Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n
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A28157
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A sermon preach'd to the Society for the reformation of manners in Kingston upon Hull on Wednesday, January the 10th, 1699/700.
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Billingsley, John, 1657-1722.
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1700
(1700)
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Wing B2908; ESTC R31590
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17,484
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56
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A SERMON Preach'd to the SOCIETY FOR Reformation of Manners In Kingston upon Hull On Wednesday January the 10th 1699 700. By JOHN BILLINGSLEY Minister of the Gospel LONDON Printed for A. and I. Churchil And Thomas Ryles Bookseller in Hull 1700. Mr. BILLINGSLEY's SERMON FOR Reformation of Manners THE Epistle Dedicatory TO The Worthy Members of the SOCIETY for Reformation of Manners in Kingston upon Hull Honoured Sirs THAT I make bold to Entitle You to the Patronage of the following Plain Discourse I think needs no other Apology but to mention That it was first Preached and is now made Publick at Your Request You have undertaken a Difficult Work and thorough the Goodness of God made some Considerable Advances in it in Circumstances that were enough to have Disheartned a Piety and Courage less than Yours And I hope you have found and by the Blessing of Heaven upon Your Honest Endeavours will find that the farther You go on in this Service the more your Difficulties will abate and the more Your Encouragements those especially of the Best sort will increase I have endeavoured to lay before You Plain Scripture-Rules for Your Management of this Weighty Business and to represent to You the manifold Obligations You lie under to Persevere in it I hope I have herein spoken nothing but Words of Truth and Soberness even such Truths as all Wise and Good Men of the most differing Parties Alas that we cannot avoid still using the unhappy word Party are agreed in And if any will call this Canting they shall for me enjoy the sole Privilege of adhering to their own beloved and long-accustomed Dialect For when Men are fallen out with God and their own Consciences with Reason Authority and Sobriety it is no Wonder if the Light of Scripture-Truth any thing warmly applied set them a raving The worst I wish such is That they may awake and come to themselves in time else they will e're long know what they will not now consider that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God Heb. 10. 31. It was I confess some Discouragement to me in both Parts of this Vndertaking but especially the latter that I was to manage this Weighty Argument after so many of every way greater Abilities and who had in a sort exhausted the Subject Yet since I could not without being rude to You and unfriendly to the Truly-good Cause You are engaged in decline it I shall leave the Judgment of this Confessedly-mean Performance to the Pious and Candid Readers without being concerned at the Scoffs of Debauched and Profane Persons with whom the Apostle St. Peter hath foretold us these last Days should abound 2 Pet. 3. 3. That the following Sermon may be blessed of God for the strengthening of Your Hands in the present Eminent Service You are imployed in That You may all of You approve Your Hearts unto God and Your Actions to the Consciences of Men That all Mountains may become a Plain before You That the present Inhabitants of this Place and even late Posterity may reap the Happy Fruits of Your Good Endeavours That we may be as Eminent for Real Holiness and Brotherly-Love as we have long been for the Remarkable Care of a Gracious Providence about us is and shall be the Earnest Prayer of Gentlemen Your very Affectionate Obliged Faithful Servant John Billingsley JUDE 22 23. And of some have compassion making a difference And others save with fear pulling them out of the fire hating even the garment spotted by the flesh THESE Words I have chosen to speak to at this time as containing a Compleat Directory for such as either by the special Obligations of a seperate Function or the more Common Bonds of Humanity or Christian Charity are concerned for the putting a Stop to the Growth of Error or any Impiety in any Church City or Nation I shall not detain you with any Account of the Apostle St. Jude by whose Ministry this Epistle was written in Compliance with or Conformity to the Dictates and Inspiration of the Holy Ghost neither will I so far trespass upon the narrow Limits of Time allotted to this Exercise as to give you the Analysis of this Epistle You may be furnished as to Both by consulting Perkins Manton Jenkins Roberts Clark c. I shall only hint That the Principal Scope of the Epistle seems to be the Confirming those who were newly converted to Christianity against the Errors and Impieties that had even so early begun to creep into the Church Whether specially those of the Gnosticks or any other I determine not The Words of the Text suggest to us a Threefold Rule for our Behaviour with respect to those whose Miscarriages are grievous to us and whose Reformation we desire and in Pursuance of such Desire do endeavour Here is 1. The Rule of Compassion 2. The Rule of Severity animated by an unaffected Zeal 3. The Rule of Caution I. The Rule of Compassion Of some have Compassion making a difference I know the Vulgar Latin reads otherwise and Beza tells us that Reading is supported by the Authority of Three Ancient Copies But I do not think this needs give us any Stop since they that are capable to compare both will easily see that the Reading which our Version follows ought to be preferr'd and to others a nicer canvassing the Point would be but a needless because useless Amusement The Apostle here teacheth us in dealing with Offenders to act judiciously to found all our Proceedings upon a right Discernment both of Persons and Actions Partial accepting of Persons is a Fault but due Discrimination of Persons is our Duty that we may know how to behave towards every one as the Case requires Some offend ignorantly and their Ignorance is rather owing to their unhappy Circumstances than to Sloth or Affectation others are wilfully ignorant and others sin against Light Now in the former of these Cases which this Rule respects Lenity Pity Tenderness Compassion are required as most likely to gain upon such Persons and to set them right Harshness discourageth them Kindness winneth them Besides their Case is truly Compassionable had they known better they had done better and had their Opportunities of Knowledge equalled ours probably they had out-stript us both in Knowledge and Good Life We ought therefore to pity and pray for such and by no means to carry haughtily much less cruelly towards them 'T is the Commendation of our great High-Priest that he can have Compassion on the Ignorant and on them that are out of the way Heb. 2. 5. II. The Rule of Severity animated by unaffected Zeal Others save with fear pulling them out of the fire Others i. e. Such as sin knowingly wilfully obstinately Save We must not despair of the Salvation even of such but do what in us lieth to recover them out of the Snare of the Devil 2 Tim. 2. 26. Save This only God and Christ can do principally and efficiently
yet 't is not ordinarily done without our Concurrence Men are Instruments in this blessed Work tho' God only be the Author of it So the Apostle exhorts his Hearers to save themselves from that untoward Generation Acts 2. 40. and St. Paul tells Timothy that in so doing he should save himself and those that heard him 1 Tim. 4. 16. The Salvation here spoken of is from Sin the Cause and Judgments here and Damnation hereafter the dismal Consequents of it What should not any of us be willing to do or suffer to promote so blessed a Work With Fear i. e. Either with Fear lest we miscarry in our Vndertaking and so with Prudence Caution and Circumspection So the Apostle exhorts us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling Phil. 2. 12. Where the Consequence is so important the Care cannot be too much Or With Fear i. e. By means of Fear Labouring to stir up in the Sinners we would reclaim an Holy Fear of the Divine Majesty and of his most terrible and no less righteous Judgements both in this Life and that which is to come Thus the Apostle speaks 2 Cor. 5. 11. Knowing the terror of the Lord we perswade men Hardened Sinners are not ordinarily to be dealt with by Arguments of Love but of Fear They must have Hell-fire flash'd in their Faces they must be dealt plainly and roundly with a mild Reproof doth but harden them The Tenders of Mercy too often embolden them in Sin They must be made to know that God is a Just and a Holy God and that he hath ordained Tophet of old he hath made it deep and large the pile thereof of fire and much wood the breath of the Lord like a stream of brimstone doth kindle it Isa 30. 33. Impenitent Sinners must be acquainted that the Punishments that await them are insupportable and eternal that God is a consuming fire Heb. 12. 29. And if any of them be so hardened as through Infidelity or Inconsideration to slight and disregard all this they must be made to feel the present Smart of their Sin and Folly by the strict Execution of just Laws against their Impieties and Impurities that a Stop may be put to the growing Contagion of their pernicious Examples and they themselves may be awakened to remember and shew themselves Men Isa 46. 8. till they see what Beasts they have hitherto made themselves Pulling them out of the fire This Expression notes the Zeal with which we must endeavour the reforming of heinous Offenders They are like Children or Epileptick or Frantick Persons fallen into the Fire that cannot or will not help themselves 'T is a barbarous thing to let them lie there and not lend them an hand for their Rescue And here we are taught that our Endeavours of this kind must be speedy lest our help come too late we must be active and industrious that our help may be effectual and all our Endeavours must proceed from Love as prompted by a Desire to save the Life the Soul of our offending and endangered Brother III. We have here The Rule of Caution Hating even the Garment spotted by the Flesh We must so deal with others for their Good as to take heed we our selves receive no hurt from them at least not of that kind we would save them from A Physician will not visit a Pest-house without fortifying his Spirits by some proper and sufficient Antidote before-hand We must labour so to converse with Bad Men for their Good as to see that we our selves become not Bad thereby We must therefore stir up in our Souls a settled Hatred of all that Sin which we would dissuade others from and not only so but of all the Appearances of it and likewise of all that may be an Occasion Allurement or Inducement to it This I take to be in short the meaning of the Expression the Apostle here makes use of viz. Hating even the garment spotted by the flesh Waving therefore many other Particulars which might be fitly gathered from the Words we shall summ up their main Scope and Import especially with respect to the present Occasion in the following Proposition or Point of Doctrine viz. That it is the Duty of every Christian so to endeavour the saving of Others from Error and Impiety and the dreadful Consequences of both as to see that himself be not intangled in either In speaking to which Proposition I shall with what Plainness and Brevity I can treat on these Three Heads following viz. I. Of the Duty to be performed II. Of the Manner of its Performance III. Of the Obligations we are under to such Performance I. Let us enquire concerning the Duty to be performed Now in order to the right stating this Duty Of endeavouring to save Others from Error and Impiety and the Destruction consequent thereupon let me desire your attentive Consideration of the following Particulars 1. Error in the Fundamentals of Religion and Impiety or Loosness of Conversation do certainly expose those who live and die in them to utter Destruction The Apostle assures us Rom. 6. 23. that the wages of sin is death And Heb. 12. 14. that without holiness no man shall see the Lord. See also Eph. 5. 3 4 5 6. But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness let it not be once named among you as becometh Saints Neither filthiness nor foolish talking nor jesting which are not convenient but rather giving of thanks For this ye know that no whoremonger nor unclean person nor covetous man who is an idolater hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God Let no man deceive you with vain words for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience Phil. 3. 19. They whose God is their belly whose glory is their shame who mind earthly things their end is destruction 1 Cor. 6. 9 10. Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God Be not deceived neither fornicators nor idolaters nor effeminate nor abusers of themselves with mankind Nor thieves nor covetous nor drunkards nor revilers nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God Rom. 1. 18. The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness There is nothing plainer in the Word of God than that a lewd and vicious Life impenitently persisted in will certainly issue in the utter Destruction both of Soul and Body They that live like Beasts on Earth must certainly be the Companions of Devils in Hell The Burnings of Lust here prepare for the unquenchable Burnings of 〈◊〉 hereafter There are few will seem to doubt of it though few live as if they believed any thing of it But that Errors in the Fundamentals of Religion are of like Fatal Influence will hardly be admitted by many Yet the Apostle Paul reckons Heresies among the Works of the Flesh Gal. 5. 20 and assurâ—s us the Word of suâ—h