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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A51916	Sermons preach'd on several occasions by John March ..., the last of which was preach'd the twenty seventh of November, 1692, being the Sunday before he died ; with a preface by Dr. John Scot ; to which is added, A sermon preach'd at the assizes, in New-Castle upon Tine, in the reign of the late King James.	March, John, 1640-1692.; Scott, John, 1639-1695.	1699 (1699)	Wing M583; ESTC R18158	123,796	330

SERMONS Preach'd on several Occasions BY Iohn March B. D. Late VICAR of NEWCASTLE upon TINE The last of which was Preach'd the Twenty Seventh of November 1692. Being the Sunday before he Died. With a Preface by Dr. Iohn Scot. The Second Edition To which is added a Sermon Preach'd at the Assizes in New-Castle upon Tine in the Reign of the late King Iames. LONDON Printed for Robert Clavell at the Peacock in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1699. Imprimatur C. ALSTON R. P. D. Hen. Episc. Lond. à Sacris Julii 3. 1693. THE PREFACE THE Reverend Author of the following Sermons was a Person of that great Worth and Excellency that among those who knew him they need no other Recommendation than his own Name for besides that they carry in 'em a certain strain of serious and unaffected Piety and this imbellished with such Clearness and Perspicuity such strength and vigour of Expression such solidity of Argument and Discourse as must have rendered the perusal of them very pleasant and profitable to all well-disposed Readers though their Author had been Anonymous besides which I say the truly Pious and Learned Author of them was a Person of such great Accomplishments both Moral and Intellectual as would have justly given Credit with all that knew his Personal Excellencies to much meaner Performances than these The main Objection this degenerous Age had against him was that he was a faithful Son of the Church of England and a zealous Asserter of its Doctrine and Discipline and one would think for a Man to be true to his Profession to that which he hath ex animo subscribed his Iudgment and declared his unfeigned Assent and Consent it should be so far from being reputed a Fault in him by those who pretend either to common Honesty or Modesty that it should rather be esteemed his Glory and Excellency As for his Conversation it was in all respects so Sober and Regular so Pure and Uncorrupt as that though he had but little reason to apprehend himself concerned in that Denunciation Wo be to you when all Men speak well of you yet so far as I ever heard even those who spoke worst of him durst never bespatter him with an Immorality He was a very diligent Pastor of the Flock committed to his Charge and that not only in the course of his Publick Ministry from which without some necessary Occasion he very rarely absented himself but also in his private Converses For besides that every Lord's Day in the Evening he generally spent a considerable Portion of time in Instructing the Youth of his Parish from which Pious and Charitable Exercise he very rarely suffered himself to be diverted even by the Visits of his best and greatest Friends besides which I say his known Abilities in resolving Cases of Conscience drew after him a great many good People not only of his own Flock but from remoter Distances who resorted to him as to a common Oracle and commonly went away from him intirely satisfied in his Wise and Iudicious Resolutions and by these his excellent Qualities and Labours he hath not only purchased to himself a Crown of Glory in Heaven but also so indeared his Memory upon Earth to all that are Virtuous and Good that like the Leaves of Roses still retain their Fragrancy though the Rose it self is withered and dead and that being dead he may yet speak to his surviving Auditors and that the Memory of his good Example and Doctrin may ever flourish among them it is the earnest desire of his Friends that these Sermons of his may be made Publick which though they have not that accomplished Accuracy as they would have had had they had his last hand to them and been prepared for the Press by his own skilful Pen yet as they are they are rightly worthy the Christian Readers perusal and as such I recommend them to his View and remain his Affectionate and Humble Servant Iohn Scot. SERMON I. Psalm lxxvi 7. Thou even thou art to be feared and who may stand in thy sight when once thou art angry I Know no Motives nor Arguments more likely to awaken Sinners to their Duty than a due consideration of Gods Infinite Goodness and Almighty Power Knowest thou not saith St. Paul that the goodness of God leadeth thee to Repentance Transcendently great is the Goodness of God towards poor Sinners He freely gave us his Son to Purchase Heaven and Eternal Happiness for us He sent down his Holy Spirit to dwell with us that he might sanctifie our corrupt Natures and make us meet to partake of the vast Inheritance of the Saints in Light and he excites us to a due improvement of these assistances of the Spirit by proposing the most glorious Rewards of Heaven and Eternal Happiness Thus God draws Sinners to their Duty by the bands of Love and the cords of a Man that is by Arguments of such an obliging Nature as are most likely to prevail with men whom he hath endowed with Reason and Understanding But how few are there who have so much ingenuity as to be won by kindness The greatest part of Mankind must be treated with severer methods according to the observation of St. Austin Plures sunt quos terror corrigit pauciores quos allicit amor Such saith he is the corruption and degeneracy of our Natures that very few are drawn to their Duty by the Bands of Love the generality of men must be driven to it by the fears of Punishment For this reason the wiser Heathens made Hercules their God of Power their God of Eloquence too intimating that no Arguments are more forcible or more prevalent than those which alarm our fears Now God who is never wanting in any thing that may conduce to our Salvation is observed in Scripture frequently to urge these powerful Arguments upon us Fear-not them saith our Saviour who can do no more than destroy the Body but fear him who is able to destroy both Body and Soul in Hell Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord we perswade men saith St. Paul 2 Cor. 5. 11. To the same end and purpose we find Asaph the Author of this Psalm magnifying the power of God in the defeat of Sennacheribs Army Thou hast broken the Arrows of the Bow the Shield and the Sword and the Battel ver 3. The Stout hearted are Spoiled they have slept their sleep and none of the Men of Might have found their Hands ver 5. At thy rebuke O God of Jacob both the Chariot and Horse are cast into a deep sleep ver 6. Those expressions of our Psalmist relate unto Sennacherib King of the Assyrians this Monarchy in Daniels Vision is for its strength compared unto the Lion and it was at its Zenith in the reign of Sennacherib whose very name signifies a fierce Warrier and whose Subjects the Assyrians are deservedly stiled by our Psalmist the Stout-hearted because being flush'd by many Victories they feared neither Man nor God himself whom

Judge at the last Day and he comes because he is the Son of Man It will not be amiss to enquire briefly into the Reasons of it 1st God has committed the Judgment of the last Day to the Son of Man because he has appointed it should be Visible This is fairly hinted in the Text where it is said they shall see the Son of Man coming in the Clouds of Heaven God himself is a Spirit and consequently invisible but the Son of Man is Visible and therefore he is appointed to Ride the Circuit that he may be seen of all his Enemies And that we might take the more notice of this Reason it is repeated again Chap. 26. 64. where Christ tells his Enemies that hereafter they shall see the Son of Man sitting on the Right hand of Power and coming in the Clouds of Heaven It seems the Son of Man shall come and his Enemies shall see him and be confounded at the sight of him This may be farther confirm'd from Act. 1. 11. where you 'l find the Angels preaching this Doctrin This same Iesus who is taken up from you into Heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into Heaven The Comparison is here made between our Saviour's Ascending into Heaven and his returning again to Judgment Ascendit visibiliter descendit visibiliter He Ascended saith Gerhard in a visible manner and he shall descend to Iudgment in a visible manner too 2ly God has committed the Judgment of the last Day to the Son of Man for the reward of his Obedience and greater exaltation of his Human Nature It is but Justice in God to make this Son of Man Judge the World seeing he came into the World and was judged by it It is but equal to invest Christ with a power of Absolution and Condemnation seeing he was Condemned by us to dye and dyed that he might be in a capacity to Absolve us It is but reasonable that all the Sons of Men should bow before his Throne and submit to his Judgment who disdain'd not for our sakes to stand before the Tribunal of wicked Men and receive the Sentence of Condemnation To this purpose are those Expressions of St. Paul Phil. 2. 8 9. Being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto the Death even the death of the Cross Wherefore God also has highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name that at the Name of Iesus every knee should bow He that came at first to save us must it seems come at last Judge us And it is but just that he who before carried a Reed in his hand and was derided by his Enemies should hereafter sway a Scepter of Righteousness and break his Enemies in peices with a Rod of Iron But 3ly God has committed the Judgment of the last Day to the Son of Man for the greater Comfort and Consolation of the Godly What a joyful sight will it be unto all sincere Penitents when they shall see the Advocate become their Judge and none but their Saviour siting on the Throne of Glory For he knows all the Frailties and Infirmities of our Natures He knoweth our frame and remembreth that we are but Dust Yea he will be yet more ready to pity us seeing he was pleased to assume our Natures bear our Infirmities and to be tempted in all things like as we are Well then may the Godly be said in Scripture to long for this glorious appearance of the Lord Iesus Well may the Bride in the Revelations cry Come Lord Iesus come quickly seeing this Day of Judgment will be to her no other than the Day of Nuptuals A Day in which Christ will be married to his People and admit them unto the nearest Union and Communion with himself and that unto all Eternity 4thly God has committed the Judgment of the last Day to the Son of Man for the greater Terror and Confusion of the Wicked The Angels who were present at our Saviours Ascention tell his Disciples Act. 1. 11. that the same Iesus who then ascended into Heaven should descend in like manner as he then ascended up into Haeven Now we know our Saviour when he ascended into Heaven carried along with him the print of the Spear and all those Scars that were made by the Nails and Thorns And these it seems he will bring along with him when he returns to Judgment How then will the wicked mourn as we are told in the Text when they look upon him whom they had formerly pierced Those Wounds which were at first opened to heal their Souls will now open their Mouths and call for Vengeance on them Christ's Eyes saith St. Iohn will now become flames of Fire and such as will certainly consume them his Feet like fine Brass burning in a Furnance and cannot but destroy them Well may the wicked call then upon the Rocks to cover and the Mountains to hide them since the presence of the Lamb will be infinitely more dreadful than the presence of the fiercest Lion For unto such as have trampled this Son of God and Man under foot unto such as have counted the Blood of the Covenant an unholy thing unto such I say there will now remain nothing but a certain fearful looking for of Iudgment and fiery Indignation which shall devour these Adversaries Thus I have dispatch'd the Third General and shewn you that this Son of Man must come at the last Day to judge the World and the Reason of it I come now Fourthly In the Fourth place to shew you that He will come with great Power and Glory This is plainly deliver'd in the Text Then shall they see the Son of Man coming in the Clouds of Heaven with Power and great Glory And 1st He will come with great Glory And 2dly He shall come with Power 1st Let us consider the greatness of that Glory with which this Son of Man shall come to Judge the World Tho' his first coming into the World was mean and contemptible clouded with Poverty and Grief and such other humble Circumstances as were proper for his state of Humiliation yet his second Coming will be splendid and glorious as will appear from these following Particulars 1st Let us consider the immediate Fore-runners and Harbingers of our Saviour's Second coming Kings and Princes have their Harbingers and so has this King of Kings too St Ierome tells us of an Antient Tradition of the Iewish Doctors namely that for fifteen Days together before the great Day of Judgment there shall be transacted upon the Stage of Nature a continued scene of fearful Signs and Wonders The Sea shall lift up his mountainous billows and make a fearful noise with its rouling Waves The Heaven shall crack night and day with loud and roaring Thunders The Earth shall groan under hidious Convulsions and quotidian Earthquakes The Air shall blaze with portentous Comets The Moon shall shed forth purple streams of

us VVhat Plots and Descents has he detected and defeated How has he baffled the profoundest Policy of the subtilest Achitophel and made him prove according to his name in Hebrew no better than the Brother or Cousin-Germain to a Fool Oh then let us praise our God according to his excellent Greatness and being wonderfully delivered from the hands of our Enemies let us serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all the dayes of our life This God of his infinite Mercy grant for the merits of his dearest Son c. SERMON XII Preached November 27. 1692. the Sunday before the Author died Heb. ii 3. How shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation SAint Paul in the former Chap. displays the excellent Glory and Majesty of our Saviour He styles him ver 2. the Son of God the Heir of all things and Maker of the Worlds He tells us us farther ver 3. that He is the brightness of his Fathers Glory the express Image of his Person and the upholder of all things In the following part of the Chapter he shews how far Christ transcends all the Holy Angels These he says are but Servants and Ministring Spirits but Christ he is the Eternal and only begotten Son of God These are all commanded to fall down and worship Christ but He has á Throne a Scepter a Scepter of Righteousness yea the Scepter of his own Heavenly Kingdom Thus great thus glorious a Person is Christ Heaven it self has nothing greater and yet as great as glorious as He is his Father thought fit to employ him in the work of Mans Salvation O the wonderful Condescentions of Heaven We may be sure God is most willing to save poor Sinners seeing he sends to them and that his own Son to beseech and entreat them to accept of Salvation Hence is that of St. Paul in the beginning of this Epistle God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the Fathers by the Prophets hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son Had God spoken to us by the meanest of his Prophets it had been strange and wonderful Condescension but that he should send his own Son to preach the Gospel and intreat Rebel sinners to be reconciled to Heaven and accept of Eternal Happiness this is such an instance of stupendious Love and Mercy as does as much exceed our imaginations as it does our Deserts St. Paul having thus dispiayed the Excellent Majesty of Christ and the infinite Riches of Gods Free Grace and Mercy in that he sent his Eternal Son to be the first Preacher of the Gospel and tender Salvation to lost and undone sinners he begins the 2d Chapter with a serious and passionate Admonition We therefore saith he ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard lest at any time we should let them slip If God had conveyed the Gospel to Christians as he did the Law unto the Jews by the Ministry of Angels we could not have slighted it without gross ingratitude and our Disobedience as we are told ver 2. would have received a just recompence of reward Of how much sorer punishment shall we now he thought worthy seeing the Eternal Son of God condescended to be of the Order of Predicants seeing Christ Jesus himself vouchsafed to be the first Preacher of the Gospel how should we then honour and value this Gospel What earnest heed should we give to the things contained in it or preached from it Whatever Admonitions Exhortations or Reproofs Ministers give us out of these Sacred Oracles should not be look'd upon as the Words of frail Men but as they are in truth the Words of God and Christ. Christians therefore will be most inexcusable They of all men will deserve the severest Punishments if they shall neglect so great Salvation And because the danger is thus great our Apostle is the more earnest and passionate in his Exhortation He employs all his Divine Rhetorick to make Christians sensible of their greater Priviledge and consequently of their greater Obligations to obey the Gospel How shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation Having by this short Preface led you into the very Bowels of the Text I shall fetch from thence these Three Observations First That the Salvation which is published by the Gospel is exceeding great Secondly That those Christians which neglect this great Salvation must expect the severest Punishments in Hell Thirdly That Ministers may very well be allowed to be mighty earnest and passionate in their Exhortations of Obedience to the Gospel First I begin with the first of these namely to shew you that the Salvation which is published by the Gospel is exceeding great It is called Great Salvation in the Text yea the Apostle puts an Emphasis upon it and calls it So great Salvation Learned Men render it Eximiam ut mire magnam salutem i. e. Most admirable and most excellent Salvation And it will appear at large to be so from these following Considerations 1st The greatness of this Salvation will appear if we consider the greatness of the Price that was paid for it The worth and excellency of a thing is usually measur'd by the greatness of its price Now how great was that price which was paid for this Salvation St. Peter tells us we were not redeemed with such corruptible things as Silver and Gold but with the precious Blood of the Son of God Had we offer'd a thousand Rams and ten thousand Rivers of Oil Had we given the fruit of our Bodies for the sin of our Souls yea had it been possible for us to have sacrificed whole Hecatombs of Angels to the Justice of Heaven they would not all have been sufficient to atone for our Sins and purchase this Salvation Nothing could purchase it but the Blood of Iesus and that not only as he was Man but as he was God too Hence we are said expresly to be purchas'd with the Blood of God Act. 20. 28. We see an Infinite price was paid Heaven to purchase this Salvation And therefore we may well allow the Apostles Emphasis of so great Salvation 2ly The greatness of this Salvation will yet further appear if we consider the greatness of those evils it delivers us from It is an excellent saying of Seneca Lenocinium est gaudii antecedens metus the greatness of the danger uses to commend and inhance the greatness of the deliverance Now how great was the danger we were in how great those Evils we were exposed to The Prophet Esay gives us a most Tragical Description of the Infernal Tophet which was to be the Portion of the Rebellious Sinner Chap. 30. 31. Tophet saith he is prepared of old the Pile thereof is Fire and much Wood and the Breath of the Lord like a stream of Brimstone doth kindle it continually See how each word is arm'd with Terror It seems there is an eternal Tophet prepared for all