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A17927
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A sermon preached in Oxford-shire; by Nicholas Cantrel, Master in Arts. Published at the request of Sir Richard Blunt
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Cantrell, Nicholas.
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1624
(1624)
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STC 4588; ESTC S118531
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21,341
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42
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dutie of man the Epitome of all profitable learning Luk. 10.42 Col. 12.13 2. Tim. 3.15 which is only able to make us wise to salvation These are those bookes which thou shalt be put unto upon the greatest tryall that ever can befall thee even upon life and death not this temporall of the bodie but that eternall of soule and bodie before the Almightie Iudge of the world In the twentith of the Revelation and the 12th I saw the dead saith Iohn both great and small stand before God and the bookes were opened and another booke vvas opened which is the booke of life and the dead vvere iudged of those things vvhich were written in the bookes according to their vvorkes Well the seeond rule that I will propose to be practised for the right performance of this duetie to God is this If thou thy house wouldst serve God so as you ought to serve him then know that God hath set apart one day of the weeke for his service He allowes thee sixe dayes to spend upon thy selfe but requires that thou shouldest dedicate the seventh day unto him and lest thou mightst forget it he bids thee Remember to keep it holy Oh denie him not so small a request as one day that hath given thee all Nor hath he for himselfe anie need of this from thee but for thy sake requires it of thee with manifold blessings to returne it to thee This day then thou must exempt from the vaine things of this world and spend it wholly in pious duties in religious exercises in the Word in the Sacraments in the workes of mercie and charitie Now thou must rouze up thy soule and all that is within thee to sing prayses unto the Name of the Lord in the congregation of his Saints Now thinke upon the glorious workes of the Lord the sweet hope of thy redemption the manifold benefites and consolation that thou enjoyest in Christ and then let thy ravisht soule burst forth into those glorious exultations of David It is a good thing to give thankes unto the Lord and to sing prayses unto thy Name O most High to tell of thy loving kindnesse in the morning and of thy truth in the night season Psal 92.1 A third Rule I adde and that is this As the Sabbath is appointed of God to be wholly consecrate unto his service so thou must let no day passe without a speciall remembrance of God The Heathens in their counterfeit Religion yet retained this principle A love principâ—um to begin the day and whatsoever they undertooke by first calling upon their gods and shame it were for Christians to be more negligent in performing this service unto the God of heaven the true God than Heathens were in performing it unto their Idols which by nature were no gods Therefore if thou wouldest be the true servant of God thou must everie day call upon him every day pray unto him privately by thy selfe publikely with thy family joyning together with one heart and with one spirit with reverence with diligence with fervencie This Rule wee may learne from the Apostle Pray alwayes saith he with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit but how and watching thereunto with all perseverance Ephes 6.18 The common sort of Christians doe shew by their carelesse behavior that they are fouly mistaken what prayer is they thinke it enough to repeat the words and so the tongue be busie in speaking no matter what the heart is thinking thus they turn the chiefest means of grace into the foulest sin that is tempting the great majestie of God by their rash presumption But if we would pray as we ought we must come unto this dutie with a reverent preparation behaving our selves as in the sight of God For this is an high heavenly duty which makes us as it were familiar with God whereby wee come into the presence of God and are vouchsafed being but dust and ashes to conferre with that glorious majestie of God and therefore unlesse we meane to pull downe a curse upon our selves we must take heed how wee perform so weightie and divine a dutie carelesly formally and coldly I speake this with griefe of heart and to our shame no garish toy no companie so vile and hatefull in the sight of God but is able to cause us to omit this duetie and to break it off What my beloved doe we thinke that God stands in such need of our devotions that when wee have served the flesh and the world he will be contented with the refuse of our time and affections Oh no! we may learne farre better things of the Heathens Ignavis precibus fortuna repugnat Fortune say they resisteth cold and sluggish prayers And shall that service bee thought meet by Christians for the true and everliving God which Heathens thought unmeet for their blind their false their imaginarie goddesse Farre be this from us wee have not so learned Christ A fourth rule to be observed that wee may bee the true servants of God is to withdraw our affections from worldly vanities wee must take heed that these get not the possession of our hearts if they doe all that service which wee should performe unto God will soone vanish and come to nothing Love not the world saith S. Iohn neither the things that are in the world If anie man love the world the love of the Father is not him 1 Iohn 2.15 For indeed where the heart is taken up with vanitie what roome can there be for pietie There cannot bee two such different masters as are the God of heaven and the god of this world And our Saviour plainely tells us that no man can serve two masters without hating the one of them Yee cannot saith hee serve God and Mammon Wee must therefore according to that rule of the Apostle so use the world as if wee used it not so use it that we fall not in love with the vanities of it that we be not ensnared with the deceitfulnes of it A fift and last rule to be observed of us if wee would shew our selves zealous in the service of God is first that wee should love and affect good men cherish them and encourage them keepe them with us and converse with them A true friend saith the proverbe is a friend also to him that loves his friend I may extend the nature of this proverbe to the true servants of God they that serve God sincerely themselves will make much of the servants of God And David puts it for one of the characters and markes of him that shall rest upon the holy hill of God to make much of them that feare the Lord Psal 15.4 On the contrarie those that be ungodly and prophane that deride all pietie and religion such as those are thy soule must hate and abhorre David could tell no better way whereby to make proofe of his zeale unto God than by such an affection Doe not I hate them saith he that hate
leave the house of his Lord the Church of his God would leave as much as lies in him all in good order before he goes would see that true religion should be thorowly planted Like a good Pastor before he leaves his flock faine would hee gather together the outcasts of Israel and bring all into one fold He would faine make all that dwelt in Israel to be true Israelites indeed Here my beloved you have a faire mirrour of pietie but wherein you may behold the disproportion of these times For where is that Authoritie which so bestirres it selfe in Gods cause where is hee that will undertake that in his private house which Ioshuah doth in a Common-wealth O barren world which dost gather strength in sinne by running towards thy end needs must thy sinnes be purged with a deluge of fire since the best amongst us are but briars and thornes and have not so much as one dram of Ioshuahs zeale Well but to proceed Ioshuah you see leaves no meanes unassaied to bring this good purpose of his to a wished effect But if this unrulie multitude would not obey the commandements of God of that God which had wrought such great things for them nor keepe his Covenant If the hardnesse of their hearts were such that they could be content to enjoy his benefits and performe no service hee sets before them life and death this day to choose which they will whether they would serve the gods which their fathers served that were beyond the floud or the gods of the Amorites in whose land they dwelt As for himselfe he is firmely bent and resolute both for himselfe and his familie to maintaine Gods cause against the whole world But as for mee c. Now from this practice of Ioshuah wee learne what is our dutie namely this teacheth us that if all the world would go from God Yet every one of us particularly is bound to cleave unto him This doctrine which Ioshuah had well laide up in memorie now to make use of it and by his rare example to commend it unto posteritie hee had learned in Moses schoole Thou shalt not follow a multitude saith hee to doe evill Exod. 23.2 which as it prooves that wee must not suffer our selves to bee carried away into anie evill course whatsoever by doing that which the greater part doth so especially in the things that concerne the honour and worship of God And this stands by good reason Reas 1 for if we consider our calling first wee are chosen out of the world to be a peculiar people unto God and therefore what others doe wee ought not to regard wee are the children wee are the servants of God wherfore as the eyes of servants looke unto the hand of their Masters even so must our eyes wait upon the Lord our God Psal 123. In the next place if wee consider the truth of Gods promises God is constant in his purpose nothing can make him change nothing can make him breake his covenant with us Hee is able and will profect us against all adversaries if wee relie upon his power and put our trust in him If we faile not in his service he will not faile in his promises A crowne of glorie is the high price of our calling nothing can take it from us if wee continue to the end And shall wee then bereave our selves of so great a reward as makes us happy and blessed for ever by going backe from the service of so good so powerfull so just a God either for feare or for favour of vaine man A third and last reason why wee should cleave unto GOD though the whole World should goe from God is because though wee have never so manie presidents in this kind yet no multitude can warrant us against the justice judgements of God If wee sinne with the multitude wee shall be punished with the multitude For when wee are called to give up our account it will not bee sufficient for us to say wee have done as wee saw others doe but as we are partakers of their sinnes so wee must partake of their sufferings too Mark my brtheren and take Aaron for example who because he ranne the same course with the people and being overcome with the importunitie of the unrulie multitude consented to their idolatrie in making them a golden calfe and worshipping it was not suffered to come into the land of promise Numb 20.24 But on the contrary if wee look unto the examples of the holy men whose praises are registred by the spirit of God we shal find it recorded to their high commendation that their hearts were alwaies strait and right in the service of God they cleaved stedfastly unto the true worship of God though living in the midst of a froward and perverse generation When all the world was set upon wickednesse yet even then was just Noah a Preacher of righteousnesse 2. Pet. chap. 2. vers 5. Abraham built an Altar unto the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord when he dwelt amongst the fierce and idolatrous Heathens Gen. 12. Righteous Lot was not without the feare of God nor did depart from the commandements of God though living amongst the beastly Sodomites his righteous soule was vexed with the uncleane conversation of those wicked men Gen. 19. Lastly in a word Daniel did not shrink to pray openly unto his God notwithstanding that wicked decree of the king were published to the contrarie whereby he was brought in danger of his life for the zeale and freedome of his devotion Dan. 6. Alas Alas my brethren needes must the examples of these zealous Saints rise up in judgement against us and condemne the coldnesse and hypocrisie of our wretched times in which the most part of men are readie to startle aside from the profession of that faith and religion in which manie yeares they have bin taught even upon the least earthly advantage that shall be offered unto them If there be hope that they may better their decaied fortunes if they may please men give content and currie fauour they will easily be brought to fall from Christ to renounce his Gospel Thus the foundations of the earth are out of course and none like Ioshuah to beare up the pillars of it Let but the sound of a change in Religion strike the eares of men what a number of false and wavering hearts will soone be disclosed who will runne with the multitude and expose that truth whereby they should bee saved unto an open shame And why is this but because men doe not value the great and pretious promises of Christ as they should they doe not love Christ for himselfe they care not for Religion further than it may stand with their worldly and carnall ends Yet here is a ground of comfort for all them that doe faithfully serve the Lord and stedfastly cleave unto him for he will cleave stedfastly unto them he will not forsake them nor leave them in the hand