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<DATE>2008-08-07</DATE>
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<NAME>John Pas</NAME>
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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>A SERMON Preached in the Cathedral &amp; Metropolitical Church OF St. Peter in York.</P>
<P>On <HI>Sunday, Novemb.</HI> 17. 1695.</P>
<P>By <HI>George Halley,</HI> M. A. and Rector of <HI>St. Cuthberts</HI> in <HI>York</HI></P>
<Q><P>In his days &s;hall the Righteous flouri&s;h, and abundance of peace, &s;o long as the Moon endureth.</P>
<BIBL><HI>P&s;alm 72.</HI></BIBL></Q>
<Q><P>He &s;hall have dominion al&s;o from Sea to Sea.</P>
<BIBL><HI>V. 7, 8, 9.</HI></BIBL></Q>
<Q><P>Jeru&s;alem is built as a City that is at &V;nity in it &s;elf.</P>
<BIBL><HI>P&s;alm 122.</HI></BIBL></Q>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed for <HI>Rob. Clark</HI> in the <HI>Min&s;ter-Yard,</HI> in <HI>York.</HI> 1695.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="dedication">
<PB REF="2">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>To His GRACE THE Duke of LEEDS, Lord Pre&s;ident of his Maje&s;ty's Mo&s;t Ho|nourable Privy Council.</HEAD>
<LETTER>
<OPENER><SALUTE>May it plea&s;e your Grace,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>WHen I reflect upon the many <HI>Great Ser|vices</HI> you have done to this <HI>Church</HI> and <HI>Nation,</HI> and the va&s;t obligations they both owe to your <HI>Grace</HI> for their Peace and Pro&s;perity; it rai&s;es in me not only an admiration of your <HI>Per&s;on,</HI> but a grateful &s;ence of them, and fills my heart with wi&s;hes for your Health and Happine&s;s.</P>
<P>It is upon this con&s;ideration, <HI>My Lord,</HI> that I hum|bly pre&s;ume to dedicate to <HI>Your Grace</HI> this en&s;uing di&s;cour&s;e, which, I hope, out of the known candor and goodne&s;s of your Nature, you will be pleas'd not only to pardon but accept of, as a &s;mall tribute of thank|fulne&s;s,
<PB REF="3">
and to give it your <HI>Noble Patronage and Protection.</HI></P>
<P>It is a Sermon, which, tho mean enough in its com|po&s;ure, yet &s;incerely exhorts my <HI>Fellow Subjects</HI> to pray for the welfare of <HI>His Sacred Maje&s;ty,</HI> and to &s;erve him with their Lives and Fortunes. Now, at who&s;e Feet can I better lay it than at <HI>Yours,</HI> who have hazarded all that is near and dear to you in this world for his <HI>Pre&s;ent Maje&s;ty's</HI> Intere&s;t, for the Sup|port of <HI>Monarchical Government,</HI> and the Prote&s;tant Religion; for which Your <HI>Illu&s;trious Name ought to be had in everla&s;ting Remembrance.</HI></P>
<P>It is true indeed, &s;ome <HI>Pamphlets</HI> have, of late, appear'd abroad with a full de&s;ign to blacken <HI>Your Grace,</HI> and injure your Reputation. Such things, as the&s;e, have been in all ages and will be &s;till incident to <HI>Great Men:</HI> for &s;uch as move in High Spheres and with a vigorous lu&s;tre, mu&s;t needs <HI>(as the Sun)</HI> rai&s;e many envious Exhalations: But God be thanked <HI>Your Graces</HI> merit and integrity are &s;o well known, your <HI>Glo|rious Name</HI> and reputation &s;hine &s;o bright in the <HI>En|gli&s;h Horizon,</HI> as makes it beyond the power and capa|city of a <HI>Pamphleteer</HI> to eclip&s;e or blemi&s;h them.</P>
<P>Alas! we live in an &V;ngrateful Age: The <HI>King him&s;elf,</HI> tho the <HI>Author</HI> of the greate&s;t happine&s;s to this <HI>Nation,</HI> yet hath his Enemies. How many have we among&s;t us, who&s;e Madne&s;s and Stupidity make them
<PB REF="3">
de&s;ire to exchange a <HI>golden Sceptre</HI> for an iron Rod of <HI>French</HI> Cruelty and <HI>Popi&s;h</HI> Revenge; Who repine and murmur, complain and con&s;pire again&s;t the be&s;t of <HI>Princes?</HI> Some long for <HI>troubl'd waters</HI> to fi&s;h for an E&s;tate in, impatiently wait for the moving of the wa|ter, to repair their broken, or heal their lame fortunes; &s;o great is the Vice and Immorality of &s;ome, that they hate &s;uch a <HI>Governor</HI> as enlightens <HI>the &s;ublime Orb</HI> he moves in, with the bright lu&s;tre of an exact and an exemplary Conver&s;ation, and &s;tudies nothing more than a general Reformation of Life and Manners, and &s;o endeavours, as much as in him lies, to make <HI>His People</HI> happy, by <HI>having the Lord for their God.</HI></P>
<P>All I have to add, is my hearty prayers that nothing may undermine our State, or &s;hake King <HI>William</HI>'s Throne, that nothing may di&s;turb our Happine&s;s and Tranquillity, that God may pre&s;erve <HI>Your Grace</HI> and <HI>Noble Family,</HI> and give a Ble&s;&s;ing to all your faith|ful Endeavors for the Peace and Pro&s;perity both of this <HI>Church</HI> and <HI>Nation.</HI> I humbly beg leave, <HI>My Lord,</HI> to &s;ub&s;cribe my &s;elf,</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED><HI>Your Graces mo&s;t humble and obedient Servant,</HI> 
George Halley.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</LETTER>
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<DIV1 TYPE="sermon">
<PB REF="4">
<PB N="1" REF="4">
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<BIBL><HI>PSALM CXXII. 6.</HI></BIBL>
<Q>Pray for the peace of Jeru&s;alem.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>THis P&s;alm was compos'd by the Royal Pro|phet King <HI>David,</HI> after his tran&s;lation of the <HI>Ark</HI> of the Lord to <HI>Jeru&s;alem;</HI> the place which God had appointed for his &s;olemn wor&s;hip and adoration, and whither all the <HI>Jews,</HI> where&s;oever in|habiting, were oblig'd by the te&s;timony or law gi|ven to <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> to go up thrice every year, to com|memorate the mercies of God towards them, and to offer up unto him the &s;acrifice of prai&s;e and thank&s;|giving. <HI>Thither the Tribes go up, even the tribes of the Lord according to the te&s;timony or commandment, to give thanks unto the Name of the Lord,</HI> v. 4. <HI>there al&s;o are &s;et thrones of judgment, even the throne of the hou&s;e of David,</HI> v. 5. that is, there is the &s;upreme judicature of the Nation, there is the admini&s;tration of ju&s;tice and judgment, the great Court for the deci&s;ion of the highe&s;t matters, for the conduct and management of the mo&s;t important affairs. Thus at the time of this P&s;alms compo&s;ure, there was a re-e&s;tabli&s;hment
<PB N="2" REF="5">
of Piety and Religion, Ju&s;tice and Judgment, Liberty and Property; the Sun had once again dazled the rays of pro&s;perity upon the <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> Church and State; and for this, in the be|ginning of the P&s;alm, we find <HI>Holy David</HI> in a tran|&s;port of joy and exultation: <HI>I was glad when they &s;aid unto me, let us go into the hou&s;e of the Lord. Our feet &s;hall &s;tand in thy gates, O Jeru&s;alem,</HI> v. 1, 2. and here in the Text he pa&s;&s;ionately excites and calls upon his &s;ubjects, upon all good men, to expre&s;s an ardent love, a &s;incere affection for <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> to pray to God for its happine&s;s, for a continuance of the great ble&s;&s;ings, of the many precious advantages which it then enjoy'd: and as an argument to in|fluence and per&s;wade them &s;o to do, he a&s;&s;ures them that it tended to their own inexpre&s;&s;ible inte|re&s;t and advantage, to their temporal and eternal fe|licity, <HI>that in the peace thereof they &s;hould have peace:</HI> that upon the peace of <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> depended the peace and pro&s;perity of the whole Kingdom. <HI>O pray for the peace of Jeru&s;alem: they &s;hall pro&s;per that love thee</HI></P>
<P>And here, what thus concern'd the people of the <HI>Jews</HI> doth no le&s;s concern us <HI>Chri&s;tians.</HI> We of this Church and Nation have as &s;trong rea&s;ons, as nervous arguments, as powerful motives to pray now for the peace of our <HI>Jeru&s;alem.</HI> Prai&s;ed be the
<PB N="3" REF="5">
Lord, great and ine&s;timable are the ble&s;&s;ings which we enjoy: We have the true Religion e&s;tabli&s;hed among&s;t us, a pure, an ea&s;ie and &s;ub&s;tantial Religion, which infinitely tran&s;cends that of the <HI>Jews:</HI> We have the bli&s;sful prerogative of peaceable publick A&s;&s;emblies, we are not debarr'd from coming in|to the Courts of the Lord. We have liberty and ea&s;e, ju&s;tice and judgment, plenty and abundance, peace and tranquillity in a great mea&s;ure here at home, and the Almighty hath lately made us victorious and triumphant abroad, thro the in|comparable conduct and heroic valour of our <HI>Glo|rious Prince, who&s;e hands God hath taught to war, and his fingers to fight.</HI> Now all this great happi|ne&s;s lies at &s;take, now &s;eems to be the <HI>Cri&s;is</HI> of our affairs both Eccle&s;ia&s;tical and Civil, the peace and pro&s;perity both of this Church and State &s;eeins to depend upon the peace and unity, upon the har|mony and concord of that <HI>Augu&s;t A&s;&s;embly</HI> which is nigh at hand; for which rea&s;on I thought it not improper to call upon you to pray for the peace of <HI>Jeru&s;alem. A word &s;poken in due &s;ea&s;on, how good is it?</HI> &s;aith <HI>Solomon. Prov.</HI> 15.23. All our happine&s;s, I &s;ay, &s;eems to depend upon the unity and con|cord of that <HI>Augu&s;t A&s;&s;embly</HI> which is nigh at hand.</P>
<P>A <HI>Multitude of Coun&s;ellors, in them is our &s;afety,</HI> if they prove worthy <HI>Patriots,</HI> if they employ and
<PB N="4" REF="6">
unite their coun&s;els together for the publick good, <HI>if they be &s;uch as fear God, men of truth and hating covetou&s;ne&s;s,</HI> if their hearts be truly <HI>Engli&s;h,</HI> in|flam'd with love and affection for their Country's intere&s;t, for the pre&s;ent Government, and for the Prote&s;tant Religion, for the honor and glory of the Nation, for the grandeur and reputation of our <HI>Prince,</HI> then may we promi&s;e to our &s;elves <HI>Halcyo|nian</HI> days, then &s;hall we have a charming Pro&s;pect and a comfortable a&s;&s;urance of a more compleat and e&s;tabli&s;hed felicity. When &s;uch wi&s;e and pru|dent men govern affairs, what can be the effect but all temporal bli&s;s and pro&s;perity? if &s;uch Pi|lots are plac'd at the Helm, the Ship mu&s;t &s;ail in an Ocean of peace and tranquillity. Oh! there|fore let us make it our important bu&s;ine&s;s, at this time e&s;pecially, to pour forth our prayers and &s;up|plications to the God of Heaven, with ardor and zeal, with fervency and devotion, for a ble&s;&s;ing upon all their con&s;ultations: that their hearts and minds may be as uniform as the graceful build|ings of that <HI>Metropolis,</HI> whither they are going, where is the &s;eat of Judgment, where is our <HI>Prince</HI>'s Throne O my Brethren, let me be&s;eech you in the affectionate words, in the pa&s;&s;ionate language of the Royal Prophet, King <HI>David,</HI> to pray for the peace of <HI>Jeru&s;alem. O pray for the peace of Jeru|&s;alem.</HI></P>
<P><PB N="5" REF="6">From which words I will endeavour to &s;hew you</P>
<P N="1">1. The importance and &s;ignification of Peace.</P>
<P N="2">2. What method we mu&s;t of nece&s;&s;ity take, what means we mu&s;t make u&s;e of to enjoy the Ble&s;&s;ings of Peace. But fir&s;t, in the fir&s;t place I will endeavour to &s;hew you the importance and &s;ignification of Peace.</P>
<P>In the lively oracles of God, Peace is a word of a large extent and &s;ignification; it comprehends all kind of happine&s;s and pro&s;perity: Sometimes it imports a freedom from inward &s;orrow and trou|ble, a &s;atisfaction or contentment of mind; a hap|pine&s;s which &s;uch are po&s;&s;e&s;t of, as come into the hou&s;e of the Lord, and wor&s;hip him there <HI>in the beauty of Holine&s;s,</HI> as <HI>keep his Sabbaths and reverence</HI> his Sanctuary, as <HI>&s;erve the Lord with fa&s;ting and prayers night and day.</HI></P>
<P>Nothing but a good and religious life can &s;ecure to a man that thing which ought to be valued by him above all the things in this world, namely, the inward peace and tranquillity of his mind: <HI>&s;uch only can have this great peace as love the law of God&punc;</HI> as &s;incerely endeavour to live up to the precepts and obligations of the Go&s;pel. A vertu|ous man hath peace and an Heaven in his bo&s;om; the greate&s;t tran&s;ports of joy po&s;&s;e&s;s and &s;urround his brea&s;t, <HI>&s;uch a man is &s;atisfy'd from him&s;elf,</HI> Prov.
<PB N="6" REF="7">
14.14. hath quietne&s;s of con&s;cience; this is the thing which gives him abundant &s;atisfaction: for there is &s;uch a natural principle as con&s;cience which God hath implanted in every man, this is the <HI>Angel-Guardian</HI> which God and Nature hath plac'd within every ones own brea&s;t, this is the &s;cale which impartially weighs all our actions, all our works, whether they be good or whether they be evil: when we do the good, it creates in us delight and plea&s;ure, complacency and &s;atisfaction, it entertains us with this &s;weet and grateful Eccho, <HI>well done good and faithful &s;ervants, you &s;hall enter into the joy of your Lord:</HI> When we do the evil, it la&s;hes us, fills us full of regret and trouble, &s;hame and di&s;grace. It is this natural principle which is the great repo&s;itory and Magazine of all tho&s;e plea|&s;ures, which can afford any &s;olid refre&s;hment to the &s;oul: When there is a calmne&s;s and &s;erenity in the con&s;cience, then a man properly enjoys all things, and what is more, him&s;elf; and nothing can make a mans con&s;cience to applaud and comfort him, but a life conform to the Divine Laws, <HI>a con&s;cience void of offence both towards God and towards men.</HI> There is no plea&s;ure comparable to that which &s;prings from a good con&s;cience; all other plea&s;ure is tran|&s;ient and momentary, vani&s;hes and is gone immedi|ately after its fruition or enjoyment, and generally
<PB N="7" REF="7">
leaves a &s;ting behind it; but the plea&s;ures and &s;a|tisfactions which flow from purity and holine&s;s; the&s;e fan the mind, entertain the con&s;cience with &s;weet and comfortable, with durable and la&s;ting reflections.</P>
<P>But the ca&s;e is far otherwi&s;e with a wicked man; &s;uch a one is a great &s;tranger to inward peace and tranquillity of mind; becau&s;e of his evil deeds, his con&s;cience fla&s;hes in his face, ca&s;ts abroad its thun|der, and &s;trikes him the greate&s;t terror and af|frightment. A life of ungodline&s;s is always tor|menting, and the expectation of a future Judg|ment is always terrible; his con&s;cience tells him that in the world to come, he &s;hall have &s;uch a puni&s;hment a&s;&s;ign'd him as is proportionable to his vicious life and immoral conver&s;ation. The Holy Scriptures compare a wicked man to a troubled Sea, <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> 57.20. <HI>a wicked man is like a troubled Sea!</HI> how? he is always working, re&s;tle&s;s and unea&s;ie; and when he comes within &s;ight of the port of eternity, what &s;torms and tempe&s;ts are then rais'd in his Soul? he is &s;eiz'd with the great|e&s;t angui&s;h and horror, with &s;adne&s;s and confu&s;i|on of Spirit. No, if we will believe the Lord our God, <HI>there can be no peace to the wicked,</HI> v. 21. No, this is only the good Man's portion, it is he alone who hath peace and tranquillity of mind,
<PB N="8" REF="8">
it is he alone who hath a comfortable expecta|tion of the life to come, his con&s;cience only, as a gla&s;s, repre&s;ents to his &s;ight the Beatific Vi&s;ion, the ineffable plea&s;ures and the endle&s;s joys of eter|nity. But</P>
<P N="2">2dly, By Peace may be under&s;tood a deliverance from War, from &s;trife and contention both in Church and State; and this is the proper import and &s;ignification of peace in the words of my Text. <HI>O pray for the peace of Jeru&s;alem.</HI></P>
<P>And indeed, it is this Peace which is the greate&s;t tem|poral happne&s;s: this is the peace which makes a Nati|on glorious and flouri&s;hing: this ble&s;&s;eth the people with affluence of pro&s;perity; this gives them richly all things to enjoy; without this, riches and honors, the greate&s;t plenty and abundance is but a dubi|ous and an uncertain felicity. And this &s;ort of peace we of this Church and Nation are <HI>compara|tively</HI> ble&s;&s;ed with, beyond many other Nations in the world. The greate&s;t part of <HI>Europe</HI> lies now a bleeding, involv'd in blood and confu&s;ion: how doth fire and &s;word, di&s;tre&s;s and per&s;ecution rage in &s;everal places beyond the Sea? how many Ci|ties are there by War laid wa&s;te and demoli&s;hed? how many noble &s;tructures are turn'd into ruinous heaps? how many thou&s;ands abroad are in trou|ble and &s;orrow, detain'd from the comforts of
<PB N="9" REF="8">
Gods &s;olemn wor&s;hip, <HI>fed with the bread of weep|ing and have nothing but plenteou&s;ne&s;s of tears to drink?</HI> When, in a great mea&s;ure, the beauty of our Church and State is as yet un&s;ullied; when we &s;it under our own Vines; when we have the true Religion, and can come into the Courts of the Lord; when we can appear before the pre|&s;ence of our God without di&s;turbance or mole&s;tati|on. It is true indeed, we are engag'd in a charge|able and expen&s;ive, in a very bloody war; but &s;till we are happy in re&s;pect of other Nations, becau&s;e it is a War nor at home but abroad: A War that is ab&s;olutely nece&s;&s;ary, we can have no pro&s;pect of happine&s;s without it; and if we will but &s;o exerci&s;e our &s;elves as to engage the <HI>Lord of Ho&s;ts</HI> to be our God, we may &s;ee it &s;hortly produce an honorable and la&s;ting Peace, durable tranquility. <HI>O pray for the peace of Jeru&s;alem.</HI> But</P>
<P N="3">3dly, Peace, in the Holy Scriptures, not only imports a good con&s;cience, &s;atisfaction or content|ment of mind, not only a deliverance from war, from &s;trife and contention both in Church and State, but al&s;o it &s;ignifies all kind of temporal hap|pine&s;s and pro&s;perity: and according to this com|prehen&s;ive &s;ignification we enjoy Peace in a great degree.</P>
<P><PB N="10" REF="9">We are ble&s;t with the be&s;t of <HI>Princes</HI> and the be&s;t of governments, with a mo&s;t incomparable con&s;ti|tution: we live in the mo&s;t temperate part of the <HI>temperate Zone:</HI> our habitation is encompa&s;&s;ed with the Sea, as a Wall of defence to us on every &s;ide.
<Q>Et penitus toto divi&s;os orbe Britannos.</Q>
And we enjoy a Government as temperate as the Climate it&s;elf; the beams of Soveraignty are nei|ther &s;o perpendicular over our heads as that they can &s;corch us, nor yet &s;o oblique, but that they are able to warm and cheri&s;h us; there is nothing but what enjoys the au&s;picious influence, the comfor|table heat thereof. A government which made our fore-fathers happy at home and famous a|broad. If you con&s;ult &s;uch as are men of wi&s;dom and experience, as have &s;een many things by tra|velling foreign Countries; read but the accurate remarks and curious ob&s;ervations of &s;uch under|&s;tanding per&s;ons, and they will tell you that no Polity is more amiable and lovely, more graceful and glorious than our own. If any Nation under Heaven can, we may ju&s;tly &s;ay <HI>that the lot is faln unto us in a fair ground:</HI> let us therefore humbly beg of God a continuation of the&s;e his Ble&s;&s;ings. <HI>O pray for the peace of Jeru&s;alem.</HI></P>
<P><PB N="11" REF="9">And this leads me to the &s;econd ob&s;ervable, namely, what method we mu&s;t of nece&s;&s;ity take, what means we mu&s;t make u&s;e of to enjoy the ble&s;&s;ings of peace.</P>
<P>And here, the Text chalks us out a method, pre&s;cribes us &s;uch means, as, if rightly made u&s;e of, will effectually procure us the ble&s;&s;ings of peace; and that is Prayer. We mu&s;t pray for it. <HI>O pray for the peace of Jeru&s;alem.</HI></P>
<P>The time would fail me to tell of the virtue and efficacy, the force and energy, the wonder|ful &s;trength and power of <HI>prayer.</HI> Such cannot be ignorant of this as believe the Holy Scriptures, as are conver&s;ant in the lively oracles of God. What &s;trange and prodigious things are recorded there, unto which prayer hath given an accompli&s;hment and perfection? how many Victories hath it ob|tain'd? how hath it &s;tay'd the cour&s;e of the Sun and Moon? how hath it made tho&s;e glorious Lu|minaries to &s;tand <HI>&s;till in the mid&s;t of Heaven for the &s;pace of a whole day?</HI> how hath it brought down rain from Heaven to refre&s;h and enrich the parched ground? this important truth is illu|&s;trated by &s;everal Examples in the Sacred Records. We find there, that <HI>the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much;</HI> that God is graci|ou&s;ly pleas'd to be prevail'd upon, and overcome
<PB N="12" REF="10">
by prayer; that this is the way to &s;torm the Man|&s;ions of Eternity; that by this artillery, if well planted the kingdom of heaven &s;uffereth violence, and the violent, the ob&s;tinate &s;uppliants, take it by force. If therefore &s;uch be the virtue and effica|cy, the force and energy, the wonderful &s;trength and power of prayer, <HI>O pray for the peace of Jeru|&s;alem.</HI></P>
<P>But 2dly, Prayer, as well as peace, is a word of comprehen&s;ive &s;ignification. Prayer, which is the nece&s;&s;ary means for the obtaining the ble&s;&s;ings of peace, implies a putting our tru&s;t and confi|dence in the Lord our God. If we mu&s;t pray un|to God for peace, it &s;uppo&s;eth that we mu&s;t place all our hopes in him; for in vain &s;hould we pray unto him, if we did not make him the object of our hope, if we did not put our tru&s;t in him. No, when we pray, we mu&s;t &s;ay, with the Royal P&s;alm|i&s;t, <HI>Let thy merciful kindne&s;s, O Lord, be upon us, like as we do put our tru&s;t in thee,</HI> P&s;alm. 33.21. Or in the words of our excellent and incomparable Liturgy, <HI>O Lord, let thy mercy be &s;hewed upon us, as we do put our tru&s;t in thee.</HI> O therefore not only pray unto, but put your tru&s;t in the Lord for the peace of <HI>Jeru&s;alem.</HI></P>
<P>Alas! in whom &s;hall we tru&s;t, in whom &s;hall we re|po&s;e our hopes for the peace of <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> but in the
<PB N="13" REF="10">
Lord our God? Shall we tru&s;t in our <HI>Naval Force?</HI> Vain are all the&s;e helps without God our defence. Our Ships may be con&s;um'd by fire: &s;uch a &s;ur|prizing and terrible tempe&s;t may ari&s;e, as may drive the Walls of our Nation upon rocks, or el&s;e they may be da&s;h'd in pieces with the violence of the waves. <HI>They that go down to the &s;ea in &s;hips and oc|cupy their bu&s;ine&s;s in great waters,</HI> do &s;ee <HI>the works of the Lord,</HI> and behold <HI>his wonders in the deep;</HI> &s;uch men frequently &s;ee the &s;ad and di&s;mal effects of a rough wind and a tempe&s;tuous &s;ea; <HI>for at his word the &s;tormy wind ari&s;eth which lifteth up the waves thereof, they are carry'd up to the heaven and down again to the deep, their &s;oul melteth away becau&s;e of the trouble; they reel to and fro and &s;tagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits end,</HI> but when they cry or pray unto the Lord, when they tru&s;t in him, <HI>he delivereth them out of their di&s;tre&s;s.</HI> O there|fore pray unto, and tru&s;t in God, for the peace of <HI>Jeru&s;alem, whom the winds and the &s;eas obey.</HI> Shall we tru&s;t in <HI>prudent Politicians?</HI> Alas! God by a &s;ecret and irre&s;i&s;table power can &s;top or counter|mine the deepe&s;t projects can &s;plit the clo&s;e&s;t coun|&s;els, and &s;mite the mo&s;t refined policy with fru&s;tra|tion and a cur&s;e: God can infatuate the wi&s;dom of the wi&s;e, and turn all their coun&s;els into folly, as he did the coun&s;els of <HI>Achitophel.</HI></P>
<P><PB N="14" REF="11">Shall we tru&s;t in the &s;trength of tough, well-di&s;ciplin'd and veteran Troops? God can &s;trike a terror into their hearts, He can make them hear a a noi&s;e of Chariots, a noi&s;e of Hor&s;es, even the noi&s;e of a great Ho&s;t; He can fill their hearts with &s;uch a fear as &s;hall put them all into di&s;order and confu&s;ion, as &s;hall enforce them to decamp and fly: Thus He did with the Ho&s;t of the <HI>Syri|ans.</HI> 2 <HI>Kings</HI> 7.6.</P>
<P>Shall we tru&s;t in the power and friend&s;hip of our <HI>Allies?</HI> Shall we depend upon the &s;trength of Leagues and Confederacies? God can di&s;&s;olve and break &s;uch chains in &s;under: <HI>God can &s;et Ephraim again&s;t Mana&s;&s;es, and Mana&s;&s;es again&s;t Ephraim, and both again&s;t Judah.</HI> No; let us pray unto, and tru&s;t in the Lord our God for the peace of <HI>Jeru&s;a|lem.</HI> Tho here, mi&s;take me not, I do not declaim again&s;t a <HI>Naval force,</HI> again&s;t prudent <HI>Politicians,</HI> again&s;t a well-appointed <HI>Army,</HI> or again&s;t the pow|er of <HI>Leagues and Confederacies:</HI> No, the&s;e are ne|ce&s;&s;ary as well as Prayer, as well as a tru&s;ting in God; tho not in the &s;ame height or degree: it mu&s;t be our prime and &s;upreme care, our principal &s;tudy, we mu&s;t in the fir&s;t place have our recour&s;e to God by prayer and &s;upplication; for all is in vain, if God goeth not forth with our <HI>Fleets</HI> and <HI>Armies;</HI> without Gods favour and loving kind|ne&s;s
<PB N="15" REF="11">
we mu&s;t not expect the ble&s;&s;ings of peace. Thus, I &s;ay, a <HI>Naval force,</HI> a <HI>well appointed Army. Leagues and Confederacies,</HI> are nece&s;&s;ary as well as Prayer, tho not in the &s;ame degree; for, &s;uch is the di&s;pen&s;ation of Divine Providence in this &s;ublu|nary world, that it requireth humane means, our own labor and indefatigable indu&s;try in conjuncti|on with it; we mu&s;t not expect Miracles at this time a day. You know the Fable in <HI>Anianus;</HI> A <HI>Country man,</HI> that had laid his Waggon fa&s;t in a Slough, did nothing but call upon <HI>Hercules</HI> to help him out of the mire; no, &s;et your &s;houlder to the Wheel, and then is your time to pray; and this is emblematical of our duty and obligation: We mu&s;t not lie with our fingers in our mouths, no, we mu&s;t exerci&s;e all our powers and abilities, we mu&s;t not expect the gracious a&s;&s;i&s;tance of Divine Providence, except we &s;et our own &s;houlders to the work: So that it is nece&s;&s;ary to fight, to have good forces both by Sea and Land, as well as to pray for peace, for our temporal bli&s;s and felicity. And here how happy are we, who have a <HI>Courage|ous Prince</HI> to head his Armies, to fight our Bat|tels; a <HI>Prince</HI> of a &s;ound and &s;teady under&s;tand|ing, of a great &s;pirit and heart, who runs upon the very mouth of the Cannon, for the peace of <HI>Europe.</HI> That unfortunate Gentleman (Mr. <HI>God|frey</HI>)
<PB N="16" REF="12">
was &s;lain by a Cannon-ball, when &s;tanding very near his <HI>Maje&s;ty</HI> in the Trenches, in the late famous Siege of <HI>Namur:</HI> Thus has He expos'd him|&s;elf in places of greate&s;t danger, and is &s;till ready to charge through &s;torms and tempe&s;ts of flame, for our happine&s;s and pro&s;perity. It is He whom God hath made the happy in&s;trument of our pre|&s;ervation: it is He who gives the mi&s;erably har|ra&s;&s;ed and di&s;turbed part of <HI>Chri&s;tendom</HI> a glorious pro&s;pect of its former peace and tranquillity. Let us pour forth our &s;upplications, let us heartily pray to God for him, that he would be pleas'd to protect his <HI>Royal Per&s;on,</HI> and crown all his enter|prizes with &s;ucce&s;s.</P>
<P>But this is not the whole of our Duty. Let us &s;erve him with our lives and fortunes, let us cheer|fully and willingly contribute to the &s;upport of his <HI>government</HI> proportionably to our re&s;pective abilities. <HI>Money</HI> is the nerve, the &s;trong &s;inew of War; without this what peace can we expect? without this, as well as prayer, how can He <HI>break the power of the ungodly and malicious?</HI> how can He humble <HI>the troubler of I&s;rael?</HI> A Denial of this takes off the Chariot wheels, and makes things drive on not <HI>vigorou&s;ly</HI> but heavily, and then what can <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 word"> for but an inundation of mi&s;ery and di|&s;tre&s;s <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 word"> let us not imitate the fooli&s;h and in|con&s;iderate
<PB N="17" REF="12">
<HI>Con&s;tantinopolitans</HI> of old who, tho they were the riche&s;t Citizens in the World, yet, when their City was be&s;ieg'd would find nothing to give their <HI>Emperor</HI> for its defence and &s;ecurity, tho He im|plor'd it of them with the greate&s;t importunity: But when once the <HI>Ottoman Power</HI> became its in|&s;ulting and triumphant Conqueror, then tho&s;e nar|row hearted Citizens, who before had nothing to give, had more than enough to lo&s;e. We had bet|ter give the greate&s;t part of what we have, than be expos'd to the plunder and rapine, to the ra|vage and fury of the <HI>common enemy and oppre&s;&s;or.</HI></P>
<P>Ble&s;&s;ed be God we have now a <HI>King,</HI> who leaves nothing unattempted for our peace and quiet, for our ea&s;e and repo&s;e, for the &s;ecurity of our go|vernment and the Prote&s;tant Religion, even to the hazard of his own <HI>&s;acred Per&s;on;</HI> and &s;hall we be wanting in any thing to &s;o noble an enterprize, to &s;o glorious and heroic an atchievement? No, let us &s;erve him with our lives and fortunes, and pray fervently for <HI>the peace of Jeru&s;alem.</HI></P>
<P>But 3dly and la&s;tly, in order to all temporal bli&s;s and happine&s;s, and that the God of heaven and earth may hear your prayers for the peace of <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> I humbly offer to your con&s;ideration the&s;e two things, and I beg of you to ob&s;erve and practice them; and they are</P>
<P N="1"><PB N="18" REF="13">1. To dwell together in unity.</P>
<P N="2">2 To glorify God by purity of life and holine&s;s of conver&s;ation.</P>
<P>And fir&s;t I humbly beg of you to dwell together in unity. <HI>Behold how good and joyful a thing it is for brethren to dwell together in unity</HI> P&s;alm 133.1. <HI>to this the Lord hath promi&s;ed his ble&s;&s;ing and life for evermore,</HI> v. 4 Alas! what peace can we ex|pect if we dwell not together in unity? <HI>A Kingdom divided again&s;t it &s;elf cannot &s;tand.</HI> What was it that facilitated the conque&s;t of the old <HI>Britains</HI> by the <HI>Romans</HI> but their civil Factions? and what ex|po&s;eth this nation now to &s;uch a conque&s;t, but our deplorable di&s;&s;atisfactions, &s;chi&s;ms, and religious di&s;&s;entions? <HI>O pray for the peace</HI> of the Church, <HI>they &s;hall pro&s;per that love her.</HI></P>
<P>Let us be all of one heart, one mind, and of one religion, the excellent religion of the <HI>Church of England,</HI> a religion which is fir&s;t <HI>pure,</HI> then <HI>peacea|ble,</HI> which is <HI>wi&s;dom from above;</HI> a religion which may be ea&s;ily prov'd to be primitive and Apo&s;tolical, to be the <HI>faith which was once delivered to the Saints.</HI> Oh that we could ju&s;tifie our lives as well! Oh that we would make it our bu&s;ine&s;s to live up to the precepts and obligations of this incomparable religion! then would God hear our prayers for <HI>the peace of Jeru&s;alem.</HI> But alas! how many are
<PB N="19" REF="13">
there that refu&s;e fellow&s;hip and communion with us? that have particular places to meet in, and a &s;ingular way of wor&s;hip to them&s;elves? What rea|&s;on can be a&s;&s;ign'd for their di&s;union, but a <HI>leaning too much to their own under&s;tanding?</HI> a &s;pirit of ob|&s;tinacy and contradiction? Can they object again&s;t the <HI>&s;ub&s;tantials</HI> of our wor&s;hip? Are we defective in any <HI>e&s;&s;ential</HI> part of Religion? No, they cannot deny but our Religion is &s;ub&s;tantially true and pure, <HI>without &s;pot or wrinkle or any &s;uch thing, holy and without blemi&s;h.</HI> Can they object that our way of wor&s;hip hath the <HI>Roman complexion,</HI> that there is in it any thing of <HI>Popery and Super&s;tition?</HI> No &s;urely, if they have under&s;tanding and inge|nuity, they mu&s;t be convinc'd, they mu&s;t confe&s;s that our Church hath no inclination at all to <HI>Pope|ry:</HI> Her admirable deportment and gallant behavi|our in the <HI>late Reign</HI> mu&s;t &s;atisfie any <HI>rea&s;onable</HI> man, that &s;he is the mo&s;t &s;trong and &s;tanding Bul|wark of <HI>Prote&s;tancy,</HI> and hath been &s;o ever &s;ince the <HI>Reformation.</HI> In <HI>the late Reign</HI> how did her <HI>Dove</HI> like innocency appear? when the weather was hard and &s;evere, when the &s;ea&s;on was tempe&s;tu|ous, when the rain de&s;cended and the floods came, when the winds were &s;trong and boy&s;trous and vehemently beat upon her, &s;he did not, like a <HI>&s;ubtle Serpent,</HI> creep into a hole, but bravely &s;how'd her
<PB N="20" REF="14">
&s;elf upon the face of the earth, and vindicated her principles with <HI>&s;uch a mouth and wi&s;dom as all her Adver&s;aries were not able to gain&s;ay nor re&s;i&s;t;</HI> and &s;tood, like a Rock, impregnable again&s;t all the a&s;|&s;aults made again&s;t her. The <HI>charming voice</HI> of an|tiquity &s;peaks in behalf of our Religion: What then is the matter? What occa&s;ions Nonconfor|mity? What ju&s;t rea&s;on is there of complaint and di&s;&s;atisfaction?</P>
<P>There are &s;ome Ceremonies which they cannot away with. As for her Ceremonies, there is no|thing in them but what is harmle&s;s and innocent, di&s;creet and primitive, in number few, in u&s;e de|cent, peaceable in regard of conformity, and high|ly conducive to Devotion. I am &s;ure, our <HI>Holy Mother</HI> the Church treats her Children with all ima|ginable tenderne&s;s and moderation, &s;he commands nothing but what very well &s;uits with St. <HI>Paul</HI>'s Ca|non, <HI>let all things be done decently and in order.</HI> That there &s;hould be Ceremonies, it is of ab&s;olute nece&s;&s;ity; no outward work can be performed without ceremonial circum&s;tances, and that there &s;hould be con&s;titutions concerning them, it is nece&s;|&s;ary, tho not &s;imply and ab&s;olutely as the former, yet <HI>nece&s;&s;itate convenientiae.</HI> If this were not, then every man might have his own fa&s;hion by him&s;elf, and &s;o con&s;equently there would be nothing but in|finite
<PB N="21" REF="14">
di&s;tractions and horrible confu&s;ions in the Church. No, the Holy Apo&s;tle hath taught us better things, <HI>God is not the Author of confu&s;ion but of Peace,</HI> 1 Cor. 14.33. and 1 Cor. 11 16. <HI>If any man &s;eem to be contentious, we have no &s;uch custom, neither the Churches of God.</HI> But it is a <HI>Je&s;uitical Artifice</HI> to promote Separation. Nothing can bet|ter advance the intere&s;t of <HI>Rome:</HI> It is their bu&s;i|ne&s;s to delude, to break the peace of the be&s;t con|&s;tituted Church in the whole World. They are highly &s;en&s;ible that enmity among&s;t our &s;elves is the only gate that can po&s;&s;ibly give <HI>Popery</HI> an en|trance into this Kingdom. O let us then in time unite, and <HI>&s;ee the things which belong unto our peace. Let us meet all together with one accord in one place,</HI> let us live together in Love and Unity. Upon this vertue of Unanimity, our Riches, our Honors, our Laws, our Religion, <HI>our King</HI> and our Coun|try all our hopes depend. Then &s;hall we &s;ee hap|py days, and peace upon <HI>I&s;rael. O pray for the peace of Jeru&s;alem.</HI></P>
<P>But 2dly and la&s;tly, Let us glorifie God by pu|rity of life and holine&s;s of conver&s;ation. This we mu&s;t of ab&s;olute nece&s;&s;ity do, or el&s;e the <HI>Almighty</HI> will not hear our prayers for the peace of <HI>Jeru&s;a|lem.</HI> It is infallibly true which we read in &s;everal places in Holy Writ; thus <HI>Prov.</HI> 28.9. <HI>He that
<PB N="22" REF="15">
turneth away his ear from hearing the law,</HI> he that hearkens not to the Lord his God and obeys not his laws, <HI>the prayer of that man is an abomination.</HI> Thus P&s;alm 66.18. <HI>If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:</HI> but P&s;alm 34.15. <HI>The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers.</HI> Thus in the ninth Chap|ter of St. <HI>John</HI>'s go&s;pel ver&s;e 31. we read, that <HI>God heareth not &s;inners.</HI> Yes, God hears and &s;ees what|&s;oever is tran&s;acted upon the &s;tage of this World. God is a witne&s;s and &s;pectator of all mens actions; not &s;o <HI>much as a thought can e&s;cape him, neither can any word be hidden from him: to him all hearts are open, all de&s;igns are known, and from him no &s;ecrets are hid;</HI> every mans heart is as pellucid, as clear to him as Cry&s;tal, he knows what is done in the inner rooms of the heart. <HI>The eye, indeed, of the Adulterer, the Thief, the Murderer, waiteth for the twilight, for the evening, for the black and dark night, &s;aying, no eye &s;hall &s;ee me; and di&s;gui&s;eth his face.</HI> Alas! he la|bours under the gro&s;&s;e&s;t mi&s;take and delu&s;ion: <HI>the night, with God, is as clear as the day, the darkne&s;s and light to him are both alike.</HI> Oh, that &s;uch men would but con&s;ider that God is the Author of their frame and con&s;titution! It is he who hath enriched us with the noble powers and excellent faculties of hearing and &s;eeing. It is by him that
<PB N="23" REF="15">
we are <HI>thus fearfully and wonderfully made.</HI> Now what man of &s;en&s;e or under&s;tanding can imagine him to want any power or excellence which He a|lone hath imparted to his creatures? If the effect be &s;o glorious, what is the cau&s;e? &s;urely he hears, he &s;ees, in a &s;uperior degree, in a more eminent manner than we can po&s;&s;ibly comprehend, <HI>his eyes mu&s;t be ten thou&s;and times brighter than the &s;un. He that formed the eye, &s;hall not he &s;ee? He that plant|ed the ear, &s;hall not he hear?</HI> P&s;alm. 94.9. <HI>God heareth not &s;inners.</HI> The&s;e words were &s;poken by the man who was blind from his birth, and who&s;e eyes our <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed Saviour</HI> had opened; &s;uch an a&s;to|ni&s;hing miracle as confounded the <HI>Phari&s;ees,</HI> as made them fly to opprobrious language and <HI>Ex|communications</HI> &s;uch a credential, &s;uch an infallible te&s;timony as illu&s;trated his <HI>Divinity,</HI> as &s;ufficiently evinc'd and prov'd his divine original and authori|ty. <HI>God heareth not &s;inners!</HI> That is, God patro|nizeth no &s;in, God worketh no miracle to authen|ticate or ju&s;tifie the mi&s;&s;ion of a &s;inner: Wicked men are always hateful to God, he rejecteth and refu&s;eth the prayers and reque&s;ts of &s;inners, that is, &s;uch as live in a &s;tate of impenitency, &s;uch as run on in &s;inful and debauched cour&s;es with the greate&s;t boldne&s;s and pre&s;umption, &s;uch as affront him by avowed wickedne&s;s and impiety. Nothing
<PB N="24" REF="16">
will endear the God of heaven to us but purity and holine&s;s: the God, with <HI>whom we have to do, is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity;</HI> this will certainly make a &s;eparation betwixt him and us, this will enforce him to withdraw from us the light of his countenance. If we continue in our &s;ins, then when we <HI>cry, He will not hear; when we call, He will not an&s;wer.</HI> O then let us lead holy and exem|plary lives, let us live with e&s;pecial regularity and &s;trictne&s;s of conver&s;ation; let us glorifie our <HI>Hea|venly Father</HI> by works of meekne&s;s and humility, charity and patience, &s;obriety and temperance: thus if <HI>we perfect holine&s;s in the &s;ight of God,</HI> we &s;hall then have evident demon&s;trations of his power and audience; he will graciou&s;ly hear us when we pray for the happine&s;s and pro&s;perity both of Church and State for <HI>the peace of Jeru&s;alem?</HI> God will then direct the con&s;ultations of the <HI>High and Honourable Court of Parliament</HI> now at hand <HI>to the advancement of his Glory, to the good of this Church, to the &s;afety, honour and welfare of our So|vereign, and his Kingdoms.</HI> We &s;hall than have a comfortable hope <HI>that all things will be &s;ettled by their endeavours upon the be&s;t and &s;ure&s;t foundations, that peace and happine&s;s, truth and ju&s;tice, the Pro|te&s;tant religion, and true Chri&s;tian piety will be e&s;ta|bli&s;h'd among us for all generations.</HI></P>
<P><PB N="25" REF="16"><HI>Which God of his infinite mercy grant, for Je&s;us Chri&s;t his &s;ake, to whom, with the Father and the Holy Gho&s;t, be a&s;cribed of us and the whole Church, all power, glory and prai&s;e, now and for evermore.</HI> Amen.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
