Selected quad for the lemma: scripture_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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Wing L436; ESTC R13861
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12,315
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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