A77847:21
The reformation of the church to be endeavoured more then that of the common-wealth,…The reformation of the church to be endeavoured more then that of the common-vvealth,…
The reformation of the church to be endeavoured more then that of the common-wealth, declared, in a sermon preached before the Right Honourable House of Lords at the public fast, August 27. 1645. / By Anthony Burges, pastor of Sutton Coldfield, and now preacher at Laurence-Jury, London.The reformation of the church to be endeavoured more then that of the common-vvealth, declared, in a sermon preached before the Right Honourable House of Lords at the publike fast, August 27. 1645. / By Anthony Burges, pastour of Sutton Coldfield, and now preacher at Laurence-Jury, London.
London: printed by G.M. for T. Underhill, 1645London: printed by G.M. for T. Vnderhill, 1645
Title page typeset from the transcription.
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.
In the next place we have Israels prayer unto God, ver. 6. They cried unto the Lord. At ver. 7. God sendeth a Prophet to them, to inform them of their sin, that the weight thereof might lye heavier upon them, then all outward misery; which also is aggravated by the manifold favours God hath bestowed on them: now it is judged by some, that here is an [Greek or Hebrew] in the history, and that this expostulation, which the Prophet made with them, did precede and cause the prayers and supplications of the Israelites. What the Prophet was, and whether it was the same with the Angel mentioned, ver. 12. I will not discuss. Upon the Israelites humiliation, God sends ⟨p. 3⟩them a deliverer, who is described by his name, family, and his present action (he was threshing wheat:) A fit representation of him who was afterwards in the worship of God, to separate the wheat and the chaff. In the Chapter we have, 1. His call and commission; 2. His humble and modest excuse, 3. His obedience notwithstanding: Now his commission was in two things principally; First, The destruction of all false worship, with erecting and establishing of the pure: And secondly, The vindicating and asserting of the Common wealth from its oppressors: And my text containeth Gideons faithful discharge of the former part of his commission, though he met with much opposition. Now in this whole fact of Gideons, some things are extraordinary, and do not belong as examples to us; but other things are ordinary, and from those I shall gather my present observations: As first, whereas Gideon doth not only free the Common wealth from outward violence and oppression, but the Church also from corrupt worship and Idolatry; we may conclude;
In the next place we have Israels prayer unto God, ver. 6. They cried unto the Lord. At ver. 7. God sendeth a Prophet to them, to informe them of their sinne, that the weight thereof might lye heavier upon them, then all outward misery; which also is aggravated by the manifold favours God hath bestowed on them: now it is indged by some, that here is an 〈non-Latin alphabet〉 in the history, and that this expostulation, which the Prophet made with them, did precede and cause the prayers and supplications of the Israelites. What the Prophet was, and whether it was the same with the Angel mentioned, ver. 12. I will not discusse. Upon the Israelites humiliation, God sends ⟨p. 3⟩