Job I. SERM. ftructions of the Destroyer; to whom, we truft, God hath now faid, as to the Sea it felf, --- Hitherto fhalt thou come, but no farther; and Here shall thy proud Waves be ftay'd. xxxviii. II. Bleffed be God, who did not utterly caft out our Prayers, and our Supplications; but delay'd only to answer them, till a Day of Salvation, till an acceptable Time, when the Mercy would be dearer to Us, and his Goodness more remarkably seen in bestowing it! When we were alarm'd with Invafions from abroad, and Confpiracies at home; when Men threatned to Swallow us up quick; when Succefs was now so requifite to preserve the Honour of the Nation, to support their Majefties Throne, and to ftrengthen the Hands of Their Allies: Then did he appear, and own Our Cause; Then was the God of Hofts our Strength, and our Shield. Surely, There is no End of that Goodness, which continues thus to purfue us; which vouchfafes to establish to Us, and to our Pofterity, those Bleffings, under, which we have been so unthankful, and so ingrateful already! and to give us us fresh Opportunities of Praise, which SER M. I hope we shall make a better Use of! Let us, therefore, Offer unto GodThankf giving; and not That only, but Our felves alfo, our Souls and Bodies, to be a Reafonable, Holy, and Lively Sacrifice: Let us render him the Fruit of our Lips, and the Obedience of our Lives, that these Bleffings may not prove a Curse to us; but that He may ftill be Our God, and We may be his People. To Him, with the Son, and the Holy Amen. I. The POWER of Charity to Cover Sin.' 37 A SERMON Preach'd before the PRESIDENT and GOVERNORS Of the HOSPITALS of Bridewell and Bethlehem, IN BRIDEWELL CHAPEL, August 16. 1694.. 1 St. PETER iv. 8. Charity fhall Cover the multitude of Sins, Go II, OD be thanked, the frequent Re-SERM, turns of fuch Pious Meetings as thefe, in this Rich and Charitable CITY, have made the General Argument of CHA D 3 II. SERM. CHARITY, the Nature and Chief Properties, the several Grounds and Reasons of this Duty fo well understood, that, to Entertain You with a Discourse at large on that Subject, would be a very needlefs and useless Attempt. So many Eminent Pens have gone before, in This Way, as have left it very difficult for those who come after, either to say any thing, which They have not faid, or not to say That much worse, which They have. Upon This Account; and because, indeed, I take General Discourses, for the most part, to be like Large Prospects, where the Eye is loft by the wide Compass it takes, and fees fo many things at once, that it fees nothing distinctly; I have chosen at present to point Your Thoughts only on One Particular Property of this Great Virtue, which hath been not often handled, I think; and even Then, not always well understood: It is That, which the Apostle St. Peter proposeth to Us, in those few Words I have read to You Charity shall Cover the Multitude of Sins. Few |