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A54463 A sermon preached in the Cathedral of St. Peters in York on the fifth day of Novemb. 1689 by William Perse ... Perse, William, 1640 or 41-1707. 1689 (1689) Wing P1654; ESTC R7086 17,801 43

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A SERMON Preached in the CATHEDRAL OF St Peters in York On the Fifth day of Novemb. 1689. By William Perse M.A. Rector of West Heslerton and Chaplain to the Right Honourable Lewis Earle of Feversham Imprimatur Charles Palmer Rmo in Christo Patri ac Dno. Dno. Thomae Archiep. Ebor. à Sacris Domesticis York Printed by John Bulkley for Francis Hildyard at the Bible in Stonegate 1689. Psal 129.1.2 Verses Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth may Israel now say Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth yet they have not prevailed against me AMongst the many undeniable and irrefragable arguments that may be brought to prove the Existence of God the consideration of the great Care which He the Supreme Governor and Moderator of all things hath in all Ages taken to preserve his small Flock the Church from the Paw of the Lyon and the Beare notwithstanding all the Arts and Stratagems all the force and cunning of her potent and vigilant Adversaries seems to me not to be of the least moment to convince an Atheist of his impiety a Pagan of his Infidelity an Heretick of his Obstinacy and a Schismatick of his dangerous and erroneous Opinions For surely were there not a God in heaven that put a stop not only to the raging of the Sea but the madness of the people were there not a God who set Limits to the Waves and bounds to the fury of Tyrannical Oppressors were there not a God who put a Hook into the Jaws of the great Leviathans the spiritual Church had long since been like some of the material Churches in the low Countreys quite under water The Floods of Oppression had overflown her and she had long ere this become a prey to those many Enemies which even from her infancy have Watch'd and Waited for her ruin and destruction To see the Church like the Salamander not only living in the fire of Afflictions but as it were receiving nourishment from the inoffensive Flames to see the Holy Bush-burning without any detriment to its own substance is a sufficient Argument that there is an Angel that Protects her an invisible power that dwells within her which preserves her body from scorching though not always her Garments her external Constitutions from the smell of the Fire That such a small Vessel as the Church should Ride out so many blustring storms on a troublesome and tempestuous Sea without bulging or leaking without splitting on the Shelves or being swallowed up of the Sands must needs proceed from the skill and care of her indefatigable Pilot and the strength of her invincible and irremovable Anchor for what the Disciples said to Jesus when a sudden gust of Wind arose on the Lake and filled the Ship with Water Help Master or we perish is most true of the Church in general Were it not for his aid and assistance for his continual presence and express Commands whom the Winds and Sea and all boystrous and otherwise unruly passions obey we should not only be tost to and fro with every wind of uncertain Doctrine and so become unsetled in our Judgements and Resolutions but also we should suffer on the one side from Piratical Oppressors and on the other from Heretical and Schismatical Intruders It had been impossible for Christianity like Rome now the great Opposer of it which from a few scattered Cottages came to be the soveraign Commandress of the whole known World to have stretched out her Empire so far and wide as it is at this day and that from so low and small beginnings had not the Divine Spirit carried her on and protected her assisted and upheld her in spight of all opposition and contradiction whatsoever Turning some unto that Faith which they but lately persecuted discovering the wicked designs and machinations of others and confounding all their devices so that diverse convers'd with Lyens without and danger and play'd upon the hole of the Asp and the Den of the Cockatrice in great security as was foretold by the Prophet concerning the first days of the Gospel God hath built his Church upon a Mountain that cannot be shaken on a Rock that cannot be moved for though the rain descend the Winds blow and the Floods rise though the Rain of adversity may wet her and the Floods of persecution may rage against her and the furious blasts of discord and dissention may ruffle and discompose her outward Garments yet the Church her self shall not fall nor her Faith totally fail nor even the Gates of Hell prevail against her for she is founded upon a Rock even the Rock Christ Jesus he is her Saviour and deliverer her Fortress and Castle of defence under the shadow of whose Wings under the coverture of whose gracious providence she shall be safe and secure till all Tyranny and Oppression all rage and violence all Envy and Malice be quite past and blown over For though they have afflicted her from her youth may Israel now say though many a time have they afflicted her from her youth yet have they not prevailed against her From which Declaration of the royal Psalmist we may observe 1. The inveterate Malice and the unwearied Industry of the men of this world to ruine Sion and to pull down the Walls of Jerusalem Many a time have they afflicted her from her youth many a time will they afflict her in her old age 2. The Frustration of their design or the ill success that all those meet with who strive to oppose the Truth by Violence or to detain it in ungodliness by Fraud Yet have they not prevailed against me 3. The Retribution or return that the Church is bound to make Deo statori liberatori to her Saviour and Deliverer for the preservation of her self and the destruction of her Enemies May Israel now say ought Israel now to say The frequent Declarations of the Mercies and Deliverances we receive from the hand of God is a sign of the value and estimation we put upon them and the ready way to increase their number The Remembrance of the Churches danger and of her wonderful deliverance from it must be the burden of her Song of Thanksgiving For so the ingemmation of my Text as in other places seems to import In the first general Observation we are to consider 1. Who they are that are so malicious as to envy the peace of Sion and so sedulous and diligent in contriving her Destruction 2. How frequent they are in their Attempts 3. By what ways and means they indeavour to bring their wicked and pernicious designs to pass And this I shall show in the Phrase and Language of my Text. 1. The Enemies of Sion are many Their multitude renders them formidable Illos defendit Numerus junctaeque Umbone Phalanges 2. Many a time do they renew their Assaults Like importunate Beggars one or two denials will not shake them off one or two or twenty disappointments do not dishearten or