Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n
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A60152
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A sermon preach'd to the societies for reformation of manners, in the cities of London and Westminster, Nov. 15, 1697 by John Shower.
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Shower, John, 1657-1715.
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1698
(1698)
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Wing S3689; ESTC R17773
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25,046
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74
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die how ready are they to Despair Unless they leave the World like stupified Brutes they are usually in most dreadful Agonies Is it not kind to pity 'em and endeavour to save them from all this and from Eternal Damnation after all ARE you not kind to them when you consider they cannot be undone for ever by a sinful Course without being miserable now and you would fain preserve them from both Every Week's Experience will confirm the Truth of this If Men reflect and consider what they have got by a vicious disorderly Life What Fruit have they had in the Way of Sin Let them bring in their Account and let us view the Sum Total What Fruit have they had but so much Shame and Fear so much Care and Trouble so much Disgrace and Disapointment Dissatisfaction and Disquiet so many Sorrows and Calamities an ill Name an empty Purse a decayed Fortune a diseased Body an accusing Conscience c. And all these by such Sins as you would restrain punish and prevent And is it not Kindness thus to convince them that if they will perish for ever they must purchase Eternal Misery by present Punishment and run the Hazard at least of being Undone in this World that they may be Damned in the next III. IS not the Honour of the City and of the Nation concerned in this To revive those Vertues which were anciently the Glory of England and to check and reform those Disorders which the Licentiousness of the latter Reigns has introduced Is Reverence for the Blessed God his Name his Word his Day his Institutions Is Honesty Truth and Justice Sobriety Temperance and Chastity less a Duty in our Age than heretofore Were these things only fit to be admired in former Times without being practised in ours 'T is certainly for the Honour of London which is one of the most considerable Cities in the World on other Accounts that base Assassinations Murders and Robberies are not so common every Day and Night here as in many Cities of Spain and Italy That a Man may walk safely upon a lawful Occasion at any time of the Night from one end of the City to the other without hazard of his Life by Pistol or Stilletto Would it not be a greater Honour to this City and the Protestant Religion professed here to be able to walk up and down and not meet a Drunkard reeling in the Streets or hear the GOD of Heaven blasphemed or a prophane Oath sworn in the Places of publick Concourse not to hear Men curse and swear and pray to GOD to damn them which is and should be the Business of their their Lives to escape and prevent On which account also common Conversation and publick Converse is uneasie to a Serious Christian For the Company of many witty and ingenious Persons must be declin'd and avoided by a Man of Conscience by Reason of their Oaths and Curses and impious Language which otherwise would be both pleasing and profitable However If we cannot go so far in such a Reformation as to hope to live to see all this let us do what we can and beg that the next Generation may carry it further IV. SHALL I urge you to these joint Endeavours for suppressing Profneness from the Seasonableness of them after the Publick Peace which GOD hath mercifully given us Many Penal Laws in a time of War are more faintly executed because the Government may stand in need of the Assistance of the Bad as well as the Good But when the Sword of War abroad is sheathed that of Civil Justice should be drawn against Profaneness because the Government has occasion only for the Service of Good Men in a time of Peace And hath not so much other Business to divert them from executing the Laws So that not to punish Vice in a time of Peace will be a greater Reflection on the Government than if the War had continued And alas how little Security can we have of the Continuance of Peace or of any of the Blessings of it without Reformation Is it Peace Jehu Is there can there be a lasting well-grounded Peace while Whoredoms and Adulteries Perjuries and Blasphemies profane Oaths and Curses and other Abominations unpunished are so many Lastly Consider These are Things that we All Agree in The visible Countenance of so many worthy Persons of different Perswasions in lesser Things thus to abet the Cause of Religion and to discourage Profaneness is a Great Thing It may help to bring Sobriety and Serious Godliness into request Whereas if good Men be timorous and bashful if they be afraid or ashamed to take the Part of Religion tho' the Laws of GOD are seconded by those of the Nation the Profligate and Profane will be more hardened more numerous and insolent For there is hardly any thing does more embolden Men in Sin than to see Others commit the like with Impunity And we may justly apprehend that the spreading of Debauchery in City and Country is very much owing to this That Good Men who are inwardly Friends to Religion stand Neuters and will not concern themselves to appear against Profaneness and help to stem the Tide 'T is in this Case as one says of a Plague If the Sound and Healthy will withdraw themselves in a time of Infection and do nothing to stop the Pestilence if only the Sick and Infected do walk abroad and appear in publick how unavoidably must the Contagion spread and the Plague reign even to Desolation in such a place I AM not without hope that this laudable and Christian Undertaking will promote a better Understanding between the Protestants of the National Church and Those who in some things dissent from it As far as we have attained let us agree to mind the same thing And to suppress Immorality and Profaneness I am sure is one of those things wherein we ought and may and do Agree And by more familiar Acquaintance with one another you may find so many Persons of both sorts worthy of your Esteem and Love as will take off many Prejudices destroy Bitterness and Rancor and cure that Evil speaking and Detraction which hath been complained of on all sides It may tend to heal that Moroseness and Reservedness and Distrust of one another which has kept us at such a Distance And let us see that there was no sufficient reason for such an Estrangment I promise my self that Dissenters will be so wise and charitable as to be of Luther's mind When so much was done at Marpurg towards an Agreement between him and the Helvetians he said on that Occasion that he would not allow that Praise to the other Party to be more desirous of Peace and Concord than he There is the more ground to hope for this in the present Age because we agree in the Mystery of GOD even of the Father and the Lord JESVS CHRIST I mean in the Doctrinal Articles of The Church of England and thereupon we have sufficient ground