A43344:336
A discourse concerning meekness and quietness of spirit to which is added, A sermon…
A discourse concerning meekness and quietness of spirit to which is added, A sermon on Acts 28. 22, showing that the Christian religion is not a sect, and yet that it is every where spoken against / by Matthew Henry ...A discourse concerning meekness and quietness of spirit to which is added, A sermon on Acts 28. 22, shewing that the Christian religion is not a sect, and yet that it is every where spoken against / by Matthew Henry ...
London: printed for Tho. Parkhurst, 1699
Christianity no Sect to be spoken against. › Now for the APPLICATION of this DOCTRINE.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
3. Consider how much is to b• said for Religion notwithstanding it is everywhere spoken against. Religion hath Reason on its side, its Cause is a Good Cause; and it is the right way whoever speaks against it.1 It is no disparagement (as that excellent Pen expresseth it) to be laughed at, but to deserve to be so; you have heard Religion reproached, but did you ever find that it deserved to be so? Nay; on the contrary, have you not found that it very well deserves your best Affections and Services? Enquire of those that have made trial of it, consult the Experiences of others: Call now, if there be any that will answer thee, 2and to which of the Saints wilt thou turn? Ask thy Father and he will show thee, 3thine Elders a•d they will tell thee, that the Fear of the Lord that is Wisdom, and to depart from Evil, that is Understanding.4 They will tell thee, That Religion's Ways are Ways of Pleasantness, 5and all her Paths are Peace, and that all the Wealth and Pleasure in this World is not worth one Hours Communion with God in Jesus Christ. They will tell thee, That there is no Truths so certain and weighty as Divine Truths, and that no Statutes and Judgments are so righteous as the Divine Law, which is Holy, Just, and Good. They will tell thee, That real Holiness and Sanctification ⟨p. 50⟩is the Perfection of the Human Nature, as well as the Participation of a Divine Nature, That a firm Belief of the Principles of Religion is the greatest improvement of our intellectual Powers, a strict Adherence to its Rules our surest Guide in all our Ways, and a cheerful Dependence upon its Promises, the Fountain of better Joys, and the Foundation of better Hopes than any we can be furnished with in the things of Sense and Time. They will tell thee that a Life of serious Godliness is incomparably the most Sublime and Honourable, the most Sweet and Comfortable Life a Man can live in this World; and that nothing doth more answer the end of our Creation, better befriend Societies, nor conduce more to our true interest in both Worlds than that Holy Religion which is every where spoken against.