart of both Indies and the Wonder and Astonishment of all Nations the two former Characters Jerusalem of old being in a great measure short of tho' of the latter it was not as being great amongst the Nations and Princess amongst the Provinces * Lam. 1. 1. When we consider this Metropolis of ours professing the best Religion in the World as worshipping God after the purest manner governed by the best Laws and headed by another David when we view the Houses of God on the one Hand and the Courts of Humane Judicature on the other our stately Buildings and our happy Scituation far beyond that of Jerusalem of Old well may it become not the Subordinate only but even the Chief Magistrate of the Nation to command us all to pray for the Peace of this Metropolis as well as it became King David to exhort his People to pray for the Peace of Jerusalem II. And this Directs to the Second Enquiry and that is Whom of us does it belong to to pray for the Peace of Jerusalem 1. To be sure the Ministers of God's Word are to do it in the first place They are set apart for that purpose and the Wisdom of the Nation has appointed them their Maintenance that they may do it with the less distraction and greater chearfulness They are the Mouths of the People to God and their constant Business is in the Prophet Joel's phrase to stand betwixt the Porch and the Altar and cry out Spare thy People Good Lord Spare them and give not thy Heritage to Confusion Joel 2. 17. Therefore have all Ages and all Nations look'd upon them as the most venerable so the most useful Body of Men as being the chief Instruments under God to keep up a fense of Religion in the Minds of the People without which neither Cities nor Kingdoms wou'd long subsist either in Being or Well-being A Truth which their very Adversaries the Atheists themselves do tacitly acknowledge when they Brand Religion with the Title of Priest-craft and call it no other than Court-Policy a State-Engine to awe Mankind into Obedience For what is this but to proclaim to the World there is this good at least deriv'd from Religion that it keeps Societies from rushing into Confusion and that therefore it behoves such Bodies of Men to continue the Preachers of it as Part of them as being the fittest Persons to instil and inculcate the Principles of good Government into them If then there was no such thing as God and an After-World mere Reason of State wou'd yet induce the Governours to do this And when the Ministers of God's Word are thus convinc'd and likewise see clearly into the other World how must they cry out with the holy Apostle Wo unto us if we do not preach the Gospel * Cor. 9. and consequently conclude themselves more immediately concern'd to pray unto God with a Zeal that becomes their Function That he wou'd bless Jerusalem with Peace and continue it evermore 2. The next in order and such as it particularly behoves to joyn in Prayer for the Peace of our Jerusalem are the Magistrates and those that bear Office in this great Body They are the most eminent part of it and make the brightest Figure both for Wealth and Grandeur into their Hands the Happiness of the whole is in a manner devolved and as they smile or frown so the whole unites or weakens If we view them in their private Capacity they wou'd be in all likelyhood the greatest Winners or the greatest Losers If we view them in their Publick we shall find that as Honour and Conscience command them to discharge their Places worthily so the higher their Stations are the greater Glory or the greater Dishonour must pursue them As much Gods therefore as Magistrates are for so the Scripture graces them with that Reverend * Exod. 22 8. Thou shalt not revile the Gods i. â— Magistrates Title and no doubt but Persons of their Wisdom and Conduct will consider the importance of it As much Gods I say as Magistrates are they can't think it certainly below them to vail their Fasces to the God of Gods and Lord of Lords and beg of him who is God above all when they are but Men after all to bless them in their Stations to prosper the Society under their Government and make them a Blessing not a Curse to it to give Peace in their days and send Prosperity on Jerusalem They may imagine it their Province to consult for the Publick not to pray for it let them do that whose peculiar Business it is But with submission as much as it is the Ministers Duty to pray for the Publick Safety 't is theirs doubtless to joyn with them in it for if ever a time happens when Noah Job and Daniel shall deliver their own Souls only by their Righteousness †Ezek. 1 14 20. it must be then when Greatness is eclips'd by Infidelity and Men of Renown grow too big to stoop to the Almighty 3. The Men of Trade and Commerce are the Persons in the third place who are to pray for the Peace of our Jerusalem They are free Denisons of the City Members of it and reap mighty Advantages by being so As to their particular Interest that depends mostly on Fortune and whom shou'd they have recourse to but to the Almighty who commands the Winds and the Sea and they obey him but to God whose Providence superintends and governs the World that his Providence which is their Inheritance * Providenâ—a Divina â—aeredit as â—t mea â—h Gerâ—n might turn all things to their good and crown them with Success And as they stand in Relation to the Publick when they remember that it's Peace alone that 's the Parent of Riches without which the Society it self wou'd be but in a tottering Condition Men of their Employment who are as it were the Nursery of Magistrates must make it their Business to pray to the Almighty by whom Societies are kept in being that he wou'd bless our Jerusalem with Peace and Prosperity Indeed there is one thing that may cool their Fervour and that 's a Supposal Their being taken up so much in the World may excuse them from that abstracted Business of Prayer But do they really believe without Prayer to God they can have no right to nor hopes of the Blessings of Providence Do they imagine it possible likewise to engage in the World and not make shipwrack of a good Conscience Do they suppose it practicable also for the Merchant on the Change the Tradesman in the Shop and the Sailer in his Ship to serve the Lord If they are convinc'd of these great Truths this one thing to be sure they have to do the stronger they find this Temptation to work on them the more Fervent and Devout to be in Prayer whilst they are engaged at it 4. The labouring and lower
sort of People they are also to pray for the Peace of our Jerusalem And what a glorious sight wou'd that be to behold the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Multitude who have hitherto been so famous for Barbarity and Wickedness universally influenced with a Spirit of Religion and the Fear of God Some may be apt to fansie it better for such to fish in troubled Waters because they cannot be well lower than they are but as this is contrary both to Natural and Revealed Religion so let them try it when they will they will ever find more true Comfort and generally more Advantage in Times of Peace than they possibly can in Times of Publick Tumult and Disorder And tho' this were not so yet when they remember they have a God to serve and Souls to save and that they must needs be subject not only for Wrath but for Conscience sake * Rom. 13â— How must this fix them into a Peaceableness of Spirit and make them conclude if God be no respecter of Persons but equally gives Audience to the lowest of his Creatures as well as the highest provided their Devotions be alike circumstanced then they will pray for the Peace of Jerusalem that that may flourish and they live comfortably And thus I have shewn that all sorts and degrees of Men amongst us ought to pray for the Peace of Jerusalem that all the Inhabitants of this great Metropolis ought to pray for the Peace and Prosperity of it III. I come to the Third Enquiry How we must pray for the Peace of Jerusalem We must pray first with Sincere Hearts and then with United 1. With Sincere Hearts Our Prayers must flow from our very Souls entirely devoid of all Carnality and Hypocrisie No Strife Faction or Sedition must be entertain'd in our Hearts when we pray no halting betwixt God and Baal * Kings 18. 21. no serving God and Mammon †â—atth 6. 24. at the same time when we are solemnising God's Worship We must first look upon God as the Publick Parent and Benefactour of the World and then consider this Metropolis of ours as a Community of Men that can only be rewarded or punish'd in this World as it is a Community and the Inference will be with sincere and earnest Minds to address the Publick Parent of the World That he wou'd be pleased to continue to the Publick the Blessing of Peace This must be the Inference where such Considerations take place our Tongues and our Hearts will go together and God will hear us and Jerusalem shall prosper 2. And then in the next place we shall pray unto God as with Sincere so with United Hearts For wherever these Principles are imbibed That God is the Publick Benefactour of the World and that Societies as such can only be rewarded in this Life they must naturally prompt all that are concern'd to combine in their Prayers as one Man that God who is one God may be prevail'd on to give them his Blessing For united Prayer God loves when divided he disregards And whatever several ways of Worship Men may take to serve him in this case sure we may be allowed to be of one Heart when the Peace of our Jerusalem is become the important Petition And oh that we could all of us unite and combine as in this one thing so in the Publick Worship of God! that being the most likely way to engage God on our side when we are at Unity in his Service We are Brethren all and shall we fall out * Gen. 45. We are Christians and will we offer to tear and rend the seamless Coat of our blessed Master the very Infidel Souldiers shew'd a greater respect for they cast Lots for it whose it shou'd be †Matt. 27 which was better of the two sure And what Advances ought we to make for an Universal Union in Religion How ought we to yield to one another in the Spirit of Meekness and Love and do all that in us lyes that Jerusalem may be as the Subject of our Prayers so the Church the only Place to offer them up in And oh that Minister and People the Magistrate and Subject wou'd lay this to heart so as to reduce it if possible into Practice But this cannot be some will urge that being no more possible to establish one uniform way of Worship amongst us then it is to have all of us of the like Face or the like Stature But is this absolutely true when Christ and his Apostles do all along speak of one only Church whereof Christ Jesus is the Head However grant that it were so this shou'd only teach us to lay aside our Feuds and Animosities to Love as Brethren notwithstanding and if we can't do all that we wou'd to follow St Paul's Advice whereunto we have attained to mind the same thing Phil. 3. 16. We are of different Judgments and different Perswasions but that must be no Bottom for the Estrangement of our Affections one from another Whereunto we have attained we must mind the same thing and when the Publick Peace becomes equally the Interest of all Parties well may we all of us be allowed in this one thing at least to offer up our Prayers with united Hearts Let us see now the Motives to this purpose and they are as great as the Heart of Man can desire or imagine Personal Prosperity here and Personal Prosperity hereafter Oh Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem they shall prosper that do this Prosper 1. Here. The Ministers of God's Word shall live of the Gospel to the Joy of their own Souls without the Envy of their Neighbours the Magistrates shall Rule with Honour the Trader shall flourish with Wealth and the Labouring Soul subsist with Comfort and Content All the marks of Joy and Love of Honour and Wealth of Ease and Comfort shall appear on every Brow and in every Street and all this as the just Effect of their Sincere and United Devotions And is not all this Motive big enough to engage us to this end 2. But that in the second place is nothing in comparison to what The hereafter affords The Pious Minister the Consciencious Magistrate the Faithful Trader and the Diligent Servant shall find in the other World Joy without mixture Honour without Tarnish Wealth immarcessible and Comfort unspeakable such Joy such Honour such Wealth such Comfort as varies not like the things of the present Life but endures and encreases to all Eternity This is the Reward this the Happiness of such blessed Souls in that other and better World They prayed for the Peace of Jerusalem here and they enter the Jerusalem above there to Enjoy and Praise God for ever and ever But then before they arrive at that glorious State they must in this World Love as well as Pray Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem but if they would prosper they must Love Jerusalem also Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem they shall prosper that
breathe a freer Air and instead of a narrow and confined Spirit put on a Publick One lay aside their particular Humours and Devote themselves and their All to the Service of the Publick 'T is their Honour and their Duty both and they who are animated with such a Soul do shew indeed their Love to Jerusalem and they are the fittest Persons to pray for the Peace of it They endeavour its Prosperity to the utmost and who so fit to pray unto God as they that stick not upon a just occasion to lay down their Lives in the Cause of God and their Country Men of this Bravery are above all Men to stand in the Gap of the Nations Ruin and implore Heaven for the Publick Safety They know that God superintends and disposes of Cities and Kingdoms * Dan. 2. 21. that he rewards Societies in this Life only that whatever is done in a City he doth it himself †Amos 3. 6. that the Watchman waketh but in vain except the Lord keepeth the City ‖ Psal 127. 1. And therefore they make the Publick Welfare part of their Devotions both in Publick and Private Neither Morning nor Evening will they fail to beg the Blessing of God on themselves their Families and the Publick And they will promote all they can the Publick Worship of the Almighty that God may also hear them from his Holy Place But why all this Praying Men of loose Principles will object when things are as they were whether we pray or not To which I must crave leave to answer That things wou'd not be even as they are were it not for the Supplications of some devout Souls amongst us There 's indeed but little of Religion and less of the Life of it in Prayer and Practice but somewhat there is or else this Royal City had not stood till this Day This Reason assures us For wherefore does God dispense his National Blessings but for the sake of the whole who serve him or some part of the whole who sincerely beg them of him This Scripture imports also For the Hands of Moses lift up in the posture of Prayer were alone able under God to overthrow Amalek and preserve Israel †Exod 17. â—1 12. And this in fine Experience demonstrates For Nineveh tho' an Heathen City by their Prayers and Tears had the Power with God to Reverse the Sentence of their Ruin * Jon. 3. 10. And Jerusalem in the Text is now no more for want of that Piety and Devotion that flourish'd more or less till the Inhabitants had fill'd up the Measure of their Iniquities but when they came to transcribe Sodom and Gomorrha in their Practice the very City was destroy'd never to be built as before Tho' Julian himself attempts it in despite of Omnipotence Fire-balls from Heaven shall destroy the Workmen and overthrow that by Night which they built by Day ‖ â— Socr. l. 3. c. 20. â— 142. Amm. â—ar lib. 23. in â—â—itio Naz. Orat. 4. P. 111. St. Chrysost Orat. 3. Advers Jud. Tâ—m 1. P. 434 c. An Instructive as well as terrible Example to all other Cities especially to this great Metropolis that may well pass for another Jerusalem both for Grandeur and for Wickedness too What Divine Oratory must this inspire into the Hearts of God's Ministers and what Resolutions to become burning and shining Lamps in the midst of such a crooked and perverse Generation What Zeal for God's Worship must this beget in the Publick Magistrate and engage him also to employ his Authority and Example in the Suppressing of Vice and Encouragement of Religion And how must the People be affected when they consider that their Prophaneness and Immorality may involve both City and Country in one Universal Ruin and that it may be prevented by so easie a Remedy as their Devotion and their Piety This will make us all consider what we are a doing before our Peace be hid from our Eyes This must drive us to the House of Prayer and make us petition Heaven with Sincere and United Hearts This will make us live as we pray and so turn the Biass of our Affections towards the Publick Welfare as to prefer that before our own Private Interest and Postpone all our little Humours to the Publick Advantage We are Members of a Christian Community under the Engagements of Honour and Conscience and Interest too to promote its Felicity and Grandeur therefore do we pray for the Peace of Jerusalem and live as we pray and love its Prosperity as we do our own Therefore do we sing with the Royal Psalmist Peace be within thy Walls and Plenteousness within thy Palaces for my Brethren and Companions sake I will now say Peace be within thee Because of the House of the Lord our God I will seek to do thee Good And may this be the Song this the Endeavour of you all and then our Jerusalem shall flourish and ye will be happy THE END Books Printed for Tho. Parkhurst at the Bible and Three Crowns in Cheapside Books written by the Reverend Mr. John Howe OF Thoughtfulness for the Morrow With an Appendix concerning the immoderate Desire of fore-knowing things to come 2. The Redeemer's Tears wept over lost Souls in a Treatise on Luke 19. 41 42. With an Appendix wherein somewhat is occasionally discoursed concerning the Sin against the Holy Ghost and how God is said to Will the Salvation of them that perish 3. Of Charity in Reference to other Mens Sins 4. A Calm and Sober Enquiry concerning the Possibility of a Trinity in the Godhead In Three Letters to a Person of Worth 5. A Funeral Sermon for Mrs. Judith Hamond late Wife of Mr. George Hamond Minister of the Gospel 6. A Sermon direction what we are to do after a strict Enquiry Whether or no we truly love God 7. A Funeral Sermon for that Faithful and Laborious Servant of Christ Mr. Richard Fairclough who deceased July 4. 1682. in the Sixty first Year of his Age. 8. A Funeral Sermon for Mrs. Esther Sampson the late Wife of Henry Sampson Dr. of Physick who died Nov. 24. 1689. 9. The Carnality of Religious Contention In two Sermons preach'd at the Merchants Lecture in Broadstreet JEhovah our Righteousness or the Justification of Believers by the Righteousness of Christ only In several Sermons By Samuel Tomlins M. A. The Church Catechism enlarged and explained in an easie and familiar Method with the Scripture Proofs annexed thereunto Sermons and Discourses on several Divine Subjects By the late Reverend and Learned David Clarkson B. D. and some time Fellow of Clare-Hall Cambridge With an Epistle of Mr. John Howe and Mr. Mat. Mead. Fol. A Sermon on restoring of the Coin with reference to the State of the Nation and the Church therein By a Minister of the Church of England A Paraphrase on the New Testament fitted for the use of Families By Mr. Richard Baxter Octavo A New Creature Or a short Discourse opening the Nature Properties and Necessity of the Great Work of the New Creation upon the Souls of Men. Octavo The Confirming Work of Religion and its Great Things made plain by their primary Evidences and Demonstrations Whereby the meanest in the Church may soon be made able to render a Rational Account of their Faith
The Peace of Jerusalem A SERMON Preach'd before the RIGHT HONOURABLE THE Lord Mayor AND ALDERMEN OF THE City of LONDON At S Paul's Cathedral July 31. 1698. By R. WYKES Chaplain to the Right Honourable JOHN Lord Cartaret and Lecturer of St. Mildred Poultrey London LONDON Printed for Tho. Parkhurst at the Bible and Three Crowns at the lower End of Cheapside near Mercers-Chapel 1698. it was none of my Duty to dispute that so whom of right does it belong to but to your Lordship and your Brethren who were pleased to joyn their Commands with yours The Peace of Jerusalem is the important Subject and what way so proper to secure that and prevent the Nations Ruin as Prayer to the Almighty who alone can preserve us Vnion in his Worship the better to prevail with him and such a Spirit running thro' the whole Body Politick as actuates the Prayer and promotes the Vnion My Lord It is Matter of Joy to all good Men to find Persons of your Authority and Example entirely of these Sentiments 'T is a promising Presage of Good to the City and of Welfare to our Country when the Chief Rulers themselves do at once pray for the Peace of Jerusalem and without regard to any Party wish all may prosper that love it when they scorn to be so far misguided as to act the Business of a Faction or suffer any private Interests to mislead their Affections from the Common Good when in a word they wish for and endeavour an Vniversal Vnion in Religion and in the mean time act as if there were one For as this shews the Publick Spirit in all the parts of it so where this governs in the Magistrates even tho' the Nation be ripe for Vengeance yet for their sakes Heaven it self shall with-hold the Stroak and shower down Blessings on the Publick That our Destruction may be averted and Peace be still in our Jerusalem the Almighty continue a Succession of such Magistrates in that Chair which your Lordship so honourably fills This is the most Affectionate Prayer of My Lord Your Lordships most obliged and very humble Servant R. WYKES The Peace of Jerusalem PSALM cxxii 6. Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem they shall prosper that love thee SO amiable a thing is Peace and so much the delight of Mankind that whether we be considered as Sociable Creatures or as Christians it must be acknowledg'd our very first Wish and Desire and that which we may be allow'd to be very cordial and sincere in if in any thing 'T is the Gift of Heaven and the Joy and Preservation of the Earth Societies and Religion all owe their Being and Well-being to it for without Peace Societies would disband and fly asunder and where such a dis-union is farewel to * I mean to the Pâ—lick Proâ—sion of it a City Kingdom Religion The Question then here is not whether we must pray or whether we must pray for Peace or not but why we must pray for the Peace of Jerusalem And this will introduce two other Quaeries of equal importance Whom of us does it belong to to pray for the Peace of Jerusalem And then how it is we must pray for the Peace of Jerusalem All this seems imply'd in this Exhortation of the Royal Psalmist Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem The Motives to this purpose follow they shall prosper that do this I. Here in this World II. Hereafter in a better I. To begin with the first Quaery Why we are to pray for the Peace of Jerusalem This very Psalm gives us two Reasons upon this Account 1. Because in Jerusalem was the Temple of the God of Israel where not only the Inhabitants worship'd daily but all the Men of Israel from all parts of the Land were to assemble Thrice in the Year to worship the Lord for so we read Deut. 16. 16 17. Three times in the year shall all thy Males appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall chuse in the Feast of unleavened Bread in the Feast of Weeks and in the Feast of Tabernacles And they shall not appear before the Lord empty Every Man shall give as he is able according to the Blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath given thee Jerusalem is built as a City that is at Vnity in it self Verses 3 4. of this Psalm Whither the Tribes go up the Tribes of the Lord unto the Testimony of Israel to give thanks unto the Name of the Lord. Pray ye therefore for the Peace of Jerusalem 2. Because in Jerusalem was the Civil Judicature erected There the Archives of the Kingdom were deposited there the Rights of the People were resolved there their Liberties and Properties were maintained and thither they had recourse upon all Emergencies where their Monarch on his Throne with his Parliament about him enacted Laws for the Security of the whole and the several Courts of Judicature explain'd them to 'em for their good There are set Thrones of Judgment The Thrones of the House of David v. 5. Pray ye therefore for the Peace of Jerusalem These were the two Reasons why holy David so earnestly exhorted his People to pray for the Peace of that great Metropolis There God's Worship was kept up in its Primitive Purity there resided David himself a Man after God's own heart whom the People made their Court to and were preserv'd according to Law in all their Rights both Sacred and Civil This was Jerusalem where all Israel were obliged to Worship the Lord in his Beauty of Holiness and where alone they cou'd have redress for their Civil Grievances Well might a Place of this vast Importance be deem'd as a Subject worthy of their heartiest Prayers and most solemn Entreaties to Heaven Peace be within thy Walls and Plenteousness within thy Palaces For my Brethren and Companions sakes I will now say Peace be within thee Because of the House of the Lord our God I will seek thy good are holy David's own words Raptures all Elegancies which alone so Noble a Subject cou'd Inspire He first prays himself for the Peace of Jerusalem then Exhorts others to joyn with him and then as knowing without Endeavours Prayers avail not he closes the Scene with Resolutions worthy of him For my Brethren and Companions sake I will now say Peace be within thee Because of the House of the Lord our God I will seek to do thee good What a pleasing hint is here to change the Scene and imagine this of ours the Jerusalem in the Text. In all Points both of a Civil and Religious Nature it is the same nay far more excellent that being under Moses this under Christ One thing indeed alters it to appearance the Obligation to Worship at Jerusalem thrice in the Year for all the Men of the Land there being no such thing under the Gospel enjoyned here now But if this was an Excellency as it was only Typical and Peculiar so when we view this of ours