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heart_n believe_v confess_v faith_n 4,621 5 5.6074 4 true
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A32780 The commination prescribed in the liturgy of the Church of England vindicated, and recommended to the consideration of all pious Christians in a sermon preached to a countrey audience on the first Sunday in Lent, 1679/80 / by Benjamin Camfeild ... Camfield, Benjamin, 1638-1693. 1680 (1680) Wing C377; ESTC R1330 19,289 31

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deserve at Gods hands and most justly expose us to and admire the patience and forbearance of God towards us and they are to be as a School-master to lead us unto Christ for deliverance from them and as a Tutor and Monitor of the great obligation we have to him our Redeemer They are also to bring us to a true and serious Humiliation for all our Transgressions and to warn us against them for the time to come For notwithstanding the Blessing of the Gospel we are yet if we take not heed † If any man love not the Lord Jesus Let him be Anathema Maranatha 1 Cor. 16.22 liable to a Curse also if we are wilfully Disobedient to it nay and a greater and sadder Curse and Condemnation than the Law ever pronounced because the Blessing to us is by many degrees greater than what was set before them As we have better promises so we have also a sorer Judgment held forth unto us as the Apostle to the Hebrews more than once intimateth How shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation ch 2. And of how much sorer punishment suppose ye shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden under foot the Blood of the Son of God c ch 10. The Gospel is not made up altogether of comforts and promises as some mistake it but hath its Threats and Terrors also knowing therefore the Terror of the Lord we perswade men 2 Cor. 5.11 Both the Baptist Christs fore-runner and our Blessed Saviour himself too call upon us to Repent that we may flie from wrath and tell us that the Axe is now laid to the root of the Trees so that every Tree which bringeth not forth good Fruit is to be hewen down and cast into the Fire and that unless we Repent we shall all perish In that famous Sermon of our Lords upon the Mount we have him not only as it were upon Mount Gerizim uttering the Beatitudes or Blessings to his Disciples St. Matt. 5. Blessed are the poor in Spirit Blessed are they that mourn Blessed are the meek Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after Righteousness Blessed are the merciful Blessed are the pure in heart Blessed are the Peace-makers Blessed are they that are persecuted for Righteousness-sake But if we compare St. Luke ch 6. We find him also as it were upon Mount Ebal to denounce unto others a contrary Wo and Curse But Wo unto you that are Rich. Wo unto you that are full Wo unto you that Laugh now Wo unto you when all men speak well of you As elsewhere we find him uttering many Woes against the Hypocritical Scribes and Pharisees St. Matth. 23. St. Luke 11. St. Matth. 11. St. Luke 10. and those that Repented not at the sight of his mighty works among them And when he vouchsafes to give us an account of the Judgment of the Last day he lets us understand how all men then shall be divided and separated as the Children of Israel now were the Righteous that is the Sons of the Free-Woman the Faithful Disciples of Christ as it were on Gerizim at the Right hand to receive a Blessing but the unrighteous that is the Bond-Slaves of Sin and Satan as it were on Ebal at the Left hand to receive the Curse St. Matth. 25. Then shall the King say unto them on his Right hand Come ye Blessed of my Father ver 34. Then shall he say also unto them on the Left-hand Depart from me ye Cursed ver 41. So that you see the Gospel it self hath its Sentences both of Blessing and Cursing And there is an Amen too St. Mat. 28.20 St. Mark 16.20 St. Luke 24.53 St. John 21.25 you may observe at the end of all the Four Evangelists which relates to all things Contained in them Woes and Curses as well as Blessings to testifie the Certainty of both and the Belief of both in the Church of Christ Amen that is This is the Gospel of Truth We say commonly as True as Gospel And both of them shall be made good to the full at the Day of the Revelation of the Righteous Judgment of God when all Nations shall be gather'd before the Great Judge and he shall separate them one from another as a shepherd divideth his Sheep from the Goats and set the Sheep on his Right hand that is as hath been said on Gerizim and the Goats on the Left that is on Ebal When our Lord shall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty Angels in flaming fire taking Vengeance on them that know not God and obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ but to be glorified in his Saints and admired in all them that believe 2 Thes 1. This Institution therefore among the Jews which gives us a Remembrance and Representation of these things is not any more unsuitable to the times of the Gospel than to those of the Law For we are all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 under the Law to Christ † 1 Cor. 9.21 Gal. 6.2 St. Jam. 2.12 It is as fit now as then that we should attend to the whole will of God his Curses no less than Blessings 'T is as fit now as then that we should set the Amen of our Faith to each of them answering unto every Sentence in the Holy word of God Amen and so confessing with our mouths that we believe it unfeignedly in our hearts To the intent as it follows in our Church Service that being admonished of the great indignation of God against sinners we may the rather be moved unto earnest and true Repentance and may walk more warily in these dangerous dayes fleeing from such vices for which we affirm with our own mouths the Curse of God to be due Mark here I beseech you the plain Resolution of our Amen to Gods several Curses It is not uncharitably to Curse our selves or others No all is in order to a Blessing that we may every one carry a share of the Blessing home with us It is only to affirm with our mouths the Truth of the Divine Curses That the Curse is due to such and such Transgressors by Gods appointment That it is most certain all such Sinners are really accursed by God under his Curse while they continue such and have no possibility of removing that Curse but by a speedy Repentance and Return to God for pardon and forgiveness through Jesus Christ that by and in him they may be Blessed for ever Blessed by being first saved from their Sins and turn'd from their iniquities God of old declared his great Indignation against those who hearing the words of his Curses should yet bless themselves in their hearts saying I shall have peace though I walk in the imagination of mine heart to add drunkenness to thirst The Lord saith Moses will not spare such a man but all the Curses in this book shall lie upon him Deuter. 29.18.19 The Prophet Isaiah proclaims it once and again There is no peace saith the Lord
unto the wicked ch 48.22 and ch 57.21 Let no man deceive you with vain words saith the Apostle for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the Children of Disobedience Ephes 5.6 And when they shall say peace and safety then sudden destruction cometh upon them as Travel upon a Woman with Child and they shall not escape 1 Thes 5.3 It is of great concernment to us therefore in time to see and understand and believe and be sensible of the Cursed State which our sins necessarily and unavoidably involve us in and to judge and condemn our selves 1 Cor. 11.31 that we may anticipate the judgment of the Lord that we may not be then condemned by him and that we may be moved effectually to humble our selves in this day of grace and season lent us for Repentance to deprecate all his displeasure against us and obtain acceptance and favour with him through his Beloved It is not we alas that make Obedience a Blessed thing or Disobedience a Cursed thing 'T is all one for that whether we Believe it or not Whether we say and own it or not The Blessing and Curse are both of them already pronounced from God They are the Sentences of his Curse contained in the Holy Scriptures the Infallible word of him that cannot lye and gather'd out thence only for our caution and warning Our Amen added to them is but a fitting declaration that those whom God hath Blessed are certainly Blessed and those whom he hath Cursed are as certainly Cursed saying with our Lips that we believe this in our hearts which we are Damned infidels if we believe not And this way of owning and confessing it is a very probable and likely means to prevent the danger by shewing of it to us to bring us as hath been said to an hearty Repentance for all that is past and a through amendment for the time to come that so we may avoid the Curse and inherit the Blessing that taking this leisurely admonition of Gods fierce displeasure against such and such Sinners viz. Idolaters Disobedient to Parents and Governors Vnjust Cruel Malicious Vnclean Vncharitable Covetous and such-like who do err and go astray from the Commands of God the paths of piety Righteousness and Sobriety and walk in the High-Road to destruction we may the rather be moved to an earnest and true Repentance in all these particulars for the gross miscarriages we have been guilty of and for the future awakened and stir'd up to take greater heed unto our selves and walk circumspectly especially in these dangerous dayes wherein there are so many bad examples in the midst of a crooked and perverse Generation fleeing from those several Vices Ex ore tuo for which we have affirmed with our own mouths and therefore affirmed with our mouths because we believe in our hearts the Curse of God is due as it is clearly and plainly legible in his Holy word There can be nothing of impiety or folly nothing of antiquated Judaism or innovating Popery and Superstition certainly in all this Nay I must pronounce upon the whole that there is nothing which keeps persons from an hearty Compliance with so wholsome a Service but either First the not understanding of it aright Or Secondly some secret love reserved to their own Sins which makes them backward and unwilling thus to enter into a sacred vow and covenant with God under a Curse against them For otherwise the Benefit of this Devotion is most Conspicuous What more prevailing motive can there possibly be both to Repentance and Reformation than this Remembrance of the dreadful Judgment of God hanging over our heads whilst we continue in Sin and alwayes ready to fall upon us prompting of us therefore as the only remedy and way to escape forthwith to return unto God with all contrition and meekness of heart bewailing and lamenting our wicked life acknowledging and confessing our aggravated offences to him and seeking to bring forth Fruits becoming penitents And Thus if we do as the excellent Homily of the Church assures us in the Close Christ will deliver us from the Curse of the Law and from the extreme malediction which will light upon them that shall be set on the Left hand and he will set us at his Right hand and give us the gracious benediction of his Father commanding us to take possession of his most glorious Kingdom Unto which he vouchsafe to bring us all for his Infinite mercy Amen FINIS