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<DATE>2014-03-10</DATE>
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<NAME>Kate Allen</NAME>
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<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1">
<PB REF="2">
<PB REF="2" MS="y">
<P>The Dean of <HI>Peterborough</HI>'s SERMON Before the LORD-MAYOR, AT St. <HI>Bridget</HI>'s Church in <HI>Ea&s;ter</HI>-Week, 1694.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="imprimatur">
<PB REF="3">
<OPENER><SALUTE>A&s;hhur&s;t Mayor,</SALUTE>
<DATELINE><DATE><HI>Martis</HI> xvij. <HI>die April.</HI> 1694. <HI>Anno&abque; RRs. &amp; Reginae,</HI> Willielmi <HI>&amp;</HI> Mariae, <HI>Angl. &amp;c. &s;exto.</HI></DATE></DATELINE></OPENER>
<P>THis Court doth de&s;ire Dr. <HI>Freeman,</HI> Dean of <HI>Peterborough,</HI> to Print his Sermon, preached before the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Governors of the &s;everal Ho&s;pitals of this City, at the Pari&s;h Church of St. <HI>Bridget</HI>'s on <HI>Tue&s;day</HI> in <HI>Ea&s;ter</HI>-Week la&s;t.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>GOODFELLOW.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="3">
<P>A SERMON Preached before the RIGHT HONOURABLE the LORD-MAYOR, AND <HI>Court of Aldermen,</HI> AT St. <HI>BRIDGET</HI>'s CHURCH, On <HI>Tue&s;day</HI> in <HI>Ea&s;ter</HI>-Week, 1694.</P>
<P>By SA. FREEMAN, D. D. Dean of <HI>Peterborough,</HI> and Chaplain in Ordinary to Their Maje&s;ties.</P>
<P><HI>LONDON:</HI> Printed for <HI>Ric. Chi&s;well</HI> at the <HI>Ro&s;e and Crown</HI> in St. <HI>Paul</HI>'s Church-Yard. 1694.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="dedication">
<PB REF="4">
<PB REF="4">
<HEAD>TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE Sir William A&s;hhur&s;t, LORD-MAYOR OF THE CITY of <HI>LONDON.</HI></HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>My Lord,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>IN obedience to the Order of your Court, I have publi&s;h'd this Sermon, and heartily pray it may have tho&s;e good Effects for which it was both Preach'd and Publi&s;h'd: And having this Opportu|nity, I beg leave to let Your Lord&s;hip know the grate|ful &s;en&s;e all good men have of Your vigorous Care and Endeavours to give a &s;top to that Profanene&s;s and Lewdne&s;s of Manners that are grown to &s;o great a head among&s;t us. The Act of Parliament that gives Liberty to Di&s;&s;enters in the u&s;e of their &s;e|veral Modes of Wor&s;hip, was, I am &s;ure, never de&s;ign'd to give men liberty to have no Religion at
<PB REF="5"> all; and yet this I fear, as to too many, is the &s;ad effect of it. It were to be wi&s;h'd that all men could be per&s;waded to wo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;hip God with one Mouth, and one Heart, after that mo&s;t Excellent Form E&s;tabli&s;h'd in our Church, the Be&s;t and Pure&s;t of Churches; yet is it far better to wor&s;hip God after any form, than not to wor&s;hip him at all, than to live in an open neglect and contempt of his Wor|&s;hip. May Your Lord&s;hip go on, by Your own Ex|ample, to encourage Regular and Uniform Devotion, and by a due Execution of the Laws, to &s;uppre&s;s Irreligion and Immorality. This, Their Maje&s;ties have often declar'd, to be Their Will and Plea&s;ure: By this Your Lord&s;hip will do the greate&s;t Service to Their Crown and Government: This will not fail to procure the Ble&s;&s;ing of God upon this great City, and &s;ecure to Your Lord&s;htp Peace and Honour both here and for ever. I am,</P>
<CLOSER><SALUTE>My LORD,</SALUTE>
<SIGNED>Your LORDSHIP's mo&s;t Obedient Servant, SA. FREEMAN.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="sermon">
<PB N="1" REF="5">
<HEAD>A SERMON Preach'd before the <HI>Lord Mayor,</HI> &amp;c.</HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL><HI>St. MATT. 25.46.</HI></BIBL>
<P>&mdash;But the Righteous into Life Eternal.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_OUR Ble&s;&s;ed Saviour having in the foregoing ver&s;es given us an account of the Proceedings of the la&s;t and dreadful Day of Judgment, and the diffe|rent Fates, to which both good and bad (whom he there de&s;cribes under the Chara|cters of Sheep and Goats) &s;hall be adjudg|ed and &s;entenc'd; &s;ums up the whole Di&s;|cour&s;e in the words I have read unto you.
<PB N="2" REF="6"> <HI>The&s;e,</HI> that is, the Goats on his left hand, the unrighteous and uncharitable, <HI>&s;hall go a|way into everla&s;ting Puni&s;hment;</HI> But <HI>the Righ|teous,</HI> that is, the Sheep on his right hand, the Good and Charitable, <HI>into Life Eter|nal.</HI></P>
<P>I am at pre&s;ent to di&s;cour&s;e on the latter of the&s;e, the happy State and Condition of Righteous and Charitable Per&s;ons in the other World: And for the better under&s;tand|ing of it, it is nece&s;&s;ary to &s;hew you the&s;e <HI>Three</HI> things.</P>
<P N="1">I. Who is meant by the Righteous.</P>
<P N="2">II. Wherein this Eternal Life con&s;i&s;ts; that is, the promis'd Reward of Righteous Per&s;ons.</P>
<P N="3">III. The Truth and Certainty of this Pro|po&s;ition; That Righteous and Charitable Per&s;ons &s;hall be for ever Happy in the other World; <HI>But the Righteous into Life E|ternal.</HI></P>
<P N="1">I. Who is meant by the Righteous.</P>
<P>Now, altho Righteou&s;ne&s;s &s;trictly taken, &s;ignifies only the virtue of Ju&s;tice and Ho|ne&s;ty,
<PB N="3" REF="6"> yet is it in Scripture frequently us'd in a more large Sen&s;e, and has re&s;pect to the&s;e <HI>Three</HI> things;</P>
<P N="1">1. To the Works and Actions of Men; Not but that we are bound to believe aright, and be very careful what Opinions and Te|nets we take up; e&s;pecially that they be neither immoral, nor unpeaceable; that the Articles of our Faith be well grounded, and contain nothing in them, but what is found|ed on, and agreeable with the Word of God. But that which the Scripture makes the true&s;t &s;ign and mark of a Righteous Man, are righteous Works, as being not &s;o cheap nor &s;o ea&s;y as Profe&s;&s;ion and Belief. <HI>He that doth good,</HI> &s;ays St. <HI>John, is of God:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Epi&s;t. <HI>John</HI> 3. v. 11.</NOTE> and again, <HI>My little Children let no man de|ceive you,</HI> in this point e&s;pecially,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Epi&s;tl. <HI>John</HI> ch. 3. v. 7:</NOTE> <HI>He that doth Righteou&s;ne&s;s is righteous, even as he is righteous.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. To the Univer&s;ality of a man's Duty. He that fails in any one part of his duty, is unrighteous to God, becau&s;e all are God's due; Here can be no commuting a duty,
<PB N="4" REF="7"> no making amends for the breach of one Law by the &s;trict ob&s;ervance of another, becau&s;e we are under equal Obligations to all. For this rea&s;on <HI>Zachary</HI> and <HI>Elizabeth</HI> are &s;aid in St. <HI>Luke</HI>'s Go&s;pel, to be both <HI>righteous before God,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Chap. 1. v. 6.</NOTE> becau&s;e they <HI>walked in all the Commandments and Ordinances of the Lord blamele&s;s.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. To the chiefe&s;t and mo&s;t principal part of a man's Duty, Charity and good Works; All the good things we po&s;&s;e&s;s in this world, being not &s;o properly given as lent us by God, (he being the true Owner and Proprietor of them, and we only his Stewards) we are oblig'd to put them out to tho&s;e u&s;es which the great Lord of the Univer&s;e gave us them for; that is to &s;ay, after we have in &s;ome competent mea&s;ure provided for our own Needs and Conveniences, and the comfortable Support of our Families, to di&s;pen&s;e the overplus to the Relief and Succour of tho&s;e that want it; I will not take upon me to adju&s;t the exact mea&s;ure and proportion that is to be ob&s;erv'd in the Exerci&s;e of this Duty;
<PB N="5" REF="7"> St. <HI>Paul</HI>'s rule is, according to our Ability, <HI>as God hath pro&s;per'd us;</HI> the <HI>Jews,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 16.2.</NOTE> be&s;ides the Tythes payable every year to the Prie&s;t,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Deut. 14.22.</NOTE> were oblig'd every Third year to &s;et apart another Tythe for the poor;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ver&s;e 29.</NOTE> which being re&s;olv'd into a yearly Rate, amounts to a Thirtieth part of our yearly Income; and certainly the Go&s;pel, that hath enlarg'd the Duty of Charity as to the Object, all Mankind, has not le&s;&s;en'd it as to the quan|tity; I know it's po&s;&s;ible for Men to ex|ceed in this Duty, though (that very rare|ly happens:) To be &s;ure there is far great|er danger that they fall &s;hort in it; and they that do &s;o, are indeed unju&s;t Stewards of their Ma&s;ter's Goods, and deprive the poor and mi&s;erable of that God hath given them a right to; and therefore <HI>Solomon</HI> in the 3d. of the <HI>Proverbs</HI> and the 27th. <HI>ver&s;e,</HI> &s;peaking of the poor and nece&s;&s;itous, (as both the<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign">.</NOTE> Septuagint Ver&s;ion, and the fol|lowing words, oblige us to explain it) thus advi&s;es, <HI>Withhold not good from them to whom it is due;</HI> or as it is in the <HI>He|brew,</HI> who are the Lords and Owners of it. Accordingly,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Deut. 24.13. P&s;al. 112.9.</NOTE> Alms-giving is frequently
<PB N="6" REF="8"> &s;til'd Righteou&s;ne&s;s both in the <HI>Old</HI> and <HI>New Te&s;tament:</HI> And this is the particular meaning of the word Righteous in the Text, it having relation to the Sheep mention'd in the former part of the Chapter, that &s;hall &s;tand on Chri&s;t's right hand at the day of Judgment, whom our Saviour there de&s;cribes by their works of Charity.</P>
<P>And though he in&s;tances only in tho&s;e that re&s;pect the Body, <HI>feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thir&s;ty, clothing the naked, vi&s;iting the &s;ick, entertaining &s;trangers;</HI> yet are there o|thers that re&s;pect the Soul, and are no le&s;s to be ob&s;erved by us, &s;uch as in&s;tructing the ignorant, confirming the weak, convincing the erroneous, reclaiming the vicious, rai|&s;ing the &s;orrowful and dejected &s;pirit; in our &s;tation undertaking the patronage of oppre&s;s'd Virtue and Religion; and when the Ca&s;e requires it, parting with our E|&s;tates, and laying down our Lives for the Brethren, that is, in defence of the Go&s;pel of Chri&s;t, which is the greate&s;t good we can do for other Mens Souls.</P>
<P>All nece&s;&s;ary and excellent Acts of Cha|rity; and yet &s;till there are greater, which
<PB N="7" REF="8"> being of a more Publick Nature and De&s;ign, la&s;ting longer, and doing more good, do out&s;hine the&s;e: I mean the Founding and Endowing Publick Hou&s;es of Charity, where|by not only &s;ome few Single Per&s;ons, but Multitudes, not only the pre&s;ent but future Generations are benefited and obliged; whe|ther they be <HI>Ho&s;pitals</HI> for the Maintenance of tho&s;e that cannot help them&s;elves, or <HI>Work|hou&s;es</HI> for the Employment of tho&s;e that can; or <HI>Places</HI> of <HI>Correction</HI> for the Puni&s;hment of tho&s;e that will not when they are able; or <HI>Free-Schools</HI> for the Education of poor Chil|den, whereby many are made to become u&s;eful Members of the Community, that otherwi&s;e might have been a burden, if not a pe&s;t un|to it.</P>
<P>I know this &s;ort of Charity is very much abu&s;ed in the World, (as well as Faith corrupted) but whil&s;t I plead not for tho&s;e Popi&s;h Places of Retirement, where un|der the pretence of Devotion, Idlene&s;s is indulg'd, and Luxury pamper'd, and all &s;orts of Lewdne&s;s too commonly practis'd; yet this hinders not, but that I may be an Advocate for tho&s;e of Prote&s;tants, who
<PB N="8" REF="9"> an&s;wer the great and good Ends for which they were de&s;ign'd, and daily admini&s;ter &s;up|port and comfort to the poor and mi&s;era|ble.</P>
<P>Pre&s;ently upon the beginning of the Re|formation, there was an huge outcry rais'd by the Church of <HI>Rome,</HI> again&s;t the Ble&s;|&s;ed In&s;truments of it, as if they had been declar'd Enemies to all good Works, be|cau&s;e they could not but condemn their Do|ctrine of the <HI>Merit</HI> of them; they granted we could not want Faith, while&s;t every one, they &s;aid, might have a Creed of his own devi&s;ing; but as for Charity, that had taken wing, and left the Heretical World.</P>
<P>To confute both the&s;e groundle&s;s and malicious Slanders, our very Prudent as well as Pious Reformers took this effectual Cour&s;e; To declare their Faith, and to put a &s;top to the De&s;igns and Whims of Factious and Melancholy Men, they put out the Articles of our Religion: And to ju&s;tify their Cha|rity, and encourage the Practice of it, they put that incomparable Prince, King <HI>Edward</HI> the Sixth upon founding, or at lea&s;t im|proving
<PB N="9" REF="9"> the Famous Ho&s;pitals of this City; And ble&s;&s;ed be God, &s;o many have been the Noble and Great Souls in every Gene|ration &s;ince, &s;o large and magnificent their Benefactors, that we are able to vye with <HI>Rome</HI> in this particular;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Synop. Pap. 1219, 1224.</NOTE> and if Dr. <HI>Willet</HI> informs us aright, to &s;hew more and grea|ter Schools and Ho&s;pitals built and endowed in <HI>England</HI> in the&s;e la&s;t Hundred and Thirty Years &s;ince the Reformation, than can be &s;hown in any the like Number of Years be|fore, when <HI>England</HI> was in Subjection to Po|pery.</P>
<P N="2">II. Wherein this Eternal Life con&s;i&s;ts, that is, the promi&s;ed reward of Righteous Per|&s;ons.</P>
<P>That by Eternal Life, is meant Eternal Happine&s;s, appears in that it's oppos'd to <HI>Everla&s;ting Puni&s;hment</HI> in the former part of the Ver&s;e, promi&s;ed as a thing infinitely de&s;irable, and as the Reward of Righte|ou&s;ne&s;s, upon which account it is el&s;ewhere call'd a Crown of Life.<NOTE PLACE="marg">James 1.12.</NOTE> <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed is the man that endureth temptation, for when he is tried, he
<PB N="10" REF="10"> &s;hall receive a crown of Life, which the Lord hath promi&s;ed to them that love him.</HI> But wherein this Eternal Happine&s;s con&s;i&s;ts, is not &s;o ea&s;y to di&s;cover or expre&s;s. It's a|bove our Thoughts, and above our Appre|hen&s;ions; it is the participation of the Joys of God, and of the Inheritance of our Ble&s;&s;ed Redeemer.</P>
<P>Oh Happy State!</P>
<P>Where I &s;hall be freed from all Sin, and from all Sorrow; where there &s;hall be no Evils from without, no Impurities from within to di&s;turb my peace; nothing but Eternal Day without Night, perpetual Calm without Storm.</P>
<P>Where I &s;hall live for ever in the pre&s;ence of God, and have my enlarged under&s;tand|ing entertain'd with a clear Knowledge of his Nature, Works, and all the wi&s;e De&s;igns of his Grace and Providence; and where this Knowledg &s;hall have that influence on my Soul, as to transform me into his Nature, &s;o that I &s;hall not only &s;ee God, but be|come my &s;elf a God-like Creature; not
<PB N="11" REF="10"> only partake of the Glory of Heaven, but be made my &s;elf a part of its Glory.</P>
<P>Where I &s;hall ever be with our Lord, and be an Eye witne&s;s of the happy Change of his pa&s;t doleful Circum&s;tances, and be tran&s;ported with un&s;peakable Ravi&s;h|ments to &s;ee him who was &s;o ignominiou&s;|ly and barbarou&s;ly treated on Earth for our &s;akes, exalted at the Right Hand of God to the highe&s;t pitch of Glory and Maje|&s;ty.</P>
<P>Where I &s;hall be a&s;&s;ociated with Ble&s;&s;ed Angels, and Spirits of Ju&s;t Men made per|fect; and pa&s;&s;ing through all the Regions of the Ble&s;&s;ed, &s;hall meet with none but Holy and Charitable Souls, of the &s;ame Mind and Temper with my &s;elf, freely conver&s;ing together, adoring the Infinite Perfections of God, and congratulating each others Happine&s;s in the enjoyment of him.</P>
<P>Where with all the Ble&s;&s;ed Inhabitants of that place, being united together in ho|ly Love, I &s;hall be engaged in a con&s;tant Exerci&s;e of Love, Joy, Gratitude, and Ad|miration, in chanting forth Songs of Prai&s;e
<PB N="12" REF="11"> and Thank&s;giving to <HI>him that &s;its on the throne, and to the Lamb that was &s;lain; to God even our Father, and to the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, who hath loved us, and wa&s;hed away our &s;ins in his own blood.</HI></P>
<P>Where, la&s;tly, all this Happine&s;s &s;hall be Eternal; where I &s;hall every day be more and more advancing in the Knowledge and Love of the Infinite God; and as they grow and increa&s;e, &s;o will my Joys multiply and &s;pring in upon me; every farther degree of the Knowledge and Love of God will cre|ate in me new and fre&s;h Additions of De|light and Plea&s;ure; and becau&s;e I can ne|ver come to an end in knowing and loving of God, I can never come to an end of my Happine&s;s.</P>
<P>All this, and infinitely more, is compre|hended in that <HI>Eternal Life,</HI> that's here made the Reward of Righteous Per&s;ons: <HI>For neither eye hath &s;een,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 2.9.</NOTE> <HI>nor ear heard, nor hath it ever entered into the heart of man to con|ceive, the great things God hath prepared for them that love him;</HI> and therefore is it fitter for us to hope for the&s;e things than to di&s;cour&s;e of them,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 13.12.</NOTE> <HI>whil&s;t we are in this tabernacle, and
<PB N="13" REF="11"> &s;ee but as in a gla&s;s darkly.</HI> But then it is to be con&s;ider'd, that tho the Go&s;pel promi&s;es us an Happine&s;s that we cannot comprehend, yet it gives us all the rea&s;on in the World to believe the Certainty of it. And this leads me to the</P>
<P N="3">III. Third Particular, To &s;hew the Truth and Certainty of this Propo&s;ition, That Righteous and Charitable Per&s;ons &s;hall be for ever happy in the other World; <HI>but the Righte|ous into Life Eternal.</HI></P>
<P>We have &s;ome &s;hort ta&s;ts of it here in the peace and &s;atisfaction of our Minds, there being much of God and Heaven in every act of Charity, and in the perfection of Cha|rity con&s;i&s;ts the Heavenly State.</P>
<P>We are a&s;&s;ur'd of it from the Ju&s;tice of Di|vine Providence, which making little or no difference betwixt Good and Bad Men in this World, is obliged to make a greater and more remarkable one in the next.</P>
<P>It is told us by God him&s;elf, preach'd by his Holy Son; confirm'd by Miracles; Chri&s;t him&s;elf died to purcha&s;e it; and thou&s;ands of Martyrs have died to witne&s;s it.</P>
<PB N="14" REF="12">
<P>But the Argument I &s;hall in&s;i&s;t on as more proper at pre&s;ent, is taken from our Savi|our's Re&s;urrection; This is the main &s;up|port of our future hopes, the great Pledge and A&s;&s;urance of our own Re&s;urrection and Immortality.</P>
<P>That our Saviour did ari&s;e from the Dead, I &s;hall not need, as I ju&s;tly might, to lay the &s;tre&s;s of the Evidence upon the Divine Authority of the Holy Scrip|tures; but giving them only that Credit that is due to every Common Hi&s;tory of Matter of Fact, here is enough to &s;atisfy the mo&s;t Sceptical and Cavilling Per&s;on. For, &s;ays the Apo&s;tle,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 15.</NOTE> <HI>He was &s;een of Cephas, then of the twelve, then of five hundred brethren at once.</HI> All Per&s;ons of clear Under&s;tand|ings, un&s;potted Virtue, unque&s;tionable Pru|dence, who could promi&s;e them&s;elves no advantage by forging it, who cannot be &s;uppo&s;ed to invent a Lye to propagate that Go&s;pel that damns the Lyar; who were en|abled by a Divine Power to work Miracles for the Confirmation of what they &s;aid; and who at la&s;t when they were not &s;uffered any longer to live to publi&s;h it, laid down
<PB N="15" REF="12"> their Lives, and &s;ealed it with their Blood. Be&s;ides the&s;e, there are two other great E|vidences of their Integrity in relating this matter, which being not &s;o common, I &s;hall propo&s;e them a little more at large; and (the Fir&s;t) is, That they have not in their Writings conceal'd their own faults, nor their Ma&s;ter's Sufferings; both which, no doubt, they would have done, had their de&s;ign been no other than by all manner of ways, right or wrong, true or fal&s;e, to advance their own and their Ma&s;ter's Glory. It was not much for St. <HI>Matthew</HI>'s Credit, that before his Conver&s;ion he was a <HI>Publican,</HI> a mo&s;t hated and di&s;honourable Office; and yet this does St. <HI>Matthew only,</HI> of all the <HI>Evangeli&s;ts,</HI> tran&s;mit to Po&s;terity. Would it not have been more for St. <HI>Peter</HI>'s Reputation, to have &s;poke but little of his &s;hameful Fall and De|nial of his Ma&s;ter, and more largely of his deep Sorrow and Repentance? When on the the contrary, St. <HI>Mark,</HI> who wrote his Go|&s;pel from St. <HI>Peter</HI>'s mouth, has at large in all its Circum&s;tances de&s;crib'd and rela|ted his Fall, but very &s;paringly mention'd his Repentance, &s;aying only, <HI>Peter wept,</HI> when
<PB N="16" REF="13"> as the other <HI>Evangeli&s;ts</HI> add, <HI>he wept bitterly:</HI> So al&s;o in re&s;pect of their Ma&s;ter, had it been only to advance his Honour, that they con|triv'd the &s;tory of his Re&s;urrection, when there was no &s;uch thing; How came they to give us &s;o particular an Account of his Di&s;graces and Sufferings? e&s;pecially the Purple Robe, the Scepter of Reed, the Mockings and Scourges, and the other &s;hameful Circum|&s;tances they have recorded of his Condem|nation and Execution? If their bu&s;ine&s;s had been only to invent and Romance, certainly it had been more for their Ma&s;ter's Renown, to have left it upon Record to &s;ucceeding A|ges, That he &s;uffer'd not at all; but that after he had by a Divine Power, working Miracles, and doing Execution on his Ene|mies, e&s;tabli&s;h'd his Kingdom in the world, he return'd back again to Heaven, with all the Ornaments of Triumph and Glory; But im|partially relating the whole &s;tory of our Saviour's Life, and Death, and Re&s;urrection, the di&s;graceful as well as the glorious part, it's no little proof, that they &s;pake truth in both, and are to be believ'd in the whole. Again, we find their Te&s;timony of this mat|ter
<PB N="17" REF="13"> confirm'd by an eminent <HI>Jew, Jo&s;ephus</HI> by name, who liv'd in or about that time; his words are the&s;e, <GAP DESC="foreign">,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Antiq. l. 18. c. 4.</NOTE> <HI>There was at that time,</HI> &s;aith he, a <HI>wi&s;e man, if it be lawful to call him a man, who did many Miracles, was an In&s;tructer of tho&s;e that willing|ly entertain'd the Truth; this was Chri&s;t, who being put to death, ro&s;e again the Third day.</HI> There are indeed tho&s;e that will have this Te&s;timony of <HI>Jo&s;ephus</HI> to be forg'd, and to be fal&s;ely thru&s;t into his Writings by &s;ome Chri&s;tians for the advantage of their Cau&s;e. But is there any &s;hew of rea&s;on to &s;u&s;pect this? Is it to be imagin'd, that our Saviour &s;hould make &s;o great a noi&s;e in the world, draw after him &s;o great a number of Di&s;ciples, be the In&s;titutor of a new Sect of Religion, do many miraculous Works, and yet &s;o di|ligent an Hi&s;torian as <HI>Jo&s;ephus,</HI> who liv'd at that time, and carefully collected every re|markable Occurrence, &s;hould not make the lea&s;t mention of him? And now if he has not done it here, he has done it no where; this being the only place in his whole Hi&s;tory where any thing is &s;aid of him. But is it likely <HI>Jo&s;ephus</HI> &s;hould write thus, <HI>This was the
<PB N="18" REF="14"> Chri&s;t?</HI> Is not this to write more like a Con|fe&s;&s;or than an Hi&s;torian? more like a Chri|&s;tian than a <HI>Jew?</HI> I an&s;wer, Is it nece&s;&s;ary that <HI>Jo&s;ephus</HI> &s;hould write his own Sen&s;e? May he not be &s;uppos'd to write accor|ding to the Opinion of others, and what the generality of the people &s;aid and re|ported of him? As well may <HI>Pilate</HI> be &s;uppos'd to believe Je&s;us to be King of the <HI>Jews,</HI> becau&s;e he caus'd that Title, <HI>Je&s;us of</HI> Nazareth <HI>King of the Jews,</HI> to be &s;et over his Cro&s;s; as <HI>Jo&s;ephus,</HI> to believe him to be the Chri&s;t, becau&s;e he in his Hi|&s;tory &s;ays, <HI>This was the Chri&s;t;</HI> when both &s;pake, not what they them&s;elves believ'd, but what others generally &s;pake; <HI>This was the Chri&s;t,</HI> that is, this was call'd the Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>So undeniable you &s;ee is the Truth of our Saviour's Re&s;urrection; and if Chri&s;t be ri&s;en, we may al&s;o be certain, that we &s;hall at la&s;t be rais'd by him; for he aro&s;e not for him&s;elf only,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 15.</NOTE> but <HI>as the Fir&s;t-fruits of them that &s;lept;</HI> and therefore the Apo&s;tle argues with great Rea&s;on, when he &s;ays, <HI>If Chri&s;t be ri&s;en from the dead,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 The&s;. 4 14.</NOTE> <HI>how &s;ay &s;ome among you, that there is no Re&s;urrection?</HI> And on the contrary, <HI>If
<PB N="19" REF="14"> we believe that Je&s;us died and ro&s;e again, even them al&s;o that &s;leep in Je&s;us will God bring with him.</HI> What greater A&s;&s;urance can good Men have, that their Bodies &s;hall not for ever &s;leep in the Grave, but &s;hall at la&s;t be re|united to their Souls, and both Soul and Body live for ever in un&s;peakable Bli&s;s and Glory? Chri&s;t rai&s;ing him&s;elf from the dead, and a&s;cending up into Glory at the right hand of God, gives us an uncontroulable Demon&s;tration that he is able to rai&s;e us al|&s;o; and then pa&s;&s;ing his Word and Promi&s;e for it, that he would rai&s;e us and exalt us to the &s;ame Glory with him&s;elf, we can have as little rea&s;on to doubt his willing|ne&s;s to do it, as his Power; Thus he &s;ays, <HI>I am the Re&s;urrection and the Life;</HI> and again, <HI>He that believeth on me, &s;hall not peri&s;h,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">John 6.40.</NOTE> <HI>but have everla&s;ting Life, and I will rai&s;e him at the la&s;t day.</HI> Ble&s;&s;ed therefore, for ever ble&s;&s;ed be our Lord Je&s;us, who hath <HI>brought Life and Immortality to light by his Go&s;pel.</HI> Everla&s;t|ing Prai&s;es to his Name, <HI>who hath begotten us again to this lively hope by his Re&s;urrection from the dead.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Pet. 1.2.</NOTE> Now <HI>I know that my Redeemer lives,</HI> and this I know al&s;o, that <HI>if he lives,</HI>
<PB N="20" REF="15"> I <HI>&s;hall live al&s;o;</HI> and though it does not yet appear what I &s;hall be, yet this I know, <HI>that when he appears, I &s;hall be like him.</HI> Oh ble&s;|&s;ed &s;tate of Chri&s;tianity! we are not now left in the dark, as was the condition of the Heathen world, with &s;ome uncertain gue&s;&s;es and conjectures of a future &s;tate, grounded upon nice and &s;ubtle, and as to the peo|ple, unintelligible Arguments, but have it demon&s;trated even to outward &s;en&s;e by our Saviour's Re&s;urrection; This is that which exalts the Religion of Chri&s;t above the Jewi&s;h or any other that ever was in the world, that will effectually recommend it to all Mankind in all Ages, that it hath given us a plain and ea&s;y, a &s;hort and com|pendious, but withal, a full and clear and conclu&s;ive Demon&s;tration of a Ble&s;&s;ed Im|mortality.</P>
<P>It remains now only, That from what I have &s;aid, I per&s;wade you, if I can, to the &s;incere practice of univer&s;al Righte|ou&s;ne&s;s, e&s;pecially this Noble and Princi|pal part of it, Alms and Charity.</P>
<P>I have already &s;hew'd you the Ble&s;&s;ed Reward of &s;o doing, both as to the great|ne&s;s
<PB N="21" REF="15"> and the certainty of it; give me leave for a Conclu&s;ion to put you in mind of the great Examples that are gone before you to enjoy it, by who&s;e abundant Charity &s;o many admirable Ho&s;pitals have been found|ed and plentifully endow'd; the ble&s;&s;ed Fruits and Effects whereof, are the&s;e before you, and many others; So many daily fed and cloath'd, cured of their Maladies, re|&s;tor'd to their Wits, put out to beneficial Trades, in&s;tructed with great Abilities and Application in &s;everal kinds of u&s;eful Know|ledge and Learning; But I cannot give you a better account of them, than by reading the Report unto you.</P>
<DIV2 TYPE="part">
<HEAD>A True Report, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></HEAD>
<P>By this Report you &s;ee how much we are indebted to the Noble Benefactions of our great and generous Ance&s;tors: How much to your Lord&s;hip's and Brethren's Care, together with many other worthy Citizens, for their faithful and prudent Management of them: This above all things is the Glory of your City, and I hope it will ever be &s;o.</P>
<PB N="22" REF="16">
<P>May God encrea&s;e the Number of your Benefactors, may you your &s;elves be of that number.</P>
<P>This is the be&s;t way to perpetuate your Memories, to eternize your Names, to bring Honour to your Religion, to demon&s;trate the &s;incerity of your Profe&s;&s;ion, to make our Church become the Envy of <HI>Rome</HI> and the Glory of all Churches.</P>
<P>This is the be&s;t way to derive a pre&s;ent Ble&s;&s;ing upon your Families, and to entail a Ble&s;&s;ing upon your Po&s;terities, to avert the Judgments of God that hang over our heads, and to engage the peculiar and extraordi|nary Protection of Divine Providence over Their Maje&s;ties, this great City, and the whole Nation.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Eccl. 3.30, 31.</NOTE> <HI>As water quenches flaming fire, &s;o Alms make Atonement for Sin.</HI></P>
<P>This will make us like our &s;elves, of a truly humane Temper and Di&s;po&s;ition, who&s;e native property it is, to be courteous, help|ful, and obliging:</P>
<P>This will make us like the Son of God, who whil&s;t he was here on Earth, was full of the Spirit of Love, Tender-heartedne&s;s, and Compa&s;&s;ion, going up and down doing
<PB N="23" REF="16"> Good, and ca&s;ting an healing Influence both on the Souls and Bodies of Men.</P>
<P>This will make us like to God him&s;elf, by who&s;e mo&s;t adorable Goodne&s;s, the whole Frame of the Creation, the whole Race of Mankind, the rich, the poor, the &s;ound, the un&s;ound Part, were at fir&s;t made, and have hitherto been &s;u&s;tained.</P>
<P>In &s;um, Charity is the Flower of all Graces, the Bond of Perfectne&s;s, the Soul of Religi|on, the Nature of God, the Life of Heaven, and the mo&s;t certain undoubted Way that leads to it.</P>
<P>God many times rewards Charity in this World, and the Po&s;terity of a Righteous Man commonly fare the better for their Fa|ther's &s;ake. <HI>I have been young, but now am old,</HI> &s;ays the Prophet <HI>David, yet never &s;aw I the righteous for&s;aken, nor his &s;eed begging their bread;</HI> that is, nor his Seed begging their Bread, for&s;aken. We read in the Second Book of <HI>Kings,</HI> and the Fourth Chapter, of a Widow-woman and her Children pre|&s;erved alive, and fed by the Prophet's mira|culous encrea&s;ing of her Pot of Oyl; which Woman, if we will believe the <HI>Rabbins,</HI> had
<PB N="24" REF="17"> been Wife to that good Man <HI>Obadiah,</HI> con|cerning whom we read in the Fir&s;t Book of <HI>Kings,</HI> and the 18th Chapter, That <HI>when Jezebel cut off the Prophets of the Lord, he hid them by fifty in a Cave, and fed them with bread and water:</HI> And their Conjecture is not im|probable, the Character the Woman gives of her Husband in the one place, &s;o exact|ly agreeing to that the Holy Gho&s;t gives of him in the other. <HI>Thy &s;ervant my husband,</HI> &s;ays the Woman to <HI>Eli&s;ha, fear'd the Lord; and Obadiah feared the Lord greatly,</HI> &s;ays the other. So great a regard, you &s;ee, had God to the Wife and Children of a Cha|ritable Man, that he chu&s;es, rather than they &s;hould want, to feed them by a Mi|racle.</P>
<P>But what are all the good things of this Life to the felicities of the next? What are Riches that have wings, to Immortality? What's a Palace, to Heaven? Here we vi&s;it the Sick, and the Spirit of Comfort vi&s;its us. We &s;erve our Brethren, and Angels mini&s;ter to us. We convert a Sinner, and &s;hall &s;hine as Stars. We part with a little Sil|ver, and the hand of Mercy works it, and
<PB N="25" REF="17"> turns it into a Crown. We &s;ow Tempo|ral Things, and &s;hall reap Eternal. We build Hou&s;es for Outca&s;ts and Orphans, and &s;hall our &s;elves have a Building of God, an Hou&s;e not made with hands, Eternal in the Heavens; <HI>But the Righteous into Life Eter|nal.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
<BACK>
<DIV1 TYPE="imprimatur">
<P>IMPRIMATUR,</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>C. Al&s;ton.</SIGNED>
<DATELINE><DATE><HI>April</HI> 25. 94.</DATE></DATELINE></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="errata">
<HEAD>ERRATA.</HEAD>
<P>PAge 5. line 12. dele <HI>Parenthe&s;is</HI> before <HI>that,</HI> put it before <HI>though.</HI> P. 9. l. 5. r. <HI>Benefactions.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="publisher's advertisement">
<PB REF="18">
<HEAD>Books lately Printed for <HI>Richard Chi&s;well.</HI></HEAD>
<P>A Di&s;cour&s;e of the Pa&s;toral Care. By <HI>GILBERT</HI> Lord Bi&s;hop of <HI>Sarum.</HI></P>
<P>&mdash;His Four Di&s;cour&s;es delivered to the Clergy of the Dioce&s;s of <HI>Sarum.</HI> Concerning I. The Truth of the Chri&s;tian Religion. II. The Divinity and the Death of Chri&s;t. III. The Infallibility and Authority of the Church. IV. The Obligations to continue in the Communion of the Church. 8<HI>vo.</HI></P>
<P>&mdash;His Sermon preached before the Queen at <HI>White-hall, March</HI> 11. 1693/4. being the Third <HI>Sunday</HI> in <HI>Lent,</HI> on 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 1.26.</P>
<P>A Sermon preached before the Queen at <HI>White hall, Decemb.</HI> 10. 1693. on 1 <HI>John</HI> 5.4 By <HI>Sam. Freeman,</HI> D. D. Dean of <HI>Peterborough.</HI></P>
<P>An Impartial Hi&s;tory of the Late Wars of <HI>Ireland,</HI> from the beginning to the end. In Two Parts. Illu&s;trated with Copper Sculptures, de&s;cri|bing the mo&s;t Important Places of Action. Written by <HI>George Story,</HI> an Eye-witne&s;s of the mo&s;t Remarkable Pa&s;&s;ages. 4<HI>to.</HI></P>
<P>A Di&s;cour&s;e of the Government of Thoughts. By <HI>George Tully,</HI> Sub-Dean of <HI>York.</HI> 8<HI>vo.</HI></P>
<P>Memoirs of the mo&s;t Reverend <HI>Thomas Cranmer,</HI> Archbi&s;hop of <HI>Canter|bury.</HI> Wherein the Hi&s;tory of the Church, and the Reformation of it, during the Primacy of the &s;aid Archbi&s;hop, are greatly illu&s;trated, and many &s;ingular Matters relating thereunto now fir&s;t publi&s;hed in Three Books. Collected chiefly from Records, Regi&s;ters, Authentick Letters, and other Original Manu&s;cripts. By <HI>John Stripe,</HI> M. A. <HI>Fol.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Origo Legum:</HI> Or, A Treati&s;e of the Origin of Laws, and their Oblig|ing Power. As al&s;o of their great Variety, and why &s;ome Laws are im|mutable, and &s;ome not, but may &s;uffer change, or cea&s;e to be, or be &s;u|&s;pended or abrogated. In Seven Books. By <HI>George Daw&s;on,</HI> M. A. <HI>Fol.</HI></P>
<P>A Brief Di&s;cour&s;e concerning the Lawfulne&s;s of Wor&s;hipping God by the Common Prayer; in An&s;wer to a Book, Intituled. <HI>[A Brief Di&s;cour&s;e of the Unlawfulne&s;s of Common-Prayer-Wor&s;hip.]</HI> By <HI>John Williams,</HI> D. D. 4<HI>to.</HI></P>
<P>A True Repre&s;entation of the Ab&s;urd and Mi&s;chievous Principles of the Sect commonly known by the Name of the <HI>Muggletonians.</HI> 4<HI>to.</HI></P>
<P>A Sermon concerning the Coele&s;tial Body of a Chri&s;tian after the Re|&s;urrection; preached before the King and Queen at <HI>White-hall, April</HI> 8. 1694. being <HI>Ea&s;ter-day.</HI> By <HI>Thomas</HI> Lord Bi&s;hop of <HI>Lincoln.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
</BACK>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
