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ID Title Author Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) STC Words Pages
B09956 Several sermons: some preached in England, and some in the island of Barbadoes in America upon several occasions. / By Robert Scamler ... Scamler, Robert, b. 1653 or 4. 1685 (1685) Wing S807C; ESTC R223226 52,095 91

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on my part who dare offend who can oppose me For were we so Wise and Valiant as not to afright our selves with our own shadows we shou'd find by the Encouragements of Gods Spirit that he who is with us is mightier than they who are against us Michael and his Angels are not only more Powerful and numerous than the old Dragon and his supposed Strengths but also more loving and careful to do us good Did we not therefore look through the discoloured Mediums of our own polluted Nature Was not the Eye of our Souls tinctured by the suffusions of Lust we should soon find our Strengths greater then we imagine For did we seriously weigh things in their proper ballance we might observe an Heroick Vigour in all Goodness and an Imbecility in Evil only Furthermore if by the assistance of Grace I can't prove my self more than Conqueror over Temptations why should I rejoyce when I fall into a variety and abundance of them Or can I imagine that God who remembers I am but Dust and knows whereof I am made who is better acquainted with my Form and Figure than I my self am wou'd he impose any thing upon me but what he knows is absolutely in my Power to perform Now you may observe both God and his Church bind every Christian at his first Admission into Covenant by the most Solemn Tye to resist Temptations The Substance of which Oath in Baptism is I. N. or M. do here in the presenee of God the Father our Lord Jesus Christ and all the Heavenly Host devote my self to the Services of my God I call Heaven and Earth Angels and Saints the Church Militant and Triumphant to bear witness that I renounce the World Flesh and the Devil and that I will resist their Temptations unto my last breath This I avow to be my Resolution and upon this account and this only I now desire to enter into Covenant with my God and be Initiated and Admitted a Member of his Church and I call my Conscience to Record this day that I will never repent of this Promise nor revoke it but continue Christs Faithful Souldier and Servant unto my Lives end So help me O my God Amen Now this being the form of our Oath in Baptism which we renew at our Confirmation and repeat every time we Communicate at the Lords Table we can certainly conclude it is to be performed for can we fancy to our selves God and his Church would urge us to Impossibilities and engage us to what cannot be effected No certainly for if men be perswaded the Sins they commit are irresistable why do they Sorrow and Repent for what is past Why do they contradict themselves and put a mock upon Heaven by promising Amendment for the future Instead of Confessing why do they not rather Expostulate with God and say 'T is true O Lord I have done many things amiss as I have been Informed by the Parson who calls himself thy Minister and trouble the World by thy Authority which if they be offensive I protest O my God I could not help them I had not Power to resist them If therefore thou wouldst have me for the future perform thy express Words and Commandments and practice those Duties our Preachers inculcate thou must asist me with a greater stock of Grace than hitherto thou hast furnished me withall Now can I presume any so horribly Profane so ridiculously Wicked to Pray after this method and utterly confound those two absolutely necessary parts of Repentance Confession and Contrition If it be thus I dare boldly affirm it the greatest Sins we are tempted to commit are no Sins at all But indeed God will be justified in his sayings and found clear when he is judged for there is no thinking circumspect man if he applyes the Grace of God can be over matched by any Tryal or meet a Temptation that is irresistable For if I can conquer Sin in the Mountains and Strong holds I need not doubt but to baffle him in the Plains and Valleys if I can overcome those great and Gigantick Sins of Idolatry Adultery Fellony Treason and the like why may I not escape those of a lesser magnitude such as Pamphleting the Government and Libelling Authority such as Lying and Slandering Cheating and Cousening Back biting and Speaking evil one of another Shall a Pigmye subdue the Crane or a Dwarfe prove Conquerour of a Gyant Can I go upon the Lyon and the Adder and shall a Frog or a Worm ●lisorder me Did not Christ come to redeem to himself a Church and to present it without Spot or Blemish before the Throne of Grace Now how can We be of this number and not under that qualification Void of Offence towards God and towards Man Thirdly Some may enquire how far we must proceed in Righteousness that we may get a Conquest and Mastery over our Nature and be free from those Imbecilities in saying What I hate that do I. To which I answer There is no set or determinate degree of Endeavour but even as much as we can or are able There is no size or Standard the Excess of which would appear Monstruous But Religion is like unto the flawless Diamond where bigness taxes the value and the unusual bulke both rates and Enhances the Lustre and the Price To give God all that I can is the great command both of the Law and of the Gospel For so noble is the nature of Religion that it admits of failings but by one of the Extremes that of Defect Mediocrity which in other Passions is an Excellency is here an Imperfection It being therefore impossible for us to be too Loyal and Obedient too Religious and Dutyful we must make it the business of our Lives the Care of our Thoughts our only Concern and greatest Imployment in the World To be Holy as God is Holy abstaining from all things whatever that can impede or hinder the promotion and growth of an Holy Life for what is our chiefest righteousness better then Menstruous Raggs if the Lord was extreme to mark what we have done amiss After our very Innocency which otherwise wou'd appear stain'd may through the merits of Christ prove acceptable unto God whatsoever thou findest in thy Heart to do perform it with all thy might and vigour He that will live according to the exact Rules of Christianity must bend his Nerves and Sinews do his utmost towards the demolishing all the Strong-holds of Satan For we can never be clean and free from all Sin until we have done our best and utmost towards the Mortification of it for until that be done how can we be satisfied where the blame and fault resteth or whether it can be effected or not If any man can profess that Purity of Life and strictness of Conversation as to assert that he hath endeavoured to husband and employ his Talent of Grace to the most proper and best advantage that he hath Endur'd as much as is possible