Selected quad for the lemma: judgement_n
Text snippets containing the quad
|
ID |
Title |
Author |
Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) |
STC |
Words |
Pages |
|
A53329
|
A sermon preached at the assizes held for the county-palatine of Chester the 11th day of April, 1699 by John Oliver.
|
Oliver, John, d. 1730.
|
1699
(1699)
|
Wing O279; ESTC R38155
|
9,550
|
26
|
Power and to which the last Account must be given of its Execution like that he renders to all under his Charge according to their Doings without the least Partiality or Respect of Persons he weighs the Merits of the Cause without throwing in the Circumstances of the Party to unsettle the Balance so that neither the Weight of Greatness presses down the Scale nor the Lightness of Poverty kicks it up but every Action receives such a Sentence as the Law has provided and meets with a Reward or a Punishment suitable to its own Merit If the Cure of Souls become his Province the Importance of his Charge and the Consideration of a vast Eternity in Happiness or Torments unspeakable the infallible Recompence of Vertue and Vice inspire all his Ministerial Applications with an extraordinary Vigor and set him to the Discharge of every Branch of the sacred Office with all imaginable Diligence and because the World is not easily reconciled to Principles that contradict the natural Lusts and Passions of Men and because most Men are willing to excuse themselves by every Pretence from what they are loth to practise he endeavours to convince his People both of the Truth of his Doctrine and Practicableness of Religion by his own Example and teaches others the Value they ought to set upon their precious and immortal Souls by the particular Care he has of his own If Subjection be his Lot he is very well satisfy'd with his Station as knowing how much easier it is to obey than to govern to receive than to give Laws he is very sensible of the great Burden that Authority lies under how vast a Load of Care and Business devolves upon him who has the Charge of a Multitude and stands oblig'd to provide for the Rights and Interests of every particular Member of it and therefore he thinks it a Shame to add more Weight by a perverse and refractory Carriage but resolves to contribute all he can to the ease of his Superiors by a cheerful Obedience to their Commands and to the Maintenance and Support of them also by as cheerful a Liberality Last of all as to the various Events and Accidents of his Life no Change of outward Circumstances creates the least Alteration in him the most elevated Condition can't make him forget the Obligations he has to common Justice and Humanity and that Power that furnishes him with a Thousand Opportunities of doing good is never misemploy'd to Acts of Injustice and Oppression Pride and Haughtiness and Contempt of others are Qualities he is a perfect Stranger to and however Providence may have remov'd him to some considerable Distance from his Inferiors he remembers withal that Distance has not broke the Relation he bears to them as a Man and a Christian nor depriv'd them of that Right they have upon both Accounts to his Charity and Protection On the other hand Misfortune can't so far debase his Spirit but that he still remains the Master of his Honour and his Vertue he is never brought so low as to stoop to any base unlawful Means for the Recovery of his Fortune nor can he ever think it reasonable to redeem his Interest at the Price of his Conscience much less does he harbour any murmuring Thoughts of that Supreme Power to whom belongs the Disposal of humane Affairs by unquestionable Right and who can at pleasure shift the Scene and make the greatest Prince change Circumstances with the meanest Slave in his lowest Declension he discovers a Brightness equal to that of his greatest Height and lets all Men see that his Vertue is not like Quicksilver in a Glass subject to all the Alterations of the Weather but is the fixt Persuasion of his Mind and the settled Choice and Resolution of his Soul This is the Upright Man view him all over and you 'll find him exactly of a piece Justice and Righteousness are the ruling Qualities of his Conversation Interest and Design and Subtilty have no place in him and whatsoever Judgment the World makes of him he is abundantly satisfi'd with a sense of Well-doing and finds it at last the best Policy too Which brings me to the Second thing The Advantage of this great Principle And that will appear upon many Accounts I. With Respect to God II. To the World III. To a Man 's own Conscience IV. To the Judgment of the great Day With Respect to God An Upright Carriage will most certainly commend us to the Care of Divine Providence and engage that on our sides and under this Protection we may well defy all the Hazards and Misfortunes of this World to which purposes we have these Assurances of Holy Writ The righteous Lord loveth righteousness Psalm 11 37 18. his countenance doth behold the upright The Lord knoweth the days of the upright and their inheritance shall be for ever The upright shall dwell in the land Prov. 2.21.22 and the perfect shall remain in it but the wicked shall be cut off from the earth and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it Now what are all these but so many express Declarations of Heaven to assure Good Men of Protection and Assistance in their ways whilst the Wicked are for saken of God and left to reap the fruit of their own Evil Counsels And indeed it must needs be so for sure they that commit themselves and all their Affairs to an Almighty Power and Wisdom and rest wholly upon that in the Discharge of their Duty that are not to be frightned from it by any Terrors or Sufferings on the one hand nor seduc'd out of it by the offers of any Worldly Interest and Advantage on the other they that dare be Honest and trust God with the Event these sure have a better Title to his Promises and a greater Interest in his Care than other Men and whatsoever Calamities shall happen in the World they may reasonably hope for his Support and Assistance Truth and Righteousness and Sincerity are Qualities that can't fail of endearing us to God as well as Man these are some of the brightest Resemblances of his own Divinity and can't choose but engage his Affection in what part soever of his Workmanship they are found an humble Resignation of our selves and all our Concerns to him without the least Dependance on our own Strength or Policy this will enter us into his immediate and particular Care and prove the nearest and most infallible Way to our Happiness and Security for what should make him afraid that has Omnipotence for his Guard or what can he want that lives under the Provision of infinite Goodness Such as these in the Royal Prophets Expression need not fear the terrors by night Ps 91.5 6 nor the arrow that flyeth by day nor the pestilence that walketh in darkness nor the destruction that wasteth at noon-day a thousand shall fall on one hand and ten thousand on the other but it shall not come nigh them nay tho the World