Selected quad for the lemma: religion_n
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A49584
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Of earnestly contending for the faith a sermon preached at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, before the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor and aldermen of the city of London, on Sunday, Sept. the 22th, there being that day an ordination by the Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of London / by James Lardner.
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Lardner, James, b. 1670.
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1700
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Wing L436; ESTC R13861
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12,315
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30
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those Times when to embrace the Doctrine of our Lord and to follow him was the sure and ready way to take up the Cross in a literal Sense when he that would live the Life of a Christian must expect to die the same Death with his Master These things are sufficiently known and evident to any Man who hath but look'd into the History of the Church It is very true will some Men be apt to say There is no doubt to be made but the first Planters and Publishers of the Gospel met with very great Opposition and both they and their Followers in the first Ages of the Church were very severely and cruelly handled and their adhering to the Christian Religion did hourly expose them to the hazard of their Lives But what then We are now quiet and at ease and the Exhortation which the Apostle gives in the Text to contend earnestly for the Faith hath no place at all amongst us the Christian Faith say they is now not only generally receiv'd and the Gospel quietly enjoy'd but Kings themselves are become the Nursing Fathers of the Church and Queens its Nursing Mothers That Vine which God 's own right Hand hath planted hath now taken Root and filled the Land and every one hath the Liberty and the blessed Opportunities of setting under its Shadow with great delight Is it so then If the Amalekites with all that belong'd to 'em be utterly destroy'd what means the bleating of the Sheep and the lowing of the Oxen which we hear If the Christian Profession be so quietly and securely settled if that Faith which was once delivered to the Saints be so generally received and embraced that the Professors of it have no occasion to strive and contend for it what mean all our Sects and Divisions What means that open that barefac'd opposition which is daily made What should be the reason that instead of believing and without Controversie assenting to the great Mysteries of Godliness we meet with Men now adays who can in one breath reject all the Mysteries of the Gospel And these Men whose Unstandings are not look'd upon as of a low inconsiderable Size but such as pretend to the most extraordinary Parts the most refined and subtle Wits such as if it be true that the Gnosticks those Hereticks who in the first Ages of Christianity infested the Church of God had their Name given 'em from their pretensions to great and extraordinary Knowledge may come under the same denomination with them If Christianity be setled upon so sure a Foundation how comes it to pass that these Men should not blush at what they do especially if it be consider'd that our most holy Faith being guarded and protected by the Circumvallation of humane Laws those Men who in a Christian Country dare openly write against and oppose the Christian Religion are guilty of an instance of the highest Impudence to aggravate their Crime and come into the number of those whom our Apostle here speaks of who despise Dominion and speak evil of Dignities If the Faith of Christ if his Gospel be so generally so universally receiv'd amongst us what mean all these late pretensions to new Light and immediate Inspiration What do they mean who go about to perswade the World That all those Expressions of Scripture which relate to the Incarnation the Birth the Death and Resurrection of the Blessed Jesus are to be understood in a metaphorical and figurative Sense Who instead of modestly and devoutly receiving the holy Scriptures as the only Rule both of their Faith and Practice shall impiously nay blasphemously call it a dead Letter by this means overthrowing the Authority of the whole written Word of God perverting one of the great designs of our Saviour's coming into the World and overturning the whole business of his Prophetick Office For to what purpose should the Son of God take upon him our Nature and come into the World to be our great Lawgiver when he might through all succeeding Ages have instructed his People by the Voice of the Spirit within 'em I say to what purpose should he do this if he did not design that the Gospel should be a standing perpetual Rule to his Followers if he did not intend that when this substance of the Faith was once delivered to the Saints the Saints should not only thankfully embrace it but most earnestly contend for it If the Gospel be received and its Doctrines so generally embrac'd what mean all these Fruits of Unrighteousness of which every day produces so plentiful an Harvest Whence comes that Atheism and Infidelity which hath overspread so great a part of this Nation Why are our Ears so ungratefully filled with Swearing and Cursing Why is the sacred the tremendous Name of God blasphemed why are his Sabbaths unhallow'd why are the Festivals of the Church slighted and disregarded and the most solemn Ordinances neglected and contemn'd even by those very Men who at the same time call themselves by the name of Christ Have we no Enemies to encounter Is the Faith so securely setled that we have no occasion to contend for it Most assuredly when our Adversaries appear so open and barefaced on the one hand and those who call themselves our Friends but falsly so called on the other hand shall by their wicked Lives their horrid and impious Practises give occasion to the Enemies of the Lord to blaspheme I say whilst Matters stand thus we have the highest reason to be upon our Guard to be always in a readiness and a posture of defence and whilst we fight in our Master's cause 1 Cor 16.13 to quit our selves like Men. Proceed we now in the Second place to enquire how and after what manner we are to deal with these Adversaries and what sort of Weapons we are to make use of whilst we endeavour earnestly to contend for the Faith And here be pleased in the first place to give me leave to look back a little upon the first Ages of the Church those dismal Times of Heat and Persecution and see how the Professours of Christianity then contended for though blessed be our most merciful and indulgent God we do at present enjoy a great measure of Peace and Tranquillity though our Church Doors are now always open and the pious Votary hath a ready admission to the Throne of Grace yet who knows what severe Judgments and Calamities our many crying Sins may provoke the just Governour of the World to bring upon us and should we ever be in their Condition we are to follow their Example and contend for the Faith as they did look back upon the first Martyrs and Confessours and in perilous Times you shall find them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 earnestly striving and contending for the Faith in the utmost stretch of the words resolved to hold it fast and keep it inviolable even to the end 'T is very plain that the Apostle here as likewise St. Paul in several of his Epistles
Levett Mayor Jovis tertio die Octobr. 1700. annoque Regni Willielmi Tertii Angl. c. duodecimo THIS Court doth desire Mr. Lardner to Print his Sermon preach'd at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul on Sunday the Two and twentieth Day of September last before the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of this City Ashhurst Of earnestly contending for the Faith A SERMON Preached at the Cathedral Church of St. PAUL BEFORE The Right Honourable the LORD MAYOR AND ALDERMEN OF THE CITY of LONDON On Sunday Sept. the 22th THERE Being that Day an Ordination By the Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of LONDON By JAMES LARDNER M. A LONDON Printed for B. Aylmer at the Three Pigeons in Cornhill 1700. To the Right Honourable Sir RICHARD LEVETT Kt. LORD MAYOR TO THE COURT of ALDERMEN And the Right Worshipful Sr CHARLES DUNCOMB AND Sr JEFFREY JEFFREYS LATE SHERIFFS OF THE CITY of LONDON Right Honourable and Worshipful WHAT open Defiance hath of late been given to all the Sacred Mysteries of the Gospel what barefaced Opposition hath been made to the Christian Faith is well known and is sadly Lamented by every serious and considerate Man The labouring Press doth almost every day produce some sly Pamphlet or other the design of which is to Undermine our most Holy Religion and Ridicule and Scoff at all the Professors of it Nor do these things steal secretly into our Hands or by their Privacy betray an inward Shame in the Author but every Page doth publickly declare that the Publisher of it is a profess'd Enemy to the Faith of Christ. The Opposition is made with so much Courage and Boldness that a meer Stranger would hardly believe Christianity to be the Religion of our Country or that the Gospel had the Protection of the Law to guard it The design therefore of the following Discourse is to point out and discover some of these Adversaries and by showing how dangerous they are to raise our Spirits and call up that Courage which so well becomes those who ought to be the Assertors of it and whose Duty it is to contend earnestly for the Faith That God would please to assist and protect those who stand up vigorously in Defence of our most Holy Religion and at last bring us all to an Unity in the Faith is the hearty Prayer of Right Honourable and Worshipful Your most Obedient and Most Humble Servant James Lardner Epist of St. Jude Ver. 3. latter part And exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the Faith which was once delivered to the Saints THAT ye should earnestly contend for the Faith Can then that Gospel which was once deliver'd by the Prince of Peace meet with any so hardy and obstinate as to gainsay and oppose it That Gospel the very design of which is to promote an universal Love and Charity to join us all as it were into one common Houshold one Family That Gospel which teaches me to look upon every Man as my Neighbour my Friend and my Brother that obliges me to allow every Man a share in my Heart and admit him as Partner in my Love and Affections That Gospel which is so well fitted for the Advancement of every Man 's true Interest and Advantage and which gives us a blessed Assurance in consequence of our Obedience of an immortal Crown of Glory hereafter Can any one be so obstinately so wilfully blind as not to see those things which make for his eternal Peace and not upon first sight close in with and embrace ' em 'T is strange that the effect of the Son of God's coming into the World should be St. Mat. 10.34 not to send Peace but a Sword that the most tender and obliging offers that even infinite Mercy did ever make should prove the occasion of Strife and Contention and set one Man at variance against another Yet this is our case and every one who is admitted within the Pale of the Christian Church engages himself in a continual Warfare he enters and lists himself into the Service of him who is described to us under the Character of the Captain of our Salvation the Head of the Church that Army of the living God he obliges himself to wrestle not only against Flesh and Blood Eph. 6.12 but against Principalities and Powers against the Rulers of the Darkness of this World against spiritual Wickednesses in high Places and his Adversaries have so many ways to beset him that he must be continually upon his Guard and to secure his Innocence take to him the whole Armour of God 13. that he may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand The Christian Profession is represented to us as a State of Warfare and a manly Courage Resolution and Constancy are qualifications which are necessary for every Professor to carry constantly about him we are not in the least allow'd to be Careless Negligent and Supine but are to sight the good sight to endure hardships to be strong in the Lord and earnestly to contend for that Faith which was once delivered to the Saints Which was once delivered to the Saints for there is no other Gospel now to be expected no other Rule by which we are to square our Actions we are not to look for any strange new Light nor for any other Methods of Salvation 'T is true Heb. 10.1 the Law was indeed a shadow of good things to come but now since the Substance of the Faith hath been once fully revealed to us by that Gospel which hath brought Life and Immortality to light we are modestly and humbly to embrace it and take it as the only Rule both of our Faith and Practise and though we Gal. 1.8 or an Angel from Heaven preach any other Gospel to you than that which we have preached unto you let him be accursed It would I presume be altogether needless to go about to prove that by that Faith in the Text which we are exhorted thus earnestly to contend for is to be understood the Christian Religion in general viz. all those Doctrines and Precepts as well as Articles of Belief contain'd in that Gospel which hath no less than the Son of God for its Author for so is the word used Acts 6.7 1 Tim. 4.1 and in several other places The Faith of a Christian is the Religion of a Christian and to believe in Jesus is to become his Disciple and a Follower of his Doctrines and I doubt not but that seeming difference between St. Paul and St. James when one speaks of Justification by Faith alone and the other asserts good Works to be necessary in order thereunto may very easily be adjusted by a serious application of Mind and by considering the drift and design of each Apostle in his several Epistle So that all those Controversies which have for a long time employ'd the Pens of several I hope well-meaning Men may be easily reconciled and made up for a truly pious