CLAYTON Mayor Jovis xxiii o die Septemb. 1680. Annoque Regni Regis CAROLI Secundi Angl ' c. xxxiio. THis Court doth desire Mr. Hancocke to print his Sermon Preached at the Guildhall-Chappel on Sunday last before the Lord Mayor and Aldermen Wagstaffe A SERMON Preached before the RIGHT HONOURABLE THE Lord Mayor AND THE COURT of ALDERMEN AT Guildhall-Chappel Septemb. 19. 1680. By ROBERT HANCOCKE Fellow of Clare-hall in Cambridge and Rector of Northill in Bedfordshire LONDON Printed by S. Roycroft for Tho. Flesher at the Angel and Crown in St. Paul's Church-yard and W. Leech at the Crown in Cornhill 1680. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE Sir Robert Clayton Kr. Lord Mayor of the City of London And to the Court of Aldermen Right Honourable THE present Juncture of our Affairs is such that nothing but the most active Zeal for our Religion the most constant Loyalty to the King and the firmest Vnion among our selves can without a Miracle secure this Church and Kingdom The design of the following Discourse is to recommend these great indispensable Duties and to root out all those Lusts and Passions which are destructive of true Religion or Human Society and apt to foment Intestine Divisions or Forreign Vsurpations God grant that in this our Day we may yet know the things that belong to our Peace the preservation of his Majesties Person and Government and the continuance of the true Reformed Religion among us I am Right Honourable Your most humble and most obedient Servant Robert Hancocke St. Luke XIX 42. If thou hadst known even thou at least in this thy day the things which belong to thy peace but now they are hidden from thine eyes IN these Words we have a great Instance both of the stupidity and incorrigibleness of the Jews and of our Saviour's love and tenderness towards his implacable Enemies For he was no sooner come within view of Jerusalem but he laments those Desolations which by the just Judgment of God were breaking in upon them When he was come near he beheld the City and wept over it (a) Verse 41. And as he could not behold their destruction without tears so neither would he express his apprehensions of it without some kind of abruptness Whether there was an irreversible Decree already past in Heaven against the Jewish Nation as it cannot be determined from this Text so it is besides my present purpose to enquire But it is more certain that a flaming Sword was now hanging over their heads there were too many Symptoms of their approaching ruin and our Saviour in the next Verse tells them plainly That the Romans should be the Executioners of the Divine Vengeance upon them Yet some of the Jews were secure and inapprehensive of the common Danger and the rest did neither resolve the Judgments of God into their proper Principles nor comply with the end and design of them by considering the time of their Visitation (b) Verse 44. These profound Politicians invented a new State-engine the putting Christ to death to secure themselves not only from the Romans but from their own Sins too They frustrated all the designs of God's Mercies and Judgments they filled up the measure of their Fathers and at last they forced the Almighty to find out unheard of methods of punishment as might be shewed from the fatal circumstances of that dreadful Story I know we have not yet had as loud Alarms from Heaven as they but yet we have just reason to believe that God in the way of his Providence speaks to us in the language of the Text If you had known c. Or Oh that ye would yet know and lay to heart the things that belong to your peace c. For are not our Divisions and Animosities as high Are not our sins aggravated with as signal mercies and deliverances as theirs We are crumbled into as many Sects and Parties as they and most of them are so much more intent upon their private Interests then upon the common Interest of Protestants that it seems no very hard matter for the Modern Romans to enter in at those Breaches which are made amongst us There were two things which were both the Causes and Symptoms of the Jewish Calamities 1. Ageneral corruption and licentiousness in the lives of men 2. Those unnatural dissentions and feuds among themselves If ever our Adversaries of Rome prevail against us they must make use of these two mighty Advantages which we have put into their hands and so long as our Sins and our Divisions are battering our Walls and pecking at our Foundations I know nothing but a Miracle of Mercy that can preserve our Religion and Government These were the Causes of our former Sufferings as they are of our present fears and the doing what in us lies in our respective Capacities towards the removal of them is the only effectual way of minding the things which belong to the peace of our Church and Kingdom I crave leave therefore to represent and enforce this seasonable Duty with respect to the present juncture of Affairs so far as the peculiar care of some and the prayers and endeavours of all of you are concerned in it 1. We must begin with a sincere Reformation and cleansing our selves from all manner of Debauchery and Prophaneness The Wisdom which is from above is first pure then peaceable (c) St. James 3.17 and till the Lusts that war in our Members be subdued 't is in vain to look for a lasting Settlement for there is no peace to the wicked (d) Isai 57.21 If ye shall still do wickedly ye shall be consumed both ye and your King (e) Sam. 12.25 But to descend to particulars our continuance in Licentiousness and Irreligion is the way to subvert the Civil Peace to let in Popery or else a meer empty Formal Religion among us 1. It is the way to subvert the Civil Peace If the sinful Lusts and Passions of men do naturally tend to the dissolution of a Government if the Divine Protection be that wherein the Safety of a Kingdom doth consist if the practice of Christian Righteousness be that alone which can entitle us to the favour of God If downright Atheism or the contempt of all revealed Religion if the most monstruous Ingratitude or the most obstinate Incorrigibleness if the mocking of God by Hypocritical Wickedness or the proclaiming War against him by notorious Prophaneness can provoke him to Wrath and Vengeance then I am sure that nothing but a timely Reformation can provide for the Peace and Settlement of this Kingdom 2. This is the way to let in Popery among us For that 's a Religion such a one as it is that all loose and licentious People are already prepared for 't is the most pleasant and easie the most gay and pompous Religion in the World 't is such a one as they would devise were they to make a Religion for themselves For the truth of this Charge I
the Author of Sin (k) Lev. c. 21. Lib. and Nec in divers places That the Law of the Civil Magistrate is the only obliging Rule of Just and Vnjust and that the New Testament is not a Law of any place where the Commonwealth hath not made it so (l) Lev. c. 42. That the Obligation of Subjects to their Sovereign lasteth no longer then the power lasteth by which he is able to protect them (m) Lev. c. 21. 2. What is the consequence of the Practical Divinity of the Romish Divines and Casuists about Repentance Purgatory and the efficacy of the Sacraments in conferring Grace but the subverting the necessity of an Holy Life 3. There are some malignant Doctrines that have a more immediate influence on Kingdoms and Governments and they are such as these That Dominion is founded in Grace That the Obligation of Oaths and Promises may be taken away by some Authority on Earth That it is lawful to make use of Equivocations and mental Reservations That Church-men are exempted from the Jurisdiction of the Civil Power That a Sovereign Prince is either the Pope's Subject or the Peoples Trustee That he is accountable for Heresie or evil Government to his Holiness at Rome or to some Assembly of Church-men or Inferiour Magistrates within his own Dominions 4. I wish the Libertines Antinomians and other Carnal Gospellers of this Age had not furnisht us with another Catalogue of Licentious Doctrines The chief of them are these that follow That the Moral Law is abrogated by Jesus Christ That the Covenant of Grace is absolute and unconditional and that no man ought to work for Salvation much less for the fear of Hell That the Torments of Hell are not properly Eternal That a good Moral Man is further from the Kingdom of God then a loose Liver That justifying Faith consisteth in believing that a man is perdestinated to Eternal Life That Sins are pardoned before they are committed and that God sees no Sin in his People To this Head I might reduce all such Notions of Christian Liberty as destroy the necessity of Obedience in all lawful things All such Notions of God and his Decrees as make him the Author of our Sin or Misery or set up the Decrees of God in opposition to his Laws or one of his Attributes in opposition to another All such Notions of Jesus Christ as set up his Person in opposition to his Gospel or make us righteous with Christ's Righteousness whilst we continue in any Course of Sin But thus much may suffice to have spoken of the first thing 2. We have reason to be apprehensive of the effects of our unnatural Contentions and Animosities as well as of our open and notorious Vices Certainly never any People enjoyed more excellent means of Peace and Unity never any People laboured more under the Calamities of Rebellions and Factions never was any People assaulted with more bloody implacable more subtle and industrious Enemies then we are It is therefore the Duty and Interest of all Loyal Subjects and good Christians to endeavour to correct that Spirit of Sedition and Division that is working among us and to promote the Security and Establishment both of our Government and Religion 1. I begin with the Civil Government You have blessed be God the Scriptures in your own Language and if you read them without partiality and prejudice you will soon learn those indispensable Duties of Peace Humility and Obedience They will teach you to pray for the King and all in Authority under him (n) 1 Tim. 2.1 To be subject not only for Wrath but for Conscience sake (o) Rom. 13.5 They will plant in you all those dispositions which are essential to the support of Government and Society they will subdue all those Passions and mortifie all those Lusts which are the Parents of Strifes and Quarrels of Confusions and Treasons besides you are Members of a Church whose just glory it is to assert the Rights of Princes with so much plainness and sincerity that no man can be true to the Church of England whilst he is false to his Sovereign This holy and peaceable Religion will teach you to beware of and suppress all others of what Communion soever that vent any seditious Doctrines or allow of such practices as are consonant to them I know the most horrid things have been taught and acted among us under the disguise of Religion but of all men living the Romanists have the least reason to charge any of our Sects with Treason and Sedition For the most barbarous Villanies that were committed in these Kingdoms may be justified by the principles of that Faction and the most Antimonarchical Doctrines that ever came from the Pulpit or the Press either were or might be derived from the Canon Law the Popes and Councils the most approved Casuists and Guides of Souls Let Pope Sixtus the Fifth have the honour of being either the first inventer or polisher of the Fanatick Art of Canting and perverting the Scriptures admiring the providence of God in the murder of a lawful King and the truth is the first Thanksgiving Sermon that I find on such an Occasion was preacht by his Holiness in the Roman Consistory (p) See his Panegyrick Oration on the murder of H. 3 of France It was printed at Paris An. 1589 with the approbation of three Doctors Nor do I envy the Roman Church the glory of sanctifying Rebellions and Murders Perfidiousness and Cruelty by the Authority of some of her General Councils 'T is no wonder if the same power which transforms bread and wine into the substance of Christs natural body and blood do also transform Christians into Wolves and Tygers Did some of our Sectaries abuse Curse ye Meroz and other parts of Scripture to the carrying on the blackest Designs So did Alexander the third (q) Ep. Alex. 3. Conc. Bin. tom 7 par 2. pag. 656. so did Pius the fifth those (r) Bullar Cherub tom 2. pag. 305. printed at Rome 1617. words of God I have set thee over Nations and Kingdoms c. Did not Innocent the Fourth prove his power of deposing Princes from that Text Whatsoever ye shall bind on Earth c. (s) See Pope Innocent the Fourth's Sentence of Deprivation against the Emperour Ferdinando in the Council of Vienna Have you never heard of the incomparable Interpretations of Rise Peter kill and eat Feed my Sheep Vpon this Rock will I build my Church It were no hard matter to give you a Specimen of the Divinity of Popes and Cardinals men of greater Learning and Authority but of as little Conscience and Loyalty as the Authors of our most pestilent Sermons and Pamphlets Are any of these under unlawful Oaths and Engagements So are all the Bishops Jesuits Monks and Friars of that Church under Oaths of absolute Allegiance to the Pope or of blind Obedience to their Superiors that are his Creatures and Vassals (t)
security of our Religion by Tumults Insurrections or any other unlawful means For 't is impossible that true Religion should be promoted by sin wickedness by such ways as are contrary to the nature and ends of Religion The Christian Religion neither commands nor allows us to fight for the Lord of Hosts by breaking his Laws and it was establisht by doing good by patient and constant suffering for it Let it therefore be the peculiar glory of Turks Papists to propagate their Religion with sword and bloodshed but let us regulate our zeal with prudence obedience and charity which make up the truly Christian temper of English Protestants and let no private passion or interest transport us beyond the bounds of our Duty to God and our Allegiance to the King For if they do we shall convince all impartial men that we have as little sense of true Religion as our Adversaries 2. We are also to obey the commands of our Superiors as far as we can without sin For either all the Gospel Precepts of obedience signifie nothing at all or they signifie thus much that we ought to come up to Authority as far as we can without disobeying the Law of God Let us therefore lay aside all prejudice and groundless disaffection let us come with modest and humble dispositions ready to obey in all lawful things and resolved to make the breach no wider then we are bound in conscience to do Could men be perswaded thus far and there is no reason why they should not we might yet hope to see though not a perfect union yet a lasting peace in our days For men would proportion their zeal to the nature of things they would seek out for information they would not take up objections upon trust nor revile the legal Constitutions the number of Dissenters would be much lessened and they would joyn with us in a joynt opposition of the common Enemy They would bear with such inconveniences as are not sinful for what Church under Heaven is perfect in all matters of worship and discipline they would yield to a restraint of their liberty in the exercise of it for the peace of the Church For must not every Member of any Society part with something that he desires might he choose for himself in order to the publick Good 3. Where any thing is of a doubtful signification we must put the most favourable construction of it that it is fairly capable of Were this favour shall I say or common equity allowed to the Constitutions of our Church which is to all other things of Human composure we should hear no more of those vehement charges of Antichristianism and Popery that are drawn up against them I am sure 't is neither conscience nor prudence to expose the Church of England to the hatred of forreign Protestants and who can believe that they way to keep out Popery and strengthen the interest of the Reformation is by inflaming the popular fury against that Church which is the strongest Bulwark in Christendom against the Papal Usurpations And now I shall draw to a conclusion Oh that we would know in this our day c. If the Judgments of God which we have already groaned under cannot sure the dangers that threaten us our Religion might help to abate our heats and suppress our differences We know the wonderful zeal of the Jews for the interest of every private party and their inapprehensiveness of the common danger made them become a prey to the Romans Did not Christianity decay in the Church of Corinth as their Schisms Factions encreased Did not the divisions in the Eastern Churches end either in a total subversion or a dismal corruption of Christianity among them How were the glorious beginings of the Reformation obstructed by the differences of some of the chief Reformers And if our Adversaries of Rome have of late made many Proselytes in these Kingdoms their success is not owing to the goodness of their cause but to the force of those Arguments which we have put into their hands Were not the former conquests of these Nations the effects of our own divisions God grant that saying may never be applied to us which was used of our Forefathers that whilst they severally quarrelled among themselves they were all overcome by the common Enemy We are told by one of their own Authors That the most effectual way to destroy the Protestants is by dividing them from and against one another (o) Windeck de Haeres extirp p. 415. The advice of Campanella (p) Cap. 25. p. 207. hath been pursued by the Romish Emissaries that have been industrious in heightning our Animosities and blowing up every spark into a flame in working on the passions of discontented men making harangues against the Church and Government in subdividing us into lesser parties and promoting a general Toleration They know well enough that the reformed Religion in England must needs fall with our Church they have seen how hard it is to set up a better or any establisht Church in the room of it they are convinced that a number of petty Sects and divided Interests cannot long maintain their ground against the Roman Forces If then we be concerned in good earnest as I hope we are to preserve the Reformed Religion let us all endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (q) Ephes 4.3 And that you may understand what kind of Religion they are labouring to introduce I will conclude with a short account of Popery 'T is a Religion that teaches you to put off humanity that you may be Catholicks and to deny your senses in a plain sensible matter to know the will of God without a Bible to pray to him by a Proxy and to worship him just as the old Heathens did to believe twice as much as Christ and his Apostles require and to leave out one Commandment which God himself enjoyned to promote Christian Charity by killing one another and convert men with fire and faggot to deny a known truth without telling a lye and to swear to a known falsity without perjury to obtain pardon of your sins without repentance and to go to Heaven without holiness to worship a Deity of your Priests making and then to sacrifice him to God And now let all wise and good men offer up their prayers to God that he would make up those breaches which our sins and the subtilty of our enemies have made in the Church that he who is the Prince of Pesace would inspire us with that wisdom that is pure and peaceable and all our Governours with wisdom and courage to suppress the growth of Atheism and Prophaneness of Superstition and Idolatry of Schism and Sedition FINIS